Mrs. Hoey will no doubt be pleased to learn that Mrs. Eleanor Wright of 57, Clover Avenue endorses her statement that James Renforth was a bachelor.

Mrs. Hoey also knows of at least four of Stephen Renforth's descendants - all granddaughters - and are all still residing in Gateshead.

One of them, her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Doreen Wright of 11 Springfield Place, Sheriff Hill, has two small sons, Stephen, aged three, and James seven, both named after their famous predecessors.

She also has a sister, Mrs. Esther Hunter of 27 Leeming Gardens, Sheriff Hill and the other two granddaughters are Mrs. Adelaide Douglas of Orchid Crescent, Old Fold, and Mrs. Molly McGee of Beacon Lough.

The question now posed is: does the claim of Messers Hoey, as men, take precedence over that of these four ladies? The Renforth controversy arose purely by chance when a reader requested information on surviving Renforths and will probably remain unsolved.