Hi Andrea,
We share the same surname of interest, my grandmother's maiden name is currah. She is from Appleby in Westmorland.
Her father was John Emmerson Currah who married Florence May Richardson.
John Emmerson's father was also John Emerson he married Lizzie Annie Graham in 1910.
I don't know whether this family orginated from Durham, but it is a coincidence you have the name John Emmerson Currah.
If these names mean anything to you please get in touch, i can go a little further back than that.
Mark.