The Berwick Borough Archives is a wonderful and informative collection of records covering over 500 years of the town’s history . It is housed at the Berwick Record Office which operates as part of Northumberland Archives. An online catalogue for the collection has now gone live on the Northumberland Archives website – https://northumberlandarchives.com/test/catalogue/ .
To make the most of this online catalogue, the various sections it contains are listed below as a guide for use. If you are not sure what you are looking for, go to ADVANCED SEARCH in the catalogue and simply enter BA* in the Ref No field and put a word or phrase in the “Any text” field at the bottom to see what results appear. Otherwise, you can refine your search by limiting it to a specific section as listed below . As there are so many sections, this blog will be in two parts.
CATALOGUE SECTIONS
The catalogue has been divided into the following sections :
BA/A CHARTERS – the town still bases some of its privileges today (electing a Mayor, holding markets) on the royal charters granted by the Crown. The earliest surviving charter in the collection is 1415 and the most recent 1604, granted by King James I of England.
BA/B BERWICK AND TWEEDMOUTH BURIAL BOARDS – As both Berwick and Tweedmouth Parish churchyards were becoming full , new civic cemeteries were open in 1856 and 1858 respectively. This section contains burial registers for both cemeteries, plot purchase registers and also registers of graves. Both cemeteries are divided into consecrated and unconsecrated sections. The consecrated ground was for the Church of England and the unconsecrated for other religions including Presbyterian, Methodist and Roman Catholic.
BA/C BERWICK-UPON-TWEED TOWN COUNCIL – From 1835 to 1974 Berwick, Tweedmouth and Spittal were governed by an elected Council. Their records cover many different facets of life and administration of the town including :
BA/C/BT – Borough Treasurer records including annual accounts of how the Town Council spent their money.
BA/C/CC – Council and Committees, including minutes of full Council and committees. The Town Council had various committees including Watch (Police ); Works (buildings); finance; schools and education.
Berwick Town Council minute book entry, 1836. Reference : BA/C/CC/1/1 p 12 and Berwick Town Council minutes, 1948. Reference : BA/C/CC/2/4/42
BA/C/ED – Education – Berwick ran its own Education Authority until 1920 After that it was amalgamated with Northumberland County Council’s Education Authority. This section includes information on individual schools in Berwick, Tweedmouth and Spittal, teachers employed, construction of new schools (Spittal, Tweedmouth West and Bell Tower ) and minutes of the Education Authority.
BA/C/GA – Gaol – After 1835, the Borough was told that the Gaol in the Town Hall was no longer suitable and that they would need to build a new one. This was finally built in Wallace Green and opened at the end of November 1849. This new Gaol only operated between 1849 and 1878 and subsequently became the Council Offices. This section Includes plans of the building and dietaries for prisoners.
BA/C/PL – Planning – The Council was responsible for approving the erection and alteration of buildings. Building applications from the early 1900s to 1974 are found in this section and include individual houses and public buildings.
BA/C/ PO – Police – Berwick had its own Police Force until 1921, separate from Northumberland. This section includes police pay sheets, notebooks of individual policemen, wanted/reward posters sent to the Police force and also registers of events reported at the Police Station.
BA/C/SA – Urban Sanitary Authority – From 1850, following a report from the Local Board of Health, Berwick Urban Sanitary Authority was established with responsibility for all issues relating to public health and housing. Their duties became subsumed into the Town Council in the 1920s. Their records include minute books; licences and information on water and sewage schemes and licences for cowkeepers.
BA/C/TC – Town Clerk – The Town Clerk’s department was the administrative hub of the Council. Their records include the Borough Secretary files which cover many facets of life in the town from the 1920s to 1974. These include the construction of Berwick War Memorial; Berwick and the Second World War; conservation of buildings and construction of social housing.
BA/F BERWICK GUILD OF FREEMEN AND TRUSTEES – POST 1835 – After this date, the Guild of Freemen no longer governed the town and created their own series of records separate to the Town Council. This section includes papers concerning admission to the Freedom (by birthright and honorary) as well as papers relating to the Guild and the Freemen Trustees who were set up after 1926 to administer the Freemen’s Estate.
To see the entries for any of these sections enter the section number and * in the electronic catalogue, e.g. BA/C/SA*
Berwick Borough Archives Catalogue Sections Part Two to follow.