Twixt Thistle and Rose is a project funded for one year by Archives Revealed to make the records of Berwick-upon-Tweed more widely accessible.
Twixt Thistle and Rose refers to the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed which sits on the Border between Scotland (Thistle) and England (Rose). The phrase- as Twixt Rose and Thistle – has been often used to describe Berwick. For example, it was the name of a public house in Walkergate (now the Cobbled Yard – the windows are etched with the symbol) and it featured on a railway poster of Berwick around 1920 “The Mecca of All Seeking Health and Pleasure”.
Funding has also been provided by the Berwick Guild of Freemen and the Friends of Berwick-upon-Tweed and District Museum and Archives to enable the participation of volunteers in the project and other outreach work.
If you are interested in volunteering please email us at ttar@northumberland.gov.uk. We’ll add you to the mailing list and you’ll be invited to come along to one of the introductory sessions we plan to hold in March.
One group of records that we hope to make better known is the series of Police Posters and Informations that date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These were sent to Berwick Police Station to alert the local constabulary about a variety of criminals or absconders from the Army or Workhouses.
Currently the records are boxed, arranged in bundles and are clean and dry. However, they require some conservation work to prevent deterioration with use and they are in need of detailed cataloguing. This is an ideal project for volunteers!
Although the notices were received from elsewhere they may be the only surviving copy. They provide lots of information about all aspects of life at the turn of the twentieth century including attitudes to vagrancy at the time. If you like detective work, volunteering could give you a chance to investigate the background to the story or what happened next.
They used the technology of the time – photography and telegraphy – to convey detailed descriptions of criminals or items stolen
There are scams that seem very modern – such as a the circular from the Hawick Police reporting a false collecting agent for Miss Stirling’s Orphanage operating in the area. Miss Stirling was a well known philanthropist in Edinburgh who pioneered the sending of pauper children to Canada. Her Charity was involved in a scandal that revealed the lack of supervision of her child migrants after they were placed abroad.
There are instances of local crimes such as the malicious damage of salmon nets in Spittal. The wording of the poster and the offer of a reward strongly suggests that this kind of activity was perceived as economic sabotage.
There are also dramatic depictions and accounts of individuals wanted for serious offences. The artist’s sketch in this poster – raising the alert for a man wanted for an horrific murder – alongside the detailed character note creates a very sinister image!
And postcards were used to inform the constabulary when a search could be called off.
This is just one small example of the wealth of information found in the Berwick Borough collection. If you feel inspired to help please get in touch.
