Northumberland Archives

This blog has been researched and written by Hilary Love, one of the volunteers on our maternity care project. Project volunteers are researching maternity care in Northumberland with particular focus on Castle Hills Maternity Home, Berwick, and Mona Taylor Maternity Home, Stannington. We are also researching in less detail some of the other Maternity Homes in the county. This blog provides a brief history of maternity provision at Rothbury Cottage Hospital, Northumberland.

The project is supported by the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Bright Charity and the Northumberland Archives Charitable Trust. We will be posting more blog content from the project over the coming months. 

The house that became Rothbury Cottage Hospital was built in 1872 for local Excise-Man, Joseph Archer. It was sold in 1905 to Miss Catherine Dawson who converted it into a hospital and donated it to the village. She and her sister, Mary Dawson, endowed it with £200 per year. Initially the hospital had only three beds with all treatment  provided free of charge. Before her death in 1906, Miss Dawson registered the hospital with the Charity Commissioners and appointed a local Board of Trustees who, with their successors, administered the hospital until the N.H.S was launched in 1948.

A maternity unit was founded in 1946 as a memorial to the Second World War and, in 1948, this expanded rapidly with up to 300 babies delivered annually. As medical science advanced and treatment depended more on expensive technology, concentrated in the larger hospitals, a gradual attrition began.

In 1975, it came under a new Area Health Authority which took over its administration from the local managers. The maternity unit was closed, the Consultants’ clinics discontinued, and Rothbury Cottage Hospital was left to provide only convalescent and geriatric care.

The League of Friends of Coquetdale was formed in 1978 and, over the years, the Friends provided many extra amenities, including the total refurbishment of Hawthorn Cottage for the Physiotherapy Department in 1990, at a cost of £60,000, raised locally. In 1993, the hospital became part of the new Cheviot and Wansbeck Trust whose financial problems subsequently caused some anxiety. The following year, however, plans were laid to build a new Community Hospital. The old hospital was eventually sold and, in 2007, the new hospital was opened close to the Haugh.

How different was life in Northumberland over 100 years ago?

Picking a village in mid-Northumberland – Acklington – I decided to investigate the history of the village to see how different it was in 1900. To do this, I carried out research on the British Newspaper Archive, before heading back into the actual Archives to cast more light on the happenings in the village at this time. Part three of the blog focuses upon the months July to September.

July 1900

The village’s 4th annual Church Cycle Parade was held at Brainshaugh Old Chapel on Sunday 29th July, and reported in the Newcastle Journal. A thunderstorm prevented some local clubs from attending, but Alnwick Cycling Club was there, and they assisted the Acklington Church Choir in leading the singing at the service afterwards.

The headmaster of the School noted that, ‘The hay harvest and the County Show (held in Alnwick) have caused a poor attendance.’ They broke up on the afternoon of 25th for the Midsummer Holidays, which were to last until 26th August (four weeks).¹⁴

Three marriages took place in the Church this month:¹⁵

· George Fortune, aged 38, a Shepherd of Acklington, married Jemima Geggie, aged 32, of Acklington

· Matthew Purvis, aged 26, an Insurance Agent of Acklington, married Eleanor March, aged 26

· Robert Geggie, aged 28, a Labourer of Acklington, married Mary Jane Purvis, aged 24

One burial took place in the Churchyard this month:¹⁶

· Ralph Potts, aged 86 years, of Acklington

August 1900

The village’s new Stationmaster was announced in the Northern Echo as being Mr. Joseph Speed, appointed by the directors of N.E.R.

Acklington’s vicar, Rev. W. Rudge, travelled to Ashington on 5th August to conduct a service at the 2nd annual church parade of the Ashington and District Cycling Club.

George Rutherford, labourer, of Broomhill, appeared at Alnwick Petty Sessions on Saturday 18th August. The report in the Morpeth Herald notes that he had been summoned for being drunk and disorderly and refusing to leave the licensed premises of The Railway Hotel in Acklington. He was fined 20s (approximately £83 today), including costs.

School resumed this month, and attendance was moderate as the harvest was still taking place.¹⁷ Two children were admitted at the start of the new school year: ¹⁸

· Mary Chrisp of Chieveley [Cheveley] – daughter of Robert and Elizabeth; Robert was a Gamekeeper

· Nancy Johnson of Cavil Head – sister of John and Andrew who were admitted to the school in May

September 1900

Admitted to School this month were: ¹⁹

· Albert Summers of Acklington – son of William and Jane of Acklington Village; William was a coal hewer

· Amy and Elizabeth Ella Speed of Acklington Station, who had previously attended Bear Park School in Durham – they were the daughters of Joseph and Jane; Joseph was the new Railway Station Master

Wednesday 19th saw a presentation in the Railway Hotel. The late Acklington Stationmaster, Mr. G. Watson, now of Haltwhistle, was given ‘farewell testimonials’ from his friends, which included Mr. George Moffitt of Field House, Acklington, who had known Mr. Watson for over 12 years.²⁰

School attendance was still noted as being low as the weather was still favourable for ‘harvest operations’. The Log Book notes that on 21st September, two new scholars boosted the attendance²¹, which is presumably the Speed sisters, as mentioned above (from the Admission Register).

Two baptisms took place at the Church this month:²²

· Richard, son of Andrew (Miner) and Alice Logan, of Cavil Head

· Adam, son of William (Gamekeeper) and Elizabeth Fenwick, of Morwick

14 Acklington C of E Log Book, ref. CES 1/3/1

15 Marriage Register of Acklington St. John the Divine, ref. EP 161/26

16 Burial Register of Acklington St. John the Divine, ref. EP 161/19

17 Acklington C of E Log Book, ref. CES 1/3/1

18 Acklington C of E Admission Register, ref. CES 1/4/2

19 Acklington C of E Admission Register, ref. CES 1/4/2

20 Morpeth Herald, Saturday 22 September 1900

21 Acklington C of E Log Book, ref. CES 1/3/1

22 Baptism Register of Acklington St. John the Divine, ref. EP 161/1

Recently we had some very interesting training about one of our collections, namely the Quarter Sessions collection. Quarter sessions were courts that dealt with criminal and civil cases and were so called because they met four times a year, Epiphany (January), Easter (March or April), Midsummer (June) and Michaelmas (September). 

A bit like our current justice system there were different courts that dealt with different types of crime. We have records in our archives relating to both the petty sessions (the most minor of crimes) and the quarter sessions (dealing with more serious criminal cases alongside civil matters including the licensing of pubs, registration of printing presses, hair powder taxes and many other matters.) Assize records are held at the National Archives in London. 

Being inspired by what I had learned I had a look at our catalogue to see what records we hold, here at Northumberland Archives. A quick search brought me to Q/S/B/89/P26 which is entitled “Transportation Orders 1768-1808” it gives us a fascinating insight into early 19^th century crime and punishment in Northumberland. 

It is within our transportation records that we meet a certain John Mould, in a bundle of papers including his order for transportation along with a covering letter to Lord Percy (i.e. Hugh Percy the third Duke of Northumberland).  The letter is dated 12^th July 1807 from John Davidson, Clerk of the Peace of Northumberland and he writes enclosing the orders for transportation, sent to him by the goaler of Morpeth, asking for the Secretary of State’s orders for removal south and then abroad. 

The transportation order tells us that John was “capitally convicted of the crime of High Treason in Counterfeiting the Coin of the Realm for which crime he received judgement of Death”. Fortunately for John he was reprieved by Sir George Wood, the judge in his case, and he was sentenced to transportation instead. Whilst, no doubt, this would have been entirely preferable to death, transportation was still a terrible sentence. If you were sentenced to a fixed number of years, then you would have the chance to return to your home. Only if, however, you could raise sufficient funds to pay for your passage.  

John was not so lucky as he was sentenced for “the term of his natural life”. Presumably he knew little about the place he was being sent, although he may have heard about the dangerous and long journey to get there. He would have known that he would be travelling with strangers, desperate people, convicted of severe crimes. 

At the time the UK transported its people mainly to Australia and Tasmania. The order relating to John says that he is to be transported to the coast of New South Wales or one of the islands adjacent. At the bottom of the page, it is written that John is in the thirty second year of his life and is a house-carpenter. It also says that he is “Of bad character and connected with a set of notorious people who infest Newcastle Upon Tyne and its environs.”…Charming! 

A postscript to the letter to Lord Percy reads “I believe the order is to be removed to the hulks on the river Thames”.  For anyone familiar with the novel “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens the thought of being transported to the hulks sends a shiver down your spine. The Ancestry website holds the UK Prison Hulks Register and letter books 1802-1849 where we find John again, it gives the date of his arrival; 26^th February 1808 onboard the Ship the “Retribution” (the very same one Dickens uses in his book and reputedly the one with the most fearsome reputation), it also gives us the date of his transportation, 27^th May 1808. 

Three months does not sound too long to wait but no doubt he would have been eager to leave, as the hulks had a lawless and vicious repute and not necessarily because of the prisoners. As illustrated in the press reports of the day, where it gives account of one of the prisoner’s awaiting transportation for life to Botany Bay. The newspaper says that “On his arrival aboard the Retribution…he was in the usual way ordered to strip…he swore he would not” it goes on to say, rather sinisterly, “The regular remedy according to the discipline of the hulks was applied, and his wrath was subdued.”  

Not unsurprisingly this led some prisoners to desperate measures… 

One incident that happened aboard the Retribution was between two convicts in 1809. It ended in murder; the weapon was a shoemaker’s knife…a lengthy report of this incident can be read in our search room using the British Newspaper Archive and specifically the report in the Saunders’s Newsletter and Daily Advertiser dated August the 30^th 1809. 

John was convicted alongside another Northumbrian, namely James Lowrey. James was sentenced to 7 years transportation, for committing burglary. His story was rather shorter however, as he died aboard the Retribution on the 20^th of June 1813, four years into his seven-year sentence. Why he was not transported we do not know. James’ order tells us that he was 57 years old when convicted and was by trade a shoemaker. Perhaps it was his knife that featured in the murder referred to above!? 

The court recorded that James was an “old and most notorious offender, and has for several years travelled the country leading a vagabond life.” 

John Mould was transported aboard the Admiral Gambier under the command of Edward Harrison, she sailed from Portsmouth, on 2 July 1808, and arrived at Port Jackson (what we would now call Sydney) on 20^th of December.  She had carried 200 male convicts, of whom three died on the voyage.  

If this blog has inspired you to learn more about our collections you may want to look at our website and in particular the LEARN page which features more information on Crime and Punishment including some striking “Wanted” posters. https://northumberlandarchives.com/test/learn/learn-topic-crime-and-punishment/