An act of parliament in 1856 made it compulsory for every county to have a police force. The force in Northumberland came into being in 1857. It was initially under the control of a Police Committee formed by the Quarter Sessions which included two Justices from each Petty Sessions division of the county. A small booklet was issued containing rules for the government of the new force.
The booklet stated that the Chief Constable needed to be recommended to the Secretary of State by the magistrates in whom the appointment was vested. It was imperative that he was a person of good character and conduct. The Superintendent and Inspector must not exceed 40 years of age and be at least 5 feet 7 inches tall without shoes. It was essential for them to be a man of general intelligence and be able to read, write well and keep accounts. They also needed to be certified by a medical practitioner to be free from bodily complaint and have a strong constitution. The same rules applied to the appointment of a Sergeant and Constable.
The Sergeant and Constable were to be provided with the following articles of clothing and equipment in addition to their pay:
Year 1 1 Greatcoat with cap and badge 1 coat with badge 2 pairs of trousers 1 pair of boots 1 pair of shoes 1 hat 1 stock
Year 2
1 coat with badge 1 pair of trousers 1 pair of boots 1 pair of shoes 1 hat
The clothing supply for the third year was the same as for the first year and the fourth year was the same as the second year, and so on for successive periods. The constables were also issued with a pair of handcuffs and a small cutlass. The cutlass was only to be worn at night or at times when attending a riot or serious disturbance.
The table below shows the pay scales of the officers in pounds and shillings.
CHIEF CONSTABLE
SUPERINTENDENT
INSPECTOR
SERGEANT
CONSTABLE
£250-£500 per annum
£75-£150 per annum
£65-£120 per annum
19s-25s per week
15s-21s per week
When it came to the appointment of constables, men were unable to join if they were a Gamekeeper, Wood Ranger, Bailiff or Sherrifs Bailiff. They were also forbidden to keep a public house or have any interests in any house that sold beer, wine or spirituous liquors.
Northumberland Archives hold a number of male and female patient case books and chronic case books for St. George’s hospital [1890-1949]. These volumes reveal why people were admitted and chart their behaviour and progress. Some patients were successfully released but sadly, many died in the asylum.
Many cases in the volumes involve an obsession with being watched or followed. One gentleman claimed the police were hovering in the air above him while one lady said serpents were watching her and wanted to kill her. Religious delusions also feature heavily with one lady believing herself to be the mother of God; her duty was to perform profound blessings on all that came near her. Another patient suffering from sunstroke, believed himself to be the second Christ claiming he once died but now lives again. His notes state that he believes that the wind cries for justice and cats bow before him. He talks wildly on religion and claims God has spoken to him in the form of a fiery bush.
Reasons for entering the asylum were split between moral & physical. The table below lists just some of them.
MORAL
PHYSICAL
Domestic Trouble (loss of relative/friend)
Intemperance in Drink
Adverse Circumstances (business anxieties)
Venereal Disease
Mental Anxiety and Worry
Self Abuse (sexual)
Religious Excitement
Sunstroke
Love Affairs (including seductions)
Pregnancy
Fright and Nervous Shock
Change of Life
Congenital Defect
Old Age
Epilepsy
Uterine and Ovarian Disorders
Fevers
Hereditary Influences
Lactation
Below are extracts from the case books showing some of the types of cases that were admitted.
Male [aged 50] Admitted December 1891 Diagnosis – Paralysis. This gentleman states his wife is constantly concealing men around the house and he needs to find them. He would like to put a knife in her as she is an adulteress and a fallen angel & he hopes for repentance. He is convinced that one of the men that his wife had in the house liked to dress up as a woman. This man was discharged in January 1892.
Female [aged 23] Admitted – May 1916 Diagnosis – Congenital Idiot This patient presents the appearance of a congenital idiot. She is stunted in her growth, is practically dumb, mouth always open and laughs for no reason. She is docile & good tempered with no unpleasant habits. She is unable to speak & exhibits no intelligence. This lady died in the asylum in February 1918.
Female [aged 33] Admitted – July 1920 Diagnosis – General Paralysis This lady claims she has been burnt, which is untrue. She is convinced that her husband’s friend gave her a drink which burnt her inside & out. She asks for water but won’t drink it. She is wildly maniacal & says whenever she is touched, she is burnt. She talks to imaginary people & shouts out “don’t burn me”. She also believes that her body is going to be burnt in boiling fat. This young woman was committed for 8 years and died in the asylum in February 1928.
Male [aged 26] Admitted – July 1892 Diagnosis – Unknown This gentleman is restless and asks for the whispering to be taken away from his face. He believes that Jack the Ripper wants to kill him and is always whispering to him as he is living inside of him. Jack’s whispering charm has taken this gentleman’s speech away so his tongue is not his own. This patients actions are strange and he likes to walk upon his hands rather than use his feet. This gentleman was transferred to West Riding Asylum in July 1895.
Male [aged 45] Admitted – January 1893 Diagnosis – Unknown This gentleman claims his wife is trying to kill him and that she feeds him on her own flesh. He believes he has been crucified and that there is a mouse living inside of him. Part of his body is dead and it has been for years. His wife states he has attempted to kill her several times proclaiming “one of them must die and if she were dead, then he would probably get better”. The patient believes his wife has queer people around her and that it is a foul shame. This gentleman was discharged and classed as recovered in January 1894
While resident in the asylum, many patients engaged in work. This was therapeutic but also beneficial to staff as patients could assist with day to day tasks. There were also options for the men to learn a trade and help with the making of furniture, clothing or shoes. Making items within the asylum was seen as a good way to help to reduce costs.
Buildings were split into a male and female side. The male side of the ground floor housed a flour store, bakehouse, bread room, shoemakers, tailors, plumbers & smiths. The female side contained a wash house, laundry, drying closet and female work room.
NRO 6218/1NRO 6218/1
Male patients worked in the gardens and also worked closely with the plumber, engineer, painter, joiner & tailor. They also worked in the kitchen where they assisted the baker and carried the coals. Some men were involved with domestic duties and would help with the cleaning of the wards. The women also cleaned the wards and assisted in the kitchen and laundry. They also mended stockings and were involved with binding boots and shoes. Other tasks included knitting & netting, sewing, quilting and working in the garden.
In an asylum report in 1861, the work done by male patients and hospital attendants was noted and their achievements highlighted. This included the making of 12 tables, 1 bookcase, 36 stretcher frames, 5 invalid chairs, 2 medicine cupboards and 1 rake for the kitchen.
Mr Robert Donkin, auctioneer, Rothbury, acting in conjunction with Messrs Anderson and Garland, auctioneers, Newcastle, conducted the first day’s sale at Longridge on Tuesday, where in excellent weather, there was a large turnout of bidders, drawn from a wide area. Antique dealers from Edinburgh, Newcastle, Durham, Whitley Bay, and Berwick, along with a large assembly of district residents took part in the bidding, which was at times of a spirited description. While certain lots made good money others went comparatively cheaply. The highest figure of the day was given by Mrs Deuchant, of Middleton, who paid £1,000 for a large and beautiful pile carpet.
The effects were auctioneered in the large drawng room, and the work was gone through by Mr Donkin in his usual expeditious manner. The principal bures were Mr Hall, Newcastle; Mr Home, Whitley bay; Mr Dover, Berwick; Mr Nelson, Edinburgh; and Mr Jos. Ewart, Berwick. Mr Collingwood Thompson, jun., was also an extensive buyer. He got a beautiful ebonised Italian cabinet, richly inlaid with ivory and with enamel mounts, at £30. Mr Dover, Berwick, got a similar inlaid Italian secretaire at £34, and Mr Ewart became the owner of a fine china cabinet, with Dresden china pillars and panels, at £24. The Louis XV settee and fauteuils, upholstered in silk damask with carved and gilded frames, and also the window seats to match, went at £31 and £13 respectively to Mr Nelson, Edinburgh.
Time Line For Longridge Towers:
1875-1879
1875 – Foundation stone laid
Built by Sir Hubert and Lady Jerningham
Cost about £140,000
Coat of Arms in the entrance are for the Stafford Family
Family Home
1879 – completed
BRO 1944/LA9/25 Image dated 1969
1879-1920
House built by Sir Hubert & Lady Jerningham. Family home costings c 140,000 (c 6 ¾ million today). Foundations laid in 1875
1902
Lady Jerningham dies & leaves property to husband for his lifetime
1914
Sir Hubert dies 3 April
1920- Estate sold and house bought by Collingwood Thompson for £6000
Apr 1924- Miss Gordon Smith moves her school from Berwick to here
1938 – Miss Smith moves school to Ava Lodge
1939-1945 Requisitioned by military
1946- Purchased by Carr Rock Holiday Camp Co Ltd in Spittal to becomes a hotel
1949-still a hotel
1951- became a convent
1983 – became Longridge Towers School
LOCAL NEWS
Coroner Peters held an inquest without a jury on Monday night touching the death of Andrew Hastie, the infant son of Mr James Hastie, 61 West End, Tweedmouth, who was found dead in bed beside his mother on Saturday morning. James Hastie, the father, said he last saw the child alive about 7.50 a.m., when it turned over in the bed beside its mother. He took some breakfast to the mother in bed about nine o’clock, and then noticed the child had not moved. He noticed it had a blue mark behind the ear, and when his wife asked him to sit beside the fire with it he observed that something was wrong, as the child never moved. He formed the opinion that it was dead, and, handing the child to his wife, he ran for his mother-in-law, at the same time sending a girl for the doctor. The child had never ailed a day previously. Dr T. P. Caverhill gave evidence of having conducted a post mortem examination. There were no marks of violence, and he found the thymus gland to be enlarged. This was the primary cause of death, as the pressure would produce convulsions. A verdict in accordance with the medical evidence was returned.
Berwick’s newly formed Opera Society met for practice in the Old Welcome Hall, high Street, on Wednesday evening. H.M.S. Pinafore is the work chosen for the winter’s session.
Speculation is still rife as to what the new owner of Longridge Towers ( Mr Collingwood Thompson, Jr.,) intends to do with the mansion house. Before anything is settled, the Berwick Town Council Housing Committee might do worse than make an offer for the stones of the mansion and use them for putting up some of the new houses in the town that are so badly wanted.
TWEEDMOUTH
Mr Calder, “Border View,” has bought Coldingham Law and will shortly be retiring from the Woodyard to take up farming.
The most interesting event of the week to Tweedmouth inhabitants has been the erection of the handsome War Memorial.
Tweedmouth War Memorial
The beautiful carved figure which crowns the monument was raised into position on Wednesday morning, and the work of erection is now complete, though there is still a good deal to do to the site. The memorial, to be unveiled on Sunday, 24th October, by Capt. Hon. W. J. M. Watson-Armstrong, looks very well in position, and will doubtless be greatly admired by everyone.
NORHAM AND ISLANDSHIRE RURAL
DISTRICT COUNCIL
The Rural District Council then met, with the addition of Dr McWhir, temporary medical Officer, and Mr J. R. Lake, Surveyor and Sanitary Inspector. In the absence of Mr J. R. Wood, Mr E. Waugh presided.
The Clerk intimated that the Finance Committee recommended that a rate of 1s 10d in the pound be levied for the half year. This was the same rate as last year. Special contributions were also asked from Holy Island, £10; Norham, £10; Shoreswood, £1. These were sealed.
Plans from the Haggerston estate for alterations to cottages at Fenwick were submitted as under:-
Four deaths have been registered in the district since the Council’s last monthly meeting. This represents an annual death rate of 9.98 per 1000. In view of the prevalence of small pox in Glasgow and of the frequency with which cases crop up in widely separated parts of the country, it may be well to point out that children who have never been vaccinated may be exposed to special risks during the approaching winter. It is a matter for regret that few adults in the district appear to have availed themselves of the Council’s offer of free vaccination; as the part played by vaccination in lessening the ravages of a particularly loathsome disease cannot be too strongly emphasized.
