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Disaster on the Home Front: The Robson Family

01/12/2016 by Northumberland Archives

On the evening of Wednesday 1^st December 1943, tragedy struck the communities of Togston and Amble. An RAF aircraft – a Short Stirling Mk. III – crashed into the top floor of Cliff House Farm, just outside Amble.

The bomber had taken off from RAF Mepal, Cambridgeshire, on 1^st December. Its mission, along with other aircraft, was to drop sea mines off Denmark. On the return flight, the aircraft were diverted to RAF Acklington due to fog. The survivor reported that the plane had experienced trouble but that the Pilot, Warrant Officer Kerr, had managed to keep the plane in the air until he was safely over Amble, but could not maintain control and crashed into the farmhouse at 10.40pm

Mr and Mrs William Robson were entertaining their friends, Mr and Mrs Rowell, at the farm that Wednesday. Mr Rowell, a butcher in Amble, had visited the Robson’s to roll some bacon, and Mrs Rowell had been invited along for supper. They had just finished their meal when the plane crashed into the house. Mr Rowell described the incident in the Newcastle Journal and North Mail (in an article published on Friday 3^rd December 1943),

there was a deafening roar and the house came down about our ears… Our first thoughts, naturally, were for the children. We pulled at the wreckage in an effort to find them. Then fire broke out and we had to throw water to keep down the flames.

The four adults were injured and in shock. Neighbours and rescue squads arrived at the scene quickly. The five Robson children, who were sleeping upstairs at the time of the crash, were killed on impact:

Sylvia, aged 9 years

Ethel, aged 7 years

Marjorie, aged 5 years

William, aged 3 years

Sheila, aged 19 months

The bodies of the children were found on Saturday 2nd December. The image below is from a register, a ‘Record of Civilian Death Due to War Operations’. All five children’s deaths are recorded within the register. Sheila’s body is noted as being found at 1.30am.

The Stirling bomber had a crew of seven men, but only one survived the crash. He was spotted by Mrs Rowell, running around the field on fire. She called to her husband who ran across to the airman, rolled him on the ground, and extinguished the flames. Mr. Rowell than rushed to the plane to help the aircrew, but could find no one else.

The aircrew were all members of 75 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve:

Warrant Officer (Pilot) George John Stewart Kerr, aged 22 years. Son of John and Georgina Kerr of High Ongar, Essex. Buried in Chevington Cemetery, Northumberland.

Sergeant (Air Gunner) George William Thomas Lucas, aged 22 years. Son of George and Ellen Lucas of Shepherd’s Bush, London. Buried in East Finchley Cemetery and St. Marylebone Crematorium.

Sergeant (Air Bomber) Ronald Smith, aged 20 years. Son of Basil and Sarah Ann Smith of Leeds; husband of Joan Smith of Halton, Leeds. Buried in Leeds (Whitkirk) Cemetery.

Sergeant (Navigator) Donald Frank Wort. Son of Mr. and Mrs Frank Wort of Parkstone. Buried in Poole (Parkstone) Cemetery.

Flight Sergeant (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) Derek Arthur Holt. Son of Mr. and Mrs A. Holt of Shrewsbury, Shropshire. Buried in St. Helen’s Cemetery.

Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Leonard George Copsey, aged 20 years. Son of George and Jessie Copsey of Hornchurch. Buried in Hornchurch Cemetery.

The survivor of the crash was Sergeant (Mid Upper Gunner) Kenneth Gordon Hook of Hambledon, Surrey, who was 20 years old at the time. Even though he sustained serious injuries, he was flying again by February 1944. On 13 March 1944, he was in another Stirling bomber, again taking off from RAF Mepal, for a minelaying operation near Brest, when the aeroplane malfunctioned and the plane crashed, with three of its five mines exploding after impact. Sergeant Hook survived, and by the end of the Second World War had flown 75 operational missions. He retired from the RAF in 1977 with the rank of Flight Lieutenant. He died in 1989 in Devon.

The crash at Cliff House Farm was reported the next day in the Log Book of Amble Church of England School, which Sylvia and Ethel both attended. It notes that a wreath was purchased, and we know (from a newspaper article which reported on the funeral) that this was laid on the grave of the children by staff and pupils, when the funeral took place on Saturday 4^th December. The service was held at Amble St. Cuthbert and the interment took place at Amble West Cemetery, where the children were all laid to rest in one grave.

Today, the children and the tragedy that befell them are still remembered. A memorial table stands at the west end of Amble St. Cuthbert’s, and there is a housing estate named after the children, near the site of Cliff House Farm. The estate is named Robson Way, with each of the closes named after a child. The airmen who died are remembered on a plaque inside Acklington St. John the Divine, which was the official church for RAF Acklington.

Mr. and Mrs Robson moved to a farm at Shotley Bridge, before moving to Stannington and later, Fenrother. They are buried in Amble West Cemetery, in the same grave as Sylvia, Ethel, Marjorie, William and Sheila.

This Week in World War One, 1 December 1916

08/03/201801/12/2016 by Northumberland Archives

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 1 DECEMBER 1916

TRAPPED BY THE TIDE

BUTCHER’S FATAL RISK ON HOLY ISLAND

The finding of a butcher’s van in which was yoked the dead body of a horse, on Holy Island sands on Sunday, brought to light the tragic end of Thomas Foreman, a well-known butcher.

The unfortunate man who belongs to Lowick, Northumberland, regularly crossed these dangerous sands to the island and was familiar with the perils attending a crossing with the flood tide.

bro-0515-127-blog — BRO 0515-127 (c) Berwick Record Office

It appears that having served his customers he left the island at 5 o’clock on Saturday night and although little enough time was left to cross in safety, no fears were entertained as to his regaining the other side.

The high tides, however, had not been taken account of and it is feared Foreman met his end while at least half-way across. Up to the time of writing no trace of the body has been found.

LOCAL NEWS

Feeding Stuffs and Milk Prices. – Although the price of milk is to be restricted there is no restriction upon the price of feeding stuffs for the cows. Some farmers, assert that unless some limit is imposed upon the price of the feeding stuffs it will be impossible for them, except at a loss, to continue supplying milk. It is stated that in some parts of the country farmers are disposing of their cows. To avoid any possibility of a shortage in the supply of milk from this cause, it has been suggested to Mr Runciman that he should summon a conference of farmers and manufacturers and importers of feeding stuffs to discuss the situation with a view to arriving at a voluntary agreement for the limitation of prices. The president of the Board of Trade, who is considering the suggestion, will be asked on Thursday, 30^th November, to indicate whether he is prepared to adopt it.

Steamer Refloated. – The large steamship Tredegar Hall, 3,764 tons gross register, which stranded on the sands at Monkhouse, Bamburgh, two months ago, has been successfully refloated. As the steamer stranded during spring tides fears were entertained that some time might lapse before she was salved, but the exceptionally high ide experienced at the week-end, allowed a large salvage tug to successfully tow the ship into deep water. It is understood the vessel is little the worse.

WOOLER

Christmas. – we are reminded that Christmas is again approaching, and the annual prize show and sale at the Wooler Mart is announced for Monday week. We are assured that an excellent display may be looked for. The quality of the stock presented by the Wooler Mart, Co., at their Christmas show is always equal to any, and that it will be up to the usual standard goes without saying.

Gifts for Soldiers. – A subscription list has been opened by the Vicar to provide the sailors and soldiers who have left the parish with a suitable Christmas parcel. Over £21 has already been subscribed and is expected to be still further increased. A chocolate service is to be held in the Parish Church on Sunday afternoon, when gifts of chocolate, etc., will be welcomed. The collection will also be for the soldiers and sailors gifts. The total number reaches over a hundred. The Presbyterian churches are also sending parcels to members connected with their places of worship.

SCREMERSTON

Concert for Soldiers’ Chritsmas Gifts. – A very successful concert, organised in connection with Scremerston Church with the object of sending a Christmas token of remembrance to all Scremerston men on active service abroad, was given in the large hall of the local Workmen’s Institute on Monday evening last. The concert had aroused a very general interest in the parish and neighbourhood, and the highest anticipations of the Vicar and those associated with him in the venture were more than fulfilled. The entertainment itself was of a very interesting and varied character. Through the good offices of Mr J. M. Dudgeon, a number of the Royal Scots now billeted in Berwick promised their assistance. During their stay here they have proved themselves most able and successful entertainers in various ways, and they repeated their triumphs on this occasion. Corpl. Dells, humourist, Private Cummings and Corpl. Howitt, vocalists, and Private Burnett, impersonator and soft shoe dancer, all justified the reputation they have gained. Mr Dudgeon’s ability is too well known to require description further than to say that he proved himself as popular as ever.

© Copyright Raymond Chisholm, and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons, Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0).

A cymbal dance by Miss Dormer and a tambourine dance by Miss Douglas were gracefully given and heartily received. A beautiful stage picture representing Britannia and the nine Allied Nations, devised and arranged by Mrs Lightfoot, was represented by Miss E. M. Lightfoot as Britannia and by members of the Church Girls’ Guild. The supplemental act saluting the British flag by the separate nations individually give the audience the opportunity of greeting each ally with welcoming applause. Part songs by Scremerston Church Choir as a body, and songs by individual members further associated the Church with this pleasing effort to send tokens of remembrance to the local men now serving in France, Egypt, Salonica, and on the high seas. The seating of the large gathering was looked after by Mr R. Thomson, ably assisted by his sons. Much of the success of the undertaking was due to the untiring interest and assistance given by Mr and Mrs W. J. Blackett, Scremerston Post Office, who also bore the cost of conveying the Berwick and Spittal vocalists to and from the concert. A goodly sum was realised by the venture, and the parcels thus secured will be despatched to the men at the Western front without delay; parcels have already been sent to those in Egypt and Salonika.

St Andrew’s day – Scottish law in Northumbrian manors

30/11/2016 by Northumberland Archives

As Northumberland is the most northerly English county the history of its manors is tied very closely to Scotland and its history. War has shaped the fortunes of many manors, but this is also the case with cooperation between the two countries. The connection between them is local, not just national, and Northumberland’s manors have played a role in that history. The whole picture is far too detailed and interesting to deal with in a short blog post, with so many wars, conflicts, rebellions and raids, but we can look at what impact the relationship had on the way manors were run and the terms they used.

Wark-on-Tweed manor has a fascinating cross border history, and has changed between being English and Scottish at different times in its history.

Early in manorial history many manors were owned by the Scottish Kings and noblemen. For example in 1279 the kings of Scotland rented two thirds of Bellingham Manor to the Bellingham family by a Serjeanty, or condition, where the Bellingham family acted as the king of Scotland’s forester in Tynedale forest. Eleventh and twelfth century conflict between the countries changed this ownership. The king of Scotland’s portion of the manor was seized by Edward I during war with Scotland and was later given with other lands to Edmund earl of Cambridge, later duke of York, by his father Edward III. Edward III forced the Scottish king and nobles to give up the southern counties of Scotland in 1334, and nobles forfeited their estates in England, including Patrick V earl of Dunbar whose manor of Middleton Hall was granted to Henry Percy.

Warfare damaged the crops in many manors, bringing no income for the lord of the manor and famine for the inhabitants. A number of manors were expected to provide soldiers and equipment in peace and war, such as Corbridge which had to provide one man! A lawsuit of 1579 over a small holding at Burton shows that land tenure in Northumberland still came with a requirement to serve in protecting the border. Peles and other fortified dwellings were often built by the lords of manors for safety. Even manors a good distance from the border were vulnerable, with Longhoughton described as ruined and waste after wars in 1368, and from cattle raids in 1573. Border reivers operated from both sides of the border, and watches would be kept for reivers in many places. One example from the Order of watches in 1552 shows a night watch was kept between Hitchcroft in Shilbottle to Rugley in Alnwick by ten men from Shilbottle, Whittle, Sturton Grange, Birling, High and Low Buston, Wooden and Bilton townships.

However it is the everyday business in manorial documents that show the connection – Scottish law and terminology was sometimes applied across the border. We have below a few Scottish terms we have found in the manorial records.

We found ‘Grassum’ was paid in what is known as the West Water manors (the manors of Melkridge, Henshaw and Ridley & Thorngrafton). This was paid every 21 years from 1758-1885 for some of the leasehold tenements, and recorded in one book for the purpose (ZBL 66). Looking at a few Scottish law sources this can be a sum paid by a tenant at a renewal or grant of a lease, or a single payment made in addition to a payment such as rent or feudaty. It might be comparable to the English term premium. It is hard to say why Grassum would have been paid there, or for how long the practice was carried out. The key may be right back in the early history of the manors, when they were owned by the Kings of Scotland and leased to a number of noble Scottish families such as the earls of Athol and earls of Badenoch.

As covered in a previous post, there were numerous jobs associated with the manorial court, and Scottish roles were similar to many in the English manor courts. For example in Norham, now a small English village on the banks of the River Tweed overlooking Scotland, we find the Scottish term ‘Land liners’ used. Within Scottish burghs, as in the English equivalent, Boroughs, the inhabitants (burgesses) were entitled to a ‘burgage plot’ of land. Whilst in an English manor a ‘fence-looker’ would check the legality of such boundaries, in Scotland and Norham, the term ‘land liner’ was used for this official who measured out and checked the size of the burgage plots.

Our project is continuing to compile the history of each manor at a time and through doing so will be continuing to post about the interesting terms and stories we find.

The Northumbrian County Histories Volumes I, V, and XV have been of great use in the preparation of this blog, as have The Concise Scots Dictionary and Law Basics: Glossary of Scottish Legal Terms (O’Rourke and Duncan).

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