This Week in World War One, 25 August 1916

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Berwick Advertiser title 1915

 

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 25 AUGUST 1916

 

THE FREEMEN’S ACADEMY

 

It is hoped that the Freemen may give an attentive ear and serious consideration to the timeous and admirable suggestion made by Mr Charles Forsyth as to opening he Corporation Academy to a wider circle of fee paying pupils. It is when one contrasts the finely equipped elementary schools – palatial to a degree, which have been erected in many of the larger towns in Scotland, and the concentration and co-ordination of educational institutions, which a few years ago were run as separate units, that one realises how far Berwick is behind the times. Let some of the Berwick people visit a reasonably sized Scottish town and inspect the facilities and benefits which the children there enjoy, and he will return to the Border town a little crestfallen.

Statue of Andrew Carnegie, Pittencrieff Park, Chambers Street, Dunfermline, Fife. © userkilnburn wikimedia commons.
Statue of Andrew Carnegie, Pittencrieff Park, Chambers Street, Dunfermline, Fife. © userkilnburn wikimedia commons.

 

The days of educational institutions run for one particular class is a thing of the past – the desire is to extend educational facilities in all directions. Mr Andrew Carnegie, in opening the Scottish Universities to poor students, has emphasised this, and has proved a national benefactor. The Freemen need not for a moment think they are running any risks if they act on the commendable suggestion Mr Forsyth makes; but, on the other hand, if the Corporation School is maintained for a small section of pupils, which is getting more attenuated each year, it will tend to bring deserved public criticism on what may be genuinely regarded as a scandal.

 

LOCAL NEWS

 

The N.F. and the V.C. – The Northumberland Fusiliers, whose curious notion that they were not eligible for the V.C. has just been removed by the War Office, are one of the British regiments in existence, and have a bewildering wealth of distinctions. Well do they deserve their nickname of the “Fighting Fifth” ( “the ever-fighting, never-failing Fifth”), for since their baptism of fire at Maestricht, two centuries and a quarter ago, they have been in the thick of it in almost all our wars, and boast no fewer than 18 battle honours. For an amazing feat at Wilhelmstahl, when they took double their own number of enemy prisoners, the Fifth were granted the very rare honour of a third colour, and for another exploit they are privileged to wear roses in their caps on St. George’s Day.

Northumberland Fusiliers at Thiepval Sept 1916 © Brooks, Ernest (Lt) - Imperial War Museum - IWM_Q_1349
Northumberland Fusiliers at Thiepval Sept 1916 © Brooks, Ernest (Lt) – Imperial War Museum – IWM_Q_1349

 

The erroneous impression that no Victoria Cross can be gained by the Northumberland Fusiliers used to be an actual fact in the case of the Brigade of Guards. When the medal was instituted it was not everywhere received in the spirit intended. The Guards’ officers decided that all men in the brigade were equally brave; this crystallised into a tradition, with the result that no recommendations for the V.C. were ever forwarded to Headquarters from a Guards regiment. But with new men came new manners, and now the Guards as well as the “Fighting Fifth” stand an equal chance with the rest of the Army.

The War Hospital Supply Depot in Bridge Street, Berwick, will open to the public on Saturday first, when everyone should take the opportunity of seeing the great work done here for our wounded soldiers and sailors.

 

BERWICK BOARD OF GUARDIANS

HOW THE WAR AFFECTS US

 

A meeting of the Berwick Board of Guardians was held in the Board Room of the Workhouse on Monday. Mr James Mowitt (chairman) presided, and other members present were Miss A. E. Henderson, Mrs J. G. Willits, the Rev. Robert Leggat, the Rev. W. M. Smythe, Dr Wm. Smyth, Mr James Chisholm, Mr Geo. W. Glahome, mr Thomas Aird, Mr George Morrison, Mr F. Richardson, Mr Geo. A. Turnbull, Capt. J. C. Collingwood, Mr John R. Wood, Mr Ed. Waugh, Mr Mathew C. Robertson, Mr Aaron D. Morton, Mr James H. Armstrong, Mr George R. Lumsden, Mr Robert Boston, and Mr John A. Stewart; also attending Mr Robert Smith, acting clerk, and Mr A. H. Banks, Workhouse master.

SOLDIER AND SAILOR LUNATICS

The Plymouh Guardians forwarded the following letter:-

Dear Sir,

           Soldier and Sailor Lunatics.

Since the outbreak of war, a number of lunatic soldiers and sailors have been transferred to the Borough asylum and made chargeable to the poor rates of this Incorporation under the provisions of the Army Annual Act, section 91. The Guardians are of opinion that it is highly improbable that more than a small proportion of the men in question, would have become lunatics, had It not been for the stress and strain of the war, and under the circumstances, they consider that their maintenance should be a national and not a local charge. They also consider it is very undesirable that men whose mental facilities have become deranged while serving their country, should be classified as pauper lunatics, and are, therefore, urging the Association of Poor Law Unions of England and Wales to take whatever action they may deem advisable, either by deputation or representations in Parliament, with the object of bring about such alteration in the law, as shall remove from the statute book, the provision which enables soldiers and sailors on their discharge from the army and navy as lunatics, to be made a charge upon the poor rates. The Guardians will be glad to hear that your Board are prepared to support them in this matter and that they will instruct their Association Representatives accordingly.

Yours truly, W.H. DAVY

Clerk to the Guardians.

Captain Collingwood, Mr Richardson, and Mr Armstrong supported the terms of the letter, and I was unanimously agreed to approve of same.

It’s our custom – day to day life in the manorial documents

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We can learn a lot about everyday life in the manor by looking at how it was organised. Using manorial documents we can identify individuals and look at what ‘customs’ (rules) they were required to live by, and how they bent or broke the rules that their manor imposed. You could be ‘presented’ before the manor to be ‘amerced’ (fined) for anything from large offences like cheating buyers at your market stall, to not having your chimney in correct repair or cutting back a tree hanging into a neighbour’s garden. Between different manors these rules could be strikingly different.

The customs were upheld by a number of different officials. A Bailiff or Reeve (paid and unpaid versions of the same post) took on the day to day running of the manor. He might be assisted by a barleyman (‘byelaw man’ in charge of upholding the bye laws of the manor), Pinder or pounder (in charge of impounding livestock), lookers (into a particular area, such as fencelooker who examined boundaries and fences), among other roles depending on the needs of the manor. We find evidence of these officials in the manorial documents.

NRO 672/A/3/87 first page giving details of Hexham manor, the names of the borough Jury and the Afeerors.
Part of the first page of NRO 672/A/3/87 giving details of Hexham manor, the names of the Borough Jury and the Afeerors.

To show how customs worked we will take Hexham manor as an example. In Hexham we have an excellent series of what is known as the Borough Jury books (often spelt ‘burrow books’) from the seventeeth to nineteenth century which give ‘presentments’ (judgements of cases) jurored by a group of the townsmen known as the four and twenty. These books list other roles like the common keepers, market keepers, waits, affeerors, and scavengers. Affeerors were appointed from among the tenants to ensure amercements (fines) were kept fair. Waits were watchmen, often required to sound the hour. The (often female) scavengers swept the market and maintained street gutters in the town, fighting against the piles of rubbish (also ashes, thatch, weeds, gravel, bark and stones) Hexham’s townspeople were presented for leaving.

Detail from NRO 672/A/3/87 giving the names of the Scavengers.
Detail from NRO 672/A/3/87 giving the names of the Scavengers.

 

Other roles can also be found:

Read moreIt’s our custom – day to day life in the manorial documents

The Woodhorn Explosion

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Memorial Card
Memorial Card

 

On the morning of Sunday 13th August 1916, an explosion ripped through the Main Seam at Woodhorn Colliery.  A party of men working on a ‘repair shift’ were working to set steel girders as roof supports, and as the work was of a special nature, the shift was composed of eight Deputy Overmen, three Stonemen, a Shifter and a Putter.

The men received their instructions in the Low Main Seam at 6am from the Master-shifter, and then proceeded up the drift to the Main Seam.  About half an hour after the men left, the master-shifter was aware that something had happened, and he and others went up the drift.  They found two men alive but unconscious in the drift below the Main Seam workings; the other eleven men had been killed outright by the explosion.

At the inquest held on 12th, 13th and 21st of September at the Harmonic Hall evidence was gathered from witnesses and the result showed that a catalogue of failures at the colliery had made the disaster inevitable.

The air compressor, which sends a current of air into each working, was not at work on the Sunday morning, this was usual practice at the weekends. On the previous Friday night through to Saturday morning the Capell Fan, the ventilating fan for the underground seams had been stopped for overhauling and repairs. A furnace had been lit to draw the current of air but this method is not so effective for ventilation. On Saturday morning, the fan was turned back on to maximum capacity, but by the night shift, steam power to drive the engine was only at fifty percent its normal capacity as the number of firemen required was down by two, instead of four, this was repeated on Sunday morning when another two firemen were absent from the six needed. This drop in ventilation made any gas present, less likely to be safely dispersed.

Up until the explosion, gas had never been seen in this seam. It seems likely that no thorough inspection for gas was made before the shift started; no written records of any reports were found for this shift, or any of the previous working Sundays.

The Jury of the inquest reported its findings in this way:

“That the 13 men whose names have been repeatedly read – the said deceased men were accidentally killed on the 13th day of August 1916, while working in Woodhorn Colliery by and explosion of gas in the Main Seam, and that such gas had accumulated through want of sufficient ventilation, and exploded through contact with a naked light and before any fall of stone took place. The jury are of the opinion that the management should see in the future that written reposts should be made for every shift, special or otherwise. The jury are also of opinion that there has been a certain amount of laxity on the part of the management for not seeing to sufficient ventilation being maintained”.

Woodhorn Colliery was, even before this time in a state of crisis. The First World War had a massive impact, with 778 men of the 2337 employees leaving Woodhorn Colliery to fight in the conflict. Men were working extra shifts to fill the roles of those fighting and to maximise coal production for the war effort, but this in turn led to illness and absenteeism. Posters issued by the Ashington Coal Company had little effect on absenteeism at any of their collieries and power to prosecute repeated offenders was discussed on 26th July, prior to the explosion. E. W. Milburn, Manager of Woodhorn was in France fighting with the 7th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, while the colliery worked under the guidance of J.J. Hall, Agent to the Ashington Coal Company. On 11th August, two days before the explosion, the Ashington Coal Company reported that an application had been made to the Minister of Munitions for the demobilisation of Major Milburn to return as Manager of Woodhorn Colliery.

 

NRO 7663-4-1 copy

 

At the Petty Sessions held at Morpeth on 10th January 1917, charges were brought upon Joseph John Hall, temporary Manager of the Colliery, and Charles Bennett Howe the engine wright, with a failure to provide proper ventilation. The case against both men was dismissed, and the subsequent appeal by the Northumberland Miners Association at the Divisional Bench was also lost.

The Ashington Coal Company was at the time enabling the families of those fighting in the War to stay in their colliery houses; this resulted in fewer houses available to new workers. The Coal Company especially needed the houses of the families of the Deputies who died in the explosion for the new Deputies to move into. As housing was difficult to come by during wartime, wrangling with the families in vacating the houses carried on until the following February, and talk of withholding compensation to the families was mooted by the coal company to force the families out.

 

NRO 7028-6-40 copy

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