Following on from our post of 28th November we have the second entry from the Matron’s Medical Report Book with an additional 4 patients being admitted and reports on the progress of all the 9 patients currently in the sanatorium.
May 9th 1908
“Four new patients have come during the last month.
7. Henry James Robinson, aged 14 ½; Address 50 Warwick St, Gateshead. Admitted April 11th
9. Dora Patterson, aged 16 ½; Address 10, Saltwood Place, Bensham. Admitted May 2nd
10. John Joseph Mills, aged 11 ½; Address, 50 Mansfield St, Newcastle. Admitted May 2nd
The total number is only 9 owing to the fact that one boy, John Nicolson, developed appendicitis on May 2nd. He was removed by Dr Allison to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, the next morning & operated on within 2 hrs of his arrival there.
The general condition of the patients continues to improve though the gain in weight in most cases is not so striking satisfactory as during the first month. The average gain in weight per week per person is .95 lb.
No patients have fever now. Five of the nine patients cough up no phlegm. Of the remaining four the sputum has been examined for tubercle bacilli in 3 cases & in 2 of these (Maggie Smith & James Robson) they were found to be present in small numbers.
The local condition is satisfactory in all patients though there is no obvious improvement in the case of J. Robson & H. Robinson & also of the latest two arrivals.
We are feeling the need of encouraging the children to do some work. One boy (J. Kenney) is now looking after some hens that live on the field; & more light work of this kind would be much appreciated by the children & would help to improve their moral tone.
Also it is becoming increasingly desirable that the boys should be kept more separate from the girls by occupying wards on a different floor. This would mean that another nurse would be most valuable as we find it impossible to leave the children for five minutes without regretting it.”
At present we are concentrating upon the collections we hold within Northumberland Archives. Based upon the original MDR card index this constitutes 22% of the manorial records known to relate to the county. A proportion of the manorial documents we hold have been item listed and are easy to load directly to the database.
Unlisted Bundles
Large quantities however are listed at bundle level or are mixed within totally unlisted collections. Manorial records are often found in family and estate papers. Northumberland’s major landed families held large quantities of land much of which was manorial. The head of the family was often lord of the manor. As there was no central registration of land ownership the manorial records were an important source of proof to the ownership of land and property.
We are required to identify, describe and date individual document types therefore we need to check all of this material individually to ensure we record all the manorial records we hold.
Unwrapped bundle
This in itself is one of the most interesting elements of the project as you never quite know what you are going to find amongst the unlisted records.
When we start examining the bundles we are looking for specific types of manorial document which can often be mixed with deeds and other records from the same collection. Luckily many can be identified from their appearance alone. The Court Roll is a good example. Early manorial courts recorded the court proceedings on pieces of parchment which were stitched together to form a roll. This was later replaced by paper and even if not in the form of a roll these documents are often much larger and longer than other contemporary records so are quite easy to pick out from their physical appearance.
Hexham Court Roll – unrolled!
The Court Roll format is also quite specific and always begins with the name of the manor on the left, and then to the right the type of court, the name of the lord of the manor, where the court was held and when, and the name of the presiding official. This is usually followed by a list of tenants who failed to attend court; surrenders and admissions which record changes in tenancy; a list of jurors; presentments to be considered by the jury and any other court business arising in that particular session.This general formula is very useful when dealing with rolls in Latin because the same phrases crop up and can be easily translated into English.
Morpeth Court Roll 1659, SANT-BEQ-28-1-1
There were two types of manorial court; the Court Baron was the principal manorial court and was held every 3-4 weeks. It dealt with the main administration of the manor and offences against it. The Court Leet was held every six months and dealt with the enforcement of law and minor offences within the manor. This court usually includes the ’view of frankpledge’ a system of mutual responsibility for law and order. Court rolls can often be found together in series covering a number of months or years and may have other court papers attached to them. Each time we look at unlisted documents we are hoping to find court rolls as these provide proof that the manor existed and operated as such.
Mr W Howe, High Street Berwick, has received the following interesting letter from his friend Sapper W. Cromarty, Royal Engineers, who is serving at the front:-
27086
2nd Division Signal Co.
Royal Engineers
Expeditionary Force
30 December
Dear Will: – Well old chap how goes it now? Very many thanks for your kind letter and cigarettes not to mention the good old “Berwick Advertiser” Good gracious what a shock to see my letter in that place of honour, but if I had known you really meant to publish it I should have been a bit more careful in my grammatical expression, etc. However, the Berwick folk are forgiving and I am pretty certain any discrepancy will be passed over lightly.
Christmas 1914, is now a thing of the past, but I must confess that although on active service, I along with my comrades in the detachment managed to enjoy ourselves very much. I started celebrating Christmas on the 24th. On Christmas Eve we had a musical evening. No one was downhearted at all so “King Ragtime” was re-awakened with a vengeance. Ragtime, however, didn’t reign too long. We had solos, some good old fashioned songs (not forgetting the Scotch ones) and last but not least – carols. It was a time of uncertainty, none of us knew how soon we might have to move, but trust the Tommy to make the best of a bad job, or at least I should say making the best use of any opportunity such as we had.
We were determined to have some kind of Christmas celebration and we had it. However, I couldn’t take too much part in the sing song as I had to commence duty at 1 a.m. on Christmas Day, so I had a little sleep before commencing, knowing full well I would stand little chance of getting any when finishing about breakfast time. I started Christmas Day very well indeed, having bacon and eggs for breakfast, the bacon we got supplied, the eggs were procured – from where I cannot say.
After breakfast we all helped to make things as comfortable as possible and then our thoughts turned instinctively to dinner. We then organised what is known to the Tommy out here as a “scrounging” expedition and by the time everyone had returned we found we could manage a very good dinner. Pork chops, potatoes and plenty of vegetables were in our possession and having the means of cooking them alright I can safely say the dinner when finished wouldn’t have caused a murmur from the most severe critic.
Christmas wouldn’t have been complete without a pudding, so I may mention we had Christmas pudding too. We burnt it in the customary way, wished each other compliments of the season and then – exit pudding. I don’t think there was one of us who didn’t feel perfectly happy after dinner. Although our surroundings were none too homely, we felt thankful for being able to get our dinner in peace. Naturally our thoughts were far away at home, wondering how our old folk were faring and doubtless wishing we had been able to fill the vacant chair which could be vividly pictured by the mind’s eye. “Ah well chaps we’ll be home for next Christmas” was one fellow’s consoling remark, to which I heartily said “Roll on”.
I was on duty again after dinner, but was fortunate enough to be present at tea time. What a revelation tea time was! Most of the fellows had had parcels from friends at home, with all manner of good things suitable for tea and so by “mucking in” (another soldiers phrase, we had a real good “bust up” sardines, cakes, scones, butter and bread and jam were all abundantly represented so it does not need an extraordinary intelligent person to understand how much we enjoyed ourselves.
Advert from Berwick Advertiser 8th January 1915
At night we had another concert, which lasted till very late at night and so ended my Christmas Day on the battlefield. It would be unfair not to mention our two officers, who, I am sure, were partly instrumental in lightening our work as much as possible so as to give us a good time. They are both “two of the best” and I consider myself extremely fortunate in having such fine fellows in charge. It is now very close to the New Year, 1914 is closing down its black and warstained pages. Let us hope that 1915 will bring us victory and that very soon we will see the tone of war closed and clasped never to open again.
I was very sorry to hear how our “cultured” friend had visited the East coast and- as is his usual way –taken such a heavy toll of innocent lives. You will have seen many photographs showing the damage caused by the short bombardment of the three towns. You will perhaps be able to grasp some idea as to what a town or village will look like after being bombarded day and night for some time. I have seen villages completely ruined; whilst one town the Germans bombarded very close to where I was working can boast of only a few undamaged buildings. It was a town much larger than Berwick, possessing a beautiful cathedral and some very imposing civil buildings. “Kultur” however, got to work with its big guns and now very little remains but broken jagged walls on the once beautiful buildings. The people at home will now understand and comprehend the martyrdom of the Belgians and French, and I‘m sure instead of having the desired effect of intimidation that act of vandalism will stimulate the people to a sense of duty which will, I am sure, be beneficial to the country.”
Postscript
We are trying to find out additional information about Sapper W Cromarty (27086). We think he survived the First World War and know that he must have had a connection with the North Northumberland area. If anyone can tell us anything else about him, please post a comment or contactberwickarchives@woodhorn.org.uk
Advert from the Berwick Advertiser 8th January 1915
