This blog has been researched and written as part of Northumberland Archives Heritage Lottery funded ‘At War and In Peace …’ project. The project allows us to explore sources relating to the Second World War Home Front in Northumberland and societal reconstruction in the county in the period immediately after the War. The research undertaken within the project will inform a programme of related exhibitions, outreach and schools education activity that will be hosted at venues across Northumberland.

As it became apparent that the Second World War was drawing to a close, many local communities established Welcome Home Funds to raise monies to thank those from their communities who had served. One such community was Mitford, a village two miles west of Morpeth, Northumberland. Papers held by Northumberland Archives (ref: NRO 02695/2) tell the story of the efforts made by members of the one Northumberland community to fundraise and provide information about some of the recipients of the Fund.

The first meeting of the Mitford Welcome Home Fund was held at Mitford School on 20 September 1944. The meeting was convened by Rev. John D. Caldwell, Vicar of the parish. John Caldwell had been appointed Vicar of Mitford in 1934 and was to serve the parish until 1948. The Fund was established to serve the ecclesiastical parish of Mitford meaning that committee members and recipients of the monies collected by the Fund lived not just in Mitford village but in the wider, largely agricultural area. Thomas Gibson, schoolmaster & ARP Warden was appointed secretary of the fund and James Stephenson appointed Treasurer.

The minute book does not provide indication of addresses and occupations of committee members, but we have used the 1939 Register to attempt to identify them. It seems likely that James Stephenson lived at Newton Red House and worked on the family farm. Other Committee members appointed at the first meeting were:

· L. Appleby – possibly member of Appleby family of West High House, farmers

· George Brown of Mitford, timber merchant

· Mrs. W. Brown

· Edith Caldwell, vicar’s wife

· Winfred Cameron, wife of John Cameron, lorry driver and member of Police War Reserve

· Sydney Dunn, platelayer and his wife Lilian

· Joseph Fraser, Head Woodsman, and his wife Annie, of Middle Coldside

· Edward Gill, farmer of Newton Mill, J. Gill

· Eleanor Huddleston, milkmaid, Newton Red House

· Thomas Marshall, head gardener

· D. Potts, Olga Potts, daughter of farmer, Matthew Potts, of East Molesden

· James Renton of Garden House, Molesden

· Thomas Renton, gamekeeper and Special Constable and his wife Margaret

· Miss Walker – possibly Winifred Walker of Highford and Alice Walton, stonemason’s daughter of Newton Underwood

Unsurprisingly, several members of the Committee worked on the Mitford estate, owned by the Mitford family for centuries.

At the second meeting of the Fund Committee held on 22 September 1944 it was agreed how members would raise funds – via house-to-house collections, whist drives, dances and raffles. One of the first actions of the Committee was to apply to the local police force for permission to undertake door to door collections. This was necessary under the terms of The War Charities Act of 1940 – an attempt to regulate charitable collections linked to the War. The Committee also agreed to hold monthly whist drives in the school with whist commencing at 7.30 p.m. followed by a dance at 10 p.m. The first of these events was held on 29 September 1944 and was advertised in the local newspaper, The Morpeth Herald. Charges were set at whist & supper 1/6d (7.5p), dance 1/6d (7.5p) and both events 2/6d (12.5p). Members of the Forces to be charged 1s (5p) for each event. The Committee also agreed on the persons to be welcomed home – ‘those who joined from Mitford Parish any of the following ‘Royal Navy, Air Force, ATS, WRNS, WAAF and military nurses’. It was agreed that the target figure of £300 be raised (equivalent to £11.5k today) and that a bank account be opened with Martins Bank.

The first event was clearly a success and at the next committee meeting of 18 October 1944 it was agreed that the next whist drive/dance be held on 10 November 1944 and another one on 1 December 1944. Mrs. Marshall (likely Isobel Marshall, wife of Committee member Thomas) offered a pig as a raffle prize and those collecting door to door were asked to collect the names of likely recipients of the Welcome Home Fund donations. This matter was picked up at the next meeting of 15 November 1944 when consideration was given to the list drawn up to date. The consensus was that the list was not comprehensive and a sub-committee of three was appointed to work on this task. The Committee agreed that the next whist drive would be a ‘Fur and Feather Whist Drive’ with chickens and rabbits offered as prizes. The offering of meat as prizes reflected rationing and wartime shortages.

Fundraising success was reported at the next meeting of 17 January 1945 when it was agreed that £100 be invested in 500 War Savings Certificates. War Savings were a government initiative to raise monies for the war effort. This blog published by The National Archives tells some of the history of War Savings – Every little helps: The history of the National Savings movement – The National Archives blog.

Work was still underway compiling a list of Fund recipients with a request that lists of potential recipients be submitted to Committee with a view to drawing up a final list. Discussions about recipients of monies raised and arrangements for distribution continued over the following months. It was agreed that a cash gift be given to all recipients and that monies raised be shared equally. At the meeting of 19 March 1945, it was agreed that no monies be distributed until the war with Germany was over.

By August 1945 a total of £576 0 8 had been raised (equivalent to about £21.5k today). By this point a final list of 62 recipients had been drawn up. There was some discussion about two persons whose names had been on the list but had subsequently lost their lives. It was agreed that something be given to the next of kin, ‘perhaps from money raised independently of the WHF’. The final list was published in The Morpeth Herald of 12 October 1945 and comprised 62 names including 11 women. The list included the names of five who had lost their lives – Harry Dunbar, George Elliott, James Little, Richard Brewis and Frank Reed. Others listed were:

NAVY

John Clelland, Thomas Harland, George Hood, James Hood, Alec. Swinhoe, Leslie Dodds, Robert Dodds and George Clelland

ARMY

Robert Anderson, Richard Blenkinsop, Ian Blenkinsop, Thomas S. Bruce, Edward Clark, Lancelot Clark, Norman Clark, John Elliott, Alan Gibson, William Gill, Norman Hood, Thomas G. Lothian, Joseph Reid, G. Wrangdale Rutherford, William S. Sanderson, Neil Speke, Neil Severs, Vivian Swinhoe, Thomas Taylor, William E. Thompson, Albert Tweddle, John Tweddle, A. L. Witt, Peter Walton, George G. Bainbridge, George G. Watson

R.A.F.

Robert F. Blair, Ralph G. Brewis, Richard Common, Wilfred Coulson, Desmond Ellis, John Hood, William A. Lee, Robert Walton, William D Morton, Ronald Welch

Q.A.N.S.

Violet Fraser

W.R.N.S.

Muriel Hine

A.T.S.

Joan Dargie, Edith Dunbar, Isabel Harland, Irene Murphy, Hester Speke, C. Hornsby

W.A.A.F.

Mary Clark, Lilian Clark, Margaret Lee, Mary Brewis

Red Cross Ambulance Driver

Meriel Speke

Abbreviations used are:

Q.A.N.S. – Queen Alexandra Nursing Corps

W.R.N.S. – Women’s Royal Naval Service

A.T.S. – Auxiliary Territorial Service

W.A.A.F. – Women’s Auxiliary Air Force

This blog was written and researched by Claire Botham. Claire works for Historic England but spent some time at Northumberland Archives on a career development placement. Claire looked at the inquest papers relating to the Corbridge Hoard (ref: COS/3/34/12) and some related sources when researching her blog.

Corbridge Roman Town in the Tyne Valley area of Northumberland supported the adjacent Roman Frontier Garrison and was a depot for the distribution of provisions and a centre for manufacture of many articles required by neighbouring troops.

Excavations of the long buried site were started by the Corbridge Excavation Committee, whose President was the Duke of Northumberland, and excavations took place every year between 1907-1914.

The first significant find of these excavations was in September 1908 when workmen found a sheet of lead beneath a floor of which the two ends had been bent over to form a case or receptacle. Once unwrapped a gold ring and 48 coins were discovered. (Carlisle Journal 19/07/1912).

Discussions over the rightful owner of these items reached the High Court of Justice on 22 February 1910 when Henry George, 7th Duke of Northumberland, stated that they were “Treasure Trove” and claimed to be entitled to them. This meant that he was disputing the fact that these articles were the property of the King Edward VII.

Now what is “Treasure Trove” I hear you ask? The earliest definition is from Henry De Bracton in the 13th Century who defined it as any “gold or silver, whether in coin, plate or bullion, found hidden in the earth or other private place where no one can prove ownership. This treasure belongs to the King unless the person who hid it is known or can be discovered”.

Sir William Blackstone defines it as “where any money or coin, gold, silver, plate or bullion, is found hidden in the earth, or other private place, the owner thereof being unknown”

This definition became even more important when a more significant find was made on the site on 4 September 1911. Two workmen, Holmes Riley and Edward Coxon, were digging out soil on the site and “did then find 159 gold coins of the Roman Period 54AD-159AD enclosed in a bronze jug or vase”

Holmes Riley’s witness statement to the Coroner, Henry Taylor Rutherford, on 29 September 1911, states that at 9.15am he was using a pick, “when some soil fell down exposing to view the bronze jug/vase. It was standing upright and the top of the jug was 1ft from the surface. Coxon then placed his hands by the side, Holmes used the pick and eased the jug… into Coxon’s hands and as it fell over the bottom came out. We then saw it contained a number of coins.”

The Foreman, John Rutherford, and the Superintendent of the Excavations, Robert Henry Forster, inspected the find and found there to be 159 gold and 2 bronze coins covering the periods from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, approximately AD 50 -AD 180. These coins were deposited with Lloyds Bank in Corbridge for safekeeping and were examined by Mr H.H.E.Craster, known as Edmund Craster, an expert numismatist, who had examined the gold coins found in 1908.

The ownership of the coins was discussed in detail at this inquest with representatives from the Treasury, the Duke of Northumberland and Captain Cuthbert, the landowner. The Duke of Northumberland was the Lord of the Manor having been awarded the area of land under an Act of Parliament of 1776.

The Duke of Northumberland writes to the Corbridge Excavation Committee on 18 September 1911 (SANT/GEN/ARC/1/4) asking them to approach the Treasury “making it plain that they do not do so in my interest, but in the interest of local archaeology, and that they regard it as a matter of urgency in consequence of the discontent exhibited by the workmen at not receiving any reward pending litigation”. On 21 September 1911 he suggests “he should lie low, as the Treasury must not suppose that I am trying to grind my own axe… and if I prove my right to Treasure Trove, I may take the find to Alnwick and lock it up”.

Both the Duke and the landowner contended that as the coins had been accidently abandoned, probably during one of the raids of the Caledonians (Scots), they were not Treasure Trove but belonged to the finder or Lord of the Manor. However, the gold coins had been carefully deposited in a suitable receptacle as if with the deliberate intention of secreting them and all of the evidence shows that the jug had not changed its position from the day on which it passed out of its original owners hands till it was discovered (George McDonald report 1912- reported in Scotsman on 4 November 1912).

By 3 October 1911 the Duke seems to have realised that his claim for these coins is somewhat diminished as the Treasury had formally challenged his right to Treasure Trove, and he had little hope that there was a precedent he could use in support of his claim.

Captain Cuthbert, the landowner, writes on 12 November 1911 that “the treasury intends to act “in the interest of archaeological science generally” and to forego my just claim.” But by 19 January 1912 he writes that “I still do not agree that the 1911 fund is Treasure Trove but I give up my claim because the collection might be kept together” (SANT/GEN/ARC/1/4).

By early 1912 both the Duke of Northumberland and the landowner relinquished their claim to the coins and a High Court judgement on 23 February 1912 meant that a Treasury representative could call into Lloyds Bank in Corbridge to take possession of them.

One of the coins discovered is particularly important with a coin of Faustina, wife of Antoninus Pius, which records the inception of an institution for the education of young girls, which was founded by her husband after her death. There is only one other surviving example of this coin held in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris (London Evening Standard 19 July 1912).

Both the 1908 and 1911 hoard have been preserved intact by the British Museum and are not mixed with the rest of the Roman coin collection so students can examine and study them in their entirety.