Come with me on a journey long ago. A coach and four strong horses, jolts and judders its way down the Great North Road. Next stop is Morpeth, a fair market town, and there will be time to stretch your legs there. The coach stops at The Queen’s Head, a fine establishment with good fayre to revive the weary traveller. You are hopeful of a slice of their famous meat pie, as you breakfasted long before the sun rose, and your packed bread and cheese was gone by the time Belford was reached. Can you hear the horse hooves drumming? The drivers’ chatter above the crack of the whip and rumble of wheels? Can you smell the sweat of the horses? Can you taste the dust in your throat? Pull that thick travel coat tightly around you now, as even the expensive purchase of a cushioned seat inside the carriage, does not stop the cold northern winds from clawing at your bones. And your destination, still many miles down the hard open road, is Newcastle upon Tyne.
Catalogue reference B/DAT/9/2/ is a collection of carriage licences and permits covering the period 1812 to 1834. They provide a tantalising glimpse into the vast industry of passenger coaches and carriages that traded up and down the Great North Road. They are evocative of a time where steam was yet to mobilise the traveller and the horse and carriage was the principal means of movement between towns.
The licenses were issued by a Mr Robert Thorp, Distributor of Stamps for Northumberland, to run passenger services along the Great North Road between Berwick upon Tweed and Newcastle upon Tyne, taking in stopping points at Alnwick, Belford, Felton and Morpeth. Those applying for license to run a carriage tended to be innkeepers, with a vested interest in bringing coach trade to their door. The document shown is the carriage license issued in 1834 to Mr. Joseph Henderson, innkeeper of Morpeth, to run a service between Morpeth and Newcastle upon Tyne on a Tuesday and a Saturday. Pigot’s Trade Directory of 1834 identifies Joseph Henderson as the proprietor of The New Phoenix Inn in Morpeth. Like the The Queen’s Head or The Black Bull, well beloved of more modern Morpethians, The New Pheonix Inn was one of many inns in Morpeth that thrived as a coaching hub in the Georgian era. Whilst the New Pheonix Inn is long gone, New Pheonix Yard still exists off Bridge Street in Morpeth, suggesting Mr Henderson’s establishment had a prime location for coaching, opposite the then newly built Telford Bridge over the River Wansbeck (built 1831).
The Great North Road that these travellers would have known is all but gone now, by-passed and built over in the ever-demanding needs of the motorcar. But atmospheric snippets of it are still to be found in our county back lanes. Across the hedge from the A1, just south of where Stannington Vale crosses the Blyth, is Shotton Lane. Where this old road skirts the grounds of Blagdon Hall, it very much retains the character of The Great North Road – a narrower, windier, greener route than the adjacent modern arterial road that replaced it. So perhaps….if you go there and listen carefully, hidden within the roar of passing traffic……you might just hear the gallop of horses, the rattle of carriage wheels or the crack of a coachman’s whip.
A typical day in the Study Centre can result in a variety of emotions. If people are looking at parish records, they often get excited and quite animated when they find a baptism, marriage or burial. This is especially true if they have been searching for a long period of time and they suddenly find it. Over the years I have heard many a whoop of delight coming from the microfilm area of the room! There is often an insistence that relatives are Anglican despite not being able to find them anywhere in the Anglican parish records. One man was adamant that his great grandfather wasn’t a non-conformist then after much persuasion, he agreed to look at these records. Within minutes he had found him. I think he was rather happy as the words “I love you” escaped from his lips.
Photographs and maps evoke a similar reaction. Photographs of old shops and pubs are always very popular, and it is lovely to hear our users chat about them. People reminisce about how they used to look, who owned them and whether they are still standing today. We also get many requests for old maps, the most popular being our Ordnance Survey collection. Researchers may be looking for a particular building or farm, or they may simply be tracking changes in an area over time. The red/pink colour of the 1st edition 25” maps (c.1860) is visually appealing but if they wish to find street names, then the 3rd edition (c.1920) will provide this. It is very easy to get lost in maps and even if they don’t always provide the information they were looking for, it is rare for somebody to leave without saying that they still thoroughly enjoyed looking at them. Our Reprographics department receive many requests for copies. Some ask for a digital version so they can have it on their screen and zoom in on areas, but many prefer a print so they can frame a little bit of history.
OS 1st Ed 32.9
Northumberland Archives hold a large newspaper collection and newspapers are also regularly requested by our users. Looking for old wedding photographs of parents/grandparents is popular as is searching for sporting images of football and cricket teams. You know somebody is happy when you hear “yes, I’ve found it!” However, not all newspaper searches are for happy reasons. Over the years I have been on duty in the Study Centre, I have advised usersto search newspapers in order to find information about traffic accidents, court hearings, house fires, bankruptcy and murder.
Sadly, we hold many records that can be extremely distressing yet despite this, it is important that we hold sensitive material and allow access to it subject to strict closure periods. Often, we are asked to produce coroner reports so people can discover more about how their ancestor died. Our leaflet about these records states that Coroners undertake inquests and post-mortems to determine the cause of death particularly on those who have died suddenly, alone, in suspicious or in violent circumstances. As you can imagine, these documents can be extremely painful to read. They can also be difficult records for staff to work with as they need to read them during the cataloguing process.
Unfortunately, many early reports haven’t survived but inquests were often reported in great detail in the local press, so it is always worth checking our collection. Again, another example of how important old newspapers can be. Currently, coroners records are closed to public inspection for 75 years. However, if a request is made for a report that falls within the closure period, the Coroner will make the decision about access. Proof of a close family relationship to the deceased is usually needed in order to achieve this.
Our St. George’s hospital (former County Lunatic Asylum) case books are another class of records which make people emotional. Mental Health is widely discussed today but, in the past, there was a huge stigma attached to it. Northumberland Archives hold numerous patient case books, beginning in 1890. We get countless requests to view these records and I have witnessed manyshed a tear when reading through them. Often there is a photograph of the patient and whenpeople see them, they are surprised. There is always a mixture of emotions as they are happy to see their ancestor but then sadness hits them when they remember where the photograph was taken. Many say that the patients have a haunted look which makes it even more poignant.
NRO 3680/235
One lady who visited our Study Centre had discovered that her female ancestor was a patient in St. George’s, and she had never seen a photograph of her before so was hoping to find one. I found the case book and luckily there was an image attached to the notes. I left the lady to read through the material and look at the photograph then returned to her later to make sure that she was ok. She said that she felt very emotional which seemed silly for a lady she had never met. I assured her that these types of records often seemed to elicit a reaction like that. She then touched my hand and said, “thank you for finding her.” For me, that was a very good day on duty in the Study Centre.
There was no one more annoyed than Mr James Linton, Berwick, five years ago, when he lost from his watch chain in the waters of the Whitadder the gold medal awarded to him in 1906, when he won the championship of Berwick and District Angling Club. On Monday the medal was restored to him, a little damaged no doubt after its long stay in the river bed, but still in fair condition, and the story of how it was recovered is not without interest.
To begin with it was in the summer of 1917 that Mr Linton lost his medal. He was having his holidays at the time and had been fishing on the Gainslaw side of the Whitadder above Canty’s Bridge. He believes the medal broke from his watch chain either as he was coming over the fence at the end of the Plantation or else while he was fishing down the flat opposite Mr Knox’s cottages. From that day to this week the medal was given up as lost by Mr Linton.
Reference: BRO 1550-031
Then came the finding of it which is very curious. An angler fishing up the Gainslaw bank on Saturday afternoon last stepped into the water at the muddy bottom opposite Canty’s Hole. After fishing for a few minutes he felt what he thought was a stone in his wading shoe. On coming to the bank later he was surprised to find inside his shoe a little medal, shaped like a cross, with thistle embellishment, which was tarnished and blackened by immersion in the mud. He polished it up and then discovered the inscription on the back: “Berwick and District Angling Club, won by James Linton, 1906.” Evidently the medal had lain in the mud for years, and when the angler’s shoe had sunk in the mud it had slipped in between the side of the shoe and the wader.
Mr Linton was very pleased to have the badge handed back to him and although it has been damaged, apparently through having been trodden on, he is having it re-mounted.
NASTY CYCLING ACCIDENT AT BERWICK.
TWO BOYS BADLY HURT
While cycling down the hill at Prior House, Berwick, on Thursday night May 3, a lad named Conlin, residing in Mount Road, Tweedmouth, came into violent collision with a little boy named darling, who resides at Murton, and who had run on to the road in front of the cycle.
Conlin was heavily thrown, sustaining a broken collar bone, and the boy darling, who got the full force of the impact, had his leg badly fractured and torn. Darling was conveyed to Berwick Infirmary by motor ambulance and detained, while Conlin, who was severely shaken but less seriously injured, was conveyed home.
LOCAL NEWS
The people of Berwick are beginning to find out the delights of the new pathway along the sea-banks running north from Dod’s Well. The “Primrose Banks” have always been popular, but the going was rather too rough to be frequented much as a regular walk. Now, thanks to the labours of men out of work during the rigours of winter the rough places have been made smooth and the way plain, and with glorious sunshine tempering the sea breezes, a stroll along this path is delightful. As the path winds in and out following the many indentations the sea has made, glimpses of the coast-line can be had from Holy Island and the Farnes up to the point south of Eyemouth. On Sunday the sea was of a glorious blue, with a fringe of dancing white as the waves beat on the rocky shore or dashed into the caves and caverns at the foot of the grassy banks. The coast is nearly all rocky northwards to the “needle Eye,” save for one stretch of sand, rather un-get-at-able because of the steep banks. There is only one objectionable feature to this new walk, and that is a heap here and there of old tins, broken bottles and china that had apparently been tipped over the banks before this new development was thought of.
NORHAM BOATHOUSE FARM
SELLS FOR £1600
On Saturday afternoon Mr W. J. Bolam, auctioneer, Berwick, offered for sale in the King’s Arms Assembly Rooms, Norham Boathouse farm, situated on Tweedside, and extending to 46.695 acres, the property of Sir F. D. Blake, Bart. The adjacent salmon fisheries were not included in the sale and the property was sold subject to all rights of ownership of such fisheries and to all rights of access thereto and to all usage’s enjoyed in connection therewith. Mr Bolam described the farm as one of the best little farms on Tweedside and has the advantages of a gravitation water supply. He also referred to the quarry which would be of some value as houses and cottages would have to be put up some day in the neighbourhood.
BRO 0426-355 Hide Hill, showing the King’s Arms Hotel, Berwick-upon-Tweed
Referring to the reduction in the rate of income tax, Mr Bolam explained that farmers would not feel the benefit of that reduction this year, as the instalment payable in July, 1922, was really in respect of the income for the year ending 4th April, 1922. The basis of taxation of agricultural holdings would in future be on one year’s rental instead of two, or on profits, at the option of the tenant- a privilege enjoyed by no other section of the community. The financial year for tax purposes commenced on April 5th, and tax was payable in two instalments, on January 1st and July 1st, so that the tax actually due in respect of the year commencing 5th April, 1922, was not payable until January 1st, 1923, and July 1st 1923. He mentioned this as there seemed to be some uncertainty in the minds of agricultural tenants on the subject. As to rating relief, nothing definite had so far been promised, but Mr Bolam gave it as his opinion that the authorities would not be able to withstand the pressure of opinion so freely and strongly expressed at all recent meetings of agricultural societies, and he thought it certain that at no distant date some measure of relief must be given to occupiers of agricultural land. These two items had a very important bearing on the question of valuation of land, and he thought intending purchasers should bear them in mind.
Bidding started at £1000 and rose fairly rapidly to £1600, when the farm was knocked down to Capt. Davidson, Charlton Hall, Chathill, Norham, some time ago.
SALMON COBLE IN DANGER OFF BERWICK
THREE MEN RESCUED BY LIFEBOAT
Berwick lifeboat was summoned by the Coast Guards on Thursday night to assist three salmon fishers who had gone to the line fishing in the bay in a salmon coble, which was in danger of being swamped by the choppy sea set up by a westerly gale which was blowing.
NU 00583 52641 from NU 00567 52677
The plight of the men was also seen by a schooner, which was lying in the bay, and that vessel bore down to windward and protected the frail craft from the force of the wind squalls. The lifeboat was launched very smartly, and under sail soon reached the coble, taking the men aboard and the boat in tow. The men, who are employed at Blakewell fishing bat, were Henry Wilson, John Wilson and Thomas Wood, and they were little the worse of their experience when landed.
The rescue was watched by large crowds in the fields and on the Walls and Pier.
