BERWICK ADVERTISER, 17TH FEBRUARY 1922

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CAPTAIN COWAN’S TESTIMONIAL

TO THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE

EXPERIENCES AND SUGGESTIONS

(To the Editor)

Sir, – Having been one of the unfortunates who has had foot-and-mouth disease on his farm lately, I wish to state my experiences and conclusions.

I bought home 16 stirks from the local market on January 28, two of which showed signs of distress about mid-day January 30, and that afternoon the disease was confirmed by the local authorities, who communicated with headquarters. I had previously given instructions that these cattle should be completely isolated from all other stock for seven days after their arrival. Thus from the moment they came home they were never in contact with any other animals. The net result was that only that bunch of 16 were slaughtered on the morning of the third day after confirmation of the disease, thirteen of which were then affected – not wholesale slaughter of all the other cattle, sheep and pigs on the place as many of my neighbours thought.

The shed in which the animals were isolated was within 50 yards of the main cattle pens where there were 63 other cattle and 29 pigs. It is now eight days since the affected cattle were slaughtered, and there has been no further outbreak here, and I trust there will not be. On January 31 the Inspector of the Ministry of Agriculture took full charge of operations, and all his instructions were most carefully carried out and have so far been successful in checking the progress of the trouble.

I should like to contradict most emphatically what I have heard said in many quarters, namely, that the Ministry’s officials help to spread the disease through carelessness in moving from infected cattle to uninfected ones without proper disinfection. This is a libellous statement as far as my experience has gone, as the two officials I had the pleasure of dealing with in these distressing circumstances here, were most particularly careful, and did not enter uninfected areas after having been into the infected area, and whenever they came out of such places they washed their hands, oilskins coats and rubber boots most particularly all over in very strong Jeyes’ fluid.

I consider that if all cases are treated similarly the Ministry are doing the very best thing for the country in view of out great export trade in stock. Stock owners must co-operate and help officials to the utmost ability in fulfilling instructions to stamp out the disease.

My suggestion is – only import cattle from countries which can show a clean bill of health for a certain period of time, say, two years at least.

What about the Canadian embargo now? Put Ireland and Canada on the same basis. I hope our inspectors at ports and markets will use more care and discretion when performing their duties, as I am afraid somebody blundered at Newcastle, as apparently the bunch I bought on 28th January were watered and fed there, a then infected area. – Yours etc., JAMES R. C. COWAN. Shidlaw, Cornhill-on-Tweed, February 10.

LOCAL NEWS

A curious incident happened on the Old Bridge on Friday morning. A flock of sheep refused to pass a large motor lorry on the narrow thoroughfare at the high arch. Evidently with the intention of taking them off the Bridge,

Berwick upon Tweed, Old Bridge

the shepherd signalled to his dog. Not realising where it was, the animal cleared the parapet in a bound and landed in the Tweed. For some time it swam round the pillar in an endeavour to get out, and eventually, in response to a further signal, swam up stream and reached terra firma at the Boathouse.

For some weeks large quantities of crude rubber have been washed ashore on the coast between Bamburgh and Boulmer. Where the rubber has come from a mystery, as no shipping casualty has been reported off this part of the coast. The rubber is on slabs and appears to have been baled. It is just possible that it may have formed part of the deck cargo of some vessel caught in the recent heavy weather.

Bamburgh Castle, c.1930’s Ref: BRO 426/0927

Fishermen at Craster, Dunstanborough, Newton and Ross Links, as well as at Boulmer and Bamburgh, have been salving large quantities.

Craster, c.1930. Ref: NRO 2064/6

A hen met with a curious death at an East Lothian farm the other day. The steading has lately been brought up to date with labour saving machinery, one of the most interesting of which is a threshing-mill having conveyers for straw and grain, and blow-pipes through which a powerful draught of air draws away the chaff, and ejects it into the chaff-house. The hen selected an unfortunate position for egg-laying purposes. It was close to the intake of the blow-pipe, and when the machinery was set in motion, she was irresistibly carried away by the force of the draught and killed.

FASHIONABLE MARRIAGE

HOLDSWORTH-HODGKIN

The marriage took place on Monday at the Friends’ Meeting House, Truro, of Mr John Holdsworth, of Swartmoor, Havelock, North New Zealand, son of the late Mr and Mrs J. Holdsworth, of Eccles, and Miss Lucy Violet Hodgkin, of Truro and The Constable Tower, Bamburgh Castle, eldest daughter of the late Mr Thos. Hodgkin, D.C.L., of Newcastle, and Mrs Hodgkin, of Treworgan, Falmouth. The bride, who entered the Meeting House leaning on the arm of her brother, Mr Robert Hodgkin, of Oxford, wore a beautiful gown of grey chiffon velvet, with soft lace fichu clasped with a spray of real orange blossom grown at Glendurgan. She wore her mother’s wedding veil and carried a bunch of violets, with sprays of white heather, myrtle, and the New Zealand Manuka. The niece of the bride, Miss Violet Frances Bosanquet, eldest daughter of Professor R. C. Bosanquet, of Rock, attended the bride, wearing deep violet velvet with trimmings of grey fur. Grey shoes and stockings and a grey hat completed the toilet and a posy of violets was carried. She wore a circlet of pearls in the form of a brooch, the gift of the bridegroom. Mr J. Oliver Holdsworth, of Bolton, cousin of the bridegroom, acted as best man.

The wedding was very quiet and no reception was held at Treworgan; but Mrs Hodgkin entertained near relatives, and a few intimate friends in a room adjoining the old oak panelled meeting house. Later, the bride and bridegroom left to spend their honeymoon at Highcliff, Lyme Regis, Dorset, kindly lent by the Misses Lister. Mrs Holdsworth travelled in a suit of Parma violet faced cloth, with vest embroidered in silver threads, a hat of slightly darker shade of panne. The bride and bridegroom had expressed a wish not to be given wedding presents, but that these might take the form of contributions to the Russian Famine Fund or to the recently-formed Friends’ School at Wanganui, New Zealand. Many cheques were received for both objects, and in addition some useful and beautiful personal gifts.

A lifetime shared: Jacqueline Hope-Wallace and Veronica Wedgwood

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Dorothy Jacqueline Hope-Wallace, known as Jacqueline, was born in May 1909 in Kensington, London.  Featherstone Castle near Haltwhistle was inherited by her great-grandfather James Hope, from his uncle Lord Wallace in 1837; shortly afterwards he changed the family surname to Hope-Wallace.  At the time of Jacqueline’s birth, the Castle was occupied by her uncle, James Hope-Wallace who was killed during World War One.  Her father Charles Nugent Hope-Wallace was a civil servant; he influenced his daughter’s decision to enter the Civil Service after studying history at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.  Graduating in 1931 it was a somewhat difficult to find employment, and despite initial reservations, believing that civil service seemed ‘boring’, Jacqueline signed up and remained a civil servant for forty-years. 

NRO 6649/1/28/1

Jacqueline’s career was a notable one; starting in the Ministry of Labour, moving to the National Assistance Board, during which time she was awarded a CBE in the New Year’s Honours list of 1958, and finally onto the Ministry of Housing and Local Government as under-secretary in 1965.  The press of the time reported that she was the first female to reach that rank, however, Jacqueline later recalled in a 2009 interview for ‘Civil Service Network’ that there were women who were permanent secretaries at the time, and the reporting of this ‘fact’ had upset her.  Jacqueline did seem to enjoy often being the only woman in meetings; rather than the situation being daunting, it gave her ‘a little bit of self-esteem’.  Jacqueline retired from the Civil Service in 1969, although she continued to contribute to Boards, such as Corby Development Corporation, until 1980. 

Away from the Civil Service her life was very different; she lived with her younger brother Philip, a journalist and music critic, who often featured in the Guardian newspaper, and historian Dame C.V.  Wedgwood. 

Cicely Veronica Wedgwood, known as Veronica, was a prominent historian, she wrote under the initials C.V. to hide her gender.  She was born in Northumberland in July 1910; her baptism record held at Northumberland Archives shows that she was baptised on 18th August 1910 at Bywell St. Peter church, and records her parents living at Hindley House (which may also have been known as Hindley Hall), near Stocksfield at the time.   Her father Sir Ralph Lewis Wedgwood was a railway manager, her mother Iris Veronica Wedgwood (nee Pawson) was a travel writer, a copy of her book ‘Northumberland and Durham’ published in 1932 can be found in a number of Northumberland libraries.  Veronica was the great-great-great grand-daughter of the potter Josiah Wedgwood, for whom many the surname is best known. 

OS 2nd ED 104 NE

Veronica’s books written in a style that made them accessible to those who were not academics, which made her popular and well-respected.   Her subjects were generally seventeenth-century England; her first publication was “Stafford”, a biography of Thomas Wentworth, the Earl of Stafford when she was aged 25.  In addition to her publications, she was also a lecturer, broadcaster and involved in a number of societies and organisations including being the first female trustee of the National Gallery.  She was awarded the CBE in 1956; the DBE in 1968 and Order of Merit in 1969, the last of these honours she termed as ‘excessive’. 

It was at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford that the two ladies met; both studying history, both linked to Northumberland (Jacqueline more tenuously than Veronica), both having musical families.  The composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was the cousin of Veronica’s father; Veronica edited and wrote an introduction to Philip Hope-Wallace’s book ‘Words and Music’.  After graduating from university, the two ladies shared a house, appearing on the Electoral Roll for 1937 and 1939 at an address in Camden.  The 1939 Register records them both in Wimbledon in the home of Charles and Mabel Hope-Wallace, Jacqueline’s parents; Jacqueline a Civil Servant, the same as her father, and Veronica an author and translator (the Register incorrectly records Veronica’s surname as ‘Vedgwood’).  After the Second World War the ladies move to Marylebone sharing a property with Jacqueline’s brother Philip; the ladies later moved to Sussex where they lived until Veronica’s death.  The living arrangements does suggest that there may have been some family awareness and acceptance of the nature of the relationship from at least members of the Hope-Wallace family, especially Jacqueline’s brother Philip. 

How ‘out’ their relationship was in public during their lifetimes is difficult to gauge; it was not acknowledged in the majority of the obituaries following Veronica’s death.  The ‘Aberdeen Press and Journal’ reported on 11th March 1997 that “Leading historian C. V. Wedgwood has died after a short illness, aged 86.  She lived in London and Sussex with long-term friend Jacqueline Hope-Wallace”.    Veronica had suffered with Alzheimer’s disease, the woman with undoubtedly a brilliant mind had very sadly lost the ability to read and speak towards the end of her life.   The ‘British Academy’ published a feature about her life the following year which Jacqueline contributed to.  The article indicates that Veronica shared a house with the Hope-Wallace siblings, remaining close to Jacqueline after her brother passed away: “after Philip’s death in 1979 Jaqueline [spelling in text] remained her companion for the rest of her life”; in reference to Veronica’s deteriorating health, “The devoted care that Jaqueline Hope-Wallace gave her all through those silent years in beyond her friend’s praise”.  A 2016 publication about the life of historian Steven Runciman (a fellow-Northumbrian born historian) remarks that “Steven rarely felt much kinship with lesbian intellectuals even of Wedgwood’s grand respectable, classically minded calibre”.  The differing language used in these two pieces, published almost 20 years apart, perhaps demonstrate the shifting acceptance of the nature of relationships between women or perhaps the earlier publication reflects the language that Jacqueline herself felt comfortable with at the time.  Jacqueline passed away in 2011 at the grand old age of 102; she would have been aware of huge changes in how society viewed female partnerships during her lifetime and particularly in the years following the death of Veronica.  In the 2009, Jacqueline had been able to describe the relationship in her own words; succinct but very much demonstrating togetherness: “for nearly seventy years I shared a life with a well-known historian called Dame Veronica Wedgwood”. 

References

Parish Register of Bywell St Peter, 1858-1930 accessed via Reading Room

https://www.civilservant.org.uk/women-jacqueline_hope-wallace.html

https://www.thepeerage.com

www.ancestrylibraryedition.co.uk

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

Extract from “Outlandish Knight: The Byzantine Life of Steven Runciman” by Minoo Dinshaw (2016) accessed via www.books.google.co.uk

http://publications.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/pubs/proc/files/97p521.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 3RD FEBRUARY 1922

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BERWICK PETTY SESSIONS

ANNUAL LICENSING SESSIONS

Dates for Transfer Sessions were arranged as follows:- Thursdays, 23rd March, 11 May, 22nd June, 3rd August, 28th September, 9th November, 21st December, and 25th January, 1923.

A plan from Messrs Johnson and Darling for alterations at the Corporation Arms was approved by the bench, the police having no objections.

Mr H. R. Peters made an application for a transfer of the license of the Salmon Hotel, High Street, Berwick, from Mr John Evans, the present owner, to Mr John Sharp, 26 Station Road, Whitley Bay, Granted.

Supt. Halliday’s annual report was as follows:- There are in the Borough, 44 full licenses, 1 beer on, 4 beer and wine off, and 2 beer off; making a total of 51, and showing an average of one license to about 255 inhabitants- the population (1921Census) of the borough being 12,994. On full licensed house was closed during the year 1921, viz.:- The Sun Inn, Woolmarket, having been found to be structurally deficient and unsuitable. There are four registered Clubs in the Borough with a membership ranging from 108 to 250. During the year 1921, proceedings for drunkenness were taken in 121 cases and 117 convictions resulted, being an increase of eight proceedings and thirteen convictions when compared with the number similarly dealt with during the year 1920. The figures for 1921 are equivalent to 9 convictions per 1000 population as compared with 7.95 convictions per 1000 in 1920. Since last Brewster Sessions one license holder was proceeded against and the case was dismissed on payment of costs. I have served notices of objection on the licensees of the Free Trade Inn, Castlegate, the Old Angel Inn, Marygate, the Brewers Arms, Marygate, and the Berwick Arms, Marygate. These premises I consider are structurally deficient and unsuitable for licensed premises. There are noapplications for new licenses.

FREE TRADE INN – Supt. Halliday said the bar was 35ft by 12ft, a sitting room 15ft x 12ft, upstairs sitting room 12x 12. Inside the house there was a urinal and a W.C. near to the sitting room door. There was a very objectionable smell, especially in the summer time. The ceilings of the house are low and with a crowded house objectionable.

OLD ANGEL INN – Supt. Halliday said the bar was 12 x 15, sitting room 5 ½ x9, both with low ceilings. The building was old, damp and bad repair. There was also an outside passage with a side entrance in to the public house, which was an objection, as it facilitated secret drinking, especially amongst women. The outside passage was dark and not lit at nights. The accommodation was altogether inadequate, the bar, and one small sitting room being all there was. The place was called an inn, and therefore was supposed to accommodate travellers. There was no accommodation of that sort.

The Old Angel, Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1950’s Ref: BRO 1250/85

BREWER’S ARMS, MARYGATE- Supt. Halliday said the bar was 15th x21ft, sitting room 9f x 8ft, and another sitting room 21ft x 12ft. It was an old building and in very bad repair. The ceilings of the rooms were low. There was an outside passage with a side entrance, which encouraged secret drinking amongst women. There was no dwelling house in connection with this house.

Brewers Arms, Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1950’s. Ref: BRO 1250/18

BERWICK ARMS, MARYGATE – Supt. Halliday said the bar was 15ft by 12ft, and had a large window. There was a sitting room 15ft. by 12ft., and a kitchen 9ft by 12ft, which was sometimes used for drinking purposes. There was also a sitting room upstairs, 15ft by 12ft., also sometimes used for drinking purposes. The building was old, damp, and in very bad repair. There was an outside passage with a side entrance.

Berwick Arms, Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1950’s. Ref: BRO 1250/97

By Mr Henderson – There were no complaints against the conduct of the house. He thought Mr Wheeler did his best, but a side entrance was against proper supervision. Sometimes things were done in these dark passages which neither Mr Wheeler nor anyone else could see.

THE CASE FOR THE DEFENCE

Regarding the Free Trade Inn, Mr Steven, of the Border Brewery, in answer to Mr Henderson, said this was believed to be ante-1869 license. Alterations (including convenience) were made in 1904 to meet the wishes of the magistrates. The Border Brewery did not consider any further alterations necessary. They had had no objections from the tenant or his customers.

Mr Henderson said that, if the objection was upheld, this being an ante-1869 license, must be referred for compensation. If the house had a later license, and was objected to as structurally unsound, it could be closed without compensation.

In regard to the Old Angel Inn, Mr Henderson said Messrs Johnson & Darling would do their best to meet the wishes of the Superintendent. The plan handed in related to alterations passed by the Justices in 1920, but was not now approved by Supt. Halliday. That could be altered if the Justices thought necessary.

Mr Henderson, in connection with the Brewers’ Arms, appeared for Mrs Renton, the present owner. The conveyance to Messrs T. & J. Bernard, the recent purchasers, was not yet complete, and so legally they had no locus standi. The house was sols as an ante-1869 beer house, and he believed that that was the case, but the vendor had not yet had time to produce evidence to the Magistrates, and there seemed to be no Justices’ register available. The new owners when they bought the house intended to make a thoroughly respectable place of it, and they held to that intention.

The Berwick Arms, said Mr Henderson, was in the occupation of Mrs Howe, who was a life tenant, and Messrs Johnson & Darling leased from her. Mrs Howe had just had the notice served on her and had not had time to come to any decisions.

The Magistrates retired, and when they came back the Mayor announced that they had decided to adjourn the consideration of the four cases till Thursday, March 2nd.

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