BERWICK ADVERTISER, 23RD JUNE 1922

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BERWICK BOARD OF GUARDIANS

SCALE OF RELIEF UNDER ARTICLE XI REVISED

On the recommendation of the Workhouse and Finance Committee the Board agreed to continue the granting of unemployment relief under Article XI. They also agreed to reduce the present scale from 15s per week for a single man to 12s per week, and for a man and wife from 20s to 17s 6d per week, and from 5s for each child to 3s per week.

BOARD’S UPKEEP OF CHILDREN COSTS 15s A WEEK

It was intimated that the Carlisle Union were willing to take three children from the Berwick Union at present in Gateshead Home, and also two at present in the Workhouse for the sum of 15s a head for week.

The inmates were stated to be in the sick wards 13 men, 12 women, and two infants, a total of 27; and in other parts of the house 11 men, three women and two children, a total of 16, making a total of 24 men as against 23 last year, 15 women against the same number last year, two children against none last, and two infants against one last ear, a total of 43 inmates of all classes against 39 last year – an increase of four. The casuals numbered 19 as against 18 for the corresponding last year.

Berwick Workhouse Plan

The Board agreed to continue for another year certificates of exception under the National Unemployment Insurance Acts.

RESOLUTIONS

Resolutions on the subject of war bonuses to Poor Law officers were submitted from Newmarket Union and from the National Poor Law Officers’ Association. That from the Newmarket Union urged that steps be taken to reduce the bonuses to Poor Law officers, and also called for the removal of the anomaly under the Poor Law Superannuation Act of 1896, whereby superannuation was 25 per cent higher than for other members of the community. The Poor Law Officers’ Association on the other hand, urged that this resolution be not supported as the scale of bonuses was regarded as fair to guardians and officers, and that it was unfair to compare the 1896 Act with claims for civil servants. The Board agreed to send both resolutions to the House and Finance Committee for further consideration.

A resolution from the Romford Union urging amendments in the Lunacy Acts was allowed to lie on the table. Some of the amendments suggested were that the terms mental hospital and mental patient should be substituted for asylum and pauper lunatics.

Another resolution from the National Union of Assessment Committee regarding the Removal of Machinery Bill was referred to the Assessment Committee.

Miss Greet gave notice of motion that two delegates and the Medical Officer be appointed at the next meeting to visit the Asylum at Morpeth to inspect the patients there chargeable to the Union.

SPORT

GOLF

The new putting course seems to have taken on with members of the Magdalene Fields Club and the general public, who are allowed to use it on the same terms as members of the club.

BERWICK GRAMMAR SCHOOL

On Friday evening the Berwick Grammar School boys played a foursome match together with the Old Boys’ Association- thus forging a new link between the Past and Present of the school. While all concerned thoroughly enjoyed the game, to the boys it was particularly pleasant and instructive, and they are eagerly looking forward to a return match. The Magdalene Fields club kindly allowed the players the courtesy of the greens. The match resulted in a win for Councillor J. Colin Campbell’s side by four matches to two. The details were as follows:- Mr J. C. Campbell and A. D. Patterson beat Mr James Richardson and J. D. Crosbie. Dr. P. W. Maclagan and R. W. Glahome beat Mr W. R. McCreath and W. Parkinson. Mr John Crisp and Roy Campbell tied with Mr C. Lee and Ivan Crisp. Mr I. Torrance Smith and Melville Caverhill beat Mr James Gray and Douglas Henderson. Mr R. S. Eaton and John Stoddart beat W. Patterson and J. D. Williams. Mr R. F. S. Morrison and Stanley I. Ballard tied with R. T. Renwick and Fred Stott.

THE MAYOR’S GOLF PRIZE

The Mayor (Dr Maclagan) who takes a great interest in the boys’ golf has offered a golf prize to the Grammar School. The draw for the prize is as follows: – 1st round-S. I. Ballard (29) v. D. Henderson (19). 2nd round- J. Stoddart (26) v. J. D. Williams (26); W. Grieve (15) v. F. Stott (18); W. Patterson (60 v.. R. W. Glahome (scr); R. T. Renwick (9) v. M. Caverhill (23); A. D. Patterson (6) v. winner of 1st round; J. D. Crosbie (5) v. G. Martin (11); Roy Campbell (17) v. W. Parkinson (11); Ivan Crisp (110 v. A. E. Fletcher (23).

LADIES’ MEDAL

There was a better entry for the ladies’ medal played over the Magdalene Fields course on Tuesday evening, 17 taking part. A high wind made good scoring difficult. The best card returned was a net score of 80 by Miss C. E. Purves. The best scratch score amongst the low handicaps were recorded by Miss Marshall with 96. Those qualifying for the match play for the Officers’ Cup are Misses C. E. Purves, K. Grant, Marshall, and J. Stirling.

TENNIS

DUNS v. BERWICK

The mixed doubles match against Berwick, played at Duns on Saturday, resulted in a win for Berwick by 7 matches to 2, 14 sets to 4, 99 games to 54. Details were:-

Miss Romanes and P. Deas ( Duns) beat Miss Tate and capt. Dover, 6-3, 6-4; lost to Mrs R. W. Maling and M. E. Maling, 0-6, 4-6; lost to Mrs Hutchinson and R. W. Maling, 2-6, 2-6.

Miss B. Laidlaw and T. F. Walton (Duns) lost to Mrs Hutcheson and R. W. Maling, 2-6, 1-6; lost to Mrs R. W. Maling and M. E. Maling, 0-6,0-6; lost to Miss tate and Capt. Dover, 4-6, 4-6.

Miss C. Fair and W. Easton (Duns) beat Miss Tate and Capt. Dover, 6-4, 6-4; lost to Mrs Hutcheson And R. W. Maling, 3-6, 3-6; lost to Mrs R. W. Maling and M. E. Maling, 3-6, 2-6.

EVENING TOURNAMENT

The Berwick Club held an evening tournament on the Pier Field courts on Thursday last. There were nine couples entered for the mixed doubles and six for the ladies’ doubles. The winners of the mixed doubles were Miss Middlemas and J. Fleming who beat Miss Cowe and J. Patterson 6-5 in the final. The ladies’ doubles were won by Miss K. D. Mackay and Miss Oswald, who defeated Miss Walker and Miss Buglas 6-1 in the final.

ACTIVITY AT THE DOCKS

There was great activity at the Dock on Wednesday morning, when a favourable tide, full at 11.21 a.m., allowed five boats to be safely berthed within two hours. The “Hibernia,” which is a regular trader with Scremerston coal to the South of England and the Continent, was one of the first arrivals, and as soon as she was berthed began coaling operations At the depot on the south side of the dock. She is taking on board a cargo of 328 tons for Plymouth. Wagons of coal awaited her arrival, and all hands were soon busy transferring the cargo. Alongside of her lay the “Horsham,” which arrived light on the same tide, and will also ship a cargo of 470 tons of Scremerston coal for Bremerhaven.

Photograph of the Berwick Quayside early 1900s Ref: BRO 1636-5-6

The next arrival was a dainty little sailing yacht from the Tyne with the 1st Tyne Sea Scouts aboard flying the Scout flag at the mast. The scouts are on a three weeks’ cruise, and have been as far north as Montrose and St. Andrews, where a pleasant time has been spent. The yacht is on her homeward journey, and on leaving Berwick will call at Holy Island, and then compete in a yacht club race to Blyth. She is a trim little craft lent to the scouts by her owner, Mr Anderson of Tyneside.

Then followed the steamer  ”Orion” with a cargo of wood from Sweden for the Woodyard. She arrived in the bay on Tuesday, and the large craft was safely piloted up the river and berthed on the north side of the dock, where she will unload.

The last arrival was the motor drifter “C.S.L.” from Frazerburgh which brought a cargo of oats for Clarabad Mills.

The Danish sailing vessel “Gloria” arrived on Monday with a cargo of ice, which was also being discharged on Wednesday morning.

NOTES FROM SPITTAL

Spittal has always been a popular place for West Country children and in pre-war days it was the custom to give them a day at the seaside. Of late years owing to the war and railway restrictions this has not been possible, but this year the Railway Companies have seen their way to grant concessions and the public are taking full advantage of these. Last week Kelso Sunday Schools visited Spittal and on Monday Melrose Sunday Schools had their annual outing there.

Spittal Beach, 1900s

The journey was made by special train by Kelso, a non-stop run from St. Boswells accomplishing the distance in little over an hour. There were some 300 children and fully another 200 adults, from Melrose and district. A pleasant day was spent on Spittal sands or in visiting Berwick and shortly after 6 p.m. all entrained once more at Tweedmouth station for the return journey. The youngsters, many of whom had not seen the sea before, were all tired with their day, but happy in the possession of spades, or pails filled with pebbles or shells, or sand, and local shops appeared to have done quite a good trade with shrimp nets. On Wednesday next another trip from the same district visits Spittal, and will include Sunday Schools from Newton Earlston, etc.

Lord Crewe Project

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The cataloguing aspect of our Lord Crewe Project has begun, made possible by a grant the Lord Crewe’s Charity itself made to the Northumberland Archives Charitable Trust.

The papers of the Charity span from the 15th to 20th century, and the 12,000+ documents within the collection relate to Nathaniel, Lord Crewe (1633-1721), ​his estates including Bamburgh, as well as the charitable trust he left behind.

This part of the project will add descriptive detail and content to the collection by individually listing many of the deeds and papers held within it.  Deeds provide an invaluable resource to researchers.  They give details of ownership, tenant, length of lease, rent, use of the land, or restrictions stipulating what the land or property cannot be used for.  Details of previous tenants can be given which is especially useful for those building a family tree to show what has and has not remained in use for generations of the same family.  Descriptions of land and property can give insight into how the use of land has changed and boundaries have moved or impacted by advancement of technology such as railways and electricity.  

Deeds are often very ornate documents with scalloped edges and wax seals.  The initial word can be highly stylised, which can be a huge contrast to those entering a contract with an ‘X’ to mark their name.  Deeds can also be confusing and difficult (some are in Latin), ​and early styles of handwriting and spelling can be particularly difficult to decipher.

We ​will provide regular updates on our progress and share interesting documents ​on social media along the way.  The most unusual document we have found so far has been the lease where a tenant sub-let part of his land to enable the collection of seaweed along the shores near Bamburgh in 1728 [ref. NRO 00452/D/1/5/2/6].

An online exhibition on Lord Crewe’s Charity was created by Northumberland Archives during a previous project and is available to view here, https://northumberlandarchives.com/test/exhibitions/crewe/1.html

If you would like to find out more about the Charity, you can find their website, http://www.lordcrewescharity.org.uk/

More Tales from Ponteland Cottage Homes

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NRO 3836/9

Ponteland Cottage Homes were built by the Newcastle Board of Guardians to accommodate pauper children away from the workhouse. Each block was supervised by a ‘house mother’ or ‘house father’.  

Lizzie was 12 when she went into the homes and claimed it was the best thing that ever happened to her as she loved her time there. She also had a sister and three brothers in the home. At 16 she became a Laundress for a wealthy family in Hexham, but she always came back to spend holidays with her siblings as she considered Ponteland to be her home. When she returned, she stayed with a house mother and would offer to cook and bake for the children. The children always had pudding, but the majority were milk based. Lizzie wanted to make fruit pies for a treat as fruit was usually used to make jams. She recalls the house mother was happy for her to do this if she could obtain extra and it didn’t come from her supplies. Lizzie was so intent on making the pies that she went to speak to the head gardener & managed to secure plenty fruit with the stipulation that the boys came to pick it themselves. The children loved the pies she made and would always be eager for her next visit.

Lizzie also recalls a heartbreaking tale of her younger sister Norah who liked to look after the other children in her house. She always wanted to be a nurse and would bandage their minor cuts and treat their chilblains. When she was old enough to leave Ponteland she found employment at Bellister Castle where she became an assistant nurse to three children. Two of the children were twin boys and one hot day she took the boys swimming in the river while the nurse looked after the baby girl. Tragically, Norah drowned but the boys survived. They saw her swimming in the water then disappear so ran home for help. The Doctor and Chauffer dived into the river and searched for her body, but were unable to find her. Sadly, Lizzie doesn’t indicate if she was ever found but states that the young boys never got over it. 

Billy went into the homes aged 13 and boarded there while he learned his trade as a Shoemaker. He didn’t enjoy his time there as a boy and thought that the staff were cruel. Despite this, he eventually ended up working there making and repairing shoes. He said he worked hard as there were about 300 children and each child had two pairs of shoes/boots so he was always busy! He would often show the young boys how to make shoes, boots and clogs. Billy wanted to make a difference and give the children more attention and support. Along with his wife, he became a house parent and, on a Sunday, he would take them out for walks and picnics and let them enjoy themselves. The children had tea around 4.30-5pm and while he worked there, no food was given after this time. Billy didn’t want them to go hungry, so he introduced super and gave them bread and butter. He must have been a good house parent as years later many of the children he looked after still came to see him. Some of them had moved abroad and when they visited this country, they came to stay with him. 

One lady called Josephine had very fond memories of Ponteland. She first went there aged two with her older brother George and younger sister Dolly. Josephine loved Mrs Young who was her house mother and she thoroughly enjoyed living with her. There were about 20 children in the house and when she was small, she thought that Mrs Young had given birth to them all! Josephine claimed that her house was lucky as not all the house mothers were kind, and she knew that one used to hit the children on the legs with sticks. If the children were going to have visitors, she would ensure that the girls wore thick tights, and the boys wore long thick socks to hide any bruises. 

Josephine recalled that Dolly hated Mrs Young and would take any opportunity to be troublesome. She was always up to ‘tricks’ and loved to misbehave. The sausage in the fridge was in a huge ring and Dolly would steal it and uncoil it then run around the field with it trailing in a long line behind her! When they baked bread, she would always stick her finger in the middle and a particular favourite was to clash together Mrs Youngs best silver teapots! 

Josephine loved the food and said that all the children were very well fed. They always made their own bread which was delicious. Her favourite meals were beef or pork with potatoes, suet pudding, onion pudding and Spotted Dick. There were always plenty of fruit and vegetables and when they had broth, there was always a sheep’s head in the middle of it!  

Arthur was in the homes aged 8-16. At 14 he became an apprentice decorator to Mr Jackson who was the homes decorator. At 16 he left to work in Newcastle but never forgot his mentor and kept in touch with him throughout his life. He claimed Mr Jackson taught him so well that he was eventually able to set up his own decorating business. Arthur was extremely grateful for all the support and education he was given in the homes and even wrote to the Education Committee to thank them.  

Despite being very well fed, the children were always looking for extra treats. Arthur talks about the stores where there were huge containers of food. The children were very interested in the large biscuit barrels and would often try to steal biscuits. One day his friend managed to get the lid open only to discover that his hand was covered in blue dye. The dye was very difficult to remove which enabled staff to easily identify the culprit! 

NRO 3836/8

Lizzie – T/611

Billy – T/614

Josephine – T/616

Arthur – T/625

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