Twixt Thistle & Rose

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A MISSING SINCE SATURDAY-MAGGIE PARK

Whilst checking the catalogue entries of our Police posters which were completed by the Twixt Thistle and Rose volunteers, I came across this one which caught my attention, particularly as it was a local one relating to Berwick. It was very striking and made me want to find out who Maggie Park was and what happened to her. 

REF: BA-P15-1-104

Firstly I looked to see if her disappearance had been reported and there was this short snippet in the Local News section of the Berwick Advertiser on 16 September 1887 :

GIRL MISSING – On Saturday forenoon about half past nine o’clock, a girl named Maggie Park, 12 years of age, living with her brother, James Park, shoemaker, 14 Church Street, Berwick, was sent a message to Mr Rankin’s shop in High Street. Since that time the girl has not been heard of or seen anywhere. She wore a brown felt hat, grey ulster and cape, green dress and lacing boots at the time of her disappearance.

This gave me some additional information as I originally assumed that James was her father, not her brother. Searching the 1891 census revealed that James was a shoemaker, aged about 25 in 1887,  originally from Scotland and married to Catherine. 

I was intrigued to find out if Maggie was ever found and this was where it got very interesting. The Berwick Advertiser contained the following article on 23 September :

A YOUNG GIRL’S ENTERPRISE – Last week we stated that Maggie Park, a girl twelve years of age, living with her brother, James Park, shoemaker, Church Street, had not been seen since the forenoon of Saturday 10th September. It has now been ascertained that she set out from Berwick to walk to the house of her father, near Glasgow, a distance of fully 100 miles. She had got as far as Edinburgh before she was discovered.

I was relieved to hear that she had been found but was amazed that she had tried to walk that distance, not something many people, never mind a child would contemplate. I wondered what happened to her in the interim and quite by chance. In the same bundle of posters, I came across a handwritten letter, dated 13 September 1887 about Maggie which had been sent by Inspector M Fraser of Dunbar Police Station to John Garden, Superintendent of Berwick Police.

REF: BA-P15-1-236

In the letter Inspector Fraser indicated that she had arrived there by train from Haddington at 3.30 pm, stayed until 7pm and then travelled back to North Berwick. If the police were contacted at North Berwick, they could detain her.   Obviously that didn’t happen as she wasn’t found until much later in Edinburgh.  What happened to her in between is a mystery.

Where was she going and who was her father ? The 1911 census indicated that James Park was born in Linlithgow about 1862. I checked the 1871 census and found a James Park, aged 9 living with his mother and father, Peter and Margaret in High Street, Linlithgow.  Peter was also a shoemaker.  By the next census, 1881, Peter was a widower and neither James nor Maggie were with him on the census night. However, I found Maggie, aged 7 in Cambuslang in the household of her married sister, Helen, now called Ellen. James at this stage was working London and was a boarder in a house in the Cavendish Square area . His occupation was listed as shoemaker. Peter, the father is missing from the 1891 census but he appears again in 1901 – listed as a patient, aged 76 in Linlithgow. Presumably in a hospital or institution.  He died in 1908, aged 84.

What happened to Maggie ? So far, I have not been able to find out anything further about her. She doesn’t appear on later censuses and so she is a mystery.

However, I have been able to find some additional information on her brother. James who remained in Berwick through local newspapers. He married Catherine Elizabeth Redfearn, daughter of a local innkeeper on 30 June 1883 at St John’s Church in London and must then have moved to Berwick. In the 1901 census, James and his wife, Catherine were living at 1, Marygate. By 1911, they were living at 3 Summerhill Terrace in the north end of the town. They had no children. The couple continued to live there for the rest of their lives – Catherine died on 23 January 1933 (not long before their golden wedding anniversary), aged 71 whilst James died on 6 February 1951, aged 89.

It was only when I looked at James’ obituary that I realised who he was.

Berwick Advertiser, 8 February 1951

The obituary which appeared in the Berwick Advertiser on 8 February 1951 stated that he was one of the last surviving makers of hand made boots who had come to Berwick 67 years previously ( around 1884) . His business was originally in Church Street and then he moved to his premises at the corner of Marygate and Hide Hill. To many a person with connections to Berwick , this was Park’s corner, the home of  “The Bootman” , a business which closed its door for the last time on 31 May 2003

REF: BRO 1250-1

Undertaking family history research can take you in so many different directions and along the way, you never know what you will find. When looking at the poster, I wanted to find out about the young girl but in the end, I found out more about her family and her brother, whose business was very much a part of Berwick in the past. One thing leads to another !

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 11 JUNE 1920

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BERWICK OFFICER’S NARROW ESCAPE

TWO B.A.R.C. MEMBERS IN THE RIVER

Canoe Upsets Opposite Boathouse

GALLANT RESCUE BY BERWICK MEN

A sensational affair took place on the Tweed about 9.30 p.m. on Wednesday night, when Capt. F. B. Cowen, M.C., Berwick, and Mr Thos. Smart, Tweedmouth, nearly met their death by drowning as the result of a sailing canoe upsetting near the Tweedmouth side of the river, opposite the Boathouse.

Capt. Cowen and his friend have been frequently out on the river lately, sailing this canoe, and on the night of the accident they were sailing up the “gut” between the fishing bat and the Tweedmouth side when a squall of wind struck the sail and the frail craft overturned.

Tom Smart was lucky enough to fall clear of the boat but Capt. Cowen getting entangled in the sail was held under the water beneath the overturned boat and was being slowly drowned.

THE RESCUE

The accident was observed by many friends at the Boathouse, people on the Tweedmouth side, and a large number of pedestrians on the Old Bridge and New Road. Rescue work was immediately begun. A boat was manned at the Boathouse and pulled with all speed to the scene, while Mr R. J. Moor, a member of the B.A.R.C., who happened to be in his house at West End, was quickly sent for and entered the water and swam out to the boat which was only about 12 yards from the Tweedmouth shore. Mr Thomas, who is at present at the Queen’s Theatre with his Welsh Choir, also took the water and swam out, but being an elderly man was soon exhausted and had to himself seek safety.

The water at the point was about seven feet deep and when the boats arrived on the scene Smart had gone down for the second time and was making rather feeble efforts to keep afloat. Capt. Cowen had been under water all the time and Mr A. A. Crisp dived from a boat fully dressed to assist Mr Moor in the work of rescue. Happily their united efforts were successful. Moor released Capt. Cowen, who was too far gone to struggle and at the same time Smart was pulled aboard and the rescue boat with the aid of an oar where he collapsed.

Moor having raised Capt. Cowen from the bottom handed him to Mr Crisp who bore him to the wherry and safety. The rescuers were in a very exhausted condition and were violently sick owing to having swallowed so much river water.

Medical aid was waiting on the shore when the unfortunate men were landed.  Dr T. P. Caverhill and his assistant applying artificial respiration while Dr Badenoch and Dr C. G. Maclagan attended to Smart and assisted on keeping a clear air space. Capt. Cowen was in a bad state and for a time his life was despaired of, but he gradually responded to treatment much to the relief of all present.

GOLF

A start has already been made with preparations for the Northumberland Agricultural Society’s Show to be held on the Magadalene Fields on 15th July. The judging ring is nearly complete, and the grandstand is in process of erection. The two holes affected so far are the “Moat” and the “Cricket Field,” but in a week or so the South end of the course will practically be out of play till after the Show.

Players on the first hole at the Magdalene Fields golf course, shortly after its reopening after the lockdown in 2020. © Kevin Graham, Berwick-upon-Tweed.

On Saturday the Goswick Club ladies meet the Magdalene Fields Club ladies on the town course in a six-a-side match. The home team will be Miss H. F. M. Caverhill, Miss H. Gray, Miss H. Crossman, Miss McKelvie, Miss Gray, Miss Marshall. Goswick – Mrs P. C. Swan, Mrs Marrow, Mrs W. R. McCreath., Mrs T. P. Caverhill, Mrs Collingwood, Miss C. Gough.

The ladies’  June Monthly Medal was played over Goswick Course on Saturday last and was won by Miss Henderson, Coldstream, with 111-26- 85.

After considering the state of the course, the Green Committee have decided to restrict play to 7 holes on and after Monday 14th June. A temporary tee will be made adjacent to No.3 green for play to No. 6 green. The full course must, however, be played in competitions, and members engaged in competitions take precedence at No.7 tee. For the guidance of members the Committee have also decided that a ball lying within 10 yards of any Show structure may, with the consent of opponent or marker, be lifted and dropped no nearer the hole without penalty. If the ball is lying in a hazard, within 10 yards of any Show structure, the ball may be lifted at the option of the player under a penalty of one stroke.

The Green Committee have placed the hollow at the Greens Haven, where the newly erected refreshment hut is situated, out of bounds. Golfers driving into the hollow will require to drive a second ball from the ninth tee.

“NO GAS” THREAT

WORKERS DECIDE TO STRIKE.

SPITTAL MEN AFFECTED

Unless a national settlement of the matters in dispute between the Gasworkers in the United Kingdom and the Gas Companies and Corporations, comes before the night of June 26th, over 1000,000 men employed in the industry will come out on strike at the end of the strike notices.

The demands made by the men are for a 10s per week increase in wages, a 44-hour working week, and double pay for Sundays and holidays.

A ballot was taken recently as to whether members of the Union concerned were in favour of strike action, when 96 per cent of the workers voted in favour of a strike. The position is being laid before the Ministry of Labour.

The gasworkers employed by the Berwick and Tweedmouth Gas Company are affected by the threatened strike. A demand for increased wages was made by them some time ago, but this was withdrawn when a national demand was made by the unions. The seventeen men employed at the Gas Works, Spittal, balloted on the strike proposal recently and unless a settlement comes, they will come out with the rest of the gasworkers in the country on the night of June 26th.

On Wednesday the Ministry of Labour officially invited both sides of the Joint Industrial Council for the industry to meet and try to come to a settlement.

CHEAP FISH

WHY NOT BERWICK?

We learn that the Comrades of the Great War at Alnwick have set about in a business-like way, the provision of cheap fish for the people. The method is to have a list of parties to be supplied regularly and to meet these demands fish are purchased wholesale and given to the customers at a price which is almost 100 per cent. below shop prices. Cod and haddock can be sold by the Comrades at 6d per lb., while  the prices charged by fish dealers in Berwick is 1s per lb, for cod and 9d per lb. for haddock.

Why not start this method in Berwick as a means of bringing down prices. Last week on Berwick Quay fishermen got from 8s to 10s per stone for haddocks, and these haddocks were retained in the shops at 9d per lb., an all round rate.

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

The percentage of profit here is reasonable, but a much larger profit iis taken from cod which is retailed at 1s per lb., after having been purchased on the Quay at from 25s to 38s per box for small, and at about 8d per lb. for large fish. Halibut sells on the Quay at 15s and 16s a stone, and is retailed at 1s 6d per lb. upwards. Crabs can be bought from fishermen at 6s and 7s per kit, yet in a shop a purchaser is charged from 6d to 1s according to size. A kit holds some 30 crabs when well packed.

Of course, it will be said that the fish merchant must have his profit, on account of the work he has to do in handling and gutting the larger fish, but surely if men who have no experience in the fish trade can buy and sell at a profit and let the public have fish at 6d per lb., the fishmonger should go one better.

Spanish Flu – Part 7

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Many soldiers serving abroad also caught the flu. These are just a few reports that I found within the local newspapers:-

Lance Corporal Thomas Cook died at 24th Casualty Clearing Station, Italy on 21 October 1918. He was deeply mourned by his family.

Gunner J. W. Lazenby of Royal Field Artillery who died from influenza on 25 October 1918 at Wimering Hospital, France. He was the eldest son of Mr & Mrs Lazenby. He had been on active service for 3 and a half years and was their second son who had died in service of their country.

Then there was Private John William Douglas who died on 27 October 1918 in India. The beloved son of Joseph & Ruth of Humshaugh Hill, Chollerford. As well as the death of Major Harold Widdrington Sykes of Royal Army Medical Corps, son of Reverend  & Mrs Skyes of Meldon Rectory, who died of flu at Beira, East Africa.

There are so many sad stories out there and you can’t possibly write them all up. Some that caught my attention are the following:-

On the 26 July 1918 the Newcastle papers printed the story of the sad death of Alfred Alder. Under the title “Calling up tragedy”. 

Influenza and worry of being called up was enough for Alfred Alder aged 49. An aeroplane works labourer of 59 Ogle Street, Newcastle was found dead in bed, partially dressed with a jar of prussic acid by his side. The deceased had recently had influenza and on Friday last received his call up papers and since then has worried about the future of his children and had been drinking heavily.

The Morpeth Herald reported the sad death of a Shankhouse Colliery  woman. The body of a dead woman named Elizabeth Sprague, aged 65, was found floating in the pond at Low Horton Farm, Cramlington. Elizabeth’s neighbours state that she was recovering from the influenza and had been suffering at the same time with depression as she was not allowed to travel to America to see her son.

There was a story in the Morpeth Herald on 28 February 1919 about the ravages of the influenza in North Seaton. Mr Robert Latty had lost 4 members of his family to influenza and pneumonia in the last 5 days. 

The only mention of a nurse dying in the region I found was Nurse Carrick; I would assume there were many others, just like today. The Newcastle Journal reported on 25 November 1918, that Nurse Carrick of the Hexham Union Workhouse had died on the Saturday night from influenza followed by pneumonia. She had only started the job a few weeks ago as she previously had been employed in Haltwhistle.

A convicted man died in prison. The influenza was prevalent in Newcastle Gaol; the first fatal case was Thomas Smoult aged 24. He had been imprisoned for 6 weeks for his part in a safe robbery at New Bridge Post Office. He was taken to hospital on 9 July 1918 when his breathing became weak. He died the same day 

The Medical Officer for Health for Longbenton, Dr Burn, contributed to the Morpeth Herald on 29 November 1918. He reported that there had been five deaths from influenza in the month and all were inmates at the Convent in Gosforth. Despite instructions, the Doctor said that most people failed to recognise the importance of free ventilation and avoidance of the breath of the patient.

As a precaution, the Military authorities at the Tyne Garrison ordered the troops not to visit cinemas, halls, theatres or similar places of resort. This order also applied to soldiers at the coastal defences at Blyth and Hartlepool. The orders were relaxed for sporting activities, though: on 2 December 1918 a Hockey match was played between Wallsend and the 3rd Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. Due to the virus the home side could not muster enough players so they asked Miss Burton [Whickham] to join the team. 

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