General

Within the collection of William Davison, the famous Alnwick printer, we have some printers’ proofs that relate to George Davison, Gun-Maker, of Alnwick.  As someone who has spent a lot of their life in and around Alnwick, I couldn’t recall hearing of Mr. George Davison, and decided to delve a little further.  When I googled George and read that his second wife, Mary Anderson, was also described as a gun maker, my interest in the Davison’s was well and truly cemented, and I needed to know more. 

After again using the tried and tested historical research method of Googling, I discovered that George Davison was the son of Thomas Davison and Isabel Forrest of Wooler.  I have been able to find the marriage of Thomas and Isabella in the records of Wooler St. Mary [ref. EP 33/3], but could not find a baptism of a George Davison that would provide evidence of his parents being Thomas and Isabella.  At the moment, this link remains unsubstantiated. 

The internet also carried the tale that Thomas Davison was a cutler who later became a gunsmith in Alnwick, and that George, as Thomas’ oldest son, took over the gunsmith business from his father; again, this is unsubstantiated in the research that I have carried out. 

On 7 December 1805, George Davison, bachelor, and Margaret Bilton, spinster, were married at Alnwick St. Michael’s by Licence [ref. EP 132/8].  When Margaret died in 1815, aged only 31 years, the couple were living in the Market Place in Alnwick.  George re-married in 1817 to a Mary Anderson, spinster, again at Alnwick St. Michael’s. 

In July 1820, Davison’s 19 year old apprentice, George Snowdon, ran away from the premises, and we have a printers proof in the collection that gives a description of Snowdon and the reward offered. 

Using the British Newspaper Archive, I found several adverts relating to George’s business, that spanned several newspapers, right across the north-east.  One advert in the Durham County Advertiser on Saturday 21 August 1824 read: 

TO GUN-MAKERS 

Wanted immediately, a good Workman in the above line; good encouragement and constant employ will be given, by applying to George Davison, Newcastle and Alnwick 

N.B.  An Apprentice wanted at the Newcastle shop. Pilgrim-street, Newcastle, August 19th, 1824 

This backed up the claims I had read online that Davison had premises in the Market Place in Alnwick, as well as within Newcastle. 

A theft occurred from Davison’s shop in July 1825, when a pair of twisted copper cap double gun barrels were stolen from the Alnwick shop.  The notice of the theft was printed by William Davison, on behalf of the Alnwick Parish Association and George Davison, who were both contributing to a seven guinea reward (about £86 in todays’ money). 

In 1826, a notice placed in the Tyne Mercury, as well as other newspapers, reads: 

GEORGE DAVISON 

GUN-MAKER, Pilgrim-Street, Newcastle, and Alnwick. Has great pleasure in informing his Sporting Friends, that the improvement he has lately made in his PERCUSSION POWDER renders it equally harmless to the gun as common gunpowder, and which he warrants certain fire and water-proof. 

An extensive assortment of DOUBLE and SINGLE COPPER- CAPPED GUNS, with the latest improvements, and of superior workmanship, on sale at his shops as above. Pilgrim-street, July 21, 1826 

The Durham County Advertiser reports the death of George Davison in their issue on Saturday 24 March 1827, having occurred ‘Saturday last’, and note that he was a ‘…gunmaker, of Alnwick and Newcastle, aged 44.’  It is interesting to note than an Alnwick gunmaker’s death was reported as widely as Durham – I did find mention of the event in several newspapers of the time – and suggests that he was a well-known character in shooting circles. 

To be continued……

A project began earlier this year to add descriptive content to documents held at Northumberland Archives relating to the Lord Crewe Charity; this has been made possible by a grant the charity itself made to the Northumberland Archives Charitable Trust.

The description read “File of miscellaneous insurance policies”; so, to be perfectly honest I wasn’t expecting it to be the most interesting of bundles.  I am happy to report that I was proven wrong!

The various policies relate to those connected with the running of the Haydon Bridge estate covering the period 1892-1925; they give us a great insight into life at that time.  For those researching family history or the history of a house we can see names of tenants, the extent of land and the value the policy provider attributed to it.

Many of the policy types will be familiar to the modern eye such as insurance for motor cars, life assurance, employers’ liability, theft and even boiler insurance.  Some, less so.  Many of the policies related to fire policies taken out to protect specified haystacks and sheds.  Aircraft insurance taken out in 1916 made payment if the named insured property was ‘destroyed or damaged directly or indirectly by aerial craft (hostile or otherwise)’.  A riot and civil commotion policy taken out in 1920 conveys a sense of fear post-WW1; the property insured was ‘pigs and poultry only’, the policy for “riot, civil commotion, strikers, locked-out workers or persons taking part in labour disturbances”.

Even the policies that did seem familiar are vastly different to today’s equivalent; employers’ liability related to domestic servants, providing a list of the number and description of those employed, e.g., indoor servants, coachmen, governesses and footmen.  Motor car insurance was a great excuse to look up early vehicles that were unfamiliar to me.  The last thing to note is how ornate some of these insurance policy headers are as you can see from the images.

My name is Chris, and I’m a new archivist at Northumberland Archives. I was born in Ashington and grew up in Warkworth. When I was 18, I left the rural and sedate surroundings of Northumberland for the bright lights and glamour of, well, Leicester.  After graduating I moved to Sheffield, where I worked for the University of Sheffield library for 18 years in several varied roles. For eight years I was based in Special Collections where I was an archivist, Special Collections and Digital Preservation Coordinator, and Digital Preservation Manager.  

For many people who move away from home, the idea of one day returning is very often appealing but I would suggest that for those born and bred in Northumberland, or the Northeast in general, the pull of ‘hyem’ is even stronger. And so, despite being quite content in Sheffield, when the opportunity arose earlier this year to return to my native Northeast with family in tow, it was an easy decision to make. 

It’s no exaggeration to say that growing up in Northumberland played a huge part in my decision to become an archivist; it’s hard to not take at least a small interest in history and heritage when there’s an imposing sight of Warkworth castle on your doorstop; conjuring images of knights and medieval battles and then in later years, providing a more interesting site to hang around after school than the standard bus stops on offer to most teenagers. Whilst at university, I managed to keep this link to Northumberland’s castles and history by taking jobs at both Chillingham and Alnwick castles during the summer vacations. 

Over the years, like many people living away from home, I often found that returning for visits was a slightly strange experience, where things seemed both familiar but slightly alien at the same time. And in fact, that experience of old and new has in a way extended to my first month in post at the archive. I’ve been comforted by the recognizable; the place names of parish registers that I remember from summer holiday days out, the family names from the important estate papers in our collections that our school Houses were named after (from memory I think I was in Deleval house at Amble Middle School). Even spotting the cover of a Blyth Spartans program from a match I very likely attended with my Grandad in 1994 was a wonderful memory. But for all the familiar names and places in the archive there are far more completely new things to take on board; coming from an academic archive background means that many of the types of documents we hold at Woodhorn are relatively new to me, my palaeography (reading old handwriting) skills are somewhat rusty and in fact there is a huge amount of the county of which my knowledge is either out of date, long forgotten, or currently non-existent! So, while the place names are familiar and the archival practices and procedures are those I’m used to, I’m under no illusions as to how much there is to learn, or indeed re-learn. But this so far has been a welcome challenge and one I’m very much enjoying. One month in and I can say that thus far, the decision to ‘come hyem’ has certainly proven to be a good one.