General

The Great Snow Storm of 1886

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Snow fall isn’t anything new to us, but we have escaped heavy falls over the years. When it does snow there have always been travel delays, cancelled trains, snow drifts and communities pulling together. Although there have been some changes for instance horse power means something different these days and newspapers are slowly a thing of the past being replaced by social media and the internet. And the words reporters use in their stories, have changed dramatically. So let us go back virtually to the day, to 1886 and see what happened in Morpeth and the surrounding area…

On 6 March 1886, the Morpeth Herald reported that on Monday the inhabitants of the town and district witnessed one of the most severe snowstorms that have ever occurred perhaps in living memory. It started in the early hours of Monday morning and the storm raged with unwonted impetuosity. As the evening approached the wind seemed to increase in violence until it assumed the character of a hurricane whirling the blinding showers of snow in all kinds of fantastic shapes making traffic very unpleasant and almost impossible. Bridge Street and Newgate Street were almost deserted. There was very little abatement on the Tuesday morning. The sky had a dull laden appearance. Snow was drifting and most thoroughfares were 3ft deep and in some parts with the drifts up to 5ft 6”. The snow had drifted up the side of houses, creating fancy patterns on the windows and in some cases was half way up the side of residents front doors. On the Tuesday morning the residents mobilised and began searching for shovels, spades and implements of every description to try and clear the pathways. In a few hours both sides of the street were in good order. Mr Sanderson, Road Surveyor of the Local Board, rigged up a snow plough and soon made a capital passage down the middle of the road for vehicular traffic. He proceeded towards the country district, but came to a halt due to the high snow drifts on the Stobhill Road where the efforts of the 8 horses attached to the plough stopped.
Mr Sanderson, on the Wednesday made another attempt up Shields Road with the snow plough and got a fair distance along, then returned and went up the South Turnpike, but got no further than South Gate, where a snow drift of some 18 feet stopped his progress.

The shop keepers and merchants of the town could not get their provisions out to their customers and the Post Office faired little better with delivering the post. The Rothbury Coach driven by Mr Paton arrived on the Monday night, but could not proceed on the Tuesday. Mr Drysdale on Tuesday attempted with two horses to get to Newbiggin, but only got as far as Quarry Bank when he had to turn back to town. On the Wednesday, Mr Knight the Post Master and Mr Drysdale attempted to proceed to Newcastle by road with the mail bags for the South, but on getting the Catchburn, they were compelled to abandon their carriage and proceed on horseback. They managed to reach Stannington, but no further. There was no good news for train travellers at Morpeth Station either as the lines were under so much snow. The “Fish Train”, which normally arrives about 9.30pm did not arrive at all. It had been shunted into sidings a little further north to allow the “Scotch Express” to come through. The Express arrived at 10.20 and proceeded on its way south through a blinding snowstorm. It got as far as Forest Hall and got stuck in the snow and its passengers were stuck in their carriages until Tuesday morning. Arriving at Newcastle Central Station, some 12 hours late.

The news of heavy snow in the north complied trains to stop at Morpeth Station and passengers had to make their minds up to “Rough It” until the way was clear. Many went into the town and stayed in hotels until the Thursday morning. Some stayed in the waiting room, others in the carriages or Saloon cars.  A snow plough with 4 engines attached left Newcastle on Tuesday morning at 8am. They were prevented from getting to Morpeth until they cleared the North Mail Train and after several hours got her clear only to encounter further drifts at Annitsford and Cramlington, reaching Morpeth at 2pm.
It was not until the Thursday morning that a train arrived from Newcastle in the afternoon with the newspapers and letters aboard. A train also arrived from the Blyth and Tyne section which had been blocked since the Monday. A few cattle trains were snowed up north of Morpeth and many poor animals were reduced to sore straits, through not being able to procure food or water and also exposure to cold. In a few instances some cows in one truck were delivered calves.

The Passengers in Morpeth:
The majority of the passengers who left the train found their way into town with considerable difficulty. Mr Thompson, an Auctioneer from Chester-le-Street on his way to Glasgow for a Stallion show and Secretary of the North East Agricultural Horse Society found lodgings in the Newcastle Hotel, run by Mrs Atkinson. He and his fellow travellers, speak in the highest terms of the Morpeth people and the Railway officials. The gentlemen travellers were entertained by members of the Morpeth Club. The Rector of Morpeth invited the ladies to take up quarters in the Rectory, but some preferred to remain in the Pulman Cars which formed part of the train. They stayed there until 1pm on the Thursday when communication with Newcastle was opened. Notification was received that the down line was open, but there was still a blockage on the north bound line, north of Berwick. Those wishing to leave Morpeth south bound left at 3.15pm and reached Newcastle shortly after 4pm. A large number did venture north in the hope that when they reached Berwick the blockage would be cleared. Mr Turnbull, states that on his journey back home he saw in many places the height of the snow was greater than the height of the carriages and the cuttings of the snow drifts had been done entirely by hand.

The cattle truck stuck north of Morpeth arrived on the Thursday morning; however in some of the trucks a few sheep had died and the cattle for the Newcastle, Leeds and Wakefield markets were in need of fodder. Once these carriages reached Morpeth, hay was put into the trucks and devoured most ravenously by the cattle. Three trains from the south were delayed at Morpeth and surprise was expressed by passengers that the railway company’s should have despatched the trains under the circumstances.

The story of one family:
Among the passengers on the Pullman stuck near Acklington were Mr Barclay Holland and Mrs Holland of Countesswells, with Miss Beadon their nurse and a child aged 4, the daughter of Mr & Mrs Holland (the only child on the train). The party left Aberdeen at 4.40pm on the Monday for London and were on the Pullman attached to the “Scotch Express” and were stuck in the drift near Acklington on the Tuesday morning. There we were, said one of the ladies “Stuck in the middle of two fields of snow for 17 hours with little food, except what some cottagers were kind enough to bring us”. The provisions provided were shared equally amongst the travellers and consisted of a cup of tea a slice of bread and butter and a bit of cheese. The tea of course was cold by the time we got it, but they were grateful. There was a chance to get to Acklington.

On arriving at Acklington they ploughed waist deep in snow towards the inn. They got there on Tuesday night at 8 and had ham and eggs, bread and butter. There were only 4 rooms in the house and many slept on the floor others sat in chairs round the fire and dozed the night away. Others stayed in the waiting room. The inn keeper wasn’t prepared for the influx of 45 guests as well as 80 navvies working on the railway. “We had nothing, but ham in the house and had to cook 12 hams and managed to get some loafs of bread. Once the bread was all eaten up on the Wednesday morning we only had ham and biscuits.” Nobody seemed the worse for the trouble and inconvenience, although they all suffered from the cold on the Tuesday. The snowed up passengers had made a deal of the only child on the train and the family party concurred in praising the innkeeper for the way he had ransacked the place for provisions and done his best to make them comfortable in the circumstances.

 

 

Devils in the Bed

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Examination and Diagnosis

On the 30th day of November, in the year 1860, two surgeons came to a home in Narrowgate, Alnwick to examine a Mr William Marshall for proof of “insanity.” The medical examination had been arranged by William’s family and facilitated by Hugh Lisle Esq, a local Justice of the Peace. William’s story, pulled from the Dickson, Archer and Thorp collection, allows us a unique insight into the lives of those diagnosed “insane,” and the families they often left behind, in nineteenth century Northumberland.

 

Order for the Reception of the Patient William Marshall. REF: NRO 11343/B/DAT

 

The surgeons examining William were a Henry Caudlish and a Thomas Feuder. In line with the requirements of their positions all three men completed detailed forms evaluating William’s mental well-being. The survival of these medical forms, used to certify William’s illness and record the thoughts of officials, make them rare and insightful pieces.

Henceforth are transcribed extracts from these forms, with the originals shown in pictures:

Facts indicating Insanity observed by myself:

Thomas: “He fancies that there are Devils in the bed, or parties going to do him some grievous bodily harm, he fancies that the bed clothes are moving. He is desponding.”

Henry: “He states that I have a desire to poison him, and that I have an interest in doing so and that I were among many conspirators. Fancies that there is poison in his bed – and in his food.”

Other facts (if any) indicating Insanity communicated to me by others:

Henry: “He persists that a great quantity of poison has been given to him, but not yet the fatal dose, and that if he dies a hundred persons will be living for him – communicated to me by his wife.”

Thomas: “He refuses his food and persists that what is presented to him contains poison – communicated to me by his wife.”

 

Medical Certificate for Marshall Case Signed by Henry Caudlish. REF: NRO 11343/B/DAT

 

Medical Certificate for Marshall Case Signed by Thomas Fueder. REF: NRO 11343/B/DAT

 

For William the visions of devils, paired with his belief that someone was secretly poisoning him, were vivid and terrifying. Yet the surgeons found a conspiracy unlikely, and they concluded William was indeed suffering from “insanity.” Upon the diagnosis Hugh Lisle arranged for William to be taken from his home to reside in the Northumberland County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, Morpeth. But why was William suffering with such terrifying visions? And what life awaited him in the county asylum?

 

Health and Visions

William was not the only patient sent to reside in the Morpeth asylum for having paranoid thoughts. The admission book for the asylum’s patients shows that many were diagnosed upon arrival as suffering from “delusional insanity.”

On the arrival of each new patient their symptoms, and the presumed cause, would be carefully recorded. These so-called causes often included hereditary problems and work place accidents. The surgeon’s involved in William’s case noted the cause to his problems stemmed from a mix of pre-existing medical issues, including chronic asthma and general ill health, with “straitened circumstances.”

 

Family Troubles and “Straitened Circumstances”

William Marshall was 50 years old when he suffered his first bout of psychological illness in the year 1860. He had lived in Alnwick his whole life, along with his wife Mary and their ever-growing brood.

Together the Marshall’s had eight children; Sarah, Isabella, William, John, Mary, Joseph, Thomas and Annie. The Marshall brood had a staggering age range, with the eldest being twenty years older than the youngest. But, sadly, not all the Marshall children reached adulthood, as Thomas died in 1856 aged just five.

William worked as a coach keeper to support his large family, and his sons followed him into coach and horse-keeping professions. In 1861, less than a year after William was removed from the family home due to his supposed “insanity,” his son John was working as a coach smith whilst Joseph was a hostler. By 1871 Joseph had progressed in the world, and is listed in the census as owning what appears to be 4 acres of land (although how he came to this settlement is a mystery.)

Following her husband’s illness Mary needed to find a way to financially support her young family. She subsequently became a cow keeper. Cow keepers often kept dairy animals, such as cows and goats, within their backyards and would use them to make and distribute dairy products amongst their neighbours. William’s daughters also took up professions to support the family, with Isabella becoming a dressmaker and Mary a domestic servant.

Working hard to feed and provide for his ever-growing family, yet still witnessing some of his children die, must have put strain on William’s own health and mental well-being. These demands, teamed with a potentially dubious financial situation, may explain the “straitened circumstances” referred to in his medical report. Thus, it is unsurprising that these pressures began to manifest in his psychological well-being.

 

The Northumberland County Asylum

Using the asylum’s minute book we know 80 male patients and 77 female patients were in residence when William arrived at the tail-end of November 1860. We also know, from notes made on the asylum’s weekly purchases, that William would have ate a diet of mutton, scotch oatmeal, split peas and livered meat during his first month.

 

Birds eye view of the asylum 1901

 

On the 4th March 1861, roughly three months after William had arrived, the asylum received a visit from its Board of Guardians. What they observed was recorded in the institution’s minute book and can be used to give us a deeper insight into William’s experience of the Northumberland County Pauper Lunatic Asylum. During the visit the gentlemen noted that patients had “good bodily health” and were “without exception quiet and orderly.” They recommended enlarging the chapel, and adding blinds to the patient’s dormitories, to encourage godliness and increase patient privacy. Overall the board members were pleased with the asylum, and noted how they had enjoyed a “good laugh” with some of its residents.

To understand more about the Northumberland County Pauper Lunatic Asylum please see one of the archives’ previous blogs on the subject.

 

The Devil Put To Bed

It is unlikely William ever left the asylum following his 1861 entry. In the 1871 census Mary Marshall listed herself as being a widow, with William’s death having probably occurred less than a year before in 1870. One can only hope William was no longer troubled by devils in his bed.

 

Ann Wilson – Widow, Pauper and Eloping Lover

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The Poor and the Law

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries local parishes were made responsible for the care of paupers within their jurisdiction. This care was given in the form of poor relief legislated by a series of ‘Poor Laws;’ the most notable being the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act. The concept of poor relief was a controversial one, attracting numerous critics. One its major flaws related to the notion of ‘settlement.’ Parishes naturally resented paying for paupers whom had originated beyond their jurisdiction, and would often try to forcibly return them to their ‘home’ parishes. Yet the fluid nature of society, especially during the industrial revolution, made it increasingly hard to prove where a “pauper” should be placed. Thus solicitors, such as the Dickson, Archer and Thorp firm, were often called upon to resolve settlement disputes.

This exact issue arose in September 1853 when two Overseers of the Poor from the parish of Saint Nicholas, situated within Newcastle Upon Tyne, began legal proceedings to forcibly remove two “paupers” from their jurisdiction. These Overseers signed themselves in the removal order as Sir John Fife and William Armstrong. The order directed the “paupers” to be moved into the northern parish of Bamburgh. Although it is not clear from archival documents as to why Bamburgh was chosen it is perhaps telling that Bamburgh’s own Overseers of the Poor fiercely disputed the removal order and so employed the legal aid of Dickson, Archer and Thorp.

Widowed Paupers

The two “paupers” facing removal from the parish of Saint Nicholas in September 1853 were the widow Ann Wilson, aged just 25, and her daughter Elizabeth, aged about two years. Sending widows away from a parish of settlement, previously adopted by their deceased spouses, was a common occurrence in nineteenth century Northumberland. The process often caused heart-breaking social and economic turmoil, as vulnerable women were removed from established networks of friends and family and placed in often unfamiliar areas without obvious employment or emotional support.

 

Order to remove Ann Wilson to Bamburgh 1853. REF: NRO 11343/B/DAT

 

It is therefore unsurprising that the potential move was also sternly opposed by Ann herself. Ann had already faced the stigma of possibly welcoming a child out of wedlock, braved her employer’s wrath to elope with her lover and tragically endured early widowhood – clearly she was not a woman who would be moved easily. Thus, whilst her experience of parish poor relief could be deemed atypical of a nineteenth century Northumbrian widow, her situation was far more complex and it made fighting the order a matter of survival and reputation.

Young Lovers

Ann was the daughter of a sailor, named in legal documents as Henry Pryle Gibson. He was recorded in ejectment proceedings as living near Forth Banks, close to Newcastle’s Quayside, but in Ann’s personal testimony he seems to have had little to do with her life.

Instead Ann had spent the majority of her youth working as a domestic servant. In this occupation she had spent almost 3 years living in Newton on the Moor whilst working for the publican-come-blacksmith Mr Wall. In her testimony, given to prove she had been legally married to her deceased husband, she tenderly recalled how it was during her first few weeks in Newton on the Moor that she met the colliery engine-man James Wilson.

 

Copy of James Wilson’s baptism certificate, produced as evidence of his existence. REF: NRO 11343/B/DAT

 

The young couple began a three year courtship which reached a decisive point when Ann became pregnant in the beginning of 1851. To have maintained a child out of wedlock would have put great financial pressure and reputational shame upon Ann; probably forcing her to give up domestic employment and seek the support of parish organisations. Thus, probably to avoid moral judgement, the young couple decided to elope to the Scottish borders and resolve their situation legally.

The Legality of Love

Marriages conducted by eloping couples on the border were clandestine in the eyes of the Church, this made them notoriously hard to prove in retrospect. Ann’s account of her elopement is lengthy, witty and fast-paced. It was recorded verbatim by the solicitors and had been carefully crafted to prove the legality of her marriage and, in turn, the legitimacy of Elizabeth – two facts which the Newcastle Overseers had questioned. Being a legal widow, and having a legitimate child, would have put Ann in a much stronger position to fight the parish removal order and lift the reputational slur the men of Saint Nicholas’ parish had placed on her. Ann’s account was also verified by a number of witnesses including her mother-in-law (even though her testimony infers that she may not have wholly approved of her new daughter-in-law.)

 

A letter containing extracts of Ann Wilson’s statement. REF: NRO 11343/B/DAT

 

According to these accounts Ann and James eloped to the Scottish border on the 6th June 1851, travelling via train from Newcastle to Berwick. Once at Tweedmouth Station they met with the man who was to marry them; Anderson Sommerville. Sommerville first took the lovers by horse drawn carriage to a public house in search of witnesses; here they met George Dobson and George Davison. The latter was a soldier tasked with recruiting in Berwick that day. The group then moved onto the Lamberton toll booth to conduct the ceremony.

The Lamberton toll house was a popular place for clandestine marriages. One of Lamberton’s previous toll keepers, John Foster, had even received lifetime banishment from Scotland for conducting clandestine marriages on his land in 1818. This punishment had little effect though, as Foster primarily lived in England and he would often ignore the notice anyway.

Within the toll house the Wilson’s were taken to a room with a table, bottle of whiskey and a prayer book. It was in this room where they exchanged their vows and signed the relevant documentation. After the brief ceremony all five drank a toast of whiskey to the marriage’s prosperity which was, unfortunately, to be short-lived.

Hanover Street and a New Start

Ann clearly thought she had embarked upon a whole new, exciting life following her elopement. When the couple returned to Northumberland it would appear James returned to Newton on the Moor, to tie up the loose ends left behind by their hasty departure, he then followed Ann down to Newcastle where she had found them a home in the city’s Hanover Street.

It was here that Ann gave birth to their daughter Elizabeth, on the 28th September 1851. But sadly, around the same time, James died following a short illness.

James’ death left Ann with a young child to feed and care for. It was during this painful, and probably traumatic, experience she found herself seeking poor relief from parish officials. Evidence also suggests she was possibly forced out of her new home. These circumstances therefore assembled to bring her to the attention of senior parish officials, whom questioned her marriage and associated right to remain in the area, and set in motion the removal order.

A Legal Success

Proving Ann Wilson’s right to settle in Saint Nicholas’ parish was dependent upon her having been legally married to her husband, however this was difficult to evidence due to the secret nature of their union. Nonetheless, through tireless county and cross-border investigation, solicitors at the Dickson, Archer and Thorp practice were able to successfully evidence an appeal against the removal order on behalf of Bamburgh’s Overseers of the Poor and prove the authenticity of a small marriage certificate, given to Ann on her wedding day. Officials from the parish of Saint Nicholas eventually revoked their removal order and Ann and Elizabeth appear to have found somewhere within Newcastle to stay.

 

Letter adjoining the Appeal notice accepted by all parties. REF: NRO 11343/B/DAT

 

Ann had asserted her right to remain within the Newcastle Parish, but it is unlikely she would have had the tools to fight the removal order on her own had she not also had the support of Bamburgh’s parish officials. Hence this is a story of two parties working simultaneously with the solicitors – if only for their own gains.

A final triumph for the unyielding Ann, and an appropriate end to this blog, potentially occurred on the 7th October 1854. When an Elizabeth Wilson, recorded as being the daughter of an ‘Ann Wilson” and born towards the end of 1851, was christened at Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Newcastle.

 

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