chester le streetchesterlestreetheritage.org/02 2017 march newsletter.pdfchimney sweep, swam through...
TRANSCRIPT
John William Luccock
was born 8th March 1851
at Limehouse London.
He was the son of John
(60) and Elizabeth
Luccock (39). John born
Norwich was in 1851 a
Labourer. Elizabeth had
been born at Barnard
Castle. Their children
included Ann 9, Marian 7
Charles T. 3 and John
William 1 month. By
1861 John had died and
Elizabeth a widow was a
shirt maker as were her
two daughters Ann and
Caroline. Charles and
John William are Scholars.
There were also three
boarders In 1871 John William and
his wife Sarah Ann are
living on Front Street
Chester-le-Street. John
William is a Confectioner
as is his mother in law
Sarah Witherspoon. They
had married December
18th 1870. They only had
one child a daughter
Miriam who lived 8 hours.
In February 1872. he
persuaded his wife and
mother to teach him
confectionery baking.
They worked 16 hour
days catering for the
sweet tooth people. By 1881 John William is a
Provisions Merchant and
Confectioner employing
17 men, 6 boys and 9
girls. Two nephews are
employed as Clerks in
the business. They are
still living on Front
Street. Comic Verse recalled by
Alice Scott - Oh I've seen
Paris and Amsterdam,
Newsletter Date 1st March 2017 Volume 7, Issue 1
Chester le Street Heritage Group Newsletter
Special points of
interest:t
J W Luccock, Local
man made good.
Inside this issue:
Postcards from
the Past
3
The Life and
Times of a
Beamish
Volunteer.
4
The Soldiers
Story of WW1
cont
5
I Love
Graveyards
6
J.W. Luccock Chester-le-Street
Page 2 Chester le Street
Oh I've seen blacklocks in
Luccock's jam. The Buck in is seen on the
early photo of Luccock's
shop on Front Street
(Front Page). There is a
stag with antlers on the
photo. By 1879 Stag Works
Wholesale Manufacturing
Confectioners was on the
site of Murray's yard
behind the Front Street up
Foundry lane. John William used the Stag
on his bill heads and also
on the jam jars. By 1891
John William and Sarah are
living at The Deanery and
he is a Butter Merchant
and Con fect ioner .
Mother in Law Sarah
Witherspoon is living
there too as well as
niece Minnie Hay aged
13 born at Hamilton
Canada and three
servants. In the 1890s Luccock's
are advertising for staff – Jam Boiler First Class
Wanted one thoroughly
well up in his work,
sober and of good
Character; one with a
practical knowledge of
peel making preferred.
(Middlesbrough Gazette
1896).
1901 they are still at the
Deanery and with them
is niece Minnie Hay. In the 1900s the Stag
Steam works were sold
to J. Samuel and he
continued to use the
stag on his letter heads. The Deanery estate was
sold to Durham County
Council to be used as
the site of Chester-le-
Street Secondary School.
(later Grammar School
then Deanery School
and now known as Park
View) In 1911 the
put up for auction. The
shops at Chester-le-
Luccocks are living at
The Grove Gosforth – a
large house with 14
rooms. John William is a
Butter Merchant and
Who le s a l e Bu t t e r
Maker. They lived here
for the next 30 years. In 1919 John William
ceased to be a wholesale
butter and cheese
merchant. Sarah died 2nd March
1943 and John William
on the 31st March 1943.
They had been married
for 73 years. The head-
Street included the
Cestrian Club premises
stone reads "Death did
not divide them". In the summer of that
year their extensive
collection of paintings
and porcelain were sold.
In the autumn The
Grove, four houses in
Woodbine Terrace
Gosforth, shops and
houses at The Side
Newcastle, as well as 4
shops on Chester-le-
Street Front Street and
two on Ashfield Terrace
plus 20 houses and 40
flats at Usworth were
and eventually in 1948
this block was bought by
the Cestrian Club. In his will John William
Luccock left the bulk of
his estate to King's
College Newcastle to
establish a Medical
Research fellowship – it
is still in existence today.
(2016) A real rags to riches
story which happened
here in Chester-le-
Street !
Dorothy Hall
February 24th
1775.
As reported in
“Gillespy’s Col”
In the afternoon of
this day, two felons,
who had been
committed to
Durham Gaol,
charged with
robbing Chester
church, made their
escape from
thence; but one of
them having broken
his leg in the fall,
was soon retaken.
The other, a
chimney sweep,
swam through the
river with his
clothes on, before
he was also
secured.
February 2nd 1822
from “Surtees”
A most
tempestuous wind
with heavy rain
blew from the
south west causing
considerable
flooding in the
rivers Tyne, Wear
and Tees.
At Chester-le-Street
the Wear was so
swollen that it
extended above the
arch of the new
bridge, which is
more than a
quarter of a mile
from the channel of
the river. The
whole immediate
space was a
complete sheet of
water, by which
much injury was
sustained.
Page 3 Volume 7, Issue 1 Volume 7, Issue 1 Page 3
Curly-haired with a
colourful, naturally jovial
c h a r a c t e r , A l b e r t
became a l ikab le
footballer at Gallowgate
f o r m i n g a g o o d
understanding with Wyn
Davies in season
1967/68 that led to the
Black ‘n ’ Whites
qualifying for Europe for
t h e f i r s t t i m e .
Unfortunately by the
time United played their
first game, Bennett had
undergone knee surgery
following a clash with his
own teammate, John
Tudor, which saw him
miss United's debut in
the Inter Cities Fairs
Cup, and worse, lose his
place as partner to
Dav ies, to Bryan
Robson. United's first
named substitute in
1965, Albert is also
n o t e d a s b e i n g
r e s p o n s i b l e f o r
n i c kn am i ng Em l yn
Hughes “Crazy Horse”
during a 1967 United-
Liverpool clash. He later
appeared for Norwich,
leaving Tyneside in 1969.
After quitting the
professional scene when
only 27 years old due to
injury. Albert had a
succession of jobs
including working for the
prison service, running a
catering business and
even a joke shop on
Lowestoft pier. Residing
in Norfolk, he was also
publican for several
years. Albert continued
playing in local Norwich
football for several years
and managed Coleman’s
Mustard FC for a time.
Born locally in Chester
Moor, near Chester-le-
Street, Bennett played
for Chester Moor
Juniors from 1959-1961
before signing for
Rotherham. Where he
caught the attention of
several big clubs as a
noted goal-poacher and
reaching the England
Under-23 line up. Joe
Harvey was the manager
who succeeded in
landing the player for
Newcast le United,
although Bennett was
once on the Magpies’
books as a teenage
trialist after scoring 100
goals for Chester Moor.
He cost United £27,500
in July 1965 and went on
to appear on 90
occasions, netting 23
times.
Postcards from the Past
This postcard provided by Dorothy Hall
appears to have been sent in 1910. It has
a Birtley postmark and was posted to
Ferryhill. The subject of the postcard is a
bit unusual in that it reads “Just a line to
say I am still alive more dead than alive
though I am not too lovely as the man in
the picture but hope soon to be. I have
22 teeth pulled out, not many when you
say it sharp and have just 4 to get out on
Saturday” !
Well that certainly is an unusual subject
for a postcard !
Well if you have any old postcards of
your own then we would be pleased
to see them to learn of the subjects
that we used to discuss in times gone
bye.
Albert Bennet July 1944 – 21st Dec 2016
According to
“Surtees” In 1625 there was a
general muster of
all the fencible men
within the Bishopric
of Durham between
the ages of sixteen
and sixty. There appeared
from Chester le Street
two thousand six
hundred and fifty
seven. From Easington
One thousand four
hundred and
ninety four, from Darlington
two thousand nine
hundred and forty
six.
Stockton one
thousand two
hundred and
twenty three.
I have been volunteering
at Beamish Museum for 3
years now. I spend a day
each week, usually a
Friday, in the village
school where I engage
with the visitors and
more often than not with
school groups. There is
never a dull moment and
I meet people from all
over the country and
indeed worldwide with
most of them having a
story to tell. A couple of
summers ago a group of
about a dozen teenage
me about Dracula,
written by Bram Stoker
in 1897 are you”. I was
indeed about to tell him
about that book, so I
hurriedly said, “Well I
was but I don’t think I’ll
bother now”. With that
I bade them all farewell
and off they went. The
following Tuesday I came
into our coffee morning
and told the story to Sue
Vidler who asked if I
knew which school they
were from in Buenos
Aries. Sue, her husband
and their young family
had been in Argentina
during the mid 1980’s
when her husband had
taught at joint private
boarding schools called
St. George and St.
Hilda’s in Buenos Aries.
Unfortunately I had
never asked that
question and thought
that was the end of it.
Well it wasn’t quite
because the following
summer (last year) into
the school wandered a
group of about a dozen
Page 4 Chester le Street
smart, glowingly healthy
and elegant students.
Sure enough when I
began talking to them it
transpired they were
foreign, spoke excellent
English and were from
Buenos Ar i e s i n
Argentina. This time I
got the name of the
school they attended
back in their homeland
and sure enough it was
the private boarding
school St George and St
Hilda’s to which Sue had
referred. It turned out a
100 Years
Ago This
Month
students were about 16
years old and what struck
me about them was how
smart, glowingly healthy
and immaculately well
school yard. I guessed
they were maybe
Spanish or Portuguese
but I followed them into
the yard and asked one
of the boys where they
were from. Imagine my
surprise when he told
me they were from
Buenos Aries in
Argentina. He told me
they were in England
for two weeks and they
had one night left in
England before heading
to Heathrow and flying
The Life and Times of a Beamish Museum Volunteer
back home. Their last
night was to be spent in
Whitby. Of all the places
to stay in, I thought, but
each to their own. So I
decided I would leave
the boy with a nugget of
information about Whit-
by and said to him,
“There was a famous
book written a long time
ago that describes
Whitby” which is as far
as I got when as quick as
a flash he replied,
“you’re not going to tell
students came into
the classroom with a
couple of teachers and
sat themselves down
at the desks. The
Blands Opening
There has been a lot
of recent interest in
the blue street sign
displaying the words
“Bland’s Opening”
located high up on
the side of the Quick
Silver Amusement
Arcade wall in the
alley way between it
and Costa Coffee.
The sign, which is
one of the very few
“blue street signs”
dotted around
Chester-le-Street,
refers to the “Bland”
family who once had
a barbers shop here
in the 1800s and this
is how the alley got
its name.
It led to “Edward”
and “Albert
Squares”.
When the property
was demolished, the
skeleton of a wild
boar was found.
dressed they all looked.
When I began talking to
them all it turned out
they were foreign but
they all spoke excellent
English. I gave them a
short lesson about the
history of the school and
the education system
back in 1913 which is the
year in which the school
is set and they were
extremely knowledgeable
and well behaved. They
eventually got up to go
and moved into the
group of children and
teachers had been
coming every year to
England for the last 12
years. They also told me,
as had the first group the
year before, that they
would be staying in
Whitby on their last
night. Intrigued by now I
asked, “why Whitby”? The teacher explained
that St Hilda’s College
was named after St Hilda
of Whitby who was the
founding abbess of the
monastery of Whitby. I
gleaned the following
from the St Hilda’s
trench was successfully
taken on 11th January.
T h e B r i g a d e
headquarters then
moved to Courcelles
where they stayed for
the whole of February
and although the guns
were in action, nothing
specific is reported apart
from a number of
personnel changes
within the batteries.
Thomas however was
unaffected by the
its patron, St. Hilda of
Whitby, the school
fosters a “work-hard,
p l a y - h a r d ” e t h i c ,
cultivating character
formation and leadership
in class, on the field and
in the performing arts.
As the years went by
new properties were
bought which allowed
the school to grow.
Amongst them were
neighbouring houses
In the last edition, the
Battle of the Somme was
officially over and the
men had dug in for what
turned out to be an ex-
tremely cold winter.
They left their billets at
St Leger on 2nd January
and marched to new
billets at Authiele but
then they were in action
again at Louvencourt on
3rd January, in prepara-
tion for an attack on
Munich trench. This
Page 5 Volume 7, Issue 1
College website: The
school was founded in
1912 by Mabel Holland,
an English governess
who came out from
Cricklewood in London
to work for Canon
Stevenson, the founder
and former headmaster
of St. George’s College,
a prestigious boarding
school for boys in
Quilmes. The original
name of the school was
Cricklewood, and over
the next few years it
grew side by side with
St. George’s to become
one of the leading
where the kindergarten
now functions and the
Charles Lockwood
Field, an 18 hectare
playing field in General
Rodríguez where the
school organizes sports
tournaments, camping
expeditions for younger
students and musical
retreats. The latest
addition to the school
was Trinity Hall in 2006,
a large hall where the
boarding schools for
Anglo-Argentine families
in Argentina. In 1927 the
school moved to its
current location in
Hurlingham, when the
Anglican Bishop Every
made a gift of the
grounds and buildings.
As a result, the school
changed its name to St.
Hilda’s College. Its ties
with the Anglican
Church remain to this
day. The school motto
Laborare est Orare, (To
work is to pray), reflects
the spirit of the school.
Following the example of
school can host
academic, musical and
sporting events for
large audiences. So
there I had it, I had
squared the circle and I
could update Sue as
well. I could also look
forward to welcoming
the next group of
Buenos Aries College
students to the school
at Beamish Museum
this summer.
changes remaining with
his Howitzer battery.
This was a prelude to
the German retreat to
the newly constructed
formidable defence
posit ion of The
Hindenburg line. So the
first part of 1917,
despite it being very
cold had been a
relatively quieter time
for Thomas and his
division. Would it last ?
From Hutchinsons
Durham !
Dated 1693
Wagon ways were
now first used on
the river Wear by
Thomas Allan Esq
of Newcastle, who
amassed a large
fortune in the
collieries and purchased estates,
a part of which
still retains the
name Allan’s
Flatt’s, near
Chester-le-Street.
The Soldiers Story of WW1 cont
Thanks to David
Gardner for this
contribution.
have it, the town’s
cemetery (happy days).
Here I discovered the
graves of the Wigtown
Martyrs which were
Page 6 Chester le Street
While on holiday in South
West Scotland earlier this
year, I happened to visit
the small town of
Wigtown, mainly because
it was renowned for its
many second-hand book
shops. Visiting bookshops
I’m sorry to say is one of
my very few weaknesses,
together with yes you’ve
got it, looking around
graveyards (sad I know). When leaving the last of
the bookshops, I happened
to notice a sign which said
“Wigtown Martyrs” and
an arrow pointing in a
direction which led me
to the outskirts of the
town and as luck would
I love Graveyards Me – The Wigtown Martyrs
separated from the
other interments in
the cemetery and
retained behind a
square of cast-iron
rai l ings. So the
question was, “who
were the Wigtown
Martyrs and what was
their story all about”? Apparently the story
goes back to the reign
of King Charles II
when he compulsorily
imposed the Episcopal
Church rule across
Scotland. However,
many of the Scottish
people believed that
Jesus Christ was the
only head of the church
and in 1638 many signed
the National Covenant
in an act of defiance.
This resulted in what is
generally referred to as
“the killing times” of
escalating punishments
a n d pe r s e cu t i o n s
ranging from fines and
banishment to torture
and executions during a
period of fifty years
From the Chester-le-Street
Chronicle 9th
February 1917.
Accident at Sale.
Several persons
were injured at
Chester-le-Street on
Wednesday as the
result of a somewhat peculiar
accident. The furniture of the
late Dr Brown was
being disposed of by
public auction at 4
Red Rose Terrace
when the floor of
the sitting room
gave way and several persons and
a quantity of heavy
furniture went
through into a
quantity of water
that was standing
below.
The purchase money was on one
of the tables that
fell into the water.
Really a case of
“going, going,
gone” !
eventually ending in
1688. Although many people
suffered as a result of
their beliefs, one story
that stands out is that of
the “Wigtown Martyrs”
and refers to two
w o m e n M a r g a r e t
McLachlan aged 63, and
Margaret Wilson aged
18, both of whom had
been arrested, tried and
convicted and sentenced
to death by drowning,
having been “indicted as
being guilty of rebellion”.
The Judges sentenced
them both to be tied
to palisades, fixed in
the sand, within the
flood-mark of the sea
and there to stand
until the flood waters
overflowed them.
There are several
accounts of what
h a p p e n e d n e x t .
Seemingly there is
bitter controversy as
to whether the
sentence was actually
carried out, because a
petition was raised to
demolished, once again if
it had been repaired and
maintained it could have
remained another piece
of local significance.
The once splendid wall
which surrounded High
Flats farm at South
Pelaw has been
considerably reduced at
one corner due to
repeated crashes due to
Have you noticed ? The farm at Pelton along
with the gin gan is to be
demolished to provide
more housing as it has
gone past the hope of
restoration why was it
allowed to do so ?
The archway at the
entrance to Albert
Square in Chester le
S t re e t h a s be en
drivers speeding round
the bend the wall
s u r r o u n d e d a
wonderful farmhouse
which has sadly been
replaced by a modern
structure and many
trees are now being
removed.
Thanks to Anne
Cowie for this
information.
Page 7 Volume 7, Issue 1
town’s people who were
p r e s e n t a t t h e
e x e c u t i o n s a r e
understood to have
pleaded with her to
change her mind, but no
she would not change
her beliefs and was
willing to give her life, so
s t r o n g w a s h e r
commitment to her
religion and to Jesus.
Following Margaret
McLachlan’s death in the
waters of the esturary,
the story then takes a
turn for the worse if that
is possible to believe.
Seemingly the incoming
tide when at its peak,
did not reach a high
enough l e ve l to
overcome the young
Margaret Wilson, so the
executioner rowed out
in a small boat and
forcibly pushed her head
under the water until
she drowned. The
“martyrs” were clearly
held in great esteem
throughout Scotland and
a further more modern
sign referring to them
pointed towards the
coastline of Wigtown
Bay where a pillar
displaying information
about the martyrs has
been erected . In
addition, a boardwalk
leading to the stone
Martyrs Stake (originally
e r e c t e d i n t h e
Coronation year of
1937) has recently been
funded by the Galloway
Association of Glasgow,
the Scottish Covenanter
Memorial Association
and by the local
c o m m u n i t y , i n
recognition of the
bravery of those who
suffered for their beliefs,
because they would not
bow to tyranny.
Alec Thompson
The Chester-le-
Street Chronicle of
23rd February 1917
was reporting the
death of Mr William
Clarke, proprietor
of the Chester-le-
Street Chronicle
who died at 118
Front Street on
Thursday night,
after an illness that
had lasted practically the
whole winter.
The deceased who
was 70 years old
was a native of the
town and for many
years had been one
of the most considerable figures
in it. He had sat on both
the Parish and Urban Councils and
the board of Guardians and had
established and
carried on most
successfully for
many years, very
flourishing hardware, printing
and stationery
businesses.
He was also a director of the local
gas company, the
Empire Picture Hall,
the Local Building
Society and a
Freemason.
the Privy Council which
resulted in the Lords
issuing a reprieve.
However, other accounts
suggest that if the
reprieve was issued, it did
not arrive in time or was
totally ignored. One
source suggested that
Margaret McLachlan
being the older woman
was tied to a stake
further into the estuary
so that she would die
first and that the younger
Margaret Wilson might
repent having seen the
other woman succumb to
the incoming tide. The
Our History is Disappearing.
CONTACTS
Chester le Street Heritage Group
Chairperson -
Information requests/web
Friends [email protected]
Newsletter
Date Time Event Location
Every Tuesday 10:00-
12:00
Drop In Session
All Welcome
Salvation Army
Citadel Low Chare ,
Chester le Street.
Wed 1st March
Wed 5th April
Wed 3rd May
Wed 15th March,
Wed 19th April,
Wed 17th May
19:00-
21:00
Dorothy Hamilton speaking
about Coal Mining. That History Bloke ! - Book of
Days.
Gordon Henderson Romans
Normal Monthly meeting. Every-
one welcome on any of the
above dates.
Ch-le-St Library
Next Newsletter
7th June 2017
Contributions
required by
17th May 2017
Don’t forget to keep sending me your contributions for future
editions of the newsletter. Any subjects, stories, memories will be
of interest to the readers . E Mail to [email protected] or hand written to any
group member.
Wardles Bridge Inn 13th February, 2017 saw the
demolition of the old Wardles
Bridge Inn, which was at one time
a popular watering hole and many
people extoled the virtues of their
Pigeon Pie. Back in November 2012, the
owners had applied for planning
permission to demolish the Inn
and build ten new homes all with
“sun huts” on the site, so it would
appear that their plans are now coming to fruition. Prior to demolition, it appears that the bar and much of the interior still
remained and during discussions with the owners it was revealed that the
Inn was originally located further along the road (actually two houses
away) which is still standing today and was recorded on early maps of the
area. The name “Wardles” probably derives from that of the Wardel family
who owned nearby Edmondsley in the 17th and 18th centuries and was
known as Wardles Bridge Inn at Warland Green. The earliest reference was in 1311 when the land was called “Warlandes”
which apparently means taxable land belonging to a villain or feudal
tenant.
By the 1850s the land was well
developed when Warland Green
had building clustered around the
original Wardles Bridge Inn.
Alec Thompson
Events Diary