Durham County Local History Society

DCLHS NEWS

JOURNAL 88 has been published - Journal 88 Contents and Editorial.

• PATERNALISM, CONFLICT AND DECLINE:The seventh Marquess of Londonderry and the Coal Industry, 1906–1947 by Neil Fleming.
• Smallpox Vaccinations in Durham’s Unions by Margaret Armstrong.
• Iron, Coal and Cinders. by Win Stokes
• The Disappearance of Violet Hunt. by Naomi Booth

At the Feet of the Angel. Birtley: the Growth of an Industrial Community in the Nineteenth Century by Robert Hull with a Foreword by Sir Antony Gormley.

The Society launched this new book by Robert Hull on 6th December 2023 at Birtley Library.

The book is priced at £15 but will be available to members at £10. It is a paperback book of 192 pages with six maps and 15 black and white illustrations.

Full priced books are available at:

• Gateshead Central Library, Prince Consort Road, Gateshead NE8 4LN
• Birtley Branch Library, Durham Road, Birtley, Chester le Street DH3 1LE

The book is also available from the Society’s Secretary, Dr John Banham, c/o 21 St. Marys Grove, Tudhoe Village, Spennymoor DL16 6LR (e-mail: jdbdclhs@gmail.com ). If you wish to mail order postage and packing will be an additional £3.50 (NB full price £15, members’ price £10). Cheques should be made payable to Durham County Local History Society.

Supported by

At the Feet of the Angel tells the story of how the industrial community of Birtley developed in the nineteenth century. During this time the Birtley Iron Company and the Pelaw Main collieries were to develop and prosper changing not only the township of Birtley but also the neighbouring villages of Urpeth and Ouston. The driving force behind these developments was the engineer and entrepreneur Benjamin Thompson. In partnership with the Perkins and Hunt families, Thompson put Birtley at the forefront of the technological development of the coal, iron and railway industries in the first part of the nineteenth century. They brought major investment to the region funding capital projects in coal, engineering and railroads, breaking the monopoly of long established landowners and vested interests. Using vestry and council records the author charts the relationship between the Birtley Iron Company and the new community.

As Sir Antony Gormley explains in his Foreword, the story of Birtley deepens understanding and appreciation of the various mixed and entangled lives in the North East, from workers above ground to those below, taking forward the industrial revolution.

Robert Hull grew up in Birtley and studied history at Leicester University before completing an MBA at the Manchester Business School. Following a career as a senior EU official, in his retirement he has completed his research into the history of his home town in the nineteenth century.

See our Talks page for details of On-line Talks/Exhibitions.