Tudhoe & Spennymoor Local History Society
Cupola - We have received this photo from Andy showing a cupola at the rear of the Town Hall clock. Can anyone identify the building to which it is attached. We have found several pictures between 1920s and 1950s which show it but it seems to disappear in the 1960s when there was major renovation behind the Town Hall for a new bus station and within the Town Hall itself.
Spennymoor Youth & Community Association - Gary is looking for information relating to the history of Spennymoor Youth & Community Association who celebrate their 50th Anniversary next year. They hope to run a number of events to celebrate this and are trying to locate any photographs relating to the association ideally from every decade of their existance. If the owners of the photographs were able to provide a brief recollection of their contact with the association including key leaders and others involved this would also be gratefully appreciated.
Thomas Bowser - Doreen is looking for information relating to the birth and death of Thomas Bowser who was married to Adelaide Chick in 1920 and had two children Thomas, b1920, and Jane (Jenny), b1924. They lived at Wood Row, Binchester in 1920s and then Albion Street, Middlestone Moor. In 1939 Adelaide lived at 7 Flora Street, Spennymoor.
Kelly - Jane is looking for information related to James Kelly, b1873 and John Francis Kelly, b1885. Their parents were Hugh Kelly, born circa 1850 in Scotland and Isabella, a British subject born circa 1850 in Malta. Between 1881 and 1911 they lived with their 6 children at King James Street, Tudhoe Grange when Hugh was a puddler at the ironworks.
Garden House, Byers Green - Arthur is looking for information relating to Garden House, Byers Green where his ancestor Andrew Groves lived in 1901 with his sister, Rosanna Honeyball, and brother, Matthew Groves. I think it was near Prospect House and West End House near the allotment gardens but it would be useful if anyone can confirm this.
Batey - We have had a request from Jackie for information about the Batey family who lived at 25 North Street where George Harrison Batey was a butcher between 1881 and 1911. She has found a picture at the Record Office of a shop with "Batey, Butcher" over the front and it shows a number 25 on the door and she is trying to prove if it is her family standing outside the shop.
George Harrison Batey’s son Robert Batey (“Bobby”) was killed in 1892, aged 6 when, according to the Northern Echo he was: “run over near the Co-operative Stores and killed by a travelling threshing machine”.
George’s wife Annie (nee Ord) died on 15th June 1912, aged 63 as the result of an accident at the butcher’s shop. She has sent details from the newspaper: “Woman’s fatal injury. Cause of fall remains a mystery. Coroner J.T. Proud held an inquest at the Spennymoor Police Station on Tuesday on the death of Annie Batey, wife of a retired Butcher, aged 63 years, who died on Saturday from injuries received on the previous Wednesday. George H. Batey, retired butcher, of North St, Spennymoor, stated that he left his wife in the house on 12 June at 3pm. She spoke of not being very well, and he put the kettle on the fire, and said he would soon be back, when they would have a cup of tea. He had not been out long when his son came to seek him. On returning witness found his wife sitting in the chair quite unconscious. Witness could not tell whether she had had a fall or taken a stroke. She never spoke to anyone, and died on the 15th inst. James Batey, general dealer, Jackson St, son of the deceased, said he went into the house on Wednesday afternoon and saw his mother sitting in a chair near the door. She was keeping the door open with one hand. His mother called him by his name and said, ‘O come to help me’. She said she had been sick. Witness went to the stable and found the ladder on the floor. Witness could not say whether his mother had been up the ladder or not, although the ladder was on the floor. He declared that she was not in the habit of going up this ladder. Dr Wm. Mussellwhite said deceased was a patient of his, but he had not seen her for a few days before the accident. He was sent for on the 12th inst., and found her on the sofa in quite a dazed condition. There was a large bruise on the back of her head, which was bleeding, and she was also bleeding at the nose. No one could tell him what had happened. Some of the women in the house were of the opinion that she had fallen from the ladder in the stable. Witness did not think that the bruise could have been caused by a fall on the floor. She must have had a severe fall to cause the fracture of the skull, but there was no evidence to show how it was caused. The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence”.
George Harrison Batey died on the 22nd March 1919 aged 77 at 23 Park Crescent, Spennymoor. His death certificate describes him as a ‘retired butcher’. In his will, dated 1917, he gave his address as ‘23 Park Crescent, previously of 27 North Street’. In his will he leaves No.21 North Street to his son George Batey, No.22 North Street to his son Thomas, No.23 to his son John, No.26 to his daughter Ann Wallace, No.27 to his daughter Mary Kay and No.28 to his daughter Frances Warren. He records his son James as living at 25 North Street and working as a general dealer.
The family also lived in George Street and Jackie's grandmother Mary Batey was born in Park Crescent in 1922. Her grandmother thought that George had built the houses for his children but she is not sure how true that is. (Jackie Thorburn)
Cecil James Richardson (b1915) - We have had a request from Peter for information about his grandfather Cecil James Richardson (b 28th Oct 1915) whose parents were Thomas Richardson (b2/7/1878) who married Sarah Ann Naylor in 1899 at Trimdon Foundry. By 1911 they lived at 62 Craddock Street, Thomas was a piano tuner and they had at least 7 children, William (b1900) married Kitty and moved to Australia, Sarah (b1903) married William Hockley, Arthur (b1906), Thomas (b1910) a POW in WW2, Elizabeth (b1912), Cecil James (b1915) and Ethel A (b1918).
In 1939 Thomas is still living at 62 Craddock Street but his wife is visiting Cecil James in Ealing London. Cecil James met his wife Eva Marsden after he returned from Dunkirk and was posted to Brighouse in West Yorkshire. They married in 1946 and had a son in 1948. Peter would be interested to know if anyone remembers the family or is related to Cecil James as he has very little information about him. (Peter Richardson)
Thank you to Andrew Robinson who has donated his father Norman Robinson's slide collection to the society. Norman lived in Spennymoor and had an interest in the local history of the area. He gave many talks to local groups and societies in Spennymoor and the surrounding area.
Patricia Clement - Debbie is looking for information or photos of her mother, Patricia Clement's, family. Patricia's father was Robert Clement and mother was Hannah, her siblings were Thomas and Norma. They lived in Weardale Street and Bessemer Terrace in the 1920s-1930s.
Dodds says “The Brewery in Tudhoe Grange dates from this period. It was built by Mr. Ogleby, and its water was taken from a spring in the dene behind Wood Vue, but after the town began to grow the water was so much polluted that the wells were condemned by the local authority and had to be enclosed with large barrel tops. The brewery was not a success in the earlier days of its history. It was closed quite a number of years, and at last Mr. P. B. Junor, a Durham brewer, purchased the property and came to reside in the town. Since then its vats have never been empty.”
Patrick Bruce Junor was born in 1852 in Scotland, in 1871 he was a brewer's clerk in Edinburgh. In 1873 he moved to work at Houghton-le-Spring Brewery and played for Houghton-le-Spring Rugby Club. He moved to the West End Brewery in Durham in 1877 and married Ann Coulson in 1879, they were living at Albert Street Framwellgate, Durham in 1881. He captained the Durham City Rugby Club. Junor came to Tower Brewery in 1883 where he founded the Tudhoe Rugby League Club with players from the iron-workers and miners. He also introduced curling to Spennymoor. He lived at Clyde House, Spennymoor and died on 28 March 1904, aged 51, his will was proved at £22,390. He left one son and three daughters, his wife had died only a few weeks earlier on 27th January 1904. He was involved with G and H Companies of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion Durham Light Infantry, represented the district on Durham County Council and was a member of Spennymoor Musical Society. (Newcastle Evening Chronicle 8 June 1904; Yorkshire Post 29 March 1904)
The brewery premises covered 2888 square yards, contained 5 quarter plant in a “large and substantial brewinghouse”, malt store, tun room, wash-house, store room, engine room, pumping room, boiling room, cooling room, malt mill and “all other conveniences”. It had stables, cellars and wine and spirit stores. The water supply was from Tunstall reservoir near Wolsingham via the pipes of the Weardale and Shildon District Water Company. The cold and hot liquor tanks were located in the tower and refrigeration was used to cool without exposing it to the air. The brewery produced India pale ales, XXP bitter beer, mild ales and stout available by the barrel or in corked or screw topped bottles. Thay also stocked a wide selection of wines and spirits. They delivered door to door for private customers and also supplied licensed houses in the Spennymoor area. They kept eight cart horses and an assortment of heavy drays and lighter vans to operate the delivery service.
In 1896 Mr Richard Murray, of Sunderland, registered North Eastern Breweries Ltd. and acquired large wine and spirit merchants, brewing firms including Tower Brewery, licensed houses in Tyneside and Teesside and theatres including one in Spennymoor. Junor was a director of the North Eastern Breweries.
Tower Brewery closed in 1902, its horses and men were moved to a depot near Spennymoor station where they received beer by rail from Sunderland. The buildings were subsequently used by Raines Coach & Body Builders but were demolished in 2003.
Dodds. History of Spennymoor, 1897; Francis Marshall, Football: The Rugby Union Game;
The Brewing Industry: A Guide to Historical Records edited by Lesley Richmond, Alison Turton;
The Brewers and Breweries of North-Eastern by Brian Bennison, 2004
Bob Abley, Spennymoor Remembered Books 4 & 5, 2003 & 2008;
Northern Echo 12th July 2002; The North-Eastern Daily Gazette (Middlesbrough, England), Monday, November 09, 1896. British Library Newspapers, Part II: 1800-190.
Martin Kennedy - Vicki is looking for information or photos of her grandfather, Martin Kennedy, who was born in 1902 and lived in Brook Street. He was a miner and enlisted in the army in 1921.
Miller's Pharmacy - We have had a request for information about the company which moved into Cheapside as Miller's Pharmacy which was previously Gills Pharmacy.
St. Andrew's Mission Hall, Cheapside, Spennymoor. - TSLHS is researching the St. Andrew's Mission Hall that stood in Cheapside before the present library was built. In particular, we want photographs of the building, which was where Norman Cornish painted the Big Meeting panorama for County Hall in the 1960s.
Bevan - Peter from London contacted us with pictures of his mother and grandparents who lived in Spennymoor and had links with the St. Johns Ambulance service.
His grandfather, John Henry Bevan born in Page Bank, was a miner / surface worker, he served in World War II and was a member of St. John Ambulance. He married Hannah(Ann) Elizabeth Cadman, born in Tudhoe Colliery, in 1906 and the family lived in Baff Street, Spennymoor in 1911 with their son Ernest William and daughter Edna May.
John Henry Bevan is in these pictures at the opening of Bowburn Colliery Baths and Medical Center in 1954. He died in 1962 in London, aged 79 and Hannah in 1956, aged 68, both are buried in Spennymoor Cemetery.
John & Hannah had another daughter Rhoda Maud Bevan, born in 1918, who was a probationer nurse at St. Lukes Hospital, Bradford in 1939 and a nurse midwife there until 1943. She then moved to Queen's Nurses Home, Darlington for 6 months and then Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, Gateshead for 1 year before moving to Essex County Nursing Association. These pictures show her as a child at school in Spennymoor. We think it may be Rosa Street School but if anyone can identify the school or the children in these photos please let us know. She married in 1949 in London and died there in 1962.
Elizabeth Richardson (nee Harrison) - Sheila is interested in information about an Isolation Hospital where she believes her grandmother Elizabeth Harrison (b 1887) worked as a nursing assistant or domestic prior to her marriage. In 1909 Elizabeth married Allan Boustead Richardson and they lived in Middlestone Moor. Sheila's father remembers walking to Spennymoor after school and getting a ride on the iron works engine as his grandfather took it back to the sheds at the end of the day. Sheila would also be interested in a photo of the engine.
The isolation hospital was on South View near Rock Road Cemetery and there are newspaper reports of charity donations made to the hospital in the 1900s. The Annual Report on the Public Health Services in 1937 stated "I regret to record the closure of our Infectious Diseases Hospital, a course decided upon by the Joint Hospital Board four months after taking over the hospital, July 1937 saw our hospital cease to exist as such, much to my regret and the regret of many residents in the District. Although the Spennymoor Isolation Hospital was considered as unsuitable and out of date, it had a record comparing very favourably with similar hospitals in the North. The Staff worked together very amicably and the atmosphere created for the patients was one of sympathy combined with efficiency. From the year 1923 to the day it ceased to admit patients, 940 cases were admitted to hospital suffering from Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria and Enteric Fever, with a loss of only 15 patients and 7 of these deaths should not be recorded against the Hospital, as death took place within 24 hours of admission."
Robert and Matthew Wilson - Ken is interested in some of our Ferryhill pictures showing Bede Terrace where he was born. His great grandfather, Robert Wilson, and grandfather, Matthew Wilson were self employed Joiner and Cartwrights in Ferryhill Village. Matthew ran an undertaker's business in Ferryhill, up until his death in 1941. A newspaper obituary says "He took an active interest in all local history and noted all local happenings of interest. He leaves books that will in future years be invaluable to Ferryhill authorities.". Ken has no idea what happened to these books and would appreciate any help to find them.
Harry Sill - Derek from Yorkshire is interested to find members of the Sill family. One of his collection of watches is inscribed Harry Sill, Pit Laddie Inn, Spennymoor, 1921. In 1911 Henry, a coal hewer, his wife Edith Mary and son Henry lived at 27 King William Street. By 1920 they had moved into the Pit Laddie but had moved to Ferryhill Station by 1939. If anyone knows of any members of Harry's family Derek would be pleased to contact them.
Keziah Geldard - We had a request from Locksley in South Africa for information about a photo of Keziah Geldard at Ferryhill Railway Station Tobacco Kiosk c.1914. Keziah Geldard was born in 1888 at Shincliffe, her father was a railway platelayer and the family soon moved to Ferryhill Station. Locksley says when Keziah was about 19 she was semi-blinded due to a fire cracker going off in her face. Keziah married Alfred Robson Chaytors, a railway engine fireman, in 1908. Locksley would like to make contact with any of the Geldard family as Keziah's brother Matthew went to live in South Africa in 1950 and is Locksley's grandfather. (picture-Tony Coia & George Teasdale)
Harold Alphonso Clark - We had a request for information about Harold Alphonso Clark (born Lewisham 1891) who put his next of kin as Heart of the Oak Hotel, Spennymoor when completing his First World War papers. The Hearts of Oak was a public house in Merrington Lane and the licensee in 1901 and 1911 was Thomas Davison, with his wife Mary Ann and son Thomas. Harold did have relatives who moved from Spennymoor to London then returned to 58 Craddock Street Spennymoor by 1908, Robert and Isabella Clark. Isabella Harvey Hall was born in Spennymoor in 1872. (Hearts of Oak is mentioned in Bob Hall's book Public Houses of Spennymoor & Neighbourhood)
Ted Copeland - We had a request for information about Ted Copeland who played for Hartlepool before and after the Second World War, Newcastle during the war and Spennymoor United in 1949 to 1950. He played 11 games and scored 4 goals for Spennymoor United between 8th Oct 1949 and April 1950, both the first and last games being against Consett. He is mentioned in the following programmes:- Sep 1944 Darlington v Hartlepool, Dec 1944 Newcastle v Hartlepool, Dec 1949 Spennymoor v Blyth (Ted Mellonby)