1780 The Workhouse was built at Swalwell.
1780 The Crown and Cannon Inn built at Winlaton.
1782 Theodosia Crowley died, After Theodosias' death the factory was sold to Isiah Millington one of the long serving managers and became known as Crowley, Millington and Company.
1783 Winlaton Manor Mill A ‘well known and well accustomed water corn mill, called Haggerstone’s Mill, being apopulous situation, belonging to the Lords of Winlaton, and now occupied by RobertTurnbull as tenant’ was advertised to be let on the 15 April 1783 (Newcastle Chronicle).RobertTrumble was still tenant in 1790, paying 15/- for a 16th part (NRO ZCO IV/41), butby 1796 had been succeeded by Thomas Wood (NRO ZCO IV 35). The location of this millis confirmed by an undated but probably late 18th century plan (DRO D/X 35/5) which
shows a large building called ‘Winlaton Manor Mill’, almost identical in footprint to, and
clearly on the site of, the Haggerston’s Mill marked on the 1st edition OS of 1856.
1788 The Poor House Winlaton. Under the old ‘factory’ system of Crowleys, both employees and employers paid into a superannuation scheme by which the workers received a pension of 5shillings ( 25p), when too old or infirm to work.The pensioner had to wear an armband with the inscription ‘Crowleys Poor’ written on it.In the 18c a skilled worker could earn 14s 2d (71p) per 80 hours. On the death of a workman,the widow either received a weekly allowance of 2s. 6d (12 1/2p) or was provided with employment at the factory,usually to make nail bags. After the Crowleys left Winlaton these benefits stopped until the Blacksmiths Friendly Society was formed in 1826. The first mention of the poor-house is in 1788.An overseer and his assistant were appointed , a rate was levied for the relief of the poor and to look after the apprenticeship of children whose parents could not maintain them.The inmates had to be kept clean and comfortable and the overseers advertised for charitable donations of food, drink and clothing.The poor had to apply for relief and the Ryton minute book of 1830 records “That Martha Tweddle be sent to the Winlaton poor-house” but that “Thomas Forster receive no relief after coming out of prison”.Pauper funerals were to be conducted as economically as possible.
The system of poor relief came to an end when the Gateshead Poor Law Union was formed.The inmates of the Winlaton Poor House were removed to Gateshead Workhouse in 1837 and the red pantiled stone building was altered into dwelling houses.By 1955 the building was derelict and subsequently demolished early 1960’s
1788 Blaydon Main, which appears on John Gibson’s published Plan of Collieries of
1788 (Gibson) as 24 fathoms (144’ or 43.89m) deep, served by a waggonway running to staiths at Derwenthaugh.
1788 July 2nd One Sunday School at Winlaton, Sixty boys and Fifty girls attend it. The Rector's house stands on the south side of the churchyard ; it faces the east, and the front of the house is rendered charming by the well kept lawns and ornamental flower beds. Over the front entrance — as at Whickham — are the arms of Bishop Crewe, with the date 1709, and a motto "non nobis." On a small plate on the left side of the door is the date 161 2. The arms, crest, and monogram of the Rev. James Finney, are seen at the top of the entrance hall windows. One of the spouts bears the inscription "R T., 1795." O n the west side of the house there are two old
windows which look into the kitchen garden ; they are about 4 feet 6 inches high, and probably of fifteenth century date. On one of the chimneys is inscribed "C. T., 1839." There is on a terrace at the front of the hall, a small conservatory to which is attached a sun-dial, bearing the motto " Pereuntetimputantur," which is the
same as that above the entrance to the church. At the beginning of the present century the rectory possessed several Roman altars, found at Benwell and Jarrow, but they were afterwards removed to the old castle.
1788 Winiaton consisted of 617 families The working hours of the establishment were from five in the morning till 8 at night at night (Crowles)
1798 Winlaton Hall Built which is now The Hallgarth Club was The residence of The Laycock Family Joseph, born 1798, built Winlaton Hall now Hall-Garth Club. He became a very wealthy man by the building of railway waggons at Stella, he was Lord-Mayor of Newcastle in 1858.
1790 there stood at the west end of Stella, on the south side of the present Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, a forge belonging to Peter Hutchinson of Ryton, which afterwards passed to his son, James Hutchinson. The forge was driven by a water-wheel, and stood in a secluded spot, excellently adapted for the purpose. This establishment was afterwards enlarged by the addition of an iron foundry, which, in 1828, belonged to Mr. Edward Emerson. It- subsequently passed into the hands of Messrs. R. J. and R. Laycock, who manufactured waggons for railways, and under whose direction the little factory flourished for many years. At present, not a vestige remains to apprise the visitor to Stella of this industry.
1790-1820 In 1790. Gibside Mary Eleanor's eldest son John, now 10th Earl of Strathmore, purchased his mother's life interest in Gibside. Like his grandfather, George Bowes, he loved Gibside and employed John Dobson to remove the third storey of the Hall in 1805 and adorn the South Front with a high battle mounted parapet pierced with huge crosses. He reconstructed the original Jacobean Porch and restored the inscriptions and arms facsimiles. He also added a plain wing for an office block. The Chapel was completed in 1812 and dedicated. George Bowes' body was then removed from Whickham and placed in the crypt.
The Tenth Earl also replanted woods which had been destroyed by Stoney. The Tenth Earl's private life was complicated, he fell in love with the rather wild Lady Tyrconnel, a member of the 'Gay Delaval' family of Delaval Hall. She died of consumption while staying at Gibside, causing a scandal which was widely reported in the Northern newspapers of that time. It was during this upset in his life that he completed the building of the Chapel and partly rebuilt the Hall. While staying at a Hunting Lodge near the family home at Streatlam, a servant girl, named Mary Milner attracted his attention. She was the daughter of a local gardener, totally uneducated by Society's standards. He set her up in a house in London and lived with her there for some years. In 1811 she bore him a son whom they named him John Milner Bowes. John, the Tenth Earl was very fond of his son, settling a large sum of money on him, and arranging for his education. In 1820, the Earl.who was a sick man at that time, decided to marry Mary Milner, a very noble and brave thing to do considering their perceived difference in class. Because of his illness, special arrangements had to be made, the Earl having to be supported during the ceremony. On the day after the wedding the Earl died. Claims were made, on behalf of the boy for him to inherit the title and the estates. The Tenth Earl, however had a younger brother Thomas, who also claimed the title and estates. After lengthy legal proceedings it was finally decided that the boy should have all the English property on his coming of age in 1832 and that Thomas become the Eleventh Earl and inherit all the Scottish property.
1790 Mr. G. H. Ramsay was born at Park Gate Farm, in the year 1790. In his tenth year he was sent to Tanfield, to be educated under the Rev. R. Simpson, vicar of Tanfield. As soon as his education was finished, he returned to Park Gate and learned farming. But his mind was not content 'with farming alone, he therefore joined his grandfather.Mr. Ramsay still devoted part of his time to farming, and it was on the Park Gate Farm, in 1859, that oxen were last used in the North of England for agricultural purposes. In 1853, Blaydon Main Colliery was sunk by Mr. Ramsay, which turned out to be an advantageous adventure. The ordinary coal obtained from this
colliery was celebrated for the valuable coke it yielded, commanding the highest price in every market in the world. It is known as the " Ramsay Condensed Coke," and its chief markets are Spain, Russia, and Italy. In 1878, Mr. Ramsay was awarded ths Gold Medal at the Paris International Exhibition of Industries for the
products of his mines and manufactures. In addition to the ordinary coal and fire-clay seams of Mr. Ramsay's Colliery, a valuable seam of cannel coal was deposited throughout a portion of his royalties. This coal is well-known for its high illuminating qualities and freedom from sulphur, and is extensively used in the lead-mining districts of Spain and other countries where silver is found co-mingled with other geological products. Mr. Ramsay was fond of field sports, and was a reputed shot in his earlier years, and even at the advanced age of 78, brought down his black game at eighty yards distance, in the presence of the Duke of Northumberland and other sportsmen, the bird being preserved to this day at Kielder Castle. Mr. Ramsay was a Magistrate for the County of Durham. In every respect he was a fine specimen of the old English gentleman. He died on November 28th, 1879, at the advanced age of 89 years, and was buried at Winlaton. Mr. G. R. Ramsay, the well-known colliery owner and brick manufacturer of Swalwell, is the son of the present owner of Park Head Hall.
1790 On August 8th, John Brown of Winlaton, and two ot his companions, were executed at Morpeth for horse-stealing. The execution of three criminals at one time drew an immense concourse of spectators.
1792 Stella Hall was inherited by John Towneley, whose mother was Mary, daughter of the 3rd Baron Widdrington. It then followed the inheritance of the main Towneley Estate in Burnley, Lancashire to his son Peregrine and was recorded as his 281 acre estate in 1848.[1] It was also the home of Joseph Cowen, believed purchased by his father, the newspaper and coal millionaire Sir Joseph Cowen around 1850. However in 1878, upon the death of Peregrine’s son, also called John 2,826 acres, probably formerly part of the estate, was distributed between his daughters.[2]The hall remained in the Cowen family until Jane Cowen’s death in 1946. It was owned briefly by Durham University before being demolished in 1954.
1792 Spectator’ of February 12th AMBROSE CROWLEY deserves a special mention in the history of our village. It appears he was a self-made man, for he is described in the ‘Spectator’ of February 12th 1792 as ‘A person of no extraction, who began the world with a small parcel of rusty nails’. He certainly appears to have put these rusty nails to good account, for when he founded his factory here, he already owned factories at Sunderland, Swalwell and Winlaton.
He brought skilled iron workers from Germany and Spain to instruct the local workmen – there are descendants of these German workers still in this locality – anyone called Vinton being among them. Ambrose Crowley was a most enlightened employer, with a social conscience far ahead of his time. He provided houses for his workers, a doctor and hospital for the sick and aged, and a scheme of pensions and sickness benefits paid for at the rate of 5d. in the £ by the workmen themselves – this was 200 years before pensions or sickness schemes were introduced nationally by Lloyd George in 1911. Crowley also erected a school for the children where they were taught reading, writing and accounts, and a Chapel was built at Winlaton. He established also a tribunal known as ‘Crowley’s Court’ which arbitrated and enforced a stern code of laws laid down for the conduct of his workmen. The tribunal, which met every tenth Wednesday, was composed of the Chaplain, two members appointed by Crowley, and two members by the workers themselves. Its function as described by Crowley himself was ‘to hear and determine all requests, complaints and appeals by workmen, with true regard for my orders, favouring the just end carefully, and in no respect to encourage the persons who are guilty of breeches of the Law’. The utmost care was taken to see that the meetings were conducted in a fitting manner, and ‘swearing, cursing, giving any man to lie, using provoking language, or talking of anything foreign to the subject’ were fineable offences, and every joke or jest cost the perpetrator one penny, the money going to the poor. There were 199 laws, dealing with almost every detail of the workmen’s lives; some of the offences for which a workman could be brought before the court were as follows:
Selling, strong liquor, behaving badly in Chapel or going there drunk, misapplying the poor money, spending public money on drink (except at a funeral). Smoking was forbidden as a waste of time, drunken people were driven out of the village, no hawkers, tinkers or pedlars were allowed in. Parents who allowed their children to misbehave or failed to chastise them when they needed it, were fined. A first offence usually punishable by a fine or 1d, further offences cost 2d.
1793 The Towneleys leased Stella Hall to Mr Clayton, the Town Clerk of Newcastle.
1793 The following report of an extraordinary demonstration which took place at Swalwell appeared in a local paper on 5th January 1793 : “On Saturday last, Tom Paine was hung in effigy at Swalwell (as he had been before at Winlaton Mill), and after hanging the usual time, was burnt to ashes, with the emblem of his trade in one hand, and his most detestable pamphlet in the other, surrounded by the judge in his robes, and all the principal officers that attended the procession and trial. At the time of burning the hangman’s nephew - the devil - had nearly shared the same fate. The concourse of people was very great, and everything was carried on with the utmost decorum, almost every person attending with black cockades and labels at their hats, with various devices printed on them, as ‘God save the King’, King and Constitution’, etc. etc. The whole concluded with a grand chorus of ‘God save the King’, and sundry volleys of small arms and cannon”.
1794 The Tynesidekeelmen went on strike against the use of staithes for loading coal.
1794 Newcastle Advertiser for August 9th, 1794, appeared a report of a murderous attack on Crowley’s workmen by the keelmen. It says : “The people of Swalwell, particularly those vulgarly known by the name of Crowley’s crew, take this method of returning their sincere and hearty Thanks to the Mayor and Magistrates of Newcastle, the Magistrates of the county Durham. General Grant, the Right Hon. The Earl of Fauconberg, the Right Hon. The Earl of Darlington and the rest of the officers and privates for their kind exertions in coming to their assistance at a moment when the inhabitants were in imminent danger, and many of them had narrowly escaped being murdered by a tumultuous assembly of keelmen and their wives, etc. who threw such quantities of stones that it was esteemed little less than a miracles that more of them did not lose their lives. However, the people known by the name of Crowley’s crew are determined, should ever an attempt be made to disturb the peace of the Factory, to unite as one Body in support of the present Government, and to defend the property of Messrs, Crowley Millington and Co., as well as their own lives and families, and are determined to stand by each other till they spend the last drop of their blood, rather than any set of men assembled in a riotous and tumultuous manner shall ever Lord over them; and they will ever be emulous in retain the name of Crowley’s crew”. When other firms commenced to make the work for the Government, and the glory of the factory at Swalwell had departed, the political enthusiasm of the workmen on behalf of the Government considerably abated, and at the beginning of the Chartist movement they were among the first in the North of England to espouse the Chartist cause. They used to go into the fields at night time and drill like soldiers, making at their leisure the pike-heads which they intended to use if the occasion required.
1794, about 62,000 Newcastle chaldrons of coals were yearly received at Derwenthaugh,
to work, lead, and deliver, at which upwards of 600 men and boys were employed, and about 400 horses, together with 200 keelmen to navigate them down the river to the shipping below the bridge.The cost of bringing a waggon of coals from Pontop to Derwenthaugh was 2s. 3d. Keels received the coals at the Staiths. Keels in bygone times were strong, oval, and clumsy-looking vessels. Probably the name is derived from the keles of the Greeks and the clax of the Romans, a small swift-sailing vessel. The keel was sometimes navigated by a square sail, but generally by two long oars. When by contrary winds neither sails nor oars could be used, the keel was pushed forward through the shallow parts of the river by a long pole called the pooey, fixed against the bed of the river and the keelman's shoulder, while they walked on each gunnel from head to stern, in a strong, stooping position. The keel was navigated by two men and a lad called the Pe-dee. The keelmen were a strong, hardy, and industrious class of men, but much given to indulge in the intoxicating cup ; they earned their money with