In the Shadow of the Throne: The Queens that never were

Posted on 1 May, 2011 by nspeccoll

'King Edward's Chair' in: Shanks, E. The Coronation of Their Most Gracious Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth — ‘King Edward’s Chair’ in: Shanks, E. *The Coronation of Their Most Gracious Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth*
(London: George Newnes, 1937)
Held in Laura Gillott’s personal collection

An exhibition curated by Laura Gillott

Introduction

King Edward’s Chair, or, The Coronation Chair, is the throne on which the British monarch sits during their coronation. It was commissioned in 1296 by King Edward I to contain the coronation stone of Scotland, the Stone of Scone, which he had captured from the Scots. The chair was named after Edward the Confessor and was kept in his chapel at Westminster Abbey. Since 1308, with only a few exceptions, anointed sovereigns of England have been seated in this chair at the moment of their coronation. It is the coveted ‘throne’: fought for, and sought by, so many claimants over the years. To sit upon it was to be made monarch.

Throughout history there have been a huge number of claimants to the English throne. Some have posed more serious threats than others and some have even successfully usurped reigning monarchs. Thus, over the centuries, those in power have kept a close eye on their rivals and potential heirs to the throne.

Female claimants, whilst rarely considered as posing as significant a threat as their male counterparts, have arisen over the years. Queen Elizabeth I was herself accused of trying to overthrow Queen Mary I in 1554 and, when Elizabeth was Queen, she was so fearful that Mary, Queen of Scots planned to usurp her, that she eventually had her executed in 1587.

Women have been watched especially with regard to their choice of husband in fear that a wisely-chosen matrimonial union could have strengthened their claims to the throne. Although some claimants never showed any desire to become Queens, their very existence was considered threatening.

This exhibition looks at five women throughout history who came close to the English throne but whom, through war, death, imprisonment or bad luck, never became crowned as Queen. Had any of these women ascended to the throne English history could have been quite different and the modern royal family unrecognisable …

Empress Matilda (1102-1167)

Matilda of England was born in 1102. Matilda and her younger brother were the only children of King Henry I and Matilda of Scotland to survive to adulthood. The death of her brother, in 1120, made Matilda the last heir from the paternal line of her grandfather, William the Conqueror.

At twelve years old, Matilda was married to Henry V, the Holy Roman Emperor. After his death she returned to England and, in 1128, married Geoffrey of Anjou with whom she had three sons. Before Matilda’s father died in 1135 there were several contenders for the throne: Robert of Gloucester (the illegitimate son of Henry I); Stephen of Blois (Matilda’s cousin); Stephen’s older brother, Theobald; and Matilda (Henry’s only surviving legitimate child). Henry named Matilda as his heir and made the barons of England swear allegiance to her. Stephen was the first to do so but, when Henry died, he seized the throne, claiming that Henry had changed his mind on his deathbed. Stephen gained the support of the majority of the nobles as well as that of the Pope and his early reign was peaceful. Matilda then began military campaigns to re-claim her birthright.

'King Stephen' from Raine, J. A Brief historical account of the Episcopal castle, or palace, of Auckland — ‘King Stephen’ from Raine, J. A *Brief historical account of the Episcopal castle, or palace, of Auckland. . .* 2 vols. (Durham: George Andrews, 1852)
**(Rare Books, RB942.81 RAI)**

Matilda’s half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, campaigned for her in England and she invaded in 1139. In 1141, her forces defeated and captured Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln. He was effectively deposed and she briefly ruled. Matilda went by the title ‘Lady of the English’ and planned to become Queen. She lost support when she refused to reduce taxes and the citizens of London re-started the civil war.

Stephen was freed in exchange for the captured Robert of Gloucester and, a year later, the tables were turned when Matilda was besieged at Oxford. She escaped by fleeing across the snow in a white cape and crossing the frozen River Thames. She also later escaped Devizes in a similar manner, by disguising herself as a corpse and being carried out.

'King Stephen before the Battle of Lincoln, 1141' from Forester, T. (ed.) The chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon... — ‘King Stephen before the Battle of Lincoln, 1141’ from Forester, T. (ed.) *The chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon…* (London: G.H. Bohn, 1853)
**[White (Robert) Collection, W942 HEN]**

By 1148, after many failed attempts, Matilda accepted that she would never be Queen. Her eldest son, Henry, took up her cause and repeatedly invaded England. This led to the Treaty of Wallingford in 1153, in which Stephen agreed to name Henry as his heir. Matilda died in 1167 and is buried in Rouen Cathedral, where her grave is marked by the epitaph below:

The Ladies Catherine (1540-1568) and Mary Grey (1545-1578)

When King Edward VII lay dying, he nominated his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, as his successor to prevent his catholic sister, Mary, becoming queen. Jane ruled for nine days in July 1553 before Queen Mary I seized the throne that was rightfully hers according to Henry VIII’s will. Jane was imprisoned in the Tower of London and executed, along with her father and husband in 1554. The ladies Catherine and Mary Grey were the younger sisters of Lady Jane Grey and cousins to Queen Elizabeth I. After Jane’s execution they both had claims to the throne as granddaughters of Mary Tudor, the younger sister of King Henry VIII. (Their parents were Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Lady Frances Brandon.) Neither Catherine nor Mary were as religious as the fervently Protestant Jane and this probably saved them from becoming the focus of Protestant plots whilst Mary I was on the throne.

Lady Catherine Grey was born in 1540. She was married to Henry Herbert, in 1553 (on the same day her sister Jane married Guilford Dudley). When Elizabeth I came to the throne, in November 1558, Catherine’s availability as a possible heir came to the fore. At one point the Queen seemed to be warming to Catherine and it was rumoured that she was considering adopting her. As Catherine was a possible heir to the throne, Elizabeth had to consider a suitable marriage for her. The best match would have been one that would not threaten her reign, but could bring some political advantages to England if Catherine were indeed to succeed her. A union between Catherine and the Earl of Arran (a young nobleman with a strong claim to the Scottish throne) was envisaged.

In December 1560, Catherine secretly married Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford. Not having the Queen’s official permission to wed proved disastrous. Elizabeth had decided to send Edward on an educational tour of Europe. Catherine, who had fallen pregnant before Edward left, managed to conceal the marriage from everyone. However, in her eighth month of pregnancy she knew she would have to ask someone to plead for her with the Queen. She first confided in Bess of Hardwick, who was frightened about the consequences of knowing such a secret and refused to listen. Catherine then secretly visited Lord Robert Dudley, in his bedroom in the middle of the night and told him her story, but the next day he reported everything to Elizabeth. Elizabeth was furious that her cousin had married without her permission and thus thwarted plans for her to marry the Earl of Arran.

***Portrait of Lady Catherine and her son, Edward Seymour.*** From the collection of the Duke of Northumberland.
Used with kind permission of the Duke of Northumberland.

The unmarried Elizabeth feared that Catherine would give birth to a son and start a rebellion. Thus Catherine was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where Edward joined her on his return to England. The Lieutenant of the Tower permitted husband and wife to secretly visit one another and, as a result, they had two sons: Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp, born in 1561 and Thomas Seymour, born in 1563. In 1562 their marriage was declared invalid and their sons illegitimate. After the birth of their second child, the Queen ordered their permanent separation. Catherine was moved from one location to another under house arrest, eventually ending up at Cockfield Hall in Yoxford, Suffolk. There, she died in 1568, at the age of twenty seven, from consumption.

Lady Mary Grey was born in 1545. She was reportedly slightly deformed and was described by her contemporaries as the smallest person at court. Like her sister Catherine, Mary angered Queen Elizabeth I by marrying without royal consent. Her marriage to Thomas Keyes, the Sergeant Porter, in 1563 resulted, two years later, in her imprisonment in the Tower of London. (The marriage had surprised many since Keyes was an unusually large man whose height contrasted with that of the tiny Mary.) It is possible Mary thought that by marrying someone of such lowly rank, Elizabeth would see her as no threat.

When Catherine died, Mary was brought to prominence as the last surviving grandchild of Mary Tudor. Since Catherine’s children were considered to be illegitimate, some people regarded Mary as heiress presumptive to the English throne. She remained under house arrest until 1572 and was permitted to attend Court occasionally. In spite of the intrigue surrounding her, it does not appear that Mary ever made a serious claim to the throne. Rather, it seems her life was ruined by her royal blood. She died childless and in some poverty, in 1578, at the age of thirty three.

Lady Arbella Stuart (1575-1615)

Lady Arbella Stuart (sometimes spelled Arabella) was born in 1575 and was considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I. The only child of Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox, and Elizabeth Cavendish, Arbella was a direct descendant of King Henry VII. Through the paternal line, she was the great-granddaughter of Henry VIII’s sister. Both Arbella’s parents died before she was seven and she was raised by her grandmother, Bess of Hardwick.

Portrait of 'Lady Arabella Stuart' — ‘Lady Arabella Stuart’ engraved by T.A. Dean in: Raine, J. *A Brief historical account of the Episcopal castle, or palace, of Auckland . . .* 2 vols.
(Durham: George Andrews, 1852)
**[Rare Books, RB942.81 RAI]**

Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558. As a woman, a Protestant, and having been declared a bastard after the execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn, in 1536, there were many who felt her claim to the throne was weak and as a result she always felt insecure and at risk from rebellions. Although Arbella’s claim to the throne was even weaker, Elizabeth feared her as she did all potential rivals, and kept a close eye on her throughout her life. It is likely that she preferred the idea of Arbella succeeding her rather than being succeeded by her Catholic cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. However, towards the end of her reign her close advisor, William Cecil, convinced her that Mary’s son, James VI of Scotland, who had been raised as a Protestant, should be her successor. There is no evidence that Arbella ever challenged this.

Towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign, there were reports that Arbella intended to secretly marry Edward Seymour. Arbella denied having any intention of marrying without the Queen’s permission. She was interviewed about her plans in the Long Gallery of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, in 1603.

The Long Gallery, Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire. Room view of the whole of the Long Gallery at Hardwick Hall with the Gideon tapestries on the left. It measures to 162 feet long and 26 feet high. The Hardwick gallery is the largest of surviving Elizabethan long galleries. — *The Long Gallery, Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire.*
Reference: 67944. ©NTPL/Andreas von Einsiedel.
Used with kind permission of Nikita Hooper, Picture Researcher, the National Trust Photo Library
– Room view of the whole of the Long Gallery at Hardwick Hall with the Gideon tapestries on the left. It measures to 162 feet long and 26 feet high. The Hardwick gallery is the largest of surviving Elizabethan long galleries.

Arbella found herself in trouble again when King James VI of Scotland ascended to the English throne and a plot was devised to overthrow him and replace him with Arbella. The main plot was devised by Arbella’s cousin, Lord Cobham, and Sir Walter Raleigh was among those involved. However, when Arbella was invited to participate by agreeing to it in writing, she reported the plan to James, thus escaping possible imprisonment herself.

In 1610, Arbella secretly married William Seymour, Lord Beauchamp, who later succeeded as 2nd Duke of Somerset. William Seymour also had royal blood as the grandson of Lady Catherine Grey. For marrying without royal permission, King James imprisoned them: Arbella in the custody of Sir Thomas Perry and Seymour in the Tower of London. The couple had some liberty within their prisons and were able to plan their escape.

In June 1611, Arbella dressed as a man and escaped to Kent. A proclamation issued on King James’ behalf stated that they had committed “great and heinous offences” and called upon all persons not to “receive, harbour or assist them in their passage” but to try and apprehend them and hold them in custody. However, it also stated that their intent was to “transport themselves into foreigne parts“. Thus, James must have known that Arbella posed no real threat to his throne and simply wished to escape to be with her husband. William did not arrive at the meeting place and so Arbella set sail for France without him. He had, however, escaped and was on the next ship to Flanders. By this time the alarm had been raised and ships sent after them. Arbella’s boat was within sight of Calais when she insisted upon stopping and waiting for William. This fatal pause allowed her captors to catch up to her and she was forced to surrender whilst, unbeknownst to her, William escaped. Arbella was returned to England and imprisoned in the Tower of London.

When Arbella fell ill in the tower in 1614, it was suspected she was faking illness either in order to escape or to gain sympathy. However, she refused both food and medical attention and was said by some to be delusional towards the end, believing William was coming to rescue her. When she eventually died in 1615 a post-mortem had to be carried out to rule out poisoning. It found that she had died slowly of starvation caused by her own negligence. It has been suggested that Arbella had porphyria, the disease George III and Mary, Queen of Scots are believed to have suffered from. This would explain both her physical and mental symptoms: porphyria can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, seizures and paranoia. She never saw her husband again and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Princess Charlotte (1796-1817)

Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales was born in 1796. She was the only child of George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV) and Caroline of Brunswick. As the only legitimate grandchild of George III, she would have become Queen if she hadn’t died in childbirth in 1817, at the age of twenty one.

Charlotte’s parents disliked each other and separated soon after Charlotte’s birth. Prince George left Charlotte’s care to governesses and allowed her only limited contact with her mother. As Charlotte grew to adulthood, her father pressured her to marry William, Hereditary Prince of Orange, but after initially accepting him, Charlotte soon broke off the match. This caused much upset between her and her father, including him placing her under house arrest for several months. He finally permitted her to marry Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

The wedding took place in 1816 and huge crowds attended. It is believed that Charlotte suffered two miscarriages in quick succession after the wedding but, by early 1817, she was pregnant again and it seemed to be progressing well. Her pregnancy was the subject of much public interest, with people placing bets on the sex of the child. Charlotte’s contractions began on 3rd November, but the labour lasted for two days and she eventually gave birth to a stillborn boy on 5th November. Charlotte took the news calmly, stating it was the will of God. She seemed to be recovering but not long after the birth she began bleeding heavily and died soon afterwards.

After Charlotte’s death, there was a huge outpouring of public grief and the whole country went into deep mourning. Linen-drapers reportedly ran out of black cloth and the country shut down almost entirely for two weeks, including the banks and courts. With the loss of his only heir, Prince George was inconsolable and unable to attend Charlotte’s funeral and Princess Caroline fainted in shock when she heard the news. However, it was Charlotte’s husband of just over a year who felt the greatest loss – he was said to be utterly devastated at the deaths of both his wife and son. Many elegies and poems were written about Charlotte, lamenting the loss of the heir to the throne and hope for the future.

Title page of Cockle, Mrs. Elegy to the Memory of Her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte of Wales (Newcastle upon Tyne: Printed by S. Hodgson, 1817) — Title page of Cockle, Mrs. *Elegy to the Memory of Her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte of Wales* (Newcastle upon Tyne: Printed by S. Hodgson, 1817)
**[Clarke (Edwin) Local Collection, Clarke 1508(1)]**

It wasn’t long before people looked for someone to blame for the tragedy. Although the post-mortem was inconclusive, many blamed Charlotte’s physician, Sir Richard Croft, and three months after her death, he killed himself. This led to significant changes in obstetric practice, with intervention in long labour becoming more commonplace and acceptable.

Princess Charlotte was buried, with her son at her feet, in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 19th November 1817. A monument was erected, by public subscription, at her tomb. People lined the streets along the funeral route from Claremont to Windsor to pay their respects to her. The mass public mourning is comparable with the outpouring of grief witnessed when Princess Diana died in 1997. With a mad king on the throne and an unpopular Prince of Wales, many had looked forward to Charlotte’s ascension to the throne and the new uncertainty about the succession accentuated the sense of grief felt by the British public.

What if they had been Queen?

Empress Matilda
As her son, Henry, acceded to the throne after Stephen, Matilda’s being Queen wouldn’t have changed the succession. However, if she, as a woman, had become a reigning monarch in the Twelfth Century, then it is possible that we may have seen another queen before Mary I in 1553. Also, if Matilda had been a successful queen then perhaps future kings, such as Henry VIII, would have been less concerned with the need to provide a male heir to the throne.

Lady Catherine and Lady Mary Grey
Although there was a good chance that either Catherine or Mary would become Queen, neither of them aspired to the throne and after the failed attempt to make their sister, Jane, Queen they could not count on a great deal of support from nobles who had no desire to lose their heads. Furthermore, neither of them was deeply Protestant, like Jane, and therefore they weren’t a viable alternative to the Catholic Mary I. As it turned out, neither of them lived long lives and it is likely that even if they had ruled, the reign would have been brief and relatively insignificant.

Arbella Stuart
It is difficult to say whether or not Arbella desired to be Queen. On one hand she never made any attempt to seize the throne but she had been raised as royalty and her romantic assignations suggest ambition. Even if she had been named as Elizabeth’s heir, James would almost certainly have tried to claim the throne himself and, as a man and King already, would have garnered considerable support. If James had died young, his son, Charles would have eventually tried to take the throne. As her claim wasn’t as strong as theirs, it would have made for a very unsettled reign for Arbella.

Princess Charlotte
Charlotte’s death left the king without any legitimate grandchildren and his other sons were urged to marry. George III’s fourth son, Prince Edward, dismissed his mistress and proposed to Leopold’s sister, Victoria. Their daughter, Princess Victoria of Kent, born in 1819, became heir and then Queen. Her uncle Leopold helped arrange her marriage to his nephew, Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. If Charlotte had not died then Victoria may never even have been born, and our current royal family would be descended from Charlotte instead.

Bibliography

Ainsworth, W.H. The Tower of London, with illustrations by George Cruikshank
(London: Richard Bentley, 1840)

An account of the interment of her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte, inSt. George’s Chapel, Windsor, on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 1817
(Newcastle upon Tyne: Printed for J.S., 1817)

Chalmers, G. The life of Mary, Queen of Scots
(London: Printed for J. Murray, 1818)

Chibnall, M. The Empress Matilda: queen consort, queen mother, and lady ofthe English
(Oxford: Blackwell, 1991)

Cockle, Mrs. Elegy to the memory of Her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte of Wales
(Newcastle upon Tyne: S. Hodgson, 1817)

A Complete history of England: with the lives of all the kings and queensthereof… 3 vols.
(London: Printed for B. Aylmer [etc.], 1706)

Davis, R.H.C. King Stephen, 1135-1154
(London: Longman, 1990)

De Lisle, L. The sisters who would be queen: the tragedy of Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey
(London: Harper P., 2009)

Forester, T. (ed.) The chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon: comprising the historyof England, from the invasion of Julius Caesar to the accession of Henry II. Also, The acts of Stephen, King of England and Duke of Normandy
(London: H.G. Bohn, 1853)

Gardiner, J. (ed.) The history today who’s who in British History
(London: Collins & Brown; Cima Books, 2000)

Grey, Lady J. The life, death and actions of the most chast, learned, andreligious lady, the Lady Iane Gray, daughter to the Duke of Suffolke: containing foure principall discourses written with her owne hands . . .
(London: Printed by G. Eld. For John Wright, 1615) EEBO (13/05/2011)

Gristwood, S. Arbella: England’s lost queen
(London: Bantam Books, 2003)

Holmes, R.R. Queen Victoria
(London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1901)

James I, Sovereign. [Proclamation.] By the King whereas wee are giuen tovnderstand, that the Lady Arbella [sic] and William Seymour … being for diuers great and hainous offenses, committed, the one to our tower of London, and the other to a speciall guard
(Imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Maiestie, Anno Dom. 1611) EEBO (13/05/2011)

Leslie, S. George the Fourth
(London: Ernest Benn, 1926)

Priestley, J.B. The prince of pleasure and his regency, 1811-20
(London: Heinemann, 1969)

Raine, J. A brief historical account of the Episcopal castle, or palace, ofAuckland
(Durham: George Andrews, 1852)

Shanks, E. The coronation of their most gracious majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
(London: George Newnes, 1937)

Stuart, D.M. Daughter of England
(London: Macmillan, 1952)

Woodward, G.W.O. King Henry VIII
(London: Pitkin Pictorials, 1969)

The Northumberland Handicrafts Guild – April 2011

Posted on 30 April, 2011 by nspeccoll

Front cover of the Annual Report of the Northumberland Handicrafts Guild, 1918-1919 — Front cover of the *Annual Report of the Northumberland Handicrafts Guild, 1918-1919*
**(Northumberland Handicrafts Guild Archive, NHG 3/11)**

The Northumberland Handicrafts Guild was formed in June 1900 with the aim of promoting the study and practice of handicrafts, such as embroidery, wood work, basket work, leather work and weaving, in the County of Northumberland.

The Guild’s formation had its origins in the Arts and Crafts Movement which began in England in the 1880s in response to the growth of industrialisation and mass production by machines. The Movement called for a revival of real craftsmanship and traditional craft techniques, and embraced nostalgia for the mediaeval age which was seen as the golden age of creativity and freedom. Leading figures in the Movement believed in a social and utopian society where artists and craftsmen were viewed as equals. One of the founding fathers of the Movement was William Morris who famously advised, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”.

A key feature of the Movement was the establishment throughout the country of societies and guilds to bring together artists and craftsmen, and to help publicise the movement through meetings, classes, lectures, exhibitions and craft demonstrations. The use of the word “guild” harked back to the mediaeval trade guilds which protected and promoted the common interests of craftsmen. The Northumberland Handicrafts Guild was one such example, and other examples included the Guild and School of Handicraft in the East End of London, the Century Guild and John Ruskin’s Guild of St George.

The decorative motif carried on the front cover of the Northumberland Handicrafts Guild’s Annual Reports, as depicted here, typified the artistic and graphic styles which were associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement, while the Guild’s motto proclaimed, “by hammer and hand all arts do stand”.

The Guild arranged teaching classes and lectures in most areas of the county, new classes in its first year including needlework and embroidery, led by Lady Anne Bowes-Lyon at Haydon Bridge and by Mrs H. Pease at Cramlington. Lectures in the first year included the Reverend S. Gates on “Lace Working and Embroidery” at Haydon Bridge, Messrs Hatton and Williams on “Handicrafts in relation to home life” at Allendale and Mr G. Blount on “Democratic Art” in Newcastle.

There were strong links between the Guild and the Art Department of the Durham College of Science at Newcastle upon Tyne, known from 1904 as Armstrong College (and ultimately to evolve into the present day Newcastle University). The Guild’s first Vice President was Charles W. Mitchell, Chairman of the College’s Art Committee and a member of the College Council, while its first Honorary Secretary was the historian Thomas Edward Hodgkin, also a member of the College Council. Other Armstrong College figures such as Richard George Hatton, for many years Professor in Fine Art, Ella Pease and Miss Noble held office or served on the Guild’s committee. Craft work produced during the Guild’s classes was exhibited annually in the College and entries were judged by a team of experts, with awards given for individual work.

The Guild was also the first organisation of its kind to teach handicrafts to wounded soldiers during the First World War. Classes were held in Armstrong College, part of which was being used as a ward of the First Northern Military Hospital, and doctors testified to the psychological benefits which patients derived from the work.

Tossing the Pancake – March 2011

Posted on 30 March, 2011 by nspeccoll

Illustration from March 'Tossing the Pancake' — Illustration from March ‘Tossing the Pancake’ from *The Comic Almanack: an ephemeris in jest and earnest, containing merry tales, humorous poetry, quips and oddities*. By Thackeray, Albert Smith, Gilbert A. Beckett, the Brothers Mayhew, with many hundred illustrations by George Cruikshank and other artists. 1st [-2nd] series, 1835[-1853].
**(19th Century Collection, 19th C. Coll 827.89 COM)**

This year, Shrove Tuesday falls on 8th March. Christians were expected to go to confession in the week before the penitential period of Lent and Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Ash Wednesday (i.e. the first day of Lent). To shrive (the verb from which the past participle shrove is derived) means to obtain absolution but Shrove Tuesday can be thought of as a day of high spirits before entering a more sombre mood.

Of course, many people will know Shrove Tuesday by its more colloquial name of Pancake Day and in this guise, it is thought of more as a day of feasting on those ingredients which are prohibited during Lent, a time of fasting. In fact, the names given to the day in other countries often translate as Fat Tuesday.

From the Twelfth Century, Shrove Tuesday celebrations often incorporated games of ‘mob football’ but the Highway Act of 1835 banned the playing of football on public highways and the tradition died out in all but a few towns, including Alnwick (Northumberland) and Sedgefield (Co. Durham). Pancake races have proved to be a more enduring tradition. Since the mid-Fifteenth Century, entrants have run towards a finishing line, tossing their pancakes into the air as they go, and catching them in frying pans. The tradition is said to have originated with a housewife in Olney, Buckinghamshire who was so engrossed in making pancakes that she lost track of time and, on the peal of the church bells calling people to service, she rushed out of the house still carrying her pancake and pan.

This cartoon is from The Comic Almanack by the English artist, caricaturist and book illustrator, George Cruikshank (1792-1878). Cruikshank was renowned for his humorous drawings, satirical political cartoons and social caricatures of English life. He is considered to have been one of the most important British graphic artists of the Nineteenth Century and was undoubtedly one of the most popular cartoonists of his day.

The Comic Almanack, published annually from 1835, contained amusing stories, poems, jokes and cartoons. The illustrations were chiefly Cruikshank’s and he engaged others such as the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray to supply the stories. The Almanack was a hugely successful publication, although competition from Punch’s Almanack, which began in December 1844, eventually led to its demise.

Robert Spence Watson – February 2011

Posted on 17 February, 2011 by nspeccoll

2nd March 2011, marks the centenary of the death of Robert Spence Watson (1837-1911). This image of Spence Watson is pasted into the front of a copy of one of his publications, The Reform of the Land Laws (1905), contained in the Spence Watson/Weiss Archive (SW 10/9).

Robert Spence Watson was born in Bensham on the outskirts of Gateshead. His family’s house there, Bensham Grove, remained his home for all of his life. Born into a Quaker family and a lifelong Quaker himself, Spence Watson was aware from an early age of the presence of injustice in the world and the efforts made by those who strove to redress the balance. His father, a solicitor, was a campaigner for the first Reform Bill, an advocate for Catholic Emancipation, and northern secretary of the Anti-Corn Law League, and at the age of seven the young Robert reportedly heard the famous Quaker radical and Liberal statesman John Bright speak from the hustings at Durham.

Although he became a solicitor by profession, Spence Watson’s interests were many and varied and his work and achievements in the spheres of politics, social reform, philanthropy and education gained him a position of great influence and esteem in his native Newcastle and beyond. His entry in the Dictionary of National Biography states that he “represented the Quaker tradition of public action at its sturdiest”.

He was passionately interested in education and saw it as a means of improving an individual’s social condition. Amongst his many accomplishments in this area, he was Chairman of the first Newcastle school board and a pioneer of the Newcastle Free Public Library, ran working men’s Sunday classes and pioneered a system of adult schools. He was heavily involved in the foundation in 1871 of the Durham College of Science, later Armstrong College, which eventually evolved into Newcastle University, becoming its first President in 1910. He also served over a period of many years as Honorary Secretary, Vice President and later President of the Literary & Philosophical Society (Lit & Phil) in Newcastle.

A founder member and later President of both the Newcastle Liberal Association and the National Liberal Federation, Spence Watson was a lifelong adherent of the Liberal Party. Although he had no desire to enter the House of Commons, he was one of the most influential Liberal figures outside parliament. He had many high-profile political friends, many of whom he and his wife Elizabeth entertained at Bensham Grove, including the local Liberal MP Joseph Cowen, the afore-mentioned John Bright, Earl Grey and William Ewart Gladstone.

Spence Watson also cared deeply about the causes of those living under oppressed regimes. In particular he supported Russian political exiles in England, including Stepniak and Kropotkin. He was also well known in the North of England for his work as an arbitrator in trade disputes, which he undertook voluntarily, while he possessed a keen interest in literature and the history of the English language, and wrote a biography of his friend the pitman poet Joseph Skipsey.

One of his most high-profile acts of public work came in 1870 when he was appointed by the Society of Friends (the Quakers) as one of the commissioners of its War Victims Fund, travelling to Alsace-Lorraine to oversee the distribution of relief to non-combatants in the French-Prussian War, many of whom had been left homeless, destitute and bereaved by the ravages of war in the region. When he returned to France in 1871 to carry out similar work for the French Government, he wrote this touching letter home to his four-year-old daughter, Ruth. In the letter, which is held in the Spence Watson/Weiss Archive (SW 3/10), he told Ruth of his work in France. Although he wrote with the gentle tone of a father to his daughter, it was clearly important to Spence Watson that his children were aware of the hardships suffered by those less fortunate than themselves, just as he himself had been aware as a child. The first page of the letter is shown below. He wrote:

“Dear little Ruth
I promised to write you a letter whilst I was in this beautiful place, & now I begin in such a large office, far larger than that which I have at home, and close to the place where we are going to put the clothes and food for the poor people. We have a soldier with a gun & sword walking up and down before our door, but he is very kind to me, & says “Bon jour Monsieur” whenever he sees me… you would like to see the wonderful dolls in the shops, dolls which walk & talk, & do many other funny things. But you would be sorry to see so many ladies all dressed in black, & to hear how many little children died here during the long cruel siege… I want much to get home to dear Mamma & you, but I cannot come until I see that their clothes & food have reached here quite safely.”

Letter from Robert Spence Watson to Ruth Watson (Spence Watson/Weiss Archive, SW 3/10)

Lost Castles – January 2011

Posted on 30 January, 2011 by nspeccoll

The East view of Widdrington Castle in Northumberland **(Local Illustrations, C432**

Northumberland is full of ruined castles that draw tourists year after year to imagine how magnificent they must have once looked. But, it is also filled with sites where castles once stood, that today there remains little or no trace of. One such site is Widdrington in Northumberland, not far from Druridge Bay. This is where Widdrington Castle stood from the 14th century until its demolition in the 19th century.

The first records of a structure at this site describe a medieval fortified manor house and castle. In 1341 Gerard Widdrington was granted a licence to fortify the house. The engraving shows a substantial tower with turrets at the corners, similar to the castle at nearby Belsay. By 1592 the castle had three parts: the original tower, a great hall and a northern tower. In the late 17th century wings were added to the towers, and a walled garden was laid out. However, by 1720 and with new owners, it was in a ruinous condition. Sometime after 1772 the castle was demolished and rebuilt, but the new building burnt down before it was finished. After this a new Gothic castle was built, but this too fell to ruin and was demolished in 1862. The dilapidated state in which the castle found itself many times over the years probably owed much to the fact that it was rarely the main residence of the families who owned it, and lack of use caused it to fall into disrepair.

Widdrington Castle’s claim to fame is that King James VI of Scotland and I of England was believed to have stayed at the castle in 1603. Sir Robert Carey, the second cousin of Queen Elizabeth I, who married the widow of Henry Widdrington in 1593, rested here during his journey from London to Edinburgh to inform James of Elizabeth’s death. On James’ journey south to claim the throne the men are said to have stayed at Widdrington.

The Widdrington family themselves were Catholic and Royalist and therefore strong supporters of the Stuart cause. The first baron was a Royalist army officer, the second baron served in the army of Charles II, and during the revolution of 1688 the third baron was dismissed as governor of Berwick and Holy Island and imprisoned. His three sons, William, Charles and Peregrine, all became active Jacobites.

The fourth baron, William Widdrington (1677/8-1743) was educated at Morpeth grammar school and in Paris where he became familiar with the exiled Stuart court. He took a leading role in planning the north’s contribution to the Jacobite rising of 1715, providing one of the five troops in the Northumbrian force. However, he was confined to his bed with gout during the Battle of Preston, and when it was clear that the situation was hopeless he advised surrender. After the failed rising he was tried for high treason. In his defence he argued that he had not been aware of the plan and had only joined to keep face with his friends. He was found guilty and sentenced to death, but with only hours to spare he was reprieved and released from the Tower. The Widdrington estates were confiscated by the Crown and sold to Sir George Revel. The estate then passed via marriage to Sir George Warren and then on to Lord Vernon. An attainder was passed on the family titles although Widdrington’s eldest son, Henry Francis, was commonly called Lord Widdrington. Following the death of Henry in 1774 the Widdrington family appears to have become extinct.

The site of Widdrington Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. All that remains of the protected site today is the Castle mound and a row of lime trees, known as The Apostles. The site lies close to The Country Barn in Widdrington, which uses the castle as its logo.

Royal Wedding Treasure Special – Royal Wedding 2011

Posted on 30 January, 2011 by nspeccoll

Postcard photograph of Mr and Mrs Charles Trevelyan, c. 1904 **(Trevelyan (Charles Philips) Archive, CPT 1/3/4)**

To celebrate the Royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on Friday 29th April 2011 we bring you a special ‘wedding’ treasure!

The postcard photograph above shows Mr. and Mrs. Charles Trevelyan with the Trevelyan family crest, which bears the motto ‘Time tests faith’. Charles Philips Trevelyan (1870 – 1958) married Mary Bell (1881 – 1966), the half sister of Gertrude Bell, in 1904. Special Collections holds Charles’ papers, the Liberal MP who famously defected to Labour in 1918. It is unknown what this postcard was used for. It dates from after their wedding in 1904 as they are identified as ‘Mr and Mrs Trevelyan’. It may have been part of a thank you note to guests for their wedding presents or simply a portrait of the newly-married couple that they sent out to family and friends.

Special Collections also holds the papers of Mary Trevelyan (who was known as Molly), including her diaries for the years 1892 – 1917. The page below is taken from her diary for 1904 and is among a series of entries regarding their wedding day.

Newspaper clippings from Molly Trevelyan's diary, listing the presents that were gifted to Charles and Molly Trevelyan on their wedding day — Newspaper clippings from Molly Trevelyan’s diary, listing the presents that were gifted to Charles and Molly Trevelyan on their wedding day, 1904 **(Trevelyan (Charles Philips) Archive, CPT 2/1/9)**

They include her handwritten account of the wedding day with cuttings from the press and a complete list of gifts received by the bride and bridegroom.

This page shows one of three cut-out from the newspaper listing all the wedding presents they received and who they were from.

The fact that this was published in the press shows that the public appetite for information about the rich and famous has always been strong!

Gifts included a grand piano from the mother of the bride; a fur coat from the father of the bride to the groom; numerous collections of books and poems, including The Life of Gladstone from Mr and Mrs Gladstone; some letters written by Dickens; tea sets; writing desks; two grandfather clocks; hundreds of items of silverware; and more candlesticks and inkstands than anyone could ever find occasion to use!

Wedding presents have been given since ancient times. They have normally been practical items for the new couple’s home. However, in some cultures guests would have been expected to contribute to the wedding banquet as a thank you for their invitation! The idea of the wedding trousseau or ‘bottom-drawer’ put together by the bride’s family has its origins in the dowry. Dowry is an ancient custom, which has been practised around the world throughout history. This has often been money but can also include a selection of goods paid for by the bride’s family to furnish the newlywed’s home. As many newlywed couples did not have much money, the bride’s mother would put away household goods, including homemade items often in a bottom drawer, starting before their daughters had even met their future husband! The idea was to create a collection of everything a young woman setting-up her first home would need. Some ostentatious Victorians even introduced a ‘trousseau tea’ in an effort to out-do each other, where wealthy families would display trunk loads of linens, china and clothes they had put together for their daughters!

Nowadays, as many couples live together before marriage, wedding gift lists are more likely to include luxury items rather than practical ones and many couples choose not to have traditional gifts at all, instead asking guests to contribute money to a honeymoon, they could perhaps not otherwise afford. Prince William and his bride-to-be Kate Middleton have asked guests to donate money to charity rather than buy them wedding presents. This is likely to lead to hundreds of thousands of pounds being donated to the twenty-six, not very well-known, charities that the couple have chosen. Of course there are some advantages – they are less likely to end up with things they do not need. The Queen and Prince Philip received five hundred cases of tinned pineapple and ingredients for their wedding cake from the Australian people when they married in 1947. However, William and Kate they are still likely to receive numerous presents from the general public. Prince Charles and Princess Diana received thousands of presents from well-wishers around the world after their marriage at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1981, including a roomful of antique furniture from Canada and twenty silver platters inscribed with their wedding date from Australia. A selection of the presents was placed on display at St. James’s Palace and some items were later distributed to charity. After all there are only so many toasters and kettles that a Royal couple needs!

Skating and Sliding – December 2010

Posted on 30 December, 2010 by nspeccoll

Front cover of Skating and Sliding — Front cover of Wood, J.G. *Skating and Sliding*
(London: Routledge, 1872) **(19th Century Collection, 19th C. Coll. 796.91 WOO)**

In the mid Nineteenth Century, increasing literacy levels and the industrialisation of printing and book-making combined to create a demand for cheap publications. This demand was well-met by ‘yellowbacks’: low-priced octavos with strawboard boards covered with yellow paper and often block-printed with pictures. Yellowbacks were ubiquitous in the 1870s and 1880s and George Routledge dominated the field. His publishing house started to experiment with non-fiction and with educational handbooks and thus the series Routledge’s Sixpenny Handbooks was born.

Illustration Skating from Skating and Sliding — Illustration of ‘Skating’ from Wood, J.G. *Skating and Sliding*
(London: Routledge, 1872) **(19th Century Collection, 19th C. Coll. 796.91 WOO)**

Skating and Sliding by the Reverend J.G. Wood and other writers is an example of the series which also treated such subjects as cricket, manly exercises, fireworks, swimming and conjuring. This particular manual takes learners through the history of skating, putting skates on, how to start from the inside edge and progresses to various skating figures, such as the Dutch Roll and the Figure of Three. It quotes three maxims attributed to renowned skater Robert Ferguson: “Throw fear to the dogs”, “Put on your skates securely” and “Keep your balance”!

Extract from with a description of 'the Dutch Roll' from Skating and Sliding — Extract from Wood, J.G. *Skating and Sliding*
(London: Routledge, 1872) **(19th Century Collection, 19th C. Coll. 796.91 WOO)**

From 1607 to 1814 a frost fair was held on the River Thames and into the early- Nineteenth Century rivers and canals froze sufficiently to support skating. The Skating Club was founded in London, 1830 and in 1876, the first artificial ice-rink (the Glaciarium) opened in Chelsea.

John George Wood (1827-1889), having worked in the anatomical museum, Oxford and having made a name for himself delivering illustrated lectures on zoology, was best known as a writer on natural history. However, he also wrote books on gymnastics and other sports and even edited The Boys Own Magazine.

Lord Armstrong – Lord Armstrong 2010

Posted on 30 November, 2010 by nspeccoll

Photograph of Lord Armstrong from **University Archives**

26th November 2010 marks the bicentenary of the birth of Lord Armstrong. William George Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Cragside, was a scientist, engineer, inventor and businessman. His achievements brought him world renown and fixed Newcastle and the North East of England firmly on the science and engineering map.

This photograph depicts Lord Armstrong standing at the doorway to Cragside, his country home in Rothbury, Northumberland, in c. 1897 when Armstrong was in his old age. In the photograph Armstrong appears to be content, satisfied and self-assured, if a little tired, and a glance at the story of his life and achievements explains why.

Armstrong was born on 26th November 1810 at 9 Pleasant Row, Shieldfield, in Newcastle upon Tyne. He was the only son of William Armstrong, a corn merchant and local politician. Armstrong Senior wanted his son to enter the legal profession and, upon leaving school, Armstrong took articles under the wealthy Newcastle solicitor and family friend Armorer Donkin, becoming a partner in the firm in 1835.

Armstrong was a good solicitor, but his passion lay elsewhere. From an early age he had possessed a fascination with all things scientific and mechanical. This continued into adulthood and a turning point in his life came in 1835 when, during a fishing trip to Dentdale in Yorkshire, his attention was captured by what he recognised as an inefficient use of water in an over-shot water-wheel. Over the next ten years, Armstrong devoted his spare time to developing the effective use of water as a motive power, and his tireless work culminated in his demonstration, to great applause, of a model hydraulic crane at the Literary and Philosophical Institute in Newcastle in December, 1845.

During this early period of his career Armstrong’s imagination was also captured by an aspect of science which was to become one of his greatest loves: electricity. When, in 1840, workers at Cramlington Colliery in Northumberland began to experience electric shocks from steam escaping at high-pressure from a boiler, Armstrong applied his capabilities to establishing and describing the cause of the phenomenon, later named The Armstrong Effect in his honour. He published a series of papers on the effect and developed a spark-inducing hydroelectric machine which he exhibited at the Literary and Philosophical Society. His discovery led to him being elected a fellow of the Royal Society in May 1846.

In the mean time, Armstrong’s hydraulic cranes had impressed many and were in such high demand that, in 1847, he established Messrs W.G. Armstrong & Co., in partnership with Armorer Donkin and others, to manufacture machinery using his hydraulic technology. He finally resigned from his solicitor’s job shortly afterwards. In the same year the partners founded an engineering works at Elswick on the banks of the River Tyne, just to the west of Newcastle. The Elswick Works were to go from strength to strength and evolve through several incarnations over the decades, Armstrong’s reputation as an engineer and a businessman growing alongside them.

In the 1850s Armstrong moved into the field of armament production when he developed a new type of field gun in response to the high loss of life experienced during the Crimean War, and was commissioned to supply the War Office with Armstrong Guns, receiving a knighthood for his services. Later, after the government ended its contract with the Elswick Works, Armstrong went on to sell armaments, including naval guns, indiscriminately to foreign countries. Although this seemed controversial to some, Armstrong felt justified in doing so.

Armstrong became a nationally and internationally renowned figure and, as he amassed great wealth from his engineering successes, he became a great benefactor to his native Newcastle. His gifts included Jesmond Dene, the landscaped park which he gave for the benefit of the town’s inhabitants, and substantial financial support towards the foundation of a College of Physical Science, ultimately to evolve into Newcastle University.

He was awarded many honours for his achievements, including election to the Presidency of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1863. During his inaugural address as President at the Association’s meeting in Newcastle in the same year, he spoke about the issue of finite coal reserves and the potential for harnessing solar power, adding “visionary” to his many other accolades.

In the same year, Armstrong purchased land near Rothbury and began the construction of his country residence Cragside, where he would increasingly spend his time as he retired from the day-to-day running of the business. These later years of Armstrong’s life saw his love-affair with electricity re-surface when, in keeping with his instinct for innovation, Cragside was the first house in the world to be lit using hydroelectric power and the first to be lit by Joseph Swan’s newly-invented incandescent light. He experimented further with electricity and in 1897 published the volume Electric Movement in Air and Water which contained a set of striking photographic images of electric discharges taken by the Rothbury-based photographer John Worsnop, who also took the photograph of Armstrong shown here.

Armstrong was raised to the peerage as Baron Armstrong of Cragside in June 1887. When he died in 1900, he left an enduring legacy and was remembered as having been a towering figure of the Victorian era.

Front cover design for Beyond the border (1898) – November 2010

Posted on 30 November, 2010 by nspeccoll

Front cover of Campbell, W.D. *Beyond the border*. With 167 illustrations by Helen Stratton (Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1898)
**(19th Century Collection, 19th C. Coll. 823.89 CAM)**

Yes, it was most decidedly Black Duncan the smith who was at the bottom of the whole affair. He was the author of the remark that set everybody gaping, and made such a tremendous fuss in the town. He it was who let fall the fatal joke, when his wife brought in the dish of broiled haddock that morning at breakfast; and though it is not the best taste to laugh at one’s own pleasantries, he, I must confess, did so. It was beyond measure funny, and not a bite or sup would he taste till he had had his laugh out.
Thus begins Walter Douglas Campbell’s Beyond the border (1898). It appears to be a children’s story, with a king and queen, a talking cat and a hag who lives in a tower with her daughter who has a “flat, yellow face, speckled like a trout”.

Helen Stratton (fl. 1892-1925) provided 167 black and white illustrations to accompany the text. A British illustrator who was particularly associated with children’s books and fairy tales, she was sometimes influenced by the Glasgow School of Art and art nouveau movement; at other times was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite style of painting.

The book itself has a green Victorian cloth binding, with a front cover design depicting a witch dropping frogs into a cauldron, and highly-stylised cats on the spine. It was presented to J. Patten MacDougall from Innis Chonain in 1899. Innis Chonain is the Scottish Island on which Douglas Walter Campbell, an amateur architect, had built a large home.

The Armstrong Effect: The Life & Legacy of Lord Armstrong

Posted on 1 November, 2010 by nspeccoll

Introduction

26th November 2010 marked the bicentenary of the birth of Lord Armstrong. William George Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Cragside (1810-1900) was a scientist, engineer, inventor and businessman. His work and achievements brought him world renown and fixed Newcastle and the North East of England firmly on the science and engineering map.

This exhibition examines aspects of the life of Lord Armstrong, the contributions he made, and the legacy he created, using resources held in the Philip Robinson Library’s Special Collections and Archives.

With thanks to Mr. Robert Sopwith for his kind permission to reproduce quotations and images from Thomas Sopwith’s journal and the photograph of Armstrong with Thomas Sopwith, and to Henrietta Heald for supplying digital copies of those images.

Our Talented Young Townsman

William George Armstrong was born on 26th November 1810 at Shieldfield in Newcastle upon Tyne. He was the only son of William Armstrong, a corn merchant and local politician. Abiding by his father’s wishes, Armstrong pursued a career in Law upon leaving school, taking articles under the wealthy Newcastle solicitor and family friend Armorer Donkin. Armstrong was a good solicitor, but his passion lay elsewhere.

From an early age he had possessed a fascination with all things scientific and mechanical which remained with him into adulthood, culminating in the establishment of W.G. Armstrong & Co. and seeing him develop from being an amateur engineer conducting experiments in his spare time to a member of the science and engineering establishment, becoming a fellow of the Royal Society at the age of only thirty-five and a celebrated figure in his home town.

Armorer Donkin

The Newcastle solicitor Armorer Donkin was a key figure in Armstrong’s life. Donkin had been a close friend of Armstrong’s father, William Armstrong Senior, since before Armstrong was born. Recollections of holidays spent as a child at Donkin’s country home near Rothbury in Northumberland would inspire Armstrong in later life to build his own home, Cragside, there.

As an apprentice solicitor Armstrong took articles under Donkin, becoming his partner in the firm, Donkin, Stable & Armstrong, in 1835. Donkin supported Armstrong’s engineering ambitions, allowing him to pursue his scientific research while practising as a solicitor with the firm. When Armstrong decided that the Law was not his true vocation, Donkin supported his decision to resign and instead went into business with him. When Donkin died in 1851 he left Armstrong his considerable fortune.

Hydraulics

Title page from On the employment of a column of water as a motive power for propelling machinery delivered before the Literary & Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne — *On the employment of a column of water as a motive power for propelling machinery* delivered before the Literary & Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne (1845).
**[Clarke (Edwin) Local Collection, Clarke 1886(1)]**

A turning point in Armstrong’s life came in 1835 when, during a fishing trip in Yorkshire, his attention was captured by what he recognised to be an inefficient use of water in a water-wheel. Over the next ten years, he devoted his spare time to developing the effective use of water as a motive power, and his tireless work culminated in his demonstration, to great applause, of a model hydraulic crane at the Literary and Philosophical Society (or Lit & Phil) in Newcastle in December, 1845.

Armstrong convinced the local council to allow him to convert an existing crane on the quayside for the use of hydraulic power and, in 1846, established the Newcastle Cranage Company in partnership with Armorer Donkin and others to manufacture machinery using his hydraulic technology. In 1847, the partners formed W.G. Armstrong & Co and founded the Elswick Engine Works later the same year. Armstrong finally resigned from his solicitor’s job shortly afterwards.

An account of Armstrong’s demonstration of his hydraulic crane at the Lit & Phil was published in this pamphlet, which recorded that:

“A beautiful model representing a portion of the quay of this town with a crane upon it, adapted to work by the action of the water in the street pipes, was placed upon the floor, and several diagrams… were exhibited on the walls.”

The Whittle Dean Water Company

Armstrong was also the driving force behind the Whittle Dean Water Company which was formed in 1845 to supply Newcastle and Gateshead with a fresh water supply from newly-created reservoirs at Whittle Dean, about a mile north west of the village of Horsley in Northumberland.

From there, the water would flow along pipes through Wylam, Newburn and Lemington to Newcastle and Gateshead. Water would be supplied directly to every house and building, dispensing with the need for pumps and communal stand-pipes and ensuring a supply of water to every house. Armstrong became Secretary to the company and Donkin, Stable & Armstrong acted as its solicitors.

The Company’s prospectus was published early in 1845 with the purpose of attracting potential shareholders. In addition to outlining the way in which the proposed system would work, the Prospectus also listed its potential benefits; in addition to the relief of poor families from carrying water at a distance, the Company asserted that the new water supply would have the added advantage of being:

“the means of preventing those promiscuous assemblages of young persons, while waiting for the water where it is sold, of which the demoralising tendency is severely commented upon in the evidence published by the Health of Towns Commission“. ¹

This copy of the prospectus carries a manuscript annotation directing prospective shareholders to apply to Donkin, Stable & Armstrong and contains a plan of the proposed line of pipes and reservoirs, accompanied by a sketch of the comparative levels of the reservoirs above Newcastle.

The Armstrong Effect

During this early period of his career Armstrong’s imagination was also captured by an aspect of science which would become one of his greatest loves: electricity.

When in 1840 workers at Cramlington Colliery in Northumberland began to experience electric shocks from steam escaping at high-pressure from a boiler, Armstrong applied his capabilities to establishing and describing the cause of the phenomenon, later named The Armstrong Effect in his honour. He published a series of papers on the effect and developed a spark-inducing hydroelectric machine which he exhibited at the Lit & Phil in Newcastle to an audience so large that he had to enter the lecture hall through a window! His discovery led to him being elected a fellow of the Royal Society in May 1846.

The ballad, The ‘Lectric Leet, written in Tyneside dialect by an unknown composer and published in 1851, describes what appears to have been an experiment producing electric light. It is thought to have been written in response to one of Armstrong’s demonstrations of his hydroelectric machine² and certainly illustrates the extent to which electricity was capturing the popular imagination in Newcastle at this time, thanks chiefly to Armstrong. The first two verses of the ballad read:

Aw heer’d a greet buz, an’ seed sic a bleeze,
Aw rushed awa’ oot, an’ gat sic a squeeze
As myed me just twee inches langer, begox!
Didn’t aw suffer wiv the greet hevy knocks!
     The new fangled leet, the dazzlin’ leet,
     It vary nigh carried away ma eye seet.

When aw luiked aboot, aw seed sic a leet,
Abuv the full muin it shined oot sae breet,
Aw rubbed maw eyes, man, an’ swore that the day
Had com’ back aghen afore neet went away.
     The new fangled leet, the dazzlin’ leet,
     It vary nigh carried away ma eye seet. ³

High Esteem

Detail from a sketch of the comparative levels of the reservoirs above the principal streets in Newcastle — *Whittle Dean Water Company Prospectus* – detail from a sketch of the comparative levels of the reservoirs above the principal streets in Newcastle (1845).
**[White (Robert) Collection, W942.8 WHI]**

Front cover of the Whittle Dean Water Company Prospectus (1845) — Front cover of the *Whittle Dean Water Company Prospectus* (1845).
**[White (Robert) Collection, W942.8 WHI]**

Robert Spence Watson, the local reformer, politician and writer, and an associate of Armstrong, remarked that, by this period, the local papers of the day referred to Armstrong as “Our talented young townsman”.⁴ Indeed, just a few years after the establishment of the Elswick Works he was held in high esteem in engineering and industry circles, attending important events and fraternising with other prominent local figures.

A list of toasts from a dinner held for the Chairman of the Coal Trade, held at the Assembly Rooms in Newcastle on 22nd October 1850, shows that Armstrong was in attendance at the event and was given the honour of addressing one of the after-dinner toasts, to the Railway Interest. Armstrong would have dined well that evening, for the dinner menu confirms this to have been a lavish affair, suggesting something of the lifestyle to which, by now, Armstrong would have been becoming accustomed.⁵

The Great Elswick Works

The newly-formed W.G. Armstrong & Co. began production at the Elswick Works on 1st October 1847. Their first order came from Jesse Hartley, the engineer at the Albert Dock in Liverpool and, as the hydraulic technology was adapted to other types of machinery, the business grew from strength to strength. The firm’s contracts included manufacturing hydraulic mining machinery for the lead mines at Allenheads in Northumberland and a hydraulic engine for operating the printing press at the Newcastle Daily Chronicle. ⁶

Orders were received from all over the country, and then from all over the world. The business evolved through many incarnations over the decades, continuing to manufacture hydraulic machinery but also entering the field of armament production and, later, ship building, becoming widely-known as “The Great Elswick Works”.

Elswick’s Early Days

Detail from Plan of the River Tyne by I.T.W Bell, Newcastle, 1849.
**[Maps Collection]**

This detail from a map dated 1849 shows the Elswick Works two years after their establishment. The Works were set in 5.5 acres of land on the estate of Elswick near to the village of Scotswood, just to the west of Newcastle.

At the time of the factory’s establishment the area was a spot of great natural beauty, encompassing green fields and open spaces leading down to the banks of the Tyne. The centre of the river opposite the works was occupied by King’s Meadows island upon which, amongst other things, was situated a public house, the Countess of Coventry.

Growth & Expansion

Detail from Ordnance Survey Map, Newcastle and Gateshead, 1898 **[Maps Collection]**

In this map from 1898, two years before Armstrong’s death and over fifty years since the Elswick Works were first founded, the expansion of the factory site can be clearly seen, along with its effects on the surrounding area, with the appearance of densely packed rows of workmen’s houses and the disappearance of King’s Meadows island, which was removed by the Tyne Commissioners to allow the passage of large ships to and from the Elswick Works and other factories.

The Armstrong Gun

Watercolour sketch depicting the testing of an early Armstrong Gun at Allenheads in Northumberland on 23rd June 1856, from Thomas Sopwith's journal. — Watercolour sketch depicting the testing of an early Armstrong Gun at Allenheads in Northumberland on 23rd June 1856, from Thomas Sopwith’s journal.
**Used by kind permission of Mr Robert Sopwith.**

Photograph of Armstrong (right) with Thomas Sopwith, from Thomas Sopwith's journal. — Photograph of Armstrong (right) with Thomas Sopwith, from Thomas Sopwith’s journal.
**Used by kind permission of Mr Robert Sopwith**.

In the 1850s, Armstrong moved into the field of armament production when he developed a revolutionary new type of field gun in response to the high loss of life experienced during the Crimean War and was subsequently commissioned to supply the War Office with the new gun. The Armstrong Gun carried crucial innovations, including the ability to breech-load and the use of elongated lead projectiles instead of cast iron balls as ammunition.

Armstrong carried out the testing of his gun on the moors at Allenheads in Northumberland where his close friend and fellow engineer Thomas Sopwith was the chief agent for W.B. Lead Mines. Sopwith’s journal accounts (available on microfilm) are a valuable window onto some of the key events and moments in Armstrong’s life.

Of his friend Sopwith wrote:

“I have had many opportunities of witnessing his devotion to Science and his marvellous aptitude in adapting the power of natural forces to any required mechanical purpose”. ⁷

Sopwith’s journal includes an account of the Armstrong Gun Trials, and he accompanied his account with a lively watercolour sketch of the occasion.

International arms dealer

Image of the 12-pounder Armstrong gun and carriage — The 12-pounder Armstrong gun and carriage, taken from *The Industrial Resources of the Tyne, Wear & Tees*, edited by W.G. Armstrong, John Taylor and I.L. Bell (1864).
**[Clarke (Edwin) Local Collection, Clarke 1807]**

When in 1862 the government ended its contract with the Elswick Works, Armstrong went on to sell armaments indiscriminately to foreign countries. Although this seemed controversial to some, Armstrong felt justified in doing so. He reasoned that:

“it is in our province, as engineers, to make the forces of matter obedient to the will of man; and those who use the means we supply must be responsible for their legitimate application”.⁸

Many agreed and appreciated his achievements but Armstrong’s contribution to developing the tools of warfare would cast an inevitable shadow over his otherwise bright memory. Upon his death in 1900, the Newcastle Daily Chronicle remarked:

“There is something that appals the imagination in the application of a cool and temperate mind like Lord Armstrong’s to the science of destruction.” ⁹

Although later in its existence Armstrong took less of a personal involvement in the day-to-day running of the business, he was fiercely proud of the Elswick Works and what he had achieved there. During the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Newcastle in 1884 he stated that:

“an inspection of our places of industry which omits a view of the Elswick Works is rather like the play of Hamlet, with the part of the prince left out”.¹⁰

Armstrong the employer

As the business flourished and grew, Armstrong became an important employer on Tyneside. He took his responsibilities as an employer seriously and concerned himself with the welfare of his workers, founding a Literary and Mechanics Institute for them as well as a school. However, workers at Elswick joined with workers from other factories in the Nine Hours’ Strike in 1871, campaigning for a shorter working day. In common with other employers, Armstrong took a firm stance against the striking workers, and was viewed by many as being a cold, remote figure who was out of touch with his workers.

In a pamphlet published by the Nine Hours’ Movement, which details the dialogue between the employers, represented by Armstrong, and their workers during the strike, some of Armstrong’s letters to the workers are reprinted in full. In one such letter, Armstrong wrote:

“However desirable a reduction in the hours of labour may be, the decision of the question must rest on commercial, and not sentimental considerations.” ¹¹

Engineering Triumphs

The opening of Armstrong's swing bridge and shipment of the 100-ton gun, as depicted in the Illustrated London News — The opening of Armstrong’s swing bridge and shipment of the 100-ton gun, as depicted in the *Illustrated London News*, 29th July 1876 **[19th Century Colelction, 19th C. Coll 030 ILL]**

In 1876 the river passage was opened up further when the River Tyne Commissioners demolished the old stone bridge over the Tyne, which had been too low to allow the passage of large ships, and replaced it with a swing bridge which could pivot around on a central pier to provide access for ships when required. The mechanism was powered by Armstrong’s own hydraulic technology and, despite the bridge weighing 1450 tons, was reported in a contemporary account to move around “as quietly and apparently as easily as a parlour door upon its hinges” and was described as being “one of the sights of Newcastle.” ¹²

The guns manufactured at Elswick gradually grew in size, and eventually were large enough to arm war ships. A defining moment in the history of the Elswick Works, and one which confirmed its greatness, was the shipping of one of Elswick’s immense 100-ton guns from Elswick to Italy on the Italian ship Europa in 1876. The ship was the first vessel to pass through the channel of the new swing bridge, which in turn was the first bridge of its type in the world.

The ship was carrying the largest gun in the world which, upon its arrival in Italy, was hoisted by an Elswick-manufactured 180-ton hydraulic crane, the largest in the world of its type.

Princely Gifts

As Armstrong amassed great wealth from his engineering successes, he became a great benefactor to his native Newcastle. His contributions, however, were not just financial, for he also applied his ideas and expertise, and donated his time and effort, for the greater good of the inhabitants not only of his native Newcastle, but also of the North East region and beyond.

Saviour of Hartley Steam Coals

Diagram from Three reports on the use of the steam coals of the Hartley District of Northumberland in marine boilers with plans by W. G. Armstrong, Jame A. Longridge & Thos. Richardson (1858) [Clarke Collection, 1832)

When in 1854 the British Government opted to cease using coal mined at Hartley in Northumberland for powering its naval ships in favour of Welsh coal, on the grounds that Hartley coal produced too much smoke, Armstrong was instrumental in investigating and disproving these claims.

He formed part of a three-man team in charge of awarding a £500 premium offered by the Steam Collieries Association of Newcastle for the best method of preventing smoke in the combustion of the coal. The experiments carried out in the process proved effective methods for eliminating smoke entirely and the results were published in a series of three reports published from 1857-58. The reputation of Hartley coal was thus saved, which carried significant implications for the local economy at a time when the British Empire was expanding and the merchant steam navies along with it. ¹³

Jesmond Dene

Plan of Armstrong Park from Record of the Visit of Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales to Newcastle-upon-Tyne — Plan of Armstrong Park from *Record of the Visit of Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, August 1884* (1885).
**[Clarke (Edwin) Local Collection, Clarke 444]**

In 1880, Armstrong presented the landscaped park of Jesmond Dene as a gift for the benefit of the inhabitants of Newcastle, with an additional gift of land in 1883.

The park, known initially as Armstrong Park, was officially opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales during their visit to Newcastle in 1884. A special volume was published to commemorate the royal visit, carrying a striking coloured plan of the park and bearing a dedication to Armstrong in gratitude for his “princely gifts” to the town’s inhabitants.

Deserving Causes

Detail from subscription list in Report of the Building Committee of the Prudhoe Memorial Convalescent Home, Whitley, North Shields, with a statement of the account and list of subscription — Detail from subscription list in *Report of the Building Committee of the Prudhoe Memorial Convalescent Home, Whitley, North Shields, with a statement of the account and list of subscription* (1871).
**[Hospital Archives 12]**

Armstrong made numerous and generous financial donations to charitable institutions in and around Newcastle, including the Northern Counties Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, the Hospital for Sick Children, The Royal Victoria Infirmary and the Prudhoe Memorial Convalescent Home. This subscription list for the Prudhoe Convalescent Home records a donation of £2000 made by Armstrong. In today’s money, this would amount to in the region of £100,000.

Lit & Phil

Page of a letter from W.G. Armstrong to Robert Spence Watson, 31 May 1883.
**[Spence Watson/Weiss Archive, SW 1/1/7]**

In 1859, Armstrong contributed £1200 (in the region of £50,000 in today’s money) for the construction of a new lecture theatre for the Lit & Phil Society in Newcastle. He, and his father before him, had had a long association with the Lit & Phil and he served as its President for many years. Given his generous contributions to the provision of its lecture facilities, it is perhaps not surprising that Armstrong held strong views on how they were used. In 1883 he wrote to the committee of the Society, expressing his displeasure at the subject matter of a recent lecture on an economic issue:

I am quite at a loss to understand how the Committee of the Society can have been induced to grant the use of the Lecture room for a discourse on such a subject as the “Unearned Increment”. It appears to me that they might just as well have permitted a lecture on the proper functions of the clergy, or on the disestablishment of the church, or on the progress of rationalism, none of such subjects would have been more calculated to stir up disaffection in the Society than that which has been countenanced by the Committee & expounded by an ecclesiastic member of the Society.

I would fain hope that the action of the Committee in this case has arisen from inadvertence but as President of the Society I must be allowed to say that I most strongly deprecate the introduction of lectures upon any controversial subjects which are neither literary nor philosophical in their nature. ¹⁴

College of Physical Science

Page of a letter from Robert Spence Watson to W.G. Armstrong, 17 April 1886.
**[Manuscript Album, MAS/144]**

Armstrong provided substantial financial and practical support towards the foundation in Newcastle of a College of Physical Science, ultimately to evolve into Newcastle University. He acted as Chairman for the College’s executive committee, made generous subscriptions to the College fund and put his influential name to the subscription appeal, winning the support of his fellow local industrialists.

Armstrong laid the foundation stone of the new college building in 1887 and ten years later he presented it with the equipment which he had used to conduct his experiments into electrical discharges; the valuable equipment formed the nucleus of the Electrical Laboratory in the Physics Department of the College. After his death in 1900, the college fund became the Armstrong Memorial Fund, and it was agreed to rename the college Armstrong College in his honour.

In this letter from Robert Spence Watson, who acted as the College’s legal advisor, to Armstrong, Spence Watson discusses with him matters relating to the purchase of lands for the College and the raising of subscriptions to the fund, in reply to a letter from Armstrong on the subject:

I have forwarded your letter to Professor Garnett & have asked him to write direct to you upon the subject. There can be no question that we have no money whatever to spend on speculation but if I understand the matter rightly we should be able at this site to have two acres for the price at which we could have one acre at the Singleton House site… We have not yet made any applications for subscriptions. We have one other promise of £1,000 as well as a promise of £50 a year but these have been made without any application being put out. The Council considered that we could not apply for subscriptions until we had definite plans to lay before the public. ¹⁵

In this letter from Robert Spence Watson, who acted as the College’s legal advisor, to Armstrong, Spence Watson discusses with him matters relating to the purchase of lands for the College and the raising of subscriptions to the fund, in reply to a letter from Armstrong on the subject:

“I have forwarded your letter to Professor Garnett & have asked him to write direct to you upon the subject. There can be no question that we have no money whatever to spend on speculation but if I understand the matter rightly we should be able at this site to have two acres for the price at which we could have one acre at the Singleton House site… We have not yet made any applications for subscriptions. We have one other promise of £1,000 as well as a promise of £50 a year but these have been made without any application being put out. The Council considered that we could not apply for subscriptions until we had definite plans to lay before the public.”¹⁵

Visions of the Future

Decorative binding forming the front cover of The Industrial Resources of the Tyne, Wear & Tees — Decorative binding forming the front cover of *The Industrial Resources of the Tyne, Wear & Tees*, edited by W.G. Armstrong, John Taylor and I.L. Bell (1864)
**[Clarke (Edwin) Local Collection, Clarke 1807]**

Another important and enduring contribution made by Armstrong was through his ability to look ahead to the future, especially in relation to the efficient production and use of energy. His preoccupation with this area of concern, along with his pioneering work in the field of hydraulic and hydroelectric power, has resulted in him being a more significant figure than ever today.

During his inaugural address as President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at its meeting in Newcastle in 1863, he spoke about the issue of finite coal reserves and the energy potential of solar power. This important lecture was reprinted the following year in the volume The Industrial Resources of the Tyne, Wear & Tees.

The 1887 Exhibition

At the Newcastle upon Tyne Royal Mining, Engineering and Industrial Exhibition, which was held in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee and to showcase Newcastle as “the Metropolis of the North of England”, one of the principal exhibits was a full-size model of a 110-ton Elswick gun, described in the exhibition guide as being “the largest gun ever made in this country and… the most powerful piece of ordnance in the world”.

The model was positioned so as immediately to face the visitor upon entering the exhibition hall and was considered the crowning glory of the exhibition.

East or West, Hame’s Best

In 1863, Armstrong purchased land near Rothbury in Northumberland and began there the construction of a country residence. His new home, Cragside, would become the place where he increasingly spent his time as he retired from the day-to-day running of the business. These later years of Armstrong’s life saw him indulge his passion for hydraulics and hydroelectric power, and re-kindle his old love-affair with electricity.

Cragside

Page of a letter from Joseph Swan to John Worsnop, 9 November 1897.
**[Manuscript Album, MAS 147]**

The construction of Cragside was completed by 1869. Its grounds were landscaped and five artificial lakes were created at a height to provide water pressure for the house’s water supply, generating electricity and powering the house’s hydraulic appliances which included lifts and a roasting-spit in the kitchen.

Cragside was the first house in the world to be lit using hydroelectric power and the first to be lit by Joseph Swan’s newly-invented incandescent light. It also played host to the Prince and Princess of Wales during their visit to the area in 1884, on which occasion Armstrong lit up the grounds with 10,000 small glass lights and a similar number of Chinese lanterns.

The mantelpiece above the huge fireplace in the dining room bore the motto “East or West, Hame’s Best”, conveying, perhaps, the extent to which Armstrong saw Cragside as a place of comfort, contentment and retreat from the hectic life of running his business.

In this letter written by Joseph Swan, the inventor of the incandescent light bulb, to the local photographer and friend of Armstrong, John Worsnop, Swan recalls the installation of electric lighting at Cragside:

“Yes so far as I know his house at Cragside was the first house in England properly fitted with my electric lamps – I had greatly wished that it should be & when I told him so he readily assented. There had, previously to the introduction of the incandescent lamp into the house been an arc lamp in the picture gallery – that was taken down & my lamps were substituted, & it was a delightful experience for both of us when the gallery was first lit up.” ¹⁶

An old passion rekindled

Page of a letter from W.G. Armstrong to Robert Spence Watson, 16 January 1893 **[Spence Watson/Weiss Archive, SW 1/1/9]**

These later years of Armstrong’s life saw his love-affair with electricity re-surface. He reprised his earlier lectures on electricity when he delivered a lecture and demonstration to the Lit & Phil, to mark its centenary in February 1893, on the novel effects of the electric discharge. During the lecture he made reference to his thirty-year tenure of the Presidency of the Society and recalled his demonstration of his hydroelectric machine forty-nine years earlier. In this letter from Armstrong to Robert Spence Watson, written the previous month, Armstrong is seemingly gathering facts for inclusion in the lecture:

“I dare say that from your knowledge of the history of the Lit & Phil you can readily tell me what was the date of my lecture to the Society on the electricity of steam & also the date of the lecture at which I exhibited a model of the hydraulic crane. Please also tell me at which date I was first elected President of the Society“. ¹⁷

Image of an electric discharge from Armstrong’s publication *Electric movement in air and water: with theoretical inferences* (1897).
**[19th Century Collection, 19th C. Coll 537 ARM]**

Further experimentation with electricity led to Armstrong’s publication of the volume Electric Movement in Air and Water, containing a set of striking photographic images of electric discharges taken by the Rothbury-based photographer and friend of Armstrong John Worsnop.

A Life of Achievement

Armstrong was raised to the peerage as Baron Armstrong of Cragside in June 1887. In this photograph, taken by John Worsnop in c. 1897, Armstrong appears to be content, satisfied and self-assured, understandably so when the sheer scope and significance of his achievements is considered.

Armstrong died at Cragside on 27th December 1900, and was remembered as having been a towering figure of the Victorian era.

Notes

1. Whittle Dean Water Company.Prospectus of an intended joint stock company to be called the Whittle Dean Water Company(Newcastle: Courant Office, 1845).

2. FARNE (Folk Archive Resource North East) http://www.folknortheast.com
(accessed 10/09/2010)

3. Extract from “The ‘Lectric Leet” in “Penny Song Book” (1851) in Selkirk’s Collection of Songs and Ballads for the people, original and select (1853)

4. Spence Watson, R.The history of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1793-1896). (London: W. Scott, 1897), p.171

5. Available in Bell Material/ Port of Tyne Collection, Box 3

6. McKenzie, P. W. G. Armstrong: the life and times of Sir William George Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Cragside. ([S.l.]: Longhirst Press, 1983). p. 44

7. Journal of Thomas Sopwith, 30th January 1859 (used by kind permission of Robert Sopwith).

8. Dougan, D. The Great Gun-Maker: the story of Lord Armstrong. (Newcastle upon Tyne: Graham, [1970]). p. 67

9. Dougan, D. The Great Gun-Maker: the story of Lord Armstrong. (Newcastle upon Tyne: Graham, [1970]). p. 69

10. Record of the Visit of Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, August 1884 (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1885).

11. Burnett, J. Nine hours’ movement: a history of the engineers’ strike in Newcastle and Gateshead (Newcastle upon Tyne, J.W. Swanston, 1872).

12. Newcastle upon Tyne Royal mining, engineering and industrial exhibition. (International and colonial.) Jubilee year 1887: Official catalogue. Bound with other exhibition publications. (Newcastle upon Tyne: R. Robinson, 1887).

13. McKenzie, p. 67

14. Letter from W.G. Armstrong to Robert Spence Watson, 31 May 1883.
Spence Watson/Weiss Archive, SW 1/1/7

15. Letter from Robert Spence Watson to W.G. Armstrong, 17 April 1886.
Manuscript Album, MSA 144

16. Letter from Joseph Swan to John Worsnop, 9 November 1897.
Manuscript Album, MSA 147

17. Letter from W.G. Armstrong to Robert Spence Watson, 16 January 1893.
Spence Watson/Weiss Archive, SW 1/1/9

Bibliography

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