Canny lass

Hi Anne, that would seem to be the Journal as it's written by a Journal reporter. Fatal accidents were more easily reported on than non-fatal accidents as information was freely available to reporters through the coroner's courts, as in your dad's case. I haven't had a look at either the Journal or the Evening Chronicle for Stephen's relative yet but I'm hoping to get a bit of time next week.

I've now searched the local newspapers as they usually have good reports of mining accidents in the area. I haven't been able to find anything in either the Blyth News or the Morpeth Herald. This suggests to me that it may have been a minor accident with only one person involved. Something similar happened to my father at Netherton pit when he was the only man injured in a small roof fall. That never made the newspapers either. I'll keep searching.

Good idea, Eggy! Consult the 'oracle'!

Welcome to the forum, Stephen. Would you be able to give us the name of your great uncle? If you don't want to post it on site you can send a direct message.

I can agree that membership was predominantly male - throughout the country as a whole, not just in Bedlington, and for just those reasons you give. I may have misunderstood your statement "and it was only for men" as I thought you were referring to the movement's general regulations. Perhaps women became more involved with the social side of the movement. I have vague recollections of my mother attending beetle drives at the 'mech' during my early childhood and I believe it was something she started doing way back in the 30s when the family lived in the Arcade. Your gran sounds like my type of woman and having a penchant for all things Victorian, especially those related to the working classes, I'd love to read about her. I don't suppose life was too different in any parts of the north east so there is a certain relevance to her story. Get it posted!

Hopefully in all the right places, Vic!

Bike! Shanks's pony more likely.

There was also a fine of a few pounds for those who didn't register and that would probably cost more than the busfare.

Registrars also continued to do 'rounds' of villages just as they had done since the 1836 act when registration became their responsibility.

Eggy, the Registration of Births and Deaths Act of 1874 became effective the following year whereby it became the parent’s responsibility to register the birth of their child within 42 days. Prior to this it was the registrar’s responsibilty.

Update: Birth registered April 1936 so leslie could have been born in the first quarter of the year.

Leslie born 2nd quarter of 1936.

Karen, do you have a date of birth, or even a birth year, for Bill and Leslie (or any others you've mentioned)? I also went to school with a John Muldoon - born abt. 1947.

No, no, no! They are just saving the best bit till last - like you'd do with your Sunday dinner.

Hi Douglas, welcome to the forum! It's amazing the value that's placed on photos. Ask most people what they'd save first if the house went on fire and they'd say 'photos'. They can never be replaced. Have a look through the gallery photos here. You may find some relatives on school photos or mining photos. Most have some, or even all, names added. It's a fantastic resource for research.

Is that where I got it from! It's been filed away on my PC for ages. Looking at the date of the download it's only 2 days after you mentioned it. It is certainly an extremely good and informative account of the movement in the north east. I had no idea that it was anything other than a watering hole. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it either but I have to disagree that it was only for men, working or otherwise. (Stockdale outlined nicely a period in the movement's history when there were more white-collar then blue-collar members). I've come across plenty of instances while reading about it that show women were admitted to the MI early on in its history: https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/iha-mechanics-institutes/heag187-mechanics-institutes-iha/ ”Originally, few Mechanics’ Institutes encouraged or allowed female members, although this changed towards the end of the 19th century. Where women were admitted, they often had restricted access: at Shrewsbury, for example, women paid half the subscription of men but were only allowed to attend lectures and use the library. After 1850, many larger institutions started to offer special classes for women, particularly in English.” https://dangerouswomenproject.org/2016/08/17/bradford-female-educational-institute/' ”One thing is certain: the girls and young women who attended the Institute were made of stern stuff. Unlike the mainly middle-class women attending daytime classes at Manchester Mechanics’ Institute for instance, the women of the Bradford Female Educational Institute worked for a living.” http://blogs.bbk.ac.uk/bbkcomments/2020/01/08/the-london-mechanics-institute-its-foundation/ The Institute’s egalitarian ethos even extended to women who could attend lectures from 1825 and were able to become members in 1830. It's certainly a fascinating history and must have done a lot to improve education and literacy in Bedlington. Worth a mention on our timeline perhaps?

Sorry! There was another page of notes that I'd missed. All of the above is correct but there is one more Davison family which I think it is Lynnes family living at 29 Old Factory. Father, Robert 27, mother, Annie Jane 25, daughters Lillian and Annie 3 yo and 8 months old. The handwritten census form is available. The area had many name changes over the years and the residents used one system of identifying where they lived while the enumerator used another. Old Factory is the adress given by both the resident and the enumerator. I can say with certainty that the blue 'circle' contains the adresses 1-24 Old Gate Row and 25-32 Old Factory. Following the enumerator's route from Old Factory to his next port of call - Clock House, I'd suggest that the eight dwellings of Old Factory are those which I've marked with a blue dot (sorry if it's confusing with only blue but it seems to be the only colour available today!). These are at the top of the bank leading from the bridge and may be the reason why they are also referred to as Bridge End by residents. If Lynne would like the census form filled in by Lillian and Annie's parents let me know. Perhaps she can send an e-mail adress through you Eggy, or we can message it in two steps, me to you, you to Lynne.

Bridge End, prior to 1912 called Bridge End House, is the house at the end of the Bridge on the Bebside side of the river seen to the left of the attached photo. In both 1901 and 1911 it housed four families in dwellings, numbered 1 -4 in 1901 and 5-8 in 1911 when the numbers continued on from Clock House. I've never seen the name "Bridge End Cottages" on any map, census or electoral records. There were no rows of any great length in Bebside Furnace. Even the Bebside Furnace rows at the top of the bank only went as far as 42 at most (Brick Row). To live in number 46 of any Row would mean leaving the Furnace area and moving towards Cowpen on Front Row, which had 140 houses. I’ve researched the furnace area well as 70% of my family was living there from the turn of the century through to the 1930s. There are a few Davisons there but no Lilian or Annie. Nearest name match i can find is Julia Ann Davison a 60 yo widow and her children: David Davison 28, Agnes Davison 26, John George Davison 21, and Julia Annie Davison 16. This family lived at Old Gate, Bebside Furnace which later became Doctors Row. If Lynne can give me anymore info I’ll see if I can help her.

continued: Having read Stockdale's work I now think I, and possibly we, may be confusing the number of Mechanics’ Institutes with the number of Institute buildings because there seems to have only ever been ONE Mechanics Institute in Bedlington. Briefly (by my standards) those points of interest, gleaned from Stockdale. and relating to our discussion, are the following. 1824 Ten Mechanics’ Institutes in England of which eight were in the North East and Durham. Among these, only Alnwick and Newcastle were in Northumberland. 1825 Twelve MIs in the north east, Hexham, Morpeth and Tynemouth Institutes established. 1827, 1829, 1830, 1831 With the exception of one institute 1828, NO MIs were established in the entire North East. This was due to the effects of the depression. This places a large question mark on Evan Martin’s claim of the Ironworks MI being established 1829. 1834 – 1846 Crisis years in the movement. Only 13 new institutes established. 1847 – 1851 Revival of the movement 1847 The location and economic base of MIs was established between 1847 and 1851 1848 Bedlington Mechanics Institute established. Its economic base was Bedlington Iron Works. 1852 – 1873 Government interventions in education are introduced and public libraries opened. This heralds the demise of the movement as its traditional services now have strong competition. 1855 -1862 The North East movement reaches its peak of activity 1874 to 1902 The MI is still facing strong competition for its traditional services of education and libraries, added to which the institutes are now amalgamating with the Working Mens’ Institutes as the social and drinking side of the movement has gained ground, being almost the only function they have left. 1878 Delegates reports on their Institutes to the Northern Union Annual Meeting were said to be of a ”satisfactory nature”. There was no cause for concern for the movement. 1881 Delegates reports, including from Bedlington, were giving more details on membership, activity and finances and concern is expressed that MIs are still extremely dependent on financial support from the upper classes. This dependency continued throughout the remainder of the century. The death of MIs in the North East: The financial support of the upper classes facilitated a lot of rebuilding and refurbishing within the north east movement during the latter years of the nineteenth century, something Stockdale describes as a possible ”mission of responsibility toward educational and social improvement of the working-classes”. (Netherton got a reading room!). However, it didn’t seem to help other than allowing the movement to go out with a whimper rather than a bang. Bedlington Mechanics’ Institute, which had 200 members in 1906 hade NONE in 1907. Like Monty Python’s Norwegian Blue parrot it had ceased to be. It was extinct. It was dead. The movement ended in the north east in 1913. Several establishments retained the name Mechanics’ Institute, or something similar, but they are basically social clubs. Source: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5614/1/5614 3030.PDF In light of that I suggest that Bedlington Mechanics’ Institute, established 1848 at Bedlington Ironworks, may have had its origins in the Society for Mutual Improvement at the same place. I don’t know when that was established, possibly 1829, but i’ts well documented that BIW had students from all over Europe. I’d further suggest that the institutes located at Bedlington Station Colliery and Market Place Bedlington were all part of the same ’Bedlington Mechanics’ Institute’ created to provide easier access for people on the Bedlington side of the river.

Warning! make a cuppa this may be long! Thanks James and thanks Symptoms! I knew there’d been a discussion somewhere. I’ve had an opportunity to rummage through my vast amounts of notes. I see now that I was confusing the date 1855 as the founding of the Mechanics’ Institute (MI) when it was in fact the date of Michael Longridge’s departure from the Ironworks. However, I wasn’t too far out. I spent yesterday and this morning reading a document which I started reading at the time of the last discussion. Symptoms, if you’re interested in MI history in the north east, and not just Bedlington, then I can absolutely recommend it. It’s an academic thesis but the language isn’t overly academic and, whatever their education, anyone with a keen interest will find it readable. Excellent bibliography too, which gives plenty of sources for further research should you need them after reading. The document is Clifton Stockdale’s doctoral dissertation from 1993, entitled: Mechanics’ Institutes in Northumberland and Durham 1824-1902 Stockdale traces the Mechanics’ Institute movement from its beginnings in London 1823 but, as the title suggests, the main body of his dissertation follows the introduction of the MI movement in the north east (1824), its development and eventual demise. He discusses along the way contributory factors and their effect on the movement – among them the 1826 depression, various reform bills, trade union movements, economic patronage, social and cultural factors and a whole host of other interesting things.

Hang on a minute! There's something here that can't be right. If The MI was celebrating its 38th anniversary in 1889, it surely couldn't have been founded in 1829 as Evan Martin says? I was pretty sure it was founded in 1855 or thereabout. I'll have to dig out my notes and refresh my memory.