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William Oliver
Wrote Newcastle Props one of
the best of the old Tyneside
songs. Born in the Side,
Newcastle, Jeb 5 1800.
Father=cheesemonger.
William became a draper and
hatter who worked with Mr.
Bowes, the Bridge End,
Gateshead. Later after
trying business on his own
he joined his brother
Timothy as a grocer at the
corner of High Bridge in the
Cloth Market. A collection
of his songs was published
in
1829 dedicated to Robert
Bell, Esq. Mayor of
Newcastle. He sympathised
with the agitation
proceeding the passage of
the Reform Bill
of 1832. Of his political
songs is England Awake.
Oliver took part in social
gatherings at public houses
with tradesmen after
business hours.
He was very popular as both
singer and writer. Such
groups were- Sons of Apollo,
Stars of Friendship, and the
Corinthian Society.
His songs were highly
popular. Died. Oct. 29 1848.
Thomas Telford
City Councillor, Brush
Manufacturer. Born 1819.
Died in Newcastle on the
16th July 1893.
Jane Richardson
(nee Wigham)
b.19th March
1808.In the 1830s she lived
at 6 Summerhill Grove, in
Westgate, St John's parish,
Newcastle. She was recorded
there with her husband, six
children, and four servants,
in the 1841. census. d.5th
Dec 1873. Bur. 8th Dec 1873.
John Brodie Gilroy
Famous for his son The
Noodle. This seems to be his
only song. He was Foreman at
Lambert's Printing Office,
Grey Street. He was well
read
with ready wit and great
natural ability. He was
famous for extraordinary
sayings uttered when he was
angry. He is known for
being warm hearted and
generous beyond his means
but he had a hot and fiery
temper. He led a pure and
sinless life. Died early
1853 at age 35. Buried with
his trousers and boots on
Edward Richardson
b. (Husband of the above)12th
January 1806, in St John's
parish, Newcastle. In April
1826, with John Richardson,
Edward was one of the
founding twelve members of
the Newcastle Book Society.
He joined the Newcastle Lit.
& Phil. in 1828. In April
1827 he was one of two
representatives from
Newcastle to Monthly
Meeting, held at North
Shields. In 1828 Edward
served three times as
representative to Monthly
Meeting, in January,
September and November. In
October he was listed as one
of the trustees for the
meeting house and burial
ground. On his marriage he
had taken up his residence
at 6 Summerhill Grove. On
the 24th November
that year he had intended to
go with his family to
Gilsland for a little
change, but during the night
he was seized with severe
pain, and on the following
day was very weak, and not
suffered to converse. He had
been out in the cold a few
days previously, & had taken
a chill which brought on,
worse than before, his
constant cough. On the 26th
he looked very ill, but he
spoke a few words
cheerfully. On his son John
going to take leave of him
for the night he said to him
very impressively yet
cheerily, "John, my lad! I
wish thee to know that when
my Maker calls me to him, I
shall go joyfully, yes
joyfully!" It was arranged
that Anna Deborah should
watch by him during the
night. He passed the hours
quietly until about three or
four o'clock in the morning
of the 27th, when
he took a fit of coughing,
burst a blood vessel, and
suddenly died in her arms,
with little pain, as she was
supporting his head. His
death certificate confirms
that he died at home, from
chronic bronchitis of long
standing and three days of
pleuro-pneumonia; he is
described as a tanner
master. His body was buried
the following Wednesday (2nd
December) in Westgate Hill
cemetery |
Thomas Spens. Lithographer. He
died on 24 Sep 1875 in St. Andrews,
Newcastle. He was buried on 28 Sep 1875.
Esther Harrison (wife
of the above). She died on 22 May 1889 in
Micklegate, York, She was buried on 25 May
1889 She married Thomas Spens lithographer
on 8 Jan 1838 in St. Andrews, Newcastle on
Tyne,
John James Spens
(son of the above) was born on 22 Apr 1839
in Cannon Street, Gateshead, He died on 27
Nov 1839 in Cannon Street, Gateshead. He was
buried on 29 Nov 1839. John James's name on
family headstone
in Westgate Hill Cemetery, buried Ward Q.
No. 54, depth 5 feet, died of hives.
Esther Watson. At
Cumberland-row, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Esther,
widow of the late Joshua Watson, of Bensham,
in the County of Durham, aged 76 years. An
Elder. After a long and painful illness,
which she bore with great patience and
resignation. The interment took place at the
Westgate Hill General Cemetery, on the 12th
inst., and was attended by a large circle of
relatives and friends, by whom she was much
beloved. A very solemn meeting was held.
from the The Friend and The British Friend
sources for Quaker family history in the
19th century.
Rev.Timothy William Potter Taydler
b.2/3/1818 d. 13/4/1885 and his family
are buried in Holy G Westgate Hill.
Cuthbert Douse. Born: 7 May
1855, Wallsend, Tynemouth, Died: 4 Jul 1856,
Westgate, Newcastle on Tyne, at age 1.Death
recorded in Westgate Hill General Cemetery,
burial no. 9473, Ward J. No. 161,depth 6
feet, aged 14 months, son of Cuthbert Douse,
joiner, Spring Garden.Lane in District of
Westgate, died of glands;
William
Mitford was born in Preston Near
North Shields, April 10, 1788. An important
songwriter. Parents died when a child
brought to Newcastle by an uncle atage 3-4
years. Apprenticed to shoemaker in Dean
street possibly to the father of Willie
Armstrong. The Budget or Newcastle Songster
was published in 1816 by Marshall, in the
Cloth Market. This work contained 11 songs.
Mitford is known for: Cappy, The Pitman's
Courtship and X.Y. Mitford played the part
of the bishop in the coronation held on the
festival of St. Crispon by the Cordwainers
July 29, 1823 at the Freeman's Hospital,
Westgate. At this time he quit shoemaking
and opened a public house on the edge of the
Leazes, near to the Spital tongues, called
the North Pole. While there he wrote the
song: The North Pole. Later he left the
North Pole to go to the more central
Tailor's Arms at the head of the Side.
William Watson mentions him as being there
in 1834. Eventually Mitfordr etired to live
in his own house in Oyster Shell Lane at the
head of Bath lane. He died there on March 3
1851 at the age of 63.
A Native American Ioway child,
Corsair. ....... Corsair was born
while his mother was sailing down the
Missouri River, the first part of her
travels to the United Kingdom. It was on
another boat, this time from Edinburgh to
Dundee, Scotland, that the 8-month-old boy
died. He was buried in February 1845, after
the Ioways conducted their funeral rites and
then allowed burial by the Society of
Friends, or Quakers. The Quakers had become
the Ioways’ “firm and trusted friends,”
Corsair was buried Feb. 12, 1845, in a
donated plot in Westgate Hill Cemetery, near
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Corsair’s mother
later died of tuberculosis and was buried in
Paris.
7
Dec 1836 Margaret Redford Hoy of Jesmond,
aged 14
25 Dec 1836 Jane Crow of Old Flesh Market,
aged 26
4 Jan 1837 Jessie Lilly of Jesmond Vale,
aged 26
6 Jan 1837 Eleanor Elizabeth Thompson of
Percy St, aged 44
23 Jan 1837 Mary Temple of Northumberland
St, aged 48
26 Jan 1837 Sarah Temple of Northumberland
St, aged 52
6 Feb 1837 William Temple of Northumberland
St, aged 59
9 Feb 1837 Frances Storey of Percy St, aged
78
2 Mar 1837 Mary Jane Coxon of Burdon Pl,
aged 17d
5 Mar 1837 Thomas Peacock of Jesmond, aged
59
13 Mar 1837 George Ferry of Percy St, aged
70
26 Mar 1837 Henry Taylor of Newgate St, aged
37
2 Apr 1837 Eleanor Vaughan of Walker, aged
30
7 Apr 1837 Jane Coxon of Burdon Pl, aged 30
9 Apr 1837 Thomas Dobson of Eldon St, aged
6w
16 Apr 1837 Elizabeth Smith of Percy Pl,
aged 32
26 Apr 1837 Isabella Reed of Northumberland
St, aged 54
5 May 1837 Margaret Featherston of Cotfield
House, Gateshead, aged 22
15 May 1837 Robert Hewlett of Minories, aged
42
16 May 1837 George Francis Sanderson of
Leazes Tce, aged 9
4 Jun 1837 Joseph Teasdale of Forth Lane,
aged 35
9 Jun 1837 Mary Atkinson of St Mary's Pl,
aged 2
13 Jun 1837 Martin Sang of Westgate St,
infant
13 Jun 1837 Robert Sang of Westgate St,
infant
18 Jun 1837 Nathaniel Twizell Cocks of
Brandling Pl, aged 5y 3m
5 Jul 1837 Philip Holmes Stanton of
Summerhill Grove, aged 2
8 Jul 1837 Edward Hemsley of Eldon St, aged
33
18 Jul 1837 Mary Ann Stones of Lambton Pl,
Prudhoe St, aged 10m
3 Aug 1837 David Milner of Pilgrim St, aged
2m
6 Aug 1837 Henry Bartley of Summerhill Tce,
aged 8
12 Aug 1837 Alexander Robinson of High Friar
St, aged 22
20 Aug 1837 Mary Ann Taylor of Newgate St,
aged 12d
21 Aug 1837 Sophia Eirth? of Liverpool St,
aged 45
22 Aug 1837 Marianne Featherston of Cotfield
House, Gateshead, aged 18
25 Aug 1837 Henry Holt of Brandling Pl, aged
28
30 Aug 1837 Thomas Graham of Blackett St,
aged 52
1 Oct 1837 William Hedley of Brandling Pl,
aged 1
7 Oct 1837 Marianne Dobson of Bridge St,
aged 4
8 Oct 1837 John Akenhead Potts of Grey St,
aged 5
8 Oct 1837 William Storey of Castle St, aged
2
9 Oct 1837 Robert Taylor of St James St,
aged 46
31 Oct 1837 Elizabeth Bell of Newgate St,
aged 32
1 Nov 1837 John George Clement of New Bridge
St, aged 8
2 Nov 1837 Mark Wilkinson of Walker, aged 7d
3 Nov 1837 Walter Elliott of Eldon St, aged
34
6 Nov 1837 Ann Blakey of Percy St, aged 68
11 Nov 1837 Hannah Howlett of Leazes Tce,
aged 72
25 Nov 1837 Mary Ann Hemsley of Eldon St,
aged 28
26 Nov 1837 Isabella Ingo of Prudhoe St,
aged 32
13 Dec 1837 Matthew Atkinson of Blackett St,
aged 21
13 Dec 1837 Emma Margaret Nichol of Jesmond
Tce, aged 20
14 Dec 1837 John Mowbray Watson of Bigg
Market, aged 43
15 Dec 1837 Dorothy Fortune Gibson of
Westgate Hill, aged 13m
The
Goths and Grave Robbers
(The Evening Chronicle. Nov 23
2005)
When police went to investigate
reports of strange happenings at
a Tyneside graveyard they made a
macabre discovery. The story, in
the Evening Chronicle in
November, 1984, showed grave
robbers had plundered family
crypts which had lain
undisturbed for more than 130
years. The story became even
more gruesome when they traced
the crime to a group of men
calling themselves the Gentlemen
Of The Club, otherwise known as
a weird pop group called
Metgumbnerbone, who specialised
in Tibetan trumpet music. These
young men had used the bones
they had taken from the crypts
to make musical instruments by
drilling small holes in them.
When police raided the home of
one of the men in Northcote
Street, Newcastle, they found a
welcoming sign above the door -
an imitation axe and the
Metgumbnerbone emblem of a
skull. Inside the house they
found several bones lying around
the living room, thigh bones and
skulls on the kitchen table and
bags of skulls waiting for
attention. There were also books
on sexual deviation and black
magic, as well as other aspects
of the occult. Hanging on the
living room wall was the black
magic symbol of inverted
triangles in a circle. A huge
flag covered one wall with its
gold on black emblem.
When the five men were arrested
they admitted attacking three
graves and removing skeletons.
Altogether there were 10 bodies
of men, women and children. The
group also kept a manuscript of
their dark deeds. They told how
on a midnight raid at the
Westgate Hill Cemetery in
Newcastle they smashed crypts
and entered the vaults where
complete families lay at rest,
their bones encased and neatly
stored. Using shovels and
torches they dug their way
underground, risking becoming
trapped under the ancient stone
and marble.
A CID spokesman said the case
was a sickening misuse of the
sanctity of the dead. From their
inquiries detectives were left
in no doubt that the club
members had been indulging in
ritualistic rights of the black
arts.
The five musicians, Alan
English, of Jesmond, John Smith,
of Hartlepool, John Mylotte, of
Newcastle, Sean Dower, of
Benwell, and David Stewart, of
Swalwell, were charged with
robbing graves and causing
damage in Newcastle's Westgate
Hill Cemetery.
Mylotte admitted three counts of
digging open graves and removing
the contents. Stewart admitted
two similar charges, as did
English. Smith and Dover
admitted a joint charge of
opening a grave and Mylotte
admitted stealing a brass grave
plaque. And Mylotte, Stewart and
English admitted damaging
property belonging to Newcastle
City Council.
Sentencing Mylotte, Stewart and
English, Judge Myrella Cohen
said was satisfied occult
practices were behind their
sinister activities. Stewart and
English were given 12 months'
jail and Mylotte, described by
Judge Cohen as the "lynch pin"
behind the offences, 18 months.
Dower and Smith, both students,
were said to be the least
involved. Smith was given 160
hours' community service and
Dower, who was at Newcastle
University, 100 hours.
Target of a family crypt
The members of the
Metgumbnerbone group, also
calling themselves the Gentlemen
Of The Club, documented their
deeds in manuscripts, which
read: "It was not a long walk to
our goal. And once there we
speculated as to where at first
we should strike.
"On what piece of ground should
we first lift the spade to the
earth. Name, sir, which grave
that man has made to
incarcerate.
"Christian, in undisturbed rest,
sent in tomb to lie in peace,
inviolate, shall we in turn
violate?
"Our destination, which you will
perceive, was to the cemetery
given into the parish of Elswick.
"Here we did find our first
objective. A crypt belonging to
a family.
"It had been much labour to
shift the uppermost piece of
brickwork upon which the grave
slab rested.
"We charged Mylotte (John),
being of slightest build, to
take the honour of entering
first ...
"They had lain unmolested for
130 years ..."
(Ligeliahorn was recorded during
the summer of 1983 at The Ruins
of Industry, Elswick,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne; long
abandoned post-industrial sites
along the banks of the River
Tyne providing ideal if somewhat
hazardous environments for the
sort of musical activity
Metgumbnerbone is known for -
i.e entirely live on location
improv / action in which the
location itself determined the
musical outcome as much as did
the performers and / or their
instruments). |
Tuthill Stairs Chapel (Particular
Baptists)
As early as the year 1651, a Baptist
minister preached in the neighbourhood of
Newcastle, and very probably in the town;
but no record of the affairs of this people
has been preserved previous to the year
1725, when they purchased the property they
now possess in the Tuthill Stairs. This
property extends 68 yards on the east side
of the stairs, and is 43 yards in breadth.
On it was a very large and highly ornamented
room, which, from some figures on the
wainscotting, seems to have been built in
the year 1585. (fn. 33) Above this room was
a dwelling-house, and a vestry adjoining to
it. Here the Baptists assembled for public
worship for 73 years, during which period
the Rev. David Fernie, the Rev. John Allen,
the Rev. William Pendered, the Rev. John
Foster, and the Rev. Thomas Skinner, were in
succession the ministers. Mr. Allen was an
ingenious, lively, and voluminous writer.
"The Spiritual Magazine," and his other
works, are very popular, especially with
persons of high Calvinistic sentiments. Mr.
Pendered was an upright, sincere, and
independent man. He was turned off for
preaching against usury, two leading members
of the congregation being pawnbrokers. The
valuable writings of Mr. Foster have
imparted a just cele brity to his name. His
"Essay on the Evils of Popular Ignorance,"
has been highly appreciated by the severest
critics. Mr. Skinner died in 1795, very much
esteemed.
In 1797, the congregation resolved to erect
a new chapel on the vacant ground above the
old one. The foundation-stone was laid on
the 17th of July that year; and the chapel
was opened for public worship on February
19, 1798. It measures 55 feet in length, and
44 feet in breadth, and cost in building
£1300. Half of this sum was contributed by
one generous member of the body, Richard
Fishwick, Esq. by whom the lead-works at Low
Elswick were originally established and
conducted. He also paid £200, to rescue the
property belonging to the congregation from
the hands into which it had fallen by the
death of the former trustees.
The Rev. Thomas Hassel was ordained pastor
on the day after the new chapel was opened.
On his removal to Ireland, the Rev. M.
Cracherode became minister, and was
succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Berry, an
amiable man, who died in 1804. The next
minister, the Rev. W. Hartley, was succeeded
by the present one, the Rev. Richard
Pengilly, from the Bristol academy, who was
ordained in August, 1807. A number of
members, in 1816, seceded from this chapel,
and formed another Baptist church; yet,
notwithstanding, the congregation continued
to increase so rapidly, that in 1820 a
commodious gallery was erected at the west
end of the chapel. Before the pulpit is a
convenient baptistry, covered, except at
times of initiation; and, at the west end of
the chapel, two spacious vestries. The late
Rev. Charles Whitfield, of Hamsterly, and
the Rev. Joseph Kinghorn, of Norwich, were
originally members of this church.
|
y the 1820s
Newcastle's churchyards were at breaking point and
little space remained for the burials of the city's
dead. The only other burial place in the vicinity of
Newcastle was the Ballast Hills burial ground
near the Ouseburn, but it was overcrowded inconvenient
for travellers and suffered from 'nightly deprivations
of a unspeakable nature' (Today unfortunately it must be
said suffer much the same not only at night but in
daylight too) The
Westgate Hill Cemetery Company was established in 1825
in order to raise £3500 in shares to build a cemetery
open 'to the whole human family without difference and
distinction'. ('A Fine and Private Place', 2000, Alan
Morgan, p7) The cemetery itself (also known as Arthur's
hill) was designed by John and Benjamin Green and built
in 1829 and consisted of three acres of unconsecrated
ground situated opposite the earlier graveyard of St.
Paul's Chapel.
