Month: October 2015

This Week in World War One, 8 October 1915

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Berwick Advertiser title 1915

 

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 8 OCTOBER 1915

 

BATHING POND IMPROVEMENT SUGGESTED

 

One of the items alluded to by the Medical Officer of Health was the dangerous state of the two swimming ponds. He did so in connection with the healthy and invigorating effect such exercises as swimming have on a community. He called attention to the need of a catch rope round the walls of the ponds in case of accident. It was a most proper recommendation, but unfortunately not the slightest notice was taken of it. The bathing season, it is true, is now finished for another year, but at the same time there was no harm in the doctor mentioning the matter to the public body he so faithfully serves. In Montrose, for instance, there are life lines on the beach where bathing is indulged in, and it is very necessary. The plain fact is that the chief difficulty apparently in carrying out improvements in Berwick is the lack of sufficient money, but it is nevertheless the business of public officials in their reports to urge the absolute need of certain improvements being accomplished, allowing the Town Council to take the responsibility of giving effect to these.

BRO 1636-9-42 Berwick Bathing Pools 1950's
BRO 1636-9-42 Berwick Bathing Pools 1950’s

BELFORD

Fined for Shooting a Plover- Robert Linklater, Westoe, South Shields, was charged, at Belford Petty Sessions, with shooting and killing a green plover, at Warenford, on the 9th September. When charged with the offence by P.C. Pike, the accused said he did not know that these birds were protected. Superintendent T. Bolton, Alnwick, who prosecuted, told the Bench that the Order had been in force for several years, and it was astonishing the number or persons who pleaded the same excuse. A fine of half a crown was inflicted.

Protected Ringed Plover
Protected Ringed Plover

 

ITEMS OF INTEREST

 

Educational Entertainment for Berwick School Children- The Directors of the “Playhouse” have arranged with Berwick Educational Committee for a programme of educational films to be shown free of charge to the school children of the Borough on Thursday and Friday afternoons, October 7th and 8th, at 2.30p.m. The balcony will be reserved for the public at admission 6d. The programme is :- How Eggs are Tested; Malta; the Making of Motor Tyres, the Kestrel and the Harvest Mouse; the French Army in Alsace; Chrysanthemums; the Octopus, Children of Tulip Land ( coloured); Switzerland; and Alpine Soldiers.

Berwick Playhouse, 1959. BRO 1250-123
Berwick Playhouse, 1959.
BRO 1250-123

SCREMERSTON

 

Presentation- On Saturday evening last, the night workmen at Scremerston Colliery presented Mr and Mrs Richard Collins with tokens of their good will and appreciation on their leaving the district for Pegswood, where Mr Collins has received another appointment. Mr Collins received the present of a fountain pen and an umbrella, while Mrs Collins was the recipient of a nice dressing case. The presentation took place in the large room of the Miners Arms, kindly lent for the occasion by Mrs Cuthbert. Mr Carson, in making the presentation, expressed his deep regret and that of the men in losing the company of Mr Collins, who for the last six years had taken a keen interest and a prominent part in the social life of the place. They would all wish him success in his new sphere of work at Pegswood. Mr Collins briefly replied. A social evening was afterwards spent, the following being the programme:-

Selection-“Old Melodies, “ Concertina Band

Concertina solo– “March, the Liberty Bell, “  T. Cameron

Song– “My playmates of long ago, “  H. Drysdale

Step Dance- “Hornpipe,”  Geo. Mason

Song– “When you and I were young, Maggie, “- T. Cameron

Violin and Concertina Duet– “Norma, “   Messrs Mason and Cameron

Selection– “Scotch Melodies, “ Concertina Band

 

Presentation

 

Selection– “Favourite Airs, “ Concertina Band

Concertina solo– “Alice, where art thou?”  T. Cameron

Song- “Tom Bowling, “        T. Hill

Song– “The Pitman’s Courtship, “ T. McLeod

Concertina solo– “The Bagpipes, “            Geo. Forsyth

Song– “Mary, “           T. Cameron

Song– “Flora McDonald’s Lament, “         T. Mcleod

Selection– “Reels, Jigs, Strathspeys, Hornpipes, “  Concertina Band

“God Save the King.”

War Hero Dies in Colliery Accident – 1929

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Sgt. William Kay served throughout the First World War, only to be killed by a fall of stone at Woodhorn Colliery on 13th May 1929. William had been employed at Woodhorn Colliery as a Hewer – a miner who loosens rock and minerals in a mine – and died as a result of injuries sustained following a fall of stone. He has been working at the colliery for 18 weeks and left a widow aged 23, a daughter aged 2 and a son who was 1. His average weekly wage, including his allowances was £2. 4s & 11d.

IMG_4650-onlineAccording to his gravestone he had served with the 7th Battalion of Northumberland Fusiliers T.F. [Territorial Force]. Interestingly his grave stone records his rank as Sgt. yet he worked in the collieries at the time of his death. This is very unusual – we have not seen this before. We have all seen programmes on TV where retired officers retain the title of their rank after leaving the Army. Examples of this include Captain Hastings in Poirot, Captain Peacock in Are you Being Served or the Major from Fawlty Towers! So why was he buried as Sergt? The entry in the burial register of St Bartholomew’s, Newbiggin by the Sea [ref – EP 21/17] just states William, there is no rank mentioned?
Could it be that being a ‘Sergeant’ meant a lot to William and this could be the reason the family decided to add his rank to the headstone, as a mark of respect. Certainly he must have been well respected by his unit and the people of Newbiggin by the Sea as his funeral was well attended. You can see a number of military personnel lining the route into the churchyard heads bowed as he passes as well as uniformed poll-bearers. [See images below.]
Was such a funeral common at this time? Has anyone come across any other local funerals like this one after the First World War?
We know he was born and schooled in County Durham from information on the 1911 census. His occupation on the marriage entry in the parish records states ‘Miner’ living in Newbiggin, when he married Lilian Price at Woodhorn church in 1925. The register records that William’s father and his wife’s father were also coalminers. The couple had three children, two whilst they probably shared a home with the Price family (in Sutherland Avenue, Newbiggin-By-The-Sea – the address where Lilian was living when she married).
William and Lilian appear to have moved out to Downie’s Buildings by the birth of their third child (a few doors from where Lilian and her family had lived in 1911), which would probably have been poor accommodation in comparison to Sutherland Avenue.
Their first son was only a few months old when he died and not long after William’s death his second son Kenneth died [8th September 1929]. Kenneth is mentioned on his father’s headstone. The burial register records Sgt. Kay living in the Bungalows (huts) at Newbiggin, but his wife and child’s records both before and after his death quote Downie’s Buildings as place of residence.
A small article relating to his inquest was located in the Blyth News & Ashington Post on 16th May 1929.
‘’The Inquest opened and adjourned on William Kay aged 30, of 7 Bungalow, Newbiggin who died on 13th following injuries in Woodhorn Pit. The man’s father Daniel Kay of 1 Northumberland Avenue, Newbiggin said his son had been employed in the mines for all, but 7 years of his life when he served in the Army.’’

Bill Sampson156

Bill Sampson151

These images were supplied by the Newbiggin by the Sea Genealogy Project and show the military funeral of William and buglers playing the last post by his graveside.

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Newbiggin by the Sea Genealogy Project and Paul Ternent Volunteer Manager for Northumberland At War for writing this blog.

This Week in World War One, 1 October 1915

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Berwick Advertiser title 1915

 

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 1 OCTOBER 1915

 

THE SCREMERSTON FLOCK DISPERSION

A NOTABLE SALE

 

On Friday, Messrs John Swan and Sons sold at Heatherytops Farm, Berwick, the noted flock of Border Leicester sheep, which have been got together in recent years by the Scremerston Coal Company. The sale was rendered necessary by the fact that the three farms – Heathery Tops, Oxford Farm, and Sandbank – which the Company presently occupy in the neighbourhood of their mining operations, are to be given up, and the further fact, that Mr J. Evelyn Carr, the managing director of the Company is presently with the forces in France. Mr Carr, very pluckily, shortly after war was declared, joined the ranks of the London Scottish, and spent a considerable time of last winter in the trenches. He got twice wounded early in the year, and was home for a considerable time recuperating. Immediately he got better, the old martial spirit revived, and he is again on the other side of the Channel, fighting for his country – this time in the commissioned ranks of the Sherwood Foresters. Everyone admires his plucky action and high public spirit, but in the circumstances it was necessary that his home responsibilities should be considerably curtailed. While he will retain his active association with the colliery, it was considered desirable to give up the farms, which like the colliery are all on the estate of the Greenwich Hospital (practically the Admiralty), and to dispose of the pure-bred sheep. The decision has been received with a good deal of regret in the district, for Mr Carr and the Company have proved not only excellent neighbours, but have done not a little to promote the cause of pure-stock breeding in their northern corner of Northumberland.

 

SHIP ASHORE NEAR THE LONGSTONE

 

On Saturday morning, during foggy weather, the Leith steamer Britannia went ashore on the Crumstane Rock, near the Longstone, Farne Islands. The Seahouses lifeboat went out to her assistance, but the crew did not leave the vessel. Lloyd’s Seahouses agent telegraphed on Monday that the Britannia had been abandoned. The vessel is expected to become a total wreck. The crew landed in their own boats and proceeded to Berwick. The Britannia is one of the Leith-Hull line of trading steamers, the managers of which are Messers Currie and Co., Leith. She was bound from Newcastle to Leith with a general cargo. The vessel became a total wreck and disappeared on Sunday evening.

Farne Islands as seen from Seahouses. Tony Hisgett, Birmingham - Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.
Farne Islands as seen from Seahouses. Tony Hisgett, Birmingham – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

 

DAMAGE TO ROADS BY RAIN

 

It was reported that Holy Island had been visited with a downfall of rain so heavy in character that considerable damage was caused, especially to the roads. These were quite washed out. The road material lying ready to be applied would help matters a little. It was proposed to apply this season if possible 60 tons 1½ inches machine tarred stones, and the Surveyor stated that a future report would be submitted as to the method of their repair and maintenance.

Early 1900s photograph of Castle Street, Holy Island. © Berwick Record Office - BRO 0426-1072.
Early 1900s photograph of Castle Street, Holy Island. © Berwick Record Office – BRO 0426-1072.

 

The Surveyor explained that at present everything was being taken to the Island by means of carts as they did not wish to run any risks owing to the war. The rain did great damage, lasting 2½ hours. The roads which were not in very good condition before were badly washed out. At a future date when things were more normal he would be pleased to propound a scheme to the Council for the better maintenance of the roads.

The Surveyor’s suggestion was agreed to.

 

BURGLARS ENTER TWEEDMOUTH INN

 

About 3 a.m. on Monday the King’s Arms Inn, West End, Tweedmouth, occupied by Mrs Norris, were burglarously entered. The marauders obtained entrance by breaking a pane of glass in one of the downstairs windows, releasing the catch, and raising the bottom half of the frame. Five large bottles of whisky were stolen and about 8s worth of coppers. Not content with this the intruders obtained a pint glass and had a drink of rum and left the rum cask running. The prints of bare feet were plainly discernable on the seats below the window pointing to the fact that the robbery was not a drunken spree, but one which had been prepared. Two soldiers and a woman were seen in the vicinity of the house about midnight, and we understand two soldiers, who are in custody at the Barracks, are under suspicion.

Early 1900s photograph, looking towards the West End, Tweedmouth from the Berwick Bridge (Old Bridge). Unknown photographer.
Early 1900s photograph, looking towards the West End, Tweedmouth from the Berwick Bridge (Old Bridge). Unknown photographer.

 

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