Blyth Thomas Knight Hospital

While wandering in Horton, Blyth Churchyard a little while ago I came across this grand monument to Thomas Knight.

In memory of Thomas Knight who was born at Buckland Kent Dec 25th 1806. And died at Crofton Blyth March 28th 1878. Margaret wife of the above died April 15th 1879 aged 71 years. They rest from their labours and their works do follow them. Members of the Thomas Knight Endownment Fund 1879

Of course, I am familiar with the Thomas Knight Care Home which stands on Beaconsfield Street behind the library. I was also aware that the care home stands on the site of the now demolished Thomas Knight Memorial hospital. So who was Thomas Knight and why was a hospital founded in his honour?

1887 Morpeth Herald

"OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE KNIGHT MEMORIAL HOSPITAL AT BLYTH: An event which has occupied the attention of the public of Blyth for some years now was brought to a successful termination on Wednesday afternoon in the presence of numerous company of ladies and gentlemen. The weather was most adverse for the occasion and added its disagreeableness by a continuous rain. By the way of information we beg to remind our readers that the hospital has been erected in memory of the late Mr Thomas Knight, a shipowner, who for many years resided at Crofton, Blyth. The desceased gentleman rose from the ranks and in time became one of the leading and wealthiest shipowners of the port. During many years he was a most generous contributor to all charitable movements initiated in that district, and after his death and that of his wife it was found that a large amount of money had been left for the founding of a hospital such as the growing importance of the Blyth and district required. The hospital is a substantial building, situated at the rear of the new mechanic's institute, and has been fitted up in a manner calculated  to serve the purpose to which it has been devoted. At one 'o' clock the Hon Lady Ridley, Sir Matthew White Ridley, Dr G Ward, Revs Greenwell and Maddison (vicars) and the Rev P Pearce, and a number of ladies and gentlemen assembled in the Blyth Local Board Room, Mechanic's Institute and a procession was formed to the main entrance of the hospital which was gaily decorated with bunting etc. There was a large company present, principally out of curiosity..."

The Newcastle Daily Chronicle of Wednesday, 28 December, 1887 reported: "At the door of the new building Dr. Gilbert Ward (who has taken immense interest in the undertaking) will present the key to Lady Ridley and ask her to open the hospital. After Lady Ridley has declared it open a portion of scripture will be read by the Rev. Peter Peace and prayers will be offered by the Rev. W. Greenwell, Vicar of Horton. An inspection of the interior will follow and there will be a luncheon in the Lecture Hall of the Mechanics Institute. Up to the present the hospital requirements of Blyth have been met by a small cottage hospital close to Blyth links."

Thomas Knight's widow had left an endowment of £6000 [about £712,000 in 2016]. However, it was felt that this was best used as revenue funding for the hospital (the interest earned on this endowment was still being used by the hospital into the 1980s). The capital costs of building the structure were raised by public subscription, although there must have been some discussion around Lady Ridley herself  providing the funding. The land on which to build the hospital was donated by Lord Ridley after discussions with Dr Ward. But there was some praise on the day as having a public subscription being the proper course to have taken, presumably as the public had made a stake holding in the building, with the ladies of various churches in the district having raised £251 at a bazaar, they would value it more. The vast cost of the building estimated at £2500 [roughly £297,000 today] was met by coal owners, the Duke of Northumberland and Lord Hastings due to the depressed state of trade in Blyth at the time.

"Thomas Knight had started life as a seaman in 1818. By thrift and hard work he saved enough money to buy his own keel to work for the Sleekburn Coal Company. He then bought a schooner of good sailing qualities and invested in other ships, retiring as steam ships began to supersede sailing vessels." (James Scott, Tyne and Tweed, 1983)

The hospital was described in the 1914 Kelly's Trade Directory for Northumberland: "...the building is of white brick with stone dressings, and comprises on the upper floor two wards, each containing four beds; on the ground floor is a large committee room, a waiting room, dispensary, two consulting rooms and a kitchen and offices. During 1913 there were 82 in-patients and 620 out-patients. In 1896 a marble bust of Dr. Gilbert Ward was placed in the entrance hall, the doctor having died in 1894."

Dr Gilbert Ward was mentioned in the newspaper extracts as the official in charge of the proceedings. It is the history and legacy of Dr Gilbert Ward which is a large factor in the provision of health services in Blyth.

Dr Gilbert Ward

The Royal College of Surgeons have this short biography of Dr Ward on their website: "[General Surgeon] Born at Newcastle [1805] and served his apprenticeship under Dr Trotter, of North Shields. He practised throughout life at Blyth. For fifty-five years he held the position of Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths in Blyth; for over fifty years every entry was made by his own hand. He was also Medical Officer of the Tynemouth Union; Medical Referee to the Star, Church of England, and Crown Assurance Societies; Surgeon to the Coastguard and to the Royal Naval Volunteers; Public Vaccinator and Certifying Factory Surgeon. He died at Blyth on May 17th, 1894."

Ward first came to Blyth during the cholera epidemic of 1832 which Wallace in his 1869 "History of Blyth" mentions: "In the autumn of 1832 cholera morbus reached Blyth, it's first victim being Peggy Lamb, a widow living in Church Street. A day or two later Andrew Steel, a roper, died and before the epidemic subsided eighty of Blyth's then population of 3000 had succumbed to the mysterious scourge." Cholera re-visited  Blyth on a further two occasions during the next twenty years. Ward, who also had responsibilities as the French Vice-consul had  difficulties isolating infectious patients, especially those that arrived at the port from various ships with diseases such as typhus. Lord Ridley heard of these difficulties and provided a cottage, rent free, to Dr Ward to be used as a hospital. The cottage was at the junction of what is now Ridley Avenue and Park View. As well as isolating infectious patients it also provided other hospital services. These services were transferred to the new Thomas Knight Hospital when it came into existence.

Dr Ward had a practice in Bridge Street, Blyth in a now demolished house on what is now the site of a modern bus depot. His son, Henry, joined him in this practice from 1864 until his untimely death in 1891. Marine Medical Group, which operates a practice in Blyth, can trace their roots to Dr Gilbert Ward's surgery. The same site on Bridge Street was used by Dr Newstead, followed by Dr Urquart, until 1956. There was then a succession of Doctors operating from Waterloo Road and then Stanley Street before ending up at the present site in the community hospital where the bust to Dr Gilbert Ward now occupies the main entrance. He had become well connected with the well-to-do in the town and hosted a member of the Royal family on one occasion. Scott (1983) writes: "On the day of Dr. Gilbert Ward's funeral police were out to control the crowds, many shops and places of business closed, blinds were drawn at the Hospital, the Mechanics Institute and the banks. Among the wreaths was one from the French Government." A window in St Cuthbert's Church, Blyth, entitled "The Four Works of Mercy" was also placed as a memorial to Dr Ward.

In 1893 an act of Parliament was passed (The Isolation Hospitals Act) which enabled local authorities to build hospitals for isolating patients with infectious diseases. Stiff penalties had been introduced by act of Parliament in 1866 for anyone carrying infectious diseases who endangered the public. A hospital was built for this purpose beside the river in Cowpen. Kelly's Directory (1913) describes it: "The Infectious Diseases Hospital, erected by the Blyth Port Sanitary Authority, at a cost of £3000, and opened in Aug. 1893, stands on the west bank of the river Blyth, near Old Factory Point, opposite Cowpen Cemetery, and is a corrugated iron building on a brick foundation; it comprises east, west and middle wards and a residential part containing six rooms; provision is made for 20 beds."

The cottage hospital was not needed after this date and Ridley Park was developed soon after near to this site.

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Rowing on the River Blyth

ROWING, REGATTAS AND GAMBLING

In the edition of the Morpeth Herald of 24 September 1864 a whole column was devoted to a report on the annual Blyth Regatta. Large crowds had lined the river bank to witness a victory in the ninth race of the day for a sculling boat named "Harry Clasper".

Harry Clasper was born in 1812 at Dunston on the Tyne and died in 1870. The obvious inspiration for the naming of this boat, he was a working-class, rowing hero in the North East. He also made and developed boats. His funeral was attended by upwards of 100,000 people and even today his name is locally well known.

Rowing in the 19th century attracted a huge and fanatical following and also a great deal of money which was undoubtedly a large part of its attraction.

Blyth Rowing Club Durham Regatta Champions 1909

Clasper was not the only rowing hero. The names of Robert Chambers and James Renforth are arguably just as famous. They were the source of much local pride when taking on the crews from the Thames. Renforth even competed in New York. When he died there from the effects of performance-enhancing drugs (named Yankee Dope in the local press) The Newcastle Chronicle devoted nearly seven columns to the story. The men were feted in contemporary music hall songs by the likes of Joe Wilson and Geordie Ridley, who wrote "Blaydon Races". A decent living could be earned by a successful rower. My Great Great Uncle, Kit Barrass, was able to buy into the pub trade and had ship owning interests when he became too old to row competitively.

Rowing was the principle enthusiasm of North East sporting crowds during the later part of the 19th century. It was later eclipsed by Association Football which rapidly became popular after 1888. Newcastle United's first Division One game in 1899 attracted 20,000 spectators, with attendances rapidly increasing to 55,000 during the next decade. It is noticeable that the column inches in the Blyth newspapers devoted to aquatics diminishes rapidly after this period and is hardly mentioned at all after 1914. The sport was by this time almost completely an amateur pastime.

The River Blyth was always the little brother of the Tyne in terms of size and the quality of competitive rowing. From early in the 19th century it had been the custom to hold boat races and regattas on the Tyne. A large number of keelmen and wherrymen were employed on this river. Keel boats and wherries were narrow-draught vessels used to carry cargo from the bank down river to larger boats lying in deeper water. Keelmen held races, not only out of sporting rivalry, but for the prize money to supplement their meagre wages. The really big money, however, was in challenge races between scullers for a side stake. The races between Thames and Tyne crews were typically for between £150-200, over £20,000 at today's rate. Even local races on the Tyne could attract a prize fund of over £50, which is more than £5,000 today. Gambling also featured prominently around the rowing scene.

A smaller number of Keelmen also worked on the River Blyth. Keelmen's housing is shown near the Bedlington Iron Works and where Regent Street stands, near the market place, in the Centre of Blyth. Rowing became popular among most groups of working men however, especially miners. But the sport also attracted the interest of all sections of Blyth society from Lord Ridley downwards. By 1864 rowing had been established on the Blyth in emulation of the Tyne activities, no doubt aided by the dredging and development of the river in the previous decade.

There was a degree of snobbery associated with the early development of amateur rowing. The rural and university clubs would not compete with clubs made up of working men. They claimed labourers had an unfair advantage in terms of fitness already obtained through their occupation. This from Wikipedia:

"In 1886 the ARA issued General Rules for Regattas. The ARA adopted Henley Royal Regatta's restrictive definition of amateur which not only excluded those who made their living as professional oarsmen but also anyone who is or has been by trade or employment for wages a mechanic, artisan or labourer. Moreover, the new rules stated that only clubs affiliated to the ARA could compete in regattas held under ARA rules, and that ARA affiliated clubs could not compete under any other rules, nor against crews not affiliated to the ARA. This ruling was extremely socially divisive, effectively excluding any club with a socially mixed membership. It resulted in the formation of a breakaway organisation in 1890, the National Amateur Rowing Association, whose clubs could draw their membership from all social classes and occupations."

19TH CENTURY BLYTH AQUATICS

The regatta of 1864 mentioned in the introduction, already an annual event, featured twelve races in total. Thirty-six boats were entered in total in a diverse mix of keel, coble, sculler, four-oared boats and sailing boats. The latter turned out to be a slow and ponderous affair due to there being only the lightest breeze. The regatta was organised in connection with the Bebside and Sleekburn collieries and the Bedlington Iron Works. The location of these works is no doubt in part to do with the location of the race being from the "Straight Quay", near the railway bridge, to the Cowpen Style" some three-quarters of a mile down river. Typical prize funds were between £1.00 and £1.16s (roughly £120-170 in 2014 values). A large crowd enjoyed the fine weather and picturesque scenes along the banks of the river.

22nd July 1865: Blyth Regatta
A committee had been formed to organise this event and no connection to any works, as in the previous year, was mentioned. In fact, the regatta was headed by Commodore and judge R. Bell esq. The Commodore had a barge anchored on the river from where the Cowpen Colliery Band entertained the crowd. The barge acted as the starting point for the races. It was common for a flotilla of vessels to accompany the boats on race day. Large crowds also attended on this day encouraged by the fine weather, which once again due to lack of wind made the sailing race a farce. The races as in previous years were diverse and were for prizes just in excess of £1.00. However the main interest of the day was in the skiff handicap consisting of three heats and a final, with three boats in each heat. Michael Blakey won the first prize of £7.00 (roughly £745 in 2014). Detailed descriptions of the races and events are given by the Morpeth Herald throughout the 19th century.

11th September 1866: Whitby Boat Race
Four Blyth miners travelled to Whitby to race in cobles against a local crew of fishermen. It was for a stake of £20 (roughly £2016). They were well beaten, but admired for the fight they put up. It was a huge event in Whitby with crowds accompanying the winners at a victory parade. A whole column was devoted to this in the Morpeth Herald.


2nd November 1872: Boat Race on the Blyth for £100 (Approx £9600)
A boat race was held between two Blyth Scullers: William Williamson and James Boyd. They were team mates who had recently beaten a team from Bebside. A debate had then ensued as to who was the best of the pair and a competition was duly arranged. The "respective backers" were confident in their selection but the Morpeth Herald does not mention who the backers were. Several thousand people witnessed Williamson win comfortably but the reporter noted: "it is an impossibility to convince some Englishmen they have been thoroughly broken on the water and so there is some talk of another race being arranged for".

20th September 1873: Boat Race for £50
A usual course had by now been established between the Flanker and the Gut. Williamson was racing again, this time against Joshua Rawlins of Bebside for a stake of £50 per side. This was a return match from a race Rawlins had won in February. The Morpeth Herald article mentions many more individual skiff and sculler races having been held throughout the year. Much training had taken place in the weeks leading up to the races, with rowers being based at, and allied to, various public houses along both banks of the Blyth, such as the Brown Bar Inn - a name long-since defunct.

19th August 1875: Annual Regatta
The annual regatta was held in favourable weather attended by a crowd of thousands. The list of patrons reads as a "Who's Who" of the great and good in South East Northumberland: Lord Eslington MP, MW Ridley MP, Major Duncan RA, WB Beaumont esq MP, Major Ismay, Hugh Taylor esq, and R Wilkinson Mayor of Morpeth. A lifeboat and sailing race was held, but the main event was the skiff handicap race. This consisted of three heats of three boats and then a final heat. The prize was a "splendid" cup with £5 added.

Wednesday 6th September 1876: Annual Regatta
The annual regatta was held on a blustery day. The Morpeth Herald reporter stated: "The prize list was much more limited than in previous years. The absence of a prize for lifeboats, which was the chief feature of previous years, but, considering the limited funds at their disposal, the secretary Mr J Turnbull and his committee are to be congratulated on the interesting contests they were able to secure." Despite the lack of patronage there were still a great many races held. There is no hint, however, as to why the patronage for the event suddenly ceased.

Saturday 6th September 1884: Blyth Regatta
Morpeth Herald: "On Saturday afternoon was once more commenced a regatta on the River Blyth in the presence of a large concourse of spectators. In former years Blyth Regatta was looked forward to with a great deal of interest as nearly all the best rowers on the Tyne used to take part in the various contests, but for several years no regatta was held... A few months ago a committee was formed for the purpose of once more making an effort to re-establish it, and to a certain extent the have been successful in their efforts." Quite clearly it takes a great deal of organisation and backing to stage a regatta, which had probably not been held in the previous twelve years. It is noticeable that in the many open-boat handicaps held on the day the newspaper does not mention any prize fund. The course was over a half mile distance from the Flanker to Monkey Island.

1893: Newspaper Reports
Several individual challenge races were held between scullers in this year. The Morpeth Herald of 16th September reported on a contest between Anthony Scott and R Nicholson for £50 (£5441 2014). All of these men were local to the Blyth area. This was eclipsed, however, in a match for £100 between John Bewick and William Gibbons over the two mile Flanker to Cowpen Gut course. The MH printed: "A match of the same public interest had not taken place at Blyth since November 1887 when Charles Carr and William Gibbons were the contestants." A noticeable revival was under way in Blyth aquatic sports.

1894: Newspaper Reports
During May and June an "open-boat" handicap event was set up by the Seven Stars Pub, or North Blyth, Rowing Club, as it was alternatively known. Various publicans along the River Blyth had sponsored the event. This had probably been the case throughout the course of the last few decades. But the murky world of gambling had not been reported on much. Thomas Lee of Cowpen Square was the starter on the day and the main organiser behind the event. A former rower, although not the most successful, he would come to be the driving force of Blyth rowing for years to come. In July an accident happened to a sculler, a trimmer named Tom Forster, whilst training on the river. He capsized his boat and narrowly escaped death when he just managed to cling on to his upturned craft. A regatta was held on the Blyth in this month. Not many details are reported except that large numbers witnessed the event from paddle steamers, which was fortunate for them as the weather was inclement.

July 1896: Sailing Regatta
The annual regatta held in July of this year was a sailing race only, held in the bay and harbour, and had severed connection with the rowing clubs. The patron was the Home Secretary and principal landholder in Blyth Sir Matthew White Ridley.

FORMATION OF A BLYTH ROWING CLUB

1899: New Rowing Club at Blyth

A well-attended meeting held at the Golden Fleece public house voted to establish a rowing club. The newly-named Blyth Rowing Club had the promised support of several "influential gentlemen" although they were not named in the press. Thomas Lee was elected as Chair and de-facto secretary. Several promising scullers joined the club. The first business of the new organisation was to purchase a boathouse on the riverside.

22nd February 1902: Easter Sports at Blyth
An advert for an Easter aquatic event in Blyth appeared in the Morpeth Herald. Rowing was noted as being popular in the North at that time.

18th April 1903: Blyth Boat Racing

The 4th annual open-boat handicap for the Isaac Tucker Cup was held over the course of the Easter weekend. It was organised by the four-year-old Blyth Rowing Club. The challenge consisted of three rounds, a semi-final then the final. Thirty-two competitors entered in total. The first round consisted of sixteen heats. The rowing club had obviously managed to secure themselves a club house by this stage as the course of the race was from here to the Shearlegs. It was noted that a large crowd of spectators had attended. The sponsor, Isaac Tucker and Co Turks Head Brewery, was established at Gateshead in 1790. They had fifty tied public houses at their commercial height. The cup in this year was won by G. Davis.

Saturday 20th June 1903: International Competition
Throughout this month the Morpeth Herald devoted a great deal of column space in anticipation of an international rowing match between the four-oared team from Blyth Rowing Club, which included the holder of the Tucker Cup G. Davis, and a team from Glasgow. The paper stated that the team's preparations were going well. Arthur Jefferson, owner of the Blyth Theatre Royal and father of yet to be famous Stan Laurel was the main sponsor of the event. He had paid the travelling expenses of the Glasgow crew and provided the trophies. Blyth won the match and an awards ceremony was held that evening at the Theatre Royal. The same crew had also won the prestigious Durham Regatta earlier in the year, and would also go on to victory in 1909. The MH also wrote: "A much larger crowd had attended the event than had been seen on the Blyth for aquatics in many years".

Saturday 9th April 1904: Tucker Cup
The Morpeth Herald reported on a dissapointing Tucker challenge cup event. It was held once again over the duration of the Easter weekend and the usual half-mile course. But the weather was poor and in the opinion of the reporter so was the quality of the competitors. G. Davis failed to appear for his semi-final heat leaving C. Allen free to become the overall winner.

17th June 1905: Blyth Whitsuntide Rowing Handicap
The annual event for the Tucker Cup was moved from the Easter to the Whitsuntide weekend. This was in the hope of of more favourable weather for spectators and the ever-increasing amount of novice rowers competing in the event. The prizes were presented in August at a ceremony in the Jefferson's Theatre Royal. Mr. Fred Perry represented Isaac Tucker and Co of Gateshead. He gave a speech where he praised Blyth for having the best single sculler and best four-oared crew in the North of England, having won at various northern regattas. Blyth's club was now leading the way in North East rowing. Thomas Lee presented the accounts to the Blyth Rowing Club in December. This showed an income, and almost the same expenditure, of £11 3s raised mostly by subscriptions.

23 June 1906: Tucker Cup
A social evening of the Blyth Rowing Club was held at their headquarters, the Golden Fleece Inn, as reported by the Morpeth Herald. The Tucker Cup and medals were presented and speeches were made highlighting the many successes of the rowers over the past year with the names of the members of the Lavery and Allen families being especially singled out. Thomas Lee remarked that Blyth had a foar-oared crew to match any in the country.  Bob Balmer states in the book Images of England: Blyth that Blyth Rowing Club amalgamated with another on the river in this year.

4th April 1908: Youth Handicap
Morpeth Herald: "To encourage boat racing amongst Blyth youths a handicap is to be started on Easter Monday for youths under 18 years of age".

1st June 1909: Boat Launch
On this day the rowing club christened a new four-oared boat built by Messrs Brown of Durham. The name given was "Robert Colledge". The boat had been donated anonymously by a "lover of aquatics". It was launched as part of a town-wide event and procession which also raised money for the lifeboat and local hospital.

POST WAR

The Morpeth Herald gives very little coverage of rowing after 1914. WWI would undoubtedly have had an effect on Blyth's rowing activities, as it did other aspects of life. It does seem, however, as if rowing had become a low-key and largely amateur sport by this time.

The austerity of the 1920s and 30s also played a part in the demise of the period. Ian Wrigglesworth in his book The Social History of English Rowing comments that the 1926 General Strike "endangered the very existence of some Northern clubs such as those at Blyth and Cambois". Members of the club had been excused subscriptions until the strike ended but the lack of income must have had a detrimental effect on the club's viability. Clubs throughout the country, especially works-based clubs, had folded during the depression of the 1930s.

In 1965 the Sports Council set about encouraging a participation in rowing and gave grants of £1.00 for every £1.00 raised by a club. Cambois Rowing Club was given a Council grant which enabled it to re-locate from Blyth harbour to the River Wansbeck estuary, "leaving behind the traditionally professional Blyth Rowing Club". BRC went into economic decline and ended in 1985.

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Dr Trotter of Bedlington

Bedlington Town Centre has the status of being a conservation area  Bedlington Conservation Area Appraisal  and is managed by Northumberland County Council. Important landmarks in Bedlington are brought to the attention of visitors by way of a blue plaque fixed to the site. A display near the market monument also gives information and a guide to the town's heritage.

Landmarks include the house where the railway engineer and parliamentarian Sir Daniel Gooch lived as a child and a Victorian post box: a Bedlington resident being the recipient of the first ever letter stamped with a penny black.

Another landmark, which sits near the roundabout at the north end of Front Street, is a large monument dedicated to Doctor James Trotter (1843-1899), which was erected by public subscription. Trotter had championed the fight against poor living conditions and fought to improve the general health of the local people, who held him in great affection and esteem. He also became a local and county councillor and helped to secure the election to Parliament of Thomas Burt.

I had read this in a Newcastle Journal article written by Tony Henderson named "Statue of the Week" which stated that Doctor Pit in Bedlington was named after James Trotter. I thought that this was unusual as collieries were usually named after the owners or their family members. Trotter would have no doubt been an adversary of the pit owners? But apparently, the naming of Doctor Pit is a common misconception as Robert Coulson of Hexham pointed out when he wrote a reply to the article and stated:  Doctor Pit was named after a company director, who cut the first sod of the shaft, a Doctor John Moore Bates. This was, in fact, ten years prior to Dr Trotter having moved to Bedlington.

The election to Parliament in 1874 of Thomas Burt, a working man, was an important and well-documented event. The Morpeth Herald of the time quoted a supporter as saying: "Time the Avenger’ (that) can be found is the fact that Morpeth, so long known by the reproachful cognomen of a ‘rotten borough’ will be the first to send a working man – a real undisguised man of the people – to Parliament”. But, I was surprised at myself in never having never heard of Dr Trotter before I made this visit to Bedlington's landmarks.

I then discovered the memoirs of William Adams (1832-1906): Chartist, Republican, supporter of women's suffrage and Editor of the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle from 1862. Adams was himself from a working-class background. The Newcastle Chronicle, under the ownership of the radical Joseph Cowen, was a supporter of the amelioration of the working class. Adams published his memoirs in a series of articles in the Chronicle in 1902. This extract describes Adams' knowledge and involvement in the politics of the area in the lead up to the 1874 election:

"THE MORPETH HUBBUBBOO" 

THE expectations of the Tea Room party that the hindrances to emancipation contained in Mr. Disraeli's Reform Bill could and would be removed were in due course completely realised.  The credit of removing such of them as related to the residents of colliery villages and the occupants of colliery houses belongs to the miners of Northumberland.  How this came about forms an interesting episode in the history of the borough of Morpeth.  The secretary of the Northumberland Miners' Association, Thomas Burt, soon after his election to that office in 1864, showed so much ability in the management of the society's affairs, and endeared himself so much to his fellow-workmen by reason of his personal qualities, that there arose a strong desire to see him in the House of Commons.  But household suffrage, pure and simple, was not yet the law of the land.  Of the thousands of miners in Northumberland only a few hundreds were numbered among the electors of the county.  As occupiers of colliery houses, and so not paying rates directly to the overseers of the poor, they were considered not entitled to have their names inscribed on the rate-books or on the register of voters.  But some ingenious people in the neighbourhood of Choppington and Bedlington conceived the idea that the occupants of colliery houses, since they stood in respect to rates in about the same position as compound householders in towns, had equal claims with the said householders to the suffrage.  To press this idea upon the authorities the Miners' Franchise Association was formed in the early part of 1872. 

    The inception of the movement, undoubtedly one of the most successful ever set on foot in the North of England, was due, I think, to Thomas Glassey, then a miner at Choppington, but for some years now a leading member of the Parliament of Queensland, and at this date a member of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Australia.  Mr. Glassey, a native of the North of Ireland, had not been long in the district, nor had he always been associated with the Radical party.  Indeed, he had until shortly before been a rampant Orangeman.  When he did take sides with the Radicals, however, he went with them heart and soul.  Being a man of resource, too, he soon made the whole coalfield ring with the claims of the miners.  Associated with Mr. Glassey were two other notable men.  One was Robert Elliott, author of a vernacular poem which created some stir at the time, entitled "A Pitman Gan te Parliament."  It was thought by many of his friends that justice was hardly done to his services and abilities when he failed to secure the nomination for a neighbouring constituency to Morpeth.  The other member of the triumvirate was Dr. James Trotter, one of four or five brothers, natives of Galloway, all pursuing the practice of medicine at the same time in Northumberland.  James was also an Orangeman at the beginning of his public career.  Like Glassey, moreover, he threw himself with ardour and enthusiasm into the Radical movement. 

    The Franchise Association aimed at two things—the extension of the suffrage to all householders in the villages included in the borough of Morpeth, and the return of Thomas Burt as the first working-man member of the House of Commons.  Both objects were achieved, but not before the district had become the scene of exciting events.  Once, when Mr. Walter B. Trevelyan, the revising barrister, sitting at Morpeth, gave a decision hostile to the claims of the association, Mr. Glassey, rising in great wrath, called all his friends outside the court.  It seemed as if a revolution was going to begin there and then.  I recollect assisting to throw oil on the troubled waters, with the result that the standard of rebellion was neither then nor later unfurled.  Greater still was the excitement when a poem entitled "The Morpeth Hubbubboo" made its appearance.  The name of no author was attached to the piece, nor did anybody at the time know whence it had emanated; but it was supposed to represent the feelings of the tradesmen and respectable classes of Morpeth.  As the verses have become historical, I give some of them here:—

Come, all ye jolly freemen,         And listen to my tale, How Morpeth served the Howkies,         And made them turn their tail. And you, ye Howky beggars,         We dare you to come down! And though you come in thousands,         We'll kick you from the town. You dirty sneaking cowards,         Come back to Morpeth, do, And we'll kick your Burt to blazes,         And stop your Hubbubboo The rascals, how they spouted         On sham gentility, And swore the dirty Howkies         Were just as good as we. They wanted rights of voting,         The law had ordered so: What right to Rights have Howkies         Is what I'd like to know. We'll let them drink our beer, sir,         The worst that we can brew, It's good enough for Howkies         To raise a Hubbubboo. Hurrah for Champion Robberts         That damned the Howky dirt, The boy that thrashed the traitors         Who wished to vote for Burt, That stood up for Sir Georgy,         And cursed the Howkies well, And damned them and the Trotters         To trot right off to hell! He showed them like a man, sir,         What brandy schnapps can do, And soon smashed up the Templars,         And spoiled the Hubbubboo. Nine groans for both the Trotters,         Confound the ugly quacks; When next they show their faces,         We'll make them show their backs, Nine groans for Irish Glassey;         If he comes here again, We'll pelt him out with murphies,         And get the rascal slain. Nine groans for Poet Elliott         And his North-Country crew, Aud ninety for the Howkies         That raised the Hubbubboo. Nine groans for Burt the Howky;         And if he ventures here, His dry teetotal carcase         We'll soak in Robberts' beer. We'll put him in the stocks, too,         And pelt him well with eggs; We'll black his Howky eyes, boys,         And kick his bandy legs. He would unseat Sir Georgy,         He would be member, too; We'll hunt him out of Morpeth,         And spoil his Hubbubboo.

    The effect of the publication was instantaneous.  Not only did the pitmen round about refuse to enter a public-house where "Robberts' beer" was sold, but the pitmen's wives drove back home the tradesmen's carts that travelled round the pit villages laden with provisions.  Dr. Trotter himself described the state of affairs in a letter I received from him a few days after the appearance of the "Hubbubboo."  It will be seen that the letter was partly in reply to a suggestion of mine that nothing foolish or indiscreet should be done to bring discredit upon the movement.  Here, then, is Dr. Trotter's account of matters :— 

BEDLINGTON, THURSDAY.
    My dear Sir,—The whole district is in a blaze.  The tradesmen of Morpeth are like to be ruined.
    A great meeting was held at Morpeth, on Tuesday night, to take the crisis into serious consideration.  A reward of £150 is offered by the tradesmen for the publishers and authors of the squibs which are setting the miners into so desperate a state of excitement.
    All the inns and beer-shops in the district have orders to receive no more ale or spirits from Morpeth on pain of instant extinction, and all here have complied with the demand.  The pitmen made an entrance into every public-house, took down all the Morpeth spirit advertisements framed on the walls, trampled them under foot, and sent the fragments to the owners carefully packed and labelled.
    You can have no idea of the sensation here at present.  It is to be proposed, and has every likelihood of being carried unanimously, that Choppington pits be at once laid idle should a single tubful of coals be sent to the town of Morpeth, and every colliery in the county is to be invited to join issue to the same effect.  So you see that Morpeth people will not only be starved as regards food, but as respects fuel also, if things go on at this rate much longer.
    I believe we could have 10,000 men into Morpeth at a week's notice.  However, I will follow your advice in the matter and keep things as quiet as possible; but if the men get determined, the devil himself will hardly be able to prevent them making an inroad.
    I will excuse our deputation to the collieries to which we were invited as you suggest.  Besides, Mr. Burt will as surely be M.P. for the borough of Morpeth as that I am                                                           Very sincerely yours,                                                                                 JAMES TROTTER. 

    The shopkeepers of Morpeth were indeed in serious straits.  In this extremity they got up a meeting to repudiate the "Hubbubboo."  Peace, however, was not restored till the Franchise Association was invited to hold a conference in the sacred precincts of the borough itself.  It was suspected at the time, though it was not positively known till long afterwards, that the poem which set the district on fire was the production, not of an enemy, but of a friend.  Things were getting dull, it was thought, and so it was deemed advisable to invent something that would fan the embers of the agitation into a blaze.  And the blaze produced then has certainly never in the same district been equalled since.  Dr. Trotter was fond of practical jokes, and the "Hubbubboo" was one of them—quite of a piece with another which set the inhabitants of his own town of Dalry by the ears.  The "Clachan Fair," a long descriptive poem, satirising everybody in the place, including the author's father, was printed and posted to persons concerned.  And then the incorrigible joker took a holiday, and went back to his old home to enjoy the fun!
  

   The franchise movement never flagged after the excitement about the "Hubbubboo."  It even attracted attention in distant parts of the country.  Archibald Forbes, in an interval of his war reporting, was sent down to describe for the Daily News the position of matters in the North.  Writing of a "Miners' Monstre Demonstration," held at Morpeth on Sept. 28th, 1872, he fell into a curious confusion in respect to a leading spirit of the movement, assigning to him the name of the colliery village in which he resided.  One of the speakers at the meeting, said Mr. Forbes, was "an Irish pitman, Thomas Glassey, known to fame as the Choppington Guide Post"—"a fine, ardent young fellow, with yellow hair, and a brogue broader than the platform.  And then," he added, "Mr. Glassey lapsed into revolutionary utterances, and began to talk about tyrants and despots and other matters of a like sort, which seemed to indicate him as rather an unsafe guide post for Choppington or any other loyal community."  But the upshot of the whole business was that the revising barrister, when he came his rounds in 1873, admitted the whole of the pitman claimants to the franchise, thus increasing the constituency of Morpeth at one bound from 2,661 to 4,916. 

    The rest was easy.  Sir George Grey, the Home Secretary in many successive Whig Ministries, who had represented Morpeth since 1852, retired into private life.  Mr. Cowen presided over a great meeting at Bedlington Cross on Oct. 18th, 1873, at which a requisition was presented to Mr. Burt inviting him to stand as a candidate for the borough.  The invitation was of course accepted.  A committee constituted as follows was chosen to conduct the election:—Robert Elliott, chairman; Thomas Glassey, vice-chairman; James Archbold, treasurer; James Trotter, secretary; general members—Joseph Cowen, M.P., the Rev. Dr. Rutherford, George Howard (now Earl of Carlisle), W. E. Adams, Matthew Pletts, and Ralph Young.  Although the return of Mr. Burt by an overwhelming majority was absolutely certain, a rival candidate was found in Captain Francis Duncan, who, as Colonel Duncan, the author of a "History of the Royal Artillery," rose to distinction both in Parliament and in the military service, and died later while serving his country in Egypt.  The contest which followed was unique. 

    Captain Duncan was everywhere respectfully received by the miners.  When he addressed a meeting at Choppington, not a murmur of opposition was heard from the crowded audience; but when a vote of approval of his candidature was proposed, every hand was held up against it.  And the proceedings closed with a vote of thanks to Captain Duncan for his lecture!  Both candidates on the day of the polling visited the different towns and villages comprising the constituency of Morpeth.  Mr. Burt's tour was a triumphal procession.  The arrival of the candidate and his friends at Bedlington, I recollect, led to an extraordinary scene.  The main street of the town was crowded, for of course the pits were all idle.  First there was much cheering; then arose an irrepressible desire to do something unusual.  The horses were taken out of the conveyance, dozens of stalwart miners seized the shafts, and the electoral party was rushed up and down the thoroughfare at a furious and hazardous pace amidst the wildest excitement.  It was even proposed to run the carriage all the way to Morpeth: nor was it without some difficulty that the jubilant crowd was dissuaded from its purpose.  Not less astonishing was the reception accorded to Mr. Burt at Morpeth itself, where both candidates—such was the friendly character of the contest—addressed the multitude, which literally filled the Market Place, from the same platform and from the windows of each other's committee rooms!
  

   The ballot box revealed the fact, or rather emphasised the fact, that the old order had indeed changed.  The miners' candidate had received 3,332 votes as against his opponent's 585.  So was Thomas Burt returned the first veritable working man that had ever entered the House of Commons. 

 So... Possible dirty dealings going on? Was Trotter a hero or a villain?