Newcastle upon Tyne, Durham

Historical Description

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a city (which has also the title and privileges of a county), a parliamentary and municipal borough, a river port, the see of a bishop, occupying a commanding site on the northern bank of the Tyne, 10 miles above its mouth, and lying in latitude 54º 58' N and longitude 1º 36' W, 269 miles (by rail) NNW of London, 124½ SSE of Edinburgh, and 57 E of Carlisle. Among the great centres of population in England it ranks the thirteenth in point of size. The municipal borough, divided into sixteen wards-its limits are the same as the parliamentary-includes the townships of Byker on the east, Jesmond and Heaton on the north and north-east, and Elswick and Westgate on the west. Its circumference is 16 miles, and it has an area of 5371 acres. The city is governed by a corporation consisting of a mayor, 16 aldermen, and 48 councillors, three being elected by each ward, and it returns two members to Parliament.

History.-Newcastle-upon-Tyne is a place of great antiquity. Early in the second century there stood on the heights above the river here an important military station of the Romans guarding a bridge over the Tyne, from which it derived its name of Pons Ælii-a name connecting it with Hadrian, who belonged to the Ælian family. The Roman wall traversed the site of the present city from its eastern to its western boundary. To the Romans succeeded the Angles as the occupants of the plateau above the Tyne here in the 6th century. The name Pons Ælii disappeared, and that of Monkchester took its place, a religious fraternity having established itself among the ruins of the Roman station. Pandon, which, until 1299, was a vill quite distinct from Newcastle, is supposed to have been the place where, about 653, Peada, son of Penda, king of the Mid-Angles, and Sigebert, king of the East Saxons, were baptized by Bishop Finan. When the Conqueror arrived at Monkchester in 1072 there was nothing to be seen of the bridge above water, and the town was too small or impoverished to furnish supplies of food to his army. The importance of the site was recognised by Robert Curthose, wlio, on his return from an expedition against Malcolm in 1080, began the erection of a strong fortress here, a work which was continued by his brother William Rufus ten years later. From that time Monkchester was called after the stronghold, New Castle. During his expedition to the north to punish the defection of Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, William Rufus laid siege to the castle which he had strengthened or completed. In the reign of Stephen Newcastle was ceded by treaty for sixteen years to David, king of Scotland, who dated several charters from the town and formulated here his code of borough laws. A considerable population must have gathered round the castle in the llth and 12th centuries, for there were four churches built Jor Their convenience, viz., St Nicholas', St John's, St Andrew's, and All Hallow's. In Henry II.'s reign the castle was enormously strengthened by the addition of the keep, which was erected in 1172-77, at a cost of £911 10s. 9d. The massive tower guarding the main entrance-the Black Gate, as it is now called-was built in 1247 at a cost of £514 15s. 11d. Protected by the castle, and fostered by privileges and immunities granted to it by Henry I., Henry II., John, and Henry III., the town had become in the 13th century the chief town of the north, important from the military point of view as the base of operations against the Scots, and from the commercial point of view as the port whence large quantities of coal, already being worked in the district, were shipped to all parts of the kingdom. The burgesses in 1251 obtained the right of choosing a mayor for themselves, their chief magistrate having formerly been a portreeve or provost appointed by the king. Edward I. in 1283 summoned to his Parliament at Shrewsbury two representatives from the town. It was at Newcastle that John Baliol in 1292 did homage for the crown of Scotland to Edward I., and that Edward Baliol in 1334 made the same act of submission to Edward III. In the time of the three Edwards the town was enclosed by a wall 8 feet thick and over 12 feet in height, embracing a circuit of 2 miles and 239 yards. In 1400 Newcastle was separated. from Northumberland and constituted a county of itself, with a sheriff to be appointed by the burgesses instead of bailiffs, as formerly. Important charters were granted to the town. by Queen Elizabeth. In 1588 and 1589 the plague swept away nearly 2000 of the inhabitants, and in 1636 over 5000. During the Civil Wars Newcastle espoused the side of the king. It was taken by the Scots in 1640 after the battle of Newburn, and in 1644 it sustained a siege in the early part of the year of three weeks, and in the autumn of ten weeks, by the Scots under Lesley. This loyal resistance of the town to the forces of the Parliament is commemorated in the motto which it bears on its coat of arms-Fortiter defendif triumphans. Charles I. was a prisoner in Newcastle in the hands of the Scots in 1646 and 1647. During the Jacobite risings of the 18th century plans had been laid for the capture of Newcastle, but these were frustrated owing to the defensive preparations made by the Hanoverian adherents in the town. It was in the neighbourhood of Newcastle that the railway system took its rise in the first quarter of the 19th century. The first factory for the construction of locomotive engines was founded in Newcastle by George Stephenson in 1824. In 1831 occurred the first visitation of the Asiatic cholera. Between the years 1832 and 1839 the central portion of the town was entirely transformed, nine new streets having been laid out, and a number of imposing buildings erected. The cholera revisited the town in 1853, causing great devastation. The following year (1854) occurred the great fire which destroyed a considerable portion of the old town near the river. Newcastle was created a city by royal charter under seal dated 30 June, 1882.

Description.-Newcastle is built for the most part on a-nnmber of steep slopes and along the backs of high ridges, and it is to the bold and irregular character of its site tliat the city owes much of its picturesqueness. GATESHEAD on the other side of the river is similarly situated, and the two places are connected by three bridges, viz.:-(1) The High Level Bridge, which was erected in 1846-49, from the plans of Robert Stephenson and Thomas E. Harrison, to carry the railway across the Tyne. Six cast-iron arches, resting on piers of solid masonry, support the railway at a height of 112 feet above high water, and at a height of 85 feet a carriage roadway and footpaths. The length of the bridge and the viaducts is 1337 feet, of the bridge alone 512 feet. Over 5050 tons of ironwork were used in the construction. The total cost of bridge and approaches, &c., was £491,153, viz.:-Bridge, £243,096; approaches, £113,057; land and compensation, £135,057. The bridge has recently been much strengthened by the additions of several powerful girders. (2) The Redheugh Suspension Bridge, designed by the late Sir Thomas Bouth, and erected in 1868-71 at a cost of £35,000. There are four river spans, the two centre ones 236 feet wide and the two side ones 157 feet, and these are formed of longitudinal wrought-iron girders, supported on a series of four cast-iron columns braced together, which rise from brick piers resting on cast-iron cylinders filled with cement. The length of the bridge and viaduct is 1453 feet, the height above high-water mark 87 feet. Water and gas mains are carried across on each side of the carriage way. (3) The Swing Bridge, built in 1868-76, in the place of the old stone bridge, that ships of large tonnage might pass up the river. Three bridges preceded it on the same site-a Roman (c. A.D. 120); a mediaeval (c. 1250); and an 18th century bridge (1774-79). The portion which swings round on the central pier is 281 feet long, and weighs 1450 tons. It is worked by hydraulic machinery. The total length of the bridge is 560 feet. The ironwork, which was constructed by Sir W. G. Armstrong & Co., cost £233,000. About the same amount was expended on the foundations, piers, &c.

Old Newcastle.-Though the process of modernisation has been going on for nearly a century there is much of Old Newcastle still left. The Side, the Sandhill, the Broad Chare, the Butcher Bank, Silver Street, and the lower part of Pilgrim Street preserve their ancient characteristics. The principal remains of antiquity in Newcastle are-The Norman Keep (1172-77), one of the finest examples of its class in the kingdom; the Black Gate (1247); the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas (masonry over nave arcades, circa 1150; E. E. pillar, 1216; nave and transepts, c. 1359; chancel arch, 1368; tower and steeple, c. 1435); St John's Church (north wall of chancel and masonry over nave arcades, c. 1130; tower, c. 1220; north arcade, c. 1350; south arcade, c. 1370; north transept, c. 1385; north aisle, c. 1400; aisle in north transept, c. 1420; south aisle and south transept and tower vault, c. 1450); St Andrew's Church (lower stages of tower, portions of nave arcades, and chancel arch, c. 1175-85; north transept and chancel, c. 1290; north aisle, 1460); St Mary's Chapel, Jesmond (jamb of chancel arch, part of south wall of nave and chancel, c. 1150; north wall, c. 1350); portions of the Edwardian walls, with the Durham, Heber, Mordaunt, and Plummer Towers, and the Sally Port Gate (c. 1280-1327); portions of the Blackfriars' Monastery (1240); fragments of the house of the Austin Friars (c. 1293), and of that of The Friars of the Sac (c. 1260); King John's Palace, Heaton (c. 1250); Chapel of St Lawrence (1210).

Modern Newcastle.-Modern Newcastle, a striking contrast to the old town, is a monument to the genius and enterprise of Pochard Grainger (1798-1861), who, acquiring in 1832 an estate of 12 acres in the middle of the town, built thereon Grey Street, Grainger Street, Clayton Street, Nelson Street, Hood Street, Shakespeare Street, and Blackett Street. Eldon Square (1826), Leazes Crescent and Terrace, the Royal Arcade (1831-32), and the Butchers' Market (1835), were also important additions made by him to his native town. During recent years Newcastle has extended itself eastward and westward. Along Jesmond Road, Osborne Road, Clayton Road, and around that district, many fine terraces and villas have been built. The space between Westgate Road and the Barrack Road in the north-west part of the city has been covered with a network of streets.

Public Buildings.-There are about twenty religious bodies in Newcastle. The Church of England possesses twenty-four churches-the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas, All Saints (1790), Christ Church (1861), Church of St Mary the Virgin (1859), Jesmond Parish Church (1861), St Alban's Mission Church, St Aidan's, St Andrew's, St Ann's (1768), St Augustine's (1892), St Cuthbert's (1881), St George's (1888), St John's, St Jude's (1891), St Luke's (1890), St Mark's iron church, St Matthew's (1869), St Michael's (1844), St Paul's (1859), St Peter's (1843), St Philip's (1873), St Silas' (1886), St Stephen's (1868), St Thomas' (1830), and St Wilfrid's Mission Church, and ten mission halls. The Roman Catholics have four churches-St Mary's Cathedral (1844), St Dominic's (1873), St Andrew's (rebuilt 1875), St Michael's (1873) -one chapel, that of St Lawrence, Byker (1877), and three convents. There are about sixty chapels and meeting-houses, &c., in the city belonging to the Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, Unitarians, and other sects.

The Town-hall buildings, situated between The Cloth and Groat Markets, were built in 1863 at a cost of upwards of £50,000. The town-hall itself is capable of seating 3000 persons. Beneath it is the Corn Market or Exchange. The Moot-hall, where the assizes and sessions are held, is in Castle Square, and was built in 1810. The hall and the courtyard surrounding it, although standing within the city and borough of Newcastle are, by virtue of an Act of Parliament passed for that purpose, considered to be in Northumberland. The Guildhall, on the Sandhill, where the quarter sessions are held, occupies the site of the Hospital of St Catherine, and was built in 1658 by Robert Trollop. It has-since been much altered. The court-room of the Merchant Adventurers contains some fine oak carvings from the hospital. The ground floor of the Guildhall is the exchange. Other public buildings are-the General Post Office, facing the tower of the cathedral (opened 1876, enlarged 1892); the Central Police Courts, in Pilgrim Street (opened 1874); Her Majesty's Prison for Newcastle and Northumberland, in Carliol Square (1823-28); and the Westgate Road Police and City Fire Brigade Station, in Westgate Road (1885). The Union Workhouse is situated in Westgate Road, and the Tyne Commissioners' office, erected in 1885, in Bewick Street.

The city is well provided with places of entertainment. These are-the Theatre Royal, in Grey Street (1837); the Tyne Theatre, Westgate Road (1867); the Empire Variety Theatre, Newgate Street (1891); the People's Palace, a music-hall in Percy Street; the Olympia Hall, in Northumberland Road (1893); the Newsroom and Art Gallery, in Grainger Street (built 1838, interior remodelled 1892), contains a hall for concerts and dramatic entertainments. Halls in which concerts and lectures are given are-the Town-hall; the Northumberland Hall, High Friar Street; the Central Hall, Nelson Street; the Cordwainers' Hall, Nelson Street; the Lovaine Hall, St Mary's Place; the Lecture Hall of the Literary and Philosophical Society, Westgate Street; and the Wood Memorial Hall, Westgate Road (1870). There are Freemasons' halls in Maple Street and Shakespeare Street. There are assembly rooms in Westgate Road (built 1774-76, reopened 1876) and in College Road, Barras Bridge (1890).

The Museum of the Natural History Society, in Barras Bridge, was built in 1883-84 at a cost of £42,000. It contains a valuable collection of British birds (the principal portion of which was formed by the late John Hancock), a, collection of fossils from the Coal Measures, and a unique series of original drawings by Thomas Bewick. The Black Gate Antiquarian Museum is rich in Roman antiquities found along the line of the wall. Elswick Hall, situated in the Elswick Park, contains a large number of models presented to the town by the representatives of John Graham Lough and Matthew Noble, the distinguished sculptors. The Literary and Philosophical Society (established 1793) have a large library of about 50,000 volumes situated in Westgate Strest. A fire broke out in the building on the evening of 7 Feb., 1893, after the celebration of the centenary of the institution had taken place, causing damage to the extent of £10,648. The restored building was reopened in 1894. The membership is 1400. The Public Library and Newsroom, in New Bridge Street, were erected 1880-84. The circulating department contains 38,000 volumes, the reference department 40,000 volumes. The latter figure includes the Thomlinson Library, a collection at present consisting of 4861 volumes bequeathed to the inhabitants of Newcastle by the Rev Robert Thomlinson, D.D., in 1741.

There are three important collegiate institutions in Newcastle-the College of Medicine, founded in 1851; the College of Science, founded in 1871 (both affiliated to the University of Durham); and the Rutherford College, founded in 1892. The College of Medicine, built of brick with terracotta dressings and stone mullioned windows, in the Tudor-Gothic style, is situated in Northumberland Road, and was erected in 1887-89 at a cost of £30,000. The buildings of the College of Science, off Barras Bridge, are of brick and stone in a species of Italianized Gothic, and were erected in the following order-The northern block (1887-88) at a cost of about £20,000; the blocks on the east and south sides of the quadrangle (1892) at a cost of £30,000. The Rutherford College, in Bath Lane (1892-94), was built as a memorial to the late Dr Rutherford at a cost of £20,000.

Schools.-The Royal Free Grammar Scliool, a valuable educational institution founded in 1525 by Thomas Horsley, and incorporated by Queen Elizabeth in 1599, occupies convenient premises off Westmorland Road and Maple Street, erected 1866-70. Newcastle is well supplied with public schools. Accommodation is provided for about 14,000 scholars by the School Board, and for about 16,000 by the voluntary elementary schools. There are eighteen schools under the control of the Board, viz., 16 elementary schools, a day industrial school, and a small school for the education of pupil teachers. The Roman Catholics have nine schools (including St Cuthbert's Grammar School, 1881), the Church of England has ten, three branches of the Methodists have four, while the Congregationalists and the Jews have one each. Among the other educational establishments are-Dame Allan's Endowed Schools, Northumberland Road (established 1713 and reconstituted 1877-building 1880); the Bath Lane Elementary Schools, Corporation Street (1870); the Bath Lane Technical College, Diana Street (1886); the School of Science and Art, Corporation Street (1877-79); the Elswick Works' Schools, Scotswood Road; the Newcastle-on-Tyne Bagged and Industrial Schools, Jubilee Road; the Leighton Schools, Heaton Road; The Ford Pottery Schools, Ford Street, &c.

Benevolent Institutions.-The principal benevolent institutions are - The Jesus' Hospital (1681), the Keelmen's Hospital, on north side of City Road (1701); the Trinity Almshouses, Broad Chare (1782-95); St Mary Magdalen's Hospital, North Road (as an ancient foundation dating from the reign of Henry I.); St Mary the Virgin Hospital, Rye Hill (1870, as an ancient foundation dating from the reign of Henry II.); St Catherine's Hospital, Shieldfield Green; St Joseph's Home for the Aged and the Infirm, under the care of the Little Sisters of the Poor, George's Road. The chief medical charitable institutions are-The Royal Infirmary, Forth Banks (established 1751); Infirmary for Diseases of the Eye, St Mary's Place (established 1822); Newcastle Dispensary, Nelson Street (erected 1838-its foundation dates from 1777); Lying-in Hospital for the reception of poor married women, New Bridge Street (founded in 1760, building erected 1826); Hospital for Women, Blackett Street; Hospital for Diseases of the Skin, Blackett Street; Hospital for diseases of the Throat and Ear, Clayton Street (established in 1878); Hospital for Incurables, Spital Tongues (opened 1893); Northern Counties Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, Blackett Street; Throat and Ear Infirmary, .Saville Row (established in 1877); Newcastle Homoeopathic Dispensary, Blackett Street; the Northern Counties Orphan Institution, Moor Edge; Abbott Memorial for Girls (1871); Philipson's Memorial for Boys (1876); the Northern Counties Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, Moor Edge (1861); The Fleming Memorial Hospital for Sick Children, Moor Edge (1887); and the Hospital for Sick Children, Hanover Square.

Clubs.-The principal clubs in Newcastle are the Conservative Club, Pilgrim Street (founded in 1879); the Liberal Club, Pilgrim Street (removed to the Queen's Head in 1884); the Bewick Club, Wellington Place, Pilgrim Street (incorporated 1892); Northern Counties Club, Eldon Square (established Aug., 1862); Union Club, Westgate Road (Club Building, erected 1878 at a cost of £40,000). In addition are the following institutions-The Church of England Institute, Library, and Newsroom, Hood Street (opened 1893); the Young Men's Christian Association (founded in 1858), occupying what was formerly The St James' Congregational Church, situated at the junction of Blackett and Grainger Streets (purchased in 1884); the Young Women's Christian Association, Saville Place; and the Irish Literary Institute, Clayton Street.

Newcastle is within the north-eastern military district, the headquarters of which are at York. The barracks in Barrack Road, erected in 1806 and enlarged in 1883, are fitted for infantry and cavalry. Cambridge Hall in Northumberland Road (1886-87), and St George's Hall in St Mary's Place, off Northumberland Road (1883) are respectively the headquarters of the 1st Northumberland Volunteer Artillery and the 3rd Volunteer Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. There are public baths and wash-houses in the City Road, Gallowgate, and Scotswood Road; a large swimming bath in Northumberland Road (1838), and Turkish baths (1874) in Pilgrim Street, and Northumberland Road.

Markets.-The Butchers' Market, covering an area of 13,906 square yards, was erected in 1835. Markets for straw and hay (Barras Bridge), and cattle (near Forth Banks) are lield on Tuesdays; corn markets (Town-hall Buildings), on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Fairs for cattle and horses are held on the last Wednesday in March and Nov., and the general fairs on the second Wednesday in Aug. and the last Wednesday in Oct. The Newcastle Races are held at High Gosforth Park, about 6 miles from Newcastle. The park belongs to the High Gosforth Park Company, Ltd. (registered Nov., 1880).

Public Pleasure Grounds.-The public pleasure grounds of Newcastle are-The Town Moor (927½ acres) and The Castle Leazes (103 acres), the freehold of which belongs to the city and the grazing of the herbage to the freemen; the Town Moor Recreation Ground (35 acres), the Nuns' Moor Recreation Ground (25 acres), the Leazes Park (31 acres)- new section of Leazes Park (opened May, 1894), the Heaton Park (29 acres), the Armstrong Park (23¼ acres), Elswick Park (14½ acres), Brandling Park (4½ acres), Cruddas Recreation Ground (4 acres), and Jesmond Dene (62½ acres). For the Armstrong Park and Jesmond Dene, Newcastle is indebted to Lord Armstrong, and for the Cruddas Recreation Ground to Mr W. D. Cruddas.

The centre of the city and the suburbs are connected by tramlines laid down by the Corporation. They run from Grey's Monument to Scotswood Tollbar, Jesmond, Byker, Gosforth, Elswick Road, and Arthur's Hill. The lessees are the Newcastle Tramway Company, Limited (registered 1888).

Railway Stations.-The Central railway station, built in 1850 from the designs of John Dobson, and within the last two or three years very much enlarged, is one of the most elegant and commodious stations in the kingdom. The new Bridge Street station (formerly Picton House), is the terminus for the trains on the Blyth and Tyne section of the N.E.R. The Forth goods station, designed by T. E. Harrison, was erected in 1874. It has very extensive warehouses and cellars, and the machinery is worked by hydraulic power. The accountants and estate agents' departments of the N.E.R. are at Newcastle, though York is The lieadquarters of the management.

There are seven banking establishments in Newcastle, viz. -that of the Bank of England in Grey Steeet; of Hodgkin, Barnett, Pease, Spence, & Co., in Collingwood Street (The building, erected in 1891, one of the finest in Newcastle); of Lambton & Co., Grey Street; of Woods & Co., Mosley Street; of the National Provincial Bank of England, Limited, Mosley Street; the North-Eastern Banking Company, Limited, Grey Street; and the York City and County Banking Company, Limited, 2 Collingwood Street. The Newcastle Savings Bank (established 1817), occupies a handsome building in W½estgate Road, which was opened in 1863.

Cemeteries.-The cemeteries of Newcastle are-All Saints, Jesmond Road (1853); Byker and Heaton, at Benton Park (1890); Jesmond Cemetery, in Jesmond Road (1836); St Andrew's, Moor Edge, North Road (1857); St John's, Westgate and Elswick, Elswick Road (1857); St Nicholas, off Westgate Road (1868); Westgate, Westgate Road (1829).

There are two public monuments in Newcastle, one at the top of Grey Street to Earl Grey (1836), and one in Neville Street to George Stephenson (1862)-the figure of the one was designed by Bailey, that of the other by Lough. A fountain in St Nicholas Square (1894) commemorates the late Dr Rutherford, and a fountain on the Quayside (1891) the first visit of John Wesley to Newcastle in 1742.

Gas and Water Supply.-Newcastle is supplied witli water by the Newcastle and Gateshead Water Company (formerly the Whittle Dene Water Company, incorporated 1845), who have extensive reservoirs at Whittle Dene, Hallington, Little Swinburn, and Colt Crag, capable of storing 3,061,316,357 gallons of water, and are at present making a large new reservoir at Catcleugh capable of holding 14,000,000,000 gallons. Gas is supplied to the city by the Newcastle and Gateshead Gas Company (incorporated 1864). The electric light is extensively used in the city.

The port of Newcastle is a very ancient and important one. At present between 14,000 and 15,000 vessels enter the port yearly, of a tonnage of 6,500,000. In 1894, 4400 vessels cleared from Newcastle for British possessions and foreign countries, with a gross tonnage of 2,810,000. The vessels belonging to the port of Newcastle number 478, tonnage 321,025. Since 1850 the Tyne has been under the jurisdiction of the River Tyne Commissioners, who have made many remarkable improvements. The river has been deepened, shoals removed, piers built, and docks made. In one year considerably above 5,000,000 tons of stuff were dredged from the bed of the river, and the total quantity removed from I860 to the present time is over 82,000,000 tons. The river is now navigable by large vessels to Elswick. The Quay, the great terminus of the river traffic of the port, is about 1540 yards in length, and as the depth of the river at low water is 20 to 22 feet, vessels of large.size can be moored in safety.

Since the 13th century the chief trade of Newcastle has been in coal. A charter was granted by Edward III. to dig for coal outside the walls in 1350. A quarter of the whole quantity of coal raised in the United Kingdom is obtained from Northumberland and Durham, and the N.E.R. from these counties carried in 1893 10,261,232 tons. The total tonnage of coal and coke shipped coastwise from Newcastle in 1893 was 4,359,182 tons and 4,710,776 tons in 1894; the quantity exported to foreign countries in 1893 was 4,311,629 tons and 4,825,427 tons in 1894. One of the principal industries of Newcastle is shipbuilding, the river Tyne being second in order of production to the Clyde. In 1893 566,498 tons of shipping were launched on the river.

Manufactures,-The principal manufactures of Newcastle are locomotive and marine engines, bridge work, steam engines, machinery, heavy ordnance, carriages and harness, white and red lead, sheet and pipe, hardware, glass of various kinds, earthenware, chemical manures, alkali, cement, bricks, tiles, retorts and fireclay goods, colours, shovels, grindstones, hemp and wire rope, nails, cables, anchors, and iron and steel castings of great size are turned out of the chief foundries. Of late years some important electric-light works have been established at Newcastle.

The Elswick Engineering Works, which cover an area of over 60 acres, and have a river frontage of about a mile, were founded in 1847 by the present Lord Armstrong. In 1882 an amalgamation was effected with the firm of Messrs C. Mitchell & Co., Ltd., shipbuilders, of Walker-on-Tyne, under the title of Sir W. G. Armstrong, Mitchell, & Co., Ltd. The works comprise blast furnaces, engine shops, foundries, and steel-works, the latter opened in 1883. Several ships of war, with their armaments, have been'completed by the new firm. The ill-fated Victoria, of 10,000 tons, was launched on 9 April, 1887, from their shipyard. From the engine works of Robert Stephenson & Co. (founded by George Stephenson in 1824) and R. W. Hawthorn, Leslie, & Co., Ltd., locomotive and marine engines have been sent to all parts of the world.

There are three weekly newspapers in Newcastle-The Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, The Newcastle Courant, and The Northern Weekly Leader; three daily papers-The Newcastle Chronicle (Independent), Journal (Conservative), and Leader (Liberal); and two evening papers-The Newcastle, Evening Chronicle and Newcastle Evening News. The population of Newcastle was (1801) 28,294, (1841) 71,850, (1881) 145,359, (1891) 186,300. The population of the nine urban sanitary districts into which the city is divided is as follows:-Elswick (51,608), Westgate (30,264), St Andrew's (19,637), St Nicholas (3501), St John's (3623), All Saints (28,326), Byker (32,332), Heaton (8567), Jesmond (8442). Newcastle is the birthplace of Lords Eldon and Collingwood, Mark Akenside, Charles Hutton, and Lord Armstrong.

The diocese of Newcastle is in the province of York, and contains parts of the ecclesiastical parishes of Alston Moor, with Garrigill and Nenthead in Cumberland, and the entire county of Northumberland.

Historical Works.-Gray's " Chorographia " (1649), "Histories," by Bourne (1736), Brand (1789), Mackenzie (1827), and Welford (1884-87), E. J. Charleton's " Newcastle Town " (1885), and Boyle's " Vestiges of Old Newcastle and Gateshead"(1890).

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Newcastle upon Tyne from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Newcastle-Upon-Tyne)

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for County Durham is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Newcastle upon Tyne are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering county Durham online:

• Hartlepool Mail
• Northern Echo
• Durham County Advertiser
• Teesdale Mercury