John William Luccock

was born 8th March 1851

at Limehouse London.

He was the son of John

(60) and Elizabeth

Luccock (39). John born

Norwich was in 1851 a

Labourer. Elizabeth had

been born at Barnard

Castle. Their children

included Ann 9, Marian 7

Charles T. 3 and John

William 1 month. By

1861 John had died and

Elizabeth a widow was a

shirt maker as were her

two daughters Ann and

Caroline. Charles and

John William are Scholars.

There were also three

boarders In 1871 John William and

his wife Sarah Ann are

living on Front Street

Chester-le-Street. John

William is a Confectioner

as is his mother in law

Sarah Witherspoon. They

had married December

18th 1870. They only had

one child a daughter

Miriam who lived 8 hours.

In February 1872. he

persuaded his wife and

mother to teach him

confectionery baking.

They worked 16 hour

days catering for the

sweet tooth people. By 1881 John William is a

Provisions Merchant and

Confectioner employing

17 men, 6 boys and 9

girls. Two nephews are

employed as Clerks in

the business. They are

still living on Front

Street. Comic Verse recalled by

Alice Scott - Oh I've seen

Paris and Amsterdam,

Newsletter Date 1st March 2017 Volume 7, Issue 1

Chester le Street Heritage Group Newsletter

Special points of

interest:t

J W Luccock, Local

man made good.

Inside this issue:

Postcards from

the Past

3

The Life and

Times of a

Beamish

Volunteer.

4

The Soldiers

Story of WW1

cont

5

I Love

Graveyards

6

J.W. Luccock Chester-le-Street

Page 2 Chester le Street

Oh I've seen blacklocks in

Luccock's jam. The Buck in is seen on the

early photo of Luccock's

shop on Front Street

(Front Page). There is a

stag with antlers on the

photo. By 1879 Stag Works

Wholesale Manufacturing

Confectioners was on the

site of Murray's yard

behind the Front Street up

Foundry lane. John William used the Stag

on his bill heads and also

on the jam jars. By 1891

John William and Sarah are

living at The Deanery and

he is a Butter Merchant

and Con fect ioner .

Mother in Law Sarah

Witherspoon is living

there too as well as

niece Minnie Hay aged

13 born at Hamilton

Canada and three

servants. In the 1890s Luccock's

are advertising for staff – Jam Boiler First Class

Wanted one thoroughly

well up in his work,

sober and of good

Character; one with a

practical knowledge of

peel making preferred.

(Middlesbrough Gazette

1896).

1901 they are still at the

Deanery and with them

is niece Minnie Hay. In the 1900s the Stag

Steam works were sold

to J. Samuel and he

continued to use the

stag on his letter heads. The Deanery estate was

sold to Durham County

Council to be used as

the site of Chester-le-

Street Secondary School.

(later Grammar School

then Deanery School

and now known as Park

View) In 1911 the

put up for auction. The

shops at Chester-le-

Luccocks are living at

The Grove Gosforth – a

large house with 14

rooms. John William is a

Butter Merchant and

Who le s a l e Bu t t e r

Maker. They lived here

for the next 30 years. In 1919 John William

ceased to be a wholesale

butter and cheese

merchant. Sarah died 2nd March

1943 and John William

on the 31st March 1943.

They had been married

for 73 years. The head-

Street included the

Cestrian Club premises

stone reads "Death did

not divide them". In the summer of that

year their extensive

collection of paintings

and porcelain were sold.

In the autumn The

Grove, four houses in

Woodbine Terrace

Gosforth, shops and

houses at The Side

Newcastle, as well as 4

shops on Chester-le-

Street Front Street and

two on Ashfield Terrace

plus 20 houses and 40

flats at Usworth were

and eventually in 1948

this block was bought by

the Cestrian Club. In his will John William

Luccock left the bulk of

his estate to King's

College Newcastle to

establish a Medical

Research fellowship – it

is still in existence today.

(2016) A real rags to riches

story which happened

here in Chester-le-

Street !

Dorothy Hall

February 24th

1775.

As reported in

“Gillespy’s Col”

In the afternoon of

this day, two felons,

who had been

committed to

Durham Gaol,

charged with

robbing Chester

church, made their

escape from

thence; but one of

them having broken

his leg in the fall,

was soon retaken.

The other, a

chimney sweep,

swam through the

river with his

clothes on, before

he was also

secured.

February 2nd 1822

from “Surtees”

A most

tempestuous wind

with heavy rain

blew from the

south west causing

considerable

flooding in the

rivers Tyne, Wear

and Tees.

At Chester-le-Street

the Wear was so

swollen that it

extended above the

arch of the new

bridge, which is

more than a

quarter of a mile

from the channel of

the river. The

whole immediate

space was a

complete sheet of

water, by which

much injury was

sustained.

Page 3 Volume 7, Issue 1 Volume 7, Issue 1 Page 3

Curly-haired with a

colourful, naturally jovial

c h a r a c t e r , A l b e r t

became a l ikab le

footballer at Gallowgate

f o r m i n g a g o o d

understanding with Wyn

Davies in season

1967/68 that led to the

Black ‘n ’ Whites

qualifying for Europe for

t h e f i r s t t i m e .

Unfortunately by the

time United played their

first game, Bennett had

undergone knee surgery

following a clash with his

own teammate, John

Tudor, which saw him

miss United's debut in

the Inter Cities Fairs

Cup, and worse, lose his

place as partner to

Dav ies, to Bryan

Robson. United's first

named substitute in

1965, Albert is also

n o t e d a s b e i n g

r e s p o n s i b l e f o r

n i c kn am i ng Em l yn

Hughes “Crazy Horse”

during a 1967 United-

Liverpool clash. He later

appeared for Norwich,

leaving Tyneside in 1969.

After quitting the

professional scene when

only 27 years old due to

injury. Albert had a

succession of jobs

including working for the

prison service, running a

catering business and

even a joke shop on

Lowestoft pier. Residing

in Norfolk, he was also

publican for several

years. Albert continued

playing in local Norwich

football for several years

and managed Coleman’s

Mustard FC for a time.

Born locally in Chester

Moor, near Chester-le-

Street, Bennett played

for Chester Moor

Juniors from 1959-1961

before signing for

Rotherham. Where he

caught the attention of

several big clubs as a

noted goal-poacher and

reaching the England

Under-23 line up. Joe

Harvey was the manager

who succeeded in

landing the player for

Newcast le United,

although Bennett was

once on the Magpies’

books as a teenage

trialist after scoring 100

goals for Chester Moor.

He cost United £27,500

in July 1965 and went on

to appear on 90

occasions, netting 23

times.

Postcards from the Past

This postcard provided by Dorothy Hall

appears to have been sent in 1910. It has

a Birtley postmark and was posted to

Ferryhill. The subject of the postcard is a

bit unusual in that it reads “Just a line to

say I am still alive more dead than alive

though I am not too lovely as the man in

the picture but hope soon to be. I have

22 teeth pulled out, not many when you

say it sharp and have just 4 to get out on

Saturday” !

Well that certainly is an unusual subject

for a postcard !

Well if you have any old postcards of

your own then we would be pleased

to see them to learn of the subjects

that we used to discuss in times gone

bye.

Albert Bennet July 1944 – 21st Dec 2016

According to

“Surtees” In 1625 there was a

general muster of

all the fencible men

within the Bishopric

of Durham between

the ages of sixteen

and sixty. There appeared

from Chester le Street

two thousand six

hundred and fifty

seven. From Easington

One thousand four

hundred and

ninety four, from Darlington

two thousand nine

hundred and forty

six.

Stockton one

thousand two

hundred and

twenty three.

I have been volunteering

at Beamish Museum for 3

years now. I spend a day

each week, usually a

Friday, in the village

school where I engage

with the visitors and

more often than not with

school groups. There is

never a dull moment and

I meet people from all

over the country and

indeed worldwide with

most of them having a

story to tell. A couple of

summers ago a group of

about a dozen teenage

me about Dracula,

written by Bram Stoker

in 1897 are you”. I was

indeed about to tell him

about that book, so I

hurriedly said, “Well I

was but I don’t think I’ll

bother now”. With that

I bade them all farewell

and off they went. The

following Tuesday I came

into our coffee morning

and told the story to Sue

Vidler who asked if I

knew which school they

were from in Buenos

Aries. Sue, her husband

and their young family

had been in Argentina

during the mid 1980’s

when her husband had

taught at joint private

boarding schools called

St. George and St.

Hilda’s in Buenos Aries.

Unfortunately I had

never asked that

question and thought

that was the end of it.

Well it wasn’t quite

because the following

summer (last year) into

the school wandered a

group of about a dozen

Page 4 Chester le Street

smart, glowingly healthy

and elegant students.

Sure enough when I

began talking to them it

transpired they were

foreign, spoke excellent

English and were from

Buenos Ar i e s i n

Argentina. This time I

got the name of the

school they attended

back in their homeland

and sure enough it was

the private boarding

school St George and St

Hilda’s to which Sue had

referred. It turned out a

100 Years

Ago This

Month

students were about 16

years old and what struck

me about them was how

smart, glowingly healthy

and immaculately well

school yard. I guessed

they were maybe

Spanish or Portuguese

but I followed them into

the yard and asked one

of the boys where they

were from. Imagine my

surprise when he told

me they were from

Buenos Aries in

Argentina. He told me

they were in England

for two weeks and they

had one night left in

England before heading

to Heathrow and flying

The Life and Times of a Beamish Museum Volunteer

back home. Their last

night was to be spent in

Whitby. Of all the places

to stay in, I thought, but

each to their own. So I

decided I would leave

the boy with a nugget of

information about Whit-

by and said to him,

“There was a famous

book written a long time

ago that describes

Whitby” which is as far

as I got when as quick as

a flash he replied,

“you’re not going to tell

students came into

the classroom with a

couple of teachers and

sat themselves down

at the desks. The

Blands Opening

There has been a lot

of recent interest in

the blue street sign

displaying the words

“Bland’s Opening”

located high up on

the side of the Quick

Silver Amusement

Arcade wall in the

alley way between it

and Costa Coffee.

The sign, which is

one of the very few

“blue street signs”

dotted around

Chester-le-Street,

refers to the “Bland”

family who once had

a barbers shop here

in the 1800s and this

is how the alley got

its name.

It led to “Edward”

and “Albert

Squares”.

When the property

was demolished, the

skeleton of a wild

boar was found.

dressed they all looked.

When I began talking to

them all it turned out

they were foreign but

they all spoke excellent

English. I gave them a

short lesson about the

history of the school and

the education system

back in 1913 which is the

year in which the school

is set and they were

extremely knowledgeable

and well behaved. They

eventually got up to go

and moved into the

group of children and

teachers had been

coming every year to

England for the last 12

years. They also told me,

as had the first group the

year before, that they

would be staying in

Whitby on their last

night. Intrigued by now I

asked, “why Whitby”? The teacher explained

that St Hilda’s College

was named after St Hilda

of Whitby who was the

founding abbess of the

monastery of Whitby. I

gleaned the following

from the St Hilda’s

trench was successfully

taken on 11th January.

T h e B r i g a d e

headquarters then

moved to Courcelles

where they stayed for

the whole of February

and although the guns

were in action, nothing

specific is reported apart

from a number of

personnel changes

within the batteries.

Thomas however was

unaffected by the

its patron, St. Hilda of

Whitby, the school

fosters a “work-hard,

p l a y - h a r d ” e t h i c ,

cultivating character

formation and leadership

in class, on the field and

in the performing arts.

As the years went by

new properties were

bought which allowed

the school to grow.

Amongst them were

neighbouring houses

In the last edition, the

Battle of the Somme was

officially over and the

men had dug in for what

turned out to be an ex-

tremely cold winter.

They left their billets at

St Leger on 2nd January

and marched to new

billets at Authiele but

then they were in action

again at Louvencourt on

3rd January, in prepara-

tion for an attack on

Munich trench. This

Page 5 Volume 7, Issue 1

College website: The

school was founded in

1912 by Mabel Holland,

an English governess

who came out from

Cricklewood in London

to work for Canon

Stevenson, the founder

and former headmaster

of St. George’s College,

a prestigious boarding

school for boys in

Quilmes. The original

name of the school was

Cricklewood, and over

the next few years it

grew side by side with

St. George’s to become

one of the leading

where the kindergarten

now functions and the

Charles Lockwood

Field, an 18 hectare

playing field in General

Rodríguez where the

school organizes sports

tournaments, camping

expeditions for younger

students and musical

retreats. The latest

addition to the school

was Trinity Hall in 2006,

a large hall where the

boarding schools for

Anglo-Argentine families

in Argentina. In 1927 the

school moved to its

current location in

Hurlingham, when the

Anglican Bishop Every

made a gift of the

grounds and buildings.

As a result, the school

changed its name to St.

Hilda’s College. Its ties

with the Anglican

Church remain to this

day. The school motto

Laborare est Orare, (To

work is to pray), reflects

the spirit of the school.

Following the example of

school can host

academic, musical and

sporting events for

large audiences. So

there I had it, I had

squared the circle and I

could update Sue as

well. I could also look

forward to welcoming

the next group of

Buenos Aries College

students to the school

at Beamish Museum

this summer.

changes remaining with

his Howitzer battery.

This was a prelude to

the German retreat to

the newly constructed

formidable defence

posit ion of The

Hindenburg line. So the

first part of 1917,

despite it being very

cold had been a

relatively quieter time

for Thomas and his

division. Would it last ?

From Hutchinsons

Durham !

Dated 1693

Wagon ways were

now first used on

the river Wear by

Thomas Allan Esq

of Newcastle, who

amassed a large

fortune in the

collieries and purchased estates,

a part of which

still retains the

name Allan’s

Flatt’s, near

Chester-le-Street.

The Soldiers Story of WW1 cont

Thanks to David

Gardner for this

contribution.

have it, the town’s

cemetery (happy days).

Here I discovered the

graves of the Wigtown

Martyrs which were

Page 6 Chester le Street

While on holiday in South

West Scotland earlier this

year, I happened to visit

the small town of

Wigtown, mainly because

it was renowned for its

many second-hand book

shops. Visiting bookshops

I’m sorry to say is one of

my very few weaknesses,

together with yes you’ve

got it, looking around

graveyards (sad I know). When leaving the last of

the bookshops, I happened

to notice a sign which said

“Wigtown Martyrs” and

an arrow pointing in a

direction which led me

to the outskirts of the

town and as luck would

I love Graveyards Me – The Wigtown Martyrs

separated from the

other interments in

the cemetery and

retained behind a

square of cast-iron

rai l ings. So the

question was, “who

were the Wigtown

Martyrs and what was

their story all about”? Apparently the story

goes back to the reign

of King Charles II

when he compulsorily

imposed the Episcopal

Church rule across

Scotland. However,

many of the Scottish

people believed that

Jesus Christ was the

only head of the church

and in 1638 many signed

the National Covenant

in an act of defiance.

This resulted in what is

generally referred to as

“the killing times” of

escalating punishments

a n d pe r s e cu t i o n s

ranging from fines and

banishment to torture

and executions during a

period of fifty years

From the Chester-le-Street

Chronicle 9th

February 1917.

Accident at Sale.

Several persons

were injured at

Chester-le-Street on

Wednesday as the

result of a somewhat peculiar

accident. The furniture of the

late Dr Brown was

being disposed of by

public auction at 4

Red Rose Terrace

when the floor of

the sitting room

gave way and several persons and

a quantity of heavy

furniture went

through into a

quantity of water

that was standing

below.

The purchase money was on one

of the tables that

fell into the water.

Really a case of

“going, going,

gone” !

eventually ending in

1688. Although many people

suffered as a result of

their beliefs, one story

that stands out is that of

the “Wigtown Martyrs”

and refers to two

w o m e n M a r g a r e t

McLachlan aged 63, and

Margaret Wilson aged

18, both of whom had

been arrested, tried and

convicted and sentenced

to death by drowning,

having been “indicted as

being guilty of rebellion”.

The Judges sentenced

them both to be tied

to palisades, fixed in

the sand, within the

flood-mark of the sea

and there to stand

until the flood waters

overflowed them.

There are several

accounts of what

h a p p e n e d n e x t .

Seemingly there is

bitter controversy as

to whether the

sentence was actually

carried out, because a

petition was raised to

demolished, once again if

it had been repaired and

maintained it could have

remained another piece

of local significance.

The once splendid wall

which surrounded High

Flats farm at South

Pelaw has been

considerably reduced at

one corner due to

repeated crashes due to

Have you noticed ? The farm at Pelton along

with the gin gan is to be

demolished to provide

more housing as it has

gone past the hope of

restoration why was it

allowed to do so ?

The archway at the

entrance to Albert

Square in Chester le

S t re e t h a s be en

drivers speeding round

the bend the wall

s u r r o u n d e d a

wonderful farmhouse

which has sadly been

replaced by a modern

structure and many

trees are now being

removed.

Thanks to Anne

Cowie for this

information.

Page 7 Volume 7, Issue 1

town’s people who were

p r e s e n t a t t h e

e x e c u t i o n s a r e

understood to have

pleaded with her to

change her mind, but no

she would not change

her beliefs and was

willing to give her life, so

s t r o n g w a s h e r

commitment to her

religion and to Jesus.

Following Margaret

McLachlan’s death in the

waters of the esturary,

the story then takes a

turn for the worse if that

is possible to believe.

Seemingly the incoming

tide when at its peak,

did not reach a high

enough l e ve l to

overcome the young

Margaret Wilson, so the

executioner rowed out

in a small boat and

forcibly pushed her head

under the water until

she drowned. The

“martyrs” were clearly

held in great esteem

throughout Scotland and

a further more modern

sign referring to them

pointed towards the

coastline of Wigtown

Bay where a pillar

displaying information

about the martyrs has

been erected . In

addition, a boardwalk

leading to the stone

Martyrs Stake (originally

e r e c t e d i n t h e

Coronation year of

1937) has recently been

funded by the Galloway

Association of Glasgow,

the Scottish Covenanter

Memorial Association

and by the local

c o m m u n i t y , i n

recognition of the

bravery of those who

suffered for their beliefs,

because they would not

bow to tyranny.

Alec Thompson

The Chester-le-

Street Chronicle of

23rd February 1917

was reporting the

death of Mr William

Clarke, proprietor

of the Chester-le-

Street Chronicle

who died at 118

Front Street on

Thursday night,

after an illness that

had lasted practically the

whole winter.

The deceased who

was 70 years old

was a native of the

town and for many

years had been one

of the most considerable figures

in it. He had sat on both

the Parish and Urban Councils and

the board of Guardians and had

established and

carried on most

successfully for

many years, very

flourishing hardware, printing

and stationery

businesses.

He was also a director of the local

gas company, the

Empire Picture Hall,

the Local Building

Society and a

Freemason.

the Privy Council which

resulted in the Lords

issuing a reprieve.

However, other accounts

suggest that if the

reprieve was issued, it did

not arrive in time or was

totally ignored. One

source suggested that

Margaret McLachlan

being the older woman

was tied to a stake

further into the estuary

so that she would die

first and that the younger

Margaret Wilson might

repent having seen the

other woman succumb to

the incoming tide. The

Our History is Disappearing.

CONTACTS

Chester le Street Heritage Group

Chairperson -

DAHALL52@aol.com

Information requests/web

heritage.group@virgin.net

Friends friendsclsheritage@hotmail.co.uk

Newsletter

brian.k.pirrie@btopenworld.com

Date Time Event Location

Every Tuesday 10:00-

12:00

Drop In Session

All Welcome

Salvation Army

Citadel Low Chare ,

Chester le Street.

Wed 1st March

Wed 5th April

Wed 3rd May

Wed 15th March,

Wed 19th April,

Wed 17th May

19:00-

21:00

Dorothy Hamilton speaking

about Coal Mining. That History Bloke ! - Book of

Days.

Gordon Henderson Romans

Normal Monthly meeting. Every-

one welcome on any of the

above dates.

Ch-le-St Library

Next Newsletter

7th June 2017

Contributions

required by

17th May 2017

Don’t forget to keep sending me your contributions for future

editions of the newsletter. Any subjects, stories, memories will be

of interest to the readers . E Mail to brian.k.pirrie@btopenworld.com or hand written to any

group member.

Wardles Bridge Inn 13th February, 2017 saw the

demolition of the old Wardles

Bridge Inn, which was at one time

a popular watering hole and many

people extoled the virtues of their

Pigeon Pie. Back in November 2012, the

owners had applied for planning

permission to demolish the Inn

and build ten new homes all with

“sun huts” on the site, so it would

appear that their plans are now coming to fruition. Prior to demolition, it appears that the bar and much of the interior still

remained and during discussions with the owners it was revealed that the

Inn was originally located further along the road (actually two houses

away) which is still standing today and was recorded on early maps of the

area. The name “Wardles” probably derives from that of the Wardel family

who owned nearby Edmondsley in the 17th and 18th centuries and was

known as Wardles Bridge Inn at Warland Green. The earliest reference was in 1311 when the land was called “Warlandes”

which apparently means taxable land belonging to a villain or feudal

tenant.

By the 1850s the land was well

developed when Warland Green

had building clustered around the

original Wardles Bridge Inn.

Alec Thompson

Events Diary