North East History North North East History Volume 50 East • Reflections on history and social class: North East England over time History • 'This Fortress of Freedom’: A Study of Chartism in Gateshead Volume 50 2019 North East History • War, Welfare and Remembrance: A Case Study of two North Shields Ships • The War Came Early to Sleepy Valley • Raising Their Voices: Two Women of the 1930s • The Knights of Labor in the North East, 1880-1900 50 2019 • Discovering John Swan (1794-1885). Autobiographical Reminiscence from Afar Cover: Workers leaving the main gates for their lunch break at Smiths Dock Co Limited, North Shields, 14 December 1956 Photograph courtesy The Evening Chronicle The north east history society holds regular meetings on a wide variety of subjects. A calendar of forthcoming events are updated on its website: www.nelh.net. Back copies of of journal articles from 2005 can be viewed online at: bit.ly/PastJournals. The society welcomes new members. Journal of the North East Labour History Society Volume 50 http://nelh.net/ 2019 Journal of the North East Labour History Society north east history North East Volume 50 2019 History ISSN 14743248 © 2019 NORTHUMBERLAND Printed by Azure Printing Units 1 F & G Pegswood Industrial Estate Pegswood Morpeth TYNE & Northumberland WEAR NE61 6HZ Tel: 01670 510271 DURHAM TEESSIDE Journal of the North East Labour History Society Copyright reserved on behalf of the authors and the North East Labour History Society © 2019 www.nelh.net 1 north east history Contents Note from the Editors 5 How to submit an article 7 Notes on Contributors 9 Articles: Reflections on history and social class: John Charlton 11 North East England over time ‘This Fortress of Freedom’: Joel Wootten 25 A Study of Chartism in Gateshead War, Welfare and Remembrance: Tony Barrow 41 A Case Study of two North Shields Ships The War Came Early to Sleepy Valley Peter Brabban 55 Raising Their Voices: Two Women of Rosie Serdiville 73 the 1930s. The Knights of Labor in the North East, Steven Parfitt 89 1880-1900 Discovering John Swan (1794-1885). Brian Bennison 105 Autobiographical Reminiscence from Afar Reports and Commemorations Annual General Meeting 2018 John Stirling 123 Newcastle University’s Oral History Unit and Alison Atkinson-Phillips 125 Collective 2 north east history Gateshead Archive: The People’s Archive Don Watson 131 Living History: Redhills and Education John Stirling 133 for Action Workers’ Education: centenary reflections Nigel Todd 137 Encountering Eric Hew Beynon 143 Eric Wade 1939-2018 Archie Potts 147 An appreciation: Bernard Newbold, John Charlton 151 1929-2018 Dr Ethel Williams: Commemorative Plaque Liz O’Donnell 153 Commemoration: The Battle of Stockton Brian Bennison 159 Public Recognition of a Heroic Train Driver. Simon Brindley 161 William George `Billy’ Hardy Reviews 164 2018 Secretary’s report 184 NELH Officers, Committee Members, and Society contact details 186 Constitution 187 Sid Chaplin Labour History Trophy 189 How to Join the Society 190 3 north east history 4 north east history Note from the Editors This year’s Journal begins with an open-ended article discussing class and history. Using the North East as an example, John Charlton discusses the way in which the overt signifiers of class may have varied over the past two hundred years but the same exploitative nature of class relations persist today. We welcome other contributions to the issues John raises and hope to publish more in future issues of the Journal and on our website. Joel Wootten was this year’s winner of the Sid Chaplin prize. His article is a study of how the strong radical stance taken by the Chartists in Gateshead, and their deep distrust of the middle classes, was distinct from the activities of the Chartist movement in the North East, particularly Newcastle upon Tyne. The eightieth anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War has received a lot of attention in the media. Two related articles in this year’s Journal focus on the lives of working class people in the North East during those early war years. Tony Barrow writes about the tens of thousands in the merchant navy who perished at sea, yet who often receive scant attention. Using the case study of two North Shields ships sunk by U-boats, this article compares the fortunes of the ship’s owners with those of the missing crew. Tony is also critical of how the working conditions for merchant seamen worsened at the cessation of war. Peter Brabban offers a fresh perspective on the Second World War by comparing the experiences of his father, who witnessed ‘the disaster of Dunkirk’, with those of his mother who had to cope on her own raising a family in a small village in County Durham. This article explores how class and gender relationships began to change during the war years. Following on from last year’s celebrations of the centenary of (limited) female suffrage in the United Kingdom, Rosie Serdiville writes about the changing lives of women during the interwar years. Drawing upon a range of sources, she gives an insight into the experiences of two women from 5 north east history very different backgrounds, whose activities contributed, either directly or indirectly, to the continuing expansion of women’s rights. The global connections in the nineteenth century between working class movements in the North East and the United States is an under researched area of local history. Steven Parfitt’s article examines these connections, exploring how The Knights of Labor, formed as a working class fraternal society in the United States, found its way to Tyne and Wear in the 1880s. Brian Bennison’s article continues this global connection. Drawing upon the diary of a Durham man who migrated to the United States, Brian tells a compelling story of childhood, apprenticeship and a young man seeking employment and spirituality during the turbulent years of the early nineteenth century. This year the Journal has three separate sections. The first section, as described above, is for extended articles. The second section, Reports and Commemorations, is for shorter pieces. The reports describe the activities of local institutions and organisations relating to North East people’s history. There is also an article on the centenary of workers’ education and an account of the Society’s Annual General Meeting in 2018. In the commemorations there is an appreciation of the lives of Eric Wade, Bernard Newbold, and the train driver Billy Hardy. There are also two articles on recently unveiled plaques: one in Newcastle, commemorating the life of Dr Ethel Williams; the other in Stockton, commemorating the famous Battle of Stockton. The Review section offers readers a critical appraisal of a range of recently published books, a film and the Journal of a sister labour history society. Patrick Candon Liz O’Donnell Sue Ward Win Stokes John Stirling John Charlton Peter Brabban 6 north east history How to Submit an Article to the Journal The North East Labour History Society is committed to making our journal reflect the diverse range of historical experiences of working people in the North East region. We aim to reflect all communities and groupings in the North East and would encourage contributions from those who live and work in them, those who research them and those who write about them. We want to hear from individuals, community organisations, local history societies, students and teachers and all who have something to say about our region. If you have a research interest that could form the basis of a written article and would like to discuss this, please contact our Secretary or the Editors – contact details are on page 186. If you have an existing article that you would like to submit for publication, we can send you a set of guidelines to ensure that the article and its endnotes are presented in a format that is appropriate to our journal’s style. Some past issues of the North East History Journal are still available, and these can be ordered via email to [email protected]. Price per issue is £5, plus £2 p&p within the UK / £5 international. A searchable index of articles and reports can be found at our website: http://nelh.net/ Past issues of the Journal, volumes 36 – 49 (2005 – 2018) can also be viewed on-line on at: bit.ly/PastJournals 7 north east history 8 north east history Notes on Contributors Tony Barrow is a well-known historian of the maritime history of the north east. A former treasurer of the NELHS, he was Head of History and Archaeology at Newcastle College and Associate Lecturer of the Open University. His PhD from the University of Northumbria examined the whaling trade of the north east coast, 1750-1850, and he is the author of many books and articles, including Trafalgar Geordies and North Country Seamen of Nelson’s Navy 1793-1815. Brian Bennison is a former Secretary of the NELHS and lately an Editor of North East History. Peter Brabban was born three days after the NHS was launched and spent the first two years of his life in Sleepy Valley, County Durham. After a secondary modern education he went on to a career as a portrait and fashion photographer and then as a campaigner and aid worker with NGOs like Oxfam, War on Want, Age Concern and lastly with the National Trust. John Charlton was born in Newcastle a long time ago. He worked as a high school teacher on Tyneside and West Yorkshire then at Leeds Poly and Leeds University. After thirty years as a migrant in Yorkshire he returned to the homeland twenty years ago.