1 Hetton-le-Hole Herald

The Newsletter for Hetton Local History Group Volume ..3...... Issue ..2...... Date...Oct 2011.....

Information & Calendar 17th century. This was proba- New publications :- We have four book bly one of the earliest exam- currently at the printers which we expect ples of capitalist enterprise to be ready for sale early in November. 1. Re-publication of the Community Assn and gave rise to the impor- Book of 1973. 2. The 1841 census of Het- tance of the Rainton area. ton and Easington Lane. 3. Articles by C A Smith. 4.East Rainton by Bob Hope. Most of the coal , found quite close to the surface, was sold November meeting - Members’ research reports. within the local area, probably as far away as Durham City

which was growing at this December :- Commemoration of the time. His great-grandson the Elemore Pit disaster exhibition Reverend Sir Henry Vane married Frances Tempest, The Londonderry Chronicles who was the daughter of the owner of a number of pits in the Penshaw and Rainton ar- During the latter part of eas. Thus the Vane Tempest the 17th century a significant dynasty was formed. development in coal mining took place in the Rainton area. The above mentioned The developments were due to were the grandparents of the efforts of Sir George Frances Anne Emily Vane- Vane who had become a share- Tempest who inherited the holder in the “Grand Lease” Vane Tempest wealth from following the Civil War in the her father in 1813. At the 2 time Lady Frances was a mere mining developments in thirteen years of age having County Durham. Sir Piers been born at the start of the Tempest fought at Agincourt century. Naturally the assets and the family acquired much on her inheritance were in the of their wealth from the hands of a group of trustees Dissolution of the monaster- and this continued until she ies. The mother of the Lady married some six years later Frances Anne was the Count- and beyond. ess of Antrim thus there was already an Irish connection In 1818 her collieries had prior to her marriage. an operating profit of £60,000, an immense amount The Londonderry fam- of money at the time. The land on which the collieries stood was leased from the Dean and Chapter of Durham who were at times displeased with the amount of rent being paid and refused to renew the lease in 1814-15. Eventually the diffi- culties were overcome and the family continued to mine coal.

The Vane-Tempests were members of an ancient and im- portant family, made up of the Tempests of Wynyard, whereas the Vanes a family from Long Newton near to ily, on the other hand, had Stockton were responsible for occupied an important place some of the most important in the political and commer- 3 cial life of Britain for more the vast changes taking place than 100 years. They were on the continent through the also part of the growing actions of Napoleon. He rep- European and World political resented England at the Con- sphere. gress of Vienna, the Treaty of Paris and the Congress of The initiator of this po- Aix-la-Chapelle, the three litical dominance was Alexan- great assemblies which deter- der Stewart of Ballylawn mined much of the fortunes Castle, County Donegal and of Europe and crushed a great Mount Stewart, County deal of the revolutionary Down. His son Robert, born spirit sweeping Europe. He in 1739, continued in the had a general bad temper, politics of Northern Ireland lacked intellectual stability and came to the fore in 1783 and was most unpopular, often when the Irish Parliament because of his manners. From was reformed and started to the first to the last he was act on its own, although still disliked, even hated and al- guided by the English Parlia- ways ready to drive through ment. He was made a Baron unpopular political decisions. in 1789, a Viscount (Castlereagh) and an Earl In 1821 he succeeded as (Londonderry) in 1896. second Marquess of London- Robert Stewart who eventu- derry following his father’s ally became second Marquess death and in the following of Londonderry was better year following a period of known as Lord Castlereagh and was second only to Pitt in mental instability committed the English Parliament. Not suicide. only did he support England’s His half brother Charles efforts through Wellington William Stewart was born on in Europe but he coped with 4

18th May 1778 and was known ensign. He was a small man, as the Honourable Charles barely five feet in height but Stewart from 1789 until 1813 soon claimed a reputation for then Sir Charles Stewart having a fighting spirit. He was severely wounded in the Battle of Donnenwerth in 1797 but still managed to go through the Irish insurrec- tion in 1798. In 1800 he was elected to the Irish House of Commons as the Tory repre- sentative for Thomastown, County Kildare, then shortly afterwards he exchanged this seat for that of Londonderry County. He was a member of the Irish Parliament until Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of 1801 then represented Lon- Londonderry , Lord Castlereagh donderry in the English Parlia- ment until 1814. For a short from 1813 to 1814 then Lord time he engaged as Under Stewart from 1814 to 1822 Secretary of War in the Eng- whereupon he became the lish Parliament (1807). During Third Marquess of London- this early period of his politi- derry. cal career he married for the first time. His first wife was Born in Dublin Charles Lady Catherine Bligh, daugh- Stewart was educated at Eton ter of the third Earl of and at the age of 16 commis- Darnley and they were mar- sioned as a lieutenant in the ried in 1804. She was three Irish Dragoons although he years older than Londonderry. had served two years as an 5

They had one son, Frederick pointment as Ambassador to William Stewart. Unfortu- Austria. In 1815 he fought in nately his wife died during the Battle of Waterloo and the night of the 10th-11th was with Wellington when he February 1812, after a mar- marched into Paris. riage lasting a mere eight In 1819 the British Am- years. At the time Lord Lon- bassador, now 40 years of age donderry was fighting, on ac- married for the second time. tive service in the Peninsular. He married Frances Anne He distinguished him- Emily Vane Tempest aged just self in the Peninsular Wars 19 years a then wealthy heir- under Sir John Moore and ess. In 1822 he succeeded from 1809 until 1813 was Ad- his half brother as third Mar- jutant-General to the army quess of Londonderry and a under Wellington. This service year later he was created was to make both Stewart Earl Vane and Viscount Sea- and Wellington firm friends in ham with remainder to his the years to come. He was heirs made by his second recognised as having desper- wife. ate courage as a cavalry There was no doubt that leader and was renowned both parties to the marriage throughout the army for his got on very well together bravery. both in their private lives and The years following 1813 in the business relationship were a mixture for him of together. The fact that he both political positions and had to change his direction army assignments. In 1813 he from soldier and politician to went o Berlin as Ambassador business person was one that and Military Commissioner. he grasped with both hands This was followed as an ap- and the pair became formida- 6 ble partners in the competi- ing to Sir Ralph Milbanke tion for coal. came up for sale. Sir Ralph at the time was cash strapped Much of Frances’ coal having spent large amounts of business was run by agents money on electioneering over appointed by the Court of two decades as well as build- Chancery as part of the ar- ing and enlarging Seaham Hall rangement established by from the early 1790s. The fi- guardians and trustees when nal straw came about in 1815 she was younger. Known to the when it was necessary to pro- family as “Fighting Charlie”, vide a dowry of £20,000 for prior to his marriage he had his daughter and only child, never been to County Durham Anne Isabella, in her marriage previously. He was not a rich to the poet Lord Byron in man, having most of his January 1815. Sir Ralph and wealth tied up in land and in- his wife decided to move back heritances in Northern Ire- to their ancestral home at land. The lack of ready cash Halnaby in North Yorkshire made life difficult for him leaving Seaham Hall to be the when his ambitions exceeded home of the Byrons. Lord his reality. To his credit, how- Byron, however had other ever, he brought to the mar- ideas since he found the life riage strong connections at Seaham to be boring and reaching as high as royalty unexciting as well as being out and an immense ability to in- of the mainstream of London fluence and direct others in- and indeed European social cluding his many friends in life at the time. high places. Meanwhile, an inheri- A mere two years after tance passed to Lady Mil- his marriage the Seaham Es- banke in April 1815 from her tate including Dalden, belong- brother’s Wentworth estates 7 and this saved her husband the trouble of engaging an en- from potential bankruptcy. gineer’s report provided by This together with the fact William Chapman who drew up that that there daughter’s a plan for Port Milbanke. He marriage began to fail in 1816 became afraid of the costs of meant that Seaham Hall was such a high risk project and surplus to their requirements decided to retire to his Wen- so it was put up for sale. tworth Estates in Leicester- shire and sold the Seaham es- The estates came up for tates instead. sale at Public auction in Oc- tober 1821 and the bid sub- There is no question that mitted by Lord Stewart of Lord Stewart knew about this £63,000 was accepted. He possible venture hence his in- was able to pay for part of it terest in acquiring the es- by charging it against his tates. brother’s Irish property. Lord This was some months Stewart before coal was found under wished to the magnesian limestone at be free Hetton and it could be that coal lay under the Seaham es- of the tates as this was later to middle- prove in the 1850s. Sir Ralph men who Lady Anne Milbanke had however come up with a operated hair-brained idea that a port the port could be built at Seaham at of Sunderland and this would Dalden Point on the coast. He enable him to rid the shackles realised that this could pro- vide for some of the coal now and be his own master. The coming from Rainton and po- trustees who regulated his tentially Hetton so he went to 8 wife’s inheritance did not Lecht Pit opened. Also in the have the same ambition for same year a pit was opened at the port idea and for the Old Durham and then another next seven years ignored at Broomside, marking the Stewart’s wishes to go ahead westerly limit of the London- with construction in spite of derry empire. In 1828 two supporting engineer’s plans pits at Pittington opened, and reports. they were the Londonderry Adolphus Pit and the Buddle During the next seven Pit. years Londonderry and his wife opened further pits in In the early 1820s Lon- the Rainton, Pittington and donderry had leased land Hetton areas. The original six from the Earl of Strathmore large pits, namely, Nichol- to the east of his Rainton in- son’s, Rainton Meadows, terests. This lay close to fur- Plains, Hunter’s House, Reso- ther land owned by the Dean lution and Woodside were all and Chapter which was also doing well at Rainton and in leased to Londonderry. This 1822 a seventh was added land he sub-let to William when the Adventure was Russel of Brancepeth who de- added to the portfolio. There veloped the Hazard and Dun was also a collection of Well collieries and they were smaller pits in the vicinity of started in 1825 or possibly a Rainton and they included the little before this date. On the Old Engine, the Quarry, Anna- Strathmore land Moorsley bella, North and Pontop. In colliery was finally opened in 1826 the Alexandrina or 1838. 9

Being a shrewd operator foundations of a small town to Londonderry ensured that all provide shelter and amenities of these collieries connected for the workers and families who would ultimately provide with his original Penshaw the necessary occupations to waggonways and later on to enable the port to function. the Seaham railway when it opened in 1830. Hazard, Dun- In 1831 the population of Old Seaham (Seaton with well and Moorsley eventually Slingley) some distance inland came under the ownership of from the coast was a mere the Hetton Coal Company with 264, a figure close to the Londonderry having a share in 1821 total. However by 1834 the company when it formed. the population probably neared a thousand and then Finally the plans for a seven years later at the time port were drawn up after re- of the 1841 census the popu- ports had been published by lation had grown to 2017. By the most famous engineers of this time the town and har- the day, namely Rennie and bour had flourished and the Telford. The whole area had port itself was reaching satu- for centuries previous been ration point with regard to agricultural and apart from the number of ships using its two farms in the area close to docks. The 1841 census re- Seaham Hall there was no cords a wide range of occupa- other habitation. Thus not tions among the inhabitants only was it necessary to build and they include, teachers, a substantial port with har- brewers, joiners, builders, bour facilities but London- labourers, clerks, dressmak- derry also had to provide for ers and shoemakers in addi- a railway to bring the coal to tion to a clutch of marine as- the port and then lay the sociated occupations such as, 10 seamen, ropemakers, ship- was given use of a railway ex- builders, pilots, chandlers etc. tension to Seaham from The wealth of the population Haswell in return for the loan thus grew as the town and of £17,000. harbour developed. The construction and By 1851 the population running of the railway, some had doubled that of a decade five miles, from his Rainton before with over 4000 people pits was contracted out to dwelling in or close to Sea- save money, to Shakespeare ham. The town had grown to Reed of Thornhill who re- the south and along the coast couped his money by charging and the Londonderrys took an 15P per chaldren for a guar- active interest in its develop- anteed 50,000 chaldrons an- ment. nually. This was inevitably one The success and grown of the middlemen that Lon- of the Harbour was undoubt- donderry could well do with- edly brought about by the out, but it was 1840 before construction of the London- he was able to buy him out derry railway built during the and so own the investment. years 1828 –31. In spite of The first coals ran down the having insufficient funds to line from Rainton on July build the railway Londonderry 25th 1831 and they were borrowed money to complete loaded into the new brig “Lord the work. He also made an al- Seaham” at the docks. liance with Colonel Thomas The railway connected Braddyll the owner of Haswell around 18 miles of waggon- colliery who also had made ways from Londonderry pits plans to built a port at Haw- and further extensions were thorn Hive four miles south from non Londonderry pits. of Seaham harbour. Braddyll 11

The Londonderrys adequate as her late husband. opened a new Pit at Seaton in In 1859 she bought Framwell- 1852 and this completely gate colliery and improved the saturated the port with coal running of the Rainton line deliveries, and that decade and later the same year saw an extraordinary growth opened blast furnaces ot in population as a further Nose point near Dawdon, They coalmine came on stream to were only partially successful the west of the town and and were closed a few years known as Seaham Colliery. later. She also directed the This necessitated the building opening of Seaham Colliery at of the Seaham and Sunder- saw it blossom as one of the land Railway as coal could most profitable in the portfo- then be shipped to the newly lio. Finally in 1864 a few opened South Docks by 1854. weeks before her death she In February 1853 the Mar- bought Seaton Colliery and quess dug the first sod of merged it with Seaham. This this railway and it was the was in response to new legis- last public engagement he lation whereby collieries had carried out. The following to have two shaft outlets for year, in poor health, he con- safety reasons following the tracted influenza which de- tragedy at Hartley Colliery, veloped into pneumonia and he Northumberland died at his London mansion on The health of the Dowa- March 6th 1854. His eldest ger Marchioness had declined son from his first marriage rapidly after 1862. The news then took his titles as the 4th of the death of her second Marquess. and favourite son Adolphus in His widow, for 35 years June 1864 broke her heart in his shadow then took over and she suffered a serious the reins. She proved just as heart attack while on holiday 12

husband at Long Newton sur- rounded by Vane relations.

The immediate and less well known descendents of the Londonderrys took very little interest in the family empire in the north-east. The rear of Seaham Hall as it is to- Their visits were minimal, day, a modern luxury hotel. Built by mainly for shooting parties at Sir Ralf Milbanke in 1791-2 it was Wynyard. By and large the sold along with the estate to Lord Londonderry in 1821 running of the business was left in the hands of agents in Ulster. She returned to some of whom lacked business Seaham seriously ill but re- acumen. Frances Anne’s heir covered enough by Christmas. Earl Vane (later 5th Mar- However she had a relapse quess) was advised that the and died on January 20th days of the Rainton Royalty 1865, three days after her were limited and by 1866 a 65th birthday. slow and gradual abandonment began. The coal depression of Known and remembered the 1890s hastened the end for her many social and wel- of the Londonderry empire fare exploits which helped when the railway was closed in large numbers of people 1896 along with four Rainton struggling for existence dur- collieries and most of the few ing the first part of the nine- remaining collieries sold off teenth century she was also a to Lord George Lambton in- good mother and wife to her cluding the Adventure (closed family. 1978) which lasted along with Silksworth (closed 1971) into She was buried with her Nationalisation.