Albert Hill - The First 50 Years. 1854-1904 Data and information to complement the talk ALBERT HILL 150‘ Given to the Historical Society by Robin Coulthard on February 16th 2005 The collection of data relating to Albert Hill is made easier by the fact that Albert Hill has always been very distinct locality, compact and set aside from the rest of the town. Unlike many parts of Darlington it is fairly easy to define without fear of dissent. The YorkNewcastle railway neatly halves Albert Hill. The part to the west of the tracks was the first to experience industrial and residential development and was always the main base for the heavy industries on 'The Hill'. It comprised, Ayton Cres. Cleveland St, Edward St. Howard St. Vulcan St. and York St. It was home to Darlington Forge, Summerson's Foundry. South Durham Iron Co. Wm. Barningham dr Co. Darlington Wagon Co. John Baker dr Co. The bulk of the residential development took place in the half lying to the east of the Main Line and comprised, Allan St. Barton St. Dodsworth St. Grey St. Killinghall St. Lucknow St. Nestfield St. and Prescott St. There were intentions to have a Pemberton St. and a Hogarth St. but demand for housing plots failed to justify their construction. The principal businesses here included, Skerne Iron Co. Wilson Bros, and Jos. Shewell dr Co. Population In 1851 Albert Hill’s population numbered just 12 people, made up of Anthony Hall the farmer at Nestfield Farm, his family and servants. By 1861 there were 523 residents and this leaped to 3,067 in 1871 which represented about 11% of Darlington's population. The deep recession in the iron trade of the later 1870's combined with a subsequent withdrawal from th bulk pr oduction of wrought iron saw the population fall to 2,543 in 1891 and ten years later it had failed to return to 1870's levels standing at 2,609. ♦ In 1871 Albert Hill was a community of 'Incomers'. 36% of the ADULT population had been born in Ireland, 8% i n Wales, 6% in the West Midlands. Only 5% of ADULTS had been born in Darlington or surrounding villages. Men from Wales and West Midlands formed the basis of the skilled trades in the Ironworks. ♦ It was also a very young community. In 1871 some 33% of 'The Hill’s' residents were under the age of 14 years. In contrast only 3% could claim to have lived 60 years or more. ♦ In 1881, streets to the west of the Main Rly. Line housed 1,026 folk, those to the east of the railway were home to 1,863 people.

Occupations * Of the 1,167 males aged 14 65 resident on Albert Hill in 1871, 508 (44%) were working as 'Labourers' in the various Iron Works. There were some 357 (31%) 'skilled' grades of Ironworker living on Albert Hill in 1871 of which Puddlers represented the largest group numbering 268 (23%) Only 6 men had clerical work. Fifty men (4%) were in service industries mainly retailing and the licensed trade. * By 1891 the number of resident males aged 1465 had shrunk to 794, the dramatic retreat from wrought iron production meant that now only five of Albert Hill's residents claimed to be 'Puddlers', a dramatic decline and of the 11 employed in the lucrative occupation of 'Shingler' in 1871 just one remained in 1891. The move out of wrought iron had caused a similar fall in the numbers of Iron Works Labourers required to 237(30%) though there were 145 (18%) Labourers employed in other fields. Some 148 (19%) of the men resident on 'The Hill' in 1891 had skilled work relating to the industries based there, the fall compared with 1871 is almost entirely due to the disappearance of the Puddler but the 1891 Census displays has a much broader base of skills including Moulders, Fitters, Machinists, Platers, Drillers, Turners, Rollers, Joiners Rivetters Blacksmiths and Wagon Builders Occupations cont‘d * In 1871 there were some 670 females aged 1465, living on Albert Hill with 92 (14%) having employment beyond housework For those in employment 30 were domestic/general servants, 20 involved as dressmakers/seamstresses etc. and 13 worked in the woollen mills.

* The 1891 Census shows there were 696 females aged 1465 and some 216 (31%) had work beyond the home. Domestic and general servants accounted for 58, some 57 females found work in the woollen mills, 27 as dressmakers/seamstresses etc. and 36 in retail work.

* At the time of the 1871 Census Forster's Education Act enacting compulsory Schooling had barely found time to take effect and Albert Hill had but one School, the recently opened Roman Catholic St. William's School. Of the 619 children in the 5 to 12 age group 342 (55%) were declared to be 'Scholars' on the 1871 Census.

* By the time of the 1891 Census there were 462 'Scholars' out of the 520 young persons within that age group (89%) and a further 68 still at school beyond the age of 12. In 1871 there were 17 boys aged 13 undertaking manual jobs within the ironworks including a deaf and dumb youth but by 1891 only 3 lads aged 13 had taken similar work.

Local Earnings When not touched by Recession, Strikes or Lockouts many skilled grades of ironworker could earn rates of pay th< envy of their neighbours. The following rates are based on figures supplied to the Board Of Guardians, 1880, thei are DAILY, NET rates converted to decimal currency and are set at a time when the industry was struggling to move out of recession. It was generally believed that Cleveland rates were superior. Local rates were : Puddlers, 35p, Underhand Puddler, 18p, Shingler 95p, Roller 70p Blacksmith, 25p Blacksmith’s Striker 17p, Roughers 35' Furnaceman 75p. Most of Albert Hill's residents were 'Labourers’ and they were more likely to settle for 12p 14p a day depending on the nature of their work. Local Cost of Living Around 1880 the rent for a local basic Two UpTwo Down' artisan's terrace house would be 12p14p a week. (The rule of thumb at this time seems to have been to cast the Annual Rent at a tenth of the cost of building the house) Coal was 5p a cwt, Candles 6 for lp, Tea 3p a lib. Workboots 30p a pair, 5 oranges for lp, Bowler hat 19p, Beef sausage 3p a lib. Two pints of Milk lp, A gent's haircut lp. A one lb. loaf of bread was just under lp (All in decimal currency)

to be Sold Housing THE well situated and improveablc ESTATE called ■ By early 1861 Nestfield's Farmhouse had been joined by 21 residences on the easter half NESTFIELD, half a Mile from Darlington, and in the of Albert Hill together with three licensed premises! The we stern portion got off a faster start Pariish. It consists of Freehold, Copyhold, with three and by 1861 had approx. 65 houses available. However thereafter the eastern development Acres of Lcase for Lives, has all Conveniency of rapidly overtook its western neighbour with approx. 260 houses available by 1871 and some Housing, moftly tiled, is well watered and fenced, and 300 in total ten years later. By 1881 the western half, always the smaller in housing terms, had has the River Skem, which waters feveral Inclofures, as a ^'Mindary to the North. It has a Rookery adioin gained a total of around 160 homes. Thereafter Albert Hill saw no appreciable changes to its __ £ the Houfe, and Spring Water, with a Lead housing stock until the early Edwardian years. pomp lately fixed at the Backdoor. For further

particulars,enquire of Mr. Lodge in Bernard Cattle, Mr. ■ The Census for 1891 shows that 219 households (45%) had just 4 rooms in total available Inglcby in Durham, and Mr. Lowfon in Darlington. to them, this included 15 families with a household of ten or more folk. Only 56 (9%) of =?■ There is a great deal of Wood upon it, is lett for households had a house giving them access to five room or more. There were 128 households IOO I. per annum and the Tenant will (hew the (26%) living in just two rooms and this included 56 households with five or more members. Premiffa. ■ All Albert Hill's houses were constructed after the introduction of basic Building Byelaws ’Newcastle Journal' 1753 and plans had to be scrutinised by our local Board of Health.

Consequently though the housing may fairly be described as 'mean', 'depressing', 'cramped' and 'spartan' in finish and facilities, it was certainly not 'slummy' nor 'squalid' by the standards of the time. Virtually all the houses initially had ash privies.

■ Sections of Howard St. and Killinghall St. had a type of hou se unusual in this town. The locals called them 'Front and Back Houses'. One family occupied a self contained section fronting the main street, a tunnel lead from the street to the back yard where another fami ly accessed their self contained rear house. Both families shared a communal yard and there was access to a back lane.

■ In 1858 R.H. Allan of Blackwell Grange laid out 20 acres of land to the east of the main railway line for housing development . All the residential development on the eastern side of Al bert Hill was to come from this initiative. Some 431 Plots were marked out for sale but early optimism was not sustained and by 1876 only 58% of the plots had been sold and developed. Not until the early C20 did most streets see their empty plots filled wi th homes. Through the 1860’s a variety of local tradesmen, pub landlords and private individuals seeking an investment bought pl ots, mainly piecemeal and in small numbers and had houses erected for renting. At least 4 of the better paid local ironworks ope ratives joined the speculation and purchased plots.

Housing conf d Thomas Taylor the Miller at Blackwell Mill took 14 plots. John Prior landlord at The Dolphin' in the Market Place purchased 1 9. Henry Kirk, who surely qualifies as one of Albert Hill's ear liest residents, he had a grocer’s shop in Cleveland St. by 1861 and later ran a grocery ar pawnbrokers in Nestfield Street, bought 9 plots. Two intriguing purchasers were Hugh Crawley and Margaret his wife. He was a Bricklay and Beerhouse Keeper at the 'N estfield Hotel' (and another very early arrival on 'The Hill') Even in those early days beer sales on Albert Hi must have been profita ble for between them they bought 12 plots. Margaret later, and under the name of her second partner 'Murphy', acquiring a further 14 plots for housing. Truly a self made 'Woman of Substance'. ■ By 1861 the western half of Albert Hill was already well colonised. Cleveland Street, Edward St and York St. were already well developed The Albert Hill Land Co' (which also seems to have functioned as the ’Darlington Land Co', both carried similar Boards, and almost identical to the nearby South Durham Iron Co.) offered parcels of land for housing development on a site of just over four acres which was unhappily sandwiched between rail way, foundry and ironworks. This became Edward St. Vulcan St. Howard St. York St. and Ayton Cres. Speculators were invited to purchase plots, albeit in rather larger job lots than those offered to the east and develop for rented housing. Like the simile in itiative to the east it failed to find buyers for all the plots on offer and in the event, Howard St. and Ayton Cres. were only half complete and a planned sixth street never material ised. J. Burney of Westbrook Villas, builder, brickmaker and one time coproprietor of the nearl Wagon Co. and the 'Darlington Telegraph' was one of the principal investors in this development. He built most of York St. Vulcan St. Howard St. and all the properties in Ayton Cres. The Board of Health had set a generous width of 40 ft. for all the streets, J .& f. Burney irritated the Board by repeatedly attempting to build at a reduced width of 30 and 33 ft. THE Households DARLINGTON WAGON COMPANY, MAKUFACTUKKRS ©V ♦ Farmer Anthony Hall of Nestfield may have been master of all he surveyed in 1851 but RAILWAY WAGONS twenty years later the view was being shared by 502 other households. This dropped to OF EVERY DESCRIPTION some 482 household groups in 1891 and even by 1901 the total, at 494, had not returned to >',,r Ciush, or on Ihtem.il Payments, or Hire. Krpuirn executed with Despatch, on Beasonablo Term* 1870 levels. Offices anil Works, ALBERT HILL, DARLINGTON. ♦ In 1871 the average size of an Albert Hill household was 6.1 persons, by 1901 this was down to 5.2, the reduction almost entirely due to the disappearance of Albert Hill’s army of Lodgers, (see note below)

♦ Such was the pressure on accommodation in 1871 that you would have found no household comprising just one person, there were 16 such households by 1901. 45 ALLAN STREET, DARLINGTON ♦ In 1871 Albert Hill had 59 (12%) of its households made up of ten or more people. In 1891 there were 22 (5%) with ten or more in the house. The McGee family were one of Albert Dr. to MCGEE BROS ., Hill's larger families and may claim to be one of 'The Hill s' most enduring having first lived at JOINERS & UNDERTAKERS. the long demolished Ayton Cres before moving to Allan St. and becoming Albert Hill's Glaw Sign & Wa^on Writer*. respected firm of Undertakers. They still had representatives on Albert Hill in the late 1960's ♦ Instances of families sharing a house and its rooms were common in 1871 with 87 (17%) of households sharing facilities with at least one other. This had fallen to 26 (5%) by 1901. A Lund of Lodgers With the local ironworks recruiting such large numbers of unskilled labourers it is hardly surprising that Albert Hill experienced a massive influx of itinerant workers seeking employment and all needing accommodation. By 1871 there were 502 Lodgers and Boarde encamped on Albert Hill, made up of 447 Lodgers and 55 Boarders, that represented 16% of its total population. Almost half of these could be described as being, 'Male, Irish, Single and Unskilled.' Only 12 of this army found a home at Lodging/Boarding Houses, the rest sought accommodation with local families. Whilst the extra income they generated would be welcome they must have posed huge problems in an area where only a handful of houses had more than three bedrooms and two the norm. Some 43 families had 4 or more lodgers, there were 10 families who found space for 6 or more! Awards for the most ingenious use of space and flexibility of domestic routine must be due to Mr P. McGuiness an ironworks labourer and his wife living in Cleveland Street, who despite having only two downstairs rooms and a scullery plus three upstairs bedrooms and no bathroom, managed to entertain 12 lodgers, two of these lodgers being a married couple. Mr Hugh Carr of Killinghall St. another ironworks labourer and his wife living in a similar house to the McGuiness family had 8 lodgers including a married couple and their two children, a single girl, a widower and his child and a single iron puddler. The Bowens in Grey St. in comparable housing had a child aged 1 and 7 adult male lodgers all employed in the ironworks. Every weekend these families must have offered up fervent prayers to the Almighty that their guests’ shift patterns for the new week would be evenly spread! Beds must never have grown cold!. Changes in the local industrial scene already described meant a a sharp drop in the numbers of unskilled workers required. By 1891 most of this army of labourers had quietly drifted away and there were only 104 Lodgers and Boarders remaining representing around 4% of the local population. WILSON BROTHERS AND CO., MANUMFACTURERS OF RAILWAY WHEELS & AXLES, IRONFOUNDERS & ENGINEERS, -ALLIANCE WORKS, DARLINGTON. Some Brief Notes on Albert Hill's Early Major Employers 1854 -1900 South Durham Iron Co. Almost certainly Albert Hill’s .first industrial development. They produced pig iron which was smelted in three blast furnace s, the only ones on our local skyline. The Company took up a six acre site just north 0/ Cleveland Street initially construct ing two blast furnaces, some 50 feet high and 15 feet in diameter, a third eventually joined them despite collapsing during construction in 1860 but plans for a fourth were shelved. Blast came from two 50hp. stationary steam engines supplied by Gilkes Wilson at Middlesbrough, housed in their own building. A chimney was erected some 150 feet in height to carry away the smoke, fumes etc. Limestone, ore and coke was delivered by the S.a^D.Rly. Co whose line was just yards away. An inclined plane was built so that mineral wagons could quickly discharge their loads of coke etc from the bottom of t he truck. The works were lit by gaslight from the start. Main promoters were Henry Pease, Thos. McNay, John Harris, Alfred Kitching and John B. Pease, in essence these were the same Board members as the Albert Hill Land Co. from whom the South Durham Iron Co had purchased the land. The Land Co. had, in 1853 purc hased 53 acres of surrounding land from R.H. Allan of Blackwell Grange and there can be little doubt the joint promoters of the Land and the Iron Co. sought by the construction of these furnaces to attract a variety of other iron related businesses to come in and purchase land and hopefully also provide a market for their locally produced pig iron. It was anticipated that each furnace would turn out about 150 tons of Foundry Iron or 200 of Forge Iron per week and they took ore from Weardale, the Peases’ Min e at Upleatham and Hutton Codhill, also from West Cumberland and Ulverston. Waste slag was deposited down the 70 foot drop to the ! The Foundation Stone for the first furnace was formally laid by Francis Mewburn, Borough Bailiff, on 23rd March 1854 and the first furnace was formally tapped by Joseph Pease in the first week of January 1855. The Company employed around a 100 hands and for key workers, a row of 11 artisans' terrace houses were provided on Cleveland Street which were described as 'm odels' for workers housing and had running cold water and gas fitted, still novelties at that time. Garden plots were made available for workers nearby. This was Albert Hill’s very first residential development. The Company had an early scare when a recession set in following the end of the Crimean War, 1856, and local Ironmasters agreed to a voluntary 25% cut in output but they then maintained decent output through the 1860’s until the deep recession of the mid and late 1, 's be gan to bite. Demand for pig iron from neighbouring enterprises never equalled expectations and as Cleveland sites expanded South Durham lacked the scale that can effect economies. The absorption of the SC^D. Rly Co. into the N.E.R. undoubtedly made the South Durham Iron Co. enterprise less profitable for the S.& D. Board had always given favourable carriage rates to local firms, hardly surprising considering how many S. & D. Rly faces figured on local Boards! The N.E.R. was not so sympathetic! The Company went into liquidation in 1880, Plant and Equipment were sold off in 1883. However the demise of the South Durham Iron Co. brought relief to the Darlington Forge hemmed in on all sides and desperate to expand. They acquired South Durham Iron Co. land in 1884 and developed southwards towards Cleveland Street in 1886. Darlington Forge From modest beginnings the Forge was to become one of Albert Hill's biggest, most successful and enduring businesses ultimate ly employing 1,200 on a site of over thirty acres. Surprisingly an exact date for the opening of this enterprise seems unknown but production was certainly underway by late 1854 under the management of Alfred Hollis, a native of Birmingham who lived at Stooperdale. The firm may ha ve originally been an offshoot of Messrs Cowans Sheldon of Carlisle. The first forge was situated to the north of the South Durham works on a north facing bluff above the Skerne. The payroll initially comprised 40 men making forgings from wrought iron. Twc helve hammers were soon augmented by a three ton steam hammer. In the early days, like many other similar establishments they turned out large quantities of rail axles, also wheels , which they could produce to 7 feet diameter, and track. They claim to have supplied Japan with its first rail track. Inevitably t he seemingly never ending expansion of the rail network slowed down and many firms who had based their sales solely on rolling stock, track and accessories faced a thin time . However the demand for metal ships was now growing and in the 1870's the Forge mo ved into marine engineering becoming acknowledged experts in the making of marine engine crank and screw shafts heavy screw frames, rudder frames and keels. As ships grew larger so did the demand for heavy c astings and new technologies that permitted If sc ale production of steel at sensible prices arrived, thus in 1886 the Forge had acquired the Open Hearth process of steel manufacture In i885 a giant steam hammer to weld stern frames was acquired. South Durham Iron Co. hopes that the Forge would utilise th eir iror were never fully realised as the Forge reworked a lot of old iron, principally rail track. The firm became a private limited liability company in 1873 and on incorporation had a share capital of £77,000 some of which was usee to open a new fitting shop in 1876, 300 ft. by 75 ft. They now they had 6 acres of land and 400 men swelling to 800 before the century': end. Fir st firm in the town to install Siemens electric arc lights to enable round the clock working. The failure of its two adjacent neigh bours, South Durham Iron Co. in 1880 and the Darlington Steel and Iron Co. in 1897 proved helpful to the Forge which, like Summerson's across Cleveland St. had found itself desperately short of space for expansion. It acquired the South Durham Iron Co. property in 1884 and the Steel and Iron Co. land in 1899. William Putnam was central to the company's success in the late C19. He was responsible for the shift away from railway relat ed product: into marine engineering and the acquisition of the new skills and technologies this required. Putnam was from Lambeth and served his time at Cow ans Sheldon at Carlisle followed by a spell at the S.c^D. Rly at , coming to Darlington in 1862. He lived at Thornlea, Carmel Road. When he died in 1897 he was succeeded by his son, Thomas, and it was under his control that the Forge arguably saw its finest day: as a marine engineering firm dur ing the first half of the twentieth century. Thos. Summerson and Sons Older Darlingtonians will remember 'Summerson's Foundry' for its colourful contribution to the town's air pollution. Exact date of arrival on Albert Hill is unclear but likely to have been around 1855 and the third enterprise to set up there. It seems to have begun as a small fo undry and workshop on the south side of Cleveland Street opposite the entrance to the South Durham Iron Co. with a rail link directly out onto the S. & D Rly line. The business was actually started by John Harris, who was also a director of the Land Co. promoting Albert Hill and on the Board o f the neighbouring South Durham Iron Co. Harris, a very untypical Quaker with his flamboyant personality and expensive tastes, was civil engineer to the S.&D. Rly. and several other railways, he was also a contractor to the S.aHJ. Rly., a director of sever al utility companies, as well as serving on the town’s Board of Health and Board of Guardians.

Titos. Sutnmerson con‘td He is reputed to Have paid £500 /or the Cleveland St. site which in the early days had a payroll 0/ around 50 men. The Albert Hill foundry was to ease the pressure on the site Harris had leased at Hopetown, Lister's Foundry. Here he was turning out small locos, crossings, rail chairs and wagon parts. Thomas Summerson had been involved with the S.&’D. Rly pretty well since its inception and in 1843 Harris, with so many business interests to oversee, persuaded Summerson to take charge 0/ his contracting work and from there he later moved to the Foundry enterprise at Hopetown with J.B. Abbey from Hume Terr, as his Clerk By 1860 Harris was undertaking all work at t he Albert Hill plant.. In 1866 a general downturn in trade and the failure of the Bank, Overend and Gurney is reputed to have forced Harris to sell his interest in the Foundry to Summerson for a mere £50 plus a willingness to take on the mortgages and debt s although it seems that Summerson did not get full proprietorial control until the death of Harris in 1869. By 1870 Summerson had three sons in the business. Summerson had a good knowledge of railway practice and its hardware plus a quick eye to see where improvements might be made cannily I HOMAS SUMMERSON <3SONS LIMITED, ©ARLINGTON. RAILWAY PERMANENT-WAY ENGINEERS MANUFACTURERS t< IliONFOUNDERS

anticipating the implications of faster and heavier trains. As early as 1855 he and Harris had patented a new design of wheel that had prompted an order for 10,000 of them. In 1870 the firm was constituted as 'Thos. Summerson dr Sons' and became a limited company in 1900. Summerson quickly quit the business of loco and wagon building and concentrated on the supply of specialist forms of track, points, turntables, crossings, bufferstops etc. becoming an acknowledged world supplier. By the end of the century they employed over 250 men on a six acre site with a steel foundry, erecting shop, machine shop and paint shop and had the capacity to produce 120 castings a week. Like its neighbour 'The Darlington For ge' Summerson's found expansion impossible, it was hemmed in on all sides. As with The Darlington Forge' the demise of a neighbouring enterpris e, in this case the 'Darlington Wagon dr Engineering Co', in 1905 paved the way for new buildings to the south and east, a developm ent that required the purchase and demolition of Ay ton Cres. too. William Barningham dr Co Iron Works later Darlington Iron Co. and Darlington Steel dr Iron Co. William Barningham's life story merits a lecture in its own right. A strong willed, colourful character who bracked no opposition and rose from humble Arkengarthdale origins to a be self made millionaire, Barningham already had an operation at Pendleton, Lancs, reworking old railway track and rail chairs. Seeking to greatly expand his output of both these as new products he was persuaded by Henry Pease to set up his ironworks on Albert Hill purchasing from the Land Co. four and a half acres of land immediately to the west of the York Newcastle rail line and adjacent to the South Durham Iron Co. who greatly hoped he would be utilising their output of pig iron. The initial purchase was at a cost of £350 per acre but a further eight acres were quickly acquired for £300 per acre. Like the Darlington Forge and Summerson's, Barningham was to discover he lacked further space for extensions and he very rapidly moved to acquire a further 85 acres of the Springfield Farm for £11,000 though much of this would never see development. Springfield was now Barningham's Darlington home though he travelled extensively and had an estate in France. Barningham thus conducted his Darlington operations on two separate sites. At Albert Hill he had 105 Puddling Furnaces, 40 Mill Furnaces and four Finishing Mills, eight steam hammers. The works housed under under a large arched cast iron roof, formerly the venue for the 1852 Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition acquired by Barningham second hand. The arches, lofty by the standards of the time, 50 ft span and 800 f t long gave the interior a spacious feel enhanced by the liberal use of whitewash. The plant opened early in 1859. The second site was at Springfield about half a mile to the north and on the opposite side of the YorkNewcastle railway. Here were 95 Puddling Furnaces and seven steam hammers and was devoted to the production of wrought iron bars which were transported over a private rail route to the Albert Hill works involving negotiating th e North Eastern Rly Co's tracks to gain access. The complex utilised five shunting locos, all believed to have been built by Barningham's. The combined plants were reckoned to have a total iron making capacity of 90,000 tons per annum and could employ up to 2000 men, over 300 of them iron puddlers. The Company had a very limited catalogue and wrought iron plate, rail and chairs were i ts mainstay. In 1870 they produced 70,000 tons of rail however by 1877 this had fallen to 10,000 tons, as steel track was increasingly sought after, the days of wrought iron were numbered. Th e operation lost £15,000 in the two years up to 1878. Seeking new markets the firm increased its production of plate for the ship building industry but this market rapidly became saturated

Wm. Barningham, was described as a, "Of uncertain temper and prone to take offence" and as being, "Self willed and anxious to exact from others deference to his own mind. He was very apt to get annoyed if preference was not given to his opinions". Hardly surprising then that he had perpetual skirmishes with his labour force particularly the Puddlers and the Irish faction of his worker s who appear to have been of a similar disposition. By 1872 he declared his wish to sell out and did so for a reputed £275,000 (in excess of £13 million in present worth) though he retained his Pendleton Works. Barningham remained on the Board with nephew Thomas, the Works Manager and Cleveland Iron Master Hugh Bell was now the principal influence. Following Barningham’s death in 1882. the contents of his will were vigorously contested by his wife and daughter and with millions at stake and colourful eviden ce concerning Barningham's life unfolding in court, he continued to command wide attention from beyond the grave. A Puddling Furnace. By the early 1870's there were over 320 Lack of orders caused a complete shut down for two years in 1878 causing great puddling furnaces around the town producing wrought hardship locally. (In the early 1870’s the firm had been reput ed to be paying £5,000 a fortnight in wages.) The company went into voluntary liquidation in 1880 and iron. Thirty years later they were virtually all out of use. restyled themselves, The Darlington Steel & I ron Co.' as they moved into steel production acquiring two Bessemer Convertors producing 600 tons of steel a week This signalled the end of the Springfield Works which was dedicated to wrought iron manufacture and from 1884 this site was t o remain unused until early in the twentieth century.

T1 tarlington Steel dr Iron Co’s cause was not helped by an unimaginative catalogue which clung to rails and plate as staple offerings ii a salurated market. There was a belated attempt to emulate The Darlington Forge' and move into specialist marine engineering but it came too late. Labour had to be repeatedly laid off, the site mortgaged to William's nephew Thomas in 1894 and with most of the plant sold to Hugh Bell’s Port Clarence Works in 1895 the firm finally went into liquidation in 1897. The Darlington Forge’ subsequently moved onto the site, 1899. Most of the firm's out standing work was accomplished in the early years, in 1860 it had supplied the permanent way for the Port Cannin to Calcutta Railway, some 160 miles of track went to East Bengal Rly, indeed Barningham boasted he had furnished track for all but two of India 's railways. He was a supplier to the Union Pacific Rly. in USA and 6,000 tons of track went to Russia. Barningham also opened his own ironstone mine with a 300 foot shaft at Aysdalegate near Boosbeck though output was fitful. Darlington Wagon Co. (from 1884 known as The Darlington Wagon & Engineering Co.') Construction of this workshop and foundry began in 1867 by Frank Harker and John Pickering on a site in York Street immediate ly sout of Summerson's Foundry. Frank Harker, of High Terrace, had previously worked as a manager for the South Durham Iron Co. It was to be the last major C19 development on the western half of Albert Hill and would trade as, 'Railway Foundry Co.' but even before completio the wo rks were acquired by James Wilson and John Williamson. Wilson had been born in Great , the son of an Irish cattle dealer and later lived at , Williamson from North Shields resided at Newlands in Elton Parade. Although component parts for ra freight wagons had been ma de on Albert Hill from its earliest days, this firm's intention of constructing parts and then assembling the ra wagons was new to the district. They also planned to maintain and lease wagons. Many regular rail freight users preferred to run the own wagons and make their own arrangements for repair particularly for coal and mineral haulage and as the railways quickly develop! s< l this market. (In 1914 the private wagons in use repres ented a £20million investment by 4,000 wagon owners, in 1925 there were son 700,000 private wagons on the rail system.) In 1884 this Company joined with Wilson Brothers (see their notes) to form the Darlington Wagon dr Engineering Co. James Wilson wi already a coowner of Wilson Bros, along with brother George, who lived at Elton Villas, both joine d the Board of the new firm. Also on tl Board, John Bowman of Polam Grange and Theodore Fry of Woodburn. The new concern had a valuation of £50,000. Wilson Bros. Allian Works across in Dodsworth Street would fabricate the parts and assembly of the wagons w ould be undertaken over in the York Street worl The two works had a combined payroll of 500 and in the first five years of the new firm's existence they produced for hire some l,2f railway wagons exporting them to Spa in, Australia and South America. In 1889 they were turning out 30 new wagons a week plus repa work, to speed up repairs they opened up four depots across the countr y. A new erecting shop was built at York Street in 1895 measuring \ feet by 32 feet. An increasingly saturated market plus a genera l move by all the major rail companies to undertake their own wagon building ai maintenance and offer this to users made trading increasingly tough. Early in 1905 York Street was only undertaking repairs and later th year the w hole enterprise went into liquidation. It was estimated that closure would cost the local economy £700 a week. James Wilson w declared bankrupt, he died i n 1912. There was one beneficiary of this collapse, Summerson's Foundry was able to acquire the York Street si for a much needed expansion.

Pease. Hutchinson dr Co. as from 1872 trading as Skerne Iron Co. It has been suggested that the firm Pease, Hutchinson' was created by local businessmen to help counterbalance the local econ omic dominance that William Barningham was establishing i n the area. Whatever the catalyst for its formation Pease Hutchinson and its successor, Skerne Iron Co. became hugely successful and world famous as a bridge builder before over ambition brought it crashing down. Cont'd ......

Pease Hutchinson contd Pease, Hutchinson was the first industrial development to the east of the YorkNewcastle Railway line locating on a 22 acre site and known as The Skerne Iron Works'. Started in 1864 with directors Edwin Lucas Pease, Henry Fell Pease, Joseph B. Pease and Walter Pease, the firm's guiding light was Selby born Managing Director, Edward Hutchinson. Hutchinson, who for a time lived at the Manor House' Hurworth and later at Witton Hall, Witton le Wear was an acknowledged expert in the production and applications of wrought iron. His presence in the firm gave it immense credibility although his later reluctance to acknowledge the growing preference for steel may have speeded the demise of the Company. At its zenith the firm used 4 Steam Hammers, 3 Plate Mills, and 92 Puddling Furnaces. The Puddling Furnaces arranged in groups of 4 around a central flue represented the most modern and ultimate design since steel manufacture would shortly make them redundant. At peak production they could collectively produce 350 tons of wrought a iron a week. (One Bessemer Convertor could turn out 5 ton of steel in 30 minutes!) The Skerne Works when fully employed offered work to a 1,000 men. The Company specialised in iron rolling and bridge building, the manufacture of plate for ship building, boiler making and production of angle iron. However it was the design and construction of bridges and viaducts that made the firm briefly world famous. Some 20 bridges for Sweden. 40 for Denmark, also significant bridges in India, Spain, Australia, Argentina, Egypt and an aquaduct in Syria. Nearer home and on a more modest scale Skerne Iron supplied the Pilmore Bridge' across the Tees near Hurworth and the footbridge linking an * . The five viaducts on the rail lint between Loftus and Whitby came from Skerne Iron as did the pier at Llandudno. This is by no means an exhaustive list! They also made pontoons, irrigation systems, iron flooring, cranes, buoys, boiler tubes and Construction of Staithes Viaduct. Skerne Iron Co. 1873. beams.

The death of Walter Pease seems to have triggered changes in the firm's structure in 1872. There was a share issue of £20,000, the firm assumed the name 'Skerne Iron Co.' and the local figures disappeared from the Board, though the all important Hutchinson remained. Despite the onset of the profound recession of the 1870's Skerne Iron managed to maintain a reasonable level of activity even returning modest profits, £394 profit in 1877 may not sound too much on their turnover but this was a time many firms were either recording heavy losses or closing down. Their undoing was the leasing of the 'Brittania Mills' at Middlesbrough in 1877 from Bernhard Samuelson, with 120 Puddling Furnaces and extensive Plate Mills. The move stemmed from a desire to increase their plate making capacity and they set about reequipping the Mill there which was rundown and dated. They also wished to reduce shipping costs and the Brittania Mills had its own shipping berth on the Tees. Viewed with the benefit of hindsight the move seems extraordinary. With the demand for wrought iron rail track dwindling rapidly many firms were switching to plate manufacture and the market became very depressed. The acquisition and modernisation of this Plant tied up all available cash supplies and although the firm had work in hand it lacked the money to finance it. Banks and Financiers took the view it was seriously overstretched and declined to help. In the Spring of 1879 the Company petitioned to be wound up and a liquidator was appointed. Mindful of work on order a rescue package was belatedly p together in 1880 but the site fell silent again in 1882. The site remained mothballed until the plant and equipment were sold off in 1889. The Skerne Steel Wire Co. took over the site in 1893, two of the main shareholders being Thos. Ness of Blackbanks and well known local politician, Mayor and solicitor, Tommy Barron. The firm made steel rope and hawsers but was a much smaller outfit than its predecessor. The site fell silent again in 1897 and there was the miserable spectacle of another site auction of equipment. The Darlington Wire Mills subsequently utilised the location and enjoyed a long period of successful trading in the C20. As with the failure of certain other Albert Hill companies the unfortunate collapse of Skerne Iron did bring some coincidental positive outcomes. The Darlington Wagon dr Engineering Co. took on some of Skerne’s skilled employees and some of their outstanding order book and went on to make a modest impression themselves in the sphere of bridge construction and the infant Cleveland Bridge Co. acquired some of the Skerne Co's redundant expertise. Wilson Bros, (see also Darlington Wagon Co.) Started in 1868 by James and George Wilson on a site off Dodsworth Street which became known as The Alliance Works' making railway wheels and axles. James was already a coowner of The Darlington Wagon Comp.' across on York Street (see notes) In 1884 the firm merged with The Darlington Wagon Co. and for further details see notes on that outfit. Following the collapse of the 'Skerne Iron Co.' the newly formed Darlington Wagon dr Engineering Co.' acquired some of the work 'Skerne Iron Co.' had defaulted on and some of their skilled labour force and went on to construct bridges in India, Argentine,Egypt, France and Mexico. The second railway bridge to link Thornaby and Stockton, carrying freight only lines, still standing today but out of use, was of their construction. On closure in 1905 the site was acquired by the Blake Boiler,Wagon dr Engineering Co. Co. and later by Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Co but they had quit by around 1927. Cont‘d ...... r

Joseph She well & Co. Joseph Shewelt came to Darlington as a youngster from Deptford, Kent. His father set up a shop on the High Row selling Drapery and Millinery, the family lived at Holmwood' on Carmel Road.. Joseph was an engineering apprentice at Shildon and North Road Works and eventually held a managerial post with the Skerne Iron Co. Around 1875 he started his own business on a 2 acre site on Allan Street which was reputed to have cost £1,500 an acre. (15 years earlier Wm. Barningham had been paying £300 per acre.) Shewell’s works overlooked the intersection of the York Newcastle rail route and the former S. & D. Rly. Initially he had 40 men but by the end of the century he had a payroll of 150 engaged in bridge building, boiler making and general structural engineering. Shewell was a Quaker and it is said that he declined any work linked to the Army, Navy or the brewing trade. He sold up in 1916 and retired to Redcar where he died in 1922. It is believed that on selling off the firm Joseph destroyed most of the Company records which explains the general dearth of material concerning this company's early activities.