'Media vita in morte sumus*: Newcastle - upon – Tyne, the Scrivener and the Plague of 1636.' by nclroblib

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Media vita in morte sumus* Newcastle upon Tyne, the Plague of 1636, and the Scrivener: A Readerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aid to the Ralph Tailorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Summer: a Scrivener, his City and the Plague by Keith Wrightson (Yale, 2011) John Gardner

In the midst of life we are in Death

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Newcastle upon Tyne, the Eye of the North In 1649, Newcastle upon Tyne’s first historian William Gray wrote “Camden calls Newcastle, Ocellus, the eye of the North, the harth that warmeth the South parts of this kingdome with fire; an Aegypt to all the shires of the north (in time of famine) for bread”1. The Cheshire gentleman and traveller, Sir William Brereton visited Newcastle in 1635 and recorded his impression in his journal. He wrote, Newcastle was “beyond all compare the fairest and richest towne in England: inferior for wealth and building to noe cittie save London”2. In the 1630s Newcastle upon Tyne was England’s fourth largest provincial city. The most important trade was Coal, and it spawned a host of ancillary industries such as shipbuilding, salt pans at North Shields, trade with the Baltic and Scandinavian countries exchanging coal for grain, timber and shipping supplies. These were also augmented from English provincial ports supplying grain, malt and other provisions. Newcastle was a major English port, a regional centre with a large hinterland in the county of Northumberland to the north and the Bishopric of Durham to the south3. When the plague hit Newcastle in 1636, the scrivener Ralph Tailor/Taylor/Tayler wrote out the largest number of surviving wills and a large number of surviving inventories. In total, out of the 103 surviving wills and inventories, Ralph Tailor wrote at least 254. Originally probated in the Durham Diocesan Consistory court, these wills and inventories now reside in a box in Durham probate registry, located in the Archives and Special Collections of the University of Durham. This guide has been written to aid and further develop an understanding of Wrightson’s book. Unfortunately, it is not based on any primary research. Nonetheless, it has collated, synthesised and summarised the findings of numerous historians and presented them together for the first time in a format that is easily accessible. It is hoped that the suggestions in the section on further reading at the end of the report will be useful for any interested party in pursuing some of the themes of Wrightson’s book and this report further.

Chorographia, or, A survey of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1649, William Gray fl. 1649. 1970 [6th ed. reprinted] Frank Graham, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1970. Facsimile of 1883 edition. p. 91 2 See ‘The Journal of Sir William Brereton, 1635’, in J.C. Hodgson (ed.), North Country Diaries (Second Series) Surtees Society, 124, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1915, p.15 f. 3 K. Wrightson, Ralph Tailor’s Summer: A Scrivener, His City and the Plague, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2011, pp. 12 – 27. 4 Wrightson, Ibid., p. 54 and p. 173.

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Diagram 1. Newcastle in the early Seventeenth Century

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Diagram 2. Newcastle in the Seventeenth Century, after Corbridge.

Page 5 of 56 Diagram 3.

Newcastle

and North Tyneside in the mid-Seventeenth Century

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Newcastle in 1723. Corbridge Map. See https://newcastlecollection.newcastle.gov.uk/maps/actual-survey-newcastleupon-tyne-1723

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Population of Newcastle upon Tyne in the midSeventeenth Century

Chart 1. Newcastle upon Tyne, estimated population totals from c. 1300 to c. 1670

POPULATION ESTIMATES Gateshead 1665/1674 (8)

3,500

1636 (7)

3,250

1563 (6)

1,500

1548/49 (5)

1,330

C. 1400 (4)

500

1377 (3)

600

C. 1300 (2) 1296 NO OF TAXPAYERS (1)

1200

Newcastle upon Tyne 13,000 12,000 8,000

5,000 3,000 4,000 8,000

295

Key to Chart 1: 1. A.W. Purdue, Newcastle: the Biography, Chalford, Amberley Publications, 2011, p. 37. 2. Ibid. 3. Newcastle was not included in the Great Lay subsidy of Henry VIII in 1524-5, therefore Wrightson uses the figures of the 1377 Poll Tax returns, which are generally considered to be the most reliable of the three returns (See P. J. P. Goldberg, ‘Urban Identity and the poll Taxes of 1377, 1379 and 1381’, Economic History Review, 1990, 43 (2), pp. 194 – 216). In 1377, Newcastle had 2,647 taxpayers. Theoretically, this should have included all persons over 14. Wrightson uses Dyer, Wrigley and Schofield’s 1540 estimate of 35% constituency for children under 15, thus giving an estimated total of 4000 in Newcastle, (See A. Dyer, ‘Ranking Lists of English Medieval Towns’, in D. M. Palliser, (ed.), The Cambridge Urban History of Britain. Vol. 1. 600 – 1540, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 758 and E.A. Wrigley and R.S. Schofield, The Population History of England, 1541 – 1871, p. 528. Figures in K. Wrightson, Ralph Tailor’s Summer: A Scrivener, His City and the Plague, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2011, p. 166.) 4. Purdue, Op. Cit. 5. For Newcastle figures, a 1549 local muster recorded 1097 adult males, including servants, who were capable of bearing arms. If a multiplier of 4 4 is used (the household multiplier is irrelevant because the list is not confined to heads of household) and allowing for the old, sick and other non-combatants, a figure of 4388 is arrived at, (see P. Corfield, ‘Urban Development in England and Wales in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries’ in D. C. Coleman and A. H. Cole, Trade, Government Economy in Pre-Industrial England,

Page 8 of 56 reprinted in J. Barry, (ed.), The Tudor and Stuart Town: A Reader in Urban History, 1530 – 1680, Longman, London and New York, pp, 35 – 62, p.46.), and for Gateshead figures see F. Manders, A History of Gateshead, Gateshead, Gateshead Corporation, 1973. Constance Fraser says in 1548 the Bishopric of Durham noted 1000 communicants in Gateshead, and this has been modified R. H. Britnell according to the population of non-communicants given in Wrigley and Schofield for this period. 6. See C. M. Fraser, ‘The Diocese of Durham in 1663’, in T. E. Faulkner, Northumbrian panorama: studies in the history and culture of North East England, London, Octavian Press, 1996, pp. 33 – 48, pp.33-34. 7. There are no population figures in the historical record that are available for the 1630s; therefore, any total is an informed estimate and is acknowledged by Wrightson on p. 166. He notes the suggestion of R Welford ‘Newcastle Householders in 1665’, Archaeologica Aeliana, 3rd Series, 7, 1991, p. 56) of 12,500 from the 1665 hearth tax returns. Roger Howell (Newcastle upon Tyne and the Puritan Revolution. A Study of the Civil War in the North of England, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1967, p. 8) posits a figure of 13,000 whereas Langton (Op. cit.)Gives 11,600. These figures are based on household multipliers of 5.2 and 4.64 respectively. Wrightson has taken an average of all three, 11,500 – 12,000. Adrian Green in the most recent research suggests 12,000 – 13,000 (‘Learning the Tricks of the Northumberland and Newcastle upon Tyne Hearth Tax’, E. Ashton, M. Barke and E. George (eds.) A Northumbrian Miscellany. Historical Essays in Memory of Constance M. Fraser. With an Epilogue by Norman McCord, Berwick upon Tweed, The Association of Northumberland Local History Societies, 2015, 106 – 123, pp. 116 -17) says the figure suggest a figure of between 12,000 to 13,000 as Welford indicated. This is based on a household multiplier of 4.25 x 2,150 households, inflated by 25% to account for under recording. This is in turn, built upon the research of Andy Burn, Work and Society in Newcastle upon Tyne, 1600 – 1710, PhD Thesis, University of Durham, 2014). Given a 47% mortality rate of the 1636 plague, further outbreaks in 1642, 1644 – 45, 1651, and 1665, 2 occupations by a Scottish covenanting army, a siege and the consequent economic slowdown occasioned by Civil War, Wrightson claims that it is unlikely the population would have increased drastically between 1636 and 1665. Newcastle had hearth taxes in 1663, 1664, 1665, 1666, 1670-01 and 1674. The only published data is for 1665. However, a project is currently under way to publish all the surviving and legible returns. For more information on this, see Adrian Green’s article reference above and J. Gibson, The Hearth Tax, other Late Stuart tax lists and the Association Oath Rolls, Birmingham, Federation of Family History Societies¸2nd Edition, 1996, p. 47. The use of Hearth tax returns for population estimates depends upon what household multiplier is used and what allowance is made for under-recording. It is a crucial issue, see T. Arkell, ‘Multiplying Factors for Estimating Population Totals from the Hearth Tax’, Local Population Studies, 28, 1982, pp. 51-67. 8. For the Newcastle figures see Welford and Howell, Op. Cit., and for Gateshead, figures see P. Rushton, ‘Gateshead 1550 – 1700. Independence Against all the Odds?’ in D. Newton and A. J. Pollard,

Page 9 of 56 Newcastle and Gateshead Before 1700, Chichester, Phillimore and Co. Ltd, 2009, p. 295, 322, p. 314. Rushton uses the figures for the County Durham Hearth Tax of 1674 (see A. G. Green, E. Parkinson and M. Spufford, Durham Hearth Tax: Lady Day 1666, 2006, pp. cviii, cxxvi, cxxxv and 231.

Population Density and Distribution Having estimated a plausible total population of 12,000 – 13,000 for the 1630s, it is important to note the population was not evenly distributed across the town. The remainder of this discussion summarises and synthesises the seminal research of Langton and Heley5. As this is detailed research, references are only given in one footnote to avoid unnecessary repetition. Several, distinct, occupational zones are evident. In the period 1630 - 1670 there are two main sources used by historians to provide location quotients for each of the 24 wards, or for areas where the data is still extant. Firstly, Durham Consistory court evidence in the form of probated wills and household inventories from 1545 to 1642 for the tradesmen of Newcastle (i.e. excluding merchants)studied by Heley for her PhD, and secondly, the 1665 Newcastle Hearth Tax returns, which have been used by a number of historians, including Langton and Wrightson. From the 1665 returns, and assuming a 25% under recording6, there are 2,510 households (Wrightson gives 2,513), of which 1,472 were liable for taxation and 1,038 were exempted on the grounds of poverty. The consensus is that the Northern, North-eastern and North-western wards and suburbs (excepting Andrew Tower ward) have a low number of households per hectare. An inverted T-shape of the Central and South Western wards have a moderate to high (in the central markets of Mordon Tower ward, very high) household density. Langton argues for a partial exemption to this pattern for Corner Tower Ward or according to Heley part of Sandgate Ward in the Southeast of the town. The Southeast wards of Pandon, Wall Knoll, and Austin Towers, Sandgate and a section of Plummer Tower Ward have extremely high densities of households per hectare in both Langton and Heley’s evidence. According to the 1665 Hearth Tax returns, the following distribution is evident.

See Langton, J, Residential Patterns in Pre-Industrial Cities: Some case Studies from Seventeenth- Century England, in Barry, J. (ed.), The Tudor and Stuart Town. A Reader in Urban History, 1530-1688, Longman, London and New York, 1990,passim, but especially figures 3, 4 and 5 and appendix, pp.181, 183, 193 and 205 and Gwendolynn Heley, The Material Culture of the Tradesmen of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1545 – 1642. The Durham Probate Evidence, British Archaeological Reports Series, 497, Archaeopress, Oxford, 1990, passim, but particularly pp. 55 – 58, 148 – 149, Figures 4.1a – 4.1m, pp. 190 -91, Figures 4.2a - 4.12j, pp. 192-93 and Maps 4.1 – 4.15, pp. 197 – 427. 6 See Green, A, Learning the Tricks of the Northumberland and Newcastle upon Tyne Hearth Tax, Op. cit.

Page 10 of 56 Table 1.

Population totals by occupational sectors

Area

Wards and Suburbs

Northern/Northeastern/NorthWestern Wards and suburbs (8)

Fickett Tower, Andrew Tower, Ever Tower, Pilgrim Tower, Carliol Tower, Westgate, Bertram Monboucher Tower and Durham Tower

Central and South Western Wards (14)

South Eastern Wards (4)

White Friar Tower, Mordon Tower, Stank Tower, West Spittle Tower, Herber Tower, Newgate, Neville Tower, Closegate, Pink Tower, Gunner Tower, Plummer Tower and Corner Tower

Estimated population

% of total Newcastle population if estimated at 12,000

% of total Newcastle population if estimated at 12,600

% of total Newcastle population if estimated at 13,000

Average of % figures

3,400

28%

27%

26%

27%

3,650

30%

29%

28%

29%

5,500

46%

44%

42%

44%

Pandon Tower, Wall Knoll Tower, Austin Tower and Sandgate

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Chart 2. Population totals by occupational sectors

Newcastle upon Tyne population totals by occupational sectors (1665 Hearth Tax Returns)

27%

44%

29%

Northern, North-Eastern and North Western Wards and Suburbs Central and South-Western Wards South-Eastern Wards

Thus, as table 1 and chart 2 demonstrate, the four wards in the southeastern sector of the town comprised c. 42-46% of the total population, together with having the highest household density. The norther, north-eastern and north-western sector had c. 26-28% of the population with a low household density. Finally, the central and south-western wards showed c. 28-30% of the population total together with a moderate to high household density. Although this is a pattern for the mid â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1660s, as Wrightson argues, the pattern will not have changed significantly from the 1630s. Diagram 1 illustrates the findings.

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Diagram 4. Newcastle upon Tyne: 1665 Population distribution and density

Page 13 of 56 Diagram 5.

Wrightson/Welford Hearth tax exemption rates, 1665.

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However, when these findings are mapped onto estimated wealth and occupational status, the pattern indicates 3-4 distinct occupational zones. These are shown in diagrams 3 to 7 below. Nevertheless, both the hearth tax returns and probate evidence are imperfect, and the following analysis based on Langton’s article is subject to a degree of error, though in essentials the finding are borne out by the evidence. Langton identified three main occupational categories (see diagram 6, supplemented by Heley, merchants and personal services, shipping and associated services and lastly manufacturing. By further dividing these into sub-categories, Langton enumerated 56 distinct occupations and calculated 3 or 4 main occupational zones (see diagrams 6, 8 and 9 for a graphic representations of the results). Areas 1 – 27 A pronounced south-eastern8 service sector with a north-western9 corridor of victualling, shipping and building trades. Shipping trades and services were overwhelmingly concentrated in the Sandgate extramural settlements. The town’s main markets were immediately below the north-western sector.

Area 3 A marked mercantile and manufacturing sector located in the southwest10 of the town, with an eastern outlier in Corner Tower Ward. In the south-western sector the town’s government, Mayor’s house, Guildhall and Guild associations were found. In the eastern outlier there was a marked concentration of personal services, especially barber surgeons.

Area 4 A mixed occupational zone11 stretching from the western suburbs to Wall Knoll Tower Ward. In the area, no one occupation was predominant. Instead, a mixture of the 56 occupations listed by Langton could be found.

See diagram 8.

Pandon Tower, Pilgrim Tower, Wall Knoll Tower, Austin Tower (part) and Sandgate Wards.

Building and victualling trades located in Carliol Tower Ward, other trades in Fickett Tower, Andrew Tower and Durham Tower Wards. 10 Mordon Tower, Neville Tower, White Friar Tower, Pink Tower, Closegate and Newgate Wards. 11

Wrestgate, Stank Tower, West Spittle Tower, Gunner Tower, Plummer Tower, Austin Tower, Pandon Tower and Wall Knoll Tower Wards.

Page 15 of 56 Diagram 6.

Social geography of Newcastle in 1665 after Langton and Howell

Page 16 of 56 Diagram 7. Hearth Tax Exemptions correlated with wealth in 1665 after Langton and Barke12.

Barke, M and Buswell, R. J Newastleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Changing Map, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne City Libraries and Arts, 1992.

Page 17 of 56 Diagram 8.

Newcastle occupational zoning pre and post-Civil war after Langton and Heley.

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Occupational Zoning based on Newcastle upon Tyne Hearth Tax Assessments, 1665, with tradesman 1552 – 1642 highlighted in italic, bold underline from Durham Consistory Court Probate evidence

Category A:

Category: B

Category C:

MERCHANTS AND PERSONAL SERVICES

SHIPPING AND SERVICES

MANUFACTURING

Sub-categories

1 Merchants

Mayor, hostman who was not a mayor, merchant who was neither a mayor nor a hostman

2 Personal Services

Goldsmith, scrivener, recorder, minister of religion, doctor, apothecary, physician and barber surgeon (and wax and tallow chandler

2 Victualling

Shipwright, master mariner, mariner, carrier, carriageman , Keelmen*

Baker (and beer brewer), butcher, brewer, miller, confectioner

3 Building

Mason, slater, waller (and bricklayer and plasterer, paviour, house carpenter, plasterer, plumber, glazier (and painter)

1 Metal Blacksmith, anchorsmith, spurrier and lorimer, cutler, armourer, whitesmith, pewterer, locksmith, pulleymaker and coiner

2 Wood, 3 clothing and textiles Wood: Joiner, cooper Clothing/tex tiles: Weaver, fuller (and dyer), feltmaker, sailmaker, upholsterer, ropemaker, Tailor

Source: Langton, J, Residential Patterns in Pre-Industrial Cities: Some case Studies from Seventeenth- Century England, in Barry, J. (ed.), The Tudor and Stuart Town. A Reader in Urban History, 1530-1688, Longman, London and New York, 1990, p.205. * Not included in 1665 returns. Gwendolynn Heley, The Material Culture of the Tradesmen of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1545 – 1642. The Durham Probate Evidence, British Archaeological Reports Series, 497, Archaeopress, Oxford, 1990, figures 4.2 a – 4.2j, pp. 192-93.

Diagram 9. Occupational structure as revealed by 1665 Hearth Tax returns, according to Langton.

4 Leather Tanner, skinner (and glover), currier, saddler, cordwainer

Page 19 of 56 Diagram 10. Summary of Langtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Occupational Zoning

Page 20 of 56 The following is a simplified correlation of broad levels of wealth with household density based on Langton’s article13.

Areas 1 - 2 South-eastern and northwestern service and trade sector Low to moderate wealth in north-eastern and south-western wards, especially in the poorest area of Sandgate with over 40% of households in areas 1-2 exempt from the hearth tax (79% in Sandgate Ward; Fickett Tower ward also had more than 60% exemption, see diagrams 4, 5, 7 and 11). Household density low to very low in these areas, except in the south-eastern wards and notably Sandgate Ward where high to extremely high household densities were recorded. Areas 1- 2 had a low to negible mercantile to personal services sector. Of the five least wealthy wards✳ of Newcastle, four (Ever, Fickett, Andrew and Sandgate) were located in this areas (see diagram 9). The average number of hearths ranged from 1.0 to 1.6 per household. Significantly, no Mayors of the town were recorded as originating from this ward and, with the exception of Ever Tower Ward (and even then it was low), no Hostmen (wealthy merchants and part of the inner ring of town government) were found here.

In terms of Langton’s occupational groups (diagrams 8, 9 and 10), for group A there were low occupational levels generally, though this was more marked in Closegate, White Friar, Bertram Monboucher Tower Wards and significant in Pink Tower wards. There was a small mercantile sector in the north-eastern suburbs and Wall Knoll Tower and Plummer Tower Wards in the central belt of the town. For group B, low numbers are recorded in Pandon Tower and Wall Knoll Tower Wards, marked numbers in the north-western and north-eastern suburbs, Carliol Tower, Fickett Tower and Durham Tower Wards. In the central belt, the numbers were low. Unsurprisingly in the quayside ward of Sandgate there was a significant number of people associated with the shipping and its associated trades. Finally, for group C, there was a significant concentration in the central markets comprising the Wards of Ever Tower, Andrew Tower, and Pilgrim Tower, Herber Tower and Neville Tower Wards and the north-western suburbs. The remainder of the town‡ recorded low levels of this occupational group.

✳ Mordon Tower, the remaining ward contained the main markets, so had less exemption and a higher average number of hearths per household (1.8). However, no Mayors or Hostmen originated from here. ‡ Corresponding to Pandon Tower, Wall KnollTower, Gunner Tower, Wesgate, Pink Tower, West Spittle Tower, Stank Tower, and Austin Tower the western and north-eastern suburbs.

Indices of wealth combined with average number of hearths, percentage of taxpayers in each ward and the percentage of houses with 6 or more hearths.

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Area 3 South-western mercantile sector Wealth scale from moderate to the highest, especially in Newgate, Stank Tower, Pink Tower, Gunner Tower and Corner Tower Wards. A hinterland of the surrounding wards form the next wealth group (see diagrams 3 and 4). The south-western mercantile sector had the most wards with under 10% exemption from the hearth tax (see diagrams 4, 5 and 7). In this area household density ranges from relatively moderate to relatively high; the highest densities in Mordon Tower Ward containing the central markets, flowed by Closegate and Corner Tower Wards. In this area, no single ward had more than 40% exemption rates. Newgate, Pink and Corner Tower Wards had no exempt hearth taxpayers (see diagrams 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7). Area 3 contained high to significant numbers of mercantile and personal services. All the 5 wealthiest wards of the town were located in this area. These are Newgate, Pink Tower, Stank Tower, Gunner Tower and Corner Tower wards. The average number of hearths per household ranges from 3.3 – 6.8 (see diagrams 6, 7, 10 and 12. All the wards contained Hostmen orientating from them. Pink Tower and Corner Tower Wards had significant numbers in this category. With the exception of Newgate and Stank Tower wards, all other Wards in this area had Mayor originating in them. However, Pink Tower and Corner Tower registered significant numbers of Mayors.

In terms of Langton’s occupational groups (diagrams 8, 9 and 10), for group A ther was a low concentration in Austin Tower, West Spittle Tower, Gunner Tower and Westgate Wards and the western suburbs. This rose to a marked presence in Corner Tower, Bertram Monboucher Tower, Stank Tower and Closegate Wards, with the only significant registration in White Friar Tower Ward. For occupational group B, there were low registerings in Pandon Tower, Pink Tower, Herber Tower, West Spittle Tower and Closegate Wards and the Western suburbs. There was a marked showing in Newgate, Durham and Neville Tower Wards. The most marked and significant concentration occurred in the central markets of Mordon Tower Wards. There was a significant difference between Area 3 and Areas 1 – 2 in occupational grouping C. No ward recorded a significant register of people in these occupations. A marked presence is found in Herber and Neville Tower and Newgate Wards. Nevertheless, areas of low group C zoning predominated in Area 3. This included the Wards of Pink Tower, Plummer Tower, Stank Tower, West Spittle Tower, Westgate and the western suburbs.

In contrast, Heley provides valuable pre-Civil war data, which is pertinent to the study of the 1630s. Instead of Langton’s 56 occupational categories, Heley analyses categories B and C only, using Durham Consistory court probate evidence. Conversely, she includes keelmen, unlike Langton, whilst excluding the mercantile and personal services occupations of Langton’s group A. Wrightson did not use Heley’s data (and it does not appear in Wrightson’s bibliography. Whereas Langton used a broad 3 zone occupational social geography, Heley divides Newcastle in 9 areas.

Page 22 of 56 The estimated areas for Heleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social geography of early modern Newcastle is shown below. Langton Area

Heley Area

Description

Northern Suburbs14 Upper Central Markets, Central Markets (Upper section)15

Western Suburbs16 Upper East Side (Western)17 Upper West Side18

Lower East Side19 Eastern Suburbs20 (Bottom) Upper East Side21

Lower West Side22 Central Markets (Lower section)23 Upper West Side (Eastern section)24

In the following notes, P = partial. Ever Tower (P), Fickett Tower (P), Pilgrim Tower (P) and Carliol Tower (P) 15 Durham Tower (P), Ever Tower (P), Andrew Tower (P), Fickett Tower (P) Durham Tower (P) and Bertam Monboucher (P) 16 Westgate (P) 17 18 19

Pilgrim Tower (P), Carliol Tower (P), Plummer Tower (P) and Gunner Tower (P) Westgate (P) Austin Tower, Corner Tower, Pandon Tower and Wall Knoll Tower (P)

Wall Knoll (P) and Sandgate

Carliol Tower (P)

Closegate, White Friar Tower (P), West Spittle Tower (P), Gunner Tower (P), Pink Tower (P) Plummer Tower (P) and Neville Tower (P) 23 Herber Tower (P), Mordon Tower, Newgate (P) and Stank Tower (P) 24

Neville Tower (P), White Friar Tower (P) and West Spittle (P)

Page 23 of 56 The detailed results of Heley’s analysis is presented in diagrams 13 – 16. As Heley did not include the Merchant’s and Personal Services sector identified by Langton, this has been grafted onto Heley’s findings to give a fuller, if approximate, picture. A simplified version of the above diagrams is outlined below.

Langton Area

Heley Area

Major (✳) and Lesser (‡) Occupations25

Wealth

Population Density

Merchants and personal services

Bakers/brewers HW✳ Butchers HW✳ Cordwainers HW✳✳ Tailors LW✳ Tanners HW✳ Millers LW✳ Weavers LW‡ Smiths HW‡ Skinners and glovers LW‡ Mariners LW ‡ Shipwrights HW‡

Poor to moderate levels of wealth

Low to moderate

From zero to low quotients

Shpwrights HW✳✳ Bakers/brewers HW✳ Mariners LW✳ Keelmen LW(✳) Millers LW‡ Skinners and glovers LW‡ Smiths HW‡ Tailors LW‡ Cordwainers HW‡

Poor to moderate levels of wealth

Low to very high (Sandgate Ward)

From zero to low quotients

HW = High wealth occupations: bakers/brewers, cordwainers, butchers, master mariners, shipwrights, smiths and tanners; LW = Low wealth occupations: keelmen, mariners, millers, skinner/glovers, tailors, and weavers.

Page 24 of 56

Cordwainers HW✳✳ Butchers HW✳ Master mariners HW‡ Skinners and glovers LW‡ Tailors LW‡ Weavers LW✳ Millers LW✳ Shipwrights HW‡ Keelmen LW‡ Smniths HW‡

Moderate to very high ( Pink and Closegate Wards)

Moderate to high

Marked and significant quotients

Page 25 of 56 Diagram 11. Newcastle upon Tyne, 5 least wealthy Wards from 1665 Hearth Tax returns Newcastle upon Tyne in 1665* A: least wealthy wards – household geography, estimated population and occupational structure 1. Ward

Households per hectare

(*Based on 1665 Hearth Tax returns)

Ever Tower

Fickett Tower

Morden Tower

Andrew Tower

Sandgate

< 24.9

75 – 99.9

25 – 49.9

> 100

Total no of households Total no of exempt households

Total number of hearths

Average no of hearths per household

1. 2.

Total number of hearths exempted

1 = 96

1 = 117

2 = 58

1 = 96

1 = 78

2 = 58

2 = 31

1 = 96

1 = 118

2 = 58

2 = 12

1 = 96

1 = 118

2 = 58

2 = 45

1 = 96

1 = 782

2 = 58

2 = 510

1.0 Over 40% exempted

Estimated populatio n variation of + or 15 %

1 = 500 2 = 425-575

1.6 Over 40% exempted

1 = 200

1.8 Under 10% exempted

1 = 300

1.4 Over 40% exempted

1 = 400

1.2 Over 40% exempted

1 = 3200

2 = 170 - 230

2 = 255-345

2 = 340- 460

2 = 2780-3680

Occupational structure

Marked general manufacturing sector. No mayors, very small no of Hostman originated in ward. Marked shipping and services sector. No Mayors or Hostman originated in ward. Very significant metal workers and textiles/clothing sector. No Mayors or Hostman originated in ward.

Marked manufacturing and Shipping services sector. No Mayors or Hostman originated in ward. Very significant Shipping services sector. No Mayors or Hostman originated in ward.

Sources: Langton, J, Residential Patterns in Pre-Industrial Cities: Some case Studies from Seventeenth- Century England, in Barry, J. (ed.), The Tudor and Stuart Town. A Reader in Urban History, 1530-1688, Longman, London and New York, 1990, figures 3, 4 and 5 and appendix, pp.181, 183, 193 and 205. Howell, R, Newcastle Upon Tyne and the Puritan Revolution. A Study of the Civil War in the North of England, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1967, Appendix, tables 1 and 2, pp. 350-51.

Page 26 of 56 Diagram 12. Newcastle upon Tyne 5 most wealthy wards from 1665 Hearth tax returns. Newcastle upon Tyne in 1665* B: wealthiest wards – household geography, estimated population and occupational structure 3. Ward

Households per hectare

(*Based on 1665 Hearth Tax returns)

Newgate

Pink Tower

Stank Tower

Gunner Tower

Corner Tower

25 – 49.9

50 – 74.9

Total no of households Total no of exempt households

Total number of hearths

Average no of hearths per household

Total number of hearths exempted

1 = 32

1 = 138

2 = 0

1 = 30

1 = 204

2 = 0

1 = 37

1 = 125

2 = 4

1 = 45

1 = 165

2 = 2

1 = 47

1 = 200

2 = 0

2 =

3. 4.

4.3 No households exempted

Estimated populatio n variation of + or 15%

1 = 200 2 = 170 - 230

6.8 No households exempted

1 = 150 2 = 128 - 178

3.3 10 – 40% households exempted

1 = 200

3.7 Under 10% households exempted

1 = 200

4.2 No households exempted

1 = 200

2 = 170 - 230

Occupational structure

Low metal, clothing and leather sectors. Small no of Hostman, No Mayors. Significant Merchant sector. Significant no of mayors and Hostman. Low in all sectors: merchants, personal services, shipping, victualling, building, metal, wood, clothing, textiles, leather. Small no of Hostman. No Mayors. Lower Merchants and personal services sector. Small no Mayors, moderate no of Hostman. Significant personal services sector. Low no of mayors. Significant no of Hostman.

Page 27 of 56

Crafts in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1665, as localised by Wards

Craft

Slater and brick layer

Total Membership 8

Wards

Carliol Tower

% of total in named wards 75

Austin Tower

Baker

25 Pandon Tower Butcher

Plummer Tower Gunner Tower Austin Tower

Shipwright

Sandgate

Barber-surgeon

Corner Tower Wall Knoll Tower

Austin Tower

Mordon Tower Pilgrim Tower Carliol Tower

Wall Knoll Tower Sandgate Pandon Tower

Blacksmith

Master mariner and mariner 37

Page 28 of 56 Diagram 13. Comparison of Occupational Zoning for Tradesmen in Newcastle upon Tyne, 1549 – 1642 (Heley) and 1665 (Langton). Square brackets Occupational categories (Langton)

indicate concentrations spread over two or more wards from Heley’s data Wards within neighbourhoods (Heley)

B1: Mariners

Sandgate, Wall Knoll, Plummer, Austin

B1: Master Mariners

Sandgate, Wall Knoll [Pandon, Austin]

B1: Shipwrights Keelmen (not included by Langton)

Wards allocated by Langton Sandgate, Wall Knoll

Sandgate, Wall Knoll Sandgate

B2: Bakers/Brewers Austin, [Carliol, Pilgrim], Pandon B2: Butchers B2: Millers

C1: Smiths/anchorsmiths C3: Tailors^ and Weavers C4: Cordwainers C4: Skinners/Glovers C4: Tanners

Plummer, Austin, Carliol, Pandon

Austin [Newgate, Mordon] [Ever, Andrew, Fickett] Plummer, Pandon, Westgate, Sandgate

Mordon, Pilgrim and Carliol*

Wall Knoll, Pandon, Ficket, Sandgate Sample size too small to confirm concentrations Westgate, [Bertram Monboucher, Pilgrim]

tailors.

Mordon [Pilgrim, Carliol, Andrew, Fickett], [Plummer, Pink, West Spittle, White friar,Gunner]

Mordon, Denton or Neville, West Spittle, Pilgrim Pandon, White Friar

[White Friar, Denton or Neville, West Spittle] [Durham, Ever, Andrew], Westgate, Sandagate

Source: Gwendolynn Heley, The Material Culture of the Tradesmen of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1545 – 1642. 497, Archaeopress, Oxford, 1990, Figures 4.1a - 4.12, 4.4 a – 4.4e and Maps 4.1 – 4.13, p. 149.

The Durham Probate Evidence, British Archaeological Reports Series,

* Smiths are the only metal trade included in the Heley data, whereas Langton list eight separate divisions. Smiths using Heley’s data.

Therefore, the concentration is not necessarily applicable to

^ Tailors are located along the three main streets, Pilgrim Street, Westgate Street and Newgate street, especially from the central markets up to the Newgate. single ward has a concentration of tailors.

However, no

Page 29 of 56 Diagram 14.

Occupational Zones Newcastle upon Tyne, 1549 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1642, based on probate evidence (Heley)

Page 30 of 56 Diagram 15.

Social Geography of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1549 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1642, based on probate evidence (Heley)

Page 31 of 56 Diagram 16.

Occupational Zoning of Newcastle upon Tyne Tradesmen, 1545 – 1642, from Probate Evidence (Heley)

Occupational Zoning

of Newcastle upon Tyne Tradesmen, 1545 – 1642, from Durham Consistory Court Probate Evidence

Occupationa l Zone and No of Properties (%)

Bakers and Brewers

Butchers

Cordwainers

Keelmen

Mariners

Master Mariners

Millers

Shipwrights

Skinners/ glovers

Smiths

Tailors

Tanners

Weavers

Lower East side (23)

Upper East side (8)

Lower West side (5)

Central Markets (13)

Upper Central Markets (6)

Upper West Side (7)

Western suburbs (2)

Northern Suburbs (9)

Eastern suburbs (23) All areas Combined

(% of 520 inventories ) Source: Gwendolynn Heley, The Material Culture of the Tradesmen of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1545 – 1642. Archaeological Reports Series, 497, Archaeopress, Oxford, 1990, Figures 4.2a - 4.12j, pp. 192-93.

The Durham Probate Evidence, British

Page 32 of 56 Diagram 17.

Wealth distribution correlated with occupation and no of rooms per dwelling (Heley)

Percentage of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Tradesmen in low/high wealth groups with above and below £35 inventoried wealth, 1552 - 1642 (Sample: 257 inventories)

Date

1552 - 1600

1601 - 1625

1626 - 1642

1552 - 1642

Number of rooms

Totals: Low wealth

1-3 4-6 7-9 > 10 Total 1-3 4-6 7–9 > 10 Total

9 4 2 0 15 9 14 0 0 23

1-3 4-6 7-9 > 10 Total 1-3 4-6 7-9 > 10 Total inventories

6 10 1 1 18 24 28 3 1 56

Percentages: wealth

Low

60.0% 26.7% 13.3% 0.0% 100.0% 39.1% 60.9% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 33.3% 55.6% 5.6% 5.6% 100.0% 42.9% 50.0% 5.4% 1.8% 100.0%

Low wealth group: Keelmen, mariners, millers, skinners/glovers, tailors, weavers Source: Gwendolynn Heley, The Material Culture of the Tradesmen of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1545 – 1642. Archaeological Reports Series, 497, Archaeopress, Oxford, 1990, Table 6.1b, p. 165

Totals: High wealth

7 20 10 0 37 19 22 3 1 45 13 17 8 4 42 39 59 21 5 124

Percentages: wealth

High

18.9% 54.1% 27.0% 0.0% 100.0% 42.2% 48.9% 6.7% 2.2% 100.0% 31.9% 40.5% 19.0% 9.5% 100.0% 31.5% 47.6% 16.9% 4.0% 100.0%

High wealth group: Bakers and brewers, butchers, cordwainers, master mariners, shipwrights, smiths, tanners The Durham Probate Evidence, British

Page 33 of 56 Differences between pre- and post-Civil War social geography of Newcastle tradesmen.

1. Shipping trades: mariners, master mariners, shipwrights and Keelmen (Langton B 1, excluding Keelmen) Mariners are listed in the probate evidence in five of Heley’s locations; there is a concentration in the lower east side and Sandgate (Plummer, Austin, Wall Knoll Tower and Sandgate Wards). Master mariners are spread over seven locations, yet there is a corresponding grouping to mariners in the lower east side (Pandon, Austin, Wall Knoll Tower and some in Sandgate wards). Shipwrights were to be found in four locations; however, a significant majority lived and worked in the Sandgate Ward. All of the keelmen noted by Heley resided in Sandgate Ward. Therefore, Langton’s 1665 location quotients have a good correlation with Heley’s evidence, especially so for shipwrights. Conversely, the probate evidence demonstrates a wider dispersal pattern for mariners and particularly master mariners (Austin, Plummer, Pandon, Wall Knoll and Sandgate Wards). The majority of master mariners, according to Hely, resided in the lower east side and the upper west side; whereas, Langton described these areas with a predominantly mercantile conglomeration. In the lower and upper east sides populated with a moderate to large quotient of merchants, Heley found a diverse services quotient.

Victualling Trades: (Langton B 2)

bakers,

brewers,

butchers

and

millers

According to the probate evidence, there are no significant location quotients for these trades in any sector of the town. Langton’s data fits the probate evidence well regarding bakers and brewers, less so with butchers. In the probate evidence, millers are found in the wards of Westgate and Sandgate contrary to Langton’s 1665 data. Butchers were more dispersed and not concentrated on Butcher’s bank where Langton placed them. There is no probate evidence for a separate victualling quarter in the lower east side for butchers.

3. Metal trades: smiths and anchorsmiths (Langton C 1) Smiths were found by Heley in six areas but most had properties located in the lower east side, Sandgate and the upper central markets (Wall Knoll, Pandon and Fickett Tower and Sandgate Wards). There is no evidence to support Langton’s concentration of blacksmiths in the wards of Mordon Tower, Pilgrim Tower and Carliol Tower. In its place, the probate evidence indicates the Noult (horse) market in Newgate

Page 34 of 56 Ward and the gate area of Sandgate Ward in the extra mural suburbs had the highest location of blacksmiths.

4. Clothing and Textile trades: tailors and Wavers (Langton C 3)

Textiles trades in Hely’s results are located in seven areas, especially the three main streets of the own (Westgate, Newgate and Pilgrim Streets) and the quayside. Weavers were found in six neighbourhoods, though markedly in the upper west side and central markets (Westgate, Bertram Monboucher and Pilgrim Tower wards. The pre-Civil War probate records indicated there were no weavers in the upper central area of the town (Pilgrim Tower Ward) as proposed by Langton. Furthermore, tailors have a marked presence in the lower east side and this is not shown in the 1665 data.

5. Leather trades: (Langton C 2)

cordwainers,

skinners,

glovers

and

tanners

The probate evidence does not indicate that these leathers trades shared a common neighbourhood. Most cordwainers were concentrated in the central markets, the lower west side and the northern suburbs, dominating Mordon Tower Ward. They were also present in the four contiguous norther wards of Pilgrim, Carliol, Fickett and Andrew Towers and the southern contiguous wards of Pink, Gunner, West Spittle and White Friar Towers. Skinners and Glovers were pronounced in the upper and lower west sides; the contiguous wards of White Friar, Denton and West Spittle Towers. Tanner are largely confined to the upper central markets wards of contiguity of Durham, Ever and Andrew Towers. In addition, they had some noticeable presence in Westgate and Sandgate Wards. This is a major disagreement with Langton’s findings as he placed all these trades concentrated in the wards of Pandon and White Friar Towers.

Heley’s conclusions on the Social Geography of Newcastle upon Tyne

The probate evidence from the 1550s to 1642 does demonstrate a clear occupational zoning of trades much as Langton noticed for the hearth tax returns of 1665. Probate evidence agrees with Langton that Newcastle did not have a single economic nucleus around which the rest of the town was organised. In contrast, Newcastle was multi-centred with concentrated and segregated neighbourhoods in mercantile, shipping, victualling and manufacturing sectors. However, Heley found that the probate evidence does not concur in every case with the occupational groupings of Langton’s 1665 sample.

Page 35 of 56 Separate quarters for shipping and victualling trades are not found in the probate evidence, unlike that argued for by Langton. Master mariners, mariners (but not shipwrights or keelmen), butchers, millers, bakers and brewers were widely dispersed over the lower east side of the town. Langton found a higher degree of coherence in manufacturing services trades and craft trades were widely disseminated. However, Heley states there were several significant concentrated manufacturing districts. Despite Langton’s argument that trade tended to conglomerate around the towns strategic facilities such as markets and meetinghouses, Heley conversely argued that the three main arteries of the town and their contiguous or associated gates were as equally important.

The governance of the town and county of Newcastle upon Tyne This section is largely based on Howell’s analysis of the pre-Civil War oligarchy of Newcastle26 and Wrightson’s evidence on the parochial staff in 1636. The main areas of Civil and religious governance are:

I. 26

Parish of Newcastle upon Tyne27

Howell, R, Newcastle upon Tyne and the Puritan Revolution. A Study of the Civil War in the North of England, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1967, pp. 50 – 60, passim. 27 Howell, Ibid. p. 239, Wrightson, Op. Cit. pp. 59 -61. See also R. Welford, Men of Mark ‘Twixt Tyne and Tweed, London and Newcastle, 1895, Volume 1, pp.42 – 46 and Volume 2, pp. 629 – 635, Wrightson, Op. Cit. pp. 61 – 62, Christopher Foster was baptised in All Hallows church on 13th December 1607 (All Hallows parish register. I cannot find the birth date of Phillip Doncaster, however at the time of the plague he was an elderly gentlemen as his will of 1638 was in dispute and had reached all the way to the Archiepiscopal Consistory court at York, W. J. Shiels, Ecclesiastical Cause Papers at York: Files Transmitted on Appeal, 1500 – 1883, Borthwick Texts and Collections: Records of the Northern Province, 9, Borthwick Institute, University of York, 1983. The information on Jenison comes from Welford and the Oxford Dict ionary of National Biography entry by W. J. Shiels (see http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/14718?docPos=2 R. Howell, Puritans and radicals in north England: essays on the English revolution (1984) · R. Howell, Newcastle upon Tyne and the puritan revolution: a study of the civil war in north England (1967). Jennison was baptised at St. Nicholas Church in Newcastle upon Tyne on 6th January 1583, died in Newcastle on the 6th November 1652, and buried two days later in St. Nicholas’ graveyard. Jenison was the son of one of the wealthy mercantile, inner ring of Newcastle (Ralph Jenison, who died of plague in 1597). He was educated at Newcastle grammar school, then Emmnauuel College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1605 with a BA degree. His tutor was the notable puritan divine Samuel Ward. He graduated with an MA from St. John’s College, Cambridge in 1608. He was elected fellow of the college in the same year and by 1616, he had a Bachelor of Divinity, and by 1628 was a doctor of Divinity. He was briefly chaplain to the Earl of Kent (1608 – 1614), then master of St. Mary Magdalene Hospital in Newcastle. By 1622, he was a lecturer at All Hallows parish church, though he was not responsible for the cure of souls. He had strong Calvinist leanings and in March 1639, the Ecclesiastical High Commission deprived him of his lectureship because of his tensions and contrary preaching with the Vicar of Newcastle, Yeldrad Alvey who was an advanced Arminian and Laudian churchman. In 1640, he fled to Danzig in Poland, returning to Newcastle on 2 April 1646 after the sequestration of Alvey by the Parliamentary Commission and was appointed senior minister (and technically Vicar) of Newcastle. He tried to instigate a strong Calvinist, Presbyterian system in Newcastle. In addition to Welford, and Howell, information about Revered Yeldard Alvey is in Alumni Cantabrigienses and Alumni

Page 36 of 56 Technically one parish established in 1400 with the Vicar of Newcastle resident at St. Nicholas’s church and appointed by the see of Carlisle. The three other parishes of St. Andrew, St John and all Hallows (or All Saints) were technically not full parishes rather they were parochial chapelries of St. Nicholas and were served by curates appointed by the Vicar of Newcastle. A number of lectureships were attached to these chapelries and were under the patronage of the Mayor and corporation of Newcastle. In 1636, the vicar of Newcastle was the Reverend Yeldard Alvey (appointed 1631, also vicar of the Northumberland parish of Eglingham), an Arminian high churchman and supporter of the Church of England reforms of King Charles 1 and Archbishop William Laud, on the “beauty of holiness”. His chief opponent in the city was the puritan minister and preacher Robert Jenison who, at the time of the plague outbreak, was (appointed in 1622) the Newcastle Corporation preacher for All Hallows parish. Reverend Philip Doncaster was a clerk and curate of All Hallows parish church, dying about Michaelmas 1636 (29th September. The Reverend Christopher Foster, curate, perhaps appointed in December 1635, but baptised in the All Hallows parish register on 13 December, 1607 was assistant to Vicar Alvey. The parochial structure is shown on the picture overleaf. Of the curate of St. Andrew’s parish, the parish clerk had to write up the register which means the curate probably died of plague or just before the epidemic. There is no surviving information on who the curate of St. John’s parish was at the time of the epidemic.

Oxonienses. Yeldard Alvery was born in 1594 a native of Bedfordshire and died in 1648/49 He matriculated from Oxford University on June 15, 1610 aged 16 and graduated with a BA degree in 1614, and MA degree in 1618.19 from the University of Cambridge and a bachelor of Divinity from the same University in 1625. In 1622, the Bishop of Durham licensed Alvey to be a lecture and preacher, where he took up his position under the incumbent vicar, the strong Arminian Reverend Thomas Jackson. In 1627, he was appointed as Vicar of the parish of Eglingham in Northumberland. He was in royal favour, as upon the retirement of Jackson in 16301, the King ordered the Bishop of Durham to appoint Alvey as vicar of Newcastle in 1631. He was an ardent royalist and Laudian clergyman and a very strong anti-Calvinist and antipuritan priest. He regularly petitioned Archbishop William Laud (Archbishop of Canterbury and Secretary of State) on church matters. He fled Newcastle in August 1640 when a Scottish covenanting army occupied the town, after the defeat of royalist forces at the battle of Newburn. He returned after the withdrawal of the Scottish army in August 1641. Welford argues that from this date the remainder of his life must have been unhappy as an ardent royalist and struggling against Newcastle puritans and Presbyterians, he lost his wife in 1643. He stayed during the siege of Newcastle in 1644 by another Scottish covenanting army. Soon afterward, he was sequestrated by orders of the Parliamentary regime, lost all his livings became a ruined man, being imprisoned at Newcastle, Holy Island and Norwich. He died of broken spirits and in privation on 19th March 1648-49, only weeks after the execution of the King Charles 1. He was buried in St. Nicholas Church in Newcastle, whose parish register records “Mr. Yeldard Alvey, minister, and sometime vicar of this towne”.

Page 37 of 56

Page 38 of 56 II.

Mayor of the town and County of Newcastle upon Tyne (created by Royal Charter in 1400)

III.

Sheriff of the town and County of Newcastle upon Tyne (Royal Justice)

IV.

Common council (numbering 24, elected annually) of Newcastle upon Tyne and 10 Alderman

Guild Council (all free burgesses of the town meeting three times a year.

The most important observation is that no single, powerful dynastic family or a complex of gentry families was in a position of dominance.

Mayor

Sheriff

Aldermen

Common Council

Guild Council

Alderman

Royal justice, from the creation of the County of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1400

Established by Royal Charter of 1400

By 1557 the first of the 24 freemen of Newcastle upon Tyne were chosen from men who had been Mayors or Aldermen.

This was composed of the Mayor and burgesses of the town of Newcastle upon Tyne and met three times a year.

These four then chose a further eight freemen.

It had no clear powers and was often in antagonism with the Common Council

Presiding officer of the Common council Presiding officer of the Guild council Had power of veto: by charter he and 6 other Alderman had to concur in guild votes when the guild council were advocating a corporate act

Elected annually Member of the Common Council Held a court for nonburgesses twice a week Presiding officer of County or Sheriff court, meeting monthly

In Charter of Elizabeth 1 (1600), they were life appointees Six Alderman elected by burgesses of Newcastle upon Tyne. Fluidity of mode of election. In the reign of Queen Mary 1 the number was increased to 10

The combined twelve elected another 12, so that twenty councillors were members of Newcastle Guilds or Mysteries In Royal Charters of Elizabeth and James 1 (1600, 1603 and 1604), twelve guilds elected the council

Page 39 of 56 (all 24). Initially four would be chosen including the retiring Mayor, from those who had been Mayors and Aldermen. These four elected seven Alderman and a further Alderman who had also been Sheriff. This gave twelve. The final twelve were to be selected from a list of twelve nominees composed of the Guild Mysteries and fifteen nominees from the large trades or lesser companies of Newcastle upon Tyne The court of the Common Council consisted of the Mayor, Sheriff, Aldermen and the twenty four freemen as established by Royal Charter in 1600

However, in terms of the day to day Town governance a more complex picture emerges as the crucially important role of the Tyneside coal trade comes into focus. The following diagram on the next page helps to make this clearer.

Page 40 of 56 Diagram 18 Newcastle Town Governance and the Inner Ring after Howell and Hatcher28 The Grand Lessees and the ‘Lords of Coal’ In 1577 Queen Elizabeth 1 cajoled the Bishop of Durham into leasing his lands in the manors of Gateshead and Whickham to the crown for 99 years ostensibly to bolster the wealth of her favourite the Earl of Leicester. In practice this was to increase Crown revenues by charging for the shipment of coal by water from Newcastle to London and other domestic and overseas destinations. Thomas Sutton, Surveyor in Ordnance to the Northern Parts (and a follower of the Earl of Leicester), then obtained the lease from the Queen. In 1583, his sold this lease to the Newcastle merchants Henry Anderson and William Selby for the enormous sum of £12,000. They in turn brought in further merchants (William Jenison, Henry Chapmen, William Riddell, Henry Mitford, Roger Nicholson and George Farnaby) and by 1600, the Queen incorporated this trade into the Hostmen’s charter of 1600. This produced a near monopoly of coal mining in the Tyne valley and the years between the 1570s and the 1620s were a watershed in the development of the Tyneside Coal industry as demand soared, especially from London and other large provincial towns. From 1564 – 1570 15,000 tons of coal per annum was being shipped from Tyneside through Newcastle and the entrepôt of North Shields. Following the Grand Lease of 1677 and its takeover by Newcastle’s mercantile elite in the 1580s, total coastal and overseas shipments were averaging in the 1650s around 300, 000 to London and a further 200,000 to other English principal ports. Exports overseas averaged 29 30,000 tons per annum. The rate of increase between the 1560s and the 1690s was 10 fold (possibly peaking 13 fold in the early 1630s)

The Inner Ring Oligarchy of about 20 men who had effective political and economic control of the Tyne Valley. A clique composed of powerful Mercers and coal traders.

Company of Hostmen A charted (1581, 1591 1600) and constituted Company presided over by a governor. Powerful Coal traders Merchants and Merchant Adventurers (mercers, boothmen, drapers). It was neither one of the 12 Guild mysteries nor 15 bye trades. Therefore, it had no vote on the town council. In theory, it was open to any Freeman of Newcastle upon Tyne upon payment of his duties. In practice, it was limited to a small number of wealthy and connected burgesses. Heavily linked and associated with the Inner ring.

Reformers From the 1590s, a counteractive movement to the Inner Ring, in an attempt to preserve the power of all Freemen within the town government. Largely composed of lesser Newcastle Merchants (and their servants and associates) who wanted a share in the town government and the increasingly expanding and wealthy control trade. On Shrove Tuesday of 1633, a riot occurred in the Sheildfield extra mural area begun by apprentices who pulled down a limekiln belonging to Christopher Realey, armed with pikes and other weapons. The limekiln was supposedly built on the drying fields of the apprentices. These were largely tailors’ apprentices and those belonging to the lesser trades. The town militia and armed bands had to be called out to bring this under control. The most series reform challenge to the Inner ring before 1636.

The History of the British Coal Industry: Volume 1. Before 1700: Towards the Age of Coal, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993, Table 14.1 (a), pp. 488-89, 509 – 33, especially pp. 513, 515 and 518 and Howell, R, Newcastle Upon Tyne and the Puritan Revolution. A Study of the Civil War in the North of England, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1967, pp. 50 – 60, passim.

Page 41 of 56 Diagram 19.

Coal Shipped from Newcastle upon Tyne, 1597 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1660 in Chaldrons and Tons Coal Shipped from Newcastle upon Tyne, 1597-1660

Period

Coastal Chaldron*

Overseas

Tons

Chaldrons

Total

Tons

Chaldrons

Tons

1597-98

70, 360

186,454

9,916

26,277

80,276

212,731

1607-08

105,274

278,976

6,906

18,300

112,180

297,276

1608-09

102,050

270,433

11,884

31,493

113, 934

301,925

1611-12

87,550

232,008

10,450

27,693

98,000

259,700

1612-13

96,391

255,436

11,860

31,429

108,251

286,865

1613-14

101,822

269,828

12,200

32,330

114,022

302,158

1614-15

99,550

263,808

12,490

33,099

112,030

296,906

1615-16

101,390

268,684

11,780

31,217

113,170

299,901

1616-17

93,303

246,537

13,560

35,934

106,593

282,471

1617-18

100,540

266,431

13,900

36,835

114,440

302,266

1618-19

----------

15,289

40,516

----------

1620-21

118,950

315,218

----------

-----------

----------

1621-22

143,707

380,824

20,836

55,215

164,543

436,039

1622-23

124,455

329,806

-----------

----------

-----------

----------

1623-24

142,618

377,938

-----------

----------

Page 42 of 56

1624-25

82,124

217,629

-----------

----------

1625-26

111,192

294,659

14,851

39,355

126,043

334,014

1629-30

120,657

319,741

17,401

46,113

138,058

365.854

1632-33

-----------

15,985

42,360

-----------

1633-34

160,500

425,325

17,000

45,050

177,500

470,375

1634-35

-----------

14,650

38,323

-----------

1635-36

-----------

14,948

39,612

-----------

1636-37

-----------

13,954

36,978

-----------

1637-38

-----------

15,612

40,179

-----------

1638-39

-----------

17,794

47,154

-----------

1639-40

-----------

9,906

26,251

-----------

1624-43

-----------

20,152

53,403

1643-44

-----------

876

2,321

1644-45

-----------

126,891

336,261

1654-55

147,078

389,757

-----------

----------

-----------

1657-58

132,490

351,099

6,257

16,555

138,737

367,653

1658-59

187,234

496,170

16,379

43,404

203,613

539,574

1659-60

166,551

441,360

10,966

29,060

177,517

470,420

Sources: John Hatcher, The History of the British Coal Industry: Volume 1. Before 1700: Towards the Age of Coal, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993, Table 14.1 (a), pp. 488-89. The table by Hatcher is based, for the most part, on Royal Customs levies at ports of embarkation, or from sources that have made use of these, where the original documents no longer survive. P. D. Wright, Water Trades on the Lower River Tyne in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, PhD Thesis, University of Durham, p. 22.

Page 43 of 56 Diagram 20. Newcastle coal exports, after Hatcher.

Newcastle upon Tyne: Coal exports, 1597-1690 (Averages) 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0

Chaldrons of coal

Tons of Coal

Page 44 of 56

Diagram 21.

The Tyneside Coal Industry in the seventeenth Century

Page 45 of 56

The Life of Ralph Taylor, scrivener and then notarie publicke The following four diagrams (22 -25) summarise the evidence provided by Wrightson, as this is scattered throughout his book on pages 54 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 61, 62 - 64ff, 85 and 144ff.

Page 46 of 56 Diagram 22.

Life of Ralph Tailor 1

Page 47 of 56 Diagram 23.

Life of Ralph Tailor 2

Page 48 of 56 Diagram 24.

Life of Ralph Tailor 3

Page 49 of 56 Diagram 25.

Life of Ralph Tailor 4

Page 50 of 56 The Administrator of Ambrose Haddock’s estate reported to Consistory Court in 1637 about the “funeral expenses for the said deceased and six others of his familie who died plague in his house (besyds Ellysons children who were tuicon).29

the Durham himself of all if the under his

AMBROSE HADDOCK (buried in St Andrew’s churchyard on 10th October 1636 married to ANNE HADDOCK THE EXTENDED HADDOCK HOUSEHOLD Six other family members Three girls, Ambrose’s nieces, daughter of his brother in law GEORGE ELLISON. He entrusted his daughters and their inheritance to their Uncle Ambrose and Aunt Anne, probably sometime in August 1636

GEORGE ELLISON dies of plague and is buried in St. Andrew’s churchyard on 3rd September 1636

ISOBEL HADDOCK Witness to the will of ISOBEL ELLISON, dies of plague and is buried in St. Andrew’s churchyard on 28th August 1636

His daughter ISOBELL ELLISON, already sick with plague made a will sometime in August leaving most of her portion to her two sisters and small bequests to her Haddock relatives. She dies and is buried with her Father at the same time on 3rd September 1636

Therefore, by the time Ralph Tailor came to inventory the goods of Isobel Haddock in February 1637, the only surviving member of the Haddock and Ellison households was Anne Haddock, who, by this time, had remarried.

Wrightson, Op. Cit., pp. 41 – 42 and 170.

Page 51 of 56

The Plague of 1636

The threat of Plague, epidemic disease and famines was the defining characteristic of England for centuries. In terms of contemporary, that is Seventeenth Century, official interpretations for the reason for plague, a cluster of three main interpretations are found. The religious interpretation of Plague was that it was the Judgement of God upon a sinful people because of man’s estrangement from the laws of God and the grace of God’s election. This explanation can be found most forcibly by the puritan Newcastle preacher Robert Jennison in his Newcastle’s Call to her Neighbour and Sister Townes and Cities throughout the Land (London, 1637).

Page 52 of 56 However, Wrightson finds that there is no clear evidence to suggest that Newcastle folk had a morbid preoccupation with sin as a factor for explanation. Sin was certainly acknowledged as a factor in God’s judgement. Nevertheless, there was no public services of prayer and supplication or that individuals saw their own plight, pain and tragedy primarily as a religious judgement from on high30. At this juncture, it is important to record that we have no unequivocal evidence for the personal religious beliefs of Ralph Tailor, from which the majority of surviving testamentary evidence we can gain such an insight to other’s religious beliefs. Wrightson states that it is reasonable to assume he held the conventional religious beliefs of the day, an Anglican, but without veering towards extremes. His note of “visited with the plague of pestilence” does imply a providential judgement, but neither a harsh nor a censorious one. His faith, whatever it consisted of, was concerned with the human predicament of plague. However, in his nuncupative wills of Margaert Ayre, Ralph Emerson and Richard Brown his religious preamble or soul bequest was written in the same terms. This, says Wrightson, may give as close a clue to his own personal doctrine of redemption as we can achieve from the evidence. It was as follows: “…into the hands of Almightie God my maker and to his son Jesus Christ my onely saviour and Redeemer by and through whose precious death and passion I hope assuredly for the full remission pardon and forgivenesse of all my sins”. Although reflecting a medieval Catholic inheritance, this is a firmly protestant declaration31. Two other contemporary interpretations of plague were the medical and political ones. The medical view held that the plague was an aggressive ravaging force against the individual and society. The political interpretation saw it as an inexplicable, cataclysmic destroyer of society from top to bottom: a destroyer of blood duty and friendship. However, many aspects of the actual experience of ordinary people remain obscure and the reactions of the poorest and most marginal in society are the most difficult of all to attempt to reconstruct32. If we examine other plague epidemics, we find that Newcastle’s estimated 47 % mortality rate may well have been the highest recorded in England, certainly during the Seventeenth Century. After Newcastle, Colchester in 1665-6 had a mortality rate of 40 %, Norwich in 1579 had 3 %, London in 1563 had 24 %, in 1603, 23 % and in 1665, it had a mortality rate of 18 %. The following three diagrams show the extent and chronology of the Newcastle plague of 1636 whilst contextualising it within outbreaks in Northern England. From the 1540s to the 1660s, Newcastle had at least 15 recorded plague outbreaks. This is in addition to other diseases, famines, and wars.

Wrightson, Op. Cit. p. 7 and pp. 81 – 83.

Wrightson, Op. Cit. p. 85.

Wrightson, Op. Cit. pp. 7 – 8 and 82 – 83.

Page 53 of 56 Diagram 25. The spread of Plague in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1636, after Wrightson

Page 54 of 56 Diagram 26. Chronology of Plague in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1636, after Wrightson

Progress of the Plague in Newcastle upon Tyne, May - December 1636 Peak

422 398

386

366 346

337

325

270 212 172

162 133

122 99 59 3

202 197

184 Peak

187

122

99 75

55 10

60 29

37 17

Newcastle upon Tyne (no of burials recorded)

39 17

"Garth-side" (no of burials recorded)

Sources: Newcastle upon Tyne – 1. Appendix to R. Jennison, Newcastle’s Call: to Her Neighbours and Sister Towns and Cities throughout the Land, London, 1637. 2. Family Bible of William Coulson of Jesmond, 1638. Jennison and Coulson = 7/5/1636 – 10/9/1636, Coulson, 11/9/1636 – 31/12/1636. Garths-side: Jennison, Op cit., 30/5/1636 – 17/10/1636. All quoted in Wrightson, K, Ralph Tailor’s Summer: A Scrivener, His City and the Plague, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2011.

Page 55 of 56 Diagram 27. Plague and other Epidemic Disease outbreaks in Northern England, 1530 – 1650 (Marked, crossed areas are uncertain but probable)

Year

1537

Newcastle upon Tyne

Durham

Whickham (Bishopric of Durham)

Hull

York

1538-41 1544-45 1550-52 1570-71 1575-76 1577-79 1582 1586 1588 1589 1593 1596-97/98 1602-03 1603-04/05 1609-10 1625 1631 1636 1637-38/39 1642 1643-45 1644-45 1651 1660 1665-66 Sources: S. Scott and C. J. Duncan, Biology of Plagues. Evidence from Historical Populations, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 175-90,226-28 and 239-49; P. Slack, The Impact of Plague in Tudor and Stuart England, London, Weidenfield and Nicholson, 1985, pp. 61-62. M. James, Family, Lineage and Civil Society. A Study of Society, Politics and Mentality in the Durham Region, 1500 – 1640, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1974, pp.7–11; Wrightson, K. ‘Death in Whickham’, in J. Walter and R. Schofield, (eds.) Famine, Disease, and the Social Order in Early Modern Society, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989, passim.

Page 56 of 56

A few suggestions for further reading

NB: By following through the notes and bibliographies of these works, the reader will discover a vast amount of relevant reading.

Wrightson, K. ‘Death in Whickham’, in J. Walter and R. Schofield, (eds.) Famine, Disease, and the Social Order in Early Modern Society, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989. Wrightson, K. and Levine, D. The making of an industrial society: Whickham 1560-1765, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1991 Chorographia, or, A survey of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1649, William Gray fl. 1649. 1970 [6th ed. reprinted] Frank Graham, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1970. Facsimile of 1883 edition.

Welford, R. ‘Newcastle Householders in 1665’, Archaeologica Aeliana, 3rd Series, 7, 1991. Howell, R. Newcastle upon Tyne and the Puritan Revolution. A Study of the Civil War in the North of England, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1967. Newton D. and Pollard, A. J. (eds.) Newcastle and Gateshead Before 1700, Chichester, Phillimore and Co. Ltd, 2009. Langton, J, Residential Patterns in Pre-Industrial Cities: Some case Studies from Seventeenth- Century England, in Barry, J. (ed.), The Tudor and Stuart Town. A Reader in Urban History, 1530-1688, Longman, London and New York, 1990. Heley, G, The Material Culture of the Tradesmen of Newcastle-uponTyne 1545 – 1642. The Durham Probate Evidence, British Archaeological Reports Series, 497, Archaeopress, Oxford, 1990 Jennison,R, Newcastle’s Call: to Her Neighbours and Sister Towns and Cities throughout the Land, London, 1637.