View from The Chair

TREE PLANTING PROJECTS

We reported an ambitious programme of tree planting in Issue 29. We are happy to report that work has progressed in partnership with Newcastle City Council on a number of tree planting schemes, some of these as part of the North East Community Forest (NECF) initiatives. Projects completed are: Nuns Moor adjacent to Cowgate/Kenton - 610 linear metres of mixed hedgerow; 2,875 hedgerow plants and 38 hedgerow trees.

Nuns Moor/Walter Terrace 28 oak trees planted. Nuns Moor South/Brighton Grove initially 123 trees with an option to increase to 161.

Little Acorns project of 30 oak trees in Moor Bank Gardens. We will plant another 300 trees by the end of February 2023 with even more ambitious plans for 2023/2024. Our review has so far identified that we hold the following in our offices at Moor Bank Lodge • Books containing details of individual

Freemen when they were sworn in from around 1830 • Books of minutes of meetings (Guilds and Stewards Committee) • Books on all sorts of subjects but broadly covering the history of Newcastle and of the Freemen • Leases and other agreements for the use of our land; some of these are very old • Legal opinions covering disputes about the ownership and use of the Moors • Legal opinions regarding membership of the Freemen • Background papers to our legislation • Details of payments by the TMMC and via the Stint process • Papers concerning the Hoppings and other events and exhibitions on the

Moor • Details of social events • Bound bundles of miscellaneous correspondence, some of them almost 200 years old • Lots of old pictures looking for a wall; some of them are group photos, many are prints of paintings of Newcastle • Enough maps of the Moors to cover at least the Little Moor • Halberds • Company records; we will discuss the fate of these with Stewards once we’re sure that we’ve identified them all. There is hopefully a lot to be learnt about the Freemen from these papers. We can see that we were very argumentative in the past and were forever engaging solicitors. This was probably exacerbated at times by the fact that some members of the Stewards Committee were solicitors. The business of the Freemen was often carried on from SC members places of work. And we kept everything. We have engaged some help with this project. Olivia Redpath who helped Tom Charlton with his work on the Hostmen’s records is doing some transcription work and we have found a bookbinder who will produce books of minutes. We have a backlog of about sixteen years minutes to be bound. It is difficult to involve more Freemen in the project because of the logistical problems of working at Moor Bank Lodge. If you would like to help out at a later date, please get in touch with the archive team via admin. and we’ll keep a record of your interest.

ARCHIVES PROJECT

ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY

On 30th January, we held a meeting of Company Stewards at the Guildhall to discuss our Engagement Strategy. The meeting was very well attended and Stewards brought some excellent ideas to the table. We have done some preliminary analysis of the data gathered and have identified the following themes:

People

• Improved Stakeholder Management and networking opportunities • Improved Comms with Stewards • Training for Stewards • Engagement/involvement with younger freemen

Process

• Investment in Tech • Better use of social media • Improved branding/PR/Marketing/ public perception • Modernise processes/rules (TMMC,

Swearing in, Blue books)

Performance

• Transparent succession and continuity planning • Address Stewards Committee skills gaps • Updates need to be more timely • Apply for lottery/heritage/government funding

Our Vice Chairman, Nick Atkinson said “We will of course be prioritising each of these issues in more detail. However, great progress has already been made; our website has been completely updated and you will see from this issue of the magazine that we have done an overhaul of our branding. In August, we launched the first in a series of short videos which showcases the work that we do. You may have seen this on our facebook page, this ticks a lot of boxes in terms of networking, social media profiles and improved communications across the Freeman Community and our business partners”.

If you haven’t seen the video check out our website at www.freemenofnewcastle.org

THE CAPTURE OF HOLY ISLAND BY TOM CHARLTON (HOSTMEN)

My 9th Great Grandparents were Major Gilbert Errington (1608 - 1686) and Margaret Babington (1629-1682). Their son, Lancelot Errington was born 1657 and he was my 8th Great Grand Uncle. The Errington family were an “ancient and respectable family” who lived in Denton Hall, Newburn, Northumberland. In 1689 after the failure of the Glorious Revolution of 1688 the Roman Catholic Stuart King, James II of England and

VII of Scotland, fled into exile in France. William III of Orange and Mary II, James’s daughter ascended the British throne as joint sovereigns. On 1st October 1699, Lancelot Errington married his cousin, Catherine Errington (1670-1756). In 1715, James II’s son James Francis Edward Stuart, also known as the Old Pretender, attempted to regain the throne by launching a Jacobite rising in Scotland. Lancelot was one of several locals who supported the Jacobite cause, led by Thomas Forster, Member of Parliament for the county of Northumberland. Their first objective was to gain a landing site in Northumberland, and Lindisfarne was selected. On 10 October 1715, Lancelot and his nephew Mark Errington visited the castle on

King James II of Scotland and VII of England Lindisfarne. Some sources say that Lancelot asked the Master Gunner, who also served as the unit’s barber for a shave. While inside it became clear that most of the garrison were away. Later that day he returned with Mark and claimed that he had lost the key to his watch. They were allowed in, overpowered the three soldiers present, and claimed the castle for the Jacobites. Some sources say that he gave brandy to the soldiers to incapacitate them. As the expected reinforcements did not arrive to support them, they were only able to hold out for little more a day. When a detachment of 100 men arrived from Berwick to retake the castle, the Erringtons fled but were captured and imprisoned at Berwick. They later escaped by tunnelling out of Berwick Jail. Sometime later they received a pardon and Lancelot was able to live the rest of his life as a publican in Newcastle upon Tyne. He lived until December 1745 and witnessed the final Jacobite rising of 1745. His widow Catherine died at Cramlington in 1756.