Timeline of North East History

CROMWELL TO QUEEN ANNE - 1644AD TO 1714AD

By David Simpson

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The Battle of Marston Moor near York in July 1644 was a turning point in the Civil War. By the end of October the Royalist strongholds of York and Newcastle were taken by Parliamentarian forces and the Royalist hold on the North was ended. When Charles f inally surrendered in 1646, Newcastle was his first place of imprisonment. He would be executed in London three years later. Parliament ruled the country until 1660 when the Stuart monarchy returned. The Stuarts ruled until the death of Queen Anne in 1714.

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1644 July 2, - MARSTON MOOR
(Near York)
Parliamentarians and Scots inflict a heavy defeat on the Royalists in a night battle at Marston Moor. Three thousand Royalists are killed. On July 16, York is taken by Parliamentarians after a long siege.

August to October 1644 - NEWCASTLE AND SUNDERLAND rivalry
(Newcastle)
The Scots, fresh from Marston Moor, capture and occupy Stockton Castle. Other Scots head for Newcastle, which falls under siege. The town is defended by the mayor John Marley. The Parliamentarians of Sunderland, who assisted the “blew cap” Scots, were re sented by the Royalists of Newcastle - especially as they were challenging Newcastle’s coal monopoly. A Newcastle Royalist rhyme of the time shows this resentment:

Ride through Sandgate, up and doon
There you’ll see the gallants fighting for the croon
And all the cull cuckolds in Sunderland toon
With all the bonny blew caps cannot pull them doon.

After a ten week siege, Scots capture Newcastle, penetrating its walls with gunpowder on October 20. Marley in the castle surrenders two days later. Tynemouth castle also surrenders on October 27. Newcastle’s coal trade comes to a standstill.

1646 May 13, - CHARLES SURRENDERS
(Newark, Nottinghamshire)
Charles surrenders to the Scots on May 9 and is escorted to Newcastle for imprisonment. He considers a list of propositions regarding increased Parliamentary powers. The Scots leave Newcastle in February 1647 after receiving £200,000 from Cromwell for th e king.

October 1648 - ROYALIST RISING
(Northumberland)
A Royalist rising takes hold in Scotland and the North. Raby is besieged and Berwick captured. Cromwell retakes Berwick on October 18 and visits Newcastle (Oct 19-22), Durham (Oct 23) and Barnard Castle at Blagraves, the house with the carved heads on Th e Bank (Oct 24).

1649 January 30, - CHARLES BEHEADED
(London)
King Charles is accused of treason and executed on Cromwell’s orders. Cromwell abolishes the monarchy and makes himself Lord Protector, ruler of England.

March 26, 1649 - WITCH TRIALS
(Newcastle)
Twenty-seven out of 30 suspected witches are found guilty of witchcraft at Newcastle. Fourteen are executed on the Town Moor. One man is executed for being a wizard. Newcastle Council had suggested all witches be brought to trial, so magistrates sent for a Scottish witch finder called Cuthbert Nicholson. The Newcastle bellman invited people to report suspected witches. Thirty women were brought to the Town Hall and stripped to their waist. Nicholson pushed a pin under their clothes to pierce their skin. If they did not bleed they were declared witches. Nicholson was later executed in Scotland for trickery. He confessed responsibility for the deaths of 220 women. He was paid 20 shillings for each witch captured.

March 28, 1649 - LEVELLER LILBURNE IMPRISONED
(Tower of London)
John Lilburne, founder of ‘the Levellers’ political group, is imprisoned by Cromwell. Lilburne is from East Thickley, Bishop Auckland, and his family are important Sunderland merchants - his uncle is mayor. Lilburne, once a friend of Cromwell, now critic ises the Lord Protector’s reforms as not radical enough. Lilburne has much support among Cromwell’s New Model Army and is seen by Cromwell as a dangerous threat.

July 1650 - CROMWELL’S COLLEGE
(Durham)
Cromwell suggests a college at Durham would be “a matter of great importance to promoting learning and piety in these rude and ignorant partes”. Cromwell will sign a writ of privy seal for a university at Durham but it is suppressed after objections from Oxford and Cambridge in 1657.

September 3, 1650 - DUNBAR BATTLE
(Dunbar)
After months of pursuit, battle is engaged between Cromwell and the Scots under the former Parliamentarian General Leslie. Scots outnumber English by two to one, but Cromwell launches a surprise attack and defeats them. 10,000 Scots are captured and 3,00 0 are imprisoned in Durham Cathedral. Cathedral woodwork is destroyed by the prisoners for firewood but a clock featuring a thistle is spared.

1652 - CASTLES DESTROYED
(Durham and Stockton)
Durham and Stockton Castles, former properties of the Bishops of Durham, suffer under Cromwell’s regime. Durham Castle was sold to Thomas Andrews, Lord Mayor of London, for £1,267 in 1649 and he severely defaced the property. This year Cromwell orders the destruction of Stockton Castle.

1658-1660 - MONARCHY RETURNS
(Coldstream on Tweed)
On September 3, 1658, Cromwell dies. He is succeeded by his son Richard, who proves a weak leader. Support grows in Parliament for restoring the monarchy and crowning Charles II. General Monck, Duke of Abermarle, leads Scottish troops from Coldstream to London and successfully negotiates the coronation of King Charles II. A section of his army becomes the ‘Coldstream Guards’.

1669 - CROFT SPA
(Croft-on-Tees)
A small spa opens at Croft near Darlington.

1673 - STORMY SEAS
(The North)
Around 40 ships are destroyed in storms off the North-East coast.

1675 - JOLLY RANT
(Newcastle)
A pestilent disease ‘Jolly Rant’ kills 924 people in Newcastle.

1675 - DURHAM MPs
(County Durham)
Durham sends its first MPs to the House of Commons: two represent the City of Durham and another two the county as a whole. One MP dies of smallpox four days after his election.

1688 - WILLIAM AND MARY
(Britain)
Dutchman King William III (of Orange) becomes King of Britain in joint rule with his wife Queen Mary II.

1697 - MP BEHEADED
(London)
Northumberland MP Sir John Fenwick, is beheaded for plotting against King William. He later gets posthumous revenge (see 1702)

1698 - SUNDAY SCHOOL
(Stockton)
Britain’s first Sunday School is established in Finkle Street, Stockton.

April 23, 1699 - FIVE INCH HAIL
(Durham)
Hail stones five inches in diameter fall on Durham and the surrounding area.

1700 - CASTLE HOWARD
(Yorkshire)
Castle Howard is being built by John Vanbrugh on the site of Henderskelfe Castle which recently burnt down.

1702 - KING KILLED
(Britain)
William III dies after falling from a horse which once belonged to the executed
MP John Fenwick. He is succeeded by Queen Anne.

1712 - STOCKTON PARISH
(Stockton)
Stockton, an agricultural port, gains independent parish status. It was previously part of Norton.

1714 - ANNE DIES
(Britain)
Queen Anne dies and is succeeded by George I.