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Prime Minister Tony Blair and The Millennium History of North East England by David Simpson. Photo courtesy of The Northern Echo

 

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Timeline of North East History

THE AGE OF IRON 1840AD - 1879AD

By David Simpson

Small scale Iron-making had been Important since, ancient times and was mined in the Dales from at least the 12th Century in simple blast furnaces called Bloomeries. It was often smelted at Stanhope and later at Tow Low and Tudhoe and was often found in mineral veins associated with lead mines. But then the Industrial Age began. The railways and shipbuilding caused the Iron Industry to grow. At first it was on Tyneside but that was soon eclipsed in the 18409 and 1850s by the great iron works at Middlesbrough and Consett.

1840 - IRONMASTERS
(Newcastle) John Vaughan, iron works manager at Walker on Tyne, and Henry BoIckow, a German accountant who has settled at Newcastle, become business partners. They aim to establish a new ironworks. Joseph Pease of Darlington sells them land at Middlesbrough. Meanwhile an iron works opens at Thornaby and last year another opened at Hartlepool.

1841 - CONSETT IRON
(Consett) Consett Iron Works is established as the Derwent Iron Company. Iron ore was discovered here in 1837. Meanwhile iron rolling mills and puddling furnaces are founded by Vaughan and Bolckow at Middlesbrough using Scottish pig iron.

1842 - MORE IRON
(North) The Weardale Iron company is founded. Meanwhile blast furnaces are erected at Walker by Losh Wiison and Bell using Whitby iron ore.

1844 - GILKES AND WILSON
(Middlesbrough) Isaac Wilson and Edgar Gilkes take over the Tees engine works. The works will build iron railways. Meanwhile Bell Brothers take over a blast furnace at Wylam and Robert Stephenson builds an iron bridge over the Tees between Stockton and Thornaby replacing an earlier one used by the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

1845 - HACKWORTH WORKS
(Shildon) Timothy Hackworth establishes a locomotive works at Shildon.

1846 - BLAST FURNACES
(County Durham) Middlesbrough's Vaughan and BoIckow build blast furnaces at Witton, where there is a good supply of coking coal. Whitby iron stone is imported into Middlesbrough, transported to Witton, and returns to Middlesbrough as pig iron for processing in forges, foundries and rolling mills.

1847 - TYNESIDE WORKS
(Elswick) William G Armstrong establishes a factory making hydraulic machinery.

1850 - ESTON IRON
(Cleveland) Iron is found in the Eston Hills near Middlesbrough by John Vaughan and will replace the use of Whitby ironstone.

1851 - MIDDLESBROUGH FURNACE
(Middlesbrough) The first blast furnace on Teesside is erected at Middlesbrough. The whole ironmaking process is now carried out here.

1853 - IRONMASTER MAYOR
(Middlesbrough) Henry Bolckow becomes the first mayor of Middlesbrough. A number of iron works are being established in the area and Darlington Forge has been established to serve the marine and electrical industry.

1854 - RAILWAYS AND IRON
(North) Expanding railways are important to the demand for iron. The London railway reached Gateshead in 1844, extended to Berwick in 1848. Iron railway bridges include Newcastle's High Level Bridge (1848) and Berwick's Royal Border Bridge. The NER is formed this year and gradually swallows up smaller railways. It also develops docks.

1855 - ARMSTRONG'S CANON
(Newcastle) William G Armstrong invents the first successful Breech loading canon.

1855 - TEESSIDE SUPPLIES LONDON PIPING
(Teesside) Practically all London's water piping is presently made of Teesside cast iron. Meanwhile Liverpool's Bernhard Samuelson provides land for an iron works at South Bank and a new community develops here.

1856 - SHEFFIELD THREAT
(England) The Bessemer Steel making process is developed, a setback for Middlesbrough as local iron ore is unsuitable. Steel is in demand and Sheffield with its existing industry dominates the market for a time.

1858 - FAMOUS BRIDGE REPLACED
(Sunderland)
Sunderland’s 18th Century iron bridge is extensively modified by Robert Stephenson. The bridge resembles the famous iron bridge of Coalbrookdale in Shropshire and is the most famous feature of Sunderland.

1860 - STOCKTON IRON
(Stockton)
Malleable iron works of the South Durham Steel and Iron Company are opened by Christopher Furness. There are 32 blast furnaces in Middlesbrough over the Tees.

1862 - DARLINGTON WORKS
(Darlington)
Darlington Railway Locomotive Works in
North Road is established.

1864 - CONSETT IRON COMPANY
(Consett)
Derwent Iron Company becomes Consett Iron Company Ltd.

1864 - RAILWAY KING DIES
(York)
Sunderland-born ‘Railway King’ George Hudson dies. He played a very important part in developing the Northern railway network most of which converges on York.

1866 - HEAD WRIGHTSON
(Thornaby)
Engineer Thomas Wrightson, who trained at William Armstrong’s Tyneside engineering works, teams up with the Teesside engineering company Head Ashby & Co. Head’s firm started in 1840 as a Thornaby foundry.

1871 - ENGINEER’S STRIKE
(North-East)
Northern engineers strike over working hours. The Tyneside works of Armstrong and Hawthorn are badly affected but Robert Stephenson’s locomotive works is not. Managers at Charles Palmer’s in Jarrow persuade employees to continue working, promising to acc ept deals negotiated by strikers at other factories.

1874 - MIDDLESBROUGH FIRST FOR IRON
(Middlesbrough)
Middlesbrough is the number one iron town in England. One third of the nation’s output originates here and is exported all over the world. About 95 blast furnaces now exist in the town. Meanwhile Palmer’s of Jarrow is presently obtaining royalties for Cl eveland coast iron mining.

1875 - DORMAN LONG
(Middlesbrough)
Arthur Dorman and Albert de Lande Long establish an iron works and will play a part in converting Teesside’s iron works to steel-making. Meanwhile Bolckow and Vaughan open a Bessemer steel plant at Eston helping Middlesbrough compete with Sheffield. High grade iron ore has to be imported from Spain as local ore is unsuitable.

1876 - SWING BRIDGE
(Newcastle)
Newcastle’s Swing Bridge is built by Armstrong, replacing the stone bridge of 1781. It allows ships to move downstream.

1878 - CLEVELAND BRIDGE
(Darlington)
Cleveland Bridge Engineering Company Ltd is established at Darlington.

1878 - BOLCKOW DIES
(Middlesbrough)
Ironmaster Henry Bolckow dies. He was Middlesbrough’s first mayor and MP in 1868.

1879 - NEW STEEL MAING METHODS
(Middlesbrough)
New steel-making methods enabling the use of Teesside ore are a great boon to
Middlesbrough’s industry.

THE AGE OF IRON 1840AD - 1879AD

THE TIMELINE BY ERA

ROMAN PERIOD

ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD

VIKING PERIOD

NORMAN PERIOD

MEDIEVAL PERIOD

TUDOR AND STUART PERIOD

GEORGIAN PERIOD

VICTORIAN PERIOD

TWENTIETH CENTURY

 

THE MILLENNIUM HISTORY OF NORTH EAST ENGLAND

by David Simpson

Published by leighton in association with The Northern Echo

ISBN 0-9536984-3-2

The Millennium History of North East England by David Simpson is published by Leighton, The Teleport, Doxford International, Sunderland, SR3 3XD, Tel +44 (0) 191 5252400 Fax +44 (0) 520 1815 www.bepl.com. The book is a 322 page full colour hard back book covering the history of the region from Roman times to the present day. To order copies of the book you can e-mail Andrea.Murphy@bepl.com

Author David Simpson and Paul Callaghan, Managing Director of leighton at the book launch held at Lumley Castle, Durham December 1999

www.northeastengland.talktalk.net