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Above: St. Aidan's Statue, Holy Island, Northumberland. Photo courtesy of freefoto.com

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 20TH CENTURY AND WORLD WAR 1901AD - 1919AD

By David Simpson

The industrial importance of the region was no more apparent than during the First World War, when military engineering and expertise greatly assisted the War Effort. Coastal towns of the region were bombed by German battleships while far away in Europe many North-East soldiers lost their lives.

1901-1919 : 1901 / 1905 / 1909 / 1910 / 1914 / 1918

The Twentieth Century: 1901-1919 / 1920-1939 / 1939-1949 / 1950-1969 / 1970-1989 / 1990-2000

Sport: Sport

1901 January 22, - KING EDWARD VII
(Britain)
Edward VII succeeds Victoria as King of Britain.

1901 - STEPHENSON WORKS MOVE
(Darlington and Newcastle)
Robert Stephenson & Co moves its locomotive works from Newcastle to Darlington due to lack of space for expansion.

1901 - TOWN POPULATIONS
(North-East)
91,302 people live in Middlesbrough. Seventy years ago it was little more than a farm inhabited by 25 people. The population of Newcastle is over 215,328; Sunderland's population is 146,077.

1901 - 100,000 MINERS
(Durham and Northumberland)
100,000 coal miners work in the Durham coalfield and a further 37,000 are employed in the Northumberland coalfield.

1903 - HUGH MACKAY CARPETS
(Durham City)
Hugh Mackay begins manufacturing carpets in Durham City.

1903 - NEWCASTLE SMALLPOX
(Newcastle)
A smallpox epidemic hits Newcastle.

1903 - CEREBOS BUYS SALT WORKS
(Hartlepool)
Cerebos buys the Greatham salt works near Billingham.

1905 - VICTORIA FALLS BRIDGE BUILT
(Darlington)
The Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company of Darlington builds the Victoria Falls Bridge in Africa.

1905 - LEAD COMPANY LEAVE TEESDALE
(Middleton-in-Teesdale)
The London Lead Company has ceased operating in Teesdale.

1906 - DOXFORD SHIPS
(Sunderland)
Doxford’s is thought to be the world's busiest shipbuilders building an average of one ship every two weeks in this year.

October 14, 1906 - WINGATE DISASTER
(Wingate, County Durham)
Twenty-four men were killed in an explosion at Wingate Colliery.

February 20, 1908 - GLEBE DISASTER
(Washington)Fourteen men were killed in an explosion at Washington Glebe Colliery.

1909 February 16, - STANLEY DISASTER
(West Stanley, County Durham)
168 men are killed in an explosion at Burn Pit Colliery, West Stanley. 59 of the deaths were boys aged under 20. There were 36 survivors.

1909 - ENGLAND'S FIRST LABOUR COUNCIL
(Durham City)
England's first all Labour County Council assembles at the Shire Hall in Durham City under the leadership of Peter Lee.

1910 May 6, - GEORGE IV
(England)
George V is the new King of England.

1910 - SMITH’S DOCK ESTABLISHED
(Middlesbrough)
Smith’s Dock is established at South Bank, Middlesbrough by a North Shields firm established on Tyneside in 1899.

January 17, 1911 - TRANSPORTER BRIDGE OPENS
(Middlesbrough)
The Transporter Bridge is opened across the River Tees at Middlesbrough by Prince Arthur of Connaught. The bridge was started in 1906 and built at a cost of £68,026. It was designed and built by Cleveland Bridge and Engineering of Darlington with the ass istance of Sir William Arrol and Company of Glasgow. The Transporter Bridge was the idea of Alderman McLaughlin and has an advantage over a conventional bridge in that it does not restrict shipping.

1911 - 200,000 MINERS
(Durham and Northumberland)
152,000 coal miners work in the Durham coalfield and a further 54,000 are employed in the Northumberland coalfield.

1912 - FORMER EDITOR DIES ON TITANIC
(Darlington)
The Northumbrian-born social reformer WT Stead dies on board the Titanic. Stead was one of the first editors of The Northern Echo in Darlington.

June 1913 - SUICIDAL SUFFRAGETTE
(Epsom)
North-East-born suffragette Emily Davison is killed after throwing herself in front of the King's horse during the Derby. Emily is campaigning for women’s rights.

1914 August 4, - WAR BREAKS OUT
(Europe)
Britain declares war on Germany. Thousands of miners and other workers from across the North-East join up. On Tyneside thousands of men join battalions of either the Durham Light Infantry or Northumberland Fusiliers. Many Teessiders join the North Yorkshire regiment of the Green Howards.

December 16, 1914 - BATTLESHIPS BOMB HARTLEPOOL, WHITBY AND SCARBOROUGH
(North-East)
German battleships have bombarded Hartlepool. 112 civillians and nine soldiers have been killed. 340 buildings have been destroyed. The Hartlepool and Teesside area is a prime target for the Germans because it makes munitions, bridges and other resources for the war effort. Dorman Long at Middlesbrough, for example, will be responsible for the manufacture of millions of shells. Lloyd George has described the war as "an engineer’s war". Scarborough and Whitby have also been shelled.

1914-18 - ARMAMENTS BOON
(North-East)
The First World War brings a huge increase in the demand for armaments constructed by Armstrong Whitworth's factory at Elswick. The naval yards of Armstrong Mitchell at Low Walker, Hawthorn Leslie at Hebburn and Palmer at Jarrow also benefit from manufacturing for the war effort.

October 23, 1915 - MINERS' HALL OPENED
(Durham City)
A new Durham Miners’ Hall opens at Redhills. The building replaces the Old Miners’ Hall in North Road.

November 27, 1916 - ZEPPELIN SHOT DOWN
(Hartlepool)
A German Zeppelin is shot down a mile off Hartlepool by a pilot from Seaton Carew aerodrome.

1918 November 11, - ARMISTICE DECLARED
(Europe)
At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month fighting ceases in the Great War. Declarations of peace are read out in towns and cities across the North.

1918 - CHEMICAL WORKS
(Billingham)
A chemical works is established at Billingham for the production of synthetic ammonia intended for making bombs for the war. As the war is now over the plant has to adapt to new manufacturing.

1919 - STEEL CAPITAL
(Middlesbrough)
Middlesbrough is producing one third of the nation's steel. Britain's total steel output is ten million tons of which 3.35 million tons comes from Middlesbrough's nine steel plants.

THE 20TH CENTURY AND WORLD WAR 1901AD - 1919AD

1901-1919 : 1901 / 1905 / 1909 / 1910 / 1914 / 1918

The Twentieth Century: 1901-1919 / 1920-1939 / 1939-1949 / 1950-1969 / 1970-1989 / 1990-2000

Sport: Sport

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

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