Reports

South Tyneside Meeting - April 2005 "Bessie Surtees - Was She A Local Folk Heroine" by Bill Saunders A Report by Margaret Stafford

Well,you missed another good evening as Bill Saunders entertained us with the story of Bessie Surtees and her family-asking the question-was she a local folk heroine ?

One of our members recalled a different Bessie Surtees-the ash barge that used to ply the river. The subject of our talk was born to Aubone and Elizabeth Surtees in 1754. The house which still bears the name Bessie Surtees was in fact never owned by the family. Situated at 41 Sandhill on the Quayside in Newcastle it is a timber framed house dating from the 16th century. Over the years it has been flats, a house, coffee shop and seaman's mission. It is currently the regional head office of English heritage and part of it is open to the public.

The early history of Bessie's family can be traced to Ovingham Church where in 1705 Edward Surtees married Elizabeth Aubone. In 1711 their 5th child Aubone was baptised at the church-which is worth a visit and a long look at the tower. Local stone was re-used and the tower incorporates a Roman toilet seat ! The Surtees' family estate was nearby at Hedley on the Hill and the family was part of the local landed gentry.

Aubone's father died shortly after his birth and the boy later served a 7 year apprenticeship to a boothman or cornman. This gave him access to the local guilds and he joined the Merchant Venturer's Guild and later the Hostman's Guild. He proved himself a shrewd business man as his father had been. Edward had been the receivership general for land taxes for Northumberland and Durham and also involved in local politics. His father in law had been sheriff of Northumberland.

Like father, like son, and Aubone joined the corporation of Newcastle and in 1745 became sheriff of Newcastle. At this point we took another diversion to learn the origins of the Military road-many people believe it to be of Roman origin but in fact it was built after General Wade got bogged down in his attempt to get from Newcastle to Carlisle to halt the progress of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

In 1748 Aubone married Elizabeth Stephenson-another member of the local landed gentry who could add to the family's good connections. In 1750 the first of their 12 children, William, was born, of these only 6 were to survive. By 1754 the family started to rent the upper apartments at 41 Sandhill and in October of that year their first daughter-Elizabeth to be known as Bessie-was born.

Why Sandhill? It would have been at the centre of the bustling commercial area of the city. The title of receivership of land taxes was hereditary and passed to Aubone after his older brother died. Aubone also went into the banking business. He became mayor in 1761. In 1771-the year of the big flood-he was mayor for a second time and entertained the brother of George 111, the duke of Cumberland in the Mansion House on the Quayside. Bessie (16 going on 17 as the song says) was present and danced with the duke. It must have been the hope of her parents that this might have the potential of a good match.

However, another had already caught Bessie's eye-John Scott the son of William a well off local business man, born appropriately enough in Love Lane. The 2 families lived within half a mile of each other, Bessie's brother and John attended the same school-the Newcastle Free Grammar school-forerunner of the Royal Grammar School where another pupil was Cuthbert Collingwood destined to be the hero of Trafalgar. John became a student at University College Oxford and was destined for a career in the church. John had an eye for the ladies as he revealed in his autob iography when he talked about enjoying dancing in the smaller of the 2 rooms in the Assembly Rooms because it was a snug room to flirt in !

The romance between Bessie and John was not welcomed by her parents-perhaps they recalled the dance with the duke. At one point she was sent to London to get her out of the way-in fact the journey from Oxford would have been made easier by this move. Bessie also apparently used to borrow a pony from Sir Walter Blackett MP to ride out to meet with John in what is now Shields Road, Byker. Eventually the pair took matters into their own hands and on 18th November 1772 Bessie descended a ladder from the first floor, got into a carriage and headed 100 miles north into Scotland with John where on the next day the Reverend John Buchanan was waiting for them and they were married. They returned and stayed at the Queen's Head Inn in Morpeth (where you can still stay in the Surtees's suite if you are so inclined). Both families still disapproved.

It is said Bessie's brother acted as intermediary and he seems to have been successful as the couple were married in St Nicholas' church in January 1773, receiving £2,000 from John's father and £1,000 from Aubone. John returned to his studies but it seems the scandal put paid to a career in the church. He turned instead to law and eventually became Solicitor General, Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. He was knighted in 1788 and became Lord Eldon. Perhaps by now Bessie's family had changed their mind about the match she had made ! The couple never lived in the North East again. They had 6 children but all 4 sons died before their father. The son of their eldest son, John, inherited the title. Ironically their eldest daughter Elizabeth married without the support of her parents-at the age of 34 ! John Scott died in 1838, Bessie having predeceased him in 1831.

Bessie may not have been a local folk heroine but she was certainly instrumental in John's career moving from the church and into the highest echelons of government