The prettiest warehouse in England – in Hutton Rudby

Who knew that Hutton Rudby boasted the prettiest warehouse in England?  What a claim to fame.

Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough, 10 July 1895

Mr Henry Fell Pease, Mrs Pease, and other members of the family visited many of the villages nestling at the foot of the Carlton Hills yesterday, and at all places met with a hearty reception.  At Hutton Rudby there was a well-attended meeting, many of those present being sailcloth makers from the Cleveland sailcloth works, which with its ivy-clad walls can boast of the prettiest warehouse in England.  Mr Pease spoke well both at Swainby and at Hutton Rudby.  Mr Pease stayed at Hutton Rudby, and to-day he moves on to Carlton and Stokesley.  Whilst engaged in the western Mr Henry Fell Pease's supporters were active in the eastern extremity of the division.  Both at Coatham, New Marske, and Eston meetings were held approving of his candidature, strong committees being formed at each place.

Henry Fell Pease, a member of the prominent Darlington Quaker family, was Liberal MP for Cleveland from 1885 until his death in 1896 at the age of 58.  

Here he is canvassing for the 1895 general election, the voting for which was held between 13 July and 7 August 1895.  Pease was successful but his party was not.  The election was won by Lord Salisbury's Conservatives in alliance with the Liberal Unionists, who had broken from the Liberal Party over the issue of Irish Home Rule.

It's possible that the ivy-clad warehouse was the long building which the Tithe Map shows behind the houses of Barkers Row, standing parallel to them.  Unless anybody else has a better idea?

Benjamin Flounders and the Crathorne Bleach Yard, 1743

This notice – really it's an advertisement – in a Newcastle newspaper of 1743, casts an interesting light on the scope of the operation run by Benjamin Flounders (1708-56), who had a Bleach Yard at Crathorne in the first half of the 18th century.

His surname appears in this advertisement as Flounder, but it is clearly a typo.  The notices continue in the Newcastle Courant until we find, on 3 April 1756, a few weeks after his death, that his widow Barbara is now carrying on the business in his place.  By 1765 the notices appear under the name of their son, John.

The family were Quakers. Benjamin and Barbara were the grandparents of the prominent Yarm businessman and pioneer of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, Benjamin Flounders (1768-1846).

We can see that Benjamin Flounders in 1743 has a network of collection points across County Durham and the North Riding.  I assume the handloom weavers, who worked from weaving sheds at home, would have their cloth bleached so as to be able to profit themselves from the higher price that it would then fetch. 

The square brackets indicate where I have added letters or given the modern spelling of names and places, to assist people searching online.  (You can see that Staithes was spelled phonetically)

Newcastle Courant, 26 March 1743

BENJAMIN FLOUNDER,

of CRATHORNE, near YARM, hereby gives Notice, 

THAT he continues the BLEACHING OF LINEN CLOTH this Year as usual, to great Perfection.  His Prices are, as formerly, Yard-wide high white at Twopence Halfpenny per Yard, and so in proportion for broader or narrower, and Superfine Cloth at Threepence, which will be taken in at the following Places, viz.  

By Geo. Flower, Grocer, in Sunderland; Barnard Sheal, at the Dun Cow, in the Market-place, Durham; Sam. Dalkin, Roper, in Sedgefield; Mary Ward, Weaver, in Whitby; Rich. Taylor, at Steaths [Staithes]; Rich. Outhard, Weaver, in Guisborough; Joseph Flounder, Butcher, in Northallerton; Anthony Lidster, Dyer, near Bedale; Simon Bickerdike, Dyer, at Laburn [Leyburn]; Robt Hodgshon [Hodgson]. in Darlington; William Bird, Taylor, in Bishop Auckland; Jonathan Wheatley, Dyer, at Staindrop; Wm Hall, Tanner, in Barnardcastle; John Gill, Weaver, in Sockfield; Thomas Allison, in Chester-le-street; and at his own Shops at Stockton, Stoxley [Stokesley] and Yarm.  All Persons may depend on having their Cloth kept strong, and with a good Colour.  Mr Gabriel Hughes, Merchant, at Yarm, with himself, will be accountable for all the Cloth that comes to the above Peoples Hands. 

N.B.  He has made a great many Conveniences in his Yard, so that his Friends may expect to have their Cloth as well done as at Durham, or elsewhere.

Note:  For more on Benjamin Flounders (1768-1846) see Benjamin Flounders, a very useful account of this interesting man on the Stockton-on-Tees heritage site.

Anne Hutton, wife of George Wilson

The marriage announcement for Anne Hutton and George Wilson, founder of the Hutton Rudby Sailcloth Mill, shows that her father's name was George, and that the family lived in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle.

(George Wilson and his partner Mr Robinson took a newly-built warehouse at 79 Pilgrim Street the following year)

Durham Chronicle, 17 June 1836

In Newcastle, on the 9th inst.,  ... at St Andrew's, Mr Geo. Wilson, of Hutton Rudby, Yorkshire, to Anne, eldest daughter of Mr George Hutton, Pilgrim Street

George Wilson's absconding book-keeper, 1864

To follow on from my last post on James Wilson, this is the newspaper report of George Wilson's missing book-keeper:-

Shields Daily Gazette, 11 May 1864

EMBEZZLEMENT AT NEWCASTLE - John Carr, for nearly twenty-seven years in the employment of Mr George Wilson, linen and sail cloth manufacturer, of Newcastle and Hutton Rudby, in Yorkshire, as book-keeper and manager of his warehouse, in Pilgrim Street, has absconded to America, having embezzled and taken upwards of £600 belonging to his employer, in money he had received from various customers, and not in any way accounted for.  A warrant was taken out for his apprehension, and a search made for him in Liverpool, by the police authorities, as it was known he had proceeded to that port, but, so far, without being fortunate enough to discover the delinquent

James Wilson of Hutton Rudby (c1775-1865)

An old resident of Hutton Rudby has turned up in Massachusetts, and I think he may like to come home.  You can see him in this fine mid-19th century portrait by Clement Burlison.

Mr James Wilson of Hutton Rudby

James Wilson was born in about 1775 at Woodhouse, a few miles from Alnwick, in Northumberland.  He married Mary Straker in Gateshead on 30 January 1798.  They had a large family – I have found the names of three daughters (Jane, Matilda and Mary) and six sons (William, James, John, Henry, George and Edward) and there were possibly more – and they lived in Newcastle.

We don't know when his wife died, but by 1840 James was living in Hutton Rudby.

The fortunes of his son George (1810-76) had brought him to the village.  George was to be the founder of the Hutton Rudby Sailcloth Mill on the banks of the River Leven.

George had come to Hutton Rudby as a very young man in the 1830s when he was working as a clerk for the linen manufacturers & spinners, Messrs Clarke, Plummer & Co.  

It seems to me now, after looking at the newspaper reports that are now available online, that he had gone into the business in which his father had worked for many years.

This report shows that a Mr James Wilson had worked for Clarke, Plummer & Co for 37 years at their Northumberland Flax Mill at Ouseburn:-

Northern Liberator, 25 May 1839

A dinner was given on Monday last, by the workmen of the Northumberland flax mill, to Mr James Wilson, on the occasion of his retiring from his situation, when a silver cup was presented to him, bearing the following inscription:- "Presented to Mr James Wilson, by the workmen of Messrs. Clarke, Plummer, and Co., of the Northumberland flax mill, Ouseburn, as a token of their high respect for him, he having been agent for thirty-seven years to the said works. - 20th May, 1839."

I think it's very significant that James's daughter Mary, who generally recorded her place of birth in censuses as Newcastle, in the 1881 census was more specific – she said that it was Ouseburn.

There had been a flax mill by the Ouseburn near Newcastle since the mid-18th century (cf. here) and Clarke, Plummer & Co were evidently operating from there from the earliest years of the 19th century.  I assume they began with a water-driven flax spinning mill (cf here) but a steam engine was soon added.  Their first serious fire happened in 1822, when a flake of soot flew from the engine chimney and ignited a stock of flax and tow, and they had a very damaging fire in March 1836, when initial losses were estimated at £4,000.  For the men, women and children working there, the loss was of course of livelihood and means of subsistence. (For more on the lower Ouseburn industrial area, see here).  The fire of 1836 occurred while James Wilson was agent; I rather hope that it was during this calamity that he earned the respect of the workmen who gave him his silver cup on retirement.

Two years before James Wilson's retirement, this advertisement had appeared in the newspapers:

Newcastle Journal, 28 October 1837

ROBINSON & WILSON,

(SUCCESSORS TO MESSRS CLARKE, PLUMMER & CO. AS) 

LINEN MANUFACTURERS,

AT HUTTON RUDBY, YORKSHIRE, AND NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE; 

BEG respectfully to acquaint their Friends that they have REMOVED their Stock from the Warehouse at the Northumberland Flax Mill, Ouse Burn, to a newly erected and commodious one at

No. 79, PILGRIM-STREET,

Where they intend to keep an extensive Assortment of every kind of LINEN GOODS OF CLEVELAND MANUFACTURE, for the accommodation of their Customers in this District, and where all Orders will be received and attended to from this Date.
Newcastle, Oct. 11th, 1837

This was George Wilson's venture, and from this advertisement it seems that he was originally in partnership with a Mr Robinson.  It looks rather as though George has taken over the Hutton Rudby end of Messrs Clarke, Plummer & Co's business.  I know that he continued to keep a warehouse in Pilgrim Street,  Newcastle, as it is mentioned in the Shields Daily Gazette of 11 May 1864, when it was reported that his bookkeeper and manager had absconded after 26 years with the firm, taking with him at least £600 from the till.

By 1840, George's father James had joined him in Hutton Rudby, and was listed there under the

James Wilson (c1775-1865)

description 'Gentleman' in the 1840 White's Directory.  

I suspect that George must have been glad of James's presence in the village to supervise matters when George had to travel to Newcastle on business.  By that time, George was a family man.  He had married Ann Hutton in Newcastle on 9 June 1836, and their son James Alder Wilson was born in 1837, followed by Allan Bowes Wilson in 1839.

The censuses for 1841, 1851 and 1861 show that James lived in the last house at the west end of South Side.  (The house nowadays has a West End address, but the name West End was not used in the 19th century.)

This is a photograph of the house from the 1930s (courtesy of Malcolm McPhie), looking eastward along South Side:

Mrs Sidgwick in her front garden, Hutton Rudby 

The house looks rather different today: it has been rendered, the window glazing has been altered and, most noticeable of all, an enclosed porch has been added to the front door.

James lived there until his death on 14 July 1865 at the age of 90.

The family of James Wilson & Mary Straker

James & Mary's daughter Jane (c1806-77), married John Ingo, a shipowner and ship's captain (1800-77), who was born in Whitburn, Co. Durham.  They had no children, but their nephew John J Brunskill, ship broker's clerk, is with them for the censuses of 1861 and 1871.
In 1861 the Ingos were living in Sawdon House, Gosforth.  In 1871, they had moved to No 1 The Grove, Gosforth, where John died, a few months after his wife, on 30 December 1877.
In the 1851 Census, Jane is to be found in Hutton Rudby visiting her father.

James & Mary's daughter Matilda (1808-96) married a master mariner, Thomas Churnside.  She was a widow by the time of the 1861 census.  They had at least four children:  Matilda (b c1836), Mary, (b c1838), Edward (b c1841) and Jane Ingo Churnside (b c1842).
Young Matilda was to be found in Hutton Rudby in 1851, acting as housekeeper to her grandfather.  In 1861, Matilda and her children were living at 45 Fowler Terrace, Bishopwearmouth.  By 1891, old Matilda was living with her son (a Master Mariner – the census notes that he was deaf) and her widowed daughter Mary Robinson, at Bar Moor, Ryton, Gateshead.

James & Mary's daughter Mary (b c1817) married a Mr Todd (probably John Todd).  Their children were (or included) James Wilson Todd (b c1842), Edith (b c1855) and Mary (b c1852).
At the time of the 1861 census, Mary was staying with her father in Hutton Rudby, together with little Edith, while James Wilson Todd, a ship broker's apprentice, was staying with the Churnsides.  In 1871, Mary (described as a schoolmistress) was living with her daughters at 38 Tatham Street, Bishopwearmouth, and in 1881 she and her son James (then unemployed) were living at 10 Harlow Street, Sunderland.  

So it can be seen that the fortunes of Matilda and Mary were not as prosperous as those of their brother George.  Of the other brothers, William, James, John, Henry and Edward, I have no details.  Perhaps they too had George's entrepreneurial flair.

George Wilson & Ann Hutton lived at Hutton House, Hutton Rudby.  Their children were:

James Alder Wilson (1837-1910), Rector of Crathorne 

Allan Bowes Wilson (1839-1932) of Hutton House
for details of Allan's interest in the works of artist Ralph Hedley, see my blogpost here 

Thomas Bowes Wilson (1845-1929).  He and his wife Maria Hutton lived at Enterpen Hall.  They had three children:  Capt. George Hutton Bowes Wilson (1877-1915), solicitor, who married Nora Dulcie Linney;  Lt Col John Hutton Wilson (1880-1917); and Mary Hutton Austin.
for details of the life and early death of George, see my blogpost here

John George Wilson (1849-c1930) was a prominent solicitor in Durham.  He married Anna Louisa Eade, daughter of the Rev Canon Eade, vicar of Aycliffe, in 1879.  He inherited Staindrop Hall in Co. Durham on the condition that the family surname was changed to Luxmoore.  Their son Allan Aylmer Luxmoore was also a solicitor in Durham. 

Annie Hutton Wilson (1856-1947)

Allan and his brother Thomas took over the running of the Sailcloth Mill on their father's death.  For details of the mill in 1860 see this blogpost.  And for details of the mill in 1877 see this one.

The portrait by Clement Burlison (1815-99)

Clement Burlison was a native of the city of Durham.  A few newspaper clippings serve to track his career, and you can see that it was his bequest that established Durham's first art gallery:-

Durham Chronicle, Friday 27 November 1846

Our talented townsman, Mr Clement Burlison, returned to England a few days ago.  He has been spending the last two years for improvement in his profession in Rome, Florence, Venice, &c, and we understand brings with him a magnificent collection of studies from the Old Masters, &c, which will add materially to the fame which, before he left England, he had acquired as a first rate historical and portrait painter.  He sent home during his travels several excellent pictures, which were included in the last exhibition of the Royal Academy.

Northern Echo, 6 February 1899

DEATH OF MR BURLISON, OF DURHAM. - We regret to announce the death of Mr Clement Burlison (83), which occurred at his residence, Victoria-terrace, Western Hill, Durham, on Saturday.  

Mr Burlison, who was one of the oldest citizens of Durham, was an artist by profession, and his abilities gained for him considerable local reputation.  On many occasions he received commissions to paint the portraits of notable citizens, and many of those now occupy prominent positions on the walls of the Durham Hall, where they are much admired for the lifelike fidelity with which Mr Burlison has invested them.  In other directions beside that of portraiture Mr Burlison's talents were greatly appreciated.  He leaves a widow and one daughter.

Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 4 June 1901

ART GALLERY FOR DURHAM
The Lord Lieutenant of Durham (the Earl of Durham) yesterday formally opened the art gallery which has been established in Durham by means of the bequest of the late Mr Clement Burlison, a Durham artist, who left to the city his collection of fifty pictures conditionally upon the city authorities providing a public gallery for their reception within a definite period.

The art gallery premises were in Sadler Street according to the Sunderland Daily Echo & Shipping Gazette of 31 May 1901.

Burlison left a record of his early life in a short book called The Early Life of Clement Burlison, Artist. Being His Own Record of the Years 1810 to 1847.  It was first published in 1898 and, according to the Newcastle Journal of 8 May 1914, "gives interesting information about the artist's methods of work".

You can find other paintings by Burlison online here, on the Art UK website, and also here.  You will be able to see from the Art UK website that Co. Durham still holds quite a stock of his civic portraits.  Other works by Burlison can be found in the online auction house sales records.

James Wilson's fine portrait has been found by Brad Verter of Carpe Librum Books, Williamstown, Massachusetts.  Brad deals in books and art and tells me that Clement Burlison had his creative peak in the 1840s and 1850s, which is when he thinks this portrait was completed.

And how could Brad tell that this grand old chap was James Wilson of Hutton Rudby?  Because he is

helpfully holding a letter addressed to himself.

This seems to me to be rather odd for a portrait intended for family, so I wonder if it was perhaps painted for some association or institution to which James belonged.  I wonder how it made the journey to the USA ...

If you are interested in acquiring James for your own walls (especially if it is a wall that James once knew, in Hutton Rudby or Crathorne!) please contact Brad at brad@carpelibrumbooks.com

The painting is for sale at $1,500 (about £1,125) plus shipping, which will be charged at cost.

And how can you resist, when old James is so finely rendered as this?

Hutton Rudby Spinning Mill, 1860

Such a find.  This little piece in a Newcastle newspaper, tells us at last what George Wilson was up to with the old mill premises on the Hutton side of the River Leven – a combination of the old (handlooms) and the new (gas laid on, and steam-powered looms installed). 

Newcastle Guardian & Tyne Mercury, 18 February 1860

HUTTON RUDBY SPINNING MILL 

This neat establishment, once the property of Messrs Blackett and Mease, and which stood so long idle, seems, in the hands of Mr George Wilson, likely to enjoy a good share of prosperity.  Gas has been attached to the premises, and eight sail cloth steam power-looms have been put into operation, besides a number of hand-looms that are dependant [sic] upon the establishment for employment.  The mill has been regularly at work during the past year, and there is every prospect of its future being still more successful.  It has been a great blessing to many poor families in Hutton and has found employment for a large number of hands in the locality.

NB:  John Mease, not Messrs Blackett and Mease, owned the spinning mill - and there was no gas.

[29 February 2020: for a full account of the Mease mills, see the series of posts that begin here]

George Hutton Bowes-Wilson of Hutton Rudby

Martin Eggermont kindly sent me this information on George Hutton Bowes-Wilson.  He was the elder son of Thomas Bowes Wilson (1845-1929) who, with his brother Allan, ran the Cleveland Sailcloth Mill in Hutton Rudby.  

An account of how the family came to Hutton Rudby can be found in James Wilson of Hutton Rudby (c1775-1865).

George was born on 26 October 1873*. 

He was educated at Clifton and New College, Oxford, and qualified as a Solicitor in April 1902.  His offices were at 28 Albert Road, Middlesbrough. 

In 1906 he was elected a Councillor for the Exchange Ward and having been re-elected a number of times, was still in post at the time of his death.  During the intervening years he had served on many committees such as Sanitary, Sanatorium Finance, Streets, General Purposes, Fire Brigade and Cemeteries. 

On 29 September 1908 he married Nora Dulcie Linney at St Peter’s Church, Harrogate. She was aged twenty-three, the only child of the late Herbert Linney. 

George was a Freemason and is recorded in the Ferrum Lodge documents as living at 6 Lothian Road, Middlesbrough when he was proposed for membership; his proposer was W Bro Henry Winterschladen, seconded by W Bro S.F. Thompson, and his initiation in Ferrum Lodge was on 8 March 1911. 

George was later employed in the Treasurer’s Department of the Town Hall, was a representative for Middlesbrough on the North Riding Territorial Association and a Cleveland Unionist Agent. 

Among his many hobbies and interests were golf and cricket and it is known that he played the latter game for Hutton Rudby, being their triumphant captain in the 1905 and 1906 Cleveland and Teesside Cup competitions. 

In July 1914 a new bowling green in Albert Park was opened by Mrs H.W.F. Bolckow; George was the Chairman of the Parks Committee.  At this time he lived at 80 Lothian Road. 

He was also a member of the New Oxford, Cambridge and Cleveland Clubs. 

George was a member of the Territorial Forces.  He was promoted Captain on 1 March 1913 and fought with the 1st/4th Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own, Yorkshire Regiment (TF), more familiarly known as The Green Howards.    

A letter written by George to Preston Kitchen, Middlesbrough’s Town Clerk and a fellow Freemason (1917 WM Erimus Lodge) was printed in the Daily Gazette on 10 May 1915.

“You will now know our battalion has been in the forefront of the Ypres battle and how badly we suffered – one hundred odd men and five officers killed.
The battalion has been specially complimented by the General on the splendid way it fought in its first engagement. [This is a possible reference to the Yorkshire Regiment because of their bravery and fighting stance, later being dubbed the Yorkshire Ghurkhas.]
Middlesbrough can be proud of her sons. Not a man in my company hesitated.  Tell the people at home this war is by no means over. England will require every man she has before German Militarism can be crushed – and crushed it must be – otherwise all the lives we have lost will be in vain.
So far thank God, I am well. We are now in the thick of it and our losses are growing. Trench life is unpleasant but what a pleasure it is to receive letters from friends. I have not washed or had my boots off for ten days now so you can imagine what I feel like.
You ask me if you can do anything to help.  Yes, send me an occasional Gazette, some chocolate and a nice plum cake if you find time.”

George was killed by a sniper on 17 June 1915.

George Hutton Bowes-Wilson by George Kewley: Middlesbrough Town Hall

*I had the year of George's birth as 1878, but a family tree on Ancestry shows that he was born in the spring of 1877 in Newcastle.

Particulars of sale of Leven House and the Sailcloth Mill: 1877

The history of the Hutton Sailcloth Mill and its forerunner, the Hutton Spinning Mill, can be found in the series of posts beginning here.  The transmission of the site from Thomas Wayne to Mark Barker to John Mease can be found in Stately Homes of Hutton Rudby in the section on Leven House.

John Mease died in 1876 and a Chancery case arose.  As a result, there was an attempt to sell the mill and surrounding properties, as these Particulars of Sale show. 

But it seems that no sale was achieved, and the Wilson family continued to run the mill as tenants of the Mease estate for many years.

The Particulars of Sale give us a snapshot of the situation by the river Leven in the spring of May 1877.

As I can’t reproduce the beautiful variations of font face and size in my transcription, I’ve included here a photograph of my photocopy of the document!

Chapter 14. Deaths, Changes & Recession: 1837 to 1842

On 20 June 1837 King William IV died.  It was a personal grief to his daughter Amelia, Lady Falkland, who had lost her sister Sophia in childbirth earlier in the year, but it was also a blow to her husband's career.

Lord Falkland had been made a Privy Councillor on 1 March, but a new reign brought a new Court and there was no hope of future favour.  His new mansion house at Skutterskelfe was nearly complete, but in the event he and his wife and son had only a short time in which to enjoy it before he left the country.  A career in public service was the answer to his financial problems, and on 30 September 1840 Lord Falkland took office as Governor of Nova Scotia, leaving a steward at Skutterskelfe Hall. 

It is not clear whether by 1840 George Brigham was still acting as Lord Falkland's agent.

His old friend John Lee of Pinchinthorpe Hall had died a few years earlier in 1836, and it is said that he shot himself.  Lee was unmarried but for some years before his death had been paying a considerable amount for the upkeep of an illegitimate child, and his estate was left heavily encumbered with debt [1].  Perhaps the personal and social difficulties arising from the Harker and Powell Chancery case also contributed to his unhappiness. 

In December 1841, George Brigham himself died at the age of fifty-one.  His brother-in-law James Dobbin registered the death, giving the cause as "general debility"; the registrar was Brigham's old enemy Thomas Harker.

George died without making a Will, as he had nothing to leave [2].  His eldest son George, who was only thirteen years old at the time, later became a clerk with Messrs Backhouse & Co, the Darlington bankers.  When asked in 1854 if he would act in the still-continuing Chancery case, in his capacity as his father's heir-at-law, he not surprisingly declined. 

The general depression in trade deepened after 1836, and while Whitby dwindled in importance as whaling declined, Middlesbrough grew ever larger.

Chapter 13. Agitation, Ambition & Education

Mr Barlow, now established in his parish, was eager to make improvements to the church in Rudby.  On 2 July 1833, the churchwardens' accounts record that

At a meeting held this day according to Publick Notice Sarah Hebbron was elected Sexton and to have £2-12 per year for doing the duty of a Sexton to attend to the fires and keep the church clean.  The Churchwardens to see about getting the stove in repair. 

It was signed by Mr Barlow, the Middleton farmer Thomas Righton, the doctor Thomas Harker and John Sidgwick the grocer.

Mr Barlow must have been very anxious to have the stoves in working order – the Primitive Methodist chapel, only ten years old and packed with an enthusiastic congregation, would be much warmer and more attractive in the winter.  Unfortunately the stove could not be repaired and had to be replaced at a cost of £18; the result of the ensuing work – including more than £5 to the stone mason – was an expenditure of nearly £65.

Whilat Henry Bainbridge was happy to assist the vicar with this – perhaps in part because Hutton Rudby Methodists still brought their babies to baptism in the otherwise unheated church – the people of Hilton were not so amenable.  For historical reasons Hilton still paid a levy towards the upkeep of Rudby church, and not surprisingly in 1833 they refused to pay [1].  It was not only Nonconformists who found church rates objectionable.

Stokesley may have become a much quieter town during the previous decade, but it was still very much agitated by political argument on the great issues of the day.

Chapter 2. Linen Weaving & the Paper Mill

In 1831 the population of Hutton Rudby was at its 19th century peak of 1,027 and the township was dominated by linen weavers [1].

In the early part of the century there was a significant linen industry in the Cleveland area (though on a minor scale compared to Nidderdale and Knaresborough) and neighbouring villages such as Osmotherley and Brompton were also weaving communities.
   
Linen had long been used for many products from fine fabric to canvas, but it would soon face serious competition from light cottons, which would eventually force linen manufacturers to concentrate on the heavier cloths – in Hutton, this was to be sailcloth. 
   
From the harvesting of the flax to the woven linen cloth lay many stages of production and a great deal of time, and this long interval between the initial investment and the finished product created a natural division between the flax preparation and spinning, and the weaving and finishing.

Miss Winifred Blair's green album

Miss Blair's green album, held by the Hutton Rudby History Society, contains newspaper cuttings largely from the period January 1918 to May 1931.

Most concern family and village events, but there are also items relating to local families and others of general interest.  A number of cuttings reflect Winifred Blair's love of the stage, both amateur and professional.

The following notes give an indication of the contents.  Not to be missed: accounts of the opening of the Village Hall, and the description on 12 Nov 1927 of Armistice Day commemorated by veterans in darkness, with snow falling.

(The photograph of Mr Mease is from the Hutton Rudby History Society's collection.  The letter from the Comrades of the Great War, added 23 June 2020, can be seen on the Society's Facebook page)