With the closure of the

C i v i c C e n t r e n o w

c o m p l e t e a n d i t ’ s

potential demolition not

too far away, it’s topical

to reproduce the article

below from “The Times”

o f May 1983 , wh i ch

D o ro t h y h a s k i n d l y

provided :- The building

is/was controversial, liked

by some but not by

others but nevertheless

is an important part of

the heritage of Chester le

Street. The article by

C h a r l e s M c K e a n

( a r c h i t e c t u r a l

co r re spondent ) was

dated 30th May 1983 and

entitled.

A l i e n , b u t o n

a c q u a i n t a n c e

immensely popular.

The Civic Centre

It might be thought a

singular decision to hold

t h e f o r m a l d i n n e r

celebrating the 1100 th

anniversary of the town

of Chester-le-Street in

Co Durham, in the staff

restaurant of the local

town hall, particularly

when the dinner was to

be addressed by Lord

Ramsey of Canterbury

and Dr David Bellamy,

t h e b o t a n i s t a n d

especially when the event

was commemorating the

arriva l in Chester - le-

Street of St Cuthbert’s

re l i c s and a t tendan t

scholars from Lindisfarne,

bestowing on the tiny

community something

over 100 years of short

lived glory before the St

Cuthbert’s circus lit out,

o n c e m o r e , f o r t h e

g r e a t e r s e c u r i t y o f

Durham.

The dinner on Friday,

therefore, was a great

occas ion requ ir ing a

notable place: why not

Lumley Castle with its

baronial trappings, just

across the river? The decision was taken

because the new town

hall, complete for barely

a year, has a qual i t y

unmatched by any other

building in the locality

save the historic church,

Newsletter Date 4th December 2013 Volume 3, Issue 4

Chester le Street Heritage Group Newsletter

Special points of

interest:

The Civic Centre

WW1 Commemoration

Project.

Inside this issue:

Memory Lane

Final Part

2

WW1

Commemoration

Project ?

5

Lost Treasures 6

Selina Rowley 8

Recent Meetings 10

Forthcoming

Events

12

Page 2 Chester le Street

and is one of the best

buildings to have been

created in the north of

England since the Second

World War. T h e t o w n h a l l l i e s

relatively isolated at the

top end of the town,

surrounded by car parks

and other civic buildings.

It is not recognizable as

a town hal l , being a

rectangular sleek box

w i t h a l ong , r i d ged

sloping roof. It looks

more like a microchip

factory and the flagpoles

and tiny, discreet signs,

do little to alter that

impression. In any case, perhaps a

modern town hall with

its tax-gathering and

administrative duties is

becoming a microchip

factory. It has a relationship with

the town you might liken

to E.T. - clearly alien, a

bit odd, something to be

approached timidly but,

o n a c q u a i n t a n c e

s o m e t h i n g w h i c h

becomes immense l y

p o p u l a r . T h a t i s

particularly the case with

the restaurant which is

hired out for parties,

d i scos etc and i s in

constant demand. T h e d e s i g n o f t h e

bu i ld ing sets out to

overcome any timidity

by straddling a public

footpath so that rate

payers may walk right

through the building on

their normal business,

glancing right and left to

keep an eye on their

functionaries at work. Inside the building the

footpath takes the form

o f a g l a z e d m a l l ,

dominated from on high

b y g i g a n t i c w h i t e

trunking, l ike stubby

tentacles or tendrils,

which penetrate right up

into the glazed vault

itself. The colour coding is

clever: most things in the

mall below roof level are

b l u e , t h e c o u n c i l

c h a m b e r e x u d e s a

p i n k i s h g l o w ; t h e

restaurant (on a split

level, thus offering the

possibility of a medieval

dais) is a confection of

greens; and the main

offices are restrained in

p i n s t r ipe g rey s and

creams. The character of the

building is high-tech; that

is to say, it is a building

w h i c h d e r i v e s i t s

character from its metal

s t r u c t u r e , f ro m i t s

catwalks and services,

and there is no attempt

to create a different

“town hall” character on

top. It is an architectural

a p p r o a c h l a r g e l y

confined to factories,

w i t h t h e p o s s i b l e

e x c e p t i o n o f t h e

Sainsbury Centre Art

Gallery, in Norwich, by

N o rm an Fo s t e r , t o

which certain parts of

this building notably the

spiral staircase down

i n t o t h e f i n a n c e

depar tmen t , h ave a

strong similarity. Yet the qua l i t y and

excitement of the result

is unden iable , f ar in

excess of most other

post modern town halls,

many of which are many

t i m e s t h e s i z e a n d

greatly more expensive.

The main redeeming

feature of the exterior is

a pair of semi-circular

gable ends to the glazed

mall , which protrude

above the roof and act

as beacons to the central

spine of the building. It is

not quite the same as

emphasising front door

or main entrance but it

p e r f o rm s t h e s am e

function. The gables are

celebrated by a sunburst

mot i f and in one o f

t hem , a c lo ck f a ce .

There i s someth in g

about the sheer joy of

t h a t d e t a i l t h a t i s

reminiscent of Durham. For all that, however the

rest of the building’s

exterior is peculiarly

blank, communication

nothing. It could indeed

be, as is said of a certain

towe r i n Pe k i n t he

“Ministry of Certain

Things”. But at night,

when its form becomes

a r i c h g l o w i n t h e

d a r k n e s s , o n l y t h e

Interior matters. Those

attending the dinner

were indeed fortunate.

Well, Charles McKean

certainly was in favour of

the design and it has

cont inued to d i v ide

opinion to this day but

probably for not very

much longer as it’s very

l i ke l y th a t t he now

empty building will be

demolished next year

after a lifespan of just 30

years !

Will whatever replaces it

divide opinion in the

same way ?

Page 3 Volume 3, Issue 4

r e a l o l d f a s h i o n e d

Grocers, managed then

by Mr Ferguson. It was

the sort of place where

the biscuits were loose,

in tin boxes in a stand,

sugar was in blue paper

bags , there were 14

different types of bacon

sliced on demand and

the butter was patted

into shape before being

wrapped…….and by the

time both shopping and

talking was done, the

visit was never less than

half an hour.

Memory Lane cont

Volume 3, Issue 4 Page 3

This is the final part of

the article covered in

the last two editions

featuring the memories

of Eileen Edinburgh

(Crosby) of her own

memories of Chester le

Street.,

Further up, just about

where Bon Marche is,

was “the tea company”.

That’s what my Mum

called it and she did her

week l y shop t he re ,

probably it was Lipton’s

or something. It was a

Then there was The

Queen’s Head, Walter

Wilsons, Greeners and

then Owen Brothers

who sold mostly men’s

work-wear /overal ls,

jumpers, camping stuff

etc. Then past the Lambton

Arms there was a pub –

can’t remember its name

and the Essoldo Cinema

Entrance. Just before the

p u b t h e r e w a s a n

a l l e y w a y , r u n n i n g

through to Osborne

Road (alongside the back

of the cinema to the

Empire Ballroom- I do

r e m e m b e r b e i n g

enthralled by the dress

and hairstyles of the

people that used to go

there). Everyone I have

mentioned this to tells

me I have imagined it,

but I remember my Dad

taking me to a cattle

m a r k e t t h e r e . I

remember the iron gates

and stalls – he used to

sit me up on them, and I

remember the smells.

On reflection, it may

have been horses – my

Dad had more of an

affinity with horses than

cows, but he did call it

the cattle market. Fur ther up was the

library and an electrical

shop called Metcalfe’s,

then an alleyway and a

shop called Oystons that

so ld wa l lpaper . The

Oystons lived upstairs

and Mr. Oyston taught

me to play the piano. He

had a wonderful grand

piano upstairs but us

pupils weren’t allowed

to touch it. We used the

old one, with his great

big St Bernard dog lying

behind us making various

noises. The St Bernard

used to lie outside the

shop in summer in the

middle of the pavement

and everyone had to

walk round it.

Down the Street Bells’ newsagents, the

B l a c k H o r s e , c a n ’ t

remember too much up

at that end. A modern

menswear shop opened

up in the early 60’s – the

guy knew someone in

the Moody Blues and

my brother worked

there for a while. Think

t h i s m a y h a v e

previously been the pet

shop – selling puppies,

k it tens and various

rodents! In the 50’s, there was

Citrone’s and then the

Dr’s surgery – Dr .

McIver is the one I

remember. That was

next to Robinson’s the

chemist on the corner

of High Chare – may at

one time have been

Timothy White’s? On the other side of

H i g h C h a r e w a s

Laburnums furniture

shop, a bank and a

baker’s – That may

have been Dixon’s as

ment ioned e ar l i e r ,

though there was also

one called Carrick’s? Along Middle Chare,

o n m y j o u r n e y t o

s c h o o l w a s t h e

Butcher’s Arms on the

right and then Usher’s

Salerooms (and then a

c o u p l e o f b i g g i s h

houses, but they were

all pulled down before

1960) . I remember

being taken to Ushers,

it was an auction house

and my Nan lo ved

going. On the other

side of the road was a

row of houses and the

Church Institute. In the

middle of the row was

yet another alleyway

that led to a Printer’s.

All us kids used to go

i n f o r a p e n n y o r

t uppence worth o f

paper scraps. Sometimes

it was just plain white

paper, but other times it

was glorious colours and

textures. Don’t remember too

much between Middle

and Low Chare but

there was a sweet shop,

Maynard’s I think, they

certainly sold wine gums,

and yet another pub at

one time on the corner

of Low Chare. Turn into

Low Chare and there

was the Bethel and Sally

Army ( I attended both

at one time or another)

on the right and the

Palace Cinema on the

left (Saturday Morning,

usually Flash Gordon, 6d

d o w n s t a i r s a n d 9 d

u p s t a i r s ) b e f o r e i t

became another bingo

hall. Past that there were

a coup l e o f house s

(Mum’s friend Jenny lived

i n on e ) an d t h en a

“road” leading down to

the Burn and where old

Albert Square used to

be. Past that was the

“Practical Block” This

was I think an old school

that was incorporated as

part of Chester Modern

in Bullion Lane. We used

t o g o t h e r e f o r

Chemistry lessons and as

an old Victorian Building

i t w a s q u i t e a n

atmospheric place. The

walls all around it had

gravestones laid against

them and the graveyard

was right next-door. I

think it’s a care home

now? Further round

towards the church was

y e t ano the r s choo l

building that was part of

the Infants School . I

went there as well and

remember Miss Haw,

M r s M e g o r a n a n d

warming crates of milk

with hot oniony stuff in

them – I still don’t know

what it was but they

were very tasty and very

popular. They also sold

“ducks”, which my Dad

l i k e d f r i e d . I n m y

ignorance, I did think

they were little ducks

b o d i e s b u t l a t e r

discovered they were

faggots. T h e n c a m e B l a n d ’ s

Opening and then the

Arcade which had a

furniture shop at the

b a c k – E m e r s o n ’ s

very popular with ladies

in the 50’s and 60’s, you

cou ld spend Provvy

(Provident) Cheques

there! Then there was

what was usually called

“the record shop”. I

think it may have been

called Williams. It was a

g r e a t b i g p l a ce (o r

maybe I was very small),

sold pianos, trumpets,

a l l sor t s o f mus i ca l

instruments on the walls,

sheet music, records and

r e c o r d p l a y e r s ,

radiograms, reel to reel

maybe? The only shop I

r e m e m b e r b e f o r e

Woolworth is Jackson’s

the tailors which caught

light in about 1969. We

all stood by the Co-op

watching the flames.

Next was Moore ’ s

supermarket. Don’t

k n o w wh a t i t wa s

b e f o r e t h a t a n d

Doggarts, a real old

fashioned store with an

upstairs, the poshest

shop in Chester. They

had those money tubes

that meant you had to

t ape recorder s and

tapes. School recorders

were bought there and

I’m sure my Dad bought

my brother a bike from

there as well but I could

be imagining that! I think

that closed late 50’s or

early 60’s. Next shop I remember

going down is Robson’s

the butchers. They had 2

entrances, one for meat

and one for pies, pease

pud and other things.

They used to sell hot

dips for 6d – big baps

Page 4 Chester le Street

by the old enamel coke

b u r n e r s i n e v e r y

classroom. That’s when

school dinners were 5

shillings (now 25p) and

we were encouraged at

school to buy sixpenny

Post Of f ice sav ings

stamps that we put in a

s a v i n g s b o o k e a ch

week. F u r t h e r d o w n t h e

street from Low Chare

t h e r e w a s L e v e y s

wallpaper shop – before

it moved to the market

place, the Nylon Shop,

wait for a cashier in the

office to write out a bill

and send it with your

change whizzing back

down the tube. I think

t he re was a b aker s

( m a y b e t h i s w a s

Dixon’s?) and Leggett’s

tobacconist, at one time

Boot ’s Chemist was

there and there was

always a butchers where

Patr i ck now has h i s

shop. On the Br idge End ,

t he re was a lway s a

jewellers and a café my

Mum used to take me in

called Staffeiries. W h e n L e v e y ’ s

wallpapers moved to

North Burns, there was

also a gents hairdressers

called Jackie Browns. It

was upstairs and in the

60’s, quite modern and

staffed with young boys,

so us teenagers used to

hang around, even going

i n f o r a c u t o n c e .

Everyone says I have

imagined this as well, but

I ’m con v i n c ed t he y

washed my hair in a hair

washing machine that

sprayed the water and

implications and changes. Ke y W ar e ve nt s –

Somme etc, impact. Fund raising for troops.

Birtley Elisabethville.

Advertisements showing

aspects of War. S o u n d s w o n d e r f u l

doesn’t it but how we

wil l do it is another

thing!! It is a big project

and I am not suggesting

we do it in a year or

even two. We need to

c o n s i d e r h o w . T h e

suggestion by Durham

R e c o r d O f f i c e o f

numbers joining up etc. Troops who came to

the town - Lambton

Park, Town itself, other

places. Who came , how

they were treated and

w h e r e w e r e t h e y

billeted? Impact on local

community. Women – VAD’s , other

nursing , ammunit ion

jobs. Entertainment, cinemas

in town and villages films

etc. Horner’s factory and

T h e N o r t h e r n -

indexing the paper over

the war years needs to

be considered carefully.

It would take a lot of

effort but would give the

group and Chester le

S t r e e t a f a n t a s t i c

research source.

Please think it over. If

you have any other ideas

for a WW1 pro ject

bring them along to the

meeting on Wednesday

January 22nd 2014.

Dorothy

World War 1 Commemoration I have been thinking

about what we as a

group could do as our

WW1 project. C h e s t e r l e S t r e e t

Heritage Group is in the

env iab le pos i t ion of

having copies of the local

newspaper the Chester

C h ro n i c l e s a l r e ad y

photographed and the

editions for 1914 and

1915 available as DVDs.

They are an unbelievable

resource for anyone

Page 5 Volume 3, Issue 4

m a s s a g e d i n t h e

shampoo. There was

a l so a dance s tud io

somewhere there. Further along was the

c h i p s h o p a n d

restaurant/café. That was

quite big out the back,

but dark, with all formica

tables. Popular on a

Saturday with teenagers

as it did milk shakes,

Coca cola, hot dogs etc

and had a juke box. I

r e m e m b e r h e a r i n g

“Flowers in the Rain” by

The Move in there. Along Picktree Lane,

there was the TA on the

looking at the impact of

t h e W a r o n l o c a l

communities. The newspapers can be

used to research:- The men who went to

war – their experiences

from letters published, if

they received honours,

whe t he r t he y we re

wounded or killed and

h o w t h e y w e r e

remembered. Who went

a n d t h e I m p a c t o n

families left behind.

L ife on the home

front in Chester le

St reet : - Impac t on

Schools, Churches, The

Police, and their role in

carry ing out Home

Office instructions. L o c a l M i n e s a n d

Ag r i cu l t u r e and the

i m p a c t o f l a r g e

left, always looked like

an old school to me.

F u r t h e r a l o n g w a s

R od n e y D re s s e s , a

factory making ladies

clothes. Various members of the

family worked in some

of these shops including

M o o r e s , C o - O p ,

Doggarts , Leveys, a cafe

and others I can’t recall.

I could probably write

loads more of incidents I

remember but I think

this is long enough!

Eileen Edinburgh (Crosbie)

Thanks to

Eileen for sharing these

memories. If this has

jogged your

own memories then

please share

them with us

as well.

My great-aunt Lizzie was

bred and born in Lumley.

A l w a y s i m p e c c a b l y

dressed, hair screwed up

i n t o a b u n , a l w a y s

wearing a pinafore, and

a l w a y s a c t i v e . S h e

married a miner, George

Carr, and their home

was within the chapel

y a r d i n L u m l e y .

Regularly, when I was

young, I was taken there

on visits. She was, or had

been, a seamstress at

Lumley Castle, and in

married life continued as

a dressmaker and quilt

maker (Durham quilting,

not patchwork quilting).

Always there was a quilt

in the frames and a row

of needles which visitors

were expected to thread

while conversing so that

she had a continuous

s u p p l y o f t h r e ad e d

needles. H e r g r a n d s o n , a

playmate of my brother,

was blinded when he

was hit in the face with a

l a r g e s t o n e ( g a n g

war fare even in the

1 93 0 s ) . Mo ne y wa s

n e e d e d t o p a y f o r

treatment for him in

London. During World

W a r I I , A m e r i c a n

soldiers were stationed

at Lumley, and she made

quilts and sold them to

these relatively well-off

cus tomers . Demand

grew, and she sold as

many as she could make. The local newspaper ran

an article on Aunt Lizzie,

frames. I had a copy of

this which I treasured. I a l so had a cous in ,

L izz ie , who was the

niece of Aunt L izz ie

he said, ‘where does

Mrs Carr live?’ ‘Eeh,

that’s my Aunt Lizzie’

said the little girl, and

showed him the chapel

yard. He went into the

yard, and on his return,

he disappeared back

around the corner, and

reappeared with a big

horse pulling a shining

carriage. It stopped,

and he assisted Lady

Scarborough to the

yard gate, where Aunt

Lizzie had appeared,

wearing a clean pinny.

Carr. As happens in many

m in ing f am i l i e s , t he

eldest child was farmed

out, not permanently,

but for regular periods

of t ime, when other

babies arrived in the

household. In this way,

Cousin Lizzie spent a lot

of time with her aunt,

and in later years regaled

a story to me. I had

always known that when

the future King George

VI and Queen Elizabeth

were married, as the

Page 6 Chester le Street

as the ‘ f i rst dol lar -

earner for England’.

T h e r e w a s a

pho tog rap h o f he r

working at her quilting-

Duke and Duchess of

York, they spent their

honeymoon in Lumley

Castle as guests of the

Scarborough family and

Aunt Lizzie had made a

quilt for the occasion. The story goes that

Cousin Lizzie and one of

her friends were playing

outside the chapel yard,

when a man appeared

a r o u n d t h e c h a p e l

corner, dressed in a

green coat and a top hat,

he had polished shoes

and leggings. ‘Little girl’

They disappeared into

the house for a long

t i m e , b e f o r e L a d y

Scarborough reappeared

out of the house and

drove away. Aunt Lizzie

Carr was speechless. She

had been asked to make

a quilt for the bridal

suite, with instructions

t o v i s i t a s t o r e i n

Sunderland to buy the

m a t e r i a l s o n L a d y

Scarborough’s account.

This she duly did. The quilt was made of

rose pink satin, and the

Lost Treasures.

Don’t Forget

February

15th to 22nd

at Shildon.

The Great

Goodbye !

Your last

chance to see

the 6 surviving

A4 Steam locomotives

all together

before two of

them return to

the USA and

Canada.

It’s unlikely

that this opportunity

to see all 6

locomotives

together, will

ever be repeated so

don’t miss out

on this last

chance.

va lance o f the same

shade in crepe de chine.

The quilt was made with

the emblem of the rose

of York quilted into each

c o r n e r . W i t h t h e

remaining material, she

made the Duchess of

York a dressing-jacket,

with a qui l ted yoke,

waterfall fril ls on the

bodice, and handkerchief

points on the sleeves. Approaching my cousin

Lizzie’s 80th birthday, I

wrote to HRH Queen

El izabeth the Queen

M o th e r , a bo u t t h i s

matter. YES, the story

W a l t o n o n e F r i d a y

afternoon in November

1922 , when such an

u n a t t e n d e d h o r s e ,

attached to a cart loaded

with scrap iron, had it’s

wh im an d su dd e n l y

b o l t e d do wn F ro n t

Street, Chester le Street. I t wa s r epo r t ed b y

witnesses to be ‘travelling

at a tremendous speed ’

when P.C Walton, who

at the time was probably

I don’t know what they

fed the local horses on

years ago, but when left

unattended one or two

of a contrary nature

took it into their heads

to disobey orders and

suddenly gallop off on a

whim. The lo ca l ‘ bobb i e s ’

seemed to take these

occurrences in their

stride as it were, as was

demonstrated by P.C

checking the price of

Horner’s Toffee in a

shop window, heard the

commotion, saw the

approaching animal and

cart shedding metal all

over the street , and

made a dash for the

horse and clung on to

it’s rein. Within a short distance

the horse stumbled and

fell accompanied to the

ground by P.C Walton

Page 7 Volume 3, Issue 4

was all true! I received a

lovely reply saying that it

was wonder f u l t h a t

someone else , other

than herself, could still

remember events from

t h e t i m e o f h e r

honeymoon. I framed this letter, along

with the copy of the

newspaper photograph

from all those years ago,

and presented it to my

Cousin Lizzie, who was

overcome. Some years

later, she moved into a

residential home, still

with the photograph,

which I assumed would

What you would

have been watching

at “The Empire”

100 years ago as this

snippet from the

Chester Chronicle

of Dec 1913 shows.

Thanks to Malcolm

for this one.

eventually be returned

to me by the family.

However, sadly, this

proved not to be the

case, and I often wonder

what happened to those

prec ious t reasures .

Maybe somewhere in

Sacriston, there remains

to this day this part of

my family history…….

Audrey Watson

who, in the process,

bruised his knee and

split his trousers.

(peek a boo). The

shaft of the cart was

b r o k e n b u t t h e

horse was non the

worse for wear and

p r o b a b l y h a d

another few whims

d u r i n g t h e

remainder of it ’s

working life.

Cuff Key

More pluck and promptitude from the Local Constabulary

Food Glorious

Food.

In 1856

Durham

County Constabulary

instructions relating to the

Subsistence of

Prisoners were

as follows :-

Prisoners are

allowed three

meals a day,

consisting of

one pint of

milk and oatmeal, or

coffee and

brown bread.

If in custody

more than

three days a

dinner of soup

and bread, or

bread and

cheese alternately is

substituted, at

a cost of 4d per

meal

When an old school

friend of mine now living

in Australia emailed me

to say that he had been

researching his wife’s

f a m i l y t r e e a n d

discovered that Selina

Rowley had been born in

Chester-le-Street and

became the mother of

Al an Ladd a f amous

Hollywood Actor of the

1 9 4 0 s a n d 5 0 s , m y

a t t en t io n h ad be en

captured. Initial research on the

internet appeared to

con f i rm my f r i end ’ s

account of Selina’s early

life, but also revealed a

tragic end to her life and

to that of her son. The first thing to do was

to verify that Selina had

in fact been born in

Chester-le-Street, so

reference was made to

the var ious records

starting with the 1891

Census. Selina Rowley’s date of

birth had been given as

25 th November, 1888

and according to one

source of information,

the Industrial Schools

suggests that this school

may have been linked to

t h e N e w c a s t l e

Workhouse and that the

Rowley family had been

torn apart as a result of

C h a r l e s b e i n g

imprisoned. A further 10 years on

and the 1911 Census

shows Char les John

Rowley aged 51 years

has now remarried (and

had been for the past 5

years) to Isabella aged 41

y e a r s w i t h t w o

daughters Sarah Annie

N o r m a n a n d J a n e

Norman aged 13 and

11 years respectively.

So the que st ion i s

“what had happened to

his first wife Kate and

their other children”?

This will need to be

researched further, but

it must be suspected

that they too would

have ended up in the

Newcastle Workhouse. The next we hear of

Selina is her emigration

to America in 1907 at

Eleanor 10 years and

John 8 years (John also

born in Chester - l e -

S t r e e t ) . H o w e v e r ,

Selina’s father Charles,

3 1 y e a r s o l d and a

General Labourer, was

stated to be a prisoner

and currently an inmate

at the H.M. Prison in

Newcastle. So far there

has been no reference to

what type of crime he

had committed. This

m u s t h a v e h a d a

devastating effect on the

Rowley f am i ly (now

l i v ing in Newcast le )

particularly as Kate his

wife, then 29 years old

was unemployed and

none of the chi ldren

were of working age

(they are all listed as

scholars). Moving on 10 years to

the 1901 Census and

here we f i nd Se l i na

Rowley aged 12 years

residing at the Industrial

Schools, Jubilee Road,

Newcastle-upon-Tyne,

quite separate from her

family. The reference to

Page 8 Chester le Street

her place of birth was

s h o w n a s “ W e s t

Chester” , however,

reference to the 1891

Census confirmed that

her place of birth was in

fact Chester-le-Street. Selina, spelt “Salina” on

the 1891 Census was

the daughter of Charles

a n d K a t e R o w l e y .

Charles’ birthplace was

given as London and

Kate as Newcast le -

upon-Tyne. Selina had

three siblings, Martha

the eldest at 12 years,

the age of just 19 years,

having left from the port

of Liverpool and arriving

in New York where

within a very short time

she changes her name to

“Ina Raleigh” apparently

so that she can pursue a

career as an Actress. Five years then passed

with little detail as to

whether or not Selina’s

a c t i n g c a r e e r w a s

successful or not. What

does happen in 1912 is

that Selina marries an

A m e r i c a n b o r n

Selina Rowley Story

gentleman of Scottish

ancestry ca l led Alan

Ladd (Senior) in Hot

S p r i n g s . A l a n L a d d

(Senior) worked as a

freelance accountant and

travelled extensively,

resulting in him being

away from home for

l o n g p e r i o d s a n d

r e tu rn i n g t i red and

travel stained from his

frequent trips. On the 3rd September,

1913 Ina Raleigh Ladd

gave birth to her first

and on l y son “A l an

Walbridge Ladd” known

as “Laddie” who in later

America and the rest of

the world facing up to

the great depression.

Then in 1936, James

Beavers suddenly died of

a heart attack and later

the same year (October

1936) Alan Ladd married

his first wife Marjorie

(Midge) Jane Harrold. Ina

wasn’t too pleased about

Alan’s marriage as this

had been done in secret,

but a year later on 22nd

October, 1837 Midge

gave birth to Alan Ladd. Ina had taken the last of

Southern California, so

they decided to move to

Pasadena. It took them

three to four months to

complete the journey in

their dilapidated 1914

Model “T” Ford, taking

short-time work on the

way whe re ve r t he y

could. Alan Ladd was to

remember this time as

“particularly rough”. The remainder of the

1920s and the ear ly

1 9 3 0 s s a w f u r t h e r

difficult times for Ina,

James and Alan with

her insurance money

f rom J ames Beavers

death and spent it on

chasing a lost cause of a

lover, returning to live

wanted to do with her

life. However, on the 3rd

July, 1918 the decision

was made for her when

Alan Ladd (Junior) and a

f r i end thought they

w o u l d c e l e b r a t e

American Independence

a day early by setting fire

to the ram-shackled

apartment building the

Ladd’s lived in. Ina was

so relieved that her son

was unharmed that she

couldn’t punish him for

the ruinous situation

t h e y n o w f o u n d

Page 9 Volume 3, Issue 4

l i f e was to become

famous for his acting

rolls in such fi lms as

“This Gun For Hire”,

“Shane” and “The Blue

Dahlia” to mention just a

few of his many pictures.

The next event occurs in

1917. Alan Ladd (Junior)

was just 4 years old

when he saw his father

d ie sudden ly from a

heart attack. This event

had a profound effect

upon the young Alan

L a d d , w h i c h w o u l d

continue to contribute

t o h i s f e e l i n g s o f

insecurity throughout

themselves in. There

was nothing to keep

them in Hot Springs, no

family, no friends, no

f u r n i t u r e a n d n o

possessions of any kind.

In fact, Ina never told

her son anything about

her life before her arrival

in the U.S.A., maybe she

was too embarrassed

about her father being

imprisoned and that she

had spent time in an

Industrial School. After the fire, Ina took

what was left of the

insurance money and

moved to Oklahoma

City. Here in time she

met “James Beavers” a

house Painter by trade

and they were married

in 1920. America in the

1920s was feeling the

effects of the economic

d o w n t u r n w h i c h

affected many ordinary

workers , however ,

J ames Beavers was

luckier than most, he

had a trade and at this

time new communities

were springing up in

the rest of his life. T h e r e w a s s o m e

insurance money as a

resu l t o f Alan Ladd

Senior’s death which

was enough to last until

Ina decided what she

Ina and Alan Ladd

aged 2 years

Marjorie

Jane

(Midge)

Harrold

with the Ladd’s looking

d i s t r a u g h t a n d

d ishevel led and very

depressed. One night

after their evening meal,

Ina asked Alan for some

money. She was by now

an alcoholic and Alan

was concerned that she

needed the money to

buy more drink, but she

said she only wanted a

q u a r t e r t o b u y

something personal. So

Alan gave her a quarter,

an act that he would

regret the rest of his life.

Ina used the money to

buy ‘ant poison’ which

she drank while sitting in

Alan’s car. She then

returned to the house

and was violently sick, an

ambulance was called

and Ina was rushed to

hospital where she died

in great pain some six

hours later. In the spring of 1941

Alan wa lked out on

Midge and they were

divorced in July of the

same year. Sue Carol

(Alan’s Agent) divorced

her hu sband on 8 t h

March 1942 and a week

later Alan & Sue Carol

were married in Tijuana,

Mexico and had another

s o n D a v i d a n d a

daughter Alana Ladd. Finally in 1964, Alan like

his mother was drinking

heavily, eventually taking

h is own l i fe with an

overdose combination of

pills and alcohol when he

was only 51 years old. There is obviously a lot

more to this story of

Ina’s (Selina’s) life, but it

is interesting to note

that Ina never told her

son about her life prior

to her marry ing h i s

father. There were no

photographs, no letters,

4th September

We spent the whole

evening l istening to

Gordon Henderson

who i s an amateur

a r c h a e o l o g i s t a n d

R o m a n e n a c t o r .

Gordon had come to

t a l k t o u s a b o u t

Binchester Roman Fort.

Dorothy had met him

a t t h e " Y e s t e r d a y

Belongs to You" event

earlier this year.

He was fascinating,

extremely knowledge-

able, and passionate

about his subject. We

learnt that Binchester

is actually re-writing

R o m an h i s t o r y i n

B r i t a i n s i n c e t h e

excavations and finds

have proved that our

earlier understanding

o f t h e R o m a n

probable early life in the

workhouse and t he

breakup of her family

t o o m u ch t o b e a r ?

There is much still to be

discovered about the

e a r l y l i f e o f S e l i n a

Rowley.

Alec Thompson.

Fo o t no t e : As A l a n

Ladd’s middle name was

“Walbridge” and Selina

was apparently born in

West Chester, I wonder

if there is a connection

here with Waldridge and

an early memory of her

original place of birth.

We can only know for

ce r t a i n i f he r b i r th

c e r t i f i c a t e c a n b e

obtained, but it is an

unusual choice for a

middle name.

Page 10 Chester le Street

no visits from kin folks,

n o t h i n g . W a s t h e

disgrace of her father

C h a r l e s b e i n g

i m p r i s o n e d , h e r

o c cu p a t i o n o f o u r

Country was far more

than originally thought.

Of course one must

r e m e m b e r t h a t

knowledge and abilities

have moved on from

those earlier reports.

We now know that

Binchester, having been

thought to be a smallish

and therefore not very

important Fort was, in

Alan, Sue

Carol, Alana

& David Ladd.

Recent Meetings

fact, the biggest in the

Country being many

acres more in size, and

e n t i r e l y t h e m o s t

important. The Cavalry,

h o r s e s a n d m e n

n u m b e re d i n t h e i r

t h o u s a n d s . T h e

Hadrian's Wall Forts,

the most famous of all

are much smaller and

had less men. We heard

that women, although

not allowed to fight,

c o u l d b e c o m e

practically anything they

wanted. We heard how

the men trained, about

on page 20 that, "In 883

t h e c o m m u n i t y

established itself within

the old Roman fort at

Chester-le-Street for

over 100 years." A

personal note about the

ring - I have visited the

Gospels before and upon

remarking to a Steward

that the ring was huge

compared to how small

people were in those

days she informed me

that the ring had been

sojourn at Chester-le-

Street. The written

information provided

stated at one point that

Cuthbert 's remains

resided in our Town

between 950 and 970.

Clearly that is not the

case since the Gospels

were t rans lated in

Chester-le-Street whilst

he was here and could

not have been translated

in 20 years. Indeed, the

Exhibition Guide states

carbon-dated and is

actually not St. Cuthbert's

own ring. His coffins

(there were 3, one inside

the other) had been

opened several times

over the years and,

apparently, one of those

times a man who seemed

to believe that the Saint

would certainly have had

a ring did no more than

put his own ring on

Cuthbert's finger. So it

was that when the coffins

25th September

Several members of

the Group went to

Durham to visit the

Lindisfarne Gospels.

Our time-slot was

7.45pm so we went

into the Cathedral

first. It was practically

empty of visitors and

so we were able to

b r o w s e a t o u r

leisure, which was

refreshing. A visit to

Page 11 Volume 3, Issue 4

the discipline, about the

way they fought, about

t h e w a y t h e y

c o n s t r u c t e d t h e i r

buildings and roads and

aqueducts, we heard

t h a t t h e R o m a n s

recycled everything. It

seems that everything

we do or have done

w h i c h w e t h i n k i s

modern and "moving

forward" just isn't. The

Romans have already

done it and what is

more, their buildings

st i l l stand and their

roads are st il l being

St. Cuthbert's tomb

was a must of course.

Once inside the actual

exhibition I think it safe

to say that everyone

enjoyed the experience.

Although several were

surprised that the book

itself was not much

bigger, that there were

so many other books

such as the Durham

Gospels, and the size of

St. Cuthbert's ring.

The exhibition was well

p r e s e n t e d a n d

extremely informative.

Chester-le-Street was

mentioned in several

p l a c e s . T h e o n l y

downside was that the

eminent persons of the

British Library and the

H i s t o r i a n s e t c .

connected with the

history of the Gospels

made a mistake in the

date of St. Cuthbert's

used. For example ,

Binchester has revealed

concrete that is many

hundreds of years old

and is still intact, as are

some of their roads. As

Gordon pointed out,

our modern roads fall

apart in an alarmingly

short space of time.

Gordon is someone

that we will definitely

invite back to speak

again. He apparently is

able to speak about a

n u m b e r o f o t h e r

Roman subjects.

were opened again it

was supposed for

many years that the

ring belonged to

Cuthbert. This of

course is conjecture

but there i s no

doubt, through the

carbon-dating, that

the ring is much

later and therefore

not St. Cuthbert's

own.

Ann

CONTACTS

Events Diary

Chester le Street Heritage Group

Chairperson -

DAHALL52@aol.com

Information requests/web

heritage.group@virgin.net

Friends friendsclsheritage@hotmail.co.uk

Newsletter

brian.k.pirrie@btopenworld.com

Date Time Event Location

Tue 7th January then

every following Tues-

day.

10:00-12:00 Drop In Session

All Welcome

Salvation Army Citadel Low Chare , Chester

le Street.

Wed 8th January

Wed 22nd January

Wed 5th February

Wed 19th February

Wed 5th March

19:00-21:00 Speaker John Banham.

Members Mtg

Speaker Bill Saunders

Members Mtg

Speaker Alan Hedley

Ch-le-St Library

Can You Help Us ? The Heritage Group have a continued interest in

“All Things Chester-le-Street.”

We are interested in contacting people, both those who live in the

town and those who have family connections to borrow, copy and

return any of the following:-

1. Photographs/Postcards of the Front Street and surrounding

areas. Members of the Group have the capacity to scan

photographs, negatives and slides.

2. 8mm/16mm/Video film of events that happened in Chester le

Street.

3. Ephemera to do with the Front Street – bill headings, paper

bags, advertising material.

The Group also thinks it is important to record for future

historians oral memories of people who:-

were shop workers,

were owners of shops and businesses,

shopped Up and Down The Street,

took part in Front Street events,

If you can help us in any way, please get in touch or call at one of

our meetings or drop in sessions.

Next Newsletter

5th March 2014

Contributions

required by

19th February

2014