North Shields 800 Fact of the Day - January
Welcome to Fact of the Day, one for every day of 2025 - marking 800 years since the founding of North Shields
A mix of light-hearted and deadly serious facts about the history of our town.
Follow us North Shields 800 for a daily dose of North Shields history.
January 2nd, 1765
The first Freemasons Lodge is founded in North Shields.
They meet at the Old George Inn on King Street, one of the first streets laid out in what would become the enlarged town above the Fish Quay and banksides.
January 3rd, 1870
Public library opens on Saville Street.
The Mechanics’ Institute give their building, the Literary and Philosophical Society donate their book collection.
This is the first free public library on Tyneside.
January 4th, 1841
Methodist minister James Egan Moulton was born in the town. He would establish the Tongan College in the Tongan Pacific islands.
His translation of the bible into Tongan is still used today.
January 5th, 1447
Newcastle objected to the very existence of North Shields.
Where there had been only three cottages, the Prior of Tynemouth had encouraged the growth of a village, with staithes, herring houses, a brewery and a market.
This, it was claimed, was losing £340 a year at Newcastle Customs House.
January 6th, 1890
At a public meeting at North Shields Town Hall it was agreed that a memorial would be instigated to the memory of Thomas Haswell formerly the ‘Maister’ of the Jubilee School.
A memorial today stands opposite Christ Church.
Image: Google Maps
January 7th, 1937
Mr Dudley Gray, secretary of the North Shields Communist Party, issues a statement in support of the striking North Shields Trawler men for a living wage.
January 8th, 1865
Famous architect John Dobson dies at home in Newcastle.
Born at the Pineapple Inn in Chirton, he was one of the creators of the neo-classical city centre and several buildings in North Shields, including the Howard Street Presbyterian church (now the Salvation Army citadel).
January 9th, 1852
Well-known artist John Chambers dies and is buried in Preston Cemetery. Born in South Shields he made his home in North Shields. Part of the famous Cullercoats artists’ colony, he had many studios in North Shields.
January 10th, 1900
The sensational domestic comedy The Orphan Heiress is playing at the Theatre Royal, North Shields.
Written by and starring Arthur Jefferson, Stan Laurel’s dad. He plays ‘Ginger'. It receives excellent reviews during its many countrywide tours.
January 11th, 1986
The Pet Shop Boys had their first number one hit with West End Girls.
The song was co-written by North Shields-born Neil Tennant.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries
January 12th, 1539
Tynemouth Priory surrendered to Henry VIII’s Commissioners. Prior Robert Blakeney got a pension of £80 per annum in return for the former priory land at Benwell.
12th January 1865
Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade formed to aid rescues from the shoreline following the tragedy at the Black Middens rocks in November 1864.
The first formed in the country, now one of only two still operating independently of the Coast Guard.
13th January, 1915
Sub. Lt. Frederick Monks, lost at sea with 300 men in the sinking of HMS Viknor.
Former pupil of TS Wellesley, a nautical school that lay off the Fish Quay (destroyed by fire March 1914). He was sent to Wellesley aged 12 for four years in February 1900. Charge: ‘frequenting the company of thieves.’ One of many who made good in later life – as a qualified Second Mate.
January 14th, 1880
Tynemouth Aquarium and Winter Gardens with roller skating rink (later The Plaza) sold at auction for £27,150 (cost £90,000 to build). The new owner is solicitor Gibson Youll.
January 15th, 1976
Episode 2 of ‘When The Boat Comes In’ airs on TV.
Set in fictional town of Gallowshield - based on North Shields - where many scenes were filmed.
This was the only episode written by famous Shields playwright Tom Hadaway. Likely Lad James Bolam played the male lead.
January 16th, 1862
Pit disaster at New Hartley. 204 men and boys are trapped underground and die.
Famous Percy Main poet Joseph Skipsey’s response ‘The Hartley Calamity’ raises money for bereaved families. The poem features in his collection The Collier Lad and other songs and ballads, published 1864.
January 17th, 1933
Thomas George Purvis died in Hong Kong. Born in North Shields in 1861, he was famous for paintings with a maritime theme and ship portraits.
His paintings are in many public collections including the National Maritime Museum and National Museum of Wales.
January 18th, 1804
‘A dreadful fire’ broke out at a brewery at the Low Lights area. The fire started at 4am in the brewery of Mr Coward. It was not brought under control before ‘considerable damage was done.’
January 19th, 1923
Inaugural meeting of the Tynemouth Antiquarian Society. It meets every second Tuesday of month from October to April at Holy Saviours church hall.
January 20th, 1928
A public lecture was held in the Co-operative Hall on Howdon Road, North Shields. The lecturer was a Miss Manson and the subject was ‘Theosophy in Everyday Life’.
A philosophical system that combines mysticism, spiritualism, and metaphysics. Its more famous practitioners include the inventor Thomas Edison and the poet William Butler Yeats.
January 21st, 1946
William Scorfield Garson, a well-known businessman and local historian, died. More than 55,000 copies of his local histories were produced.
He was a founder and treasurer of the Tynemouth Antiquarian Society until shortly before his death. Copies of his histories are available in North Shields library.
January 22nd, 1897
A severe storm smashes a large gap in the newly completed North Pier at the harbour entrance. The pier needs to be realigned, and a large section reconstructed. It was not fully repaired until 1909.
January 23rd, 1897
Storm damage to the North Pier means a temporary access bridge will be needed to allow pier staff and lighthouse keepers to get access to lighthouse.
January 24th, 1896
A Greco- Roman wrestling match is held at the Albion Assembly Rooms, Saville Street between Greek George (Champion of the World) and North Shields based Charles Shultz (Scandinavian Champion).
The match was won by Greek George.
January 25th, 1940
North Shields received one of the most unfavourable reports in the country when the Ministry of Labour reviewed conditions in British ports.
Mr R S Heesom of the British Sailors’ Society of North Shields described some of these establishments as “a menace not only to the seamen but to every member of the public.
"There is no need to enlarge upon the vices of Clive Street.”
January 26th, 1357
The Prior of Tynemouth complains about Newcastle men digging coal on his land at Elswick, Newcastle. Using a license they were granted for elsewhere, the Mayor and Burgesses of Newcastle are now digging coal on his land.
January 27th, 1997
The Evening Chronicle reports a suspected arson attack at the former Tyne Brand factory on North Shields Fish Quay.
A quarter of the ground floor was damaged severely and the rest of the three-storey building smoke logged.
20 firemen took three hours to bring the blaze under control. This was the first of many fires at the site.
January 28th, 1952
Silent movie star Stan Laurel, who lived in Dockwray Square at turn of century, arrived in Southampton on RMS Queen Mary with his co-star Oliver Hardy. They will tour the UK and come to North Shields to meet his old friends.
Hilton Valentine, member of the world-renowned band ‘The Animals’, died in Wallingford, Connecticut USA.
He will always be remembered for the famous arpeggio chords he played on the group’s 1964 breakthrough hit ‘House of the Rising Sun’. A blue plaque was placed at his birthplace in Coburg Street, North Shields in 2021.
30th January, 1906
At North Shields Police Court on 30 January 1906, 16-year-old Dora Agnes Stephenson pleaded guilty to stealing a brooch, a blouse and a cloth bag belonging to her employer Robert Wardhaugh of Chirton Hill Top Farm.
The theft was out of character. The young girl was so ashamed she tried to take her own life. She was bound over and her dad who supported her had to pay a fine of £5.
January 31st, 1855
Birth of Sir James Knott. Raised from age of one in Linskill Street, North Shields. He went on to establish his Prince Shipping Line – the third largest in world at the turn of the 20th century.
After retirement following the loss of two of his three sons in the First World War, he established charitable trusts to aid the people of the North East and elsewhere that continue their work to this day.