Memorial

Statue 1914-18 1939-45 Cemetery

Blaydon

Memorial Name: Statue 1914-18 1939-45 Cemetery (B111.01)

NEWMP Ref No.: B111.01

Parish: Blaydon

Original Location:

Blaydon Cemetery, to the left of the Cemetery Gates.

Which War:

a. 1914-18
b. 1939-45

Dedication, Creation or Publication date:

a. Unveiled 7th April 1923 by Miss Cowen;
dedicated by Rev. E.V. Simpkinson, M.A., Rector of Stella St.Cuthbert’s.

Materials Used:

Granite

Who Commissioned:

War Memorial Committee

Cost:

Approx. £1,000

How Money was Raised:

Miss Jane Cowen and her brother Col. Joseph Cowen of Stella Hall each gave £200, starting the public subscription fund, and they also made up the deficit at the end.

Present Condition: Very good

Sculptor, Artist or Designer:

Designed and made by Robert Warrack Morrison of Aberdeen.

Ownership and Maintenance: At the unveiling, the memorial was formally handed over to the Blaydon Burial Board to be kept for the inhabitants for all time.

Inscription:

a.
To the glory of God
and in memory of those of Blaydon
and District who fell in the Great War
1914-1918

b.
Also those of Blaydon
who died at home and abroad
Their name liveth forever
1939-1945

Memorial Description:

Statue of soldier in greatcoat, resting on a reversed rifle, total height 17 feet (5.2m).

He stands on a square stone double pedestal, which in turn stands on three shallow steps inside a small area with kerb and solid iron fence.

On the front face is a laurel wreath in half relief, below which is the dedication.

The names from 1914-18 are in two columns on all four faces of the pedestal.

The dedication for 1939-45 is on the front of the pedestal, and the names are incised in four columns on each of the remaining four sides.

Lettering is in sans serif capitals.

Names:

a. 201 full names.
b. 47 in the Army; 11 Royal Navy; 5 Merchant Navy; 1 NAAFI; 6 civilians.
See transcript.

Notes:

1. After the unveiling ceremony, Miss Cowen was presented with a silver statuette of a soldier in full equipment on an ebony plate with the inscription “Presented to Miss Jane Cowen of Stella Hall on the occasion of the unveiling of the Blaydon War Memorial 7th April 1923”.

2. It was reported that over 1,500 men from the town had joined the colours, of whom over 300 fell.

3. In At the Going Down of the Sun, mention is made of a Memorial Booklet which lists 306 names. Copies of these were given to the nearest relatives of the fallen, the cost being borne by Miss Cowen.

4. It was suggested that the memorial be for the whole area rather than individual ones for the wards. One was already in hand for Winlaton and another for Spen. One suggestion was that Parkhead Hall, Winlaton, should be made into a hospital.

External Links:

Historic England Listing

Sources:

Photos: Ken Marsden; J. Brown;
Old postcards: Dorothy Hall; Tony Harding

Blaydon Courier
15/02/1919 reports discussion in Note 4 above;
02/04/1921 carries a letter discussing whether donations should be anonymous or not;
05/11/1921 lists subscribers to the shilling fund;
26/08/1922 carries list of names for the memorial;
17/03/1923 reports proposed unveiling;
31/03/1923 carries a drawing of the memorial

Illustrated Chronicle
27/03/1923 carries photo of memorial;
04/04/1923 gives details of forthcoming unveiling;

Newcastle Daily Chronicle
17/09/1921 reports proposals for fund raising;
04/11/1921 reports raising of 14,099 shillings towards the proposed target of 20,000 shillings;
17/02/1922 reports agreement on the site being in the cemetery.

Newcastle Weekly Chronicle
31/03/1923 reports unveiling.
07/04/1923 reports unveiling;
14/04/1923 reports unveiling

Northern Echo
28/08/1922 reports proposed unveiling;
09/04/1923 reports unveiling;
12/11/1923 reports giving booklets to relatives

Tyne & Wear Archives
Joseph Cowen Papers, Acc.634, Catalogue Vol. I, p.229 shows that Nos. D529 to D533 relate to this memorial, including album of photographs taken at the unveiling, a booklet about the memorial and a draft of Jane Cowen’s speech at the unveiling.

Gateshead Library Local Studies.
copies of the material in Tyne & Wear Archives Dept. on fiche with reader and copier. Also Programme of the Unveiling Ceremony.

Gateshead Borough Council
List showing Grade II Listing.

Newcastle City Library
has copy of the unveiling programme.

At the Going Down of the Sun Derek Boorman.

Leopard- The Magazine for North East Scotland August 2005 carries an article about Robert Warrack Morrison who sculpted the statue.

Source of quotation
“Their name liveth for ever” Apocrypha, Ecclesiasticus 44

Research Acknowledgements:

Ralph W. Gould;
Ken Marston;
Tony Harding;
Janet Brown;
Nan Smith;
James Pasby;
Dorothy Hall

Research In Progress:

Winlaton Local History Society are researching the names on this memorial

Contact:- Contact: winlatonhistorysociety@yahoo.com

If you know more about this memorial, please send the details to NEWMP.

Names Documents:

BLAYDON     Cemetery   

 

Front Face

  

  To the glory of God

  and in memory of those of Blaydon

  and District, who fell in the Great War

  1914-1918

 

  Thomas Anderson          Thomas Banks

  Robert Anderson          Tom Barton

  George E. Armstrong      Fred Barton

  John Armstrong           George W. Bryant

  J. Stanley Adamson       Joseph E. Bailey

  Septimus Amos            George R. Bowen

  Walter Amos              William E. Brewis

  George H. Allan          Albert G. Batey

  John M. Archer           James Batey

  Thomas Ayre              John S. Birss

                           John J. Beckingham

  William Brown            James J. Bellamy

  Robert Brown             Thomas Ballantyne

  Charles Brown            John Bates

  James Brown              Tom Bates

  Isaac Brown              John Barrett

  Alfred Brown             Marriott Blackburn

  Alexander S. Brown       John A. Bell

  Tommy N. Brown           H. Sidney Bell

  Tom N. Brown             William Burke

  Thomas Brown             James Birkett

  Donald A. Brown          David T. Blackburn

  James Banks              Robert Brown

  Albert W. Bryant         W. Cawthorne

 

Lower pedestal

  Also those of Blaydon

  who died at home and abroad

  Their name liveth for evermore

  1939-1945

——————————-

Right Face

(1914-1918)

  

  R. Carr

  Michael Carr             Joseph Fleming

  Robert Carr              James W. Forster

  James Carr               John W. Forster

  Edward Chilton           George Farrow

  William D. Chilton       George Fletcher

  William D. Corby         Frederick Finlay

  Richard H. Clark

  Robert Clark             Robert H. Gill

  Albert Clark             John E. Gair

  William Cawthorn         William Gray

  M. Cawthorn              John Gray

  John Campbell            Joseph Greener

  James E. Crompton        Thomas Gee

  John Colgan              William Glennon

  George Craig             Jesse Grundy

  T. Coates                Cyril E. Gadsden

  Fred Cann                Alfred J. Gobey

  J. Wilson Creighton      John R. Gilhespy

  G. Chapman               G. Hopper

  William N. Cairns        T. Hymers Hopper

  Robert Chisholm          John H. Hopper

  H. Cotterell             Robert Hopper

  Nicholas F. Davison      William Hewitt

  James Davison            John C. Hewitt

  John W. Davidson         Charles C. Hands

  John K. Dodds            Thomas Hands

  William Dodds            Albert Hogg

  Thomas Dodds             Thomas Haywood

  John Dobby               Ernest E. Hoyland

  Peter Devlin             John T. Hutchinson

  Walter Daglish           Thomas Hindmore

  Joseph Douglass          William R. Heppell

  Thomas Denny             John W. Harwood

  John W. Dixon            John P. Heanaghan

  Irving Dixon             William R. Hawdon

  William Dixon            Samuel Higgins

  James Dixon              Adam Hodgson

  Tom Dale                 Robert Holliday

  John Dunwoodie           Henry Haywood

                           Richard Harrison

  Wilfred Elliott          George Harrison

  John Elder               David Howie

  John W. Edgar            Charles H. Handyside

 

Lower pedestal

(1939-1945)

  G.E. Aiston              ARMY                J.R. Hall

  W.R. Boyd                                    G. Hepple

  J. Brennen     R. Covell     M. Forster      J.T. Ideson

  J. Brett       W.G. Crone    T. Gascoigne    T.W. Kelly

  G.W.G. Brown   G. Dixon      W. Gee          J. King

  J.R. Cairns    T. Dodd       J. Gray         R. King

  J.G. Chatto    M. Duffy      G. Gaul         J. Leighton

  E.R. Copeland  F. Elliott    H.F. Hall       J.N. March

—————————————————–

Rear Face

(1914-1918)

  

  Thomas Horrocks          William J. Melvin

  Duncan Halliday          John J.G. Mills

  James Home               Joseph March

  William Hall             Joseph Marshall

  William Hall             John Marshall

  Joseph Holmes            George Marshall

  James Hayes              Dominic Murphy

  Thomas Irving            John Maughan

  J. Hughes                J.B. Maude

  E. Llewellyn James       Stephen McKenna

  William L. Jones         Peter McKenna

  Reginald D. Jobling      James McKay

  Ernest Jobling           James McChrystal

  James Johnson            Thomas W. McGurk

  A. Johnson               Anthony McFarlane

  Charles Johnson          S. McMaster

                           Alfred MacRae

  John Kinsey

  Joseph Kirkup            James Nelson

  Felix H. Kelly           Phillip Nelson

  Patrick Kelly            Edward Nelson

  Charles Kendal           David J. Noble

  George Kendal            Robert Noon

  G. Kendal                Joseph Noon

  Timothy Killila          Michael Nacey

  Richard Knotts           William Newton

  J. Lowden                Robert E. Nicholson

  Robert Llewellyn

  Richard Llewellyn        William Osborne

  Alfred Lowdon            John Ormston

  Edward Lowdon            John Ogle

  George Lowdon            George J. Ogilvie

  Alexander Lyall

  John Lyall               James Philipson

  Frederick W. Lennox      George Philipson

  Alex Laybourn            Edward A. Puddifoot

  William Lakey            Bertie Puddifoot

  John Lavery              James Patterson

  Charles Lertoria         Bolton Patterson

  James Lee                Joseph G. Purvis

  George Lucas             William Purvis

  Thomas Mitchinson        George R. Porthouse

  William Murray           Joseph Pentland

  Charles E. Mason         William J. Polkinghorne

  Andrew Mitchinson        George H. Pedelty

  Thomas Mulvaney          Charles Pletts

 

Lower pedestal

(1939-1945)

  

  R. Maughan        ARMY        J.J. Rowley      R.A.F.

  T. Moore                      T.W. Sheldon     W.H. Browell

  R.M.K. McCloud J. Purvis      J.G. Stainthorpe J. Horan

  T. McElvough   R. Richardson  J.D. Thompson MM G. Hughes

  A.J. McRae     R. Rogerson    F. Thorburn     D. McEwen

  M.G. Parker                   R. Watson       W.J. Mordue

  W. Pelling     N.A.A.F.I.     A. Whistance    J. Taylor

  W.S. Porter    Frances Macey  J.H. Whistance

———————————————

Left Face

(1914-1918)

  

  Septimus Potter          Matthew M. Twizell

  Henry Potter             George Turner

  John F. Pattison         Cuthbert Turner

  Lancelot Parkin          Joseph B. Tolson

  Edward Parker            William J. Trembath

  James R. Potts           James S.H. Turbitt

  Walter Payne             John G. Taylor

                           Walter Thompson

  William Robinson         William Thompson

  Thomas Rochester         Thomas Todd

  Charles Rochester        John H. Tweddle

  Thomas H. Richardson     William Tunley

  James Richardson         Robert Thorburn

  Harry Richardson         David Trotter

  Joseph Robson            E.D. Telford

  John Robson              Charles E. Usher

  Frank Roberts            Joseph Vallans

  John Robertson           Thomas Vallans

  Frederick T. Rogers      Thomas Vallans

  Joseph Raper             John Vallans

  William Rogerson         George Vallans

  Henry Ridley             William Vallans

  William Riley            William D. Whinham

                           John G. Welsh

  Richard H. Spoors        T. William Wilson

  Lancelot J. Swan         William Wilson

  Thomas Swan              Joseph Wilson

  J. William Scott         John Wilson

  Ernest Scott             Tennant Wormald

  John J. Surrey           George H. Watson

  George E. Strange        Robert Watson

  John Shippen             Thomas Watson

  Robert Story             J. Watson

  Owen Sullivan            J. Watson

  Thomas Stonehouse        Philip Walsh

  Alfred E. Stokoe         William Wallace

  John W. Shaw             William Wintrip

  William Somerville       Thomas Wormald

  Robert Somerville        Richard Woods

  Thomas E. Steel          James Wears

  William H. Stockdale     Alexander White

                           John T. Walton

  Thomas Tench             E. Waugh

  Richard Tench            Charles Yallop

  Joseph Tulip

  Robert Tulip             Nurse May G. Brinton

 

Lower pedestal

(1939-1945)

  

             R.N.                 M.N.            CIVILIANS

  R. Beveridge      R. Faulder    N. Fenwick      Albert Dodgson

  G. Cameron        J.B. Ivison   J.H. Gee        Emily Dodgson

  H. Carr           E. Parker     A. Hogg         Thelma Dodgson

  A. Charlton       G.S. Pringle  G. Maughan      Martin Heanaghan

  P.F. Crossey DSM. J. Thompson   J. Summerville  John H. Moore

  G. Davison                                      Margaret Moore

NamesB111.01      

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