Shiels to Shields: The Life Story of a North Tyneside Town

NORTH SHIELDS has its roots in the founding of Tynemouth Priory in the 7th century, although its life began with a cluster of riverside shelters for fishermen in the 13th. Subsequently, the town's development was continually thwarted by the bullying tactics of its neighbour Newcastle upon Tyne, and North Shields' fortunes fluctuated greatly over the centuries. It was not until the 1800s that it was free to develop without restraint. Telling the fascinating life story of this North Tyneside town, right up to the recent past, Danny Lawrence's book is both a comprehensive history and a kind of 'Who Do You Think You Are?' for those with North Shields' origins. Woven into the history are descriptions of the conditions which their forebears were forced to endure over centuries before working people secured the political, economic and social rights taken for granted today. Shiels to Shields is a lively, enlightening, well illustrated account which will be of huge appeal to anyone with local connections, as well as to those interested in British history generally.

Table of Contents:
Preface ... vii Acknowledgements ... xvii 1 The early history of Tynemouth ... 1 Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Danes and Normans ... 1 Tynemouth Priory from the Norman Conquest to the Dissolution of the Monasteries ... 10 Tynemouth Castle from the medieval era to the accession of William and Mary ... 15 2 North Shields v. Newcastle: a struggle for survival ... 28 The early pattern of settlement ... 29 Conflict and competition with Newcastle ... 30 Ralph Gardner's resistance ... 37 The end of the Newcastle monopoly ... 40 3 It's like taking coals to Shields ... 41 The initial phase: coal collecting ... 42 The evolution of the coal trade ... 43 4 Free at last: economic change since the eighteenth century ... 51 The rise and fall of coal ... 54 Shipping ... 58 Shipbuilding ... 70 Fishing ... 74 The expansion of commercial services and utilities ... 77 5 Transformation of the built environment ... 79 The long narrow street ... 84 The Bank Top ... 86 6 Beyond Shields ... 97 Access by river ... 97 Access by road ... 100 Access by rail ... 102 7 Civic pride and independence ... 108 Component parts of Tynemouth Borough ... 109 Public utilities and services ... 115 8 Religious institutions ... 129 Organised religion from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century ... 130 Religious institutions in the mid-nineteenth century ... 148 Religion and social class ... 150 Consolidation and decline ... 155 Other religious groups ... 168 9 Leisure time ... 171 Constraints and influences ... 171 Victorian leisure in the home ... 177 Victorian leisure outside the home ... 178 10 The labouring classes (I): barriers to progress ... 205 Political oppression ... 206 Economic exploitation ... 217 Justice and injustice ... 222 11 The labouring classes (II): social and economic conditions ... 228 Squalor ... 228 Disease ... 239 Idleness ... 246 Ignorance ... 250 Want ... 263 12 The labouring classes (III): responses to poverty ... 276 Help from others ... 276 Self-help ... 287 13 A final word ... 303 Notes and references ... 307 Bibliography ... 323 Index ... 337

About the Author :
Dr Danny Lawrence spent his working life at the University of Nottingham but was born and raised in North Shields and has always regarded it as home.