George Markham Tweddell’s Speech to the Stokesley Mechanics Institute First Meeting Saturday 9th November 1850 – Local Writers.


George Markham Tweddell said – “Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is rather a formidable undertaking for a poor man like myself, who never, during the whole course of his education, possessed the common auxiliaries of learning – a spelling book and an arithmetic – it is a formidable undertaking for such a one to stand forward, on an occasion like the present, to address so goodly an assemblage of the beauty, the learning, and the talent of his native town. It is at times like this, one is apt to feel a certain weakness at the knee-joints, a palpitation of the heart not arising from disease ; and some how or other the teeth are inclined to dance and chatter in the head. But as the tea has been good, and the music excellent (I always feel good tea to be indeed to be what the poet Cowper terms it, “The cup that cheers but not inebriates.” and all know the inspiring effect of heaven-born Music.) and as I see the bright eyes of the ladies smiling encouragingly upon me, (and I never could resist the potent magic of a woman’s smile,) I take courage and address myself as well as I can, to my task.


The sentiment to which I’m required to speak this evening is that of  Local Writers, by which expression, I understand, all men of letters who, by birth or residence, have been connected with this district. Since the programme for this meeting was issued to the public, I have been frequently asked the question “Who are the Local Writers?” and I have promised, during the short space allowed me this evening, according to my ability, to answer the inquiry. It was, indeed, my intention to have consulted a few biographical works and local histories, and to have made out as complete a list as I could of Local Writers, whose productions, nay, whose very names – I am sorry to say, are so little known in this, their own district. Cleveland has never yet done justice to such of her sons as have distinguished themselves in the Republic of  Letters ; nay, judging from various circumstances, I unhesitatingly declare, that the majority of you, however intelligent you may otherwise be, are totally ignorant of what literary men have been connected with Cleveland and what have not. I have pencilled down, from memory, a few of the authors connected with this district, giving them, as well as recollection will serve me, in chronological order ; and as it is totally impossible to do justice to any one of our Local Writers in the fifteen minutes allowed me to address you, I must content myself with merely, mentioning the names of such of them as I have been able to remember, trusting that some of you will bear them in mind when you have retired to your own domestic hearths, and that you may endeavour to make yourself acquainted with their writings. – The eastern extremity of this district, Sir, produced one of the most celebrated Anglo Saxon poets in person of a poor herdsman, named Cedmon, who afterwards became one of the monks of  Whitby. Near twelve hundred years have swept over the earth since his body mouldered into the dust ; but his writings have survived the dark and troubled centuries, and were printed, only  nineteen years ago in London. There is much in the personal history of  Cedmon, when stripped of the superstitious legends with which tradition has invested it, to remind us of the Scottish plough boy, Robert Burns. His writings, however, bear much greater resemblance to those of  John Milton ; so much so, indeed, that I should unhesitatingly declare him the Milton on the Anglo Saxon period era. One will find specimens of his poems in Sharon Turner’s History of the Anglo Saxons, in Dr Young’s History of Whitby, and in that popular and excellent work, Chambers’s Cyclopeadia of English Literature. The next author to whom I shall refer is an English Historian of the fourteenth century – Walter De Hemingford, who was Canon of Guisbo’ Priory. The original manuscript of his history, I believe, is preserved in the Advocates Library in Edingburgh. This history was published at Oxford, by that laborious antiquary, Thomas Hearne. The next literary name that I remember being in anyway connected with Cleveland is that of  Sir Thomas Chaloner, the elder, an eminent poet, statesman and warrior of  the Elizabethan period. He is the first of the names connected with Cleveland, and was author of several prose works as well as poems. It was his son Sir Thomas Chaloner the younger, who first began manufacture of alum in England, and published a volume On the Nature of  Nitre. Two miles from where we are now assembled, was born one of the most eminent divines of the Church of England, one of the most accomplished scholars of his day, Bishop Brian Walton, whose Polyglot Bible, edited,  as it was, in the troubled times of Charles the First and the English Commonwealth, will immortalise his name. Another distinguished divine of the Church of England and a celebrated controversialist, a native of this part  was Rev. Henry Foulis, son of  Sir David Foulis, of Ingleby Manor. His works, though principally controversial, are not forgotten. Passing now to the western extremity of Cleveland, I find the industrious Thomas Rymer, author of The Faedera in fifteen folio volumes and a View of the Tragedies of the late Age was born at Appleton Wiske. His collection of state papers have been termed “an undigested mass“. I wish the writer, instead of applying the epithet, had digested them for us. Fifty eight manuscript volumes of valuable historical documents collected by  Rymer, are at present preserved in the British Museum, for Rymer did not eat of the bread of idleness. If I may be allowed to go a stone’s throw from Cleveland Mr Chairman, in the adjoining parish of  Kirby Wiske, we shall come to the birthplace of the tutor of Queen Elizabeth, the learned Roger Ascham, author of  The Schoolmaster and other works. The next Cleveland writer to whom I shall refer is one whose name I mention with mingled feelings of pleasure and pain allude to John Hall Stevenson of Skelton Castle, the friend and ‘Eugenius‘ of  Lawrence Sterne. I feel proud of this gentleman’s learning, proud of his wit and humour but sorry that his talents were so prostituted. While his Fables for Grown Gentlemen his Crazy Tales and other display the fire of true genius, I deeply regret that the greater part of them are not fit for republication in the present day. Pity it is that true genius should ever be prostituted. Passing again a mere stone’s throw from Cleveland – only crossing the river Tees at Stockton was born one of the most eminent of  literary antiquarians – Joseph Ritson, and also a poor rope maker and dramatist. Joseph Reed, a scene from whose farce of  The Register Office will be familiar to most of you, under the name of  Margery Moorpout. The Reverend W. Wray has alluded to one who may be classed amongst Local Writers, seeing that he prepared the manuscript copy of his second voyage round the world for the press ;  and all humanity must regret that his untimely murder prevented him from preparing an account of his third. I refer to that truly great and heroic man, Captain James Cook, who was a son of farm labourer of Marton, and received his education at our neighbouring  village of Great Ayton, from whence he went to sea, and became the greatest navigator of his time, gaining for himself immortal renown. The Rev. David Simpson, whose Plea for Religion and Key to Prophecies are so well known, was also a Cleveland man. The only writer that Stokesley has produced in by gone days, that I remember ins Thomas Pierson, the  author of  Rosebery Topping, a poem, and of some play performed here, a copy of which I  have never been able to obtain. And how did Stokesley honour or reward her child of the muse? Why she starved him out! Though the poor poet tried so hard to gain for himself  an honest livelihood by following the useful callings of Locksmith, Clock and Watch maker and school master, she churlishly denied him bread, entrusted the tuition of her children to an astrologer and forced to be a poor man of  letters  to seek shelter in “a small place” in the custom house of Stockton. I must not forget the first historian of Cleveland, the late Rev John Graves of Yarm, whose antiquarian researches were equally creditable to himself and useful to others. But all other parts of our district are insignificant  as the birthplaces of men of genius, compared to Gisbro’, – bear witness to William Mason, to  William Danby, and that unfortunate bard and historian, John Walker Ord, whose writings  alone would require a lecture to do them that justice they deserve. Poor Mason, nearly all his writers seem to have perished with him ; the only specimens of his poems that are preserved are Monody on La Place printed in Blackwell’s Magazine and the pieces given in my own Yorkshire Miscellany. Some of the best of the South Durham poets, Mr Chairman, have been singularly connected  Stokesley : Thos Watson, author of  The Ruin, my friend Henry Heavisides whose Pleasures of  Home deserves to be in the home and heart of every Englishman, and the lamented Edward Marsh Heavisides whose poetical and prose remains I now hold in my hand, These have all spent some years of their  lives in Stokesley, though none of the three were natives of the place. The Night by  Mr Thomas John Cleaver like the Wildflowers of  Miss Ayre was published in Stokesley. One noble name Cleveland possesses in the ranks of her literary men, in the person of  Marquess of  Normanby, ( The Hon Commodore Constantine John Phipps) and the friend of Charles Dickens, (to his honour be it spoken) and author of the novels Matilda, Yes and No, The Contrast as well as Tales of  Arinda (?). and  The Prophet of St. Paul’s. I turn now to a humble name, but one which I would not willing omit of a poor stone mason of  Danby,  John Castillo, author of Auld Izaak and Other Poems, principally in the North Yorkshire dialect. Though not born in Cleveland, the Rev. James Holme, vicar of Kirkleatham, deserves honourable mention as the author of  Leisure Musings and Mount Grace Priory and other poetical works. Another clergyman I must not forget to mention, as his name  is both connected with Stokesley and the literary world, i speak of our late Rector, the Venerable Levison Vernon Harcourt whose Doctrine of the Deluge I trust will find a place in the library of our Mechanics Institute.  Have any of that gentleman’s correspondents, our worthy Rector for instance  was to give the hint, I doubt not that he would be willingly present with a copy. And now Sir having mentioned one Archdeacon of Cleveland, I ought to mention his successor, the Venerable Henry John Todd, whose Life of  Cranmer, revived edition of  Johnson’s Dictionary  and other works, have made his name well known in the world of letters. As time allowed me now expired, I shall merely mention two more literary names connected with Stokesley, the Rev Charles Cator and a medical writer Mr Lawson Crummey, whose valuable work on the Diseases of the Skin is of practical importance. Mr Chairman, I think I have now fairly and fully answered the question ‘Who are our local Writers’.”

most celebrated Anglo-Saxon poets, in the person of a poor herdsman, named


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Editor’s note – it is interesting in that Tweddell included in 1850, some of the poets or authors that never made the first and only volume of Bards and Authors of Cleveland in 1872 but were earmarked for the proposed second and third volumes which never appeared. It means we have at least got some of his thoughts and information on them.


Although very much a work in progress at present, a full list and information of the Bards and Authors of Cleveland for various sources including GMT (for possible further research) will be on this site Bards and Authors of  North Yorkshire http://bardsandauthors.blogspot.co.uk/

Elizabeth Tweddell aka dialect poet Florence Cleveland was wife of poet, printer, author George Markham Tweddell and although from Stokesley, lived in Middlesbrough in the 1860’s to about 1872 when they returned to Stokesley. They lived in Commercial Street, St. Hildas and George ran his print shop Tweddell and Sons at 87, Linthorpe Rd. Middlesbrough (now part of the new Maplin store near MacDonald’s). 

There once lived on the banks of the river Tees (and does yet) an old fashioned petted boy called STOCKTON. He was the biggest and most favoured son of old Father Tees ; and he had been allowed so much of his own way for so many years, that he could not bear to be contradicted in anything. He always thought his will ought to be law. And sorely grieved he was when a younger brother was born unto him. He was afraid that old Father Tees might favour his younger son more than he did him., and this made him more unhappy and discontented than ever.


Meanwhile, the young stranger (whom we will call Middy, by way of a pet name) grew beyond the expectations of anyone ; and STOCKTON said, that he was sure his brother Middy was going to be a great rival to him ; and he determined to try and keep him back as much as ever he could.


Now some of the friends who were well acquainted with STOCKTON, and wished to show him some mark of their favour, presented him with a very large top, which gave him a great deal of pleasure and profit too. And the top used to spin away daily, to the great delight of  STOCKTON ; who felt very proud of being the possessor of such an article as very few had got. But his brother Middy had seen it, and thought that he was big enough to have one too ; and the gentlemen who had given the top to STOCKTON were of the same opinion.


But oh ! had you seen the rage of STOCKTON, when they proposed to give Middy one too. He stormed no little. And then showed his selfish nature. he said, that if Middy had a top, there would be no room for him to spin his, that the top which they had given him had been of very great service to him ; but if they gave one to his brother , he and all his belongings would be quite ruined.


Middy and the gentlemen tried to convince him that it could not possibly do him any harm , but would be a great benefit to them both. But STOCKTON  could not see it., and he wrote a letter to the Big House  where they gave the orders who should have tops and who should not ; and he set his grievance forth in the most abject manner, – he and his belongings would be ruined forever (the same story he had told Middy and his friends).


But they of the Big House could not see it in the same light, and they agreed  that Middy should have one also. And Middy got it and was thankful. And didn’t he learn to spin it too ! And how the fellow grew and prospered ! And still had a kindly feeling for his brother, although he had used him so unkindly !


But STOCKTON  always kept sulky, and looked with jealous eyes on Middy, although he never did him any harm at all.


A few years after this happened, a great friend and benefactor of Middy’s made a wonderful discovery. One day, when he was out on the moors, he found a great mass of stone contained iron, and he and another benevolent gentleman, who was a connection by marriage, set to work in good earnest, and erected blast furnaces and made iron in such large quantities, that it would have made teeth for all the peg tops in the world.


And now Middy grew apace, and spun his top so valiantly that the buzzing of it could be heard for miles.
When STOCKTON saw all this, he set to work and built some furnaces too, and derived a great deal of good by the discovery of Middy’s friends. And Middy was delighted to see his brother flourishing so much, and hoped that STOCKTON had quite got over all the angry feeling he had shown towards him. But in this Middy was mistaken.


In the course of a few years, when Middy had got to be a great deal bigger and stronger than his brother, some gentlemen proposed to make a Bridge over the river Tees, so that the two could visit each other more easily ; and they thought it would confer a great benefit on all the people on both sides of the river : And Middy was quite pleased at the thoughts of it.


Not so, however, with STOCKTON. He began to grumble the old way again. MIDDLESBROUGH, as he chose just to call him (giving him his name in full because he was vexed), would get all the good of it. It would do him no amount of harm. He didn’t see why his younger brother should be favoured more than him. However for his own part, he should do all in his power to oppose the Bridge !


Middy tried to reason with him ; but it was all of no use. he had got into the his old stupid ways again, and there was no getting him out of it.  Middy told him, that they ought to consider themselves Siamese Twins. That whatever materially affected one, must of necessity affect the other. That he thought they could walk better both together than either of them could do alone. That he had no wish to sever the connection ; but that if it really had to be done, why, as he was strongest, he would have the least to fear about it. That if they got the Bridge, he should be very glad. he did already spend a great deal of money every week on STOCKTON, and he had no doubt that he would spend a very great deal more if the way between them was shortened. But it was like casting pears before swine talking to STOCKTON on the matter.


A lot of Middy’s friends got up a public meeting about the Bridge, and it was highly satisfactory. Only Middy thought that one of his friends made a slight mistake at the meeting, in a remark that he made. But as he knew that it was kindly meant, he did not like to say anything about it at the time. What his friend said was, that Middlesbrough was the place to no place : But Middy says that it both was and is the road to Fortune ; and that it has been a right royal road to a great many, and he hopes that it will still continue to be so. Some people, of course, get muddled in the throng,and cannot find the right track.


I suppose, after a while, there will be a great fuss made by STOCKTON about sending another letter to the Big House, begging of them not to let Middy have the Bridge. How it will end ; remains to be seen. meanwhile, STOCKTON has gone back in it’s corner again, to have his sulk out : and there stands, a warning to all selfish naughty boys.


Middy says, that he will certainly go in for the Bridge, and would very much like to get it ; but if he should not be successful, he will not fret about it as he has so far got along without one. As however, he always likes to encourage all improvements for the general good, he hopes the Bridge will be built whatever STOCKTON may say to the contrary. And he thinks that in the end STOCKTON will find unity is strength.


Elizabeth Tweddell (Mrs G.M. Twedell) Middlesbrough 1871.

MEETINGS OTHER PLACES – NORTH-EASTERN RAILWAY BILL. BRIDGE ACROSS RIVER TEES.

Accreditation the Redcar and Saltburn-by-the-Sea 28/04/1871 Gazette.

THE NORTH-EASTERN RAILWAY BILL BRIDGE ACROSS RIVER TEES

This measure, which has been for the last few days under the consideration of a Parliamentary committee, of which Mr Cross, the member for S. W. Lancashire, is the chairman, was presented by the company in order to obtain powers to construct various short lines and a bridge across the Tees near to Middlesbrough, thus affording a direct communication between Newcastle, the Caulfield of S. E. Durham, and the Cleveland iron district. The only part of the bill objected to was that in which it was proposed to unite the North and South banks of the Tees by means of a swing bridge, which it was contended would almost totally destroyed the trade of the places higher up the river stop the opponents were the corporation, merchants, shipbuilders, &c., of the town of Stockton, whose plea was that the structure would put an impediment to the navigation the river; and the Middlesbrough are corporation who desired to have a roadway in connection with the bridge. The specifications stated that the bridge was to be constructed on the principle of the one at Goole, and was to have the centre opening 130 feet in width, but to accommodate the Stopped and traders, it had been increased to 160 feet, with headway of 30 feet. It was proposed to work it by hydraulic machinery, capable of opening it in a minute and a half stop Mr T. E. Harrison, the engineer to the company, Mr Hawkesley, Mr Fowler, Mr Abernethy, Mr Randall, and other eminent engineers, were examined, and all concurred in stating that the contemplation structures would not effect navigation for ships could be seen when half a mile off, and the bridge opened in time, but that for most of the vessels plying on the river. It would not need opening. It will shown that the only direct means of communication at present existing between the Durham coal field and the Cleveland iron district was by means of the all bridge at Stockton; and if anything should happen to that, the trade of the locality must necessarily be seriously injured, as it would be almost impossible to convey the minerals round by other routes, because of the steep gradients and sharp curves. MessrsI. Lothian Bell, H. W. F. Bolckow, J. G. Swan, W. R. I. Hopkins, and other influential members of the Cleveland iron trade, gave evidence as to the absolute necessity for additional and more direct communication; after hearing which the chairman, said the committee were quite satisfied as to the need of a connection, but wished to confine their attention to the depositions as to the impediment that would be placed in the way of the navigation. Mr Harrison on the part of the company, agreed that the demand of the Middlesbrough Corporation relative to the footway should be acceded to; and their petition, which had only been filed in order to secure what they had thus obtained, was withdrawn stop Mr Dixon, shipbuilder, Middlesbrough, supported the measure, though his firm often sent large vessels to Stockton to the engined; and he made it appear that if the trade of Stockton were injured that of Middlesbrough would be similarly affected, and the prestige of the river would be damaged. Several pilots and ship-owners spoke in favour of the bill stop for the opposition Stockton Corporation said that the bridge would cause a serious decline in the trade of their port, and that if one accident happened there, the ship-owners would leave the place, as the rates of insurance would be so heavy stop if the centre pier were built as proposed, in the middle of the river, a strong current would be formed, and it would be difficult to steer a large ship through in safety, particularly if the wind was unfavourable stop. They made it appear that a tunnel, which would be no obstruction to the navigation, could be made for £50,000, whilst the bridge would cost constantly more. The company, however, stated that if a small tunnel was constructed. They could not in the short distance between the mainline and the right bank of the river get a game on a level with the former, so as to make it useful. Mr Jos. Dodds, M. P., Mr G. N. Duck, Mr Lockwood, Mr Anderson, and others spoke as to the danger of the direction; and several pilots and ship-owners from Goole showed that the trade above the bridge had materially decreased in consequence of the accidents that had happened. On Wednesday, the committee decided that the bridge scheme would not be approved; but it is understood that if the company should undertake to make a tunnel, according to suitable plans, no opposition would be put in the way by the corporation or traders of Stockton. The Tees Conservancy Commissioners will also agree to the proposition, but it has been stated that the company cannot under any circumstances accept the alternative of a tunnel.

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Councillor Dave Walsh further comments

“Interesting too, in that the new “Combined Authority” for the Teesside Boroughs has, as one of its infrastructure proposals, a new Lower Tees Crossing to take pressure off the A19,……………

You can see, in the line up of the pros and antis that it was the massed ranks of the ironmasters against the Stockton port interests,

I don’t know, but will assume the HoC Ctte di#; not approve the private bill. Looking at the map, I guess the NER proposal was for a line diverging from the existing Durham Coast line south of Seaton Carew and following the route of today’s A178 road to a crossing point near where the transporter now is and from there straight into the ironmasters district. The topography would not allow for a high level bridge, and so a swing bridge was the logical solution from a railway point of view. A tunnel would have been difficult too, given the high water levels around the area and the fact that the area is based on slippery boulder clay, and would have meant building in substantial and expensive cuttings on both sides.”

Sheila terms his “power base” at Brotton. The terms may never before have been used in the same sentence. The union was manifestly needed. They were ironstone miners, maybe 10,000 men and boys between the Tees and Whitby working 12-hour shifts winter and summer. Wages hadn’t increased for 14 years, conditions were lethal. Alexander MacDonald, the miners’ national president, reported that he had seen “more crutches, more lame men, more blind men in Cleveland than all the other mining districts in the country.”


The Middlesbrough Exchange, a newspaper, was blunter yet. “The men are not cared for so much as a dog.” It concluded. The masters occupied the grandest halls in the district, most of which survive.”


Thousands of miners formed themselves into lodges with heliotropic names like Rose of Summer, Flower of Cleveland and Lily of the Valley.

The Miners’ Champion  and the second part The Forgotten Man are both available for £10 each from Guisborough Bookshop, Kirkleatham Museum, Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum and Whitby Bookshop or, with £2 added for post and packing, from the author at 48 Deepdale, Guisborough TS14 8JY.”

was holidaying in Redcar when, noticing the number of wrecks, he was “inspired” to invent the Plimsoll Line as a sort of loading gauge.” There is a blue plaque to Plimsoll above what is now Marks and Spencer in Redcar marking where he is said to have taken his rest. The plaque reads: “Samuel Plimsoll “The Sailors’ Friend” While staying in a house on this site he was inspired to invent the Plimsoll Line a safety mark for loading ships in 1876“

THE
CLEVELAND MINERS’ ANNUAL POLITICAL DEMONSTRATION.

Samuel Plimsoll from Look and Learn

Saltburn by the Sea

and it would be wrong of
him to occupy that time that ought to be devoted to them. They
regularly made it a practice to hold a meeting every year, which took
the form of a political demonstration, because they considered there
were several things that disgraced the statute book, and they held
that the means of getting rid of those obnoxious matters, was by
holding similar to that. He trusted they would never grow
faint-hearted, but persevere until they got rid of the many
objectionable things they had to complain of, which would be referred
to that afternoon.

Mr. LLOYD JONES then rose to support the resolution,
which was the signal for an outburst of

The article as it appears in the Daily Gazette 1874

enthusiastic applause. He
said he was there that day at the request of their Committee to say a
few words to them on the assimilation of the Borough and Country
franchise. What was really meant by that phrase was that people
living outside the boundary of parliamentary boroughs should enjoy
their rights of citizenship just the same as if they lived within
those boundaries ; in other words, that when one man possessed the
privileges of citizenship under the law, the law should be equal and
confer the same privileges on other men of a like description. He
remembered when parliamentary reform first began to be seriously
talked about or rather when the masses of the people first moved for
the purpose of improving the representation of the country. Many of
them, no doubt, thought that things used to be pretty much the way
they are now. He could tell them, however, that within his memory,
and when he first began to listen to the voices of those who were
called agitators, that nearly all the great communities of the
country were entirely without representation. Members of Parliament
were returned for small places where there scarcely any inhabitants
whatever, as for instance, Old Serum, where there was not one single
inhabitant, and where, when election time came round, a tent had to
be erected in which a few of the Burgesses of Salisbury assembled for
the purpose of returning two members to parliament. (Laughter).
Another similar case was a borough in Surrey called Detton. The
proprietor was a baronet named Sir Mark Wood and he and his son and
butler were the only voters and they returned two members to
parliament. (Renewed laughter). Once one of the members died, when
the son was travelling on the continent, and Sir mark having
quarrelled with his butler, and wishing to have his son returned had
an insurmountable difficulty to contend with, for whom when Sir Mark
proposed his son, the butler refused to second him and before the son
could obtain the seat, the thing had to be made all right as far as
the butler was concerned. (Loud laughter) Now, at that time, the
great town of Manchester, with its hundreds and thousands of
inhabitants, returned no member to parliament. The great town of
Birmingham, filled with an active, industrious and intelligent
population, had no representation in parliament ; and when he spoke
of those two great towns, he simply spoke of them as a sample of a
large number of places which had no representation whatever. When the
public became alive in this state of things, and insisted in its
being altered, there were hundreds of gentlemen in the British
parliament, and hundreds and thousands outside who declared that
things were just as well as they could possibly be, and that if they
interfered with what was called the British Constitution the sky sky
would fall, and nothing but ruin would come upon the country. But an
alternative came, representation was given where the population of
the country was greatest, and where the wealth and intelligence of
the country was centred : and was there anyone who knew what the
country was at the time he had been referring to, and what it was
now, who would not say that that change had been a beneficial change
for the country? (Cheers) No one can deny it and be held that the
Legislature would be justified by all that had been done in the past
in enlarging the liberties of the people. Why should they at Saltburn
be forced at a disadvantage with the same class of men who live in a
borough? What had they done that they should be excluded from the
benefits of the laws and the privileges enjoyed by their brethren in
large towns? He considered it was the duty of every man who could
drew upon any distinction between what was politically right and what
was politically wrong, to endeavour to get justice extended to the
masses of people. (Applause) Every man, of whatever class or
condition, had an interest in the welfare of his country, and, though
a working man’s stake was not so large as the stakes of those who
owned ironstone mines, coal mines, factories, landed estates etc., a
man’s patriotism should not be measured by the extent of his
possessions. (Hear hear – applause).

They all desired to see the country prosper ; but it
was only when they conferred power over the whole nation, when it
ceased to be a class power and became a national power, that it would
enjoy its greatest prosperity, and the future fates of those they
would leave behind them, depended on the action they took. The
history of England told them that the lands of England were
originally held by men who were bound to furnish the means of defence
for the country, and aggression against foreign nations, that the men
who held the land found soldiers and sailors to repel an invasion or
to enforce a foe abroad into submission or peace. England’s history
told them that, from the time of William the Conqueror, up to the
time of Charles the First – and that included the period of our
whole historical renown – we conquered France twice, we captured
and destroyed the Spanish Armada, we did all that a nation could be
called upon to do, as a fighting nation, and we do not incur one
shilling of debt in doing it, and the nation was left without any
debt. The Long Parliament, however, put aside the dues that lay upon
the land and threw the whole of the burden upon revenue returns of
the country. And what was the result? In a period less than that he
had been speaking of, from the time of the restoration of Charles the
Second to the end of 1815, they had run into a debt of £800,000,000,
which, even their great grand children’s, grand children would not
see paid. Now was it right that they should shift the burden from
their own shoulders on to the shoulders of the people, when

House of Commons

they held
the land as an equivalent for defending the nation? Coming down to
present time, he might say that there were things existing which
could not exist if people possessed the power they ought to possess.
(Hear hear). They might take, for instance, the case which had been
championed by their friend, Mr Plimsoll – the case of the Merchant
seamen, and what did they see? They saw a number of men engaged in
doing the greatest work men were ever called upon to do. (Loud
applause) Taking stone from the bowls of the earth in order that it
might be converted into articles of machinery of almost every
description was a great work, but the sailing across dangerous seas
to foreign countries with our products and bringing back in exchange
the things they required in their homes for the daily comfort of
their families, was work which no man should be called upon to do
without having all the protection which human consideration and laws
can give him (loud cheers) What had been discovered? What had Mr
Plimsoll proved to the country? They were not assertions ; for however
unwillingly the late commission had made its admissions, it was now
clear that numbers of ships were lost through a love of greed and
pure love of gain. (Shame) Many of our brave men’s lives might be
saved if men

were disposed to do their duty towards each other. A
scoundrel of an owner often got his ship insured and sent her to sea
with no other object than to lose her ; the vessel went down and her
load was recorded as one of the casualties of the deep about which
there was no use saying another word. But Mr. Plimsoll had proved
that there was use in saying another word, and he was glad to see
that they and other working men in England had come forward in that
work of mercy, and had shown that they were determined to that
profit should not be made of the lives of their fellow creatures.
(Loud Cheers). The speaker then referred to the number of deaths
from starvation which had occurred in the metropolis, no less than
106 taking place last year, and to the fact that they were paying
£8,000,000 for the support on one million of people who could not
support themselves. He also spoke of the emigration of agricultural
labourers, which, he said had almost amounted to a general exodus,
and these and other matters he might name showed the want of better
Government, for a rich country like theirs ought to govern her people
in comfort. (Applause) To bring about that end a better
representation was needed, and he hoped the day was not now far off
when they would obtain their just rights by the assimilation of the
Borough and Country Franchise (Loud Applause).

Let us have magistrates who understand their business,
and will hold the scales of justice with an even and steady hand.
Another matter which may well engage our attention is the prosecution
of offences against the person or property. These are at present
left in private hands, but I trust we shall soon have public
prosecutors, so as to do away with the scandal of having the criminal
law put in operation by private and irresponsible persons for the
purpose of extorting money by force from others. Then, gentlemen,
there is the Criminal Law Amendment Act , and the group of measures
generally understood when that term is used, the law of conspiracy,
and the masters and servants act. These three all person acknowledge,
require considerable amendment, and I am in great hope that the next
session of parliament will not pass without some satisfactory
measures on these subjects being passed. The law of Masters and
Servants or a similar law operates particularly hard in the case of
sailors. We have these men continually sent to prison, simply because
they refuse to go to sea because the ship is too deeply loaded, and
they have not a chance for their lives, and if they refuse , they are
brought up before some ship-owning magistrates and their only choice
is – go to sea or go to prison. Such cases are happening
continually. Last year 600 men were sent to gaol, and maintained
there at your expense and mine, simply because they had a proper
objection to being drowned by the dozen and the score. There are many
other matters which require attention, but which the present system
of selecting representatives in Parliament, they have not that chance
of being attended to which they would have if the whole machinery of
Government was improved. I want to see such a re-distribution of
electoral power, as will ensure that the people be represented as
that capitalists.. At present the House of Commons consists far too
largely of men whose only interest is keeping what they have, and
adding more to it. They do as might be expected. They pass laws in
their own interest. When the landlords were predominant, they not
only shifted the burdens on the land upon the country, but in order
to make the land yield more profit, they taxed all corn brought from
abroad into the country, with the view of raising the price of corn
grown at home. I am thankful to say that their power seems to have
passed away, and we seem likely to have better times in the future. I
would rather that the object of the meeting not been so much the
assimilation of the Borough and the County franchise as that we had
taken the whole subject fairly in hand, and advocated that the
distinction between Borough and the county voters is artificial and
mischievous, and that that I can see no reason for keeping it up. I
think it would be greatly to the advantage of the English nation,
that instead of of boroughs and counties we had electoral districts,
so that there would be no distinction between dwellers in towns and
counties, so that we might exercise our rights and privileges as
Englishmen. Mr Disraeli in one of his great speeches in 1867, said
“If you are going to invest in men with

Benjamin Disraeli

the exercise of great
public rights let that trust be accompanied with the performance of
public duties.” Who is there in the country that does not perform
public duties? And he goes on to say that regularity of life and a
general trustworthiness of conduct ought to be qualifications for the
franchise, and on that ground I unhesitatingly claim, the franchise
for all the country – (Applause). For I know that the inhabitants
of England set an example to all on earth, both as to the regularity
of their lives, and also as to the general trustworthiness of their
conduct. They not only deserve well of the country for the right to
discharge of their duty, but deserve the admiration of the country
for having a general consideration for the welfare of others. And
gentlemen , it was your hearty and warm appreciation of the efforts I
had been putting forth for sailors that made me come here, because
you have not only done your duty to yourselves and your wives and
families, but have had thought and a shilling to spare for those less
able to protect themselves. (Loud applause) I want to deal with one
of the objections to the present state of the franchise. If a man
lives in a borough he is a good voter, but if he improves his
circumstances and out of regard for a delicate wife or family he
removes to the country, though he is only proving that he is the more
careful father of a family, he loses his vote. Again, if a non voter,
any one of you, has not a vote, but goes into a town, he immediately
gets one. There can be no sense in that sort of thing, because it is
clear that the vote is rather the possession of the bricks and mortar
than the man. I regard your claims as unanswerable and I think it
augers well for the future state of England, when her sons are
anxious to obtain(?) The franchise. Nor is this all. If the franchise
was conferred on every grown man in the country, which I think would
not be the extent of the reform now needed, because unless we have a
very considerable re-distribution of seats and electoral power, we
should have the intelligence and industry of the country swamped, in
many cases by minorities. At the present moment there are 77
constituencies, each with less than 10,000 people that return 77
members. The whole of the voters for the 77 constituencies are
65,000, so that each member represents a a constituency of of 852
voters alone. There are 82 constituencies not with less than 10,000
people each, who only return the same number of representatives. Of
these 82 each represents, therefore not 852 but 12,411 voters, and 82
constituencies the more increase of the electors during the last two
years has been greater than the whole number or the electors in the
77 constituencies I have referred to. Take another illustration :
Birmingham with 343,000 people, only sends three members to
Parliament, while Buckingham, with 175,000, sends 8. If Birmingham
were represented in the same degree it would have 16 members of
Parliament instead of three. Manchester, with a population of 379,000
voters, sends only 3 members, and by an ingenious device of Mr
Disraeli, one votes against the other, so that they may be said to
only send one. Berkshire, with 196,000 people and 15,000 electors
sends 8 members, while Manchester sends 3. The proportion for
Manchester, if measured by Berkshire, would be thirty. The five
counties, Wilts, Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall with less than
2,000,00, send 66 members to Parliament ; while London with more than
3,000,000, only sends 22 or one third, while in population it ought
to send 120. These facts gentlemen, will show that great changes are
needed, over and above the mere giving the vote to those who live in
the country. We must have something approximate to electoral
districts before we can be said to have attained to full
representation of the country. Theses are not merely the arguments of
the platform agitator, because the Times says the anomalies in
the distribution of electoral power are gross and untenable. But you
must not suppose that because the case is so strong, and the thing
seems so reasonable that we shall get it without a struggle.
Instance, the state of things described by Mr Jones, as proceeding
the passing of the Reform Act of 1832. That change was not brought
about without a great struggle. If there were those who were ready to
defend, and did defend the then existing state of things with very
great force, they must not suppose that men would be wanting to
oppose the reform which we contend is so much needed. I happened to
be at that place Mr Jones was describing, Old Sarum, on

Old Sarum

Tuesday, and
it is just at the top of a hill like Roseberry Topping. As Mr Jones
said, for many many years after there had ceased to be a single house
the owners of the acres met under a tree to decide which two electors
should be the members of Parliament . The only inhabitants that I
could see were partridges and rabbits (laughter) – so that they went
to represent them in place of men. We must not only have these things
I have spoken of secured and freed, but have also a fair and full
expression of the national will. And I hold it to be necessary that
all classes should not only vote for representatives, but that they
should send them from their own ranks. – (Applause) and that there
should be members of the House of Commons drawn from every class of
society. (Applause) If this is to be, we must have, I don;t say
payment of members, gentlemen but something like what we have for
cabinet ministers. If a man has been a cabinet minister, and held
office for five years and retires, he is at liberty to say he cannot
afford to live without a salary. It is not given to all as a rule,
but it is to enable men of genuine, who have given their services to
the State, to be maintained, and if it is not beneath the dignity of
a Cabinet minister to accept a pension from the state, I can’t see
how it would degrade a member of Parliament, if he was a working man.
I think that something like that, partially limited to working men,
would be a deal better than making it common to all. I think it would
be a pity to run any risk of destroying the force of attraction which
is supposed to attach to the office, seeing that it draws to the
services of the state, men whose services we could badly do without,
and which attraction proves an inducement to men of high culture in
the house, to have working men representatives and I don;t see how
this is to be accomplished, unless they are paid. We must also have
the cost of elections to municipalities. I think if we arrive at this
we shall have a fair chance of having such an infusion of fresh blood
into the house as to enable us to secure fresh ability, and we shall
have good legislation becoming much easier, and if anybody in the
future should find a great and intolerable injustice. Three weeks ago
I was looking out at sea from the watering place of Clifton near
Bristol, on the

Severn, and I saw a large vessel that was going to
sea. She was nearly overhead in the water, and had a bad list, and
was helplessly drifting about. Three days after that I read that a
large vessel had been lost off  Bude, and twenty men drowned. I don;t
know that it was the same ship that I saw, but I am having an inquiry
made into it. I do say this, and I challenge any man out of bedlam to
contradict it, that we have every week and every month dozens and
scores of hard-working men, men with wives and children, whose lives
are as precious to them as your are, that you sent down to death for
nothing on earth except to enable some greedy scoundrel that cares
nothing for his fellow men, to add to his wealth ; and, please God,
we will stop it. (Loud applause) These things cannot be put right
without effort. – A great deal has been done since the time Mr Jones
referred to. We have had men who lived before us that laboured hard
for us, and who were put in prison and tried for the lives. Shall we
do nothing for those who come after us? Seeing we enjoy so much of
what has been obtained for us by those who preceded us – let us do
our part and leave the world better than we found it. Your children
will be better off, politically, than you are, or worse ; for the
retrograde. But we shall find and of this we are well satisfied, that
unless we are watchful and vigilant to our children, we shall find a
new race of oppressors rise up in the pampered purse-proud
capitalists, and in those who get their living by employing others. I
know there are many noble men amongst capitalists. I do not wish to
say anything against them but I do say that a great many who have not
brains, and who think they discharge and by lavish outlay upon
themselves. They that desires, instead of trying to make the world a
better than it was before and those who are eager to stand in great
places are not only willing to inconvenience the working classes,but
in order to get rich they are willing, as in the case I have given,
to expose them not only to risk, but to absolute death, so long as
their own comfort and wealth is augmented. Gentlemen, I call upon you
to choose the good part, lively and loving Englishmen. Don;t be
content simply to enjoy the privileges which others have wrought
for, but let us keep and preserve what our forefathers have handed to
us and extend the stock to those who come after us, so that this
glorious old England of ours, in spite of oppression and wrong, shall
be better year by year, as time goes on and not work merely for
yourselves, but also for your children, advancing the cause of
freedom, rights and liberties everywhere, amongst all mankind. Mr
Plimsoll then resumed his seat amid loud applause.

Rectory Manor, Walthamstow 1860 From Paul Tweddell’s book on the Tweddell’s

In another bio Paul Tweddell tells us –  “Shortly after arriving in Bury, Tweddell took the opportunity to add Markham as his middle name; the first recorded mention being written in his hand: ‘Bury, December 15th, 1855’,[xix] (and from then on often appears abbreviated to ‘GMT’). Despite publicising the change in the national Freemason newspaper and what it signified, the Markham family seems to have accepted it. The reason why was to appear shortly after his return northward .

From North of England Tractates No. 7
Cleveland Sonnets (1870)


“Sonnet 10 was addressed to my Father’s sister, Frederica, daughter of the late Dean Markham. She was born at Stokesley Rectory, and ever cherished a strong love for Cleveland. An angel on her sojourn here, she is now one in heaven.George Markham Tweddell Stokesley April 23rd 1870″

(whom we refer to as “The Settlers” today). He immediately saw that a sea-port would be necessary if the new settlements in the Eastern Cape were to be viable. On 6 June 1820 he named the site of the landings, and the temporary “tent city”, Port Elizabeth; and arranged land for those who could invest.


In August 1820 he selected the site of today’s Donkin Reserve, as the position to build a memorial to his late wife. In the early 1800s pyramids were a not an uncommon memorial in both India and England, and the one he commissioned was based on that of an ancient Roman, Caius Cestius.”
Read more From http://www.momentos.co.za/donstory.htm


Interestingly Fearon Fallows “was sent to Cape Town by the Royal Astronomical Society to start the Cape Observatory. This was to be the first Astronomical Observatory in the Southern Hemisphere (As well as the first Scientific establishment in the Southern Hemisphere). He was chosen for the post at the Cape because of his skills in mathematics and astronomy.  In Cape Town he was well received by the Acting Governor, Sir Rufane Donkin, and the Colonial Secretary,Colonel Bird. Fallows had to set up a temporary observatory to provide time signals and to set make a catalogue of Southern stars. Sir Rufane Donkin had some wooden houses for British settlers in Port Elizabeth. He kindly provided Fallows with a wooden house, which was to serve as a temporary observatory. Fallows was a Freemason at the Good Hope Lodge.” Abridged from http://assa.saao.ac.za/html/his-astr-fallows_f.html

William Markham was GMT’s great grandfather, famed for saving the walls of York from demolition in the first decade of the nineteenth century with the help of the author Walter Scott.


I won’t comment greatly on William Markham as I would need to study him more closely, but i think this would be essential in any full study of the Archbishop’s great grandson – George Markham Tweddell for the parallels and differences. The Archbishop was the son of major William Markham –


“Son of Major William and Elizabeth. He was born at Kinsale in co.Cork on 9 April 1719 and attended Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. After ordination he took up teaching and became Head Master of his old school in 1753. Later he held the post of chaplain to George II, and served as prebendary of Durham Cathedral, Dean of Rochester, Dean of Christ Church, Bishop of Chester and lastly Archbishop of York and Lord High Almoner. On 16 June 1759 in London he married Sarah, daughter of John Goddard a merchant at Rotterdam. Sarah was born in Holland 14 February 1739 and died 26 January 1814.” http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/markham-family


In relation to Archbishop Markham, I refer you to Sir Robert Clement’s “A Memoir of Archbishop William Markham” which can be read on line or downloaded as a PDF on Open Library here http://archive.org/details/memoirofarchbish00markiala


It explains the family’s loss of inheritance and the struggle to recover from it that affected the early life of the Archbishop. He and his father were Whigs and supporters of the ‘Glorious Revolution‘ and although the principles of that were strong in the family, Archbishop Markham, the book explains, was a critic of Richard Price and the American Revolution on the grounds that the Glorious revolution was founded on the supremacy of law, while the American Revolution as deemed to be lawless. A full account of this and the reasons given are in the above book p 46-49.


I feel sure that Richard Price would have been someone GMT would have supported with his connections with the Unitarian Church and ideas on egalitarianism and although i haven’t found anything yet, there may well be some reference to Price in Tweddell’s work somewhere –


“Richard Price (23 February 1723 – 19 April 1791) was a Welsh moral philosopher and preacher in the

tradition of English Dissenters, and a political pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the American Revolution. He fostered connections between a large number of people, including writers of theConstitution of the United States. He spent most of his adult life as minister of Newington Green Unitarian Church, where possibly the congregant he most influenced was early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, who extended his ideas on the egalitarianism inherent in the spirit of the French Revolution to encompass women’s rights as well. In addition to his work as a moral and political philosopher, he also wrote on issues of statistics and finance, and was inducted into the Royal Society for these contributions.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Price


Archbishop Markham was a poet, often writing in Latin (including a Latin version of Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man) and a close friend and supporter of  Edmund Burke (as described in the book). Burke was a supporter of the American revolutionaries but not the French which led him to move to the right of the Whig party.

George Markham Dean of York – Rector of Stokesley 1763 – 1822

George Markham – Dean of York

birth when he died in 1822. George was, according to local historian –
Radicalism in Stokesley in the 1820s – herehttp://northyorkshirehistory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/radicalism-in-stokesley-in-1820s.html


Robert Armstrong – owner of a Zetetic bookshop in Stokesley, publishing the likes of Thomas Paine and involved in a Stokesley ‘paper war‘, similar to the one GMT would be involved with 20 years later in regard to his own radical newspaper – is shown by Alice to have admired the Dean of York – George Markham as follows –
“The position of the Stokesley Deists was rather more nuanced and the rift between Church and chapel was growing. According to Robert Armstrong‘s third letter of 3 November 1822, he himself

“frequently derived both pleasure and improvement from the Sermons of our late Rector, the deservedly lamented Dean of York ; because I considered his Sermons true Deistical and moral compositions”.
“I do sometimes go to Church”,”