Miscellaneous

Transcripts of miscellaneous documents in various separate deposits in the care of Northumberland Archives.

NRO 324 Blackett-Ord (of Whitfield) papers:

W1/28 contains witness depositions taken in 1757 in the course of an arbitration over the boundary between Whitfield and Hexham manors in the West Allen valley, from which extracts are included as transcripts here. They contain statements from a number of old local residents mentioning farming, boundary ridings and the lead carriage.

W3/18/1  and W3/19 contain letters from and to John Ord (1658-1721), an influential and wealthy Newcastle lawyer, mining agent and landowner who undertook legal and financial work for William Blackett II and III and their agents, particularly John Wilkinson, a Newcastle coal merchant in his own right. Ord’s grandson later bought the Whitfield estate, which accounts for the presence of Ord’s papers (which are numerous) in this collection.

L 28/24 is from the Creevey papers, and contains a single letter from Diana Beaumont to a Mrs Wentworth from 1825.

NRO 3444/131 is a small collection of miscellaneous boundary riding papers, evidently strays from the Greenwich Hospital papers, the vast majority of which are in the ADM series at the National Archives.

NRO 452 Lord Crewe Estates papers

E/2/3/2 contains four letters relating to lead mining including at the very distinctive Burntshieldhaugh hush on the Devil’s Water.

E/3/7 contains some boundary riding papers from 1771 and 1793 relating to Bulbeck Common and Blanchland, and a copy of the Muggleswick boundary as stated in 1649

NRO 673/2 is a photocopy of Joseph Richmond’s letter book kept between 1728-34 in his capacity as Sir Walter Blackett’s chief agent. The original must have lain at Blackett’s home, Wallington Hall for many years for it was given by Sir George Otto Trevelyan of Wallington to the British Museum in 1866, and it is held today as part of the British Library’s manuscript collection (BL Add MS 27,420). The copy at Woodhorn does not include the first page of the original manuscript, but that first page is included in the transcript available from this page.

NRO 753 Grey family (later of Backworth) archives:

Box 1/Bundle J includes a bound notebook that contains over 250 copy letters of Newcastle merchant Ralph Grey (1628-76) and his widow Margaret between 1673 and 1679 and miscellaneous scribbles and part accounts of other family members up until around 1700. The bundle also includes a few court papers from the 1680s left by Margaret Grey which shed light on the family’s lead business and partnership with the Briggs family.

Box 2/Bundle 10, includes a lease of Red Lead Mill, a short distance away from Dukesfield, whcih was held by Margaret Grey.

NRO ZAL Allgood papers:

56/1-2 contains a series of detailed accounts for the Allgood’s ore carriage (mostly from Nentdale), smelting at Allen Mill, and lead carriage (mostly in three stages to Blaydon) between 1765-70. They contain the names of many carriers and smelters who worked for Allgood between these years. The accounts are available to download as a spreadsheet from this page, but are not otherwise included in the database. A single loose letter relating to Allen Mill in 1765 is available in the database.

57/12 contains papers kept by George Allgood, a London based attorney who did work for William Blackett III in the 1720s, working  alongside John Ord (see above). A few of the letters are transcribed here; the original set of documents includes some very rough workings of accounts and traders letter-headed receipts.

NRO ZBK C/1/B/1 is a report from 1805 by James Cockshutt and Charles Bowns, Yorkshire agents of Col and Mrs Beaumont, giving recommendations for the management of  their lead mines. It presumably ended up in the Blackett of Wylam papers as the then chief agent in Newcastle was Christopher Blackett. It is also included as Appendix 2 in C.J.Hunt’s The Lead Miners of the Northern Pennines (1970).

NRO ZCO Cookson papers

VII/1 is a detailed account of a boundary riding of the manor of Bulbeck in 1746.

VIII/1 contains 6 miscellaneous letters related to the Vane family’s part interest in the Stella Grand Lease colliery.

NRO ZMD 167/6/71 is a copy of a handbill produced by Henry Liddell in the course of his 1826 general election contest with T W Beaumont.

NRO ZPA 7 is a single letter from Newcastle lawyer John Ord to a London lawyer regarding Ord’s interest in taking a lead mining lease at Hunstanworth

NRO ZRI 21/11 is an agreement between four lessees of a Weardale mine from Sir William Blackett in 1694.

NRO ZWN/A/1 contains various legal documents related to the Blackett estate. The extracts given here are the will of Lady Julia Blackett of 1722, the loan agreement between Thomas Guy and Sir William Blackett of 1723, and the marriage settlement between Walter Calverley and Elizabeth Ord of 1729.

Document Downloads

NRO 753 Box 2 Bundle 10 1684 Lease Steelhall Lead Mill
225.7 KB
NRO 452 E 2 3 2 2 Lord Crewe Estate misc correspondence 1767-86
306.7 KB
NRO 673 2 Blackett Chief Agent Copy Letter Book 1728-1734
1.4 MB
NRO ZBK C 1 B 1 Cockshutt and Bowns report
262.8 KB
NRO 324 L 28 24 Blackett Ord Creevey papers DB to Mrs Wentworth 1825
232.3 KB
NRO ZAL 56 1 Allgood papers - Allen Mill 1765
220.2 KB
NRO 324 W3 18 1 Letters Wilkinson & Ord re Blackett 1706-22
403.3 KB
NRO 324 W3 19 Letters Wilkinson & Ord re Blackett 1706-11
493.2 KB
NRO ZAL 57 12 Letters Allgood re Blackett 1723-6
278.7 KB
NRO 753 J Margaret Grey court case papers 1680-7
312.3 KB
NRO ZMD 167 6 71 Letters Liddell to Mrs Beaumont 1826
217.9 KB
ZAL 56 1-2 Allgood accounts 1766-70
94.1 KB
NRO 753 J Ralph Grey letters 1673-9
730.6 KB
NRO 324 W1 28 Whitfield Boundary Dispute Witness Evidence November 1757
307.5 KB
NRO ZRI 21 11 Gorbutmea indenture
245.5 KB
NRO ZWN A 1 Selected items 1722-9
306.4 KB
NRO ZCO VIII 1 Vane misc letters 1663-1712
278.8 KB
NRO ZPA 7 Hunstanworth Ord to Armstrong 1687
223.4 KB
NRO 3444 131 Boundary riding papers c1690 - 1777
280.8 KB
NRO 452 E3 7 Lord Crewe Estate and Muggleswick boundaries 1649-1793
301.5 KB
NRO ZCO VII I Bulbeck Blanchand Boundary Dispute 1746
261.9 KB
The Dukesfield Smelters and Carriers Project aimed to celebrate and discover the heritage of the Dukesfield Arches & lead carriers' routes between Blaydon and the lead mines of Allendale and Weardale. A two year community project, it was led by the Friends of the North Pennines in partnership with Hexhamshire and Slaley Parish Councils and the active support of Allendale Estates. It was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the generous support of other sponsors. Friends of the North Pennines: Charity No:1137467