Published articles by editor John Bage

 

A Lifetime of Painful Memories for Geordie War Hero

The Evening Chronicle 'Remember When' magazine, Issue 28, May 2005, published my Dad's story under the heading 'A Lifetime of Painful Memories for Geordie War Hero' which is on this web-site in the 'Bage' section under the heading 'Tommy's Story'.

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Harry Clasper - Hero of Tyneside

Last year I submitted an entry in each of the three categories of the Southern California Genealogical Society's 2004 Writing Contest. I was pleased to receive the following email from the Contest Co-ordinator;-

I'm pleased to tell you that your story, "Hero of Tyneside: The Story of
Harry Clasper," was one of the finalists in Category Two of the 2004
Southern California Genealogical Society Writing Contest. Congratulations!

We will be sending you your certificate within the next couple of weeks. The
entire list of winners will be posted online by May 1 at the Southern
California Genealogical Society website at www.scgsgenealogy.com.

Heritage Books has agreed to publish the "best of" our first five years'
contests as an anthology, which will be in print next fall. We are
considering your "Harry Clasper" article for the book-and also, your very
interesting entry in Category One, "What I Learned on the World Wide Web."

 

As well as the Harry Clasper article I also sent in the following;-

 ‘Geordie Dancers’

Whilst researching my family history I came across a fascinating family who shook-off the difficulties of their surroundings and who broke away from the dreary life which they had been born in too. They were all highly talented individuals and became very successful in the world of entertainment.

The early part of the 20th century was far from easy for anyone living in the North East of England. The town of North Shields was a small, dirty, grimy fishing port on the North bank of the River Tyne in Northumberland.  The ‘Geordies’ as the locals were nicknamed were a tough, down-to-earth bunch of people who lived in cramped terraced houses close to the river.

Joseph Bage was born on the 24th July 1912 1 in North Shields in the County of Northumberland. Its young men were normally expected to end up working in the fishing trade, mining industry, the shipyards or on the docks. The young girls were expected to end up working as domestics or in the factories.

But Joseph broke the mould. His career took a completely different direction - he became a dancer. He teamed-up with a young woman who later became his wife and they performed as ‘Jan and Arlene’ (see photo) and were well-known for their "exhibition dancing". But dancing on stage was also a tough profession, especially in those days of high unemployment and little money. Dancing troupes would have to travel far, travel light and travel quickly and with little comfort.

Joseph, who went under the name of Jan, was the great-grandson of Joseph Bage, who owned a notable coal merchant business in the town 2 - much to the benefit of his descendants. But Jan was to prove successful in his chosen career, and he and his wife toured Europe with their dance act.

But Jan wasn't the only dancer in the family. His three sisters also got the dance bug and Agnes (stage name Pat), Lillian and Ethel formed a dance troupe called ‘The Castleton Sisters’, after their mother's maiden name. Their mother, Catherine, known as Kitty, was also involved, as their dresser.

As these young girls toured the big cities of Europe, love was obviously never going to be far away, and Agnes met and married young black songwriter Spencer Williams. Spencer was a very successful and prolific songwriter. Among his credits was the well-known ‘She'll be Coming Round the Mountain When She Comes.’ Spencer was also a lifelong friend of the famous musician and singer Fats Waller. 3

Agnes and Spencer wrote several songs together which were released by a record company, and some of the tracks are still available today.

When Agnes and Spencer found they couldn't have children, they adopted two black girls, Linda and Della. Mixed marriages were frowned upon in the U.K. in the 30's and Agnes and Spencer encountered prejudice close to home.

When she found out, Agnes's mother wouldn't allow Spencer in the house whenever they came on a visit to England, although she was willing to accept his gifts and money. After the adoption of Lindy and Della, Agnes's mother refused to speak to her again.

Agnes and her new family went to live in Sweden with Agnes's sister, Ethel. But after two years Spencer found he couldn't stand the cold winters, so the family moved to Long Island, USA. After Spencer died Agnes went back to live with Ethel in Sweden.                                                                                                 

 1 St Catherines Index – Births & International Genealogy Index.

2 The Last Will and Testament of Joseph Bage, 29th October 1894.

3 Bage Family History Documents.

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What the World Wide Web Revealed for Me 

When I first began to get interested in my family history I came across relatives in the U.K. census who were born in my home town and who rarely moved anywhere else. They seemed to have lived a rather mundane existence working in shipyards and coalmines and with nothing of interest happening in their lives. I continued on for a few years gathering all the records that I could find even though progress was very slow and extremely time-consuming using the existing film and paper records in my local libraries. I could easily have given up at times through sheer boredom. 

Then something happened which was to completely change the world of genealogy. The World Wide Web arrived. The internet became available for research and it was particularly well suited for researching family history. 

Naturally my first search was for my own family name of BAGE and quite a number of interesting results came up on the screen. 

One of the results disclosed information about half a dozen wills which yielded important information. Some of the wills stated that the deceased were papermakers. 1 

I found more records about these papermaker people which gave an insight into how they were leading their lives in those days;- 

John Bage (1707 – 1769) was a Derbyshire Mill Owner and he was often fined for causing problems in the area around his mill - for keeping his ducks on the common, for encroachment on the Paper Mill Green, for allowing his swine to root at a time of the year when this was not allowed, for stopping the water course at his dam and drowning the meadow lying above it, for suffering his turkeys and his geese to trespass in his neighbors closes. 2 

Nearby lived George Bage (1696 – c1770) who was also a paper maker by trade and probably the brother of John. George married four times and there was documented evidence of his wives and children, and the property they worked. 3  

George had a son Robert Bage (Feb 29, 1728 - Sep 1, 1801). He grew up to own and run a paper mill in the Derbyshire area, and later on in his life he became quite a famous author having six of his novels published. The most popular, ‘Hermsprong’ 1796, was reprinted just recently, in 2002.4  It is the story of a European man reared among the Native Americans, who visits Europe to finish his education in France and England, and to advocate the equality of man and the emancipation of women. Needless to say it didn’t go down very well with a lot of people at that time.  

Robert worked his mill for many years. He had married well and seemed very happy with his lot, apart from the harassment he received from the Government Excise men. 

An extract from one of his many letters to his friend William Hutton about the situation reads;-

''June 30, 1795. ''Every thing looks black and malignant upon me. Men clamouring for wages which I cannot give - women threatening to pull down my mill - rags raised by freight and insurance - excise-officers depriving me of paper! Say, if thou can'st, whether these gentlemen of the excise-office can seize paper after it has left the maker's possession? - after it has been marked? - stamped? - signed with the officer's name? - Excise duty paid? - Do they these things? - Am I to hang myself?'' 5 

William Hutton was an important writer of the time and he testified in his writings about Robert’s amiability of disposition, and his kindness to his servants and work animals. 6 

After Robert’s death in 1801 Hutton wrote to a magazine about Bage, an extract of which follows;- 

His generous cast of mind will appear from two, among many, incidents;- 

i) I accidentally remarked that, "I had seen a distant relation of his, who was out of employment." - "Give him, (says he) upon my account (though he did not know him) five shillings a week till he gets into work."  

ii) When the rioters, in 1791, had cruelly destroyed my property to a large amount, and obliged me, with my family, to run away without a shilling, and none durst take us in, we drove, among other places, to the Castle at Tamworth. I asked the people of the inn if they knew me. "No." - "I have no money to pay my way, or property to pledge." Their looks fell. "I am known to Mr. Bage, of Elford, whom I will request to pay my bill." Their looks and my credit rose together. He cheerfully paid it, blamed me for not coming to his house, and I could never prevail upon him to accept a return. 7 

Robert Bage and his wife Elizabeth had three sons. The firstborn Charles (1751 – 1823) became an engineer and was involved in work with the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunell. 

Later Charles was involved in the design and build of the worlds first iron framed building at Ditherington in Shropshire, England. Many paper and corn mills had burned down over the years because they were constructed of wood. Charles designed this mill at Ditherington with an iron frame and brick. It was four stories high and some authorities believe this to be the beginnings of the very first skyscraper. The mill is now a listed building and was the subject of a BBC TV. Documentary, which looked at the origins of the skyscraper. 8  

On one of my searches I also found an entry for a letter to the Duchess of Bedford from Robert Bage (1813 – 1851), grandson of Robert the author, and dated 5th Aug. 1850;-

“I venture to trespass on your Grace's kindness, and to ask you to make an application to H. M. Principal Secretary of State for Colonial affairs in behalf of my brother William Bage (1820 – 1887) who is anxious to get an appointment in one of the Colonies as Engineer and Surveyor - William Bage is younger brother of Edward Bage (1816 – 1890) now holding the appointment of Assistant Engineer and Surveyor at Sierra Leone, whose talents and conduct have been highly approved by the government.” 9 

This Edward Bage, mentioned above, later moved to Australia at the time of the Gold Rush as a government Surveyor. He had met his wife Anna (nee Godwin) in Sierra Leone where she had been working as a missionary schoolteacher. They set up their home in Geelong, near Melbourne. 

Later he was to name some of the streets of Melbourne...... On the 27th November, 1867, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, arrived in Victoria to lay the foundation stone of the Melbourne Town Hall, and a procession was made along Queen Street. Edward Bage, who had some newly surveyed plans of the township lying on his desk in his office in Queen Street, turned round to his plan and used the occasion of the Royal visit as his inspiration for the naming of the streets. Hence there is Alfred Street and Edinburgh Street from the Duke’s title. The ship on which the Prince traveled was the "Galatea", so Galatea Street was also included. The Commander-in-Chief of Victorian Armed Forces, who was traveling with the Prince, was Major General Sir Trevor Chute, K.C.B., hence Chute Street. Lt.-Col. Hyde Page, who was the Deputy Quarter Master General, was with the Prince also, so Hyde Street. Watkins Street was named after the man who owned the land on the original plan, and of course Bage Street to honour the surveyor himself. 10 

I found another record in my search which said there were some notes left by Edward (1851 – 1891), the son of Edward and Anna, and a Diary by his wife Mary Charlotte (nee Lange). I obtained copies of the documents from the Alexander Turnbull Library in New Zealand. The Diary consists of 191 A4 pages recording their travels and mentions some of their relatives whom they meet.

The entries begin at Tuesday, April 16th 1889 when they leave their home in Australia to go to England via New Zealand, South America and The Canary Islands. Later they travel through Europe and on to Egypt. 11 

The children of Edward and Mary were Anna Frederika (Freda), Ethel Mary, Edward Frederick Robert (Ted) and Charles. Just like their parents the children contributed a great deal to their new home of Australia, and Melbourne in particular:- 

Anna Frederika (1883 – 1970) was lecturer in charge of biology at the University of Queensland from 1913 and principal of the Women's College 1914-1946. She was appointed OBE - Officer of The Order of the British Empire (Civil) - 12 June 1941 for public service. 12

Ethel Mary (1884 – 1943) graduated B.A. (1911) and M.A. (1913).  She achieved some notice in 1926 by accepting management of a garage in Kew, Victoria, to honour the memory of a friend. Alice Anderson, who had founded it.' 13

Edward (1888 – 1915) joined the Australian Army as an engineer officer. In 1911 he obtained Leave without Pay and joined the Australian Antarctic Expedition under Sir Douglas Mawson. He was the leader of the Southern Sledging Party, which accomplished a perilous journey of 600 miles. From this experience, he contributed a chapter to Sir Douglas Mawson's book ''The Home of the Blizzard''. 14

For his work in Antarctic, Lieutenant Bage was awarded the King's Polar Medal. 15

On mobilization Orders, issued in August, 1914, Robert took up duty at Port Phillip Heads. He volunteered for active service, and was appointed second in command of the 3rd Field Company (Engineer) with the rank of Captain and was killed at Gallipoli on May 7, 1915 while he was in an exposed position marking out trenches. 16

Edward the Surveyor’s brother, Charles (1859 – 1930) obtained his medical degree in 1881 and became Doctor of Medicine in 1884. He ran a private practice in South Yarra, Melbourne, until 1923 and retired in 1925. Dr. Bage was a founding member of the Felton Bequests (1904) - a trust assisting charities and the arts. He took a keen interest in the St. John Ambulance Association and the Red Cross. 17 

By now I had amassed a huge amount of information about the BAGE surname, much of it held in my genealogy program 'Family Tree Maker'. 

I had seen some good web-sites on the internet and began to look at the possibility of setting up one of my own. It all seemed a bit daunting at first but with the help of ‘M.S. FrontPage’ I was able to produce my first few pages. Over the following months I added more pages and began to get favorable comments left by visitors on the Comments page. Fellow researchers began to contact me via email and very soon a large database of contacts was established which continues to grow. 

Contacts are mainly from the U.K., U.S.A., Canada and Australia. On several occasions I have been able to reunite family members who had lost touch, or in some cases didn't even know they had living relatives. 

Little did I realize, when I first began, that my family history research would reveal so much interesting information about my BAGE ancestors or that it would give me so much satisfaction and pleasure. 

1         U. K. Public Record Office National Archives – DocumentsOnline.

2         Nottingham Register Office, England Manorial Records DDSR 213/7.

3         Nottingham Register Office, England - Tenants Map 1781 OL 2 R, and also PRNW Will - George Bage.

4         Hermsprong; Robert Bage, (1796: Reprint, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press Ltd., 2002) ISBN 1-55111-279-5

5         The Hutton – Bage Correspondence, Birmingham City Archives, U.K.

6         From William Hutton, “Memoirs of Mr. Bage”, the Monthly Magazine, vol. XIII (Jan.1802), 478-79. 

7         From William Hutton, “Memoirs of Mr. Bage”, the Monthly Magazine, vol. XIII (Jan.1802), 478-79. 

8         BBC2 TV. program - the House Detectives At Large, broadcast in March 2002.

9         Duchess of Bedford Letter Collection.

10      Before You Came – Mines, Myths & Memories of Diamond Creek, John L Ryan. New Life Publications 1972, ISBN 09598950 1 9.

11      Bage, Edward (Mrs) fl 1889 Diary 16 Apr-31 Dec 1889 Alexander Turnbull Library, New Zealand. Reference No. MS-0115 

12      Bright Sparcs Web-site, Australia, Jacqueline Bell in Australian Dictionary of Biography and Who's Who in Australia, 1950 p. 60.

13      The Australian Dictionary of Biography 1891-1931', page 132.

14      ''The Home of the Blizzard'' by Sir Douglas Mawson, 1988. Published by Birlinn Limited, U.K. ISBN 1 84158 077 5.

15      Article by Editor, Helen Whyte in engineering@home for 2002 - Faculty of Engineering - Alumini

16      Officers of the Australian & New Zealand Army Corps at www.anzacs.org

17      Historical Record of the Felton Bequests up to Dec.1922, compiled by Charles Bage, published by the Felton Bequests Committee. 

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The following is an article which was published in 'The Banks of the Tyne' and 'The North-Easterner' magazines by John Bage.

I first began researching my family tree about six years ago. I started with my own surname BAGE and also my paternal grandmothers name of CLASPER because they seemed unusual and there were not that many in the phone books. Both names revealed interesting people and one of the most interesting and a one to be proud of was a man called Harry CLASPER. He was the 19th century equivalent of our present  day Olympic champions in the sport of rowing.

 

Harry, who was born in Whickham, County Durham in 1812 learned the trade of ship’s carpenter in his early years, a skill which he would later use to design and build world-class racing boats 

Harry would spend a lot of his time rowing on the river and eventually he and his brothers William and Robert got together about 1837 with John Thompson and Robert Dinning to form a crew and took on a celebrated local crew over which they were victorious. Harry then built a boat named ‘The Young Hawk’ and he used this to win the Durham Regatta in 1842. 

The Corporation of Newcastle started up an Annual regatta in which all the local boat crews took part. The banks of the Tyne would be crowded with spectators. Harry and his crew were usually the winners and became the undisputed Champions of the Tyne. 

New opposition was sought outside the area and the Thames watermen were challenged.  The Thames men were the national champions and they travelled to the Tyne to take part in the race on 16 July 1842.  The race was to be from Newcastle Bridge to Lemington. 

Harry lost the race but he knew that the problem was in the design of his boat so he continued the construction of a new boat naming it the‘ The Five Brothers’ which he knew would revolutionise the sport of rowing. 

He and his brothers continued to race locally and they won the four-oared race in the Tyne Regatta in August 1843.  The Royal Thames Regatta was in June the following year and Harry and his crew trained long and hard for this.  They wanted to prove to the London watermen that the Tynesiders were a crew to be reckoned with.  Harry used his revolutionary boat ‘The Five Brothers’ which was the first boat with outriggers to be used on the Thames.  Harry and his crew won the £50 prize at the Regatta which was held on 22 June 1844.  Throughout the following year Harry and his crew practised with their eyes set on gaining the ‘Championship of the World’ prize at the Thames Regatta to be held on 26 June 1845.  For this event Harry had built a new boat the ‘Lord Ravensworth’.  Unfortunately Harry’s brother Edward died on 1 April 1845 aged only 25.  His place in the boat was taken by Harry’s Uncle Ned Hawks.  Despite having a wooden leg Ned was a good rower. 

On the day, the banks of the Thames were thronged with thousands of spectators.  Two London crews made their way through the heats to the final to do battle with the Claspers.  A tremendous race followed but the Clasper boat won by about one and a half boat lengths.  They had won the £100 prize and the Championship of the World. 

Sir Lancelot Shadwell, Vice Chancellor of England, made the presentation and in a witty aside, remarked that “Although the winners were Tyne men, the London watermen had not found then ‘tiny’ competitors. 

The Tyneside boat crew arrived back in Newcastle to a tremendous welcome.  Huge crowds turned out to welcome them.  The bells at All Saints’ rang out and also those at Gateshead and the guns at Hawks & Crawshays’ works were fired in salute.  Many challenges followed that year including a race against Thomas Carrol, the Champion of the Mersey, on the 29 September for a prize of £200.  Harry won this race easily.  On 19 November 1845 Harry was presented with a testimonial  by his close friends and public figures of the area in Newcastle.  Several gold and silver gifts were presented to him ‘as a token of respect for his ingenuity, perseverance, and upright conduct’, on all occasions.  Presentations were also made to each of the crew.

They won the pairs at the Durham Regatta on 26 June 1848 which got them in good heart for the Thames Regatta.  Huge crowds gathered on the banks of the Thames on the day.  With shouts of ‘Had away Harry lad’ from their Tyneside followers Harry and his crew once again carried away the £100 prize and the championship. 

The following year, 1849 the Claspers took on and beat all comers.  They rarely lost a race. 

In 1850 Harry completed a four-oared outrigger racing boat beautifully made from cedar wood and measuring 42 feet in length and 21 inches in breadth.  This boat was to be used by the Claspers at the Henley on Thames Regatta where they beat the Thames men. 

In June 1862 Harry was honoured with a testimonial. A concert took place at the Tyne Concert Hall where all the trophies were displayed along with models of the boats.  It was a great night and Harry was presented with a Pub bought and paid for with the money collected from friends and the public who couldn’t seem to do enough to honour their hero.  The pub was situated at No 1 Armstrong Street, Scotswood Road and was to be named the “Clasper Arms” and was considered the ideal place for Harry and his family to live when he eventually retired. 

Death of the Champion

Harry continued to take some part in racing but was also training others and building boats at his yard. 

It was on Thursday 8 July 1870 that Harry was seized by a mysterious illness.  His condition deteriorated and a few days later he passed away peacefully and quietly in the presence of his wife and family 

The news of Harry’s death quickly spread around town.  Grown men were seen to be in tears when they heard the sad news. 

When the day of the funeral arrived no one had anticipated such a display as was witnessed.  The funeral procession was due to set-off at 2.45pm but people started to assemble at least two hours earlier than this.  The hearse was pulled by four black-plumed horses.  At the front a band led the way and behind followed about two hundred local oarsmen and members of the Tyne Rowing Club.  Following these were four mourning coaches containing Harry’s relatives and close friends, then more friends walking three abreast behind this.  These were followed by twenty private carriages with the general public bringing up the rear on foot. 

The route was from Tyne Street via New Road (now City Road) Gibson Street, New Bridge Street, Grey Street and Dean Street to the rivers’ edge where the cortege was taken on board tug boats to Derwenthaugh, and then on to Whickham,  The route was lined with people all the way, everyone wanting to pay their last respects to a very great man.  It was estimated that about 130,000 people had witnessed the proceedings. 

In his 20 years as a rower Harry’s contests bordered on 130, many of which he won.  It had been a tremendous time for local boat racing and for the people of Tyneside. 

More information can be found in the book ‘Harry Clasper Hero of the North’ by David Clasper available from Gateshead Library.

See details of their races and photos of the trophies won by Harry Clasper and John Hawks Clasper on the Friends of Rowing History web-site;-  www.rowinghistory.net/clasper.htm

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In response to a request in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle for articles about memories of the first day at work, for the magazine ‘Remember When’, I wrote the following article which was published along with others in 2002. (John Bage - website author) 

My First Day at the Office

When I was at school in the early sixties one third of my lessons were related to technical subjects. Whilst my classmates dreamed of sailing off to distant shores in the Merchant Navy I was quite happy to do what I liked best, and that was Technical Drawing. I wanted to be a Draughtsman and I never considered doing anything else.

I wrote to local firms where I thought they would have a Drawing Office and soon had an interview with a Mr Chisholm, the Personnel Manager of John Readhead & Sons, a long-established Shipbuilding Yard in South Shields on the River Tyne. These were the days when there were plenty of ship orders around, and the yard was a hive of activity and offering excellent future prospects. 

I was offered a position as an Apprentice Draughtsman and was to start in two weeks. I wasn’t too nervous on the first day as I was pleased to have what was considered in those days to be a good  job with a reasonable salary and conditions. For my first weeks pay I proudly took home £3 8s 8d, half of which I gave to my mother for my ‘keep’, and I still had something left at the end of the week. I was required to wear a suit and tie, and polished shoes, as were all the other staff, but it was O.K. to take the jacket off when working. Swearing was discouraged and respect was to be given to older staff and management. In fact when the Managing Director, Harold Towers came round on an inspection the place was so quiet you could easily hear a pin drop.

The drawing office was in a very old building. It smelled of stale tobacco smoke, but that was acceptable in those days as nearly everyone smoked. The walls were all wood panelled and there were only a few draughty, single glazed sash windows giving very little natural light. Large canopies with fluorescent lights in them hung down on chains from the ceiling, over every drawing desk. These desks were large, heavy wooden sets of plan storage drawers with horizontal tops to which the drawings were pinned. The drawings themselves were produced in ink on a waxed linen which had to be pinned and stretched out on the  desk top and then rubbed over with powdered chalk. One tedious  task the apprentices had to do was to scrape a block of chalk to ensure sufficient powder was available for everyone. I remember one morning an older draughtsman said the coffee, which was made by apprentices twice a day, tasted like chalk. He was overheard by one of the trainees, who duly made the afternoon coffee for the complainer with a liberal dose of powdered chalk and which he drank without comment.

The office turned out to be very friendly and in fact was more like family, something I haven’t really experienced in any of the many drawing offices I have worked in over the last 36 years. My years there were a pleasure and I met some very fine people who became a source of encouragement for me for the rest of my life. 

I will never forget the sights and sounds of the shipyard as the steel plates were formed into magnificent ships which would go on to sail around the world to so many different places for years to come. We were so proud of every one of them. The people in the North-East shipyards were unique, and this has been said many times by many people. I can confirm that they were very special from my years working with so many of them in and around the shipyards of the Tyne and Wear. 

Nowadays I work in an air-conditioned office, sitting on a padded swivelling chair, at an ultra modern desk, and use a state-of-the art, powerful computer to produce drawings by creating 3D Parametric Models. We have come a long way from the conditions of that first office I started in, to the present-day working environment. But there have been changes in people too, and how they relate to each other. Nowadays people sitting within a few metres of one another often communicate with each other by internal e-mail. The lunch-break no longer features a thriving card school, but instead individuals play games by themselves on their P.C's. That ‘family’ feeling so apparent in my first job doesn't seem to have a place in modern times. 

Our society has advanced tremendously in terms of technology since I first started work in the shipyard drawing office, but it is so very sad to see how people relationships have deteriorated in just 36 years. Fortunately for me I have fond memories of that first office and my first job in the ‘grown-up’ world.

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The following story was published in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle - 'Remember When'  page 6, on Saturday 17th May 2003.

 

 

CROWD PLEASERS -

 Joseph and Arlene Bage, performing as Jan and Arlene, were well-known for their "exhibition dancing". Joseph was by no means a typical South (Ed; North) Shields man of the 30's eschewing industry in favour of a life on the stage - a choice which led to him seeing Europe.

 

The rhythm king

Joseph Bage was brought up in South (Ed; North) Shields when it was a tough seafaring town. Its young men were normally expected to end up in the fishing trade, mining industry, the shipyards or on the docks. So it may be surprising to learn that Joseph's career took a completely different direction - he became a dancer. But dancing on stage was also a tough profession, especially in those days of high unemployment and little money. Dancing troupes would have to travel far, travel light and travel quickly and with little comfort. Joseph, who went under the name of Jan, was the great-grandson of Joseph Bage, who owned a notable coal merchant business in the town - much to the benefit of his descendants. But Jan proved successful in his chosen career and, after teaming up with his wife-to-be Arlene Miles-Johnson under the stage name of Jan and Arlene, he toured Europe. But Jan wasn't the only dancer in the family. His three sisters also got the bug and Agnes (stage name Pat), Lillian and Ethel formed a dance troupe called The Castleton Sisters, after their mother's maiden name. Their mother, Catherine, known as Kitty, was also involved, as their dresser. As these young girls toured the big cities of Europe, love was obviously never going to be far away, and Agnes met and married young black songwriter Spencer Williams. Spencer seems to have been very successful and a prolific songwriter. Among his credits was the well-known She'll be Coming Round the Mountain When She Comes, and he was a lifelong friend of Fats Waller. Agnes and Spencer wrote several songs together, and when they found they couldn't have children, they adopted two black girls, Linda and Della. Mixed marriages were frowned upon in the 30's and Agnes and Spencer encountered prejudice close to home. Agnes's mother wouldn't allow Spencer in the house whenever they came on a visit to England, although she was willing to accept his gifts and money. And after the adoption of Lindy and Della, Agnes's mother refused to speak to her again. They went to live in Sweden with Agnes's sister, Ethel. But after two years Spencer found he couldn't stand the cold winters, so the family moved to Long Island, USA. After Spencer died Agnes went back to live with Ethel in Sweden.

FAMILY TIES -

left, the Bage family - back row; Nell, Bill, "Jan" (Joseph), Syl, Walter, Ethel.

Front row; Agnes (Pat), Daddy Bage (Walter), Nana (Catharine) and Lil. Right, songwriter Spencer Williams, who married Agnes

 

 

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The following is an article which was published in Issue No. 36 of 'The North-Easterner' magazine http://www.north-easterner.freeserve.co.uk

My Papermaking Ancestors

As I did more and more research into my family history I discovered that my BAGE ancestors were very much involved in papermaking in and around the 18th century. Many of them owned and worked papermills in the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire areas - including the famous novelist Robert Bage - and there is considerable information about them in wills and other documentation. I discovered that Thomas Bage was a papermaker at Lamesley Mill, County Durham and was married in 1867. It seems that the Lamesley Papermill was owned and run by the ORD family and Thomas must have been hired by them. There were also Bage papermakers working at Lintzford Mill, near Ryton. This link with my surname and the papermakers in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Durham led me to do more research into the actual process of papermaking in those times, as well as the genealogical research, so that I could better understand the way my ancestors were living their lives.

The modern process of manufacturing paper originated in China about 105AD when they used rags, rice stalks, etc. It came to Europe in the 12th century, being first recorded in Spain about 1150, and to Britain in 1492 (shortly after the printing press).

Papermaking consists of reducing wood fibre, straw, rags and grasses to a pulp by the action of an alkali, such as caustic soda. Wood has two principal constituents; cellulose and a complex substance called lignin that holds the cellulose fibres together, thus making the wood rigid. During the 'cooking' process the lignin is removed. and other non-cellulose material is extracted and the residue is bleached. After washing and the addition of a filler to provide a smooth and flat surface, the pulp is rolled into thin sheets and dried.

In the 1490's the first English site used for paper making was Sele Mill beside a stream by the name of the Beane which flows into the River Lea below Hertford, and was run by a John TATE, a citizen of London.

Hard water was a contributing factor in the making of high quality paper and as a result many mills were sited where this type of water was available in large quantities, usually alongside rivers or streams.

In 1622 the first English newspaper appeared - The Weekly News, and in 1702 the first English daily newspaper, The Daily Courant (till 1735). The first evening newspaper, The Evening Post was issued in London in 1706 and in 1791 The Observer was published - the oldest Sunday newspaper.

In 1720 wallpaper became fashionable in England.

Initially, British rags were sold to the French, who used them to make cheap paper which they then sold back to the British. Later on the Germans and the Swiss also traded. In 1674 we imported 160,000 reams of paper, mainly from France. The value of imported paper into England in 1668/9 was nearly £88,000. From 1686 to 1688 we imported up to £100,000 p.a.

In 1675 a Patent was granted to Eustace Burnely to make white paper. In 1678 a book printed on English white paper was presented to His Majesty the King.

There were 38 mills working during the first half of the 17th century. Mills were set up in Nottingham at that time.

In the last quarter of the 17th century, French refugee paper makers were arriving in England. In 1681 French Protestant paper makers arrived in Plymouth. In 1685 French paper makers had set up new invented mills and engines not seen in England before. The first manufacturer of fine paper was established in London by the French refugees.

In 1692 England was exporting paper from London.

In 1713 John BAGE was working Ollerton Mill in Nottinghamshire. In 1729/30 a John BAGE was married and in 1740 his son George BAGE was baptised. The daughter of George BAGE, Elizabeth BAGE was baptised in 1774. George BAGE, papermaker, died in 1789.

In the years 1651-1700 there was a Papermill at Hunwick in County Durham.

In the 1730's there were 278 paper mills in England and Wales.

Northumberland Mill No. 3 at Newcastle in 1741 probably made white paper.

In 1738 there were 278 mills and 338 Vats in England and Wales.

In 1785, 381 licences were granted. In 1800, 417 licences were granted.

In 1788 noteworthy developments were taking place in South Northumberland and North Durham. The districts centred on Newcastle upon Tyne with mills along the River Tyne and its middle and lower tributaries and Mid Durham the streams tributary to to the River Wear to the south, and south west of the City of Durham.

In 1854 the Times offered £1000 for the discovery of a new raw material for paper.

In 1861 Excise duty on paper in the U.K. ended. The American Civil War led to a shortage of cotton. In about 1883 the use of wood for papermaking began in Britain (Ekman).

In 1885 Eastman made the first coated photographic paper.

How the Early Papermakers worked.

RAGS make PAPER, PAPER makes MONEY, MONEY makes BANKS, BANKS make LOANS, LOANS make BEGGARS, BEGGARS make RAGS.

(Dard Hunter 'Papermaking, the History & Technique of an Ancient Craft' (1978). frontispiece)

As early paper was made from rags of linen, flax or jute, by the seventeenth century rags were so scarce in England that it was decided to forbid by statute the use of linen for burial shrouds, the needs of the paper manufacturing industry being considered more important, this produced the ''Acts for burying in Woollen'' (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London. Preamble to - ''An Act for Burying in Woollen Onely. For the encouragement of the Woollen Manufacturers of this Kingdome and Prevention of the Exportation of the moneys thereof for the buying and importing of Linnen.'' 18 & 19 Car II Chap IV.) of 1666, 1678 and 1680. One peripheral requirement of the Acts was that relatives of the deceased were to swear affidavits (recorded in a book kept by the parish) that the law had been satisfied. Failure to do so rendered them subject to a fine of five pounds. The Law remained on the Statute Book until the nineteenth century, but proved ineffective; the rich were not deterred from using linen by such a small fine, while the poor who could not afford linen had to use woollen cloth. In one year it was estimated that approximately two hundred thousand pounds of linen and cotton were saved for the papermakers.

The process by which paper is made looks astonishingly simple, but it is quite complex. Seven years were needed for an apprentice to master these skills, which is the knowledge of nearly two thousand years of papermaking. It was not until 1150 that these skills reached Europe, where cotton of 'rag' was the material used up to about 1800. The cotton arrived in cartloads at the mill, and was cut up, usually by a team of women into rough squares of five inches. This cut waste went into a boiler where it was boiled in caustic soda to remove impurities. The next stage was called 'breaking' in which the material was crushed and ground in constantly running water to destroy any remaining thread or weave pattern, and would seperate the fibres and remove all traces of caustic dirt. This could have been one of the reasons why the Bages flooded the fields. (N.R.O. Manorial Records DDSR 213/7) Water power was used to drive the machinery which pounded the rags into a pulp, and a constant supply of pure water was essential for mixing with the rags. The resultant thick cotton and water pulp, called 'half stuff' was then beaten by hand, this further crushed the fibres to make them absorb more water and increase the area of contact for better bonding later. (Readers Digest. Traditional Crafts in Britain. The Papermaker. (Sevenoaks 1982) p.152) A Vat was filled to within a few inches of its brim with the half stuff, and agitated by means of a pole or potching stick, which towards the end of the eighteenth century was replaced by a mechanical paddle called a 'hog'. From the pulp the ' vatman ' formed a sheet of paper by inserting a wire sieve, a mould of the required size, and then giving it a series of shakes. The surplus water fell off and a mat of interlocking fibres of the pulp was formed. It was taken off the mould and laid by 'coucher' alternately with woollen felts to form a pile of one hundred and forty four sheets. It was important that these two workmen worked together. A pile of six quires was termed a 'post', and the next operation was to place the post in a press to expel the excess water.. As these presses had to yield an immense pressure, they were massive and cumbersome, and were one of the most expensive appliances of the old paper mills. After the post had been placed under the platen of the press, all the workers in the various parts of the mill were summoned together by the ringing of a bell to exert their strength in turning down the screw of the press by means of a long wooden lever. . After pressing, the weight of the paper and felts from the loss of the water has been reduced tenfold, and the fibres of the sheets of paper have become so matted and felted together that the sheets could be lifted from the woollen cloths without tearing. The third workman was known as the ' layman ', and it was his duty to free each sheet of paper from the interleaving felts, and to place the sheets in a neat and even pile, one upon another, on an inclined stool or bench. The felts were returned to the coucher to be used in making the following post.

By long hours of diligent work it was possible for the three workmen to make twenty posts or about five and one half reams of paper a day. (Hunter.Papermaking.p 185) After the sheets had been placed directly one upon another by the layman, the pile was again subjected to pressure. After this second pressing, the sheets of paper were seperated, again built into a pile, but in different rotation, and subjected to a little heavier pressure than could have been given before, owing to the tendancy of the sheets to stick together. This rearrangement of the sheets was repeated until the paper acquired the desired smoothness of finish.

The next process was the drying (Hunter. Papermaking. p 186-8) of the paper. They were taken in ' spurs ' of four or five sheets, as in this moist state they adhered together. Had the sheets been dried separately they would have wrinkled. The drying lofts were rooms where the air was reasonably free from dirt or soot, and often fitted with sliding wooden shutters to let the air in. The spurs of paper were hung over ropes that had been woven from cow or horse hair, coated with beeswax and supported by wooden frames which stretched throughout the loft.

The life of a worker was anything but indolent. (Hunter. Papermaking. p 242) He was to be at the mill by six in the morning, ready for work, and did not leave until six in the evening. His lunch was usually consumed while working, but a more lenient master allowed 15-20 minutes for this.

The vatmen and couchers, (Hunter. Papermaking. p 243) had to have strong and robust constitutions, but the constant stooping posture, combined with the heat from the paper stock in the vat, made them grow old prematurely. The vatman and the coucher , who interchanged their work, could readily be distinguished by their red, muscular arms and hands and by the stooping backs, brought about by having their arms in and out of warm water constantly, and by bending over the dipping vat and coucher's stool. (Hunter. Papermaking. p 245). The old mills were inadequately heated, and the vat-houses were usually located where the light was poor, the atmosphere damp and gloomy, and on the whole unhealthy. All through the history of papermaking by hand there was a scarcity of workers, due to the unwillingness of apprentices to learn a trade so disagreeable and arduous; only those with exceptional physical endurance could remain long at the craft. The greatest strain was required of the vatman, owing to the four-ay motion that he had to give to the mould in forming each separate sheet. After working years at the vat he sometimes lost this 'stroke' and was never able to form a sheet of paper again. Sometimes this paralysis has been known to attack workman for different periods, during which times they were unable to work at the moulding of paper; then the ability to give the 'stroke' or 'shake' returned.

Yet with all the disagreeable features of their craft, the old papermakers were a happy and contented guild of workmen. (Hunter. Papermaking. p 246) They were extremely proud of their craft, for the apprenticeship was long, the work demanded dexterity and skill, and to become a proficient moulder and coucher of fine paper required no little ability of head and hand.

Thomas HOGG, papermaker, who had been bound for seven years to Alexander MACKEY of Tanfield, Co. Durham was in Ollerton. His document says he is from Ollerton, and went away to be trained.(N.R.O. Settlement Examination PR 11/340)

Eventually machinery was invented to take the place of the manual method of papermaking.

Nicholas-Louise Robert (1761-1828) patented the first papermaking machine in 1799. It made paper in great lengths using a continuous conveyor belt system and was driven by turning a handle. The prepared mixture of water and pulp was poured into an oval chest then picked up by rotating copper bars and discharged on to the upper surface of an endless wire mesh running on two end rollers. The pulp passed between felt-covered squeezing rollers, removing most of the water so that the web lifted off the wire and could be coiled on a roller. The tension of the wire was adjusted by a screw. The wire was shaken by a cross-bar driven by a wheel. This cross-bar could also be raised or lowered to alter the slope of the wire and thus the rate of water loss.

Nowadays we just take paper for granted. We use so much of it for so many different things. My study into its introduction into this country was a real eye-opener into how my ancestors were living and working and it has added additional interest to my family history file.

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Article published in the Shields Gazette, 30th March, 2004

Cookson Country by Janis Blower

Discipline was an agonising lesson

 

TEACHERS these days have to work within much more severe constraints than they used to. Whether or not that’s a good thing, I’m not sure. It is, if it means kids don’t get whacked round the head with blackboard rubbers any more; no, if the little perishers feel they can run to the authorities if ‘sir’ so much as looks at them the wrong way. Either way, those of my generation and older will recognise the kind of teacher that John Bage knew at school. John’s been kind enough to let us see this picture of his class at Barnes Road School in Shields in 1954. We had a note of the school a few nights ago, you may recall, and John thinks that Susan Bainbridge who was mentioned may be on this. “Her name seems familiar to me,” he says. He certainly remembers Roy Coltman, Maurice Lindsay, Alan Hewitt, Raymond Thom, Robin Blake (whose parents were tenants of the Tyne Dock pub), Robert (‘Ding Dong’) Bell, and Susan Todd. “I think there was a Marilyn there as well,” he says. The only teacher he can remember, however, was Mr Leslie. “He was really scary,” says John. “He used to throw a tennis ball at anyone not paying attention. One day he threw it at someone and it went out an open window into the playground where a class was doing PE. “He also gave most of us nicknames. I was Badger Bage. There was also Cheyenne Bodie, and Ding Dong Bell.”

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Article published in the Shields Gazette,1st Feb, 2006

Cookson Country by Janis Blower

CEMETERY VISITORS KEPT IN THE PICTURE

THE ambivalent topic of headstones in South Tyneside cemeteries being toppled for safety reasons has thrown up all kinds of issues.

One is the possible eventual loss of important historical and genealogical information.

So it’s been gratifying to hear from Jarrow man John Bage that, because he was concerned about the gradual erosion of headstones at Harton Cemetery, he began just over a year ago to photograph the graves.

"I was concerned that they seemed to be weathering and that the information would eventually be lost forever," says John.

He now has more than 12,000 images, which are in the process of being indexed, with details of the inscriptions being made available free on a website, the Harton Cemetery South Shields Memorial Inscription Index, to be found at  http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/harton.

The resource is immensely useful for those engaged in researching their family history. John also points folk in the direction of where they can find out other information on such things as unmarked graves.

Comments from people all over the world who have used the site underline the importance of cemeteries in filling in the details of where we come from.

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