St. Peter's Church Register, Wallsend, Northumberland, 1830

This image is from the Register of Baptisms, 1813-1854 of St. Peter's Church, Wallsend, Northumberland, England.  I found the inscription on the left page so interesting.

It reads,

N. B.       Two additional Free Galleries were
               erected this year, viz, One Thousand, Eight
               hundred & Thirty.  One on the South, the other
               on the North Side of Wallsend Church, by
               voluntary Subscription to remain, for the
               use of the poor, free and unappropriated
               forever.  At an estimated expense of One
               Hundred and fifty pounds;--Towards which
               the Dean of Chapter of Durham contributed Forty
               and the Durham Diocesan Church Building Society
               Thirty Pounds --
                                                John Armstrong
               Wallsend, 31st Dec. 1830.        Perpetual Curate.

Jas C. Anderson }
[Illegible]          }  Churchwardens

I love seeing these extra annotations in parish registers and other old documents.  I think they sometimes give extra insights into the lives and times of my ancestors.  This came to light as I searched for baptismal records for children of my third-great-grandparents, William and Martha (Reay) Doyle.

According to the Historical U.K. Inflation Rates and Calculator, the value of £150.00 in 1830 equals £15,150.00 in 2017, though I doubt that the work done in 1830 could be done in 2017 for that price.

I wondered if the two galleries Rev. Armstrong mentioned were still standing at St. Peter's and if they were still in use for the poor, since "forever" had a double underline for emphasis.  I found numerous websites with photos and descriptions of the church structure but I was unable to determine north/south from the photos or learn about the galleries for the poor.  The church was remodeled in 1892 so perhaps they were removed or used for some other purpose.

You can see photos and read more about St. Peter's at these websites:

• St. Peter's Church, Wallsend, at Geograph 
• Wallsend, St. Peter's Church at Newcastle Photos Blog 
• Church of St. Peter at British Listed Buildings where there is a Google Street View and an architectural description of the building, its structure, and the materials used in its construction.  Since the church has a several-foot high wall around it, it's hard to see much with Street View.
• Wikipedia's page about St. Peter's Church notes that John Armstrong was it's last Perpetual Curate, from 1830 to 1856 and its first Rector, from 1856 to 1871.  

The cemetery of St. Peter's is home to miners who were killed in pit explosions over the years including the Heaton pit disaster of 1815, the Wallsend Colliery explosion of 1835, and the Hartley pit disaster of 1862.  Coal mining was such a dangerous occupation.

--Nancy.

Copyright ©2017 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
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