Table of Contents

Names live on from Long Island, Carlisle
City firm that missed out on the railway carriage boom
Boags made buses in Carlisle until the motor engine drove them off into exile
Carlisle’s animal painter still commands loyalty
A short history of city's Long Island
Notes
Denis Perriam, a Carlisle historian and friend of Andrew Humphries, is the man who identified the likely artist of the portrait of John Barton the Elder. He has written a number of history articles for local newspapers, including the Cumberland News, although the articles in the latter have not (yet) been placed on that publication's website. They are reproduced here with his consent, along with research notes about the Barton family that he sent to DBHB in 2012.


Names live on from Long Island, Carlisle

Past and Present in Cumbria, by Denis Perriam; Cumberland News, 24 January 1997

Between the River Caldew and the Corporation Dam Millrace, just west of Carlisle, was a strip of land known in the 19th century as Long Island.

Although the millrace has gone and this is no longer an island, the name has been revived as the address of a business park built on the site of an earlier factory.




The millrace had been formed in medieval times to supply water to the western section of the ditch which surrounded the city walls of Carlisle.

It also gave power to a number of corn mills which were of an equally early date.

Wire Mire Beck, which runs towards the Caldew from Blackwell, was diverted into the millrace to give a constant flow of water and, when necessary, a dam across the River Caldew at Holme Head provided an additional head of water.

In 1284, the Castle Mill was referred to as the "ancient mill site below Carlisle Castle," but it could not have been earlier than 1092, when a start was made on the city defences.

It was recorded that on May 26, 1382, some malicious persons had cut the bank of the watercourse running through the land and waste of the lordship of Blackhall to the ditch of the city, so that the Castle Mill "could not be worked for want of water."

A similar complaint in 1427 resulted in an inquisition which found "the city ditches are dry and the mill cannot grind."


[PICTURE CAPTION: THE OLD MILL STREAM: Rome Street bridge followed the line of the Corporation Dam Millrace in 1877; the distant chimney, right, was the Long Island Works beyond Iredale's Brewery; Lamplugh Works are on the left. Photo courtesy of Carlisle.]


This often happened when the city was besieged, because the millrace was beyond the protection of the city walls.

When the three city mills were let on February 2, 1474, a clause was inserted to allow compensation: "If the mills are burnt by the enemies of the King then the lessees will be allowed according to the amount of damage done. "

Occasionally, there were disputes which give evidence of the existence of other mills along the millrace.

In 1347, Robert de Tebay built a watermill on land which later belonged to the Lamplugh family, where Lamplugh Street is today, close to the Rome Street bridge.

The city complained that because he took all the water to power his mill there was little left for the Borough Mill, which they had built to replace the Town Mill. This site today is beneath the north end of the Citadel Station.

Ireby's Mill was the site chosen by Bernard Barton as a linen mill in 1763, trading as Barton and Hodgson. Bernard's premature death in 1773, aged 45, meant that his son John had to enter the business.

Hodgson withdrew and his place was taken by William Brumwell to form the firm, Brumwell Barton and Co.

John Barton left for London in 1783 and a 1780s map shows the mill as 'Brumwell's Stampery'.

Weaving was then undertaken by hand-loom weavers in their own homes, but the cloth thus produced was finished by stamping or wapping it with large wooden hammers.

This process of 'wapping', something which stuck in the memory of older inhabitants, gave the unofficial name for that area when it developed in the 19th century.

When the business ceased in Carlisle, Brumwell went to Wigton in 1787 to manufacture calicos at the Spital Works there.

Brumwell Stampery was renamed Long Island Works when taken as a cotton factory by Mitchell, Ellwood and Co, but as they went bankrupt in 1797, the lease for the works was put up for sale by the city.

Messrs Holme and Co then took the factory and it was here that they "brought the weaving by steam power to very great perfection," reported the Carlisle Journal, August 4, 1810.

The millrace was not required for power any longer but provided a good supply of clean water, essential to the manufacture of cloth.

Not all were happy with the modern methods used by this company and we will perhaps never know whether it was discontented hand-loom weavers, put out of work by steam, who retaliated in 1812:

"Ten or 12 men with blackened faces attacked a watchman belonging to the premises of Messrs Holme, manufacturers, of Denton Holme."

This hostility may have been the reason why, with still six years of their lease to run, Messrs Holme were forced to cease manufacture in 1813. By October 2, the Carlisle Journal reported that the works were in full production under the partnership of Messrs James Mounsey, John Thompson and John Beck.

Many smaller cotton companies in Carlisle changed hands regularly and the Long Island Works were no exception, being sold as a going concern with all of the weaving looms in 1822.

Messrs Stockbridge and Co, who purchased everything, had to watch much of their stock go up in smoke in 1823.

The Carlisle Journal reported: "The city engines, which from their wretched state of repair and total inefficiency are a disgrace to the city, were soon brought to the spot, but it was no use."

Messrs Stockbridge were quickly followed in business by John Tweddle, who then sold in 1837.

Messrs Wyllie and Wright then offered to take the works as a flax mill if the city would grant them a 14-year lease for £64.

Following negotiations, they were allowed a 10-year lease for that amount.

This was the last firm to manufacture textiles there, because when Wyllie and Wright went bankrupt in 1846, the weaving machinery was sold to pay their debts.

A 14-year lease was then secured by John Blaylock in 1848, when he built the Long Island Iron Works where he manufactured ticket dating presses, under Thomas Edmondson's Patent.

Blaylock was also a clock maker, and one which he made at Long Island was exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851. He was joined in partnership by William Pratchitt and, as the firm prospered and the lease ran out, they decided to build new works in Denton Holme, moving across the river in 1863.

The Corporation Dam Millrace was drained in the 1860s to allow for railway improvements and was rapidly filled in. Part of the Long Island site was required for new goods lines in 1877.

No further manufacturing was undertaken there when it closed as a foundry but the buildings remained as warehouses for a building contractors into the 20th century. Norweb used the site for storage until they moved to Nelson Street.

Recent lifting of the railway tracks made an enlarged site available for redevelopment.

Announcement was made in The Cumberland News, March 11, 1994, of the purchase of a 125-year lease by the Terris Development Partnership for the construction of industrial units.

Fortunately, the history is remembered in the choice of name for the new development, Long Island Park.

This is on Lamplugh Street, which takes its name from the field names Far Lamplugh Close, where the Lamplugh Works were (Scotts Leather Factory), and Long Island Ironworks, and Near Lamplugh Close, where Hewson Street is and St Stephen's Church had stood.



City firm that missed out on the railway carriage boom

Past and Present in Cumbria, by Denis Perriam; Cumberland News, 31 October, 1997, p9

Between Warwick Road and Mary Street, separating the Lonsdale Cinema and GPO, is Barton's Lane. Although this is named on each edition of the Ordnance Survey map, the lane has never carried a nameplate and perhaps it should. [N.B. On the map below it is labelled 'Barton's Place']




It takes its name from William Barton, who was born in 1785 and established, in 1820, a horse harness and coach manufactory in Carlisle. From 1826 he was in competition with Thomas Tweeddale but they went into partnership in 1831. Trading as Tweeddale and Barton, they had premises in Albert Square, just off Blackfriars Street, where Tesco's store is today.

Tweeddale had experience of making carriages in London and this expertise greatly helped the business, bringing new ideas of design to the area. They launched a London-style coach in 1833 and received orders from throughout the county. In 1836 they built their first omnibus for the Bush Hotel and later, in 1841, one was ordered for the route from Whitehaven to Ulverston.

On March 2, 1839, the Carlisle Journal was full of praise; "the carriage of the High Sheriff has been much admired during the week for the elegance of its appearance and the chasteness of its design... it was manufactured by Messrs Barton and Tweeddale of this city and reflects great credit upon their establishment."

In 1840 the firm moved to a yard behind The Crescent, previously occupied by William Gate. The address was 'No. 1 The Crescent', but as they expanded their premises extended to Cecil Street. Barton's Lane was laid over their land.






One of their interests was in supplying horses for mail coaches. In 1843 they contracted to change horses on the Edinburgh to London mail coach, between Carlisle and Penrith; this meant changing horses in Carlisle and at High Hesket. However, John Teather already had the contract and a battle ensued which was fully reported in the press.

On the first day of battle the Carlisle Journal stated that when the mail coach arrived at the Bush Hotel "the Bartonians having the popular voice and ready hands on their side, succeeded in preventing the Teatherites from unloosing the horses... and the coachman was directed to drive forward into Mr Barton's yard in the Crescent, where fresh horses having been put to, the coach was again brought out and placed in front of the Post Office to receive the mail bags, each horse held by two men to prevent the Teatherites from unloosing them... by this time there were at least 500 persons there and when the guard gave the words 'all right' the coach drove off amid loud cheers,"

Teather was not to be outdone and before the coach reached High Hesket he succeeded in stopping it, changing the horses for his own and ordering the driver not to stop on his way to Penrith. But Barton's men were waiting at the usual changing place and such was the crowd that gathered, the coach was forced to stop, enabling Barton's horses to be put on. After a week of similar scenes, not without injury, Teather relented.

When the Maryport and Carlisle Railway was to enter Carlisle in the same year, new rolling stock was required. Early railway carriages looked much the same as horse-drawn ones and were manufactured in the same way.


[PICTURE CAPTION: 150 YEARS OLD: A Carlisle-made Stockton and Darlington carriage]


This led the Carlisle Journal in 1844 to speculate on Carlisle's future importance: "Some time ago speaking of the advantages which Carlisle was likely to derive from the formation of the various railways about to be brought in... we mentioned that it was likely to become a depot for carriages to be used on the various lines and we added our belief that to the branches of business at present pursued with so much energy and success by our citizens, would be that of railway carriage building... we have now some evidence before us... the directors of the Maryport and Carlisle Railway recently advertised for tenders for first and second class carriages... and we are glad to say Messrs Barton and Tweeddale, coach-builders of this city, were declared the contractors for both carriages."

The reporter added: "That their estimates were not merely the lowest but that it was declared that a preference had also been given to them in consequence of the superiority of their workmanship, as displayed in the first class carriages with which they some time ago furnished the company."

Their fame in railway carriage manufacture spread and in 1846 an order for coaches came from the Stockton and Darlington Railway. They also made coaches for the Silloth railway, but because of the lack of company records, it is impossible to know how many railway carriages they actually built.

William Barton died in 1846, leaving the business in the hands of his wife Mary and his sons. Thomas Tweeddale decided to retire and his name was dropped, the firm becoming Robert Barton and Son. Later in the 19th century their works were taken over by James Fendley, who switched from cycle manufacture to motor coach building. A serious fire destroyed the buildings in 1930 and the site was used for the Lonsdale Cinema.

Had Tweeddale and Barton the foresight of the Carlisle Journal in 1844, they could have become a major railway carriage manufacturer: Carlisle was the right sort of railway centre for such a business.

A carriage delivered to the Stockton and Darlington Railway by Tweeddale and Barton in 1847, proudly bearing their maker's plate, is on display in the National Railway Museum at York. After 150 years of full service it is still as sound as when it was built.



Boags made buses in Carlisle until the motor engine drove them off into exile

Past and Present in Cumbria, by Denis Perriam; Cumberland News, 1 July 2005, p8

The magazine Old Glory; for enthusiasts of restoration featuring all types of horse-drawn, steam, electric, motor and other early traction, illustrated the body of a horse omnibus in the April 1992 issue. [p10]

This had been recently acquired by Summerlee Heritage Park, Coatbridge, from a Midlothian farm with a view to long-term restoration.

It was thought to be “a former Glasgow Corporation horse bus of around the turn of the century,” but someone else “thought that the bus could be a survivor of the Glasgow Tramway and Omnibus Company which operated horse bus services... after the Corporation took over routes in 1894,”, said Hugh Dougherty who wrote the feature.

What was not in dispute was the manufacturer, “for a maker's plate above the door on the inside declares the body to be the work of Bogle Ltd of Carlisle and Windermere,” said Mr Dougherty.

Looking in the trade directories for this period there is no mention of the firm of Bogle Ltd in either Carlisle or Windermere.

There could have been a misprint in the magazine or a mistake in reading the plate. An alternative must be sought.

In the obituary of Ann Tweeddale aged 93 in the Carlisle Journal in April 1900, it states that her father was "of the well-known coach building firm Barton and Tweeddale now Boag's Crescent Carriage Co."

The business had moved to the Crescent in 1840 and when her father died in 1853 his name was dropped.

When Mary Barton died in 1890 she bequeathed to her daughter Elizabeth “her house in the Crescent and warehouse adjoining” and to her son Thomas the premises behind “where-in the business of Barton and Sons is now carried on,” reported the Journal.

But Thomas Barton, the coach builder, did not outlive his mother long because his will was published in the Journal in April 1893.

His brother Robert had no interest in the firm so it was offered as a going concern by the executors with a lease on the works.

Confirmation that Bogle is in fact Boag comes from an advert in the Journal in April 1895: “Boag's, late Barton and Sons Crescent Carriage Co, Carlisle and Windermere - new and second-hand carriages, A Boag managing director.”

Further information comes from a legal case in the Chancery Division in March 1897, informing that Boag's Crescent Carriage Co “petitioned to reduce capital from £15,000 to £12,000 in consequence of permanent losses,” said the Journal.

The submission stated that the company was “incorporated in 1892 to carry on as coach builders at Carlisle, Windermere and Newcastle.”

Because of losses of £2,664 the assets of the business at Windermere and Newcastle had been realised and the branches in those towns closed, leaving the works in Carlisle.

Another legal notice in April showed that the bid was successful.

But Alfred Boag had given a talk in the Viaduct Hotel on “A History of Carriages” in which he included a slide of a motor carriage.

Boag must have realised that the days of horse-drawn carriages were numbered - and the future of his firm.

The inevitable happened in July 1902, when the following advert was placed in the Journal: “The Crescent Coach Works to let for a term of years, carried on by Mr Barton and more recently by Mr A Boag who is going to South Africa - to sell all remaining stock and coaches.”

Basically Alfred Boag was escaping from on-going financial problems, agreeing to a deed of assignment for his creditors in December.

Fortunately, the premises were soon occupied, the Journal reporting in December 1902: "WL Tiffen moved the whole of his business to Barton's Carriage Works, Warwick Road, where in future he will conduct all of his auctions."

Nothing more is heard of Alfred Boag.


[PICTURE CAPTION: HOME MADE: The Town Hall to Botchergate horse-drawn omnibus of 1896. Some of the fleet of 14 buses used until 1900 were made at Boag's Crescent Carriage Works. Boags, which ran into trouble with the advent of the motor vehicle, also made buses for other towns and cities. Photo courtesy of Ashley Kendall.]


A similar horse bus to that at Summerlee was illustrated by Mary Scott-Parker in her book Silloth where, complete with wheels, it had been converted into a caravan, shown on the Stanwix Park campsite in the 1920s.

Could this have come from Carlisle?

Carlisle omnibuses were introduced in 1896.

There was competition between Mr Crosbie and the Carlisle Carriage Co and the Journal stated in July that two buses were built at Kentish Town for the latter.

But in the same report it said: “The second bus for the Warwick Road and Denton Holme route is being built at Boag's Crescent Carriage Co works and will commence running about the first week in August.” Others were built there.

It was considered in June 1896 that 14 buses would be required for a full service and these were split between the rivals because when the buses ceased in 1900 the Carriage Co offered seven for sale.



Carlisle’s animal painter still commands loyalty

By Denis Perriam. News & Star / Times & Star, 6 May 2011

This article describes the artist George Haugh, the likely painter of the portrait of John Barton the Elder. It is online both here and here , due to a change in the name of the publication.



A short history of city's Long Island

History, with Denis Perriam; Cumberland News, 24 February 2012, p34


[PICTURE CAPTION: Vacant site: A 1991 view of waste ground on Lamplugh Street, Carlisle, where the Long Island Works once stood. All that remains is the name of a business unit site, below.]


No partnership agreement has survived for the formation of the “Stampery Company”, which was situated at Long Island, a piece of land in Wapping, on the banks of the River Caldew opposite Denton Holme.



All that we have is a city council lease to Bernard Barton at a rent of £10 per annum for 30 years for use as a printfield.

He had intended a one-man business but it seems he soon went into partnership.

This was followed on March 26, 1764 by permission from the Corporation to set up a water wheel there for washing and scouring the yarn and cloth the firm manufactured.

As William and Richard Hodgson signed a linen manufacturers' petition in 1764, they were undoubtedly the partners in the firm known as Messrs Barton, Hodgson and Co, at the Long Island Works, simply referred to as "the Stampery". Various council documents show Bernard Barton, referred to as a bleacher, living on English Street in 1767, in a house later to become the Bush Hotel.

He is merely described as "a merchant", in a bond of 1770.

When Thomas Pennant was making his tour of Scotland he visited Carlisle on May 28 1772, where he "saw at Bernard Barton's a pleasing sight of 12 little industrious girls spinning at once at a horizontal wheel, which set 12 bobbins in motion; yet so contrived that should any accident happen to one the motion of that might be stopped without any impediment to the others".

This spinning machine was an ingenious invention by Mr Barton and was used elsewhere in the country, because had not taken out a patent.

According to Andrew Humphries, who wrote about the history of the firm, Bernard Barton died aged 45 in 1773 and his eldest son John, then at school in Newcastle "had little choice but to manfully take on the task of prosecuting Bernard's business, assisted by the trustees to his father's will, for the benefit of his mother and her children".

The Cumberland Pacquet in 1774 advertised that at Barton and Hodgson's bleachfield they collected cloth from as far away as Ulverston, Annan and Sunderland, "besides manufacturing linen and cotton checks, stripes and handkerchiefs, dowlas, doilies, housewife cloths, diapers, huckabacks, brown and blue linens and Osnaburghs".

Having made the business a success John Barton married in September 1775 at St Cuthbert's to Mary Done from Rockcliffe.

But in that year William Brumell set up a rival bleach works at Harraby Green and took the adjoining field to Lamplugh Close as a bleachfield.

So in floods in February 1776 servants for both Brumell and Barton had to rescue their cloth which had been laid out for bleaching, something reported in the Pacquet.

As a married man John Barton had left the family home on English Street and Alderman Richard Hodgson, writing in February 1777 stated: "His dwelling house in Scotch Street [was] in the occupation of John Barton."

Alderman Hodgson also left in his will "the use of his share and stock in the company for printing and stamping cotton and linen cloth and the buying and selling thereof, called the Stampery Co, to his son Richard". This was some years before his death.

There was a split in the partnership in April 1780, Thomas Hodgson advertising in the Pacquet "to thank friends and customers and to acquaint them that his partners Messrs Barton, Hodgson and Co, having declined the bleaching business, he has taken the said bleachfield with all its conveniences and intends carrying on the bleaching of linen cloth, yarn and cotton as usual".

Rather than giving up, John Barton went into partnership with William Brumell at Long Island and Bailey's Northern Directory for 1781 lists as calico prints "Brumell, Barton and Co".

A map of 1783 shows at Long Island "Brumell’s Stampery".

It was at this time that John Barton was thinking of leaving Carlisle. Andrew Humphries states: "After selling his house in English Street he had removed with his family to London."

This is confirmed by the Pacquet advertising in April 1783 that, the "large and convenient house in English Street, purchased by William How [for £200] was to open as the Bush Hotel on May 1". [See this advert selling the property in 1782]

A son, Bernard, was born at Clapham on January 31 1784 to Mary (sometimes Maria) and John Barton, but the Dictionary of National Biography incorrectly states the birth was in Carlisle.

Unfortunately Mary Barton died on March 1 of consumption and she was followed by the death of their eldest son, John "on the 18th of the month from whooping cough".

The end of the firm's association with Long Island came in April 1786, the newspaper stating: "Brumell, Barton and co's printfield at Carlisle having determined to decline the business of calico printing are desirous of disposing of the remaining eight years of the lease and utensils... Mr Brumell will show." [See this draft of a letter from John Barton to William Brummel]

This left William Brumell to move to Spittle, at Wigton, where he built a new stampery, while John Barton left London, having remarried in 1787, to set up as a maltster in Hertford where he died in April 1789.



Notes


In letters dated 28 February, 6 April & 9 April 2012, Denis suggests the following invaluable sources of information:




The Monumental Inscriptions of the Parish Church & Churchyard, and Congregational Burial Ground, Wigton, Cumberland (1892) by James Wilson (in Google Books here but not viewable). Denis notes that:




The Carlisle Journal evidently contains a large number of items relating to the Bartons of the area. These are listed in a separate article here.

Additionally:

The Northern Observer, 24 December 1823, p292, also contains an article describing the parentage of Bernard Barton the Quaker poet (1784-1849).

The Cumberland Pacquet, 11 March 1834, p2: mentions Henry Howard of Greystoke Castle, High Sheriff, had carriage and harnesses made in Carlisle by Messrs Tweeddale & Barton.




A work held in the Carlisle Record Office under reference DX/1113/21 is a biography of Robert Barton the coach-builder, Carlisle by Henry Penfold (author of the Out & About' column in the Carlisle Journal). A transcript of the entire document is now on this website here.




Denis holds a copy of the 1846 will of William Barton (1785-1846) in which he makes bequests 'to his two natural daughters Isabella and Elizabeth Boak (or is it just one?)'. Having now acquired a copy of this (see here) from Denis via Malcolm, I (DBHB) read the name as Boah, but the whole document seems to be a copy not the original. Could it possibly be Boag, the same name as the family that took over the Barton & Tweedale coach-building business (see above)? Could it be that the coach-building business ultimately passed not out of the family, but to William's illegitimate heirs?

The probate will is in the Cumbria Record Office (ref D/Ha p67? Possibly not listed correctly); also "deed packet marked 3062 'Mr Wm Brown Thomas Close Farm' ", and "deeds relating to Robert Barton of Oulton Hall, yeoman, 1784", and "title deeds and papers of Barton's Farm, Skelton civil parish 1761-1961". This latter collection could be particularly enlightening.




Deed boxes of Wright, Brown & Strong, solicitors of Bank Street, Carlisle, now held by the Carlisle Record Office. One is marked 'Barton - Crescent', with contents going back to the early 18th century.




Tweeddale & Barton receipts from the Huddleston papers with accompanying letters. Also (if not the same) 'a number of Barton & Tweeddale billheads'.