Morpathia: A serious assault, and Morpeth Harriers play a charity match

Giving evidence, Mary Harris, widow, residing in Mason’s Arms Yard, said that John Penman, miner at Ashington, had resided with her for the last seven years, more or less. He came on the afternoon of Saturday, April 6th, and was “out on the street” in the evening.

She went to visit a neighbour and when she returned to her own house at about 11 o’clock, he was there having supper at the table with another woman, called Mullarkey.

She ordered Mullarkey out. A series of scuffles followed and Penman beat her very severely, following her into the house and banging her head against a wall.

Mrs Harris was already badly hurt and bleeding from the head when he struck her on the shoulder with a chair leg. She shouted “Murder” and the police came and took him away.

In their evidence, Sergt. Miller and Supt. Crozier described the disturbance in Manchester Street. After Mrs Harris asked them to protect her, they went into the passage by the Mason’s Arms. When she cried out, they made towards the house. Sergt. Miller said,

“She was sitting on a low window sill. He struck her several violent blows on the right eye with his right fist, and struck her on the head with his left fist, and he was also using his feet and kicking her on the right side. Just as we were rushing into the room, he took up a chair and struck her over the head with it with considerable force. She bent forward her head and received the blow on the left shoulder.”

Supt. Crozier said,

“As soon as the sergeant opened the door he said, “Look there,” and as we were rushing forward Penman took up a chair and struck her a blow. There was no time to take notice of the blows; he was attacking her with both hands and feet. I then put my right arm round his neck, and got hold of the chair with the left, just as he was in the act of raising it up again.”

After they had arrested Penman and locked him up, the sergeant said,

“We then went back to Mary Harris’s house and found her in a miserable state. She was crying, both her eyes were bruised, the left one very much, and her mouth was cut and bleeding, and a fresh wound at the back of her head.

“Her face was all covered with blood and her hair also was dripping with blood. There was also blood on the floor round about where she was sitting, and on the chair ... He attacked her in a most savage manner.”

Dr Gidley was called the following day. He said,

“I am a duly registered medical practitioner and house surgeon of Morpeth Dispensary. I was called to attend Mary Harris on Sunday morning and she was in bed, and her head and left eye very black and blue, and she was complaining of being shaken a good bit, and she complained of a pain and not being able to move her left arm, and I found a bruise and a lump on the back part of the shoulder blade. It was the sort of bruise which might have been done by a kick or something hard.

“The skin was not broken, but discoloured, and there was a cut on the back part of the head about half an-inch long. Not a deep cut, but that would account for a good deal of bleeding. That was all the marks and bruising she had about her. She did not complain to me about the mouth.

“In other ways I found she had been very badly used. She seemed to be very shaky and I ordered her to remain in bed. The wounds are not serious.”

The summer brought lawn tennis. Morpeth Lawn Tennis Club now had two fine playing grounds in the North Field Lands. I think these must have been on what is now Greystoke Gardens on Howard Road; my impression is that Mr Nicholson, the solicitor who lived in the villa of Greystoke, owned the whole of the site.

A tennis match was played there in July, between Morpeth and Alnwick. Dr Gidley played in a men’s doubles, losing 2-6, 2-6. Interestingly, there were also four lady players, but only in mixed doubles.

In August, he was amongst the guests at the Athletic Sports and Opening of the New School Room at Morpeth Grammar School.

In September, he was one at the Morpeth Wansbeck Lodge of Oddfellows’ annual supper in their lodge room at the White Swan Inn, Newgate Street, when he sang “Duckfoot Sue”, and responded to the toast of “The Ladies”.

Women were not usually present at dinners of this sort, so it was normal for the toast of “The Ladies” to be responded to by a man, normally one of the younger ones present. It does not appear that Dr Gidley was a member of the Lodge since he is not referred to as ‘Bro’.

It belonged to the Manchester Unity and was essentially for working men, and it is noticeable that, when “The Army, Navy and Auxiliary Forces” was proposed, it was responded to by two NCOs, not by officers.

In September, he assisted Dr Clarkson, the medical officer at the workhouse, to amputate the leg of a poor man suffering from frostbite and cancer. For this he received £3 10s, being one-third of the usual fee of ten guineas allowed by the Local Government Board for two major operations.

There were objections, however, to either of the doctors receiving payment at all, so whether he was allowed to keep the money, we do not know. (For a fuller account, see Morpeth Dispensary, available in local shops, below, or Victorian Dispensary from Amazon.)

In October, there was a harvest festival at the Oratory of St Blaise, recently erected at Tranwell by the Rector of Morpeth, when the collection was taken for Morpeth Dispensary.

I have never heard of this little church before or since and wonder whether it was for the residents of Tranwell – not at that time the luxury residential estate that it is now, but a very small rural hamlet – or perhaps for the workmen constructing the reservoir and water works.

As usual, there were collections at St James’s and St George’s, and on the 26th the Morpeth Harriers, then a football team rather than an athletic club, organised a charity football match when both club members and the public were charged for admission, with the proceeds to the Dispensary.

At the November meeting of the Committee, Dr Gidley asked if he might have a paraffin lamp, chair and hearthrug. They were ordered to be provided, the hearthrug to be bought from Mr Proctor, while Mr Creighton offered to get the other items at the earliest sale of furniture.

Books by Roger Hawkins are on sale at Newgate News, the Old Herald Office in Bridge Street and the Dragon on the Clock Tower Bookshop in Manchester Street.