Burton House, Jonadab, Bill Quay

[stanmapstone]

There are photos of Jonadab at
http://www.gatesheadlocalstudies.com/Media/800/800/w/GL000756.jpg
This photo is of the Jonadab area of Bill Quay about 1900. It shows the Burton House public house at the bottom left hand corner and Prospect Terrace top left hand. The roof of Jonadab Place can be seen just behind the smaller houses at the right hand side of the photograph.
http://www.gatesheadlocalstudies.com/Media/800/800/w/GL000755.jpg
The large house to the right is Jonadab Place, a tenement built about 1845 for teetotal tenants. The tenement had three storeys, housing at least 16 tenants. It stood at the bottom of the Cat Dene, near the Bottle Works in Bill Quay. The builder of Jonadab was reputedly James Whitfield, a blacksmith. A letter to the Felling Gazette, in May 1887, recalled that he was a man of property who had once been addicted to drinking, but had become teetotal. He had attributed his rise in fortune to his later total abstinence. He named the block of dwellings ‘Jonadab’ in honour of the son of Rechab, a Biblical character who had commanded “..drink no wine” (JEREMIAH: 35: 6). The Rechabites were a teetotal organisation. At the top left of the picture can be seen Prospect Terrace. The high banks around it are mostly chemical refuse heaps called ’TANK’, a remnant of the industrial past. The tenement had gone by 1919 but is still remembered today in the name ‘Jonadab Street’ in Pelaw.
From http://www.gatesheadlocalstudies.com/
Stan

[fayl]

Stan thank you for the information, which i found very interesting.

I have seen those photos many years before when i started researching  my family, which is what made me think my G Grandparents and GG Grandparents were very poor.  I didn't know any of the history which you have kindly added.  It looks a very desolate place.

I recall my grandfather telling me that  he and his siblings only had 1 pair of clogs between them and took it in turns wearing them.

Regards
Fay

[Genie24]

I was fascinated to see those photos. My great grandmother, her parents (great, great grandparents) and 5 siblings were living at Jonadab Place  in 1871 after moving from Scotland. The youngest was born there. My great, great grandfather Robert Hamilton was a Cooper in a Chemical Works. Does anyone have any information about the Chemical Works near Bill Quay?
Robert moved around in the pursuit of work from Glasgow to Alloa, Clackmannanshire, to Bill Quay, to Washington, Durham and finally Hartlepool where he died.
Any information regarding Cooperages or Chemical works in these areas would be very welcome.