Ambrose Crowley-Winlaton ironworks

[Mr. Tibbs]

I'm absolutely stuck with my Belt and Tench family circa 1700.  However I do know the history of Winlaton and that my family worked  for this firm both in Winlaton and Swalwell.  Does anyone know where I would find any records of employees at that time?

[shazzztasstic]

Hi, I am currently researching the same thing so if I find the answer I will let you know, I am stuck trying to find out exactly where the ironworks were in Winlaton, nobody seems to know. Its incredible that the Winlaton works was once  world reknowned but there is so little knowledge about it.

[Mr. Tibbs]

Great to hear from you.  I have had no other replies.  I have been researching for three years now and although almost all of my father's family including me were born and bred in Winlaton or Blaydon, I am struggling still with Ambrose Crowley's employees.  There is a book called "Men of Iron", which explains the situation of the factory and how it operated in great detail (There's a copy at our Family History Society at Bolbec Hall, Newcastle.) but as you sound pretty immobile, google Winlaton Story and you'll get an interesting summary of it.  Ambrose Crowley was a real philanthropist for Winlaton.

Almost all records for the firm seem lost so I am working my way through the archives at Durham Record Office, material dealing with the parish of Winlaton, Blaydon, Whickham and Swalwell (There were three factories altogether: Winlaton, Winlaton Mill and Swalwell.) but I have to wait for opportunities to visit.  The original Crowley ironworks was at Bishopwearmouth so Sunderland library may be a possibility and the Crowleys themselves were from Worcestershire.  Now that I am writing this, I'm beginning to feel I have made some headway AND I have gained loads of wider knowledge but nothing on my particular ancestors: Anthony BELT was an agent for Ambrose Crowley and my great grandfather times a few was a churchwarden at Ryton, Holy Cross.

[shazzztasstic]

And you too, many thanks for your reply. I was going to mention to you about this book Men of Iron, I have just finished reading that, and was going to let you know that it seems most known employee records were deliberately lost in a fire, in fact the only sources seem to be the law book, and the council instructions, but am sure you know this if you have read the book.   It was a very interesting read though, but frustrating as well as I would love to know more but as you know, info is scarce! It strikes me as very sad as you say he was a philanthropist and modern thinker, and shaped the area we live in for generations after he died, and theres not even a plaque in his name! Have read the Winlaton story but still - cant seem to find at all where the old site could be, and I live in Winlaton too!  Well, as I am searching I will certainly keep an eye out for Belt and Tench for you, I cant do a lot at the moment but hope to in the not too distant future.

[Mr. Tibbs]

That's good if you are in Winlaton.  The ironworks was all around you: built around four, I think, squares.  So, there was Hanover Square for instance, and possibly Commercial Square.  If you were standing in the door of the Commercial Hotel looking out, the house to your right on Tyne Street, which used to be Thomas TENCH haulage contractor, in the 1700s, was where the horses belonging to Crowley's ironworks were kept.  The land was originally a farm.

Do you collect the series of books entitled "Stories of Old Blaydon".  They include a lot of photographs of the area as it was and mention lots of names.  Not many for me but there might be more for you.

[Mr. Tibbs]

I forgot to say that there is a Crowley Road in Swalwell and there used to be a Crowley Hotel near the Metro Centre but its name has changed, not quite the same as a plaque though.

Do you know why the records were deliberately burned; I must have missed that.

[patrexjax]

Hello all, My SPOOR family were involved in iron works at Winlaton; I suspect they must have had great respect for Ambrose Crowley because they named one of their sons Ambrose and I have never found any earlier Ambroses in my family tree. Pat

[Mr. Tibbs]

Hello Pat
Thanks for getting in touch.  It's great having TWO people to talk to about the elusive Ambrose Crowley ironworks.  Being from USA, have you goggled the Winlaton Story and tried other of google's suggestions from the list of websites that they suggest.  It will give you quite a flavour of Winlaton and Blaydon until the 1970s, when the centre of Blaydon was almost wiped off the map by the building of a road - would you believe - and many of the old houses in Winlaton were demolished "in the cause of progress".

I would think in the 1700s, all of the Winlaton families would see Ambrose Crowley as some sort of saviour.  When he brought his business to Winlaton in 1691, the population was ravaged by yet another plague: life was basic; little employment.  He created a whole new way of living for them with not only good wages for them (if they were skilled) but a safe environment, education for their children, structure to their day, and the benefits filtered out to all who lived in the area.  It would be interesting to look at the very old parish records for Ryton Holy Cross Church and see how often the name Ambrose signifies.

[patrexjax]

Hello Mr. Tibbs, I have a total of eight ( Ambrose (Harding) Spoors in my family, beginning with a baptism in 1790 in Ryton parish up until 1885 in Newcastle-on-Tyne. Also, I find it interesting that the family even named a daughter in honor of him; I have an Ambrosina Harding Spoor in my family!     Indeed, i appears my Spoor family felt a deep debt of gratitude to Mr. Ambrose Crowley.  The men began as blacksmiths in Ryton and Winlaton areas and then rode the wave of the British Industrial Revolution by migrating to Newcastle where they became anchor manufacturers, metal cable manufacturers, file makers, nail makers, etc.  Thank you for the additional information about Mr. Crowley - it helps me see a bigger picture!  Pat