We have
always been puzzled as to how and why the Wouldhave families, who seemed to
have been based largely in Newcastle and on the Tyne in the 16th and
17th centuries, came to live in Bishop Auckland and Barnard Castle in
the 18th and 19th centuries. The information we found while looking at the
records of the Barber Surgeons of Newcastle helped explain some of the reasons.
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| Bishop Auckland |
In the
Poll Book for Newcastle for the 1777 election of Burgess the following
Wouldhaves were included
Anthony
Wouldhave (AN052) Barber Surgeon Durham (1733-1814)
Anthony
Wouldhave jnr (AN092) Barber Surgeon Durham(1754 – after 1777)
Michael
Wouldhave (MI091) Barber Surgeon Barnard Castle (1745 – 1812)
Parkinson
Wouldhave (PA050) Barber Surgeon Bishop Auckland (1725 – 1826)
Parkinson
Wouldhave jnr (PA101) Barber Surgeon Bishop Auckland (1756 – 1845)
Robert
Wouldhave (RO091) Barber Surgeon Barnard Castle (1750 – 1835)
William
Wouldhave (WI091) Barber Surgeon Bishop Auckland (1750 – 1836)
William
Wouldhave (WI093) Barber Surgeon Cockerton (1747-1794)
From the
information we have on these individuals, none of them were practising barber
surgeons. Therefore they must have inherited their status as Freemen by
patrimony from their grandfathers who were barber surgeons or even their great-grandfathers.
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| Barnard Castle |
Information
from the Barber Surgeons records held at Tyne and Wear Archives
Samuel Wouldhave
(1659 – 1691) and Michael Wouldhave (1665 – 1697), sons of William Wouldhave,
gentleman, served their time as apprentices and were admitted to the Company of
Barber Surgeons, thereby becoming Freemen of Newcastle. Robert Lettany, who
features in the apprenticeship of both brothers married Jane Wouldhave in
1673. Jane may have been the
sister of William, from the baptism information for Newcastle, and therefore aunt to the two brothers.
Samuel was
apprenticed to Richard Thompson for seven years in 1677. However during this time he was employed by Robert
Lettany and therefore Samuel’s master was fined for allowing this to
happen. Richard Thompson refused to pay
the fine and Samuel could not be admitted to the company until he did so. In 1684 Samuel married Elizabeth Grainge in
Bishopwearmouth and they had two children while living in Bishopwearmouth who
sadly both died young: Thomas (1688 – 1689) and Jane (1691 – 1693). Samuel paid for his admittance in 1685 and he
died and was buried in Bishopwearmouth in 1691.
Michael
was apprenticed to Robert Lettany in 1683 but with the consent of his parents
and master he took himself off the register and became apprenticed to Richard Todd. Michael lived in Chester le Street and had
sons Anthony (1695 – 1767) and Parkinson (born 1692). Michael was buried in All
Saints, Newcastle, in 1697.
Anthony
(1695-1767) married Mary Green in Darlington in 1716. In 1741 and 1753 he was
recorded as a Freeman of Newcastle (Barber).
His sons also became freemen. William (WI093) was christened in
Darlington in 1719, Parkinson (PA050) in 1725 and Anthony (AN052) in 1733. All three became freemen of Newcastle and
appeared in the poll books.
Sons of two
of these brothers also became freemen of Newcastle by patrimony.
William
was a weaver and lived in Cockerton. His sons Michael (MI091), christened in
1745, Robert (RO091), christened in 1750, and Anthony (AN092), christened in
1754 all became Freemen.
Parkinson
owned property in Newgate, Bishop Auckland and he lived to be over 100 years
old. This achievement was celebrated in
local newspapers and in the book The History and Characteristics of Bishop
Auckland. Parkinson had two sons who also became freemen, Parkinson jnr (PA101)
and Willliam (WI091).
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| Present Day Newgate Street is normally a busy shopping area |
Therefore the Wouldhaves moved for economic reasons in the late seventeenth century into Durham and kept their status and connections as Freemen of Newcastle. Their families flourished and a large number of Wouldhaves in Durham are descended from the Barber Surgeons of Newcastle.
