Freedom of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne could be claimed
in one of two ways.
Sons of Freemen inherited the Freedom from their fathers
i.e. by patrimony. But if the father died before his son’s admission (usually
at age of 21years), then they were forfeit of their rights. No illegitimate
sons could inherit the franchise.
Freedom was also obtained by serving seven years as an
apprentice. Apprentices then gained the right to enter the appropriate trade
guild, which in turn gave them the right to seek admission as a Freeman.
Until the Reform Bill of 1832, the Freemen were the only
people with the right to vote for their representatives in Parliament.
Thomas Wouldhave (TH040) (1678-1751)
Thomas was a ropemaker and was sworn as a Freeman in
1705. He was listed in the register of Freemen in 1709. He was the son of
Thomas Wouldhave of Benwell and his wife Elizabeth Anderson (married in 1672). According
to the Ropemakers Book of Enrolments (Tyne and Wear Archives GU.RO/3) Thomas
was
apprentice to Rich Hutchinson of Newcastel upon Tyne, Ropemaker for
seven years by indenture dated 24th Dec 1692.
And then on
18th December 1693 Thomas Wouldhave late apprentice to Rich Hutchison,
he being dead, has chose Wm Robson to serve the remainder of his term with.
Tyneside became world renowned for rope-making in the 1700s.
The major feature of roperies was the covered rope path which determined the lengths
of the rope that could be made. Near City Road, a 300 yard long rope walk was
marked on a map of 1723. Before the process was mechanised, workers walked the
length of the rope twisting together, spinning and attaching fibres. It was a
laborious process. Long ropes were needed in shipping since splicing shorter
ropes made them difficult to get through pulleys.
Thomas married Mary Ellison at St Andrews, Newcastle in
1703 and was sworn in as a Freeman in 1705. In 1704 Thomas and his wife were
living in Sidgate and their daughter Elizabeth (EL050) was baptised in
Newcastle St Andrews. (Elizabeth later dated aged 13 in 1717). They lived in this area for many years, Thomas often acted as a surety for
baptism, especially for children of other ropemakers.
Thomas had three sons William (WI040) (1711- 1770s),
Thomas (TH041) (1716-1778) and James (JA040) (1717-1788) who lived to maturity. They were all made Freemen by patrimony in
October 1740.
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| Oath signed by Thomas Wouldhave (TH040) |
William (WI040) married Elizabeth Dalgleish in Morpeth in
1740. It would appear that he became a
mariner in about 1747 and later a yeoman (possibly having come into property).
His son Richard was a mariner and moved to Hull. (Further information about his
family is given in earlier blogs)
Thomas married Elizabeth Heart in 1747. He moved to North Shields and his son William
(WI050) became an inventor (further information is given in earlier blogs)
In the 1741 election of MPs Thomas and his three sons all
voted for the same candidate.
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| Published voting information for 1741 Election in Newcastle |
James is also recorded as voting in the elections 1777
and 1780. He was buried in St Nicholas in April 1788.
Mary died in 1732 and Thomas died in 1751; he was buried
at All Saints, Newcastle in July.
