The will of Thomas Robson
This is the last Will and Testament of me Thomas
Robson of Claypath in or near the City of Durham roper My
having previously disposed of all that my Freehold property
situate number twenty five Claypath in or near the City of
Durham aforesaid with the Appurtenances by Conveyance or
Deed of Gift bearing date on or about the Twenty ninth day of July
One thousand eight humdred and forty six unto my
two Daughters Isabella Robson and Jane Robson I now Give devise
and bequeath unto my Daughter Hannah Robson All my
interest right and title to a pew in the parish church of Saint
Nicholas in the City of Durham numbered seventy six and
also All my household furniture plate linen and china and
all other my personal Estate whatsoever and wheresoever to
and for her own proper use benefit and disposal and subject
thereto and charged and chargeable with the payment to my
two sons Thomas Robson and Hunter Robson and to my
Daughter Mary Warner the sum of one Shilling each And
I do hereby appoint my said Daughers Hannah Robson and
Isabella Robson Executrix's of this my last Will and Testament set my
hand and seal this first day of June in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty two.
| Signed sealed published and declared by the said Thomas Robson the testator as his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who in his presence at his request and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as Witnesses the said Will and Testament having been first read over to the said Thomas Robson the Testator in our presence |
The Mark and Seal
X of Thomas Robsonthe testator |
[End of page 1 of 1. Ref: DPRI/1/1854/R23/1]
Report on the Sanitary Condition of the City of Durham (1847)
The other locality to which our attention has been drawn
is the receptacle of the drainage of the lower part of Clay-
path, on the north side. It is a cross ditch, several hundred
yards in length, into which the house drains from this
part of Claypath discharge themselves. It is in a most filthy
condition - gorged, choked, and overflowing. ...
[End of excerpt 1 of 2. Ref: XL 080 FEN/7]
... Behind No.22 there is much
filth and nuisance, but in a cross entry near the house of Mr.
Wardell, a privy and ash-pit, under cover, with a dwelling-house
above them, both from the confied situation, and from the
noisome smell they emitted, even at the present season of the
year, appeared to us still more likely to be the cause of disease
than any of the more open though more visible filthy spots we
saw in its neighbourhood.
[End of excerpt 2 of 2. Ref: XL 080 FEN/7]
Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the borough of Durham (1849)
... Hence the Durham mortality is
29.94, or very nearly 30 in 1,000, being six in the thousand
above the amount at which the Legislature considers the mor-
tality to be sufficiently heavy to justify interference. The
average age of death is 301/2 years nearly.
[End of excerpt 1 of 1. Ref: XL 352.4 GEN/1]
Durham Chronicle, 13 June 1845.
The Mayor as soon as the excitement subsided,
issued orders to the police to ascertain the quantity
of gunpowder held in stock by different dealers
in the town, and called a special meeting of the cor-
poration, on Tuesday night, to take the subject into
consideration. At that meeting the following re-
port was delivered by Supt. Liddle:- Boyd, 175 lbs;
Hill 150 lbs; Cato 40 lbs; Bridick, 37 lbs; R.
Hodgson, 100 lbs; Wallace 75 lbs; Oliver, 70 lbs;
Thornton, 120 lbs :- Total, 767 lbs.
The Corporation, on hearing this report and hav-
ing taken the matter into consideration, resolved, -
1st That the police should be vigilant in inspecting
the transit of gunpowder through the town, and in
seizing it whenever there was an infraction of the
law. 2ndly That a remonstrance should be address-
ed to the shopkeepers in the town, against the dan-
gerous practice. 3rdly That seach warrants should
be issued when danger was suspected. 4thly That
a memorial should be addressed to the Secretary of
State for the Home Department; and 5thly That a
copy of the resolutions be forwarded to Sir James
Graham.- The memorial to the Home Secretary,
after reciting the accident, states, that the collieries
caused a demand for coarse gunpowder, for the pur-
pose of blasting - declares the opinion of the coun-
cil, that the limitation in the act was an insufficient
protection to the public ; suggests that, in the col-
liery districts especially, magazines should be built
apart from the habitations, in which gunpowder
in bulk should be deposited and taken from them
direct to the collieries, and some better enactments
passed for the regulation of the safe custody and
sale thereof generally.
[End of excerpt 1 of 1. Durham Chronicle, 13 June 1845, p.2.]
Durham Advertiser, 20 June 1845.
We are desirous to direct the attention of our read-
ers to "The case of Mr. Thos. Robson, roper, of this city,"
which will be found in our advertising columns. This
meritorious individual, who has toiled for many a long
year in the hope of obtaining a competency to support
himself in the decline of life, and to leave his family on
his deceased, has been suddenly reduced to a state of pen-
ury in consequence of the destruction of his premises by
the late explosion of gunpowder in Claypath. A more in-
dustrious man is rarely to me met with; and, though now
far advanced in the vale of years, he still pursues his call-
ing with unabated assiduity. He was altogether unaware,
as we are informed, of the presence of gunpowder on his
premises until the explosion, which deprived him of his
property, took place. Under all the circumstances of the
case, poor Robson may be regarded as having a powerful
claim not only upon the sympathy, but also on the pecun-
iary resources, of his fellow-countrymen, we might say of mankind.
[End of excerpt 1 of 2. Durham Advertiser, 20 June 1845, p.2.]
THE CASE OF MR. THOMAS ROBSON,
ROPER, OF THIS CITY
VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTIONS will be re-
ceived by Messrs. BACKHOUSE AND Co. at the other
Banking Establishments in Durham, and by Mr AN-
DREWS, Bookseller, to assist THOMAS ROBSON, of Clay-
path, to Re-build the Shop and Rooms, accidentally de-
stroyed by an explosion of Gunpowder, on Monday, June
9th, instant.
Committee:- THE MAYOR OF DURHAM ; ANTHONY WIL-
KINSON, Esq.; and Mr. JAMES TELFAIR.
| £. | s. | d. | |
| The Mayor of Durham | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Thomas Wilkinson, Esq. | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Telfair | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Jno. Thwaites | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. William Tiplady | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. J.W. Elliott | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Mr. Richard Dixon | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Rev. Thomas Ebdon | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| H. Stapylton, Esq. | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Ald. Marshall | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Henshaw | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Mr. R.W. Matthews | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Mr. W. Webster | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. W.H. Thompson | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. W. Henderson | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dr. Alexander | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Mrs. Alexander | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Messrs. F. Humble and Son | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Smith, Esq. | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. P.S. Reid | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Mr. G. Gray | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Mr. James Robson | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Mr. James Scawin | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Matthew Woodifield, Esq. | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Rev. Dr. Miller | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Caldcleugh, Old Elvet | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| I. Bonomi, Esq. | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. Mark Story | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Mr. Christopher Jammison | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. J.H. Forster | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mr. F. Wharton | 0 | 10 | 0 |
[End of excerpt 2 of 2. Durham Advertiser, 20 June 1845, p.3.]