Catalogue description MILBURN ESTATE RECORDS

Deeds of Title

NRO 4978/A Dean Street and The Side, Newcastle upon Tyne (St Nicholas parish)

NRO 4978/B Benwell Grange, Northumberland (St Nicholas parish chapelry of St. John)

NRO 4978/C North Seaton Estate, Northumberland (Woodhorn and Bothal parishes)

NRO 4978/D Rosedale Estate, North Riding of Yorkshire

Financial Records

NRO 4978/E Estate Management

NRO 4978/F Rentals

Miscellaneous

NRO 4978/G Miscellaneous documents relating to the Rosedale Estate

The deeds have been sorted according to parish and listed in the original bundles in which they were found. The bundles have been arranged chronologically.

Milburn family, baronets, of Guyzance Hall, Northumberland

Deposited by Sir Anthony Milburn, Warkworth on 1 May 1997

The Milburn family of Birtley was prominent in Tynedale and North Redesdale prior to the union of 1603. In 1804, a Thomas Milburn moved to Ashington Farmhouse and took employment with Stephen Watson, tenant of the Duke of Portland. Two of Thomas' sons married into the family of the shipowner, John Davidson. The eldest, William, became owner of the world's fifth largest merchant fleet as well as a colliery owner in the Ashington Coal Company Group.

By the twentieth century, the Milburn family owned property privately at Guyzance, Fowberry and Ghyllheugh in Northumberland as well as land in Donegal. The Milburn Estates comprises the ownership of thirteen farms in Yorkshire, Northumberland and Scotland and also office property in Newcastle, primarily in Dean Street and the Side.

The development the Newcastle site warrants a mention. This area was, until the eighteenth century, a maze of alleys. In 1761, however, St Nicholas Churchyard was levelled and enclosed and significant civil development of the area followed. Under the leadership of the town clerk, Nathaniel Clayton and Alderman Mosley, Dean Street and Mosely Streets were constructed. Until the opening of the High Level Bridge, these were important routes for North/South traffic. In 1900, a fire destroyed the printing works abutting onto Dean Street and the Side. The site was then bought by Alderman J D Milburn for the building of Milburn House (completed in 1905).

The Benwell Grange deeds are a distinct and separate series, although in 1879 the tithes of Benwell in the chapelry of St John were merged with those of St Nicholas.

Further details in:

Percy Hedley's notes ands correspondence on the Milburn pedigree (NRO 542/41) S Middlebrook, Newcastle, its growth and achievement, 1905.

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