External links
- FARNE - Folk Archive Resource North East (click on Kerr Thomas
- Bards of Newcastle
- Allan’s Illustrated Edition of Tyneside songs and readings
 | This article on a songwriter is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Thomas Kerr was a Tyneside writer, journalist and songwriter of the middle and late 19th century. [1]
Kerr was born in Black Gate, Newcastle, in the shadow of the old castle. He was a Tyneside writer, journalist and songwriter, who lived and worked in Newcastle upon Tyne for many of his early years and (according to Thomas Allan on page 555 of his Illustrated Edition of Tyneside Songs and Readings) was a good friend of Joe Wilson, the Tyneside Music Hall entertainer. [2]
Around 1866 he moved to Blyth, where he wrote occasionally as a reporter for the Blyth Weekly News. He was also one of the regular writers for a period of over seven years of the "An Awd Trimmer" column. The articles which he wrote for this column included several hundred local songs, some his own writing, some by others.
While at Blyth he entered several of the competition run by John W. Chater in his publications, winning several prizes, amongst them a gold medal for the best local song for Chater’s Annual.
Around 1879 he moved back to Newcastle to full-time employment with a local daily newspaper.
The majority were written in the local Geordie dialect and include :-
William Oliver was a Tyneside poet, singer and songwriter from Newcastle upon Tyne. Possibly his best known work is the song "Newcassel Props", an example of Geordie dialect.
T. Moor was a Tyneside singer/songwriter of the 19th century. The only song attributed to his name is "The Skipper's Dream".
James Morrison was a Newcastle songwriter in the early part of the 19th century. His best known song is probably "Burdon’s Address to his Cavalry".
David Ross Lietch (c1809-1881) was a 19th-century Tyneside born poet and songwriter. His most famous song is the ballad "The Cliffs of Old Tynemouth".
John Peacock was a South Shields born songwriter and poet in the 19th century. His most famous piece is possibly "Marsden Rocks".
Thomas Marshall was a Tyneside songwriter of popular songs in the early and middle 19th century. His most well-known song is probably "Euphys Coronation".
James Stawpert was a Newcastle based brewer’s clerk/songwriter of the early 19th century. His most famous song is possibly "Newcastle Fair".
William Watson (1796–1840) was a Tyneside concert hall singer and songwriter in the early 19th century. His most famous song is "Dance To Thy Daddy".
William Stephenson (senior) (1763–1836) was a Geordie (from Gateshead) watchmaker, schoolteacher, poet and songwriter, and father of William Stephenson (junior). His best known works are probably "The Quayside Shaver" and "The Skipper’s Wedding"
Matthew Tate was a Newcastle born poet and songwriter, who spent much of his adult life living in Blyth.
R Usher was born in Felling. He was a Tyneside songwriter, who, according to the information given by Thomas Allan on page 572 of his Allan's Illustrated Edition of Tyneside Songs and Readings, published in 1891, has written a good many songs, which have been printed in slip form. He was a member of The Salvation Army and sang in their local church choir.
George Guthrie moved away from the town eastwards towards the coast, and worked as a blacksmith in Wallsend and Sunderland.
William Dunbar was a Gateshead songwriting collier who died at the age of 21.
Marshall Cresswell (1833-1889) was a Northumberland born miner, poet and songwriter. His experiences to and from his job in Borneo were serialised later in the local newspaper.
John W Chater was a prominent 19th-century Tyneside publisher, printer and bookseller, with premises in the centre of Newcastle
Richard Oliver Heslop (1842–1916) was a British businessman, author, historian, lexicologist, lexicographer, songwriter and poet. His most famous work is the two-volume "Northumberland Words".
James Anderson was a Tyneside miner/songwriter of the late 19th century. He was quite famous locally at the time, and his most popular song is probably "Aw wish Pay Friday wad cum".
Chater's Annual was a book, published annually, between 1861 and 1882 by John W. Chater. It contained a mixture of songs, poems, humorous tales, jokes, conundrums, tongue twisters and other items of frivolity.
Chater's Canny Newcassel Diary and Remembrancer was a book, published in 1872 by John W. Chater. It contained a mixture of "songs, poems, humorous tales, jokes, conundrums, tongue twisters and other items of frivolity".
Robert Elliott was a mid to late 19th century miner and poet. He was from Choppington, Northumberland.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| | This article on a songwriter is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |