According to the Chronicles of the Monk of Tynemouth, King William, returning from Scotland, encamped a large army on the River Tyne near Newcastle, which had formerly been known as Monkchester[3]
Robert Curthose, on return from an expedition in Scotland, laid the foundation of a wooden 'new castle' to defend the Tyne crossing at Newcastle, from which the town took its name[5][6][7][4]
Castle at Newcastle was captured during a revolt by Norman barons, but later retaken by William Rufus[7][11]
12th Century
1130s
1139
Under the terms of the Treaty of Durham, Northumberland, with the exception of Newcastle and Bamburgh, was ceded to Scottish rule[12][5]
1140s
1149
Newcastle was conceded to the Scots by Henry of Anjou, in return for Scottish support[13]
1160s
1168
Burgesses of Newcastle fined 20 marks for making a knight swear (ie submit to the old fashioned process of compurgation)[14]
1170s
1172
Construction of The Castle, Newcastle, a stone castle with rectangular keep was begun[7][15][16], with £166 4s expended in the first year, according to documents in the Record Office, London[17]
1173
In expectation of a siege by William the Lion of Scotland, £5 was spent laying in stores and provisions[18]
Expenditure on construction of the castle was £250 5s 4d[17]
1174
William the Lion of Scotland laid siege to Newcastle, but was unable to take it[18]
Expenditure on construction of the castle was £12 15s 10d[17]
1175
Expenditure on construction of the castle was £186 15s 4d[17]
1176
Expenditure on construction of the castle was £144 15s 4d, and it was finally completed[17]
13th Century
1210s
1216
28 January: A charter granted by King John to Newcastle burgesses confirmed the liberties and free customs they had enjoyed in the time of his ancestors[19]
The first use of the title Mayor of Newcastle was recorded when Daniel, son of Nicholas, was called mayor[20]
A charter was granted by King Edward I to allow the incorporation of the village of Pandon into Newcastle[40], extending the riverfront eastward to a burn called The Swirl[41][42]
The burgesses of Newcastle received authority to collect further tolls towards the building of the town wall[42]
14th Century
1300s
1300
The population of Newcastle was approximately 7,000-8,000[34]
1305
The right hand quarter of the executed William Wallace was exhibited at the gateway on the Newcastle side of the bridge[32]
The export of coal from Newcastle is mentioned in a petition to Parliament in which Thomas Rente of Pontoise states that he loads his ship with wheat for Newcastle and returns with coals[45]
1330s
1333
28 January: King Edward III, at York, granted a petition to the men of Newcastle that their Mayor should hold the office of Kings's escheator[46][21]
February: The burgesses of Newcastle drew up a set of articles for better government of the town[52]
October: The set of articles drawn up for better government received Royal assent[52] and King Edward III renewed the charter of Newcastle after a period of suspension[20]
King David II of Scotland laid siege to Newcastle, but the town was successfully defended by Lord John Neville of Hornby[47]
1345
Newcastle was visited by a pestilence which lasted two years[53]
1349
Successive outbreaks of plague led to the halving of the population[34]
John Neville of Raby was appointed by the King to inspect the condition of Newcastle in terms of both men and fortifications[56]
1388
After Parliament had passed an Act to improve sanitary conditions, a writ for better sanitation was directed at the bailiffs of Newcastle and a proclamation made about the casting of filth into rivers[57]
15th Century
1400s
1400
The population of Newcastle was estimated as 3,000 inhabitants[34]
King Henry IV visited Newcastle and granted county status to the town,[44][58] separating the town, but not the Castle and its precincts, from the county of Northumberland, with the right to appoint its own sheriff.[59][48] Newcastle was the fourth town in England to receive this mark of favour after London, Bristol and York[60]
Maison Dieu, or St Catherine's Hospital, was founded in Sandhill, Newcastle, by Roger Thornton,[61] for the support of nine poor men and four poor women[23]
The King remitted 'all kinds of taxes' to the burgesses of Newcastle due to the 'grevious losses of shipping and merchandise at sea' and the scarcity of inhabitants due to plague[30]
1440s
1442
10 October: Barber-Surgeons and Chandlers' Company of Newcastle agreed to 'uphold the light of St John the Baptist in St Nicholas' Church as long as they are of ability'[62]
King Henry VII granted a charter of incorporation of The Trinity House Fellowship of Newcastle[63] and the Guild and Fraternity of the Blessed Trinity then acquired Dalton Place in Broad Chare for a meeting place or Trinity House[64]
The Guild and Fraternity of the Blessed Trinity altered their premises in Broad Chare to provide a hall of assembly, chapel and lodgings for poor brethern[64][63]
1510s
1516
A Star Chamber decree allowed the inclusion of colliers and keelmen among the crafts of the town[66]
King Henry VIII granted the Guild and Fraternity of the Blessed Trinity a charter of incorporation allowing them to elect a master and wardens and erect two lighthouses in North Shields[64], as well as power to exact a toll of 4d from each foreign ship and 2d from each English ship coming to Newcastle[63]
1539
January: The five friaries in Newcastle were dissolved and taken over by the Crown[72][73]
At the end of the year severe frost set in which lasted until the following February in Newcastle[54]
1540s
1540
The nunnery of St Bartholomew in Newcastle was dissolved and taken over by the Crown[72][73]
Newcastle population was approximately 7,000-8,000[55]
1570s
1576
Newcastle petitioned the Crown for possession of Gateshead on the grounds of the disorder across the river[78]
1579
Over 2,000 people died of pestilence in Newcastle[81]
1580s
1580
Richard Anderson purchased the former Grey Friars house and the former nunnery of St Bartholomew[74]
The Guild and Fraternity of the Blessed Trinity was empowered to charge a toll of 1s for each foreign ship and 4d for each English ship coming to Newcastle[82]
William Dent passed on the Trinitarians house of St Michael to Newcastle corporation[74]
1584
The Guild and Fraternity of the Blessed Trinity was refounded by Queen Elizabeth I as the Master, Pilots and Seamen of the Trinity House of Newcastle upon Tyne[64]
William Jenison became Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne[80]
1589
Over 1,800 people died of pestilence in Newcastle[81]
A charter of Queen Elizabeth I confirmed all existing rights of Newcastle and brought the Castle into the control of the Corporation[48][60]
1590s
1590
The Castle, Newcastle was described as: 'a place of refuge for thieves and vagabonds fleeing from the justice of the town'[83]
22 March: A charter of Queen Elizabeth I incorporated the guild or fraternity of Hostmen, giving members a monopoly of the sale of coal and grindstones from the Tyne[19], as well as a monopoly of municipal government and economic life[76][85]
A charter refounded the Grammar School in Newcastle as the Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth[64]
A charter of the Masters, Pilots and Seamen of the Trinity House of Newcastle upon Tyne defined the tolls and fees they could levy on all ships entering or leaving the Tyne for pilotage, upkeep of buoys and beacons etc[64], as well as for the keeping of 12 poor brethren and the relief of shipwrecked mariners[86]
July: A Commission for 'conservancy of the river' (Tyne) was established[88] by Order in Council made up of the Corporation of Newcastle, the Bishop of Durham and justices of the peace for the two counties (Durham & Northumberland)[89]
Newcastle secured the whole authority for conservancy of the Tyne, vested in the Mayor, six aldermen and certain members of the Merchant Company and Trinity House[89]
1618
The Castle, Newcastle, with the exception of the parts used as a Moot Hall and the County Prison, were granted on lease to Andrew Stevenson[83]
1630s
1632
The building of a lime kiln and the refusal to hear complaints presented in open guild, led to rioting among apprentices (Resly's Rebellion)[91]
May: John Wesley, accompanied by John Taylor, preached at Sandgate, Newcastle[122]
20 December: John Wesley laid the first stone for a church, the Wesley Orphan House, in Northumberland Street, Newcastle,[126][127] the second Methodist chapel to be built in England[122]
First local public asylum for the pauper lunatics of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne was erected by public subscripation in Warden's Close, Newcastle[146]
Methodists of the New Connection opened Bethel Chapel in Manor Chare, Newcastle[144]
19th Century
1800s
1800
Newcastle was the ninth largest town in England[167]
Phineas Crowther, an engineer from Newcastle, invented a vertical winding engine subsequently in widespread use in colleries in the North-East of England[168]
A committee of local gentry had a grandstand erected on the Town Moor for viewing the horse racing[133][145]
1801
Rev John Baillie published his 'An Impartial History of Newcastle upon Tyne'[169]
The bridge over the River Tyne had become too narrow for the volume of traffic and was widened to designs by David Stephenson[125]
Rev John Hodgson published his 'Picture of Newcastle upon Tyne'[169]
1808
An extensive new Flesh Market was opened in Newcastle[145]
1809
As part of the celebration of King George III's jubilee in Newcastle, ten debtors were released from prison by public subscription[153]
The old Moot Hall in Newcastle was demolished[172]
1810s
1810-12
The town wall from Pilgrim Street Gate to Carliol Tower was demolished to make way for New Bridge Street, as well as the wall from Wall Knoll to Sand Gate[139]
Robert Hawthorn was joined by his brother, William, as a partner, to form R and W Hawthorn[181]
1821
February: The Methodist Brunswick Place Chapel was opened[183]
1822
George Wilson, then aged 56, took up a challenge to walk 90 miles in 24 hours on the Town Moor, succeeding with 14 minutes to spare in front of a crowd of 40,000[184]
Newcastle Corporation took possession of the asylum for pauper lunatics of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne and leased it to Dr Noel Smith[146]
A company registered in the name of Robert Stephenson opened in Forth Street, Newcastle, to build railway locomotives[181] (1823 according to another source)
An outbreak of Cholera in Newcastle killed 306 people[196]
1832
November: The first attempt to establish a professional constabulary was made by Newcastle authorities amid public disquiet[197]
Construction of the Royal Arcade was completed[195]
Newcastle School of Medicine and Surgery was founded[198]
William Wordsworth was in Newcastle when he was shown 'the magnificent buildings which adorn our town' by John Hernaman, editor of the 'Newcastle Journal'[164]
1833
September: Professional constabulary withdrawn due to public clamour[197]
1834
Newcastle School of Medicine and Surgery leased Surgeon's Hall, Newcastle[198]
June: The last link in railway communication between Newcastle and London was completed with the opening of the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway[205]
7 July: The last mail coach ran from Newcastle to London, due to the advent of the railways[220]
1845
The widening of Neville Street, Newcastle, saw the destruction of many buildings[189]
A separate force of river police was established[197]
There were 10-12 fire engines in Newcastle, but none were owned by the Corporation[197]
Petition presented to Newcastle Corporation for the creation of a park in Newcastle to be 'a free and open place of recreation for the people of the city'[232]
1858
New town hall in St Nicholas Square completed[231]
Newcastle Schools Athletic Association was reconstituted[266]
1924
7 August: Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead Corporations (Bridge) Act received Royal assent approving construction of the Tyne Bridge[282]
The proposal to build a new road bridge over the Tyne was supported by the local labour exchange to provide work for 50,000 unemployed skilled engineers and shipbuilders[274]
British Union of Fascists opened two clubs in Newcastle, one with the stated objective of 'the promotion of fascism in Benwell'. Both clubs closed after two years[290]
1934
J. B. Priestley, in his 'English Journey' described Newcastle as 'so ugly it made the West Riding towns look like inland resorts', although he conceded it had a 'certain sombre dignity'[109]
1935
By this year 11,000 houses had been built in Newcastle under RG Roberts, City Housing Architect[276]
1936
RG Roberts appointed as Newcastle's first City Architect[276]
Newcastle United F.C. were promoted to the First Division after the 1947–48 Football League season[292] during which they broke the Football League attendance records with average home crowds of over 56, 283[244]
An office complex for pensions and benefits was established in Longbenton[289]
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Flowers, Anna; Histon, Vanessa (1999). Water Under the Bridges, Newcastle's Twentieth Century. Newcastle upon Tyne: Tyne Bridge Publishing. ISBN1-85795-140-9.
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Manders, Frank; Potts, Richard (2004). Crossing the Tyne. Nwcastle upon Tyne: Tyne Bridge Publishing. ISBN1857951212.
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Sadler, John; Serdiville, Rosie (2019). The Little Book of Newcastle. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN978-0-7509-9003-5.
Taylor, David (2022). 111 Places in Newcastle That You Shouldn't Miss (2nded.). Germany: Emons Verlag GmbH. ISBN978-3-7408-1043-6.
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