Wynyard Street

Major Edward George Wynyard D.S.O. was the finest batsman ever produced by the army and he played in three Test matches for England. His army career prevented him from leading England to Australia in 1909 and no doubt he would have played much more often if it had not been for his army commitments. He was a brilliant all round games player and was top of the first class batting averages on several occasions, and this in the time of Ranjitsinji, C.B.Fry, Hon.F.S.Jackson and A.C.McLaren, the golden age of amateur batsmen. Wynyard died at the age of 75 in 1936.

Shrewsbury Street

Arthur Shrewsbury, (1856-1903) was one of Nottingham and England's greatest batsmen. W.G.Grace, when picking England's team, always said, "First give me Arthur". He played in 23 Test matches and came to an unfortunate end by shooting himself because he imagined he was suffering from an incurable disease. He was only 47 years old.

Gunn Street

Any cricketer can tell you that the most famous bat makers in England are Gunn and Moore. William Gunn (1858-1921) was the founder of this firm and played for England in 11 Test matches. He shared many great partnerships with his Nottinghamshire teammate Arthur Shrewsbury, mentioned above. He was well over six feet tall and one of the finest stylists among batsmen of his era and graced the first class cricket scene for over thirty years.

Wood Street

Henry Wood (1854-1919), a wicketkeeper batsman, played for Surrey and Kent and represented England in 4 Test matches, the first being against the Australians at the Oval in 1888. He was said to have been a fearless player. Even though his hands suffered horribly at times, he stood up to the very fastest bowlers of this era and never complained.

All the above streets were built around 1900 when these cricketers were household names. I know of no other streets, in this area, named after cricketers.

Dunston Road

Going past the end of Gunn Street we come to Dunston Road which was formerly known as Asylum Lane, a much more interesting name.

The Asylum stood on the site of the White House and the garage (formerly the Fire Station) and was a large mansion called Dunston Lodge owned by the well-known Tyneside family called Marley. In 1828 there was a lengthy lawsuit when John Barnett, the Curate of Newcastle Cathedral, who had married Margaret Marley died. A relative of his, another John Barnett, was accused of forging a will leaving the Lodge to him. Barnett was aquitted but the court ruled that the will was a forgery and the Lodge passed to General Marley, a distant relative of the Marleys who had owned the Lodge. General Marley leased it to Mr.J.E.Wilkman who opened it as an asylum. The venture prospered and in 1841 there were 84 persons housed there, increasing to 157 ten years later. It was one of the most advanced asylums in England and visitors came there from all parts of the world. Its cure rate was well above the results of any other asylum in the country.

A Mr. Garbutt carried on with the asylum but it gradually declined as public hospitals took over health care and the Lodge was eventually demolished in the late 1920s.During the last war I remember, as a boy, working in Kennedy's market gardens that occupied part of the extensive grounds of Dunston Lodge. Billie Kennedy and his sister lived in an old house, which was part of the old estate. It may interest readers to know that the going rate for boy labourers was 4d per hour (less than 2p) and worked out at 2s 8d per day (14p)

At the bottom of Dunston Road there is a building that must be one of the oldest in Dunston. This is the old church school, which was erected in 1818, and now in a very dilapidated state.

Ruskin Avenue

Named after John Ruskin the English art critic and social reformer who died in 1900 aged 81. A Labour Council because of his political beliefs in social and economic reform would, understandably, name this street of Local Authority houses after Ruskin.

Ross Avenue

Probably named after Sir Ronald Ross, the noted English bacteriologist, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the relationship between mosquitoes and malaria, leading to the virtual extinction of malaria in many parts of the world, by draining swamps, and so getting rid of mosquitoes.

Lister Avenue

Another notable English doctor, Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister (1827-1912), saved countless lives by his discovery and use of antiseptics during surgery.

Rendel Street

The only Rendel I can find is George Rendel who was director of the Ordnance Works of Sir W.G.Armstrong Ltd. of Elswick. Lord Armstrong, the famous Victorian engineer, also had a street named after him that is now demolished and the Riverside Junior School now stands on this site. Stephenson Street, named after George Stephenson, the railway engineer, was also demolished to accommodate the new school.
We now come to a series of streets named after engineers and scientists who were famous when they were built around 1900.

Baker & Fowler Gardens

I have put these two streets together because they are named after Sir Benjamin Baker (1840-1907) and Sir John Fowler (1817-1898), Civil Engineers, who were involved in the construction of the first London underground railway line from Westminster to the City, now called the London District Line (1869). They also designed the Forth Railway Bridge.

Kelvin Gardens

William Thompson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824-1907) was a Scottish scientist noted for his work on thermodynamics inventing the Kelvin temperature scale. He also pioneered undersea telegraphy. .

Tyndal Gardens

John Tyndal (1820-1893), in his early career, worked on the first Ordnance Survey of England and Ireland in 1842. He then went back to school and eventually became Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution. He did much work on the properties of sound and acoustics. In his leisure time he was a climber and made the first ascent of the Weisshorn in 1861.

Parsons Gardens

Sir Charles Algernon Parsons (1854-1931), the third son of the Earl of Rosse (Irish), was an engineer and scientist who invented the steam turbine and founded C.A. Parsons Ltd. of Heaton in 1889.
In 1897 he created a sensation when his turbine driven experimental ship, aptly named 'The Turbinia', zigzagged in and out of the Grand Fleet at a speed of 32 knots at the naval review at Spithead. He subsequently was awarded orders for turbine driven naval ships. Parsons was also involved in the development of electricity generation by means of turbo-alternators, raising the voltage produced to 11000 volts in 1905 and 36000 volts in1928. Parsons turbines are to be found in all parts of the world and he has been called the most original engineer since James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine.

Nearby is Newton Street named after Sir Isaac Newton, discoverer of the Law of Gravitation.

Barry Street

Named after Dr. F. W. Barry, who published a report to the Local Government Board on the General Sanitary Conditions of the Borough of Gateshead in 1884. This had far reaching effects on the public health of the surrounding district and ushered in the modern day disposal of sewerage and the supply of clean water to all dwellings in Gateshead.

Ravensworth Road

Lord Ravensworth, the son of Sir Henry Liddell, created a Baronet in 1821, was the major landowner in the area. Ravensworth Castle was the family seat and I remember going to military tattoos there before the war. It was demolished just after the war.

Renforth Street

This is one of the most interesting street names in Dunston. James Renforth was a famous rower and, believe it or not, Dunston was a household name among the rowing fraternity in the middle 1800s. Harry Clasper, who was born in Dunston in1812, was the foremost oarsman of his time and is buried in Whickham Churchyard. There is a fine statue on his grave looking over the Tyne, the scene of his former triumphs. James Renforth succeeded him as world champion sculler. He was born on the Rabbit Banks, Gateshead, in 1842 and was variously a blacksmith's striker, a soldier in the West Indies, and a keelman at Dunston. He won several medals as a swimmer before, at the age of 25, competing in his first professional skiff race against James Boyd on the Tyne for a £100 stake. In the next four years he won against all comers on the Tyne, Thames, Wear, Aire, Humber and Dee.
In 1870 he rowed in the International Fours Championships on the St. Lawrence River, Canada for £1000 prize money with other Tyneside idols, James Taylor, Thomas Winship and John Martin, winning easily. A year later he tried to repeat this feat for a £500 prize on the Kennebacassis River in Canada and collapsed when well in the lead. Renforth died two hours later at the early age of 29. His last words were 'What will they say in England?' His body was brought back for burial in Gateshead Cemetery. It was rumoured that drugs had played some part in his premature death, but this could not be proved. A crowd, said to have exceeded 100,000, attended his funeral and a tablet, carved to represent a broken oar, with his touching last words engraved on it, was placed in St. Mary's
Church, Gateshead.

Clephan Street

James Clephan was the editor of The Gateshead Observer, the first Gateshead newspaper.

Keppel Street

Sir Henry Keppel (1809-1904) was commander of the Mediterranean Fleet based at Gibraltar and finished his career as Commander-in-Chief, Devonport. He was an intimate friend of Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, and his wife was rumoured to be one of the King's many mistresses.

Ellison Road

Ralph Carr-Ellison owned large areas of land in Dunston, Whickham, and Swalwell.
He lived in Dunston Hill, now occupied by Dunston Hill Hospital, which was a large country house surrounded by rolling countryside planted with specimen trees. Some of these trees still survive, notably the large beech tree at the top of Dunston Bank, and several magnificent horse chestnut trees, which have withstood the annual raids of young conker gatherers over the past century. Sir Ralph Carr-Ellison of Hedgely, the present descendant, is Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland.

Moore Avenue & Ede Avenue

These two streets were built in the early 1900s and were named after the Reverend William Moore-Ede, Rector of Gateshead (1881-1901), who advocated National Pensions and did great work to feed the poor by setting up soup kitchens in times of need. He was deeply loved by his parishioners.

St. Omers Road

This is one of the newer roads in Dunston and comprises Collingwood Terrace, Colliery Road, and Railway Street. It runs from the bottom of Ravensworth Road to join the old Power Station Road near the MetroCentre. Bishop Omer of Therouanne, who died in 670 AD, gave his name to a small area of marshy land at the mouth of the River Team (the Gut as it is commonly known) called St. Omers Haugh. This land was owned by the Hospital of the Virgin Mary, Newcastle and leased by Lord Ravensworth.