REPORT ON THE FEBRUARY 2006 MEETING

Cuthbert Collingwood

The speaker at the February meeting of the Alston Historical Society was local author, historian and Society member Andy Griffin, who is particularly interested in researching the lives of Northumbrian historical figures. Whilst living in Tynemouth within the shadow of Collingwood’s monument, he realised that he did not know very much about this national hero and therefore started a research project. The result was the publication of a book entitled ‘Cuthbert Collingwood’ and subtitled ‘The Northumbrian who saved the nation’. His talk was based upon the book and was illustrated by appropriate slides.

Collingwood served in the Royal Navy when Britain truly ruled the waves and was the dominant seafaring nation. His life-long friend was Horatio Nelson and the duo were a formidable combination and their respective skills complemented one another to great effect. Both men were feared and respected by their enemies and also popular with their own crews. Naval fighting at the time was very brutal and ferocious with ships moving alongside one another and bombarding on another with broadsides of cannon shot which included ball, lengths of chain and a wide diversity of metal objects designed to cause maximum injury and damage. The ships would trade shots until the other sank or surrendered. The pinnacle of the careers of both men was the Battle of Trafalgar and this crucial conflict, culminating in the death of Nelson, is fully recorded in this book alongside many major events..

When it came fighting, naval strategy and acts of heroism, the two men were very similar. However their private lives could not be more different and this comparison proved to be very interesting. Nelson lived a high profile life and revelled in the fame and publicity that his deeds of daring-do brought to him. He was a leading figure in the society of the day and whilst diminutive in stature, he was a larger than life character in all other ways. His romantic relationship with Lady Hamilton, a society lady, is well known and documented.

Nelson was born in a comfortable country house and his whole life-style was a direct contrast to Collingwood’s. The latter was born in the Side on Newcastle’s Quayside. The Collingwood house, whilst an imposing building, was surrounded by squalid, overcrowded and unsanitary streets. Cuthbert’s father was a keelman and he was to grow up in an environment saturated by ships, sailors and all things nautical. After being educated at the Royal Grammar School, then situated near the site of the present Central Station, in 1761 he fulfilled his inevitable destiny at the age of 12, joining the Royal Navy as a cabin boy on board the Shannon. His progress through the ranks was steady but not spectacular. However Collingwood was neither impressed by, nor interested in, the high life. In 1791 he married Sarah Blackett and they set up home in Morpeth. His great passion was his garden along with walking in his beloved Cheviot Hills. He was an early environmentalist and was concerned with rate at which oak trees were used to build naval vessels – two thousand trees were needed to build a single warship. Collingwood sought to redress the balance by planting plantations of oak on land he acquired in the Cheviot foothills. He also encouraged friends and family to fill their pockets with acorns when walking and to scatter them far and wide. Unfortunately, and he was not to know it, the soil and weather in the area was not conducive to the growing of oaks and the resultant crop was not of a very high quality.

Collingwood returned to the sea and enjoyed a glittering and rewarding career but thoughts of his wife Sarah, and his beloved Northumberland, were always with him. In 1800, having endured some difficult experiences he longed to get back to his garden and wrote ‘I will plant my cabbages again, and prune my gooseberry bushes, cultivate roses, and twist the woodbine through the hawthorn…..’. Family ties were very strong and in 1801 Collingwood was based on shore in Portsmouth but could not be spared from his duties to travel north. Instead wife Sarah and daughter Sarah travelled from Morpeth to be with him – a formidable journey by coach in winter. At their joyful reunion dinner Collingwood wanted all those he loved most to be together – hence he invited his dear friend Nelson to share the occasion with him – a sure sign of the bond of friendship which existed between the two men. Sadly the family enjoyed only three weeks together out of a ten month sojourn in the south.

After the Treaty of Amiens (1802), Collingwood made what he thought would be his final entry in his maritime log and, at the age of 54, returned to Morpeth and his family to fulfil his life-long dreams of retired life in his native county. His goods and chattels were delivered to him by sea and in the hold was a mongrel dog. He immediately adopted the dog, which he named Bounce, and the sight of the famous naval hero walking his dog along the river bank or through his estate became a common sight. This was as good as his home life was to get! The Treaty of Amiens lasted only one year and proved to be a ploy by Napoleon to gain breathing space whilst he remustered his resources. Collingwood was recalled to the Navy and joined his old friend Nelson, once again. Nelson was to be killed at the Battle of Trafalgar before the victory had been achieved and it was left to Collingwood to finish the job.

Thoughts and concerns about his home and family were always in his mind. In 1806, following the death of a cousin, he inherited a large estate at Chirton. He became worried that his wife want to move to the new property and he wrote to her to the effect that he did not want to leave his beloved Morpeth with its beautiful views and live beside ‘collieries with their noise, pumping engines and smoke’. As time passed he thought that he would be going home but this was not in the plans of the Admiralty. Instead he was sent on endless patrols and missions and overburdened with administrative duties. By 1809 his health was beginning to fail and the death of his dog, Bounce, which fell overboard, was a major blow to him and severely affected his spirits. He had become very ill, possibly due a stomach cancer. The following year he gave in to his weakened body and at the age of 61 years, he passed away. He never returned to his beloved to Northumberland and his family and died a martyr to his responsibilities and duty in protecting the nation during a very dangerous and troublesome time. During his life he remained steadfastly loyal to his family and kept in constant contact with his wife despite all the diversions around him. He undoubtedly answered the call of the nation although in reality, whilst he was on the high seas his heart never left Northumberland and the gentle, peace he had enjoyed there for much too short a time. A truly worthy and exemplary Northumbrian!!

The next meeting of the Society will be at 7.30 pm on Wednesday the 1st March in the Alston Masonic Hall. All are welcome.

NOTE FOR PHOTOGRAPH

The Collingwood house in Morpeth is still there and this is how it looked in 1936