Church of St. Nicholas, grave of Thomas Doubleday

Thomas Doubleday (1790-1870) poet, dramatist, biographer and radical politician. He inherited the family soap manufacturing business (Doubleday and Easterby) in The Close but was more interested in literature. The business collapsed. Thomas became Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths at St. Andrew's Church in Newcastle. He was later secretary of the coal trade. He was an outspoken Whig and supporter of Earl Grey's Reform Bill of 1832. He was a well-respected poet and thinker. He and his friens Robert Roxby wrote a series known as 'Fisher's Garlands' which was published annually.