1 to 19 Brunswick Place

Brunswick Place was laid out around 1820, with the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (HER 8879) at the western end and terraces of two and three storey brick houses with ashlar dressings on either side of the road. Over time these houses accomodated showrooms and places of work. In the late 19th and early 20th century many were converted into shops. The name Brunswick comes from the wife of the Prince Regent (later King George IV), Princess Caroline of Brunswick. The Prince was supportive of the Methodist movement. Brunswick Methodist Church was built in 1820. A lecture hall was built to the north side of the church in 1884. No. 8 Brunswick Place was the manse. Rev. John Davies lived there in 1823, followed by Rev. William Naylor, Rev. Isaac Keeling and from 1846 to 1849, Rev. Henry Davies. No. 10 was the home of Thomas Scott, joiner, in 1827. He had business premises in Castle Street. No. 12 was the home of J.T. Clinton, coachman from 1890 to 1892. No. 14 was the home of Robert Ward, coachman, in 1838. No. 15 was the home of Leonard Karberry, coach proprietor from 1847 to 1853 and a coachman in 1875. No. 17 was the home of John Harrison, coach builder, from 1885 to 1892. His workshop was north of Brunswick Chapel (later became a cement and concrete works, HER 10727). A Mrs Hammond lived at No. 2 in 1824. She was a singing and harp teacher. Nos. 5 and 11 were occupied by dressmakers/milliners. Mary Thompson, who owned a seminary (girl's private school) lived at No. 9 from 1847 to 1857. A Miss Thompson, schoolmistress, lived at No. 17 from 1855 to 1866. Three Professors of Music lived in the street - John Miller in 1838 at No. 1, W Derbyshire in 1879 at No. 7 and in 1890 at No. 19 and A Brandfoot in 1903 at No. 15. W Clabbon, dealer in pianos, lived at No. 9 from 1906 to 1920. Between 1900 and 1914 some of the houses were used as registry offices for domestic servants seeking work. Three offices were based in No. 6 in 1906 (the Monarch Typewriter Recorders Ltd, the Newcastle Rubber Stamp Company and the Newcastle Typewriter Supplies and Exchange Company). In 1858 a Wesleyan School was built on the site of the Orphan House (HER 6983) on Northumberland Street and a headmaster's house was built for Benjamin Shaw (No. 19 Brunswick Place). After only five years it was rented to a number of tenants including a watchmaker and a Professor of Music. In 1895 the house was sold by the trustees of the Orphan House Schools to the trustees of Brunswick Wesleyan Methodist Chapel for £400. It became the home of the Chapel caretaker and the base for the Wesleyan Book Room. Electricity was installed in the house in October 1925. In 1955 accomodation for the Deaconess of the Chapel was provided on the north side of Brunswick Place. In 1956 this same house was leased to the Woolwich Equitable Society Ltd for 21 years at £600 per year. The exterior of the house was tiled and it was re-named 'Woolwich House'. Later the house became a salon for hairdresser James Dellow. There was a dental hospital at No. 7 in 1885. A Christiran Science Reading Room occupied part of No. 13 from 1947 to 1965, alongside a dressmaker, turf commission agent and a firm of heating engineers. From 1932, Bernard J Stone, Fine Art Dealer, occupied No. 11. From 1822 until 1824, an eye hospital (HER 7890) occupied one of the houses. Artist Thomas Miles Richardson Snr (1784-1848) lived briefly at No. 3. The painter of 'A Brand Plucked from the Burning, 1840, which depicts a young John Wesley, Henry Perlee Parker (1793-1873) lived at No. 9. A small version of the painting still hangs in Brunswick Chapel. Parker painted many maritime themes including one of Grace Darling rescuing the crew of the Forfarshire in 1838. James Russell Ryott, painter of animals, lived at No. 2 in the late 1840s. Portrait painter Stephen Humble lived at No. 4. In 1908 Fenwick acquired No. 10. In 1909 they took over No. 14, which in 1914 was a ladies outfitters. No. 12 had been used by the Young Women's Christian Assocation's Victoria Institute since 1903, but was taken over by Fenwick in 1921. Numbers 6 and 8 were acquired. In the mid 1930s, No. 2, the jewellery shop of David Summerfield, was taken over. This was followed by No.4, the hairdresser's shop of Andrew Forbes 1921 to 1926 and JW Branson 1928 to 1932. This consolidated Fenwick's holding of premises on the north side of Brunswick Place, which allowed the development of the large department store. In the mid 1980s Fenwick took over the leases of two premises on the north side of Brunswick Place. No. 16 was demolished and a six storey extension to Fenwick's store was built. In the early 1930s there was a Woolworth's store at No. 9. This later moved to No. 1, on the corner of Northumberland Street. No.1 had previously been the Old Novocastrians' Club and from 1920 to 1928 the Drawing Room Café. Monument Mall was built on the site of the south side of Brunswick Place, Northumberland Court and the north side of Blackett Street in 1989-1992. The street is now a rather dull road providing access to the Methodist Chapel and a shortcut between Blackett and Northumberland Streets.