Yellowley & Daglish - grocers from Newcastle

Shown here is the cover of a catalogue from October 1958 published by Yellowley & Daglish Ltd - wholesale grocers, provision merchants and confectioners from Newcastle upon Tyne.

The Company claims to be "The North's Leading Wholesalers", with "25 Fully Trained Representatives covering the Counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, North Yorkshire & North Lancashire".

It also shows the business has been "Established over 200 Years" - but I don't think that it has traded under this name for all of this time.

On 6 May 1856, William Daglish and Henry Yellowley agreed to take over the existing grocer's business run by William Yellowley in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle - so possibly the business was previously run by the Yellowley family. Both William and Henry Yellowley were already involved in the grocery business.

William Daglish was born in Morpeth, and was married twice. He died in 1902, aged 81. His only son, William Anthony Daglish (1854-1923), worked in the business - and I believe that William Anthony's sons may also have carried on in the business. I do not know if any Daglishes were involved in running the business at the time that the October 1958 catalogue was published.

The catalogue has 52 pages of listings and makes interesting reading. In among the lists are some little "words of wisdom", such as "Silence is one of the great arts of conversation".



Looking at some old Trade Directories*, in 1890 the business was still at 125 Pilgrim Street; in 1898 the address is 37 High Bridge, and in 1910 at 5 Elswick Court, an address it appears to have occupied for many years. The 1958 catalogue shows the address of the Head Office is shown as "YanD House", 961-973 Scotswood Road - and there is an address of an office in Belfast. I do not know what happened to the business after this date.

Any information about this long established business, and the involvement of this particular Daglish family, would be much appreciated.

* Local Trade Directories can be found in libraries - and there is a useful online resource Historical Directories, a project run by the University of Leicester.

Richard Rothwell Daglish - New Romney, Kent

This week I took the opportunity to visit New Romney in Kent, the adopted home of Richard Rothwell Daglish. New Romney was one of the original Cinque Ports (with Hastings, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich), and has a long and interesting history.

Richard was born in Wigan, Lancashire, in 1841, the son of Robert Daglish and Rebecca Rothwell. He studied medicine and in 1864 was admitted as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons.

In 1866 he married Laura Stringer, daugher of a lawyer from New Romney. They had one son, Harry Rothwell Daglish.

Richard retired in 1906 and died on 23 April 1908. His son Harry died in 1910 and his wife Laura died in 1915. The family are buried in the graveyard of the parish church, St. Nicholas.


Inside the church is a brass plate which reads:


To the glory of God and in loving memory of Richard Rothwell Daglish, the chamber was built and the machines for blowing the organ constructed at the expense of his widow Laura Daglish, July 15 1910. Also the glory of God and in fond remembrance of Harry Rothwell Daglish, son of the above, this Church was endowed in the sum of one thousand Pounds for the preservation of the organ under the Will of Laura Daglish, who passed away beloved by all January 25 1915.

Richard was mayor of New Romney four times (1885-87, 1888-89, 1894-96 and 1905-08) and was also Speaker of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports twice (1888-89 and 1895-96).

In West Street, there is an inscription on some cottages that were left by John Southland in 1610 as a hospital for the elderly.

This reads:
This Hospital being the gift of John Southland Gent: Anno 1610 was rebuilt at ye charge of Sr Robt. Austen and Sr Heny. Furneses Bar's Anno 1714
And was further endowed by Thomas Baker Gentleman Anno 1734 and by Richard Rothwell Daglish M.R.C.S. Anno 1908

The Daglish name is further commemorated in the town by a road named Daglish Close - unfortunately when we saw it the road sign was damaged.

The Wigan Daglish family, which had interests in coal mining and engineering, has been extensively researched over many years by Richard Daglish. The family moved to Lancashire from Northumberland at the beginning of the 19th century. Richard has provided me with much help, support and encouragement during the much shorter time that I have been researching into Daglish family history. Richard is a member of the Daglish DNA Study.

For King and Country

Few towns, villages or families were not touched by the wars of the 20th century, and in particular the two World Wars. Those who died are commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) web site.

There are 31 Daglish names listed and details given usually include name, rank, service number, regiment or unit, date of death, age, names of parents and the cemetery or memorial. Please see the names listed below - more details can be found by going to the CWGC web site.


The Commonwealth War Graves Commission was established in 1917 and pays tribute to the 1,700,000 men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the two world wars. The commission has constructed 2,500 war cemeteries and plots; over one million casualties are commemorated in 150 countries.

The CWGC operates under the following principles:
- each of the dead should be commemorated by name on a headstone or memorial;
- headstones and memorials should be permanent;
- headstones should be uniform;
- there should be no distinction made on account of rank, race or creed.

Alexander Daglish, died 1916, age 20
Abner Daglish, died 1916, aged 20
Arthur Ernest Daglish, died 1917, age 27
Charles John Daglish, died 1915, age 31
Edward Daglish, died 1943, age 51
Edward Graham Daglish, died 1944, age 23
E.H. Daglish, died 1918
George Daglish, died 1942, age 22
George Richard Gordon Daglish, died 1917, age 27
Harry Jackson Daglish, died 1943
John Daglish, died 1915
John Daglish, died 1915, age 16
J. Daglish, died 1918
James Daglish, died 1940, age 20
Joseph Bucknall Daglish, died 1916
Joslyn Frederick Daglish, died 1941, age 23
J.H. Daglish, died 1919, age 18
John Pattison Daglish, died 1941, age 56
John Snowden Jackson Daglish, died 1941, age 37
John Thomas Daglish, died 1941, age 37
J.W. Daglish, died 1916
John William Daglish, died 1919, age 22
Robert Daglish, died 1941, age 59
R. Daglish, died 1915, age 20
R. Daglish, died 1916, age 27
R.A. Daglish, died 1915, age 27
Reuben Richard Daglish, died 1942, age 36
Thomas Reuben Daglish, died 1914
W. Daglish, died 1916, age 38
William Daglish, died 1916
W. Daglish, died 1917, age 29

Other sites which may be of interest are:
The British War Memorial Project
UK National Inventory of War Memorials
North East War Memorials Project
Imperial War Museum

Henry Daglish - premier of Western Australia

Henry Daglish was the first Labor premier of Western Australia from 10 August 1904 until 25 August 1905.

He was born in Ballarat West, Victoria, on 18 November 1866. His father was William Daglish, who had emigrated to Australia from Newcastle upon Tyne with his first wife Elizabeth Forster. After Elizabeth died in 1860, William married Henry's mother, Mary Ann James.

Henry married Edith Bishop in 1894 and in 1896 they joined many others moving to Western Australia, settling in the fast growing town of Subiaco.

Henry became involved in local politics, serving as mayor before being elected as Labor member for Subiaco. After the fall of his administration, he resigned from the Labor party in August 1905 and was elected as an independent in the October 1905 election; he served as minister for works under Frank Wilson from 1910 to 1911. Losing his seat at the 1911 election, he became an estate agent and from 1912 until his death in August 1920 he was employers' representative on the State Arbitration Court. He had a daughter Edith Rachel (b. 1896) and son Henry William (b. 1898).

Henry is remembered in the Perth suburb of Daglish which was named after him. Daglish railway station was built in 1924, and it is written:

Not every railway station has its name spelt out in greenery, but there is a trimmed hedge beside the Daglish station on the Railway Road frontage that leaves passengers in little doubt that this is indeed DAGLISH. To create a unique and attractive garden feature that also served a useful purpose was probably an English rural tradition, where railway station gardens were the source of much pride and a degree of competition.
Ken Spillman - Identity Prized : A History of Subiaco, UWA Press, 1985

The Methodist influence

During the last week two people have written to me about the strong Methodist influence in their Daglish family histories. This does seem to be common amongst many of the Daglish familes, including my own - and I think this would be an interesting subject for further research.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, spent much of his life touring Britain and Ireland preaching to crowds - often numbering many thousands - in the open air. It is estimated he covered over 250,000 miles and preached some 40,000 sermons, and until his death in 1791 he continued to campaign tirelessly on social issues and for universal education.

His journals hold a record of his travels and show that he visited the North-East of England on 48 occasions, visiting towns and villages sand giving birth to Methodism in the region.

Methodism appealed to the working people with a down-to-earth, more informal approach to religion. Wesley encouraged people to work hard and to save for their future; he also warned about the dangers of gambling and drinking.

Later during the nineteenth century the methodist movement split into groups, such as the Prmitive Methodists, which set up their own meeting places. These divisions ended in 1932 when most of the various strands of Methodism were reunited to form the Methodist Church of Great Britain.

Duncan & Daglish - Newcastle brewers

Duncan & Daglish Limited was a company in Newcastle upon Tyne involved in brewing, pubs and hotels and wine and spirit merchants. The company was formed in 1899 by John Duncan and Jacob Daglish, taking over an existing business J. Duncan & Company which had also been formed by Duncan and Daglish and which was involved in the same business.

The new company acquired the Westgate Hill Brewery and had 22 licensed premises, of which 15 were well established premises in Newcastle - others were in Gateshead, South Shields, Middlesbrough and Bishop Auckland. Additional houses were acquired in 1900 from local wine merchant D.A. Williamson & Co.

Pictured is the Black Bull Hotel in Wallsend; this shows "Duncan and Daglish" above the door and windows (although it is hard to see it here due to the small size of the picture).


The company continued to expand and in 1907 Bass, the brewer from Burton, acquired a substantial shareholding. By the Second World War Bass owned a majority shareholding and the company became a subsidiary of Bass - although the name of Duncan and Daglish continued to be used until 1967.

Jacob Daglish was born in 1852, the son of William Daglish, who in the 1861 census was a maltsman in Tynemouth. Jacob followed in his father's footsteps serving an apprenticeship as a maltster at Carr's Low Lights Brewery in North Shields before becoming North of England agent for Aitken & Co. of Falkirk. He also had interests in steamship and colliery companies and became mayor of Tynemouth in 1900.

There is a statue of Queen Victoria in Tynemouth which reads:

"Erected by public subscription to the memory of our late beloved Queen Victoria by the inhabitants of the Borough of Tynemouth during the Mayoralty of Alderman Daglish J.P. 1901-02 and unveiled by the Mayoress October 25th 1902". Jacob had three sons and two daughters and died in July 1904.


Information about Duncan and Daglish from the book Brewers and Bottlers, Newcastle upon Tyne by Brian Bennison, 1995

Update:


I recently received this photo of the grave of Jacob's parents William Daglish and Isabella (nee Coulson), in Preston Cemetery, North Shields. This shows William's death on 25 July 1865, aged 46, and Isabella's death on 18 Jun 1879, aged 62.
This was taken by Cindy Nunn and her husband Colin Nunn, to whom I am very grateful.