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England Northumberland  Newcastle upon Tyne (city)

Guide to Newcastle upon Tyne history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



History
Newcastle-Upon Tyne (to be distinguished from Newcastle-under Lyme in Staffordshire) is the premier city of northwest England.

The first recorded settlement in what is now Newcastle was Pons Aelius, a Roman fort and bridge across the River Tyne. It was given the family name of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who founded it in the 2nd century AD. The population of Pons Aelius at this period was estimated at 2,000.

The Emperor Hadrian is known in history as the roman Emperor who commissioned the structure known as Hadrian's Wall. This wall, a huge civil undertaking, stretches across northern England from the west to the East, and was about 85 miles long. It's function was to act as a barrier or deterrent for the marauding Scottish hordes that were pillaging northern England.

Fragments of Hadrian's Wall are still visible in parts of Newcastle, particularly along the West Road.

After the Roman departure from Britain, completed in 410, Newcastle became part of the powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, and became known throughout this period as Monkchester. Conflicts with the Danes in 876 left the river Tyne and its settlements in ruin. After the conflicts with the Danes, and following the 1088 rebellion against the Normans, Monkchester was all but destroyed by Odo of Bayeux.

Because of its strategic position, Robert Curthose, son of William the Conqueror, erected a wooden castle there in the year 1080. The town was henceforth known as Novum Castellum or New Castle. The wooden structure was replaced by a stone castle in 1087. The castle was rebuilt again in 1172 during the reign of Henry II. Much of the keep which can be seen in the city today dates from this period.

Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress. Incorporated first by Henry II, the city had a new charter granted by Elizabeth in 1589.

In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle was one of the first cities in the world to be lit up by electric lighting.