Late delivery on mailman

His details and photograph have been provided by a relative, Bill Stoddart, following a piece about him here a fortnight ago.

Tom, who was 31 when the conflict started, served in the Welsh Regiment, which was unusual for a soldier from this area. That may be why information about him was scarce for so long.

When he was aged 35 in March 1918 he married Daisy Harrison at Corporation Road Wesleyan Chapel, in Darlington. The couple got a special licence for the ceremony. This was normal for troops who came home from battle regions for a short leave, without time to get a normal licence.

After the war Tom worked as a stationer. He was first employed by the post office at the age of 14 as a coachman’s apprentice in Barnard Castle. This job entailed helping to load letters and parcels onto horsedrawn carriages to be sent between postal areas. He lived with his parents, George and Margaret Stoddart, above their shop at 84 Galgate, where George was in business as a master bootmaker.

When he died Margaret changed the shop into a post office and newsagents, with herself as postmistress, and Tom joined the staff as her assistant.

When she died, in 1943, aged 90, she left £1,163, some of which went to Tom.

By that time he was aged 60 and described as a retired stationer. His address was given at the time as Woodland Road, Barnard Castle, but he also had an interest in a house in Newgate, which his mother had owned.

All these details have been provided by Bill Stoddart, who lives in Northallerton and is Tom’s first cousin twice removed. Bill and his wife, Joyce, have done a great deal of research on the Stoddart family tree over the years. It is a complicated task as some of its branches had a lot of children. They kindly put in a special effort to track down Tom’s background.

David Charlesworth, the dale postal historian, is delighted to receive all this information and photograph to add to the fascinating story of the people behind the area’s mail services.

While Tom survived the war, two of his cousins gave their lives. Sydney Stoddart, who lived in Galgate, Barnard Castle, and was a railway porter before the war, was killed in action in Flanders in July 1915, when he was 25 and a sergeant in the 10th DLI. He was the son of Edward and Margaret Stoddart. Then Russell Stoddart, of Market Place, Barnard Castle, was killed in France in March 1918 when he was 29 and corporal in the 1/9th DLI. His parents were John and Jane Stoddart.

MOST hoteliers would be pleased to have 20 men booking in for a fortnight.

But Benjamin Metcalf was dismayed when an order came to him at the Raby Hotel, in Barnard Castle.

It was from the First South Durham Regiment of Militia, and meant a platoon of soldiers would descend on him in the summer of 1866.

They would sleep two in a bed, so he needed ten beds, but had only three. He had to pay to hire beds in local houses, but the Army gave him only a few coppers per man per night so he could end up out of pocket.

By the time the troops arrived he was able to put up only 13, so he appeared in court charged with failing to provide proper quarters for the other seven.

A law at the time said that when militia men visited a town for annual training, all hotels, pubs and guest houses could be forced to take them in whether they liked it or not.

Many landlords felt it unfair.

Metcalf told the court he lost cash the previous year by hiring beds for men who did not turn up, and this time he hired as many as possible.

The magistrates heard that some soldiers brought their wives with them so took rooms elsewhere instead of using beds booked for them.

Others drank late into the night and did not go to bed at all.

Some men had homes in the town so did not need beds. A check was made on the 20 due to stay at the Raby, but the list was in a muddle and nobody was sure how many arrived.

The only certainty was that a Private Thompson turned up at the Raby (which has since changed its name to the Raby Arms Hotel) and there was no bed for him.

He was told he could sleep at the nearby home of an old woman but there was only one bed there and two soldiers were already in it. It was against the rules to have three men in a bed, so he ended up with nowhere to sleep.

The justices decided there was evidence of only this one soldier left without a bed, rather than seven stated in the charge, and on this basis the landlord was fined only £1.

The Army made small payments for beds only, as the men had meals at their camp. Many hard-up families took in one or two militiamen during their yearly visit, giving them the beds of children, who had to sleep on the floor. They felt the income of a few shillings made it worthwhile.

But hoteliers often found a large number of visiting troops a burden, as they tended to drink too much and become noisy – and they took the places of other visitors, who paid higher rates.

JOHN DOWSON lived in the heart of the lead mining section of Upper Teesdale and was widely respected as a hard and skilful worker, an admirable neighbour and an amiable fellow.

The son of Charles Dowson, a popular dale character, he was the sort of man who could tackle any job and was always willing to give a helping hand when it was needed.

His wife, who hailed from Arkengarthdale, was a happy type who was regarded as a perfect match for him.

So when the pair decided to sail to new life in the US in the 1850s, it was agreed they were bound to do well. This proved to be so as they had a large family and prospered on an estate they bought at Benton in Pennsylvania.

But strangely enough, John’s death in 1886 was like those that happened too often back home in his native dale. He had seven sons and a daughter, who all helped to establish his lucrative farming enterprise.

But the land also contained a vein of lead ore which they mined in winter as a sideline.

He went to the mine one morning with one of his sons to do some timbering. He was in his usual good spirits and the best of health. He was working alone in one section, putting up props while his son was busy elsewhere, when the roof suddenly collapsed. He was killed as tons of debris came down on him.

ALOT of interest has been shown in the past fortnight in a display of paintings at the Witham, in Barnard Castle. They are by members of Barnard Castle and Teesdale Art Society, who go all over the dales to sketch scenery in summer and attend regular classes to hone their techniques each winter.

A fine example of their output is a watercolour by Janet Tunstall of Startforth, who was a sister at Richardson Hospital until she retired.

She has been painting for about seven years and is modest about her skills, but visitors were heard praising this painting. She sketched the scene at Bowlees in Upper Teesdale while sitting in a car on a rainy day.

The society has 20 members, including a lone man, Peter Wilson.

“But it would be good to have some more men and women,” said Mrs Tunstall, who is the treasurer. “We all have a pleasant time, and are given lots of help and encouragement to make our work better.”

Anyone who would like to take part can ring her on 01833-637484 or the secretary, Olga Hoggett, on 01833-637188, to get details of the next sketching trip. There is still a chance to see the exhibition today before it closes.