Brandling of Newcastle

The Brandlings of Newcastle were a a wealthy family of merchants and land and coal owners in Newcastle upon Tyne and Northumberland.

Early Brandlings

Sir John Brandling who was knighted at Blackheath in 1497 married Margaret Clavering of Callaly Castle, Northumberland and settled in Newcastle where he served as Sheriff in 1505 and as Mayor in 1509, 1512, 1516 and 1520.

His son Sir Robert Brandling (d.1568) served as Sheriff of Newcastle in 1524 and also as Mayor in 1536, 1543, 1547 and 1564. In 1547 , whilst Mayor, he was knighted by the Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector, following the Battle of Musselborough. He was Custos Rotulorum of Northumberland.

Another son Henry Brandling (1515-1578) was Sheriff of Newcastle in 1566 and Mayor of the city in 1568, 1575 1576. His brother Thomas Brandling (b. 1512-1590) was educated at the newly established Royal Grammar School, Newcastle and created the land and coal owning dynasty.

Civil War

The Brandlings had Catholic sympathies and Robert Brandling (1617-1690) served in the King's army in the rank of Colonel. He escaped to Scotland where he remained until after the Restoration. He avoided Sequestration of his estate and returned to England . His brother Roger was killed in battle during the conflict.

Estates

The family acquired by marriage, estates at Gosforth, and Alnwick Abbey but by 1605 their seat had been established at Felling Hall, Felling, Northumberland.

The family fortunes were largely derived from the exploitation of coal reserves under their lands. Coal was worked at Felling from about 1670. The deep mine at Felling Colliery was sunk by the Brandlings in 1779. Their mines were linked to the River Tyne by wagonways.

A disaster at their Felling Colliery in 1812, when 91 lives were lost, was largely responsible for the pressure to develop a miners safety lamp. Ironically, Felling Hall fell victim to mining subsidence and had to be demolished.

Other estates later acquired included Shotton, Peterlee, Durham and Middleton , near Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Notable Brandlings

Charles Brandling ( 1733-1802) was High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1781 was Member of Parliament for Newcastle 1784-1798.He married Elizabeth Thompson , heiress of Shotton , near Peterlee and built a new mansion house, Shotton Hall, there in about 1760. He also built a new mansion , to a design by architect Payne , at Gosforth House between 1755 and 1764 and this house became the family seat .

Charles John Brandling (1797-1856) of Gosforth was Member of Parliament for Newcastle 1798-1812 and for Northumberland 1820-1826. He married Henrietta Armitage, heiress of Middleton, near Rothwell, West Yorkshire.He was chairman in 1815 of the committee set up to establish the remuneration to be paid to George Stephenson for the invention of the Geordie lamp. His mining interests included Felling, Gosforth (where a new deep mine was sunk in 1825) Heworth, Coxlodge, Kenton and Middleton. At Middleton he employed John Blenkinsop who in 1812 converted the wagonway from the colliery to Leeds into a rack and pinion steam railway ( Middleton Railway). However he over indulged in coal speculations which led to financial difficulties and the sale of many of the Brandling estates; Shotton in 1850 and Gosforth and Felling in 1852. Thereafter the family seat was Middleton Lodge, Middleton.

References

* "A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland" (1835) John Burke Volume 2 pp 39-42 (ISBN 978-1-84727-168-6)