SOLICITOR
Situated in the Consecrated/West Section of Jesmond Old Cemetery.
Thomas William Keenlyside.
Thomas Keenlyside was born in Newcastle on 7th March 1798, with his parents being Richard and Elizabeth nee Headlam. He married Louisa Eleanor Pollard, the youngest daughter of Joseph Pollard, Esq. on the 9th of December, 1827, in St. Andrew’s Church, Newcastle.
Thomas found himself involved in local politics and became a Liberal Councillor for the St. Andrew’s North Ward.
A nice snippet of information we came across in the Newcastle Courant, dated 28th August 1840, is that Thomas attended a meeting at the Assembly Rooms on the previous day, where, along with other local residents, the sum of £447 was raised in subscriptions in order to pay for a public monument in honour of John George Lampton the 1st Earl of Durham, who had died the previous month. The Earl of Durham monument, now known as the Penshaw Monument, was completed in 1845 to a design by John and Benjamin Green, at a total cost of £6000 (now about £660,000). Thomas contributed £2 2s.
Another interesting story, printed in the Newcastle Courant on the 21st October 1842, indicates that Thomas was involved in the management and/or ownership of Belle Grove Lunatic Asylum in Spital Tongues, with the report indicating that, pursuant to the ‘Care and Treatment of Insane Persons in England Act of 1842’, several local dignitaries were appointed to ‘Act as Visitors to the House’ of Thomas William Keenlyside, Gentleman, of the said licensed premises for the reception of insane persons.
The Keenlyside’s lived in Carlton House, Carlton Terrace, now Jesmond Road, at least from 1841 until 1841. The house, pictured below, is still there and is now part of Newcastle University’s student accommodation.
Carlton House.
The canopied tomb, a Grade II Listed Structure, with four slender octagonal piers and tudor arches, was erected as a memorial to the Keenleyside children. Eleanor, the third daughter, died 10 December 1841, aged two, followed by Charles, the eldest son, aged eleven, on 24 December, with James, the second son, dying on 1st January 1842, aged nine.
Although Alan Morgan writes in his book on Jesmond Old Cemetery that the children were victims of a cholera outbreak, all three actually died of scarlatina or scarlet fever, bless them. Scarlet fever, caused by the Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria, was a major public health concern in the 19th century, especially in children living in urban areas with dense populations. The disease typically began with a sore throat, high fever and swollen tonsils, followed by a bright red, sandpaper like rash that often started on the chest and neck before spreading to other parts of the body. Mortality rates were high, with some children succumbing within 48 hours of symptom onset. Survivors often faced long-term complications such as hearing loss, heart problems, kidney damage or rheumatic fever. Families, like the Keenlyside’s, frequently lost multiple children in a short period….what a heartbreaking Christmas and New Year the household must have endured.
As well Eleanor, Charles and James, the Keenlyside’s also had two other daughters, Rosina and Louisa.
Alexander McClennan’s memorial inscription.
Rosina married Alexander McLennan, the Chaplain of St. Thomas’ Church and had a daughter, Alexandra Rosina Louisa. They were recorded as living at Carlton House in the Censuses of 1871 and 1881. Alexander died in 1888 and by the time of the 1901 Census, Rosina and Alexandra were recorded as living in Kent.
Louisa Parker’s (Keenlyside) memorial inscription, along with her daughter’s, also called Louisa.
Louisa married the Rev. J. Dunne Parker, Vicar of Hawes, Yorkshire. Tragically, she died on 29th May 1870, aged 34, six days after giving birth to their child, Louisa Parker Parker, who had died on the 23rd May 1870, aged two days. How awful.
Thomas and Louisa Keenlyside’s memorial inscriptions.
Thomas died on the 13th March 1867, aged 69 and Louisa died on the 13th June 1882, aged 80.