Men of mark 'twixt Tyne and Tweed . obtain fromChickens masterpiece an interesting and humorous account ofcustoms that, fortunately, have fallen into disuse, and manners that,happily, have passed away. The author of The Colliers Wedding was a native of Newcastle, EDWARD CHICKEN. 547 born in St. Johns parish, in the year 1698. His father, a weaver,died while the children were young, and his mothers means beinglimited, he was educated with his brother Robert—who became aclergyman, and died curate of Bishopwearmouth in 1743—at theparish charity school. Nothing is known of his early life, andthe l
Men of mark 'twixt Tyne and Tweed . obtain fromChickens masterpiece an interesting and humorous account ofcustoms that, fortunately, have fallen into disuse, and manners that,happily, have passed away. The author of The Colliers Wedding was a native of Newcastle, EDWARD CHICKEN. 547 born in St. Johns parish, in the year 1698. His father, a weaver,died while the children were young, and his mothers means beinglimited, he was educated with his brother Robert—who became aclergyman, and died curate of Bishopwearmouth in 1743—at theparish charity school. Nothing is known of his early life, andthe little that has been preserved of his later career was collectedby Mr. Call from his descendants. He appears to have beenbrought up to his fathers trade, for the books of the IncorporatedCompany of Weavers show that in 1718, when he had attainedhis majority, he took up his freedom in that company. Threeyears afterwards, being a young man of ability, he received fromthe fraternity the appointment of clerk, and about the same time. he was elected parish clerk of St. Johns, an office which OswaldChaytor, a member of the same brotherhood, held for many yearsin the preceding century. His acquirements, and the confidencewhich his official conduct inspired among his friends and neighbours,encouraged him to open a school, and in this adventure he wassuccessful. The two clerkships and the emoluments of his teachingsecured for him a moderate income, and enabled him to bring up afamily in respectability and comfort. He occupied the house which,under the denomination of The Three Tuns, still stands at thecorner of Newgate Street and Low Friar Street, facing the site ofthe White Cross. There he kept his school, and, being a man ofstrorig individuality of character, became a sort of oracle and arbiter 548 EDWARD CHICKEN. among his fellow-townsmen. Mr. Call, remarking that he wasfamiliarly known by the sobriquet of the Mayor of the WhiteCross, tells the following anecdote illustrating the
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