|
|
|
|||||||||
The first of these two types was that of the Lisburn
Wallace fountains, of which there were five. They were placed at the following
points:-One at the junction of Market Place and Bow Street, in the middle of the
road opposite "Crazy's"; one in Market Square, on the site of
Nicholson's statue; one in the Castle Gardens, which is still there; one at the
junction of Seymour Street, Low Road and Millbrook, in the middle of the road;
one in the Wallace Park main walk, which is still there. Now that we are in the
Common Market and you will likely be going to Paris, have a look round for a
Wallace Fountain, there are still some there. Duncan's Reservoir was in operation prior to 1876 as it
appears on the 1876 map, but Boomer's Reservoir is absent. In the 1878 list of
occupiers of land, Renny Boomer is mentioned as being in McWatter's farm, "Oldpark
Farm," now owned by the Council (and there's a good story to be told about
the reason for buying it). There was another Roomer nearby, Edward, but I would
guess that Benny gave the name to the "Boomer's Reservoir." Why did
the name change from "Balmer"? and, by the way, "Renny" is
how the name is spelt on the estate notice which I read. Boomer's Reservoir was made about 1880, and in 1894 it was
bought, along with the market rights, from Lady Wallace, as, of course, was
Duncan's Reservoir. The Town Commissioners became the owners of the water
rights, and the water authority. Boomer's Reservoir became the main source of
supply, a shaky supply in the summer, when the water was usually shut off at
nights. The sill was raised eighteen inches about 1910 to increase
the water storage. It had now become a battle between the water supply and the
increase in size and population of the town. In 1925 a pumping plant was
installed at Duncan's Dam to pump water up to Boomer's. It was a diesel engine
pump and the last man to use it was Jack McAllister, an employee of the Borough
Council. In 1930 an electrically-driven centrifugal pump was installed and in
1941 both pumps were inoperative and Duncan's Dam ceased to be used as a town
water supply. Since 1935, when the "John D. Barbour Well"
started to pour forth its unending stream of very high quality water to Boomer's
Reservoir, it has never run dry. It sent up seventeen thousand gallons per hour
when it commenced and, as the borehole was beside Duncan's Dam, it was said
that they were pumping the water out of the dam and running it back into it when
the pump was on test. It was, however, coming up from the four hundred feet
bore-hole. It was a great success and the forerunner of three other bore-holes.
They were bored through Triassic sandstone, three of them four hundred feet deep
and one six hundred feet deep. It is interesting to note the colours of the
sandstone layers-red, green, grey, yellow, blue and white, and to think that the
sandstone was laid down millions of years ago. The battle between town and water continues, with the water
always looking for reinforcements. We are now also receiving water from the
Belfast Water Commissioners' reservoirs at Stoneyford and the Silent Valley, and
the demand for more water grows apace. It seems unending, and if you go up to
McWatters' farm at Oldpark, Aghalislone, you will see the stream, the main
feeder stream, which filled the Old Reservoir in the Wallace Park and is still
playing a useful role today, Like "Ole Man River," in its own way, it
keeps on rolling along. If you would like to see this little stream, go up past Mr.
Drayne's farm and take the first road on the right (Boomer's Corner), go down
to McWatters' farmhouse and you are over the stream. It runs under the road. It's very nice country round here, with winding heaving
roads, good trees, a new view at every turn, and a pretty name, "Ivy
Hill." The Boomer's Reservoir looks like a sheet of silver from here. Away
in the distance the Mournes, and down among the smoke, the City of Belfast. There must have been a very large tree about Ivy Hill one
time, for it is marked on the 1876 map "The Big Tree." I asked a man
at Derriaghy did he ever hear of it? "Oh aye, but I believe it blew down
the night of the �Big Wind� ! And who am I to question that The McWatters' farm I have mentioned was owned by the great
Belfast bakery firm of McWatters. About two hundred and fifty acres in extent,
it was sold up in lots about 1937. It was the time of horse-drawn breadcarts,
and the farm was used, amongst other farm purposes as a holiday home for weary
and retired horses. It was a very tough job pulling a breadcart over the
cobble-stones and square-sets of Belfast. The increasing size of Lisburn is shown by the number of
streets in the town being gradually added. In 1819 there were twenty-seven
streets and lanes; in 1914, ninety-seven streets; in 1970, two hundred and
sixty-three streets and more under construction, with new water mains. The provision of main sewers became a priority in 1900,
when the population was approximately eleven thousand, I should say. So where
was all the waste water going previously? So William Tennent Henry, C.E.,
prepared plans for the new sewerage system, and later the work commenced. On the 18th August, 1905, a curious sightseer could have
seen a jolly party of men setting off from the Town Hall, Castle Street, in a
couple of horse-drawn brakes and some side-cars. And where were they bound for?
To New Holland, where Mr. C. B. Wilkins was to cut the first sod of the New
Purification Scheme. He was presented with a spade which was unique. The spade
had a solid oak handle, beautifully carved, a solid silver blade, with the
inscription: "Lisburn Sewerage Works-Presented to O. B. Wilkins, Esq.,
Chairman of the Urban District Council, by the Contractors, B. Firth & Co.,
on the occasion of the first sad-cutting, August 16, 1905." I wonder where the spade is now. And so the demand for houses, more water, sewers and sewage
treatment keeps on and there is no point where finality is reached. We just have
to try to keep up with, or better still, a little ahead of the needs of today,
for tomorrow will surely come. 1 hope you have enjoyed this article on the Lisburn Water
Supplies. There is a lot more to be told of all that is done to give you a water
supply free from everything harmful. It's a wonderful story) You will think of
it now and again, wont you? Good ! A sad story to finish. On May 23, 1899, a little boy and
girl were drowned in the Old Reservoir, the pond in the Wallace park. The little
boy got over the railing and fell in and his sister got over to save him and
lost her life also. Mr. Fred McMurray made an unsuccessful attempt to save them,
for which he received the Certificate of the Royal Humane Society. well, well,
that was indeed a sad day in Lisburn. Could something like this happen at
Duncan's Dam at the present day? Children are playing around it. More Thoughts
on the Water Supplies
The long spell of dry weather which caused the turning off of the water supply led me to think of the fairly recent past history of the water supply to Lisburn when a shortage of water was the accepted thing almost every summer. The capacity of Boomer's and Duncan's Reservoirs was
insufficient to supply the demand for water, so when the rain ceased falling on
the catchment area, the top water level of the reservoirs fell and action had to
be taken to make the water in reserve last till the rain came on again. It's as simple as that: no rain, no water I But sure
everyone knows that, and it is very little compensation when your day at the
seaside is spoiled by the rain to say, "Ah, well, it's filling the reservoir !" Just previous to the last war, about 1938, an inspection
was made of all possible sources of water supply in case the town mains or
reservoirs were destroyed, and it was interesting m find that there was still
evidence left of early wells and pumps which had been in use for a very long
time and might come in handy again. The Lagan River as a source of water for fire-fighting was,
of course, practically inexhaustible, but for use as a domestic supply no good,
except with special treatment. The most abundant supply of running spring water
was the "Boiling Well" on the left side of the Moira Road and behind
the Lisburn Service Station. It must have been running strongly before Lisburn
had a house built. It is mentioned by name on some of the old maps. It was used
as an auxiliary supply about 1911 to fill the town mains at top of Longstone
Street, a pump from the Belfast Fire Brigade being used. In the Old Warren area, at the bottom of Warren Gardens,
down next to the Lagan, there were very strong springs, and the old thatched
houses in this district had a never-ending supply. You went down "Smith's
Lane" to the houses. ' At this spot there was at one time a bleach green, probably
used by Coulsons, who had a factory at Sprucefield. All this area is at present
under housing development. Dr. Peatt, a well-known G.P. in Lisburn, some years ago
said that "the Old Warren area was the healthiest part of Lisburn, good
sandy soil, and the air from the Mournes and Divis filling your lungs."
We'll just take a few deep breaths while we're here; in, out; in, out; and you
begin to feel better already. At Causewayend, on the west side of the esker road, were
very good springs running out of the gravel. I remember James and Charlie Drake
sinking a well for their slaughter-house, barn and cottage, and at two feet they
got all the water they needed. On a map of 1835 the name "William
Drake" is mentioned as holding land at Causewayend. The name is still
prominent in the town. The "Fairy Well" in Benson Street is, alas, gone.
As you go into Benson Street from the Antrim Road you go up a little' hill, once
known as "Bensons Hill." You go up over the top, and at the bottom, on
the left, opposite the factory site, was the "Fairy Well," with an
overflow of spring water. Plenty of people in Lisburn today have had a drink
from the Fairy Well. This whole area has completely changed since 1930. Benson
Street ended at the Fairy Well, and all was fields with the stream from the
Dummy's Lane running down the middle of bogland to Stewart's mill dam. Before
the mills was erected in 1835 the stream ran across Antrim Lane (Street) as an
open rivulet and continued as the "By-wash" to the Lagan. Now this
stream in the old days was I'm sure, used for human consumption, as at Duncan's
road near the dog kennels the main stream divided, one part going towards Benson
Street, and the other part going to the town reservoir, known as "the
basin," in Wallace Park. This was "Clear Water Stream," which
supplied water in wooden pipes to premises on a lower level. In doing this research I examined a copy of the plan for
the "Proposed People's Park, Town of Lisburn," which had the Local
Government Board, Ireland, stamp as received 14th January, 1885. At this time
the area around the basin was all fields, with the exception of the Cricket
Field, which had been in use since at least 1857. Access to the cricket field
was from Dean's Walk, just as at present. I think we should have a look at this old plan and see how
the park was to be laid out. It shows a "music stand" approximately
where the present band-stand is. (I wonder which band played the first tune,
probably at the opening.) . Between the music stand and Parkmount front gardens was a
"coffee stand." It would have been the site of the "hot-dog"
stand at the recent '71 Festival. The Railway Walk (the Deans Walk), which was already in
existence as a public right-of-way, between Magheralave Road and the Belfast
Road, was to be widened to thirty feet. There was an existing lodge at the
Belfast Road end at the railway. The cricket field and lawn tennis courts were to be in the
same spot as now, The site of the present rugby ground was to have an ornamental
pond surrounded by trees and a twelve-feet footpath. The main walk to be made
thirty-five feet wide with a lodge at the Magheralave Road on the other side of
the walk from where it is now. There were to be plenty of secondary walks all to
be twelve feet wide. The trees you see now on the main walk were planted at :his
time. Mr. Pat Gelston's house was along a lane which was the site of the main
walk. The house was about seventy-five yards from the Belsize Road. Mr. Gelston
rented the land from the marquis of Hertford, and later, Sir Richard Wallace. The town got the park on 22nd June, 1885, as a public park
and recreation ground. Did they make a better job of it than the original plan?
I forgot to mention the football ground, which was in much the same spot as now
but lengthways between the Dean's Walk and Main Walk and just the size for one
match at a time. Perhaps you are wondering where the water would come from
to fill the ornamental pond? It came from a stream at the side of the Parkmount
It is still there, but it is now covered over and runs below the rugby ground
down to the railway. There was also the overflow from the Basin which joins this
stream and they both run hand-in-hand down Bachelor's Walk.
As usual, we have wandered away from the subject matter,
water; the Boiling Well, Fairy Well and the Old Warren. Springs were really on the outskirts of the town, but what
did the town residents have as their water supply? If they were below Basin
level they had a piped supply as mentioned in their deeds, paying annually from
five shillings to two pounds. The average would be about fifteen shillings. The maps of the 1879s show pumps, barrels, troughs,
cisterns and tanks as being widely in use even where the piped supply was
available. The troughs, etc., in the yards were for the use of the horses and
ponies, which any family of note had in this motorless age. You'll notice the number of gateway entrances in Lisburn
(being gradually built up) all made for the pony and trap, and horse and cart.
And the "pubs" had stables for the farmers' horses and, of course,
customers horses. The last old stable removed was at the rear of "The
Coachman," Market Square. The By-wash ran past the rear of this building as
an open stream and still runs in a culvert. The well-to-do people all had their wells, even when they had the piped supply. The Friends' School, Thompson Home (now Thompson House), Lisnagarvey House (demolished), The Fort (on the site of Forthill Girls School), Roseville (demolished) and The Manor House (now Manor Home) all had wells. The Union Workhouse, Dublin
Road, had a well beside the ditch between the hospital and the Ulster Bus
premises. It was put into working order before the war but never actually used. The Convent School, Castle Street, had a well in the garden
which had a bee-hive shaped cover and door. The water level was about one foot
below ground level. The late Dr. Johnston's house and the house next to it had
wells. It must have happened that the great General Nicholson had many a drink
of this water. A little further along this seam of water was the
overflowing well at the Lisburn Mineral Water Company's premises. On the same
seam at the rear of Nos. 38 and 40 Belfast Road was an overflowing well which
helped to water the tennis courts and bowling green when the mains were turned
off in the summer. Down the Low Road below Wilson Street are houses which when
erected had one pump provided for over four houses. The last one was removed for
scrap iron a few years ago. And, of course, we can't forget the pump in Pump Lane (now
Ridgeway Street) and the Priests' Well in the Priests' Lane (now Tonagh Avenue). When the lanes, courts and alleys were built about 1800
they usually had a water tap or, as it was called, a fountain. One tap for each
lane. The last fountains were in Fairymount Square, two for
twelve houses. A little later there was a tap for each house, usually in
the yard outside, to be followed by the water tap over the sink inside the
house. The water had really come home to be with us as an invaluable ally,
without which life just couldn't exist. So dont waste this precious gift from
above, and I mean those heavy rain-filled clouds. A good amount of the above information was obtained before
the war, but thank goodness it wasn't put into practice. And before I forget,
there was a pump on the footpath in Bow Street in 1878, just at what is now
Whites Cafe. About 1900, with the increase in the number of new houses
and ether premises, and the increase in the population, it was decided that main
sewerage and a disposal works be provided, and the first sod for the works was
cut at New Holland on 18th August, 1905. I'm sure there are a few persons around
who remember this event. Boomers Reservoir had been the main water supply since
1894, and there was plenty of water for the population of approximately 9,000.
This was the beginning of the change from what was known as "Dry
Conservancy" to the "Water Carriage System" in relation to
domestic sanitation. The Council were forging ahead and appointed Mr. W. T.
McBride as Sanitary Inspector, 29th July, 1905. What was the New Holland disposal works like? Simply huge
tank for settlement, and afterwards land filtration by-passing the tank effluent
along a series of open drains about three feet wide, when it percolated through
the soil into perforated drain pipes and from thence to the Lagan canal. Between these open drains were planted willows, which, when
kept pruned, produced "sally rods" or osiers. These osiers or
"scallops" were in great demand for making potato, egg and all kinds
of baskets, babies' cradles, and used in thatching. It was not a very satisfactory system, but it suited the
circumstances at the time. It was a step in the evolution towards the modern
scientific plant to be seen at New Holland today. Take a walk down some day and
have a look round. Most interesting ! When I joined the Urban Council in 1928, the removal of
domestic refuse was by means of horses and carts, and men with shovels and large
basins. Even at this time there were hundreds of dry "privies; whose
replacement with W.C.'s was a high priority. In the meantime the
"privies" had to be emptied. James McDowell, of New Street, off
Millbrook, had the contract to supply the horses and carts and drivers, and the
Council provided the men to do the filling and carrying of the large basins from
the pits at the rear of the houses to the waiting carts. The excavated material went to the tipping ground (the
Dump) and sometimes to farmers The charge for emptying these pits was one
shilling and sixpence, but could be more, paid by the occupier who got a receipt
on the spot. It was an appalling job for men to have to do, and on looking back,
I never heard much complaint. As W. Cs replaced the "privies," ash-bins came
into use, and those persons who had a bin paid sixpence to have it emptied,
usually about once a month, "pressed down and running over" to get a
good tanner's worth. Sam Leckey, yard foreman, brought me the money and receipt
books and I banked the money every Monday. Somehow the government auditor didn't
like the pit and bin books very much; they got a very quick look over. Later I got the bin price reduced to threepence, and
eventually convinced the Council to put the refuse- collection on the rates and
really do the job in a modern way. This was the end of the horse and cart era. In 1930 the Council purchased a Shelvoke and Drewry
Freighter, a metal small wheeled vehicle with a moveable cover over, with the
driver standing in the cab at the front. Now, when you see these great metal monsters with their
intricate machinery moving along the streets, give a thought m the early
pioneers, a bard-working body of men ! Lisburn
Gas Works--Gone But Not Forgotten
Henry Bayly wrote in his 1834 "Historical Account of
Lisburn," "Respecting the appearance of Lisburn, it is cheerful,
streets mostly spacious, carefully paved and always clean. The sidepaths are not
flagged, but we believe it is in contemplation to do so. Lamps were erected in
1825 and a Mr. Whowell employed to light the streets with gas; but owing to
Whowell's failure, the work has been neglected. We hope that this evil will be
remedied as soon as possible." It was not,, however, till 1837 that Bayly's wish began to
be realised. An act of 1828 gave the Irish towns the power to elect
Commissioners, to improve rates, to provide for lighting, watching, water and
sewerage, and so forth. These powers were not taken up immediately and it was
not until 1837 that the Act was adopted. The Lisburn Gas Company Limited was
formed and a committee got to work with a capital £2,500 on the gasworks in
Bridge Street. The production of gas was on the way, under the
chairmanship of John Millar, Esquire, J.P., who was part owner of the land
acquired. It was a private company. Part of the land from Bridge Street to Back Lane, in the
names of John Millar, Rev. William Hind and Anne and Edward Heron was to become
the site of the Gasworks. This land was at the rear of Nos. 52 and 68 Bridge
Street and included Wood's Alley and Heron's Alley (sometimes called
"Herons Folly"), the first between Nos. 50 and 52, and the second
between 56 and 58. Herron's Alley was the original gateway to the gasworks
from Bridge Street. There was another entrance from Back Lane. The foreman lived
in No. 58 and was in a handy spot to keep an eye on the number of loads of coal
delivered. The Lamplighter lived in No. 54, where David Feagan, his
wife and four children died when the house went an fire in 1910. In the Notices of the Landed Estates Court, setting out all
the property owned by Sir Richard Wallace and dated 1878, the Lisburn Gas Light
Company had a Fee-farm Grant dated fifteenth of March, 1876, from Sir Richard
Wallace at the yearly rent of nine pounds with nine shillings receiver's s
salary. There was a charge of eleven pounds two shillings and sixpence for a
supply of pipe water to the premises. A total of twenty pounds, eleven shillings
and sixpence for approximately two roods and eighteen perches. In what was the boardroom of the new Gas Office, in Bridge
Street, is an old oil painting with the following inscription on a brass plate;
"John Millar, Esq., J.P., founder of the Lisburn Gas Company Ltd., and
Chairman of Directors until his death, 8th December, 1881. Painted in accordance
with the resolution of the shareholders passed at the annual meeting, 7th
August, 1882." John Millar was a pleasant looking, bearded gentleman who
guided the affairs of the company for forty-four years, surely a record term of
service to a company with shareholders. It was a boom time for gas; everyone
drew their dividend with a smile. The man Edward Heron, mentioned above as a landowner, is
perhaps the same person as is stated in the 1819 directory as residing in Castle
Street and being a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. The little entry, Herron's
Alley, with seven houses, belonged to Anne and him. I think she must have been
his sister, as in the case of a married man the wife's name is not mentioned in
the court notices. In those days the man was the boss ! In all the expanding that occurred at the gas works they
never got No. 70 Bridge Street and the land at the rear right through to Back
Lane. This was Edgar's Entry and the entrance was from Bridge Street. It was a
cul-de-sac with eleven houses in 1882. The lease for No. 70 was dated 10th April, 1751, and was
given by Francis Earl of Hertford to one Saywell Kain with perpetual renewal.
The lease was last renewed (before 1878), 1st January, 1830, from Francis
Charles Marquis of Hertford to William Edgar, and was for the lives and life of
his Majesty William IV (who died 1847 when the gas works started-no connection);
her present Majesty Queen Victoria and Prince George of Cumberland. The names of members of the Royal Family appeared in many
of the old leases as, I suppose, they were likely to live to a ripe old age. The last occupier of No. 70 and owner of what had now
become Sloan's Entry (Slow being the owner after Edgar) was Robbie John Allen, a
well-known general dealer in this town. Of course there was no gas without coal in those days and the coal came from Belfast by barge or fighter on the Lagan Canal, and was put into carts like the old-fashioned country carts with the horse between the shafts, and the horse pulled the load up to Herron's Alley. This was the Bridge Street entrance to the works then. The
canal opened on the 7th September, 1763, when the horse-drawn canal
boat "Lord Hertford," made the journey from Belfast to Lisburn. In 1794 the canal was completed to Lough Neagh. The level
of the canal kept rising through to the locks up to the Broadwater at
Soldierstown and then down by lock to Lough Neagh level. It was 25½
miles long and had twenty-seven locks. A barge could carry up to ninety tons and
at 1906 the annual traffic was one hundred and sixty thousand tons. It took a week to do the journey from Belfast to Lough
Neagh and back. And now, when canals are being revived everywhere, our canal is
gone for good. What a peaceful relaxing journey to spend a week travelling
quietly by lighter up the beautiful Lagan Valley to Lough Neagh, "far from
the madding crowd." (By the way, have you ever heard that heroic ballad,
"The Cruise of the Calabar." It tells of the trials and dangers of
getting a barge to Lisburn. Have a look for it, it's good fun, and would suit a
pop group.) And then going for a lough cruise on the steamer, "The
Marchioness of Donegal," owned by the Canal Company and the first lake
steamer in Ireland. The "Lough Neagh Queen" was another of those old
steamers. As mentioned above, the coal for the gas works (and Hilden
Mill, etc.) came from Belfast in barges which were loaded at the coal quay at
the harbour in front of the County Down Railway Station, and adjacent to the
ferry steps which led down into the water. On the other side of the harbour (the
Albert side) there was a similar set of steps and a steam ferry, owned by the
Harbour Commissioners, plied between these two steps, taking shipyard workers
and others across the harbour at a charge of one halfpenny, later raised to one
penny (old money). You could walk on board the ferry at both ends,. You walked
down the steps and stepped on and on reaching the other side of the harbour you
moved along the ferry, stepped off and went up the steps. As the tide rose and
fell, less or more steps were visible above the water. The ferry had an
uncovered flat deck, with the engine, boiler, et cetera, and engineer in the
centre. It went forwards and backwards across the harbour without having to turn
around and carried probably a total of one hundred persons, all standing. There were three ferries, the one at the coal quay (Queen's
Quay), another between Abercoro Basin and Donegal) Quay, and a third working
from Victoria Wharf to Milewater Basin. Those were the days when Harland and
Wolff and Workman and Clarke's shipyards were going full blast, night and day,
and the ferries were very busy. The ferries stopped running about 1932 and the
steps were filled in. A careful scrutiny of the harbour wall would probably give
a clue to the original site. On the 27th March, 1900, the lighter "Rory O'More,"
of Lisburn, was sitting at the ferry steps, Queen's Quay, at the Co. Down
railway station, fully loaded with coal. It had been a wild day, with a gale
blowing up Belfast Lough and causing the waves to break over the lighter, which
was low in the water. It eventually filled and sank. The lighter-man, James
McVeigh, and a woman named Annie McCann (35), Joseph Street, Belfast, were found
dead on board by the harbour divers. A sad end for one of those legendary men of
bygone leisurely days who steered the barge or led the horse on the towpath all
the way to Lisburn. ' Well, after that diversion, back to the Gas Works. The new
Gas Company was forging ahead. The first gasometer was inside the gasworks at
the Back Lane entrance to the premises. It had a capacity of about 10,000 cubic
feet. As the demand for gas increased, more storage accommodation was provided by the erection of larger gas holders and removal of the earlier and smaller ones. The original gas holder was gone from inside the works area and the present site was being used for holding purposes. Of the present three holders two have a capacity. of 120,000 cubic feet each and the other 250,000 cubic feet. Of course, we have the resources of the Belfast Corporation Gas Department to keep them filled. Over the years the whole site bad been gradually changing,
houses in Bridge Street had been demolished, a new entrance road made between
Jelly's public-house and the present Gas Office, built in 1913. There was an
older office building with the title, "Gas Store Showroom," a
photograph of which is in the present office. It may have been nn the site of
the new building. The new road mentioned was formerly "Woods Alley."
Heron's Alley, the original entrance, was closed up, houses demolished and the
space used as a coal store. Mack's Court, off Back Lane, had become stores and
workshops. New machinery
had been installed and a gas-from-off plant was erected in what had been an
orchard at one lime. A steam disinfecting station had been erected in 1930
convenient to the boiler house where steam could be obtained to disinfect
clothing taken from houses where there had been an infectious disease. This
replaced the old gas-heated disinfector which was just inside the gate to the
Lisburn Cemetery in Sandy Lane, now Warren Park. A peculiar place to have a
disinfector, in a graveyard. There was a belief that you could not get an infectious
disease (scarlet fever, diphtheria, et cetera) if you lived within a hundred
yards of the gasworks. The fumes from the retorts were supposed to kill the
germs. I haven't the foggiest notion as to whether there was any truth in this
belief or not, but I don't remember an infectious disease in Bridge Street, Back
Lane or Barnsley's Row, and only one in Market Lane during my time. I told Mr. Wilson, who was the town clerk, about the
scarlet fever in Market Lane, and he said, "Well, well, I thought they were
so tough down there that the germs couldn't penetrate them" ! He hadn't
much faith in the gas works fumes idea. Lisburn was growing rapidly, boundary extension had taken
place and the population was in 1960 about 17,000; say, over 4,000 houses in
comparison to 1837, when the gasworks started there were 992 houses, 675 slated
and the rest thatched. The gas works was at full stretch but it was just too
small. Some hard thinking had to be done. It was a new gas works, or else--. The Lisburn Gas Company Limited had been in operation from 1837 until 1909, when the Lisburn Urban Council bought the Company's assets and became the new owners. It was now the Council that had to make the vital decision as to the future of the Lisburn Gas Department, and they courageously did so. For some time there had been rumours of Lisburn getting gas
from Belfast as other small towns had done. It eventually became a fact with the
laying of a gas main from Belfast to Lisburn; Belfast gas was first supplied to
Lisburn on the 20th September, 1981. It was the beginning of the end of the
works. There were many bangs and explosions in the Gas Works when
it was in its hey day, as some of the residents in Bridge Street well remember,
but the loudest bang was at its last breath. On a weekend in December, 1963,
Captain Tom Monaghan and a detachment of territorials from the Royal Engineers
arrived at the works and its demolition was used as an exercise in the use of
explosives. A few well-placed charges, an explosion, and all the hopes,
aspirations and imaginings of the Lisburn Gas Company Limited had crumbled into
dust and rubble. It was the end of a great endeavour, and surely all the mental
effort and gallons of sweat produced in one hundred and twenty-five years have
not been in vain, but hang around somewhere in time and space to be used again.
I wonder what the spirit of John Millar was thinking as the dust settled. The Lisburn Gas Company has come and gone after
approximately one hundred and twenty-five years of supplying the town with gas
and light. All that now remains visible is the Gas Office in Bridge Street and
the gas holders at Back Lane. The Bridge Street car park gives no hint of the
busy times and hard work carried out by the gas workers. I always considered
that the men filling the retorts with coal and removing the red-hot coke were
the hardest-working men in Lisburn. Watching the men working at night in the dim light of the
retort house, with the roar of the steam as they damped the coke, the white
shafts of fight from the open furnace doors, was like a glimpse of Dame's Inferno. The blackened faces of the men, streaked with perspiration,
sweat-rags round their necks, pushing the long iron bars in and out of the
retorts, made them look like lost souls moving about in the smoke and steam.
They were very tough men, God rest them all. I knew some of them very well and
respected them. Hats off to the old Lisburn Gas Works, gone but not
entirely forgotten ! Hail and Farewell. (On the 1st April, 1975, the Lisburn Borough Council Gas Department was taken over and administered by the Belfast City Council Gas Department.) (I read the very interesting article about the old Lisburn Gasworks. For information, my great great grandfather George Mearns used to be the Manager of the Gasworks in 1865. He lived there with his wife and family. His wife, Susanna Mearns, unfortunately died as a result of a fall in 1865. I have no other details but thought you may wish to add this information to your records. George Mearns and his family managed several of Northern Ireland's gasworks in the mid to late 1800's. Andrew Mearns) 02/11/2010
Lisburn's
Workhouse Is Not Forgotten
Walking along the footpath in Smithfield a few months ago,
I met a man I knew to see. He stopped and said "I enjoyed reading your
articles in the Star about old Lisburn, but you never mentioned the Lisburn
Workhouse !" I had to agree that he was right and to my surprise he
informed me that he had been an inmate when a boy many years ago. D'you know, it
started me thinking. So here is a brief history of the forgotten institution,
"The Lisburn Union Workhouse," which had been in action for over
eighty years as a place of refuge for the orphans and the starving and homeless
people of the neighbourhood. Before the workhouse was built the only buildings on the
site were the two little cottages close to the footpath and opposite Warren
Park. In 1878 these two cottages were occupied by John Graham and William Fulton
at an annual rent to the Marquis of Hertford of £3.10 and £4 respectively. One
of these cottages was taken down at some time and the last occupier was Fred
Fitzsimmons, who sold the cottage and land to the District Hospital in 1950. The
hospital at first used the cottage as a home for nurses and later for cooks. The
cottage was taken down two years ago after being on the site for one hundred and
fifty years at least. An old landmark quietly obliterated. It was under the provisions of the Irish Poor Law Acts 1838
that persons wore appointed to act, and were known as Guardians of the Poor. The
committee formed was named the Board of Guardians. They were mostly farmers and
businessmen and they were authorised to have erected a workhouse, to be
responsible for its management, to levy rates for the purpose on the town of
Lisburn and twenty-six townlands surrounding it One Guardian represented each
townland and there were three for Lisburn. AR were well-known men who performed
their duties without payment. Previous to 1838, help for the poor had been provided by
charities ran by private persons, sometimes with a little government financial
help. Now we had a body set up by Act of Parliament to administer relief and
shelter. A building was to be built wherein the poor could be housed and fed for
as long as was necessary, even for years, or only a day. The first meeting of the Board of Guardians was held in the
Assembly Rooms, Market Square, Lisburn, on the 20th February, 1839. The chairman
elected was James Watson, of Brookhill; vice-chairman. William Caldbeck,
Lisburn, and deputy vice-chairman, William Graham, Lisburn. Mr. James Ward, of
Lisburn, was appointed clerk at a salary of fifty pounds per annum. He had to
get two sureties of fifty pounds each, one of one hundred pounds himself. These
Guardians were hard-headed and tight-fisted Ulstermen. "Every penny a
prisoner" was their motto. There never was a penny spent that was not
really needed for some purpose. It was decided to hold their meetings on Tuesday (market
day) and it remained so until the last meeting, the final dissolution of the
Board on Tuesday, 28th of September, 1948. After one hundred and nine years of
social welfare. Truly a wonderful record: The meeting decided to ask the Very Rev. James Stannus, the
Marquis of Hertford's agent, for a building site of six acres and a building
committee was appointed. It met on the 19th March to consider plans for the new
workhouse and to ask for tenders from contractors. On the 28th May, 1839, the
estimate of Arthur Williams and Sons, Dublin, was accepted at �6,000, and work
commenced on the bare field on the Hillsborough Road. On Tuesday, the 1st December, 1840, the first meeting was
held in the new boardroom on the Hillsborough Road. The Assembly Rooms were
vacated. They were home. They must have been fast workers in those days. A Mr. McCartan was appointed Workhouse Master and sent to
Lincoln Poorhouse for two or three weeks to learn the system and be prepared for
the rush. It was necessary, for on the day appointed to admit the poor,
Thursday, 11th February, 1841, two hundred and fifty persons were admitted, as
beds to that number were filled with straw and were ready. Also an order for clothing for from two hundred and fifty
to four hundred suits for men and boys and the same for women and girls had been
placed. A stock of clogs had been laid in, each pair costing 4s 4d a pair for a
man and 3s 6d
for a woman, and each pauper (the name for inmates) was given a pair. Usually
their own clothing and footwear (if any) were unwearable and perhaps infested
with lice and had to be destroyed. The louse spread the typhus fever. The
wooden-soled clogs with leather uppers and leather laces were somewhat like the
modern wooden sandals, but they were iron shod on the soles and heels. I wonder
did Alfred Connel of Bridge Street, the last of the Lisburn clogmakers, ever
supply the Workhouse. Perhaps his father did. Mind you, they were warm, on the
feet and were worn by the workers in the bleach works and the mills. The Workhouse was so called because you had to do some work
for your keep. The Workhouse Master employed the inmates to do all the work.
Jobs were found which were suitable to the abilities of the paupers, who were
mostly labourers, their wives and children. There was gardening, cleaning, stone
breaking, looking after piggeries, making up faggots, oakum picking, laundry,
washhouse and kitchen work, blacksmithing and white smithing, groundsmen, making
coffins and digging graves, and painting, et cetera, et cetera. Even the
schoolgirls did needlework, some of which was sold. In August, 1843, broken
stones were being sold at is 1s 6d a ton to Ralph Jefferson for use on the Mail
Coach Road (now the Belfast Road). I would say yon were a good workhouse master
if you could keep the inmates employed on some useful or saleable work. When you sit in your car in the front car park at the Lagan
Valley Hospital and look at the beautiful stone building with the slated roof
you are seeing what once was the living accommodation of the workhouse master,
upstairs over the front middle door. On the left of the door was the girls
day-room and dormitories, and on the right-hand side the boys'. There is still a
smaller door into each day-room. This is where the children lived and were
taught in school. On the top floor, where the boys slept, there is still a
portion of the original floor left, Like all the dormitory floors, there was a
sunken passage along the To the left and rear of this building were the adult
dormitories, laundry, bathroom, kitchen and workrooms, and the "padded
cell." Yes, this cell was for the "lunatics," persons mentally
deranged. It was a room well padded on walls, floor and inside the door. The
strong door had an iron barred grill through which the person could be watched
and spoken to. When I saw it about 1929 the padding was hanging from the walls
and it was rat infested. A room eight feet square and nine or ten feet high,
many a sad sight it must have seen. The lighting was by gaslight in the original building, coal
fires were used for heating with hinge fire-guards locked to brackets on the
walls. The Workhouse Hospital was the stone building away down at
the back, now the men's and women�s medical unit. When I saw it first it was a
fever hospital. That was in the year 1928. These old black-stone buildings would
last forever, and it is good to see them so efficiently adopted to modern
methods in the treatment of patients. You are still sitting in your car, I hope, and are probably
over the site of the Board of Guardians office, built in 1840 and taken down in
1967. It had seen one hundred and twenty-seven years of very useful work. Beside this office was the Fever and Cholera Hospital,
built in 1848 of the same black stone as the other buildings. It was taken down
in 1934. It accommodated sixty patients. Before this fever hospital was built,
the Manor Hospital was used as a fever hospital. It was a red brick building
somewhere about the site of the present Manor Home. It was there before the
Manor House was built and the avenue to it was at the entrance on Chapel Hill to
what was the Golf property, known as "Laverty's Lane." It was built
about 1832 and taken down in 1847. John Millar was secretary of thee Manor Fever
Hospital committee, and it may be he who was manager of the Lisburn Gas, Company
Limited. When it closed Mr. Millar offered the use of
the contents at �3 a month to the Workhouse Guardians, who had now to
build a wooden shed, as there was no fever hospital available until the Fever
and Cholera Hospital was built in 1848, a year later. At this time, 1845-1850,
famine and fever raged through the whole of Ireland, and wooden sheds, marquees
and tents, were in use everywhere to house the disease-ridden population,
especially in the South and West. The Great Famine had arrived. The potato crop
failed; the blight killed the potato crop almost overnight.. The workhouses were
full to overflowing. The first case of cholera appeared in Lisburn on 25th
January, 1849, and very soon it was epidemic, with many deaths. Dr. Cupples was
medical officer of health of the Workhouse. He had the assistance of Dr. Samuel
Musgrave in dealing with the fever patients. At this time there were 638 paupers
in the Workhouse, eighty-four in the general hospital and sixteen in the fever
and cholera hospital. The members of the Society of Friends, the Quakers, were
always helping where there was trouble, and one of them, Samuel Richardson,
owner of the Island Flax Spinning Mill, visited the typhus fever patients, who
lay in great numbers in tents, in front of the aforementioned Manor Fever
Hospital, sometimes three times a day. He contracted the fever and only survived
a few days. He died on 24th October, 1847, only thirty years of age. His
headstone can be seen in the Friends graveyard in Railway Street. It was a very
perilous occupation to be a doctor in those days, and Dr. Cupples and Dr.
Musgrave were very brave gentlemen. During the 1843-48 famine period, the potatoes, which were
the staple diet of the paupers, were replaced by oatmeal, buttermilk, rice
(something new), soup made from cows' and sheep's heads, and bread. At the
meeting of the Board on 8th April, 1843, the workhouse master's estimate of
provisions required for the ensuing week was: 1 ton of oatmeal, 117�, Ibs. bread, 2,600 quarts of buttermilk, 210
quarts sweetmilk, 2 lbs. butter, 26�,
lbs. beef, cows' and sheep's beads for soup, 1 lb. tea, 4 lbs. sugar, 8� ozs. tea, 2 lbs. salt, 2 lbs. pepper. Total
in workhouse 525,total in hospital 52. The average cost of pauper for the week
was eleven pence. No potatoes were mentioned. The potato crop was failing again
as it had done on and off since 1728. In January, 1845, the contractor for
potatoes reported he had no more and asked to be released from his contract.
Soup, bread and stirabout was now the diet. Porridge for breakfast and supper. B
you haven't tasted porridge served with the good old buttermilk with little
pearls of butter floating on the top, you have missed a treat, but you wouldn't
fancy it three times a day. The paupers did, for there was nothing else for
them. But wait! The Marquis of Hertford on one of his visits to Lisburn visited
the Workhouse on the 21st October, 1845, and was much pleased with the order and
regularity of it, and said it was not excelled by any similar institution in
England. He ordered a comfortable dinner to be provided for the paupers at his
expense, consisting of beef, carrots and soup, and afterwards tea and currant
buns. He could well afford it, as he was receiving about sixty thousand pounds a
year from his Lisburn Estates. James Nicholas Richardson (another Quaker), of Lissue,
entertained the inmates of the Workhouse on New Year' s Day to a selection of
fruit and sweetmeats annually in Sir Richard Wallace's time. And so the Workhouse, under the Board of Guardians, went on
from 1840, in good times and bad times, until the dire necessity of finding a
home for the destitute became a thing of the past. On the 22nd April, 1922, the
number of persons who could be taken in was approximately 1,000, but there was
no one there. The last eighty inmates had been removed to Lurgan Workhouse. In January, 1922, a notice of motion stated: "That the
Lisburn Workhouse as such is now non-existent, having been converted to a
district hospital, the office of chaplain be abolished." Yes, the various
religious bodies had an official chaplain to the workhouse. The new district
hospital was the stone building which housed the workhouse master and the girls
and boys. After the inmates left, the Board of Guardians continued
with Outdoor Relief under the supervision of two Relieving Officers, where there
originally had been six. The last meeting of the Board was held on Tuesday, 28th
September, 1948, and in attendance were Miss A. S. Martin, chairman, and Mrs.
McLeavey, J.P., Messrs. W. Balmer, W. J. Fullerton, J.P.; J. H. F. McCarrison,
Andrew Maze, Albert A. Peel, J.P.; Arthur J. Reddick and Andrew M. Wedderburn.
Mr. Woods was the master and William Sinclair was the clerk when the buildings
were occupied by the last of the paupers. And so this very practical work commenced in 1839 (when the
first train ran from Belfast to Lisburn), gradually came to an end. The
necessity for it to continue had passed. The Welfare State had been born and was
taking over with unlimited financial resources. The bad old days were gone; a
new era had dawned. If you are still in your car, look at the splendid new
Lagan Valley Hospital with all its wonderful equipment and kindly staff; give a
thought to the "blood, tears and sweat" of the thousands of destitute
folk Who were taken in, lived and were cared for, and even died, in the old
Lisburn Union Workhouse, and were buried there. To the members of the Board of
Guardians who ran the institution so well on so little, and the staff and
volunteers who gave of their best, even unto death. And don't forget to thank
God that we have passed through the long shadow and come into the sunshine,
however fitfully it might shine at times. Assassination of a
Five-Year-old
During my visits to the gravesides in and around Lisburn I
have read inscriptions on headstones which were interesting, sad and melancholy,
thought-provoking, ridiculous, uplifting and courageous, on plain and flamboyant
stonework but the headstone which intrigued me most is in the Lisburn Cathedral
Churchyard. A plain little stone stating: "John Young, aged five years and
eight months, assassinated 23rd August 1822." It was on a Friday the boy
died. It is about two years since I first noticed the headstone,
and its inscription has been worrying away at the back of my mind on and off
ever since. I made local enquiries without any result and gave it up. However, I
had occasion to visit the Linenhall Library, Belfast, and then the inscription
came into my mind. I got the copies of the Belfast News Letter for 1822, and in
the issue of Tuesday, August 27th, found and read the following almost
unbelievable story. "About seven o'clock on the evening of the 23rd
instant, Patrick Maguire, a lad of about sixteen years of age, tied John Young,
a very fine boy of about six years old, who had accompanied him to a field near
Lisburn, to a cow's tail. At first the animal moved slowly forward, but soon, it
appears, became terrified at the unusual weight appended to her tail. The driver
of a mail-coach, as was proved at the inquest, called in vain for some
passengers on the highway to stop the cow, which rushed violently through the
turnpike on the Hillsborough Road. Before the arrival of the mail coach, the
poor child, contused and mangled by percussion on the pavement, had expired. We are informed that his mother was just returning from
Belfast when she met the cow dragging the lifeless corpse of her son on the
highway, and was thrown into a state of distraction, in which she still
continues. Maguire has fled. He is a lad about five feet high stout
made with a downcast countenance, and had on him an old artillery coat and a
woolen hat." An inquest was held on the body by Mr. Henry Allen,
coroner, which found that "the said John Young came to his death in
consequence of having been tied to a cow's s tail, the property of John Woods,
by Patrick Maguire, and that the said tying was not through malice, but youthful
inadvertence by said Maguire." Would you have used the word "assassinated"? You
might if you had been the loving father or mother of little John Young. The Thompson Home
The "Thompson Memorial Home for Incurables," now
"Thompson House," was erected in 1885. This magnificent building on
the Magheralave Road, Lisburn, was built in memory of William Thompson, Esq.,
M.D., F.R.C.S.I., born the 7th March, 1806. He was surgeon m the County Antrim
Infirmary, Seymour Street, Lisburn, for fifty years. He died on the 22nd
September, 1882, in an accident on the level crossing on the railway at
Dunmurry. Dr. Thompson's s memorial and grave is in the Lisburn Cathedral
graveyard. He resided in Castle Street in which is now the Fire Authority
building, next to the Technical College. He got a fee farm grant from Richard,
Marquis of Hertford, on the 26th of January, 1854. The founder members of the home were his wife, Mrs. Rostina
Thompson, who died 8th December, 1884, and his daughter, Mrs. Mary Hogg Bruce,
and her husband, James Broke, Esq., D.L., J.P., of "Thorndale," Antrim
Road, Belfast. Mrs. Bruce died on 4th May, 1893. The architect was Godfrey W.
Ferguson. In a book entitled "The Fultons of Lisburn," it
is stated: Jane Wightman, daughter of James and Margaret Wightman, married
Francis Abbott Thompson on the 6th June, 1805. Their son, William, married
Rosina, widow of - Maxwell and sister of Sir James Weir Hogg. Their daughter,
Mary Hogg Thompson married as her second husband James Bruce of Belfast. She
founded the Thompson Memorial Home in memory of her father." The Bruce family maintained a very close personal interest
in the management of the home and the welfare of the residents, knowing most of
them and visiting them after Board meetings. Their association with the home
never ceased, and the late Mr. M. R. Bruce of "Corriewood,"
Castlewellan, was president of the Board of Management of the Thompson Memorial
Home when it was finally taken over by the Antrim County Council. Many prominent persons in the business life of the
community were also on the Board during its seventy-eight years of voluntary
service, including Thomas Richardson, D.L., Springfield, Lisburn, Mr. George
Clark,, of the Island Spinning Company; Mr. James Hanna, of Boyd's. The home was meant for people who were in need of care,
preferably young or middle-aged who needed attention which they could not get in
their own homes. There was Thomas Withers, who was admitted at the age of about
twenty years and lived in the home for almost fifty years. being permanently
confined to a wheel-chair. There were many others, men and women who spent a
large part of their life in residence. Originally the inmates paid nothing, but about 1930, during
the chairmanship of Major Charles Blakiston-Houston, endowments could no longer
cover the cost of upkeep, and it was decided to make a small charge. The home
had been free to the residents for forty-five years. Mr. Thomas H. McDonald, M.B.E., Town Clerk of Lisburn, was
secretary for many years. And so ended, in 1963, the first period of the life of the
home, which had actually been home to so many. THOMPSON HOUSE
The home was taken over by the Antrim County Health
Committee in 1963, and after very many extensive alterations and additions it
was re-opened on the 9th October, 1967, by the Governor of Northern Ireland,
Lord Erskine of Rerrick, G.B.E., LL.D., with the new name "Thompson
House:" The "House" has now a new lease of life and is
part of the Welfare Service. The most advanced apparatus is now in use for the
various disabilities and a qualified staff, under the matron, Mrs. E. King, is
in constant attendance. Lisburn should be proud of having such an institution in
the district. I thank Mrs. Ingeborg Ross Bruce, of Castlewellan, a member
of the home Board for many years, for her help in getting the above information. Another little bit of information I discovered was about the land on which the Park Parade and Llewellyn Avenue houses are built. It appears on some of the deeds as the "Doctor's Field." He had it as a grazing field in 1858. The gate to the field can be seen at No. 1 Park Parade (Mr. Carmichael). There are two granite pillars and an iron gate in the existing hedge next to the footpath. Really remarkable after all the years. Have a look at it next time you pass and imagine Dr. William Thompson or his coachman coming out with their pony and taking it up to Castle. Street to start the doctor on his visits. HEADSTONE AT GRAVE OF WILLIAM THOMPSON, M.D., F.R.C.S.I.,
1888.
In Lisburn Cathedral Graveyard just behind the Cross Row
Houses. Polished granite In memory of William Thompson, born 6th Jan., 1783, died
7th Oct, 1843. At the bottom of the headstone: Erected by Rosina Thompson widow of Wm. Thompson M.D., F.R.C.S.I.,
1883.
|
||||||||||
