Westgate Hill Cemetery, grave of J and E Richardson

John (1799-1859) and Edward (1805-1863) Richardson were tanners. The Richardsons were Quakers and were originally farmers, branching out into tanning skins after a poor harvest. The family came to Tyneside in the mid 18th century and the father Isaac, set up a tannery in North Shields. In 1784 the tannery was moved into Newcastle, just outside Pilgrim Gate. In 1790 it moved again to Newgate on the site of the Co-op. John and Edward inherited the tannery and began to mechanise it. A steam engine replaced the windmill for grinding the tan bark. The brothers lived in Summerhill Grove. In 1857 the Northumberland and District Bank, in which they were major shareholders, collapsed. John died of apoplexy two years later. Edward moved to a smaller house and died a few months later after a fire at the Newgate tannery in 1863. A new tannery was opened at Elswick the same year and survived for over 100 years. The two gravestones are buried.