Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Variant name of place

Newcastle; England

Geographic position

54.9740° N, 1.6132° W

Event

Fundraising Tour of Great Britain

;

Mason Land Case

Sources

“Newcastle upon Tyne.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 30 Jul. 2014. https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/wwwfileroot/legacy/libraries/HistoryofNewcastlemainbody.pdf. Geo coordinates from https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=geographic+coordinates+of+newcastle+upon+tyne.

General note

Newcastle upon Tyne, commonly called Newcastle, is a city located in northeastern England. The Romans occupied this area as early as 122 A.D. and used it as a military defense site. After the Norman Conquest, Richard II, eldest son of William the Conqueror, built a castle to defend eastern England against potential invaders from Scotland; hence, the town's name. Due to its key location along the Tyne River and near the North Sea, Newcastle became a center for trade in medieval England. During the English Civil War, Newcastle was put under siege and the city’s economic growth was hindered until after the Restoration. One of Newcastle’s chief exports was locally mined coal, which was often shipped to burgeoning London. By the end of the 17th century, other industries blossomed in Newcastle as well, further establishing the city as an economic center. In 1755, Carr’s Bank was founded in Newcastle, which was probably England's first bank outside of London. Newcastle was one of the stops on Occom and Whitaker’s fundraising tour of England. Their stop in the city was recorded in a London newspaper, which, according to ms. 767569, reported that “a subscription is open at the Newcastle bank for the promoting that truly charitable and benevolent scheme,” a reference to Wheelock’s Indian school.