Tudhoe & Spennymoor Local History Society
Alexander Bertram Cowan and Helena Mary Cowan (Nee Dodd) - Richard is researching the Cowan family, Alexander Bertram Cowan (4-Nov-1853 – 21-Feb-1902), and Helena Mary Cowan (Nee Dodd) (1857 – 1917). He is particularly looking for photos of Alexander and Helena and their children.
In 1861 George Cowan (b1815) and Frances his wife (b1813) were living in Elswick with their three children, George Marshall (b1845), Charles Edward (b1847) and Alexander Bertram (b1853). George was a wholesale provision merchant, by 1871 George jnr is also a provision merchant and Alexander is an analytical chemist at Messrs Pattinson & Son of Newcastle. Aged twenty Alexander moved to work in Jarrow and in 1877 he was appointed head chemist at the laboratory in Tudhoe Iron Works. He was elected a member of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1878. About 1884 when they were building Siemens Martin steel furnaces he was appointed manager of the steelworks and remained there until 1897.
In 1878 Alexander married Helena Mary Dodd. In 1881 they were living at Half Moon Lane (North side), Mount Pleasant, Spennymoor with their son George Percy (b1879), Helena’s sister Mary Elizabeth Dodd (b1861), a servant and a nurse. In 1891 they have moved to Green Lane and Alexander is the steelworks manager, Emily Dodd and two servants also live there.
They had five children George Percy (b1879), Florence Norah (b1882), Mabel (b1885), Geoffrey (b1888) and Douglas (b1893). Alexander was very involved in the local community, at different times he was manager of Tudhoe and Sunderland Bridge Gas Co., Mount Pleasant, he was a guardian for the Durham Union and stood for the Tudhoe School Board. He was a Lieutenant in 2nd Volunteer Battalion DLI, secretary of Spennymoor Musical Society and President of Tudhoe Football Club.
After leaving the company in 1897, on the 5th March 1898 at the Grand Hotel, Tudhoe Grange, Mr Cowan was presented with a gold watch and Mrs Cowan a bracelet and gold watch from the workers at the steel works. The watch awarded to Helena is inscribed "Presented to MRS A.B. COWAN by the workmen of TUDHOE STEEL WORKS and friends as a mark of esteem March 5th 1898".
In April 1899 Alexander became manager for Parkgate Ironworks & Steel Co. near Rotherham. In 1901 the family lived at “Ross Lynn” Rawmarsh-hill, Rawmarsh, Rotherham, Yorkshire. On 21st February 1902 Alexander died, aged only 48, he was buried at Parkgate. In 1911 Helena is living at 8 Lindum Terrace, Rotherham, Yorks with her children, Mabel, a doctor’s dispenser, Geoffrey, a national telephone engineer and Douglas, a clerk at law.
There is a video on youtube of the workers at Parkgate Ironworks & Steel Co 1901
Dodd in his History of Spennymoor, 1897, says In spite of the growing popularity of steel the Weardale company continued to send large quantities of iron to the market, so that in 1880, whilst there were 2,000 tons of steel produced at the Tudhoe works, there were still 17,000 tons of iron. This was all changed by the Siemens-Martin process, and now the quantity of steel turned out at the Ironworks cannot fall far short of 50,000 tons a year, and the output is about to be immensely increased.
The Siemens-Martin furnaces are fed by gas and hot air, and the valves are reversed every half hour. In order to obtain regularity in this respect a large bell is sounded at the proper time by electric connection with the clock in the office of the Steelworks’ manager. There are forty puddling furnaces at the Works, but Siemens’ steel has to a great extent done away with the puddler’s art, and many of the puddlers are today earning a subsistence by labouring.
If anyone has any photos of the family please email tslhs@btinternet.com.