Research on the City of Sunderland.

1. Subject research
City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
Born inthe Middle Ages,Sunderlandbecameatowninthe year 1154 once a permithad beengiven
to the people of the areabasicallygivingthemcertainrights.Withamuchsmallerpopulation,back
thenthe towngrewslowlywithonlyafew hundredcitizenslivingamongstone another.Andto
compare that to today'spopulation,by2021 there were 342,000 people livingthere.
Seenasa small andunimportantarea,in1565 a writerand wentonto say that Sunderland“Isin
great decayof buildingsandinhabitants.”Whatsavedthe townreallywaswhenin1589, the
governorRobertBowesandpartnerJohnSmithhad begunmakingsalt.Evaporatingseawaterwith
heatedironvatsand poor-qualitiedcoal,Sunderlandsoonbecame famousforexportingtheirmuch
better,comparedqualitiedcoal fromthe Coal PitMr. Boweshad owned.
Withthe nowcityhavinga coalmine,ashippingportandevenbeinghailedasthe largest
shipbuildingtowninthe world.Because of this,Sunderlandhadbecome one of Hitlersprime target
whenhittingEnglandduringWorldWarTwo. Disablingaccesstothese particularsectionswould
have had a knock-oneffectthroughoutthe whole of the UnitedKingdom.
Goingback to the shipbuildingbusinessnow, Sunderlandwerecrucial tothe war as theywere able
to bothbuildandrepairdamagedvehicles.Underaconstantthreatof bombing,May1943 was
whentheyhadthe worst of it. Withendlessattackingraids,anarticle hadappearedinthe
Sunderlandechodatedthe 16th
of the saidyearand monthdescribingthe situationas“One of the
worstraids of the war”.
1992 was the yearSunderlandbecame acity.The Tyne and Wear CountyCouncil haddeceased
existence inthe earlieryear1986, leadingtothe townspeoplebeingaunitaryauthority.Andafter
winningacompetitiontocelebratethe Queens40th
yearon the throne,the place had beengranted
citystatus.
There are manysidestothe story of where the term“Mackem” had actuallycome from.Some
beliefsheadtowardsMackemsbeingmade upinthe miningdayswithGeordiesusingitasslangto
insultthose whocame fromSunderland.A secondclaimrefersbacktoa sayingtheyusedto use
whenthe shipbuildingindustrywasstillaround.“We mack’emand ye tack ’em”. Branchingoff of
the term Mackems,anothername forthemis “Mac ’n’Tacs” linkingmore tothe phrase mentioned.
Born inSunderland,inventorJosephSwanhaddemonstratedhiselectriclightbulbinFawcettStreet
on January19th
, 1879. WhilstThomasEdisons versionhadbeendone inDecemberthatsame year.
Nowknownas a welcome monumenttoall travellingresidents,Penshaw Monumentwasbuiltfrom
1844 to 1845 on PenshawHill betweenthe districtsof Houghton-Le-SpringandWashington,still
withinSunderland andisa memorial dedicatedtothe firstEarl of Durham, JohnLambton.
Witha secretbuilt-instaircase,thatstaircase hadtobe closedtothe publicfrom1926 until 2011
whenthe National Trustgainedownershipandbeganofferingtours.Reasonbeingforthistohappen
inthe firstplace,a groupof fourteenagershadbeengoingupanddownon those stairs.Wantingto
go a thirdtime,fifteen-year-oldArthurScotthadmanagedto slipandfell 70ft to hisdeath.Doctors
had evenreportedthe boydiedatthe scene.

2. Fencedoff fromthe 1930s, the stairsbeganrepairby1939. Furtherrestorationstartedin1979
havingpartsof the monumentgetdismantledinaimtohave the constructiona lot saferonce
restored.
With‘the Black Cats’beingassociatedwithSunderlandfootball team;the name hadlongbeen
associatedwithSunderlanddue toa mythof a SunderlandLoyal Volunteermilitiawhofledfrom
“the howlingof an approachingblackcat” one nightin1805. From this,those guardingthe River
Wear had begunto be locallyknownasthe BlackCat Battery.
Believingthe name hada ringto it,the BlackCats became a name for the SunderlandAFConce it
had beenfoundedin1879. Notbeingthat popularisedthough,itwasthe legendthathadbeen
reinforcedin1937 afterSunderlandhadwontheirfirstFA Cup.Withthe superstitionof BlackCats
beingbadomens,forEnglishsailorstheywere alwaysseenasgoodluckcharms.So that game,a red
and white supporter,BillyMorrishadsaidto have snuckan actual blackcat intothe game believing
that wasthe mainreasonSunderlandwere abletowinthe cup trophy.
Evenafterthat though,itwasn’tuntil 1997 that the BlackCats became an official nicknameforthe
club.As before settlingwiththat,the clubhadalsogone throughthe nicknames:‘The Rokerites’,
‘The Lads’,and ‘The Mackems’.
Inspiringthe SunderlandCulture charitywe have withustodayin2022, Sunderlandishome tothe
inventionof StainedGlass.Withthe veryfirstcreationbeingastainedglasswindowforthe StPeters
Church,the windowisno longerinone piece,butfragmentscanstill be foundatthat same church
as well asthe SunderlandMuseum,WinterGardensandthe National GlassCentre.
A slightlydarkerfactnow,Sunderlandishome tothe firstever femaleserialkiller.MaryAnnCotton.
Andbecause of her,the perceptiononwomanhadchangedfrom whenwomenwere assumedtobe
‘kindandgentle’.Hungtoher deathin1873, itwas believedshe hadmurdered21people,including
three of her husbandsand elevenchildren.Takingoutthe life insurancesof herfamilymembers,she
wouldthengoonto poisonhervictimswitharsenic.Unfortunately,theywereonlyable totrial her
for one murder,butdue to the mysteriousrise of illnessesthroughoutherfamily,people werevery
suspiciousonthe detail.
A Historyof Sunderland - Local Histories
Sunderland,UK MetroArea Population1950-2022 | MacroTrends
Sunderland - Wikipedia
Mackem history.Whatisa ‘mackem’? - England'sNorthEast (englandsnortheast.co.uk)
AmazingFacts – Virtual Sunderland
PenshawMonument - Wikipedia
Why Are SunderlandKnownasthe BlackCats? – Soccer365
10 bizarre facts youmightnot knowaboutSunderland|SunderlandEcho
BBC - Legacies- Work - England- Wear - Sunderland'sshipyardsduringWW2- Article Page 1