Sally finds her family created the Tyne God
Jun 19 2009 The Journal
AUSTRALIAN journalist Sally Hammond literally came face to face with her family’s past on a North East journey of discovery.
Sally travelled the 10,000-miles from her Sydney home to Newcastle to discover her Tyneside roots.
But so far the closest connection she has found is a 3ft wooden carving – the famous Tyne God.
Sally is the region to research her great great grandfather MA Richardson, a well known local businessman and printer, who originally commissioned the Tyne God mask which now hangs in the Newcastle City Library building and is part of the Newcastle Collection.
Moses Aaron Richardson commissioned the work in 1835 for his premises on Akenside Hill, Newcastle, from Agostino Carlini’s original design.
The original Carlini Tyne God was one of nine sculptures which represented England’s main waterways for the newly-rebuilt Somerset House in 1786 and can still be seen today.
Sally, who lives in a beachside suburb of Sydney, will also be writing about Newcastle and the surrounding region.
Her trip is part of One North East’s ongoing marketing and PR campaign in Australia and New Zealand, launched on the back of the direct Emirates flight into Newcastle International Airport.
As well as discovering the striking family artefact, Sally will also be using the library’s new local studies and family history section which holds details going back many generations.
She said: “It is just so wonderful to be finally in the city my great great grandfather left with his many children 160 years ago this year.
“I am really hoping to find out more about his life here – perhaps to even meet up with some long-lost family members.
“There was a family story that he brought with him a family tree which went back to 1066 and which was subsequently lost in Australia.
“As he was a genealogist, it could be possible, and I am holding out the faint hope there may be another copy somewhere here.”
Kath Cassidy, heritage manager at the City Library, said: “With programmes like Who Do You Think You Are, tracing your family tree has become very popular and with the opening of the new family history section at the new City Library, it has made this easier.
“We have records which go back over many hundreds of years so I am sure Sally will be able to find out more about her ancestor and what he meant to the cultural life of the city.”
She added: “The local studies and family history section is an important part of the new City Library and an invaluable free resource which can be used by anyone.”
:: DO you think you could be one of Sally’s long lost relatives in the North East? If so, e-mail her at shammond@iprimus.com.au or call Alastair Craig at The Journal on 0191 201 6007
