William Henry Lee was said to have been born in London in 1849, although his census returns differ. In 1871 he is stated as being born in Stalybridge, Yorkshire, whereas in the 1881 he states that he was born in Collingwell, Australia. His family moved to Australia in the 1850’s where Wm Henry grew up. Apprenticed in 1863 as a sailor at the age of 14 he left his parents to voyage around the world.
His parents had not seen him for years and having moved back to England thought he had been lost to them forever. However, they received a letter from him informing them he was heading back to England. He arrived home on the ship “The Mediator”, his parents waiting there to meet him. By now he was aged 20.
He took up the position of Butcher at Waskerley in a place called the “Old Dock”. The rest of the family had settled nearby, is father and another man named Hall were engaged in the construction of a large reservoir for the Weardale & Shildon Waterworks Company.
However, working as a butcher didn’t last long. He soon took a move to the “New Dock” where he set up a wholesale provisions store in the style of a “Tommy Store” for the navvies constructing the railways. It was a highly profitable business. His father built him a house on the exact spot the Moorcock Public House, Waskerley stood so he could continue his business.
It was around this time, in October 1870 that Wm Henry met and married his wife, Annie Seymour, second daughter of Mr John Seymour of Consett. It was a grand affair, both being of business families. Although, John Seymour owned almost half of Consett at that time, As well as most of the pubs. John’s son in law, Richard Murray was one of Wm Henry’s best men.
At the same time Mr Lee senior took it upon himself to build to knock down the house he had built for his son and built what we know as Moorcock Inn today as a wedding present for the couple. He was his own contractor. The new married couple moved in and took over its running. Mr Lee Snr then moved to Stalybridge near Manchester where he created a very successful business as a cab proprietor.
Within a few years, the couple moved to Consett and took over the running of the Coach & Horses Inn. Possibly as his father in law needed someone to take over the running. This only lasted a few years before the couple decided to live privately which they did for several years, raising their son, John Seymour Lee.
Unfortunately, his father past away and he was required to take over the running of the family cab business in Stalybridge, which he did dutifully . He continued running the family business until 1885, when through pure chance he heard that the lease for the Coach and Horse Inn, Consett had expired so he came back, which obviously held good memories for him. He accepted control of the house and moved back to the area
It was to be their final move. Unfortunately, only 3 years later Wm Henry Lee died of a sudden illness in the Coach & Horses. He was buried on 17 July 1889 in Blackhill, Cemetery at the age of only 43.
The North East Token Project is an ongoing project using the token coinage of the past 400 years to uncover lost social history from our area. Each token added to the archive is researched and documented. It builds a social history lost to time which previously has not been told.
The article sent is only one of the many amazing stories we have uncovered about the North East. This one deals with a very close one for Consett, but many relate to Northumberland and further parts of Durham.
The token which sparked this story is one of only two known, and this one is by far the best example.
By Brian Harrison
The North East Token Project
Consett Heart – Heritage & Arts Centre
The Old Ambulance Hall
Consett
DH8 5AS
About The North East Token Project. As part of our ongoing study and archiving of local north east tokens we create histories of every token, check or tallie we add to the archive. This is just one such history. We are always looking for any tokens related to the North East, from pub and club tokens to bus tokens and mining tokens and checks. Please find The North East Token Project on Facebook here.
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