The dispensary was instituted by Rev. John Collinson, William Brockett and others after a cholera epidemic starting in December 1831 killed 234 Gateshead residents over 11 months. The dispensary opened on 2 November 1832 and provided medical help to the sick poor. It closed in 1946.
A long-running blue plaque scheme is in operation in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. Administered by the local council, the scheme was registered with English Heritage in 1970 and 21 blue plaques were installed from the inception of the scheme until 1996. Although the scheme was never formally closed, only one further plaque was then unveiled prior to the presentation of a 'report to cabinet' on 16 November 2004 which recommended that the scheme be revived. Seven further plaques were installed prior to the publication of a commemorative council document in 2010, bringing the total to 29, though a number of further plaques have been installed since that date.
The Gateshead scheme aims to highlight notable persons who lived in the borough, notable buildings within it and important historical events. An individual will only be considered for commemoration by Gateshead blue plaque if they meet the suggested criteria laid out in the 2004 'report to cabinet'. These are that the individual has sufficient local standing, is regarded as an eminent member of their profession, calling or field or has made some important contribution to "human welfare or happiness". The individual must have lived in Gateshead and either had a significant impact on the borough or are of such national or international eminence that their association with the borough is itself noteworthy. They must also be deceased. Some of those commemorated through the scheme include Geordie Ridley, author of the Blaydon Races, William Wailes, a noted 19th century proponent of stained glass who lived in a "fairytale mansion" at Saltwell Park, the industrialist and co-founder of Clarke Chapman, William Clarke and Sir Joseph Swan, the inventor of the incandescent light bulb whose house in Low Fell was the first in the world to be illuminated by electric light.
An historical event will be considered suitable for a Gateshead blue plaque so long as it was not a usual occurrence, had a significant impact on local or national history and can be readily associated with a building or structure to which the corresponding plaque can be appended. Events commemorated by Gateshead blue plaque include the 19th century Felling mining disasters, one of which included "one of the most tremendous explosions in the history of coal mining" and which killed 92 men and boys.
Gateshead is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. The town shares the Millennium Bridge, Tyne Bridge and multiple other bridges with Newcastle upon Tyne.
Historically part of County Durham, under the Local Government Act 1888 the town was made a county borough, meaning it was administered independently of the county council.
In the 2011 Census, the town had a population of 120,046 while the wider borough had 200,214.
Gateshead is first mentioned in Latin translation in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People as ad caput caprae ("at the goat's head"). This interpretation is consistent with the later English attestations of the name, among them Gatesheued (c. 1190), literally "goat's head" but in the context of a place-name meaning 'headland or hill frequented by (wild) goats'. Although other derivations have been mooted, it is this that is given by the standard authorities.
A Brittonic predecessor, named with the element *gabro-, 'goat' (c.f. Welsh gafr), may underlie the name. Gateshead might have been the Roman-British fort of Gabrosentum.
There has been a settlement on the Gateshead side of the River Tyne, around the old river crossing where the Swing Bridge now stands, since Roman times.
The first recorded mention of Gateshead is in the writings of the Venerable Bede who referred to an Abbot of Gateshead called Utta in 623. In 1068 William the Conqueror defeated the forces of Edgar the Ætheling and Malcolm king of Scotland (Shakespeare's Malcolm) on Gateshead Fell (now Low Fell and Sheriff Hill).
During medieval times Gateshead was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durham. At this time the area was largely forest with some agricultural land. The forest was the subject of Gateshead's first charter, granted in the 12th century by Hugh du Puiset, Bishop of Durham. An alternative spelling may be "Gatishevede", as seen in a legal record, dated 1430.
Throughout the Industrial Revolution the population of Gateshead expanded rapidly; between 1801 and 1901 the increase was over 100,000. This expansion resulted in the spread southwards of the town.
In 1854, a catastrophic explosion on the quayside destroyed most of Gateshead's medieval heritage, and caused widespread damage on the Newcastle side of the river.
Sir Joseph Swan lived at Underhill, Low Fell, Gateshead from 1869 to 1883, where his experiments led to the invention of the electric light bulb. The house was the first in the world to be wired for domestic electric light.
In the 1889 one of the largest employers (Hawks, Crawshay and Company) closed down and unemployment has since been a burden. Up to the Second World War there were repeated newspaper reports of the unemployed sending deputations to the council to provide work. The depression years of the 1920s and 1930s created even more joblessness and the Team Valley Trading Estate was built in the mid-1930s to alleviate the situation.
In the late noughties, Gateshead Council started to regenerate the town, with the long-term aim of making Gateshead a city. The most extensive transformation occurred in the Quayside, with almost all the structures there being constructed or refurbished in this time.
In the early 2010s, regeneration refocused on the town centre. The £150 million Trinity Square development opened in May 2013, it incorporates student accommodation, a cinema, health centre and shops. It was nominated for the Carbuncle Cup in September 2014. The cup was however awarded to another development which involved Tesco, Woolwich Central.