Thomas Kerr was a
Tyneside
Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt.
The population of Tyneside as published i ...
writer, journalist and songwriter of the middle and late 19th century.
Details
Kerr was born in
Black Gate,
Newcastle, in the shadow of the old castle. He was a
Tyneside
Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt.
The population of Tyneside as published i ...
writer, journalist and songwriter, who lived and worked in Newcastle upon Tyne for many of his early years and (according to
Thomas Allan on page 555 of his
Illustrated Edition of Tyneside Songs and Readings) was a good friend of
Joe Wilson, the Tyneside
Music Hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
entertainer.
Around 1866 he moved to
Blyth, where he wrote occasionally as a reporter for the Blyth Weekly News. He was also one of the regular writers for a period of over seven years of the "An Awd Trimmer" column. The articles which he wrote for this column included several hundred local songs, some his own writing, some by others.
While at Blyth he entered several of the competition run by
John W. Chater
John William Chater (1840–1885) was a prominent 19th-century Tyneside publisher, printer and bookseller, with premises in the centre of Newcastle.
Brief details
Chater was born in Sunderland, Durham.''1871 England Census'' Through his various ...
in his publications, winning several prizes, amongst them a gold medal for the best local song for Chater’s Annual.
Around 1879 he moved back to
Newcastle to full-time employment with a local daily newspaper.
Works
The majority were written in the local
Geordie dialect and include :-
* Aw's glad the Strike's Duin, sung to the tune of "It's time to get up"
* Jimmy's brocken oot, sung to the tune of "The row upon the stairs" (The Gold Medal winner in "Keelmin's comic annewal, for 1871"
* When the Good Times cum Agyen, sung to the tune of "The Captain with the whiskers"
See also
*
Geordie dialect words
Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitute ...
*
Thomas Allan
*''
Allan's Illustrated Edition of Tyneside Songs and Readings
''Allan's Illustrated Edition of Tyneside Songs and Readings'' is a book of Tyneside popular and traditional songs consisting of approximately 400 song lyrics on over 600 pages, published in 1891. It was reprinted in 1972 by Frank Graham, Newca ...
''
References
External links
FARNE - Folk Archive Resource North East (click on Kerr ThomasAllan’s Illustrated Edition of Tyneside songs and readings
English male songwriters
People from Newcastle upon Tyne (district)
Musicians from Tyne and Wear
Geordie songwriters
19th-century births
20th-century deaths
{{Songwriter-stub