William Stephenson (senior) (1763–1836) was a Geordie (from

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

) watchmaker, schoolteacher, poet and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, and father of William Stephenson (junior). His best known works are probably "The Quayside Shaver" and "The Skipper’s Wedding"

Early life

William Stephenson (senior) was born in

on 28 June 1763 and was one of the earliest of the Tyneside songwriters. He became an apprentice with James Atkinson, clock and watchmaker, of

and continued working there afterwards until a severe accident disabled him. After a long time out of work, and a lengthy spell in the country to recuperate, he decided to change his trade. Being an educated man and something of a literary scholar, he opened a school on the Church Stairs,

and became a schoolmaster. In this he had great success and continued for the greater part of his life. William Stephenson died in Gateshead on 12 August 1836, aged 73.

Works

These include : * "Quayside Shaver" in Bell's volume, 1812 * The Invitation - later to become The Skipper's Wedding * Age of Eighty * The Itinerant Confectioner * Newcastle on Saturday Night - A Picture of Saturday Night One Hundred Years Ago (that comment written c1890) * The Retrospect In 1832 he collected his poems and songs (only 6 songs altogether), and published in a thin octavo volume of 112 pages, dedicated, (by permission), to the Rev. John Collinson, the then rector of

. The principal poem is entitled "The Retrospect" and introduces and deals with the eccentric and well known characters of Gateshead, as he knew it in his youth. This poem takes up almost one third of the book.

References

External links

Bards of Newcastle

Allan’s Illustrated Edition of Tyneside songs and readings

John Bell’s Rhymes of Northern Bards

France's Songs of the Bards of the Tyne – 1850

Marshall's Collection of Songs, Comic, Satirical 1827

The Tyne Songster by W & T Fordyce – 1840

FARNE - Folk Archive Resource North East Songs of the Tyne by Ross

FARNE - Folk Archive Resource North East Songs of the Tyne by Walker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, William (senior) English singers English male poets English male songwriters People from Gateshead Musicians from Tyne and Wear Writers from Tyne and Wear 1836 deaths 1763 births Geordie songwriters

Early life

Works

See also

References

External links