Tyneside

[aldamile]

Hello,Does anyone know the  details of the arrival, of Arab men in Newcastle ,apparently they arrived by boat from North Africa ,circa1900 ,caused quite a stir  .but integrated into the society .Marrying the local girls and settling in to life in the north east .thanks Aldamile

[sirius]

    Hi Aldamile

    I think the bbc tv programme Coast a few months ago had about this and how it caused
    some rioting.

[Patsy Beech]

Yes, the BBC programme "Coast" did have a small piece on the Mill Dam Riots in South Shield. The series is now available on a 3-DVD set. The programme went right around the 9,000 mile coast of Britain, and even on 3 DVD's you will only find a small part relating to the riots, but it is very interesting.

There should be more information in the local South Shields paper, or why not try Sanddancers website, that is full of information about South Shields.

Good Hunting,
Patsy

[Michael Dixon]

I agree with Patsy... I know of no problems in Newcastle... but my father (b.1918) for forever talking of fierce riots in Should Shields in early part of 1900s, between natives and North African (Algerians, Moroccan etc) sailors who frequented and had settled South Shields.

South Shields was within County Durham.

Newcastle was in Northumberland.

The Newcastle riots would have been fans of Newcastle United and Sunderland football teams.



Michael Dixon,
Blyth, Northumberland

[Trini]

Hi,

I've just bought a recently published book about Crime in NBL and DUR and there is a piece about the riots in South Shields (near Mill Dam) in 1930.

It states that "the Arabs had come to South Shields in the 19th Century and were used as cheap labour on the ships, usually as firemen and stokers because they were thought to be able to cope with the heat."

Regards,

Trini.

[aldamile]

Hi ,I am overwhelmed by the replies to my question ,so thank you to Sirius ,Patsy Beech ,Dixymick and Trini, I will try all the options given , and hopefully be able to find the answer I am looking for ,If not I will have to come back to rootschat for more info .
regards from Aldamile   

[whickham]

From memory most of the Arab community in South Shields was from the Yemen and had been sailors.  Mohammed Ali had his second marriage blessed at the mosque in South Shields.  South shields library would be able to advise you.

Peter

[aldamile]

Hi,Thank you Whickham .After reading all the replies I had ,I
went onto the net , asked google for Mill Dam Riots ,and I had reams of info .But thank you all ,regards from Aldamile