Still known to many of its customers as Bainbridge's, the much-loved Newcastle Institution dates from 1838,. But, as John Hobbs discovers, behind the success lay a tragic story.
RESEARCHERS at a small dales museum have unearthed the tragic and remarkable history of one of the North-East's most famous department store owners.
The story of the Bainbridge family, which ran the Newcastle-based business for 115 years, ended with the death of the grandson of the store's founder in a volcano eruption in distant New Zealand.
Twenty-year-old Edwin Bainbridge was one of up to 150 people who perished among the ashes of Mount Tarawera, near Rotorua, in the early hours of June 10, 1886.
He had been sent to New Zealand by his grandfather and store founder, Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge, to recover from the deaths of his two sisters from consumption and the later death of his brother from gunshot wounds.
He had been brought up by his grandparents after he was orphaned at the age of seven.
Shortly before his death, Edwin managed to write the following note: "Written by Edwin Bainbridge, of Newcastle on Tyne, England. This is the most awful moment of my life. I cannot tell when I may be called upon to meet my God.
"I am thankful that I find His strength sufficient for me. We are under heavy falls of volcano."
The remarkable tale of the Bainbridge family, who came from Eastgate, in Weardale, where they built the Bainbridge Memorial Chapel, came to light among stories about dales family who have emigrated across the world.
This research has led to a display being mounted at the Weardale Museum, at Ireshopeburn, which will open this Easter.
Retired scientist Ken Heatherington, who has put together much of the research, said: "We have come across some fascinating and some dramatic stories about dales people who have emigrated all over the globe - to places like Australia, South Africa, the US and Chile.
"But the story of the Bainbridge family and the death of Edwin is particularly traumatic."
Other stories included the involvement of two Weardale men in an insurgency in the Australian goldfields in 1854, which resulted in the deaths of 30 people.
Mr Heatherington said: "We have found that lots of families from Weardale have emigrated to distant lands over the years, and we have managed to put together a display of some of their history."
Accounts of the Mount Tarawera eruption, in which Edwin died, said that by 2.30am, three peaks of the mountain were erupting, with columns reaching thousands of metres into the sky.
But worse was to come, with basalt magma mixing with the hydro-thermal system under nearby Lake Rotomahana so, at 3.20am, the bed of the lake exploded, taking with it the terraces of the lakeside hotel, where Edwin Bainbridge was a guest. He died when the verandah of the hotel collapsed.
His death came as a terrible shock to the New Zealand relatives of the Bainbridge family.
The reaction of his family back home in Britain was to send sufficient funds for the establishment of a Methodist church in Rotorua, the nearest town to the tragedy.
Appropriately, like its namesake back home in Eastgate, it was called the Bainbridge Memorial Church.
The first Bainbridge department store was opened in 1838 in Market Street, Newcastle. In 1953, Bainbridge agreed to join the John Lewis Partnership. The store continues to trade today as John Lewis, in Newcastle's Eldon Square.
* Weardale Museum is by the A689 at Ireshopeburn, next to High House Chapel. It will be open to the public from Friday to next Monday, 2pm to 5pm.
The museum, which is staffed by volunteers, will close until Monday, May 1, when it will open every week from Wednesdays to Sundays, 2pm to 5pm. Admission is £1.50.
* Go to The Northern Echo's online history site at www. northeasthistory.co.uk
Published: 11/04/2006
