Working Men's Conservative Club, Seaham
Used as a billet during the First World War
Type: War Memorial
The Working Men’s Conservative Club on Charles Street Seaham, was also known as: Seaham Harbour Conservative Club. It is not to be confused with the New Seaham Conservative Club, which retains its original form and function on 208 Station Road, Seaham.
The Working Men’s Conservative Club was constructed in 1894 at a cost of over £2000. It was owned by the Londonderry family. It is a redbrick structure on the junction of Charles Street and Marlborough Street, which was why the Urban District Council of Seaham Harbour listed the Club on Marlborough Street instead of its modern address on Charles Street. The structure contained reading, smoking, card and billiard rooms. Dwellings for caretakers were available, who lived on the premises full-time and were registered as voters under this semi-public structure. There was around 800 members in 1914, with Frederick Thomas Talmadge as secretary of the club in 1914.
The building was used in the Frist World War as a billet. It was likely that the building was entirely managed by the military as the structure does not appear in civilian records – except for an application to build a temporary urinal on the premises, presumably to handle the new influx of servicemen on the premises as the Club adopted a residential purpose.
A First World War memorial roll of honour was unveiled here by the Marquess of Londonderry in 1919. It listed 182 names of men who served, 6 of whom died.
The Club took up its original socio-political role again after the First World War, becoming a center for local politics. Lord Londonderry gave a speech in the Working Men’s Conservative Club in December 1926 regarding the lock-out and general strike of 1926, during which he criticised trade unionist Arthur James Cook, accusing him of being a communist.
The Club continued its operations into the 1960s, where it fell under the management of the Londonderry Administrative Services, while still owned by the Londonderry family. The structure went through a period of intense restoration and modernization: female toilets were added in 1961 and a caretaker’s house completely renovated. Part of the premises was outsourced to E Williams, who ran a small betting shop between 1962 to 1974 – at a lease rate of £2 per week. By around 1968, when the border brick walls required intense restoration, the Administrative Services decided the building was too much to maintain and offered to lease the structure out to a member of the Club Trustees. Each lease term was to last 21 years, during which the Trustee paid £250 rent per year, and had to undertake any repairs and maintenance, while covering all costs. This lease offer was not warmly received by the Club Trustees.
Concern for the continuity of the Working Men’s Conservative Club grew in the early 1970s when the Londonderry family were selling their estates. According to the secretary at the time, T Kennedy, the members were concerned that the club would be sold. The same lease offer was made, and refused again. Lord Londonderry ended up agreeing to sell the club to the Club Trustees for £12500, with the promise that the premises remained a Conservative Club. After negotiation, the Working Men’s Conservative Club was sold for £11811 in 1975.
The structure still stands today but it has been transformed into a pub. It retains its original redbrick appearance.
Sources cited:
UD/Sea 64
Urban District Council Records of Seaham Harbour (1916-1920)
D/Lo Acc 1750(D) Box 25/7
38 Londonderry Administrative Services: Seaham Conservative Club, Charles Street, Seaham
D/X 1133/3/2(46)
Notes for a speech to be made by Lord Londonderry at Seaham Harbour Conservative Club on 16 December 1926
Civil Parish: Dawdon
Contributed by Tullia Fraser | Durham County Council Archaeology Section
