The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England
7th century 674 CE Building of St. Peter's Church. 11th century 1069 Edgar Ætheling sailed for Scotland from Wearmouth. 12th century 1183 Bishop Hugh du Puiset's charter creates the first Borough of Sunderland 14th century 1346 Thomas Menvill paid Bishop Hatfield an annual rent of 2s to build ships at Hendon, Sunderland (according to a 1697 copy of a document dated 1346)
17th century 1630s 1634 Bishop Morton's Charter created Sunderland's first Mayor and Corporation.
1640s Local shipbuilders included Frances Readhead and Roger Thornton at Bishopwearmouth Panns 1660s 1669 Letters patent permitted the erection of a pier and lighthouse. 1670s 1672 The Goodchilds of Pallion, a local landowning family, built small ships to transport lime produced in their kilns 1690s 1698 Formation of Sunderland Company of Glassmakers
18th century 1710s 1719 Sunderland Parish's Holy Trinity Church opened 1790s 1793 John and Philip Laing from Fife established a shipyard at Monkwearmouth Shore 1795 Birth of Sir Henry Havelock at Ford Hall in Bishopwearmouth. 1796 Wearmouth Bridge was opened, a cast iron bridge over the River Wear at Sunderland
19th century 1800s 1807 Luke Crown started a shipyard at Monkwearmouth Shore 1810s 1816 Robert Surtees stated that 'In shipbuilding the Port of Sunderland stands at present the highest in the United Kingdom' 1818 Philip Laing opened a shipyard at Deptford yard in Sunderland
1820s 1822 Opening of the railway line from Hetton to Sunderland coal staithes, one of the earliest uses of locomotive power. The engineer was George Stephenson. 1826 15 June: Birth of Harry Watts, a Sunderland diver who rescued over 40 people from drowning – and assisted in the rescue of another 120 people. Sinking of Wearmouth Colliery Peter Austin (SP Austin & Sons) opened a shipyard at Monkwearmouth Shore
1830s 1831 October: the first UK outbreak of cholera occurred in Sunderland – 200 people died. 1832 Sunderland became a parliamentary borough under the Reform Act, returning two members of Parliament. 1835 St Mary's Church, Sunderland completed. 1835/6 Establishment of the modern Borough Council, with the first modern Mayor 1837 George Bartram and John Lister started a shipbuilding yard at South Hylton 1838 William Pickersgill with Messrs Miller, Rawson and Watson began shipbuilding at the North Dock
1840s 1840 There were 76 shipyards on the Wear and 251 ships were constructed totaling 64,446 tons William Doxford founded his shipbuilding company and started building ships at Cox Green 1843 James Laing, son of Philip Laing, took over the company as James Laing & Sons 1845 William Pickersgill split from his partners and developed a shipyard at Southwick 1846 SP Austin and Sons moved their ship yard across the river to a site near Wearmouth Bridge Robert Thompson and his three sons began shipbuilding at North Sands and built their first ship in 11 weeks 1848 George Thomas Clark established an engineering works in Sunderland
1850s 1850 Opening of the South Docks by George Hudson MP George Short established a shipbuilding yard 1852 27 February:Loftus of 77 tons, the first iron ship built on the Wear, was launched, constructed by George Thomas Clark and John Barkes 1853 Amity, iron ship of 479 tons, was built by Laings 1854 Robert Thompson (junior) opened his own shipyard 1856 Birth of Sir William Mills, (1856 – 1932) inventor of the WW1 Mills bomb 1857 William Doxford moved his shipbuilding yard to Pallion 1858 The tongue of 'Big Ben' was forged at Hopper's foundry, Houghton Wearmouth Bridge widened under the direction of Robert Stephenson.
1860s 1860 Robert Thompson died and his son Joseph Lowes Thompson took over the shipbuilding company 1869 Short Brothers of Sunderland moved their shipyard to Pallion
1870s 1871 Bartrams moved from South Hylton to South Dock and were known as Bartram & Haswell after the owners, RA Bartram (son of George Bartram) and George Haswell 1873 Foundation of the Sunderland Echo 1875 A record of 64 days was set for the run to Australia by the Wear built sailing vessel The Torrens. Launched in 1875, the novelist Joseph Conrad served on her for a time as mate Joseph Lowes Thompson died and his three sons took over the shipbuilding company, J. L. Thompson and Sons 1879 Sunderland A.F.C. was founded by Thomas Allen as Sunderland and District Teachers Association Football Club Sunderland station opened
1880s 1880 Coppermine was built by William Pickersgill, the last wooden ship built on the Wear William Pickersgill was killed in an accident at his shipyard 1882 William Doxford died 1888 Sunderland granted County Borough status 1889 George Haswell retired from shipbuilders Bartram & Haswell and RA Bartram was joined by his two sons to form Bartram & Sons
1890s 1890 Sunderland Town Hall opened. 1891 Population: 131,686. William Doxford & Sons shipbuilding company formed by William Doxford's sons, William Theodore, Alfred, Robert and Charles 1892 Sunderland A.F.C. win the Football League Championship 1893 Sunderland A.F.C. win the Football League Championship 1895 Sunderland A.F.C. win the Football League Championship 1897 James Laing was knighted 1898 James Laing changed the company name to Sir James Laing & Sons
20th century 1900s 1900 Sunderland Corporation Tramways started. 1901 Population: 146,077. 1902 Sunderland A.F.C. win the Football League Championship 1903 28 May: Pontoon opened at SP Austin & Sons yard enabling the docking of ships of up to 400ft in length. The pontoon was built by Swan Hunter at Wallsend Roker Pier – the harbour's northern breakwater is opened at 2,790 feet long. 1904 William Doxford & Sons doubled their capacity to build ships with the opening of the East Yard with three new berths Doxfords recorded the highest production of any shipyard in the world 1907 Doxfords again recorded the highest production of any shipyard in the world Sir James Laing died 1909 The then heaviest bridge in Britain was opened. The Queen Alexandra Bridge carried road and rail traffic, the railway deck remained in use for barely 12 years
1910s 1913 Sunderland AFC win the Football League Championship 1917 15 June: King George V and Queen Mary visited Sunderland touring all the main shipyards 1920s 1923 Police Boxes, model for the TARDIS pioneered by Chief Constable Frederick Crawley 1930s 1936 Sunderland A.F.C. win the Football League Championship 1937 Sunderland A.F.C. win the FA Cup 1940s 1940 26 July: SS Balzac a Norwegian steamer, hit a mine after leaving port in Sunderland and sank, with 6 fatalities 1941 August: The Government decided to use Sunderland Corporation Quay for handling cargoes of war materials 1943 The Government decided to use a berth at South Docks for handing government cargoes 1946 30 April: Princess Elizabeth visited Sunderland to open the Sunderland Eye Infirmary and to launch the British Princess at James Laing & Sons
1950s 1954 SP Austin & Sons merged with William Pickersgill & Sons Ltd to form Austin & Pickersgill and redeveloped the Southwick yard Sunderland Corporation Tramways closed
1960s 1964 Washington designated as a New Town Short Brothers of Sunderland shipyard was closed with the loss of 300 jobs 1967 Ryhope, Silksworth, Tunstall, East & Middle Herrington, South Hylton, part of Offerton, Castletown and Whitburn South Bents added to the County Borough of Sunderland Bartram & Sons shipbuilders was taken over by Austin & Pickersgill 1969 Sunderland Technical & Art Colleges merged to form Sunderland Polytechnic (now the University of Sunderland)
1970s 1970 Opening of new Basil Spence-designed Sunderland Civic Centre by the Princess Margaret 1971 Sunderland Town Hall demolished The demolition of the East Yard of Doxfords was started 1973 1 October: Demolition of Doxford's East Yard was completed Sunderland A.F.C. win the FA Cup for the second time 1974 Washington, Hetton-le-Hole and Houghton-le-Spring become part of the new Borough of Sunderland 1976 8 April: Court Shipbuilding Group officially opened a new covered shipbuilding hall, replacing Doxford's East Yard 26 May: Cedarbank, the first ship to be built at the new Court Shipbuilding Group yard, was launched 1978 First Wearside Jack hoax letter sent to West Yorkshire Police The former Bartram & Sons shipyard was closed
1980s 1984 Nissan chose Sunderland for their new European manufacturing base 1986 Abolition of Tyne and Wear County Council increases Sunderland Council's powers and duties 1988 Announcement of closure of the shipyards on Wearside 1990s 1992 The City of Sunderland was created a by the Queen on 23 March 1993 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visit Sunderland to unveil the city's new coat of arms 1997 Stadium of Light opens
21st century 2000s 2001 The entire council housing stock of 39,000 homes is transferred to private landlord Gentoo after a referendum of tenants found 95% support in favour of the move 2008 Sunderland Aquatic Centre opens, the only Olympic-sized pool between Glasgow and Leeds, on a site adjacent to the Stadium of Light
See also Timeline of shipbuilding on the River Wear Timeline of County Durham Timeline of Tyne and Wear
References
Sources
Further reading Published in the 19th century
Published in the 20th century