Sunderland: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

This is about former county borough of Sunderland in England for other places called Sunderland see Sunderland (disambiguation)

Sunderland is an industrial town and port in the English metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear.

Before 1974 it was a county borough and municipal corporation in the traditional county of Durham, North East England. The old county borough has a population of around 195,000.

The City of Sunderland was formed in 1992 when the Sunderland metropolitan borough was awarded city status. The metropolitan borough had been formed in 1974 when the Urban Districts of Hetton-le-Hole and Houghton-le-Spring plus Washington New Town were amalgamated with the County Borough of Sunderland. In this article, the term "town" is used to distinguish the former County Borough of Sunderland and the City of Sunderland.

History

The area is part of the Anglican Diocese of Durham. It has been in the Roman Catholic diocese of Hexham and Newcastle since the Catholic hierarchy was restored in 1850 Located at the mouth of the River Wear, the name "Sunderland" is reputed to come from Soender-land: the land divided by the river. In 674, the King of Northumbria granted a large tract of land to Benedict Biscop to set up a monastery. As a result, the north side of the river became "Monkwearmouth", and the south "Bishopwearmouth", and so Wearmouth was cut asunder by the river, and politics. The monastery quickly became associated with the Venerable Bede.

In 1712 the separate parish of Sunderland was carved from the densely populated east end of Bishopwearmouth, to serve the port. Local government was in the hands of the three churches, and when cholera broke out in 1830 the "select vestrymen" as the church councilmen were called showed themselves completely unable to understand and cope with the epidemic. Demands for democracy and organised town government saw the Borough of Sunderland created in 1836, although impatient citizens elected Andrew White to be Mayor in December 1835.

The first Wearmouth Bridge

Sunderland developed on plateaux high above the river, and so never suffered from the problem of allowing people to cross the river without interrupting the passage of high masted vessels. The Wearmouth Bridge was built in 1796. Without blocking traffic, Robert Stephenson rebuilt the bridge in 1859. It took on its present suspension arch form in 1929. The Wearmouth Bridge and Tyne Bridge in Newcastle are similar in design and even colour, and provided inspiration for the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia.

Next to the North Sea, Sunderland was traditionally a major centre of the shipbuilding and coal mining industries, although the last shipyard closed in 1988 and the last coal mine in 1994. The site of the last coal mine is now occupied by the Stadium of Light, the home ground of football club Sunderland A.F.C.

As the traditional industries have declined, electronics, chemicals, and paper manufacture have replaced them. Some of these new industries, as well as the Nissan car plant, and the nearby North East Aircraft Museum are in Washington, which has more space to allow purpose built factories. The service sector has countered the decline in heavy industry, and the town is home to many customer service telephone call centres, the quality of which means they have avoided the recent trend towards outsourcing overseas.

Like many cities, it is comprised of several areas with their own distinct histories, eg: Fulwell, Monkwearmouth, Roker, and Southwick on the northern side of the Wear, and Bishopwearmouth and Hendon to the south.

The town was the one of the most heavily bombed areas in England during World War II. As a result, much of the town centre was rebuilt in an undistinguished concrete utility style. However, many fine old buildings remain. Religious buildings include St George's Church built in 1719 for an independent Sunderland St Michaels's Church, built as Bishopwearmouth Parish Church and now known as Sunderland Minster and St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth, part dates from 674 and was the original monastery. St Andrew's Roker, so-called "Cathedral of the Arts and Crafts Movement." The Orthodox Jewish Synagogue built in the 1930s is now closed.

There was no Jewish community before 1750. Merchants and others moved from other parts of the United Kingdom, and Europe and a Rabbi was brought over from Holland in 1769. The community grew slowly, often as a side effect of the coal industry. The port exported coal to the eastern Baltic, but there was little return trade, and some ships accepted Polish Jews, especially from Crottingen, Poland, rather than loss money by returning empty in ballast.

The Short Sunderland was a type of flying boat used by the RAF during World War II. It was named after the city.

Sunderland is home to the University of Sunderland.

On March 24 2004 the City adopted St Benedict Biscop as its patron saint. A patron had never been adopted before.

• Kate Adie Formerly Chief News Reporter for the BBC
• The Venerable Bede (674–735)
• St Benedict Biscop (628?–690),
• James Bolam (1938–) Actor.
• Jack Casey Boxer as Cast Iron Casey
• Dr William Reid Clanny (1770–1850) Inventor and Physician
• Sir Tom Cowie Entrepreneuer and philanthropist
• Jack Crawford (1775–1831) Naval hero.
• Terry Deary (1946–) Horrible Histories author
• Russell Enoch Actor (as William Russell) Most people would now know him better as Ted Sullivan, Rita's dead husband in Coronation Street.
• Bryan Ferry (1945–) Musician
• Robert of Geneva Bishopwearmouth's Parish Priest and antipope as Clement VII, first antipope of the Great Schism.
• Sir William Halcrow, civil engineer
• Billy Hardy (1964–) Boxer, once Commonwealth featherweight champion.
• Major-General Sir Henry Havelock (1795 - 1857) was born in Bishopwearmouth (a statue, by William Behnes, in Mowbray Park, Sunderland, commemorates him)
• Melanie Hill (1962–) Actress
• Ernie Johnson Jockey won 1969 Epsom Derby
• Kenickie, a 1990s pop band
• Ernie Lotinga Film & West End actor. One stage name was Dan Roe.
• Gibb McLaughlin (1884.– 1960) Actor born George Gibb McLaughlin
• Civil engineer brothers Patrick Meik and Charles Meik
• Christine Norden (1924–1988) Actress, born Mary Lydia Thornton
• Denise Robertson Novelist and TV agony aunt
• Maurice Roëves (1937–). Actor
• Dave Stewart (1952–) Musician (Eurythmics etc)
• Joseph Swan (1828–1914) Inventor, developed the light bulb before Edison
• The Toy Dolls Punk Rock Band formed in October 1979
• James Herriot (pen name of James Alfred Wight) (1916–1995) Veterinary surgeon and author
• Bob Willis (1949–) Cricketer
• Frank Wilson (1859–1918) Premier of Western Australia