Stories from the Graveyard Children

“Short lives”
Childhood mortality was tragically high in the 19th and early 20th centuries. About half of all the people buried in St James’ Graveyard during this period were children under five years of age. This film describes the conditions in which children lived and died in the past, and highlights some of the stories of child victims of the epidemics of infectious diseases that were a common feature of life in Newcastle.
Stories from the Graveyard: telling the story of Benwell and Scotswood.
This is one of a series of short films, illustrated with archive photographs, about people buried in St James’ graveyard in the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne. When the graveyard was opened in 1833, Benwell and Scotswood were home to many of the richest and most powerful families on Tyneside. But this was also an important coal mining area and, as time went on, the location of some of the region’s major industries. Among the more than 12,000 people buried in this graveyard were pitmen, soldiers, farmers, engineers, shopkeepers and many others, including thousands of young children. These films tell the stories of some of those buried at St James’. They were created by St James’ Heritage and Environment Group as part of a project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.