How Sunderland and a pork pie will forever be linked with a tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean
This might be a contender for the most unusual story ever to come out of Sunderland!
And it’s all about a unique link between Wearside and a tiny island in the Atlantic - as well as a pork pie, petroleum jelly and hair restorer.
It comes to us courtesy of Sunderland Antiquarian Society - and it’s quite an incredible tale.
‘A strange event, much ridiculed in the Scottish newspapers’
You would not think there is any obvious connection between St Kilda (an island, 3 miles long and 2 miles wide in the Atlantic Ocean, 250 miles Northwest of Oban) and Sunderland.
But in May 1890, a strange event, much ridiculed in the Scottish newspapers, took place that linked these two distant locations.
It all concerned a Sunderland travel excursion agent called JG Campbell who had visited the island the year before and maintained friendly contact with the local St Kilda schoolteacher John Ross.
The two corresponded and the Sunderland man was told that St Kilda’s most ‘handsome’ woman and a 24-year-old widower were planning to marry.
Microscopes, alarm clocks and a giant pork pie
But there was a problem. The Free Church minister on the island was not yet fully ordained and could not carry out the ceremony.
The Sunderland travel agent was determined to help make the wedding happen and organised an expedition to the island taking the Reverend J.S. Rae, a minister of the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Toward Road to marry the couple.
But the gesture from Wearside went even further. Sunderland people came up with a huge haul of wedding gifts for the couple which included;
Wedding clothes;
Rings and flowers for the marriage ceremony;
A library of 640 books;
An American organ;
A Gaelic bible;
A case of dry soap;
Six crates of petroleum jelly;
24 microscopes;
Several alarm clocks;
And a number of bottles of hair restorer.
Later in May, the steamship ‘Clydesdale’ set off for the island with the Reverend, the travel agent and 50 Wearsiders who wanted to be wedding guests.
The wedding could not go ahead
They moored up at the island’s harbour having journeyed from Sunderland.
But soon after, the bride’s brother rowed across to the boat and informed everyone that the wedding couldn’t go ahead! And that was because Rev Rae was not a member of the Free Church.
Just to make things more difficult, the islanders only spoke Gaelic but Campbell did manage, with the help of the schoolteacher Ross, to get the ’Queen’ to try on the wedding rings to see which fit best.
However, her father, was insistent his daughter’s marriage could not go ahead, reportedly saying, "What business have you to come here and marry people? When we want marriages here, we will arrange them for ourselves!”
The disappointed travellers from Sunderland reluctantly had to accept that the wedding was off and left the island that evening with all the presents still in the boat - they did however leave the 640 books behind as a gift.
A sense of Christian duty
When he got back home, Campbell faced criticism, particularly in the Scottish press, that the whole thing was a patronising stunt designed to make fun of the islanders and make himself famous to boost his travel business.
He maintained that this was not so, stating that he was simply trying to help the couple out of a sense of Christian duty as well as generously contributing to the cultural life
Happily, the following month, the couple were finally married by a Free Church minister but the fifty well-wishers from Sunderland did not return for the service.
St Kilda was eventually evacuated in 1930 as its population had dwindled to only 36 people - it is now in the custody of the National Trust for Scotland.
Sadly, history does not record what happened to the pork pie or the bottles of hair restorer!
Our thanks for a wonderful insight into Sunderland’s past which is contained in the latest Antiquarian Society newsletter which goes out to its members and is packed with fascinating reads about Sunderland's past.
Visit the treasure trove
You can also visit the Antiquarian Society’s Facebook page or its website which is at http://www.sunderland-antiquarians.org
And to become a member, email [email protected]
Tell us about a moment in Sunderland history that you would like us to revisit, by emailing [email protected]