Topics > Historical Periods > 19th Century > 1840s > 1847 > Auld Archie, Morpeth, d.1847

Auld Archie, Morpeth, d.1847


May 19 [1847] -  An old man named Archibald Elliott, but better known in the neighbourhood of Morpeth as “Auld Archie” was drowned in a stream near Ulgham, whilst conveying the mail bags to that place. He was a curious little deformed old man, 84 years of age, and, although unable either to read or write, none could deliver a message better, and seldom, if ever, did he make a mistake with any letters entrusted to his keeping, which showed his wonderful memory, as it was only by the size or shape of a letter that he could tell who it belonged to or from whom he had received it. He was only four feet in height, and had carried the mail between Morpeth and Widdrington, with the assistance of his ass “Billy,” for upwards of thirty years.

From: Local Records; Or, Historical Register of Remarkable Events which Have Occurred in Northumberland and Durham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Berwick-upon-Tweed: With Biographical Notices of Deceased Persons of Talent, Eccentricity, and Longevity. T. Fordyce, 1867

1847
from https://books.google.co.uk/bo…
Local Records; Or, Historical Register of Remarkable Events which Have Occurred in Northumberland and Durham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Berwick-upon-Tweed: With Biographical Notices of Deceased Persons of Talent, Eccentricity, and Longevity (1867)
- T. Fordyce, 1867, Local Records; Or, Historical Register of Remarkable Events which Have Occurred in Northumberland and Durham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Berwick-upon-Tweed: With Biographical Notices of Deceased Persons of Talent, Eccentricity, …

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Simon Cotterill

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