Sunderland
| Sunderland | |
|---|---|
| |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | England |
| Shire county | County Durham |
| Council | Sunderland City Council |
Sunderland is a port city on the north-east coast of England in County Durham. Administratively, it is part of the larger Sunderland City Council area, which forms a part of the county for the purposes of lieutenancy of Tyne & Wear. It was formerly famous as a shipbuilding and coal exporting center, and now for the manufacture of motor vehicles for Nissan. The city's motto is Nil Desperandum Auspice Deo (Don't Despair, Trust In God.)[1] The people of Sunderland are sometimes known as Mackems. There is a problem with rising prostitution, illegal drug trade, and porn industries. Sunderland is home to a university, the football team Sunderland A.F.C., and the National Centre for Glass. This last is in recognition of Sunderland's long history of glass manufacture.
The Sunderland area has a strong ecclesiastical history, with part of St Peter's Church in Monkwearmouth dating from a 7th century monastery. Glass-making in the local area also dates from around this time. Sunderland was also a centre for Parliamentarianism in the 17th century during the English Civil War. The Sunderland area is the ancestral home of at least two United States presidents; George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, the 1st and 3rd presidents respectively.
Mackems
A person from Sunderland is known by the demonym mackem, which is believed to stem from the phrase "Mak ‘em and Tak’em" (the local pronunciation of "make them, take them").
History
The earliest records of a permanent settlement at Sunderland are from the 7th century when the area was part of the kingdom of Northumbria. Benedict Biscop in 674 obtained from Ecgfrith king of Northumbria 70 hides of land on the north bank of the river (present-day Monkwearmouth), on which he founded the Benedictine monastery of St Peter. Part of the Monastery survives today as St Peter's Church. Later, Benedict acquired 3 hides on the south of the river,[2] and the land "asunder" from the monastery may have given rise to the name Sunderland. The Venerable Bede in his Ecclesiastic History (731 AD), wrote that he was born "in territorio eiusdemmonasterii", which was translated in the 10th century during the reign of Alfred the Great as "on sundurlonde thaes ylcan mynstres"; or "in the sunderland of this same monastery".[3]
Sunderland is known for its rivalry with Newcastle upon Tyne, which lies 12 miles to the north-west in Northumberland; in the 20th and 21st centuries, this most prominently manifests itself in a footballing rivalry but is actually rooted in the English Civil War (1642-1651).[4] John Lilburne (1614-1657) was born in Sunderland and had been a close associate of Oliver Cromwell, being a lieutenant colonel to the Parliamentarians. Sunderland was Newcastle's biggest emerging local economic rival at the time, after previous attempts to establish regional ports were threatened by intimidating Newcastle merchants, with Newcastle holding a royal charter restricting coal shipments from nearby ports. Newcastle was staunchly Royalist at the time but there was significant pro-Parliamentarian sentiment in Sunderland. John Lilburne's uncle, George Lilburne, had suggested Sunderland support the Parliamentarians and the civil war created an opportunity for Sunderland to challenge Newcastle's regional supremacy. In 1642, Sunderland received a garrison of Scottish soldiers, Covenanters, who supported the Parliamentarian side and they set up camp at Bishopwearmouth. Sunderland became a base for Parliamentarian military offensives in north-eastern England, of which one of the most significant was the 1644 siege of Newcastle. The Battle of Boldon Hill between the Parliamentarians and Sunderland Royalists took place to the north-west of Sunderland.
Notable people
Music
- Don Airey (born 1948) - musician best known for playing keyboards in Deep Purple from 2002 onwards
- Dave Stewart (born 1952) - singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work with synth-pop duo Eurythmics
- Kenickie, fronted by Lauren Laverne (born 1978), pop punk band active 1994-1998
- The Futureheads, fronted by Ross Millard (born 1982), post-punk band formed in 2000
Sciences
- James Herriot (real name James Alfred Wright) (1916-1995)- veterinary surgeon and author
Sports
- Jill Scott (born 1987) - professional footballer for England women's national football team and Manchester City L.F.C.
