Biography

Rowland Burdon (1757 – 1838)

Rowland Burdon was a Newcastle Banker, one time Mayor of Stockton and the first Durham MP not to have been an aristocrat. At his Castle Eden estate Burdon worked closely with the manager Michael Scarth to develop a friendly society with two hundred members consisting of farmers, artificers, labourers and their families. Burdon was also responsible for building the turnpike road that linked Bishopwearmouth and Monkwearmouth to Newcastle. However, the most remarkable civic infrastructure with which Burdon involved himself was the Wearmouth Bridge built between 1793-96 which was a technological marvel, being the longest span iron bridge in the world.

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