The Every-day Book and Table Book. v. 2 (of 3) / or Everlasting Calendar of Popular Amusements, Sports, Pastimes, Ceremonies, Manners, Customs and Events, Incident to Each of the Three Hundred and Sixty-five Days, in past and Present Times; Forming a Complete History of the Year, Month, and Seasons, and a Perpetual Key to the Almanac

by William Hone

June 10.

House of God, Newcastle.

On the 10th of June, 1412, King Henry IV. granted his royal license to an hospital called the Maison de Dieu, or “House of God,” erected by Roger Thornton, on the Sandhill, Newcastle, for the purpose of providing certain persons with food and clothing. The building seems to have been completed in that year. Before it was pulled down in 1823, the “Merchant’s Court” was established over it, and at this time a new building for the company of Free Merchants, &c., is erected on its site.

The son of the founder of the old hospital granted the use of its hall and kitchen “for a young couple when they were married to make their wedding dinner in, and receive the offerings and gifts of their friends, for at that time houses were not large.” Mr. Sykes, in his interesting volume of “Local Records,” remarks, that “this appears an ancient custom for the encouragement of matrimony.”

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