William Mitford

William Mitford (1788–1851) was a Tyneside songwriter of the 19th century. His best known works are those about "Cappy, The Pitman's Dog" and "The Pitman's Courtship". Early life William Mitford was born at Preston (which was a village close to North Shields) on 10 April 1788. His parents died when he was very young, and at the age of 3 or 4 his uncle brought him to Newcastle upon Tyne. He became a shoemaker's apprentice, possibly to the father of Willie Armstrong, and worked in Dean Street. The earliest record of William Mitford appears in the budget chapbook "Newcastle Songster" series in 1816. Mitford went on to write some of the region's most well-known songs. It is known that Mitford played the part of the bishop in the "Coronation" by The Cordwainers Company of Newcastle upon Tyne at The Freeman Hospital in Westgate, on the Festival of St. Crispin (the patron saints of cobblers, tanners, and leather workers) on 29 June 1823. Later life Shortly after, he left the shoemaking trade and moved on to the licensed trade. He opened a public house, "The North Pole", on the edge of Castle Leazes, near to the Spital Tongues area of the city, and while there he wrote the song, named after the pub, and called "The North Pole". He would perform often in his own public house. He moved on from here to the "Tailor's Arms", which was more central at the head of "The Side". Mention of his being there was made in 1834 by William Watson.