Document 73, p 2
| Bridge was erectd from ye month of Feby 1777 until the Month of Jany 1781 & this Depont saith | ||||
| that he verily bels that the benefit ensuing from ye attendance of this Depont & his son & Clk durg ye period | ||||
| afsd (durg all wch time this Depont was less able to Attend to his other Business & wch this Depont wd not have | ||||
| omitted or neglected to attend unless unless by ye express Pmisson of his sd master the Complt wch this | ||||
| Depont had obtained) was reasonably worth the sum of 400L & that sum & much more was Actually saved | ||||
| by such Attendces so given by him this Depont and his sd son & Clk & that ye the same or any pt yreof has not been | ||||
| pd to him this Depont or demded by him or any quantity or reward been pd given or made to his sd son or Clk | ||||
| for such their Attendces & services as afsd to this Deponts knowdge or belief But saith he this Depont hath Du[ring?]* | ||||
| ye sd period been pd or allowed by the Complt wt he shd have recied from him in case no such work [had?] | ||||
| been carried on but in case the Complt had been under a nessecity of hiring proper psons for such Attenden[ces?] | ||||
| so done by this depont & his sd Son & Clk ye Complt must have pd to ye amot this Depot has estimate[d?] | ||||
| such Attendces and Services at as afsd – | ||||
| Fourth To the fourth Interry this Depont saith that after ye sd Bridge was Completed that is to say on the | ||||
| 11 March 1782 the same was thrown down by a Flood more unusually sudden & violent than any this | ||||
| Depont ever before remembered to have seen in the River Tyne altho he this Depont hath lived within the | ||||
| view of that river for 40 yrs last past & upwds & saith that he verily bels that the fallg of the sd Bridge | ||||
| was not occasioned by any deficit in the Building & construction thereof but entirely to the irresistable | ||||
| impetuosity of the sd Flood and saith that he doth not know nor doth he believe that there was any | ||||
| deficit in ye sd Bridge or in the Construction thereof and this Depont furr saith that on the evening of | ||||
| the 10th March 1782 a storm of Snow came on wch continued for sevl Hours till it lay upon the | ||||
| surface of the Grd to ye depth of Twelve Inches or thereabts as this Depont was told & bels & saith that the falling | ||||
| of the snow was succeeded by a very heavy rain wch disolved the snow & occasioned an immediate almost | ||||
| inconceivable Torrent & flood in the Tyne & saith that in the morning of the sd 11th March he this Depont | ||||
| went from his House at Sandoe to ye sd Bridge to take a view thereof and observe if the | ||||
| flood had made any impression thereon to prejudice the same And that it was with Difficulty | ||||
| this Depont reached the Bridge from the Rapidity of ye waters running from the adjoing Grd | ||||
| & saith to the best of this Deponts judgmt The flood was at the Highest about 10 o’clock in the morng | ||||
| at which time this Depont stood a very little below the sd Bridge& observed the same wth all ye | ||||
| attenn he could use but that the same did not appear to the Depont to be at all shaken or | ||||
| to discover the least mark of failure till within a few minutes of its almost total destruction | ||||
| wch happd to the best of this Deponts recolln betn 10 & 11 o’Clock & this Depont furr saith that | ||||
| so little apprehensn was entertained of the fall of the Bridge that a very little time before it did | ||||
| fall this Deponts Son & a mason whose name is Robt. Johnson & two or more other psons | ||||
| passed over the same to examine ye state of ye Land Arches on the South Side wch they | ||||
| reported on their return to this Depont to be pfectly safe And saith that within fifteen | ||||
| minutes of the time of its falling a great many people were upon the Bridge observg the | ||||
| hight of the Flood And this Depont further saith that he is induced to believe that this flood | ||||
| was the most unusually sudden & violent He had ever seen from the follg amongst | ||||
| |
||||
| to the Bridge the water on the West or Upsteam side appeared to this Depont to be above | ||||
| the top of that pt of the piers wch is commonly called ye Doming pt or salient point | ||||
| thereof & on the east side of the Bridge not quite so high as the projecting pt of ye piers | ||||
| called the Imposts & this Depont furr saith that he is more confirmed in his belief that | ||||
| ye sd Bridge was thrown down by the violence & impetuosity of the sd Flood alone and that | ||||
| same had not before shewn the least mark of failure because that he this Depont had | ||||
| 2 | ||||
Note: Donkin's Replies to Interrogatories, p2
Abbreviations are underlined like this Wm. and the expansion may be seen by moving the cursor over it.
| An entry outlined like this has a note which may be seen by hovering over it. |
Transcribed by KS and CTW