Barbary Coasters

[Rob Will]

I've read that the residents of Sunderland were once known as "Barbary Coasters".

I know that in the 19th century Sunderland was a major port / ship building facility, and that many of the ships from there served the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The original Barbary Coast was the Mediterranean shore of Africa. Is this where the term for Sunderland residents originated, or is there another explanation?

Thanks in advance for your insights.

[j.sabourn]

I’ve always known them as makems and takems Rob. Cappy will know he’s almost one. Got a bit of Viking there also. JS

[j.sabourn]

Ref. To Barbary Coast. Does anyone recollect the name given to the waterfront bars in Cairns FNQ in the 50’s , or was it just a name given to them peculiar to the comedy displayed by the crew of the ships I was on at the time.?
JS

[cappy]

never new the term barbary re makems ....but stand to be corrected... to use one of ivans terms.......cappy R683532

[Tony Taylor]

never new the term barbary re makems ....but stand to be corrected... to use one of ivans terms.......cappy R683532

Barbaric more like, specially on Fridays and Saturdays

[thomas michael]

hi tony #5
good evening, i was going to write something about the term ( barbary re makems trouble,) being used when the geordie lads stormed ashore and hit the bars and everything else that stood in the way, but i relised that it is impolite to generalise. but then again on the occaisions ive drank with geordies thats exactly what happened.
tom

[Rob Will]

I did a little futher digging, and it appears that while nobody knows the exact reason why the Monkwearmouth Shore district of Sunderland bore this rather derogatory nickname, there are 2 major theories:

1. Sunderland's proximity to the sea and it's trade links - sepecially to the Meditteranean and North Africa.

2. The fact that the Barbary Coast was, indeed, a very rough, tough, neighbourhood filled with sailors, bars, prostiututes, and slavers prior to 1833 (including the notorious Hilton family).

Thanks to the forum for all your help.

[j hardy]

in British West Hartlepool, probably from the 1930's onward, there was a street down towards the docks called Mainsforth Terrace, there was reputedly a pub on every corner, and the area was known locally as The Barbary Coast. i suspect that a lot of seaports had a barbary coast.

[Tony Taylor]

in British West Hartlepool, probably from the 1930's onward, there was a street down towards the docks called Mainsforth Terrace, there was reputedly a pub on every corner, and the area was known locally as The Barbary Coast. i suspect that a lot of seaports had a barbary coast.

Scotswood road (5 miles long) in Newcastle, when I was a kid I tried to count the pubs as the bus went along towards Blaydon, I never managed it as they were on both sides of the road. The rows of terraces all ran down hill towards the river and there was a pub at the bottom of every street. On the south side of Scotswood road were factories (Armstrong Whitworth, Vickers Armstrong, Michell etc) and more pubs, with names like The Hydraulic Crane, Steam Hammer etc. It was a real dismal area, surrounded by dismal areas for several miles.
I wouldn't be surprised if there was a pub there to refresh the Scots when they used to hide in the woods before attacking the toon.

[happy daze john in oz]

'Ganning along the Scotswood road to see the Blaydon races'