Newport Road, Middlesbrough: Angry Mob Attacked German Shops

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On 4 September 1914, relatives had seen a train full of soldiers leave Middlesbrough station at 10.48pm. These gatherings were at the end of an evening where those involved had possibly been drinking. A large crowd of mainly women and youths gathered in Cannon Street opposite the Cannon Hotel. The report of the Chief Constable of Middlesbrough, later described how the crowd attacked the shop of Peter Krauss, a locksmith who traded in Cannon Street. Krauss, who was born in Germany, had come to England in 1863 as a 13-year-old boy. Eventually cleared from Cannon Street, the crowd then headed for nearby Newport Road where they attacked the shop of Pork Butcher Henry Schumm. Like Krauss, Schumm was also a naturalised British subject as was his father, though both had been born in Germany. The sense of riot continued as the crowd, having been dispersed by the police, moved on to the town’s main thoroughfare, Linthorpe Road where they attacked another shop belonging to Schumm. Location: Newport Road, Middlesbrough TS1 5JF Image shows Newport Road, courtesy of Paul Menzies Report presented by Jonathan Swingler