Editing West Hartlepool (section)

==History==
[[File:West Hartlepool dock map.jpg|thumb|West Hartlepool map, 1859]]
The town of West Hartlepool was founded by [[Ralph Ward Jackson]] who went on to become managing director of the [[Hartlepool railway station|Stockton and Hartlepool Railway]] in 1848.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.hhtandn.org/person/9/jackson,-ralph-ward|title=Jackson, Ralph, Ward|publisher=Hartlepool Then and Now|access-date=4 February 2021}}</ref>

The area known as Newburn Raw, part of the ancient village of Stranton, steadily grew into a centre for shipping and railway transport.<ref name=Ritchie/><ref name=Whellan533/> The West Hartlepool Harbour and Dock ({{convert|8|acre|km2}}) opened on 1 June 1847. Five years later, also on 1 June, the Jackson dock ({{convert|14|acre|km2}}) opened as well as a railway connecting West Hartlepool to [[Leeds]], [[Manchester]] and [[Liverpool]]. Massive timber trading with Baltic countries began as timber was needed for pitprops in nearby coal mines. The area's population grew quickly as a result.<ref name=Ritchie>Lionel Alexander Ritchie, ''Gray, Sir William (1823–1898)'', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/47529, accessed 2 May 2011]</ref> Eight shipbuilding yards were established.<ref name=Whellan533/> Supporting shipbuilding and repair were: a canvas manufacturing firm, Bastow Brothers and W. Taylor iron foundries, block and mast makers and other related machinery.<ref name=Whellan534>Whellan, William, & Co. (1856). ''History, Topography, and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham.''  Whittaker and Company. p. 534.</ref>
[[File:Church Street, Hartlepool (geograph 5989546).jpg|thumb|Church Street]]
Streets were laid out along which shops and brick homes were built. Standard town services followed including paved roads, gas and electricity, sewers, a slaughterhouse, cemetery and more.<ref name=Whellan533/>

Jackson built a large church, Christ Church, from stone excavated from the docks and the parish was consecrated in 1854 by the Bishop of Durham.<ref name=Whellan533>Whellan, William, & Co. (1856). ''History, Topography, and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham.''  Whittaker and Company. p. 533.</ref> Swainson Dock opened on 3 June 1856, named after Ward Jackson's father-in-law.  In 1878 the [[William Gray & Company]] ship yard in West Hartlepool achieved the distinction of launching the largest tonnage of any shipyard in the world, a feat to be repeated on a number of occasions.<ref name=Ritchie/>

West Hartlepool was formerly a [[chapelry]] in the parish of [[Stranton]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/place/273|title=History of West Hartlepool, in Hartlepool and County Durham|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=7 June 2024}}</ref> The [[municipal borough]] of West Hartlepool was created in 1887, and, with its headquarters at [[West Hartlepool Town Hall]],<ref>{{NHLE|desc= Town Hall |num= 1250394|access-date=4 February 2021}}</ref> on 31 December 1894 West Hartlepool became a separate [[civil parish]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10054369|title=Relationships and changes West Hartlepool CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=7 June 2024}}</ref> the district was promoted to the status of [[county borough]], outside the control of [[Durham County Council]], in 1902.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.visionofbritain.org/unit/10041946  |title=West Hartlepool MB/CB|publisher=Vision of Britain| access-date=4 February 2021}}</ref> On 1 April 1967, a [[county borough]], called Hartlepool, was established by amalgamating West Hartlepool with old Hartlepool,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1967-02-07a.1516.4 |title= Local Government Boundaries (Hartlepool) |date=7 February 1967|publisher=House of Commons Debates| access-date=4 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1967/feb/08/hartlepool-order-1966|title= Hartlepool Order 1966|date= 8 February 1967|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]| access-date=4 February 2021}}</ref> the parish was also abolished and merged with Hartlepool.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/west%20hartlepool.html|title=West Hartlepool Registration District|publisher=UKBMD|accessdate=7 June 2024}}</ref> In 1961 the parish had a population of 77,035.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10054369/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics West Hartlepool CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=7 June 2024}}</ref>