Ralph Dowey

Background

Ralph Dowey was born in October 1844 at 42 South Row, West Holywell, a small Colliery village approximately

Career

4 miles west of Whitley Bay, which at the time was in the county of Northumberland. He was a miner by trade, like so many Geordie songwriters

He died in Gateshead in 1909. His many works include “The Picnic Day” which was first published in the Blyth Weekly News in 1891 and tells of a family dressing up for a picnic in Morpeth.

Achievements

• Songwriting was a hobby, and according to Thomas Allan in his Illustrated Edition of Tyneside Songs and Readings won at least 8 prizes for his songs in the various North Eastern songwriting competitions.