Frederick Street Mural And Memorial Garden

Margaret Wallace was born on 23 April 1904 to parents William and Mary. She had 5 siblings. Her father was a miner/stoneman. In 1927 Margaret married Samuel Wilkinson in the Easington Register area. They went on to have 2 children, Patricia and Norman. The 1939 Register shows that the couple are living at 9 Frederick Street, Seaham Harbour. Samuel was an unemployed colliery hauler at that time. From 9 February 1941 until 5 March 1941 there were particularly heavy bombardments in the North East region of England during which many homes were destroyed and casualties sustained. On Sunday 16 February HE (high explosive) bombs were dropped at Seaham Harbour destroying 4 houses and damaging others. A slight outbreak of fire was extinguished. The bridge across the railway over Lord Street was destroyed and the road blocked. Men, women and children were trapped in a subway when a bomb fell on it. However it was on Frederick Street that the fatalities occurred. Three members of the Wilkinson family living at 9 Frederick Street were killed. They were Margaret Wilkinson (aged 36 years) who was mother to 2 children Patricia (aged 4 years) and baby Norman who was only 21 months old. All 3 are listed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. By the end of the war over 7,000 civilians in this region were killed or maimed by bombing raids.

North East Memorial Project

There was a young boy aged 6 called Kenneth Green that also died on Sunday 16th February 1941

The artists names will be revealed on completion and the inspiration came from Councillors as the [area is] unkempt and decided that everyone should remember the horrors of war and how peaceful people were caught up in these terrible times so it's dedicated to the folk who lost their lives. Hoping to be finished in the next month weather permitting, hold ups have been weather and other commitments from the artists. 4 artists in total have worked on it, every person passing it wants to talk about it. Everybody sits on the seating areas remembering these times and hoping it doesn't happen again. Groups like the Chelsea pensioners etc have all visited and Remembrance days have been carried out and locals are over the moon that it's tidied the area up.

Seaham Town Council September 2026

Here are some details of this terrible time, in the area.

At the age of 8 years Gerald Corkhill Survived the Bombings of World War II on 16th May 1943 in Viceroy Street, Seaham. It is said he was buried under the rubble of the bombed house for many hours until someone heard him thinking it was a cat until they investigated the noise further and dug him out. You can see from the records below unfortunately the rest of his family died, 5 members in total, the youngest one his little sister June aged 1 years old all the way through to his father aged 36. After the bombing he was sent to his maternal grandfather, who sadly died while looking after him. He was then sent to an orphanage and finally his aunt on his father's side took him in and he arrived back in Seaham. A place that he loves with all his heart but needed to move away in order to find employment. Sadly, he was left with no memory of what his mother looked like. Gerald is now aged 91

Seaham Town Council