A RECENT link-up between Northallerton civic society and the renowned York Georgian society on a walking tour of Northallerton sparked a kaleidoscope of tumbling images of the bustling, colourful, thriving town of yesteryear.

Already deemed "ancient" even in 1739 by its first historian, the learned Roger Gale of Scruton Hall, four times Northallerton's MP, the 18th century town featured such vital ingredients as stagecoaches - over a dozen a day on its main street, the Great North Road, the assembly of all the North Riding's nobility and gentry at the quarter sessions for several days four times a year; Northallerton races every October and the perennial animation and social concourse of the Golden Lion hotel along with about 30 other hostelries along the main thoroughfare.

From the cavalcade of events and occasions, buildings and people, two particular characters attracted special interest: Hugh Smithson, who became the Duke of Northumberland, and the Rev James Wilkinson.

Smithson was born, as chance would have it, in Northallerton. His mother was Philadelphia, the daughter of William Reveley, who built Newby Wiske Hall in 1694 which is now the headquarters of North Yorkshire police. She was visiting a relative, Robert Mitford, in Northallerton when she went into labour and her baby son (Hugh) was born in the Mitfords' house on the site of what is now Barkers of Northallerton.

Hugh was baptised at Kirby Wiske church - yet another claim to famous connections for that small church, where Roger Ascham, the scholar who was tutor to the youthful Queen Elizabeth I, and Dr George Hickes, who became dean of Worcester Cathedral in the 17th century, were both baptised and later commemorated.

Langdale Smithson, of Newby, near York, was Hugh's father and he pre-deceased his own father, Sir High Smithson Bart, so that when the latter died in 1729, 17-year-old Hugh succeeded to his grandfather's title and baronetcy.

According to the Rev J L Saywell, the author of the last definitive history of Northallerton published in 1885, the dashing and personable Sir Hugh Smithson was "considered the most handsome man of his day" and he wooed and wedded the very eligible Lady Elizabeth, the heiress and sole surviving child of Algernon, Duke of Somerset and Earl of Northumberland.

In 1750 Algernon died and Sir Hugh Smithson inherited his father-in-law's titles and extensive land holdings not only in Northumberland but also in the south of England.

He continued to lead a very influential life and was installed as a Knight of the Garter in 1757. Finally, in 1766, he was made Duke of Northumberland by King George III - the only duke created by that monarch in his extensive range (1760-1820). When he died in 1786, he was succeeded by his son, Hugh, who became the 2nd Duke of Northumberland.

ALL this heady stuff seems a far cry from Hugh's comparatively humble beginnings in Northallerton's now High Street and yet apparently he never lost his regard for his birthplace. His childhood nurse had been Elizabeth Mansfield of Northallerton and always when passing through the town (as he often did toing and froing from his Alnwick Castle seat to London) he always left money for her.

His special affection is perhaps best illustrated by a story concerning the celebrated vine that grew at the front of Vine House in Northallerton which is now the Rutson hospital. The great vine, reputed to be the largest in the kingdom, spread from the Masons Arms inn to the south to the Pack Horse inn (now the site of the Wesleyan chapel) to the north, with a circumference at the trunk of 3ft 11in.

However, the vine had fallen on barren times as a result of injudicious pruning which had gashed it, causing fluid to copiously run away into Sun Beck which then flowed across the surface of the main street from east to west.

Journeying through the town by carriage in 1775, the Duke of Northumberland, seeing the plight of the vine, immediately summoned by "express" his head gardener from Alnwick Castle to attend to the dying vine. The expert sealed the injured part of the vine with lead which reversed its decline and saved the vine to the extent that by 1790 it had flourished to cover 139 square yards.

At the same time that Hugh Smithson, Duke of Northumberland, was coming to the rescue of the "bleeding vine" (as it became called), just across the road at Northallerton parish church and the adjacent Northallerton grammar school, the Rev James Wilkinson had just embarked upon a Northallerton vocation unparalleled for its longevity.

In 1772 he had become curate of the parish church, holding the post for an unprecedented 42 years until 1814; in the previous year, 1771, he was appointed by the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral as master of Northallerton grammar school, where he remained for 49 years until 1820 - a record unsurpassed in the school's 679-year history.

Simultaneously, he was vicar of Hutton Bonville and owned a 400-acre farm near Scorton. Undoubtedly he must have been the living epitome of the work ethic!

He taught countless local boys, two of whom became nationally famous - the Byerley brothers, John and Thomas, from Brompton. The sons of a joiner, they entered the grammar school on free scholarships, four of which were available annually for poorer boys.

John (1780-1837) produced poems, plays and essays, was knighted in 1819 to become Sir John Byerley, became the recipient of a then substantial pension of £200 annually from the Prince Regent (later George IV) and also invented "oleagine" - a substance used in the manufacture of woollen cloth.

Thomas (1788-1826) became well-known as the editor of London newspapers the Literary Chronicle, Evening Star and Mirror. He moved in the company of the day's leading figures and his early death was much lamented.

Apart from teaching, James Wilkinson was mainly instrumental in the erection of a new school in 1776 on its former site, the building being now occupied by Place, Blair and Hatch solicitors, next to the parish church. The subscription list to pay for the new building read like a who's who of Georgian Northallerton and there was a now whimsical addenda concerning a surplus amount of money after the school had been built.

Debate arose as to how to spend the unused finances and eventually the vicar, the Rev Benjamin Walker, decreed that it should be used to erect an extra room "to serve for the punishing of scholars".

The mind boggles at the thought of an educational torture chamber and at the very least it says much for the prevailing educational philosophy. Perhaps the fact that Mr Walker had 18 children of his own influenced his decision.

Finally, regarding Mr Wilkinson, if he had done nothing else, he would still have found himself in the history of Northallerton as the officiating clergyman and signatory of the Northallerton parish church register at the marriage in the church on August 25, 1783, between Mary Dunning and George Lumley, both of Northallerton parish.

The simple facts are that Mary was 19 and George was 104! Attesting to this, the reliable Yorkshire Archaelogical Journal in 1949 reported that the "bride signed in very tremulous handwriting" and the "bridegroom affixed his mark".

Regrettably, nothing is known of how the marriage went!