George Handyside was born into a poor working family in 1821 at Newton on the Moor near Felton, Northumberland. At age 26, he moved to Berwick with just 17 shillings and within a few years he owned a shoe factory employing over 100 people. During the 1850s, George opened his first store and within 10 years he had 50 stores from Newcastle to Aberdeen. During his lifetime, George became a business magnate within the north east with ventures including running farms, operating omnibus’s and Property developing. George built many homes in the west end of Newcastle and in 1888 he moved into one of the houses he had built in Bentinck Terrace where he opened his surgery. George manufactured a ‘medicinal cure’ which he marketed as a cure for nerves, digestion, rheumatism, toothache and a blood purifier. His most popular product was an elixir which George claimed to cure alcoholism and quickly became a renowned product sold nationally. George even published his own book titled Every Man Should Be His Own Doctor which sold over a million copies.
Around 1900, George began work on a 90-shop development in Newcastle on Percy Street. The development was named the Handyside Arcade and was completed in 1906 where it stood until 1981 when it was demolished to make way for Eldon Garden shopping centre. George died in 1904 before the arcade was completed, he never married and had no children. At the time of his death George was worth around one million pounds, he left bequests of £92,000 to local charities including the Northern Counties Orphan Institute and Newcastle Eye Infirmary.
A monument to George Handyside can be found within St Johns Cemetery on Elswick road minutes walk from the houses he built, lived and worked in. Parts of the Handyside Arcade were acquired by Beamish Museum.
