Skip to main content
A black background with white brush lettering that reads ‘Rebel Women of Sunderland’.
A black background with white brush lettering that reads ‘Rebel Women of Sunderland’.

Dorothy Williamson

A black and white, graphic portrait of Dorothy Williamson. A stripe of pink is in the background. White brush lettering to the left reads ‘Dorothy Williamson’. A black circle by the woman’s head is more brush lettering that reads ‘Rebel Women of Sunderland’.

Illustration of Dorothy Williamson

Dorothy came from a Parliamentarian family at the time of the English Civil War. She inherited a vast fortune from her father, which she brought to her marriage to Sir Thomas Williamson, a Royalist. They were able to acquire more land in the north shore of the Wear. Dorothy and William had no children of their own, but Dorothy left large sums of money in her will of 1699 to help the poor in both Monkwearmouth and Bishopwearmouth. In particular, she paid for a home for retired housekeepers in Monkwearmouth. The buildings associated with the Dorothy have long since gone, but we still have Dame Dorothy Street to remember her by.