From Oasis to Ken Dodd: How Middlesbrough Town Hall boss Jean brought stars to Boro

She saw the Oasis brothers scrapping, received flowers from Ken Dodd and helped a guitarist out of an embarrassing situation.

Now tributes have been paid to a woman who helped bring the stars to Teesside. As the well-known manageress of Middlesbrough Town Hall for more than 25 years, Jean Hewitt, arranged for many big names to play the venue’s main hall or crypt.

And now, following her death aged 80, family members have been looking back fondly at her life and recalling some of the stories she told them. Mum-of-two Jean, who was brought up in North Ormesby but lived in Linthorpe, started her professional career in the telephone exchange on Marton Road, Middlesbrough.

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Stints on the telephones at the old Hemlington Hospital and working for the education committee in Woodlands Road followed. But when she started working at the Town Hall ticket office in 1978, it began a fulfilling career at the place she’ll always be associated with.

As events manager, which she was until retirement in 2006, her career often involved dealing with big names from the entertainment world. But, says son Stephen, she treated every act, big or small, with professionalism and courtesy.

A massive Beatles fan but with an eclectic musical taste, Jean particularly loved 60s revival tours featuring the likes of Billy J Kramer, the Dave Clark Five and Freddie and the Dreamers. But from Robbie Williams to Paul Weller, a lot of major acts played the town hall – and Jean looked after them all.

Recalling some of the stories, Stephen said: “One night in the mid-90s, I was doing spotlight in the crypt. Mam came over and said backstage was thick of ganja smoke and the ‘artist’ was puddled.

“The singer finally came on and messed about with his guitar, looking puzzled. He banged it, shook cables and finally shrugged as if to say ‘useless’. Mam entered, stage left, and plugged his guitar into his amp. Hey presto!

“She also told me how she found the Oasis brothers fighting backstage – the gig almost got cancelled. She was there and saw it. They had their own team with them but it was hard even for them to separate them.”

And Stephen, a big Smiths fan, was delighted when Morrissey and the band came to town a couple of times and, thanks to his mam, he got to meet him. He said: “Paul Weller, Robbie Williams, Thin Lizzy, Primal Scream, Iron Maiden…a lot of big acts played the town hall and she looked after them all.

“When Van Morrison came, she says he didn’t say a single word. Mam tried to have a conversation with him, but nothing. By contrast, Ken Dodd even sent her a bouquet of flowers to her home after he played here.

“But she loved it. She had contacts with a lot of the big promoters – people like Harvey Goldsmith – so it meant lots of big names came to Middlesbrough. Virtually every week there was a top act on, either in the main hall or the crypt.

“Some acts were way too big – people would ask her ‘why don’t you get them?’ but it was all about the capacity. I think the main hall was 2,000 and the crypt around 500. But returning acts always remembered her. She went out of her way to make them welcome, look after them and recommend good places to eat and stay.”

Granddaughter Laura Kidd added: “She got a framed photo of every act that played there and put them on the office wall, but we don’t know what happened to them after she retired. She was one of the most intelligent people you could meet – she knew everything! But she was very outgoing and bubbly – no one had a bad word to say about her.”

Jean, who leaves son Stephen, daughter Jacqueline, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren, died peacefully in hospital on November 14. Her funeral service is on Monday, December 2 at 11.15am at Teesside Crematorium.

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