Since Saxon times Hebburn was a small fishing hamlet on the Southern shore of the Tyne river, it stood on land belonging to the church until the dissolution of the monasteries.

In the 1600's the land was acquired by the ambitious Ellison family from Newcastle, who expanded Hebburn Manor into Hebburn Hall by the 1800's.

From 1786 the Ellison's money started coming in from the dumping of ships ballast at Hebburn Quay, followed in 1792 by royalties from coal mining expansion.

In 1853 the arrival of Andrew Leslie, from Aberdeen, accelerated that expansion with shipbuilding. On the arrival of the railways in 1872 things took off with the growth of industry, including Brick, Metal and Chemical Works.

In only 200 years the small fishing hamlet grew into a modern town of 20,000 inhabitants, leading to recognition as an independent Urban District in 1894. In the early 1900's new industries started taking over with the arrival of the Reyrolle Electrical Switchgear Company.