Well, according to English Folk Songs (http://www.acronet.net/~robokopp/english.html) it's by George Ridley, 1834-1864. Everyone else seems to list it as Traditional (which it obviously wasn't originally but certainly is now). Since "Wor Geordie" was about the most famous of the Geordie music hall composers, it may have been mistakenly attributed to him anyway.

The usual conundrum. I haven't found anything on Joe Wilson. You might try e-mailing Alex Glasgow (ghosts@q-net.net.au) who did a show about him once.

Cheers! Ian