Altrincham in 1841

A CHESHIRE MARKET TOWN IN VICTORIAN TIMES ALTRINCHAM IN 1841

Don Bayliss (editor), Hilda Bayliss, Chris Hill, Judith Lipman, Hazel Pry or

Altrincham History Society

Occasional Paper No.5 i A CHESHIRE MARKET TOWN IN VICTORIAN TIMES ALTRINCHAM IN 1841

Don Bayliss (editor), Hilda Bayliss, Chris Hilly Judith Lipman, Hazel Pry or

Altrincham History Society Occasional Paper No.5 First published in 1994 by Altrincham History Society, 51 Chiltern Drive, Hale, Altrincham, Cheshire

ISBN 09522681 08

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A cataloguing record for this book is available from the British Library.

Typeset by Northern Writers Advisory Services, 77 Marford Crescent, Sale, Cheshire M334DN.

Printed by Intype Input Typesetting Ltd, Woodman Works, Durnsford Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 8DR

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form or binding other than that in which it is published. Contents

List of Illustrations iv

Introduction 1

Part I 4 Situation and site 4 Geology and soils 5 The national setting in the decade leading up to 1841 7 Brief history of Altrincham to 1841 7 Land use 1835-38 9 Fieldnames 11 Landowners and tenants 13

Part II 18 Description of six sub-divisions of Altrincham in 1841 18 Area 1: North Altrincham 20 Area 2: Higher Town and North-west Altrincham 22 Area 3: Lower Town 26 Area 4: South-west Altrincham 31 Area 5: South Altrincham 36 Area 6: East Altrincham 40 Overview - The Town in 1841 44

Appendices 49 Appendix 1: Summary Tables 49 Appendix 2: Problems of Health in 1841 50 Appendix 3: Gardens and Crofts 51 Appendix 4: Charities 52

References 52

Acknowledgements Inside back cover List of Illustrations

Front cover: Rear of shop in Church Street 1. Examples of the chief documentary sources 2 2. Street map of modern Altrincham 3 3. Map of the Altrincham area in the late 1840s 4 4. The type of sub-soil in the area 6 5. Extract from Pigot and Slater's Directory, 1841, and Local turnpike house 8 6. Land use in Altrincham, 1835-38 10 7. Some distinctive field names 12 8. Important landowners 14 9. Important occupiers of land 16 10. The six areas of Altrincham 18 11. Area 1: North Altrincham 19 12. The workhouse 20 13. Broadheath Bridge 20 14. Oldfield Hall 21 15. The canal warehouse of 1833 21 16. Population pyramid for North Altrincham 22 17. Area 2: Higher Town and North-west Altrincham 23 18. St. George's Vicarage built in 1799 24 19. Well Lane (Victoria Street) 24 20. King Street (part of Market Street) 24 21. Population pyramid for Higher Town and North-west Altrincham 25 22. John Mort, draper and hatter 26 23. Area 3: Lower Town, Altrincham 27 24. Police lock-up, Police Street 28 25. Cottages, George Street. Site of the former Public Library, Altrincham 29 26. Bricklayers Arms and Beggar's Square 29 27. Population pyramid for Lower Town 30 28. Area 4: South-west Altrincham 32 29. Wesleyan Chapel, formerly in Chapel Lane. The Grapes beyond 33 30. Chapel Street 33 31. Lyme Grove 34 32. Population pyramid for South-west Altrincham 35 33. Spring Bank House 36 34. Area 5: South Altrincham 37 35. Money Ash Farm 38 36. Population pyramid for South Altrincham 49 37. Area 6: East Altrincham 41 38. The Xong Building' 42 39. Population pyramid for East Altrincham 42 40. Dean's Cottages 43

Maps and drawings by Don Bayliss unless otherwise indicated. INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study is to give a view of Altrin- Manchester the regional metropolis. The reason is cham township and town in 1841 when the popula- not a major local event in 1841, but the availability of tion numbered nearly 4,000, only one tenth of what it information. 1841 is a date of convenience. Whereas is today. Altrincham at this point in time was coming the census had been taken each decade from 1801, the to the end of a long period in which it had not been actual enumerators' census sheet, recording details disturbed in a major way by industrialisation. There house by house, are only available starting with the were some cottage-weaving industries and two or 1841 census. Hence much more detail can be given three mills on what is now Grosvenor Road, but the about the town and township in 1841 than from pre- major activities were farming, market-gardening, vious census reports, which only print a few figures and provision of shops and services. It was a period for population and other topics for the place as a before the railway, which arrived eight years later. whole. The records for 3372 individuals have been The wonder-transport was the canal and Broadheath studied in Enumeration Districts 18-22 inclusive. was a rural, canalside hamlet busy with trade. Local This information will show some details about the transport was based on the horse, of which there people at the beginning of the decade 1841-51 which must have been hundreds. It is a picture of a somnol- ended with the coming of the railway. The census, ent small market town, which stretched only from St. taken on 8 June, shows the number of houses, the George's to the Downs. There were two main patches householder, members of the family and other resi- of housing, one around the Market Place (Higher dents, their sex, age and occupations and place of Town), one around Chapel Street and the Downs, origin. linked by a thread of housing along George Street One other main source of information used is the (Lower Town). All around were fields. There was a tithe map and schedule, which were published be- great social contrast between the people who lived in tween 1835-8 when the old system of collecting tithes Higher Town and on the Downs in fashionable for the upkeep of the church was commuted into houses and the artisans and poor people who lived in money dues. Nearly 500 properties were mapped the cottages of Lower Town (George Street) and the and listed. Chapel Street area. The tithe schedule and map give the name of the The town was basically unhealthy. Water came landowner, tenant, and property, and for the from public wells, private wells and pumps. There property its land use, size and titheable values (the was no sewage system as we know it. Waste accumu- last omitted from this study). Both types of docu- lated in cesspits and middens, polluted the wells and ments give considerable amounts of information. was disposed of on the market gardens; the town (See Figure 1 for examples of both.) Where possible must have stunk. There was much disease, no hospi- the information from the two sources has been corre- tal, welfare or health system for the sick, and a high lated. Other information has been taken from general mortality rate, particularly among children. sources, especially contemporary directories. In the past many books have given a rosy port- There are difficulties with the sources. Many en- rayal of die stage-coach period in this area. In this tries in the census are difficult to read and there can book the attempt has been made to restrict informa- be mistakes of interpretation. There are omissions tion to the facts available from official sources. This due to people being away from home. The enumera- does not necessarily present the whole picture be- tors in 1841 were sometimes at fault when going cause, of course, this depends on the type of material round the houses with their forms. They failed to ex- which had been officially collected, for what pur- tract some information and made wrong entries, oc- poses, and how we have interpreted it, The details casionally, for example, regarding sex (see Figure 1), here may appear rather dry, but, nevertheless, give, or spelling of names. Some people are likely to have as far as possible, the first factual picture of Altrin- deliberately given wrong information with regard to cham in one year in the nineteenth century. their ages (as they do today). Though year ages were The story is presented in two parts. In Part I, a given up to the age of fifteen, after that they were put number of general features of the township are de- in quinquennial (five-year) age-bands. People also scribed. In Part II, the township has been divided into gave wrong or misleading statements about occupa- six areas which show interesting contrasts. tions (for example, there are no disreputable jobs Why the year 1841? Why not 1837 when Victoria mentioned though they must have existed, such as came to the throne, or 1848 when a government night-soil shifters). There are gaps in the record in re- health enquiry was to paint Altrincham in not very spect of occupations and no information on topics pleasant colours, or 1849 when the Manchester South covered in later censuses such as familial relation- Junction and Altrincham Railway was built, which ships. Even a basic thing, the street number of a was to turn Altrincham into a commuter suburb of house was not recorded, making it difficult to locate

1 Census enumerator's record extract for a household in Norman's Place. William Davenport was a shoemaker. Note the enumerator's error - William junior was entered as a female.

Extract from the Tithe map of 1835. The area shown is the market place and surrounding streets and fields. Church Street leads down from the top. St. George's is plot 367. Note one or two of the plots have not been numbered.

Figure 1: Examples of the chief sources.

2 the house in question. Similar criticisms apply to the East a farming area between Hale Moss and tithe information. The maps are difficult to interpret, Altrincham Stockport Road including the Wood- not being in perfect condition through age. There are side industrial hamlet on (modem) discrepancies between details on the map and the re- Grosvenor Road. corded components in the schedule, for example, In order that the location of places is clear, many there are field and property numbers shown on the modern road names have been used (see Figure 2). map but not in the schedule and some places in the But in 1841 the names were as follows: schedule are not shown on the map. The area selected for study was the ancient town- Part of Market Street was called King Street in the ship of Altrincham, about 631 acres in size (see Fig- census (in local use the part near the market place ure 2), covered by the tithe map. It was one of the was called High Street, the rest Bowdon Road). constituent townships of the huge parish of Bowdon The western part of the present High Street was and extended from Broadheath in the north to Spring called Dunham Lane. Bank in the south. It was much larger than the built- Dunham Road was also called Dunham Lane. up area of the town itself which only extended from Regent Road was Chapel Lane or Chapel Walk. St. George's to the Downs. The bulk of the township Ashley Road was Ashley Lane. was therefore rural. Today the whole area is totally Lloyd Street was called Pinfold Brow. built-up, apart from a few recreation areas. It is as- Railway Street was partly Ashley Lane, Pinfold Brow sumed the census enumeration districts for Altrin- and Lower Town. cham' cover the full area of the old township and Shaw's Road was Shaw's Lane. chapelry. George Street was Lower Town. The areas of the township and town described in Stamford New Road did not exist. Part II have been selected arbitrarily but with some sense of types of housing and differing economic and social character.

North a farming area which included a Altrincham hamlet at Broadheath whose economy was based on the Bridge- water Canal, and another hamlet at Sandiway. Higher Town this comprised Higher Town and (north end of Market Street), North-west where some wealthier people Altrincham lived and worked; the ancient town centre round Old Market Place, with shops and inns; Church Street; Mount Pleasant, an affluent island in the fields to the north-west; and the farming area beyond. For the purpose of this study this area is known as Higher Town. The back of one of the houses on Church Street (now a shop) is shown on the front cover of this monograph. Lower Toivn a less salubrious area along what is now George Street, and including the hamlet of Goostrey Green (now Goose Green) on the edge of Hale Moss. South-west a high class area in the Downs, Altrincham Norman's Place and upper New Street; a working class area in Cha- pel Street and lower New Street; and a farming area to the west. South a farming area round Spring Bank, Altrincham including Pinfold Brow on the Figure 2: Street map of modern Altrincham showing the edge of Hale Moss. area covered by the old township. (Source: Trafford MBC.)

3 PARTI

SITUATION AND SITE

Altrincham occupies a prominent site on a high ridge cham), while two or three miles to the south Tatton of land between the Cheshire Plain to the south and Hall and park belonged to the Egerton family. the lowlands of the Mersey valley to the north. The Altrincham was linked to Manchester, Worsley ridge has a shallow slope towards the north and and Runcorn by the Bridgewater Canal, built in 1765. there is a steeper slope to the south overlooking the Altrincham was also connected to Manchester by the Bollin valley. Bowdon church crowns the ridge, turnpiked Chester road and by other improved roads presenting a striking view from the south. The ridge to the market towns of Knutsford and Stockport. Al- lies between the Bollin valley to the south and the trincham therefore was well served by communica- Timperley Brook to the north-east. Its well-drained, tions, which linked it to areas producing salt and mixed sandy and clayey soils meant that it was emi- chemicals, textiles, and agricultural products. With nently suitable for agriculture. some first-class agricultural land of its own, Altrin- Altrincham lies eight miles south-west from Man- cham flourished as a market town in the early nine- chester, already in 1841 the major regional market, teenth century, exchanging its own goods with those railway, canal and industrial centre. Stockport six of the arable, cattle and sheep lands of the Cheshire miles east was an industrial and market town but Plain, the vegetable and dairying products of the lacked a railway. Knutsford, a little nearer to the Mersey Basin to the north and the market garden south, was also a market town and also was not con- produce from around Baguley and Northenden to nected by railway. To the west Dunham Hall and the east. park were owned by the Earl of Stamford and War- Its population of 3,372 souls - fewer than in Stret- rington (who was the largest landowner in Altrin- ford, one fifth of the number in Stockport and only

Figure 3: Map of the Altrincham area in the late 1840s.

Note there was no railway.

Altrincham township boundary is shown as a dotted line except on the eastern side where the boundary was Timperley Brook.

Source: Reports of Superintending Inspectors of the General Board of Health 1851.

Township outlined.

4 one fiftieth the number in Manchester - lived almost from today. To the west of Market Street there were entirely in the town. In shape the town was attenu- open fields as far as Dunham New Park. To the ated from north-east to south-west, around the mar- north-west were the open fields of Oldfield and the ket place (Higher Town) and along George Street open pastures and lawns of Oldfield Hall, while (Lower Town), with a short extension along New below them were the remnants of Seamon's Moss. To Street and the Downs. the north of St. George's there were fields as far as the The ridge on which the upper part of the town lay hamlets of Sandiway and Broadheath and further varies in height around 65 metres (over 200 feet to north-west across the canal the great open sandy 150 feet) and runs from Dunham New Park south- waste of Broadheath. To the north-east lay another eastwards through Hale towards Wilmslow. A con- peat land, Timperley Moss, enclosed a little before temporary map (Figure 3) shows the elevated parts the building of the canal in 1765, and the sandy and by hachure shading (contours were not used at that marshy area near Timperley Old Hall now the golf date). To the north the lowlands of the Mersey basin course. Immediately east of George Street lay Hale and Broadheath areas lie at about 25 metres (83 feet) Moss, still unenclosed in 1841. South of Hale Moss above sea level. Church Street climbs to Old Market the well-farmed Altrincham ridge ran south-east- Place which lies over 45 metres (150 feet) above sea wards towards Hale Barns (the present Hale village level. The buildings in Higher Town included St. did not exist). To the south lay another enclosed George's chapel and the shops and inns of the market sandy heath land, Thorley Moor and Bowdon place. This area took its name from being higher Downs. To the south-west the Bowdon road ran from than, and separated by a steep slope from, the line of the Stamford Estate office via The Narrows across the shops and houses in Lower Town which stretched fields to Bowdon Church and village. along George Street from the Malt Shovels to Regent The position of Altrincham, some distance from Road (later names) at a little above 31 metres (100 feet other markets, ensured it retained its function of mar- plus) above sea level. From Higher Town the Dun- ket town. Today it is also a desirable commuter- ham road climbed away through the fields and be- residential place possessing an attractive environ- yond Highgate to reach over 60 metres (200 feet plus) ment in part due to the high land on which the town near Devisdale. Beyond this the Chester road stands, clean air brought by the south and south-west plunged south-westward down an escarpment to prevailing winds, and fast transport systems. In 1841, cross the Bollin at 23 metres (76 feet) above sea level. Altrincham was not a commuter town. There was no The high ground separates the Bollin valley railway yet. A few affluent commuters may have (which runs from south-east to north-west, joining used their private carriages to get them into Man- the Mersey near Warburton) from the valley of the chester; horsebuses were few, and the canal was Timperley Brook which flows approximately parallel limited for public transport, boats took two hours to two to three miles further north (to join Sinderland reach the metropolis. However, the high south-west Brook which flows into the Mersey at Partington). part of Altrincham was attractive as a residential area There were minor brooks such as the one which due to its spaciousness, views and clean air, and the flowed past the Unicom, down Hollow Bank from Earl's requirements of high standards of housing the market place towards Hale Moss. Another construction and love of trees. The high land on flowed north in the Oldfield area past Linotype, and which it lies was significant also in that it provided an important channel drained Hale Moss north-west- fertile soils for Altrincham's farming and market gar- wards roughly parallel to the railway. The last men- dening. Downwind, on the low ground to the north- tioned stream ran along what is now Grosvenor east where the Earl's influence was not so marked, Road, and at a place then called Woodside, in former were the poorer housing areas, and the site of the times the stream had been made into a mill-race to mills of Altrincham's industrial hamlet at Woodside drive a corn mill. In the early nineteenth century (not far from Broadheath whose industries were to Woodside possessed mills for corn and textiles. develop fifty years later). In 1841 the scene round Altrincham was different

GEOLOGY AND SOILS

The escarpment on which Altrincham lies in part re- (over 150 million years old) outcropping in a faulted flects the 'solid' rock structure underlying the ridge. sandwich of three layers, each many tens of feet However, there are significant 'superficial' deposits thick, tilted at a few degrees to the south or south- lying on top of the rock surface which are also im- west. Therefore the lowest strata of the sandwich, the portant because they are largely responsible for the Bunter beds of cemented pebbles and sandstones, minor landforms and soils of the area, and thus the outcrop to the north of the town. Keuper sandstones farming potential. CWaterstones') outcrop south of these under Altrin- The solid geology consists of lower Mesozoic rocks cham (they appear on the surface in Timperley and

5 are over 60 metres (200 feet) thick under the former this type of deposit could easily be excavated for Altrincham gasworks). Quarries in the Waterstones wells or bored through for pumps. at Timperley supplied some of the pinky-yellow It is possible that the Timperley Brook, which in sandstone used to build garden walls, the bases or pre-glacial times had been heading north-west, plinths for half-timbered houses in the sixteenth and began to flow again in post-glacial times after the dis- seventeenth centuries, and later buildings in the area. appearance of ice, but was deflected to the north The highest strata, Keuper marls, including salife- round the mass of gravels which had been deposited rous beds, outcrop immediately south in the Bollin at Altrincham. This would have caused its waters to valley (where salt springs occurred). There are, in be ponded back in the low ground of east Altrincham fact, no exposures of solid rock specifically in Altrin- and a large area to be flooded. The damp area was cham because of the blanket of thick superficial de- subsequently colonised by sphagnum bog and heath, posits which obscure the basement rocks. causing the growth of Hale Moss. For centuries the The soils of Altrincham derive from this overlay of moss was used for animal grazing, cutting osiers and deposits covering the solid rock (Figure 4) and not di- for turbary (peat). The moss was still in existence in rectly from the weathering of the rock itself. These 1841 and its 35 acres were part of the 38 acres of com- unconsolidated deposits date from glacial times, per- mon for the use of the townspeople. The peat from haps to 25-18,000 years ago during the last advances this moss (and other local mosses, together with marl of ice from the north in the last glaciation. The sub- and the import of limestone and night soil by canal), sequent melting, about 10,000 years ago, caused the spread on the light gravel and sand soils of Altrin- spread of four types of sediment in the Altrincham cham, may have done much to perpetrate the fertility area, revealed when the ice melted. The first deposit of the ground. This allowed a continuation of arable was a layer of boulder clay spread under the ice as it farming into the mid-nineteenth century and the de- moved south through-the area over the solid rocks. velopment of a strong, market gardening industry by This is mainly evident round the edges of Altrincham 1841. Originally developing as a 'raised bog', Hale and in the township is found only in the area of the Moss, through drainage, gradually shrank in height former Hale Moss and Spring Bank areas. Economi- and some of the brooks which originally flowed from cally the clay land was difficult to farm as it was stiff it dried up. and stony and it remained as woodland for many A third source of soils originated from fluvio-gla- centuries (Moneyash in the Manor Road area - 'many cial sands and gravels, deposited sub-glacially or ash trees') but it had been brought into service as ar- extra-glacially by meltwaters from the ice. The de- able and pasture before 1841. On the other hand, it posits consist of water-rounded grains. They formed was useful for brickmaking, for example, on the site light-textured soils not so fertile as those on the gla- of the gasworks in Moss Lane, before they were built cial sands and gravels and are found in east Broad- in 1846. heath and West Timperley. A second deposit, mainly overlying the boulder A fourth deposit was that of free sand of a different clays, was that of glacial sands and gravels (de- origin lying immediately north-west of Altrincham, posited perhaps a little later than the boulder clay in a different environment under the ice). The Al- Figure 4: The type of sub-soil trincham upland is almost in the area. wholly a mass of these sands and gravels, perhaps over 30 metres (100 feet) thick, part of a wide dis- jointed sand and gravel ridge J_l Shirdley Hill sand running in an arc eastwards to the Pennines, which was perhaps a glacial moraine, a ridge de- Boulder clay posited at the front or side of a glacier. The soils which developed on this deposit were Glacial sands and well-drained and easily workable gravels with simple farming tools. Hence this deposit formed an ideal site for settlement and many places of Fluvio-glacial sands and an early origin are found on it, for gravels example, Altrincham, Dunham, Bowdon, Hale Barns, and Knuts- ford. Water percolating through Spring Bank l\ v I \ the gravels reappears in many v springs (for example, at Spring- field Road and Spring Bank) and ^ \\ A \ \ v ^ x\

6 extending towards Warburton. This is known as the of heath largely devoid of much settlement and farm- Shirdley Hill sand (type-location near Ormskirk). It ing, of which west Broadheath was the most notable was aeolian in origin, brought by strong winds from example. The sand spread from the west through the west at the end of the Ice Age, blanketing the Dunham township. The deposit, and therefore the underlying solid rocks and earlier drift. This loose, heath, ended near Davenport Lane, Altrincham's infertile sand formed the basis for the development north-west boundary.

THE NATIONAL SETTING IN THE DECADE LEADING UP TO 1841

There were many important political developments Poor Law Union workhouses. Oliver Twist, written in and great reforms in the 1830s. William IV reigned 1838, highlighted the harsh conditions in the work- from 1830 until his death in 1837, when his niece Vic- houses. The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 at- toria became monarch at the age of eighteen. Victoria tempted to standardise local government. (Altrin- married Albert of Coburg in 1840. The Whigs were cham was visited by a government inspector in 1834 the dominant political party of the 1830s under Lords whose report was scathing about the way the town Grey and Melbourne. The government was involved was run.) The Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 made in affairs overseas as well as at home; with the rising tithe a rent on property rather than payment in kind. in France which brought Louis Philippe to the The first part of the decade from 1831 was pros- throne; with problems in what later became Belgium perous but from 1837 there were disastrous harvests. where trouble lasted till 1839; with Greek inde- Wages fell, food prices rose and dissent continued pendence in 1830, which was successful; with Poland against the import duties imposed by the Corn Laws. where independence was unsuccessful. The First Af- Working conditions deteriorated and the first trade ghan War lasted from 1839-42; Aden passed to Bri- union movement reached its peak about 1834 when tain in 1839 and the Opium War with China started the Tolpuddle Martyrs were transported. Because of in 1840. mechanical improvements, handloom weavers were At home the decade of change started with the living in poverty. The state of health in the growing Great Reform Act of 1832 which increased the voting industrial slums was bad with cholera and other franchise and altered representation though the out- epidemics. There was a high birthrate but high death come was that only one male adult in six had the rate. With immigration, populations soared. Man- vote. Slavery was abolished in 1833. In the same year chester's population grew by 20,000 between 1831 the Factory Act stated no children were to be em- and 1841. People became alarmed about insanitary ployed under the age of nine and that children aged living conditions, later exposed by Engels. In 1838 nine to thirteen were to have two hours schooling a the Chartist Movement was launched for a free and day and work only part-time. A small grant was secret vote and other rights but this failed in 1840. made for education for the first time, leading to the The steamship Great Western crossed the Atlantic in foundation of a Board of Education in 1839. Religious 1838. 1840 brought the introduction of the penny freedom was granted to Dissenters and Jews, and post which powerfully increased the possibility of Non-conformists could celebrate marriages in their communication. In 1841 Cobden, who fronted the own chapels. There was reform of the legal pro- Anti-Corn Law League, was made MP for Stockport, fession: and the use of the gibbet, floggings and pub- and in the same year Thomas Cook started his tour- lic executions were ended. Durham University was ing business. The Tories came to power with Sir Ro- founded in 1832 and London University was bert Peel as Prime Minister in the same year. He re- founded to accept students without a religious test in introduced income tax at the rate of 7d (3p) in the 1836. A Poor Law Amendment Act came into effect pound on all incomes over £150 per year. 1831-41 had in 1834 which actually worsened conditions in the been a remarkable decade.

BRIEF HISTORY OF ALTRINCHAM TO 1841

The township area of just under 631 acres, mapped ancient area designed to provide economic self-suffi- by the tithe commissioners in 1835, may represent an ciency for Altrincham when it was a small group of

7 Anglo-Saxon farmsteads. In AD1290 the borough of Two mills were mentioned in the census and tithe Altrincham was created by charter and probably re- documents, in the Woodside area on (modern) Gros- placed the former settlement in the midst of the venor Road, of which one was certainly a corn mill. township. From this time the township provided ar- The other was a cotton thread mill. Another building able, meadow, woodland and pasture for the bur- in the same area was the size of a mill but it is doubt- gesses and other inhabitants within its bounds. Up to ful if it was still in production in 1841. Leach, writing the middle of the nineteenth century the township, in the later nineteenth century concerning the early still an identifiable unit including the borough, was part of that century, said there was a worsted mill the basis of administration. and wool combing mill powered by water from off The ancient centre of the borough was Old Market Hale Moss, and the mill employed a score of hands. Place and this, together with the rectangular pattern He mentioned a bobbin turner's workshop and a of streets round George Street, may represent a new large corn mill nearby, which seems to be the situ- town planned by the charter of AD1290. After the ation in the 1840s, except the records suggest the tex- medieval period, the borough of Altrincham seems tile mill was for cotton. Apart from activities on this to have declined in the number of buildings as it is site, Altrincham does not appear to have been af- doubtful if the town shown on the tithe map of 1835 fected by the Industrial Revolution. There was hand- was quite as large arealy as when it had been created. loom weaving of wool or fustian in the houses on However, its population of 3,372 in 1841 was prob- Chapel Walk, Chapel Street and Lower New Street, ably at least four times as large as that in AD1290. all situated at the Regent Road end of Lower Town. The early economy was based on market trade- A report on Altrincham in 1834 by a government smen (burgesses) who were also part-time farmers, inspector was submitted for the Municipal Corpora- keeping pigs and cattle and growing arable crops. In tions Act in order to assess the nature of local admin- the seventeenth century the development of dairying istration in Altrincham. The inspector's opinions was signified by the building of a buttermarket in were biased against the type of government in the 1684. In the eighteenth century a spurt to the trade of town. He stated that Altrincham was still run by the the town was given by the increased efficiency of Court Leet, which also had petty judicial powers (for farming on the Earl of Stamford's estates, by the arri- example, able to fine up to £2), and appointed a val of the canal in 1765, and by the turnpiking of sev- mayor but the Court was criticised as being a 'mere eral roads and the introduction of stage coach ser- honorary appendage to the barony7 in which the Earl vices between Manchester, Knutsford and Chester, was all-powerful. The officers were a mayor, a ste- as illustrated in Pigot and Slater's Directory of 1841, ward and a number of aldermen and burgesses. Figure 5. Courts were held in the autumn and spring. The Textile production had long been important as a mayor had no active service to perform - 'a principal cottage industry. At the end of the eighteenth century officer with no magisterial authority'. The mayor had Altrincham was noted for spinning and weaving some land, the Mayor's Fields, from which the Court combed worsted, according to Aiken, and some may Leet drew rent and the income was usually spent on possibly have been produced in small factories by feasting, whereas it had been intended some monies water-power. In the early nineteenth century there should have been set aside for the poor. It was noted were one or two textile factories, but these did not a police lock-up was attached to the courthouse in last long and probably only one was left by 1841. the market place. The population was stated to be mainly occupied in agriculture, with a : - . COACHES. Deter, SUM OAT KxccrTto. few engaged in han- To CHESTER, I be tad V.Urqxj, (from ManehrHm elteroetrly coll ot Uio Uoicora doilyet twelve—eod the Pii.i dloom weaving (an end fitter* ettcrnetcly, morning ot atz.-ell to thro* North — lf* understatement of To MANCUESTER,ti.o M>UIr,0«dc((ro t .rjxlccraetelvcell el the Uoicoro, every eftcriinoo. ot helf-peet two—eod lb. occupations). No w*t end Victory crrry cveniog et ill. To WORTH WICU. tbe 1VcKfe (ttoo. Mooche-trr) coll. ot the factory work was re- Gooegreod Dregon,cvrTyevcoingeteix, roe*tbro'Knuuford To WARRING VON. Ibo JcA. £o/I(f,oro Monct«eter)cxlU „ (be Goicorn, every evening et etx.. . . , . . . ported. St. George's '-•'--OMNIBUSES. =•".•- -'...'•• To KNCTSFORD, en Oenj6«« (from tMencbcatcr) cnlle et the Chapel was stated to Geoege eod Ontoo, t»«j eltcrnooa (Suaibj ex.) ot four.. To MANCHESTER. Omiiiurj, from the Uoiceta end Red have a Sunday Lloo, three tlmee o dey—eod ooe (from Knuteford) cell* et tbe George end Dregno, rttrj morniog (Sunday excepted) et school with 80-90 O rjuorler poet cigbt- :CARRIERS.* ;I ..v. pupils and there To 5fANCH ESTER, John Werburton eod Henry Herrop. from tbcfr bouiee. Bowdon, every Tucedey, Thunder & Saturday • were two non-con- eod to NO RT8WICH, every Monday, Wedocadey U. t'ridey'. formist chapels, but CONVEYANCE BY -WATER. ' •• To LlVEBPOOLaad RONCORN.a Pctk.l Boat, ertry morning of lea—eod eo extra Packet during the ii.antt, time it was reported there recoleted by tbe tide. Frtrcfr OAI'1 deily wiilvgoode. To MANCHKSTER. o Peetet Boo/, every moruing et eigl,t were no Roman end eAeroooa et mi x. ia eacomer,eod eight in tbe marntog end four in tbo efleroooo io winter. Kceerfj exit doily with good* Catholics. The place had too many beer- Figure 5: An extract from Pigot and Local turnpike house. shops and an inade- Slater's Directory, 1841. quate magistrate

8 service. workers in wood and metal, chemists and druggists, Utility services in the town at this time were poor. hairdressers, tailors and dressmakers, saddlers and Lighting was by oil lamps (there was no gas or elec- ostlers, seedsmen, husbandmen (small tenant tricity). Water was easy to obtain through the under- farmers), gardeners, builders, and many labourers. lying gravels and sands from public or private wells Attorneys, solicitors, constables, teachers and sur- and private pumps. There was inadequate sewerage, geons, also offered their services. Many servants as- with refuse and middens creating health hazards (see sisted the gentry, those of independent means and Introduction and Appendix 2). There were reports of those who were a part of the emerging middle-class, typhoid and cholera. The destitute were confined in a professional and business people. Already the social new workhouse at Knutsford. Apart from the Sun- classes were physically segregated. The better off and day schools mentioned in the inspector's report, professional people lived in Higher Town, Lyme there were several other schools, of both the 'British' Grove and the Downs. Most of the artisans and poor and 'National' type, the former provided by the non- people lived in Lower Town and the Chapel Street- conformist British and Foreign School Society (estab- New Street area. Very few people lived outside the lished 1808), and the latter by the Anglican National town. Society for the Education of the Poor in the Principles In 1841 the official census figure for the population of the Established Church (established 1811). There was 3,399, though a close count from the enumera- were also day and boarding private schools. Altrin- tors' returns puts the figure at 3,372. As directories of cham was no doubt regarded as a suitable place to the period put the figure also at 3,372, it seems the send children for education. census officers were wrong and the latter figure is the Many of the usual trades and services associated correct one. Over the decade 1831 to 1841 the popula- with a market town could be found. For example, ac- tion had increased considerably from 2,708 in 1831 by cording to Pigot, there were four inns, eleven taverns 25% to 3,372. (The last section, 'Overview', gives fur- and three retailers of beer, no doubt all very busy on ther details.) 1841 heralded in the last decade in market days. There were many shopkeepers, agents, which Altrincham was a very small market and dealers and merchants, blacksmiths and farriers, residential town.

LAND USE 1835-38

The map in Figure 6, shows the whole of the town- the horses). The amount of oats grown was equal to ship estimated in the tithe schedule to be 631 acres. It that for the other two cereals combined. The chief is a reduction of the 1835 map accompanying the areas were on the fertile glacial sand and gravel soils schedule of 1838. The land use is not complete for of the high ridge west of the town and where other several reasons. Whereas the schedule described well-drained soils lay round the margins of the town- land use in the case of many fields, there were also ship. There was a group of fields to the west, another many omissions. Also there were some fields shown two groups in the east on both side of Hale Moss, on on the map which were not described in the sche- boulder clay, and another near Spring Bank on sandy dule, and others where the number of the property soils. Towards the north east a tract of arable lay on the map was wrong. around Navigation Road on light aeolian sand. Infor- The town was almost devoid of woodland but this mation about the area north of the canal is not given has also been indicated. Most lay round Pig Field, in the schedule but field names suggest there was north of Oldfield Hall. There was a basket maker in also some arable here; it is known some of these the town who would have required withies, and a fields had been used for dumping soil excavated in bobbin turner's which would have used coppiced the construction of the canal, but the agricultural ef- poles for material. Some of this raw material may fect of this is not known. have been obtained locally. 'Orchard ground', as it Pasture and meadow covered 309 acres. The pas- was called, was also minimal. ture is likely to have been mostly permanent in posi- Hale Moss, the 35 acre wasteland shown east of the tion. One stretch of pasture lay south of Stockport town, the land use of which was not stated in the Road, the rest was mainly on a dry patch in Broad- tithe, was part of the 39 acres of commons. The heath. No details are given of the nature of stock nor town's buildings appear on the map in a simplified numbers, but in the general introduction to the tithe form (Figure 1). schedule, cattle, milch and barren cows, pigs, sheep, With regard to the 166 acres of arable, there is no geese (and bees) are mentioned. There was no men- information about any rotation of crops, nor of any tion of commoning arrangements on Hale Moss, nor short or long leys. So if there was rotation the picture of the use of the town fold on Pinfold Brow (Lloyd is only what applied in one year, 1835. The cereals Street). grown were wheat, barley (there was a maltkiln at It is probable that most of the meadows had been the bottom of what is now Kingsway) and oats (for in the same position for centuries, as, technically,

9 they needed irrigation and drainage. Several were apparently occupying former burgage plots round situated along Timperley Brook in the east, as might the back lane to the east of Old Market Place. be expected due to the damp 'river terrace' soils, but Perhaps the most interesting distribution of gar- there was a 'meadow' immediately west of Market dens lay on the former open field arable strips of the Street and other small meadows farther west on ap- Town Field between the Manchester and Dunham parently dry soil, potential arable land, which was Roads. Here one or two strips had been divided unlikely to have had a water supply. These isolated cross-wise to create square gardens, especially the meadows may have been mown for grass, perhaps in group off High Bank. Several other whole strips an arable rotation. along the Dunham road had also changed from ar- The census and tithe only mention two 'farms' but able cultivation to gardening. Two of these had some 'houses' were in reality farms. There were thir- houses erected midway along the strip. teen holdings of over 10 acres and in practice there In total this 'garden ground' covered 53 acres, were probably as many farms. more than the 47 acres mentioned in the tithe sche- The 'garden ground' was one of the most interes- dule. It represented development of an opportunistic ting types of use (see Appendix 3). Many gardens lay, economy to supply the Manchester market with ve- as would be expected, round the houses. The bigger getables at a time of bad harvests for field crops. The houses had, in the terminology of the period, 'plea- patches are listed in Appendix 3. sure grounds' and no doubt also kitchen gardens. Root crops did well in the sandy soil. The Altrin- The smaller houses would have vegetable patches. cham carrot could grow up to 20 inches long and Another type of garden existed away from particu- there were well-known local varieties of potatoes lar houses. These were clearly market gardens. There and onions. The expansion of market gardening were several clusters of these gardens. One group lay must have upset the original arable and pasture east of George Street overlooking Hale Moss. This economy when fields were taken out of larger-scale area might have been won from the wet Moss by farming. It also represented the last phase of agricul- draining and marling. A second group lay between tural development before Altrincham became built- the Downs and the Narrows. Previously it is clear up. this area had been formerly composed of long open- In conclusion, the distribution of land use to some field arable strips in the process of being taken up for extent reflected work-effort in that the market gar- house-building in the 1830s. That some plots were dens requiring constant attention were situated ad- being used as gardens reflects an intermediate land jacent to the town, the meadow and pasture farther use stage between arable strip cultivation and hous- out and the arable, not requiring much attention, ing. A third group lay north of the Stockport Road, largely on the periphery.

FIELD NAMES

Evidence for the names of fields in use in 1841 comes area of former cultivation and possibly enclosed be- from the tithe map of 1835 and the tithe apportion- fore the lands of the Town Field, to the west of the ment schedule of 1838 (see Figure 7). The long thin town. The name 1oonf also appeared in the Town fields down the western side of the township were Field, where there was a field called Tinker Loonts. the remains of a medieval strip field system called This lay adjacent to Short Butts (butts were irregu- Town Field. The line of the Dunham road can be seen larly shaped end-pieces where ploughs were turned, cutting through some of the old strips. Farther north or, less often, where archery was practised). lay Oldfield Hall which took its name presumably A number of enclosures lay south of Hale Moss in- from another ancient field. In Broadheath the Bridge- cluding Omelant Hey. 'Hey' means enclosure, and water Canal of 1765 can be seen to have cut through the Place Name Society's explanation of this name is pre-existing patch-shaped fields. 'almond tree enclosure'. Nearby was Skim Pit Field, To the east of the town lay meadows along the perhaps referring to the old trade of leather tanning. Timperley Brook. A number of these were called South of the moss lay two of the Mayor's Fields en- Dirty Meadow, for example, in the land of George closed from the seventeenth century, and the Money- Jackson at Paddocks Farm. 'Dirty' may refer to the ash area, perhaps signifying there were many ash trees here at one time. dark colour or muddy nature of the soil of the allu- Thorley Moor lay between Ashley Lane and the vial river terraces of the brook here. Downs, with Intake' representing an enclosure of Names ending in ley7 indicate woodland clearance this moor. Charlmoor, another tract of enclosed in time past, such as Blakeley (black clearing - per- heath, comprised four fields in all, and coincided haps from the burning of trees to make the clearing, with the Spring Bank estate owned by Peter Leicester. or the colour of the soil), and Bradley (broad ley). In The name 'Ceorl' may be of Anglo-Saxon origin and the same area were fields called 'loonts' derived from refer to a churl or lesser nobleman. In the same area 'lands', the local name for strips, indicating another

11 HrParks \/b-

Antrobus Pitch or Dunham UnoFd.^^ Robinsons Jacksons Patch and Further Patch /i

Figure 7: Some distinctive field names.

12 were a number of fields called Utley, which may was mentioned in relation to the Mayor's Fields and mean 'out-ley7, a clearing perhaps on the outer edge this also applies to land given to the workhouse by a of the township. former Earl and to two fields, one north and one A substantial number of fields carried personal south of the canal. Much of the Broadheath was still names, for example, Ackerley Field, Whitelegg's unenclosed in 1799, so had been hedged and im- Town Field, Ashton's Town Field; perhaps these proved since that time. Some names are found in the people were former burgesses. There were twenty- 1841 Census, such as Gorrell's Gate farm on Ashley eight small enclosures called crofts, many within the Lane, and Paddock's Farm, which extend the picture areas of former strip fields; one group covering both of the use of the land at that time. sides of Navigation Road may point to the presence of a former open field here. Enclosure of the waste

LANDOWNERS AND TENANTS

From the schedule accompanying the tithe commuta- Duke of tion award it is possible to distinguish several differ- Bridgewater's ent types of landholders of property in Altrincham in Trustees 12 2 28 1841: Workhouse Trustees 10 0 27 John Barratt 6 1 25 12 3 27 1. The Earl of Stamford Richard Grantham 4 3 20 2. Freeholders Richard Gaunt 3 2 26 3. Other owners including churches, schools, work- Isaac Harrop 3 1 35 17 0 22 house trustees, Duke of Bridgewater's Estate, and Harry Staples 3 1 1 the Mayor of Altrincham James Royle 3 0 22 8 0 19 4. Leaseholders of the Earl Thomas Crallen 2 2 30 6 1 29 5. Tenants of the Earl John Clark (Hale) 2 2 26 6. Tenants of the Earl's leaseholders Mary Worthington 2 2 10 7. Tenants of the freeholders and other owners Thomas Marsden 2 1 4 The Earl's lands included most of the built-up area Another important category was that of the actual (except land round Chapel Street) and the farming occupiers of properties as distinct from the land- area north-west, west and east of the town as shown holders. For this short summary only the following in Figure 8. will be considered: Owners, Leaseholders and Occu- After the 'Big Five' came three of the nine corpor- piers. ate owners in the town; the Mayor, the Duke of Owners Bridgewater's trustees and the trustees of the work- There were seventy-eight including the Earl of Stam- house at Broadheath. After these were a number of ford and nine bodies of trustees. The main owner smaller landowners with properties between 2 and was the Earl with 188 acres, nearly one-third of the 10 acres. John Barratt, grocer of Old Market Place, area of Altrincham. He leased out 161 acres of this owned the town's malt mill opposite the Malt Sho- and the rest was rented directly from him. The next vels. Isaac Harrop was a magistrate who lived oppo- largest freeholders were Elizabeth Rigby who owned site the Stamford Estates Office, on the site of the later and lived at Oldfield Hall, Peter Leicester of Spring town hall. Harry Staples owned a house and garden Bank, William Pass and Hugo Worthington, the two on the east side of Church Street and one field of pas- last, like Leicester, were attorneys and Worthington ture - Round Hey - but does not seem to have been was the Earl's steward in 1838, but was not recorded resident in the town. At the other end of Altrincham, in the 1841 census and may have been deceased by Thomas Crallen owned 2Vi acres and leased a further then. The list which follows shows the freeholders 6V2 from the Earl, making a small block occupying who held more than two acres, and also who of these part of the former strip fields at the upper end of leased land from the Earl: New Street. Nearby, Mary Worthington owned less ground but it was all garden to Downs Cottage where she lived. As a contrast Thomas Marsden Owned Leased from the Earl owned 2V4 acres along New Street containing fifty- a. r. P- a. r. P- Elizabeth Rigby 56 1 20 30 1 3 five houses. Peter Leicester 29 0 22 Some of the land of the independents and other William Pass 23 2 26 18 1 27 smaller owners was in the south part of the town Hugo Worthington 15 3 30 28 2 33 where building development was taking place and Mayor of profits could be made. Altrincham 13 1 26

13 Stockport

J.clar^

Figure 8: Important Landowners

ITO Leasehold from Earl of Stamford (N = Nicholls Devisees)

Elizabeth Rigby

Peter Leicester

William Pass

Hugo Worthington Some others outlined

14 Leaseholders be Altrincham's main farmers (and /or gardeners) is There were twenty-seven of these, of whom seven as follows: have been mentioned in the list above. The others with more than 2 acres leasehold were as follows: a. r. P- Elizabeth Rigby 70 1 16 William Pass 37 2 34 Leased from the Earl Robert Woodall 37 1 30 a. r. p- Hugo Worthington 36 1 15 John Nicholls (devisees) 81 12 0 George Massey 31 2 2 John Hulbert 22 2 26 James Whitehead 30 0 38 Robert Worthington 17 0 31 John Warren 22 2 26 Peter Scales 10 0 24 George Jackson 22 0 38 Bridget Boardman 7 1 13 Michael Drinkwater* 20 1 6 William Cluley 6 3 25 Isaac Harrop 17 2 2 William Royle 5 0 25 Peter Leicester 12 2 2 Richard Broadbent 5 0 17 William Brundrett 12 1 20 Elizabeth Heywood 4 0 8 William Royle 11 3 34 Michael Drinkwater 3 3 32 George Burgess 3 3 17 Henry Dean 3 2 34 * There were two Michael Drinkwaters whose Joseph Clarke 3 0 29 lands totalled 20a. lr. 6p. The amount occupied by William Sprowson 3 0 25 each is not known. Robert Leicester 2 2 21 Jeremiah Edward Lloyd 2 2 10 What is interesting about this list, apart from the Jane Grantham 2 1 15 size of the farmland of Elizabeth Rigby at Oldfield Ann Hardy 2 1 4 Hall, is that Worthington, Pass, Harrop and Leicester John Ardern (devisees) 2 0 32 were attorneys and at the same time part-time William Warren 2 0 3 farmers. With Elizabeth Rigby, they considered themselves gentry. George Massey was a publican. Several of the leaseholders also owned small To what extent he actually farmed is not known, but amounts of land under two acres, for example, John he needed land for his horses at the Unicorn. He oc- Nicholls had owned 1 rod, 24 perches of land (on 11 cupied the fourth largest amount of land, but perches of which he had six cottages), as well as leas- whether he was considered gentry is unlikely. ing the 81 acres indicated above. In terms of amount Of the other farmers, Robert Woodall, James of land held in Altrincham he was the second to Eli- Whitehead and John Warren occupied land in Broad- zabeth Rigby and third to the Earl. Nicholls was not heath, George Jackson was at Paddocks Farm near alive in 1841, but a Nicholls, presumably his son Wil- the Stockport Road and William Brundretf s farm liam was an attorney in Higher Town in the firm of was on the site of the YWCA on Ashley Road with Nicholls and Worthington. John Hulbert who leased some patches of land stretching across to the eastern 22 acres is mentioned in the section on Occupancy boundary of the town. Some of the lands of Robert below. The canal warehouse west of Broadheath Woodall, George Massey, George Jackson and Mi- Bridge used to be known as Hulbeifs Mill. Whether chael Drinkwater were sublet from the 81 acres of the Hulbert of the mill was a later owner is not John Nicholls, deceased, held leasehold from the known. Bridget Boardman was innkeeper at the Earl. Several other people entered themselves in the Stamford Arms and presumably used her land for Census as Farmers, for example, Ralph Southern, horses and Joseph Clarke was innkeeper of the James Brownell and Abraham Drinkwater, all in Wheatsheaf. William Cluley was an independent. Lower Town. All had much less land than 10 acres. Michael Drinkwater was a farmer or gardener (there were two Michaels) and (one or other) was tenant of Land occupancy was very complicated as indi- many more acres than the three acres leasehold in the cated in Figure 9. There were thirty-two leaseholders lists (see below). Of the rest E.J. Lloyd who also lived of the Earl who also occupied the land they leased. at Oldfield Hall was a magistrate, and his widow in Many more sublet their leaseholds. Several land- due course built the first hospital in Altrincham on owners leased land from the Earl, let out their own Pinfold Brow, in memory of him. land and occupied the leasehold land! John Barratt owned 6 acres and of this occupied only 2 acres and Occupancy the malt mill. He also held leasehold land from the The occupiers of land were in many cases not the Earl, some of which he occupied and sublet the rest. owners or lessees and so a list of occupiers is some- George Massey of the Unicorn occupied a block of what different than the above lists. Farming was an small fields round the Unicorn rented from the Earl. important industry at this time and several profes- He also occupied three other blocks of fields sublet sional people were part-time farmers. To what extent from two of the Earl's leaseholders. John Hulbert they carried out the farming themselves is not owned Vi an acre, leased 22 acres from the Earl, which he sublet to John Warren, and himself occu- known. The thirteen people who occupied tracts of pied a house owned by William Pass. Thirty owners land above ten acres and who were thereby likely to

15 Stoc*p°rt

Figure 9: Important Occupiers of Land

Elizabeth Rigby George Jackson William Pass Michael Drinkwater Robert Woodall Isaac Harrop Hugo 9>T Worthington -L! Peter Leicester o o George Massey o William Brandrett James X X Whitehead X William Royle

John Warren

16 occupied their own property and of these thirteen by James Royle and the Pickstones probably lived in owned very small plots with either a single house or Ann's rented house. cottage, or three or four cottages. The pattern of occu- James (thirty), Sarah (forty), Sarah (fifteen) and pation ranged from compact farms such as that of John (twelve) lived on Ashley Lane. James was a hus- George Jackson at Paddocks Farm to scattered plots bandman. He tenanted a garden directly from the such as those held by Hugo Worthington. Earl but there is no clear record of any ownership or tenancy of a house. Families and holdings Joseph Pickstone (thirty) was a blacksmith living It is sometimes possible to relate the names of people with Jane (thirty), Samuel (thirteen), Joseph (eleven), mentioned in the census to land and property hold- and Jane (nine) and John Royle (fifteen), an appren- ings listed in the tithe schedule. The problem in many tice. Joseph senior was tenant of two houses and the cases is that the names of families occurred several smithy in Lower Town, near the junction of the pres- times. One such name was Pickstone; there were five ent Lloyd Street and Railway Street. The tenancy was families of that name. To what extent they were re- from Robert Twemlow devisees, who held as lessees lated is not known. from the Earl. On Hale Moss lived John Pickstone (seventy- William Pickstone (sixty) was a labourer. His three), gardener, Jane (seventy), Elizabeth (forty-five) household consisted of Betty (fifty-six), William and William Tonge, labourer. John (described as Brownhill (thirteen), Charles Brownhill (eleven), and 'senior' in the tithe) occupied a house and garden Alice Pickstone (one). There is no information about leasehold from the Earl. any property. Another John (sixty-five), husbandman, lived with Where it has not been possible to define any Ann (fifty) on Pinfold Brow. He was probably the ownership or tenancy of property from the tithe John described as 'junior' in the tithe apportionment schedule, as in the case of two of the Pickstones, it and held three properties leasehold from the Earl. may be they were unnamed tenants of landlords who One, a house, stable and garden, he let to Thomas owned several properties, such as John Hope who Hooley. He also had two garden plots, one of which owned thirteen cottages, the tenants of which were he let to John Pearson and one which he kept for him- not named. self. Ann was a tenant of a house and garden owned

17 PART II DESCRIPTIONS OF SIX SUB-DI\ HONS OF ALTRINCHAM IN 1841 Figure 10 below shows the six parts of Altrincham to main map of each area. The demographic charac- be described. Each will be accompanied by a detailed teristics of each part are shown by a population py- map compiled from the tithe map, the census sche- ramid in the text. All the pyramids show percentages dule, directory and other information. The maps dif- of the numbers of people in particular age-sex bands fer slightly in scale in order to fit areas onto a single so their shapes are comparable from one area to an- page. The location of each area relative to Altrincham other. township as a whole will be shown as an inset to the

Figure 10: The six areas of Altrincham to be described

1. North Altrincham 2. Higher Town and North-west Altrincham 3. Lower Town 4. South-west Altrincham 5. South Altrincham 6. East Altrincham

18 Figure 11: Area 1: North Altrincham AREA 1: NORTH ALTRINCHAM

Situated to the north of the town, this area extends kept to the 83 from Sandiway in the south to where the Timperley foot contour; Brook crosses the Manchester road in the north. The only in the Manchester to Chester road bisects the area, breaking south does the away from the line of the Roman Road at St. Alban's ground rise for- church, a route which had previously by-passed Al- ming the hill of trincham. Running from east to west, the Bridge- Altrincham. On water Canal crosses the area in the transverse direc- this flank num- tion and in the period in question provided access for erous wells, freight and passengers to Worsley, Manchester and springs and Liverpool (via the Mersey from Runcorn where the seepages occur, canal ended). adding to the The main settlement was the hamlet of Broadheath drainage prob- (see Figure 11) which served as a canal port for Al- lem. It is on the trincham. There was another hamlet at Sandiway. northern edge The most prestigious place was Oldfield Hall (see of this hilly part Figure 14), where lived Elizabeth Rigby, who pos- that the Tim- sessed 86 acres. Other residents at the hall included perley Brook E.J. Lloyd and his family and servants. Lloyd was an takes ground- influential man in Altrincham's affairs and a magis- waters away to trate. He was not recorded in the census, though his Figure 13: Broadheath Bridge overth e River Mer- family was - he must have been away from home on the Bridgewater canal (illustration sey via the Sin- census day. Apart from the two hamlets mentioned by Roger Oldham) derland Brook. above, there were only one or two people living At the time along Navigation Lane and the Manchester road. of the 1841 census, there were 181 people occupied in this area. Although of the six areas considered Area 1 had the Sixty-nine of these (38%) included three farmers and largest amount of land, 264 acres, its population in sixty-six agricultural labourers. It is likely that most 1841 was not large, consisting of 420 persons. The of the labourers were working for local farmers, or main population lived at Broadheath at the intersec- for others elsewhere in other parts of Altrincham or tion of the two main transport routes, the canal and nearby Dunham Massey, or were working in market Manchester Road. The farming population was thinly gardens. The town benefited from fast transport to scattered due to the poor nature of the soil for agricul- the Manchester markets and the land here was used ture. For example, as the name implies at Broadheath, for market gardening as well as farming. Indeed Al- the soil was unproductive. It was sand and clay trincham was then famous for several products, the heathland with poor drainage, resulting in pockets of Altrincham carrot, and the Bowdon potato. (In the wet mossland. Drainage seems to have been the chief early nineteenth century the favoured potato var- factor affecting cultivation. The land was generally ieties in Altrincham were Tox' and 'Green Seed- flat, as indicated by the line taken by the canal which ling-.) The Bridgewater Canal (Figures 13 and 15), with its wharves and warehouses, might have been expected to have employed a large gang of men and the listed trades indicate this to be so. Four boatmen obviously worked there and it is likely three carters, several tradesmen, a book-keeper, a clerk and an agent were also so connected. Pigot and Slater's Direc- tory of 1841 indicates the last was William Collier, the Duke's agent, who is likely to have lived at Bridge- water House (a small stylish house by Broadheath Bridge demolished in 1990). The site is now occupied by the Mansion House office block. Even though the census does not readily impart a sense of the importance of the canal, it was a very important link with Figure 12:The workhouse (illustration by Roger Manchester mainly for trade but also for carrying Oldham). The gable end abutted onto what was to passengers. In 1841 the canal was at the height of its be come Atlantic Street.

20 were a little quicker, the ride was rough due to the state of the roads. In an era of horse traffic, the George and Dragon, the Wheatsheaf and the Navigation inns provided services for travellers and there were three ostlers and a groom nearby. The Old Packet House pub at Broadheath was not mentioned in the tithe or census but there was a building on its site at the period. Else- where in the vicinity, there were two beersellers; also a saddler, four blacksmiths with two apprentices, and three wheelwrights serviced road and canal transport. Various domestic service trades were also here, a glazier, a slater, a shopkeeper, a tailor, two shoemakers with one journeyman, a butcher and a Figure 14: Oldfield Hall. E.J. Lloyd and Elizabeth grocer, a draper's journeyman, two bonnetmakers, a Rigby lived here. dressmaker and a charwoman. Of the more indus- trialised trades, there were three bricklayers, a cotton spinner, an engineer and an engraver's apprentice, a activity before the Manchester South Junction and measure maker and three woodworkers, including a Altrincham Railway, built in 1849, began to take its bobbin maker. In addition to these, the professions freight and passengers away. A timetable dated 1841 and miscellaneous occupations were represented, for shows that there were at least three packet boats a example, by a school master, a registrar and the agent day with variations for Sundays and between sum- for the Duke's trustees already mentioned. mer and winter, the latter services beginning an hour The numbers employed in various occupations or so earlier than in summer. Leaving Altrincham for were: the west, boats from Manchester could be boarded at 1000,1500, and 1900 hours, arriving at Lymm after an Farming 45 hour and a half, London Bridge (near Warrington) Textiles 1 after three hours, Preston Brook after a further hour Clothing and footwear 8 and Runcorn after a total time of five hours with Food and drink 3 stage coaches for Chester meeting the boats at Pres- Metals 7 ton Brook. The fares were 3d (lp) to Dunham, 9d (4p) Other manufactures 11 to Lymm, Is 3d (6p) to London Bridge, Is 9d (9p) to Construction 5 Preston Brook, and 2s 3d (lip) to Runcorn if travel- Retailing 1 ling by Ijest cabin', or if only steerage, i.e. T^ack Professional services 5 room', the cheaper rates of 2d, 6d, 9d, lOd, and Is 6d Miscellaneous 2 applied. In the other direction, a boat from Lymm Labouring and apprentices 24 would arrive at 0730 and take two hours to reach Manchester. Child passengers between three years and six years were allowed to travel at half fare. It was just after 1841 that swifter 'fly7 boats came into oper- ation whilst travelling re- freshments were served ad- vertised as 'most elegant'. Lord Egerton, who was the chief trustee of the canal company, was given £50,000 worth of railway shares for guiding the Bill for the railway through Parliament, allowing the railway company to buy some of his land for its route, and agreeing to remove his fast 'fly boats' from the canal. The canal provided a smooth journey and though stage coaches Figure 15: The canal warehouse of 1833

21 Servants 40 Independents 29 Note: The types of occupation listed above have been derived from the Standard Industrial Classification.

It may seem curious to list people of independent means amongst those with occupation or employment, but the authors of this monograph have considered such people as playing a part in the economy of an area. It is surprising when we think of industrial Broad- heath today that 150 years ago the chief occupation was that of farmer followed by servant and minor gentry. In terms of social class, if we assume all the 'independents' were monetarily affluent there was a Figure 16: Population pyramid for North Altrincham. large Social Class 1 of 30, including Elizabeth Rigby and E.J. Lloyd of Oldfield Hall. The (upper middle) Social Class 2 was represented by five people, including John Hulbert, farmer of Brook House on Grosve- closed some time after the Poor Law Amendment nor Road. Social Class 3 (lower middle class) con- Act of 1834 and moved to Knutsford. However, it tained ten people. Social Class 4 (upper working was still functioning in 1838 as the accounts for that class) contained twenty-six. Social Class 5 (lower year show: working class) contained 110 people. Although the area contained many people in manual work (farm- Sept. 291838 Indoor labour account ing, crafts and transport), the size of the upper class By stock in hand with its associated servants, was very important. 3 pr warps at 15s.8d. £2-14-3 61b white weft 3-9 Two large sections of the community were of a 3V4 blue do. 10 mostly non-productive category (Figure 16): children " " new stock £3-8-10 up to the age of fourteen (37%) and elderly people over sixty-five (3%). The census mentions several old From balance £6-6-10 people still working including an agricultural blue linsey weft worker of seventy and a groom of eighty-five. (The to work of John Street of Lymm old age pension would not arrive for another seventy " " " Sam Small of Bollin Fee years. At this time it was a choice of working or the workhouse for the elderly working class.) There were There were sixty-nine inhabited houses and six un- sixty-six married people. This means, excluding inhabited. The latter, because it is known the popula- children, half the population was single. tion of Altrincham was growing quickly, are taken to 346 people (72%) had been born in Cheshire. mean they had been recently built but were as yet un- Seventy people (18%) had been born outside Che- occupied. This was a part of Altrincham which was shire, six had come from Ireland, from 'foreign parts' growing through the importance of the canal. There and the birth places of four people were not given. are several buildings remaining from the period, the There was no church or chapel here but there was Packet House, parts of the Navigation Hotel, the a Sunday school. One important place was the work- George and Dragon, terraced houses on Sandiway house provided by the Earl of Warrington in 1756 on and the canal warehouse of 1833. a site north of the canal (Figure 12). This institution

AREA 2: HIGHER TOWN AND NORTH-WEST ALTRINCHAM

This area around Old Market Place and modern Mar- Field. The area covered was 73 acres made up of 121 ket Street (see Figure 17), extended from Church properties ranging from small houses to a meadow of Street in the north to Church Walk (Regent Road) in 6 acres. Lord Stamford owned seventy-two proper- the south. It included Victoria Street and the present ties accounting for 57 acres. Fifty-four of the proper- King Street and open land from Church Street west- ties were leased to intermediaries, the remaining ward to the township boundary, a large extent of eighteen were let directly to the occupiers. The other farmland which had been part of the ancient Town forty-nine properties covered 16 acres, twenty of

22 Figure 17: Area 2: Higher Town and North-west Altrincham Figure 18: St. George's Vicarage, built in 1799. The incumbent was the Reverend W.C.B. Cave. them were leased by the occupiers, the remaining Figure 19: Well Lane (Victoria twenty-nine let to tenants. Many of the properties Street). along Church Street and Victoria Street were about 20 areal perches and would represent the Cheshire survived from previous centuries: Barncroft, Hob measure (twice statute) of the burgage size of 2 by 5 Field and Eighteenpennyworth. Hugo Worthington, linear perches given to the burgesses in 1290. Mr Wil- an attorney important in the town's affairs, lived in son, a surgeon in Church Street, occupied a plot of 22 Higher Town and in the tithe schedule of 1838 held perches. Over the years many had become divided much land. He was not listed in the census and direc- and Mr Barratt owned the malt kiln (near the Malt tories of 1841 and had been possibly succeeded by Shovels) on a site of 11 perches, probably a half-bur- Robert Worthington. William Pass was another in- gage plot. fluential attorney possessing 41 acres and possibly farming these. He had a house set well back from The Market Place had been for centuries the econ- Church Street, where he lived with three female ser- omic centre of the borough. There were at least fif- vants. He also had a farm on Well Lane. teen retailers, one of whom, at 6, Old Market Place, was the mayor, Joseph Bruckshaw. The remains of an old cross stood there in 1841 as did the stocks, and there was a butter market with adjacent cells, in use until the building of the police lock-ups in Lower Town in 1838. Above the butter market was a court room, in constant use by the Court Leet, Vestry and Town's Meeting. Most of the houses were clustered around Market Place, Victoria Street (Figure 19), King Street (of 1841 - present Market Street) and Church Street. There were only six outlying houses in the fields to the west, occupied by George Haworth, Richard Broadbent (surgeon), Richard Poole (independent), John Shelmerdine (attorney), Frances Hordem (independent) and Thomas Langston (sharebroker). A group of three of these houses formed an enclave of villas known as Mount Pleasant (see Figure 17). The vicarage (see Figure 18), occupied by the Figure 20: King Street (part of Market Street). Foreground - Revd. Cave, lay next to these and was also part of Stamford Estate Office. The occupants of the first six outside the built-up part of Higher Town. houses in 1841 were, from foreground to background: Emma Surprisingly, although the land west of the and Clara Richardson, governesses; George Berry, tailor (with built-up area was agricultural only one wife and others); Charles Balshaw, printer (and family); Ann farm was listed in Area 2, in the lower part Gresty, charwoman; Samuel Pearson, printer (and a family of of Victoria Street. The occupier was listed as eight); John Warmisham, saddler (and family). a gardener, perhaps an indication of what In some instances the houses must have been sub-divided to was happening to the agricultural land accommodate various lower middle - and working-class hereabouts. Many of the field names had households, which suggests the area was moving down-market.

24 Altrincham was a stage coach town. Five inns and two beer and wine sellers around the Market Place reflected the amount of trade which took place. The largest and most important inn was the Unicorn, occupied by landlord George Massey, with seven female and five male servants. The Court Leet sometimes held its meetings there. It was also a posting station and an excise office. Many coaches passed through the Market Place as shown by Figure 5. The stables of the Unicorn stood where the Market House stands today. The Red Lion, also in the Market Place, was the only inn with visitors on the night of the census, its landlord, John Wedderburn was hosting two travellers. Where the Dunham Road now comes in stood the Waggon and Horses with Samuel Street Figure 21: Population pyramid for Higher Town its landlord. Near the site of the Cresta Hotel stood and North-west Altrincham. the Stamford Arms or Bowling Green Inn, also a stag- ing inn. Its landlord was John Keeling. Between the Stamford Arms and Victoria Street lived Ann Board- household size of 5.23 persons, though family sizes man who was listed in the 1824 and 1834 directories were smaller, ranging from forty-two families with as licensee of the Bay Malton. Her property was reg- two persons to three families with nine persons. istered as a house and garden in the tithe (as were the Twenty-nine families had one parent, twenty-six inns of John Weddenbum and Samuel Street), and with a mother only and three with a father only. The though there is no reference to it directly as an inn in oldest person was seventy-nine. In all quinquennial the census of 1841, it may well have existed as such. age groups up to thirty-five years there were more fe- The landlord of the Roebuck in Victoria Street, an- males than males and 75% of the population was other coaching inn, was John Turner. under thirty-five. The ten to twenty-four year band Several sources mention a 'Roundabout House' accounted for 26% of the total number of females and but it is not mentioned in tithe or census. It was a within this there were almost 10% between fifteen public house close to the freestanding court house. and nineteen years, reflecting a large number of fe- Two properties in the market place occupied by male servants. In the thirty-five to thirty-nine age John Barratt and Isaac Gaskarth were described in range there were more men than women but from the tithe schedule and census as houses and gardens then to sixty-five there were more women, and in the but these were shops and both men are listed in handful of people over sixty-five there were more Pigot's Directory as maltsters and brandy merchants. women than men. John Barratt also owned the malt-kiln at the lower There were 325 people with occupations of whom end of Victoria Street. One source states one of the nearly a third were servants, there being ninety-four town's two slaughter houses stood 'behind' the Mar- females and twenty-eight males. The occupations ket Place. It is stated to have had no water supply nor were: drainage and its refuse was dumped near the premises and was frequently offensive. The weekly Farming 8 slaughter of nine cows, nine calves, thirty sheep, Textiles 0 twelve lambs and four pigs amounted to a staggering Clothing and footwear 31 3,328 animals per year. Some of the meat from these Food and drink 21 would be sold in the butcher's shop in Market Place Metals 4 owned by William Berry (see Figure 17). Other manufactures 21 The area had no drainage system, surface liquid Construction 18 flowed downhill from Higher Town into Lower Retailing 15 Town and into the brook from Hale Moss. Water Professional services 14 came from wells in Victoria Street and High Street, Miscellaneous 15 iron pumps were introduced from 1839 according to Labouring and apprentices 12 the Town's Minute Books. The water was very hard Servants 122 due to lime and magnesium salts and was unfavour- Independents 44 able for cooking and wasteful for washing. The area was lit at night by oil lamps provided by the Court The area was still fairly wealthy with many inde- Leet or privately owned. Night watchmen patrolled pendent and professional people with their servants. the area calling the hours and hopefully deterring Thirty-six tradesmen had shops for food, iron- criminal activity. mongery, drugs, and hairdressing. The area had The population of 680 people (Figure 21) consisted many skilled workers. Thirty-one persons made of 254 men and 426 women, and so was strongly fe- and/or sold hats (Figure 22), clothes or shoes. Miscel- male. The people lived in 128 houses with an average laneous occupations included a sharebroker, silk

25 broker, clerks, governesses and schoolmistresses. The church Fourteen professional people included seven mem- ran a school bers of the legal profession and four surgeons. In opened in spite of the Act of 1834 regulating the employment of 1810 to hon- minors, six children aged ten years worked, four girls our the gold- were servants, one boy was a servant and one boy a en jubilee of saddler's apprentice. the accession Of the 680 inhabitants of this part of Altrincham, of George III 468 (68%) were born in Cheshire; of the remaining (a 'Jubilee' 212 (32%) not born in the county, five were born in school). Wales, five in Scotland, one in Ireland, one in 'foreign There were parts' and the remaining 200 elsewhere in England. three board- With a non-local population of nearly one in three, ing private there was therefore a high proportion of incomers to schools in the Higher Town. area: Spring- Class structure was as follows: field, Spring- bank and one 12% Social class I (upper class) 5% Social class II (upper middle class) Figure 22: John Mort, draper and jown ^bv hatter of Higher Town. ^ 12% Social class III (lower middle class) Mrs and 26% Social class IV (upper working class) Misses Nay- 45% Social class V (lower working class) lor). On the day of the census Springfield had nineteen pupils, Springbank twenty-three and there were This area was reputed to be the upper class area of twelve in the Higher Town school, probably No.5 Altrincham but the three lower middle and working High Street classed as a seminary. classes accounted for 83.4% of the population. It There are several buildings remaining which were seems the area had declined in social status. Figure 20 there in 1841, including St. George's Church, build- shows that the fine Georgian houses in King Street ings round Old Market Place, such as the Unicorn (Market Street) which might be assumed to be occu- and No.6 and 16, and a row of attractive houses, now pied by gentry were in fact occupied by lower middle offices in Market Street (Figure 20), for example, Nos. and working class people. 5, 7, 10 and 12. The National Trust shop and Stam- The Revd. W.C.B. Cave was the vicar of St. ford Estates Office is a particularly stylish building George's, a chapel of ease to the parish church of St. from the late eighteenth century. Mary's at Bowdon.

AREA 3: LOWER TOWN

The area called Lower Town lay to the south and east The population was 1,087, with almost an equal of Old Market Place and extended the length of split between males and females (Figure 27). Of the George Street and Railway Street, from the Malt Sho- under five year olds there were more girls than boys, vels pub to the present Downs Hotel. The area also but from five to nine the reverse applied. Many of the covered Police Street, part of Stamford Street then boys were resident with craftsmen or tradesmen, known as New Road, Shaws Road and Goose Green. with a few being specified as apprentices, for It also included a few isolated cottages to the east example, James Holt, shoemaker in Goose Green, side of Railway Street, backing on to Pinfold Brow had a boy of eight living with him. It is possible that (Lloyd Street), but not Pinfold Brow itself (Figure 23). young females from families in Lower Town were in It is not easy to picture the area to the east of service elsewhere in the town. Of the adults, between George Street because of changes in road layout the ages of twenty and thirty-four there were more through the building of Stamford New Road, Graf- women than men, but above thirty-five the sexes ton Street and later The Graftons, and the presence of were relatively evenly divided, the oldest person the railway. being Betty Foster, aged ninety. The total acreage covered was just under 23 acres, Land ownership and tenancies in this area were made up of ninety-four plots, from a single tiny cot- complex. There were twenty-six individual owners tage to the largest, a field of pasture, iVi acres in size. besides the Earl of Stamford, the main ones being The area was densely populated along most of William Pass, John Barratt, plus the devisees of George Street and at Goose Green but was backed on Thomas Howard and of Devereux Jones Nicholls, the east side by a stretch of plots used as gardens, both deceased. There were eighteen people holding lying between George Street and Hale Moss. land by leasehold from the Earl, but much of this was

26 Figure 23: Area 3: Lower Town sub-let. The Earl's leaseholders in 1838 included beer-sellers, including one at the present Bricklayers Hugo Worthington, William Cluley, John Barratt, Arms, another one in George Street (near the site of and Michael Drinkwater. The name Drinkwater Woolworths) and also a grocer (and beerseller) Ro- demonstrates an example of the problems faced in in- bert Watson, who occupied premises owned by John terpreting the tithe and census records. At first glance Faulkner, near the site of the present Faulkner's he appears to have occupied land from a total of Arms. seven other leaseholders and owners amounting to The east side of George Street had some better about 10 acres, much of it used as garden plots. How- houses, especially to the south of Moss Lane, includ- ever, the tithe award lists two houses as being occu- ing the residences of William Warren, timber mer- pied by Michael Drinkwater, and a check with the chant, William Starkey, cabinet maker and Robert census shows two different men: a seventy-five year Shelmerdine, who was one of only two gentry listed old gardener with a house on George Street, and a for Lower Town in Pigot and Company's Directory of younger man living at a farm in south Altrincham so 1834. Shelmerdine's house had a substantial garden that it is difficult to tell which plots were occupied by of over V4 acre. (By 1852 the Board of Health map each man. Only three men gave their occupation as shows several large houses on George Street having farmer and these lived on the east side of George ornamental grounds laid out with paths and summer Street around the junction with Moss Lane, and occu- houses.) pied fields outside Lower Town, for example, James One interesting example is the plot listed as 'Bean- Brownell with 9 Vi acres. croft plus 3 houses', but shown on the tithe map as There were some people who owned only one or having no buildings in 1835. William Quley held the two small plots consisting of three or four cottages, plot leasehold from the Earl, and the census of 1841 who do not appear to have been resident in the town- shows him resident there. He was aged sixty, of inde- ship, such as John Austin and Samuel Clark. Analysis pendent means, with a wife, daughter or niece and a of all the plots belonging to these small owners young female servant. Of the other two houses on the shows a grouping in certain areas, i.e. Beggar's plot one was probably occupied by another 'inde- Square on George Street, the corner of Goose Green, pendent' with his family, the second by a tailor, the back of the Malt Shovels (Police Street) and what Thomas Brierly, who had living with him another tai- is now Railway Street. Two small owner/occupiers lor, with wife, daughter and two apprentices aged fif- were William Hamilton, with land sandwiched be- teen. Cluley's three houses probably fronted onto tween the Austin and Clark plots, and John Johnson, George Street and it is clear that these were new who owned a small cottage on the east side of Rail- houses, as there is evidence that new building had way Street. Both were turners by occupation, taken place between the date of the tithe award and Johnson being specifically a bobbin turner. the 1841 census. Most of the property in Lower Town consisted of houses and cottages, some with gardens or yards, many without. If there were stables, workshops or other outbuildings, very few are actually mentioned in the tithe award, apart from smithies. There were two chapels in the area - Shaws Lane Chapel (perhaps associated with a grave yard in Shaws Road), and the Methodist New Connexion in George Street. A boarding school was sited at the south end of George Street. The tithe of 1838 lists this as occupied by a person called Southam, but by 1841 it was occupied by Mrs. Allen with her own family and eleven girl boarders. There was possibly another smaller school further up George Street, where Martha Knight lived with her schoolmistress daughter. Al- ternatively the daughter may have been employed at one of the schools in Higher Town to the north. Lower Town also included the residence of Isaac Turton, constable. At the end time of the tithe award he lived on the west side of Lower George Street, but by 1841 lived next door to the police lock-ups - newly built in 1838 on the opposite side of the road, which led to the name Police Street for the area behind the Malt Shovels. (See Figure 24) There were four taverns or public houses in Lower Town - the Malt Shovels and Axe and Cleaver at the north end, the Woolpack and the Orange Tree near Figure 24: Police lock-ups, 1838. the junction with Regent Road. There were also three

28 There were four uninhabited houses listed on George Street around the area called 'Back o'th' Barn', to the rear of the Malt Shovels in the same location as the police lock-ups. Careful comparison also shows that there were extra houses in 1841 occupying plots which appeared on the tithe map with either none or only one or two buildings. It is possible that in some cases there was more than one household sharing a building, including people living in cellar rooms. The area included ten or eleven houses which were lodging houses. It is notice- able that four of these had as head of Figure 26: Bricklayer's Arms and Beggar's Square. household an Irish born labourer and one an Irish cork cutter, and many of their lodgers were Irish. The largest number of occupiers twenty-five plots of garden listed as separate from were in John Hadfield's house - a total of eighteen houses. The largest was just under 1 acre and the people. Hadfield was a chimney sweep and occupied smallest only 4 perches - about 120 square yards, one of three small cottages (tithe 178b) on the south with the average size being less than Vi acre. side of the Bricklayers' Arms in Beggars' Square on Many of the cottages with gardens were very George Street (Figure 26). Hadfield's household also small, the average size being about 10 perches or 300 included a female housekeeper, a traveller with his square yards. Cottages without gardens averaged wife, two other chimney sweepers, a cotton spinner, 1 Vi perches - about 45 square yards, with a couple of a dyer (with his wife who was a weaver, and infant) them being only 1 perch, i.e. about 30 square yards, two labourers and a one-year old boy! for example, that occupied by John Johnson, bobbin turner, near to Goose Green. With the exception of one field of pasture, all the plots in Lower Town were less than one acre, and Of the 1,087 people, 851 (three-quarters) were born apart from a small field of arable, one orchard and a in Cheshire and of the rest 224 came from outside the nursery, the remaining plots were for houses or gar- county, 67 from Ireland, five people from Scotland dens. The term 'garden' here includes land worked and five from 'foreign parts'. Twelve had no place of as market garden as well as cottage gardens or the birth listed. It is interesting that all but one of the girls pleasure grounds of larger houses. There were boarding at Mr. Allen's school were born outside the county, as were Mrs. Allen and her family, but the two female servants were Cheshire born. Most of the Irish lived close together, either at the south end of George Street, or around Back o'th' Bam, with one lodging house on Railway Street The concentration within the Irish-run lodging houses affected this grouping, but it is also evident that in the other densely populated area in Goose Green, nearly all the residents were Cheshire born. Some occupation groupings were exclusively Che- shire born - all the gardeners, farmers, and all of the brick-makers and brick-layers, the shop-keepers, grocers and butchers and many of the tradesmen were born in the county. Most of the apprentices and journeymen, and a lot of the craftsmen were born in Cheshire. The Irish were mostly labourers, including two females and many were agricultural labourers. Some craftsmen and tradesmen, including a fish dealer, joiner, plasterer and cork cutter were also Irish. The Scots included a painter, an excise officer and a basket maker.

The occupations of the people were as follows:

Figure 25: Cottages, Lower Town (George Farming 48 Street). Site of the former Public Library, Textiles 19

29 and plumbers. A number of people were engaged in working with wood products; William Warren, the timber dealer, and a timber carter, sawyers, turners, bobbin turners and cabinet makers. Cabinet making seems to have been a substantial trade within the town. In Lower Town, within a short stretch of George Street were the timber dealer, a sawyer, and two cabinet makers, one of which was John Starkey aged sixty- five with a family of three. A couple of doors away was William Starkey, with his wife and four men including two joiners (one a journeyman) and two boys aged twelve, not related - possibly apprentices. This was only one example of workmen living with their employers, repeated elsewhere in the town where Figure 27: Population pyramid for Lower Town either journeymen or apprentices, or both, were listed as resident with a craftsman. Clothing and footwear 52 Agriculture accounted for 125% of the occupa- Food and drink 17 tions in Lower Town, but there was only a very small Metals 9 number of farmers (three) and husbandmen (two). In Other manufactures 31 contrast there nineteen gardeners, including one fe- Construction 39 male. The census entries do not specify whether they Retailing 17 were private gardeners or market gardeners, but Professional services 3 judging by the amount of land occupied it is most Miscellaneous 52 likely that most were market gardeners. Labouring and apprentices 97 There were 148 adults listed with no occupation, Servants 30 but it is not easy to deal with these statistically. Many Independents 15 of these were probably wives. The enumerator for District 19 always listed 'wife' under the occupation Lower Town contained a wide spread of craftsmen of the husband, but the person who did District 22 and tradesmen typical of those serving a small mar- did not, and the figures reflect this. There were ket town, with the addition of more specialist crafts twenty-four males (12%) aged between fifteen and including a clock-maker, jeweller, and silversmith. fifty with no occupation listed, nineteen of these There was also a number of more unusual crafts such being aged under twenty. Some probably helped as umbrella maker, cork cutter and blacking maker. with a parent's work, the rest were possibly unem- Such minor crafts and miscellaneous occupations ployed. made up the work of 22% of the 429 people em- There were only three people providing profes- ployed in Lower Town. sional services, including one land surveyor. This 14% were engaged in providing clothing and foot- was William Whitehead who carried out the valu- wear, including dressmakers, milliners, tailors, shoe- ation for the tithe commissioners. He was thirty-five makers, and bonnet makers. Less than 5% were in- years old and lived with his wife Sophia and six volved in providing food and drink, although this children in the north end of Lower Town. The num- proportion included several bakers, a confectioner, ber of independents, fifteen, was also low, and al- fish dealer and the pubs and beerhouses. though there was a number of well-to-do tradesmen There were blacksmiths at both ends of Lower living in Lower Town, the predominant picture is of Town: near Goose Green and at the north end of a working class area. Lower George Street, the latter being next to the The labouring class made up over half of those bread bakery of William Leyland. In the same loca- listed with occupations in this part of the town and tion were James and Henry Mitchell, both thread one third of those employed were skilled workers. manufacturers. Textiles was one of the industries The social class composition was as follows: represented in Lower Town, with nineteen people (5%) engaged, mostly in weaving, although it is 3% Social Class I possible that some people staying with John Had- 1% Social Class II field, lodging house keeper, a dyer, a weaver and a 9% Social Qass III cotton spinner were passing through the town. Some 35% Social Class IV may have worked at home and others at a mill, or 52% Social Class V mills, at Woodside on Grosvenor Road, nearby. The building trades made up 10% of the employed in The district was predominantly working class Lower Town, and accounted for a range of craftsmen with 87% of the workforce in this category. - brick-makers and brick-layers (or -setters), a plas- There were difficulties in identifying social class terer, a painter, joiners, carpenters, a stone-mason, among the craftsmen. Where a man had journeymen

30 or apprentices living in, he could be assumed to be a Margaret aged thirty-five, a shopkeeper, who had a master, possibly of a substantial business and fairly female servant living with her. In several households well-to-do, probably the situation of William Star- there were young children with a different surname key, but where a worker lived alone or only with living with a family, possibly children of in-laws, or family, his status as master or employee could not be orphans, or offspring of domestic servants elsewhere decided. in the town who were not allowed to live where the One can speculate on the social conclusions which servants worked. can be drawn from the occupants of the police lock- Within Lower Town, where servants are listed, ups on the night of the Census. These included an there were three groups: a few were listed as heads of ironstone miner, a puddler, two labourers (one Irish), household, others were living in with employers, an eighteen year old Scottish painter and a chair bot- and the rest were related to head of household, pres- tomer! umably living at home, but employed elsewhere. The tithe award lists 170 houses and cottages in Until the 1960s some courts and yards off George Lower Town, while the 1841 Census for the same Street remained which preserved names of buildings area gives 212 households (and the police lock-ups), or people from the 1840s. Examples of these include plus five uninhabited houses. The number of inhabi- Drinkwater's Cottages, which lay next to the tants ranged from one to eighteen, with Allen's Bricklayers' Arms. Mount Terrace and Mount school having twenty. A couple of the houses with Cottages were further up George Street, one being ten people were those with large families, but the rest the alleyway to one side of Woolworths. They recall with over ten were lodging houses. There were fif- the name of the building which housed Allen's teen houses with only one occupant most whom school. were elderly, although there were three instances of a The names of the present pubs in the area also re- younger single female - a dressmaker, a bonnet flect the 1840s: the Faulkner's Arms on Stamford maker and one of independent means. New Road recalls John Faulkner who owned a There were 259 families in the 212 households, grocer's (and probably also beer retailers). Until re- lodging houses accounting for, in some cases, four or cently the name of the Axe and Cleaver reminded five families. Families of two or three people were people of the two previous pubs of that name, which most numerous, making up 45% of the total. There stood at the bottom of the hill running down from the were several families in the lodging houses, many Market Place to George Street, near a pig market. In being young couples with a child under five. Pigot and Slater's Directory of 1841 it was called the Ninety houses of the 212 had just one family living Butchers' Arms. in them. In the rest, families had someone else living Much of the area on George Street has been re-de- with them, who may have been related in some way, veloped, but there are still some buildings dating but with a different name. The largest family size was from the this period, including the Bricklayers' Arms nine, of which there were three examples. and the Malt Shovels, with the row of cottages, now There were at least nine cases of extended families, shops, adjoining the latter. Several buildings have where there were people with the same surname and gone within the last twenty years, including the a wide age span. One example was Henry Mitchell, police lock-ups and the old cottages on Lower thread manufacturer, aged sixty, who lived with George Street. The cottages shown (see Figure 10) eight others of the same name. Presumably one was were on the east side of George Street, next to the al- his wife, with two daughters aged twenty-four and leyway leading to the old Bus Station, and may have twenty-one, two sons twenty and eighteen (both ap- been those called Jackson's Yard. Photographs exist prentices) and three more children aged fifteen, in the Local History Collection in Trafford Libraries twelve and three. The three year old was presumably of old thatched cottages on Lower George Street, and a grandchild of Henry. The picture is complicated by near to Beggar's Square and the Bricklayers' Arms. the presence on either side of this house of two other Some of the cottages on the west side of Goose Green households of Mitchells. On one side was James aged date from this period, and possibly some on the west forty-five, with a wife, fifty-five, and daughter, fif- side of Railway Street. teen, and on the other side lived a single female -

AREA 4: SOUTH-WEST ALTRINCHAM

This part (Figure 28) lay between Dunham Road and as the bottom of Higher Downs, iv. houses in Nor- the Downs. It covered 52 acres and its population man's Place. was 882 persons in 172 houses. There were four Chapel Street took its name from a Wesleyan cha- populated areas: i. Regent Road (called Chapel Lane), pel on Chapel Lane (Figure 29); its site, next to the ii. New Street and Chapel Street parallel to the Grapes, is now occupied by Regent Road car park. Downs, iii. a string of houses along the Downs as far The name of New Street suggests it was then of re-

31 Figure 28: Area 4: South-west Aitrincham Worthington leased 7 acres and Hugo Wor- thington 4 (in which were six of the forty-three plots he leased round the town). Isaac Harrop leased the largest plot, the 5 acres known as Town Field or Hothouse Field off Regent Road. The next largest landowner to the Earl was Thomas Crallen who owned 9 acres, sublet to Maria Crallen. Thomas and Maria lived in New Street. Maria was noted as being 'inde- pendent7, no doubt living off her rents. The employed population numbered 402 and the numbers in different occupations were: Farming 71 Textiles 49 Clothing and footwear 22 Food, drink and tobacco 3 Figure 29: Wesleyan Chapel formerly in Chapel Lane, theMetal s 3 Grapes beyond. Other manufactures 14 Construction 38 cent origin. New Street had been constructed after Retailing 7 1799 (it is not shown on a map of that date), but in Professional services 7 which decade of the nineteenth century is not clear. Miscellaneous 29 No weavers were listed in New Street so presumably Labouring 23 it post-dates the decline in the domestic weaving in- Servants 67 dustry about 1820 and so was perhaps laid out after Independents 69 this date. Chapel Street, also not built until after 1799, must pre-date New Street because it contained many A quarter were employed in manufacturing. Inde- weavers and so was laid out probably between 1800 pendents and servants made up a third of the occu- and 1820. pations. Of the six uninhabited houses in the whole district Chapel Street (Figure 30) was the home of many in 1841, and therefore possibly newly-built, two were weavers. There were forty-nine people engaged in in New Street, two in Chapel Street and two in the this trade. Thomas Hugh, a weaver, lived with his Downs. If six per year was an average sort of increase wife and six children, of whom two of the older ones of housing, i.e. sixty per decade, it suggests this part were weavers. Each of the two Hardy families also of the town was growing rapidly in population. had three weavers resident. The Holts had a family of eleven of whom five were weavers. In several houses The pattern of field shapes shows the area still con- with weavers there were lodgers who were also tained many strip fields. In the west there was a num- weavers. These houses, populated with weavers, ber of large strips in what had been the southern part together with the probability of only one power- of the medieval Town Field, which stretched south driven thread mill in a different part of the town, from Sandiway to Chapel Lane (Regent Road). South leads one to the conclusion that this is evidence of the of Chapel Lane was another group of narrower remains of a domestic weaving industry carried out strips, probably once part of another ancient open in the cottages. The nature of the cloth produced is field. The alignments of Norman's Place, New Street not known except that fustian cutting and cotton and Chapel Street were related to the 'run' of the spinning were mentioned in the cen-sus. The fustian stripfields there. Some of this area did not belong to the Earl in 1799 and strips had been sold off to specu- lative builders. New Street and Chapel Street had become filled with poor quality housing. Density of building was high, there was overcrowding and a lodging house. People were poor and the conditions unhealthy. Houses here were condemned in 1848 in Isaac Turton's report for the Board of Health only a relatively short time after they were built. Being on privately owned land, their construction was not governed by the stringent rules which applied to properties built on the Earl's land. The chief landowner of this part of the town was the Earl who leased out 28 acres in thirty-two plots, including groups of small cottages and gardens in the New Street area. Of the 28 acres in 1838, Robert Figure 29 is on the right.

33 trade would House a. 3 independent females with 1 servant have re- b. 3 independent females with 3 servants quired a c. 1 independent male (aged 25) and long build- housekeeper ing. It is d. 7 persons including 2 males and 5 possible one females in a household (all recorded as or two of independent, probably 3 erroneously as the 'yards' they were children of 15 and under) listed as e. 1 independent female with a small being asso- girl and a servant ciated with f. 2 independent females with 1 the houses servant may have g. 2 independent females with 1 been tenter- servant Figure 31: Lyme Grove - the Elms. Inyard s for h. 2 independent females with 1 1841 this was occupied by Elizabeth stretching servant Cliffe, schoolmistress, three other cloth. i. a school of 18 females, including 4 teachers, thirteen girl pupils and two teachers, 13 scholars and 2 servants servants. Chapel Lane con- (1 male), see Figure 31. tained skill- Norman's Place, therefore contained forty-seven ed workers, including a surveyor, printers, joiners, a females and four males! Part of the Downs showed tailor, shoemaker, a dressmaker, a painter, a turner, the same characteristics with twenty-one females and and unskilled workers such as agricultural labourers, two males in seven houses. Female servants were an ostler, a brick-setter, a pedlar and a general la- common in these areas, one section of the Downs, bourer. New Street was more varied in the occupa- having twenty-two servants in twenty houses. How- tions and social class of its residents. ever, another part of the Downs, perhaps the bottom In the area there was evidence of multiple occup- part, had a population of very mixed character in- ancy of housing. One lodging-house keeper was cluding: listed, in New Street. There may have been several, if truth be known, and there were more by the time of 15 independents; Isaac Turton's report in 1848. However, the only a mistress of a boarding school with 10 pupils (one of lodging-house listed in this area was very respect- two schools in the area); able. The lady keeper had three tenants, an attorney's a merchant with his wife and 4 children; clerk and two watchmakers. Betty Hazlehurst, a a tailor and family including 3 independents and a widow in Norman's Place, accommodated in her female servant; house Betty Clough, a hawker, Mary Hollinworth, a a painter and family whose household included a seamstress and Mary's child of fifteen who was a fus- painter's apprentice and an independent lady with 4 tian cutter. At another house Catherine Cubbins was other children; a servant and under her roof lived two other female a porter with wife and 4 children; 2 families of agri- servants. Sixteen people lived in a house in the cultural labourers; Downs: Louisa Steinthal, thirty-five, an independent a household containing a manufacturer with wife, 4 from France and her four children, together with Ber- children and 2 independents and 2 other children; tha Hertz twenty-five, independent also from France, another manufacturer and family; Ann Gale, Hannah Hoggart and Ann Clarke, female a surveyor and family of 6 children; servants, George Freelan, independent, a child - Eli- a Wesleyan minister with 6 children and 2 servants. zabeth Barbour aged three (no other Barbours among these households), Peter Taylor and his wife and The lower end of Norman's Place and part of the family of three children. It is improbable this was a Downs clearly contained a group of large houses, lodging house so was it the first 'residential home' in some of which had been subdivided, suggesting their the town? occupants were changing from a hitherto genteel nature and becoming quite mixed in class. This change Lyme Grove as a road name did not exist; it was perhaps marked a recent exodus of people of high so- part of Norman's Place. In Norman's Place, the first cial class to Bowdon (the population of which in- three homes were cottages occupied by Alice Hes- creased by a fifth between 1831 and 1841) which keth of no stated employment, together with a might have been a response to the spread of artisans butcher and family, the next by widow Hazlehurst and lower class people into Chapel Street, between mentioned above, the third by a cordwainer, his wife, Norman's Place and the Downs. daughter, boy apprentice, a boy of four and a thirteen There were two chapels in the area, one on Chapel year old female servant. The other residences were Lane and the other at the bottom of the Downs. The houses occupied by an enclave of females, in se- latter today forms part of a furniture shop and the quence as follows: neighbouring shop; there was a Sunday school on

34 New Street. Their location identifies the poorer areas the end of the row of forty-nine cottages half-way up in which they attempted to instil the virtues of a the street where the house of the police constable was moral life and the acceptance by the poor of their sta- reached. From here there was then a quick change in tion in it There were also two private schools. There social standing of the occupants (whether this was a was one with nineteen people in it in Norman's coincidence is not known). In the next house there Place, comprising a family of four, thirteen pupils was, in fact, one more agricultural labourer's family aged seven to fifteen and two servants. The family but including an independent, but next door was the consisted of four schoolmistresses, the Misses Cliffe Wesleyan minister's household, including a servant, aged between thirty-five and twenty. It was not and further along the street, an independent living noted as a boarding school though several children with a milliner and child, an independent household there had not been born in Cheshire. This was the including a cabinet maker's apprentice, three inde- house now known as The Elms. The other school, dependents living with a packer and his wife, a com- scribed as a boarding school, was on the Downs. The mission agenf s family and servant, three female in- mistress was Catherine Clark aged twenty-five of dependents living with a sculptor and his wife, the Irish descent and she had ten children aged nine to sexton living on his own, an independent family with fifteen and a female servant. Two of the children and two servants, a valuer and family with two servants, the female servant had also been born in Ireland. and three more independent households with ser- Two interesting mistakes were made by the vants. Such were the contrasts between one end of enumerator. By tracing the sequence of house visits it New Street and the other. There were differences is clear that what he called part of TSfew Street' was in within the group of independents. The few at the bot- fact New Road at the north end of Lower Town (and tom end of New Street were usually over sixty and the details have been included in that area). Also, probably more accurately termed dependent rela- having progressed up New Street, the enumerator tives. Those at the Downs end were under forty-five called the road he found at the southern end, Lower and had servants. Socially, the bottom end belonged Town, whereas it should be the Downs. Altrincham's to Lower Town, the upper end with Norman's Place two nightwatchmen lived in this area at the top of the and the Downs. Downs. The average number of people in the area's 172 17% of the occupied people were in socio-econ- households was five though only one in five was of omic class 1, a reflection of the great numbers of inde- this size. They ranged in content from one to sixteen pendents in Norman's Place and the Downs. There in a household (including servants), but the most were only 2% in the upper middle class (profes- common were three- and four-person, just exceeding sionals) and 6% in the lower middle class (for the number of five-person households; overall three example, in trade). The working classes held most to six-person households made up two-thirds of the people, 28% in the upper working class (skilled arti- total number. There were only four instances of sans), and 47% in the lower working class (including people living on their own. As mentioned above, servants). In spite of the Downs and Norman's Place, there were frequent instances of more than one fam- this was predominantly (75%) a working class area. ily occupying a dwelling together. Families ranged in In social characteristics, it is clear there were acute sized from one to eleven. Two to four-person families differences not only between streets but within accounted for 38% of the total. There were 140 single- streets. In New Street, the chief two occupations were persons (43%), most of whom lived with other agricultural labouring, with nineteen thus occupied, people, for example, as independents with live-in and there were also eighteen independents. Apart servants. from one or two instances, the residences of people of The sex structure was predominantly weighted on these two occupations were not intermixed. The labourers were at the northern, Tower Town' end and the independents at the southern, 'Downs' end of the street. The first housing up New Street from Chapel Lane consisted of forty-five cottages containing people with the following trades, in order of dwelling, proceeding from north to south: a joiner (with stockbroker lodger), an independent (one of the ex- ceptions mentioned above) with a servant, a stone- mason, a cabinet maker, a cottage with three agricultural labourers (two of whom were women, one from Ireland), a cottage with two agricultural labourers (one from Ireland), a female hawker, and a general labourer, a cottage with a painter's apprentice, and another with a labourer and a pedlar. The next cottages included artisans such as a plasterer, a stone- mason, a bricklayer, an ostler and a french polisher. Figure 32: Population pyramid for South-west Then followed labourers and other lowly trades until Altrincham.

35 the female side with 524 females and 358 males. In from Scotland. One third of the Irish were agricultu- age (Figure 32), there was an imbalance of males in ral labourers and most of the rest servants; as noted every quinquennial age group except the sixty to above, the proprietress of a school for young ladies sixty-four and the seventy to seventy-four groups. was Irish. Of the 237 who came from outside the Especially great was the imbalance in the twenty to county, probably most were from Lancashire. Eight twenty-four age groups where there were only half out of thirteen pupils in the girls' boarding school in as many males as females. It would appear the area Norman's Place were not born locally, presumably was attractive to females, especially servants attend- daughters of Manchester businessmen. Some of the ing on women of independent means, and unattrac- independent people, not born in Cheshire, may rep- tive to males, especially to young adult men, who resent a group moving away from the industrial en- presumably had left the area for work elsewhere. vironment of Manchester. Altrincham in the second Two-thirds of the population, 588, had been bom quarter of the nineteenth century had become a in Cheshire and 283 people, a third, had not. No de- residential and retirement town. tails were given for eleven people. An origin outside Today there are fine houses left from this period Cheshire was particularly notable among the sixty- along the Downs and in Lyme Grove and in the nine people of independent means, many elderly, of upper part of New Street. A few shops on Regent whom fifty-three were not local. Of the 294 incomers, Road were probably in existence in 1841. Many of the 237 had come from England outside Cheshire, six remaining buildings are listed buildings, including were French, thirty-eight were Irish, two had come even numbers 32-34 and 56-62 the Downs.

AREA 5: SOUTH ALTRINCHAM

This district (Figure 34) lay south of Pinfold Brow here, 6 elsewhere; James Royle 3 acres and 10 leased (Lloyd Street) and occupied only 64 acres, 10% of Al- elsewhere; and Devereux Nicholls 3 acres here and trincham township. It was distinctive in consisting thirty-one holdings elsewhere (nearly 84 acres in all). mainly of farmland divided into patch-shaped fields Leicester also held 3 acres of land in West Altrin- from 1-4 acres, in contrast to the strip-like fields of cham. Area 3 to the west. The settlement pattern consisted The land of South Altrincham consisted of fertile of a mansion, Spring Bank, one or two small farms, soils on a well-drained gravel and sand ridge south and several cottages forming almost a separate ham- of Hale Moss. Field names suggest that arable farm- let round a small triangular 'green'-type wedge of ing had been carried on in the past. This is inferred land where Pinfold Brow met Ashley Lane, at the from 'arable'-type field names, for example, 'field' as south end of George Street. distinct from 'meadow' or 'pasture'. In 1841 most of The chief landowner was Peter Leicester of Spring the land was still arable (see Figure 6). Examples Bank (Figure 33), who owned 29 acres, nearly half the were Mayor's Field, Broomfield and Moneyash Field. area. However, he only occupied half this estate, sub- Broomfield does not suggest very high quality arable letting the rest. Whereas in other parts of Altrincham, and the Moneyash Field area (see Figure 35) must several owners' holdings were often scattered, Lei- have involved the clearance of 'many ash trees'. cester owned his lands freehold in a block, sugges- There was no indication in the 1835 tithe map that ting this cohesive tract may have had an ancient any of these arable fields had been cultivated in origin. Other landowners owned a few acres in South strips. Several plots were called 'Croff, for example, Altrincham but had their main holdings in other Middle Utley Croft (meadow in 1838) and Holfs parts of the town, such as James Brownell 4 acres Croft (garden in 1838). The crofts may have been ancient enclosures, won and worked by individuals and some may have been attached originally to a house. Another field with an old name, Round Hey ('he/ - enclosure) was meadow in 1838. An enclosure called Intake (an enclosure from common pasture or moorland, probably neighbouring Thorley Moor) was arable in 1838. Some of the land had been improved from moor, but still carried such names as Thorley Moor and Charlmoor. In 1838, Thorley Moor and Little Charl- moor were arable, whereas Great Charl- moor was pasture. There had obviously Figure 33: Spring Bank House, formerly on Ashley Road been land use changes over time. Fields

36 Figure 34. Area 5: South Altrincham

37 were six households with between eight and eleven members each. The eleven member household was that of the Pear- sons; John, a cordwainer (forty), his wife, Margaret (forty), eight children aged from fifteen down to seven month- s, and Betty Farnworth, a lady of sixty who also lived with them. Just over 90% of the people were lo- cals. The place of birth of two people was not recorded. Of the rest, fourteen (8%) had been born elsewhere than Che- shire, including two in Scotland, thus the area contrasted very much with Figure 35: Money Ash 'Farm' (in the present Ashfield Road area).South-Wes t Altrincham in this respect. Michael Drinkwater lived here with his wife and five children. Eliza Jones (sixteen), born elsewhere, Whether this place was a 'farm' or gardener's house is not known.was recorded in a two-family household which included Samuel Royle, a gardener, with his wife, Edward Lamb called Further Meadow and Middle Meadow were (fourteen) a labourer, and John Lamb (eleven); the re- not meadow in 1838, their land use had been lationship of the two Lamb boys to the Royles is un- changed to arable. There were twenty-four 'gardens', known. Ann Brundrett (fifty), not born in Cheshire, some shared by several houses and this reflects the lived with two other Brundretts, Jane, eighty ('inde- market gardening for which early nineteenth century pendenf), and Sarah (ten), both born in Cheshire. Altrincham was noted. Margaret Pearson, the wife of a cordwainer in a fam- William Brundrett was a tenant farmer of 8 acres of ily of ten, and Betty Farnworth (aged sixty), in the land owned by James Royle. His farmhouse was same household, were born in England outside Che- called Gorrell's Gate on Ashley Lane. He farmed 6 shire. On Ashley Lane, an independent female acres including Higher Thorley Moor which was (sixty), a child of twelve and the Independent Minis- held by the Mayor and was also tenant with others of ter in one household, had been born elsewhere., Next 5 acres of Mayor's Field in the Seamon's Moss area. door a woman of fifty-five had been born in Scotland The Earl of Warrington had given these lands to the and her child of fifteen had been born elsewhere in mayor in 1699 so the rent from them could be used by England. A hostler nearby was also not a Cestrian. At the Court Leet to dispose of for the benefit of the poor Spring Bank, Peter Leicester's household consisted of but the Court in the early nineteenth century was the two young female servants mentioned above, criticised for having spent the income on feasting. born in Cheshire, together with Elizabeth Ashton The population of 167 lived in thirty-four houses. (thirty) classified as independent born elsewhere; her Excluding servants and other non-family-name indi- role is unknown. Further along Ashley Lane the two viduals in a household (because it is impossible to Bowland parents had been born in Cheshire, whilst a know for certain if they were related to the family or six-year old male child with them had not. were lodgers), there were forty families with over two persons in them ranging up to ten persons. The The occupations of the people were: most frequent family (mode) was two persons, and Farming 16 the average five persons per family, though the mid- Textiles 2 point of the range (median) was three. There were Clothing and footwear 8 also eighteen one-person 'families' living with other Food and drink 1 people, in some places as servants. Sally Jennings, Metals 0 sixty-five, lived with Ruth McGill, twelve, who may Other manufactures 3 or may not have been a relative. Peter Leicester may Construction 5 fit this category. He lived with Elizabeth Ashton and Retailing 0 two servants. Of the eighteen people apparently not Professional services 1 members of families of two people or more, three Miscellaneous 1 were servants, others were people of independent Labouring and apprentices 13 means, an independent minister, a cordwainer, a Servants 10 weaver, a carder, three females without description, Independents 4 labourers, and apprentices. There were no single-person households. Sixty-four people were employed. Sixteen (25%) The thirty-four households ranged in number were employed in agriculture. Fourteen were in from two to eleven persons, giving an average house- manufacturing including five cordwainers (shoe- hold size of five but the largest number of house- makers). This was an interesting group, which, being holds contained two, three and five members. There located close to an abattoir might have got some ma-

38 terials locally. In skilled trades there was a wheel- ren between 1831-41 or a deficiency due to a high in- wright, two textile workers (a weaver and a carder fant death rate among boys. Second, in the next older who might have worked in the hand textile trades of band, fifteen to nineteen, there were only five males the Chapel Lane area) and two dressmakers. There but fifteen females; perhaps at this age young males was only one man occupied with food - a grocer; five were migrating out of this area for a livelihood were in the building trades, ten were servants (two whereas young girls could find employment as have been mentioned in Peter Leicester's estab- dressmakers and servants. The number of dwellinn- lishment). There were eleven labourers, an appren- gs in the census of 1841 was six fewer than that re- tice and a washerwoman. Only one person supplied corded in the tithe schedule of 1838, and as there is no professional services - Leicester, an attorney. There record of houses being built, the district may have were also four people of independent means. Four lost population over the period. men and fourteen women (not apparently wives or The same names of people appeared in the tithe keeping house) over the age of fifteen, had no re- schedule and in the census only in a score of cases. corded means of support, which may indicate there There is a better correlation in the case of those con- was 22% unemployment. nected with the land whose details frequently appear There were seven people in social classes 1 and 2 in both documents, such as Peter Leicester. As many (the attorney, minister and the independents - people in the census cannot be found in the tithe though it is not known if the latter were really schedule, it is clear many artisans, labourers, inde- wealthy) and there was only the grocer in class 3 pendents and those whose occupations were not (lower middle class). There were thirty-two people stated (and therefore perhaps paupers or temporarily (52%) in social class 4 (upper working class), and out-of-work or privileged not to work) did not own twenty-four (38%) were semi-skilled and unskilled in or lease land, but were tenants of properties sublet by social class 5 (lower working class) - including hus- others. bandmen, hostlers, servants, labourers and appren- The complexities of comparing the census and the tices. The total in the working classes was therefore tithe information is shown by the frequency of the 90%, so the area was dominantly a poor district, and name Royle. The census records: apart from the farmers, most people occupied cottages with tiny patches of land. The exceptional area Joseph Royle, a carder was along Ashley Lane where William Brundrett, Nelson Royle, a cordwainer farmer, lived at Gorrell's Gate Farm and, to the south, Samuel Royle, a gardener of Pinfold Brow Peter Leicester, the attorney, had his mansion. Thomas Royle, a husbandman In sex structure the population had eighty-eight fe- William Royle, a plasterer of Pinfold Brow males and seventy-nine males (Figure 36). There William Royle, a cordwainer of Ashley Lane were differences in certain quinquennial age groups with more males than females up to the age of fifteen, They lived with their families, apart from Joseph otherwise, with the exception of two men over the who lived with another family as a lodger. From tike age of seventy-five, all other age bands had more fe- 1838 tithe schedule we find 'William Royle' (but males than males. The oldest persons were seventy- which of the two Williams is not known) owning five five to seventy-nine. Half the population was aged plots including nine cottages, totalling almost 2 acres under twenty-five. Two curious features were evi- and leasing seven other properties from the Earl with dent in the data. The first was that there were more four houses and eight cottages occupying nearly 6 males in the ten to fifteen age group than males in acres. This was a fair amount of property to be held younger age groups, perhaps suggesting that there by a plasterer or cordwainer. Was William Royle the had been an influx of families with young male child- landholder a third William from elsewhere? William the plasterer had a family of nine, William the cordwainer had a family of four, and in his household was also Mary Taylor (aged nineteen - the word lod- ger7 is faint in the census). Of the two Williams it is impossible to say who held which property. Of the other Royles: Joseph the carder did not hold land; Samuel Royle, the gardener on Pinfold Brow, was a tenant of a house and garden from Michael Holt; Nelson Royle, cordwainer, was a tenant of 'Wil- liam Royle' and had a house and yard on Ashley Lane. The tithe schedule mentions other Royles not in the census. There are three separate entries for 'James Royle', who, if he were one person, owned five plots of land and leased five more from the Earl, the whole including six houses, four sublet to Isaac Turton (the de- Figure 3: Population pyramid for SouthAltrincham. puty constable and assistant overseer of the poor).

39 and three cottages. James Royle does not appear in There are few features remaining from this period. the tithe of 1838 to possess a house for himself and he Peter Leicester's home of Spring Bank was de- does not appear in the census of 1841 for this district, molished in 1990. All the fields shown on Figure 34 so he might have been a James Royle from another are now covered in buildings. The Ashley Road area area or have died or moved away by that date. Fin- was later to move up market in the late Victorian ally, a John Royle was a tenant with others in 1838 of period with the construction of good quality villas five houses and gardens owned by Thomas Ringill. after the building of Bowdon Station on Lloyd Street. He, like James, is not in the 1841 census for South Al- The area between Oxford Road-Byrom Street and the trincham and the same comments may apply to him railway became built-up as Newtown, an area of late- as applied to James. Victorian terraced property.

AREA 6: EAST ALTRINCHAM

This area, covering 116 acres (Figure 37), stretched joiners and a blacksmith, probably servicing the mills from east of Goose Green around the east side of and bobbin lathes. Mary Jepson, widow, presumably Lower Town northwards across Stockport Road al- of Charles Jepson, was living with a son in Cuckstool most to Navigation Road. It was mainly a farming Place. Charles Haigh, cotton spinner, was living with area and consisted of large irregular-shaped fields Job Haigh (independent) and their two wives and a and much was owned by the Earl. It included some servant at Mill House. James Mitchell was still manu- of the Mayor's Fields. It also included Hale Moss, facturing, living at the lower end of George Street. reaching out towards the border with Timperley From this it would appear that the production of tex- along Timperley Brook. The Moss was a large, open, tiles in this area had reduced by 1841, and the corn marshy stretch of infertile ground used as rough pas- miller had added wood production and beer selling ture, though no details of its use are given in the tithe to his activity. schedule. It is difficult to compare the area as it was The eight cottages in Long Building housed three in 1841 with modern Altrincham because the build- agricultural labourers, a saddler and a coachman ing of the railway in 1849, and more recent road and who perhaps worked for Job Haigh at Mill House. house building has destroyed its former rural charac- Four of the cottages were occupied by young ter. The area is completely built-up today and its couples, two with infant children, and one was unin- fields have disappeared. habited. The building is still there today, though One of the major features of Altrincham in 1841 much altered (Figure 38). Of the two large houses was a small industrial complex in the area known as nearby, Mill House has been mentioned, the other Woodside or Altrincham Mills (see Figure 37, lower was occupied by a merchant, his wife and a servant. diagram). This was located north of the Stockport The population was 136 (Figure 39) made up of Road, in the area round Mill Street and Derby Street seventy males and sixty-six females, the only area of off Grosvenor Road and extended to lower George the town where there were more males than females, Street. It consisted of a corn mill, a textile mill and a reflection of its agricultural activities. There was a mill house, and perhaps a second textile mill, plus as- large proportion of children, 40% of the population sociated cottages, called Cuckstool Place and Long was under the age of fifteen. However, there were Building, and two larger houses. The mill area was few in the fifteen to nineteen age range (only four sited on a stream draining northwards off Hale Moss. girls and five boys), whereas there were twelve boys The nearby Cuckstool Field refers to a punishment aged under four and thirteen between five and nine. similar to a ducking stool perhaps using a pond asso- The figure for girls aged ten to fourteen was slightly ciated with the mill. The mill pool lay on the west larger than the boys owing to the presence of a small side of Grosvenor Road with the mill stream then boarding school for girls. Even so there were fewer turning north-westwards along what is now Derby girls than boys under twenty. Street. Thirty inhabited houses were listed in the census Pigot and Company's Directory of 1834 lists John with one house uninhabited. Of these seventeen con- Jackson as corn miller, Charles Jepson as a woollen tained only family. The parents were mostly young yarn and worsted manufacturer, along with Samuel in their twenties or thirties. There were two house- Spencer, cotton manufacturer and James Mitchell, holds which had nine people in them, the largest thread manufacturer. By the time of the 1841 census number in an individual household. One of these John Jackson's occupation was given as corn miller, was that of Charles Balshaw, aged thirty-five, a but Pigof s 1841 directory amplifies this to include a joiner, with his wife, five children, a female servant mention of 'saw mills' and beer retailer. He had two and an apprentice. Balshaw's address was 'Moss', the bobbin turners living with him and nearby was embryo Moss Lane. There were thirty-four families, James Layland, listed as a wood turner living in the five largest contained seven people, but the grea- Cuckstool Place. Also in Cuckstool Place were two test number had two or three members in each.

40 Figure 37: Area 6: East Altrincham

41 Professional services 0 Miscellaneous 5 Labouring and apprentices 0 Servants 6 Independents 10

Though no farmers were actually listed in the census, it is probable that there was a farmer at Paddocks Farm. On census night at the farm were Lucy Jackson (fifty), Thomas (twenty-two) and Figure 38: The 'Long Building' of 1841 renovated with modern accommodation four other children and two In 1841 eight families lived here. members of the Edmonds family, but no male head John Latham's school on 'Moss' Lane had eight was listed. However, in a directory of the same year, people resident: John, aged thirty-five, schoolmaster, a George Jackson is listed as a farmer at 'Nicholls his wife (or sister), Mary Warburton (seventy - inde- Farm'. Paddocks Farm occupied a block of eight pendent), with Sophia aged ten, and four more child- fields (Figure 37) on land owned by the devisees of ren, Leah and Elizabeth Snape (ten and eight), Sarah Devereux Jones Nicholls. It is likely that Paddocks Leicester and William Snape (both six). Four of the Farm was Nicholls Farm and farmer George was children were born outside Cheshire. Next door but away on census night. one lived Emily Carroll, schoolmistress, and her sis- As so few people lived in the area, it is unrealistic ter Maria; which school they taught in is not known. to express the proportions in the various social The majority of the people, 110, were born in Che- classes as percentages. The actual numbers were: shire; twenty-four (18%) were born outside, including two born in Ireland, Emily and Maria Carroll. Social class 1 Upper Class 10 Two were from places unknown. Charles Balshaw, 2 Upper Middle Class 1 the joiner, had been born outside the county, as had 3 Lower Middle Class 2 his two eldest children, but his wife was a Cheshire 4 Upper Working Class girl. From the children's ages, it is evident the family (skilled) 20 had moved into the county between the birth of John, 5 Lower Working Class aged nine, not bom here, and Elizabeth, aged seven, (unskilled) 12 born here, i.e. between 1832 and 1834. The same comment applies as in other areas in re- The work of people living in East Altrincham rep- spect of the classification of people of independent resented a fascinating cross-section of occupations means as Social Class 1 - whether all, some or none and classes, reflecting the changing times of 1841, were really of this status here. with mill jobs such as bobbin turner and cotton spin- There were a few people over the age of fifteen ner, jostling with more traditional types of employ- with no stated occupation. One was Lucy Jackson, ment such as bookbinder and saddler. There were no mentioned above at Paddock Farm, listed as the head upper middle class people and no gentry, except as 7 of the household on census day and there were also defined by 'independent means. The middle classes Margaret, twenty-five, Charles and Sarah, both fif- were represented by school teachers and a merchant in Mill House. Skilled workers were represented by the occupations of bobbin turner, spinner, blacksmith, saddler, wood turner, cabinet maker, bookbinder, organ builders and gardeners. Unskilled workers were agricultural or other labourers, an apprentice and servants. This was an area with only a small total of population, the occupations of the forty-five who were employed were as follows: Farming 8 Textiles 1 Clothing and footwear 0 Food, and drink 1 Metals 1 Other manufactures 8 Construction 5 Retailing 0 Figure 3: Population pyramid for stAltrincham.

42 teen. Thomas, twenty-two, a mason's apprentice, make the eight fields; Burgess Meadow - Great and was the only person in this family of seven listed as Little; Dirty Meadow - Great, Middle and Top; Daisy having an occupation though some probably helped Meadow - Further and Near; and one field unnamed. on the farm. In the Gibbons family of seven, Thomas With the exception of Paddocks Farm, the plots of was a gardener, but his son James, twenty, and two gardeners, a field of arable worked by Thomas daughter Hannah, fifteen, both of working age, were Gibbon and two fields called Mayor's Fields worked without stated occupation (Figure 40). Of the four by John Moss on the north side of Hale Moss, the males listed, one was probably independent and the fields of this area were worked by people from other three were heads of households in the Long elsewhere. George Massey of the Unicorn has been Building. Apart from wives and obvious house- mentioned as having land here and another example keepers, seven people of working age had no appar- was John Ardern, farmer, whose house and ent occupation. If this was a measure of unemploy- buildings were in George Street. ment, perhaps 14% of people here had no work There were twenty-two occupiers. There were (though the smallness of the sample must be born in twelve owners of properties including the Earl and mind). the Mayor, plus seven others who were lessees of the The 1841 census listed thirty inhabited houses and Earl. Two private landlords leased additional land one uninhabited in this area whereas the tithe sche- from the Earl. John Barratt leased out his own land dule (1838) lists twenty-six. It is possible that here, as but the premises he occupied were leased from in some other areas, houses had been built between others. Only four owners also occupied their land. 1838 and 1841, but if so it is difficult with the lack of These were Isaac Harrop (one field only - Watering firm evidence to pin-point exactly where they were. Hole Meadow), John Barratt, Hugo Worthington and One house had been added near to Latham's school William Pass. Pass owned nineteen properties, nine on Moss Lane and the rest were probably at Wood- in Higher Town. In East Altrincham he occupied one side. Field sizes varied greatly, the largest, called of his fields and also owned (but did not occupy): Bradley, being over 10 acres. This was owned by the Earl; and occupied by George Massey from the Uni- Long Building - 8 cottages and gardens corn. The next largest was actually a block of three Cuckstool Place - 5 cottages and yard fields - Cuckstool with Nearer and Further Gorsey 2 houses, garden and a mill Field - just under 9 acres in all. The next largest was a Cottage and stable - occupied by John Moss the gar- combination of two fields of over 5 acres, Great Dirty dener Meadow was over 4 acres, and Furthest Field and Near Omelant Hey were under 4. Apart from these, There were some fairly distinct areas not in the the fields of the area were mostly between 1 and 3 ownership of the Earl. One was a block of fields lying acres. Paddocks Farm covered over 22 acres in a com- to the east of Church Street and south of Sandiway, pact block south of Stockport Road, made up of eight including Round Hey, Wall Field, Wheat Field, Cuckstool and the two Gorsey Fields, and down to Watering Hole Meadow just north of the Stockport Road (Figures 7 and 37). A second area lay along the north side of Hale Moss, including the two Mayor's Fields, and two more called Dirty Meadow. The land use was as follows (excluding Hale Moss):

Arable 15 acres Garden 2Vi acres Pasture 28 acres Meadow 48 acres

Although some of the plots with names such 'Meadow' and 'Field' had a different land use from what their names suggest, overall there was an emphasis on grass, either for pasture or for cutting for Figure 40: Dean's Cottages, Moss Lane hay. This was largely due to the low-lying aspect of probably occupied by two gardeners in 1841: much of the area lying on land draining to Timperley Thomas Gibbon in a family of seven, and John Brook. The arable and garden plots were grouped to Greasby with no wife, two children and a the north of Hale Moss on slightly higher, better female servant. drained, drier soils between the edge of Lower Town to the west and Timperley Brook to the east The distribution of ownership and tenancy and fields plus the farmhouse and buildings. There were feeder roads into the area (for example, Grosvenor only three field names in this block, subdivided to Road) probably had a historical basis and may reflect

43 that former burgesses, who held plots in the town, then building work on the south side of the line, and strips in the open fields, would also have had ac- including new housing and finally the construction cess to common meadow. Although as time went on of the flyover in the 1970s. Probably the only building merchants and craftsmen had less need to grow their remaining from the 1840s is where Grosvenor Road own food, they may have needed fodder and pasture running alongside the railway makes a slight bend at for carriage and wagon horses or, like George Mas- the junction with Derby Street. This street follows the sey, coach horses to rent out. So meadow and pasture line of the former watercourse which formerly drove continued to be in demand after the open field strips the water-powered mill. At the road junction there is had been sold or exchanged. today an old long building set at an angle to both Hardly anything is left in this area from 1841. roads and recently converted into three dwellings Paddocks Farm lies under Blessed Thomas Holford (Figure 38). This is probably the T-ong Building' School. The houses on Moss Lane were destroyed by listed in the census (and shown on the tithe map), the railway, although the two cottages called which had been eight cottages. It still retains its sharp Brickilns remained until this century, and the name angle to the gable wall. Until 1975 there was a row of Gibbons is remembered locally in the name houses on Mill Street which may have been the Gibbons's Pond for King George V Pool. The other former five cottages on Cuckstool Place mentioned in main group of buildings, the two or three mills and the tithe apportionment, but these were demolished mill pool were first affected by the line of the railway, at that date.

OVERVIEW: THE TOWN IN 1841

The picture of Altrincham in 1841 has disclosed inter- pations were as follows: esting features not only of the town but of the pitfalls of the data used. The following account looks at the Farming 196 town as a whole and the differences between its Textiles 72 parts, the people, their occupations and their origins. Clothing and footwear 121 Additional information from directories, for Food and drink 46 example, has been used to give a better overall view Metals 24 because the information from the census of 1841 and Other manufactures 88 tithe schedule of 1838 is rather limited. A summary of Construction 110 data is given in Appendix 1. Retailing 40 The most surprising fact as stated previously is Professional services 30 that the census total population of 3,399 persons was Miscellaneous 104 wrong. The correct figure was 3,372, shown in a con- Labouring and apprentices 169 temporary directory and confirmed by repeated Servants 275 checking of totals of the census enumerators' records. Independents 171 Altrincham was growing. The population had grown in the previous decades from 1801 to 1811 by 20%, a The numbers employed in the several occupations further 15% from 1811 to 1821, and by 18% from 1821 varied across the town. Briefly running down the list to 1831. In 1831 the total was 2,708 persons rising to above, the bulk of the people engaged in farming 3,372 in 1841. This was a growth of 664, approxi- lived in south-west Altrincham (Chapel Street area) mately 25%, remarkable in a decade before the rail- but there were also many in Lower Town; surpris- way was built. ingly there were relatively few in the actual farming Different acreage figures were available for the areas of South and East Altrincham. size of the township. The tithe schedule gave 631 Most textile workers were handworkers who lived acres (including commons), decennial censuses gave and worked in their homes in Chapel Street in Lower 654 acres and A Stranger's Guide to Altrincham, 652 Town. A few worked in the small textile mills at acres. The total of the six sub-divisions in Part II was Woodside in the north-east and there was probably a 592 acres to which may be added 39 acres of com- bobbin turner's workshop there also. The workhouse mons and 24 acres of roads totalling just over 654 authorities also put out linen yarn for weaving. A di- acres. rectory for 1834 mentions cotton spinning at Samuel The total area covered by usable land in the town- Spencer's firm in Woodside, woollen yam and worship, 631 acres (buildings and farmland) when steds at Charles Jepson's, Woodside, and thread at divided into the total population gives an overall James Mitchell's in New Road. These locations seem population density of five per acre. However, most to refer to the same area, namely the former mills people lived in Lower Town which was densely near Mill Street off Grosvenor Road. It is likely they populated at fifty persons per acre. were small steam-powered mills. By 1841 only Mit- 1,445 persons were employed and the chief occu- chell's name remained so Altrincham's factory textile

44 industry collapsed between 1834 and 1841. Raw ma- the census, being absent on census day. Nicholls and terials for the industries must have come from Worthington were clerks to the magistrates, and greater Manchester by canal, packhorse or wagon Mark Pierson an attorney's clerk. Also offering pro- and the spun and woven goods returned there for fessional services were four surgeons, three chemists finishing. and druggists and a vet. The group above were Clothing and footwear operatives lived mainly in among the leaders of society and several carried on Lower Town but there were several dressmakers and the administration of the town through the Town's milliners in Higher Town. Mention has been made of Meeting, Vestry and Court Leet. a group of shoemakers near the abattoir on Pinfold The miscellaneous occupations included officers Brow. There was one shoe polish maker who could and agents such as Thomas Kinsey, surveyor of the have supplied the whole town with his product. The highway; William Smith, excise officer; Edmund main elements in the production of food and drink Hesketh, deputy constable and bailiff to the Earl; category were com and malt. Com was produced by Isaac Turton, deputy constable; and Benjamin Stan- John Jackson, the miller, at a mill at Woodside. There way, Land Steward to William Pass; and auctioneers was a malthouse at the end of Lower Town near the such as Nathaniel Pass, and Richard Lawton (of San- present Railway Hotel, not far from the Woodside diway Head). William Collier was agent to the trus- mill area. tees of the late Duke of Bridgewater at Broadheath. The metal working industries consisted of a few William Badcock was registrar and relieving officer blacksmiths in North Altrincham, Higher Town and at the canal bridge in Broadheath. Some people had Lower Town for the needs of the horse-drawn econ- more than one job - William Warren, timber mer- omy, also there were smiths and wheelwrights in chant of Lower Town was manager to the Bowdon Broadheath to serve the extensive trade carried along Savings Bank. There were ministers of the estab- the canal and distributed from there. Watch making lished and non-conformist churches, teachers and was a continuing trade. Other people in manufactur- clerks, postmen, overseers of the poor, and watch- ing and crafts included roper, sawyer, wheelwright, men. cooper, clogmaker, basketmaker, saddler and carter Lower Town was the chief area where labourers were represented in Lower Town and the Chapel were found, ninety-seven compared with twenty- Street-New Street area. Most people employed in four (the next highest figure) in North Altrincham (in construction industries, joiners, slaters, plasterers, Broadheath and farms). In the distribution of ser- plumbers, etc., lived in Lower Town and Chapel vants, Higher Town had most, 122. South-west Al- Street. trincham, which included the Downs, had sixty- In retailing there were more people in Lower seven. If the distribution of servants was a measure Town than in the traditional market area of Higher of social class, the pre-eminence in 1841 of the area Town. The number of people advertising themselves round Old Market Place can clearly be seen. as 'shopkeepers' increased from thirteen in 1834 to The classification 'Independent' caused the study fifteen in 1841, but other sellers of goods describing group much thought. If truly independent through themselves as milliners, basketmakers, clogmakers, wealth, such a person should be regarded as in the 'chymists', beersellers, etc., should also be regarded highest social bracket, but many so classified were as being retailers and the number from the census is a found in poorer areas. It is likely some had no re- conservative forty, though perhaps well above that. sources, and, in a period without the NHS and a hos- It was accepted that Altrincham's main function was pital, might have been the chronically sick. However, as a market town, but one of the great puzzles is the for consistency, all have been regarded as being self- lack of any information from the census or directories sufficient. There were 171 altogether, sixty-nine in to support this activity. The inference is that local South-west Altrincham (for example, the Downs) producers and visiting stallholders operated such and forty-four in Higher Town. There were only fif- trade in the market place for a couple of days a week. teen in Lower Town and four in the South district. Most people engaged in professional services lived It is a remarkable fact that independents and ser- in Higher Town. William Pass and John Shelmer- vants, often closely attached, numbered 446, sugges- dine, attorneys, of Higher Town were also agents for ting that an important function of Altrincham was as the Manchester Assurance Co., George Smith and a residential and retirement town. son were attorneys and also agents for the Yorkshire Assurance. (The agent for the Phoenix Assurance Servants 19% was George Timperley, grocer and tea dealer.) Other Farming 13% attorneys were Charles Poole in Victoria Street, J.A. Independents 12% Worthington and William Devereux Nicholls, both Labouring and apprentices 12% of Higher Town. At the other end of the town, Peter Clothing and footwear 8% Leicester, as well as being an attorney, was agent for Construction 8% the Atlas Assurance Co. The census gives no details Miscellaneous 7% of the magistrates, but 1841 directories tell us these Other manufactures 6% pillars of society were Issac Harrop and E.J. Lloyd. Textiles 5% Lloyd lived at Oldfield Hall but he did not appear in Food and drink 3%

45 Retailing 3% tial workforce may have been unemployed. Metals 2% In determining social class through occupation it Professional services 2% was difficult to be objective and the figures must be treated with caution. South-west Altrincham had the The inns and the canal at Broadheath were two im- highest number (sixty-nine) in social class 1 - gentry portant sources of employment. and independents - and Higher Town second (thirty- There were five chief inns. These were the Uni- eight). In social class 2 - upper middle class, profes- com, Waggon and Horses (demolished in the mid- sional services - the order was the other way round. 18608 when Dunham Road was cut through to the In social class 3 - lower middle class, retailing, etc. - market place), Stamford Arms (ex-Bowling Green, on Higher Town had the greatest number, a few more the site of present Cresta Court) in Higher Town, the than Lower Town. In class 4 - upper working class, George and Dragon at Sandiway Head and the Navi- skilled artisans - Lower Town had most followed by gation at Broadheath. The nine public houses and ta- South-west Altrincham. The same two areas had verns were the Axe and Cleaver, Malt Shovels, Bay most of social class 5 - the unskilled - Lower Town Malton (not clear if this had disappeared by 1841), had 224 of the 708 in the town, and South-West Al- Orange Tree, Butcher's Arms and Woolpack in trincham 190. Lower Town, the Red Lion in the market place, the The above distributions are of absolute numbers Roebuck in Victoria Street and the Wheatsheaf. The and are influenced by the size of the population of pubs reflected the distribution of the poor, there were the areas, Area 3 having the largest numbers of em- none in the Norman's Place-Downs, Dunham Road ployed. If the social classes (based on people's em- or Mount Pleasant areas. There were many beer ployment) are expressed as percentages the results are shops (too many according to a government survey as follows, excluding Areas 5 and 6 (where absolute of 1835), including John Jackson's, the corn miller numbers were too low, 64 and 44 respectively, to in- and sawyer in the Woodside industrial area of Altrin- terpret as percentages). North Altrincham and cham Mills, no doubt appreciated by the millworkers South-west Altrincham had the highest and identical there. The inns with their 'hostlers', grooms, stablers percentage (17%) of Social Class I (upper class). In So- and servants provided for travellers. The inns were cial Class II (upper middle class) percentages were bases for frequent coach services en route from Man- low in all areas, but area 2 (Higher Town) possessed chester into Cheshire and by 1841 local horse-drawn the highest proportion (5%). Area 2 also had the hig- omnibus services. The Unicorn also offered post and hest percentage of population in Social Class III excise facilities.. The penny post had been introduced (lower middle class) (12%). In Social Class IV (upper and there was a post office in Well Street. working class), Area 3 had the greatest percentage Another important activity was related to the (35%). Area 1 had the highest percentage of un- Bridgewater Canal at Broadheath, the port for Altrin- skilled, lower working class, Social Qass V, 61 %. cham. The fact that a huge new warehouse had been The overall picture of social class in the town was: built in 1833 suggests the canal was in its heyday in the decade before it began to decline, due to the rail- Social Class 1 12% way being built. There were several passenger boats 2 2% a day as well as freight barges. William Collier, agent 3 8% to the late Duke of Bridgewater, has been mentioned 4 29% and there was a host of other occupations such as 5 49% boatmen, sawyers, carters, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, turners, a tanner, saddler, innkeeper, cooper The working people of Social Classes 4 and 5 made and hostlers. up nearly four-fifths of those employed. Of the other With regard to classification of occupations, the fifth, most were in the upper and professional census information was sometimes misleading. Two classes. Only about a twelfth were employed in trade. ladies on the Downs were classed as Independent in These detail upset the image of Altrincham as a town the census but were advertising themselves as lodg- of retailers. ing-house keepers in the directories. Nobody was re- In sex ratio, Altrincham was overwhelmingly fe- corded as having a noxious or amoral job, nor being a male - there were 1860 females compared with 1512 pauper. The census did not distinguish between oc- males. There were more females in each age band cupation and industry. People were frequently nought to fourteen, fifteen to sixty-four and over classed as labourer' or 'weaver' or 'manager' not in- sixty-five. In Higher Town nought to fourteen there dicating the actual trade they were in. No occupation were 143 females and 82 males, and in the fifteen to was recorded for some people of working age be- sixty-four age group 277 females to 160 males, reflect- tween the ages of fifteen and sixty. These omissions ing the high number of servants in this quarter. How- might be clerical errors by the enumerators. How- ever, in Lower Town, there was a handful more ever, excluding wives and evident housekeepers, it is males than females in the age groups to age sixty- possible, and assumed, such people might have been four (the numbers in the fifteen to sixty-four group the unemployed. If so estimated figures from two was exactly equal at 327), showing the emphasis on areas suggest that between 8% and 22% of the poten- male-dominated activity there in agricultural, craft

46 and service industries. In contrast in Area 4, South- been born in Cheshire. Of these, 590 were born else- West Altrincham, with many independent female where in England. A large group of 114 inhabitants residents and servants, there were 312 females and were Irish, fourteen people were born in Scotland, fif- only 214 males. In South Altrincham, where a ma- teen were from 'foreign parts' and six had come from jority of males might have been expected, it being a Wales. The origin of thirty-four is unknown. farming area, this was so up to the age of fourteen, The main church was St George's, a chapel-of- but in the fifteen to sixty-four age groups there were ease. This was situated in Higher Town. The distribu- fifty-eight females to forty males. tion of the six nonconformists chapels identifies the The East Altrincham farming area possessed the poor areas of the town. There were two in Northern highest proportion of males and females. It also had Altrincham (Broadheath), two in Lower Town the highest proportion of children at 40%. The lowest (Shaw's Lane and George Street) and two in South- was Higher Town with 33%. One curious phenome- west Altrincham (in Chapel Lane and at the foot of non was the number of young children in poorer the Downs) carrying out mission work among the households with different surnames to the adults. It poor. There was no Catholic church (Catholic eman- is believed such isolated children may have been the cipation had been granted only twelve years before). children of servants who worked in other areas, par- Altrincham was popular for private schools, of ticularly the better-class areas and who were put out, which there were eight mainly boarding, which ca- for example, into East Altrincham, and paid for by tered in many cases for children from out of the the servants' masters. The kin relationships, if any, county. There was also a Jubilee school near St. towards the masters are not known. George's and two Sunday schools, one in Broadheath 64% of the population of Higher Town was of and one, at the opposite end of the town, on Chapel working age, more than that of the other districts. In Street to serve the poor. terms of longevity it might appear the best place to The total number of houses was 667. It has been as- live for people over sixty-five would be the Downs, sumed for calculation purposes that only one house- but in all areas but two the average proportion of hold inhabited a house. This was plainly not so, but it people over this age was only 3 or 4%. The highest was not possible to verify this because the census did was 7% and that was, in fact, the farming area of not give details of any kin relationships. Many South Altrincham; the lowest, North Altrincham, houses apparently contained more than one family was less than 1%. and more than one household, but to avoid error it There is no doubt that the distribution of 107 of the was assumed there was one household, though not 166 high class people of Altrincham in Mount Pleas- necessarily one family, per house. The average ant, Higher Town, the Downs, upper New Street and household size was five. However, there were in- Norman's Place (in Areas 2 and 4) was related to the stances of multiple occupancy in the Downs where airy elevated location of those places. In other words, large houses were being used for several households. two salubrious areas of today were already in posi- In the poorer areas, such as Chapel Street and Lower tion a century and a half ago (others have developed Town with small houses and cottage, there were since such as the mansions on each side of Dunham many instances of multiple occupancy, no doubt Road). Many of the residents were of independent through poverty, which resulted in crowding. means with servants and a good proportion were not There were twenty-two houses uninhabited, native to Cheshire. Seven came from foreign lands. which has been taken partly to mean housing being These were special enclaves which made Altrincham built and not yet occupied and to indicate which part a residential and retirement town. The Downs-upper of the town was growing. North Altrincham (at New Street-Norman's Place area had a disadvantage Broadheath), and South-west Altrincham (Chapel in not being adjacent to the original upper class area Street, New Street and the Downs) had most of the of Higher Town but there was a connection between uninhabited houses and were the areas which were the two along Chapel Lane (Regent Road) and Mar- growing. The twenty-two houses, if they had repre- ket Street without passing through the working class sented an average year's build, would have accom- area of Lower Town (George Street). modated 800 people over the decade. In fact, Altrin- The poorer areas were round the industrial mill cham had grown by 641 people from 1831 as men- area of Woodside, and in lower New Street, Chapel tioned above. Street, Lower Town (George Street, Goose Green) There were a few mansions and large houses. The and Pinfold Brow. Since the 1930s, and particularly chief one was Altrincham's only hall, Oldfield Hall, since World War Two, these areas have moved up- the chief occupier of which was Elizabeth Rigby, a market and Chapel Street and other horrific slum wealthy landowner. She owned, after the Earl, the areas have been demolished. The mill area was re- next greatest amount of land in Altrincham. The Hall built as a residential district in the mid- and late also housed the family of E.J. Lloyd, magistrate, twentieth century, George Street gradually changed together with servants, and an independent. There its poor-residential function to become a fashionable were attractive town houses in Market Street and shopping and office area, completed by planned de- several outlying villas in areas such as Mount Pleas- velopment in the mid-1970s. ant and farther west along the Dunham Road occu- A surprising fact is that 824 people (25%) had not pied by independents and professional people such

47 as attorneys and wealthy traders such as share- should have been a separate area. Similarly Chapel brokers. Street-with-lower New Street, and Goose Green The major landowner was the Earl who owned 188 would have merited individual attention. acres, nearly a third of Altrincham. He leased out all In conclusion, the data and techniques used do not this land apart from 27 acres, let to direct tenants. give a complete picture of what Altrincham was like Other major landholders in 1838 were: in 1841. The two main sources used give no details of such topics as administration, social relationships, Elizabeth Rigby (Oldfield Hall) owned 56 acres births and deaths, undertaking, poverty, pastimes, Peter Leicester owned 29 acres water, sewage, health, local education. It is hoped, Hugo Worthington owned 15 acres nevertheless, that this monograph will form a basis William Pass owned 23 acres for further, more detailed, enquiry. This has been a momentary glimpse of a growing, The political power of the Earl together with the stylish, residential and retirement town, which was owner of Oldfield Hall and the three attorneys can be attractive to affluent people wanting to get away seen in their ownership of half the land of Altrin- from the industrial environment of Manchester. Be- cham. cause of the decline of Altrincham's early textile in- The data and methods of analysis are worth a final dustry and high in-migration (over 100 persons from comment. First, both the census and tithe informa- Ireland), there was an availability of many servants, tion was flawed. The census of 1841 was deficient in who formed the largest occupation group. Altrin- accuracy and detail, foe example, kin relationships cham's second largest occupation group was that of were not indicated nor the industry people worked farming, agricultural labourers and market gar- in, only the occupations. The tithe information was deners. The town's prime productive economy in deficient in detail, not identifying farms, for example, 1841 was agriculture. There seems to have been emi- nor all the occupants of a place. For example, Thomas gration in a previous decade of some high-class Marsden was stated to own forty-nine cottages in people from Altrincham, probably to Bowdon, leav- Chapel Street, but the names of the tenants (which ing some large properties to be divided between sev- would have been very useful) were almost im- eral households. But there had also been an influx of possible to ascertain. The selection of our areas was high-class people, including a small number of for- arbitrary and as time went on it became clear that it eigners, which may have formed a nucleus round would have been better to have developed the areas which Altrincham's elite was to grow over the next out of the data rather than select the sub-areas first on half century. The town in 1841 was ripe for connec- the basis of discussion. In particular, the Downs and tion to the railway network with attractive land Norman's Place and the top end of New Street available for housing development.

48 APPENDIX 1: SUMMARY TABLES

Area 1: North Altrincham Area 4: South-west Altrincham Area 2: Higher Town and North-west Altrincham Area 5: South Altrincham Area 3: Lower Town Area 6: East Altrincham Population Area Acreage Popn Males Females Born Born Born Born Born Born Chesh Ex-Chesh Ireld Scodd Wales Foreign 1 264 420 207 213 346 74 6 0 1 3 2 73 680 254 426 468 212 1 5 5 1 4nk 3 23 1087 544 543 851 236 67 5 0 5 12nk 4 52 882 358 524 588 294 38 2 0 6 link 5 64 167 79 88 151 16 0 2 0 0 2nk 6 116 136 70 66 110 26 2 0 0 0 5nk Totals 592* 3372 1512 1860 2514 858 114 14 6 15 34nk * with commons and roads -655 Numbers of Males and Females in Age Groupings Area Male Female Male Female Male Female Total Total 0-14 0-14 15-64 15-64 over 65 over 65 Male Female l 79 75 124 128 4 0 207 213 2 82 143 160 277 12 6 254 426 3 194 188 327 327 23 28 544 543 4 131 191 214 312 13 21 358 524 5 32 25 40 58 7 5 79 88 6 32 22 36 41 2 3 70 66 Totals 550 644 901 1143 61 73 1512 1860 Social Class Area I II in IV V Numbers % Numbers % Numbers % Numbers % Numbers % 1 30 17 5 3 10 5 26 14 110 61 2 38 12 15 5 40 12 85 26 147 45 3 15 3 3 1 38 9 148 35 225 52 4 69 17 7 2 25 6 111 28 190 47 5 4 - 3 - 1 - 32 — 24 — 6 10 - 1 - 2 — 20 _ 12 — Total 166 34 116 422 708 Houses, Schools, Inns, Churches Area Houses Schools Ch/Chapl Inns/PH Beer Sellers Inhab. Uninhab. 1 69 6 1 0 3 2 2 128 4 4 1 5 2 3 212 5 1 2 4 3 4 172 6 2 2 0 0 5 34 0 0 0 0 0 6 30 1 1 0 0 1 Totals 645 22 9 5 12 8 Occupations Occupation Areal Area 2 Area 3 Area 4 Area 5 Area 6 Totals Fanning 45 8 48 71 16 8 196 Textiles 1 0 19 49 2 1 72 Clothing/Footwear 8 31 52 22 8 0 121 Food/Drink 3 21 17 3 1 1 46 Metals 7 4 9 3 0 1 24 Other Mfrs 11 21 31 14 3 8 88 Construction 5 18 39 38 5 5 110 Retail 1 15 17 7 0 0 40 Professional 5 14 3 7 1 0 30 Services Miscellaneous 2 15 52 29 1 5 104 Labouring/Appr. 24 12 97 23 13 0 169 Servants 40 122 30 67 10 6 275 Independents 29 44 15 69 4 10 171

49 APPENDIX 2: PROBLEMS OF HEALTH IN 1841

Altrincham in 1841 was a fairly unhealthy place. In reckoned to be qualified practitioners. When Sir Ro- fact, the practice of medicine and of basic hygiene bert Peel came to power in 1841, Sir James Graham had declined since the time of the Roman Empire. took over the Home Office and established a Central Magnetism, uroscopy (peering at containers of urine Council of Health to supervise medical education and diagnosing from them) had been fads of the pre- and qualification, and to set up a register of medical vious century. practitioners. General practitioners became licen- The scientific approach to medicine had hardly tiates in medicine and surgery. In 1842 the School of begun. People relied on simples and herbs to cure Pharmacy was set up to regularise that aspect of minor ailments. The stethoscope had been invented health work. in France in 1816 but little other progress had been The great killer was tuberculosis, not only in the made. crowded lodging houses and cottages, but in the bet- Body-snatching was rife as dissection of dead ter class homes also. Diphtheria was a killer of both bodies was the only way of teaching surgery (this put children and adults, rich and poor alike. Darwin off being a surgeon). Following the Burke Surgeons were little more than butchers. Surgery and Hare atrocity of 1827, the government was was brief and bloody, and the results were frequently forced to act and in 1832 the Anatomy Bill made the worse than the original accident or illness. Patients study of anatomy a legal act. In 1835 the Royal Col- died either from shock or sepsis. Sometimes oper- lege of Surgeons introduced a wider education for ations were done without anaesthetic, of which the their students. English physicians were identifying only common one was alcohol. The use of opium by such diseases as Parkinson's Disease (1817), Bright7s the Romans had been forgotten. Disease (kidney) and Hodgkinson's Disease (1832), Many people walked about with untreated ma- the first cancer to be identified. Medicine was shak- ladies. Untreated thyroid disorders led to idiocy. ing off centuries of superstition, necromancy, gar- Hatters were said to be mad from their use of mer- bled myths, soothsaying and potions. The use of cury. Probably many of those classed in the census as herbs and plants made up in cottage homes was Independents were in fact chronic invalids, sick widespread. The general range of medicament people looked after by others. would include pills, powders, infusions, ointments, Other diseases which stalked the streets included poultices and plasters. In the towns the druggist or typhus from rat bites, typhoid from contaminated chemist compounded the drug or medicine through brooks and cholera from well water tainted from deconcoctions, distillations and compounds of herbs nearby cesspits. There was a fine of five shillings for at the rear of a premises and the apothecary sold it in washing in the town's well water. There was food the front shop. The latter also did some diagnosing poisoning from decomposing meat and unwhole- for the poor who could not afford a doctor. Some ill- some flour. It was an important job of the Court Leet nesses were common but untreatable because the to test for unsafe, unpalatable food and drink. underlying causes of complaints were not under- Local medicines were squill in some sort of syrup- stood and one could only try to alleviate the suffer- base for coughs. Powders containing a crude form of ing. The use of home medical chest was widely popu- salicylic acid from the willow were used to cure hea- lar. The apothecaries in 1841 in Altrincham were daches. Senna pods were used for constipation. Bel- Mark CKell in Higher Town and Thomas Stubbs ladonna was used in stimulants and this or tincture and his assistant William Stubbs in Market Place. The of digitalis for heart complaints. Chalk and mercury surgeons were Broadbent, Derbyshire, two Wilsons, sulphate ('grey powder') was given to babies for tee- in Higher Town and Thomas Bennett in Lower thing. A compound of wintergreen and wool fat (la- Town. nolin) was applied to aching joints. Lavender water The apothecary, or what we would call a dispens- was used on the handkerchiefs of wealthier ladies ing doctor, was embroiled in a dispute to identify hopefully to protect them from some of the scourges. himself from the chemist or druggist and with the Altrincham in 1841 was, therefore, full of ill-health medical corporations, such as the College of Sur- for many, with a handful of doctors, chemist and geons. Eventually, parliamentary bills in 1840 and druggists and no hospital. 1841, aiming to bring about radical reform of the Additional information may be found in Medical medical profession, had several major consequences, Matters - or a state of Unhealth Indeed! by Judith Lip- one of which was to lead to the formation of the Phar- man, Altrincham History Society, Occasional Paper maceutical Society to identify those who were No .7.

50 APPENDIX 3: LAND USE - GARDENS AND CROFTS LISTED IN THE TITHE SCHEDULE

Use Acre Po!e| 92 Garden Garden 0 1 4 1 33 Garden Garden 0 0 24 90 Garden Garden 0 0 25 245 Garden & Land 0 2 0 91 Garden Garden 0 0 25 94 Garden Garden 0 1 0 353 Garden - 0 0 26 46 Garden 0 0 21 353a Garden Garden 0 0 26 211 Holt's Croft Garden 0 3 19 354 Garden Garden 0 0 26 408 Garden Garden 0 3 36 368b Orchard Garden 0 2 7 410 Garden Garden 0 1 4 144 Garden Garden 0 0 33 362 Twyford'sTown Garden 1 0 22 268a Garden - 0 1 12 Field 266 Garden 0 1 12 359 Garden Garden 0 0 30 475 Pear Tree Croft - 2 0 30 361 Garden Garden 0 1 0 & Smithy Field 360 Garden Garden 0 1 2 221 Garden Garden 0 3 13 386 Garden Garden 0 1 34 355 Garden Garden 0 0 26 158 Garden - 0 0 19 356 Garden Garden 0 0 24 32 Garden Garden 0 0 6 357 Garden Garden 0 0 26 315 Tinker Loonts Garden 0 1 3 400 Great Loont Garden 3 3 5 281 Dunham Lane Garden 0 1 5 28 Garden 0 0 7 Garden 29 Garden _ 0 1 28 11 Highermost Garden 3 1 25 219 Garden Garden 0 2 17 Heaton Meadow 22 Garden - 1 0 21 445 Near Croft & Arable 1 0 0 26 Garden - 0 0 17 Buildings 352 Garden Garden 0 3 1 302 Higher & Lower Garden 2 0 28 83 Garden Garden 0 1 33 Perrin Fields 84 Garden Garden 0 0 29 292 9 Acres Garden 0 1 34 85 Garden Garden 0 0 23 390 Garden Garden 0 0 17 88 Garden Garden 0 0 25 313 Garden Garden 1 2 25 93 Garden Garden 0 2 15 432 Garden Garden 0 1 14 468 Garden Garden 0 1 2 294 Garden Garden 0 1 3 82 Garden Garden 0 1 8 54 Higher & Lower Garden 0 3 38 472 Garden Garden 0 0 26 Croft 143 Garden Garden 0 2 21 61 Garden Garden 0 0 31 145 Garden Garden 0 0 32 418 Garden Garden 0 0 15 146 Garden Garden 0 0 36 432a Garden Garden 0 1 14 147 Garden Garden 0 0 25 419 Garden Garden 0 1 38 220 Garden Garden 0 3 17 368 Oldfield Hall Garden 6 0 30 250 Garden Garden 0 1 4 Lawn 251 Garden Garden 0 0 23 166a Garden 0 0 12 252 Garden Garden 0 0 20 166b Garden _ 0 0 9 252a Garden Garden 0 78 Garden Garden 0 1 3 1 17 Garden 293 Garden Garden 0 1 14 253 Garden 0 0 26 286 Garden Garden 0 280 Garden 0 1 5 2 2 269 Garden Garden 0 0 23 327 Garden 0 0 15 326 Garden Garden 0 0 30 160 Garden _ 0 0 4 350 Garden Garden 0 1 37 321 Garden _ 0 0 21 200 Garden Garden 0 0 22 222 Garden 0 2 18 259 Garden Garden 0 0 14 159 Garden 0 0 9 358 Garden Garden 0 0 63 Garden Garden 0 0 25 26 Garden 64 Garden Garden 0 0 34 258 Garden 0 2 18 59 Croft Garden 0 1 27 275 Garden Garden 0 3 7 60 Croft Garden 0 2 30 202 Garden Garden 0 0 23 284 Half Acre Garden 1 0 33 203 Garden Garden 0 0 22 62 Garden Garden 0 0 28 204 Garden Garden 0 0 23 89 Garden Garden 0 0 27 206 Garden 0 0 29 TOTAL 53A 3R 6P| 314 Ashton'sTown Garden 2 2 3 AREA Field 317 Garden Garden 0 1 21

51 APPENDIX 4: CHARITIES

With no state welfare system for health and pensions, were on land formerly owned by the Duke of Bridge- those who were without work, or in chronic bad water. health, suffered greatly. When self-help or local and Some charities had started in the eighteenth cen- family support gave out, the final destination was the tury, one through money left by George Norman workhouse. The workhouse was a name that struck (after whom Norman's Place was named) for the terror into the hearts of the poorer classes. Altrin- purchase of woollen cloth for the poor of Altrincham. cham workhouse had been built in 1755 in Broad- Another was the St. John's Day alms-giving for the heath. In 1835 the trustees were: John Mort and John needy and to help poor scholars. This came from the Moit junior, grocers; E.J. Lloyd of Oldfield Hall, Revd. John Ashton of Crewenden, Stafford. Cooke's magistrate; Isaac Harrop, Hugo Worthington and Charity, set up by George Cooke, gave £110s (£1.50) Charles Poole, attorneys; and John Barratt, grocer. per annum to the Sunday school in Altrincham John However, following the Poor Law of 1834, the poor Barratt left money to provide bread for poor people were made to work for their keep. Larger, more for- who attended divine worship at St. George's. Sarah bidding workhouses were built and the smaller ones and Elizabeth Cooke's Charity of 1813 and 1816 was closed; for the poor of Altrincham, one was built at given to the churchwardens of St. George's to be Knutsford. These institutions thrived on hard work. divided between needy parishioners and the instruc- Over the next few years the role of the workhouse at tion of poor children at St. George's Sunday School. Altrincham declined, though, in 1838, the overseers John Cooper of Partington left money for the poor of were still buying some yarn to be processed locally. Altrincham over the age of sixty years. Each person The workhouse was later altered to form some cot- was to receive between £1 and £2 annually on tages (Figure 12) called Duke's Cottages because they Christmas Day.

REFERENCES Primary: Manuscript 1841 Census Enumerators' Returns. Microfilm, Sale Pigot and Company: Commercial Directory for the Local Studies Centre. Transcripts in Sale and Altrin- County of Cheshire 1834. Reprinted by Neil Richard- cham public libraries. son. 1835-8 Tithe map and schedule, Cheshire County Pigot and Slater's Classified Commercial Directory of Record Office. Transcript in Altrincham Library. Manchester and Salford 1841. Report from the Commissioners on Municipal Cor- Primary: Printed porations in England and Wales. Report on the Bo- Aiken, J., Description of the County from thirty to forty rough of Altrincham, 1834. Miles round Manchester, 1795. Reprint 1968. Trafford M.B., List of Buildings of Special Architectu- Balshaw, C., Stranger's Guide to Altrincham, 1858. Re- ral or Historical Interest. printed by E.J. Morten, 1973. Secondary Bayliss, D.G. (editor), Altrincham, a history, Willow Bowdon, 1880. Publishing, 1992. Morrison, D.B., Looking Back at Altrincham, Willow Dodgson, J. McNeill, The Place-names of Cheshire, Part Publishing, 1980. 2, English Place-name Society, Cambridge, 1970. In- Nickson, C., Bygone Altrincham. Reprinted by E.J. cludes field names. Morten, 1979 Faulkner, Pat, Flashback, STAG, 1988. Oldham, R. (drawings), Altrincham, Bowdon and Hale Fitzpatrick, Gillian, Altrincham Past and Present, Wil- Guardian Yearbook and Almanack, C.1900S low Publishing, 1990. Wheat, G. On the Duke's Cut, Transport Publishing Kemp, Peter, A Short History of Higher Downs, Bow- Company, 1977. don History Society, 1985. Leech, H.J., Tales and Sketches of old Altrincham and

52 Acknowledgements This book has been the result of teamwork among suffered under a barrage of statistics but whose pain- members of Altrincham History Society. The original staking typesetting and design have led to a pleasing transcript of the census source material was pain- product for the Society. stakingly done by Miss Muriel Kristant, Mrs Pat Smith, Mr Frank Bamford, together with the team Illustrations who carried out the analysis of the data and event- Acknowledgement is made to Trafford Leisure Ser- ually shaped the book. The effort of all those above is vices for providing several of the original illustra- gratefully recorded. Finally our thanks to Mrs J. tions from which line drawings were made; others Groves of Northern Writers Advisory Services who were provided by the contributors.

53 List of Occasional Papers from Altrincham History Society and prices

No.l Helen Allingham, Victorian Water colour Artist by Chris Hill and Don Bayliss, £0.20

No.2 Isobel Baillie by Nancy Beales, £0.20

No.3 Not available

No.4 Altrincham in 1799 by Don Bayliss, £0.30

No.5 A Cheshire Market Town in Victorian Times: Altrincham in 1841 edited by Don Bayliss, £5.70

No.6 Alan Turing: A Mathematical Genius by Chris Hill, £0.40

No.7Medical Matters -or a State of Unhealth Indeed! Background to Health Con- ditions in Altrincham in the Mid-nineteenth Century by Judith Lipman, £0.50

No.8 A Walk Around Altrincham (in preparation)

Also: Discover Broadheath, £0.20 and twice yearly Journal, £1.00.

Available from Altrincham History Society, Hon. Secretary, Mrs Hilda Bayliss, 51 Chiltern Drive, Hale, Cheshire WA15 9PN. Prices do not include postage and packing, except for No.5.

ISBN 0 952268108 £5.70