VOL. 39 FEBRUARY 2017 No. 1
If undelivered Chester Teacher Training College World War I Memorial Membership
FirstWednesdaymonth the of at 7.30 pm. month LastWednesday the of at7.30 pm. month LastWednesday the of at7.30 pm. ROSSENDALE ROCHDALE PRESTON BURNLEY PENDLE & SOUTH LONDON & First Tuesdaymonth ofthe –7.15 for pm 7.30 pm MORECAMBE & LANCASTER GROUP IRISH ANCESTRY Second Wednesdaymonth of the pm. at 7.30 HERALDRY HYNDBURN HYNDBURN GROUP
Thirdmonth Tuesday ofthe at7.30 pm. Second Wednesdaymonth of the pm. at 7.30 FYLDE CHORLEY £12 Students & UKPensioners BURY £15 £16 FamilyMembership & DARWEN BLACKBURN Membership Overseas ______£14 HistoryHeraldry& Society andsent on the1stJanuary.Renewals are due Chequesshouldbemade payableLancashire crossed and to Family Subscriptions: Ordinary Membership First Mondaymonth of the at 7.30 pm. Third Thursdaymonththe at7.30pm of BlackburneChurch Hall, House, The Wylde, Bury BL90LA Lecture Room,Library, Chorley Union Street, ChorleyPR7 1EB Colne Library, Colne BB80AP ColneLibrary, Colne First Thursdaymonth of the at 7.30 pm. BromptonLibrary, 210OldBrompton Road, London SW5 0BS EwoodWorking Park Mens’ Club, 318BoltonRoad, Blackburn BB24HY Morecambe Heritage Centre, Central Drive, Morecambe Morecambe Drive, Central Centre, Heritage Morecambe Vice-Presidents: Rodney Hampson, JimTopping, TerryWalsh, BillTaylor, THE LANCASHIRE FAMILY HISTORY & HERALDRY SOCIETY HERALDRY & HISTORY FAMILY THE LANCASHIRE (daett h itrGres Gardens) the Winter (adjacent to 2 Straits, Oswaldtwistle BB5 3LU BB53LU Oswaldtwistle 2Straits, Formerly Rossendale Society for Genealogy & Heraldry (Lancashire) (Lancashire) Heraldry & Genealogy for Formerly RossendaleSociety LongholmeMethodist Church (opp.Bus Stn) 7NU BacupRoad, RawtenstallBB4 St. Andrew’s U.R.Church, Entw Kingsfold Methodist Church, Padway, Penwortham, Preston PR19EJ Thirdmonth Wednesdayof the pm. at 7.30 Programme) 2.00 pm(see Branch at onSaturdays meetings ayear Five SaturdayWorkshops 1pm –4.30 asper pm Programme. Branch Accrington Library,Street, St. James Accrington BB5 1NQ St. Stephen’s ChurchCentre, St. Martin’s Church, FleetwoodRoadSout A.Derrick Walkden, Rita Hirst, Tony Foster, Margaret Purcell Inaugurated 1973. Registered Charity Number 513437 Visit our Website onwww.lfhhs.org.uk Website Visit our to the Membership Secretary. Secretary. to theMembership President: Steve Williams Williams President: Steve MEETING VENUES Bird Street, Preston PR18DY
isle Road, Rochdale OL16isle 2HZ
h, Carleton, Poulton-le-Fylde FY67NL
Reproduced with the permission of Roland G. Symons
CONTENTS
Page 2 Notes for Contributors
3 Branch Programmes
Members’ Articles – 5 A Tale of Incorrect Transcriptions of a Family Name – Paul Sutcliffe 8 World War I Memorial Project – Steve Parker 11 Good Old Fashioned Winters – Bernard Warburton 12 Easter Lifting – Bob Dobson 14 Whatever Happened to Lawrence Cryan – Mary Creaser 24 A Day at Bamber Bridge, Cuerden and Farington 1863
27 Deaths Notified
28 Notes and News
31 Book & CD Reviews
33 Members’ Interests
36 Branch News
Centre Pull Out Pages : Application form for Annual Conference and AGM
Cover Picture: World War I Memorial – see article
If you have a drawing suitable for the front cover, kindly forward to the Editor. Thank you.
All contents of this magazine are copyright of Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society and individual authors. No such content may be reproduced in any form unless prior permission to do so has been given by the Editor and the author/authors concerned.
1 NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS
What should articles be about? We give the highest priority to articles which may help other members in pursuing their own researches into family history. This might be because of the results achieved, difficulties experienced and how they were overcome, the use of new or unusual records and archives, research into events before 1800 or unusual findings. Where appropriate, reference should be made to the sources used and their location. The Society reserves the right to edit all material submitted for publication. Copyright It is the contributor’s responsibility to ensure that material submitted for publication does not breach copyright. This particularly applies to illustrations and other matter obtained from libraries and record offices or from the internet. The Editor reserves the right not to publish if copyright is in doubt. Unless otherwise agreed, the Society holds the copyright of all articles published in ‘Lancashire’. If you wish to retain the copyright of an article, this must be requested when submitting the article for publication. Those wishing to reproduce an article published in ‘Lancashire’ should seek permission from the Editor. How should articles be sent? We prefer to receive copy in electronic format, either attached to an e- mail or on a CD. Microsoft Word, Rich Text format (RTF) or plain text (TXT) formats are acceptable. If you do not have access to a computer, we can arrange for typing, but as this adds work and delay, we would prefer, if at all possible, that you get a friend who has a computer to type the article for you. We welcome photographs to illustrate articles. These should be scanned at 300 dots per inch resolution and submitted in TIF or JPG image format. We can scan your photographs if required. Please avoid sending an original print, if the photograph is rare or of sentimental value. Articles must be accompanied by your full name, address, and membership number plus your e-mail address if you have one. Please indicate whether you wish your address, as well as your name, to be included if the article is published. All contributions should be sent to the Editor, Mrs. Hazel Johnson, 65 Lever House Lane, Leyland, Lancashire PR25 4XN. Electronic copies should be e-mailed to [email protected] Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope if you wish us to acknowledge that your material has been received or if you wish photographs to be returned. More detailed notes to contributors can be found on the society web site.
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BRANCH PROGRAMMES
25 Jan Preston – Liverpool Cowcatchers – A Family History – David Joy 25 Jan Rochdale – Sail Maker – Bob Doran 2 Feb Blackburn & Darwen – Skeletons in your cupboard – Bill Taylor 7 Feb Hyndburn – Village Signs – Shirley Addy 8 Feb Bury – Mazzei, The Winter Gardens, Blackpool – Mike Coyle 8 Feb Fylde – Family/Local History Detective – Steve Halliwell 11 Feb Irish – Speaker followed by AGM 15 Feb Pendle & Burnley – Catholic Priests in the family – Kate Hurst 16 Feb Lancaster & Morecambe – Preserving Pictures and Documents 18 Feb Preston – Workshop at Leyland Museum – 10.30am to 12.30pm 21 Feb Chorley - The Story of Henry Tate – Doreen Jolly 22 Feb Pendle & Burnley – Help Session at Colne Library 10am – 12 noon 22 Feb Preston – AGM followed by Should I Stay or Should I Go? How Ormskirk treated evacuees from Liverpool! – Roger Blaxhall 22 Feb Rochdale – Research Evening 3 Mar Blackburn & Darwen – AGM then Industrial Revolution in Lower Darwen Area – Sandra Law 7 Mar Hyndburn – AGM followed by A Trip to Switzerland in 1916 – Tony Foster 8 Mar Bury – AGM followed by Questions and Answers Session 8 Mar Fylde – Members Annual Branch Meeting 15 Mar Pendle & Burnley – AGM 16 Mar Lancaster & Morecambe – Subject TBA - Mike Coyle 21 Mar Chorley – AGM – A Mothers Tears – Steve Williams 22 Mar Pendle & Burnley – Help Session at Colne Library 10am– 12 noon 25 Mar London & South – Victorian village schools – Sarah Doig 29 Mar Pendle & Burnley – Practical Evening 29 Mar Preston – The Last Train to Tomorrow – Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines 29 Mar Rochdale - AGM 4 Apr Hyndburn – Carnforth to Clitheroe – Harold Hoggarth 6 Apr Blackburn & Darwen – The Protestation Returns 1642 A Mere List – Tony Foster
3 8 Apr Irish – Advice & Research Workshop 12 Apr Fylde – Land Registration – Julie Birkett 19 Apr Pendle & Burnley – Tales From My Family History – June Weaver 20 Apr Lancaster & Morecambe – A Drowning Disaster in Morecambe Bay – Sheila Court 26 Apr Preston – Thomas Hill Joseph Napoleon Horatio Bonaparte Swindlehurst Nelson - Stewart McLoughlin 26 Apr Rochdale – Norden Riviera, Rochdale by the sea – Gary Heywood 2 May Hyndburn - Workshop 4 May Blackburn & Darwen – The Lancashire Parish Register Society John Dalton 10 May Fylde – From Cradle to Grave – Jackie Depelle 17 May Pendle & Burnley – Out Visit to Newchurch 20 May London & South – Lancashire and Cumbrian ancestry – a personal perspective – Keith Gregson 20 May Society One Day Conference followed by AGM 31 May Pendle & Burnley – Practical Evening 31 May Preston – A Life in the week of Grandma – Harold Hoggarth 31 May Rochdale – Growing Old Disgracefully – Linda Sawley 1 Jun Blackburn & Darwen – Dating Old Family Photographs – Stephen Gill 6 Jun Hyndburn – Origin of Surnames – Peter Watson 10 Jun Irish – Advice & Research Workshop 14 Jun Fylde – Pack Horse Trails – Margaret Dickinson 21 Jun Pendle & Burnley – Wills and Probate Records – David Lambert 24 Jun Preston – Workshop at Leyland Museum 10.30am to 12.30pm 28 Jun Preston – Out visit to be arranged 4 Jul Hyndburn – The Girls in Wartime Munitions – Patricia Osborne 12 Jul Fylde – John Harkness , Preston Printer – Greg Butler 19 Jul Pendle & Burnley – Coach Trip to Newby Hall 26 Jul Preston - Betsy III – The Happy Ever After – Joanne Halliwell 8 Aug Hyndburn – Holidays – no meeting 9 Aug Fylde – Questions Answered and Problems Solved 12 Aug Irish – Advice & Research Workshop 16 Aug Pendle & Burnley – The History of Lancaster Castle – Graham Kemp 19 Aug London & South – The Foundling Hospital – Jane King 30 Aug Pendle & Burnley – Practical Evening 30 Aug Preston – Members own research 5 Sep Hyndburn – Workshop 13 Sep Fylde – Mini Talks by branch members
4 20 Sep Pendle & Burnley – The Liverpool Cowkeepers – Dave Joy 27 Sep Preston – Documenting Dissent – Joseph Garstang – Ann Berry 3 Oct Hyndburn – Great Harwood Loop Line – Bernard Bond 7 Oct London & South – Victorian shopkeepers – Sue Gibbons 11 Oct Fylde – Lost on the Lusitania – Bill Taylor 14 Oct Irish One Day Conference at Oswaldtwistle Civic Centre 18 Oct Pendle & Burnley – And In Flew Enza – Tony Foster 25 Oct Preston – Horrocks Family – Dr. David Hunt 7 Nov Hyndburn – Mediaeval Monasteries – Julia Beedon 8 Nov Fylde – A Nostalgic Christmas – Jennifer Ray 15 Nov Pendle & Burnley – WW1 talk – Richard Wimpenny 18 Nov Preston – Workshop at Leyland Museum – 10.30am to 12.30pm 29 Nov Pendle & Burnley – Practical Evening 29 Nov Preston – Jacobs Join and Quiz Night 2 Dec Irish – Advice & Research Workshop 5 Dec Hyndburn – Christmas Party and Social Evening 6 Dec Pendle & Burnley – The Way Things Used To Be – Harold Hoggarth and Christmas Party (by ticket only) 9 Dec London & South – Members’ round table 13 Dec Fylde – Quiz and Jacobs Join 27 Dec Preston – No meeting
MEMBERS’ ARTICLES
A TALE OF INCORRECT TRANSCRIPTIONS OF A FAMILY NAME DOONAN TO DOWLIN, DOLAN, DOOLAN AND BACK By Paul Sutcliffe (8388) Email: [email protected]
One of the biggest challenges for Family Historians is making sense of inaccurate records. In the case of family names, this is not something that usually happens due to the lack of diligence on the part of the recorder/evaluator but is caused by a mixture of extenuating circumstances. Chief among those is, even after the establishing of a written culture, the number of illiterate families in the nineteenth century who were required to be registered and were not able to verify the spelling of their own names. Thus, the evaluator or Parish Clerk was faced with the often impossible task of deciphering and transcribing various regional or unfamiliar accents. The mistakes made in the original documents are often compounded by the transcriptions
5 made on the various Family History sites. In the latter case it is not that the transcriber has misheard the name but has struggled with the legibility of the written name. Finally, there is always the question of how far the family name has been deliberately changed by the families themselves, whether as obfuscation of identity or for the simple reason that the new name pleases them better. My own family name challenge was in finding the earlier generations of my Doonan relatives. My paternal grandmother’s generation was no problem as I had some information from my father about his mother, Emma Doonan, and her siblings. Going even further back, however, proved to be more testing.
My early investigations were quite encouraging as I quickly secured the marriage certificate of my great grandfather, James Doonan, to Mary Ellen Senior on 15 April 1879. Using the censuses of 1881 and 1891 it became clear that family domesticity was based in Wavertree, Liverpool. Further research showed that the majority of baptisms of their 8 children were held in the Holy Trinity (Anglican) Church there.
The identities of my great grandfather’s parents were also ascertained via the General Register Office. His birth certificate dated 8 November 1855 revealed them to be Bridget Doonan, formerly Carroll, and James Doonan (his mark as signature) of Waterloo Street, Wavertree. I already knew them to be from Ireland. The marriage certificate for 1 September 1851 between James Doonan, 28 years, and Bridget Carroll, 21 years, provided further details. Important here for later reference were that Bridget also signed with a mark and that the Church, St. Anne’s in Edge Hill, Liverpool, was Roman Catholic. Furthermore, after the acquisition of my great, great grandfather’s James Doonan’s death certificate of 24 February 1896, it seemed that he had remained in Wavertree in the years after his marriage. The death certificate of 20 July 1909 for his wife, Bridget Carroll, gave the location of her death as Walton Workhouse, a sorry last resting place for many of the old, poor and infirm of the time. What grabbed my attention was, however, the identity of the informant, C. Sixsmith, daughter.
Having now established that there were at least 4 Doonans in my family tree who had possibly lived in Wavertree, Liverpool, in the 1850s and after, I was optimistic that I could find them in the Census Records beginning in 1861. My optimism was replaced by frustration when, after I had entered the known names into Ancestry search engines for 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891, nothing seeming to fit my criteria showed up. I extended my search to the whole of England and Scotland,
6 taking note of any possible fits. I considered the possibility of incorrect transcriptions but had no plausible idea of how this might have looked. My interest waned for a while and I went back to sporadically checking if anything new had shown up, but with no great conviction.
What really tore me from my lethargy was the publication of the Roman Catholic BMD Records for Liverpool on Ancestry. Working from the assumption that the Doonans had lived in Waterloo street at the beginning of their marriage, I sought for the nearest Roman Catholic Church to this location, which was St. Oswald, King and Martyr, in Old Swan, Liverpool, about a mile away. The Church records include date of birth, date of baptism and names of parents, including former name of wife. The entries, although detailed, confirmed my suspicion about incorrect transcriptions of the family name. Thus we find the daughter mentioned previously on the death certificate of Bridget to be Catherine Doonan (b.1853). James Doonan (b.1855) is also correctly registered but two children who later were to die in infancy are given different names. Anna Dolan (b.1859) to James and Bridget Dolan. Maria Dolan (b.1870) also to James and Bridget Dolan, formerly (olim) Carroll. Anna’s burial in 1862 is correctly recorded under the Doonan family name.
Having seen that there was some evidence supporting the theory of false transcription and that the location (Wavertree) of my great, great grandparents had not changed after their marriage, I then attempted to investigate the census returns anew. Taking my focal point as Waterloo Street, Wavertree, I searched through the evaluator’s notes at the beginning of the census to find the required registration district in Wavertree.
Doing a street search using the original documents of 1861 I found my Doonans, James, Bridget, Catherine, James and Anne residing in 147 Waterloo Street with the appropriate ages and places of birth entered under the Dowlin family name. In 1871 living at 132 Waterloo Street under the name of Doolin (further falsified by Ancestry into Darlin!) In 1881 they had moved to 110 Smithy Court, a part of Waterloo Street, and registered as Doolan. In 1891 at 8 Luke’s Place, later registered as James Doonan’s residence on his death certificate, as Doolan. Their neighbours, the Sixsmiths, were Catherine’s new family as wife and mother.
I don’t think that in any of these cases the falsification of the name was a deliberate act by the people who had to record or evaluate. I even
7 believe it happens today if people give information over the telephone and the inquirer is not suitably interested, irritated by the accent, has a bad connection etc. What I would say is that in our technological age, we need to accept that reliable information is not always available with one click. Close reading and investigation of the original records are still necessary if we want to make major breakthroughs. I concede that these are not always available and sometimes we have only transcriptions of transcriptions, but when family history websites offer their summaries of the records, always check if possible the originals with your own eyes before you make that click.
CHESTER TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL
A research project by Steve Parker (9548) E-mail: [email protected]
First of all, why is a project based on the lives of the students of Chester College (now the University of Chester) appearing in this magazine dedicated to Lancashire family history? Well that’s the easy part – many of the students then, as now, originate from our county. I myself was born and grew up in Blackburn and went to train at Chester College before beginning my teaching career.
Having a passion for my own family history and since retiring and joining the Alumni society of Chester College (as I will always remember it), I took on a project to trace the lives of those student teachers who gave their lives in WWI and are remembered on a Memorial in the College Chapel as shown on the cover of this magazine.
So I was wondering, in order to do justice to the lives so tragically lost in that conflict, whether any member of our society had any of these former students and soon to be teachers in their families. Of course, it is difficult to say, working from the sparse information given on the memorial – initials only were frequently used in those days rather than full forenames – but I have managed to find some details of over 60 of the 78 names listed. If you can help in any way please get in touch, my e-mail address is at the top of this article.
Regiments of many of these soldiers were based in Lancashire, namely the Manchester Regiment, the Kings (Liverpool) Regiment, the North
8 Lancashire Regiment, the Lancashire Fusiliers, and the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. The soldiers themselves came from Burnley, Blackley, Liverpool, Salford, Bootle, Manchester, Lancaster, Reddish, Oldham, Preston, Bolton, Eccles and Blackburn. So, you can see why this appeal is launched through our Lancashire magazine.
As an example of what I have uncovered so far, and as space permits, I include a trimmed down version of one such soldier’s service to our country.
FRANK ALLEN
Birth Frank Allen was born in 1891 to John and Ellen Allen of 24 Rock Street, Burnley, Lancashire. John was 31 years old at the time and worked at the School Board Office in Burnley. Ellen, aged 29, is recorded as being a weaver in the 1891 census. Frank was their first-born child and was baptised on 9 April 1891 at St. Matthews Church, Habergham Eaves, Burnley.
Early Life By the time of the 1901 census the family had moved to 27 Church Street, Burnley and Frank now had a brother Edward aged 1 and a sister Amy aged 5. John Allen is now recorded as being a School Attendance Officer.
In the 1911 census Frank, aged 20, is recorded as being at Chester College (which was crossed out as he was not living at home on that evening). His brother Edward, aged 17, is recorded as being a student teacher part-time. There are also 2 more brothers, Joseph Thomas aged 9 and John Albert aged 6. The family had now moved to a larger house at 44 Thursby Road, Burnley.
Chester College Frank had won a bursary and worked his way up to Chester College and left in 1911. He was appointed to teach at Heasandford School, Burnley, and remained there until he enlisted in the army 7 years later. He was a man of ‘literary tastes and a strong humorous vein’ according to the Burnley Express obituary, December 1917.
Military Service Frank enlisted in the Public Schools Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers at Burnley in August 1916 as Private 13/11670 Allen, and went abroad in
9 January the following year attached to the Royal Engineers. He was later transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the London Regiment as Private Frank Allen G/52914.
Frank’s younger brother Edward, also enlisted into the Royal Fusiliers and went abroad a year before his brother Frank at Christmas 1915. He was wounded four times altogether and was transferred to the Pay department at Woolwich, having not recovered sufficiently to be sent out again.
Lest We Forget The 2nd Battalion London Regiment were moved to Rousseau Farm Camp on 8 October 1917 to prepare for battle the following day. The battle lasted for 2 days during which Frank Allen was killed in action on 9 October. Private Harold V Ellis had written to Frank’s mother after his death saying that “Frank and himself had been very chummy having been in army training together at Edinburgh and going out there and that he had been one of the best”. He continued “When I saw him on the night of 8 October he was in the best of health and spirits. When the battalion attacked the following morning. I noticed afterwards that poor Frank was missing. I made inquiries about him and was told that a shell had exploded near him, killing him instantaneously”. He was brought back behind the lines and given a proper burial. The writer closed by expressing his deepest sympathy and that of his comrades at the death of a hero fighting for his home and country.
Post Mortem Frank was awarded the British War and Victory medals for service to King and Country.
Private Frank Allen is commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial. The Tyne Cot Memorial is one of four memorials to the missing in Belgian Flanders which covers the area known as the Ypres Salient.
I hope to be able to share the results at a later date, hopefully November 2017.
Editor:I have been advised that http://www.burnleyinthegreatwar.info/ includes the Burnley Roll of Honour which could be helpful to any members doing similar research.
10 GOOD OLD FASHIONED WINTERS By Bernard Warburton
Frozen pipes, and frozen mains, Sparkling frosty window panes, Slippery cobbles, glistening white, Haloes round the moon at night.
Delivery horses carrying coal, Hooves in sacking, lest they fall, Children playing, taking rides, Speeding down their shiny slides.
Bitter days, and freezing nights, Plumbers mending leaking pipes, Finding neighbours who perhaps, Still were blessed with running taps, Who may well be good enough, To fill a bowl, or bucket up, So that they could cook and brew, If only for a day or two.
Overcoats, and balaclavas, Helped to keep the children warm, Night and day they needed fires, Coal supplies, could cause alarm, Burning twice as much a day, As they would if it were May, When compared with what they earned, Not that kind of brass to burn.
That was in the olden times, Now we live in warmer climes, That is why it seems to me, We ought to go on bended knee, And every milder winters’ morning, Praise the Lord for global warming!
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EASTER LIFTING From Cassell’s Illustrated Family Paper dated 22 April 1865 Forwarded by Bob Dobson
The natural light-heartedness and buoyancy of spirit which form such essential features in the character of the Lancashire working-classes, have not been destroyed by recent misfortunes. Those who may happen to be visiting the cotton manufacturing districts at Easter, and other periods of holiday festivity, will find the workers keeping up with enthusiasm the various customs with which they have been familiar from time immemorial.
Amongst these is the curious ceremony of lifting, which is also practised in Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and one or two of the midland counties. It is supposed to have originated in the religious ceremonies of a past period, and was once far more extensively practised than at present, considerable licence being allowed to the youths and damsels who chose to become lifters. On Easter Monday the men lift the women, and on Easter Tuesday the women lift the men. The ceremony is generally productive of much hilarity, and, to say the truth, of not a little noise.
It is practised principally in the open street. A number of young men or women form themselves into a group, and lie in wait for the unwary passer-by, who is sometimes forced to sit in a chair, which is then lifted up until it shall please his or her custodians to release their prisoner. This is generally done upon payment of a small fee. At other times persons are caught in their captors’ arms, and lifted in a sitting or horizontal position. Strangers are not, as a rule, selected for the purpose of receiving this singular mark of attention.
In the scene represented on the opposite page, a troop of merry, laughing girls and maidens have seized upon grandfather, who has unresistingly yielded himself to their custody, and are lifting him in triumph, amid the exultant shouts of the assembled urchins.
It is mentioned that the late Mr Lysons once read to the Society of Antiquaries an extract from one of the rolls, or records, concerning a payment made to certain ladies and maids of honour for taking King Edward I, in his bed at Easter, or, in other words, lifting him, in accordance with the custom of the season.
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13 WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LAWRENCE CRYAN? By Mary Creaser (1667) Tel: 01524251536
For many years the fate of Lawrence Cryan was unknown, an unresolved mystery. What in the world could possibly have induced him to take his wife and family back to Co. Sligo in the west of Ireland, where his youngest child, Henry, was born in 1845, at the very height of the Irish famine? He and his family had been living in Chorley for the past ten years or more. His widowed mother lived close by with his younger siblings. The reason, whatever it was, must have been urgent and irresistible.
Lawrence and his wife Mary were living in Water Street, Chorley, with three children, Bridget, Michael and Lawrence, when the census was taken in 1841. Since the couples arrival in Lancashire three other children had died in infancy, and a fourth, Stephen, born later that year, would die before his second birthday and be buried in the churchyard of St. Gregory’s RC Church, Weld Bank, Chorley, on 4 January 1843, alongside his siblings.
Some lateral thinking was required before Mary and four surviving children were eventually located at Farington, near Leyland, on the 1851 census, where their surname was recorded as ‘Grime’. On reflection it was easy to see how the uncommon Irish name of O’Croidheáin, anglicised as Cryan or Crean, spoken in an unfamiliar brogue, was mistaken for one commonly found in Lancashire. Many variations of spelling occurred over the years and uncertainty persisted as late as 1861, when a priest hazarded ‘Grime’ or ‘Cryam’ in his parish register.
Mary Grime’s marital status was shown as ‘widow’ in 1851, so it appeared that Lawrence had died, presumably in Ireland since no registration of death or burial record could be found in this country. Civil registration of Roman Catholic births, marriages and deaths in Ireland only began in 1864, so no birth certificate was obtainable for the youngest child, Henry, either. Roman Catholic parish burial registers are particularly thin on the ground and in many cases non- existent. During the worst of the famine years the deaths and burial places of many thousands went wholly unrecorded. In all probability Lawrence’s was among them.
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Lawrence’s name appeared on his daughter Bridget’s marriage certificate in 1858, but whereas the omission of ‘deceased’ after it on that occasion did not prove conclusively that he was still alive, his son Henry’s marriage certificate of 1874 stated unequivocally that Lawrence was deceased. That appeared to be the end of the road as far as he was concerned.
Suddenly all theories and assumptions about what might have happened to Lawrence were blown wide apart with the startling and painful discovery made on the Access to Archives website, and in the Lancashire Record Office online catalogue of the following entry:
“Bill of costs of prosecution of Lawrence Cryan, c.1845” The unusual name and the date were surely no coincidence.
More shocking still was the discovery of the following entries for Mary Cryan:
1. Order of removal of Mary Cryan and her children, with deposition: examination of Mary Cryan re her legal settlement 1843 30 May. 2. Receipt of payment for removal of Mary Cryan and her children to the steamer ‘Birmingham’ c.1843 3. Affidavit of above Edward Tootell of Chorley re removal of above Mary Cryan and her children 1843 20 Jun. 4. Account of Edward Tootell, for removal of Mary Cryan and her children from Chorley to Dublin 1843 20 Jun.
These documents, held at the Lancashire Record Office, solved the mystery of what had happened to Lawrence Cryan in no uncertain manner. They also shed a revealing and unflattering light on the inhumanity of the New Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 and the truly appalling lack of sympathy and compassion shown to the poor by those responsible for its administration. Together with the superbly detailed convict records held in the Tasmanian Archives and freely available online, the records provided information and details about Lawrence and Mary’s lives that would never have been known otherwise, so in that respect the discovery of a criminal ancestor has proved a mixed blessing.
In May 1843 Mary was hauled before the magistrates for a Settlement Examination. In her evidence she stated that she and Lawrence had
15 come to Lancashire from County Sligo ‘about 13 years ago’, i.e. in about 1830, (although daughter Bridget’s age was given as 12, and she was born in Ireland.) This was at least five years after Lawrence’s parents, Michael and Bridget, had arrived in England. The Tithe Applotment Books of 1827 record a Lawrence Cryan occupying land in the Townland of Moyrush in the parish of Cloonaghil, (near Achonry), Co. Sligo. This may indicate that Lawrence had remained behind on the family farm when his parents and younger siblings moved to Lancashire in the mid-1820s, perhaps to wait until he and Mary could marry, or in the hope that he could hold on and make a living from the land. Lawrence and Mary were married in Ireland around 1828 when Lawrence was in his early twenties and Mary perhaps a year or two younger. Mary, nee O’Brien, was born at or within the postal district of Ballymote, a small market town in the middle of the county and a few miles from Moyrush. No baptism or marriage records have been found for either of them, or for the two children known to have been born in Ireland. The magistrates concluded that Lawrence Cryan had deserted his wife and family of three children in April 1843, leaving them destitute and in need of parish relief. Lawrence’s father had died four years previously but his mother was still in Chorley, eking out a living by running one of the infamously overcrowded lodging houses for young Irish immigrants. She still had younger children at home and was in no position to support her daughter-in-law and grandchildren.
Mary had no rights of settlement in this country. Irish and Scottish paupers were not even afforded a place in the workhouse, but were shipped off back to their country of origin regardless of the human and material cost involved. Escorted by Edward Tootall, the Overseer of the Poor, she and the three children were taken by train to Liverpool and put on the deck of a ship bound for Dublin. Possibly pregnant again, and having buried a fourth child less than four months previously, this poor, bereft, distressed woman was packed off to a port in the south of famine-stricken Ireland, there to make her own way back to her home county of Sligo, many miles away to the north- west. How she and the children survived is another mystery, but that she did surely testifies to her courage and tenacity in the face of almost overwhelming adversity. What it says about those who sent her and the children back to Ireland, knowing full well the dire situation that prevailed there and the perils they would face, is quite another matter.
On 25 October, 1845, the Preston Guardian reported that Lawrence Cryan had been arrested ‘at last’ on his return to Chorley, having absconded two and a half years previously with money entrusted to
16 him by his employer to deliver to a solicitor in Preston in April 1843. He was said to have spent the intervening period in Scotland and Ireland. Whilst in Ireland Mary had had another baby, and she and the four children were also back in Chorley. The newspaper report inferred that Lawrence had been stupid enough to believe that he wouldn’t be recognised after his long absence, but as the Irish famine was then at its height he and Mary probably had little option but to return to England or die of starvation.
Lawrence’s trial took place at Preston Assizes on 28 November 1845. He was found guilty of ‘embezzling £29 from my Master’, and sentenced to seven years transportation. It was his first conviction, but faced with the temptation he had stolen a large sum of money, (roughly equivalent to £1600 today), and committed a serious breach of trust. His employer John Chester was a Master Mason, of Bengal Street, Chorley, who in partnership with his father and brother employed 45 men. Bengal Street was adjacent to Water Street, where Lawrence and Mary were living in 1841. The evidence given by the six witnesses called has not survived. The Order Book (QS02/214) states: “Whereas Lawrence Cryan late of Preston (sic) labourer hath been convicted of Felony. This court doth order and adjudge that (he) shall be sent and transported to some part beyond the seas for the space of 7 years next.” “Like order for £11.8s.8d payable to Mr. Richard Jackson for prosecuting Lawrence Cryan at this session for felony.”
A month after his conviction, Lawrence was transferred from the House of Correction at Preston to Millbank Prison in London. The largest prison in England, this had opened in 1821 for the purpose of replacing the prison ‘hulks’ that had formerly accommodated prisoners awaiting transportation. In due course he was assigned to a ship, and was one of 300 convicts transported on the ship Lady Palmyra, which left Woolwich on 4 March 1846 and Portsmouth on 1 May, bound for Van Dieman’s Land, later Tasmania.
The ship’s register of convicts gives Lawrence’s age as 39 and his height as 5’ 7”. His complexion was ruddy, his hair and whiskers brown, and his eyes hazel. The ship’s surgeon reported that he was well behaved. He could read and write, and had a wife, Mary, in Chorley, and four children, a brother Stephen and sister Mary.
The Hobart Courier of the 26 August 1846 reported the Palmyra’s arrival four days earlier, after a voyage of 167 days. It was the first
17 and last such voyage that Palmyra made. On 3 September the convicts were transferred to the isolated Rocky Hills Probation Station in the east of the country, built in 1841. The new probationary system, begun that year, was a social experiment designed both to punish and reform prisoners from the outset, and was an attempt to correct the deficiencies of the discredited ‘assignment’ system. Under the new system all convicts served an initial period of labour in a government gang, working on the construction of the east coast road or on other public building works: Lawrence’s was set at twelve months. The hours were long and the work physically exhausting, but good conduct and productivity could earn a gradual lessening of restrictions and an improvement in living conditions.
In spite of the good intentions, the probationary system failed in its object, chiefly due to incompetent management. Following a particularly damaging report on the conditions at Rocky Hills by the Acting Administrator of Van Dieman’s Land in 1847, which makes harrowing reading and was published subsequently as a British Parliamentary Paper, the station was closed the following year.
Lawrence became a Probationary Pass Holder Class 3 in August 1847, which meant he could be hired by a settler for a small fixed wage and retain any wages he earned. During the next two and a half years he is recorded at Fingal, Greater Swan Port, and Swansea, all within a few miles of Rocky Hills. Whilst working for the Quaker Cotton family at Great Swan Port in October 1848 he was sentenced to 48 hours solitary confinement for ‘misconduct in being under the influence of liquor and ill-using his Master’s horse’. This is the only offence he is recorded as having committed during his entire sentence.
Lawrence obtained a Ticket of Leave halfway through his sentence in April 1850 which freed him to look for work on his own behalf, although he still had to attend regular musters. He was recommended for a Conditional Pardon shortly afterwards, which was officially approved from London in February 1852. This meant he was virtually a free man, although unable to leave the country. On Christmas Eve 1852 he finally received his Certificate of Freedom. Now ‘free by servitude’, Lawrence left Launceston, Tasmania, on 18 October 1854, eventually travelling steerage on the ship Lady Bird bound for Melbourne.
It is difficult to comprehend why Lawrence should have committed the serious offence that led to his conviction and sentence of transportation when the evidence available indicates that he had never been in
18 trouble previously, was reasonably literate and held in enough regard by his employer to be entrusted with such a responsible task as the delivery of a large sum of money, which suggests a good work record. The convict records tell the same story: the ship’s surgeon described him as well behaved, and he seems to have committed only one minor offence during his sentence. His Ticket-of-Leave was never rescinded, as it would have been for any breach of the law, and he was recommended for a Conditional Pardon and Certificate of Freedom at the earliest opportunity.
Famine conditions in the west of Ireland had forced many, including the Cryans, to abandon their family farms and migrate to Lancashire where they and their compatriots faced an uphill struggle to survive in low paid, unskilled jobs amongst a generally hostile indigenous population. Lawrence’s state of mind after the recent death of a fourth child, and perhaps the sudden realisation that he held a comparative fortune in his hands that might transform his family’s future, prompted him to act so out of character and with no thought of the consequences.
Transportation to Van Dieman’s land was suspended temporarily in 1846 and abandoned altogether in 1853.
(I am very grateful to Steve Williams and fellow members of the Chorley branch of the LFHHS for their helpful advice and practical assistance, and also to the staff of the Lancashire Record Office and Tasmanian Archives for their help in obtaining copies of the relevant documents)
Nothing further was known of his future life or movements until a chance contact with a fellow member of LFHHS in Australia led to the discovery of information that charted the rest of his life story.
Lawrence had received his freedom just as the Australian Gold Rush got underway, and this is where he was heading. Tens of thousands of migrants had flocked to Victoria since the discoveries of gold at Clunes, Buninyong, Ballarat, and in the Castlemain and Bendigo regions in 1851, (the year in which Victoria achieved its independence from New South Wales), had sparked the great rush to the central Victorian Goldfields region. In the 1850s the traffic on the road from Melbourne to the gold fields was said to be the heaviest in Australia.
The prospect of a fabulous fortune to be had virtually for the taking, so comparatively close at hand, must have been too tempting for
19 Lawrence to resist – and after all, what difference would a few more months make after all those years away from home? Arriving back in England a rich man would compensate for all the suffering he and Mary had endured. He was still only 46, and well used to the hard manual work entailed in digging for gold. He had much to gain and little to lose from making the diversion to Victoria and joining the gold rush. Arriving in Melbourne, Lawrence headed towards the goldfields in the vicinity of Ballarat and Bendigo, a distance of some 70 miles. Whether or not Lawrence had arrived at his destination by the time of the Eureka Stockade Rebellion in the Ballarat region on 3 December 1854 we shall never know. The area where the rebellion took place was one populated largely by Irish-born migrants, and most of those inside the defensive stockade were also Irish, so he may well have gravitated towards it.
The rebellion, which stemmed amongst other things from the growing resentment of the miners towards the high cost of licences together with the ruthless and corrupt enforcement of the licensing system, was crushed by government troops within minutes, leaving 22 of the miners dead and many others wounded in a completely one-sided battle. It was a short-lived victory and a public relations disaster for the new Victorian government, culminating in the miners’ demands for reform being met in full, and the grant of male suffrage in 1856.
Prospecting for gold was a back breaking and hazardous occupation, requiring considerable physical strength and energy, and the majority of miners met with only limited success. Initially gold was found close to the surface, and as soon as that was exhausted in one place they had to search for a fresh source. Miners moved around the area, often alternating work in the gold fields with farm or labouring work in the vicinity. This, most likely, was the pattern followed by Lawrence Crane on his arrival in the gold fields.
The diggers lived in tents near to their licensed claims of about 3½ square yards, surviving on a limited diet of mutton, flour and water dampers, and tea. The area was dotted with mounds of soil and gravel from the diggings. Clean drinking water was scarce and although an alcohol ban was in force on the goldfields, illegal liquor was easily available and drunkenness was a problem. The miners faced health problems ranging from dehydration and dysentery to hypothermia and chronic bronchitis. Broken bones and other injuries didn’t heal properly due to lack of medical attention.
20 The threat to law and order posed by the huge influx of migrants had led the government to set up a police camp and a Court of Petty Sessions at Buninyong to keep the peace. On the 25 April 1857, the Ballarat ‘Star’ newspaper reported on a highly unusual wages case that had been heard by the court, which “excited considerable interest and occupied the attention of the court for nearly two hours.” The plaintiff, Lawrence Crane (the surname variation by which Lawrence was known throughout his time in Australia), claimed that was owed £4 for work he had done for the defendant, Donald Ross.
The court heard that, at the beginning of February that year, Lawrence had been hired by Ross to work on the roads for 10s a day. (This was the average weekly wage for an agricultural labourer in England at the time.) Twelve shillings, or more than a day’s pay, was to be docked from his wages in exchange for the two shovels he needed to do the job.
Lawrence told the court that he had worked for 19¾ days the first month and 19½ days the following month, and then proceeded to give a detailed account of how much he had received from his employer each month in goods and money, which amounted to just over £15 and left a balance of £4 owing to him. He had complained of the deficiency at the time of settlement. Counsel for the defendant tried various ways of disputing Lawrence’s claim. Since Ross was simply acting as the agent for the company Messrs. Musson, Ross & Co., the claim should be made against the company. This argument was over-ruled by the court. Next the company’s time book and pay sheets were produced, which purported to show that Lawrence had worked only 16 days the first month and 17 the next, which at the rate of 10s a day for the first month and 9s a day for the second, made up the amount he had received. Lawrence countered this by stating that he had not been informed of the reduction in wages for the second month. Furthermore, he had kept an account himself of the hours he had worked, and had complained of a discrepancy when he was paid.
When the time book was handed up to the Bench the magistrates detected some obliterations, and although the defendant’s Counsel apparently managed to explain these away, they ruled that since Lawrence had been hired at 10s a day and had received no notice of the reduction, he was entitled to charge 10s a day for the whole period. A witness for the defence, one of the company’s clerks, having stated initially that Lawrence had only complained of the lowness of the wages, now admitted that he had also complained about the back time
21 due. The defence Counsel’s final ploy was to submit that, since Lawrence had signed the wages sheet as having received what was due to him, the Bench had no jurisdiction in the matter. With that, the magistrates awarded Lawrence the full amount of £4 with 4s 6d costs.
This court case is of particular interest for the insight it provides into Lawrence’s character and abilities. A working man, an ex-convict to boot, and a fairly recent arrival in the country, taking his employer to court, representing himself, and winning his case against the professional lawyer engaged at considerable expense to demolish his argument, would have been almost unthinkable in England, and took real courage. The detailed account that Lawrence had kept of his work schedule and finances suggests an aptitude for figures and a methodical competence – ironically, perhaps, the very attributes that had led to his employer back in Chorley entrusting him with a large sum of money to deliver.
Unfortunately, Lawrence’s success in court doesn’t appear to have had any positive impact upon his future prospects. It may even be that prospective employers viewed him as a possible trouble maker. He didn’t make his fortune, but remained in Australia for the rest of his life, moving from place to place and labouring in the goldfields or perhaps on the roads. His movements can be traced through the records of hospitals to which he was admitted periodically. They confirm his birthplace as County Sligo in Ireland, his parents as Michael and Bridget, and his religion as Roman Catholic. His marital status was recorded variously as ‘married’ in 1863, ‘single’ in 1869, or ‘widowed’ from 1871 onwards, suggesting that he had lost contact with his family in England, since Mary was still alive when the British census was taken in 1871. His age was generally recorded as being several years older than he actually was, perhaps a reflection of the hard manual work and knocks he had endured over the years taking their toll on his health.
Lawrence spent 19 days in hospital at Kyneton in March 1863, suffering from chronic bronchitis, when he was correctly shown as 56 years old and married. Kyneton had developed into a service town for the surrounding goldfields of the area, and its hospital was one of the earliest to be built in 1854-56. Six years later, in 1869, his name appears in the Ballarat Hospital Admission Register, although no details of his illness are given. Ascot was shown then as his place of residence, and also two years later when he spent 33 days in Creswick Hospital. This was another new hospital which opened in 1863 to deal with illnesses and accidents to miners and pioneers.
22
Clunes was Lawrence’s place of residence the next time he was admitted to Creswick Hospital at the end of January 1876, this time for 3½ months. He was 70 years old, but his age was given as 77. He was discharged from there into the care of the Ballarat Benevolent Asylum.
The Ballarat Benevolent and Visiting Society had been formed in 1857 as the community’s response to the needs of its citizens in distress, of whom there were very many. All too soon, hundreds of people who had come to the area hoping to strike gold found themselves destitute, with no job, no money, and nowhere to turn for assistance. The Society’s original aim was to provide out-door relief in the form of provisions, but it soon became evident that more was required. Old, sick, and disabled miners needed a place of refuge and safety where they could receive medical attention and be cared for in their final years. Accommodation was also required for pregnant women, including those many ‘unfortunates’ deserted by their husbands or partners, and a large number of orphaned children needed help and support.
The Asylum was built upon 5 acres of land provided by the government, and opened in 1859. Further wings were added, bringing the number of beds available to 224. Residents were lodged in ‘wide, lofty and airy rooms of handsome proportions’, and no attempt was made, as in English workhouses under the Poor Law, to make their lives as uncongenial as possible so as to deter any but the most desperate from seeking admission.
Lawrence was admitted to the Asylum suffering from debility, and apart from two brief periods of leave, remained there until he died on 15 January 1882. The cause of death was given as old age and bronchitis, and his age as 84, though he was actually 78. He was buried in the new cemetery at Ballarat on 17 January 1882. The grave, in open ground, is unmarked, but Lawrence’s name appears on the ‘Pioneer Index’ of the State of Victoria and in the cemetery register.
(I am greatly indebted to Jackie, a fellow LFHHS member in Australia, without whose generous and expert help I should never had known what happened to Lawrence after he regained his freedom in 1852. Information about the goldfields and Ballarat Benevolent Asylum can be found on the Ballarat Historical Society’s website) ______
23
A DAY AT BAMBER BRIDGE, CUERDEN AND FARINGTON FROM PRESTON CHRONICLE, 24 JANUARY 1863
BAMBER BRIDGE
One fine, but cold morning this week – just when the storm, which terrified us so much, had begun to abate – we decided to “do” in our official capacity, and by way of recording passing events, relative to the distress, the villages of Bamber Bridge, Cuerden, and Farington. Something considerably under a shilling, and a few minutes ride in a railway carriage, effected our journey to Bamber Bridge, a small, rather irregular, and not very “densely populated” place, which will need no particular description at our hands. The village is quiet, and there are the usual symptoms of distress visible, smokeless chimneys, a house here and there to be let, young men and lads “hanging about” with their hands in their pockets, and a general stillness in the “streets”.
If you happen to ask the old man on the opposite side of the road, carrying a basket, or a bundle – evidently “relief” – how the times are at Bamber Bridge, he will say – “Orful – never seed anything like ‘em I’ my time;” and if you chance to interrogate the middle-aged dame coming up the parapet, in a blue-striped “bed gown”, apparently from the same place as the old man, she will reply by asking a question - “Aye, however soon is things to get better?” But we proceed.
At the far end of the village is the parish school. A neat little building it is, with ivy in front, and tiny birds twittering about its eaves. One could scarcely expect that this would be in any way associated with the distress. But it is, sweet and pleasant though it be. Here all the poor people meet once a week – every Wednesday forenoon – for relief tickets, given out by the Charitable Committee of Bamber Bridge. The tickets are exchanged at the different shops in the village “as fairly as possible.” We quote the words of the chairman of the committee – the Rev. W. Wignall.
The school, when we visited it, was full of poor persons, of all ages, waiting for the tickets in question. On reaching the door we could hear that “something was up,” and on inquiring about this a very earnest- looking old woman in a long ancient looking cloak, naively rejoined, “Be quiet and listen.” We did so. But we could get hold of nothing except disjointed sentences, and every now and then the words “tobacco,” “pigeon flying,” “idleness,” and “drink.” Pushing our way through the crowd at the door, we soon found out the secret. The chairman of the
24
Lancashire Family History & Heraldry Society
Registered Charity No. 513437 President: Steve Williams
LFHHS ONE DAY CONFERENCE
AND
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
*****
Saturday 20th May 2017
9.45 am to 5.00 pm
at
St. Cuthbert’s Church Centre Lytham Road, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 3AR
All members and guests are invited to this Annual Event
Do come, meet old friends and make new ones
You will be most welcome
Founded 1973 as the Rossendale Society for Genealogy and Heraldry A Member of the Federation of Family History Societies.
i
Programme:
09:15 – 09:45 Registration and Coffee / Tea
09:45 – 10:00 Welcome and Introduction
10:00 – 11:10 Steve Halliwell,
“Moses Holden 1777-1864; a Freeman of
Preston, Astronomer and Self-taught Genius”
11:35 – 12.45 Martin Goldstraw,
“Squirrels and Chevrons: A study of the many
and varied arms used by the descendants of
Lidulph de Twemlow.
1:00 Lunch
2:15 – 3:25 W. J. (Bill) Taylor, through the “Lost on the Lusitania”
3:30 LFHHS Annual General Meeting We extend a welcome to the Conference and lunch to non- members of LFHHS, please signify on the Application Form *************************************************** There will be opportunities to chat and exchange of information etc.., also a selection of books, CDs, fiche, which can be purchased or ordered. Don’t forget – you may need your Credit Card
***************************************************
Motions for the AGM must be forwarded, in writing, to the Secretary, to arrive at least 28 days before the 20th May 2017 (that is 23rd April 2017) .… Copies will be sent with receipts to everyone who books for the AGM. Any member unable to attend requiring a copy of any motions should send .… a stamped s.a.e. (9” x 4”) to the Secretary: Sharman Walmsley, 56 2017, to: Longbrook Avenue, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancashire PR5 6XG
*************************************************
ii
Programme: LANCASHIRE FAMILY HISTORY & HERALDRY SOCIETY 09:15 – 09:45 APPLICATION FORM 09:45 – 10:00 Annual Conference and AGM
10:00 – 11:10 To be received by Saturday, 13th May 2017
Name: …………………………………………………………………..…………………………….
Address: ………………………………………………………………………………………….………
…………………………………………..……..… Post Code: …………………..… 11:35 – 12.45
e-mail address of Main Applicant …………………………………………………………
1. Please reserve……….. place/s at the Conference & A.G.M. with buffet lunch
at £12.50 per person £ …………………
2. Please reserve ……….. place/s at the Conference & A.G.M. without lunch
at £7.00 per person £ ………………… 1:00 3. I / we would like to be present at the AGM ONLY, please send the papers. 2:15 – 3:25 ********************************************************** I enclose a cheque for £ ………..…… Payable to LFHHS, or pay through the “ website shop www.lfhhs.org ********************************************************** 3:30
Name/s, IN FULL, and MEMBERSHIP NUMBER or ‘Guest’ of those attending so that badges can be prepared.
Please UNDERLINE PREFERRED NAME for the badge.
1 ……………………………………………………………………………………….……………
2 ……………………………………………………………………………………….……………
3 ………………………………………………………………………………….…………………
4 ………………………………………………………………………………………………….…
5 ………………………………………………………………………………………………….… Please send completed Form, to be received by 13th May 2017, to: Sharman Walmsley, 56 Longbrook Avenue, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancashire PR56XG , with a note of any dietary requirements.
iii
Lancashire Family History & Heraldry Society Williams
ONE DAY CONFERENCE
& ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 20th May 2017
***************************** Please complete and post
TODAY *****************************
We wish to attract as many as possible to the Conference & AGM., to help towards this the cost of the day including a Buffet Lunch is, as last year, £12.50 per person. We hope this will encourage people to come and join us in what is usually a very happy and rewarding event. Booking can be made through the web-site shop: www.lfhhs.org
The venue and facilities are wheelchair accessible
Conference Organiser: A. D. Walkden Tel: 01772 792224
iv committee was addressing those present on the duties of parents towards their children, and vice versa; and he seemed to be quite convinced that some of the representatives of the rising generation in Bamber Bridge were specially fond of what we have quoted.
Afterwards, he proceeded to comment upon a letter attributing partiality to the committee in the distribution of the relief tickets, which had just been published in one of our contemporaries. He contended that there had been no such partiality, and subsequently he put the question to the vote, when there was a unanimous show of hands in favour of his assertion. The tickets, each representing a certain sum of money, were then distributed. The names were shouted out, each person answered “Here” in regular order, the tickets were handed out, the men bowed and the women curtsied when they received them, and in about five and twenty minutes 1,536 persons were served, and all was over for that day. The people soon hurried away, and exchanged their tickets.
In Bamber Bridge there are three factories. At present only one of them is working. Distress has prevailed for twelve months in the village, and at present it seems to be as bad in many respects as ever. The local relief committee was established in July last, and since that time has done much good amongst the poor operatives. The relief given by the committee varies from 7d. to 8d. per head. This, of course, is, in the majority of cases, supplementary to the assistance afforded by the parish. The committee have received several grants from the Mansion House and the Central Committees. The average weekly expenditure of the committee is about £50. In regard to the operatives generally, we heard but one opinion, namely, that they were well behaved and peaceable, and that they bore their trials during this season of distress with calmness and exemplary fortitude.
CUERDEN MILL SCHOOL
When we entered the school, a lady at the far end was seated upon one of the benches, and reading aloud a pretty tale from the “Basket of Flowers.” Afterwards, the females sang, in succession, “I’d choose to be a daisy,” “Wildowed Flowers,” and “Home, home!” All joined in the melodies; every one sang them pleasingly and heartily. No tender consciences were offended here; the words rendered were secular, sympathetic, broad in sentiment and liberal in expression, and hence the unanimity, the cheerfulness, and the general good feeling which prevailed. We commend their conduct and their system of singing to those connected with other schools.
25
Prior to leaving this subject, we must not omit mentioning that the girls are taught not only sewing, but washing. Every Monday twelve girls are drafted in regular order from the school, and are that day taught, if they are ignorant thereupon, the art and mystery of washing. A room in the mill is extemporised for the purpose, and the girls carry out the whole process of “dollying,” wringing, &c., in fine style. On Tuesdays they are initiated into the secret of drying and mangling the articles. A better system than that adopted at the Cuerden Mill School could not be devised for female factory operatives. They are instructed in all those domestic “arts” which are necessary in every household, and which mingle comfort with economy and pleasure with industry in the homes of the poor.
In bidding adieu to Cuerden we can only repeat what we have already in substance said; that the poor are well cared for, that the principal manufacturers of the district (Messrs. G. and R. Dewhurst) are sparing neither labour nor money in alleviating the distress of their operatives, that the measures they have adopted are most comprehensive and of the most excellent description, and that generally their liberality deserves the highest praise and the widest publicity.
FARINGTON
Farington is our next halting place, and the last on this occasion. We proceed on a rough, half clean, half dirty road, over brooks and by pleasant looking cottages, and ultimately we arrive at Farington.
A crowd of men and boys are throng playing at “guinea pig” – that seems to be the main “animal” next to a donkey which is made game of in country places just now – and as we walk up the main thoroughfare it requires no special effort of intellect to discover the existence of distress in this village. For a long time there has been distress here, and it prevails very severely at present.
Farington is only a small place, and it would be useless to indulge in any portraiture of it historically or topographically. Its staple trade is cotton manufacturing, and hence the bulk of its population consists of factory operatives. The main manufacturers in the village are Messrs. W. Bashall and Co. The same firm have a factory at Lostock, a little antiquated stone building, near Cuerden Mill. For a long time they have been manufacturers in this district. Their principal mill is situated at Farington.
26 Here and at Lostock they have about 220 cottages, occupied by their operatives, and ever since the commencement of the distress they have foregone the rents of them. Fourteen months ago both their mills commenced running short time, and four months later were entirely closed. All those operatives who occupy their cottages – and they must be a very considerable number – are not only, as we have previously stated, allowed to live rent free, but they receive, at the expense of Messrs. Dewhurst and Co. soup and bread three times a week. The firm have also given them fuel and clothing from time to time, and have generally behaved in a most handsome manner towards them. In addition – and this they have done for a long time – they educate the children of their tenants gratuitously.
A relief committee has been in existence at Farington for some time. At present 1,700 persons are in the receipt of relief therefrom. The committee give tickets which are exchanged for provisions at the shops in the village. They also make grants of bedding, clothing, &c., and by way of giving our readers some idea of what they have done in this respect, we give a list of the articles distributed from the commencement of their labours. Here it is:- 100 pairs of sheets, 100 counterpanes, 350 flannel singlets, 150 petticoats, 500 shirts, 500 pairs of stockings and socks, 120 coats, vests, and trousers, 120 gowns, 120 shawls, 40 boys suits, 200 pairs of blankets, 50 girls dresses, and 500 pairs of shoes. They have also got 300 pairs of boots and shoes repaired for the poor. This is a pretty substantial list for a place so small as Farington. ______
DEATHS NOTIFIED
Eric Barnes – Moreton on Wirral J. Barry Ashton – Preston Francis Stuart Jackson – Burnley Stella Best – Cranleigh, Surrey Mrs Amy Byrom – Lancaster David Cottam – Blackburn
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the above.
27 Obituary
J. Barry Ashton Seventy-one years old Barry Ashton was born, lived and schooled in the New Hall Lane area of Preston. On completing his education he took up the profession of engineer/draughtsman at English Electric in Preston before completing his working life at the R.O.F. Chorley. He was apparently famed for having the untidiest desk in the office. Barry was a member of a number of historical societies in the Preston area, a renowned Father Christmas in the St. George’s shopping centre, a volunteer to many other organisations and was to be seen parading in Jacobean dress at last year’s commemoration of the Battle of Preston. Always smiling and happy and amongst the first to arrive to put the chairs out, and back, on our meeting nights. His main volunteering effort was however reserved for the St. Catherine’s Hospice at Lostock Hall where his wife had pre-deceased him a few years earlier. The Chapel was full to overflowing with many mourners having to remain outside. The sign of a man that will surely be missed by countless people. ______
NOTES AND NEWS
SATURDAY 20 MAY 2017
SOCIETY ONE DAY CONFERENCE - FOLLOWED BY AGM
(Application form – pull out centre pages – book now) ______
LFHHS RESEARCH CENTRE, CHORLEY Astley Hall Farm House, Hallgate, Astley Village, Chorley PR7 1AX By Sheila Gibbons, Chorley Research Centre Manager
November marked the completion of our second year in our new home. It is a pleasure to be here when we are on duty.
Since our last journal report, we have had some very interesting visitors – from America, Australia and even from my own hunting ground of West Kirby, Wirral.
28 We still have lots of people who come into the LFHHS Chorley Research Centre saying, ‘I don’t have any family from this area’. They are genuinely surprised when we reply, ‘That’s OK. We are able to find folk from almost anywhere in the UK, and also from some other countries.’ There are so many Parish Registers that can be viewed on line. Only the other day, while researching a Gloucestershire family, I was able surprised by the registers that were available. I remembered how, before we just put in a name and waited for the data to appear on the screen, I spent hours trailing through these beautiful handwritten registers. Our visitors are often amazed at what we can show them, thanks to the internet.
Our ten week Friday evening ‘Further Steps’ family history course ended on 25 November. It has been a friendly class, with lots of interaction. In January another ten week course begins – a ‘First Steps’ course for people just beginning to research their family history. On 27 November we opened for Chorley’s Lancashire Day which was celebrated at Astley Hall, and in the surrounding buildings. A stream of visitors came into the Centre during the day, keeping all our volunteers very busy.
The computer club, held from 7.30pm to 9.30pm on the 3rd Monday of each month is running well.
A little late – but a Happy New Year to you all. Please make a note in your 2017 diary to visit the LFHHS Chorley Research Centre. ______
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY
OPEN DAY
Saturday 29 July 2017 From 10am to 4pm At The Grange School, Wendover Way, Aylesbury HP21 7NH Admission is free with free parking at the venue.
For further information see www.bucksfhs.org.uk ______
29 Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society
Research Centre 2 Straits, Oswaldtwistle, BB5 3LU (250 yards from Oswaldtwistle Mills)
01254 239919 (Answerphone)
Open Every Thursday 1pm – 5pm
Advice and help with your research The Society’s Library (covering all aspects of family history with over 2000 titles) 6 Computers with Internet access Microfiche readers IGI on microfiche Exchange journals for over 100 FHS The Society’s Pedigree Database Lancashire Marriage Index Printing and Photocopying facilities Opportunity to try out different programmes for recording family history – Family Historian, Roots Magic, Master Genealogist and Family Tree Maker Free Admission Refreshments available at a small charge See www.lfhhs.org.uk for details of additional opening times
Chorley Research Centre
Astley Hall Farm House, Hallgate, Astley Village, Chorley, PR7 1AX
When open, telephone 01257 231600, when closed 01257 262028 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.cfhrc.com
The Centre offers advice and help for you with your research from our friendly staff, A large resource library housing a range of Parish Record Transcriptions, Directories, and a wide range of books on various family history related subjects, Computers giving access to the internet and online genealogy resources, and a large collection of data CDs, microfiche readers and a large library of microfiche containing Parish Records, Monumental
30 Inscriptions, Census Indexes, Parish Record Transcriptions for Lancashire and other counties.
Opening Times: Monday 10.00am to 4.00pm Wednesday 10.00am to 4.00pm Friday 10.00am to 4.00pm Saturday 12 noon to 4.00pm on second and third Saturdays in the month
Bookings are always advisable, last one hour appointment 2.30pm To book and to make sure that the resources you want will be available for you, contact the Research Centre by e-mail or telephone. ______
BOOK & CD REVIEWS
NEW CDs
CD031 Monumental Inscriptions & Images 1812-2012 for the West Bradford Churches, Lancashire This CD contains the monumental inscriptions for the three West Bradford Churches – Old Methodist Graveyard, the Methodist Church and St. Catherine’s. Along with the MIs the CD includes images of all of the gravestones. Price £9.50 (plus p&p)
CD032 MIs & Images Mellor Methodist Church Methodist Church, Mellor, Lancashire: Memorial Inscriptions and Images 1809 – 2012. Apart from the inscription the CD contains a name and place index along with over 800 images. The images can be viewed by clicking the hyperlink associated with the inscription. Price £9.50 (plus p&p)
CD033 Heraldic Glass, Preston Minster This CD contains the images of the Coat of Arms illustrated in the 37 windows of the Minster Church of St John the Evangelist Preston. In addition the blazon of each arms is given. Price £9.50 (plus p&p) This publication is also available as a booklet £2.00 (plus p&p)
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Orders should be sent to: LFHHS, 2 Straits, Oswaldtwistle BB5 3LU
Payment with order please, cheque made payable to LFHHS
These CDs can be ordered via our on line shop at www.lfhhs.org.uk
BOOKS
The Spy Glass File by Nathan D Goodwin
I really enjoyed reading this book. Using genealogy to solve a mystery is what all we genealogists do. It is our bread and butter, but usually when discussing it with ‘normal’ people you watch their eyes slowly glaze over.
Nathan’s book has been cleverly woven with real life, and family history, nicely blended into an intriguing tale of skulduggery and romance. We follow the life of a young wife’s early marriage during wartime struggles with brave pilots and conniving relatives, mixed with scary underhand trafficking.
Our intrepid genealogist helps modern day siblings to piece together their heritage and work out who their real parents were. An excellent showing of research into wartime activities, and atmospheric setting. A thoroughly good read.
Review by Lily Keirby
Tracing Your Boer War Ancestors by Jane Marchese Robinson Tracing Your Twentieth Century Ancestors by Karen Ball Further information from Pen & Sword Books. Tel: 01226 734241
Hoddlesden and its satellite villages by Roy Parker Further information from Roy Parker Tel: 01204 64424
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MEMBERS’ INTERESTS
WILL MEMBERS KINDLY ENSURE ALL NAMES AND ADDRESSES ARE IN BLOCK CAPITALS WHEN FORWARDING ITEMS FOR INCLUSION IN ‘LANCASHIRE’. THANK YOU. ______
Abbreviations: c.Bury = Bury area e.20C = early 20th Century m.18C = mid 18th Century c.1650 = about 1650 e.1763 = earliest ancestral link l.19C = late 19th Century ______N.B. The 19th Century ran from 1801 to 1900. Unless otherwise specified, all locality names are in the pre- 1974 County of Lancashire. All other references are to pre- 1974 Counties. ______
Adrian (Adie) Lewthwaite (8632) 5 Cherry Close, Fulwood, Preston. Lancs PR2 9SF Tel: 01772 795356 E-mail: [email protected] GRIERSON LAN Liverpool 19C GRIERSON SCT Dumfries l18C-e19C KENNEDY WIG Wigtown l18C-e19C KENNEDY SCT Ayr, Colmonell 18C-19C LEWTHWAITE and all variants anywhere 16C-pres MAGEE LAN Liverpool 19C MCANALLY LAN Liverpool e19C MCGEE LAN Liverpool 19C ______
Christopher Clark (10692) 9 Sonata House, Lock Approach, Port Solent. Hants PO6 4UZ Tel: 02392 383132 E-mail: [email protected] DOODSON LAN Little Bolton pre 1800 FOX LAN Bradwell pre 1814 GREGORY LAN Rossendale, Prestwich pre 1800
33 HAWORTH LAN Haslingden, Rossendale pre 1800 HEYS LAN Holcombe pre 1800 LEE LAN Manchester c1650-1850 SUTCLIFFE LAN Stainland pre 1750 ______
Bunty Davies (4274) Clifton, Cuddy Lane, Burn Street, Dalbeattie DG5 4AE Tel: 01556 612463 E:mail: bunty[email protected] MOFFATT/MOFFITT ANT Belfast 19C PAUL TYR 19C PAUL ANT Belfast 19C ______
Beverley Fraser (7124) 7 Croftleigh Close, Whitefield, Manchester M45 7DL Tel: 01617965347 E-mail: [email protected] MCMAHON LIM Limerick 19C to pres OROURKE LIM Limerick 19C to pres ______
Angela Melia (9290) Copper Beech, Odell Road, Sharnbrook, Bedford MK441JJ Tel: 01234 781094 E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected] CONNOR O’CONNOR OFF Rhode 19C CULLEN OFF Rhode 19C CULLEN LIM Knocklong 1900-1930 CULLEN LIM Kilmallock 1930 to pres DONAHOE WIC Bunclody 19C DUNNE OFF Clonbullogh 19C KELLY WIC Park, Tinaheley 19C-20C KEOGH WIC Shillelagh 19C-20C ______
Len Brankin (7590) 33 Holland Court, Willow Close, Poynton, Cheshire SK12 1PL E-mail: [email protected] BRANKIN TYR Clonfeagle c1833-60 BRANKIN ANT Aghalee c1860-67 BRANKIN ANT Aghacallon c1859 BRANKIN ANT Belfast c1867-75 CLENAGHAN ANT Aghacallon c1800-30 O’HARA ANT Achacallon c1800-30 O’HARA Derrymore Townland c1832-60 ______
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Anne Weare (7527) E-mail: [email protected] BUCKLEY LAN Brewers Gorton, Manchester 19C FRENCH LAN Liverpool 19C ______
Several members have asked why there are so few Members’ Interests printed in the journal these days. The lists/forms are now initially sent to the Surnames Coordinator to be added to the society database which goes on-line, prior to being forwarded to the Editor for inclusion in the next available journal.
At the moment it is not known if members are too busy to send in their lists, or if they have gone astray en-route either to the Surnames Coordinator or the Editor.
If you have forwarded your Surname Interest list to the Surnames Coordinator and your names have not shown up on line in the members’ area, kindly resend. If they are shown on line but have not yet appeared in the journal, kindly forward a copy to the Editor, Hazel Johnson, 65 Lever House Lane, Leyland, Lancs PR25 4XN E-mail [email protected] or [email protected] advising they are on line but have not been printed in ‘Lancashire’.
Is it more than 3 years since you forwarded your Surname Interest list to the Editor, and would like a duplicate list printed in the journal? Kindly forward a copy direct to the Editor clearly marked ‘DUPLICATE FOR JOURNAL’.
Have you added extra surnames to your list since you forwarded your interests to either the Surnames Coordinator or Editor? You are invited to forward only the new names to be added to both the data base and the journal.
Hazel Johnson, Editor.
35
BRANCH NEWS
BLACKBURN & DARWEN Correspondence Secretary: Anne Dolphin, 39 Bosburn Drive, Mellor Brook, Blackburn BB2 7PA Branch e-mail: [email protected] ______
BURY Secretary: Branch e-mail: [email protected] ______
CHORLEY Secretary: Steve Williams, 24 The Cedars, Eaves Green, Chorley PR7 3RH Tel: 01257 262028 Branch e-mail: [email protected]
After the summer break, our September branch meeting speaker was Stephen Doyle. Stephen shared the memories, letters and poems of his father who had been a prisoner of war in Changi prison, Singapore, during WW2. The talk provided an insight into the suffering endured by Changi’s prisoners, but also touched upon the efforts they made to keep up their spirits. The content of Stephen’s presentation was very moving, as can be imagined.
In October we had a members’ evening, when several people gave short informal talks on families that they had researched. Sitting together in small groups gave opportunities for discussion, and the evening proved to be a success.
John Dalton was our speaker in November, his topic being ‘The Parish Register Society’. Although many of us had made use of these excellent books in the past, it was agreed that this was a useful reminder of a valuable but neglected resource. Hopefully, the volumes held by the LFHHS Chorley Research Centre will be in great demand in the coming months!
Also in November, for the first time, Chorley celebrated Lancashire Day on 27 November. Volunteers staffed the Centre which enjoyed a busy day.
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Graham Stirrup was our speaker in December, making a return visit with the topic ‘Victorian Times’. Instead of tea and biscuits, mince pies, wine and soft drinks were enjoyed. Best wishes for 2017 from the Chorley branch. Submitted by Jenny Cree ______FYLDE Secretary: Mrs. Olive Thexton, 7 Bispham Lodge, 251 Norbreck Road, Thornton Cleveleys FY5 1PE Branch e-mail: [email protected]
Malcolm Trantor gave us an insight into the life of Lord Leverhulme in October. We had advertised in the local evening paper and this brought a good number of visitors. Malcolm’s presentation was brilliant, he showed us photographs of houses that he had built, and buildings which show a blue badge of where he was born and grew up. We enjoyed the story of the family and the business that he built up. William Lever married a girl named Hulme, which is the origin of the name. A park in Bolton was given his name and a village built for the factory workers was named Port Sunlight. Some of us remember and still use some earlier products, i.e. Lux and Palmolive. A fascinating story of the rise of the man.
In November Peter Bamforth gave us a presentation on World War I research. We welcomed once again a number of visitors. One item brought by a visitor was an iron cross. A medal given to a young man who, like our own young men, had no choice but to fight for his country. There is such a lot of information constantly being made available, we just need to keep searching. Thank you Peter for making this information available to us.
We ended the year in the usual way by having a Jacobs Join and a quiz. The quiz was compiled for us by Roy, thank you for your hard work on this. We all enjoyed the evening and a supper provided by those present. Thanks to all for the feast provided and for everyone who contributed towards the evening.
We are now looking forward to another interesting year. There is a varied programme, details are available on the Fylde pages of the Society website. In the branch, there are a lot of resources available for free loan, please ask for a catalogue of CDs, books etc. some of these relate to areas outside Lancashire. We do concentrate on the Fylde, over the years we have been given donations of items of interest
37 that cover many parts of Britain. Please do not be afraid to ask for information. ______
HERALDRY GROUP Contact: A. Derrick Walkden, 2 Butterlands, Preston. Lancs PR1 5TJ Tel: 01772 792224 Branch e-mail: [email protected] ______
HYNDBURN (covering Accrington, Altham, Church, Clayton le Moors, Gt Harwood, Oswaldtwistle & Rishton) Secretary: Eileen Bullock, 51 Hawthorn Avenue, Oswaldtwistle, Accrington. Lancs BB5 3AE Branch e-mail: [email protected] ______
IRISH ANCESTRY GROUP Secretary: Shaun O’Hara, 98 Cemetery Road, Darwen BB3 2LS Branch e-mail: [email protected]
The Irish one day conference was enjoyed by all in attendance, 60 plus, there were two lively talks from Chris Paton, and an informative talk by Maggie Loughran. There were a number of interesting questions for the experts to answer. The buffet lunch up to its normal high standard and we were swimming in tea and coffee provided by the staff at the civic centre. All in all it was a very enjoyable day.
If any members have any stories be it funny or sad about their Irish research and are willing to share them, would you please send them to the editor of the journal, e-mail address can be found on the inside back cover.
GRO’s historical registers of births, marriages and deaths are online.
In one of the most significant developments for Irish genealogy in the digital age, the General Register Office of Ireland (GRO) has made its civil registers of birth, marriage and death available via the free state run IrishGenealogy.ie website. As anticipated, this online collection follows the ‘100-75-50 years’ access rule. If the Index entry gives you the option of an image; you can download a pdf of the full register page in which the birth, marriage or death certificate appears.
38 Register images are available as follows:
Births: 1864 to 1915, Marriages: 1882 to 1940, Deaths: 1891 to 1965. Images for the pre-1882 marriage registers and pre-1891 death registers will be added to the website in due course. Web address: www.irishgenealogy.ie
The National Archives of Ireland has released six major record collections on its free Genealogy website. They are:
Valuation Office Books, 1848 – 1860 Catholic Qualification & Convert Rolls, 1701 – 1845 Diocesan & Prerogative Marriage Licence Bonds Indexes, 1623 – 1866 Original Will Registers 1858 – 1920 Diocesan and Prerogative Wills Indexes, pre-1858 Merchant Navy Crew Lists and Shipping Agreements, 1863 – 1920
Findmypast – new records released:
Ireland, Royal Hibernian Military School History Explore the history of the Royal Hibernian Military School in Dublin with a fascinating publication that includes transcriptions from memorial inscriptions, a roll of honour from the First World War, and transcripts from both the 1901 and 1911 census.
Ireland Military Records
This collection comprises 8 different Irish military publications including memorial inscriptions, army lists, and popular novels. Search for your ancestor among the names listed and learn more about their life in the army.
Confirmed date for the Irish Conference is 14 October 2017. More information in the May 2017 journal. ______
LANCASTER & MORECAMBE Branch e-mail: [email protected]
Please note that all branch meetings are now held at Morecambe Heritage Centre next to the Winter Gardens, Morecambe Promenade on the third Thursday of each month.
Drop In Sessions are on the first and third Monday of each month from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm at Morecambe Library. ______
39 LONDON & SOUTH Secretary: Elizabeth Prior, 18A Redcliffe Street, West Brompton SW10 9DT - Tel: 020 7370 2107 Branch e-mail: [email protected]
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PENDLE & BURNLEY Web site: www.lfhhs-pendleandburnley.org.uk Branch e-mail: [email protected]
A Happy New Year to you all!
Few of us who attended the October meeting were aware that during the First World War some soldiers, so badly injured they would never fight again, were transferred to Switzerland from Germany and held as prisoners-of-war in hotels mainly in Chateau d’Oex and Murren. This was the subject of Tony Foster’s talk, “A Trip to Switzerland in 1916”. He told how the press baron, Lord Northcliffe, came up with the idea to send small groups of women from this country to visit husbands, sons and sweethearts held as prisoners-of-war in Switzerland. Between 1916 and 1917, 600 women went on these all-expenses-paid trips lasting two weeks. Telling the story through four women from N. E. Lancashire who went to Switzerland, Tony used photographs and letters, army and POW records and online newspaper archives. He also provided a list of websites with tips and advice for anyone researching prisoners-of-war. A refreshing new aspect of the First World War.
The Open Morning at Colne Library, held at the beginning of November, attracted 7 members of the public seeking help and advice. The volunteers were able to devote plenty of time to help with their queries.
Also in November, Elaine Watson and Jill Pengelly presented, “Houses and Halls in the Colne Area”. There were some excellent slides of Colne buildings no longer in existence, reproduced from old glass negatives. Members of the audience contributed some interesting comments during Elaine Watson’s presentation, as her research into the history of some of the ancient halls and farms and their builders and owners is an ongoing project.
We look forward to our December meeting, a “Jacob’s Join” Christmas Party, with a quiz to entertain us.
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The next dates for the drop-in Family History Help Sessions at Colne Library, 10am – 12 noon are Wednesday 22 February 2017 and Wednesday 22 March 2017. Submitted by Sylvia Marshall ______
PRESTON Correspondence Secretary: Stewart McLoughlin, 4 Dudley Close, Longton, Preston, Lancs PR4 5WH Tel: 01772 614457 Branch e-mail: [email protected]
We have in recent times re-born our branch newsletter that has now been put on the Society web-site lfhhs.org.uk for all to peruse. Go to Preston branch page and scroll to the bottom where you will find our back numbers to the month of May.
We hope you will find them informative.
If you have Roman Catholic ancestry, the following list of sites may help you to find your connections more easily. The Catholic National Library, formerly at Farnborough, but now at Ushaw College, University of Durham – check online for extra details. www.dur.ac.uk/theology.religion/ccs/new/?itemno=25936
Scottish Catholic Archives – held at The Sir Duncan Rice Library of the University of Aberdeen. It holds records from before the restoration of the Scottish Hierarchy in 1878, including mission records, correspondence, prominent families and estate papers. www.abdn.ac.uk/library/about/special/scottish-catholic-archives/
Parish registers and post 1878 Catholic diocesan archives are held at Columba House in Edinburgh. www.scottishcatholicarchives.org.uk
English BMD parish entries may be found at www.bmdregisters.co.uk under RG4 classification. You could also check out the Catholic Family History Society (CHFS) and Manchester Catholic Register, for published data.
Preston City are talking about putting free Wi-Fi into The Harris some time in 2017. That would make things a lot easier when doing your research there. The Archives already has it of course, with free and automatic connection. Just log on.
41 The GRO has opened a new web-site where you can order certificates online for birth, death, marriage, civil partnership and adoption events registered in England and Wales and for certain British Nationals, who were born, married, formed a civil partnership or died overseas. Some restrictions still apply. You can also order Commemorative marriage certificates for silver, ruby, golden and diamond wedding anniversaries. There is a large Q & A section.
Go to: www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/most customers want to know.asp#OnlineIndex14
If your search is unsuccessful, try the ‘variants’ box, Cate/Kate/Catherine/Katherine/Kitty, forename or surname.
Hints on doing more advanced family history searches on Google can be found here: https://blog.eogn.com/2016/10/27/boolean-basics-part-1 and https://blog.eogn.com/2016/11/03/boolean-basics-part-2
Lostock Hall library finally closed on 30 November, leaving only Kingsfold, Leyland and Longton libraries in South Ribble. It has not yet been decided where the local history items will be re-located.
Early in 2016 Preston branch visited Preston Cemetery. One of the graves examined was that of the person within the cemetery with the recorded longest name of 58 characters.
An examination of the family’s history starts in Bolton, then to Preston and then to the USA in 1896. The branch has traced those modern descendants and luckily one of them was already into family history and has the USA side covered, so we have been able to map the complete family from c.1800.
A branch presentation will be given in 2017 on the family’s history and it is hoped to involve the various modern families spread across the USA.
The branch is in need of someone who has the technical knowledge and equipment as to how best to electronically transmit the presentation, for up to one hour, at the least cost of course. Any offers of help to the Secretary, 01772 614457 or [email protected]
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42 In September Sue Shakespeare gave a talk on the History of the Roman Catholic Faith in Lytham. She and her family are parishioners at St. Peter’s RC Church there, and she is obviously very proud of the church and its history.
Around 1190 in the reign of Richard 1, a Benedictine Cell of 3 or 4 monks was founded in the grounds of Lytham Hall. The small priory was originally dedicated to Our Lady & St. Cuthbert. Throughout the mediaeval period, the monks were the sole landowners in Lytham. The black-robed monks of the Benedictine rule would have been at home in the farming communities of the Fylde. They would have divided their time between chanting the praises of God, offering the Holy Mass, study, and manual labour in the fields. They ploughed with oxen, but sowing seed, weeding, reaping the harvest was all done by hand. Meat and fish were preserved with salt for consumption during the winter, but it was all to come to an end by 1536, thanks to Henry VIII and the Act of Dissolution.
The priory at Lytham was among the first of the small monasteries to be closed, being dissolved voluntarily by its parent house of Durham. Durham leased the priory, the church, and the manor of Lytham to Sir Thomas Dannett, then in 1555 the land was given to Sir Thomas Holcroft. Later the manor was conveyed to Richard Molyneux of Sefton Hall, who in turn transferred it in 1606 to Sir Cuthbert Clifton of Westby Hall. This was the beginning of the very long association that Lytham has with the Clifton family, who played a key role in protecting the development of the Roman Catholic faith in the town.
For the next four hundred years Sir Cuthbert and his successors allowed the Hall to be used by a succession of priests. Many of them had to assume aliases during the days of persecution. Amongst them were Fr. Lawrence Anderton, Fr. Augustus Heneage, Fr. Thomas Blundell and Fr. John Berrington, all with their own individual stories of their time in Lytham. Fr. Joseph Walmsley arrived in 1829, the year of the Catholic Emancipation Act, and was an outstanding pastor, until he died in 1873. In 1838 the first stone of the present St. Peter’s church was laid and it opened in 1839. It cost about £2000, was paid for by subscription and was designed to accommodate 700 people. Many other memorable priests have served St. Peter’s, again all with their own stories of their time in Lytham. In 2014 St. Peter’s celebrated its 175th anniversary.
Sue Shakespeare has written a book which tells the whole story of this church, and is worth a read.
43 Keith Johnson, a local author, made a long awaited return visit to Preston branch in October, although I think I was the only one who remembered his first visit in the mid 1990s. He has written many books, several of them called ‘Chilling Tales of Old Preston’ Book 1, Book 2 etc. and this was his main theme, giving us a resume of each gruesome event. Jane Scott who poisoned her parents and was executed at Lancaster, James Fell whose insane wife stabbed him. Thomas Riley, who came to Preston during the time the Park Hotel was being built. He struck up a relationship with an Elizabeth Alston, in which they seemed to get hopelessly drunk together unknown to her husband. Later on Thomas Riley was seen leaving Elizabeth’s house and a neighbour later found her lying in a pool of blood. Before long Riley was arrested and blood was found on his clothes. In 1883 he was accused of the murder and although he protested his innocence, there was no reprieve and he was hanged. It was two years to the day, and on the same spot, since John Aspinall Simpson had been hung for the murder of Annie Ratcliffe, the daughter of the landlord of the Blue Bell Inn on Church Street.
Keith then moved on to famous people of Old Preston such as John Huntington remembered for his part in the Great Strike of 1853-1854, the cry amongst the operatives was ‘Ten per cent and no surrender’. Joseph Livesey, who wanted people to abandon all intoxicating liquor, while Matthew Brown at the same time was selling ‘Strong Brew at a Penny a Pint’ wanted people to drink more! Keith has written so many interesting books about Preston, all worth reading.
Our final meeting of the year in November was the Quiz Night and Jacob’s Join. A great success as usual. Again Joan prepared the quiz and the other committee members got the room ready and loaded the tables with heaps of lovely food. There was plenty to drink, all non- alcoholic of course, now we are settled at Kingsfold Methodist Hall. It was all good fun to end the year with a super supper and to chat with all our family history friends.
Submitted by Pat Griffiths, Preston Branch Committee Member ______
RIBBLE VALLEY Branch e-mail: [email protected]
At the September meeting of the Ribble Valley branch, three of the members each gave a ten minute talk about their family research.
44 The first speaker spoke about a family scandal, the second about five generations of his family with the same Christian names and the third one told of the pitfalls of not checking and double checking information written on the censuses. A fourth member read out extracts from the branch’s scrapbook from its beginnings in 1988 bringing back many forgotten memories.
Even though the attendance was very poor, after all the efforts put into the various topics by the speakers, the people present said how much they had enjoyed the evening.
Jamie Quartermaine spoke to us about Dalehead and Stocks Reservoir at our October meeting. The dam was constructed in 1921 and completed in 1933. The final church service was on 24 May 1936. United Utilities funded the discovery of the lost village, which they had initially flooded to create the reservoir. Helen Wallbank instigated the help of the community to create a memorial of the lost village by excavating the church and a service for Stocks Church was held on 16 June 2013, 77 years after the last service was performed.
A number of the people who attended our meeting had connections with Dalehead Village and were able to give Mr. Quartermaine additional information, for which he was very grateful.
At the November meeting members heard a moving account about soldiers who were ‘Shot at Dawn’. Alan Hemsworth’s talk was entitled ‘To Encourage Others – Aspects of WW1’. The majority of the soldiers were suffering from what is now known as ‘shell shock’ and others were conscientious objectors.
One soldier ran off and hid in a barn but a gamekeeper discovered him. There was no-one to represent him and he was found guilty and shot under ‘Army Routine Orders’. Soldiers who were mentally unstable were not prevented from being shot either, as there was often an absence of medical history. Many were shot as an example and not as guilty. The firing squad had to aim at an envelope placed on the soldier’s chest, one rifle was not loaded with blanks but no-one in the squad knew who had killed the soldier. Mr. Hemsworth ended his talk by saying that fear was not cowardice and that ten years ago all the 306 soldiers known to have been shot had been pardoned.
The Christmas Party meeting on Tuesday 13 December was sadly the last for the Ribble Valley branch which has now closed for the foreseeable future. The lack of attendance over the last year and with
45 no-one interested in filling committee vacancies has unfortunately brought about this decision.
We thank all the members who have served on the committee along with those who have supported the meetings over the years. ______
ROCHDALE Secretary: Mrs. Rosemary Fitton, 13 Bowlers Walk, Rochdale. Lancs OL12 6EN Tel: 01706 – 356135 Branch e-mail: [email protected]
The members’ talks evening in September was started by Lynne, our programme secretary, who brought along a lovely old scent bottle for members to see which had belonged to her great grandmother Ada Schofield. She explained its significance and how she had researched Ada’s fruitful life, trying to build a picture of her great grandmother and family using the information she had found in a variety of different records.
Our second talk of the evening was from our Chairman Rodney, who with the help of his powerpoint presentation showed us how he had pieced together some of his ‘Brackstone’ family line using various internet sources and information he had found in county archives to link the movement of his family in and around the London area. A great deal of information is available both on line and in archives, Rodney encouraged us to keep looking and not give up when we come across a brick wall in our own research.
Members enjoyed a video night at our October meeting of Old Rochdale which proved very popular.
We welcomed back Linda Sawley in November with an enjoyable and entertaining talk on the history of Christmas traditions. She explained how many date back hundreds of years, well before the Victorians elaborated things. It was interesting to hear how and why many traditions such as the ‘Turkey Dinner’, Christmas Trees and Santa Clause were introduced. The evening finished with a short sing song of an alternative version of Jingle Bells, putting us in a festive mood ready to celebrate our Christmas party in December.
46 Thank you to all those who helped to organise and who supported our Christmas Social this year. We hope you all enjoyed the evening and we wish all our members a happy and peaceful 2017. ______
ROSSENDALE Branch e-mail: [email protected]
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PLEASE NOTE: THE DEADLINES FOR THE BRANCH PROGRAMMES AND NEWS FOR THE MAGAZINE ARE:
MAY : 23 MARCH
AUGUST : 22 JUNE
NOVEMBER : 20 SEPTEMBER
FEBRUARY : 6 DECEMBER
THANK YOU.
BRANCH NEWS DOES NOT HAVE TO BE FORWARDED BY THE SECRETARY. IF YOUR BRANCH DOES NOT NORMALLY HAVE NEWS PRINTED WHY NOT LIAISE WITH YOUR SECRETARY AND FORWARD COPY ON THEIR BEHALF. ______
REMEMBER !!!
SOCIETY ANNUAL CONFERENCE & AGM
SATURDAY 20 MAY 2017
47 THE LANCASHIRE FAMILY HISTORY AND HERALDRY SOCIETY CONTACTS
Chairman: Mike COYLE, 248 Hawes Side Lane, BLACKPOOL FY4 5AH Tel: 01253 761778 [email protected]
Secretary: Sharman WALMSLEY, 56 Longbrook Avenue, Bamber Bridge, PRESTON PR5 6XG Tel: 01772 465319 [email protected]
Treasurer: Stephen BENSON, 32 Slater Lane, LEYLAND PR25 1TN Tel: 01772 422808 [email protected]
Membership Secretary – for Subscriptions and Renewals: Sue FOSTER, 18 Glencross Place, BLACKPOOL FY4 5AD Tel: 01253 694783 [email protected]
Editor – for Articles, Notes & News and items for the Journal: Hazel JOHNSON, 65 Lever House Lane, LEYLAND PR25 4XN Tel: 01772 513618 [email protected] [email protected]
Pedigree David BRETHERTON, 33 Towersey Drive, THAME OX9 3NR Database Tel: 01844 215178 [email protected]
Surname Jennifer BENSON, 32 Slater Lane, LEYLAND PR25 1TN Interests Tel: 01772 422808 [email protected]
Helping Hands Fiona HALL, 6 Willowherb Close, Prestbury, CHELTENHAM GL52 5LP & Mentoring [email protected]
Projects: Tony FOSTER, 142 Cotswold Crescent, BURY BL8 1QP [email protected] Sales: Sales Officer, 2 Straits, Oswaldtwistle, ACCRINGTON BB5 3LU [email protected] Heraldry: Tony CONSADINE, 51 Church Court, Mainway, LANCASTER LA1 2AX
Education Liaison: Mike COYLE, 248 Hawes Side Lane, BLACKPOOL FY4 5AH Tel: 01253 761779 [email protected]
Webmaster: Stephen BENSON, 32 Slater Lane, LEYLAND PR25 1TN Tel: 01772 422808 [email protected]
Publicity: Vacant Research Centre: 2 Straits, Oswaldtwistle, ACCRINGTON BB5 3LU Tel: 01254 239919 (Answerphone) For opening times see www.lfhhs.org.uk
Exchange LFHHS, 2 Straits, Oswaldtwistle, ACCRINGTON BB5 3LU Journals: Branch Contacts: See Branch News PLEASE NOTE: It is regretted that requests for searches of ALL ONE SURNAME cannot be undertaken. Where a reply is required please enclose a stamped addressed envelope (or 3 IRC coupons). Changes of address and non-receipt of journals should be reported to Membership Secretary, 18 Glencross Place, Blackpool FY4 5AD. If you are aware of the death of any member kindly advise Sue Foster who will ensure that future magazines are not sent out. Thank you.
48 ROSSENDALE ROSSENDALE ROCHDALE PRESTON BURNLEY PENDLE & SOUTH LONDON & MORECAMBE & LANCASTER GROUP HYNDBURN HYNDBURN GROUP HERALDRY
FYLDE FYLDE CHORLEY BURY & DARWEN BLACKBURN
Reproduced with the permission of Roland G. Symons
No. 1
Symons with the permission ofReproduced G. Roland
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