Local historian and collector of memorabilia, John Bean of New Mill, purchased at auction in September 2013 a box of secondhand history books all connected with the Huddersfield area. Amongst this collection was a handwritten notebook almost 200 pages long. It was written by a George Sykes between 1916 and 1919. Its title is “Reminiscences” and it covers George Sykes’ s life in Holmfirth from 1841 until 1872. It has been transcribed and edited by David Cockman of the Holmfirth Local History Group.! Introduction! George Sykes was born at Lane End, Wooldale in 1838. By the 1851 census the Sykes family had moved to Cliff when George was 13 years old. George was still living with his parents at Cliff at the time of the 1861 census, although his father, John, now describes himself as a “farmer with 6 acres” rather than as a weaver, as in the earlier two censuses. At some time after 1872 George married and moved to the Colne Valley, first to Linthwaite, then Golcar, and the 1911 census finds him living at 23 Lindley Street, Longwood. George died in December 1922 at the age of 84 and is buried in the Methodist churchyard next to Linthwaite Methodist church.! George started to write his Reminiscences in 1916 and signed them off on June 17th 1919, at which time he would have been 81 years old. He makes no reference to World War One, and indeed says next to nothing about his married life in the Colne Valley after 1872.! It is clear from George’s writing that he was an intelligent, thoughtful and perhaps rather introspective child, concerned early on with the big questions of Life and its purpose. And early on he found answers in the Sunday schools and sermons of the local Methodist preachers. We know from his obituary (Appendix A) that Wesleyan Methodism was central to his life as an adult and for over fifty years he was a lay preacher and leading figure in the Methodist church in both the Colne and Holme Valleys. In his narrative he describes personalities in Holmfirth either as “good churchmen” (or not!) and effective preachers as “good platform men.” I suspect hat George himself was a “good platform man.”)! In his “Reminiscences” George several times makes angry reference to the fact that his elementary education was cut short by his father who made him leave school at the age of nine to work with him in Butterworth’s Upperbridge mill. This was, of course, not such an uncommon fate for children in the Holme Valley in the middle of the 19th century. The census returns for this period show many children, even under the age of nine, employed in the mills and mines of the valley. For many families their wages was an important contribution to the family income. But one senses that the rest of George’s life was very much bound up with filling the gaps in his education, a life time of self-improvement through the Mechanics Institution in Holmfirth and reading as widely as possible. In his writing he demonstrates a wide vocabulary and familiarity with the works of Shakespeare, the poet Cowper and authors like Sir Walter Scott and Addison. From his obituary we also know that he was interested in history and poetry and that he gave a talk to local groups called “An Evening with Burns”!
1 The thirty years of George’s early life in Holmfirth cover several momentous events for the community which he refers to in some detail, for example, the great and catastrophic flood of February 4/5th 1852, when he was about 14 years old, the arrival of the railway in 1850 and the development of Methodism and the tensions that this caused with various factions of the church. He deals with local politics and the regular fights between the “Blues” (Conservatives) and the “Yellows” (Liberals).He also voices some considerable scorn for the “Radicals”. (George was a loyal supporter of the Liberals all his life.) He talks, too, about music making in the valley and names many of the singers and musicians involved during that 30 year period. He also describes several citizens whom he describes as “characters”,i.e their behaviour, in George’s eyes, did not subscribe to the accepted norms of the day.! In following these memoirs readers will find Michael Day’s “Wool and Worsit” a valuable reference book, especially where George deals with the various mill owners and their mills. Michael’s book adds a great deal of valuable information to flesh out George’s story.! Considering that George was in his early 80s when he penned these memories they demonstrate his considerable powers of recall, both for names and events that happened over 60 years previously. But as his obituary makes clear, he retained his physical and intellectual vigour until a few days before his death in his 85th year. I think George would be delighted that his thoughts have survived and are of interest to readers and local historians over a century later.! In transcribing his hand-written text I have corrected George’s minor spelling mistakes but have tried to leave his syntax very much as written, even where his meaning is not always clear, since the style reflects the man.!