Saddleworth Historical Society Bulletin

Volume 50 Number 3 2020

Bulletin of the Saddleworth Historical Society

Volume 50 Number 3 2020

Early Motoring in Saddleworth 65 John Warburton

The Perils of Early Motoring 75 John Warburton

Delph Independent Chapel - An Account and Some Historical Notes 76 Mike Buckley

Missing Baptisms from the Registers of Delph Independent Chapel 101 Mike Buckley

Cover Illustration: Albert Mallalieu’s new ‘Argyll’ motor car in 1908 (Saddleworth Museum Archives)

Edited by Mike Buckley Printed by Taylor & Clifton, Uppermill

© 2020 Saddleworth Historical Society and individual contributors and creators of images.

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ii SHSB, VOL. 50, NO. 3, 2020

EARLY MOTORING IN SADDLEWORTH John Warburton1 Around 120 years ago, the self-propelled motor vehicle powered by the internal combustion engine was making its first appearances in every area across Britain. Naturally, it was the cities and especially manufacturing centres that were the earliest witnesses, but soon adventurous motorists penetrated into the countryside and within a year or two, just about no district in the kingdom, however remote, remained unvisited by this new invention. Steam-powered transport rapidly had become familiar from the 1840s onwards with the arrival and relentless spread of the railway network. Also, from the 1880s, the steam traction engine began to be seen. These usually appeared either in the form of heavy haulage by a road locomotive, or as similar types more suited for agricultural work, such as ploughing and threshing moved the travelling fairs around the country. Less commonly, the large and glamorous showman's engines that moved the fair around and powered and lit the swings and roundabouts of the travelling fair more often than not seen at the annual Wakes holidays, no doubt attracted much attention from excited youngsters and indeed, from everyone who enjoyed a spectacle.

Saddleworth Museum Archives Figure 1. One of the early cars registered in Saddleworth was on 20th June 1904 when Ernest Robinson of Dobcross had this 6hp Rothwell car which had been made in Oldham - it was painted in a green livery From tiny acorns ..... after 120 years of growth, motorised traffic and parked vehicles at time now threaten strangulation of Saddleworth's busy and narrow thoroughfares, and even narrower lanes. Today it is difficult to visualise the sensation that may have been engendered by the first horseless carriage that feebly puttered into the district, perhaps venturing forth into the West Riding of Yorkshire from Manchester on an exploratory journey. One or two engineering firms of the wider Manchester area soon were able to offer for sale primitive cars or motorised tricycles and motor-cycles, these in tiny quantities. This article focuses on the early private motor cars that appeared in the Saddleworth area.

1 John Warburton wrote this article before his unexpected and untimely death on 20 January 2020.

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MANCHESTER AREA MOTOR MANUFACTURERS In the early days, motor manufacturers advertised their products with wording like, 'Silent, vibration-less trouble free'; which, if not complete fiction, would hardly be borne out by experience. Whilst the Midland cities and London were centres of car-making, many other towns with some existing engineering activity also had firms that were bent on entering this new industry, commonly as an onward step from manufacturing cycles. The first in our area was Marshall and Co. of Clayton, Manchester, in mid-1897 changing their name to Belsize in 1901 and continuing quite successfully up to the mid-1920s. There followed Eagle of Broadheath, Altrincham (1901); Rothwell in Oldham, Horbrick of Pendleton (both 1902); Crossley, and Royce (briefly - just three cars) then Rolls-Royce in 1904, prior to this famous company's 1907 move to Derby. Ford opened their large factory at Trafford Park in Manchester in 1911, a development that was to prove highly significant and with almost immediate effect. Much fascinating data on early motoring in the local area can be found in the archives collection of Saddleworth Museum and the Oldham Local Studies and Archives Centre. Both have material relating to all forms of transport in the area, from early track-ways and roads, turnpikes, canals and railways, the bicycle, horse-drawn vehicles, both private and stage coaches, and finally motor cars, and commercial vehicles.

Author’s Collection Figure 2. Advert for Rothwell Cars

SADDLEWORTH MUSEUM ARCHIVES Saddleworth Museum holds a goodish number of photographs of motoring subjects taken in the district from early days, c.1905. Press cuttings relate to motoring matters and include details of driving convictions of motorists commonly caught for speeding, of accidents and incidents, some not without a touch of humour; others with more serious consequences. Social occasions reported include a group of thirty-three cars belonging to members of the Huddersfield Branch of the Yorkshire Motor Club that took patients and nurses from Huddersfield Infirmary on the 7th July 1906. That would have indeed been a spectacle. Letterheads and advertisements from local businesses include that of Fred Hopkinson of Brownhill Bridge, Dobcross, ‘Long Distance a Speciality’ and paperwork from long gone

66 EARLY MOTORING IN SADDLEWORTH garages include those of the Albion Garage, Huddersfield Road, Cross Keys of the 1920s (‘E. Hirst proprietor - any make of car supplied’), and Morris agents Central Garage of Marsden which had a branch on Uppermill's High Street. This garage also offered a taxi service and ‘char-a-bancs’, as motor coaches were then called.

Peter Fox-‘Old Saddleworth Collection’ Figure 3. The car offered the opportunity to live in the country and drive into

town. This view records a portrait of this new suburbia as a couple pose in front of their house on Oldham Road, Grasscroft c.1910.

OLDHAM LOCAL STUDIES AND ARCHIVES The Oldham Local Studies Library and Archives in its collection preserves the records of motor vehicles licensed by their authority from when the requirement first applied, 1st December 1903, until 1920. Subsequent Ledgers have not survived. Each of some 81 local authorities across the country was allocated letter(s), and vehicles duly registered with that authority was issued with a number in conjunction with those letters, the system that, with modifications to cater for the vast numbers of vehicles eventually so identified, continues to this day. The few existing cars, as well as every new one thereafter had to be registered for road use. Oldham County Borough Council (CBC) was issued with 'BU': other authorities around here were Rochdale with 'DK'; Manchester ‘N’, ‘NA’ (from October 1913) then ‘NB’ from May 1919; ‘NC’ from August 1920 and thence onwards. Rochdale CBC was ‘DK’ and Bury CBC ‘EN’. Yorkshire's West Riding initially was ‘C’; then from April 1915, ‘WR’ then again ‘WT’, then ‘WU’ and onwards. Oldham’s ‘BU’ series ran out at BU 9999 as relatively recently as February 1937. At this early period, there was a natural tendency for vehicle purchasers to favour cars from local manufacturers, in view of the very likely little delayed requirement for ‘after sales service’ and repairs. The Oldham CBC registration records preserved at the Local Studies and Archives show a large proportion of the early registrations were Rothwell cars sold to notable local families and businesses. In all, some 600 Rothwell cars including a few lorries were sold, and they were quite expensive purchases. The details recorded with each serial number were make of vehicle; horsepower (as per the formula devised by the RAC in 1909), body style and colour, then the owners name and address. Whether for private or business use was noted, as was the weight of the vehicle,

67 EARLY MOTORING IN SADDLEWORTH maybe quoted from catalogue provided by the manufacturer as a visit to the local weighbridge would seem to be an excessive requirement. Changes of ownership were duly recorded. There was no firm requirement for a new vehicle to be registered in a specific authority. Whilst most were registered where the first owner lived, others in the locality were where the selling dealer was located, and it wasn’t uncommon for the manufacturer itself to register new vehicles prior to them passing to either dealer or private purchaser. The Local Vehicle Licensing Office records that survive are truly historic documents that hold a wealth of information, both technical and social but after the passage of up to 116 years across the total of hundreds of authorities, those records today are fragmentary. Each area authority had its own interpretation of the Act’s requirement, which in turn led to some regrettable anomalies. Likewise, the clerks that entered the details in the early days were hardly likely to have comprehensive knowledge of more than a hundred different makers of vehicle then on the market. When they relied upon information provided by owners, it was not uncommonly the case that they too had little knowledge. Some authorities, including Oldham, ran three separate ledgers, all with the duplicated numbering; these for cars , motorcycles and commercial vehicles (termed 'Heavy Motor Cars' at the time). Numbering of Oldham’s ‘BU’ registration mark was amended to a single series as late as 1920. Oldham's records are complete up to 1920, and those in Bolton, Bury and Rochdale similarly so, but Manchester, Lancashire County, Yorkshire West Riding and many others have been lost for a variety of reasons ranging from fire, flood, wartime action and simply to a mistaken feeling by some functionary in the distant past that preserving them served no useful purpose.

SADDLEWORTH'S EARLIEST CAR-OWNING FAMILIES From Oldham's motor vehicle registration ledgers, Saddleworth Museum’s Curator, Peter Fox extracted details of all the motor vehicles registered to first owners with Saddleworth addresses, up to September 1920.2 At this early period, it is likely that there were local car owners whose vehicles had been registered, for any number of reasons, with other authorities, including ones where no records survive. Further, anyone purchasing a used car from outside the area would not be recorded. But a fair guess is that the Oldham records include well over half of the motor vehicles owned locally from the first issues of December 1903 and the next few years. George Arthur Schofield of ‘Westfield’ in Greenfield registered not one but two motor cars on December 18 1903: not for more than another month did another Saddleworth resident registered his car in Oldham. The details of Schofield's car suggest that neither was new. They were BU 5, a 6hp Daimler with tonneau (open top) bodywork, painted 'brown, picked out in yellow and with yellow wheels'; and BU 6, a 12hp Marshall, likewise a tonneau, but painted red, picked out in black. Derived from the French word for a barrel, the tonneau body style was common at this early period; one that provided seating in the rear for two or maybe more passengers, accessed by a central rear door and step, much along the lines of a governess cart. And, ‘picked out’ describes coach-lining of the paintwork. Despite the modest power output by which car models were identified in the early Edwardian years, both of Schofield’s cars would have been quite large and certainly impressive and valuable vehicles. Daimler is a name that was to remain on new cars until 2007, but Marshall became Belsize, as mentioned above. The next owner listed in Oldham’s records was John Taylor of Brownhill, Dobcross, and he also registered two vehicles, but two months apart. Here, it could well be that the second car

2 Peter Fox, ‘Early Motor Vehicles in Saddleworth’, SHS Bulletin, Vol. 19, No. 3 (1989).

68 EARLY MOTORING IN SADDLEWORTH replaced the first. They were BU 16 on 22nd January, 1904, which was a small single cylinder Humber light car, a green two seater; followed by BU 20 (3rd March 1904) a considerably larger Wolseley tonneau, also green. Then on 17th October 1904, Taylor registered BU 36, a fine, expensive and powerful 28hp Daimler: his allegiance to green paintwork was maintained.

Peter Fox ‘Old Saddleworth’ Collection

Figure 4. This photograph taken around 1908 in the grounds of Rose Hill, Delph which was the residence of Albert Mallalieu who was from a successful firm of industrialists. Mr Mallalieu must have been very proud to take delivery of the new ‘Argyll’ motor car which would have allowed him to join the elite of car owners in Saddleworth. It was first registered BU 146 on the 19th June, 1908 and at the time it was duly recorded that it developed 60hp and was painted dark green with white lining. The chauffeur looks proud of his new charge, he would no doubt not only have had to drive it but maintain it as well.

MANCHESTER MOTOR SHOWS Motor shows were a regular feature of the pre-Great War years, not only promoted by rival professional bodies but also in the regions of Britain, including Scotland, Birmingham and Manchester. Locally-based car manufacturers were prominent in taking stands, as were local motor traders who held agencies for, especially, imported marques. Instances of the latter are Hollingdrakes of Stockport who promoted French La Buire chassis, made in Lyon, and Manchester's Newton & Bennett, with the Italian made SCAT (Societa Ceirano Automobili Torino) car. Both firms had their own coach-building facilities and so were in a position to cater for the bespoke aspect of car purchase, a familiar feature of those days. The weekly motoring periodical devoted full coverage to these regional motor shows.

MOTOR SPORT AND SPEED EVENTS Early motorists were eager to try out their vehicles against those of their friends and, one dares suggests, rivals, and it was not long before speed competitions and endurance trials

69 EARLY MOTORING IN SADDLEWORTH began to be held in many areas. The Automobile Club Great Britain and Ireland (later the R.A.C. - the Royal Automobile Club) in the spring of 1900 organised a thousand mile trial held over a three week period covering many areas. The Club’s aim was to show horseless carriages and their capabilities to the wider general public, and the tour from London via Bristol up to Edinburgh, returning down the east coast was punctuated with days of static display in ten towns and cities. 84 widely differing cars were entered. From Birmingham on 27th April, the cars drove to Buxton, over to Macclesfield via the Cat & Fiddle and on into Manchester for two nights. The cars were on show at Old Trafford’s long gone Botanical Gardens prior to heading north on Monday, 30th April. Saddleworth, therefore, was effectively bypassed, but without doubt many local people would have taken advantage of this unique opportunity. Whilst a few of these truly primitive vehicles failed to complete the large mileages on mainly unsurfaced roads, no doubts remained thereafter of the enormous potential of the motor car. Short Sprints were held on public roads near Honley on 27th March 1905 and at Meltham in 1906, 1907 and again in 1911. The A6024 over the Holme Moss between Longdendale and Holmfirth was also used for such events, where competing cars were timed individually, up the western approach in 1911, and again in 1912, and subsequently the eastern flank which offered more exciting bends, on several occasions between 1920 and 1924. In the latter year, an accident at a Buckinghamshire sprint, combined with the nuisance occasioned by the proliferation of such events, brought a ban on sprints on public roads, and from that date, only private tracks and seaside courses laid out on the sands could continue in use for motor sport of this nature. Locally, a straight, gently rising private road leading to Millbrook Print works at Carrbrook, now Buckton Vale Road, saw at least five fixtures between 1924 and 1928 organised by Stalybridge and District Motor Club. Motorcycles far outnumbered cars in the entry lists, but a few famous drivers did take part, and some of these events were reported in the national motoring press. Just one speed event course in Saddleworth proper saw this exciting activity and this on a single occasion, namely 28th September 1907, when the Manchester Automobile Club (MAC) organised a speed hill-climb up the Holmfirth Road (now A635) from the Clarence, Hotel Greenfield. Starting from just beyond the hotel the road course was lengthy at 2¾ miles and rose some 764 feet to finish short of the watershed. ‘Bill’s o’ Jack’s’, the familiar name of the Moorcock Inn, set just off the road, the scene of grisly and unsolved 1832 murders, and which was demolished in 1937, gave the event its title. A little more detail on this particular event is appropriate here, and also makes a relevant commentary on the nature of the other events mentioned above. That Saturday afternoon was marked by ‘perfect weather’. The MAC had run two previous events of this kind elsewhere and would continue to do so in coming years. Even in those days, speed events on public roads were illegal, as the national limit was bound to be exceeded, but many took place by the courtesy of co-operative local men of influence who favoured motoring and could persuade the police to turn a blind eye to the activity. As was customary, the Bill’s o’ Jack’s venue was revealed to those drivers who had expressed interest in entering only immediately beforehand, preparations having taken place in the precise location, only the first three places were published for each class, and certainly not the times taken over the distance, which would have given clear evidence of the illegality of the speeds achieved. There were 30 entries spread across 5 classes. These classes were divided by cost price of chassis (bodies frequently coming as a separate purchase in those days) - a simple and quite reasonable system. A complex formula was used to provide handicapping and intended to deliver a close result, and the overall fastest time in each class also formed a part of the results. It was normal for passengers to be carried, as the weight of each car was a factor in the formula calculation. Whilst most of the drivers who took part were local men, this event did attract some

70 EARLY MOTORING IN SADDLEWORTH prominent entrants from further afield. Hollingdrakes are still remembered as a large firm of motor dealers in Stockport - back in the 1900s, they were agents for the La Buire car, an expensive and high performance make of its day, from Lyon in France. The firm entered two La Buires, a 4-cyclinder and a 6-cylinder, which came first and second on handicap in the class for cars with a chassis price exceeding £550 - a huge sum in those days. The fastest time of all was recorded by the same 60hp Napier that had taken the 24 hours record at the then recently opened Brooklands circuit at Weybridge in Surrey. Other makes appearing in the results included some still recalled by enthusiasts - Rover, Singer, Talbot and Vulcan, whereas makes such as Cotterau, Empress (a De Dion-engined light car made in Paris for the UK market), the Pendelton made Horbick car, a product of textile machinery makers Messrs Horsfall & Bickham, Argyll and Alldays are now known only to the true motoring history anoraks.

Author’s Collection

Author’s Collection

Figure 5. Two views recording the speed trials which were held on the Holmfirth road past the Moorcock Inn up to Upperwood House

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The reports include an intriguing mention that the famous wrestler and weight-lifter, George Hackenschmidt. ‘The Russian Lion’ (1879-1968) was a passenger in Hollingdrake’s 4 cylinder La Buire. He was perhaps the most famous sporting personality in the world at the time, and the years 1900-1910 are still seen as the ‘golden age’ of wrestling. Between 1899 and 1908, Hackenschmidt won over 3,000 wresting bouts.

OLDHAM AUTOMOBILE CLUB The 24th August 1912 issue of the weekly magazine, The Autocar, carried a report and photograph of the inaugural event organised by the newly formed Oldham Automobile Club. From Alexandra Park, more than a dozen cars drove via Glossop and the Snake Pass to Bamford. Here tea was served in the Marquis of Granby hotel, ‘about sixty members and friends sitting down’. Heavy rain hindered the sight-seeing planned for the return run, via Castleton and The Winnats Pass, Mam Tor, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Stockport. The photograph shows a marvellous line-up of the cars that day, and amazingly the magazine has been able to provide a new print from the old plate in their archive. As the registration numbers are clearly legible and almost are all in the ‘BU’ series, the makes of the cars and the names of their owners who took part over 100 years ago can be identified. The cars include three Rothwell’s, Daimlers, Talbots, a Ford ‘T’ and a Renault.

Autocar, 24 April 1912

Figure 6. Photograph recording the inaugural run of the Oldham Automobile Club to the Marquis of Grandby Inn, Bamford in the Hope Valley on Saturday 17th August 1912. The vehicles with an Oldham registration from left to right include 3rd BU 304, a 15hp Daimler touring car registered 14th July 1911, - 4th BU 329, a Talbot 15hp open 4 seater tourer registered 7th March 1912 to J. G. Marcroft, ‘Thorncliffe’, Belgrave Road, Oldham, - 5th BU 355, a Rothwell made in Oldham, a 20hp touring car, registered to the Eclipse Machine Co. in June 1912, - 6th BU 336, a Darracq 12hp four-seater tourer registered to Firth Winterbottom on 19th April 1912, - 7th BU 215, a 15hp Talbot tourer, first registered on 2nd February 1910 to the Oldham Rope & Twine Co., Shaw Street, Oldham, - 8th BU 288, a 15hp Daimler first registered in April 1911 to Lees Hall, ‘Harbourne’, Coppice Street, Oldham, - 10th BU 286, a 15.9hp Arrol-Johnstone tourer, first registered 14th March 1911 to William Noton, 117 Villa Road, Oldham, - 11th BU 188: a Rothwell 20hp landaulet, first registered to Oldham Rope and Twine Co, a firm owned by the Megson family.

Every newly found piece of information opens avenues for further research and this typically is one such. The subsequent history of the OAC lies hidden in old newspaper reports and the columns of ancient motoring magazines.

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Peter Fox -‘Old Saddleworth’ Collection Figure 7. This Rothwell, registered on 15th May 1906 as BU 71, was purchased by John Murgatroyd seen at the wheel outside his residence of Stoneswood in Delph. The house and car were both sold to Tom Rothwell later that year.

Peter Fox -‘Old Saddleworth’ Collection Figure 8. An early photograph recording the freedom that the car gave as a stop is made, we hope for light refreshment, outside the Royal George Inn, Greenfield around 1915

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This account in the main is an overview, but hopefully one that the author hopes will encourage further interest in pioneer motoring in Saddleworth. Of especial interest will be any further photographs that might yet come to light from this early period.

REFERENCES Elizabeth Bennet, Thousand Mile Trial, (self published, 2000) Michael Fox, ‘On the Road in Edwardian Saddleworth’, SHS Bulletin, Vol. 18, No. 4, (1988). Peter Fox, ‘Early Motor Vehicles in Saddleworth’, SHS Bulletin, Vol. 19, No. 3. (1989). Julian Hunt, Motor Sport Explorer - Over 800 Historic Locations to Discover and Visit in the British Isles, (J.H. Haynes, 2012). Sam Lomax and John Norris, Early Days - Memories of the Beginnings of Automobile Engineering in South Lancashire & Cheshire, (Joseph Cockshoot, 1948). L.H. Newall, A History of Motor Vehicle Registration in the United Kingdom, (Newby Books, 2008). T.R. Nicholson, Sprint, Speed Hillclimbs and Speed Trials in Great Britain, 1889-1925, (David & Charles, 1969)

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THE PERILS OF EARLY MOTORING John Warburton In the early years of the last century Saddleworth’s roads were fairly empty and what traffic there was mostly horse drawn. There was no driving test (the Highway Code did not come into existence until 1930) and, as some drivers were no doubt fairly inexperienced, it comes as no surprise that accidents were not uncommon. These were regularly reported in the local press:- ALARMING MOTOR CAR ACCIDENT AT DELPH 1 ...... with two passengers collided with a horse and greengrocers cars belonging to Mr William Bailey of Delph. The mishap happened on turning the White Lion corner, going towards River Bridge. The motor car and horses and cart were damaged, but there were no personal injuries. MOTOR ACCIDENT AT DELPH 2 Mr J.W. Riley, the landlord of the North Western Hotel and a party of five friends had an exciting experience about 4 o’clock on Sunday morning. They were returning home from Oldham and at New Delph met the Royal Mail motor van. The glare of the powerful lights dazzled the driver’s eyes and caused him to crash into the wall of the bridge over the Tame; had the wall been less strong all must have plunged into the water below. The car was wrecked but the occupants escaped with shock and bruises of a comparatively light character. PROBLEM OF MOTOR CARS SPEEDING, NEW DELPH 3 Councillor Hudson moved that if the Clerk writes the Automobile Association asking if they supplied reflex danger lights for such places as Wall Hill, Dobcross, were a number of accidents had occurred. MOTORIST DESCENDS NICKER BROW, DOBCROSS 4 A Stalybridge motorist had an adventurous ride about 2 o’clock on Tuesday morning. In the darkness he took the wrong turn in Dobcross and descended Nicker Brow which is one of the steepest gradients in the district and is only used as a footpath. The road is so narrow that the motor car almost touched the wall on each side. Fortunately he reached the bottom safely, and has so established a record in motor driving. TWO ROAD ACCIDENTS 5 ...... motor accidents locally during the past few days have produced a disturbing effect on the public. The one at Delph whereby the District Council’s ambulance was wrecked was just preceded by an accident to a Ford lorry which caught fire on the Lydgate road and so fierce was the conflagration that the wagon was completely burnt out inside twenty minutes. Fortunately, no one was hurt. An alarming accident befell the Saddleworth U.D. Council’s motor ambulance on Saturday afternoon in the vicinity of the Cross Keys Inn near Delph. The ambulance was on its way to Oldham with a patient and was driven by Mr Fred Hopkinson, Uppermill, when it was run into by a sporting car. The ambulance was completely wrecked and it was a miracle no one was killed.

1 Oldham Chronicle, 30 April 1904. 2 Oldham Chronicle, 9 December 1911. 3 Oldham Chronicle, 28 September 1912. 4 Mossley and Saddleworth Reporter, 28 March 1914. 5 Oldham Standard, 9 April 1927.

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DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL: AN ACCOUNT AND SOME HISTORICAL NOTES Mike Buckley

INTRODUCTION Founded in 1746, Delph Independent Chapel was the oldest non-conformist place of worship in Saddleworth and the first chapel of any kind to be built after St Chad’s in the early fourteenth century. As such it is surprising that no history has ever been published. The only account of its foundation and a very brief survey of its history was given in an address by the then pastor, the Rev. C.W. Clarke, at the 150th anniversary celebrations in 1896. Fortunately this was reported verbatim by the local press at the time.1 It is reproduced here in full as a basis for a fuller history and additional material gleaned from various sources is also included to add some flesh to these bare bones. DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL THIRD JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS INTERESTING HISTORY Delph Independents celebrated the third jubilee of the chapel on Sunday and Monday. On Sunday the preacher was the Rev. J. Campbell, of Mossley, a former pastor of the church who preached two appropriate sermons. The musical part of the services consisted largely of old hymns and old tunes, the singing being conducted by Mr B. Hinchliffe, while Mr W.H. Hall accompanied on the organ, and a string band gave their assistance. In the morning the choir rendered the chorus ‘Then Round About the Starry Throne,’ and in the evening ‘Kyrie’ and ‘Gloria,’ from Mozart’s ‘Twelfth Mass.’ The evening service concluded with the singing of the hymn ‘Come Let us Join our Friends Above,’ ‘In Memory of the Beloved Dead’. Flowers had been arranged in the windows, and over the pulpit was a wreath of lilies and ferns with the words ‘In Memory of the Departed.’ Large crowds visited the chapel and adjoining burial ground during the day. Many had come from distant towns with the object of renewing their acquaintance with old friends, and there were very many very happy reunions. Most of the gravestones had on them floral tributes, placed there by friends of the departed. On Monday evening a public meeting was held. A large number partook of tea in the schoolroom, and a still larger number joined in the subsequent service in the chapel. The Rev. C.W. Clarke, the, pastor, presided, and with him were the Revs J. Campbell, J.S. Waide, J. Walker, T.K. Higgs, and Mr J.C. Dixon […...... ] with the singing of the hymn ‘Jesus Shall Reign,’ and the Rev. J. Campbell offered prayer. In place of an address the Chairman gave the following short history of the chapel:- It is with not a little pride, pardonable perhaps, that Delph Independents or Congregationalists refer to the undeniable fact that theirs is the oldest church in the village. We were here long before our friends the Methodists; we were here before the so-called Church of England. Heights Church was built in 1758; our old chapel was built twelve years previously, and was the oldest place of worship in Saddleworth with the exception of Saddleworth Parish Church, which dates back, I believe, to about the 12th or 13th century. The first Independent chapel at Delph was erected on the same site as that occupied by the present structure. It was built by friends from Greenacres in 1746, to accommodate the many people who previously had to walk to Greenacres to worship God according to the dictates of their consciences. The first minister was the Rev. James Burgess, who left the parent church at Greenacres to take the oversight of the

1 Oldham Chronicle, 11 April 1896. A copy is now in the Saddleworth Historical Society’s archives, H/D.IND/33. Thanks are due to David Harrison for the many hours he spent transcribing the original newspaper account of the Jubilee celebrations.

76 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL newly formed church at Delph. Mr. Burgess is described as ‘an evangelical and faithful preacher, and possessed of some knowledge of medicine which he made useful to his neighbours.’2 He, however, removed to Oldham in 1760, and was succeeded at Delph by the Rev. Thomas Morgan, who came from Wales. His ministry was but a short one, terminating in 1763, when he removed to Morley.3 The next Pastor who presided over the church was the Rev. Thomas Gurnill, from Heckmondwike Academy, whose term of office was also short, closing, however, with his life in 1769. His labours are described as ‘zealous and very successful,’ rendering the erection of a gallery in the chapel necessary. He was interred within the chapel at the west end, a brass tablet bearing the following inscription being erected to his memory:- Near the place was interred the body of the Rev. Thomas Gurnill, once an eminent pastor of this church who departed this life March 6th, 1769. S.E.S., 34. Reader, who to this plate directs thine eyes, Under thy feat my mouldering carcase lies, And must remain till that tremendous day When God, the Judge, shalt melt the heavens away. Then at his word my dust shall rise again, And with my Saviour Christ for ever reign; My fettered tongue begin anew to move, And chart that noble song Eternal Love. Where shall see thee there? With fools or wise? In everlasting chains or Paradise? Wouldst thou amongst the goats or sheep appear? Oh, think! pray think! how shall I see thee there. Mr. Gurnill was succeeded by the Rev. William Armitage, who, however, left for Chester in 1772, and was followed by the Rev. Hy. Hunt from Lancashire, whose ministry is described as being very useful, and continued 13 years when he removed in consequence of some disagreement in 1786.4 An invitation was now given to the Rev. S. Lowell, of Brighouse, which was declined. The next and perhaps the most popular minister was the Rev. Noah Blackburn of whom the following lengthy notice appears in the History of the old Independent Chapel, Tockholes, near Blackburn, Lancashire, by B. Nightingale, Congregational minister, Farnworth 5:- “Mr. Blackburn was born about the year 1750, by some members of the family it was thought at Tockholes. He was trained for the ministry by Mr. Scott at Heckmondwike, and first settled at South Cave, in the Hull district of Yorkshire, in 1780. His conversion is said to have been due to his reading one of Mr. Whittaker’s sermons. The building at South Cave being in a very dilapidated condition, he desired the people to restore it. A meeting was called to consider the matter one Sunday afternoon after service, when a heavy shower came pouring through the roof. This proved a very convincing argument ; the chapel was at once repaired and a new vestry built (Miall’s Congregationalism in Yorks, p. 248). His stay here was only short. He appears to have taken some part in the founding of Independency in Preston.The following story from the Memoir of Rev. George Binder, author of Village Sermons, is worth insertion: - ‘In 1781 a singular incident

2 The quote is from James G. Miall, Congregationalism in Yorkshire (John Snow & Co, 1868), p. 251. 3 His biography is given in H.J. Lloyd-Johnes, ‘The Account Book of Thomas Morgan of Carmarthen’, National Library of Wales Journal, Vol IX, No. 1, (1955), pp. 60-64 available at http://journals.library.wales/view/1277425/1280154/61#?xywh=-1079%2C22%2C4788%2C2930. “He appears to have left his former sphere because his people thought he was not fully Evangelical (it might be presumed he was a Baxterian [advocasting accommodation with the Church of England])”, Miall, Congregationalism, p. 322. 4 For a short biography see H. Lambert, ‘Reverend Henry Hunt’, SHSB, Vol. 27, No. 3, (1997), p. 6. 5 See also H. Lambert, ‘Reverend Noah Blackburn’, SHSB, Vol. 26, No. 4, (1996), pp. 14-15.

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happened at Preston. The room we (Independents) occupied was over a cockpit, seldom used, but some players took it for performing in. It was settled between the principal player and me that we should not perform the same evening, as our people must of necessity pass through part of the theatre. But it so happened that a lady in the town ordered a play on the night which was our preaching night. Mr. Blackburn came to preach and began to sing. This disturbed the players below, who were performing “Romeo and Juliet.” Romeo came up and expostulated. Our people were unwilling to give place, but Romeo threatened so violently and with a drawn sword in his hand that they felt constrained to yield and to give over the service.’ (‘Handbook of Preston,’ by Marks, p. 40). Mr. Blackburn removed to Tockholes in 1782, and inasmuch as he was not ordained at South Cave this would take place at Tockholes. His intimate friend was the Rev. P.S. Charrier, of Liverpool, described by Dr. Raffles as that ‘unfailing repository of Dissenting anecdotes.’ Along with Mr. Charrier he supplied Dr. Raffles with much important information, which served for Dr. Halley’s ‘Lancashire Puritanism.’ Mr. Blackburn terminated his ministry at Tockholes on the 5th of November, 1786, and removed to Delph, on the borders of Yorkshire and near Oldham. Local tradition says that the servant of the family rode all the way in the front of the waggon amongst the furniture, and on arriving at Delph late one frosty night she was found quite benumbed with cold, but restored with considerable exertion. His ministry here was strikingly successful, and in 1791 the old chapel had to be enlarged (the enlargement here referred to was the erection of a new gallery, the subscription list for the payment of which, written on parchment, is still in the possession of the trustees). He labored here until his death, which took place on May 4th, 1821, when he was in his 70th year. His end came unexpectedly. His friend, the Rev. P.S. Charrier, wrote a short account of him in the ‘Evangelical Magazine’ for 1821, in which he says he had been a preacher for nearly half a century, that the church at Delph had considerably improved during his ministry, and that the last years of his life had been amongst the most useful.

Figure 1. Rev Henry Hunt 6

It had been his earnest desire that his death should be sudden, and that his life and usefulness should terminate together, and this desire was strikingly fulfilled. ‘On the Lord’s Day preceding his death,’ writes Mr. Charrier, ‘he preached twice, and it was thought by many with more than usual animation. He also administered the Lord’s Supper. His last texts were expressive of the principles and hopes which he cherished all through life, and the truth and infinite value of which he has now learned more fully to appreciate.’ In the morning, ‘My times are in Thy hands’ : in the afternoon, “I heard a voice from heaven, saying blessed are the dead which die in the Lord’ (‘Evangelical Magazine,’ 1821, p. 246). He retired to rest in his usual health and spirits on the night of May 3rd, and early next morning was found a corpse. The general impression is that he died of heart disease. In the ‘Leeds Mercury’ of May 19th, 1821, occurred the following notice :- ‘Death. - Suddenly, at his own house, on the morning of Friday, the 4th inst., in the 70th year of his

6 From Lambert ‘Reverend Henry Hunt’.

78 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL age, the Rev. Noah Blackburn, Independent minister at Delph, Saddleworth, Yorkshire. He had been engaged in the Christian ministry for half a century, and was favoured with the gratification of a wish he had often expressed, that his life and labours might terminate together. He preached twice on the Sabbath preceding his death, and, in the opinion of many of his hearers, with more than his usual animation and earnestness. The kindness of his heart and the long tried worth of his character had secured him the respect and esteem of men of all parties and denominations. His loss will be long and severely felt, not only by his mourning family but by his church and congregation, who had for upwards of 34 years enjoyed his services, and among whom he was both beloved and revered.’ Mr. Blackburn was buried within the chapel at Delph on the south side, and a mural tablet in the chapel was erected just over his grave by the church and congregation some time after his death. The inscription upon it reads thus:- Sacred is this Monument. Erected by the church and congregation to the memory of their late revered and beloved pastor, The Rev. NOAH BLACKBURN, Who laboured in this place in word and doctrine for upwards of 34 years, Displaying the riches of free and sovereign grace and mercy to lost sinners by the blood and righteousness and atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, And who finished his labours in the church militant, and his happy spirit took its flight to join the church triumphant on May the 4th. A.D. 1821, In the 70th year of his age. Within this sacred House he spent his breath, Now silent, senseless, here he lies in death; Those lips shall wake again, and then declare A dread Amen to truths delivered here. Mr. Blackburn was one of the early friends and, indeed, founders of the Lancashire County Union, though himself in Yorkshire. “An association called ‘The Itinerant Society' was formed of the ministers in Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire in the year 1801. The very plan for this association had been proposed and adopted at Mr. Blackburn's chapel five years before, as the following will show :- On the 20th of last month (April) was held at the Rev. Mr. Blackburn's, at Delph, on the border of Yorkshire, the annual meeting for the double lecture. Mr. Roby, of Manchester, and Mr. Wilks, of London, preached on the occasion. After dinner the Lancashire ministers present held a conversation upon the propriety of employing two itinerant preachers within their own county, and being convinced of the expediency of the measure opened an immediate subscription among themselves, agreed to recommend it to their respective congregations, and also to the attention of all their brethren at the next general meeting of the Dissenting ministers of the county (‘Evangelical Magazine,’ 1796, p. 206). The object of this society was to promote the preaching of the Gospel in neglected rural districts. A circular letter, issued by these associated ministers dated 1805, gives the names of those who from the beginning supported it and the a […..…..] elected. Amongst the number we find, August, 1802, Delph, Rev. N. Blackburn, £7 7s., no small sum when compared with the contributions of others. At Manchester in the same year, on the 18th of June, a meeting was held to consider the formation of a better Union of Independent Churches. Mr. Blackburn and others were appointed a committee to arrange a. series of rules. At a general meeting held in Manchester (Mosley street) on September 23rd. 1806, these rules were adopted, and the Lancashire Union of Churches formed. In the report of this society, dated January 30th, 1808, there is the following statement:- ‘According to the agreement at Liverpool the next annual meeting will be held (God willing) at Manchester on the evenings of the 26th and 27th of April next, when, agreeably to rotation, it will devolve on S. Bradley, of Manchester, and the Rev. Mr. Blackburn, of Delph, to preach.’ In the report for 1817-18, when the meetings were held at Liverpool, Mr. Blackburn is again named as preacher, his son, Thomas Blackburn, being in the chair. No one of the many ministers who have laboured at Tockholes was more popular than Mr. Blackburn. No man of his time seems to have been more in request by the churches for special

79 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL services. I venture again to insert a list of his engagements in so far as I have been able to collect them from the ‘Evangelical’ and other magazines:- “On the 4th of May, 1785, a new chapel was opened at Greenacres, when Mr. Blackburn at Tockholes, was one of the preachers, taking as his text 2 Thess., III., 1., 'Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may have recourse and, be glorified, even as it is with you ('History of Greenacres Independent Church,’ by Rev. G. G. Waddington, p. 66). “The first preaching room in the town of Ashton long destitute of the Gospel, was opened on August 1st. 1793, when the Revs. N. Blackburn and I. Kennedy, M.A., of Manchester were the preachers. On Wednesday, April 22nd, 1795, the Rev. Mr. Coles was ordained at Greenacres, near Oldham, when the introductory duties were performed by Mr. Blackburn, who also received the confession of faith. “On July 26, 1797, at the ordination of the Rev. C. Ely, at Bury, Mr. Blackburn concluded service with prayer. “On the 23rd of August, 1797, a new chapel was opened at New Windsor, near Manchester, when he prayed and preached the first sermon from Psalm XCIII., 5, ‘Holiness becometh Thine House, O Lord, for ever.’ “On August 30th, 1797, at the ordination of the Rev. Mr. Jenkinson, at Haslingden, he delivered a solemn charge from 1 Tim. III., 2, ‘A bishop must be apt to teach.’ “On April 18th, 1798, at the ordination of Mr. Silvering Shaw, at Marsden, Yorkshire, he gave the charge from 1 Tim. IV., 16, ‘Take heed to thyself and unto thy doctrine.’ “On Sunday. July 1st, 1798, Park Chapel, Ramsbottom, was opened, when Mr. Blackburn began the morning service with reading and prayer, and in the afternoon preached from 1 Cor., III., 2. “On July 18th, 1798, at Charlesworth, a new chapel was opened, when Mr. Blackburn was one of the preachers, taking as his text Psalm XLVIII., 9, ‘We have thought of Thy loving kindness, 0 God, in the midst of Thy Temple.’ “On August 15th, 1798, at the ordination of the Rev. Mr. Dunkerley, at Macclesfield, he gave the charge from Acts XX., 28. “On Wednesday, April 10th, 1799, at the ordination of the Rev. Mr. McPherson over the Gatley Church, Cheshire, Mr. Blackburn preached to the people from Phil. I, 27, ‘Striving together for the faith.’ “On July 15th, 1801, at the ordination of Mr. Hanforth over the same church, he exhorted the people to encourage him from Deut. I, 38. “On Wednesday, September 30th, 1801, at the opening of the chapel at Bainford, Mr. Blackburn preached from 1 Cor. I, 23. “On Thursday, June 19th, 1806, at the ordination of Mr. Solomon Ashton' in the old chapel, Stockport, he discoursed on the nature of a gospel church, and asked the usual questions. “On August 20th, 1806, at the ordination of Mr. Galland, at Greenacres, Mr. Blackburn offered the ordination prayer. “On January 1st, 1807, the Dukinfield Chapel was opened, when Mr. Blackburn preached in the evening from Psalms CXVIII., 25. “On May 6th, 1807, at the ordination of Mr. Ebenezer Glossop, at Chinley, Derbyshire, Mr. Blackburn took part in the service. "On May 21st, 1807, at the ordination of the Rev. W. Marsh over the church at Dukinfield, Mr. Blackburn offered the ordination prayer. “On Thursday, December 3rd, 1807, Grosvenor-street Chapel, Manchester, was opened, when Mr. Blackburn took part in the service. “On April 19th, 1810, at the ordination of the Rev. R. Slate, at Stand, he offered the ordination prayer. “On August 26, 1813, at the ordination of the Rev. Mr. Dyson, at Halshaw Moor, he gave the charge. “On Wednesday, July 6th, 1814, at the ordination of Mr. T. Harrison, jun., at Littlemoor, Glossop, Mr. Blackburn gave the charge. “On August 23rd, 1815, at the ordination of the Rev. J. Gray, at Bamford, he gave the introductory discourse.

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“On September 6, 1815, at the, ordination of the Rev. B. Senior, at Tintwistle, he offered the ordination prayer. “On May 15th, 1816, at the ordination of the Rev. W. Turner, at Bethel Chapel, Bury, he addressed the people. “On August 8th, 1816, at the ordination of the Rev. N. Pugsley, at Orchard-street Chapel, Stock- port, he asked the usual questions. “On August 13th, 1817, at the ordination of the Rev. S. Rhodes, at Stainland, Yorks, he gave the charge from Matt. XI., 29. “On May 14th, 1818, at the ordination of the Rev. J. Sutcliffe, at Refuge Chapel, Ashton-under- Lyne, he offered the ordination prayer. “On Wednesday, September 6th, 1820, the Glasshouse Chapel, Aldersgate-street, London, was reopened, when Mr. Blackburn preached in the afternoon from Heb. II., 3. “The chief point of interest about this list is the wonderful variety in his sermons. Even some of our leading men to-day have their great sermons, which are made to do duty on many occasions; but Mr. Blackburn appears to have had something different for every place. The list also shows what a busy life he must have lived. “It is somewhat singular that there are no books of sermons of this great preacher. All that I have ever seen of his writings is a single sermon in my possession, from the text Psalms CXIX., 25, the title of which is as follows :- ATTACHMENT TO THE WORLD LAMENTED and A THRONE OF GRACE PETITIONED or THE DISTRESSED SAINT SEEKING QUICKENING GRACE.

A S E R M O N Preached in the Independent Chapel, Delph, November 1st, 1807, And now Published at the Request of the Hearers, By NOAH BLACKBURN.

“Use this world as not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away.” - 1 Cor., 7, 31.

Manchester : Printed at the Office of Nanson & David, No. 5, Hanging Ditch.

“Mr. Blackburn married Martha Britain, of Holbeck, Leeds, who was an admirable woman. The church at Delph witnessed their affection for her and appreciation of her services by erecting in the chapel and another mural tablet, the inscription upon which is as follows:- Sacred to the memory of Martha, relict of Rev. N. Blackburn, who died on the 19th November, 1826, aged 72. Benjamin Britain, died 4th October, 1787, aged 15 months. William, died 29th August, 1792, aged 4 years and 11 months. Owen, died 2nd September, 1792, aged 6 months. Joseph, died 2nd December, 1817, aged 22 years. “Some of Mr. Blackburn’s children remained in business in the village for some time after his death. One of his sons born at Tockholes was for many years an eminent surgeon in Liverpool, a daughter of him was the late wife of the present Sir Edward Baines, of Leeds”

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The Sir Edward Baines here referred to as the ‘present’ would be he who was surviving at the time of the writing the ‘History’ from which the quotation was made, which history was published in 1886. During Mr. Blackburn’s pastorate the chapel, which would hold many more worshippers than the present building, was well filled. It is said by these whose parents were numbered amongst Mr. Blackburn's hearers that nearly all the wealthiest people of Saddleworth attended his ministry, and that any Sunday a long line of carriages might be seen bringing their occupants to service, and conveying them home at the close of worship. The following was a favourite expression of Mr. Blackburn’s: ‘From organs and bells, highroads and canals, good Lord deliver us.’ What would be have said about railways, telegraphs, &c., &c.?

Figure 2. Rev Noah Blackburn7

It was towards the close of Mr. Blackburn’s ministry, namely, in the year 1818, that a Sabbath school was established in connection with the church. The first school house was built in 1824, three years after his death ; the present commodious schools were erected in 1884. It is interesting to note that Delph Chapel has occasionally furnished recruits for the ranks of the ministry. Of only one young man, however, has the present writer been able to gather any definite account, namely, John Thornton, who attended the ministry of Mr. Blackburn and who served his apprenticeship as a weaver at Broadhead at the close of which he went to Hoxton College and entered the Congregational ministry as pastor of the. church at Billericay, in Essex, in the year 1800, when he was 24 years of age, where he maintained his popularity for the period of 41 years, dying in 1841 at the age of 65.8 A recent writer in the Christian World referring to this little Essex town, the Congregational Church, and to Mr Thornton, said of him that his like had not been seen since. In addition to being an acceptable preacher and pastor Mr. Thornton was the author of the following works:- ‘The Christians’ Consolation, or the Preciousness of Christ to all who Believe,’ ‘Sermons on the most Important Doctrines of the Gospel, comprehending the privileges and duties connected with the Belief of those Doctrines,’ 2 vols, ‘Repentance explained and enforced, being a serious appeal to every man's conscience on its nature,’ ‘Necessity and evidences, The advantages

7 Saddleworth Museum Archives, M/HUD/26. 8 John Thornton, Memoirs of the Rev. John Thornton, forty-one years Pastor of the Independent Church and Congregation, Billericay, Essex, (Ward & Co, 1843).

82 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL of early piety unfolded and displayed in a series of discourses to young people. One of them delivered to the young ladies at a boarding school,’ ‘The fruits of the spirit, being a comprehensive view of the principal graces which adorn the Christian character,’ ‘Early piety exemplified, in a brief memoir of Miss Mary Ann Mabbs, with extracts from her devotional papers,’ and, finally, ‘Maxims and directions for youth, containing many anecdotes suited to private families and schools.’ Another incident of interest alike to Independents and Methodists is that the Venerable John Wesley paid a visit to Delph in the year 1788, only three years before his death, and when he was 85 years of age. The curate of Heights Chapel, as it was then called (the Rev. Lancelot Bellas, M.A.), who had promised Mr. Wesley the use of his pulpit, changed his mind, and at the last moment when Mr. Wesley was about to mount the hill refused to grant the privilege, whereupon the Rev. Noah Blackburn manifested the breadth of charity which it is to be hoped will ever characterise the Congregational Church and ministry, and at once offered the use of his chapel to the Methodist leader, who is said to have had what the Methodists call ‘a good time’ in preaching the Gospel of the Son Of God. It appears that from the death of Mr. Blackburn in May, 1821, to October, 1823, the church at Delph was without a settled pastor. The names of Messrs. Wm. Oram, George Nettleship, John Holgate, Chas. Gregory, W. Farmer, James Scott, and J. E. Cullen appear in the register as having administered the rite of baptism to a large number of children, and it is probable that these gentlemen conducted the services also during the vacancy. The next pastor was the Rev. John Holroyd, who seems to have commenced his ministry about October, 1823, his first entry in the baptismal register bearing the date of October 12th in that year. Mr. Holroyd is described by some of his hearers now living (1896) as a sound preacher but not particularly eloquent. He was however a very impressive reader of the Holy Scriptures, possessed an unusual gift in prayer, and was a kind and sympathetic pastor. In addition to his pastoral duties he also kept a boarding and day school. He retained the pastorate till 1848, when unpleasant circumstances arising he removed to Denton, where after sustaining a brief ministry of about one year he died, and was interred in his family grave in the higher burial ground at Delph Chapel. The stone, which is a flat one, bears the following inscription. The heading is in Hebrew, which being interpreted is a quotation from Isaiah 26, 19:- Thy dead ones shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Then follows :- Here was interred Helen, the daughter of the Rev. John Holroyd and Jane, his wife. December 14th, 1832, aged one year. Happy infant! Early blest. Also Mary, their daughter, October 23rd, 1845, aged 19 years. What shall we grave on thy memorial stone? Thy merits? No. Thy hope was Christ alone. Our sorrows? Thou didst chide each fretful tear. Our ardent love? It needs no record here. Praise to thy Lord and ours! His name, His love, are sung by thee in noblest strains above. Also the above Rev. John Holroyd, nearly 25 years minister of the adjoining place of worship, was interred Nov. 13th, 1849, aged 54 years. He was a faithful man, and feared God above many. Also Jane, their daughter, May 21st, 1853, in the 24th year of her age. Her sun is gone down while it was yet day. Jer. XV. 9. Also Jane, relict of the above named John Holroyd, who died on the second day of July, 1879, aged 80 years. After Mr. Holroyd resigned his charge at Delph it appears that the church was again without pastor for about three years, during which time the pulpit was supplied by neighbouring ministers and students, chiefly from Airedale College. One of these, Mr. William Chapman, would

83 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL probably have succeeded to the pastorate, but having been for a long time in a delicate state of health he died on May 24th, 1851, aged 29 years, and was interred in the higher graveyard. From October 12th, 1851, to January 18th, 1856, the church was presided over by the Rev. John George, upon whose retirement the pulpit was again supplied by ministers of other churches and students from Airedale and Rotherham Colleges until August, 1861, when the Rev. Andrew Fielder Shawyer, from Pateley Bridge, became the pastor, which office he held until December, 1867. On the 13th May, 1866, the present chapel was opened for service. It was the gift of the Misses Buckley, of Holly Villa, Greenfield. During the pastorate of Mr. Shawyer a serious difference seems to have arisen, which resulted in the closing of the chapel and school for a short time, and in litigation in the Court of Chancery. The outcome of the suit was an order for a new trust deed more in accordance with Congregational principles and usages, placing the power in the hands of the Church instead of in the hands of the trustees, as was the case formerly. The costs were paid out of the estate of the church, which meant that nearly the whole of the endowment, which was considerable, was expended in this most undesirable manner. The new deed was applied for by the newly elected trustees on January 30th, 1883, and it was executed on the 28th of November, 1884. The chapel was re-opened on the 23rd of August, 1868. For about 15 years after the re-opening the pulpit was supplied, as on other occasions when without a pastor, by neighbouring ministers, students from the different colleges, and laymen.

Figure 3. Architect’s Drawing of the New Delph Independent Chapel

Mike Buckley Collection

In 1883, however, an effort was made to restore the church to its original prestige and usefulness, and the services of the Rev. James Campbell, a student at Nottingham College, were secured. Mr. Campbell commenced his ministry on Sunday, June 29th, 1883. He was ordained on Easter Monday, 1884. For upwards of eight years he exercised a most useful ministry amongst the numerous congregation he was successful in gathering, and when on October 25th, 1891, he closed his pastorate to remove to Abney Chapel, Mossley, it was to the general regret of the church to which he had endeared himself. Again for a period of four months the pulpit was supplied by students and ministers. Amongst those who visited and preached at Delph was the Rev. C. W. Clarke, of Market Deeping,

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Lincolnshire, who, after having officiated two Sundays - December 6th, 1891, and January 10th, 1892 - received a unanimous invitation to the pastorate, which was accepted, he commencing his ministry on Sunday, March 6th, 1892. What is the future to be? That rests with us. If we are unfaithful to our Lord and violate the golden rule of brotherly love - if we allow differences of opinion to interfere with our union of soul, our usefulness will be hindered, nay, destroyed, and upon the doors of this house which has been glorious in the past because of the divine presence and benediction, Ichabod (‘The glory has departed’) may be written; but if we are faithful to our Lord Christ and to our best and highest selves, united in holy love to each other and to God, and devoted to holy service for Him, the blessing of heaven will rest upon us and upon our work and men will be won to Christ. That laurels have been won in the past is an undoubted fact, but that will not suffice for the present and the future - time will shrivel up the greenest leaf. We must by consecrated effort seek to serve our God and our generation well, and then we, like our forefathers whose dust endears and makes sacred the surrounding sod, shall hear the Master's ‘Well done!’ and receive from His dear hand ‘the crown at life that fadeth not away.’

Figure 4. Rev. C.W. Clarke

SHS Archives H/D.IND/40 The Rev. J. S. Waide, of Springhead, gave an address, in which he complimented the chairman on the interesting history read. He thought they were apt to undervalue the work of the country churches. They ought to remember that the good done was not always seen. The recipients of the good went to different places and there spread the news of the gospel of Christ. If members of their churches lived Christ-like lives their churches would be sure to prosper. He hoped God would bless that church in future, as he had blessed it in the past. - The Chairman remarked that the old chapel, which was larger than the present one, was attended by all the best families of Saddleworth, and every Sunday a large train of coaches was to be seen waiting to convey the worshippers to their homes. - The Rev. J. Walker, of Pastures, who was the next speaker, referred to the wonderful influence of Christ in the world. There had been many great men, but these had died and had almost been forgotten. It was impossible to estimate how much they owed to the teachings of Christ. He hoped at Delph the church would be instrumental in winning many souls for him. - The Rev. T. K. Higgs, M.A., of Greenacres, thought it a privilege to take a part in an interesting gathering of that description. He alluded to the fact that he, came to preach at that

85 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL chapel twenty years ago, and he well remembered the hospitality extended to him by one of the members of the congregation, who not only fed him, but shared his bed with him. (Laughter.) The history of a church was well worth knowing. They had an interesting history at Greenacres, and at both Greenacres and Delph they had had many useful men. The success in the past had been due to the hard work of the members of the church, and he hoped their example would be followed. There was still plenty of work for Congregationalists to do, and he trusted that they would be found ready and willing to do it. - The Rev. J. Campbell believed that there was a growing feeling that the principles of Nonconformists deserved upholding. He hoped there they would continue in the good work which had been handed down to them; and that that celebration would for a long time to come be looked upon as a landmark in the history of the church. Many friends had been buried at that place, and as those present that evening thought of them he hoped they would inwardly vow to be true to the traditions of the place, and to be worthy successors to such worthy' predecessors. He himself had no fear as to their future. They had always been full of enthusiasm in the past, and those of the present were of the same spirit, ever ready to press forward in every good work. An illustration was found in the way in which the new school was built. He himself was a doubter, but the school was built, and when opened was almost entirely free from debt. - Mr. J. C. Dixon, J.P., pointed out some of the weaknesses connected with Church life. One drawback was the closing of the chapels from Sunday to Sunday. Public houses were open every night, and why could not the chapels be used also? It seemed a pity to spend so much money on edifices and only to have them open on one day in the week. Another weakness was ‘respectability.’ More brotherliness was needed. The true aim of Christianity was often overlooked. - Mr. J.W. Hepworth also said a few words appropriate to the occasion. - On the motion of Mr. N. Oldham, seconded by Mr. J.E. Buckley, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the speakers. - During the meeting suitable hymns were sung, and the choir contributed the anthem ‘Incline Thine Ear,’ Mr. J. W. Hepworth taking the solo, and in one of the intervals the chairman read a number of interesting letters received from […] friends and announced the receipt of donations amounting to £5 17s 6d. The collections on Sunday realised £18 13s. ADDITIONAL HISTORICAL NOTES EARLY DISSENT IN SADDLEWORTH As in the rest of the country, religious worship in Saddleworth was in turmoil throughout the seventeenth century. With the abolition, in 1642, of the bishops, ecclesiastical courts and the hierarchy of the established church, a Presbyterian form of religion was established throughout the country which rejected any form of ceremony and prescribed liturgy in the form of the prayer book. Marriages became civil affairs and ministers were appointed, not by bishops, but by committees or classis as they were known. In Saddleworth the Presbyterian ministers Rev William Broadhead and Rev Ralph Wood was appointed in this way. Broadhead embraced the new doctrine with enthusiasm; before being appointed to Saddleworth he had been curate at Mottram and in 1643 had tried to overthrow the vicar there because of his support for the established church.9 We are told Wood was similarly a strong proponent of the new form of religion. The new regime was probably welcomed in Saddleworth. There has been a long tradition of Protestantism in the parish dating back to Elizabeth’s reign, with the Saddleworth curate in the 1570s and 80s, the Rev John Wild, a fervent puritan, supported by another puritan, the Vicar of Rochdale, Richard Midgley, his patron. In James I time, following a change at Rochdale, the Saddleworth churchgoers strongly resisted the appointment of a more middle of the road curate and on more than one occasion their leaders were summoned to the Episcopal Court at Chester for rejecting the prayer book liturgy and for their aggressive behaviour towards the more middle-of-the-road curates appointed by Rochdale.10

9 J.R. Earwacker, East Cheshire Past and Present, Vol. 2, (London, 1880), p. 129. 10 Chester Record Office, Interrogatory, Edward Percevall, curate v. Richard Wrigley, Robert Whewall, John Harrop for bringing a non-conformable minister into the chapel when Percivall was reading Evening prayer at the chancel door, Consistory Court Papers, EDC 5/1618/48.

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With the fall of the Commonwealth and the return of the King ecclesiastical government was restored. Clergy were required to reject Presbyterianism and swear allegiance to Episcopal government, the prayer book and the King if they were to retain their livings. Those that had been appointed by the presbytery had to be re-ordained by the bishop and those that refused to conform were rejected from their parishes. Wood and his successor John Lees both conformed, were re-ordained, and allowed to keep their livings. Wood was succeeded in 1663 by Lees who remained curate at Saddleworth until his death in 1712. Lees seems to have embraced the new regime without any problems and Wood similarly - he was spoken of disparagingly by Oliver Heywood, a leading Nonconformist of the day - who wrote: “He was, for a time, remarkably peremptory against Conformity. Afterwards he conformed and became a vain and debauched character”. At Oldham, the Rev Robert Constantine, however, refused to conform and was consequently ejected. Under the Five Mile Act of 1665 he was not allowed to reside within 5 miles of his old parish. The Conventicle Act of the previous year also forbade any form of group worship of a nonconformist nature. This draconian situation was eased somewhat in 1672 by a further Act ‘The Declaration of Indulgence’ and ministers like Constantine were allowed to set up dissenting meeting houses; but strictly under license. Constantine obtained a license to preach in a barn at Heyside. This Act was short lived and repealed the next year but the situation was relaxed again by the Declaration of Indulgence in 1687 granting ‘Liberty of Conscience to all His Majesties subjects.’ Some time around this date Constantine is said to have been instrumental in the establishment of the Independent Chapel at Greenacres. Despite the crack down it seems clear that those that favoured the old protestant form of religion were still meeting in private. There had been a tradition of bible reading and independency of religion in Saddleworth - John Heywood of Austerlands, who died in 1662, was said to have walked to attend religious meetings in the area over a period of 40 years. In his will he left a Great Bible as an heirloom and a share in Fox’s Book of Martyrs, a text valued by Protestants almost as much as the bible itself. The first documentary evidence of dissenting meetings in Saddleworth appear with a number of license applications for meeting houses in the 1690s; these were collected by J. Horfall Turner in the 1880s.11 In October 1696 the houses of Giles Shaw, of Quick and Edmund Buckley of Quick were both registered at the Wakefield Sessions.12 Only the township name is given but the name Giles Shaw only occurs in the Shaw family of Uppermill; the identity of Edmund Buckley is less clear, one possibility is Edmund Buckley of Shelderslow who was an executor of John Heywood, another is Edmund Buckley of Pinfold who was buried in December 1699 (John Buckley of Pinfold was one of the Delph founding trustees). The next year another application at Rotherham provided more details: ‘We the Protestant Dissenters appoint the house of James Taylor, of the Cross in Saddleworth, in the West Riding, for the Worship of God: James Taylor, James Hayward, Isaac Wilde, John Kennerley, Caleb Broadbent, Henry Dickenson, and Henry Jackson.’13 The list of names is interesting - many were not Saddleworth residents. In 1689 Caleb Broadhead registered a Quaker meeting house at the Barnsley sessions as did Henry Dickenson of Shephouse; in 1683 Henry Jackson of Holmfirth, a Quaker, had refused to take the oath of allegiance and was fined £10; Isaac Wilde of Heyside was buried 31st October 1697 at the Friends’ burial ground, at Heyside, near Royton. Later, in 1706, Taylor appears as trustee of the Friends’ burial ground at

11 J. Horsfall Turner (ed), Nonconformist Registers, by Revs Oliver Heywood & T. Dickenson, 4 vols., (Brighouse, 1881–85). These were extracted from surviving Quarter Sessions Records by Turner and there is no certainty that the list is complete. 12 Ibid, Vol. 4, p 154. 13 Ibid, p 155.

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Heyside.14 It seems clear, then, that Taylor’s house at Cross was a Quaker meeting house and that a network of such houses was being established across the region by the Quakers.15 Nothing more is heard of these meeting houses and perhaps the most significant licence application, and one that has relevance to the establishment of the Delph Chapel occurred at Leeds in July 1695 when ‘the house of Robert Whitehead of Saddleworth, was registered for a congregation of protestant Dissenters. Signed John Rhodes, Leeds’.16 Robert Whitehead was of Delph, a significant local freeholder who owned a large estate in Friarmere purchased by his grandfather in 1618; his dwelling was behind the present White Lion public house. Opposite, across Delph Lane, was what was to become the site of the future Delph Chapel. The fact that the licensing application was made by a John Rhodes of Lees again implies, that, as with the Quakers, some sort of regional organisation was in place among the dissenters. Further evidence for this emerges in the notes collected by J. Horsfall Turner.17 Recording the death in 1709 of John Turner, a dissenting minister at Lydgate Chapel, Holmfirth, he quotes a text, published in 1811,18 stating that Byrom had ministered first at Stockport and than at Saddleworth.’ In his History of Kirkburton, H.J. Moorhouse includes a short biography of Turner: ‘John Byram succeded him [Milward, first minister, who was removed about 1700] in the following year. He had been educated under the Rev. Richard Frankland, M.A, whose academy he entered in 1676. He was for some time settled at Stockport; and in 1696 assisted at the ordination of Mr. John Ashe, “the zealous and indefatigable minister of Ashford, Bradwell, and Hucklow.” His name occurs in the parish register of Kirkburton, in connexion with a very singular entry by the Vicar, May, 1709, “Joseph, son of Robert Beever, of Hepworth, junior, baptized with a conditional baptism, the 15th day, because it was said that the Dissenting Minister, Mr. Jo. Byram, has baptized him before; but the said Robert Beever being interrogated about it, could not tell that the said Mr. Byram had done more than sprinkled it, and prayed, without enjoyning him to bring the child to the Lidget Meeting to be baptized.” Mr. Byram died on the 9th September, 1709, and was here interred.’19 From these references it would appear that Byrom, a dissenting minister, had been active as a minister in Saddleworth during the late 1690s before he took up his post at Holmfirth. Without a chapel his work must have been carried out in the private houses of the local dissenters. It seems then that dissenting worship was well established in Saddleworth many years before Delph Chapel was established. In his account Rev C.W. Clarke stated that before the chapel was established many Saddleworth people had previously had to walk to Greenacres ‘to worship God according to the dictates of their consciences’. It would seem from the above evidence that this was only partially true and that a form of organised worship had been taking place in Saddleworth for many years. But a close bond had undoubtedly been established between the Saddleworth dissenters and the congregation at Greenacres as is evidenced by the fact that the Greenacres minister the Rev. James Burgess, had moved from Greenacres to become the

14 Indenture of 7 June 1706 assigned a plot of land at Turf Lane End, Heyside to James Taylor of Saddleworth, Yorks, yeoman; Robert Hartley of Trawden, Lancs, yeoman; John Ecroyde, of Briercliffe, Lancs, yeoman; William Whalley of Marsden, Lancs, yeoman; and John Hall of Crompton, Lancs, Joseph Ward, A Retrospect: Oldham Meeting, Society of Friends, (Oldham, 1911), pp. 17-18. 15 J. Horsfall Turner (ed), Nonconformust Registers, various references. 16 Ibid, p. 153. 17 Ibid, p. 308. I am grateful to Victor Khadem for bringing this reference and that of H.J. Moorhouse to my attention. 18 Amongst the list of Frankland’s pupils ‘John Byram, March. 17 [1676/7]. He was first at Stockport and afterwards at Saddleworth’, Monthly Repository of Theology and General Literature, 2nd April 1811, p. 204. 19 H.J. Morehouse, The History and Topograph of the Parish of Kirkburton, (Huddersfield, 1861), p. 190.

88 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL first minster at Delph. It would also seem from the Rev. Clarke’s comments ‘that the chapel was built by friends from Greenacres’ that the Greenacres congregation made significant contributions to the cost of the chapel. But here again this seems an exaggeration. One of the early members of the Delph congregation was Edmund Schofield of Castleshaw who died in 1750. His tomb on the south side of the chapel records:- ‘Some Years before he came to end his Race He gave the greatest Sum to build this Place. A Preached Gospel lay his Heart so near That he did much t'advance its Interest here.’

THE FIRST CHURCH In 1746 the village of Delph did not exist, Delph Lane was a mere track, yet to be turnpiked and Hill End Road was probably only a local footpath. The reason then for why this site was chosen for the new church is not obvious. Other sites might have been more central for a Saddleworth population of Dissenters. It seems plausible that the location of Robert Whiteheads house licensed in 1695 was a factor and if a community had continued worshipping here into the 1740s it would have been logical for them to built their church nearby. Robert Whitehead had died in 1709 and his grandson had sold his land in Delph and moved to Higher Slack near Heights in 1745. His children had all been baptised at Saddleworth Church and there is no evidence he had any involvement with the Independent Chapel after this date; indeed it was on part of his land at Delph Slack that Heights Church. was built in 1765. However, John Whitehead, Robert Whitehead’s cousin, owned an adjoining estate at Delph Barn and it was on a plot of land, part of the Delph Barn estate that the chapel was built. John Whitehead was one of the first trustees of the chapel and the deed of conveyance of the land was from his son John Whitehead, Junior to his father John Whitehead, senior, and the other trustees.20

Mike Buckley Collection

Figure 5. Delph Independent Chapel, c. 1860

20 The deed is dated 24 June 1747 and is a conveyance of land from John Whitehead, the younger, to John Whitehead, the elder and eight others.

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Fortunately a photograph of the first church has survived. See Figure 5 It was a square auditory chapel with many similarities to Heights chapel built two decades later. There were two rows of four semi-circular-headed windows on the south side with the main entrance and a wooden bell turret on the west gable. But whereas Delph had two symmetrically placed entrance doors and three semi-circular-headed windows, one illuminating the baptistery and two at first floor level, Delph had a single door and a Venetian window at first floor level. Like Heights there was probably also a Venetian window over the communion table. The fenestration on the north side, like Heights, probably mirrored that on the south. JosephThornton in his New Saddleworth Sketches describes the interior:- The top floor was at the top end of the front-side wall, and the other was at one corner of the lower gable. The interior was beautifully arranged, notwithstanding its outside curiosity. Like the present building the old one stood east and west, and the pulpit was fixed in the centre of the south wall, with a splendid little organ opposite, against the north wall. The two gables formed the sides of the gallery, and in the centre of the back part stood the organ.21 These confused descriptions were the recollections of an old man writing of his boyhood memories but are clear enough to ascertain that there were two galleries, one on each gable; the one on the east possibly confined to one corner of the chapel. Most significantly the pulpit, the central point of all nonconformist chapels, was on the south wall implying that the seating was arranged north south facing the pulpit. It is probable that the west gallery was used by the choir. In his short history Rev Clarke credits the Rev Thomas Gurnill in the 1760s with erecting a gallery, of the two, that on the east end seems the more likely. THE FOUNDING FATHERS The first trustees were no doubt some of the prime movers in the creation of the Chapel. A deed of 1750 lists their names:- 22 Henry Buckley of Wall-Hill, P. Saddleworth in the County of York, yeoman John Whitehead of Delph in the same parish, yeoman John Saville of Castleshaw in the same parish, yeoman John Buckley of Pinfold in the same parish, clothier John Broadbent of Hollingreave in the parish of Saddleworth, clothier Isaac Bothomley of the same place, clothier Peter Bradbury of Viewtree in the parish of Saddleworth, clothier James Buckley of Tunstead in the same parish Not mentioned above was Edmund Schofield of Castleshaw, yeoman, who was also probably a trustee on the original deed of sale in 1747. He had a large freehold estate at Castleshaw which included Higher Castleshaw, Castlehill and Bleakheynook. As mentioned above, his gravestone records that he made a major contribution to the cost of building the chapel. He died in 1749, unmarried, and in his will he divided his estate between his nephews James and John Sevill. John Seville, appears to have been his successor as trustee, He married in 1754 and their children were baptised at St Chad’s, and both he and his wife were buried there in 1795. This would imply he had ceased to be an Independent Chapel member after his marriage. He was an innkeeper at Bleakhey Nook in 1764. Henry Buckley of Wall Hill, was the owner of a large freehold farm at Wall Hill, centred on what later became known as the Manor House. He died in 1782 aged 84 and was buried in the front part of the chapel yard. John Whitehead, upon whose land the chapel was built, has already been mentioned; his grave is also in front of the church and records his death on the 15th June 1762 ‘aged near 85

21 Joseph Thornton, New Saddleworth Sketches, (Privately Printed, 1967). pp. 59-62. 22 Assignment of leasehold dated 28th January 1750, Joseph Clegg of Liverpool in the County of Lancaster, merchant to Henry Buckley of Wallhill, yeoman et al. which relates to a messuage and tenement with the appurtenances situate lying and being in Sholver in the County of Lancaster, purchased for £460, and leased for 2,000 years with a yearly rent of 13 shillings. Deed auctioned by eBay 20 May 2016.

90 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL years’. John Buckley of Pinfold inherited a leasehold estate of 45 acres at Pinfold and Ashey Hey on the death of his father in 1726. He died in 1781 and was buried at St Chad’s. Isaac Bottomley rented an estate at Hollingreave in 1779 23 and was probably the Isaac Bothomley buried in the front part of the chapel yard in 1800, aged 83, with his wife Martha, who had died earlier in 1768. Several generations of the family, however, were associated with the chapel and it is possible that the 1750 trustee was his father, another Isaac Bottomley, then ‘aged and infirm’ who made his will in 1746, and an Isaac Bottomley a trustee in 1790, could have been his son, or nephew. John Broadbent was a cottager at Hollingreave, a near neighbour and possibly a tenant of Isaac Bottomley. As with the Bottomleys, several generations of the Broadbents of Hollingreave were associated with the chapel and there is some doubt as to the identity of the 1750 trustee. A John Broadbent of Hollingreave died in 1773, aged 94, and another in 1793. Both were buried at St Chad’s. The Peter Bradbury listed appears to be the Peter Bradbury of Diglee, yeoman, who died in 1751. He was succeeded by his son Thomas who was mentioned as a trustee in 1755, 1761 and 1773.24 Neither Peter Bradbury nor his wife, who died a few years after him, were buried at St Chad’s, and most probably were therefore buried at the Delph Independent Chapel; although no gravestone has survived, if there ever was one. Finally, James Buckley of Tunstead, yeoman, was the second of four generations of Tunstead Buckleys to be associated with the chapel. His parents John and Sarah Buckley are buried in the front part of the chapel yard, John dying in 1758 aged 68 and Sarah in 1766 aged 74. James died in 1804, aged 83 and is buried with his wife in the same grave. The family were wealthy freeholders: the next generation James Buckley of Hollyville, gentleman, was a wealthy banker and his two of daughters paid for the new church in 1868. They are buried in the higher part of the chapel yard. From the above it can be seen that many of the founding families were people of substance, comfortably off, from families long established in the district, many freeholders or leaseholders of sizeable estates. With the exception of John Broadbent, all the trustees were wealthy enough to leave wills. By no means centred on Delph, they were from all parts of Saddleworth: Castleshaw, Wallhill, Diggle, Pinfold and Greenfield. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CONGREGATION Family historians frequently encounter a blank when tracing their eighteenth century Saddleworth ancestors, particularly those living in the Friarmere area. The reason can often be attributed to the family’s membership or attendance at the Independent Chapel where no registers of baptisms or burials were kept before 1780.25 In fact, until the arrival of Rev John Holroyd in 1823, recording was intermittent; Rev Noah Blackburn kept a record for a few years following his arrival then lapsed - he appears to have had little appetite for such administrative and routine tasks. An account of a collection to install lighting in the Chapel in 1783 has survived and it provides an insight into which families were supporting the chapel at this time and which had the deepest pockets.26 Subscriptions for lighting the Chapel Begun November 2nd A.D. 1783 Whereas the more commodious lighting of Delph Chapel seems necessary for Winter- Lectures, Stated or occasional, and also for Winter Funerals, it is resolved that a Subscription shall be opened for that purpose, and that the Young People of this Congregation shall be principally applied to for defraying the expense thereof; But not excepting those who have grown Old in the Christian Warfare, in this Congregation, and wishing it may be a means of

23 M. Buckley et al. (eds), Mapping Saddleworth II, (SHS, 2010), p. 116. 24 Later lists of trustees can be found in deeds relating to property of the chapel. 25 See accompanying article in this edition of the Bulletin: M. Buckley, ‘Missing Baptisms from the Registers of Delph Independent Chapel’, pp. 100-101. 26 Saddleworth Historical Society Archives, H/D.IND/10.

91 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL bringing many to the True knowledge of their GOD and themselves; we cheerfully subscribe the following sums, as a free-will offering to the Lord. Joseph Claughton Stoneswood 10 6 John Wrigley Gatehead 4 0 James Buckley Late Wharmton 10 6 Jno Platt Dobcross 8 0 Isaac Broadbent Dunsbooth 3 0 Jas Broadbent Dobcross 2 0 John Bradbury Hollingreave 4 0 Robt Winterbottom Nickers 2 0 John Rhodes Wadehill 2 6 Abel Wood Saddleworth-fold 2 6 Thos Rhodes Woodmans 3 0 Jno Wood Saddleworth-fold 2 6 Jas Rhodes Maw-walls 2 6 Joseph Gartside Heath fields 2 6 Joseph Buckley Turnpike 4 0 Thos Shaw Brown-hill 8 0 Jonn Shaw Thurston Clough 2 6 Jno Bostwick Lydiat 5 0 Jno Whitehead Maw walls 2 6 John Brooks Quick 2 6 James Bottomley Wall hill 2 6 Ebzr Hunt Delph 10 6 Thos Malalieu Tinkers 5 0 Wm Booth Woodhouse 3 0 Sarah Wild Butterworth-hall 2 6 Sarah Whitehead Knotthill lane 2 6 Abraham Clegg Butterworth-hall 3 0 Mary Holden Sandbed 2 6 £2 18 0 £2 17 6

Sarah Holden Sandbed Sam. Hall Whitelee 2 6 Ann Holden Sandbed 2 6 Betty Hawkyard WhiteLee 2 0 Benj Turner Binns 2 6 John Malalieu Philips 2 6 Joseph Wrigley Broadhead 2 6 Jas Malalieu Philips 2 6 Benj Wrigley Broadhead 2 6 Geo. Malalieu Moorgate 2 6 John Lawton Knothil lane 2 0 Tim: Wrigley Fox hall 5 0 Robt Kenworthy Salter-hebble 0 6 John Shaw Grains 2 0 Sarah Whitehead Austerlands 2 6 Jas Shaw 2 0 Jas Rhodes Wadehill 1 0 Thos Shaw Clough Head 2 0 Elias Bottomley Wallhill 2 6 John Shaw Clough Head 2 6 Betty Bottomley Hollingreave 2 0 Jno Broadbent Rams clough 2 0 Henry Winterbottom Round Hill 2 0 Hanh Broadbent Rams clough 1 0 Jas Whitehead Sun field 3 0 Ann Buckley Rams clough 0 6 Abrm Bottomley Thurston-ridge 2 0 Jas Broadbent Rams clough 1 0 Mary Bottomley Thurston-ridge 2 0 Hugh Kenworthy Anson house 2 0 Jas Bottomley Thurston-ridge 2 0 Sarah Holden Hill-end 1 0 Jas Bottomley Thurstones 2 6 Dan Holden Sandbed 2 6 Thos Bradbury Digg-lee 2 6 John Platt Whitelee 5 0 Peter Bradbury Digglee 1 0 Jas Bradbury Hawkard 1 0 Nat. Johnson Kinders 3 0 Mary Jones Sklackfield 0 6 John Schofield Andrews-mill 2 0 Jno Broadbent Stones wood 2 0 Jas Whitehead Andrews mill 1 6 Sarah Lees Knothill 2 6 Esther Bottomley Nook 1 6 Nanny Wrigley Thorps 2 6 Nat. Bottomley Nook 1 6 Isaac Bottomley Bank 1 0 Jno Bottomley Nook 1 6 John Malalieu Whickens 5 0 Isaac Bottomley Nook 1 6 Matty Whitehead Blakhouse 2 6 Thos Marshall Fern-lee 1 0 Isaac Broadbent Pob green 1 0 Henry Hoyde Fern le 1 0 Betty Clegg Butterworth hall 2 6 £2 12 0 £3 1 0

Jonn Wrigley Hollingreave 4 0 Benj Gartside. Cherryclough 4 0 Jno Buckley Tunstead 5 0 John Shaw Dumfries 1 0 Sarah Bottomley Hollingreave 2 0 John Gartside Do 1 0 Jno Bottomley Hollingreave 3 0 Isaac Gartside Do 2 0 Abel Robinson Hawkard 2 0 Joseph Gartside Do 4 0 Jas Buckley & Ann Shaw Dumfries 1 0 Betty Buckley Tunstead 7 0 Hannah Whitehead Balkhouse 1 0 Ann Malalieu Philips 2 6 Abm Whitehead Do 1 0 Mary Malalieu Philips 1 6 Martha Wrigley Hollingreave 2 0 Alice Malalieu Philips 1 6 Wm Robishaw Beesom hill 1 0

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Anna Malalieu Philips 2 6 Alexr Ratcliffe Ballsgreave 1 0 Isaac Bottomley Dob-cross 2 6 Anonymous 1 0 Sarah Whitehead Hill end 1 0 Mary Hall Hill End 1 0 Jno Rhodes Delph 2 6 Jno Broadbent Stones-wood 1 0 Sam Kershaw Delph 2 0 Joseph Buckle Tunstead 1 0 Wm Kenworthy Knothil lane 0 6 Henry Buckley New houses 5 0 Jno Scholefield Do 0 6 Hannah Winterbottom Do 3 0 Jas Kenworthy Do 1 0 Mary Carter Heys 1 0 Jas Bradbury Diggledge 2 0 Jas Buckley Rough meadow 2 6 Grace Hague Cherry clough 2 0 Joseph Pomfret Grange 1 0 Abrm Lees Green leech 5 0 Jas Bradbury Digglee 5 0 Ralph Ulfingham Roebuckloe 2 6 Jas Schofield Wellyhole 2 0 Jane Gartside Do 1 0 Jas Bottomley Bank Junr 1 0 Betty Winterbottom Do 1 0 Jas Bottomley Bank Senr 2 0 Sarah Bradbury. Wadehil 1 0 Betty Bottomley Bank 1 0 Jenny Bradbury Do 1 0 Martha Buckley Sha Hall barn 1 0 Jas Andrew Narr lane 3 0 Jonn Hinchliffe Stones wood 0 6 John Kenworthy Anson House 1 0 Abm Hawkard Do 1 0 £3 1 0 £2 9 0

John Hinchliffe Brownhillbridge 1 0 Mary & Esther Lees Whitaker 2 0 Nancy Gartside Cherryclough 1 0 John Botomley Whickedge 3 0 Saml Heap Greenhurst 3 0 Jas Bostwick. Brownhill 1 0 £0 5 0 £0 6 0

The former sums brought forward Col 1 2 18 0 2 2 17 6 3 2 12 0 4 3 1 0 5 3 1 0 6 2 9 0 7 0 5 0 8 0 6 0 Total amount of the Subscriptions Dec 19 1783 £17 9 6 Dec 21 Sarah Gartside Cherryclough 1 0 £17 10 6

Nov 2 1783 At the Meeting of the Subscribers held this Day, it was resolved, that Joseph Claughton of Stones-Wood, James Buckley, late of Wharmton, and Ebenezer Hunt of Delph should be appointed to conduct this affair; and they were then authorized to collect the Subscriptions and make such payments as the business might require; they accounting for the same. Joseph Claughton Drs James Buckley & Ebenezer Hunt £ s d December 19 1783 To the total amount of the subscription 17 9 6 21 To Cash come in since 1 0 £17 10 6 Collected Decr 25 1783 5 5 17 15 11 Do 1 0 £17 16 11

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Contra Crs 1783 Decr 10 By Cash to Joseph Revel for drawing the Circle 1 12 6 18 By Cash to Mr Radford for the Chandeliers &c 14 11 6 19 By Do for 1 doz mold Candles & Carriage 7 8 19 By Do to the Blacksmith 0 0 11 19 By Cash for a Box & Oil 0 1 4 19 By Do to S. Kershaw for Joiner’s work 0 6 0 19 By Do for Carriage of the Chandeliers 0 0 9 23 By 4 pair Snuffers 0 1 4 £17 2 0 25 By Cash paid J B &c 14 11 £17 16 11 At the Public meeting of the Subscribers held at this Chapel December 25th AD 1783 it was resolved by them that these Chandeliers should be used for lighting this Chapel & for no other use whatsoever and that they should never be applied for any other use. TURBULENT TIMES In his address Rev C.W. Clerk referred to Rev Henry Hunt having removed ‘in consequence of some disagreement’ in 1786 also that ‘unpleasant circumstances’ had led to the Rev John Holroyd removed to Denton. It is understandable that, at a time of celebration, he would not have wished to elaborate further on the reasons for the two ministers’ departure. Two surviving documents however provide the background to Mr Holroyd’s departure and evidence of over a century of disagreements between the church members and successive ministers. The first of these documents is a small notebook containing the text of Mr Holroyd’s farewell sermon, which was delivered on the last Sunday in June 1848.27 It contains 58 closely written pages which must have taken over an hour to deliver. In it he gives the reasons for his departure, citing the behaviour towards him by some of his congregation and reflecting on the general state of religion in Delph. He ends by castigating his critics and the congregation as a whole. His review of what he sees as a continued animosity to successive ministers for over a century is particularly valuable in expanding on Rev Clark’s brief account of the early years. He concludes his sermon with five general remarks:- ‘1stly The state of the churches generally, 2ndly The wonted prosperity28 at Delph, 3rdly The lack of prosperity at Delph, 4thly Their treatment of their minister at Delph, 5thly The present position of the congregation at Delph,’ His comments under point 4 is a history of the frequent turmoil in the church and dissatisfaction with the successive ministers. ‘4thly Their opposition to the minister - It is a disagreeable thing to quit a place in consequence of it. It is most humiliating. It agitates various and great thoughts of heart. But to quit some places bears harder upon men’s characters than the quitting of others. At some place it is the fate of nearly all ministers in succession to be removed by force. In the year 1761 came the first minister to this place [Thomas Morgan]. He was a gentleman, a scholar, and a preacher, I doubt whether Delph has had its equal since. Honourable mention is made of him in the annals of Yorkshire. He was distinguished by learning and piety. His course at Delph was a course of trouble, and various opposition drove him thence. His diary remains doing great credit both to his head and his heart. The following are his reflections at the close of his second year. He writes - “I have met with more trouble in this place than has come to my share in all the past period of my life. But blessed be God I have met with many kind providences both of a temporal and a spiritual nature. Part of the people are antinomians in

27 SHS Archives, H/D.IND/31. 28 Prosperity here means religion flourishing and thriving.

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principle of spirit, and they have opposed my principles.29 Scott and Booth have espoused their cause against me. May God convince them of their error.” Soon after, he left Delph and settled at Morley. Here he said that “the trouble and opposition he had met with at Delph had affected him very much.” This good man was succeeded by Thomas Gurnal of whom little remains; but there still remains a tradition that they Broke his heart. After him came William Armitage whose stay was very short. He married the wrong woman, therefore he was considered undeserving of this place. He removed to Chester where he preached with great respect and usefulness; and his wife for whose sake he had so much trouble at Delph - she might not be qualified to move at Delph, but she was qualified to move at Chester. All common sense would cry out against interfering with the marriage of the minister. If the minister were to interfere with the marriage of his congregation he would soon be ordered to mind his own business. But everyone seems to have a right to meddle with the minister’s marriage; and if he should resent it and does not always “turn his back to the smiters” he has not a Christian spirit. Every bad tempered, drunken, cursing, church member, both male and female can exclaim concerning him “what a want of Christian spirit”. ‘After Mr Armstrong came the Rev Mr Hunt. There remained some here when I came who would tell of his manner of life and his sufferings; but the greater part are fallen asleep. It was a most unmerited opposition against him, and many lived to repent of the part they had taken in it when the stimulus had subsided. After him came Mr Blackburn and he died here; and there is a man here to day who can tell you if he will that his widow said that his death was a happy circumstance rather than otherwise, for he had pleased as long as he could. And when he still lay unburied I myself was told that a man living not far off said that it was “a happy event”, for the congregation was just on the eve of an outbreak. There is one man living not far off who could tell how rudely he was used by one man in Harrop Dale who insulted him in the most shameful manner even when between three and four score years of age, addressing him in the second person - thou - thou. This low lived, ill bred insolence - thou and thee was dealt out by one man to Mr Hunt; by another man to Mr Blackburn; and it has been dealt out by another man to me. As far as I know Delph congregation stand so low in this kind of mean language, thus addressing their ministers as I never heard of any other congregation in which any other man ever did it. Strange in this wood of Saddleworth there should now and then be brought forth a Boar of more than ordinary savageness; that here should so frequently be seen a beast like that which Daniel saw in a vision dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly; “It had great iron teeth, [...... ] like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things”. ‘Remember then nearly all the ministers that have officiated here for more than four score years have either been forced away by opposition or have only escaped it by reason of Death, yet there has not been among them one heterodox in the faith of broken character or deficient in talent. All that were forced away lived to old age, finishing their course in honour and usefulness. How it may be with me it remains for days to speak. I have disadvantages they none of them had. I am many years older than any of them were when they left this place, and these are days of aversion to old men, whatsoever be the cause. But I leave you with thankfulness that the causes of your aversion are no stronger than they are. I have indeavoured to live with you according to the Gospel these 25 years (nearly). But the world is not our rest, And though at some times the skies appear serene, yet at other times they gather blackness and appear portentous. In all circumstances we are encouraged to trust in the Lord. I have now passed the Spring and Summer of my life and have entered the Autumn; and I hope that the hand that has hitherto supported me will not be withheld when I reach the Winter of my days.’ But these were not his final remarks, the sermon ends in regret, castigation and bitterness:- ‘And now Farewell Friends, and Foes, Farewell. Farewell the Place the interests of which have been nearer to no man’s heart than mine. “I would have gathered thy children as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings but you would not.” Peace be to thee. and peace be to thine helpers. O that I could say to all of you as was said of the men of Zabulon “They could keep rank”. These were not like many of you - double hearted, broken reeds, deceitful bows, a stubborn and rebellious generation that set not their hearts aright. I leave you now. But you

29 Antinomianism was a doctrine believing Christians are released by grace from following moral law.

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have one thing among you that if you could send it with me it would leave you much better men; in a much happier condition, and better adapted for usefulness. It is best expressed in your own dialect by the term Seatton. Seattonness is a prejudice that time never wears off. It is a moral characteristic which is never subdued. It descends from sires to sons. Nothing but worldly associations and worldly advantage can wear it out. Nothing else has done so much to wear down this congregation as what is understood by the word Seattonness. You will not send it with me. No - you love it. It is characteristic of you. You will be so still. Yea, the inconstant; the two faced; the double tongued; those who bless with their mouths but curse inwardly - they will be so still. “But they will fade away as grass.” Now if my departure be for the better, I shall be (when I know it) the more abundantly reconciled to my lot.’ In none of the cases does it seem the differences were matters of doctrine, but rather who was in control, the church members or the congregation. Independency after all was about personal freedom of religion; its foundation based on a rejection of Bishops, the prayer book and religious hierarchy. The second document provides more details of the events that led up to Mr Holroyd’s departure and is dated two months earlier, on 27th April 1848.30 It is an address to ‘The Church and Congregation assembling in the Independent Chapel, Delph’ by Abel Schofield 31 of Spring House, Delph (now the Saddleworth Hotel), a young woollen manufacturer and member of the congregation. It was intended as a brief for a meeting that was to take place on the 15th May following. A strong supporter of Mr Holroyd, in it Abel Schofield sets out the events that led ultimately to the resignation of the minister. The address concludes with a summary of these events:- ‘In 1845 the number of trustees surviving under the last deed, was three, viz, JAMES BUCKLEY, Esq, of Hollyville;32 Messrs JOHN GARTSIDE of Dorey,33 and JAMES KERSHAW of Dobcross.34 At the time of Mr HOLROYD’s Election, there were 16 Trustees. Mr Gartside of Dorey was against his election, and Mr Kershaw was said to be of a neutral party. I believe all the rest were favourable to Mr Holroyd. Since then, it seems Messrs Gartside and Kershaw have united, as since 1845 they have combined in action, and Mr Buckley states they have seldom consulted him regarding Delph Chapel matters; and when they have done so, have followed their own plans regardless of his remonstrances. ‘Their first act was to follow a notice to the Collectors of the Chapel, requiring all monies collected in the Chapel, or in connexion with it, to be paid into their hands, or to go through the bank at Dobcross. This being disagreeable to the congregation, a deputation consisting of

30 SHS Archives, H/D.IND/32. 31 Abel Schofield, the son of John Schofield, Jnr of Bleakhey Nook (1783-1837) and Ann his wife. was baptised at Delph on 2 January 1819. Described as woollen manufacturer. he was living with his widowed mother and younger siblings at Spring House, Delph (now the Saddleworth Hotel), in 1841. He was clearly a very self-confident young man to be taking on the two trustees, wealthy and respected elderly members of the community. But just days after Mr Holroyd’s departure, his fortunes and reputation were in ruins - on 28 June 1848 he was found guilty of transferring his property to defraud his creditors and was imprisoned at Wakefield for 21 days. Shortly after his release on 15 October he married Ethelinda Coates at Barwick in Elmet. But by November 1848, he was imprisoned again at York as an insolvent debtor and was declared bankrupt on 18th November of that year. He had separated from his wife by 1861 and had moved to Liverpool where, described as Accountant and Commission Agent, was living in lodgings and with his daughter, aged 10. In prison again for debt, he was declared bankrupt a second time on 17 December 1865, still working as a commission agent, but this time also as proprietor of the Liverpool and Birkenhead County Court Gazette. He was discharged from bankruptcy the next year and by 1871 had moved to Cheetham, Manchester where he was again living in lodgings and working as an accountant. Now he was living alone, his daughter having remained in Liverpool. He probably died in Chorlton in 1879 (Civil Registration of Deaths Index). 32 James Buckley of Hollyville, Esq (1776-1850). Partner, Buckley, Roberts & Co. later the Saddleworth Banking Company. He built Hollyville c.1815. 33 James Gartside of Dorey, later Denshaw House (1776-1857). 34 James Kershaw of Dobcross, banker (1792-1850).

96 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL the Deacons (Thomas Greaves, Thurston Clough, and Ralph Hepworth, Wallhill-barn) Rev Mr Holroyd, and myself, waited upon Mr Kershaw, to remonstrate with him on such a requirement. We found him unyielding, indeed he threatened to lock up the place if the same were not done. His conduct was then particularly uncourteous towards Mr Holroyd. ‘In 1846, it became known that Mr Henry Gartside, of Ashtonunderlyne, Attorney, had received instructions from Messrs Gartside and Kershaw, to prepare a new deed with alterations from the last one, and Trustees chosen by them alone, without even the consent or knowledge of the persons chosen. In December of the same year, a Portion of land at Gatehead, Harrop-edge, was bought by Messrs Gartside and Kershaw, on Chapel Account, without the knowledge or consent of any other parties interested.

Figure 6. James Buckley of Hollyville (1766-1850)

Mike Buckley/Julian Hunt Collection ‘In February, 1847, Mr Holroyd received a notice from Mr H. Gartside, on behalf of his clients, requiring him to quit possession in 6 months. A few days after, a few of the principal supporters of the place met in the School-room, to consult on these proceedings, which resulted in instructions being given to Messrs Ainley of Delph, to warn the Trustees, and signify the illegality of the of the choice of Trustees, by giving them a copy of the clause in the last deed relating thereto. On Sunday Afternoons the 7th and 14th days of February, notice was read from the pulpit, in proper form, of meeting of male Members to choose new Trustees; which meeting was help in the Vestry of the Chapel on the 15th of February and 2nd of March following; and 13 gentlemen chosen, their consent being obtained by the Trustees. Lists of the names of these Gentlemen were forwarded to each of the old Trustees, and to their Attorney, the day following. In August following, Messrs T. Greaves, R. Hepworth, and J. Schofield, of Stones, at the instigation of Mr Kershaw, waited upon Mr Holroyd to know when he would quit. The first and last of these gentlemen were at the meeting in February, and strongly opposed the proceedings of the two before-mentioned Trustees. ‘In January 1848, Mr Kershaw refused to hand over, the account for why the rents and other monies in hand, due to Mr Holroyd, were not transferred and paid to Mr Holroyd. In the first and second weeks of March, my letter of the 1st of March was circulated, first to the members of the Church, and then to the Congregation. ‘On the 20th March, Mr Buckley of Hollyville, presented a check to the bank, and drew the money due to Mr Holroyd. Mr Kershaw refused to pass the same to Mr Holroyd’s account. Mr Buckley also expressed to Mr Kershaw, his determination that a new deed should be properly made. Mr Buckley paid the money so received to Mr Holroyd the same day.

97 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL

‘On the 26th March, a Meeting of Members and Seatholders called from the Pulpit, was held in the Chapel, immediately after the Afternoon’s Service, at which it was unanimously resolved “That the best thanks of this Church and Congregation are due, and hereby given unto James Buckley, Esq, of Hollyville, for his determination to fulfil his duty as one of the Trustees of this Chapel and its property, and particularly for his having anticipated the wish of this congregation, in requiring that the income which is due to our beloved Pastor should be, and for his kindness in obtaining and paying unto Mr Holroyd, the income which his co- trustees had received, and had unjustly and contrary to our wishes detained from him.”

‘Memorials were also laid before the meeting; one to Mr Holroyd expressing sympathy with him in his trials, promising to support him, and requesting that he would still stay amongst us: and another, to be presented to the Trustees, expressing disapprobation at any money being withheld from Mr Holroyd, requesting the new deed to be made with the same powers as the last one, and with the gentlemen for Trustees chosen by the Church, and to present their accounts for audit. ‘These memorials were signed the same evening and the week following, and shewed a very decided majority against the 2 Trustees. The memorial was presented on the 1st of April, and the one to the Trustees, to Mr Buckley, on the 8th. ‘On the 6th of April , Mr Buckley received from Mr H. Gartside, Attorney, a Draft of Deed, and a Letter requesting him to meet his father (Mr Gartside of Dorey) at Mr Kershaw’s, Dobcross, on the 7th, as to “Delph Chapel Matters, and appointment of trustees.” On the 7th Mr Buckley went to Dobcross, and was immediately presented with a Deed engrossed upon Stamps for his signature. He refused to sign, stating he should consider it a violation of the Trust reposed in him, to sign any such deed. Mr Buckley endeavoured to accommodate the matter, by presenting the gentlemen individually, as chosen by the Church for Trustees, and not in his Co-trustees choice. To all of whom Mr Gartside, peremptorily refused to submit. The deed was the same day signed by all or most of the new trustees; but nothing was hinted to Mr Buckley of it, and he was not aware that the deed was so signed until he was informed of it, some days later. ‘On the 14th of April, Mr Kershaw and the newly appointed trustees had a meeting in the chapel. On the 23rd, notice was given in the Chapel, for the male church members and the male pewholders, to meet in the School-room, the day following, at which the Trustees would present their Accounts for inspection. According to the former deed, the male church members alone are to audit the accounts. On the 24th the Meeting was held, and accounts for the last 3 years were read up to the Meeting. The money, however, drawn by Mr Buckley, and paid to Mr Holroyd, was not given in these accounts, although there were other items of more recent transactions given. ‘Of the new Trustees, one of the Deacons only has attended to the duties of the Sacrament and to the Church Meetings; the other has not attended to either for more than 9 months and not to a weekly prayer Meeting with scarcely an exception for several years. One who is a member of the Church has only once sat down or attended any Church Meeting for nearly 3 years. Two have been constant attenders at the Chapel but are not Members. Two have attended the Chapel since they came into the neighbourhood. And 3 if not 4 have I believe before had no settled place of worship. I therefore, for these reasons, decidedly object to the men chosen by Messrs Gartside and Kershaw being Trustees for the Independent Chapel, Delph, and its Property.’ The minister was paid the salary due to him, Mr Gartside and Mr Kershaw succeeded in their act of appointing new trustees, Mr Holroyd left a month later. But the power struggle between the trustees and key members of the congregation did not end with Mr Holroyd’s departure. The Rev Clark in his address recounted how twenty years later the issue of the powers of the trustees once more came to a head and this time resulted in the closing of the chapel and school and in litigation in the Court of Chancery. The court ruled in favour of the congregation and ordered that a new trust deed be made ‘more in accordance with Congregational principles and usages’, placing the power in the hands of the Church instead of in the hands of the trustees, as was the case formerly.’ Even then it was not until 1884 that a new trust deed was finally adopted.

98 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL

Mike Buckley Collection

Figure 7. John Gartside Memorial, formerly in Delph Independent Chapel

In Memory of JOHN GARTSIDE OF DENSHAW HOUSE IN THIS PARISH GENTLEMAN BORN AT PARK IN MARSDEN MAY 12TH 1771 DIED FEBRUARY 11TH 1852, AGED 81. HE WAS MARRIED TO ANN DAUGHTER OF THE LATE JAMES HAMPSON OF ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE GENTLEMAN BY WHOM HE HAD THREE SONS AND FOUR DAUGHTERS THREE OF THE LATTER DYING IN INFANCY. HE WAS JOINED WITH THE CHURCH IN THIS PLACE FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY AND ON THE 18TH JULY 1816 HE WAS APPOINTED A TRUSTEE OF THIS CHAPEL AS A CONSISTENT NONCONFORMIST HE FIRMLY HELD THROUGHOUT HIS LONG LIFE THE PRINCIPLES OF INDEPENDENCY AND IN POLITICS WAS A SINCERE ADVOCATE OF THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE. IN EXHORTING HIS FAMILY HE OFTEN SAID “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you”. A PRECEPT WHICH HE EXEMPLIFIED AND ILLUSTRATED. FAMILIAR WITH THE WORD OF GOD HE ENDEAVOURED TO LIVE BY ITS GUIDANCE AND DIED SUPPORTED BY ITS PROMISES. “In a full age like a shock of corn cometh in his season”, HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE IN THE ASSURED HOPE OF LIFE ETERNAL THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD. HIS BODY IS INTERRED IN THE HIGHER BURIAL GROUND OF THIS CHAPEL. The memory of the just is blessed PROVERBS X. 1. THE BUST WHICH IS A FAITHFUL LIKENESS IS WITH THIS TABLET ERECTED BY HIS ELDEST SON JOHN AND HIS YOUNGEST SON JAMES HAMPSON GARTSIDE

99 DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL

SHS Archives H/D.IND/32

Figure 8. Handbill advertising the opening of the New Independent Chapel 1866

100 SHSB, VOL. 50, No. 3, 2020

MISSING BAPTISMS FROM THE REGISTERS OF DELPH INDEPENDENT CHAPEL Mike Buckley The baptisms registers of Delph Independent Chapel commence in 1783 in the time of the Rev Henry Hunt. They appear to have been well kept during Hunt’s time and for the first few years of his successor Rev Noah Blackburn. But after 1794 the entries become fewer each year and it was not until 1811 that Blackburn resumed keeping a proper record. The burial register was similarly neglected by Blackburn. After a start in 1792, a couple of years later he gave up and there are no entries until his successor arrived in 1824. The chapel was popular under Noah Blackburn and well attended and the absence of baptism and burial records presents a major obstacle in studying many Saddleworth families during this period. Even more problematic is the complete absence of baptism and burial records for the forty years or so following the establishment of the chapel in 1746. A chance find by Society member Anne Quade, however, has shone a brief spotlight on the activities and attendance at the chapel in the early 1760s. From 1760 to 1763 the Rev Thomas Morgan was pastor. Many of his papers are now deposited in the National Library of Wales and among these ‘The Account Book of Thomas Morgan of Carmarthen’ records that in 1761 Susan Hanmer was his servant, and from 1762-63 two sisters, Sarah and Martha Bottomley.1 Many purchases from Mr. John Whitehead, who sold everything from turf, oat meal, flour and hops to medicines like rhubarb powders, are listed. Another of his books, ‘Notes and Sermons of Thomas Morgan, M.V.D.’ was discovered by Anne on the Mormon on-line catalogue and this contains baptisms from his time at Pembokeshire 1746-51 and while at Delph 1760-63. The Delph baptisms are given below:-

DELPH DISSENTING CHAPEL THE NAMES OF THE CHILDREN BAPTISED BY THOMAS MORGAN, M.V.D. 1759 23 Nov? Ralph, s. of Jo. Whitehead

1760 .... May Anna, d. of Thomas Platt 7 July Hugh, s. of Hugh Kenworthy 21 July Anna, d. of Jonathan Hall 30 Aug Sally, d. of Moses Bottomley 2 Sept Ralph, s. of Robert Lion of Tinfell [Tintwisle?] 12 Sept Jesse, s. of Isaac Bottomley 16 Sept James, s. of William Shaw ...... public [?] 20 Sept Mary, d. of Nathaniel Waterhouse 7 Oct Betty, d. of J. Shaw

1761 2 or 12 Jan Alice, d. of James Buckley of Tunstead 28 Feb James, of Eneas Bottomley ? [blank] d. of [blank] dead ..... Desy [?] and buried at Saddleworth by Mr. Higginbottom 5 or 8 Mar William, s. of Samuel Sunderland of Wokey 15 Mar John, s. of Robert Winterbottom 5 April Mary, d. of William Barber of Closs......

1 H.J. Lloyd-Johnes, ‘The Account Book of Thomas Morgan of Carmarthen’, National Library of Wales Journal, Vol IX, No. 1, (1955), pp. 60-64 available at http://journals.library.wales/view/ 1277425/1280154/61#?xywh=-1079%2C22%2C4788%2C2930.

101 MISSING BAPTISMS

1 June Benjamin, s. of James Bottomley 14 June Nelly, d. of [blank] 27 June John, s. of John or Joseph [name written over] Buckley of Linfits 15 July John, s. of Jonathan Kenworthy 17 Oct Abram, s. of Nathaniel Bottomley 25 Oct George, s. of William Adshead of Dukinfield 29 Oct Sarah, d. of Benjamin Green of New Mills 8 Nov John, s. of Eneas Bottomley of Digglee 15 Nov Radcliffe, s. of Jo. Whitehead of Delph

1762 7 Jan John, s. of John Buckley of Oldham P. ... Feb Alice, d. of Edmund Whitehead of Denshaw 22 Feb Aron, s. of John Cheatham of Dukinfield 21 Mar Mary, d. of John Broadbent of Oldham 18 April Betty, d. of Hugh Kenworthy of Delph 12 May John, s. of Isaac Bottomley of Kinders 16 May Sarah, d. of [blank] Carter 29 May Betty, d. of Corn. Buckley of Delph 13 June William, s. of William Walton or Watton of Manchester 16 June Anne, d. of [blank] Platt of Barn 11 July Lydia, d. of Jo. Kinder of Dukinfield 18 July Samuel, s. of Jos. Shaw of High Barn .... Sept James, s. of Jo. Buckley of Pinfold 10 Oct Deborah, d. of Robert Hoult 10 Oct John, s. of Jo. Bradbury of .....ld'm or ....ld'r

1763 2 Jan Aron, s. of Moses Bottomley 9 Jan Sarah, d. of John Lees 15 Jan Joseph, s. of James Kenworthy

From the names it can be seen that attendance was by no means limited to residents in the Delph area but included families from as far away as Dukinfield, Manchester and New Mills. The average number of baptisms in the years 1761 and 62 was 15, this can be compared with the average number of 160 at St Chad’s, and, although not a statistically valid sample, it shows that less than 10% of the Saddleworth families were attending Delph Chapel at this time.

102