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OR

Annals and Antiquities of the Little Don and Ewden Valleys, with an Account of some Old Industries in Hunshelf and Waldershelf.

SUBJECT.

BOLSTERSTONE GLASS HOUSE

and its place in

The History of English Glass Making.

BY JOSEPH KEN WORTHY, Author of the Jubilee History of the Stocksbridge Co-operative Society, and many papers on local antiquities, etc.

WITH 19 ILLUSTRATIONS.

Read with care-hide each fault you see, And when you've done, I pray remember me. The Contrast by JAMES WILLS, 1827.

PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH KEN WORTHY, STRETTON VILLA, DEEPCAR, NEAR SHEFFIELD. 1914.

(All Rights Reserved.) To

R. H. R. W., ESQ.

.I bring thee the flower which was in the Beginning, the glorious lily of the great Water.' Text from Denderah (Egypt). Preface.

HE author offers no apology for weaving what he has to say about T Bolsten3tone Glass in the tissue of a larger presentment of the subject. No other course is open to him, if the annals of the early history of our district are to be of service to the general reader.

The substitution of Pot House for the older name, Glass House, and the withdrawal of tradition before the advance of a generation whose past is largely elsewhere, has rendered both site and memory inarticulate, if not absolutely meaningless, to many of those who may be regarded as old inhabitants.

It is, therefore, imperative that the historical sequence shall first be recovered, in order that the full beauty and teaching of the work accomplished by local craftsmen of a former generation may not only quicken the intellect, but stir the heart, to emulate the good that the Past has bequeathed for the edification and reproof of the Present.

The sources drawn upon by the writer and the help afforded by those who have so ably photographed the few things which remain, fragile and otherwise, are duly acknowledged in the text.

The author also offers his best thanks to Dr. Longmuir, and to Dr. Swinden, of Stocksbridge Works, for the valuable analyses they have so kindly furnished in their desire to render his work more complete and instructi ve.

God had chosen little nations as the vessels by which he carried the choicest wines to the lips of humanity to rejoice their hearts, to exalt their vision, and to stimulate and strengthen their faith, aud if we had stood by when lit.tle nations were being crushed and broken by the brutal hands of barbarism, onr shame would have rung down the evetlasting ages. THE RIGHT HON. D. LLOYD GEORGE, M.P., at the Queen's Hall, London, Sept. 19, 1914. Contents.

PAGE

Notes on the Early History of Glass Making '."""""""""""""""""""'" 9

Purchasers of glass formerly specified that glass of English manufacture would not be accepted. There were well-to-do people living in the Little Don Valley between 1650 and 1750 who had no knowledge of the goods produced at the Bolsterstone Glass Housff ...... 11

Who founded the Bolsterstone Glass House? ...... 17

Robert Blackburn-What is known of him and of his successors at the Bolsterstone Glass House """""""'''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ...... 20

A description of all the specimens of Bolsterstone Glassware known to be in existence, with approximate dates, and a list of the various articles pro- duced at this famous factory as revealed by a careful study of the fragments which remain " :.... 29

Can we discover what methods and ingredients were used in the manufacture of glass at Bolsterstone Glass House by a close scrutiny of the refuse to be found on cinder hill and spoil heap? ...... 33

What our forefathers drank and the glasses they used """'" 41 Illustrations.

NO. PAGE

1. Crystal Vase of Flint Glass made at the Bolsterstone Glass House.- A. D. 1710-1740 ...... (Frontispiece)

2. Hunting-horn made at the Bolsterstone Glass House.-A. D. 1710-1740. 9

3. Some ancient glass at Wigtwizzle Hall. 11

4. Underbank Hall in 1914 ... 14

5. Thirteen representative specimens of Drinking-glasses made at the Bolsterstone Glass House.-A. D. 1670-1740. 16

6. The Bolsterstone Glass House in 1914. South side.-The portion on the left is built on 'crucks,' and probably of the fifteenth century. The portion on the right hand is late seventeenth century... 19 7. The Bolsterstone Glass House in 1914. East side.-The left hand portion is early eighteenth century. 20

8. Sugar-basin and Cream-jug made at the Bolsterstone Glass House.- A.D.1710-1740. ... 23

9. Candlestick and Drinking-glasses made at the Bolsterstone Glass House.-A. D. 1700-1740. 26

10. Toy-jug and basin, Ink-horn, Scent-jar, Decanter, Beaker, and Flower- holder, made at the Bolst~rstone Glass House.-A. D. 1670-1740 28

11. Tobacco-pipe and Rolling-pin made at the Bolsterstone Glass House.- A. D. 1710-1740 ... 32

12. The Bolsterstone Glass House in 1914. The furnaces were located in this structure, which has long been adapted to farming requirements. 35

13. An open glass-pot or crucible such as used at the Bolsterstone Glass House. A reconstruction based on fragments found on the site. 36

14. The Bolsterstone Glass House in 1914. A bedroom in the oldest portion she wing , crucks.' 38

15. The Bolsterstone Glass House in 1914. The back of the outbuilding where the furnaces were located, with remains of one of the furnaces in position. 39 16. Decanter with name and floral device.-The neck has been broken and and ground down. It was probably made at the Bolsterstone Glass House not later than A. D. 1740. 42

17. Old Broomhead Hall. Built in A. D. 1640, and probably altered and enlarged in A.D. 1773.... 43

18. A Black glass bottle from Broomhead Hall.-One of many types made at the Bolsterstone Glass House. 44

19. Rummer with engraved band made at the Bolsterstone Glass House.- A.D.1720-1740. ... 45 .:::~:::: Photo. No.1. J. Bradbury.

Crystal Vase of Flint Glass made at the Bolsterstone Glass House. A. D. 1710-1740. Bolsterstooe Glass House aod its place io tbe History of Eoglisb Glass Makiog.

Many authorities concur in assigning the merit of the invention of glass to the Phoenicians ; and the assertion of Pliny is often repeated, which attributes the discovery to accident. Some storm-driven mariners were boiling their food on the sands at the mouth of the river Belus,-a small stream running from the foot of Mount Carmel, in Galilee,-where the herb kali was growing abundantly, and are said to have perceived that the sand, when incorporate.d with the ashes of this plant, melted and ran into a vitreous substance. It is certain that the sand about this spot was well adapted to the manufacture of glass, and probably the glass-houses of Tyre and Sidon were supplied thence with this material, which may have given rise to the tradition. The Cabinet Cyclopaedia, pub. 1832. --

Notes on the Early History of Glass-making.

E naturally turn to the East for information respecting the W origin of an art whose loveliest productions reflect some- thing of the splendour of the Orient,' and Messrs. Perrot and Chipiez very truly remark in their History of Art in Phoenicia and Cyprus, pub. b~ Chapman and Hall, in 1885, that the real inventors of glass were the Egyptians. They also shew, in a very able manner, how the ancients were led to ascribe the invention of such a substance to the Phoenicians from the fact that they were the pur- veyors of Egyptian glass, in the Mediterranean basin, at a time when Greece was more intent on the perfecting of her ceramic ware, and Rome an unknown quantity. Dr. Flinders Petrie when allud- ing to Egyptian glass in his Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt says, 'there has been much misunder- standing about the age of glass in No. 2. Egypt. Figures of smiths blowing Photo. J. Bradbury. a fire with reeds tipped with clay Hunting-horn have been quoted as figures blow- madeat the BolsterstoneGlassHouse. A. D. 1710-1740. ing glass though no blown glass is 10 Early History of Stocksbridge.

known in Egypt before Roman times...... There does not seem to have been any working of glassy material by itself apart from a base of stone or pottery, until after 1600 B. C.' With further reference to the Phoenicians, who became such capable pupils of Egypt in this art, we are told that glass furnaces flamed on the Syrian coasts for two thousand years and more, and, that in the twelfth century of the Christian era, Tyre had several glass-works in full activity, which in process of time transferred their trade, with its traditions, to Hebron, in Palestine, whose manufactures are to-day exported by Arab and Jewish traders even as far as the Sudan. Greece and Rome, in the fulness of time, also furnished their quota to the productions distributed by the Phoenicians, who have been so fitly described as 'the pedlars of antiquity,' hence the beautiful specimens of Greek and Roman glass we see figured in Du Chaillu's useful work entitled The Viking Age, pub. in 1889, which objects were found in Scandinavian graves of the Later Bronze Age, and also in graves of the Transition period, where implements of iron were lying side by side with articles of bronze. The Romans, whose conquest and occupation of Britain commenced with J ulius Caesar's second invasion in 54 B. C. and ended witn the declaration of the Emperor Honorius in A. D. 410, that the Britons were free from allegiance to Rome, became very proficient in the art of glass-making. Indeed, judging from the following' finds' exhibited for the instruction of the members of the British Archaeological Associ- ation, in 1878, as recorded in their Journal for that year, the Romans made glass in London and possibly elsewhere in Great , Britain :- It has been taken for granted the Romans imported glass from Sidon or Egypt, and were not manufacturers, at least in London. This question raised by the discovery five years ago of a glass melting pot,.together with fragments of glass in Southwark Street, apparently of Roman origin, may perhaps be answered by the specimens ofglass now exhibited. Collection No. 1 is from Southwark Street, I and consists of fourteen specimens, one of Roman window glass, a tear bottle, tubes, a solid reed, portion of a lip of a large jar or urn, and crystal-droppings from the melting pots. No. 2 Collection is from Clements'Lane. Here were found, together with Roman pavements, and this rim of a large painted Samian vessel, a mass of green and white glass slag, weighing nearly half a hundred- weight, to which this piece belonged; two small masses of blue glass, each retaining portions of the pot in which they were melted; a rim ofan urn of olive glass, a portion of a basin, with filagree lines of white; the handle of a small drinking cup, a portion of imitative chalcedony, two mixers, one having within a white line, and cut without in Roman facets, and what appears intended as a bottle for tears or ointment. Also a tool of iron-from the blue Roman earth so known to antiquaries-for pressing and moulding the ornamental portions of glass vessels, presenting a pattern very similar to those from Cyprus. The whole subject is very interesting and these discoveries certainly point towards the conclusion, even if they do not absolutely reach it, that Roman glass was manufactured in London by perhaps Egyptian manipulators. Further, Llewellynn J ewitt, F.S.A., in a delightful little work entitled Half Hours among some English Antiquities, pub. in 1884, informs the reader that the art of glass-making was practised simultaneously in the Sax on period in Germany, France, and our own country, and considers there is no reason for assuming that the Anglo-Saxons derived their knowledge exclusively from the Bolsterstone Glass House. 11

Romans. He also adds that though the manufacture of glass for domestic purposes may be shewn to have declined during the early Mediaeval period the art was never really lost. Economy of space, and the importance of placing in its true perspective the contribution made at a later age by the Little Don Valley to the art of glass-making, demands that these introductory notes shall not only be consistent with established facts, but as brief as possible. The reader will therefore pardon our proceeding, without further delay, to a relation of those circumstances which enabled the Bolsterstone Glass House to produce some of the choicest specimens now existing of seventeenth and eighteenth century glass, -a factory and a glass unknown to collectors, whose eager questionings cannot be answered, with any degree of satisfaction, until the historical sequence of a forgotten local industry is recovered, and to this task we now apply ourselves.

Purchasers of glass formerly specified that glass of English manufacture would not be accepted. There were well- to-do people living in the Little Don Valley between 1650 and 1750 who had no knowledge of-the goods produced at the Bolsterstone Glass House.

When in 1439 the Countess of War- wick placed an order with John Pruddhe, of Westminster, glazier, the contract stipulated that, in the work he was engaged to do, he was to use 'no glass of England' but glass' from beyond the seas. , The glass in question was probably window-glass, which was used in great houses from the time of the Romans, e.g. in the Roman Station at Chesters on the Roman Wall, the Museum cata- logue says:- On the west side is an interesting chamber with a circular bay, in which will be seen a splayed opening or window about four feet wide; outside this window Dr. Bruce found some fragments No. 3. of Roman window-glass, which was cloudy on Photo. P. Downing. one side and clear on the other, and he accounted for this peculiarity by saying that the Romans Some ancient glass at made the molten glass into sheets by pouring it Wigtwizzle Hall. out upon flat stones. We also learn from John Aubrey, the Wiltshire Antiquary, (1626-1697), that :- glass windows except in churches and gentlemen's houses were rare before the time of Henry the Eighth (1509-1547). In my own remembrance, before the Civil Wars, (1642-1649), copyholders and poor people had none in Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, and Salop; it is so still. 12 Early History of Stocksbridge.

This, as explained by S. O. Addy, M.A. in his Evolution of the English House first pub. in 1898, was owing to the comparative dearness of glass which prevented its more frequent use in early times. In the Account Book kept by William Dickenson, Bailiff of Sheffield, under the Earl of Shrewsbury in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, (1558-1603), there occurs an item in connexion with the building of a new house in Sheffield, in 1575, which reads as follows, viz.:- 'Paid to Dewk the glasyer for xvj foots for my wyndows, viijs.'

This amount is equal to sixpence a square foot, and it is important to note that, of six men engaged in walling at that date, one received sixpence a day, four were rated at fourpence a day, and the sixth at twopence per day. They were provided with food at the expense of the employer, which is entered at fourpence per day for each man. In 1557 there were glass-works at Ohiddingford in Sussex, whose productions are evidently referred to in Harrison's Description of 1586, where it is said that the frail but beautiful Venetian glass was actually contesting the place of honour with the precious metals, and as vessels of such good quality glass were too dear for the poorer people, 'they content themselves with such as are made at home of ferne and burned stone.'

According to E. Wyndham Hulme, who in 1895, contributed a series of articles on 'English glass-making in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Oenturies' to The Antiquary, the trade in Venetian glass seems to have originated in the fourteenth century, but it was not until 1450-1500 that their manufacture and decorative treatment of crystal glass won that universal admiration which stimulated others to equal, if not surpass them. As a result of this enterprise we find that permission was granted to J ames Verselyne, 'a Venetian, inhabiting our Oity of London, who hath to his great cost erected and set up one furnace and employed divers and sundry persons for the making of drinking-glasses and hath undertaken to teach and bring up in the said art and knowledge our natural subjects born within our realms of England and elsewhere within any other of our Dominions which art and knowledge when known and wrought hereafter by our subjects cannot but grow to the benefit of our common weal for that great sums of money have gone forth of our said realms into the parts beyond the Seas for that manner of ware.'

This interpretation of a portion of a lengthy document of great interest will be sufficient to shew that Queen Elizabeth was astute enough to seize upon every likely opportunity of fostering and improving the industrial capabilities of England, because this agreement was signed on December 15, 1574, for a term of twenty-one years in the hope that our countrymen would at the end of that period have become so proficient in the art and mystery of making glass as would enable them to meet all home requirements. Bolsterstone Glass House. 13

Verselyne's glass-house was situate at Crutched Friars, in London, and Stow, the historian, says that it was burnt to the ground together with a great stock of wood (fuel) in September, 1575. It must have been rebuilt fairlr soon, because we find that it was in full working order in 1589. James Verselyne (referred to by some writers as Jacob Verzelini) was born at Venice in 1522, from whence he migrated to Antwerp, where he married in 1557, and afterwards removed, with his wife and family, to England, where he died in 1606, his remains being interred at Down, in Kent, where the brasses of himself and wife are still preserved. The granting of a licence to James Verselyne was vigorously opposed by the retail houses of London, which meant, so they said, the ruin of fifty households engaged in the importation of glass-ware. They also urged the great loss that would fall upon the shippers, and the consequent drop in revenue' at the customs,' not forgetting the devastation that would be worked in our forests, it being estimated that the consumption averaged four hundred thousand billets, (or logs cut for fuel), per glass-house, per year. The grant, however, was confirmed, and renewed from time to time, subject to the unconditional right of the Crown to terminate the monopoly in case any growth of friendship between this country and the City of Venice should render it expedient to cancel the said agreen1'ent. It is not necessary, for our purpose, however, to follow too closely the subject of Verselyne's grant, nor yet the history of Winchester House, in Southwark, which became the head-quarters of the Italian industry early in the seventeenth century, as we are more interested in shewing that the Bolsterstone Glass House was called into existence by the presence of suitable seams of clay and coal and a good reserve of woodland growth at Bate Green, which justified the enterprise, as proved by the reputation acquired. For instance, in 1614 all previous monopolies in the manu- facture of glass were withdrawn and a new patent issued, in which the importation of foreign glass was strictly forbidden, and the manufacture of glass with wood fuel absolutely prohibited, on account of the great decay of our forests by reason of glass furnaces and ironworks. Sir Robert Mansel, who eventually became possessed of the sole rights conferred by the patent of 1614, had the manufacture of English glass in his own hands for over thirty years, during which it was alleged that great deterioration had followed the use of coal instead of wood, and in 1637-1638 the Worshipful Company of Glaziers condemned Mansel's glass as being bad, dear, and insufficient, and th6 patentee was urged to uphold the quality of his manufacture. In spite of the most strenuous and well-directed efforts of Mansel, (who died between 1650 and 1660), to improve and extend the manufacture of English glass, the monopoly proved unsatis- factory to a public exploited by unscrupulous dealers in foreign glass, and unremunerative to the patentee. 14 Early History of Stocksbridge.

A splendid tribute, however, was paid, consciously or uncon- sciously, to the ability displayed by the late Sir Robert Mansel, who did yeoman service for his country in placing the glass industry of this country on a secure footing, by a Proclamation that was issued in 1664, which prohibited the importation of looking-glass and other plates, spectacle-glasses, burning-glasses, tubes, etc., on the ground that the Venetians were flooding the English market with their wares at unremunerative prices with the object of ruining . a manufacture lately found and brought to perfection.'

George Villiers, the second Duke of Buckingham, (1628-1687), who seems to have succeeded to the remnant of Mansel's London business, proceeded on the strength of this proclamation, to establish a glass-house at Vauxhall, in London, in or about 1670, where a company of Italians under the superintendence of one, Rosetti, eventually produced mirror and coach-glass of such dimensions and excellent quality as greatly enhanced the reputation of English glass. r ~-~ --

Photo. No. 4. Biltcliffe. Underbank Hall in 1914.

This nobleman was a Yorkshire land-owner, he being Lord of the Manor of Kirkby-Moorside, and whose death, after hunting in that district, occurred, according to Pope's well known lines,- In the worst inn's worst room, with mat half hung, The floors of plaster, and the walls of dung, etc. which are said to be an exaggeration, due to his dislike of a man whose private life partook of the profligate character peculiar to the age in which he lived. Miss Wilmer in her excellent guide to Early English Glass, pub. in 1910, says that prior to 1664 drinking-glasses had also been forbidden articles of commerce, though, the nation was practically in a position to supply most of its own needs in glass at the expiration of Mansel's patent. Bolsterstone Glass House. 15

A merchant named Green, however, in spite of the prohibition to import glass, did so, and thus built up a huge business in both drinking-vessels and looking-glass plates. Of course he was only one of many who trafficked with Venice during the latter half of the seventeenth century, but he appears to have flourished above the rest. But, as the seventeenth century drew to a close, Venetian glasses came over in diminishing quantities, being finally ousted by those of ElIglish manufacture.

In this consummation the Bolsterstone G lass House played a worthy part, for tradition says that when these works were at the height of their prosperity, the female occupants of Underbank Hall, in Langsett township, gredtly desired to possess a full complement of the best table-glass that could be obtained, and Mr. Fenton was to do what he could for them on his next visit to London.

He must have been greatly $urprised-by the way the story has survived-to find on inquiry that the glass-wai'e placed before him, for his approval, was described as 'Bolsterstone GlasB, the finest quality on the market.'

'Did you "ay" Bolsterstone Glass'" queried the astonished owner of U nderbank Hall. 'I ask this, because, if you are not deceiving me, I could have got all I wanted at home!'

The graceful outlines of the older drinking glasses are highly suggestive of an Egyptian influence. The bell-shaped bow Is supported by stalk-like stems, though not so delicately formed as those of Murano, or Venetian drinking-vessels of the sixteenth century, are so wonderfully like those of the lotus flower on its stalk-see Goodyear's Grammar of the Lotus, pub. in 1891, and Petrie's Egyptian Decorative Art, pub. in 1895, that it is just possible English makers may have copied some early Phoenician example found in ancient store or burial mound.

The fact, communicated to me by R. H. Rimington- Wilson, Esq., of Broomhead RaJI, that this shape of bowl is said to conserve the full flavour of the wine conveyed therein, is another proof that the nearer we approach to Nature, the more easily do we attain to that simple beauty which is wedded to objects of real utility. .

Yes, English glass of late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries cannot be excelled. The glass of that period in its return to natural forms is full of interest to the collector, not only from an historical stand-point but also from a truly artistic point of view, and we heartily agree with the late Mr. Percy Bate in his great work entitled English Table Glass, pub. by N ewnes, in their Library of Applied Arts, a few years ago, where he says :- 'Thomas Carlyle, that old Philistine, defamed the dead years when he described the eighteenth century as "massed up in our minds as a disastrous wrecked inanity, not useful to dwell upon.'" A characterization more true to fact is certainly demanded when we come within the spell of those charms so peculiar to a display of Old English Table Glass. ~

a b c d e f

g h k m Photo. No. 5. J. Bradhury.

Thirteen representative specimens of Drinking-glasses made at the Bolsterstone Glass House. A.D. 1670-1740. Bolsterstone Glass House. 17

Who founded the Bolsterstone Glass House?

In Chernistry by Writers of Erninence, pub. by William Mac- kenzie during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, we read that :- Early in the fourteenth century the French government made a concession in favour of glass-making, by decreeing, that not only should no derogation from nobility follow the practice of the art, but that none, save gentlemen, or the sons of noblemen, should venture to engage in any of its branches, even as working artizans. It would. be difficult to prove that a like ~dict was ever published in the United Kingdom, but the fact that many of those who were formerly connected with the manufacture of English glass, were men of good family, points to a similar understanding. For instance, J ames Verselyne, the Venetian, married Eliza- beth, of the ancient house of Vanburen and Mace of Belgium, which implies that her husband was also well connected. Further, a list of' his successors in the English glass trade contains such names as Sir J erome Bowes, Sir Percival Hart, Sir William Slingsby, Sir Edward Zouch, Sir Robert Mansel, His Grace the Duke of Buckingham, and many others, who if not enabled, were gentlemen born. Such was George Fox, the founder of Bolsterstone Glass House, to whom we find the following reference in Hunter's Hallarnshire (Gatty's edition), viz.:- Fullwood Hall. This honse was for many ages the seat of a family of the name of Fox, who had considerable possessions in this township and in the adjoining chapelry of Bradfield. Agnes, the wife of John Fox of Fullwood, is mentioned in the Court rolls of the manor of Sheffield, in the 6 Henry VI, (1428), ...... George Fox, of Fullwood Hall, who in all records in which his name appears, is designated" gentleman" and who used as the device on his seal, the crest, a bear rampant supporting a battle-axe, with the motto round" And let God help." I have not found that there was ever a grant of arms to this family. A pedigree like this lends great force to Sir George R. Sitwell's argument in the first volume of The Ancestor pub. by Oonstable, of Westminster, 1902-1905, that the term' gentleman' means' a free man whose ancestors have always been free.' According to Hunter's Farnilies of the Minor Gentry, pub. by the Harleian Society, in 1895, we learn that George Fox, of Brad- field and Fullwood Hall, gentleman, son and heir of WilIiam Fox, was born in 1643, and 'had the glass-works at Bolsterstone.' He was twice married. His first wife, Dorothy, had six children, but whether they d~ed young, or were disinherited, is not said. She died in 1676, being interred at Bradfield on August 11. His second wife, who survived him, was Mary, the second daughter of Francis Pole, of Park Hall, Barlboro,' 00. Derby, an ancient Oatholic family. They were married at Barlborough on November 25, 1679. Five children were born of the second marriage, four sons and one daughter, viz. :- Francis born in 1680 or 1681, a painter, of whom nothing further is recorded. John born December 7th, 1682, of Fullwood, Glass-maker. 18 Early History of Stocksbridge.

James Hunter's Hallarnshire, (Gatty's edition), says 'In the parish register of Bradfield, one of the sons of George Fox is entered as "baptized by a Jesuit, said to be a Popish bishop 4 April, 1684." The entry as given by the Rev. A. Briarly Browne, M.A., in his edition of the Registers of Bradfield, published in 1905, simply reads :-' J ames, sonne of George ffox, gent, borne March the 24 and was baptized the ffourth day of April! following.' Michael baptized August 16th, 1687. Mary born June 16th, 1690. We don't know the date of George Fox's death, but his widow married Robert Blackburn in 1702, which is proved by the Bradfield Parish Register where the record reads as follows ;- '1702. Robert Blagburn and Mary ffox, marryed May ye 5.'

George Fox is said to have wasted his estate and in 1707 it had passed out of the family, and if the particulars given in Hallamshire are correct, John Fox, to whom Fullwood Hall was surrendered, and whose house was registered in 1714 under; the Act of Toleration as a place for the worship of Protestant Dissenters, was not related to George Fox, gent.; of Bolsterstone Glass HOllse.

Mary Fox, the daughter of George Fox, gent., glass-maker, married Wil. Finney, of Catcliffe, at Bradfif1ld, July 13, 1718, according to Hunter's Families of the Minor Gentry, which is confirmed by the Bradfield Parish Register, where we read ;- '1718. William Fenney and Mary Fox married July 13.'

which also records the baptisms of two children born to them, viz.;- 1719. Mary, Daughter of William Fenney, of ye Glass-house, att Bate Green. July ye 29. 1721. Anne, Daughter of William ffenney, of Glass-house, ]3ap. April ye 30th. A family of this name had a house at Townend, near Deepcar, where an old dwelling may still be seen with' 1678 E. F.' inscribed on the door head. A Mr. Fenney was Overseer of the Poor for Waldershelf in 1748 for his farm at Bolsterstone, and William Fynney or Fenney, (it is spelt both ways), a freeholder, owning 45 acres and a house, was awarded 6a. 2r. 18p. on Townend Moor under the Bolsterstone Inclosure Act of 1778.

The Rev. Francis Haigh, B..4., who was Curate of Bolsterstone 1728-1776, also refers to a Mr. Joshua Finney, who, during some portion of his Curacy, was associated with Mr. Wilson, of Broomhead Hall, in the distributi0n of a Dole that was left, in ,1640, to the Poor of Waldershelf and Westnal Quarters, by Richard Gillott, which has since been lost. The reader will now ask' What became of the Glass House at th~edeath of George Fox? Hunter refers to John Fox, the second son by George Fox's second wife as 'glass-maker.' John was born in 1682, and would be in his twentieth year when Robert Blackburn became his step-father. Did John take over the management? We think not, for reasons to be developed further on. Bolsterstone Glass House. 19

There is (or rather there was in Hunter's day) a gravestone in the chancel of Sheffield Parish Church which commemorated the following persons, viz. :-- Robert Blackburne, gentleman, of Bate green.in the chapelry of Bradfield, 1727; Mrs. Winifred Pole, daughter of Francis Pole, Parkhall, esquire, 1731; Elizabeth, relict of John Fox, 1757; Benjamin Blackburne of Alderman's-head in the parish of Peniston, gentleman, 1737; and Michael, son of .John and Elizabeth Fox, 1758. A careful study of this inscription raises a question which is difficult to answer. For instance--was Michael, son of John and Elizabeth Fox, who died in 1758, aged 39 years, the Mr. Mich. Fox who served as Overseer of the Poor for Waldershelf in 1744 for Bate green? If so, he could only have been 25 years old at that date which seems young for public office as things went in those days. Or would the Overseer in question be Michael Fox, the youngest son of George Fox, which son, if alive, would have been 57 years of age?

Photo. No. 6. J. F. Hinchliffe. Bolsterstone Glass House in 1914. South side.-The portion on the left is built on .crucks,'and probablyofthe fifteenth century. The portion on the right hand is late se.enteenth century.

In a History of Oid Sheffield Plate, by Mr. Frederick Bradbury, pub. in 1912, Mr. R. E. Leader, has a note to the effect that' A Worcestershire man, Richard Dixon, who had been employed at the Bolsterstone Glass House removed in 1704 to Whittington, near Chesterfield, where he established a glass factory, which was continued by his decendants for three generations.'

, The fact that Dixon was a Worcestershire man, and that the Finneys probably came from the same neighbourhood - see Guppy's Homes of Family Names, pub. 1890, points to the Finneys having 'had some interest of a practical character in this particular glass-house. Hunter when speaking of Catcliffe in his great work on South Yorkshire, says :- A glass-house was established here in 1740, by a company of persons who had been previously employed in the glass-house, near Bolsterstone, then in high reputation. 20 Early History of Stocksbridge.

Therefore, when we find that William Finney, junior, of Catcliffe assigned Glassworks Farm, etc., at Catcliffe, to John May, of Catcliffe, farmer, in 1759, for the sum of £500, the advent of the Finneys in our neighbourhood and their connexion with the Bolsterstone Glass House is seen to be more than a probability, because the date '1678 E.F.' is quite compatible with their having been induced to settle here in the lifetime of George Fox, to aid him in establishing and carrying on the glass-works at Bate Green, near Spink Hall, in the Waldershelf Quarter of the Chapelry of Bradfield, in the Parish of Ecclesfield.

Photo. No. 7. W. Beckelt. Bolsterstone Glass House in 1914. East side.-The left hand portion is early eighteenth century.

Robert Blackburn-What is known of him and of his successors at the Bolsterstone Glass House.

In John Hobson's Diary. which is included in V 01. 65, devoted to Yorkshire Diaries, pub. by' the Surtees Society in 1877, there occurs the following entry, viz. :- 1727. August lIth.-Mr. Robert Blackburn, of the Glass house, is dead at Sheffeild. Hunter in Families of the Minor Gentry refers to him in relation to Mary Fox as follows, viz. :- . Robert Blackburn of Bate Green in Bradfield, Gentleman, 2nd husband, died 10th August, 1727, buried in Sheffield Church. Will dated 12th May 1716, enrolled 12th October 1727. In a List of Churchwardens for Waldershelf, Mr. Blackburn's name is returned as having served in 1720 for Bate Green. We are, however, unable to discover what age Robert Blackburn had attained at his death in 1727, but in his Will he gave to his loving Bolsterstone Glass House. 21 brother, Benjamin Blackburn, gentleman, of Alderman's Head in Langsett, who died in 1736, aged 62 years, all his messuage, etc., in the township of Denby, which was mortgaged to his brother- in-law, George Walker, of Hunshelf, gentleman. . Hence, any claim that John Fox might prefer as a glass-maker would be overshadowed by the more mature age and experience of his step-father, Mr. Blackburn, who, from the traditions once current concerning him, must have been an estimable gentleman of good business ability. The old folks used to speak of Robert Blackburn as one who was often in the saddle, either seeking orders or collecting accounts, and these journeys were al ways referred to as going to the West country, or returning from the East, etc., in a way which proved the narrators to be a stay-at-home people whose geographical knowledge, beyond that of the cardinal points, was very indefinite. Unfortunately, outside the following tradition, very little has come down to us concerning Robert Blackburn. The story as told by the old folks ran something after this manner. Mr. Blackburn, who was returning from a business tour in the North, on arriving in Hunshe]f and before descending into the Little Don ValJey, had occasRion to dismount, for a short time, in the hollow way called the Dun-hill. In tethering his horse he removed the saddle-bags, which were heavy with cash, and placed them on the grassy bank. When he remounted his horse, the twilight had merged into darkness, and the saddle-bags were forgotten. Not until the weary traveller felt for them in crossing the swollen stream at the ford in Hunshelf Bottom was the oversight discovered. But deciding that it was unnecessary to climb the hilJ again, as they would be safe on a road so little frequented after nightfall, he rode on, and soon arrived at the Glass House where he told his foreman of the loss and directed him to send two or three men to fetch the bags without delay. This done, he gave his horse to the groom, and passed indoors to greet his wife who was anxiously awaiting his return, for in those days highway robberies accompanied with violence were of frequent occurence. Before the evening meal was finished Mr. Blackburn went out to ask if the men had come back, and was observed to peer long and anxiously in the direction whither they had gone, and then to turn in again with a look of despair that surely anticipated the news received later-'The men have returned, Sir, and wish me to tell you that they cannot find the saddle-bags.' He was never quite the same again-the loss was great and his resources heavily mortgaged. Nay, it is sad to think the worthy glass-maker had good reason to believe that the men he trusted had found the bags, because tradition says that not long before his death he confided his suspicions to his loved ones, and observing that money obtained by such means never did the holder any good, bade his friends take careful note of his predictions concerning the end of each of the men concerned. And the old folks would tell you, with bated breath, that Robert Blackburn's prophecies were fulfilled to the letter. 22 Early History of Stocksbridge.

A similar story was told of one of the Paynes, of Langsett, in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, who, when he had paid the wallers engaged in building a fence round one of the Ring- woods at Brockholes, forgot the pocket-book he had placed on the wall; a mistake that was not discovered until he reached his home at Sheephouse or Alderman's Head. On returning, the book, and its valuable contents, could not be found, and the men stoutly denied all knowledge of it. Mr. Payne, however, had his suspicions, and said to his intimate friends that when he was gone, certain persons would buy property, but they would not prosper, and again, tradition asserts that what was predicted came to pass. According to Hunter's South Yorkshire, the manufacture of glass was introduced at Wentworth in the time of the first Earl of Strafford, (1593-1641), and a glass house erected. He adds that' the memory of it is still preserved in the name Glass-house Green, now enclosed.'

It must not have attained to any great excellence, because, the second Lord Strafford bought the glass for repairing the windows of the Stratl'ord Chapel, in Barnsley Church, in 1727, from Mr. Blackburn. The value of the glass supplied was lIs. 5td. This information culled from Wilkinson's Worthies of Barnsleygives the account as bearing the date, Oct. 26, 1727, which implies that it 'would be settled with the executors of the late Robert Blackburn. Benjamin Smith, of Oughtibridge, plumber and glazier, who was living there in 1861, a member of an old Bolsterstone family, often remarked when repairing the windows of old houses and churches in the neighbourhood, .Ah! that's a bit 0' Pot-hus glass.' Houghton in his Letters on Husbandry and Trade, pub. in 1696, gives a list of all the Glass Houses in England and Wales in that year, and the kind of glass each house was making. This list has been summarised by Llewellynn J ewett in his Half Hours among some English Antiquities, pub. in 1884, from which we learn that there was a total of ninety houses in operation in 1696, of which thirty-eight were making bottles; two looking-glass plates; five crown-glass and plates; six window-glass; and nineteen flint, green, and ordinary glass. Three are returned as situate in Yorkshire-near Silkstone and near Ferry bridge, respectively. One turned out bottles; another turned out flint, green, and ordinary glass; and the third made bottles in addition to glass of flint, green and ordinary qualities, This list does not definitely state which glass-house may be referred to as 'near Silkstone.' But, as it is known that bottles and glass of flint, green, and ordinary qualities, were all produced at the Bolsterstone Glass House, there is reason to believe that the words' near Silkstone' refer to the glass-works then in full operation at Bate Green, near Bolsterstone. The fact that in the days of J ohnWilson, the Antiquary, (1719-1783),-who, so far as I know, never once mentions the Bolsterstone Glass House. 23

Bolsterstone Glass House-letters were addressed to 'Broomhead Hall, near Barnsley,' and in some instances' Broomhead Hall, near Wakefield,' shews that the geographical range of those days was sufficiently elastic to admit of Bolsterstone being re~arded as 'near . Silkstone.' With reference to the following entry which occurs in John Hobson's Diary,- Yorkshi1'e Diaries, (Surtees Society), viz.:- '1732-3. Mar. 16.-Mr. Francis Morton, of Silkston, the glassmaker is dead.' This does not necessarily imply that there was a glass-house at Silkstone, or in its immediate neighbourhood, because, there are weighty reasons for regarding Francis Morton as a neighbour and fellow-workel' with Finney at the Bolsterstone Glass House.

,-""'

Photo. No. B. F. Downing. Sugar-basin and Cream-jug made at the Bolsterstone Glass House. A. D. \710-1740.

The surname' Morton' is of long standing in this district, as may be seen on referring to the oldest register at Bradfield Church, which commences in 1559 and ends in 1722, during which period 512 entries relate to people bearing this name. A member of this family has left his initials on the Court House at Townend, near Deepcar, viz., 'R. M. 1611.,' and a newer dwelling was erected by another member and his wife in the year rendered historical by the Young Pretender's march on Derby. The inscription referred to reads' M (over) LA. 1745.'

For the help of future investigators we may observe that according to the London Notes and Queries for January 16, 1904, John May, glass manufacturer, took a lease of the Catcliffe Glass 24 Early History of Stocksbridge.

House, in 1764, for twenty-one years. In 1782, Hannah, his widow, transferred it to their sons, Thomas May, and William May, who carried on the business for some years. They certainly had it in 1785. These persons were sometimes described as 'gentlemen.' There were also two glass-houses at Masbro', near Rotherham, which were worked for some time by John Foljambe, gentleman, in partnership with Jacob Boomer, a grocer, both of Rotherham. In 1783, they leased them to the above named Thomas May for thirteen years. Mustard-bottles, ink-bottles. decanters, and flint glasses, were among the articles they produced. Mr. Samuel Hector Ellis, of Don View, Oughtibridge, in a letter dated March 27, 1906, says:- I have often heard my father-the late William Ellis (of Midhope)-say, that the Ellises used to manufacture glass-ware and we used to have a quantity of wine glasses in our possession that were made there, i. e. Bolsterstone Glass House. I am also indebted to the same gentleman for kindly allowing me to inspect a Memorandum of Agreement preserved amongst the Ellis MSS., of which, unfortunately, an important part is missing. The following is a copy of the document in its present mutilated condition, viz.,- MEMORANDUM that on Sept. 11th, 1777, Articles of Agreement or Conditions of Sale of the following Estates the property of Joseph Parkin of W ortley Hall were proposed and agreed to between the said J oseph Parkin and Richard Ellis of Midhop Hall in manner following, That is to say, the said Joseph Parkin doath covenant and agree To and with the said Richard Ellis To sell and deliver To him a gllishous with all the Dwelling Houses belonging to the said J oseph Parkin, situate at Boulsterstone and all the privileges appertaining thereto for the sum of £100. Also the said Joseph Parkin Doath further covenant and agree to and with the said Richard Ellis to seal and deliver to him three closes of land lying at or near Boulsterstone as also a garden or Orchard adjoining to some of the aforesaid dwellings ..' ...... The said closes which are to be """""""""""""""""'''''''''' Also the said Richard Ellis is to...... Commons and Common rights with all...... belongeth thereto. Witness Thos. Chapman ofthe within named Richard and Seventy Pounds on account the purchase of the premises within """'" ...and the consideration aforesaid '...vey, and, assured as Counsel shall """""'''''''''''''''''''' Ellis as soon as conveniently may said premises free from lncumbrances """"""" eby promise to be accauntable One hundred and Seventy Pounds ...... our hands Witness J oseph Parkin W. Wainwright Daniel Wainwright This agreement certainly proves that Richard Ellis, of Midhope Hall, who died in 1809, aged 91 years, became the proprietor of the Glass House property, or a portion of the estate, in or about 1777, . but we question whether he ever made glass. The following abridgement, of a document lent to the author by a person who had no particular interest in it, afford.s an Bolsterstone Glass House. 25

interesting glimpse of the Bolsterstone Glass House at a still earlier date, viz.,- INDENTURE made January 10th, 1759, between William Parkin of Mortemley in the Parish of Ecclesfield, gentleman, of the one part, and Joseph Smith of Townend in the Chapelry of Bradfield, husbandman, of the other-whereby William Parkin leases to Joseph Smith a house, barn, and an outbuilding thereto belonging known by the name of Bait Green or Glasshouse containing the following closes, viz. ;- \, Murrass lng Great Peas Spring Murrass £field Little Peas Spring Little Piece Killn Croft Stone-pitt Lais Binder Hill £field Well Croft Sinder Hill Busk House £field Skelton Nether field but not the Glass House, Kiln House, Grinding House, Spring Wood and Skelton Far £field, nor any timber trees fit and proper to be raised and preserved for timber then standing and William Parkin reserved the right to fell, cut down, and remove any such timber at all seasonable times. The land and messuage leased was estimated to contain thirty acres more or less and the lease was for the term of ten years from Feb. 2nd, 1759 at a rent of £20 per year, and J oseph Smith was to repair and keep all in good order and yield up peaceably at the end of the lease. The garden and orchard were to be preserved with the Yew Trees not in the garden, and no part of the land was to be broken up for stone, coal, or any other mineral whatsoever, without the consent of the owner. The lease, in question, refers to what we know .as Bate Green ---t>ituate a little higher up the lane than the Glass House-which farm would appear to have been bought by Robert Bocking when Richard Ellis bought the Glass-house. Benjamin Grayson, carpenter and joiner, of Townend, whose daughter, Matilda, became the wife of the Rev. W. Irving, was also a purchaser of another portion which included Spring Field and judging from the Waldershelf Valuation of 1797, he subsequently got possession of that which Richard Ellis had purchased. It is also interesting to note that in connexion with an Award made under the Bolsterstone Inclosure Act of 1778, William Parkin, or the Trustees of his estate, preferred a claim as owner of sixty- two acres in BoJsterstone township, then occupied by Joshua Lindley, Thomas Bower, Catherine Smith, and J oseph Grayson, respectively, as tenants, and a toft recently occupied by the late Mary Skelton, which claim being allowed by the Commissioners, an allotment of 2a. 11'.39p. on Stone Moor with another of Oa.21'.15p. at Spring Field House were made accordingly. From the following information to be found in the Ellis MSS., the Glass House Estate realized a total of £1,050 5s. 6d. apportioned as follows :- [COPIES.] No.1. Robert Bocking Land at Glass house cost ... £570 8 0 Benj'n Grayson Land at Glass House cost ... £108 11 3 . Richard Ellis Land' and Housing at Glasshouse ... £371 6 3 The Land Tax for the whole year is ... £ 1 10 0

when divided equally according to the purchase money what is every man's share ;- Robert Bocking's share of Land Tax ... £ 0 16 4 Benjamin Grayson's share of Land Tax ...... £ 0 3 2 Richard Ellis's share of Land Tax ... £ 0 10 6 q r s t q

Photo. No. 9. J. Brodbury.

Candlestick and Drinking-glasses made at the Bolsterstone Glass House. A.D. 1700-1740. Bolsterstone Glass House. 27

No. 2. I do hereby promise to pay unto Richard Ellis or his order the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds upon demand for value received as witness my hand this eighth day of January, 1778. Witness Geo. Pearson. J oseph Parkin.

This note is on account of Glasshouse Spring Wood until the security be made and the money to be returned if the Title be not good with interest. Witness Geo. Pearson. J oseph Parkin.

No. 3. The 31st July, 1778. Received of Mr. Richard Ellis the sum of One hundred and sixty pounds in part and on account of the Consideration Money for Lands in Bolsterstone purchased by him of the Trustees of the late William Parkin, de~eased, for whose use the same is received by me. Ric. Fenton.

No. 4. The] 9th October, 1779. Received of Mr. Richard Ellis the sum of Forty five pounds, Ten shillings, in full of the purchase money for Premises sold him at Bolsterstone late the Estate of W'm Parkin, deceased, by me. Witness W. Wainwright. J oseph Parkin.

These transactions shew that glass-making had practically been abandoned when the Glass House passed into the possession of Richard Ellis, who, at the time, would be about sixty years of age.

Mrs. William Ellis, who died so recently as January 30, 1913, aged 76 years, a dear old lady who had a most intelligent knowledge of her husband's lineage, told me that when they left the Lane Farm at Midhope, for their new house, 'Don View,' at Oughtibridge, about forty years ago, there was an old and large cabinet at Lane Farm, full of lovely table glass that had been made at Bolsterstone Glass House.

Sad to relate, the feet on the front of this cabinet were badly worm-eaten, and in the confusion of removal, it fell forward, and only a very few pieces of this priceless ware escaped destruction.

In the writer's judgement the contents of this cabinet, and the circumstances already noted, point to the Ellises having become possessed of a large portion of the stock-in-trade on the break-up of the industry, either by purchase or as part-payment of a loan advanced to those who carried on the manufacture between the death of Robert Blackburn and the exodus to Catcliffe in 1740.

This explanation receives some amount of confirmation from the fact that the Graysons, of Spink Hall, had once a large quantity of Bolsterstone Glass in their possession. They were akin to Benjamin Grayson who bought a portion of the Glass House Estate in or about 1778. u v w x y z

Photo. No. 10. J. Bradbury.

Toy-jug and basin, Ink-horn, Scent-jar, Decanter, Beaker and Flower-holder, made at the Bols\erstone Glass House. A. D. 1670-1740. Bolsterstone Glass House. 29

A description of all the specimens of Bolsterstone Glassware known to be in existence, with approxj.mate dates, and a list of" the various articles produced at this famous factory as revealed by a careful study of the fragments which remain.

The following are in the author's collection;- FLINT GLASS. (1) One Ogee glass. The stem has two knops and the foot. is folded. Height 5! inches. No. 5.-h. (2) One Goblet with large bulb and tear in stem and folded foot. Height 61 inches. No. 5.-d. (3) One Rummer with a deep and wide ogee bowl 3i inches deep by 301:inches dia. at top. The stem has a w",ist band and the foot is plain. Height 41 inches. N o. 5.~j. (4) One Air-twist bell glass with drawn stem and frilled collar. The foot has a good instep and is plain, not folded. Height 6~ inches. No. 9.-r. (5) One Drawn Air-twist glass, foot normal, not folded. Height' 6~ inches. No. 9.-t (6) One Baluster stem glass, waisted bowl, tears in stem, plain foot, which is slightly defective. Height 601:inches. No, 5.-a (7) One waisted bowl with neck and shoulder, plain stem, foot normal, not folded. Height 6 inches. No. 5.-g. (8) One waisted bowl with neck and shoulder, plain stem, foot normal, not folded. Height 7 inches. No. 5.-c. (9) One waisted bowl with tear in stem, foot normal and folded. Height 61 inches. No. 5.-e. (10) One waisted bowl with tear in stem, foot has a good instep and is folded. Height 6! inches. No. 5.~b. (11) One waisted bowl with tear in stem, foot slightly domed and folded. Height 6! inches. No. 5.-m. (12) One Drawn glass with tear in stem, foot has a good instep and ill folded. Height 6 inches.' No. 5.-f. (13) One Drawn glass with tear in stem, foot normal and folded. Height 6 inches. (Not photographed). (14) One Drawn glass with plain stem, foot has good instep and is folded. Height 6 inches. No. 5.-1. (15) One Drawn glass with tear in ~tem, foot normal and folded. Height 6 inches. (N ot photographed). (16) One Drawn glass with plain stem, foot plain, not folded. Height 6~ inches. (N ot photographed). (17) One Drawn glass with plain stem, foot plain, not folded. Height 6~ inches. (N ot photographed). (18) One Drawn glass with tear in stem, foot has a good instep and is folded, Height 6!;\inches. No. 5.-i. (19) One Drawn glass with plain stem, foot plain, not folded Height 6!;\inches. No.5.-k. (20) One pair of wine glasses in which the stem and egg-shaped powl taper in sympathy, which gives a stout stem. The stem is plain and the foot is equally plain and strong, not folded. The edge of the bowl is engraved with trellised loops and drooping leaves at the folds. Height 401:inches. . No. 9.-q. (21) One Scent-jar ribbed on the outside in a twisted form with plain foot but no stopper. Height 3t inches.' No.10.-w. (22) One Flower-bolder for table decoration. Heigbt 3 inches. No.10.-z. 30 Early H£story of Stocksbr£dge.

(23) One Toy-jug and basin also two other dishes or basins. The feet have been broken off the jug which would be three inches high when perfect. Two dishes are each 3~ inches diameter at the top and the third is H inches. All three dishes or basins have deeply folded rims. No. 10.-u. (24) One Crystal vase of globular form with hollow foot folded and a well formed lid surmounted by a crown of pressed glass. Height 9! inches over all by 5~ inches diameter at the widest part. Originally it would be filled with clear water in which a galaxy of sheep and maidens built up of glass filagree work in various colours was suspended with ingenious effects, of which fragments still remain. Frontispiece. (25) One Hunting-horn the glass of which has been corrugated and twisted in the drawing which makes it an object of great beauty and interest. It is of clear glass and measures9~ inches long by 5~ inches wide over the loop. No.2. (26) One Glass pipe 20~ inches long, discoloured by a foolish attempt to use it as an ordinary tobacco-pipe. Formerly the property of Old Judy Parkin, of Bolsterstone. No. 11. (27) Two Decanters of clear glass. One measures 9 inches in height by 5! ~nches diameter on the bulb, the other 8~ inches by about the same diameter. They are similar in shape and appearance to the one of green glass mentioned below. b (28) One Rolling-pin 15 inches long over all by 2?r inches diameter. It is a beautiful object by reason of the direction in which the lines of ornament run. These lines are in red and white enamel on a clear ground. No. 11. GREEN AND BLACK GLASS. (29) One Decanter of green glass, 7 inches high by H inches wide on the bulb. No.10.-x. (30) One Ink-horn of green glass. Height 3~ inches. No.10.-v. (31) One Beaker of green glass. Height 3~ inches. No.10.-y. (32) One Bottle of black glass. Height 9 inches by H inches diameter on the body which is four inches deep in the barrel leaving two inches for the depth of the rounded shoulders and three inches for the neck. No. 18.

OTHER COLLECTIONS. The following are in the possession of Samuel Hector Ellis, Esq., Don View House, Oughtibridge, near Sheffield. (33) One Decanter of flint glass, clear, not coloured, moulded or pressed, minus stopper. (34) One Salt-cellar of clear flint glass, moulded or pressed, with foot. (35) One Vase of blue glass.

The following is in the possession of Mrs. Alien Crossland, of Spink Hall, near Bolsterstone. (36) One Candlestick of clear pressed flint glass with candle-holder or grease- tray. The design has been copied from one of silver or brass. It is a stately handsome object, standing fully nine inches high. The tears in the knops and the flutes in the pedestal are slightly twisted which is very effective. The base is fluted and domed, and measures four and three- quarter inches in diameter. No. 9.-s

The following are in the possession of Miss Downing, of Old Wire Mill, Thurgoland. (37) One Sugar-basin of clear flint glass. Height 3~ inches. Diameter at the top of the bowl, which has warped under annealing, 3~ x 3~ inches, the shape being nearly oval. No.8. (38) One Cream-jug of clear flint glass. Height 2~ inches. It is cracked, as may been seen from the photograph. No. 8. Bolsterstone Glass House. 31

The following is in the possession of Mr. George Jubb. of' W oodLynne,' near The Glass House. (39) One Rummer of clear pressed flint glass, The bowl is not truly balanced on the pedestal, the foot of which is plain, not folded. A neatly engraved band, of simple and effective design, encircles the upper portion; whilst the lower is heautifully pressed in tapered flutings, which originate at the stem and are slightly on the twist as they ascend. Height 5 inches. Width of bowl at the top 3~ inches. Foot 3 inches diameter. With reference to the respective ages of the various pieces of glass-ware here enumerated, it is generally understood that prior to A. D. 1700, very little glass of any real merit was made in England and that after A. D. 1810, English drinking-glasses ceased to have any decorative charm or individual value. With a few exceptions, it is difficult, if not impossible, to ascribe any of the glass in our collections, public or private, to any particular glass-house. - Hence, glass that can, with some degree of certainty, be described as Bolsterstone Glass has a value all its own, in addition to its intrinsic worth as a product of the years lying between 1650 and 1750. According to English Table Glass by the late Percy Bate, Esq., (N ewnes's Library of the Applied Arts), the stems of English drinking-glasses afford the best data whereby we may judge of their age, and he divides them into five groups, whose chronological sequence is as follows, viz., Baluster Stems; Plain Stems; Air- twist Stems; White-twist Stems and Cut Stems. Of course, as explained by Mr. Bate, all five groups had their side issues, so to speak, their offshoots and varieties, but each class of stem was a real development from its predecessor and every glass of the period will fall into one of these five classes. Amongst the specimens of Bolsterstone Glass which have survived to our day we know of none with White-twist Stems or Cut Stems. Nor can we find any trace of such in our collection of interesting fragments found on the spoil heaps. The feet of the stems may be divided into two classes, folded and plain, and it may be said of the folded foot, which is found on ten of the twenty-two drinking glasses enumerated, that this feature is used in imitation of the bead or fold to be found on the underside of the rims of pewter plates and dishes, ostensibly for strength. This folding also occurs on four other articles, viz., on the edges of the three small dishes and on the foot of the crystal vase. Mr. Bate says that the folded foot possibly continued in occasional use to about A. D. 1700. This confirms our estimate of the respective ages of existing examples of Bolsterstone Glass, which we approximate as follows, viz. :- FLOWER-HOLDER. This is probably the oldest piece extant of Bolsterstone glass. It cannot be much later than A. D. 1670. DRINKING-GLASSES. Nos. 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, may safely be placed before A. D. 1700, and those with plain stems, or stems with tears and plain or folded feet cannot be much, if any, later than A. D. 1720. The two Rummers, No. 3, plain; and No. 39, engraved; also the two Wine glasses No. 20, the edges of whose bowls are engraved, may be dated A.D.1720-1740. 32 Early History of Stocksbridge.

DECANTERS. The two specimens of water bottles or decanters of clear flint glass and the one of green glass were probably made A. D. 1730-1740. CRYSTAL VASE. This lovely vase, with a companion, used to stand on. an old oak sideboard in Old Spink Hall and it, along with the Scent-Jar, Hunting- horn, Tobacco-pipe, RoJling-pin .and the Vase of ~lue Glass may be placed A. D. 1710-1740. The Crystal Vase is probably the oldest of these six pieces. CANDLESTICK. The sequence date for this lovely object cannot be later than A. D. 1740. SALT-CELLAR. The Decanter and Salt-cellar of pressed flint glass may be placed A.D. 1730-1740. SUGAR-BASIN and CREAM-JUG. The four articles classed as No. 23 in the foregoing list were made at the Bolsterstone Glass House, and Nos. 37 and 38 bear every sign of having emanated from this famous factory. The date of all these interesting objects may be placed A. D. 1710-1740.

Photo. No.11. J. Bradbury.

Tobacco-pipe and Rolling-pin made at the Bolsterstone Glass House. A.D. 1710-1740.

Our gleanings on the cinder-hills and spoil heaps in the vicinity of the glass-house shew that the Bolsterstone Glass Works produced as follows, viz. :- CROWN-GLASS of good quality for glazing windows. BOTTLES of green glass in many sizes and of different shapes for apothecaries, chemical works and domestic use.

BOTTLES of black glass of various types whose metal, when held to the light, varies in colour from a dark smoky green to a greenish brown, of which large quantities must have been made for wines of home and foreign origin, also brandies and other strong liquors. We are told that, during the greater part of the eighteenth century, wine was generally brought to the table in big-bellied bottles made of black glass and the internal cones of both black and green glass bottles, formed by the bottoms being made with a bulge, facilitated their use in this respect, whilst reducing the area needed for storage.

FANCY ARTICLES such as the flasks of clear and coloured glass to be seen in collections of Bristol and Nailsea glass had their counterparts in goods of Bolsterstone manufacture. Indeed, our study of the waste assures us that basins, buttons, bells, bellows, butter-pots and covers, candlesticks, comfit-glasses, cream- jugs, dolls' glassware, firing-glasses, ink-bottles, knife-rests, mustard-bottles, Bolsterstone Glass House. 33

punch-fillers, pepper-bottles, porringers, scent-jars, spoons, sweetmeat-glasses, thumb-glasses, toddy-lifters, salt-cellars, tobacco-pipes, vinegar-bottles, walking- sticks and weather-glasses were all made at Bolsterstone Glass House. For instance, there are fragments of green glass streaked with lines of white enamel that must have presented a charming effect when drawn out in the many clever ways and forms known only to skilful workers in glass. A yellow-tinted glass was also made which would have a decidedly"rich effect when articles made of the same were carefully displayed in combination with other novelties of clear . crystal glass. The famous mugs of a blue vitreous paste striped with white and generally considered as peculiar to Bristol had been anticipated at Bolsterstone, where judging from a fragment of opaque black glass with a beaded rim bearing stripes in parallel lines of light blue it is probable that something akin to the Portland Vase had been attempted. Fragments of cut glass and engraved glass are not found amongst the' refuse, as such pieces would be cut or engraved elsewhere. .At the same time we think it highly improbable that much, if any- thing, would be done in cut glass as the demand for it had not been stimulated to any great extent before these works began to decline, though engraving was. known and practised previous to 1756 when both Giles of York and Felix Foster were in the line of descent from other artists of the wheel and diamond-point. In addition to the three glasses whose bowls are engraved in a very neat manner on the upper part, the decanter of flint-glass shewn in photograph No. 16, probably came from Bolsterstone. It is said to have been in the possession of one family for over a century, whose home was in Langsett township, and taking the quality of metal in conjunction with the provenance of the specimen we are strongly inclined to regard it as a genuine example of Bolsterstone manufacture. The engraving is a well executed piece of work that may be placed before] 740 without misgiving. . The repute attached to the name Bolsterstone in connexion with the manufacture of glass, was reflected so late as 1851, when the late Mrs. Brettoner, of Penistone, who visited the Great Exhibition held in London in that year, saw a number of spectacles labelled' Bolsterstone Pebbles' in an optician's window in the city, and in contemplating the productions of a glass-house so celebrated as that of Bolsterstone, we no longer wonder why the silversmiths of Sheffield in the eighteenth century sought to enhance the beauty of their designs by a lavish use of the best glass of the period. The delicate sapphire-blue and the ring peculiar to its superior quality, which renders our Old English Table Glass unique, adds a charm and dignity to silver-ware that has never been excelled by any other combination.

Ca.nwe discover what methods and ingredients were used in the manufacture of glass at Bolsterstone Glass House by a close scrutiny of the refuse to be found on cinder-hill and spoil.heap ?

According to A Technological and Scientific Dictionary, pub. by Geo. Newnes, Limited, in 1906, the constituents of glass are declared as follows, . Silica, commercially known as sand, is the essential constituent of all glass, and, together with certain metallic oxides, forms by the application of intense heat an amorphous transparent body, every true glass containing at least two metallic oxides. The oxides chiefly used are those of Lead, Potassium, Sodium, Calcium, Barium, Aluminium, and Magnesium. . Mr. R. E. Leader, who contributes a brief reference to Bolster- stone Glass House in A History of Old Sheffield Plate, by Mr. F. 34 Early History of Stocksbridge.

Bradbury, pub. in 1912, remarks that Bolsterstone was' a curious situation for such an industry.' Of course, we are willing to grant, subject to reservation, that Bolsterstone township may have been an obscure place in the r seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, lying away from the beaten track; but, we cannot admit that the situation was any more curious than that of other glass-houses in the seventeenth century. Anyhow, the neighbourhood had resources which proved highly advantageous in the production of a high-class ware of great repute, and the success attained is not to be wondered at, if the requirements of such an industry are properly understood. For instance, we learn from Handbook No. 4, that ore con- taining 68% of metallic lead was mined in the Ewden Valley during the period in which glass was made at Bate Green. Further, the silicious sandstone, opce so largely quarried on Townend Common, above Deepcar, contains from 89 to 92% of silica, which, when pulverized, would give a sand of exceptionally good quality for glass-making and it is not unlikely that a similar bed at Whitwell, near Spring Field House, was laid under tribute, there being a tradition to that effect. It is also well to note that the remains of a denuded bed of excellent gannister, yielding 96% of silica, lay scattered in great profusion on the land from Bate Green to Wood Farm on the west, and Townend Common on the east, of which pieces may still be found in the walls that were picked up with other riddings when these particular allotments were' fenced off' under the Bolsterstone Award. As regards fuel there was the Glass House Wood and hedge- row timber, which in 1783, or about forty years after the glass furnace had ceased working, yielded :- £ s. d. 492 trees valued at 74 15 6 19 cords of wood ... at 6/6 per cord 6 3 6 147 quarters of bark... at 5/6 per quartel 40 8 6 Total £121 7 6 and again, in 1809, Elihu Dick.inson paid Benjamin Grayson the sum of £140, for the bark he had bought in Glass House Wood, from which we conclude that there must always have been plenty of wood on the estate, and in its vicinity, for charqoal and kindling purposes. That coal was used goes without saying, as pieces of good clean bright coal may still be found on cinder hill and spoil heap. Both Clay-coal and Coking-coal lay under the site, together with a !learn of excellent clay, of good thickness, which wa!l undoubtedly used for making crucibles or glass-pots. As so well said by the writer on glass manufacture in the Cabinet Cyclopaedia of 1832, Every glasshouse should possess within itself the means of making all the crucibles and other earthen utensils that may be required for its operations. The conveyance of these from any considerable distance would add materially to their cost, not only by the mere expense of carriage, but through the greater liability to fracture, whereunto such unwieldy vessels would in that case be subject. "

Photo. No. 12. S. B. Kenworthy.

Bolsterstone Glass House in 1914: The furnaces were located in this structure, which has long been adaptedto farming requirements. 36 Early History of 8tocksbl'idge.

This disposes of a theory once strongly held by some of the old clay-workers, living in this neighbourhood, about fifty years ago, who asserted that local clays were unsuitable for making the crucibles required at Bolsterstone Glass House, because the hard, close, texture of the finished article, as seen in the fragments found on the site, could only be obtained by the use of a much superior quality, such as may be found in Staffordshire. The following analysis of one such fragment not only refutes this assertion, but confirms our opinion that a definite proportion of gannister was used to obtain the results desired.

J.

No. 13. An open glass-pot or crucible, such as used at the BolsterstoneGlassHouse. Areconstruction basedon fragmentsfound on the site.

For instance, the clay now mined at both Bracken Moor and Pot House Works, when freed from all impurities and irregularity of structure, and ready for use in the manufacture of Sanitary Ware, contains 63% of silica, or about 10% less than the contents of the sample under review ;- [COPY.l April 24th, 1914. SAMPLENo. 3. Fragment oLa Crucible for Glass-making. Silica ...... 72.900 Lime...... 1.200 Ferric oxide ... 1.520 Titanic oxide...... 0.470 Alumina ...... 22.380 Soda...... 0.680 Manganese dioxide... trace Potash ...... 1.174 This analysis is typical of good fireclay, the silica content being high, and fusible constituents, viz., iron oxide, soda and potash being low. That the clay was indigenous was proved during the progress of some alterations at the Glass House made by Mr. William Brooke, of the Pot House Works, shortly after he had obtained possession of the site, when traces were found of an elaborate system of sluices and shuttles on the line of a stream, which still flows out of land on the south of the property, which, in the opinion of himself and my brother, the late Benjamin Kenworthy, proved unmistakably that the clay had been weathered and blunged and washed to such a high degree that, with a carefully defined admixture of ground gannister, it could not have failed to give satisfaction for the purpose required. Rolsterstone Glass House, 37

With reference to the use of gannister as an ingredient, this is confirmed by an article which appeared in The Yorkshire Observer Budget for March 7, 1914, entitled' Bradford as a Pottery Town,' in which Mr. W. E, Preston, of Cartwright Hall, Bradford, says:- 'In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries a great quantity of earthenware vessels was manufactured hereabouts not only for domestic use but as crucibles to be usoo for the smelting of iron. The paste used had a considerable admixture of powdered gannister, showing that the potters were acquainted with the fire-resisting properties of the stone.' Open pots were used, whose dimensions, judging from a series of carefully selected fragments, could not be less than twenty inches in diameter by ten inches deep internally. They were stoutly built, being, in appearance, not unlike the saggars used in baking Midhope-earthenware, though larger and heavier. A pot or crucible of these dimensions would hold about three hundred pounds of molten glass. Great nicety was required in making such vessels in order to drive out from their substance every particle of air, the presence of which, would, by its expansion in the furnace, occasion the breaking of the pot. They had to dry for tw~lve months at least, before they were ready for removal to a furnace particu]arly appropriated to the baking of pots; and here the temperature, which at first was moderate, was gradually increased, until at last it was made nearly as intense as that of the working furnace, for insertion in which the pot or crucible was then sufficiently fitted. The late John Helliwell, (Shelfer), who died at the Corn Mill Cottage, in Hunshelf Bottom, in 1903, aged 87 years, when a child, heard Benjamin Shaw, of Wigtwizzle, say, that his grandfather, Mr. Otter, worked at the Glass House on Bate Green, who said it was a hot job. A person of the name of John Otter is mentioned in the Hunshelf Overseers' Accounts for 1828. . The reader may form some little idea of the great heat required by a careful inspection of the many fire-worn stones to be seen in the wall, on the west side, of a large outbuilding at the ,Glass House. This building, on its eastern face, has an archway of considerable radius in the wall, which was walled-up when the structure was adapted to its present purpose. The furnace was located in this building, and there must have been other workshops in the vicinity, such as the grinding-shed; the kiln-house; the annealing-house; the warehouse; and some not enumerated in the Indentu1'e of 1759. One such building, which formerly stood near a watering-place on the east side of the old entrance to the farmstead, was found, during its demolition, to have been a dwelling-house at some former period. Would it be the cottage where Mary Skelton lived and died? This surname is still preserved in the names of two enclosures attached to Bate Green Farm, which are known as Far Skelton Field and Near Skelton Field, respectively. 38 Early History of Stocksbridge.

The tenements still in use on this site shew that there has been a settlement on the moor at this place from a time anterior to the making of glass, a subject on which we shall have more to say when we discuss the old houses and barns of the Little Don and Ewden Valleys and their place in the evolution of architecture.

Photo. No. 14. J. Bradhnry. The B~lsterst~ne Glass H~use in 1914. A bedroom in the oldest portion shewing .crucks.'

We have no clue to any of the special ingredients that may have been used in this particular glass-house as every glass-maker had his own recipes which he jealously guarded. The' following extracts from A New Display of the Beauties of England, published in 1787, shew that the art was for a long time based on empirical knowledge, which may account for the charm of its productions; a charm which disappears before the advance of standard methods and the subversion of quality to the impatience of record outputs :-- (a) The Isle of Wight. Here is found a milk-white tobacco clay called" creta" by writers of natural history, of which great quantities are exported from hence, together with a very fine sand, of which drinking glasses are made. (b) Watch6tt in Somersetshire. Abundance of ashes of seaweed are burnt here for glass-house purposes in Bristol. (c) Gatton in Surrey. Also noted for a quarry of white freestone which is soft and endures the fire admirably well in witlter, but neither sun nor air. It is much used by chymists, bakers, and in glass-houses. The following analyses shew that the bulk of the materials which were deemed fundamental had no need to be imported. The potash could have been, and probably was, obtained by the burning of bracken of which there were large tracts in the vicinity, and so far as the composition of flint glass is concerned there was plenty of lead near at hand. [COPIES.] April 24th, 1914. SAMPLE No. 1. FLINT GLASS. Silica, 54.68-Lead oxide, 30.70-Ferrous oxide, 1.89-Alumina, 1.15-Manganese dioxide, 0.26-Titanic oxide, a trace-Potash, 11.02%. This is the usual lead glass being a lead potash silicate.

\ Photo. No. 15. F. Downing. Bolsterstone Glass House in 1914. The backof the outbuildingwherethe furnaceswerelocated, with remains of one of the furnaces in position. 40 Early History of Stocksbridge.

April 24th, 1914. SAMPLE No. 2. GREEN GLASS. Silica, 65.05-Ferrous oxide, 7.56-Alumina, 1.60-Manganese dioxide, 0.10.- Lime, 11.54-Magnesia, a trace-Titanic oxide, 0.23-Soda, 9.88-Potash, 3.05%. April 24th, 1914. SAMPLE No. 2A. GREEN G.LASS. Silica, 64.37-Ferrous oxide, 9.36-Alumina, 1.60-Manganese dioxide, 0.29- Lime, 12.54-Magnesia, a trace-Titanic oxide, 0.09-Soda, 9,49-Potash, 1.12%. This is chiefly a soda lime silicate, the green colour being due to ferrous silicate. No. 2A is similar to No. 2 but slightly higher in iron. April 24th, 1914. SAMPLE No. 4. BOTTLE GLASS. Silica, 61.87-Ferrous oxide, 7.29-Alumina, 1.70-Manganese dioxide, 0.80- Lime, 18.65,-Magnesia, a trace-Titanic oxide, 0,43-Soda, 3.82-Potash, 4.54%. This is a typical analysis of bottle glass, lime being an essential constituent. The colour is due to ferrous silicate. If we have been successful in our attempt to explain the presence of the glass-maker in this district in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the reader will see that the glass-houses scheduled by John Houghton in 1696 were of necessity placed where the bulk of the materials required to make glass were either close at hand or otherwise easily accessible. Hence, there was nothing curious or unbusinesslike in the position of Bolsterstone Glass House. Of course, there came a time when country glass-houses found it impossible to compete with the ever growing tendency to cheapen production by concentrating the trade at suitable centres: for instance, Bristol had fifteen glass-houses in 1761, and Stour- bridge nine or ten. To-day, the trade, with the exception of Stourbridge, has found other centres more suitable for production and distribution. We can, therefore, understand why the manufacture of glass at Bolsterstone was abandoned in 1740-1750, and the place given over to the making of pottery, which, after a short and interesting struggle, was succeeded by the sale of the property and a thorough dismantlement in favour of agricultural pursuits. The empty workshops and warehouse were gradually turned into outbuildings for the use of two or more homesteads. The waste heaps and cinder hills were levelled and their contents scattered or used in filling up the hollows on the surrounding moorland, whilst any surplus material, suitable for building purposes, was sold for repairs and additions elsewhere, which may explain the presence of the fire-worn stones to be seen in an old extension at the Clough Oottages, not far away. But, why should we allow the honoured place-name 'Glass House' to become obsolete? In the Ordnance Map of 1854, Spink House is shewn as Glass House, which, of course, is a mistake, because the latter name applies to a cluster of dwellings erroneously marked' Pot House' on the same map. In later editions, the first error has been corrected, but not the second! Oannot some compromise be effected whereby both names shall be associated with a site whereon gentleman glass-maker and lowly-born potter were equally faithful in their respective callings ? We hope so, for the sake of our children, who have a heritage in place-names. Bolsterstone Glass House. 41

What our forefathers drank and the glasses they used.

Ale is generally defined as an intoxicating liquor made by infusing malt in hot water, then fermenting the liquid so formed and adding a bitter, usually hops. It was the favourite drink of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers. The old Welsh and Scots had two kinds, spiced and common ale, the former being legally fixed at twice the value of the latter. As a rule, beer is a term applied to weak ale, but in some parts of England this rule is reversed and the weaker liquid is called ale. We have elsewhere alluded to the use of the word' Ale,' as descriptive of a merry-making, in our explanation of the word , Dannikins' and for further information respecting the' Ales' once arranged for revenue purposes, the reader cannot do better than consult Church and Manor, by S. O. Addy, M.A., published by Geo. AlIen & Co., of London, in 1913. Of course, any review of Old English Drinking Glasses is not really complete without some reference to the why and wherefore of their existence. For instance, tea was practically unknown in England before A. D. 1650, and the price was absolutely prohibitive to all except the rich, even at a much later period. In fact, it was used very sparingly by working-people in the middle of the nineteenth century. It figures but rarely in an Account Book which records the goods supplied by Messrs. Newton, of the Yew Trees, in Bolsterstone, to the men who worked for them in 1842 and took part, if not all, of their wages in kind. The quality of tea supplied was debited to them at the rate of 5s. 8d. per pound. We can, therefore, understand why Ale or Beer was formerly drunk at almost every meal, and could we revive the use of the old quality of home-brewed ale in preference to so many unworthy substitutes, and at the same time be able to obtain plenty of good new milk for our children; the complaints now so rife concerning the low stamina of the race would soon be a thing of the past. It is said that real hard drinking did not corrupt' Merrie England' until we were fighting the wars of other people in the Low Countries during the reign of Queen Anne, (1702-1714), when our soldiers brought home not only bad habits, but also a bad substitute for ale in the shape of schnapps or spirits. This led to the craze for gin in the eighteenth century and the subsequent degradation of a .drink trade' which has since so grievously tampered with both quality and conscience. For instance, Wood's Industrial England in the Middle of the Eighteenth Century, published by John Murray, in 1910, says, the materials employed at that period were simply malt and hops but there were constant attempts to find substitutes. A certain Mrs. Piozzi is quoted as having lost a large part of her fortune in assisting Thrale to make beer without malt or hops. This was in 1772. Whether such a consumation has been achieved in our day and generation, we are unable to say! The old terms 'forenoon drinking' and 'tea drinking' now rarely used, had reference to a time, not very remote, when' drink' 42 Early History of Stocksbridge. of pure malt and hops was the beverage of rich and poor, and nearly every home possessed a mash-tub, brewing-tub, sieve and brig, funnel and barrel, and plenty of large earthen ware-bottles, not forgetting the bread-reel and its burden of oat-cake.

Dr. Berrie, of Hodroyd, near Barnsley, who in 1650 had occasion to spend some time in London, left his wife and family and home concerns in the care of his nephew, to whom he wrote as follows, viz. :- March 4th, 1650. Be sure you put the spinsters in mind of brewing good ,store of strong March beer, which will keep a year or two, if there occasion be: let there be new hogsheads bought if need be; the deareness of wine, which is likely to continue, makes me write thus. There are also some good things relating to this subject in Annals of a Yorkshire House written by A. M. W. Stirling, and published in 1911, from which we extract the following :- Alicia Maria Spencer to ,William Spencer. Leeds. Feb. 21st, 1749. I took a ride over to Canon Hall, Monday Morn, where I found all in good order. The Cook has brew'd a Pipe & Hogshead of strong Beer after Mrs. Hall's Method, wch I hope will prove good as it's Wark'd extreamly welL I have prevailed on Sally to continue a Yr longer, by indulging he~ in ye assistance of ye Girl to Milk, therefore gave her a Godspenny to engage her for that time, as she's of so fickle a temper, least she should alter her mind.

Parson Phi pps, i. e. the Rev. Samuel Phipps, who died April 9, 1799, aged 85 years, Vicar of Cawthorne, Silkstone, and Penistone, was no Puritan. He lived at Banks Hall, a fine old house, with a spacious entrance hall and mag- nificent staircase of inlaid oak, whence he gladly rode two miles to Cannon Hall for his frequent glass and rubbet. with the Squire of an evening and is referred to in the following notes, viz. :- "I trust that jovial Parson Phipps is as hearty as a Buck!" wrote one of John Spencer's cronies from town; and the parson himself, when John of Cannon Hall was absent, kept him plied with cheerful local news. "Your Honour will be pleas'd to hear that I peep'd in lately at Cannon Hall," he writes on one occasion, "Made a visit to Mrs. Matty, & drank a Glass of Strong Beer, and found all well & pleasant, as I hope ye Master of it is ...... The Hedges & Fields are very green and flowery, ye Days are long and ye Sun hot. I am glad I have so much Country news to send you! "

Photo. No. 16. J B db Mr. Farey who wrote A General View Decanter with name and floral. ra device. ury. of the Agriculture of the County of Derby- Th. n.ck has beenbrok.n and grounddown. shire, in the early years of the nineteenth It was probablymad. at the Bolst.rston. GlassHousenot lat.r than century, refers to the strong ale that A.D. 1740. was stored in the cellars at Chats worth House and Hardwick Hall. He also mentions that the Rev. Francis Gisbofne, of Staveley, had ale in Bolsterstone Glass House. 43 his cellars that was sixty or seventy years old and that Major William Carliel, of Eyam, had some forty years old or more. Mr. Farey was a keen observer and records that, in some of the farmhouses visited by him in the course of his inquiries, he noticed 'that in the process of brewing, the sweet-wort was let out of the mash-tub on to the hops, instead of their being put into the wort, when subsequently boiling in the copper.' In another place he says the Rev. Francis Gisborne, of Staveley, had some Mountain Wine, particularly well corked, which had been standing erect for more than fifty years and was still in perfect condition.

Photo. No. 17. J. Bradbury. Old Broomhead Hall. Built in A. D. 1640 and probably altered and enlarged in A. D. 1773. (From a water-colour painting preserved at Broomhead Hall, by kind permission of R. H. Rimington-Wilson, Esq.)

Christopher Wilson, (the fifth of that name in the Wilson pedigree), of Broomhead Hall, who lived 1595-1671, married Mary Ibbotson, daughter and co-heir of the Rev. John Ibbotson, of Wigtwizzle, on October 29, 1623. This lady is said to have had quite a reputation for the quality of her home-brewed ale, and so great was her renown as a prudent and accomplished housewife that the daughters of well-to-do families were often placed under her care and tuition. Broomhead Hall was rebuilt by her husband in 1640 and the cellars of that dwelling are said not to have been disturbed when the house was again rebuilt in 1831. 44 Early History of Stocksbridge.

It is also of great interest to note that in 1647 this gentleman was referred to by Captain Adam Eyre, of Hazlehead, as 'Captain Willson,' which shews that this worthy couple were Puritans and in sympathy with the aims and aspirations of Oliver Cromwell.

The fact that Christopher Wilson was summoned to London to be knighted at the coronation of Charles the First, who reigned 1625-1649, and submitted to a heavy fine rather than attend; is quite in keeping with the practical unpretentious character of the everyday life of this neighbourhood then, and now. Hence, we scarcely need to be reminded that good, capable women, like the Captain's wife, were very proud of their skill in the still-room, wherein they carefully prepared currant, rhubarb, elderberry, gooseberry, and other home-made wines of great medicinal virtue, and last, but not least, a most delicious brew called 'honey-drink,' the honey-mead of long ago.

Some two years after the death of one, who was a worthy successor to Mary Wilson of the seventeenth century, we refer to the late Mrs. Rimington-Wilson, of Broomhead Hall, whose kind, gentle, and brave spirit passed to its much needed rest on November 9,1906, after a long and useful life of over eighty-two years; the wine cellar, with which Mary Wilson, who died in 1662, would be quite familiar, was thoroughly overhauled.

The contents, in some instances, had not been disturbed for three-quarters of a century, probably more, for there were liquors of lineage so ancient that they had lost all the qualities essential to a correct definition. Only, -~l in a few instances did sufficient flavour remain to aid the expert in his perplexity. But the skirts of more than one good housewife of the past must surely have been heard to rustle in t the farthest reaches of that ancient crypt; when

I their shades heard a voice declare that a large percentage was the strong ale of a past age. An ale whose natural fire had matured and died within those well-corked bottles, the glass of which had been born in the still fiercer heat of Bolsterstone Glass Works. ~ - There were hundreds of such bottles, no two No. 18. Photo. F. Downing. of which were exactly alike, and from the few examples remaining we have no difficulty in A black glass bottle from assigning their origin to that famous factory. Broomhead Hall. On.ofmanytyp.smad.atth.Bolst.rston.GlassHous.. They .. must have been used over and over agam, m the manner of those frugal days, and some of the bottles, in whose faithful embrace the dead liquor had so long reposed, exhibited that illusive blue tint which speaks of the slow but sure dissolution of the glass itself. Judging from the absolute uncertainty concerning the origin of some of the oldest liquors discovered, we cannot be far wrong in asserting that a portion was none other than Birch Wine, a ----

Bolsterstone Glass House. 45

decoction highly esteemed by a generation long ago gathered to their fathers, who regarded it as an appetizing drink of good digestive properties. She boasts no charms divine, Yet she can carve and make Birch-wine. T. W ARTON-Progress of Discontent. Mr. Farey gives a very interesting account of how this wine was made fr0m the juice supplied by a grove of about one hundred birch-trees cultivated near Overton Hall, in Ashover, by Sir Joseph Banks, Bart., a well- known scientist in his day. The recipe, however, is too long to reproduce here, but another and shorter one which appeared in the Yorkshire Weekly Post of December 10, 1910, will suffice to shew that the many place-n?-mes having reference to the presence of birch-trees in their several localities now, or at a former period, may witness to their early use for wine-making purposes. BIRCH WINE. No. 19. Photn. F. Downing. In reply to your querist re birch wine, the season for procuring the liquor from the birch trees is in March, Rummer with engraved band while the sap is rising, and before the leaves shoot made at the Bolsterstone out, for when the sap has become forward, and leaves Glass House. begin to appear, the juice, by being long digested in A.D.1720-1740. the bark, grows thick and coloured, which was before thin and clear. The method of procuring the juices ~ by boring holes in the body of the trees and putting in faucets, which are commonly made of branches of elder. The pith being taken out, you may, without hurting the trees, if large, tap them in several places, four or five at a time, and save many gallons a day. Put in two or three spoonfuls of good ale yeast to set it working. When the yeast begins to settle, put it in a rundlet that will just hold it. Let it stand eight weeks or longer as you please, then bottle it, and it will be fit to drink in a month. It will keep good a year or two. If you have a mind, use sugar instead of honey. Put two pounds to a gallon, or more if you would keep it long. If you do not use it immediately, which is the best way, in order to preserve it in good condition for brewing, and that it may not turn sour, the bottle in which it is run must be well stopped, the corks being waxed. To every gailon of birch liquor add one quart of honey; stir them together, put a few cloves and a little lemon peel, and let boil for nearly an hour. Skim well and continually as it rises, then set to cool. The reader will now understand why these Drinking-glasses were used for both Ale and Wine. There would be little need for discrimination as regards the potency of either liquid and, with all reverence be it said, the writer of The Proverbs must have had some knowledge of strong malt liquor when he exclaimed with a fervour that still vibrates in the corridors of Time- Wine is a mock er, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. ERRATA. p. 18. .April ye 30th' should read May ye 7th. p.31. One Rummer, etc., should have No. 19 attached. 'I! '" =: E

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