Shelf Township Papers Catalogue & Guide (Compiled by Ben Stables 2019-2020) www.shelfhalifax.wordpress.com Shelf Township Papers Catalogue & Guide Ben Stables 2019-2020 1 Shelf Township Papers Catalogue & Guide (Compiled by Ben Stables 2019-2020) www.shelfhalifax.wordpress.com Introduction Shelf is very fortunate in having such a volume of township papers, whilst the records of many other townships have long since been destroyed. The officials of Shelf township appear to have thrown very little away, especially in the years 1819-1820. Sadly, most of the records for the years after 1830 have been lost, but there is still a great deal of surviving material from the earlier years. In some cases, records which seem to be completely unrelated to the township administration and probably related to the business dealings of the officials appear to have been mixed up with the township records! For example, there are documents relating to the Shelf Iron Works (Aydon and Elwell) and Joseph Woodhead of Wade House. The records are currently split between Bradford and Calderdale archives and in total run to a number of boxes; whatever filing system which was originally used seems to have been disrupted somewhat by a great deal of misfiling and the splitting of records between the two archives. There are three main problems with these documents. At some point the records were organised into bundles, but many documents have been misfiled meaning that in practise each bundle only has a general theme. For example, bastardry records are mainly to be found in the ‘Bastardry and Affiliation’ bundle but there are documents of the same kind to be found in almost all the other bundles. There are also a large number of small bills and receipts which contain very little information; in some cases just a list of sums of money. Finally, the documents have been very haphazardly split between Bradford and Calderdale archives. It would appear that the records now at Bradford were originally given to the Museums service and that the records at Calderdale were only deposited relatively recently when Queensbury and Shelf Urban District Council was disbanded. The records at Bradford are mainly small handmade booklets whilst the records at Calderdale are mainly separate sheets of paper. The rationale may have been to send the more interesting-looking records to Bradford! Also not listed here is the Township Book which is now at Calderdale and the 1817 Valuation which went to Bradford. It is therefore essential to have a proper catalogue in order to locate particular documents. The following list has been compiled mainly for my own use and so some records have only been given a very brief description whilst others have been given more attention. I hope that this may be nevertheless useful to family historians and it may be worth revising this list later on. Please note that the item numbers have been assigned by me based on the order items were filed in the bundles at the time I examined them. Shelf Township Papers at Calderdale Archives Miscellaneous Records (1719-1891) WYAS Calderdale, MISC:347/1 Item Description Date 1 Note from Thomas Hanson to Joseph Northend requesting him to come to Whine Hall (Whinney Hall) regarding certain listed goods 1 December 1779 2 Agreement between the townships of Clayton, Shelf and Allerton over the sharing of a workhouse 1786 3 Order from the Shelf Court Baron for Samuel Sugden to open a well and footpath 9 June 1719 4 Order for the repair of the road between Bowling and Halifax (for the section of 400 yards between the land of Jeremiah Ingham in North 1 January 15 Bierley and Blackshaw Beck which divides North Bierley and Shelf) Geo 2nd [1742?] 5 Promise by James Mason to pay to William Greenwood all money expended concerning himself from the money due to him from his 3 July 1755 2 Shelf Township Papers Catalogue & Guide (Compiled by Ben Stables 2019-2020) www.shelfhalifax.wordpress.com deceased uncle 6 Statement of Jonathan Wilson of Northowram regarding the settlement of Thomas Sourage (Surrage?) 26 July 1760 7 Agreement between the Churchwarden’s of Halifax Parish regarding the clock of Halifax Parish Church for Thomas Lister of Halifax 2 March 1774 clockmaker to make a new clock for sixty pounds 8 Notice to James Haigh and Richard Pollard to give up possession of a messuage in Shelf owned by William Swaine, John Swaine, Cornelius 31 July 1784 Ashworth and Shakaniah Rhodes 9 Order to make a tax assessment and appear at the Old Cock Inn in Halifax on the 26th March [1815] 14 March 1815 10 Minute regarding a case between Horton and Shelf Townships 5 July 1819 11 Notice regarding a Vestry Meeting to be held at the Duke William Inn regarding a tax return, endorsed that the notice was displayed at Coley 13 June 1857 Church 12 Printed Extract from the General Order of the Local Government Board regarding the duties of inspectors of nuisances 23 March 1891 13 Fragment of an Apprenticeship Indenture, William Walker as master 18th cent? 14 List endorsed ‘Schedule of Goods at Allerton’ 19th cent? 15 Fragment of a township assessment 19th cent? 16 Certificate that John Wilson was recruited for the 7th Regiment of Foot from Shelf 3 January 1806 Settlement Certificates, removal orders and related documents (1701-1827) A key part of determining if a poor person could claim relief was whether they were determined to have ‘legal settlement’ in Shelf. The Laws of Settlement regulated the movement of a large number of people, and were created in reaction to vagrant paupers. Strangers could be evicted from a township unless they brought a ‘Settlement Certificate’ from their home township, guaranteeing to take responsibility if the migrant became a pauper. It may be tempting to think that people who were born in Shelf would almost always stay there their entire lives. This, however, is not correct. Many people moved around during their lives in search for better opportunities, and this resulted in people moving both from and to Shelf. This is demonstrated through the surviving Settlement Papers which date from between 1701 and 1828. Examination of these papers reveals that most, if not all, had moved from other communities within West Yorkshire. These certificates were carefully preserved because they could prove to be of great value. WYAS Calderdale, MISC:347/2/1 (First Bundle) Item Description Date 1 Removal Order from Clayton to Shelf for Thomas and Mary Brook with their children Hannah, Isaac, Joseph and a male child not baptised 14 February 1791 2 Removal Order from Northowram to Shelf for Martha Baldwin widow and her children Grace (10 years old), Elizabeth (8 years old), Mary 15 December 1790 (4 years old) and William (2 years old). 3 Bond for the payment of twenty pounds regarding the settlement of Daniel and Agnes Sutcliffe indemnifying the township of Allerton 16 July 1742 against all damages and expenses which might be occurred by the township of Shelf on account of the settlement of Daniel and Agnes Sutcliffe Parties: 1. John Hodgson and Jonas White of Allerton gentlemen and 2. John Woodhead and Joseph Northend of Shelf yeomen 4 Order against James Haigh and William Terry to appear at the Quarter Sessions for non-payment of relief to Mary Gray of Northowram and 20 July 1790 her bastard child delivered in the township of Shelf. 3 Shelf Township Papers Catalogue & Guide (Compiled by Ben Stables 2019-2020) www.shelfhalifax.wordpress.com 5 Removal Order from Hunsworth to Shelf for Joseph and Mary Woodhead with their children Sarah, Joseph, Samuel and Matthew 18 March 1788 6 Memorandum that an removal order against Mary the wife of Edward Holmes (abroad in His Majesty’s Army) and Joseph their child from 4 October 1781 Shelf to Northowram was filed at the Leeds Quarter Sessions and that no appeal was made 7 Examination of Samuel Wood of Shelf, weaver, aged 21 years old and born in the township of Hipperholme with Brighouse but believes his 13 July 1787 father’s settlement was in Shelf. He lived with his father in Hipperholme with Brighouse and Northowram until he was about seventeen when he went to live with Fanny Ramsden widow of Clifton and served her for three weeks. Then he went to live with John Gledhill of Clifton farmer for over a year. 8 Removal Order from Bowling to Shelf for Hannah Hall, spinster 19 June 1787 9 Removal Order from Hipperholme with Brighouse to Shelf for Mary Grey 20 May 1786 10 Examination of John Priestley of Shelf. He was born illegitimately at Shelf where he lived with his mother until about nine years old. Bound 6 December 1785 apprentice to Samuel Priestley of Shelf, farmer, until he was about fourteen when he was assigned to Matthew Walker of Ecclesfield in Yorkshire for about three years and was then assigned to his son in law George Birkenshaw of Wortley in Yorkshire for about a year and then Jonathan Broadbent of Wortley for the remainder of his term until he was about nineteen. He then enlisted as a soldier for three and a half years and was then discharged. He returned to Shelf and lived as a cottager for a year and a half, and then got married and has lived as a cottager ever since. 11 Examination of Martha Smith aged about thirty one and born in the township of Northowram. Believes that her father’s settlement was in 16 July 1784 Shelf. When she was about nine years old she was apprenticed to John Stocks of Shelf, worsted manufacturer until she was upwards of nineteen years and her master had a dispute and set her at liberty.