THE SCRIVENER The Journal of Calderdale Family History Society Incorporating Halifax & District Number 146 Spring March 2014 CALDERDALE FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Incorporating HALIFAX and DISTRICT Calderdale Family History Society was founded on the 7th March 1985. We aim • To encourage interest in, and assist with, research relevant to the study of fam- ily history in Halifax and the Calder valley. Our area • Covers the modern Calderdale Council established in 1975, which broadly cov- ers the same area as the Ancient Parish of Halifax, with the addition to the west of the township of Todmorden and Walsden. We do this by • Holding meetings, usually on the 4 th Thursday of each month (except August) in Halifax. • Publishing The Scrivener, a quarterly journal, in paper form for full members and on our website for internet members. Contact the Editor. • Hosting a website www.cfhsweb.com/web/, and a members’ forum. Contact the Webmaster. • Running a Research Room at Brighouse Library two half days a week for per- sonal research. Contact the Research Room co-ordinator. • Running projects to transcribe records relevant to members’ research. Contact the Projects Co-ordinator. • Publishing transcribed records. Contact the Publications Officer. • Providing an enquiry and search service from our records in the Research Room. Contact the Enquiry service Co-ordinator. • Maintaining a list of members’ interests by surname and dates of interest, which are available to members on the website. Each quarter new additions are pub- lished in The Scrivener . Contact the Members’ Interests Co-ordinator. • Maintaining an index of “Strays” (Calderdale people who appear in records else- where). Contact the Strays Co-ordinator. Membership • Is open to all family historians who have an interest in the area. Contact the Membership Secretary. • Annual subscriptions are £10.00 for UK individuals (£12.00 for family member- ship), £15/£17 for Overseas • Internet membership is £5.50/£7.50 which only provides information such as the journal on the Internet, but not on paper. • Subscriptions are due in April at the time of the AGM (cheques made payable to C.F.H.S.) and should be sent to the Treasurer. • Overseas payments must be made in sterling, drawn on a bank with a branch in the UK, by Sterling Money Order. • Credit Card payments for subscriptions and purchases of our publications may be made over the Internet via Genfair (www.genfair.co.uk). Contacting the Society • All correspondence requiring a reply must be accompanied by a S.A.E. or 2 recent I.R.C.’s [International Reply Coupons]. Contact the Secretary or appropri- ate officer. • The names, addresses and email contacts of the Society’s officers and co- ordinators appear inside the back cover of The Scrivener and on the Society’s website. Page 2 CONTENTS ARTICLES COVER PICTURE 4 EDITORIAL 5 APPEAL FROM THE ACTING EDITOR ..5 A VISIT TO MIXENDEN 6 AN ESCAPE FROM RUSSIA—1917 15 RASTRICK WAR MEMORIAL 16 MEMORIES FROM ELLAND 18 OCTOBER TALK—LIFE IN THE VILLAGE OF HAWORTH 21 THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN HARPER 24 FROM MIDGLEY TO MAYOR OF MOONEE PONDS 37 AN EASTER CELEBRATION 46 JANUARY TALK—DIMENSIONS OF TIME 48 GENERAL INFORMATION FAMILY HISTORY FAIRS—SPRING/SUMMER 2014 53 ANCIENT PARISH OF HALIFAX ~ chapelries & townships 56 CALDERDALE FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY NEWS ABOUT CFHS 2 PROJECT UPDATE 16 DATA PROTECTION—SOME CHANGES 20 MEMBERS’ INTERESTS UPDATE 22/23 AGM—A PLEA FROM THE CHAIRMAN 35 NEW HALIFAX LIBRARY—AN UPDATE 36 MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS—A VALUABLE RESOURCE 47 RESEARCH ROOM DETAILS 53 CFHS OFFICERS 54 PUBLICATION & SERVICES SUPPLEMENT P1- P4 Page 3 THE SCRIVENER Publication Dates Deadline Dates for Copy (Monday) WINTER 2013 (December) NOVEMBER 11TH SPRING 2014 (March) FEBRUARY 17TH SUMMER 2014 (June) MAY 19TH AUTUMN 2014 (September) AUGUST 18TH WINTER 2014 (December) NOVEMBER 10TH Data Protection Act As a “not for profit” organisation, we are not required to notify the Data Protec- tion Authorities in the UK regarding the holding of personal data. However you should know that we hold on the Society’s computer the personal data that you provide us. Furthermore we make this information available to other members for the purposes of following up “Members’ Interests”. As part of this, those details are posted on our Members’ Only website, which, under certain circumstances, can be accessed by non-members. If you either do not want us to hold your details on our computer and/or you do not want your details made available to other members as described above, please con- tact our Membership Secretary by letter, or email at [email protected]. Insurance Exclusions The insurance which we hold for certain activities undertaken by members is limited to cover for members under 75 years of age. Consequently, any mem- ber over 75 who is concerned about taking part in specific Society activities should contact the Secretary for clarification. COVER PICTURE The recent terrible floods experienced in many parts of the country are sadly not a recent phenomenon. Perhaps not on the same scale as experienced in the south of England and Wales, this photograph taken in the early 1900s in Sowerby Bridge demonstrates the power of the elements. Page 4 Editorial Can it really be three month’s since I last sat down to write the editorial for the winter edition - how time flies. It is also hard to believe that it’s twenty-nine years since a handful of family historians gathered together and formed the Calderdale Family History Society. Research has changed very much since the societies inception but we believe we continue to be a valued resource for our members. It is also the time of the year when we ask for your continued support by renew- ing your membership. This can be done by completing the Membership Re- newal form which can be found in the centre of the Scrivener or by going online at Genfair, ( www.genfair.com ). You will also find the Nomination Paper for the Members Sutcliffe award—if you wish to nominate someone please fill in the form and return to our secretary Margaret Smith. We are also pleased to announce that the transcription of the parish registers for St Bartholomew’s Ripponden is nearing completion. When complete, in the next few months a download will be available via Genfair, or if you prefer, a CD from our Publications Officer. And now a request to you our members - we are always looking for interesting bits of news, articles and pictures for publication in our quarterly publication the Scrivener. I am sure many of you have an interesting tale to tell about your own family research, why not share it with your fellow members and put pen to pa- per. If you are not able to attend our Annual General Meeting on the 24 th April a full report together with all the award winners will appear in Summer edition of the Scrivener. In the meantime, happy researching. Clifford Drake. Chairman. ——————— Appeal from the Acting Editor I’m afraid that we are running dangerously short of material for the next Scriv- ener (June 2014). We usually have the basis for the next Scrivener once the previous one goes to press, with material that has been “left over”. If any of you have anything that you want to impart—an interesting genealogical story, or an appeal for information from other members, please let me have it, so that we can continue to give you an interesting & entertaining magazine. Thanks v. much Peter Lord—Acting Editor—[email protected] Page 5 A visit to Mixenden 1 I expect we have all wished, at times, that we could travel back in time and see how our ancestors lived. Of course, I know that it is impossible. The idea of travelling back in time is inconceivable, isn’t it? Just as inconceivable, in fact, as motor cars, aircraft, mobile phones and television would have seemed to those ancestors. But, we can imagine…. * * * * * * * I parked my car by the church and followed the path past a farmyard and into a field. I looked across the valley at the wind turbines on Ovenden moor. Then they disappeared from view as the mist closed in. I walked on. When the mist cleared, I found myself in a dell, only a few yards from the path, but quite hidden from it. I clambered back up the slope till I reached the path, brushed myself down, and headed back towards the church. No-one had seen me arrive, materialising out of the mist. It was a fine, sunny morning in early summer. There was a bit of breeze, enough to blow the summery clouds along and ruffle the grass, but it was still warm enough to be out without a coat. I was dressed in a suit and tie. I didn’t think I could get away with dressing as a local, and although a business suit out in the Yorkshire countryside would look peculiar enough even in my own time, I hoped the locals would just put it down as one of the things these funny London folk do. Reaching the road at the church, I had the first indication that things were differ- ent. The road was no more than a track, rutted and paved with stones. I doubted that many horses or carts passed this way. That suited me – I wasn’t ready to meet anyone just yet. I followed the road for a quarter mile, as it turned sharp right at the junction to lead down the steep side of the Hebble valley to the village of Mixenden below. The most prominent feature of the village was the mill, which was built not on the Hebble itself but a little way up the other side of the valley across a stream which came down from the moor to join the Hebble by the inn.