The History of Huddersfield and its Vicinity (1898) by D.F.E. Sykes (1856-1920)

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H U D D E RS FIE L D

AND

ITS VICINITY.

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HUDDERSFIELD : BY THE ADVERTISER PRESS, LIMITED, QUEEN STREET SOUTH.

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THE HISTORY

AND ITS

BY

D. F. E. SYKES, LL.B.

* «mw ©

HUDDERSFIELD : THE ADVERTISER PRESS, LIMITED.

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THOMAS BROOKE.

$o /

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TO

T HO M AS BROOK E,

OF ARMITAGE BRIDGE HOUSE, IN THE COUNTY OF YORK,

ESQUIRE, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE,

THIS HISTORY OF HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY IS (BY PERMISSION)

DEDICATED, AS A RESPECTFUL TRIBUTE TO HIS PRIVATE CHARACTER AND PUBLIC SERVICES.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

omen <- +-

CHAPTER I.

Physical features-Some place names-The Brigantes-Evidences of their settlement-Celtic relics at Cupwith Hill-At Woodsome- At Pike-Law-At High-Flatts-Altar to God of the Brigantes- Of the Celts-Voyage of Pytheas-Expeditions of Julius Caesar -His account of the Celts-The Druids-The Triads-Dr. Nicholas on the Ancient Britons-Roman Rule in Britain- Agricola's account-Roman roads-Roman garrisons-Camp at West Nab-Roman altar discovered at Slack (Cambodunum)- Discoveries of Dr. Walker-Roman hypocaust at Slack- Explorations at Slack-Evidences of camp there-Schedule of coins found at Slack-Influence of Roman settlement-On government-On industries-On speech-Philological indications.

CHAPTER II.

The withdrawal of the Romans-Saxon influx-Evidences of Saxon settlement-Character of the Saxons-The Danes-Evidences of their settlement-Introduction of Christianity-Paulinus-Con- version of Edwin-Church at Cambodunum-Other Christian stations - Destruction of Church at Cambodunum - Of the Normans-Invasion of William the Conqueror-Ilbert de Laci- The feudal tenure-Domesday Book-Huddersfield and adjacent places in Domesday Book-Economic and social life of this period -The Villans -The Boardars- Common land - The descent of the Laci manor-The Earl of Lancaster -Richard Waley, Lord of Honley-The Elland Feud-Robin Hood-The Lord of Farnley and Slaithwaite-Execution of Earl of Lancaster -Forfeiture of Laci Manors to the Crown-Acquisition by the Ramsden family-Other and part owners-Colinus de Damelvill -Fules de Batona-John d' Eyville-Robert de Bellomonte- John del Cloghes-Richard de Byron-The Byron family in by Gilbert Gerrard, temp. Elizabeth. See appendix.

CHAPTER IIL.

The condition of the general psople under the Normans-Norman castles-Baronial oppression-Almondbury Castle-The Lord's Hunting-ground at Marsden-Deanhead Chase-The Dog Kennels-Tragedy at Almondbury Castle-Inquisition _ of Edward I.-The unjust Constable of Almond- bury-The Inquisition of Edward dyehouse

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

and fulling mill-Price of provisions-Wages-First traces of woollen industry- The free tenants-The villeins-The term tenants-Their services-The custom of Lytherwythe-Chevage -The Saxon hind-The Lord's Mill-Inquisition of Elizabeth -King's Mill-Encouragement of manufactures by Edward IIL. -Early weavers-The aulnager-Decay of villanage under com- merce-Legislative protection of woollen industry-19 Eliz. 3 Carl II.: Burial in woollens-Statute of Philip and Mary- The wool-driver-Earnings of early weavers.

CHAPTER IV.

The Subsidy Roll of Richard II. (1379)-Population and Poll Tax of

Hoderfeld, Almanbury, Ffarnelay Tyas, Whytelay, Byrton, Heton, North Crosseland, Crosseland fosse, Querenby, Hauneley, Meltham, Holmfirth, Slaxthwayt-Summary-The Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII. (1523)-Population and assessment of Hudders- field-cum-Bradley, Almondburry, Whitlay, Fernelay Tyas, Kirk- burton, Kirkheaton, Crosland, Wharneby (Quarmby), Honlay, Meltham, Holmefyrth, Slaghtwatt, Marsden-Summary.

CHAPTER V.

The Parish Church of Almondbury, All Saints'-The Mother

Church at Dewsbury, founded by Paulinus-All Saints' erected about 1100-The advowson in the Laci family-The College of Jesus at Rotherham-Will of Archbishop Scot-The tithes- The Parsonage House-Property of the Church-List of rectors and vicars-Certain extracts from the parish registers-The Plague-Extracts from churchwardens' accounts-Penance- Communion wine-The bells-Interior of the Church-The Kaye Chapel-The Beaumont Chapel-Monuments of the Fenay family--Of the Kaye family-Churches sprung from All Saints' -Controversy as to Vicarage of Meltham-The faculty for celebrating mass at Honley-The Church quartered. See also appendix. CHAPTER VI.

The foundation of the Parish Church of Huddersfield by Walter de

Laci-Advowson granted to Nostell Priory-Deed of Ordination of Michael de Wakefield-Its confirmation-Valuation temp. Edw. I.-Visitation temp. Henry VIII.-The Chantries-Early valuation-Dissolution of the Monasteries-Advowson acquired by William Ramsden-List of vicars-The Rev. Henry Venn-- The Rev. Harcar Crook-The Highfield Schism-Monuments in the Church-Mr. Coates's School-Population in 1819- The Rev. Gabriel Raynes-The Rev. Edmund Hill-The Rev. Thomas Clarke-The Rev. Josiah Bateman-The vicarage- The Church of St. Thomas-The consecration and non-conse-

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 1x.

cration of the Cemetery-Certain monuments and inscriptions- The Brookes of Newsome-The Wilkinsons of Greenhead -Sir J. L. Kaye-Extracts from the parish registers-The first Huddersfield Pauper (n.)-Visit of the Somerset Herald- Of the Rev. Joseph Hunter-Re-erection in 1836-The value of the living-The late G. W. Tomlinson.

CHAPTER VIL.

The Priory of Kirklees-The Cistercian Order-Their habit and discipline-Grant by Rayner le Fleming-Elizabeth de Staynton -List of Lady Superiors-Their oath-Various The advowson of Mirfield Church-Grant of a female serf- Survey of Henry VIII. -Robin Hood-Dissolution of the Priory

-Papist Hall-The Armytage family.

CHAPTER VIII.

Education in early times-Establishment and endowment of Grammar Schools-The Kaye grant-The Chapel of St. Helen-The Charter of King James I. to the Almondbury Grammar School -Statutes of the governors-Course of study -Other benefactors-The Nettleton Trust-Robert Nettleton - Monument and residence-The _ Wormald Wormald-His house-Present scheme of and governors-Scholarships-Petition for original Charter- List of governors-List of head masters-Some scholars.

CHAPTER IX.

The Beaumont family- W hitley-Beaumont-William de Bellomonte- Sir Richard de Bellomonte-Sir Robert de Bellomonte-Sir John de Bellomonts-John de Bellomonte-Robert de Bellomonte- Henry de Bellomonte-Henry Beaumont-Richard Beaumont- His will-Thomas Beaumont-Richard Beaumont-Richard Beaumont-Edward Beaumont-Sir Richard Beaumont-Monu- ments in Kirkheaton Church-Sir Thomas Beaumont-The Civil War-Siege of Sheffield Castle-Adam - Beaumont-Richard Beaumont-Richard Beaumont - Richard Beaumont- Henry Beaumont-Richard Beaumont-Richard Henry Beaumont- John Beaumont-Charles Henry Beaumont-Richard Henry Beaumont-Henry Frederick Beaumont-Beaumont Park- Woodsome Hall -Henricus Teutonicus-Sir Baldwin Teutonicus -Sir Francis Tyas--Laurence Kay-Lawsuit for Manor of Slaith- waite-The Finchenden family-Pedigree of the Kayes of Woodsome-The Woodsome manuscript-Arthur Kaye-Denby Grange-Slaughwaite Hall-The Manor House at Slaithwaite- Pole Chapel-John Kaye of Woodsome-Robert Kaye-John Kaye-Sir John Kaye-The Civil Wars-Sir John Kaye- Parliamentary elections-Sir Arthur Kaye-His marriage-Sir

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John Lister-Kaye-Sir John Lister-Kaye of Denby Grange- John Lister-Kaye-Sir John Lister Lister-Kaye-Sir John PePy.s Lister-Kaye-The Legge family-William Legge-The Civil Wars-Honest Will Legge-Baron Dartmouth-William Legge, second Baron and first Earl-Marriage of Viscount Lewisham and daughter of Sir Arthur Kaye-William, second Earl of Dartmouth - His friendship with John Wesley - George, third Earl - William, fourth Earl-Some correspondence of William Walter, fifth Earl - Enfranchisement of Slaithwaite estates - The

present Earl -Woodsome Hall.

CHAPTER X.

The Ramsden family-Robertus de Wodde-The Woddes of Longley-John Ramsden of Longley Hall-William Ramsden- Deed of Purchase of the Huddersfield Estates-Bay Hall- Sir John Ramsden-The Civil Wars-William Ramsden- Sir John Ramsden-Charter of market at Huddersheld-Sir William - Ramsden-Sir John Ramsden-The Huddersfield Cloth Hall-Sir John Ramsden-The Huddersfield Enclosure Act-Sir John William Ramsden-The Huddersfield Tenant- Right Case.

CHAPTER XI.

The Civil Wars-Catholic families of the district-Muster at Almond- bury for the Parliament-At Doncaster for the King-Major Beaumont defences of Almondbury-Sir John Ramsden at Selby-Charles Nettleton of Honley-Captain Horsfall of Storthes Hall-Defence of Sheffield by Sir Thomas Beaumont-Kaye of Woodsome fined by Parliament-Thomas Hirst of Greenhead fined-The Rev. Richard Sykes expelled his cure-The Rev. Christopher Richardson-Lascelles Hall -The Rev. Abraham Woodhead of Meltham-His endowment of the Church at Meltham-Sir Thomas Hoyle of Linthwaite- Resistance of James II. by local gentry-Resistance of the Pretender-The Young Pretender's Army at Scot Head-The Huddersfield Yeomanry.

CHAPTER XIL.

Huddersfield in 1800-A description of the town-The government of the town-The office and duties of the constable-The Cuck Stool-The Whipping Post-The Court Leet-Petition for appointment of constable-The surveyor of highways-The water supply-Public lighting-Introduction of. gas-Early magistrates-The Marsh Prosecution Society-County Court- The Riding School -The playhouse-The Cloth Hall-Private schools-The police-Some private residences-Popular pastimes -Bull baiting-Costumes of the stage coaches-

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The pack horses-Coaching accidents- The state of the High- ways-General distress-Wages-Statute of labourers-Hand- loom weavers-Merry Dale Mill-Legislative protection of

woollen industry- Resistance to union with Ireland-Some early worthies of the town.

CHAPTER

The introduction of machinery - Riots-The Croppers - Their earnings - Restrictions on exportation - Industrial distress- Petition for Peace-E. and J. Taylor of Marsden-The Luddites -Attack on Bradley Mills-Soldiery at Marsden-Cartwright's mill at Rawfolds-The Luddites at Longroyd Bridge-George Mellor-Ben o' Bucks-The oath of the Luddites-Attack on Cartwright's mill-The murder of William panic in the district-Activity of the magistrates-Treachery of Walker and trial of the Luddite leaders-Their execution-- Sentences on other Luddites-End of Walker-Reward of Justice Radcliffe-The Radcliffe family.

CHAPTER XIV.

Continued distress-Price of provisions-Bank failures-General disaffection-The Folly Hall fight-The services of the Yeomanry -Reform meetings on Almondbury Bank-Plot to seize the town -A state of siege-Trial of the conspirators-The Chartist agitation-The Plug Riots-Local Chartists-Joshua Hobson- William Armitage-The Factory Acts-Child labour-The system of apprenticeship-A Parliamentary Commission-Evidence of Joseph Habergam-Of Abraham Whitehead-The fire at Atkinson's Mills-Monument to the victims-Elizabeth Barrett Browning's plea-Richard Oastler-The Huddersfield Short- time Committee-The manufacturers' petition-Great demon- stration at York-Death of Oastler-The Holmfirth Flood- Memorial at Holmfirth.

CHAPTER XV.

Nonconformist Churches-Salendine Nook Baptist Chapel-Rev. Henry Clayton-The mother church at Rodhillend-Sallindon Nook licensed -Act of Toleration - Letters dismissory - Declaration of Faith-Covenant of Communion-First Sub- scribers-Rev. Joshua Wood-Rev. Robert Hyde-Rev. James Macpherson-Rev. Thomas Lomas-Rev. David Crompton- Rev. James Parker-Rev. Dr. Stock-Rev. John Thomas-Rev. D. Wilton Jenkins-Baptist Churches derived from Salendine Nook-Pole Moor Chapel-Slaithwaite Baptists-Rev. Henry Wilcock Holmes-The Independents, Highfield-Secession from the Parish Church-Rev. Henry Venn-First members of Highfield-The Trust deed-Church discipline-Rev. William

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Moorhouse-Rev. Benjamin Boothroyd, D.D., LL.D.-His conversion-His literary pursuits-The Bibliz Hebraica- Monument to-Rev. John Glendenning-The Rev. Dr. Bruce- Churches derived from Highfield-Ramsden St. Chapel-The Trust Deed-The Rev. J. T. Stannard-Jores v. Stannard- Milton Church-The Wesleyans-John Wesley in Huddersfield -His opinion of the country and people-At Honley-Dean- house Chapel - Almondbury Methodists -*" The - Weeping

' Prophet "-Abraham Moss-Old Bank Chapel-First trustees-

Trust Deed-Constitution of circuit-First ministers-The Rev. Alexander Kilham-The New Connexion-High Street Chapel -Queen Street Chapel-Churches derived from Buxton Road-

Local preachers-Squire Brooke.

CHAPTER XVI

Parliamentary History. Early elections-Lord Brougham-Captain

Lewis Fenton-Captain Joseph Wood-Riots-Michael Thomas Sadler -John Blackburn, K.C.-'" Bulls, tigers, serpents ""- General Johnson-Edward Ellis, Jun. -Richard Oastler-The New Poor Law-Rev. Joseph Rayner Stephens-The Leeds Mercury on the candidates-W . R. C. Stansfield-Electioneering tactics-The Liberal Party-John Cheetham- William Willans- Viscount Goderich-Joseph Starkey-Edward Akroyd-Richard Cobden-E. A. Leatham-T. P. Crosland-W . C. Sleigh-W . A. Joseph Crosland -William Summers- Thomas Brooke-Some account of the Brooke family-Elections since 1865- Joseph Woodhead -The Colne Valley Division -The Holmfiéth Division- Walter Armitage-John Sugden.

CHAPTER XVII.

Municipal government-The Court Leet-The Chief Constable-The

Vestry-Act for lighting, watching, &c.-First Board of Com- missioners-Huddersfield a pocket borough-The patrolmen- Their duties-The Pindar-Introduction of gas-The Hudders- field Gas Works-Board of Highway Surveyors-Development of the town in this period-Banking companies-Churches- Petition for incorporation-Improvement Commissioners-First Board of-The cemetery-Church rates-Model lodging house- Market rights-Renewed agitation for incorporation-Govern- ment inquiry-Charter of incorporation granted-The first Council- Population and rateable value of borough at incorporation-C. H. Jones-The Mayors of Huddersfield- Honorary Freemen-Longwood included-Present population and rateable value-Covered markets-Gas-Electricity-Tram- ways- Tramway fatality-Artizans' dwellings-Mechanics' home -The police-The fire brigade-St. John Ambulance-The

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. xii.

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water supply-The reservoirs-Lead poisoning-Baths-Beau- mont Park-Greenhead Park-The Lindley Moor ground-Free library-Municipal buildings-Town Hall-Borough debt-The Poor Law burdens-Riots-Formation of the Huddersfield Union-Chairman of the Board of Guardians-The Hudders- field Infirmary-The Meltham Convalescent Home-Honorary physicians and surgeons-Presidents- William Mallinson-The Industrial Home-The Charity Organisation Society-The Slaithwaite Free School-The Fartown Grammar School-The Longwood Grammar School -Some private schools --The Huddersfield College-The Collegiate-Sunday schools-The Mechanics' Institute-The Technical College-The School Board -Chairmen and vice-chairmen- Church C. W. Sikes-Industrial development-The Weavers' Strike- General Survey.

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CHAPTER I.

THE valleys of the Colne and of the Holme and the

vast amphitheatre in which the town of Hudders- field stands were, in the far off days when history begins, the wild home of the Brigantes, a tribe of the Gallo-Brythonic branch of the great Celtic family. The region now so populous, its natural face transfigured by the art of man, was then sparsely populated and densely wooded. The waters from the extensive heights and moorlands flowed in a thousand rills to swell the larger streams that rise on Holme Moss and Stanedge, and when the frequent storms swept the gloomy forests angry floods of great depth and force streamed down the beds now so shallow and dry. The deer, the fox, the boar, and the wolf were among the denizens of the thicket and the forest. Deer Hill, Doe Hill, Stag Hill, Wolf Stones, Fox Royd, Wildboarley, Brockholes, bear these names for good and sufficient reasons. It is said that even in the reign of Edward the Third wolves might occasionally be found in this neighbourhood. The last is said to have fallen to the spear of John of Gaunt." Many names familiar to our ears attest the sylvan beauties of the pristine scene. _ The

(1) Mayhall's " Annals of Yorkshire."

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Calder (CeZdwyer) was "the river of the wooded waters," long before the Colne took its name from the

Roman Colonia near its banks. Long-wood ; Lockwood (from Old English /c or Zoca, an enclosure); Wooldale, (from Wald. Anglo Saxon), the forest-dale; Ag-brigg (Aer. Old English), the Bridge of the Oak; Birkby, Birchencliffe (respectively the Birch-village and Birch-cliff); Lingards (from the Danish ZLyxg, heather, and garde, an enclosure); Linthwaite (from Aoeif, Danish, a clearing); Slaithwaite (the Slack or Sloe-tree); Lindley (Ze Saxon, a meadow) ; Farnley (the Fern Field); Marsden (Dex. British, a deep or wooded valley); Diggle (Diggel/iar, Anglo Saxon, to conceal); and such local and personal names as Olroyd, Learoyd, Ackroyd, Boothroyd, Highroyd (Scan. rydde, to clear), are eloquent witnesses of the natural features of the part of the Brigantian country with which we are concerned. A century after the Norman Conquest, the Lord of Sadelworth gave tithe of his forest of Sade/worth to the mother church of St. Chad, at Rochdale. The Brigantes, who seem to have dispossessed and driven southwards and westwards an earlier Goidelic race, were fitting settlers of parts so wild and rude. Scholars are not agreed as to the origin of the word Brigantes. Some would have it that their name meant " the hill-men" or mountaineers, from the same origin as the Welsh Pze or a hill. Mr. Rhys, the ingenious and profound author of " Celtic Britain," derives the name from the stem drigant, meaning noble, free, privileged, and inclines to the theory that their name pointed to an honourable distinction between them and the earlier Goidelic races they had dispossessed. Of their presence in these regions we are not without many indications. It is probable they gave its earlier name to the noble height we now call Castle Hill.

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The word Almond-bury, it is suggested by the Rev. R. Collins, the Vicar of Kirkburton, in his " Burton in the Past,"* is a compound of the Celtic 4//t-maenr, a steep hill of rock. There is much to be said, as will presently appear, to support the contention that a British settlement or encamp- ment preceded the Roman station or colony at Slack, the Cambodunum of debate. The Celtic word means a high place of strength, and Cambodwzum may well have meant the fortress named in honour of Camul, the British war god, and it would be in accordance with Roman policy to erect their own stronghold upon the ruins of a fortress wrung from a stubborn foe. At various points within easy distance of Cam- bodunum many remains of Celtic weapons and implements have from time to time been unearthed. The following were found at Cupwith Hill, buried under a bed of peat varying from three feet to nine feet in depth: A double- barbed arrow-porint, a large scraper or skin flint, several long scrapers, two knives, one of white the other of black flint; half-a-dozen arrow-points of different formation, several spear or javelin heads, many flakes of flint, possibly used for skinning animals; a rudely designed flint celt or battle-axe, and (nearer to Buckstones) many single winged arrow-points of flint. Near to the entrance gates of Woodsome Hall again, was found a British celt or battle- axe, of green stone, weighing over nine ounces, five inches in length, with a cutting edge of a little over six inches.t In 1830 a British celt (or stone battle-axe) was found near Pike-Law, above Mealhill ; it measured rather more than seven inches in length and about three inches in breadth at the broadest part. Its weight was two pounds ten ounces. In shape it nearly resembled the.common axe of the pre§ent day-the cutting edge wedge-shaped, and about three inches broad on the face ; the other end being rounded, and

* " Kirkburton Church Monthly '" (March, 1896). + " Proceedings of the Yorkshire Topographical and Archaeological

Society,"" IX., 255 and 329.

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4 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

about five-and-a-half inches in circumference. In 1845, another of these weapons was found near High-Flatts, in the township of Denby. It was wedge-shaped, six-and-three- quarter inches in length, and about three-and-a-fourth inches in breadth, gradually tapering to about two inches, being about one-and-three-quarters inches at the thickest part ; the cutting edge being formed by a rapid slope on each side, of nearly two-and-a-half inches, forming a uniform convex edge, like that of a common axe, and as fine as the quality of the stone would permit. It had a dusky white appearance, with a polished surface, of a close texture, having much the look of ironstone.* Dr. Walker, the antiquarian, discovered not far from Blackmoor foot the remains of a Celtic kistvaen or place of interment.t Some seventy years ago there existed at Brow Grains, between West Nab and Deer Hill, a Druidical Stone, known locally as the Rocking Stone. This relic of antiquity was levelled to the ground, in ignorance or from wanton mischief, by a few workmen in 1827 or In September, 1896, a flint arrow head and an urn containing human bones was dug up on Pule Hill. Again, in August, 1883, a Roman altar was found in the township of Longwood, near Huddersfield, embedded in the soil, at a spot in a direct line between Slack and Castle Hill. It bore an inscription in the Latin:

DEO S. BRIGANT ET N. AUG.

T. AUR. QUINTUS D. D. P. ET. SS. abbreviations, which enlarged, would probably read : Deo Sancto Brigantum et Numini Augusti, Titus Aurelius

Quintus, Decreto Decuriconum, Posuit et Susceptum Solvit : «To the Holy God of the Brigantes and to the Divinity

* Morehouse : " History of Holmfirth." t+ Hughes : " History of Meltham." ; Hughes : " History of Meltham," 4.

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of the Emperor, Titus Aurelius Quintus, by decree of the Decurions, has placed (this altar) and discharged his undertaking." The Decurions were the Senators of a municipium or colonia, and the Holy God of the Brigantes was the war god Camul, and in him the Romans would recognize a deity kindred to their own much idolized Mars. That they should erect an altar to a British god was characteristic of the Romans of the later ages, who, with absolute impartiality, used the gods of their own and others' faith as part of the machinery of policy, conquest and government. If the Roman garrison in these parts conceived that any purpose of pacification would be served by erecting an altar to so respectable a deity as the war god of an enemy so redoubtable as the Brigantes had proved themselves, the politic Roman had no objection to erecting an altar and honouring it with an inscription. It had got to that with him, that one god was very much as another. His opinion of the whole sacred business is shewn by coupling with the dedication to the Saxnceifus Deus Brigantum a similar tribute to the Divinity of the Emperor, for the Romans of the decline deified their Emperors: a proof not so much of respect for the Emperors as of contempt for the gods. Are these, then, all the traces of those Celtic predecessors of ours that remain ?-an inscribed altar, a heap of stones, a few flints, and a few names. For my part, I am not disposed to dismiss our Celtic ancestors so summanily. It is too much the custom to sum up all that is known of them by saying that Caesar found a race of Celtic savages in England, that successive Roman generals subdued them, and that when, after four hundred years, the Romans withdrew, Teutonic tribes from the mouth of the Elbe drove a wretched remnant into the fastnesses of Wales and Cornwall. But it may well be, as I shall seek to show,

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that neither Roman nor Saxon, either extinguished or banished the original Celtic population of these regions, and on the hills and in the valleys of the Colne and Holme may still be many a hardy Yorkshireman whose Brigantian forbear gave a good account of himself both to Roman swordsman and Saxon and Danish raider. It will, then, be interesting to see what can be gleaned from books con- cerning our Celtic forefathers. The first writer of antiquity to whom we are indebted for even the most fragmentary account of our country is Pytheas, the story of whose travels was published soon after the death of Aristotle.: Pytheas was an eminent mathematician of the City of Marseilles, and the merchants of that emporium of the southern seas fitted out an expedition with a view to the extension of their trade, just as Mr. Stanley in our days received substantial support from the London merchants in his African enterprises. Pytheas was entrusted with the command of this expedition, and twice he penetrated some little distance into the interior of Britain." This was about 330 B.c. He informs us that he saw plenty of corn in the fields in the South- East, and he noticed that the farmers gathered the sheaves into large barns, in which the threshing was done. They had so little sun that the open threshing floors of the brighter South would not have done in a land of cloud and rain like Britain. It was permissible for a man born under the cloudless skies of the Mediterranean shores to speak disrespectfully of our British clime. He noticed also that they made a drink by mixing wheat and honey, megethlin, the mead of later days. Two centuries later, Posidonius visited Britain, and from him we learn that the inhabitants lived in mean dwellings made for the most part of reeds or wood, and that harvest with them meant cutting off the ears of corn and storing them in pits underground.

* See Elton's " Origins of Eng. Hist.," pp. 13, &c.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 7

i mum .. sme P - +o ius»: . comme stom s .

But, after all, our real acquaintance with Britain begins with that pest of our boyhood, Julius Cesar. In the fourth book of his commentaries Caesar tells how he made up his mind to prosecute an expedition into Britain, because in almost all his Gallic wars help had been sent thence to his enemies, thinking that even if he should not have time to prosecute a lengthy campaign, he might find it of great service to merely visit the island and see what sort of people were there and what their country and their ports-matters almost entirely unknown to the Gauls, for no one except traders ever visited them, and they only the merest fringe of the island. Then we have the well known story of how his fleet of eighty vessels, having two legions of 12,000 infantry, drew near the southern coast, between Dover and the South Foreland. The Britons were gathered in loose order upon the beach and the white cliffs. They brandish their spears; they hurl them with fatal precision at the long oared triremes : nay, they rush breast high into the waves to meet the conquerors of the world. The Roman oarsmen cannot gain the shallow. There is hesitancy, some fear perhaps. Then from the standard bearer of the tenth legion, as he leaps from the bark into the waves, comes that cry which has rung down the ages : «¢ Desilite, commulitiones, nist vultis aquilam hostibus prodere ; ego certe meum ret publicae atque imperatort officitum praesiitero. Leap, my comrades, if you would not betray the Eagle into the hands of the enemy. I, at any rate, will do my duty to my country and my general."" The natives fall back : there is the pretence of a submission, and after a stay in the island of a few days Cesar returns to Gaul, apparently not loth to escape with dignity from an under- taking which his experienced judgment warned him was not to be so lightly emprized. The people in Rome, however, thought much of his accomplishment, and well they might,

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%

for did not their poets sing of the " horrible Britons," " the remotest race of the world," " men cut off from the whole globe." The Senate decreed a public festival of thanksgiving to last for twenty days, a tribute which reflects quite as much honour upon our brave ancestors as on Caesar and his legions. In the following spring, B.c. 54, Caesar made another and more formidable assault upon our island. He had gathered a considerable fleet at Port Ittius, which some writers identify with Calais, others (Napoleon III. among them) with Boulogne. This time he stays longer, and has more marked success. He has an army of 30,000 infantry, a complement of cavalry, borne in goo transports. Surely it was not to subdue a horde of painted savages such an array of the picked soldiers of the world was gathered, the veterans of a thousand fights. We do affront ourselves to think so meanly of the men whose heirs we are. Caesar stayed longer, but withal not long. It was a brief campaign, and he did not get further north than St. Albans. He, however, made a few hasty observations, and it is those which constitute the sum total of the knowledge with which the general reader is content. He informs us that the interior of Britain was inhabited by Aborigines, but that the coast was settled by immigrants from Belgium; that the population was dense and their houses numerous, built after the Gallic style; and they are rich in herds of cattle. They use either a copper money, or, instead, bars of iron of adjusted weight. It is against their religion to eat the hare or the fowl or the goose ; but they keep them for pleasure. The inhabitants of the interior, being more remote from the civilizing influences of continental commerce, sow no corn, but live on milk and flesh, and are clad in skins. All the Britons, however, tattoo themselves a greenish-hue colour with woad, and

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~~

thus make themselves of a more dreadful appearance in battle. The hair of the head they wear long, and they shave the beard but not the upper lip. They have ten or twelve wives, parents and brothers owning their wives in common; a statement of Caesar which there is every reason to think must be taken with reserve. Their priests are the Druids, and there are fearsome sacrifices to the gods. The Druids concern themselves about divine affairs, look after public and private sacrifices, and interpret omens. They give judgment in all public and private disputes; if any crime has been committed, any murder done, has there been any quarrel about an inheritance or boundaries, they determine it; they fix the rewards and penalties. If any individual or state is recalcitrant the punishment is interdiction from the religious ceremonies. This punish- ment is hardest of all. A man under this ban is held as one impious and criminal. All shun him; no one goes near him or speaks to him; he is as though smitten of the plague ; he is outside of the pale of the law, every consideration is denied him. The Druids usually do not engage in the wars; they do not pay taxes; they enjoy immunity from military service. Many disciples flock to them. Parents send their children to them. Their teaching is oral, their lessons conveyed in verses that take many years to learn by heart. It is a sin to commit these to writing. This is their cardinal doctrine: that the souls of men do not perish with the body but are transmitted to others. They are greatly concerned in the study of the stars and the motions of the heavenly bodies, studying the magnitude of the world and of countries, the nature of things and the immortality and power of the gods. As for sacrifices, they conceive the lives of criminals to be peculiarly acceptable to the gods, and these they burn alive, so also the captives of the sword, holding that only by a life for a

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IO HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

life can the immortals be placated. They worship par- ticularly the God Wodin, whom Casar identifies with the Roman Mercury, as Thor corresponds to the Latin Mars. They worship also deities corresponding to Apollo and Jupiter and Minerva. - Apollo bans disease, Minerva smiles on the applied sciences, Jupiter rules the immortals, and Mars is the god of battles. The Druids of Britain have schools so famous that the youths of noble families from distant countries resort to them to learn the sacred truths from their lips. Indeed, Pliny observes that Britain seems to have taught the Druid cult even to the Persians. By some historians it is contended, and I think not without much force, that we may gather from the 7Z»iads a fair reflex of the philosophy of these earliest of British schoolmen, and if so we have little reason to be ashamed of the intellectual culture of the early Britons, think what we may of their human sacrifices. Let the reader judge from a few selections from the Triads - By three things shall a person be quickly known: by what he likes, by what he dislikes, and by such as like or dislike him. The three characteristics of godliness : To do justice, to love mercy, and to behave humbly.

Three things that are honourable to a man: To have courage

in adversity, to observe moderation in prosperity, and piously to conduct himself in both.

The three necessities of the Being of God : Essence, life, and motion ; and from these are all substance, life, and motion, by inchoation, i.e., from God and His essence are all things whatsoever.

Lucan, in the Pharsalia, thus apostrophizes the Druids :

'*' You teach that souls, eased of their mortal load, Nor with grim Pluto make their dark abode, Nor wander in pale troops along the silent flood, But in new regions cast, resume their reign,

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I I

Content to govern earthly forms again. Thus death is nothing but the middle line, Betwixt what lives, will come, and what has been. Happy the people by your charms possessed ! Nor fate, nor fears disturb their peaceful breast ; On certain dangers unconcerned they run, And meet with pleasure what they would not shun ; Defy death's slighted power, and bravely scorn To spare a life that will soon return."

These do not read like the tenets of rude barbarians, nor can one imagine the teachers of such lessons finding much acceptance with the painted savage, glutted with blood, whom popular history has taught us to regard as our primeval ancestor. In fine, the conclusions of modern research, as summed up by Dr. Nicholas,* present to us the Ancient Britons as "@a people free, industrious, ingenious, spirited, with superior knowledge of the arts-working in metals, commercially enter- prising, ready to welcome strangers, holding intimate communication with the continent, subsisting in small kingdoms, each under its hereditary sovereign, proving their respect for woman by entitling her to the throne, and so far advanced in intellectual, religious, and general culture, that the Gauls sent their sons to Britain for the most advanced education, especially in that higher department of wisdom officially presided over by the Druids. These, and many other equally notable features in their character and condition, we learn, not from the pens of their own historians, much less from the fervid imagination of their poets, but from Greek and Roman annalists, whose words on all other matters are received with respect. We, therefore, conclude that in the Ancient Britons are found a people greatly removed from barbarism, and that for hundreds of years before Caesar's arrival they had been marked by the same characteristics. To represent them as our popular and unenquiring, unhis-

* " Pedigree of the English People," pp. 78, 79.

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I2 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

*

torical, writers have usually done is to belie history, travesty facts, and do a manifest and gratuitous injustice to a brave people." The Roman rule in Britain was maintained, not without many revolts, for a period of over four hundred years. It was not in accordance with Roman policy to exterminate the people. Their plan was to rule them by military occupation, to exact taxes for the maintenance of the central government at Rome and the enriching of consular families. The Britons were not wiped out, nor were they penned up in the south-west corner of the island, nor the mountains of Wales. They remained in the land of their forefathers, learning much from their conquerors, but fiercely resenting the invidious tax. "All we get by patience," said those who incited them to throw off the Roman yoke, "is that heavier demands are exacted from us, as from men who will readily submit. A single king once ruled us; now two are set over us; a legate to tyrannise over our lives, a procurator to tyrannise over our property. Nothing is now safe from their avarice, nothing from their lust. In war it is the strong who plunders; now, it is for the most part by cowards and poltroons that our homes are rifled, our children torn from us, the conscription enforced, as though it were for our country alone that we could not die. With us, father- land, wives, parents, are the motives to war; with them, only greed- and profligacy." * The Romans garrisoned Britain, they did not colonize it. Britain was never colonized, in the sense, say, in which Canada has been made another Britain. It still remained essentially British: British in population, in speech, and in manners. The country was pierced by great roads, an absolute necessity of military occupation. The Roman roads which intersected Yorkshire can

* '* Vita Agricolac," cap. xv.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 3

occasionally be traced with considerable accuracy. One great road, running through Castleford and Slack, connected York and Manchester. The military roads, or Viae }Zi/itares, ran as nearly straight as possible, and were designed for military purposes. Rapid concentration of troops, or reinforcement of isolated garrisons in a disturbed country, was as necessary then as now. It was only by such means that skill and discipline could prevail against great masses of brave foes. To the Romans the quickest were the shortest roads. They were not made for trade, commerce, or civil convenience. They linked only strategic points fortified, which were in their turn to become, or to be replaced by, towns. They were made by drawing two parallel furrows, between which the ground, levelled and beaten hard, was the " Pavimentum"; on this were placed in succession the "Staturnen,"' a concrete of mortar and gravel; the " Rudus," of small stones and lime ; the " Nucleus," a mixture of lime, chalk, broken tiles, or earth, or of gravel, sand, and lime, with clay ; and lastly, the "Summum Dorsum," or " Summa Crusta," composed of either flag-stones, or a surface of gravel and lime.* Along these roads, at regular intervals, camps or garrisons were posted. These must not be confounded with the mere temporary encampment or entrenchment of the Roman army on march ; such as was probably that mentioned by Mr. Morehouse, in his History of Kirkburton, as having been traced on the Moor below West Nab, a short distance to the left of the road which leads thence to the village of Meltham. The camps on the main road came under the category of Castra Stativa, or permanent holdings, which either became towns or where replaced by them when the fortress was no longer wanted to overawe the land and its people. Perhaps the word " barracks" would most aptly translate the Castra Stativa. Wherever they were they

* Vitruvius, quoted by Dr. Traill, in " Social England," p. 56.

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I 4 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

had a definite form, if originally constructed by Roman hands, unlike the original outworks of the Celts they supplanted, or the circular works of the Saxons and Danes who followed them. They were more or less rectangular. They were square or oblong because their form depended on the parade promotion of the Roman army. The legion, or any of its component parts, was an organized disciplined body " that fell in for duty " as systematically and regularly as an English battalion or brigade. It was not unlike the latter, for it ranged under the Empire from 4,000 to 6,000 or more regular troops, to which might be added an equal number of auxiliaries. The space naturally varied with the strength of the force encamped, but a full legion occupied an area of about 1,620 feet by 2,320 feet, and was covered by a rampart six feet high and eight feet thick, with a ditch in front thrse feet deep and five feet broad.* So long ago as the year 1736 a Roman altar was discovered at Slack, with respect to which the Rev. Mr. Watson, the historian of Halifax, writing in 1775, observed : «*When I was examining the course of the Roman way in 1757, I chanced to see this altar standing in a farmer's yard, and desiring to be shown where it was found, was conducted to that part of the station where not only three stone walls centre, but also three lordships. Having had this curiosity for some years in my possession, I presented it at last to the Rev. Mr. Whittaker, who in his 'History of Manchester' has given the public an engraving of this and another stone found here, which I also gave him, with

the word OPUS upon it. The reading on the altar I

take to be :

SACRU M. C. ANTO. MODES. C_ LEG. VI. VIC. PE. V. S. L. M.

* Goodwin : "English Archaological Handbook," p. 22.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 5

that is : ' Fortune Sacrum, - Caius Antonius Modestus, Centurio Legionis Sextae Victricis, Posuit et votum solvit, lubens merito ; ot, in our own tongue: ' Sacred to the goddess FORTUNE. Caius Antonius Modestus, Centurion of the victorious Sixth Legion, has placed (this altar) and (so) fulfilled his vow, rejoicing with good It was discovered in 1736, amongst the ruins of a building manifestly composed of Roman bricks, many of which are yet to be seen in the common fence walls there. I measured one (brick) which was nine-and-a-half inches square and three inches thick, but was informed that bricks had been dug up there twenty-two inches square. One room in this building, according to the report of some workmen who had destroyed it, was four yards long and about two-and-a-half broad, but betwixt three and four yards below the surface of the ground, paved nearly a yard thick with lime and bricks brayed (beaten) together extremely hard. In one corner of this room was a drain about five inches square, into which as much water was conveyed as would have turned an overfall mill, yet no vent could be discovered." * More than a century after the explorations of the Rev. Mr. Watson, the Rev. J. K. Walker, of Dean Head, in Slack, discovered there what were obviously the remains of a Roman hypocaust, or arched chamber, in which a fire might be kindled for the purpose of giving heat to the room above it. This hypocaust was evidently constructed for the purpose of heating a set of Roman baths. The remains discovered by Mr. Walker consisted of a large mass of Roman cement, of seven tiers of pilasters, of which there were seven in each tier; also the roof of a furnace, composed of square stones, above which was a layer of Roman bricks of handsome appearance, each twenty-one inches square, and a series of closely cemented slabs that nearly surrounded

* Quoted in Baines' " Yorkshire Past and Present," 439.

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16 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

"%

this quadrangular structure, some of which being scored very regularly, gave it such an air of neatness and

symmetry that it was compared to the front of an organ. In October, 1865, excavations of an exhaustive nature

were undertaken at Slack by the Huddersfield Archazological and Topographical Society, and on the 22nd October of that year the whole of the foundations of a large building were uncovered, the external walls of which were about sixty-eight feet long by by fifty-six feet wide, and two feet in thickness, and laid upon a course three feet six inches in breadth, and including several cross walls, evidently the basement of separate rooms. In the month of November of the same year another floor, twenty-five feet by twenty feet, resting upon pillars, was also discovered ; and on the 28th Novem- ber the floor of a bath was found in a corner of No. 2 hypocaust, about fifteen feet by eight feet in size. In all five hypocausts were discovered, from which it was concluded that the building was the " public baths" of the station, with separate accommodation for the officers and the common soldiers.* In construction all the walls were found to be very rude, being built of undressed stones laid for the most part in tempered clay, and even the battered wall, where workmanship was necessary, in order to get chamfered edges in the different courses of the stone forming the slope, was of the rudest kind. The bricks and tiles on the other hand were excellent, and had been made with great care and skill. They exhibited all the varied forms that would be used in the flues, pillars, and the floors of the hypocaust and for roofing purposes, and on several fragments and some whole roof-tiles, was found the impression, COH. IIII. BRE.}+ From this stamp it is believed that the soldiers who made the bricks used in the buildings at Cambodunum were Breuci, a people of Celtic origin, settled in the ancient Pannonia, the modern Hungary. These

* ** Yorkshire, Past and Present," p. 140. t * Yorkshire Arche. and Top. Journal," Vol. I., p. 6.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 7

ste. s inne one normes .-

Breuct were conquered by the Romans in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, and being of a warlike disposition and trained for military service, numbers of their youths were soon draughted away from their own country to swell the imperial legions in other parts. They constituted part of the auxiliaries of the legion and, pursuant to Roman policy, were employed in active service at a distance from their native land, where their natural sympathies would be less prone to prompt to desertion or to treachery. - The Brigantian youth pressed into the Roman service were, in like manner, doubtless, employed far away from their native Yorkshire hills. In 1866 a large rectangular block of rough walling, ten feet long, five feet wide, and two feet six inches high, was found near the hypocausts, some two feet below the present surface. The block enclosed a rectangular cavity six feet long by eighteen inches wide, containing several roof tiles stamped COH. III. BRE., with which the cavity had been bricked. The whole constituted a burial vault, not unlike those of the present day. Within the vault were found broken glass, possibly the fragments of an unguentary or pot of oil, and the pieces of an earthenware cinerary urn or urn for the reception of the ashes of the cremated dead. There were also a number of calcined bones. It may be of interest to the general reader to have described the ceremony which probably took place at Slack eighteen hundred years ago, and of which the broken urn and the calcined bones are the silent but significant reminders. As soon as death had taken place the body was washed with hot water and fragrant oils. This was done every day for seven consecutive days. The corpse was then embalmed, richly clothed, placed on a couch, with the feet laid towards the door, to signify that the dead was on the road to life. On the seventh day a crier called the people together to the interment. At the funeral the praceficae

B

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I8 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

or old women sang the praises of the deceased, much after the fashion of the mourners at an Irish wake and doubtless with the same extravagance of eulogy. The body was taken to the Forum, where an oration was delivered by the next of kin. - Then the corpse was carried to the funeral pyre to be burned. The ashes were buried in an urn. Coins were often placed with or in the urn.* In addition to what has been described, several coins were discovered at Slack, during the excavations of 1865-6. Two are of silver, the others of bronze. The device and legend of twelve only have been deciphered : First Bronze.-Obv.-[IMP. CAES] VESPASIAN. AUG. [P.M. TR. P. PP. COS. III.]. The laureate head of the Emperor to the right. Rev. IVDAEA [CAPTA, in the exergue, or small space left for the date, S.C.]. A palm-tree rising in the middle of the field, on the left side of which a female captive is seated, her head reclining on her left hand, in an attitude of grief. The Emperor is standing on the right side bareheaded, and in military costume. In his right hand he holds a spear erect, and in his left a girdle, his left foot rests on a helmet lying at the foot of the palm -tree. . Silver Denarius.-Obv.-(Legend from right to left),

IMP. CESAR VESPASIANVS. The laureate head of Vespasian to the right.

Rev.-(legend from right to left), PON. MAX. TR. P.

COS. V. A caduceus winged, vertical, in the centre of the field.

Second Bronse.-Obv.-CESAR AVG. F. DOMI-

TIANVS. COS. V. Laureate head of Domitian to the right.

Rev.-No legend. A female gradient to the left,

offering a wreath with her right hand. In the field the letters S.C.

* Holroyd's " Collectanea,"' p. 9, notes.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. IQ

mmm ncs .- w»

= conn

wn mmmmm som - s e - Pe '

Second Bronse.-Obv.- . . . DOMIT. AVG. . .. (The commencement and ending of the legend imperfect.) Laureate head of Domitian to the right. Rev.-No legend. Fortune standing to the left with cornu-copix in her left arm, and her right hand on the tiller of a rudder. Second - Bronse.-Obv.-Legend illegible. _ Laureate head of Domitian to the right. Rev.- _. . . AVGUSTI in the field S.C. Fortune standing to the left, in her left arm a cornu-copix, her right arm extended. Second Bronze.-Obv.-IMP. CAES. DOMIT. AVG. OER. COS. XII. CENS. PER. P.P. Laureate head of Domitian to the right. Rev.- . . . AVGVSTI in the field S.C. Fortune standing to the left, in her left arm a cornu-copix@, her right chand extended. Second Bronze.-Obv.-[IMP. CAES. DOMIT. AVG.] GERM. COS. XV. CENS. PER. P.P. Laureate head of Domitian to the right. Rev.- . . . AVGVSTI in the field S.C. Fortune standing to the left, a cornu-copiz in her left arm, her right hand extended, touching the tiller of a rudder. Silver Denarius.-Obv.-IMP. NERVA CES. AVG. P.M. T.R. POT. Laureate head of Nerva to the right. Rev.-COS. III. PATER PATRIAE, Lituus (the

Augur's staff), guttus (narrow necked vase), simpulum (ladle), and another sacrificial emblem.

Second Bronze.-Obv.-IMP. NERVA CESAR P. M. TR. P. COS. III. P. P. Laureate head of Nerva to the right.

Rev.-FORTVNA AVGVSTI. Fortune standing to the left, a cornu-copiz in her left arm, and her right hand

extended touching the tiller of a rudder. Letters S.C. on either side in the field.

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20 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

FEirst - Bronse« - Obv. - IMP. CES. NERVAE TRAINO. AUG. GER. DAC. P. M. TR. P. COS. V.P.P. - The laureate head of the Emperor to the right. Rev.-S.P.Q.R. OPTIMO. PRINCIPI. In the field S.C. A female standing to the left, her right hand extended holding an olive branch, in her left arm she bears a cornu-copi@ filled with fruits, at her feet is a human head and bust in profile, and wearing a cap; her right foot is pressing on its shoulders.

First - Bronze. - Obv. - IMP. CES. TRAINO. AVG. GER. DAC. TR. P. COS. V. P.P. The laureate head of the Emperor to the right. Rev.-S.P.Q.R. OPTIMO. PRINCIPI. In the exergue S.C., Hygeia seated to the left. _ A snake is twined round an altar at her feet, from which a flame rises, and she is either feeding the snake or placing some disc-like object on the altar with her right hand, her leit hand resting on her thigh. Second Bronze.-Obv.-IMP. CAES. NER. TRAINO. OPTIMO AVG. GER. DAC. PARTHICO. P.M. TR. COS. V. P.P. The head of of the Emperor to the right with radiate crown, his shoulders draped. Rev.-SENATVS. POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS. In the exergue S.C. The Emperor in military costume full front to the right, in the act of rushing out from between two trophies; on the one to the right hand he has placed his right hand, in his left hand he holds a spear, and is touching the trophy at his left side.* Vesperian ruled A.D. 70-9 and Nerva A.D. 96-8: and the period covered by the coins is from the year 71 to the year 114. and the coins were probably those in use by the soldiers who came to Britain with Hadrian. In addition to the above, mention may be here made of other Roman coins found in the neighbourhood and described

* *" Yorkshire Arch. Topog. Vol. I., p. 86.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 2 I

in the work of Mr. Morehouse, already quoted. - In 1830 an aureus of Carinus was found in a garden in South Lane,

Holmfirth. On the obverse was a laureated bust, with legend M. Aur. Carinus,

Nob. Cs.; reverse, Victory, standing on a globe, with a palm branch in the left hand, and a wreath in the right ; legend, Victoria Aug. In 1338 some six to eight hundred coins were found by a labourer in a field in Thurstonland. Mr. Morehouse describes those that fell into his possession : I.-(Silver). Obverse, bust : legend, Julia Mamae Aug.; reverse, a female figure standing, supported by a staff in the left hand ; legend, Juno Conservator. 2.-(Brass). Obverse, head with radiated crown ; legend, Gallienus Aug.; reverse, figure representing the upper part of a man, holding a strong bow, and the figure of a horse ; legend, obliterated. 3.-(Brass). Obverse, bust : legend, C. Salonina Aug. ; reverse, a stag; legend, partly lost. 1.-(Brass). Obverse, head of radiated crown; legend, Posthumus ; obverse, nearly obliterated. 5.-(Brass). Obverse, head with radiated crown; legend, Imp. Victorinus, P.F. Aug.; reverse, a Victory; legend, partly obliterated. 6.-(Brass). Obverse, head with radiated crown; legend, Tetricus, P.F. Aug.; reverse, a female figure holding a staff in the right hand. 7.-(Brass). Obverse, head with radiated crown ; legend, Pivi Su Tetricus, Aug.; reverse, a figure holding in the right hand an olive branch; legend, partly obliterated. 8.-(Brass.) Head with radiated crown; legend, Imp. Claudius Aug.; reverse, a female figure, to the right of which is XII.; legend partly obliterated. Another of Claudius; on the reverse an eagle rising on its wings; legend, Consecratus.

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22 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

g.-(Brass.) Obverse, head with radiated crown ; legend, Imp. A. Tacitus Aug.; on the reverse, a victory ; legend, Mars Victor. Another of Tacitus; obverse, a female figure holding a spear in the left hand, and in the right an olive branch ; legend, Pax Aeterna. 1o.-(Brass). Obverse, head with radiated crown ; legend, Imp. C. Probus P. F. Aug.; reverse, the goddess of Plenty ; legend, Abundantia. (Brass.) Another of Probus; obverse, head with radiated crown ; legend, Imp. C.M. Aug. Probus Aug.; reverse, a Roman temple, within is seated the Emperor ; legend,; Regea Aeterna. 11.-(Brass.) Obverse, head with radiated crown ; legend Imp. C. Carausius P.F. Aug.; reverse, a female holding in the left hand a spear and a wreath in the right ; legend, Laetitia Aug. Concerning the camp at Slack, it may be observed that it not only commanded an important military pass and a position on much the longest and most important Roman road in Britain, but it stood within a short distance of the line at which the outposts of the sixth Roman legion, whose head-quarters were at Eboracum, or York, met the outposts of the twentieth Roman legion, whose head- quarters were at Deva, or Chester. Nearly the whole of the Roman works found on what we call the Yorkshire side of the Pennine chain or Backbone of England, were constructed by the officers and soldiers of the sixth victorious legion.* The Cambodunum station may well have been one of those erected by Agricola, of whom Tacitus says: " He would himself choose the position of the camp, himself explore the estuaries and forests. Meanwhile, he would allow the enemy no rest, laying waste his territory with sudden incursions, and, having

* "* Yorkshire: Past and Present." 441.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 2 3

sufficiently alarmed him, would then by forbearance display the allurements of peace. In consequence, many states, which up to that time had been independent, gave hostages, and laid aside their animosities. Garrisons and posts were established among them with a skill and diligence with

which no newly acquired part of Britain had before been treated."* The votive altar found at Cambodunum, dedicated by the Centurion Caius Antonius Modestus to Fortune, is worthy of more than mere mention. It is characteristic of an age in which the belief in the old heathen gods was decaying and Christianity had not yet taken its place. The goddess Fortune, an abstract entity, a metaphysical idea, had superseded the Mars of earlier days. " Throughout the whole world" says Pliny, "in all places, at all times, and by the voices of all, Fortune alone is invoked." It was this Goddess that Horace addressed when the Emperor Augustus contemplated an expedition to Britain, addressed in terms that show with what a veil of dread mystery our beloved shores were shrouded from the eyes of ancient civilization :

" O Diva, gratum quae regis Antium, Praesens vel imo tollere de gradu Mortale corpus, vel superbos Vertere funeribus triumphos : Serves iturum Casarem in ultimos Orbis Britannos, et juvenum recens Examen, Eois timendum Partibus, Oceanoque Rubro.

Goddess ! thou who swayest pleasing Antium ; thou who from abject depths canst exalt mortal man or turn the proud triumph into funeral woe: do thou guard great Caesar in this journey to the Britons, the remotest people of the world ; and guard too the new levy of (Roman) youth born to inspire terror in Eastern worlds and by the dark Red Sea." And now can we not tear aside the pall of the past and see a vision of Cambodunum two thousand years ago: a wild mountainous region, a region of hill and dale and rippling

* " Vita Agricolx," cap. xx.

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24 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

an ome cn smg on

stream and angry torrent; thick forests all around with pleasing glades among, where the timid deer lifts its dainty feet and the stag tosses its proud antlers; a native people loving their rude hills, their homes; fiercely resentful of the swarthy invader from the sunny Tiber's banks ; the Druids, venerable, majestic, now counselling to politic peace, now inciting to revolt, accompanying the warriors to the field of battle " pouring forth direimprecations, their hand uplifted towards the heavens,"* chanting their war songs, bidding their flock dis as heross should; a people brave, warlike, virtuous, not afraid to die for home and altar, but undisci- plined, broken by intestine tribal strife, and sinking into sullen submission as they wearied of the vain struggle against the phalanxes of the serried Roman hosts, reduced, as Tacitus says, "to subjection, not as yet to slavery, bearing the conscription, the taxes, and the other burdens imposed on them by the Empire, if there be no oppression, of this impatient;"'t+ pursuing daily their own occupations when the hope of freedom has gone with the centuries; not molested in their religion ; shaping each man his own life without coercion from Roman governor; and the fair maidens of Britain,-they seemed wondrous fair, fair as angels, to the swarthy sons of Rome-looking not unkindly on the gallant soldiers, the clang of whose arms resounded from day-break to the setting of the sun, within and around the camp on the great North Road, through Cambodunum ; not unkindly, if they wooed to honourable marriage, but swift to resent approaches that a chaste maiden might not smile upon, as those of Boadicea's days did know full well. And oft be sure, did the oaks that spread their noble arms above the sacred grove, listen not alone to the weird incanta- tion of white-robed Druid, but heard withal the whispering

in the sweet liquid Latin tongue of that universal language which the Celtic maid construed by nature's books.

* Tacitus, "Annals," XIV., p. 30. t " Vita Agricolz," cap. xii.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 2 5

mom.... - mumitomen. -»

It was probably about the year So a.p. that dunum was established as a Roman station. It was in 418 that the legions of the Empire were recalled, when 'the Romans collected all their treasures that were left in Britain, and some they hid in the earth so that no one has since been able to find them, and some they carried with them into Gaul.""* How far did the Romans affect the life of our Brigantian predecessors? Tacitus tell us how Agricola, to accustom to rest and repose, through the charms of luxury a population scattered and barbarous and therefore inclined to war, gave private encouragement and public aid to the building of temples, courts of justice, and dwelling houses, praising the energetic and reproving the indolent. Thus an honourable rivalry took the place of compulsion. He likewise provided a liberal education for the sons of the chiefs, and showed such a preference for the natural powers of the Britons over the industry of the Gauls that they who lately disdained the tongue of Rome now coveted its eloquence. Hence, too, a liking sprang up for the Roman style of dress, and the toga became fashionable. Step by step, the British nobles were led to things which dispose to vice, the lounge, the bath, the elegant banquet. _ " All this in their ignorance they called civilization, when it was but part of their servitude." But Tacitus, it may be assumed, spoke mainly of the families of the. chiefs. How about the general people ? That the common soldiers intermarried with the peasantry there is no doubt ; but still it was but the intercourse of a garrison with the multitudes outside. The blood of the British race was not appreciably affected by the Latin strain. - Nor was the common speech. The sons and daughters of the British nobles might perchance be cultured in Roman speech and scan their Virgilian hexameters with

* Sax. Chron. Ann. 418, the year of the first great departure. The final evacuation is fixed about a.D. 426.

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26 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

unused tongue, but the hunter in the forest and the reaper in the field retained the Cymric speech. Mechanic arts they unquestionably learned. To make roads that almost defied the ravages of time, to build villa and temple : these lessons of Western impact they learned and treasured. What of the industrial arts? The Romans were familiar with the fabrication of textile goods. Virgil, in the Georges, sings the various methods then in vogue of converting the fleece into cloth. Ovid relates the story of a weaving contest between Minerva and Arachne. The dames of to-day, who in their girlhood wound bobbins in the mill, may care to know how their handicraft was viewed by the poet's eye. Thus Ovid :

"* Nor would the work when finished please so much, As, while she wrought, to view each graceful touch, Whether the shapeless wool in balls she wound, Or with quick motion turned the spindle round."

Catullus, again, in his poem on the marriage of Peleus

and Thetis:

* The loaded distaff in the left hand placed, With spongy coils of snow-white wool was graced ; From these the right hand lengthening fibres drew, Which into thread, 'neath nimble fingers grew."

A people whose poets could sing thus witchingly of the spinster's art would not be likely to leave our British fore- fathers untaught in the gentle craft. The people whom Czesar found " clothed in skins" were, as Tacitus tells us, a people "of natural powers," apt to learn. The Romans appear to have established a factory at Winchester for supplying cloth to the army of occupation and Dionysius Alexandrinus tells how the wool of Britain was often spun so fine that it was in a manner comparable to a spider's thread.* In days when transport was tedious, costly and dangerous, it is not likely that the Roman settlement at Cambodunum would neglect the facilities that lay to their hands, and well may it be that the Outlane District, the parts

* For this brief notice of the Roman acquaintance with the woollen industry, see " Burnley, History of Wool and Wool Combing," 45-47.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 2]

'" outlying "* the camp, may have nurtured a school of native artificers by whom the mysteries of the craft were guarded during the troubled times between the withdrawal of the Romans and the re-establishment of settled govern- ment under Norman William. But granted all this, the ancient British race remained a race distinct and apart, tinctured perchance, but only tinctured, with Roman culture. The fundamental nature and virtue of the ancient Britons survived beneath such foreign veneering as it may have put on. The British type of hair, complexion and form of skull, is still, I venture to think, the predominant type in the \West-riding. For one man whom you meet with the blue eye and yellow hair of the Saxon how many do you not encounter with the dark hair, black or brown, the grey or brown eye, and the skin less fair of the ancient Britons. The Celtic skulls were in the main long-oval in shape ; the Teutonic or Anglo-Saxon skulls, roundish and short-oval. Is it not a proverb that the Yorkshireman is long-headed :> But a chapter might be written on this theme. - Let the curious consult Dr. Nicholas' learned treatise on "The Pedigree of the English People," if he would seek corroboration of the view that it is neither to Saxon, Danish nor Norman settler that the natives of the West-Riding must look for their parent stock. Upon our speech the effect of the many, the persistent, and the insidious invasions the primeval language has sustained is marked indeed, but still has not sufficed to eradicate all relics of the ancient tongue. In our dialect many words still linger of that musical tongue which was once the universal speech on our ancestral hills. I may cite a few that occur to my memory, and others may be gleaned, I doubt not, from the late Mr. Esther's "Glossary of the Dialects of Almondbury

and Huddersfield." * «Memorials and Annals of H. Weintz. Feb., 1892.

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28 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

: Boggart. Bannock. Brat. Crom, to stuff. Crony. Ginnil. Jimp. Knowl. Lake (to play). Lither (to thicken broth). Marrow (to equal). Mullock (dirt). Peigh (to cough). Wear (to spend money). W utherin.

These will suffice to show, what only I am concerned to impress, that the relics of the ancient Brigantes may be found not only in barrow and kistvaen but in the living speech of us for whom there are who claim that Uthersfield derives its name from Uther, father of the British Arthur,

and is closely linked with

CELTIC: Bwgan, hobgoblin. Bonnach. Brat, a rag. Cromil, the crop of a fowl. Carenydd, kindred. Cynnil, close. Gwymp, smart. Cwnwg, a mound.

Llechu. Llith. Mar. Mwlwch, sweepings. Pych. Uthr, terrible.

" What resounds

In fable or romance of Uther's son, Begirt with British and Armoric knights."

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CHAPTER II.

The Invaders of England-Post Roman.

OME four hundred and seventy years after the first landing of Casar and when for at least three centuries the Roman rule had been riveted upon the Britons, the Imperial City was stormed by the Goths, the power of Rome was shaken at its base, and every soldier and every sword was needed for the defence of the very centre of the Empire. It was as tho' to save London, every ship and troop were summoned from distant seas, from India and our every Colony. The legions were withdrawn from the garrisons. - Cambodunum was evacuated with the rest. It was assumed their removal would not be permanent. Treasures that could not easily be taken away or were not urgently needed were buried. But the straits of Rome did not cease. It was impossible for her to retain the provinces won by so much slaughter and at so great a cost. The Britons were exposed to wild and ruthless raiders. The Picts and Scots from the North and West swarmed down upon them and "like men mowing ripe corn, bore down all before them." The Britons seem to have forgotten the arts of defence, and subjection to Roman rule to have sapped their pristine courage. They sent piteous entreaties to the Romans asking for succour, promising perpetual subjection-they whose fathers' valour had won the applause of even their victorious foe. The Romans declared to the Britons they could not undertake such troublesome expeditions for their sake and advised them rather " to handle their weapons like men and undertake themselves the charge of engaging their

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30 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

enemies, who would not prove too powerful for them, unless they were deterred by cowardice." But still the cry was ever for help. **To Aetius, thrice Consul, the groans of the Britons: the barbarians drive us to the sea, the sea drives us back to the barbarians : between these we are exposed to two sorts of death ; we are either slain or drowned."* - But from Rome no help could come; the outer barbarians were upon her, drinking deep draughts of revenge for centuries of rapine, extortion, and carnage. The Britons must shift for themselves. In despair they turned to the Angles, dwellers in the district now call Sleswick, in the heart of the penin- sula which parts the Baltic from the Northern Seas, then a wild warren of heather and sand, girt along the coast with sunless woodland, broken here and there by meadows which crept down to the marshes and the The Angles came exulting, came with their kindred tribes, the Jutes, and the Saxons. They drove back the Picts, they repelled the Scots. On one pretext or another they remained. This England of ours has proved a seductive country to Saxon, Dane, and Norman, a country not to be raided and left, a country to be settled in, to live in, to wax fat and prosper. They turned their arms against the people they had come to help. Public as well as private structures were overturned ; the priests were everywhere slain before the altars, the prelates and the people, without any respect of persons, were destroyed by fire and sword; nor was there any to bury those who had been thus cruelly slaughtered. Some of the miserable-remainder were butchered in heaps. Others spent with hunger, came forth and submitted themselves to the enemy for food, being destined to undergo perpetual servitude if they were not killed even upon the spot. To the Brigantes who clustered about Cambodunum and their ancient fortress on the Allt-maen, the very harshness of their mother soil proved their kindest friend.

* Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," 24. t Green, " Short Hist. of the English People."

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 2 I

The Saxons came for plunder. They found it in Roman villa, and in the houses of the officers of the garrison, in the granaries of the impost gatherers, in the official residences, perhaps in the homes of the Britons who had thrived under Roman protection. But on the moors, on the hills round Cambodunum they would find little to welcome them or to reward them, and only after the Saxon occupation of England had become a fact in which the Celt sullenly and reluctantly acquiesced, bowing his neck to the inevitable, did the Saxon settler take up his home in these forbidding heights. If you would seek the lineal descendant of the blue-eyed Saxon, with his clustering yellow curls long sweeping over neck and shoulders, you must turn not to the land of crag and heather, of stress and storm, of forest and of rushing waters, but to the swelling uplands of the southern downs and the fat pastures of the eastern and midland counties, where the mild-eyed flocks browse in rich content, watched by shepherds long limbed as the sons of Anak and slumbrous as the herds they tend. The Saxons had come from a country overgrown with big timber and thick scrub down to the water's edge, with rivers for its highroads, clearings and glades for its oases, and broad heaths and thick swamps and shallow lakes varying the else unbroken stretch of woodland. They sought and settled in the long water meadows and the hill pastures of the midlands and the south, with herds of cattle and flocks of sheep of divers breed, herb-gardens, orchards, and vineyards about the houses, and corn fields broad and far stretching.* As they established themselves upon our land they divided it, so tradition runs, by lot. Cursed must have been the spite of fortune that flung to Saxon earl or thegn the grim defiles of the Holm and the Colne. Yet evidences of Saxon settlement in our midst there unquestionably are. The old rhyme says :>

* Traill's " Social England," 121,

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32 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

" In Ford, in Ham, in Ley, in Ton, The most of English surnames run." To these must be added burgh, worth, hurst, stead, and some others. Meltham, Honley, Bradley, Dalton, Deighton, Almondburgh, Saddleworth, indicate Saxon settlement, while Huddersfield is claimed by some, as I have said, to owe its name to Uther Pendragon, the father of the Arthur of fable and romance. Certain it is that Huddersfield is in the vernacular often pronounced Uthersfilt. A further witness to Saxon settlement is supposed to be found in the two Marsdens, the one in Almondbury, the other in Huddersfield, a mark being a territory of a sept or tribe; and it is certain that Godwin, a Saxon thane, held Odersfelt before the conquest, whilst, if one may judge from the names, two Danish chiefs, Ketel and Sweyn, ruled in Almondbury. The termination fox, the origin of our word town, found in Dalton, Fartown, Deighton, and others, indicated originally a Saxon homestead or enclosure, ¢ something," says Taylor, "hedged, walled in, or pro- tected," akin to the Norman Park. The termination worth, as in Saddleworth, Cumberworth, is from the Anglo- Saxon weortkig, "an enclosed homestead for the ceorls, subordinate to the conveys the same idea, and is derived from Gergen, to shelter. The Saxons were a race prone to peaceful arts. " Each little farmer commonwealth was girt in by its own border or mark," a belt of forest or waste or fen which parted it from its fellow villages, a ring of common ground which none of its settlers might take for his own, but which sometimes served as a death ground where criminals met their doom, and was held to be the especial dwelling-place of the nixie and the will-o'-the-wisp. Inside this boundary, the township, as the village was called from the " tun " or rough fence or trench that served as its simple fortification,

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formed a ready-made fortress in war, while in peace its entrenchments were serviceable in the feuds of village with village or house with house. The homesteads were mainly those of the freemen or Ceorls, whilst larger abodes were reserved for the men of long descent, held in hereditary reverence, and the natural leaders in war and counsellors in peace. The buildings of the freemen clustered round the moot-hill or sacred tree, and here justice was adminis- tered, plans of forage, war, or defence devised, strife of farmer with farmer settled according to the customs of the township as stated by its "elder-men," forerunners of our civic aldermen. - It is in this village-commonwealth that we must seek the mother of that wider Parliament, herself the mother Parliament, well-nigh, of those among the peoples of the world where freedom finds a home. In later years, in those sadly troubled times between the withdrawal of the Romans and the coming of the Normans, came, on the Saxon's heels, the Danes, a generic name for the Norsemen-a race of sea kings, exulting in the wild embrace of the rolling waves, Vikings " going to their graves like beds," meeting death with a song, sons of Thor | and Woden, worshipping the Thunder God, keen for sack and plunder. They swept up the Humber and the rivers that swell the estuary. They effected settlements among the Saxons by force or by treaty. Birk-by, Fixby, Quarmby (the village of the quern or millstone), Linthwaite (the ling- clearing), Slaithwaite (the sloe clearing), Lingards (an enclosure), Upperthong, Nether Thong (from Danish Thing, a place of military gathering, a Campus Martius), have felt the tread of Danish feet, and Kirk-heaton and Kirkburton are names whose prefix is indisputably Danish. The Saxons and Scandinavians who thus gained a foot- hold in our midst, differing in many respects, were alike in their addiction to the pleasures of the table. When not

C

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34 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

fighting or sleeping, they loved to be feasting. They drank toasts; they toasted each other and they toasted the gods. They drank to Odin, to Freya, and to Bragi, the God of Eloquence and Poetry. After the introduction of Chris- tianity, they drank toasts to the true God, to Jesus, and the saints. They conceived that the hero in the halls of the blest, in Odin's glorious palace, Valhalla, spent eternity in sham fights and in real feasts. King Ragnar Lodbrok at the point of death exclaimed : " This fills me with joy, when I think of the feast preparing for me in Odin's palace. Quickly, quickly, seated in the habitations of the gods we shall drink beer out of curved horns." Can it be said that this conception of heaven is quite extinct ? The passion for blood is perhaps sated, but are there not thousands still in our midst who would prefer an eternity of cheap liquor to the spiritual joys promised by the religion we now profess ? To describe at great length the incursions of the Saxons and Danes and their settlement in our midst, to tell how they reduced the Celtic survivors to slavery, how they ravaged the country and decimated the natives, would be to write a history not of these parts alone but of our country at large. Enough has been said to show how the population of this neighbourhood was affected by these successive inroads of alien races. Our attention must now be directed to an event which more than any other has affected the lives of this strangely blended mass of Celt, Saxon, and Dane. ' The Romans during their long occupation of Britain made no attempt, so far as we can learn, to affect one way or another the religion of the Celts they conquered. They suffered them to worship their own deities after their own fashion. The Saxon and Dane were at first fully occupied, the one in securing lands, the other portable

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plunder. It can scarcely however be doubted that in the Roman legions were many soldiers who, in the earlier days secretly, and in the later openly, espoused the faith of Christ. _ Not more room is there for question that the Roman believers sought to win converts to the faith, and we may rejoice to think that in many a lonely hut upon the slopes around us, in times when surely, if ever, heavenly consolation was needed, the Gospel promises were neither unknown nor untreasured long before the systematic conversion of this country was essayed by the Roman Church. The Apostle of Northern England was Paulinus, described by one who was baptised by him in the river Trent as " tall of stature, a little stooping, his hair black, his visage meagre, his nose slender and aquiline, his aspect both venerable and majestic."* We are informed by the Venerable Bede that Paulinus built a church at Cambodunum, which afterwards the pagans burnt, together with all the. town. In the place of which the later Kings built themselves a country-seat in the country called Loidis (Leeds) ; but the altar, being of stone, escaped the fire, and in the time of Bede was preserved in the monastery of the most reverend abbot and priest, Thridwulf, which was in Elmet Wood, probably Barwick- in-Elmett, in Skyrack Wapentake.t The account of the council of Edwin, King of the land north of the Humber, which was addressed by Paulinus (a.D. 627) and in which the new doctrine was debated and

its merits compared with those of the old faith, is curious reading.

Coifi, the high priest of the old cult is asked by the King to give his opinion of the Christian faith. But Coif does not seem to have been so much impressed by the promises of the new as the shortcomings of the old doctrine. He exhorts

* Bede's " Ecclesiastical History,"" 100. t+ Bede, 98.

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36 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

the King to consider favourably the teaching of Paulinus, for, says he, "I verily declare to you, that the religion which we have hitherto professed, has, as far as I can learn, no virtue in it. For none of your people has applied himself more diligently to the worship of our gods than I ; and yet there are many who receive greater favours from you, and are more preferred than I, and are more prosperous in all their undertakings. Now if the gods were good for anything they would rather forward me, who have been more careful to serve them. It remains, therefore, that if upon examina- tion you find these new doctrines, which are now preached to us, better and more efficacious, we immediately receive them without any delay." It must not be supposed that I quote these words of Coif as a type of priestly reasoning. I should prefer rather to accredit to the ministers of religion the reasoning of another chief who joined in the discussion and contributed to the debate this weighty argument: " The present life of man, O King, seems to me in comparison of that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the room wherein you sit at supper in

9

winter, with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the midst, whilst the storms of rain and snow prevail abroad. The sparrow, I say, flying in at one door, and immediately out at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry storm ; but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight, into the dark winter from which he had emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, or what is to follow, we are utterly ignorant. If, therefore, this new doctrine contains something more certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed." ' Bede was born in the year 673, about half a century before the mission of Paulinus, and Cambodunum had then probably not been finally abandoned by the Romans

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more than two centuries. It had been undoubtedly a place of considerable importance. According to Richard of Cirencester, who wrote in the middle of the fourteenth century, it was one of the ten British cities under the Latian law, and its inhabitants were placed by it on a footing with the citizens of the towns of Latium. They were subject, of course, to tribute and were under Roman rule, but they appear to have had the option of adopting the laws and customs of Rome, or of continuing in their own. That Cambodunum in Bede's time was a place perfectly well known there can be little question, and as little that Paulinus established there one of the first Christian churches of the district. The mother Church was at Dewsbury, and the ancient cross is still preserved with the words : Hic Paulinus praedicavit et celebravit. From that church missionaries traversed the adjacent country, and it is surmised that Guthlac's scar, or Guthlac's Rock (Golcar) may have been a rock from which St. Guthlac, a Saxon saint, declared the faith. A similar centre for religious worship was probably to be found at Crosland, and according to Canon Hulbert in his Annals of the Church in Slaithwaite, there stood formerly a cross at Woodhouse on the east of Huddersfield, and still another at Deanhead in Scammonden at Cruthill or Crux- hill-Crosshill, on the site of the present chapel. Shall we not permit our thoughts to rest awhile upon those scenes of primitive worship? _ We see a mixed, a medley people, the aboriginal Celt, his spirit broken by Roman yoke and Teuton settler, Saxon planter and Danish freebooter, with their creed of blood and violence, every man afraid of his neighbour, in a land coveted by all, their daily life one of dread and strife and plunder : but each, his nationality what it might, stirred with that eternal question, old as man himself-" What of my soul in the great

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38 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

'Perhaps'"? Druid and Skald have essayed an answer, and still the races cry for further answer still. Then to this wild scene of forest and glen and rock, torn with unrest and war, come unarmed the soft-voiced missionaries from Italian shores. They denounce the Druid sacrifices, they trample on the sensual visions of the Saxon's paradise, the Dane's Valhalla. They teach all men that one is their Father, even God, and that the joys of heaven are not for the strong and the fierce, but for the weak and the gentle. _ They cry not war, but peace, not strife, but brotherhood, not enmity, but love. Standing at cross roads, the holy emblem raised aloft by attendant acolyte, surrounded by throngs of armed and violent men, they tell to these fierce hordes the simple story of the Galilean. As the dark procession winds among the hills, we see the cowled and tonsured monks in sombre robes, the crucifix borne before; we hear the sonorous chanting in the Latin tongue of psalm and song, now pealing in wild exultation, now wailing in lament; we see the halting by some stream that invites to the baptism of regeneration, near some grove erst sacred to heathen gods or bloody with heathen sacrifice; we hear the gospel so strange, so sweet-such were the scenes those old roadside crosses conjure unbidden from the weird and mystic past. We have seen that, according to Bede, Paulinus " built a church at Cambodunum, which afterwards the pagans burnt with all the town." It must be remembered that the churches which sprang up in England after the conversion to Christianity were of wood. Even in the ninth and tenth centuries we hear of the worm-eaten walls of cathedrals, and the miraculous preservation of wooden pillars against which a saint had We may not then wonder that at Cambodunnm, if indeed the Slack of to-day is the Cam- bodunum of the Saxon chronicler, no trace is to be found of

* Traill's " Social England," 197.

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the church built by Paulinus, burned to the ground in the great rising in 633 of Cadwalla, king of the Britons, aided by Penda, king of the Mercians, in which, we are told by Bede, the insurgents neither spared the female sex nor the innocent age of children, but with savage cruelty put them to tormenting deaths, ravaging all their country for a long time, and resolving to cut off all the race of the Angles within the borders of Britain. So great was the panic caused in this district by this last frenzied outbreak of the subject Britons that Paulinus fled into Kent, and was created Bishop of Rochester, holding that see " until he departed to heaven with the glorious fruits of his labours." It is proper to observe that Camden, writing in the reign of Elizabeth, identifies Cambodunum with Almondbury, and alludes to a cathedral church there, "built by Paulinus, the Apostle of those parts, and the same dedicated to St. Alban,* whence instead of Albonbury it is now called Almondbury." Camden further proceeds to state that ""when Cadwalla the Briton and Penda the Mercian, made sharp warre upon Edwin, the prince of these countries, it was set on fire by the enemy, as Bede writeth ; which the very adust and burnt colour, yet remaining upon the stone, doth testify." Camden clearly did not weigh the words of the authority he cites. Bede in narrating the circumstance of the burning of the Church of Paulinus, says : " But the altar, being of stone, escaped fire," from which the inference seems obvious enough that the walls of the edifice were of wood. - What then about the " adust and burnt colour upon the walls of Camden's Church of St. Alban's. The simple truth of the whole matter would appear to be that neither of the Church at Almondbury nor that of Huddersfield is there any record until after the date of the Norman Conquest, an event which now invites our attention.

* The first Christian Martyr, a.p. 286.

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40 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

About the year 880, a Norwegian Earl named Rolf or Rollow, sprung, it was said, from the ancient Kings of Norway, was banished from his native land for an act of piracy and defiance of his lawful King. Accompanied by a mere handful of adventurers he descended on the northern coast of France, seized Rouen, and wrested the fair province of Normandy from the French King, Charles the Simple, who gave him his daughter, Gisele, in marriage. Rollo was persuaded to embrace Christianity and was baptised with much ceremony by the Archbishop of Rouen in the Cathedral of that city. Near two centuries later his descendant, William, Duke of Normandy, conceived the design of seizing the English crown. He secured the blessing of the Pope upon his enterprise, no mean weapon in those days, when the Papal See was mighty among the mighty, and he rallied to his banners a throng of Norman and other knights with their retainers. _ To these he promised land and booty. Nay, the fair demesnes of England were parcelled out among the Norman's followers before his army set foot on English soil. Among the prime favourites of William was one Ilbert de Laci, whose principal castle or seat was at Lassi, between Aulnai and Vere, in Normandy, which he held as feudal tenant under Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. It is probable that Ilbert fought at the battle of Hastings (1066) under the banner of Odo. There is no clue to the arms or device of the original Lacis, but the seal of a later member of the family had on the reverse a sort of interlaced device, which has been called by the heralds " The Lacy Knot," and not improbably may have been their canting or punning device from Zacis, meaning net-work in French.* To this favoured adherent the Conqueror gave no less than 204 manors in Yorkshire, of which nearly half were in the wapentake of Skyrack, the others in Staincross, Agbrig

* " Yorkshire Arch. Topo. Journal," iv., 138.

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t comes wer:

and Morley. Having secured this vast territory he fixed upon a favourable and central site for his castle and abode, near where Watling Street, the great northern road, crossed the Aire, and transformed the ancient name of Brokenbridge into Pontefract. These lands were not held by Ilbert de Laci uncon- ditionally. They were burthened with the grave obligations of military tenure. The King by no means loosed his hold upon the country he had conquered. He Zeased the lands to his tenants in chief, and the rent was to be paid mainly in men and arms. It was that he might know and all future kings might know what lands were thus held that Domesday Book was compiled by order of William. It was at once a terrier, a rent-roll, an assessment register, a book of settlements, and a legal record. The King's Commissioners were bidden "to enquire, by oath of the sheriff of the shire, and of all the free-tenants, and of the French-born of them, and of the whole hundred, of the priest, the reeve, and six villans (copyholders), from each Vill. . . the name of the manor, who held it in the time of King Edward the Confessor, and who held it now (1086), how many hides there were in each manor, how many plows on the domain, how many men, how many villans, how many cottars (small copyholders), how many bondsmen (landless labourers), how many freemen, how many socmen (freeholders), how much wood, how much meadow, how much pasture; what mills, what fishponds; what had been added or taken away, what it was worth, in the time of King Edward, and how much it was worth now (1086); how much each freeholder held ; and whether more could be got out of it than now."* The terms hide, carucate, plowland, used in the survey, are convertible terms, and mean twenty acres. Eight ox-gangs or bovates made one carucate, and an ox-gang was therefore fifteen acres.

* Traill's " Social England," 236.

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42 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Huddersfield and its vicinity did not escape the attention of the King's Commissioners, and de Lacy, the Lord of Pontefract, acquired considerable grants in these parts, as witness the following extracts :- IN ODERSFELT, Godwin had six carucates of land to be taxed, affording occupation for eight ~ploughs. Now the same has it of Ilbert, but it is waste. Wood pasture, one mile long and one wide. In the time of King Edward (T.R.E., Zempore regis Edwardi) it was valued at 100 shillings. IN ALMANBERIE, Chetel and Suuen had four caru- cates of land to be taxed; and there may be four ploughs there-Lewsin now has it of Ilbert ; and it is waste. Value, T.R.E.: Three pounds. Wood and pasture, one mile long and one broad. IN FERELEIA, Godwin and Suuen held three carucates of land to be taxed, where three ploughs might be employed. Ilbert now has it, but it is waste. T.R.E. value forty shillings. Wood pasture six quarentens long and six broad. IN BRADLEIA. Godwin and Delfin held two carucates of land to be taxed, and two ploughs might be employed there. Now Chetel holds it of Ilbert, but it is waste. T.R.E. it was valued at or paid three

pounds. Wood pasture one mile-and-a-half long and one broad.

IN LILLAIA (Lindley), Godwin held two carucates of land to be taxed, and two ploughs may be employed there. Now Ulchel holds it of Ilbert, but it is waste. T.R.E. it paid twenty shillings. Wood pasture four quarentens long and two broad. IN CORNEBI (Quarmby), Gamel and Godwin held two carucates to be taxed, and two ploughs might be employed there. Ilbert has it, but it is waste. T.R.E.

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it paid ten shillings. Wood pasture one mile long and half-a-mile broad. IN DALTONE, Alric had two carucates of land to be taxed, and two ploughs might be employed there. Now Suuen has it of Ilbert, where the same has one plough, and two villeins with one plough. - Wood pasture five quarentens long and four broad. IN CROISLAND, Suuen held two carucates of land to be taxed, and two ploughs might be employed there. Ilbert has it, but it is waste. T.R.E. value ten shillings. Wood pasture ten miles long and one broad. IN THORNI (Thornhill), Gerneber, Aldene and Gamel held four carucates of land to be taxed, and three ploughs might be employed there. Now Gerneber has three villeins and three bordars (cottiers) with two ploughs. IN HANELEIA and MELTHA, Cola and Suuen held four carucates of land to be taxed, where three ploughs were employed. Ilbert now has it, but it is waste. T.R.E. value forty shillings. Wood pasture two miles long and a mile-and-a-half broad. IN WITELAI, Gerneber held five carucates of land to be taxed, where two ploughs might be employed. Now Gamel and Eric have it. There are three villeins, with one plough, and four acres of pasture. T.R.E. value twenty shillings. IN HETON (Kirkheaton), two brothers held three carucates to be taxed, and three ploughs might be employed there. Ilbert has it, and Gamel of him, but it is waste. - T.R.E. value twenty shillings. _ Wood pasture a mile-and-a-half long and one broad. IN GULDEAGSCAR (Golcar), Leuine held half a carucate of land to be taxed, and there may be half- work for one plough. Now Dunstan holds it of Ilbert,

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44 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

but it is waste. T.R.E. it paid ten shillings. Wood pasture one mile long and half-a-mile wide. The Suuen or Sweyn who is mentioned so frequently as an extensive landowner hereabouts before the Conquest is said to have founded Bretton Priory. The appalling amount of land of this district described in the Domesday Book as waste or devastate is an eloquent memorial of the expedition of William I. to the North in 1070, to suppress the rising in favour of the Saxon Aetheling. He left nothing standing that could be destroyed, nothing alive that could be killed. This terrible " Wasting of the North," as it was called, shocked even the Normans, and the English believed fondly that it would be remembered against William at the last judgment. It is not difficult to arrive at some approximately accurate conclusion as to the economic and social life of our ancestors at the time of this great survey. We conclude that villans made up the great bulk of the population. The number of free tenants is very small. In this neighbourhood there is no mention of slaves. The villans proper had a nominal holding of thirty acres : the bordars or cottiers had a cottage and a garden, or a cottage and about five acres in the com- mon arable fields. The villan contributed a pair of oxen to the common plough, the cottier had no oxen of his own. The lord's plough of eight oxen, which tilled the demesne, was worked by the services of the villans, who had also to do service with their own ploughs and oxen. We learn that the great mass of the agricultural population, now landless, were then landholders. In each village there was a large proportion of common land, to be ploughed, harrowed, sowed, and reaped, and enjoyed, by the whole community. On the other hand each villan had to plough in spring four acres for the lord and to supply two oxen for the lord's team, for three days in winter, three in spring, and one in summer.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 45

Moreover each villan had to work for the lord for some portion of three days a week. The cottiers rendered one day's work a week. The lord's demesne was cultivated by the compulsory services of villans and bordars. The villans were bound to grind their corn at the lord's mill, and could not send their sons away from the farm nor give their daughters in marrage without the lord's leave, often obtained only by payment of a fine. It will be interesting to follow the fortunes of the Laci family. Ilbert de Laci was succeeded by his eldest son Robert de Laci. It will be remembered by students of English history that when William the Conqueror died he left three sons, Robert, William Rufus, and Henry. As we now understand the law of inheritance, the English Crown should have passed to Robert, but under circumstances into which we need not now enter it was assumed first by William Rufus and then by Henry. This not without protest of arms by Robert, whose claim of strict lineage was approved by the Norman barons, whilst Rufus and Henry were driven, happily for the kingdom, to court the favour of their English subjects. The pretensions of Robert were supported among others by Robert de Laci and by his son Ilbert. On the field of Tenchebrar the fortune of war declared in favour of Henry. The two Lacis, father and son, were banished, and their estates were declared forfeit to the crown, and conferred first on Henry Traverse, and then upon Guy de la Val. In the time of Stephen, however, the young Ilbert de Laci found means to regain the royal favour and was reinstated in the honours and possessions of his grandfather. Ilbert, dying without issue, was succeeded by his brother Henry de Laci, who in 1147 founded a monastery of Cistercian monks at Kirkstall. On Henry's death the domains of the Lacis passed to his son, Robert de

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46 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Laci, of whom we are told that he was one of the barons present at the coronation of Richard Coeur de Lion (1189). He died without issue, and to him succeeded his cousin and heiress, Aldreda, wife of Richard Fitz Eustace and Baron of Halton and Constable of Chester, and by this marriage the Baronies of Pontefract and of Halton, and the hereditary Constableship of Chester were united in one person. The son of Aldreda succeeded to both of these immense seignories, and dying in the Holy Land in 1179, was succeeded by his son Roger de Laci, Constable of Chester, who fought by the side of Richard I. at Acre. His son, John de Laci, also Constable of Chester, flourished in the time of King John, and it is gratifying to know that he was one of the barons who wrested Magna Charter from the unwilling hands of that dastard king. John de Laci married a daughter of the Earl of Chester and Lincoln, and in 1232 was created by charter Earl of Lincoln in right of his wife. Their son Edmund did not live to enjoy the family honours, but their grandson, Henry de Lacy, third Earl of Lincoln, was one of the most eminent nobles of the time of Edward I. and stood high in favour with that monarch. It may interest my readers of the long robe to know that this nobleman died in 1312 at his town house of Lincoln's Inn, which he had built on the site of the old home of the order of Black Friars. This powerful Earl flourished in the time of Edward II., and shared in the indignation with which the great barons of England, now English as the English themselves, saw the counsels of the King directed by foreign favourites, the chief offices at court held by Gascon revellers and their daughters and heiresses given in marriage to continental flatterers of a weak and wayward king. On his death-bed, Henri de Laci summoned to his side Thomas Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster, the husband of his only child and heiress, Alice, and thus exhorted him: "® See'st

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 4"

e -name wo

thou the Church of England, heretofore honourable and free, enslaved by Romish oppressions and the king's unjust exactions»? _ See'st thou the common people impoverished by tributes and taxes, and from the condition of freemen reduced to servitude ?> . See'st thou the nobility, formerly venerable through Christendom, vilified by aliens in their own country : I therefore charge thee in the name of Christ to stand up like a man for the honour of God and His Church and the redemption of thy country." The Earl of Lancaster, who thus succeeded to the honours of the illustrious Lacis, was twelfth Lord of the Manors of Huddersfield, Almondbury, Meltham, and Holme. He was a grandson of Henry III., a prince of the blood, cousin-german of the King. In his person were united the four Earldoms of Lincoln, Lancaster, Derby, and Leicester. He placed himself at the head of a considerable section of the English barons in opposition to the King. He raised a formidable body of adherents, but in 1322 his forces were dispersed by the King at Boroughbridge, and himself brought captive to the presence of the victorious monarch, in his own grim Castle of Pontefract. Among his supporters was Richard Waley, Lord of Honley, whose life was spared by the King ; but his lands were confiscated, and he was fined 2,000 marks in money. The domestic life of this turbulent Earl of Lancaster was as unhappy as his public career was unfortunate. His wife, Alice, who had brought him such a dowry of lands, did not give him or did not continue to him the priceless dowry of a faithful love. She was carried off, a not unwilling captive, by the Earl of Warren. This Earl of Warren was Lord of the Manor of Wakefield. Between Warren and Lancaster a feud arose, not unnaturally, and our sympathies quite as naturally are with the Lord of the

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4.8 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

=~

Manor of Huddersfield. The steward of the Earl of Warren was one Sir John de Eland; and Hugh of Quarmby, Lockwood of Lockwood, and Sir Robert Beaumont of Crosland Hill were sub-tenants and partisans of the Earl of Lancaster, their feudal lord. The lords fought because of the lady-like another Helen, pu/kkerrima causa belli-and the vassals fought because their lords fought. Some doggrel verses, published about the year 1650, give us a lively notion of the manners of times in which, we are told: "If any earl or great man found himself aggrieved by another, they frequently got together all their men-at-arms or knights that held of them, their other tenants and poor dependants, and as much assistance from their friends and confederates as they could, and burnt each others castles and houses, &c." I extract such of the couplets as will suffice to tell the story of this historic

feud.

" Some time there dwelt at Crossland Hall A kind and courteous knight, It was well known that he withal Sir Robert Beaumont hight (was called).

This Sir Robert was son of Sir William de Beaumont, of

Whitley, and married Grace, daughter and heiress of Sir

Edward Crossland, of Crossland.

At Eland Sir John Eland dwelt Within the manor hall, The town his own, the parish held Most part upon him all. He raised the country round about, His friends and tenants all, And for this purpose picked out, Stout, sturdy men, and tall. To Quarmby Hall they came by night, And there the lord they slew, At that time Hugh of Quarmby hight, Before the country knew. To Lockwood then, the self-same night, They came and there they slew, Lockwood of Lockwood, that wiley Knight That stirr'd the strife anew.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 49

meme cs <

The Lockwood of Lockwood ® that stirred the strife anew," appears to have been a merry gentleman, if he is the same as the one, who, according to the court rolls at Wakefield, 35, Edwd. I., was presented and found guilty of having forcibly ejected one Matthew de Linthwaite, from his free tenement, and when the earl's grave and bailiffs came to take possession thereof, he made an attempt, with others unknown, to have slain them, so that they barely escaped with their lives. However, as the poem tells us, his own end was not peace. He was a friend and ally,-the poet calls him " aid "-of Sir Robert Beaumont.

To resume :

When they had slain thus suddenly, Sir Robert Beaumont's aid, To Crossland they came craftily, Of nought they were afraid. The hall was water'd well about, No wight might enter in ; Till that the bridge was well laid out, They durst not venture in. Before the house they could invade, In ambush they did lodge ; And watch'd a wench, with wiley trade, Till she let down the bridge. A siege they set, assault they made Heinously to the Hall ; The Knight's chamber they did invade, And took the Knight withal. And this is for most certainty That slain before he was, He fought against them manfully, Unarmed as he was. His servants rose, and still withstood, And struck with might and main ; In his defence they shed their blood, But all this was in vain. The lady cry'd and shriek'd withal, When as from her they led Her dearest Knight into the hall And there cut off his head.

The marauders demanded meat, ale, wine, and bread. They were set before them. The two sons of Sir Robert Beaumont

D

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50 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

were bid to dry their tears and sit at board with their father's murderers. _ The younger obeyed. The elder, Adam, refused " right sturdily," and when Sir John Eland gave him bread threw it at him with disdain, whereupon Sir John vowed "he would weed out the offspring of his blood as they weed out the weed from corn." On the morrow Lady Beaumont fled with her sons to Brereton, where she had friends. They were brought up at Brereton Green, where also young Quarmby and young Lockwood, and one Lacy, probably a cadet of the great house, were in retirement. Of these, Lockwood was the oldest, and he incited his companions to revenge. - They admitted to their counsels, Dawson and Haigh, of Quarmby, " countrymen," by whom they were informed Sir John Eland, on a certain day would be at Brighouse, on business pertaining to his shrievalty. They were advised to conceal themselves in Cromwell Bottom, and waylay him on his home-coming.

In Cromwell Bottom Wood they lay, A number with them mo, Armed they were in good array, A spy they had also, To spy the time when Eland came From Brighouse Turn that day.

Sir John rode into the ambush and seeing the goodly array, «© val'd his bonnet" and spoke them courteously. - But Adam Beaumont declared his parentage and fell upon Sir John who made gallant defence, but was killed. - The young men, Beaumont, Lockwood, Quarmby and Lacy, then withdrew to Furness, where, fora time, they lived as outlaws. In time, however, they ventured to return to their own country. Their vengeance was not yet sated. The son of Sir John de Elland was living and married. They compassed his death. On Palm Sunday, "about the mirk

midnight," they concealed themselves in Eland miln. Now it chanced that

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" The young knight dreamt, the self same night, With foes he were besped, That fiercely fettled them to fight Against him in his bed. He told his lady soon of this, But as a thing most vain, She weigh'd it light, and said, I wis

We must to Church certain. Now this advice, good in the main, was in this case unhappy. The knight, his wife and servants, repaired to church, and on their way had to pass the miln-house. Here the party of Beaumont fell upon them, and Elland was shot through the head by an arrow from the bow of William of Lockwood. His young son and heir, too, was wounded mortally. - The conspiriators fled to Ainley Wood. The people of Elland had been roused and were after

them hot-foot.

Whittle, and Smith, and Rimmington, Bury, with many mo, As brimme as boars they made them bown Their lord's enemies to slow.

They overtook Beaumont, Quarmby and Lockwood in Ainley Wood. Quarmby was pierced by an arrow. Lock- wood bore him off into the depths of the wood, where he was found by the Elland men and despatched. Lockwood made all haste to Huddersfield. Adam of Beaumont secured himself in Crossland Hall, and there defied pursuit. But the Sheriff had roused the hue and cry. - Huddersfield was too hot to hold young Lockwood. He sought shelter at Canon Hall, and there became involved in an intrigue with the daughter of the tenant of Canon Hall. Now the owner of Canon Hall was Bosville, the sheriff, and whilst Lockwood was dallying with his mistress in the Hall, Bosville and his men surprised him. He made a stout resistance and would have escaped, had not his false love, another Delilah, cut his bow-string. Thereupon he sur- rendered, and was cruelly put to death, " to the utter

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52 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

extirpation of the ancient family of Lockwood of Lockwood." What of Adam Beaumont? He had betaken himself to his seat at Crossland Hall, that had come to him by his mother. Here he lived for a time unmolested, diverting himself with " hunting the red and fallow deer, at Honley and Holmfirth." But he was not safe. The friends of Lancaster had a price upon their heads. He contrived to slip out of the country and get into the service of the Knights of Rhodes, to fight, with no mean command, in defence of the Christian faith, in the Kingdom of Hungary, against a numerous army of the Turks. It is asserted that the name of Beaumont was registered among the Knights of Rhodes, and it is undoubtedly true that out of Hungary he wrote a private letter of the great successes and honours which he had obtained in that country, all of it written and subscribed with his own hand, directed to Jenkyn Dixson, dwelling at the Hole-house, within the parish of Almondbury ; and not many years afterwards his friends received a true and full narrative of his life and death, namely that his residence was sometimes at Rhodes, among the Knights there, and sometimes in Hungary, where, in one of the engagements against the Turks, he honorably ended his life. * The Beaumonts, Quarmbys, and Lockwoods were not the only families who made themselves invidious to the king by their espousal of the Earl of Lancaster's public and private wrongs. Who has not heard of Robin Hood and his merry men? Who that has read Ivanhoe does not recall the meeting of the outlaw and Richard Coeur de Lion after the lists at Ashby de la Zouch? But alas! for the romance of Sir Walter! It appears we must withdraw Robin Hood from the reigns of Richard and John and place him in the reign of Edward II., and among the adherents of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. According to

* See Crabtree's " History of Halifax," 438-452.

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Hunter's opinion, Robin Hood was born in a family of some station and respectability, seated at Wakefield or in one of the villages near it. - \Vhen the Earl fell there was a dreadful proscription, but some of the persons who had been in arms, not only escaped the hazards of battle, but the arm of the executioner. Robin Hood supported himself partly by his bow and arrow, and partly by blackmailing the passengers on the great road from London to Berwick, for about twenty months, from April, 1322, to December, 1323, when he fell into the hands of the king (Edward I1.) personally, and was pardoned, and was made one of the valets, porteurs de la chambre, in the royal household. This office he held for about a year when he again returned to the greenwood shade, where he lived for an uncertain time. - At last he resorted to the Prioress of Kirklees, his own relative, for surgical assistance, and in that priory he died and was buried* Upon his tombstone, or what tradition claims as such, is an inscription which external evidence would lead one to suppose is of a much later date than Edward II.'s reign, more probably that of Henry VIII. or Elizabeth. That circumstance, of itself, is not however sufficient to destroy the volume of testimony connecting Robin Hood with Kirklees. It reads as follows :

Hear underneath dis lait] stean Lay Robert, Earl of Huntington, Neer arcir ver as hie sa geud, An pipl kauld him Robin Heud ; Sick utlauz az he an iz men Vill England nivre si agen. Obiit 24 Kal. Dekembris, 1247. ¢

In addition to Richard de Waleys, Lord of Honley and Robin Hood, Henry Tyes, Lord of Farneley and Slaithwaite, ranged himself under the banner of the Earl of Lancaster, and Tyes, less fortunate or more implicated than Waleys, was condemned and executed.

* " Yorkshire Past and Present," 459. + This date is obviously incorrect, for Edward II. reigned from

1307-1327.

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54 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Ancient records give us only the names of earl, and knight, and squire, in telling the muster roll of those who died in the cause of Lancaster. - But for one of high degree, hundreds must have fallen of whose name no mention or minutest note is made. Under the feudal system every man was a soldier. Small landowners and tenants paid their rents with their swords, and during this great struggle between the Lord of Huddersfield and the crown it is beyond all cavil true the common people shed their blood in streams. Of many now living in the town and its neighbourhood, bearing names that appear and disappear and reappear, as one reads the musty archives of the past, men who now are manufacturers, merchants, artizans or tending the counter, I make no doubt their stout old ancestors took sword and buckler, or good arrow and shaft, and hied them to the wars. But of their deeds and death no minstrel sung, and only on the heart-tablets of the wife and bairns they loved was their memory enshrined. The great Earl himself was executed before the walls of his own castle, at Pontefract, on the 23rd of March, 1322. To his mortal enemy, the Earl of Warren, had been entrusted the congenial task of apprehending him, and Warren was one of the peers present when, in his own Castle of Pontefract, sentence of death was passed upon its once puissant lord. He had been arraigned before a tribunal consisting exclusively of his personal enemies, and the King himself presided over the court. Before this parody of a judgment seat the earl was tried, "bareheaded as a thief," in a fair hall within his own castle. He was condemned to be "drawn for his treason, hanged for his robberies, and beheaded for his flight"-a sentence after- wards commuted to simple decapitation. - He was led forth from his castle, set on a lean white horse without a bridle, accompanied by a friar preacher for a confessor, to

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 55

whom he cried: " Fair father, abide with me until I am dead, for my flesh quaketh for dread of death." So suffered, on the morrow of Saint Benedict-22nd March, 1322-** one

of the mightiest earls in Christendom." On the attainder for treason of the Earl of Lancaster, his great domains were escheated or forfeited to the Crown. The great Earl had died without issue. His brother Henry rose high in favour with the young King, Edward III., and served with high distinction in the Scottish wars. He was constituted Captain-General of the King's forces in the marches of Scotland. Little wonder then that the attainder passed upon his unfortunate brother was reversed in his favour and the manors of the Lacis revested in him. He was the last Earl of Lancaster, for his son Henry who succeeded him, was in 1352 created Duke of Lancaster. The Duke dying without male issue, his heiress, Blanche, inherited the estates. She was espoused by the famous John of Gaunt, fourth son of Edward III., and their son, Henry of Bolingbroke, became King of England, and thus it was that the lands of the great Barony of Pontefract vested in the Crown. Crown property they remained until in 1627, when, as purchaser from the Crown, Sir John Ramsden, Knt., became seized of the Over Lordship of Almondbury and the manorial rights, having already, in 1599, acquired considerable landed possessions in the town and neighbourhood of Huddersfield. It should be observed that in tracing the descent of the De Laci fee from the time of its original grant to its absorption in the Crown, I have confined myself to the derivation of the title of the original lands or tenants is capite. It must not, however, be supposed that all the lands in those parts mentioned in Domesday Book as granted to the Lacis remained unalienated or affected only by proscription. It was not till the reigns of the second

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56 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

and third Edward (by Statute, Edward II., c. 17, and 34 Edward III., c. 15) that alienation by deed was permitted to tenants ix capite, such as were the De Lacis, and that only on payment of a fine to the Crown, which was exacted down to the time of 12 Car. II. This extortion on alienation was evaded by a process of sub-letting or sub-

infeudation. There are on record several instances of the exercise of

this power in respect of the lands of Huddersfield. Some of them will, I think, prove of interest to the reader. Here is a copy of a Deed or Charter by which Roger de Laci sub-feoffed a considerable part of the lands of Huddersfield : * Know p'sent and to come that I, Roger de Lacey, Constable of Chester, have given, granted, and by this my p'sent charter, confirm to Colinus de Damelevill for Ais Aomage and service, twenty-three bovates (three hundred and forty-five acres) of land in the towne of Hudrefeud, which I had in the towne, and all the demesne which I had there with all the mess' (messuages) and the moyety of all the meadow of the demesne of the said towne and twenty shillings rent of the mill, and To have and to hold of me and my heirs in fee and inheritance, &c. Witnesse, Robert Wallensis, Hugh Dispencir, &c." This grant carried with it the service of a quarter of a knight's fee. A knight's fee varied in value. At the time of the conquest it was probably £20 per annum. A number of these fees was required to constitute a barony. He who held a knight's fee was bound to follow his over lord to the wars, for forty days each year, if called upon. The service of a quarter of a knight's fee granted in Huddersfield to Damelville, would entail ten days' military duty. - Colinus de Damelville was also called Colinus de Quatermans, and the holdings of that family in Huddersfield descended to

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 57

his daughter Johanna, who married Fulco de Batona. They had a daughter also called Johanna, and she married John d'Eyville. By this marriage there was a son Henricus d'Eyville, who married Agnes de Quarmby, who being left a widow married Robert de Bellmonte, one of the Beaumonts of Whitley. The Beaumonts were already a considerable family in the neighbourhood, Roger de Laci having about A.D. 1200 granted to Richard de Bellmonte, who probably accompanied him to the Holy Land, twenty- four bovates of land in Huddersfield, with half the demesne meadow, and of the wood of the same vill, and four marks rent of the mill in the same place. The Bellmontes appear to have disposed of their lands to one John del Cloghes, and there is extant a deed of the year 1318, which is as follows : * Know p'sent and to come that I, John del Cloghes, of Hodresfeld, have given, granted, and by this my p'sent writeing conferred to Richard de Byron, Kt., and his heires my capitall mess' together with all my lands and tenements, &c., in the townes of Hodresfeld, Crosland, and in the hamlet of Lynthwt, to have and to hold to the said Richard, his heires and assinges, of the cheife Lord of that Fee, by the service therefore due and of right accustomed, freely, quietly and by hereditary right for ever with all rights, liberties, and easements, &c. Witnesse, Robert le Tyes, Rector of the Church of Tankersley, Richard le Tyes, &c. Dated at Hodresfeld Anno Regni Regis Edwardi II. 12° (1318). There follows a curious and interesting deed by the above-named Richard de Byron. It reads thus : * To all the faithfull in Christ that shall see or heare this writeing, Richard de Byron, Kt., greeting, know ye that I have granted and by this my p'sent writing

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58 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

confirmed to John de Byron, my sonne, mann" of Hodresfeld, &c., the rents and services of Richard de Honley, of Margerie de Quarmby, of Adam de Hepworth, of Adam de Lockwood and his heires, of Richard his brother _. . . . ._ To have and to hold all the foresaid mann" with the appurtenances, rents, and services to the said mann" belonging To the foresaid John during his life of me and my heires, &c., paving therefore yearly to me and my heires one paire of spurrs guilt gold at the feast of the nativity for all services, &c. ' The connection of the Byron family, whose most illustrious scion was the poet, Lord Byron, with Hudders- field, extended over a period of two-hundred-and-fifty years. They were apparently absentee landlords, their chiet seat being at Newstead, and attached little importance to their Huddersfield manor. There is nothing in the town or neighbourhood to recall their memory; no statue, no memorial window in sacred edifice, not even a road or a street that bears their name. But it is clear that during the whole of the time of their lordship of Huddersfield the town was but a " moor-edge village." In the poll-tax returns made about sixty years after the Byrons became Lords of Huddersfield, the recorded taxable population amounts only to eighty-four, one of whom was rated at two shillings, one at one shilling, and four at sixpence, all the rest being at fourpence. - There were only five tradesmen mentioned-a merchant, a wright, a smith, a shoemaker, and a tailor, the rest presumably being tillers of the soil. Quarmby, at the same time, had sixty-four inhabitants paying seventeen shillings, whilst Holmfirth far exceeded both, having one-hundred-and-seventy-five, paying thirty- six shillings. In the rate book of 16or1, Quarmby was

rated at 23%$d.; Holmfirth at 214d.; and Huddersfield at 17id.* * See '" Yorkshire Archz. Topo. Journal," vol. vii., 281 n.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 59

one comes mmm noe

nm - ow -- nm om nos. cmtgme mm com mmm on come e

In the year 1572, John Byron sold all the manor and capital messuage called or known by the name of Hudders- field to Gilbert Gerrard, the Queen's Attorney-General, FOR THE SUM OF SEVEN HUNDRED POUNDS. In a roll of the time of Elizabeth, dated about 1580, the change is thus recorded : HuppersriELD.-Colinus Catermane, formerly held a fourth part of a knight's fee as appears in the records ; then Sir Richard Byron, lastly John Byron, Esq., and now Gilbert Gerrard, Esq., who purchased of the aforesaid John Byron, Esq. It was but twenty years subsequent to this that the present owner of Huddersfield became its purchaser, at what epric is not generally known; but the events that distracted the kingdom between the year 1572 and the time of the Ramsden accession, had not served to enhance the value of a property destined to prove a very gold mine to the descendants of the far-seeing purchaser.

Page 78

CHAPTER III.

N the last chapter I endeavoured to trace the descent of l the manors with which this History is mainly con- cerned, from the time of the Conqueror to the time when they were acquired by the Ramsden family in whom they are now vested. It is, however, of little profit to know who have been the successive lords of the manors: it will be of more interest to the general reader to be assisted in forming some fairly accurate and comprehensive idea of the tenures and modes of life of these humbler mortals who lived under the protection, and to an extent it is difficult for us to realize, under the power of the manorial lords. We have seen that in the reign of King Stephen, Ilbert de Lacy, grandson ofthe first lord, obtained from the King a restoration of the lands that had been forfeit by his father's treason. - It was during this reign that the Castle on Castle Hill, was built, by Stephen himself it is alleged, and if so, the fortress was presumably erected during the time the Laci lands were deemed forfeit to the crown. _ It is of little moment whether the stronghold was reared by order of Stephen himself or by Ilbert on his accession to his ancestral honours and estates. The reign of Stephen is memorable in English history for the number of castles that arose on every side. The King held the throne by an insecure title and by favour only of certain of the barons. Their support cost Stephen dear. They erected castles that served not only as a defence against their neighbours, but against the King himself and the King's ministers. Each baron was bent on being within his own manor a little king, controlling the people of his domain by the sword and executing justice, as he conceived it, in his own court and by his own interpreta-

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tion of the law. "Every powerful man"" we are told " made his castles and held them against the King, and they filled the land full of castles. They cruelly oppressed the wretched men of the land with castle-works. When the castles were made they filled them with devils and evil men. Then took they those men that they imagined had any property, both by night and by day, peasant men and women, and put them in prison for their gold and silver, and tortured them with unutterable torture, for never were martyrs so tortured as they were. They hanged them up by the feet, and smoked them with foul smoke; they hanged them by the thumbs, or by the head, and hung fires on their feet, they put knotted strings about their heads, and writhed them so that it went to the brain. They put them in dungeons in which were adders and snakes and toads, and killed them so. . . . . . . Many thousands they killed with hunger ; I neither can nor may tell all the wounds or all the tortures which they inflicted on wretched men in this land ; and that lasted the nineteen winters that Stephen was King." The architecture of the Norman castle was simple. In form it was, by preference, a rectangular keep, the sides varying from twenty-five to a hundred feet in length, and varying equally in height. At the corners the walls came forward so as to form square towers, the tace being usually relieved by a flat pilaster-like buttress. - The walls at the base were sometimes as much as thirty feet, and at the top as much as ten feet, thick. A courtyard occupied the centre of the quadrangle; beneath the courtyard were dungeons, dark and foul, furnished with instruments of torture. The upper stories were occupied by the garrison and by the lord and his family. The upper chambers were approached by winding staircases that wormed within the thickness of the outer walls. Where practicable the castle was surrounded by a moat filled with water. Itis supposed

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that the moat of the Almondbury Castle was supplied with water from Ludhill, in Farnley Tyas. The doorway, which was small and gave access only to a limited portion of the interior, was defended by a drawbridge and portcullis. That such a structure for many long and stormy years frowned from Castle Hill there is no question. It was, however, but ons of ths many castles of the Ds Lacis, and was probably occupied only at intervals by that noble family, and was held for th» lord by a steward. It appears to have been spscially used when the great lord, who had his seat, as we have seen, at Pontefract, was minded to hunt. One of the conditions on which the villeins of the estate held their land bound them to attend or escort the lord his hunting ground at Marsden and his castle at Pontefract, either personally or with one horse and man. In tha Inquisition of the reign of Edward III. the portion of the demesne at Marsden is described as a forest, two-and-a-half miles long and two miles broad, but it seems probable that the district between Almondbury and Marsden was almost wholly forest. There was a tradition that a squirrel could go from Marsden to Hud- dersfield springing from bough to bough. A part of this district, near Deanhead, is called the Chase, and in the deeds of a farm there we find mention of Dog Kennels, where old legends say the huntsman, visiting the kennels in his night-dress, was devoured by his own dogs. The castle of the Lacis at Almondbury is not without its story of horror. In the year 1137 the castle was examined by a Jury, probably in consequences of repsated and persistent complaints. The Dodsworth MSS. contain the finding of the Jury : " Quod quidam extraneus occisus est in prisona quondam Castri de Almonbury, habens corpus quasi devoratum vermibus,

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avibus, et canibus ; et dicunt quod alibi occisus est et ibidem postea positus et projectus, sed per quem ignorantur ;" ot, in English, that some person unknown, a stranger, had been murdered in the former Castle of Almondbury, and that his body appeared to have bsen devoured by worms, birds, and dogs; that he was killed elsswhere (by this meaning, I suppose, in another part of the castle, otherwise the finding is self-contradictory), and his body afterwards placed in or thrown into that place, but by whom they knew not. This was in the reign of Edward II., but in the preceding reign attention had already been attracted to the Castle at Almondbury by the high-handed proceedings of the steward of the Lacis. There is extant a return to certain articles of enquiry made by appointed in the reign of Edward I., in which the Commussioners say : «« That the Wapentake of Agbrigg is in the hands of the King. That the Earl of Lincoln (De Laci) and the Earl Warren have the return of writs and estreats, the first ad antiguo, the second for forty years; and they say, that the said earls do not allow the bailiffs of the Lord the King to execute any office in his own lands ; but that they (the earls) execute all such offices by their own bailiffs. That the steward of the Earl of Lincoln tries cases of felony in the Court of Almonbury, which is of the liberty of Pontefract, for the last six years past. That the bailiffs of the said earls take and keep possession of waifs :- * Also that when the bailiffs of the Lord the King were about to execute their accustomed office in Scamenden and Crosland foss, the bailiffs of the Earl of Lincoln, for the space of five years past, would not permit them. "They say that Nicholas de Burton, formerly steward of the Earl of Lincoln, took from Hugo, Constable of

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Almonbury-often indicted ('saepivs indicato), one mark for concealing his felony, and that so and in a similar manner, have done and still do all former stewards. © They say that Phineas de Gailstrop, formerly bailiff, took from Thomas, Rector of the Church of Heton, two marks for concealing a fine, in which the said rector was amerced before the Abbot of Burg, in his last circuit, now sixteen ago, namely ten marks. * Also Hugo, Constable of Almonbury, Robert de Marcheden (Marsden) and Henry Odelin, apprehended a certain thief, and took from him 9s. 7d., and allowed him to escape after keeping him for two days; and the wife of the said thief they also took and imprisoned at the house of Hugo of the foss in Crosland, but how she escaped, they know not. The same Hugo apprehended another thief, and kept him imprisoned at his own house for six days, and after- wards let him go, but why or after what manner they know not." The entry in which mention is made of the Abbot of Burg refers to John de Caleto, thirtieth Abbot of Peterborough, who was Chief Justice in the time of Henry III., and is noteworthy as recalling the times when the lawyers of the kingdom and the judges were largely drawn from the ranks of the clergy. In the reign of Edward III. another Inquisition on the Manor of Almondbury was held by the King's Commissioners. From this we learn that there was in Almondbury a dye- house of the value of 6s. 8d. annually, which, with the land attached was rented at 13s. 4d. The demesne also included a water-mill, which was worth, exclusive of its reparation, i1os., and the seca or suit was farmed at 113s. a year. In addition to this a rent of 13s. per annum was derived from

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imen ns -. n . m mous : maas. mre as

a fulling mill; the market tolls brought in 18s., and the pleas and perquisites of the court, bos. yearly. We shall the better appreciate the meaning of these figures if we remember that in the time of Edward III. the yearly rent of arable land was 3d. to 6d. per acre, of pasture land 1d., and of meadow land 4d. to 10d., whilst wheat sold at 6s. a quarter. The maximum price of several articles of food was fixed by the King's writ, about this period, and this, too, furnishes us with a standard by which we may estimate the value of the money of the time. An ox, stall or corn fed, was appraised at 24s., if grass fed at 16s.; a fat stalled cow at 12s.; any other fed cow at 10s. ; a fat sheep at 1s. 8d.; a shorn sheep at Is. 2d. ; a fat hog, two years old, at 3s. a fat goose at 3d; a fat capon at 2M.; a fat hen at 1%d.; and 24 eggs at 1d. By a statute passed in 1251 a brewer was restricted to the price of 1d. for two gallons of ale in cities, and for four gallons in the country. Wool in this district, we are informed in Mayhall's Annals of Yorkskire,* sold for more than £6 a sack, con- sisting of twenty-six stones of fourteen pounds to the stone. The same authority fixes the price of a cow at 7s. 4d., which is somewhat beneath that authorised by the statute. The wages of a master mason or carpenter, about this time, were 3d. per day ; of his journeyman 1i$d., and though the wages of any engaged in textile industries are not stated, so far as I am aware, in any contemporary record, we may surmise from this circumstance, how the wages in such industries would range. The mention of the dye-house and fulling mill at Almondbury is unquestionable evidence of the existence in this district of the now staple industry, so far back as the reign of Edward III. Indeed from the manner of its mention we may assume with confidence ths mill was no new thing. Even in the reign of Edward I. the returns make mention

* p. 28.

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of manufacturers and merchants in the Honor of Pontefract and in the Calendar of the Patent Rolls (a.D. 1285) it is stated that a staple of wool was settled at Boston and the Merchants of the Hanseatic League established there a guild, and a tax of a mark was paid on every sack of wool exported. To return to the Inquisition of Edward III. It would seem that the landowners of the manors were divided into three classes, Zider? tenentes or free tenants, Nativ: or villeins, Terminarii or term-tenants. It will be interesting to consider the relation of each to the lord. Let us take the case, first, of a Liber tenens, or free tenant, one Thomas de Okes. We learn that he held one messuage and one bovate (15 acres) of land at the annual rent of 6s. His services we are told were, in addition to the money rent, to assist the villeins and the other free-tenants to repair the mill-dam from the lord's timber. He was bound to attend the lord's court when necessary for judicial services, and to grind all corn grown on his land at the lord's mill. A liber tenens or free tenant of greater holding and apparently of more consideration was Stephen Walleys, who held a carucate of land (120 acres) in Crosland, by the service of the eighth part of a Knight's fee, with suit at the three- weeks' Court, at Pontefract, and the payment of a rent of 9d. at Michaelmas. This service of an eighth part of a Knight's fee would, as I have said, entail military service of five days annually. The Terminarit or term-tenants seem to have had less intimate connection with the lord, their rent being a pecuniary one and their service being limited to the repair of the dam. I may instance John Thorpe, who held one Ruddyng of two acres, by term, at the yearly rent of 5d., payable at Michaelmas, whilst William Stemertantyne,

rector of the Church at Almondbury, had seven acres at the rent of 5s.

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It is when we turn to the Navi or villeins that we are enabled better to guage the condition of the great bulk of the peasantry under the feudal system. Under that system the manor-house was the centre of every English village. The manor-court was held in its hall: it was here that the lord or his steward received homage, collected fines, and held the view of frank-pledge or free engagement of neighbour for neighbour, without which no man might reside in freedom on an estate, and which was the basis of social order. - Here too, if the lord possessed criminal jurisdiction, was held his court of justice, and without his door stood his gallows. Around the Hall lay the demesne or home-farm, and the cultivation of this rested wholly with the villeins of the manor. It was by them that the great barn of the lord was filled with sheaves, his sheep shorn, his grain malted, the wood hewn for his hall-fire. The villein was bound to gather in his lord's harvest and to aid in the ploughing and sowing of Autumn and Lent. The cottar and the bordar were bound to help in the work of the home-farm throughout the year. In the Inquisition of Almondbury in the reign of Edward III. there appear the names of nine villeins. Many of the customary personal services of villeinage have apparently been commuted for a money payment. Thus Claricia Le Hunt held one messuage and one bovate of land at the yearly rent of 2s. 5d. ; she also paid 12d. at the Feast of St. Martin for pannage, or the right of feeding swine in the woods. She rendered also two hens at Christmas, value 3d., and 20 eggs at Easter, value 1d. The villeins were also bound, as already stated, to do suit at the lord's mill and court and to attend or escort the lord between his hunting ground at Marsden and his castle at Pontefract. The villeins of the manor were not permitted " coronare filios," i.e., to enter their sons into the priesthood, without

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the lord's license. A monk was not a desirable personage from the lord's point of view. His services were with- drawn from the manor, his allegiance transferred to his spiritual head. If a villein, or the son of a villein, therefore, sought the lord's license to take Orders, he doubtless had to pay for it smartly. Nor was a villein allowed to give his daughter in marriage without the lord's license. This was probably to prevent marriages on to the estates of the lord's enemies. The exaction of fines for consent to marriage was often cruelly abused, and became, among the higher ranks of the nobility, a matter of extortion of peculiar efficiency, wealthy ladies paying freely to marry the man of their choice. There was also a fine payable by a villein called the Lytherwythe, or sum due to the lord by the villein, si filia sua deflorata fuerit. This LUytherwythe points to the existence in the manor of Almondbury of a custom analogous to the droit de seigneur, or lord's right, prevalent in France even down to the Revolution. The Lord's right exacted that the bride of every vassal of the estate should pass the nuptial eve in the castle of the Lord. Should any reader be curious to know more of a usage which more than any other attests the brutality of the times and the abject misery of the peasantry, he may consult the elder Disraeli's C#zfost- ties of Literature. The Lytherwyth was probably a fine paid on behalf of the bride to escape this horror. The following entry in an Inquisition of the time of Henry VII. (1480) refers to the custom of Lytherwythe: "* Johannis Pletcher tenet un. messuage un,. bovat. terr. in bondage-nup. Johannis del ffenay et redd. p. ann. £ mino Martin: and Michaelmas 1/5, and Johés debet duo omag. Vocat Thistle Intack in toto p. ann. £ mino Mar- tint 34., et duas gallina ad festa nativitalis Dni et vigint. ova £ mino Parishel, reparibit stagni molendini

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marnata mwesse fucrit de Matia Dni ad illus opes non etend:t eorum reservat ad id nec permitteo filiam suam mantart fil? coronart sine licentia Dni et si deflorola filia Jinerit debet Lotherwit in sect quod laxare centingit et venit ad curia regis, &c., &c. Still another obligation rested on the villein, the payment of Chevage, or fine for permission to quit the manor. Under the manorial system neither villein nor serf had any choice either of a master or of a sphere of toil. He was born, in fact, to his holding and to his lord ; he paid head-money (chevage) for license to remove from the estate in search of trade or hire, and a refusal to return on recall by his owner would have ended in his pursuit as a fugitive outlaw. In the inquisition of Edward III. we find Thomas and Adam, sons of William Newsome, paying each 4d. for the chevage. An absence of a year and a day within the King's demesne or in a chartered town operated as an emancipation from villeinage. Besides the /dert tenrentes, the term tenants, and the vilieins, mentioned in the Inquisition of Edward III., there must have been the landless men of the estate, bee-keepers, swine-herds, bond-maids, barn keepers, and a little higher in position, the pindar or pounder, chosen by the village householders, with the consent of the lord. The Old English Dialogue of the beginning of the eleventh century gives us a vivid picture of these lower orders of a community essentially and almost exclusively agricultural. The very words of this colloquy of Aelfric will not dismay the reader. The shepherd says :

On foreweardine morgen ic drife sceap mine to hera In early morning I drive sheep mine to their

laésow, and stande ofer hig on hate and on cigle pasture, and stand - over them in heat and in chill

mid hundum the lees wulfas forswelgen hig. with hounds lest wolves devour - them.

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|

The ox-herd says :

P Thsenne se yrthlincg unscenth tha oxan ic lzede When the ploughman unyokes the oxen I - lead

’ e hig to léese, and ealle niegt ic stand ofer high them to pasture, and all night I stand over them waciende for theéfan, and eft on serne morgen ic

watching for thieves, and oft in early morning I

betéce hig tham yrthrlinege - wel - gefylde - and take - them to the ploughman - well filled and

gewasterode. watered.

The ploughman says :

Ic gaf u’t on dzgred thy’wende oxon to fielda, and I go out at daybreak driving oxen to field, and

iugie, hig to syl; nys hyt swa.’ steare winter that yoke them to plough ; is not it so - stark - winter that

ic durre lfitian set ham for ége hlafordes mines

I dare lout at home for fear - of lord mine ; ac gelukodan oxan and - gefzestnodan - sceare - and but, yoked oxen, - and fastened share and

cultre mid there sye, slce deg ie scl - erian coulter with the plough, each day I - shall plough

fulne ether othhe mare. full a ploughing - or _ more.

It will have possibly occurred to the reader that much stress was laid on the tenant's duty to grind his corn at the lord's mill. In ancient times each man ground his corn by a quorn or hand mill and when water power was first used for the purpose it may be well believed the advantage of the mill was highly prized. The mills would be erected and worked by the lord, and as it was intended for the common use it was not unreasonable that he should require his own tenants to resort to his mill. The lord's mill at Damside, below Longley Hall, where the Colne and Holme meet, probably took the name of King's Mill, at the time the Lordship of the Manor reverted to the Crown, and in the pleadings of the Duchy of

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Lancaster in the reign of Henry VIII., a claim of soke and suit was made to the King's Water Mill, Corn Mill, and Fulling Mill, both as to Huddersfield and Almondbury. In the year 1584, the 26th of Queen Elizabeth, the Manor of Almondbury being then in the Crown, an In- quisition was held by Edward Stanhope, the Queen's Commissioner. The following gentlemen were the Jurors : John Kaye, of Woodsome, Esq.; John Ramsden; William Beaumont, gentleman; John Cudworth; Nicholas Fenay ; John Hirst; John Appleyard; John Beaumont, of Wellhead ; William Kaye; John Kaye, of Thorpe; John North ; Humphrey Beaumont; John Beaumont, of Netherthong ; John Armitage, of the Armitage; Edward Cowper; John Kaye, of the Cross; John Blegbourne (Blackburn), the younger; Thomas Brooke; John Lockwood; and John Armitage, of Huddersfield. The Jurors find : That the townships of Huddersfield, Honley, Meltham, South Crosland, Slaithwaite, and Quicke do, in respect of the Court Leet, belong to the said Manor of Almondbury ; for that the several constables and certain men of every of the said townships do twice in the year make suite to the said Court Leet holden within the same Manor of Almondbury, and there do make presentment upon their oaths of their new constables at the Court Leet holden at Michaelmas yearly, and of affrays, bloods and such other common annoyances, at both the said Court Leets, as are done and committed within the said several townships, and as are usually presentable at a Court Leet. Another finding of the jurors is to the effect that the ‘ Castle "which in ancient time was the chief mansion-house or 'scite' of the manor hath been 'of long time since utterly decayed.'" They also further say that "all and every of the free- holders do hold their several lands and tenements by the

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services hereafter following, that is to wit, to collect Her Majesty's rents whenever their course shall come, to repair the Queen's Mill-dam, when need shall be, with the copy- holders of the bond-tenure of the said manor, of the lord's timber, and to double the lord's rent after the decease of their ancestors, that is to wit to pay so much rent as is due to Her Majesty for the same land in the name of a relief. And to make suit to the Lord's Court when they shall be thereunto lawfully summoned, and also to make suite to the lord's mill with so much of their corn and grain growing upon any of their lands or tenements within the Manor of Almondbury which be holden of the same manor, as they shall spend in their house, after a certain rate of multure, that is to wit after the 16th vessell. But for such corn as any of the said freeholders shall buy, they be not bound to make suite with the same to the said mill, unless they of good-will and love, and then they pay their multure but after the rate of the 32nd vessell." We also learn that there was one water corn-mill belonging to Her Majesty as Lord of the Manor, and that the fulling mill on the tail-goit of the said mill, mentioned in former inquisitions, having fallen into decay, a second fulling mill, "annexed to the corn-mill," had been lately built by William Ramsden, the farmer of the corn-mill, but this, too, was reported to be in some decay. These mills appear to have been a fruitful source of trouble, for in the 33rd Henry VIII. (1541), there was a suit between William Ramsden, plaintiff, and Thomas Hey and John Harmytage, the subject of dispute being the plaintiff's claim of suit and soke to the King's water-mill, corn-mill, and fulling mill in Woodersfield (sic) Mills, Colne Water, Almonsberie. Again there is an award preserved among the Fenay M.S. and quoted by Mr. Hobkirk in his History of Hud-

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dersfie!d respecting the repair of King's Mill-dam. It is as follows :- " 1742, July 13. At this court the jury say and laye in pane as followeth : the King's Mill Dam belonging to ye Lady of this Manor (Almondbury), being very much out of repaire & severall of ye ancient ffreeholders & tenants within ye said Manor being bound to ye repaire of ye said dam, And to ye end that ye said dam may be put in good repaire and everye one of them their share & proportion of ye said Dam & the principalls and bearers to be knowne that ye same may be recorded in ye Court Rolls of ye said Mannor, It was moved in Court this day to ye said Jurors by ye Steward of ye said Court that they would view ye said Dam & for y* purpose ye Court was adjourned to ye 23rd day of May next following, &c. Whereupon the jurors aforesaid meeting at the Dam the 23rd day & severall freeholders & tenants appearing before them & upon their & some of their informations & upon ye oath of John Baldwin being an ancient person & one who was very much all his time conversant about ye Mill & Dam they do present & say as followeth :-" Impremis-Then follows an account of the several free- holders and copy holders who make suit to the said Dam, and the lands and tenements for which they make such suit. * And further the Jurors aforesaid upon ye information aforesaid do present & say that ye Lord of ye said Mannor is to find & provide for ye principalls & bearers to ye said Dam sufficient timber from time to time for ye maintaining & repairing of ye said Dam & likewise that said principalls & bearers ought to have liberty to get stones in ye most convenient place within ye same Mannor at all times for ye repairinge of ye said Dam."

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It has already been noticed that the Inquisition of Edward III. above quoted establishes the existence in that reign of a fulling mill in this district, and it would serve no purpose to endeavour to seek for a more remote original for the industry which has transformed a region once appro- priated by the huntsman and the farmer into a great centre of manufacture and commerce. Edward III., of all our kings, perhaps, deserves most grateful memory in this district. Great as was the victor of and Poitiers in arms, he was greater still in fostering the pacific arts. It cannot truly be claimed for him that he first of all English monarchs favoured the woollen industries, but it can be claimed with truth that under him a nascent and struggling art was encouraged, protected, and developed. And yet, curiously enongh, it was as part of his policy of war that Edward III. first used the wool of England. In his enterprise against the French King he was greatly solicitous to secure the alliance of the poorer princes of Germany. - Flanders was his natural ally, for he had married the Count's daughter. England was the great wool producing country of the West, but few woollen fabrics were woven in England. Nine-tenths of the English wool went to the looms of Bruges or of (Ghent. The help in arms of the Count of Flanders was purchased by English wool. Thirty thousand sacks of wool were ex- ported yearly, and the medium value of a sack was £5. It is related that Queen Philippa's crown was redeemed from pawn at Cologne, in 1342, by the King sending a sufficient quantity of wool over to produce the required sum, £2,500, the price at which it sold, being 1s. 34d. per pound. But Edward was not blind to the fact that to export the wool of his kingdom to be wrought on foreign looms was to enrich the stranger at the expense of his subjects. The wars concluded with glory, he turned his attention to domestic

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mme.

concerns. In 1338 an Act of Parliament was passed prohibiting the importation of foreign cloth, which it was declared should be worn by none but the King and Queen and their children. - That Queen was Philippa of Hainault, who knew well the riches her father's subjects had won at their humble looms. There is a letter extant from the King, dated July 3rd, 1331, from Lincoln, but two years after his marriage with Philippa, and probably suggested by her. The letter is addressed to John Kempe, of Flanders, who is informed that if he will come to England with the servants and apprentices of his mystery, and with his goods and chattels, and with any dyers and fullers who may be inclined willingly to accompany him beyond the seas, and exercise their mysteries in the kingdom of England, they should have letters of protection and assistance in their settlement. How earnestly King and Queen threw themselves into the encouragement of the woollen industry may be gathered from a book called T#e Golden Fleece, published anonymously in 1599. ¢ The wools of England," we read, < have ever been of great honour and reception abroad, as hath been sufficiently witnessed by the constant amity which, for many hundred years, hath been inviolably kept between the Kings of England and the Dukes of Burgundy, only for the benefit of the wool; whose subjects receiving the English wool at sixpence a pound, returned it (through the manufacture of these industrious people) in cloth at ten shillings a yard, to the great enrichment of that State, both in revenue to their sovereign and in employment to their subjects, which occasioned the merchants of England to transport their whole families, in no small numbers, into Flanders, from whence they had a constant trade to most parts of the world. And this intercourse of trade between England and Burgundy endured till King Edward III. made his

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mighty conquests over France and Scotland, when, finding fortune more favourable in prospering his achievements than his alledgeate subjects were able to maintain, he at once projected how to enrich his people, and to people his new conquered dominions; and both these he designed to effect by means of his English commodity, wool; all which he accomplished, though not without great difficulties and oppositions, for he was not only to reduce (bring back) his own subjects who were, and had long been, settled in those parts, with their own families, many of which had not so certain habitations in England as in Flanders; but he was also to invite clothiers over to convert his wools into clothing (and these were the subjects of another prince), or else the stoppage of the stream would choke the mill, and then not only clothing would everywhere be lost but the materials resting upon his English subjects' hands would soon ruin the whole gentry and yeomanry for want of vending their wool. Now, to show how King Edward smooth'd these rough and uneven passages were too tedious to this short narrative, though otherwise in their con- trivance, they may be found to be ingenious, pleasing, and of great use. © But this it must be granted, that King Edward was wise as well as victorious, for upon a visitation made by himself to the Duke of Burgundy, during his residence there, he employed such able agents among the Flemish clothiers, as (barely upon his promises) he prevailed with great num- bers of them to come into England soon after him, when he most royally performed those promises, in giving not only a free denization to them, but he likewise invested them with privileges and immunities beyond those of his native subjects, which peculiarities their posterities enjoy to this day. But for the more sure establishment and before these preparations came into effect, King Edward upon his return, called a

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n message on no meme - oncom

Parliament, and that in the beginning of his reign, where he so wrought upon the Commons House (who had not the least knowledge that the King had moulded the design) as after long debate (which all motions in the House ought to undergo) it was presented to the Lords, and so to the King, who, among other urged the loss which must necessarily befall his revenue, as well in respect of the outward subsidy of a noble upon each sack of wool, which was to be transported, as of the inward custome which the cloth paid upon return, according to the rates then estab- lished. But these soon met with an expedient, for the cloth in time to come must needs yield a far greater custome upon that which was to pass into all parts of the world from England, than it could do upon that small return which came only to the service of England, and therefore from the wool which from that time forward was to be wrought in England, and of which none in any sort, without the King's especial license, was to be transported, the Parliament gave unto the King, a subsidy of a noble upon a sack. Seventy families of Walloons were in the first year brought to England by the invitation and promises of Edward. He kept his royal word to all of them. The greater part were at first settled in Kent, but they were by degrees removed to different parts and scattered over the whole of England. They shifted their residence according to the facility with which they could obtain water or fuel, or the material on which they worked. The greater number finally settled in Yorkshire, Gloucester, and the Western Counties." We learn in the Annals of Yorkshire that Edward granted letters of protection, among others, to two Brabant weavers to settle at York and carry on their trade there. In the letters they are styled " Willielmus de Brabant and Hanckeinus de Brabant, zextores," and it has been surmised that the word Zanx* so familiar in a mull is derived from the

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78 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

names of these Flemish immigrants, though it is more probably from the Scandinavian a skein. The art found ready acceptance in districts where the land yielded but a scanty harvest to the husbandman. Although the lord's corn-mill turned on the Colne, we cannot think that in a country thick with forest much of the soil around gleamed with the golden grain. But the moorlands and bleak hill-sides too coyly visited by the sun gave short but sweet herbage for sheep, and the wool of the West-Riding was prized even above that of the more fertile counties. A means of employment and a source of food was presented by the weavers' craft. Every cottager might be a weaver and every weaver was really a manufacturer. The late Rev. Alfred Easther, formerly Head-master of the Almondbury Grammar Qchool, in his @Zossazy of tke Dialect of Almondbury and Huddersfield, describes the process of cloth manufacture as it was carried on before the factory system and the introduction of complicated machinery revolu- tionized the process, and there seems no reason to suppose that his description would not apply to the earlier as well as to later times. "Formerly," he says "every weaver was really a manufacturer or master clothier. His dyeing-pan, which was of lead, was set out of doors. Such men would go to Huddersfield, buy their 50 lbs. weight of wool, carry it home on their backs, spread it out on the house-floor, strinkle it with oil, layer on layer, then beat it with sticks. Hand cards were then used. They tossed it altogether, then turned it off in a floss state, as they do now by the scribbling machine. They worked it together in long slivings ; it was then spun into tough or fine threads, then into warp and woof. « The piece when made was spread on the floor. A large kitful of urine (weeting) and swine's dung was taken and strained through straw ; it was then sprinkled on the

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 79

cloth, and, as may be imagined, the smell in the house was horrible. As they Zecked one piece it was laid down, and so layer on layer were placed, in the form of a long parallelo- gram raised from the ground ; then all the members of the house got up and trampled it. There it lay till morning; it was then wrapped up in a bundle and taken to Honley (or the nearest place) to a fulling mill, it was scoured, the offensive fluud washed out of it, and it was then brought dripping home. It was next #rai/ed over furze-bushes, hung out upon the walls, and the small pieces pulled off in the bushes whisked from it; then duz/eZ in the house by the family. ‘ «¢ Then it was taken again to the mill, and placed in the fulling stocks with soap, by which it was reduced in dimen- sions. It was afterwards laid on the mill-stone (a long stone table) and by the Government Official, who affixed seals to the piece impressed with the length and breadth. It was then carried home, and as it was being fastened to the tenters the family pulled at one end to increase the length. If it was stamped for (say) fifty yards it would thus stretch to fifty-one or fifty-two, and shrunk again on being finished. The market was at Huddersfield, and the cloth was exposed for sale on the church-yard wall. ©The seals before spoken of were lead. The officer who was sworn at Pomfret Sessions made a hole at one end of the piece. A strip of lead three-and-a-half inches long and half-an-inch broad was bended at one end ; it was passed through the cloth, and by means of a hole at one end of the lead and a button at the other it was rivetted by a hammer. The length was stamped on the lead with a die. The manufacturer was now at liberty to remove his cloth, which before could not be done without a fine. This stamp-law became obsolete twenty or thirty years before it was repealed."

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80 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Thus, after a rude fashion, was the wool scoured, oiled, scribbled, carded and spun, by these petty manu- facturers, each within his own lowly home. The Lord's Fulling Mill, referred to in the Inquisition of Edward III., was hard by for fulling or felting; the yarn was made at home, and at home the piece was woven. The official who stamped the cloth was formerly called the au/nager or ell-bearer. His office was established about the year 1350 and it was his business to measure all woollen cloths before they were brought into the market, and then to fix an impression of his seal. This measure was to be the arbitor between the buyer and seller, and to prevent all disputes about short measure. The statute 25 Edward III. required that all cloths should be measured by the King's aulnager, and that every buyer of cloth after the piece was agreed in the markets or halls, should have it measured by the King's aulnager, who should put the price thereon, and the piece of cloth should stand for that length. - And to prevent the aulnager tumbling or defoiling them when he measured them, he was to provide himself with a string of the length of seven yards, and the piece was to measure four times the length of that string, and he was to measure it at the creased edge. The aulnager was entitled to the following fees: for every piece of cloth of ray or white cloth, 28 yards and six quarters wide, one-halfpenny, and every half-piece a farthing, to be paid by the seller. The villeinage system which attached the labourer to the soil was, in the time of the third Edward, breaking up. Men could no longer be bound to the soil. Despite statute upon statute and fine upon fine men refused to give their services to the Lord of the Manor. The ingenuity of the lord's steward was exerted in vain. Whatever the actual farmer might do his landless sons resented the unpaid labour of the lord's demesne and sought for hire on other

Page 99

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 8 1

estates. In the great plague which, in 1348, swept over England, nigh half of its population of three or four millions was destroyed. The result was a great scarcity of labour. The great lords were compelled to Aire labour for a money payment, and this circumstance and the silent recognition it gave of a man's right to the labour of his own hand more than any statute or decree emancipated the sons of the soil. In this neighbourhood men would readily turn to a domestic occupation which rendered them independent of the lord, his bailiffs, and his court, and which carried with it the sweetest incentive of labour, to toil for your own, not another's, gain. I have already adverted to the protection given by the Legislature to the woollen industry in what we may well term its infancy. Many other statutes were devised with that end, to quote all of which at length, would be to trans- gress the proper bounds of this History. But an exception may be made in regard of those which more especially illustrate the modes of the times, or traces of which remain on our local records. By a statute of Eliz., cap. 19, " All persons above the age of seven years shall wear upon Sabbath and Holy Days upon their heads, a cap of wool, knit, thicked and dressed in England, upon pain to forfeit, for every day not wearing, three shillings and fourpence." By statute of Carl. II., c. 3, for the encouragement of the Woollen Manufactures and prevention of the exportation of money for the importation of linen, it was enacted that no corpse of any person should be buried in any shirt, shiftt, sheet, or shroud, or any- thing whatsoever made or mingled with flax, hemp, silk, hair, gold, or silver, &c., any stuff or thing, other than what was made of sheep's wool only ; on

pain of £5.

Page 100

82 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

The clergy were required to see to the due observance of this statute and an affidavit had to be produced made by a relation of the deceased or other credible person of compli- ance with its requirements. The form of affidavit was as follows :

I, of the Parish of in the County of make Oath that of the Parish of lately deceased, was not put

in, wrapt or wound up, or buried in any Shirt, Shift, Sheet, or Shrowd, made or mingled with Flax, Hemp, Silk, Hair, Gold or Silver, or other than what is made of Sheep's Wool only ; nor in any coffin lined or faced with Cloth, Stuff, or any other thing whatsoever made or mingled with Flax, Hemp, Silk, Hair, Gold or Silver, or any other Material, Contrary to the Act of Parliament for Burying in Woollen, but Sheep's Wool only. The following entries may be cited as instances of the operation of this statute. * Sarah Brearley, of the Parish of Almondbury, maketh oath that the body of Elizabeth Butterworth, of Mel- tham, lately deceased, was not buried in any material contrary to an Act of Parliament made for burying in woollen. Dated 3d, October 1719. Sworn before me Isaac Walton, Curate of Marsden Chappell." And from the Diary of the Rev. Robert Meeke, Minister of the Ancient Chapelry of Slaithwaite ; 1689, March 31.-This morning there came one to make affidavit that Sam. Sykes was buried in woollen. He was not long since married: had designed to keep house at May-day. Now the Lord hath cut him off. He was married by me privately, without the consent of his wife's father, though I thought her father had known something, though it seems he did not, and now it hath pleased God to chastize the daughter for

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 83

too much slighting her father. Lord, teach me to take notice of all Thy providence, and to learn something of them." A commendable statute of Philip and Mary (1657) finds fitting mention here. It is restricted in terms to Halifax, but its preamble throws an instructive side light upon the condition of the woollen industry as it obtained in parts not confined to Halifax alone. " Whereas the town of Halifax being planted on the grate waste and moors, where the fertility of the ground is not apt to bring forth any corn, nor good grass, but in rare places, and by exceeding and great industry of the inhabitants, who altogether live by c/ofA- making, and the greater part of them neither getteth corn, nor is able to keep a horse to carry wools, nor yet to buy much wool at once, but hath ever used to repair onely to the town of Halifax, and there to buy two or three stone, according to their ability, and to carry the same to their houses, three, four, or five miles off, upon their heads and backs, and so to make the same either into yarn and cloth, and to sell the same, and so to buy more wool of the woo/-driver; by means of which industry, the barren grounds in these parts be much inhabited, and above five hundred householders there nearly increased within these fifty years passed, which are like now to be undone and driven to beggary by reason of the late statute (37, Hen. VIII.), that taketh away the woo/-driver, so that now they cannot have their wool by the same small quantity or portion as they were wont to have; and that also they are not able to keep any horses whereupon to ride, or fetch their wool further from them in other places, unless some remedy be provided." It was therefore enacted ' that it should be lawful to any person or persons, inhabiting within the Parish of Halifax, to buy any wool or wools at such time as the clothiers may buy them, other than by engrossing and forestalling, so that the persons buying the

Page 102

84 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

same do carry the said wools to the town of Halifax, and there to sell the same to the said poor folks of that and other parishes adjoining, as shall work the same in cloth or yarn, to their knowledge, and not to the rich and wealthy c/ofhzier, or any other to sell again ; offending against this act to forfeit double the value of the wool so sold." Another extract from Mayall's Ammails of Yorkshire, under date 1734-5 is also instructive and doubtless capable of greater application than to the village of Ossett : " The inhabitants of Ossett have been employed in making broad woollen cloth from time out of mind. In this year the weavers, &c. employed in that trade, kad to work fifteen hours every day for eight-pence. A horn was blown at five o'clock in the morning, the time for beginning, and at eight at night, the time for leaving their work. The clothiers had to take their goods to Leeds to sell, and Aad to stand in Briggate in all sorts of weather. - About the year 1736, Richard Wilson, a resident of Ossett, made two pieces of broad cloth, he carried one of them on his head to Leeds, and sold it. The merchant being in want of a fellow piece, he went from Leeds to Ossett, then carried the other piece to Leeds, and then walked to Ossett again : he walked about forty miles that day. A short entry in the diary of the Rev. Robert Meeke, under date, April 18th, 1694, gives us another glimpse into the hard conditions under which the cottage weaver plied his trade : * As I was at my study this afternoon, I heard a poor man talking to my landlady, under the window, and telling her he had been four days at market with a piece, and could yet receive no money ; that he was forced to buy bean-meal to make bread, oat meal being dear; and nothing almost got for work. Lord, pity the poor, put an end to wars. Give rulers prudence to consider the state of the nation." One sees the poor weaver never dreamed of Zox» for

his bread !

Page 103

CHAPTER IV.

E have seen in a former chapter that it was in the year 1627 the Ramsden family became

possessed of the Manor of Almondbury, and in

the year 1599 of considerable estates in Huddersfield. I purpose to set out in detail in this chapter two subsidy rolls concerning this district, one of the reign of Richard II., taken in the year 1379, and the other about a century-and- a-half later, of the reign of Henry VIII., in the year 1524. The latter of these rolls brings us well upon the time when, as will be seen presently, the Ramsdens began to figure prominently in our local annals. The rolls are valuable and interesting, first, as affording some knowledge of the social condition of the inhabitants at their respective periods; and, secondly, as enabling those who are curious in such matters to establish a possible ancestor at least three hundred, and possibly five hundred, years ago. First, of the Subsidy Roll of Richard II. It is called " Rotulus Collectorum Subsidi1 regi a Laicis anno secundo concessi in West-rythingo in Comitatu Eboraci," a Roll of the collectors of the subsidy granted by the Commons to the King in his second year-for the West Riding of the County of York. It professes to set forth the names of all persons in the West Riding of the age of 16, and not notorious mendicants, and the sums charged on each, according to their state and degree. It was a Poll-Tax. It was granted at a time of national defeat and dishonour. It fell upon classes which had hitherto escaped taxation. The general resentment of the tax culminated in the rising of Wat Tyler, which belongs to the general history of the

country.

Page 104

36 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

First of the Villata de Hoderfeld. There were appa- rently at that time eighty-six people in Huddersfield above the age of sixteen liable to the tax. If the Commissioners may be relied on, all other inhabitants were either under that age or were "notorious mendicants." It should, perhaps, be stated that but thirty years previously the most dreadful plague of all times had swept over this country. More than half the priests of Yorkshire are known to have perished in this Black Death, and towns and villages alike felt its fury. The Poll-Tax was a personal levy, or head- tax, and the principles which guided the assessors are not stated. The value of money about this time may be gathered from the prices which have been already set forth.

VILLATA DE HODERFELD. s. d.

Johannes de Mirfield and Agnes, uxor ejus (his wife), Marchant ... 2

Richard de Botherod' and Alicia, ux ejus, Wryght ... o 6

Adam Hauneson and Agnes, ux. ej., SmyHk _ ... o 6

Johannes de Blakeburne and Cecilia, ux. ej., Souter (shoemaker) ... o 6

Johannes Gledhowe, ZTay/our

Johannes de Grenewode and Agnes, ux. ej., ffarmour de Graunge

Johannes Milner and Agnes, ux. ej. ... Robertus Rose and Johanna, ux. ej. ...

O O

i= b

Johannes Annotson and Agnes, ux. ej Thomas Hudson and Alicia, ux. ej. Johannes de Copelay and Cecilia, ux. ej. *Henricus Bythebroke and Johanna, ux. ej. * Willelmus Bythebroke and Cecilia, ux. ej. Willelmus Rose and Agnes, ux, ej. ... Robertus de Lyghtfeld' and Alicia, ux. ej. Henricus Milner and Agnes, ux. ej. ... .._

O0 O O O O0 O0 O O O

bop B Bp B B BoB Bop

* Qy. Is this " By the Brooke," afterwards simply Brooke ?

Page 105

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Virrata pE HopERFELD (connued).

Margareta de Battelay Adam Diotson and Cecilia, ux. ej. Johannes Rayner and Agnes, ux. ej. ... Johannes de Bergh' and Johanna, ux. ej. Johannes de ffarnelay .. Johannes de Lyghtriche and Cecilia, ux. ej. *Johannes de Vykers and Johanna, ux. ej. Willelmus Hardgate and Cecilia, ux. ej. Willelmus Couper and Agnes, ux. ej. Johannes Slagley and Alicia, ux. e. ... Richardus de Slaxthe and Agnes, ux. ej. Johannes de Battelay and Agnes, ux. ej. Henricus del Hagh' and Johanna, ux. ej. Richardus de Lythelay and Sibilla, ux. ej. Thomas Broune and Agnes, ux. ej. Henricus Bate and Matilda, ux. ej. Johannes de W hyteacre Johanna de Thomas Hudeson, junior Johannes Bythebroke and Agnes, ux. ej. Johannes Mocok and Matilda, ux. ej. Matilda Walkerre ... Richardus Bythebroke . Johannes del Slak' and Alicia, ux. ej. Richardus Bytherode and Juliana, ux. ej. Johanna Rayner Alicia del Wro. Thom Thomasson Thomas de Lyndeley and Agnes, ux. ej. Richardus de Grenewode and Alicia, ux. ej. Richardus Bythebrooke Adam Dison Johannes Haun

S O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

* Vykers-from the same family would come Vicker-man.

¢+¢~p$$¢$~h$~p~>$$$+~$¢s+$$$$$+¢$~P¢$~p¢$9

Page 106

88 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

The families of Blackburn, Boothroyd, Hanson, Gledholt, Greenwood, Milner, Rose, Hudson, Copley, Brook, Milner, Batley, Rayner, Vicars, Cooper, Haigh, Brown, Bate, Whitacre, Walker, Thompson, and Dyson among those now familiar to our ears, had, therefore, representatives in the Villata de Hoderfeld five hundred and twenty years ago. One cannot but be struck by the exceeding lack 'of originality possessed by the godfathers and godmothers of those remote days. Nearly all the boys were christened John, William, Richard, Henry, or Thomas, the first four of which names had been borne by English Kings and the latter by the favourite saint of the people-Thomas a Beckett. The girls nearly all received the name of Agnes or Cecilia, pretty enough till they become Aggy or Cissy. The baptismal names too, it will be noticed, are Norman, indicating an affectation by the people of the fashions of the dominant families. Only four tradesmen are mentioned-a merchant, a wright, a smith, and a shoe- maker. The rest were probably engaged in agriculture. Let us now turn to the

VILLATA DE ALMANBERY.

Thomas de Hokkes and Cecilia, ux. ej, Petrus de Thorp' and Alicia ux. ej. Johannes de Thorp. Johannes de Neusom and Agnes, ux. ej. Johannes Taylour and Cecilia, ux. ej. Johannes del Woode and Agnes, ux. ej. Margareta de ffeney Johannes Clarenaux and Johanna, ux. ej. Isabella filia, ejus ... Gilbertus de Holyngbrig' Johannes fflouth'

o o o O o o o o o o o " po cp cp BoA (p (B (pop po p &

Page 107

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 8q

VILLaATA DE ALMANBERY (comtimued).

Robertus flytheler, and Cecilia, ux. ej. f) filo, Johannes Hudeson and Cecilia, ux. ej. 4 Willelmus seruiens, ejus O _ 4 Agnes de fieney 4 Adam \Walker - 4 Symon flemyng' and Agnes, ux. ej. ... 4 Johannes de Hepworth and Agnes, ux. ej. o 4 Robertus Hughson and Alicia - 4 Sibilla de ffieney 2.0 O 4 Alicia Halyday | ... 22.0 O 4 Petrus Hudesone ... - 4 Robertus fflescher and Agnes, ux. ej. 4 Magota del Castell 4 Thomas de ffeney and Alicia, ux. ej. ... - 4 Adam de Dalton ... - 4 Willelmus de Longlegh 4 Nicholaus Whyte ... . - 4 Willelmus de Wodde, wrzg/zt ... o 6 Willelmus de ffeney and Alicia, ux. ej. smy/4 ... O 6 Johannes Dauid" 4

Here we have a wright and a smith taxed at 6d. As all the others are assessed at 4d. each, we may presume they were less considerable than either wrights or smiths. Yet Johannes Clarenaux is not only taxed, but his daughter, Isabella, is also taxed at the same rate. Again, Johannes Hudeson is taxed at 4d. and his servant William at the same amount as his master. There is also Robertus fflescher, probably of Fletcher House, an old homestead, between Almondbury and Farnley. The name of Symon flemyng is noticeable. Simon the Fleming thus mentioned in the reign of Richard II. may well have been the pioneer

of the weavers in this district.

Page 108

ele HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

mau w . mme

VILLA DE FFARNELAY TYAS.

C-

S. Johannes Kay and Margareta, ux. ej., ffrankeleyn _ 4 Henricus Bibbe and Agnes, ux. ej. Johannes ffawels and Alicia, ux. ej. Adam de ffeny and Isabella, ux. ej. Thomas Cobok and Alicia, ux. ej. Johannes Tyas and Agnes, ux. ej. Thomas Dison and Juliana, ux. ej.

O

Willelmus Daweson and Cecilia, ux. ej. Alicia Vidue (the widow Alice) Willelmus Belou

Alicia Sclaster

o o o o o o o o o o o b oB B BoB BoB Bop B p

Johannes, seruiens Johannis Kaye Agnes, seruiens Johannis Kaye 2.2 O 4 The above named Johannes Kay, ffrankeleyn, who with his wife and two servants are assessed to this tax, was the owner of Woodsome Hall, and it was through the marriage of a descendant, Elizabeth Kay, on June 23rd, 1722, with The Hon. George Legge, Co. Warwick, that Woodsome passed into the Dartmouth family.

WHYTELAY.

Robertus de Whytelay and Agnes, ux. ej. Zay/our Robertus de Westland' and Alicia, ux. ej. Ricardus del Grene and Agnes, ux. ej. Johannes Moldson and Alicia, ux. ej. Johannes de Skelmerthorp' and Johanna, ux. ej. Willelmus Schephyrd and Agnes, ux. ej. Thomas Adamson Johannes filius ejus Thomas Palmer and Alicia, ux. ej. Adam del Hyrst and Alicia, ux. ej. Hugo Ffox and Agnes, ux. ej. Willelmus de Byngley

o o o o o o o o o o o o " pb ck Bop cp pop Ao got

Page 109

HUDDERSFIELL AND ITS VICINITY.

\WHyxyTELAY (continued).

Hugo Mahron and Johanna ux. ej. Thomas Ffox Isabella de Margareta ux. Johannis Hende Willelmus del Grene Isabella Schephyrd Johanna Notare Adam de Bynglay ...

VILLATA DE BYRTON.*

Johannes Pedder and Agnes, ux. ej. ... Johannes Taylour and Margareta, ux. ej. Thomas Malynson and Agnes, ux. ej. Ricardus Jones and Isabella, ux. ej. ... Robertus de Ryles and Alicia, ux. ej. Thomas Eldefeld' and Alicia, ux. ej. ... Gilbertus Grysse ... Adam Presteman ... Johannes de Rentoles and Agnes, ux. ej. Robertus Tollar and Johanna, ux. ej. Thomas Diconson and Isabella, ux. ... Adam Walker and Agnes, ux. ej. Henricus Walker and Margareta, ux. ej. Thomas Leydeman Rogerus Walker Ricardus de Thornelay Matilda Kene Elizabetha Kene Johanna Bene Alicia Bene Isabella Bene Ricardus Pedder ... Margareta del North

* Kirk-Burton.

O O O O O O O P

0 Oo O O o o O o O O O O O O O O0 O0 O O O0 O O

p Bp B A Ap Ap p p O

pok B Bom Q B B B B B B AB B B (Bo B B B B B B p

Q I

Page 110

Q2 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Virrata pE ByRTON (continued).

Johanna filia Juliane Alicia filia Juliane ... Elena Sconnell' Alicia seruiens ejus Johanna filia ejus ... Johannes Mychell' and Agnes, ux.

VILLATA DE HETON'.*

Ricardus del Wode and Agnes, ux. ej. Robertus Heron and Johanna, ux. ej. Ricardus de Burlay and Alicia, ux. ejus Hugo de Ingleworth' and Johanna, ux. ej. Willelmus Dolyppe and Agnes, ux. ej. Willelmus de Copelay and Agnes ux. ej. Thomas de fforest and Agnes, ux. ej. Alicia Alisaundre ... Willelmus de Whytewode ... Henricus Thomeson Johannes Norre _ ... Thomas de Hesyll' Johannes de Naburn .. Robertus Voket and Alicia, ux. ej. Ricardus Broune and Agnes, ux. ej. ... Johannes Scotte and Alicia, ux. ej. _... Johannes de Dyghton and Alicia, ux. ej. Ricardus de Dyghton . Isabella de Hellyngworth' ... Margareta Bryse ... Johannes Doly{ Johannes de Rouley Willelmus Dyghton Sibilla de Tong

* Kirkheaton.

0 oOo o o o o »

0 o o Oo O o o O O O O O O0 O O O C O O O O

Bb B AB A A4 4

pomp (p CB B (BoB Bo B B B (B (B B B BoB B B B BoB bop

Page 111

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

NORTH CROSSELAND.

Henricus Benneman and Johanna, ux. ej.

Merchant' de Bestes

*Willelmus del Armytache and Agnes, ux. ej. ...

Gilbertus del More and Agnes, ux. ej. Thomas de Conehall and Alicia, ux. ej. Johannes de Denton and Agnes, ux. ej. Johannes de Rouley and Emma, ux. ej. Adam Disconson and Johanna, ux. ej. Johannes Milner and Agnes, ux. e. ... Ricardus de Crosseland Johannes Bretwell and Cecilia, ux. e. Thomas de Goldhill' and Agnes, ux. ej. Willelmus Ardland' and Agnes, ux. ej. Rogerus Day and Johanna, ux. ej. Johannes de Hungate, Ricardus del More and Agnes, ux. ej. Ricardus Benild' and Johanna, ux. ej.

VILLATA DE CROSSELANDFOSSE.

Willelmus de Bergh' and Isabella, ux. ej. Willelmus de Bergh', junior Willelmus Walker and Isabella, ux. ej. Thomas Lokewod' and Isabella, ux. ej. Thomas de Crosseland Johannes de Denton and Alicia, ux. ej. Simon de Akirland and Emma, ux. ej. Willelmus de Lokewod' Thomas Sclaster Adam Dison Johannes de Bautre Johannes de Brydeley Johannes Smyth and Isabella, ux. ej... Elizabetha de Lynwayte Cristiana de Appleyerde

Matheus Walkerre * Armytage.

&"

O O O O0 O0 O0 O O O0 O O o

O0 O O0 O0 O0 o O o O o

Lon.

C

b

bop QB B B B pop B B p b Bop

b B cp B Bop (B (Bop Bop op BoB Bop

93

Page 112

94

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

VILLATA DE QUERENBY (QuarmBy).

Willelmus del Stopp' and Alicia, ux. ej. Ricardus Turnoure and Agnes, ux. ej. Amicia de Hekirton Johannes Sele and Agnes, ux. ej. Johannes Date | ... Nicholson Wechyn Isabella seruiens Willelmi de Querenby Thomas Thewelesse Matilda Mason Henrieus de Lclay Robertus del Wode Johannes seruiens ejus Thomas de Notton Magota de Derfell Robertus de Batelay and Agnes, ux. ej. Johannes de Haught and Agnes, ux. ej. Robertus Bate and Alicia, ux. ej. Johannes de Denton Elizabeth de Bockecroft' Willelmus del Okes Johannes de Hole Ricardus Swyfte and Juliana, ux. ej....

Henrieus Questonrode and Cecilia, ux. ej.

Robertus Naylor ... Isabella Dewell' Johannes del More Robertus Dauson Thomas Dauson Johannes del Hirst Emma de Dalton Willelmus Tomson Willelmus Colier Hugo Souter

UA

O0 O O O O O O O O O O o Oo O O Oo O Oo o O O O o O O O O O Oo O O o

b p b Bp p po .B Bb B (Bop AB B B B B Bo B B B B B B B B B B B pho A p D

Page 113

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

VILLATA DE QUERENBY (confinued).

Thomas de Lockwod" Alicia de Coppelay * Thomas Qwytacres Adam de Lyndelay Matilda Gowers' Margareta Nicoldoghter Willelmus de Nelton Johannes Jackeson Willelmus Beryer and Agnes, ux. ej. Agnes de Braythewell' Ricardus Turnour Ricardus del Haye and Alicia, ux. ej. Thomas del Haye ... Adam de Hegerton Adam Qwyacres Isabella Bylegh' ... Cecilia de Northeland' Johannes del Cauthorn Matilda Godelay ... Thomas de Welle ... Ricardus Godlaf' ...

VILLATA DE HAUNELEY.

Johannes Bondrode and Alicia, ux. ej. Henrieus Irenherde and Johanna, ux. ... Rogerus Couper and Alicia, ux. ej. Johannes Dene and Agnes, ux. ej. Adam del Stone and Alicia, ux. ej. Thomas Judson and Agnes, ux. ej. Adam de Hakenay and Agnes, ux. ej. Willelmus de ffeney and Isabella, ux. ej.

Willelmus Herdeschelf and Dionisia, ux. ej. ...

Willelmus de Fforest' and Alicia, ux. ej.

* Qy. Whitacre. t+ Honley

O0 O O O O O O O O O O o O O O O ®

O0 O O O O C O O O

95

p p B B Bp Ap Bp kpop B B po Ap po B AB B B p A A O

pop B Bo B B B p B p

Page 114

96 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Virrata pE HaunELEy (continued).

Johannes Halle and Agnes, ux. ej. Willelmus Willeson and Isabella, ux. ej. Thomas Walker and Agnes, ux. ej. Thomas de Ireland' and Alicia, ux. ej. Adam de Shitlyngtoft and Johanna, ux. ej. Johannes Reny and Alicia, ux. ej. Willelmus Furnes and Isabella, ux. ej. Willelmus de Ireland" Henricus Rayerd' ... Willelmus Hanson and Johanna, ux. ej. Willelmus Walker and Isabella, ux. gj. Johannes Bondrod and Alicia, ux. ej.

Willelmus Oteson and Ceclua, ux. ej. Elizabetha de Wellehill

VILLATA DE MELTHAM.

Johannes Dendby and Isabella, ux. ej. Thomas Godemau and Agnes, ux. ej. Willelmus de Meller .. Johannes de Hoderfeld' and Isabella, ux. ej. Thomas Michell and Isabella, ux. ej. Thomas de Siluerston _ Adam Diconson Willelmus Salter and Alicia, ux. ej. ...

Willelmus de Siluersterson and Agnes, ux. ej.

Willelmus Gudeman Johannes del Castell and Alicia, ux. ejus Nicholaus de Derlegh' and Alicia, ux. ej. Johannes Smytheson Willelmus de Honelay Ricardus Hynne and Alicia, ux. ej. Thomas seruiens ejus

Matilda Marion

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Page 115

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Vircata pE MELTHAM (continued).

Emma de Brenneley Adam de Dendby ... Thomas hyngeson Johannes Thekhons' Thomas filius ejus

VILLATA DE HOLMFIRTH.

Ricardus Attokson and ux. ej. Thomas Cisson and ux. ej. ... Willelmus Couper and ux. ej. Willelmus Benet and ux. ej. Willelmus de Holme and ux. ej. Ricardus de Rodes and ux. ej. Thomas de Rodes and ux. ej. Thomas de Coldwell' and ux. ej. Johannes de Bernby and ux. ej. Johannes Smyth and Johanna, ux. ej. Thomas de Mourhous and ux. ej. Johannes Edmunson and ux. ej. Johannes de Rode and ux. ej. Ricardus de Hoxlegh' and ux. ej. Robertus de Stauelegh and ux. ej. Thomas Lyynley and ux. ej. Thomas Thynker and ux. ej. Adam Thomasson and ux. ej. Edmundus Rogerson and ux. ej. Johannes Tynker' and ux. ej. Thomas de Boterley and ux. ej. Willelmus Mathen and ux. ejus Ricardus de Grene and ux. ej. Thomas Bondrode and ux. ej. Willelmus Alenson and ux. ej. Johannes de Hyncheclyff' and ux. ej.

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Page 116

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Virrata pE HoLMrFIRTH (continued).

Johannes Penson and ux. ej. Johannes Byneth gatte' and ux. ej. Adam Wylis and ux. ej. Ricardus Couper and ux. ej. Adam Wade and ux. ej. Ricardus de Bothe and ux. ej. Matheu Robert and ux. ej. ... Willelmus Baroune and ux. ej. Johannes Nayler and ux. ej. Ricardus Taylour and ux. ej. Adam de Wode and ux. ej. ... Robertus de Dam' and ux. ...

Willelmus de Bromchill' and ux. ej. ...

Johannes de Hill' and ux. ej. Johannes de Litylwode and ux. ej. Johannes Hayward and ux. ej. Adam de Grene and ux. Thomas Taylour and ux. ej. Johannes Hernchagh and ux. ej. Thomas de Motlawe and ux. Robertus Loukes and ux. ej. Thomas Wade and ux. ej. ... Johannes Babell' and ux. ej. Thomas Sclater and ux. ej. ... Willelmus Wilkocson and ux. ej. Thomas Akarland and ux. ... Ricardus Lytilwod' and ux. ej. Willelmus de Arculland' Thomas de Bothe and ux. ej. Adam Jepson and ux. ej. _ ... Ricardus de Brodhed and ux. ej. Johannes de Berneslay and ux. ej. Ricardus de Hynchclift' and ux.

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Page 117

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

pE HoLMFIRTH (continued)

Johannes ffelagh' and ux. ej. W illelmus de Hynchecliff*® and ux. ej. Willelmus Roger and ux. ejus Thomas Wade and ux. ej. ... Adam Soutar and ux. ej. Galfridus Benet and ux. Johannes Diconson Johannes Thomasson Rogerins de Morehous Johannes de Coldwell Johannes Alynson Johannes de Bothe Adam de Bothe Matheus de Romsdeyn Peteus Lord .. Willelmus Hayward Johannes de Dam Magota de Cartworth Magota filia ejus Magota Waryn Anabilla Willelmus Diconson Matilda Baroun Anicia de Nabb' Johanna filia ejus ... Willelmus Souterson Willelmus Malynson Isabella Souter Willelmus Diconson

Willelmus de Brennhull' Johanna de Bothe ... Agnes de Grene Agnes de Grene

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Page 118

IOO HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Virrata pE HoLmrIrTH (continued).

Alicia Clis, doghter Alicia Tynger Matilda Wylkyndoghter Johannes Jacson Agnes Rakwyfe Diot' Elyndoghter... Johanna Kyng' doghter Thomas Moketer ... Alicia de Hole

Agnes de Crauen ...

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Magota Thomas doghter

It will be observed that five hundred years ago, as now, Hinchcliffe, Mcorhouse, Tinker, and Littlewood were names well known at Holmfirth.

VILLATA DE SLAXTHWAYT.

P

Willelmus de Bridelay and Matilda, ux. ej Willelmus filius ejus Emma filia ejus Willelmus Hawyne and Alicia, ux. ej. - Willelmus filius ejus. Johannes filius ejus . . Adam del West' and Johanna, ux. ej. Thomas de Northland' and Alicia, ux. ej. Johannes Campion and Agnes, ux. ej. Thomas seruieus ejus .. Hugo del Lymbe and Alicia, ux. ej. ... Henrieus del Hole and Matilda, ux. ej. Alanus Godeyere and Magota, ux. ej.

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The names of Lumb, and Hoyle, and Goodyear, are still, I believe, not uncommon in Slaithwaite.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I O I

Villata.

Huddersfield ..

Almanbery

Ffarneley Tyas

Whytelay

Byrton ..

Heton .. North Crosseland'

Crosseland' Fosse Querenby

Haunelay Meltham

Holmfirth Slaxthwayt

SUMMARY. No. of Taxable Amount Inhabitants. Levied. £s. d. $4 I9 4 45 o Io 8 21 o 7 4 38 o 6 10 41 o 8 8 37 o 8 4 30 6 2 22 5 4 64 o 18 45 8 34 o 8 175 I 16 21 4 4 619 _ £7 7 °

Reinarks.

A Marchant (Johannes de Mirfield) is taxed at a Wryght at a Smyth at 6d.; a Souter at 6d.; and a Taylour at 6d. ; Johannes de Grenewode, ffarmer of Graunge at 12d .; the rest at 4d.

A Wright is taxed at 6d.; a Smyth at 6d.; and Johannes de Hudeson has a servant. All the others are taxed at 4d.

Johannes Kay, ffrank- eleyn, is taxed at 4od. He has two - servants. A ffrankeleyn was a yeoman. The rest at 4d.

A Taylour is taxed at 6d. ; the rest at 4d.

Elena Sconnell has a

servant. All are taxed at 4d. All at 4d.

One merchant of beasts at 12d. ; one smyth at 6d .; the rest at 4d.

All at 4d.

Willelmus de Querenby and Robertus del Wode have each a servant.

All at 4d.

Ricardus Hynne has a servant. All are taxed at 4d.

All at 4d.

Johannes Campion has a servant.

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102 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

In Huddersfield, therefore, and what we may by a liberal interpretation call its vicinity, there were, in 1379, above 16 years of age and not notorious mendicants, but six hundred and nineteen inhabitants, paying a total poll tax of 57 7s. od. Holmfirth heads the list with 175 inhabitants; Huddersfield ranks next, with 84 ; Quarmby next with 64. - There is one Merchant (in Huddersfield) taxed at two shillings; a ffarmour (of the Grange, also in Huddersfield), taxed at a cattle dealer (North Crosland), taxed at and of other trades there are two Wrights, taxed at 6d. ; two Smiths, taxed at 6d. ; a Souter, at 6d. ; and two Taylours, at 6d. Judged by the assessment, Johannes Kay, of Woodsome, and Johannes de Mirfield, of Huddersfield, are the most considerable men in the district. Only

five persons are mentioned as having a servant.

Let us now consider the Roll of the subsidy granted, in 1523, to Henry VIII, which brings us close upon the time when the Huddersfield estates were acquired in great measure by the Ramsden family. The subsidy was granted to enable the monarch to carry on the war with the French King " for the conservation of his honour, and for

the revenging of the wrongs to his highness and subjects."

The subsidy, it will be observed, is not a poll tax, or head tax, but a levy upon lands, goods, and wages. The tax was at the rate of one shilling in the pound on land, and sixpence in the pound on goods. The mark was 13/4 ; and

such an expression as "five marchlands " meant lands

assessed, at five marks, or £3 6s. 8d.

Page 121

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 103

HUDDERSFIELD-CUM-BRADLEY.

, ASSESSMENT. NAME. Lands. Goods. _ Wages. Tax. £ s. d. | % s. d. £ s. d. | s. d. Arthur Pilkyngton ...... 40 O ‘ 40 - o Thomas Cay for ........ 40 Oo o | _ 20 John Hirst of the Gled- holtt IO O w 5 John Hirst, of the Greyn- hed for.............. 16 o o 8 o Edward Cowper for 8 march guds .......... 5 6 8 2 8 John Hirst of the town .. 2 o o I_ o Kateune Cowper, wydow . 2 o I o James Hirst, of Smythed . 2 o o I William Brooke, of Brad- lay 6 o o Thomas Brooke ........ 3 o o I 6 William Brooke and John w his Son .............. 6 o o 3 Thomas Brooke ........ 2 o I The Wyffof Thomas Steyd 2 O I o John Brooke, of the Bark- house ................ 2 O I Humfray Brooke........ 2 Oo I Edward Brooke, of Wod- house ................ 6 o o 3 Edward Brooke, of Blak- house ................ 2 O die Edmund Brooke, of Greyn- house ................ 2 O I Thomas Brooke, of Yat- house ................ 2 Oo I Thomas Armitage ...... 4 O 2 Roger Cay.............. 2 O I John Cay .............. 5 O w 5 Trolisse Brodlay ........ I o 6 George Choppell I Oo o 6 Richard Dodworth ...... I O0 o 6 Richard Gaukroger...... | I Oo o 6

From this it will be seen that in Huddersfield-cum- Bradley, only two persons, Arthur Pilkyngton and John Cay, are taxed as owners of landed estate. The bulk are assessed for goods, and three persons for wages. The Brookes, Hirsts, and Armitages, have displaced the families of the earlier subsidy roll, of whom only the Coopers remain.

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IO4 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

ALMONDBURRY. ASSESSMENT. NAME. Lands. Goods. Wages. Tax. | £ s. d. £ s. d. | £ s. d. s. d. John Wodd ............. IO , | ___ IO Gilbert Beaumond ...... 6 o o w 3 Nicolas Feney, 5 march ~ lands ................ 3 6 8 3 4 Richard - Appelyard, 5 march lands .......... | _-3 6 8 3 4 Peter Cay for .......... I 6 8 I 4 Jenet Cay .............. I O0 I O John Lokwod 5 O0 O- 2 6 John Perkyn............ I Oo I William Alderslay ...... 2 2 Robert Francis =........ w 2 O O I I Thomas Hepworth ...... * 2 O I

It will be noticed that in " Almondburry " the bulk of the taxation is in respect of lands, in Huddersfield in regard of goods, from which it may be inferred Huddersfield was now assuming the character of a place of exchange or mart. In 1538, John Wood, of Longley, died, leaving a daughter and coheiress, Johanna, who had married in 1531 William Ramsden, son of Robert Ramysden, of Elland, and thus apparently began the connection of that family with Huddersfield.

WHITLAY. | ASSESSMENT. NAME. Lands | Goode Wages. Tax. & s. d. | & s. d. | £ s. d. s. d. Richard - Beamond, - 40 march | .............. 26 14 I 6 8 Thomas Whitlay | ...... 13 6° 8 I3 4 William Helweys =...... ‘ I o o | o o 6 Roger Copelay.......... I o o | o o 6 FERNELAY TYAS. ASSESSMENT. NAME. Lands. | Goods. | Wages. | Tax. ° . £0 s. d. s. d.'%£ s. d.. William Rischworth .... 10 o o f

Charles Cay ............ : Thurston Cay .......... Thomas Snappe ........

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Page 123

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I0 5 kIRKBURTON is not mentionrep. kIRKHEATON. _ AssESSMENT. NAME. Lands. Goods. Wages. T ax £s. d. | #s. d. | £ s. d s. -d. Christopher North ...... 2 O I CROSLAND. I ‘ AssESSMENT. NAME. Lands. Goods. Wages. | Tax. £ s. d. | £ s. d. «# os. d. | s. _ d.. Edmund Cay .......... 2 O ‘ 2 John Beaumond ........ 1 6 8 | I 4 William Cay............ 5 o o 2 6 Edmund Dyson ........ , 5 2 6 Roger Hirst ............ ‘ 3 I 6 Thomas Armitage ...... 4 O 4 O William Hirst, of Th Armitage ............ 8 o a 4 O Niccolas Morton ........ w IO | 5 John Tunnyclyff ........ 2 O | I John Cay, of the Yatte .. 2 O | I l WVHARNEBY (QUARMBY). ___ _ AssessueEent. NAME. Lands. Goods. Wages. Tax. | ~ & s. d. £ s. d. |; £ s. d. s. d. Richard Lokwodd ...... _- 6 12 4 * 6 8 Thomas Hanson IQ O O0 | oq 6 John Dyson ............ 20 O0 O . IO Robert Hirst .......... i 13 6 8 - 6 8 Edward Hirst .......... IO o o | 5 o George Hoyll .......... 2 Oo o | I o Richard Hey I O- o 6 Robert Denton.......... 2 O0 O | I o George Thewles ........ a o | I George Dyson .......... | 2 Oo o | I o HONLAY. __ _ _AssEssMENT. _ ___ NAME. Lands. Goods Wages. T ax. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d s. d.. Thomas Taylyor ........ 8 o o 4 O Roger Armitage ........ 8 o o 4 O 2 O I

Henry Wilson ..........

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106

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

MELT HAM. ASSESSMENT. NAME. Lands. Goods. _ Wages. Tax. £ s. d. | & s. d. | £ s. d s. d. John Beamond | ........ I Oo I Adam Cay...... ...... I O0 I Robert Beamond 2 I John Taylyor .......... 2 Oo o I John Armitage.......... IO 5 Edmund Greyn ........ 4 O 2 HOLMEFYRT H. , ASSESSMENT. NAME. Lands. Goods. Wages. Tax. £s | & s. d. £ s. d s. d.. William Moerhouse I8 o o q o William Banke ........ I Oo I Oliver Robert ..........l 1 6 8 I 4 Richard Charlysworth ..! 1 10 o I 6 John Brodhed .......... | _I I0 I 6 John Moerhouse ........ | I 6 80 I 4 John Poolay ............ I o I Robert Brueshay 1 6 8 I 4 John Cay .............. I 6 8 I 4 Richard Littylwodd ....| 1 6 8 I 4 Richard Littylwodd, Sen.! 1 o o I Edmund Brodhed ...... I Oo I John Lytyllwodd, of the Hill I Oo O | I - Thomas Hynchlyff, of the Crosse I O I John Tynkar, of the Scolls 1 o o | I John Greyn, of Cartworth 2 O0 I o George Caslay .......... I 6 8 I 4 William Lyttylwodd ....| 1 6 8 I 4 John Litylwodd, of Yat- holme I o I John Cay, of the Hill .... 4 O0 2 o John Morehouse, of Lid- yatte ...... soe s s e e e eas I o 6 John Jackson 2 O I John Bever ............ 2 6 8 I 2 Thomas Genne.......... I O0 I - Laurence Royds ........ I 6 8 I - 4 Richard Gryme ........ 2 O I Peter Gryme 2 O I Robert Hynchclyffe 2 I

It will be remarked that the Moorhouses, Tinkers, and Littlewoods, still retain, in Holmfirth, the prominence

observable in the earlier records.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. IO"

SLAGHTWATT (ScaitnwaITE).

i AssESSMENT. I NAME. Z Lands. \ Goods. ‘ Wages. T ax. OF s. d. | #s. d. | %s. d. Cs. d James Sykes............ 5 o o 2 6 Barnard Campynott 2 o O I

MARSDEN. (Not mentioned in the Subsidy Roll of Richard II.) NAME Land ' ASSESSMENT. | a | *X ands. i Goods. 2 Wages. 1 a* £ s. d. \ £ s. d. | & s. d. | s. d. John Mellor ............ | 2 o - l I John Shey ............. ' 2 o O | _ I

An assessment of the year 1584 will also assist us in forming an estimate of the relative importance of the localities with which we are concerned about this period.

s. d. Huddersfield 6 - o Almondbury 8 o Kirkburton 2 O Kirkheaton 2 o South Crosland 3 Holmfirth 8 - o Slackthwaite 2 o Marcheden .. . .. - 2

From which it will be seen that both Almondbury and Holmfirth surpassed Huddersfield in rateable value.

Page 126

CHAPTER V.

FOR many generations after the Norman Conquest the general body of the people were the help- less victims of a rule of rapine and lust. _ It was a policy tempered only by one organization-the Church. The mailed hand lay heavy and ruthless upon the conquered races. The Norman soldiery from Court to camp-follower regarded the Saxons with disdain and contempt, their lands and their persons as beyond the law. The Church alone proclaimed the sanctity even of a bondsman's life. The monks, even the Norman monks, taught that knight and churl, Norman and Saxon, were equal in the sight of God. The Church, too, was the depository of such learning as those rude times could boast; the moral influence of intelligence and culture often dominated for good the savagery of the sword ; the profession of the priesthood was open to Saxon villein not less than to Norman scholar; and the din of racial frays was drowned in the music of the bells of peace. _ When the Crusades began, Norman Knight and Saxon bowman fought for Holy

Cross in the same ranks and under the same banner. The Parish Churches of All Saints', at Almond-

bury, and of St. Peter, in Huddersfield, both of which owe their foundation to the piety of the De Lacis demand and will repay careful description. I treat of them in the order named, not because it is certain that All Saints' is the older foundation, but because on a balance of probabilities it seems likely that the Almondbury Church being near the baronial hall on Castle Hill, would be the first object of the knightly

Page 127

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Page 129

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I OQ

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family's care and bounty. When the earliest structure first rose on the site of the present Church of All Saints', at Almondbury, there is no evidence to determine. It seems probable that the earliest Christian teaching was imparted by monks from the Mother Church, at Dewsbury (Dews Burgh, God's Town), founded by Paulinus, the missionary of Northumbria. To the support of the Mother Church, Almondbury pays a yearly pension of £2 6s. 8d.; Huddersfield, £2 13s. 6d; Kirkburton, £4 os. od.; and Kirkheaton, £1 3s. 4d.; a tribute which justifies the assumption that to the evangelizing zeal of the priests of the Dewsbury Church the districts we mention owe first a missionary station marked by a cross and in the fulness of time a Church, and resident Vicars and Ministers of the altar. A small work, entitled: " A little History of Almondburie," quoted by Canon Hulbert in his voluminous "* Annals of the Church and Parish of Almondbury," states the Church was probably built by the Lacies, Tyases, and Beaumonts, and their tenants, about the year 1100. But this must be a mere matter of conjecture. The first fact which presents solid basis for inference is that in 1187, Alice de Lacy and her son Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, presented to the Rectory. The advowson or right of presentation to the Rectory was therefore in the Lacy family, and it is strictly in agreement with all we know of the history of sacred edifices that the Church was built and endowed with glebe by the family that owned the advowson. We find also, that John Laci presented to the Rectory in 1263, and again in 1264, and with the Lact the advowson apparently remained till, as those who have followed the history of the Laci family already sent forth may remember, the honours and estates of that family vested in Henry Bolinbroke, who ascended the

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I IO HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

English Throne as Henry IV., in 1399. The advowson of the Almondbury Church remained in the Crown from that time till the time of Henry VII. (1485). In that year the Rectorial Tithes, Glebes, and Advowson of Almondbury were conferred by the King upon the College of Jesus, at Rotherham; and in the same year a vicariate was established for Almondbury. The College of Jesus, at Rotherham, was founded pursuant to the will of Archbishop Thomas Scot de Rotherham. - The Archbishop must have received the advowson of Almondbury from the Crown, else it is not easy to see how his will could affect it. - Here are the terms of such part of this instructive document as touch our subject: ®" Because," says the testator, "I was born in the town of Rotherham, and baptized in the Parish Church of the same town, and so, at the same time, was born into the world and born again by the Holy Bath flowing from the side of Jesus, whose name, O if I had loved it as I aught and should! lest I should seem, notwithstanding, an ungrateful for- getter of these things, I will that a perpetual College of the name of Jesus, be raised in the foresaid town, on the same place at which the foundation was laid at the feast of St. Gregory, in the 22nd year of King Edward IV, and in which I was born. In which place also was a teacher of grammar, who came to Rotherham, by I know not what fate, but I believe it was by the grace of God he came thither: who taught me and other youths, whereof others, with me, reached higher station. - Therefore desiring to return thanks to the Saviour and to magnify that cause, lest I should seem unthankful and forgettul of the benefits of God and of whence I came, I have determined with myself first to establish there an instructor in grammar, teaching

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I I I

all persons gratuitously." He then appropriates to the College, the Provost and Fellows of the same, inter alia, "the Parish Church of Almondbury, which is worth twenty pounds four shillings yearly." There appears also to have been, doubtless with the assent of the Crown, a Deed of Appropriation of the Living to the College of Jesus, at Rotherham, and the following translation of it is replete with interest. * To all the sons of our holy mother Church, unto whom the matters underwritten do or may hereafter in any matter concern: THOMAS, by Divine permission, Archbishop of York, &c., wishing by these presents everlasting salvation, and undoubted faith in the Lord, WHEREAS, we lately for the honour and exaltation of the name of our Saviour Jesus, with the consent and assent and will of the Dean and Chapter of our Cathedral Church of York, and of all others having an interest in this matter have rightly and lawfully united, annexed and incorporated and appropriated to our College of Jesus at Rotherham, and also to the President and Fellows of the same, and to their successors in the same, to promote by our authority the establishment of the faith, the improvement of divine worship, and the increase of knowledge and virtue, the PARISH CHURCH OF ALMONDBURY, with all its rights and appurtenances, and the PERPETUAL VICARAGE of the same Parish Church of Almondbury, to possess for their own use for ever, and have appointed, assigned and limited a certain portion in coined money of the fruits and endowments of the same Church for the maintenance of one perpetual Vicar, who shall have the care of souls in the same Church, reserving to our- ' selves, among other things, full power of converting, reforming, adding to, and diminishing from this our

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I I 2 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Ordinance, concerning the arrangement of the portion of the Vicar of the aforesaid Church for the time being, and the charges and penalties imposed by us to be borne by the same Vicar, as often as it shall seem to us expedient or seasonable to be done, as is more evidently contained in our letters at the same time executed, containing the decree of this appropriation.

"NOW, we, for certain reasonable causes, moving our minds in this matter, and chiefly because a Vicar of the aforesaid Church for the time being, who is bound constantly and permanently to reside at the same, will be able by his own watchful attention and industry to collect, levy, receive, and dispose of, and convert to his own benefit and advantage for maintaining hospitality and supporting housekeeping, the of Lambs, Hay, Wool, oblations, Mortuaries, and other small Tyithkhes in a better and more exact manner than the President and Fellows of the said College who reside at a greater distance from the same: by the will and consent of the said Dean and Chapter of our Cathedral Church at York aforesaid, and of all others who are concerned in the matter, we proceed in this manner to the correction, reformation, and addition of the portion of the same Vicar, and the imposition of the charges and penalties to be supported and borne by him. " In the first place, we will, appoint, ordain, and decree that the Perpetual Vicar of the Parish Church of Almondbury whosoever for the time being, who shall administer, have, and exercise the cure of the souls of the parishioners of the same Church, do have and receive for his own due and portion and maintenance

in future for ever, all and every the Tythes of Hay, Lambs, Wool, Calves, Foals, Pigs, Geese, Ducks,

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HULPDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I I 3

Chickens, Doves, Eggs, Bees, Honey, Wax, Milk, Flax, Hemp, Apples, Woods, Trees, Coppices, and other small Tythes, Mortuaries and Oblations whatsoever, within the said Parish anciently and by right due and customary to the Rector of the same. BUT that the President and Fellows of the said College and their successors, do and shall receive, have, and hold, without any diminution, for their own use for ever, the total, entire, and every the of Sheaves of Corn of the said Parish whence- soever arising, also the entire Glebe, Lands, Tenements, Messuages, Enclosures, Meadows, Pastures, Rents, and Services whatsoever of old or recently belonging to the Rectory of the same Church and other emoluments whatsoever in any manner appertaining to, arising to, or concerning the said Church, excepting only the portion heretofore assigned to the Vicar :- "To which Vicar whomsoever of the said Church, we moreover will and decree to limit and depute for ever for his Parsonage House, one part or portion of the Rectory House, of old and hitherto held and occupied as the abode of the Rector, by an inquisition and procuration of deed, to be hereafter taken by our authority. The repairing, supporting, and rebuilding as often and whensoever it shall be necessary, of which said part or portion thus assigned and limited for the abode of the Vicar; and also the Bread, Wine,* Wax, and Lights sufficient for the said Church, and the pro- curations and synodals accustomed to be defrayed and paid by the Rectors of the same Church, the Vicar of the same Church for the time being shall, at his own costs and charges, perform, support, defray, pay, bear, and acknowledge. * And, moreover, the President and Fellows of the said College and their Successors, and the Vicar afore-

* It will be seen from an extract from the Churchwardens' accounts (infra) that the provision of wine was formerly no small charge.

H

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I I 4 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

said and his Successors, shall equally among themselves, and at their own equal and like costs and charges, perform, pay, acknowledge, bear, and support the repairing, supporting, and rebuilding when it shall be necessary of the Chancel of the same Church of Almondbury. The payment of Royal Tythes and Sub- sidies to be hereafter granted, and other ordinary and - extraordinary charges whatsoever, not above recited, to be supported by and chargeable on the same Church ; excepting, nevertheless, that the President and Fellows of the aforesaid College shall entirely, faithfully, and effectually pay and cause to be paid for the indemnities of us and our said Dean and Chapter and their suc- cessors, to us and to the Archbishops of York our successors, six shillings and eightpence; and to the said Dean and Chapter three shillings and fourpence; and to our Archdeacon of York twentypence ; likewise two shillings to be distributed every year among the poor parishioners of the same Church of Almondbury, at the terms and feasts assigned and limited by us for this purpose in the Decree and Appropriation of the same Church. * And also, we will, appoint, ordain, and decree that whosoever in future is to be presented to the said Vicarage, do in his admission and institution take before the person admitting him a corporal oath that he will not obtain any dispensation* contrary to the form of the constitution of the Legates promulgated respecting the residence of Vicars; nor will he in any manner make use of any obtained by or granted to him. And if he shall offend by not making constant and permanent residence in the aforesaid Vicarage, from that time we will, appoint, and decree by these presents that the Dean and Chapter of our said Church of York do receive

* From the Pope, presumably.

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moon

and retain for the use and advantage of the fabric of the same Church, and of the Canons residentiary or Canon residentiary in the same, one half part of all the Tythes, Mortuaries, Oblations, and other profits and emoluments whatsoever by us assigned and limited as aforesaid to the portion and maintenance of the aforesaid Vicar; and that the President and Fellows of the said College as proprietary of the Church of Almondbury aforesaid, shall receive the other moiety to be applied, converted, and disposed of under the name of a penalty to their own use and advantage and benefit :- «« Provided that the said Dean and Chapter, and the President and Fellows of the aforesaid College, out of these Mortuaries, Oblations, and other emoluments of this kind received by them, do provide for the cure and duty of the same Church, and do equally among them- selves perform, bear, acknowledge, and faithfully pay other charges devolving upon the same Vicarage, and also forty shillings and no more to the Vicar aforesaid not making personal residence in his said Vicarage, according to the form of the Constitutions of the Legates as is aforementioned, until the aforesaid Vicar shall make personal and constant residence in the same. «« Moreover, we annul, make vord, and abrogate all and singular the things written or contained in whatso- ever regulation of the said Vicarage, and assignment of the portion of the same Vicar, heretofore made by us contrary to this our Correction, Reformation, or addition, or by which the fine and effects of the same our Correc- tion or Reformation may in any manner be hindered. But all and singular other things by us herefofore decreed, appointed, settled, disposed, and ordained not contrary to nor contravening this our Correction or

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I 16 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Reformation, we will, decree, and declare to remain in their force and to be inviolably observed. " AS WITNESS and confirmation of all and singular which premises, we have caused these our Letters sealed with our Seal to be henceforth made Testimonial. Given in our Manor of Southwell, the fifteenth day of the month of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand four hundred and eighty-eight, and the eight year of our Translation. AND we the aforesaid Chapter of the aforesaid Cathedral Church, the Dean of the same being in distant parts, do approve, ratify, and as far as in us lies confirm by the tenor of these presents for ourselves and our successors all and singular the things contained in these same Letters of the aforesaid Most Reverend Father and Lord in Christ, Lord Thomas, by Divine permission, Archbishop of York, Primate of England, and Legate of the Apostolical See, having bestowed upon them in our Chapter the solemn and diligent consideration which in this case is required. IN WITNESS of which our Common Seal is attached to these presents. ' * Given in our Chapter House at York, the eighteenth day of the month of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand four hundred and eighty-eight." A building near the south end of the National school in Almondbury, was called the "Tythe Barn," and a stone therein bore the letters T.B.P. 1770. _ It was doubtless used for the measurement and storage of the Tithes in kind. The " Certificates of Colleges," compiled probably in the seoond year of Edward VI, sets forth a schedule of property in Almondbury belonging to the College of Jesus at Rotherham, thus founded by the pious benefactor. It is interesting to us mainly as preserving the names

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won -.. w‘m meine come menace =~ ©

of some of those holding property in Almondbury at that time: «Thomas Greene, two houses in Almondbury, vs., id., Widow Bateley, one tenement with certain landes there, xxis., William Anneson, one cottage there, ijs., Thomas Kaye, one tenement with certain land there, xvis., imjZ. ; one cottage now vacant, is., Edmund Hermytage, j. cottage there, s., Robert Kaye, one tenement with certain land there, xxs. vjZ., John Hanson, one house there vs., Thomas Overall, one tenement with certain lands there, vis. uijZ., the house of Incumbent, uyd., in all in the said town, cvups. xd., William Ramsden, one barne with the tithe corne of the Parsonage of Almond- bury and Longley, cs., Artkur Kay for the tithe corne of Fferneley, xls. The residue of the tythe corne is in occupation of dyvers persons of same paryshe, xli/. 1j4., in all the said town, xvis. 42. A messuage with four small closes called le Flattes, in Almondbury, demised to William Nettleton, under Common Seal of the College, 21 Oct., 32, Hen. viii., rent i/. 1s. A messuage in Almondbury, with a croft containing one acre. A piece, called "le Chapell Yard," of half an acre. A close called le Over-Flattes, and a stable with a piece of ground called " Linten Croft," contain- ing ii; rodes, demised to Katherine, late wife of William Kaye, of Almondbury, and Laurence Kaye, her son, by indenture, and Common Seal of the College, 20 March, 16th Hen. vii., rent 18s. ud. A cottage in Almondbury, now occupied by William Langfield, rent vid. A cottage there occupied by Margaret Baylie, widow, vid. Woods nor underwoods there is none growinge in or uppon the premyses, other than the hedges, which are insufficient for the fencing thereof."

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I 183 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

The adowson and the rectorial tithes of Almond- bury Church remained in the College of Jesus at Rotherham until the College was disolved in the reign of Edward VI, when they lapsed to the crown. _ In the succeeding reign, that of Philip and Mary, they were conferred upon the Clitheroe Grammar School, which was founded by Queen Mary, on Aug. oth, 1554. The Glebe Lands were however sold to Nicholas or William Fenay, of Fenay Hall, Almondbury, and are now held by his successors in title. The Advowson and greater tithes remained in and the right of presenta- tion was exercised by the Governors of the School until a recent date, when the Advowson was purchased by Sir John William Ramsden, Bart., whose first nomina- tion to the Vicarage was the late Canon Hulbert, in 1867. - The Rectorial Tithes are held in part by Sir John, in part by the representative of a former Vicar (Rev. Lewis Jones), and in part by Mr. H. F. Beaumont, of Whitley, and smaller owners. The following Roman Priests and Clergy of the Re- formed Church have been Rectors or Vicars of Almondbury since the year 1231 to the present

day :- RECTORS. DaTtE. NAME. PaTtrRorn. to Kal. Ap., 1231. _ Wm. de Notyland. John de Laci, Con-

stable of Chester. Io Kal. July 1236. - Robt. de Notyngham, M.A. II Kal. July, 1287. Ric. de Halton.

IO July, 1313. Henr. de Leycester, M.A. 5 Kal. Apr., 1317. Rob. de Wadeword. I5 Decr., 1318. Ric. de St. Alban. Before 1327. W. Stemertanbyne. 16 Mar., 1349. Adam de Scargill. I7 Nov. 1361. Hugh de Saxton. 23 June, 1363. Wm. de Woderove. IO Feb., 1364. Peter de Wellom. 2 Oct., 1367. John de Allum. 9 Aug., 1422. Tho. Wodeford. 14 April, 1423. Tho. Morton. Wm. Felter. 6th July, 1451. Robt. Thornton.

2 Oct., 1457. Robt. Flemyng, S.T.B. The Crown.

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VICARS. NAME. DaTtE. PaTtrRoN. June 30th, 1488. Thurstan Kay. Warden and Fellows of Rotherham Col- lege. Robert Neville, S.T .B. ia March 27, 154-. Richard Draper. June 14, 1552. *Gabriel Raynes, M.A. The Crown. June 14, 1554. *Robert Northam. 9 Nov. I, 1557. Robert Staynton. 6a April 13, 1598. George Crosland. Wm. Kaye (occa- sional patron). John Crosland. Clitheroe School. Feb. 14, 1647. Thomas Naylor, M.A. pa June 13, 1663. John Robinson. 6, Mar. 23, 1682. Carus Philipson. a Mar. 26, 1706. Thomas Tatham. a June 25, 1716. Rich. Sclater, B.A. a Oct. 7, 1726. Edward Rishton. i July 14, 1767. John Miller, B.A. ia Oct. 13, 1769. Robert Smith, M.A. 6a 1807. William Parker £ 1809. John Fleming Parker, M.A. i 1823. Lewis Jones. 6a Feb. 26th, 1867. Charles Augustus Hulbert, Sir J. W. Ramsden, M.A. Bart. 1888. W. Foxley Norris, M.A. ,

Not many of the Incumbents of Almondbury Church call for special note. George Crosland who was Vicar 1598-1636 is described in the Parish Register as a pious and eminently learned man, keen and active in debate, well versed in the sacred scriptures and the Fathers His father was John Crosland, of Castle House, Almondbury, and probably related to the Croslands, of Crosland Hill. One of the oldest grave- stones in the church yard was inscribed :- HERE LYETH THE BODY OF GEORGE CROSLAND, SONNE OF MR. GEORGE CROSLAND, VICAR OF THIS PLACE, AGED LXII YEARS, DYED NOVEMBER XII, A.D. 1666.

* As Gabriel Raynes was appointed by Edward VI., and Robert Northam, who succeeded him two years later, owed his preferment to Queen Mary, we may suppose the parishioners had to make or profess a rather sudden change in their religious professions.

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120 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

The Rev. Thomas Naylor, M.A., who was Vicar in 1647-1663, must have reconciled it to his conscience to subscribe to the Solemn League and Covenant by virtue of which, for a few years, the Presbyterian superseded the Episcopalian form of Church Government. In the neighbouring parish of Kirkheaton the Rector, the Rev. Richard Sykes, was not so complaisant, for he refused to acknowledge the League and was ejected, his place being filled by the celebrated Christopher Richardson, M.A. _ When the turn of the loyalist Clergy - came at the Restoration in 1660, the Rev. Christopher Richardson was "silenced." Richardson, forbidden to preach from the pulpit, bought Lassell Hall and there preached, using the staircase as a pulpit and visiting the puritan families of the neighbourhood. Removing to Liverpool, in 1687, he established, at Castle Hey, the first Presbyterian Church of that city. The Rev. Edward Rishton, Vicar of Almondbury from 1726-1727, made an entry in the Parish Register which may still be pondered by those responsible for Parish Registers, though these archives have been shorn of their importance by the compulsory Registration of Births and Deaths, and of their interest by the news- paper, the absence of which in former days often led to the Register being utilized by the Incumbents as a sort of public record of great national or otherwise noteworthy events. The entry ran, " As I have always looked upon the due keeping of a Parish Register as of the utmost consequence, so I have been exactly careful in the several laborious employments that I have been called to in the Church, to avoid mistakes. But as my care alone is not sufficient to keep this Parish Register with the exactness I could wish, I desire this justice from prosterity-that if any mistakes occur, the

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consequences of them may not be charged upon my memory, but (as in reason they ought to be) upon the negligence of the respective Curates." Several of the more curious and interesting entries in the Parish Register are extracted by Canon Hulbert in his " Annals of the Church and Parish of Almondbury," from which I adopt them.

A.D. 1557 To 1598. RomBErt STAYNTON, VICAR.

(Translated from the Latin.)

June, 1558. The Plague at Woodsome Mylne in the house of Thomas Skammonden.

Thomas Skammonden, Robert, Ralph, Dorethy, and Elizabeth, children of the same Thomas, died of the plague: first Robert was buried xxvith, about ten o'clock at night, by William his brother and Beatrice his sister.* Ralph, on the xxviith, about nine at night, by the aforesaid William and Beatrice. Thomas Skammonden, and Elizabeth, his daughter, were buried at the same time on the xxxth, about nine at night, by his wife and aforesaid children, viz., Wm. and Beatrice.

August. Dorethy Skammonden died of Plague, and was buried on the «th, at seven o'clock, by her mother and her brother

William.

October, 1589. William Brigge, ye son of Jeferaye, of Helme, was drowned ye xx. of October, at Parke Mylne, as he and one Humphrey Armitages horse came over at a Hebble or narrow Brygge. A tempest of wynde blew him suddenly into the water, for because off great rayne yt fell ye daye and night before, the water was greate, and so by that means he was drowned and his fellow saved. They were both with one Myles Wylson, a tayler, by occupation, and his servant. " Preserve us thy servants, most merciful God, from so sudden and

unexpected a death.

September, 1562. Henry Beaumont, of Lockwood, buried on the viith. at sunset. 1 did not doubt that he was dying of the pest or plague, and therefore he was buried by his wife and young daughter, who bore him to the grave, upon the back of a horse. At this time, and in this year, there died of plague in London five hundred : that number being buried in one week. In another week xx hundredth died in London by pest or plague. '" Most merciful God defend us from all pest and plague, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour." Amen.

*Hireling help, be sure, could not be had. To bury the dead of the Plague was the last service of love.

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I 22 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

February, 1568. Richard Hyrste, of Mylner Brygge, commynge from Halifax Market, on Satyrdaye ye xij° daye of Februarie, was through a greate snow left and stopped-the dryfte of snow was so very greate, and beynge alone all Satyrdaye nyghte, peryshed and died on Lynlaye Moore, not farre from a crosse called Hayghe Crosse*, and was found on the morrow after, his horse standynge bye hym, ever harde by hym, and was brought home to his own house, and buried at Almonburye, Monday ye xiiij® daye of Februarie-and Elizabeth, the daughter of George Harpyn, an infant, with him.

The preceding extract serves to give us some idea of the difficulties and dangers of travelling at that time. An extract from the diary of the Rev. Robert Meeke under date 13th October, 1693, will show at what peril the moors were traversed in dark and misty weather: "I rode with my landlady and a neighbour to see a friend about four miles off. It was dark and a very thick mist upon Crosland Moor as we returned back. I was got out of my aim, and knew not where I was. My landlady was much dejected and out of hopes, but blessed be God for his guiding providence, which brought us right off the moor at last, to a place I knew, and in the road where I borrowed a boy and lanthorne to guide us over another moore. I desire, with thankfulness, to remember this preserving, guiding providence, for the hearing my request when I was wandering and could neither guide myself nor others. _ See God's providence over travellers, Psalm cvi1, 4, 5, 6, and 7." To return to the Parish Register:

June 156q9-Jenett, ye wiffe of John Marsden, of Marsden, by soden mischance, ye xxii daye of Julye, slipped off a brigge as she was bowne to mylke, or as she comed from ye pastrie, the water beyinge up by ye reason off rayne ye night and in ye morninge, and was drowned and found agayne about one of ye Clock, and was buried ye xxiii of Julye. October 1575. John Marsden, son of John Marsden, off Well Greene, by instigation, and evil, and unjust temptation of the Devil and seized by an Evil Spirit, hanged himself in his

*See Appendix.

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father's barn on the xxv©° and was buried on the xxvii® . From such devilish death may Almighty God preserve us." Amen. February, 1575. William ye sonne of Wm. Turnbull, of the age off xvi years or thereupon, was weather bette on Candlemas day, as he came from Marsden, and dyed on ye more, under a rawe or hedge, a little from John Hawkyard's house, and was found on Sondaye after, at Afternoon, and buried after v off ye same day, wyth candlelight. March, 1575. Isabell Longleye, a single woman, was slayne in A. Kaye's close at a gate, not farre from James Brodhead's house: who did ye wicked deed God knoweth. Ye verdite off ye whole Jurie is that some did cutte her throte; who was buried the thirde day of March. "From so unforeseen a death, deliver us, O Lord." Agnes, ye wyffe off Richard Littlewodde, of Oldfield, by ye instigation off ye devil, within xiii dayes that she was delivered off childe; ye xii11 day off Marche, about or before midnight, rose out off hyr chylde bedde, privilie went to a little well not half a yarde deepe off water, and drowned herself, and was buried ye xvi day off March. " From the infestations and instigations of an unclean Spirit, and from so undesired a death, most merciful God deliver us." September, 1587. Thomas Croslande on journey to London to St. Bartholomew's fair died unadministered, and was buried at Rodehaye, 2nd September. November, 1595. Joanna Hayghe, off Gatehead in Marsden, widow, buried, aged one hundred years, xth day. 1615. In this year so great a fall of snow as was not known in the memory of any living; far exceeding that in 1540 in magnitude and duration ; in which many travellers as well as inhabitants at Saddleworth perished. July, 1650. John Armytage, Esquire, a man pious, prudent, hospit- able, and in every virtue most exemplary, and to me a very dear friend, buried xv* 1660. May. Charles the Second, our most pious, as well as august King, after almost 13 years exile, from the beheading of his father, a savageness to be execrated and abominated to all men; which of these Cromwellian monsters of human race was perpetuated on the thirteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord MDCXLVIII. to the eternal shame of the Oliverian Republic, impiously done; to his own kingdom, with all joy and acclamation, he was restored, invested, and replaced on the xxixth day of this month. February, 1662. John Woodhead, of this town, wounded by the bite of a mastiff dog at the Tanhouse near the town, on the 13th day, died on the 18th, and after coroner's inquest was buried on the

xxth day.

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I 24 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

1706. Sir John Kay, of Woodsome, Knight and Baronet, a man not only well born but in a measure endued with all gifts of piety, fidelity, and friendship, which duties he fully performed. He did not more shine by a graceful person than by virtue; in which no one in this ancient town outshone him. He was frequently elected to Parliament for the County of York. To whom both his country and his nation were most dear. Faithful to his prince; an unconquered Reformer of the Church of England, which he loved ; and a man most zealous and assiduous for the public good. He was seized in London with dropsy of the heart; all medicines being in vain applied. With the greatest grief of his country and neighbourhood and friends, he died at Wood- some on the 8th day of August; buried on the 14th. 1709. Bur. April, wife of Thomas Tatham, Vicar of this Church. O spouse most dear, as well as most faithful, whether dearer or more faithful is uncertain. Ah ! Wife most dear-who never can be sufficiently deplored with tears!

We may find much to interest us in sundry extracts from the Churchwardens' Accounts :-

s. d. 1697. Aug. 16. For Ringing for Joy of the Peace & with France* . 6. -. .. o 4 6 1698. May 24. Joseph Fryer for a fox head . I Wine for Communion for the whole year c. - 16 3 3 Pd. Henry Kaye for Ringing five of the Cloc five month ten days .. .. c. = 5 1700. Jan. 27. Spent when Mr. Porritt preached .. I A similar payment to the curates of Honley, Marsden, Meltham and Holmfirth and to other clergy repeatedly occurs. 1705. May oth. For walking in ye Church on ye Sunday to keep people from sleeping, and whipping off ye doggs ». 6. . -. o 2 6 1906. For Ringing for joy of the Victory on Whit Sunday} . . . ». I Do. do. by Prince Eugene o I 6 Frequent payments for Foxes' Heads and Foomards' or Polecats' Heads, each -». . I 1712. Jan. 15. Spent when Mr. Lacey, a poor minister, preached -. »}. e -. I 1712. April 7th, Paid Ringers Dr. Sachavevell was admitted per - .. ». ». 5

*This was the Treaty of Ryswick, by the most important clause of which the French agreed to abandon their support of the Stuarts and to recognize the Orange Dynasty and the Act of Settlement.

{Marlborough's Victory at Ramilies.

; This was accounted a great Tory and High Church Victory

and the Vicar of Almondbury apparently gave musical vent to his exaltation.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 125

e

June 2. To Mr. Tatham (Vicar) for 18 Communion Days when he had no wine at 18d. ye quart o 19 6 1713, June 28. Paid to Thos. Dransfield for ye poore persons in Yorke Castle -. 2. o 4 9 I71I4-I5. For ringing when King George was crowned o 2 6 1727, Sep. 14. Resolution of the Vestry. "The Two Churchwardens for the Town and Township of Almondbury, the Church- warden for Farnley, and the Churchwardens for Lockwood shall fetch Wine in their town for the use of the Church. Wine remaining unconsecrated to be locked up duly in sight of all the Churchwardens, then attending, and the key delivered to the Vicar. One gallon of wine yearly and no more shall be delivered to the Churchwarden for Linthwaite, for the use of the Chappell of Slaightwaite, to be delivered about Christmas, on which condition the Inhabitants of Linthwaite disclaim all title and claim to the part of the Offertory Money collected in this Church. 1740. Paid Ringers for ringing in the news of Carthagena

being taken. . . -. o 3 For going about to fright chlldren from play in service time, great complaints being made .. o 2

1752. Spent when going to Berry Brow to see if children were playing on Sabbath Day ». o 2 o To three men for going to Meltham to fright Mr. Sagar, to make him send his Register, Mr. Rishton being fast for going forward

with his .. . ». .. 3 1759. Paid John Brook, Huddersfield, for a new Spurring Book -. I2 1764-5. Paid Paul North for Cloth for Commumon Table and for a Pennance Sheet.. . o 5

A very interesting article on the Parish Church of St. Mary's, Honley, by Mrs. M. A. Jagger, in the Vorkshire Notes and Queries, informs us that even after the Reformation penance was performed in that Chapel. An old person living in Honley had heard her father-in-law give an account of his flight to London, rather than submit to the ordeal of penance in the old Oratory. A young woman who had proved frail, rather than do public penance, left Honley on Saturday night and walked to York Castle, where her father was imprisoned, with her illegitimate

child strapped on her back.

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126 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

"%

1778. Regulation respecting Wine, 9 gallons and no more to Holme, Austenley, and Upperthong, including Passion Week, 9 gallons to Honley, South Crosland, and Netherthong ; 6 gallons and one quart to Meltham. That, as three-fourths of the Inhabitants of Marsden are situated at Almondbury, to have 6 gallons. Inhabitants of Linthwaite no Wine, but a proportion of the Offertory with Almondbury, Farnley, and Lockwood, according to assessment. Vicar or Curate one quart whenever he officiates, in lieu, of any allowance, which the Rubrick has appointed to the officiating Clergyman in celebrating the Communion Service. Churchwardens, on Easter Sunday, each one pint of Wine for his proper use.

s. d. 1798. Ringers for Victory over French Fleet by Lord Duncan -. o 10 6 Ringers, Lord Nelson's V1ctory of the N11e ». o I0

1819. Resolved : no allowance to Workmen employed about the Church for Ale or Liquors. 1830. Mourning Cloth for King George IV.. . - II IQ 3 1840 - Church Rates now cease.

The church itself is a stone edifice erected on the site of an earlier structure, and finished in the year 1522. It consists of tower and body. The tower is square, 70 feet 8 inches high to the centre of the battle- ments, and in width on the north and south sides, 7 feet 8 inches; on the west, 10 feet 8 inches, with buttresses at each corner, 3 feet wide. The tower is surmounted by four battlements on each side, fenced by buttresses of five heights, each topped with a Gargoyle in the form of a griffin. The battlements at each corner are crowned with foliated pinnacles. There are three large Campanile windows in the bell chamber above the clock. A lofty and elegant porch surmounted by a grace- ful cross forms the main entrance to the church. Above the outer arch is the figure of an angel bearing a scarf with the words inscribed in old English characters:

be Everlastpnge Gospell.

The front of the porch bears the arms of the Kayes quartered with those of the Finchenden family, also

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I2"

the arms of Ramsden. The recess or receptacle for holy water, found at the entrance of all Roman churches, is stili to be seen on the right of the inner arch. The body of the church consists of a lofty nave with a clerestory, and there are chapels on the north and south sides of the chancel. An old sundial over the door of the south chapel has the inscription : * Ut Horae Sic Vita, 1682 "-as flee the hours, so life. The tower contains eight bells, some of which are inscribed : I. anp II. Without inscription. Treble, date 1873. III. So/f Deo Gloria. (To God alone glory). William Wood. - Maker's stamp, S.5.* IV. Zaudate Dominum Cymbalis Sonoris. (Praise ye the Lord with loud cymbals). James Haigh, 1716, S.S5. V. Te Deum Laudamus.. (We praise Thee, O Lord). 1716. N.W.. J.K. VI. Venite Exultemus Domino. (Come let us sing to the Lord). 1680. W.N. J.L. Ch. Wardens. VII. Hujus Sci Petri (of this St. Peter). _ Very ancient. Said to have come from France. VIII. Tenor. @/oria in Excelsis Deo. (Glory to God in the highest). F.H. M.N. Ch. Wardens. 1673. The ceiling of the nave is of painted oak, and is divided by ornamental roof beams into 40 squares, each square again sub-divided into four smaller squares. - Carved bosses relieve the intersections of the beams and emblems representing the cross, I.H.S., a hand holding a Roll, the Holy Face, the ladder, spear and nails, the sun, moon, seven stars, and other antique devices, illustrate the poem in black letter characters, which runs around the upper walls of the nave. This composition is dated

* Samuel Smith, York.

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I 28 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

1522, and is claimed for Geferay Doyston. The reader will be well repaid the little trouble he will experience in reading the ancient characters :

Thou : man : unkpnu : babe : in : thp : mpniu : mp : blowup : face : mp : bonuUp$ : : on : ¢cberp : spuc. Thou : spnner : bard : turn : pewer : wary : Bcbholv : thp : Rabpor : frec : : thou : art : from : me : to : W¢ : pt : . & : mercp : t : : grant : po c: for : lobo : of : the c: the : jotoes : ;: mo c: tot : scourges : bone : anu : ssharp : bot : a : crion : of : thorn : mp : hey : all : to : torn topth : a : spepr : thep : thrclpw : mp : bart : wpth : naples : tre : : naplpw : me: fast : both : fopt : anv : : for : thp : trespase : mp : paspon : mas : to : revue : the : from : fenuc c: ponne : canoft : torptt : nor : ma : inUpptt : papnes : that : E : baw : so : thoro : maw : mp : bowp : bloo : it : tonus : both : larg : anv : Tong : : bops : me : mor : Wire ; then : mon : woth ; stocr : be : membre : of : mp : boup : then : the : jopes : wiv c: that : speplt : mp : blow : on : the : mont : of : Caberc : Citoborfor : prap : the : thp c: stocrping : lap : bp : wrcdu : gou : afterspn c: pf : thow : mwpll : vo : so : in : beupn : sall : thot : go c: amang : angels : to : spng :

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 20

The eastern end of the North and South aisles formed two chapels, reserved the one to the Kayes of Woodsome, the other to the Beaumonts, and displaying the arms and quarterings.of these families. There are two memorials of the family of Fenay of Fenay, which became extinct in the early part of the eighteenth century :- ffenay de fenay vir pius and perquam humanus sub hoc lapide jacet sepultus expectans beatam resurrectionem mortuum a mortuis mortuus autem est ille Aprilis die vii. Anno. 1612. Aetatis suae lin." * The other :- «<Hic jacet Nich'us fenay de fenay qui & vixit & obit in Dno vi Die Martii 1616. Anno aetatis suze lxxviii." t The Kaye Chapel contains a stone bearing the figure of an armed knight and the inscription:-" Here lyeth the body of Arthur Kaye, De Woodsome, Esquier, who died the xvi. October, mdllxxxii., and married Beatrix, the daughter of Matthew Wentworth, of Bretton, Esquier, and by her had ishew Jhon, George, and Margaret." The chapel also contains a large marble monument to the memory of Sir Arthur Kaye, the last Kaye of Woodsome, and an inscription declares that ''In this choir lies deposited, the body of Sir Arthur Kaye, Bart., of the ancient and honourable family of Kaye's, that flourished at Woodsome for many ages, being the eldest son of Sir John Kaye, by Anne, daughter of William Lister, Esquire, of Thornton, near Skipton, in this County."

*Beneath this stone lies buried, awaiting the blessed resur- rection of the dead from the dead, William Fenay of Fenay, a

man pious and charitable beyond ordinary. He died April 7, 1612, aged 53.

t+Here lies Nicholas Fenay of Fenay who lived. and died the 7th day of March, 1616, aged 78.

K

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I 30 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

had the honour to be chosen Representative of this County to several Parliaments, in which great trust he behav'd himself with such loyalty to his Prince, and Fidelity to his County. He was upright and sincere in his intentions, Free from ambition, Faction, or Avarice. He was a constant Communicant with the Church Established, Courteous, Affable, Benevo- lent to all men. He married Anne, one of the daughters and co-heirs of Sir Samuel Marrow, of Birkswell, in the County of Warwick, Bart., by whom he left only one child, viz.: Elizabeth, married to the Right Honourable Lord Lewisham, eldest son of William, Earl of Dart- mouth." © Dame Anne, his relict and sole exceutrix, in conjugal piety, gratitude, and affection, has caused this monument to be erected. He died on the 10th of July, 1726." " Here likewise is interred the Body of Dame Anne, relict of the above-named Sir Arthur Kaye, who continuing his Widow, directed that she should be buried near the remains of her husband. That As they lived together in mutual affection, they might not be separated even in the grave. She was a strict observer of all religious duties, a constant Communicant, and of extreme charity. She died on the 18th day of August, 1740, much regretted by all who knew her; who cultivated her acquaintance for the sake of her easy and inoffensive conversation, always free from calumny and detraction. By her only child, the Lady Viscountess Lewisham, now the wife of the Right Honourable Lord North and Guildford, she left five grandchildren, William, Lord Lewisham, and Elizabeth Legge; Augustus, and Louisa North." The monument is of marble, and above it are the arms of the Kayes with the goldfinch crest.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 3 I

Previous to 1828, a beautiful and unique feature of Almondbury Church was the Woodsome pew of carved black oak, resting on a large oak beam, reaching quite across the nave. Sittings in the Kaye Chapel have replaced this pew, or rather gallery, which was reached by a handsome oaken staircase, ascending from the kaye Chapel.* The following entries in the Almondbury Parish register, record the marriage of Elizabeth, daughter of the above named Sir Arthur Kaye, the baronet's death,

and the death of his relict, the Lady Anne:

1722, June 23rd. The Honourable George Legge, of the County of Warwick, married Elizabeth Kaye, of Woodsome.

1726. Sir Arthur Kaye, of Woodsome, Baronet, died in London, roth of July, and was buried in our church, 24th.

1740, August 25th. Lady Anne Kaye, relict of Sir Arthur Kaye, late of Woodsome, Bart., buried.

Canon Hulbert mentions that among the papers at Woodsome was a receipt for £200, expenses of the

funeral of Lady Kaye. A gravestone in the churchyard preserves the memory

of another Kay, tho' a humbler one. It is in memory of John Kay, son of Thomas, of Upper Longley, who died on the 8th of December, 1691, aged 24. He had been coachman to Sir John Kaye, of Woodsome. A hand grasping a whip with long trailing cord, is carved upon the stone. A memorial window in the Kaye Chapel is in three compartments. The central represents St. Ann, mother of the Virgin Mary, teaching her child to read, pointing with a pencil. A scroll above bears the words : "Parvu/us enim matus est nobis ; et nobis filius datus est"t - A scroll beneath bears the Kaye motto: " Kynne Kynde, Knowne Kepe." The right compartment has the form of St. Barbara, crowned, bearing a cup in one hand and a

* Miss Ferrand's " Records of Woodsome Hall." t Unto us a child is born Unto us a Son is given.

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I 32 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

"~

church in the other. The left compartment has St. Margaret, crowned, holding a book in the right hand and a cross-headed spear in her left, with which she has pierced the mouth of a dragon. Another, the east window of the chapel, contains the shields of Kaye, of Kaye quartered with Finchenden, and of Kaye impaled with Lacy. It also has in the centre the figure of St. John the Baptist, bearing the Lamb on a cushion and about the head a fillet with the words: Agnus Dei, ecce gut tollit peccatum Mund:."* On the right is represented Elizabeth, the mother of the Baptist, and on the left St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, bearing the true cross, which she is said to have dis- covered in Jerusalem. Occupying the whole base of the window is a representation of John Kaye and Elizabeth his wife, at prayer. He is in a coat bearing the Bends of Kaye, with six sons, and she, with three daughters, kneeling behind, and a Latin injunction bids the devout to "Pray for the Souls of John Kaye, of Woodsome, Esquire, and Elizabeth, his wife, and all their children, who caused this window to be made."t The Almondbury Church has been a fruitful mother of Churches. St. Mary's, Honley ; St. Paul's, Armitage Bridge; Holy Trinity, South Crosland; All Saints', Netherthong; St. John's, Upper Thong; St. David's, Holme Bridge; St. Mary's, Wilshaw ; Christ Church, Helme; St. Bartholomew's, Meltham ; St. James's, Meltham Mills; St. Stephen's, Rashcliffe; St. John's, Newsome; Emmanuel, Lockwood ; Christ Church, Linth- waite; St. Luke's, Milnsbridge; St. Bartholomew's, Marsden; St. James's, Slaithwaite, are all in the ancient Parish of Almondbury. Not all of these offshoots of the fruitful parent vine have been at all times mindful of filial obligations. On

* Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. |

tOrate pro _ animabus Johannis Kaye de Woodsome Armiger et Elizabethae uxoris ejus ac omnium filior, qui istam fenestram fieri fecerunt.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 3 3

mn memo ~~ - - mes on mme

May 3rd, 1829, much commotion was caused in the Village of Meltham by the refusal of Mr. Kean, the curate of the late incumbent of the chapelry, refusing to give up possession of the benefice to the Vicar of Almondbury, the Rev. L. Jones, who in exercising his right of presentation, had nominated himself. _ On this May Sunday morning Mr. Kean and his family took possession of the church before six o'clock in the morning and barricaded the doors both of the church and churchyard. At half-past ten the Rev. L. Jones arrived with a large body of special constables, and forced the gate and after- wards the door of the church. When they arrived in the interior they found Mr. Kean in the pulpit, and the Rev. Vicar demanded that it should be given up to him. This was peremptorily refused, and the Vicar was prevented ascending the pulpit stairs by a crowd of persons standing on them ; he therefore proceeded to read himself in, in one of the pews, which he supposed would answer every legal purpose, and then left the church. Mr. Kean afterwards performed divine service, morning and evening, and on his leaving the church, his party locked and secured the doors. During the continuance of this clerical contest, much violence and outrage was committed by both parties, but it was finally settled by the Archbishop in favour of the Vicar of the Parish.* The following copy of the Faculty for the celebration of Mass in the Chapel of Honley, furnishes an interesting example of the manner in which the more ancient of the off-shoots of the venerable mother church took their origin. It is dated the 18th year of Henry VII., A.D., 1503. Thomas, by Divine permission Archbishop of York, Primate of England, Legate of the Apostolic See, to the beloved children in

Christ the natives of the Villages or Hamlets of Houndsley, Meltham, and Crossland, in the parish of Almondbury, in the

Mayall's " Annals."

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I 34 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Diocese of York, to the inhabitants, greeting, in our Saviour's embrace. Since we have had lately information from true source, that the real Parish Church of Almondbury aforesaid is (2T3t far distant from the places or hamlets aforesaid, and that there are natives or inhabitants of the Villages or Hamlets, broken down with age and held with various diseases, moreover women labouring with child, and several others of them being far distant, are by no means able to be present to celebrate Mass on holy and other festivals of the Saints, and at the Canonical hours in the said Church, in the Parish of Almondbury. We desiring to relieve such persons, and other inhabitants of the Villages and Hamlets aforesaid from a great and heavy labour of continually visiting the aforementioned Parish Church of Almondbury, hoping to maintain, that they may more frequently offer the accustomed offerings at the Divine Service, and for the rest may be free to attend the offices. In order that in the Chapel of the BLESSED VIRGIN MARY OF HOUNDSLEY aforesaid, founded and erected of old, the Mass, the Canonical hours, and other Divine offices, may be freely and lawfully celebrated in a low voice by some proper Chaplain or proper Chaplains, the various vestments and expenses being furnished and found, ye may have power, and such man may have power, while however from thence there shall be no injury to the Parish Church of Almondbury aforesaid. To you and your children and servants for the hearing, and to the Chaplain and Chaplains aforesaid, that the Celebration of the Mass and other offices may be carried out, Licence by the tenour of these presents we grant. - May it be confirmed by commendation to our spiritual Benediction.- Given under our Seal in our Castle of Cawood on the last day but one of March in the year of our Lord One Thousand Five Hundred and Three, and the Third Year of our translation.

It would appear that not merely the convenience of the people but the due decorum of sacred worship required these chapelries. _ Witness an old document cited by Caron Hulbert, from which it appears that after the enlargement of the mother Church in 1522, the Church was furnished with new seats by Arthur and John Kaye, and the nave was "casten into four parts, as the Parish is, and dealt and divided, and when complete, then lots were cast where every quarter of the Parish should sit, when they came to Church, /o avoid contention, viz., Honley, Farnley, and Meltham quartered in the North side, Almondbury next, then Crosland next to them, and Holmfirth quarter in the South."

Page 156

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Page 157

CHAPTER VI.

O the Laci family we owe the foundation not only I of the Almondbury but also of the Huddersfield Parish Church, dedicated to St. Peter, about the year 1073, by Walter de Laci, pursuant to a vow made by that gallant knight when his life was in danger on the morass that lay between Huddersfield and Halifax. The first church, a small and unpretentious structure after the Norman style, was consecrated by the Bishop of Negropont, and the advowson was conferred by Hugh de la Val upon the Priory of St. Oswald at Nostell some time before 1131. The church was rebuilt in 1506, and again in 1836, when it assumed its present form and dimensions. The Nostell Priory Coucher contains a royal con- firmation, in the following terms, of the grant of Hugh de la Val: «Henry, King of England, to Thurstan, Archbishop of York, &c., greeting. KNOW ye that we have granted to God and St. Oswald and the monks of Nostell, for the soul of my father and mother and of my brother, William, King of England, and for my soul and my wives' and sons', all those lands which were given to God and St. Oswald, and the monks in alms, viz.: (ix/tezr alia) the Church of South Kirkby, and the Church at Batley, and e Church of Huddersfield, with the lands appertaining thereto as de Laval gave them to them." The Priory of St. Oswald discharged their spiritual obligations to the Parish of Huddersfield by providing a

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136 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Vicar, and the astute Prior appears to have so arranged that the Vicar should do the work and the Priory receive the lion's share of the pay, as appears from a Deed of Ordination executed by Walter, Archbishop of York, on the institution to the Vicarage of Michael de Wakefield in 1216. The deed is in these terms: " A.D. 1216. Walter, by the grace of God, Archbishop of York, Primate of England, to all the faithful in Christ, greeting in the Lord. KNOW ye that WE, on the presentation of the Prior and Convent of St. Oswald, have admitted Michael de Wakefield Chaplain to the Vicarage of Huddersfield, and have canonically instituted him to the said Vicarage, and caused him to be inducted into corporal possession of the same, which Vicar also, in respect of his Vicarage, shall receive all the oblations and emolu- ments from offerings at the altar, reserving to the said Prior and Convent the tithes of corn, hay, of pease and beans, in the lands and farms belonging to the said Church-saving a suitab e manse for the Vicar, to be assigned to him by the same (Prior and Convent) and the Vicar himself shall sustain all customary charges and oblations of the said Church, and that this may remain firm and stable for ever we have directed that our seal shall be affixed to the present writing." At some date prior to 1243 the Prior of St. Oswald farmed the Church to Robert Talbot, and the transaction is thus recorded : « To all the faithful in Christ who shall behold the present writing, I Robert the Prior and the Convent of St. Oswald of Nostell &c., greeting in the Lord : Let our community know that we have granted our

Church of Huddersfield to our beloved Clerk, Master

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 37

-=» one ommmmas - s a «__ nom ommmmmmmn mme

Robert Talbot, to hold for all the days of his life, with the appurtenances on account of his piety, and therefor he shall render to us annually eight marks and four shillings, within fifteen days from the day of Pentecost, and four within fifteen days from the Day of St. Martin in the Winter, and that he shall sustain all the honours of the said Church, and in any year in which he shall not pay to us our rent, unless by our consent, he shall give to us by way of fine, one mark, and that he shall be faithful to us. He takes oath in our Chapter that he will hold according to this our Grant, agree- ment and lease in future times. We have deemed it proper to be assured of this by the affixing of our seal, confirmed by these presents." In 1243 the above grant was approved by Walter de Gray, Archbishop of York : " WALTER, by the Grace of God Archbishop of York, Primate of England, to his beloved Son in Christ, the Dean of Pontefract, health, grace and benediction: WHEREAS we have understood that the Church of Huddersfield was granted to the sons in Christ, the Prior and Convent of St. Oswald, for their own use, previous to our having the government of the Church of York, unwilling that what was granted to them for pious uses should be in any way invalidated, we command you, as much as in you lies, that you permit them to enjoy peaceable possession of the said Church ; unwilling also to tbe in anyway prejudicial to them, because Mr. Robert [Talbot] held the Church in farm of them, as appears to us by deeds which we have seen concerning this matter, perfected between them. Given at London the 17 Kalends

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1 38 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

of February, in the 27th year of our Pontificate. Fare-ye-well." '

At the time of the grant to Robert Talbot, wheat was two shillings a quarter* and the reservation of a rental equivalent to one hundred and fourteen shillings and eightpence to the Priory would point to the conclusion that the value of the living was not inconsiderable.

In the year 1288 the Pope granted the tithes of ecclesiastical property to Edward I. for six years to enable him to defray the cost of a Crusade in the Holy Land, and in that year a survey and valuation of ecclesiastical property was made for the purposes of the tax.

The following extract is interesting :

DECONATUS DE PONTEFR. IN ARCHIDEACONATA

s. d. Eccl'ia de Halyfax .. 5:3 6 8 Prior de Lewes alien. Vicar' ejusdem .. I6 o ma 6a Eccl'ia de Almanbury 40 o o Appr'domini de Sco. Oswald. Eccl' de Huddersfield q 6 8 m 6a Vicaria ejusdem 6 13 4 a 6a Eccl'ia de Heton .. 20

It will be noticed that the churches both at Almond- bury and Kirkheaton surpassed in value that of Hudders- field. In 1534, 26 Henry VIII, a general visitation of the Monasteries was held, doubtless with an eye to the suppression which followed hard upon the Report of

the Commussioners. The following extract bears upon the Rectory of Huddersfield :

Valor Ecclesiasticus Henry viii. Diocese of York, County of York, Rural Deanery of Pontefract.

*Before the great reduction caused by foreign importation it averaged in modern times about 55 shillings a quarter.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 3Q

Monastery of Priory of St. Oswald de Nostell.'

£s. d. Rectory of Huddersfield.

The outgoings and Profits of the Rectory of Hud- dersfield, belonging to the said Priory, £3 4s. of Glebe, and £15 12s. rod. great tithes, in the same county .. &_. . 2.20 18 17 7

Vicarage of Huddersfield. Peter Longfellow, Clerk, Incumbent.

The Vicarage there is worth: Dwelling-House with garden, annual value 3s. 4d., tithe of wool as in former years, 60/-, tithe of lambs 64/-, oblations as formerly £4 11s. 8d., and small tithes and private contributions amounting to £9 18s. ogd. .. 20 17 0%

Payments as follows :

Annual payment to Edward Kellett, Vicar of Dewsbury . c. £23 4 Payment to the Archbishop of Sinodals, 3/-, and to the Archdeacon of York

for procurations 7/6 . .. £0 10 6 3 3 10 Nett Value .. £17 13 2% The tithe thereof is .. £1 15 4 Chantry of the Holy Trinity. Richard Blackburn, Incumbent. The Chantry is worth in Rents, lands and tene- ments in Golding, Co. Notts per ann. Total clear value a -. -. - £4 13 4 The tithe thereof .. £0 9 4 Chantry of the Blessed Virgin. The Chantry is worth: Rents, lands, tenements in Stainland £1 6s. 8d.; in Slaigthwaite 6s. 8d.; in Rastrick 1s. 4d., and in Huddersfield 16/-. Total per ann. . . .. {£2 10 8 Due in rent to Wllham Blackburn 4S., and to the Prior of St. Oswald 1/-. Total per ann. .. £0 5 Nett Value .. £2 5 8

Tithe thereof .. £0 4 7

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I 40 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

We gather that the gross yearly value of the Vicarage was £20 17s. oid. Out of this the annual pension to the Mother Church of Dewsbury, £2 3s. 4d. and other small ecclesiastical dues, 10/6, had to be paid by the Vicar, reducing the nett value to £17 13s. 24d. There were moreover two Chantries of the clear yearly value of £4 13s. 4d. and £2 5s. 8d. respectively. At that time corn was 6s. rod. per quarter, and money may therefore be said to have been worth nine or ten times as much as now. A chantry was a small chapel in which masses were said or sung for the repose of the soul of the founder of the Chantry or some person designated by him. The endowment was for the payment or maintenance of the priest who said the masses. _ It is not known who founded the first mentioned and better endowed chantry, but the other was founded by Thomas Stapleton, of Quarmby. Other particulars referring to these chantries are set forth in the late-I deeply regret I must now write " the late ""-G. W. Tomlinson's History of Huddersfield in Home TVords for 1886, Part 16:

HUDDERSFIELD PARYSHE.

The Chauntry of our Lady (the Blessed Virgin) in

the Chapel of Huddersfelde, in the Paryshe of Huddersfielde aforesaid :-

Richard Broke, Incumbent, 42 years of age, hath none other certentie of lyving but the proffits of the said chantry. The said Chapyell is distant from the Parysh Churche. Goods 14s., plate 7 oz., parcellgylte. The yearly value of the freehold land is 4$d., coppiehold nil. Whereof resolute and deductions by yere 4s. 34d., and so remayneth clere to the King's Majestie yerely 46s. 1d.

An obbitt* in the seyd Paryshe Church the same was founded by Thomas Rogers, sometime Vicar there,

*An obit was a memorial service held on the anniversary of the

founder's death. The name of Thomas Rogers does not appear in the list of vicars.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 4 I

d

to have continuance for ever, which gave one yerely rent of 7s. by yere for the maintenance thereof. A lampe or light in the seyd church. The same was founded by George Key, to have continuance for 20 years, whereof 12 be expired, which gave a yerely rent of 8s. to the maintenance thereof. At the Reformation, the property of the Nostell foundation was seized and sold by the Crown, and Richard Andrews, of Hales, county Gloucester, gentle- man, and Leonard Chamberlain, of Woodstock, county Oxford, Esquire, became the purchasers of "all that our mansion and messuage called the Parsonage in Huddersfield, in the county of York, with its appur- tenances, late appertaining to the Monastery of St. Oswald in the County, but recently dissolved, and being then parcel of its possessions." The purchase deed further

conveyed.

One toft to the said mansion (the parsonage) adjoining in Huddersfied aforesaid, now in the tenure or occupation of Roger Broke or his assigns. A cottage called Sykehouse, now or late in the tenure of Richard Horsfall. All the court-yards, lands, pastures, hereditaments what- so-ever in Huddersfield. One tenement containing in length 7 ells and in breadth 4 ells, now or late in the tenure of Thomas Hemmingway or his assigns. The chamber or dwellinghouse standing in Huddersfield, to wit, adjacent to the cemetry of Huddersfield, late in the tenure of the Chaplain of the Blessed Virgin in Huddersfield. The land and the Owteshott in Huddersfield, near to the Cemetry, now or late in tenure of William Blackburn.

© TO HAVE all and singular the aforesaid manors, rectories, advowsons, messuages, barns, lands, tenements, meadows, pasture lands, waters, pescaries (fisheries), commons, woods, underwoods, services of Court-leet, frankpledge, wandered cattle, strays, free warren, cattle stolen or fled, also the military

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142 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

fee, escheats, reliefs, &c. TO HOLD from us (the Crown) our heirs and successors ix capite by service of one-twentieth part of one military (knight's) fee, four shillings and one penny." Andrews and Chamberlayn were probably land speculators, but their partnership was shortlived, for in the year following their purchase of the Nostell possessions in Huddersfield, we find Andrews associated with WILLIAM RAMSDEN, of Longley, in the County of York, Yeoman," in the purchase of the tithes in Bradley, late the property of the Monastery. In 1546 Willliam Ramsden purchased on his own account the advowson of the Vicarage of Huddersfield. The following list of vicars of the Huddersfield Parish Church and brief notices of such of them as call for remark will find appropriate place here:

When How Instituted. Name of Vicar. Patron. Vacated. 1216. . Michael de Wakefield .... Priory of Before Robert Talbot .......... pppoe e ees Sep. 2, 1316.. Robert de Ponteburgh -.. . . Died

Jan. 19, Robert de Apethorpe May 15, 1335.. Robert de Sartine ........ Thomas de Clyppestone Sep. 13, 1349... William del Bothe of Belton Oct. 31, Robert de Lynneslay ,.... John de Wath (living 1377)

9 9 o * P I

9 9 & & 9 I

Feb. 28, de Thornton - ...... a . . Resigned June 5, 1409..John de Bynglay ia . . Died Oct. 16, 1409..John de Morlay .......... a . . Resigned June 5, 1420.. Thomas Banwell ........ 6a ». Oct. 28, 1423... William Bentley a . . Died Apl. 18, 1466.. Roger Hik .............. 60 e Jan. 22, 1508... Peter Langfellay ........ 6a . . Resigned Feb. 11, 1508..John Hall .............. 6a . . Died Nov. 24, Peter Langfellay a Soe Feb. 8, 1540.. Philip Brode ............ a April 5, 1552..Gabriel Raynes .......... Archbishop .. Deprived

Oct. 26, 1554.. Edward Baynes.......... Wm. Ramsden ..

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 143

When How Instituted. Name of Vicar Patron. Vacated.

Before Hugh Gledhill .......... . . Died June 5, 1581.. Robert Ramsden ........ John Ramsden a Jan. 11, 1598..Joshua Smyth Wm. Ramsden .. Sep. 2, Hill, A.M. ...... June 11, 1652... Henry Hyrst ............ . May 10, Richard Wilson, M.A. .... John Ramsden . Mar. 9, Thomas Clarke .......... ». Sep. 1, 1696... Thomas Heald ..Sir Wm. Ramsden Bart. .. Aug. 30, 1734 .. Thomas Twistleton, B.A. . 6a e Aug. 21, 1742..Claudius Daubriz ........ 6a . . Resigned Sep. 14, Sandford ........ Apl. 12, 1759.. Henry Venn, M.A. ...... a ». i Apl. 10, 1771 .. Harcar Crook............ a . . Died July 2, 1773..Joseph Trotter .......... a . . Resigned Dec. 2, Lowe, M.A. ........ Feb. 12, Ramsden, LL.B. .... » -. a Dec. 10, 1791..John Coates, M.A. ...... . . Died Dec. 24, 1823..Jas. C. Franks, Sir J. Ramsden Bt.. . Resigned

Aug. 14, 1840..]Josiah Bateman, M.A. .... The Trustees of Sir J. W. Ramsden, Bt.. Exch'ged

Sep. 3, 1855.. Samuel Holmes, M.A. SirJ. W. Ramsden,Bt .. Aug. 2, 1866.. WV. B. Calvert,

Feb. 22, Waring Bardsley M.A.

9 I 9 9 9 9 ® & 9 9 P 9 9 9 9 I

9 9 ® eo 9 I

9 9

9 9 ® o 9 9

aa . . Vivat.

Of these incumbents of the Huddersfield Vicarage the Rev. Henry Venn, M.A., has left a name that grows not less with the years. He was a man of broad and tolerant views in days when toleration in matters of religion was not so common as now. He was associated with Wesley and Whitfield in the great religious revival that marked the middle of the last century. He ac- companied those ministers in their apostolic journeyings about the land, and was on terms of friendship with that Lord Dartmouth who outraged the aristocratic prejudices of the times by countenancing John Wesley. _ Lord Dartmouth prevailed upon Sir John Ramsden, the patron of the Huddersfield living, to confer it on Mr. Venn. We need not wonder then that he suffered John Wesley to preach from his pulpit when that evangelist visited Hud- dersfield. During Mr. Venn's ministry the services of the

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144 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Church were attended by overflowing congregations, people flocking from great distances to hear him. Mr. Venn was born at Barnes, in Surrey, in 1724. His father was Rector of St. Antholin's, City of London, and his mother was a daughter of Richard Ashton, who was executed as a Jacobite for high treason for caballing against the Crown after the Revolution. Mr. Venn was a graduate of Cam- bridge and a Fellow of Queen's College. He had to resign the Parish of Huddersfield from ill-health, largely aggravated by the loss of his wife. Mr. Venn was an author of no mean repute. To his pen we owe " The Complete Duty of Man," and Sir James Stephen in his * Evangelical Succession" ranks him along with John Newton, Thomas Scott, and Joseph Milner, as one of the four great evangelists of the Church of England in these

9

latter days. A tablet in the church bears the inscription :

'* Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Henry Venn, from 1759 to 1771 Vicar of Huddersfield. In a dark day of the Church, he was a bright and shining light, and the people of this place rejoiced in his light. In affectionate and unwearied labours among them he spent the vigour of his days, nor resigned the charge till compelled by broken health and enfeebled constitu- tion. The years of declining life he passed in comparative retirement as Rector of Yelling, Hunts., and died June 24th, 1797, at Clapham, Surrey, where his mortal remains lie interred in sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection. On occasion of the rebuilding of this church, 66 years from the close of his ministrations in it, his surviving children and grand- children, finding his memory still embalmed in the hearts of many at Huddersfield, and conscious themselves, from an experience that has each year accumulated, of the privilege of such a parentage, united in erecting this tablet as their testimony to the truth of the promises that the kindness of the Lord is from generation to generation on such as fear Him, and that the memory of the just is blessed."

Mr. Venn's successor, the Rev. Harcar Crook, was a man of another stamp. The congregation dwindled and in part seceded. Highfield Chapel was the result.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 145

Another monument, in the Chancel of the Church, perpetuates the memory of the Rev. John Coates, M.A., late Fellow of Catherine Hall, Cambridge, "and Vicar of this parish, in which he laboured faithfully seven years as a curate and nearly thirty-two as vicar. Upright as a man, kind and faithful as a friend, in domestic life affectionate and beloved, as a clergyman, meek, conscientious, and exemplary. _ He gained the esteem of his numerous parishioners, who after beholding his manner of life for nearly 40 years, have testified their respect for his character [and regret for their loss] by the erection of this monument. 'The memory of the just is blessed.'" Mr. Tomlinson, in the contributions to ""* Home Words" from which I have quoted, reproduces sundry interesting memoranda from Mr. Coates's account book. This note was written in 1797: "The net value of the living, exclusive of the house, after the deduction of the curate's stipend and other necessary expenses is about £140 8s. 6d." The family income was perforce supplemented by his daughter, Miss Coates, who kept a school at the vicarage, in which Mr. Coates taught Reading and Bible History. The School was much appreciated by the wealthier families of the parish and the care and tuition of those who conducted it long remembered with gratitude. In 1788, according to another minute in Mr. Coates's memorandum book, the number of families in Huddersfield Parish. was 2,260, and in 1819 the number had increased to 3,889, made up as follows:

Huddersfield 22. lke 1,327 Marsh 2. 00 411 Fartown _ ... see 444 Deighton _... I 1 2

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146 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Bradley | ... e ... go Lindley | ... .. 2. - 306 Longwood ... 225 Golcar !.. !.. .. 392 Scammonden ... .. IOI Slaithwaite .. 22. 393 Marsden - ... 88

It was during the incumbency of Mr. Coates that the movement for church extension manifested itself in Huddersfield, the Vicar of Huddersfield himself laying the foundation stone of Trinity Church, in 1816, and Christ Church, Woodhouse, dating to the very month of Mr. Coates's death, July, 1823. A comparison of the lists of the Vicars of Almondbury and Huddersfield shows that for two years, 1552-1554, the same clergyman held the two benefices, the Rev. Gabriel Raynes, and that the reverend gentleman was so unfortunate as to be deprived of his living. It is not certainly known why this extreme penalty was passed upon him, but it was probably in consequence of his conduct in the matter of the Rev. John Vincent, Rector of Langton, in Cheshire. It appears that Vincent's relations with his housekeeper Joan Stanley had given rise to some scandal, and Mr. Raynes to vindicate his friend made the following remarks in the course of a sermon at Shepley : "" Masters, I wolde ye shulde not thinke that the parson hath lyved otherwise than in the lawes of God with Joanne Stanley, his wief, latelie deceassed, for Z assure you I married them myself." - This statement was untrue, and being called upon to justify it, Raynes made the following defence : "I came to the said Parson Vyncent's house at Shiply a little before the dethe of Johan Standley, wher and when the said Johan, beinge then grete with childe, did desier me to move the said parson to marie that they might live in the lawes of

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 147

mo comme mem - an __ _

God, for, she said, he wold have maried her but onlie for his frendes . ... The said parson said that he wold marie here when she was uppe agayn and purified at the church. The said Johan died of the birth of the said child . ... Hearinge a rumor and slaunder . . . . he did say openlie in the Church of Shepay that he did marie them previlye, before the lawe .... that prestes shuld marie . ... not beinge moved nor required thereunto by the said parson, but by a lerned man. And in so doing I think I did not offend God, for Paule saith . . .* To thes that are under the lawe I fachioned myself as though I had been under the lawe &c.' I did the same onelie to bringe the people frome ther error and evil reportes. The said Vyncent was then present and perceyvinge for what purpose I said the wordes held his peace." All the same Gabriel Raynes was deprived. During the Commonwealth the Rev. Edmund Hill was the Vicar of Huddersfield, and must have conformed to the Presbyterian discipline. He was appointed, in 1654, registrar to celebrate marriages, that function being in that day transferred for a time to a civil officer. Mr. Tomlinson, quoting from Mall's Conmgregationalism in Yorkshire, cites the following notice of his last moments: " He had attained a profound age, and was confined to his room. In the same chamber was his wife, who had been bedridden for two years, and was near her end. Hill left his bed with difficulty to take leave of her, and as he kissed her for the last time, he said, 'Ah, my dear wife, thou hast followed me for fifty years; tarry awhile and let me go before thee.' He was with difficulty carried back to his couch, and immediately expired. His wife died within two hours."" Oliver Heywood, in his diary under date January 29th, 1668-9, makes the entry : " This day we have been interring the corpse of old Mr. Hill and his wife,

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14.8 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

he was aged 80 years within a few weeks, she near as old, and they had lived many years together. He died on Wednesday, between eleven and twelve o'clock, and she died at three o'clock the same day. Seven Nonconformist ministers laid him in the grave. Lord, sanctify it." Of the next vicar, Mr. Clarke, Oliver Heywood has also something to say : "Mr. Clarke, Vicar of Huthersfield, hath behaved himself with strange insolency since he came there in many things, particularly concerning a house and land worth {10 a year, given to the poor decayed house- keepers of Huthersfield, but he would needs have it in his hands that he might give it to the common poor of the parish, whereby he lost the favour of the townsmen, with many other strange acts. He hath made a law that if any weddings came to church after the clock had struck twelve they must pay five shillings or not be married." The vicariate of the Rev. Josiah Bateman was marked by the erection of the present rectory, the consecration of the churches of St. John and St. Thomas, and the opening of the cemetery. In Mr. Bateman's C/Zerical Reminiscences quoted by Mr. Tomlinson is an interesting note of more than one of these events. Of the vicarage he writes : * This was a very old building in the worst part of the town, with a garden attached in which nothing green would grow. Close by, a large, old-fashioned inn was standing, which in times past had been built upon the glebe, and now paid a good rent to the vicar. But all was hemmed by tall chimneys and wretched buildings; and the house proved on trial an unhealthy residence. Again and again, one and another of my family was attacked with illness; again and again we were invited by kind parishioners to make their handsome houses in the outskirts our home for weeks together. But this could not last; and before a year had elapsed, a decision was required whether we would leave or

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 149

stay ; and that turned upon the retention of the old house or the erection of a new one. I called a meeting in the vestry, and proposed the question. It was responded to with Yorkshire liberality. A beautiful paddock of two acres and more, just outside the town, was exchanged for some glebe land four or five miles away, and on it was bult a handsome Gothic vicarage for £2,200. Patron, parishioner, and friends contributed nearly £1,500, and Queen Anne's Bounty advanced, on the usual terms, £700. Roads were made, trees planted, and fences erected, under the contract. All internal fixtures, such as pieces, stoves, grates, bells, closets and shelves, were provided and paid for; thus becoming the property not of the vicar but of the vicarage; and I rejoiced exceedingly when, in due course, I received a request from the bank that I would allow them to close the account, by drawing out the twelve shillings due to me." The erection of the Church of St. Thomas came about in this wise. Mr. Bateman had taken the opportunity of a social meeting to urge Mr. Thomas Starkey to build a church " near his great works for the benefit of his people." Mr. Starkey promised to think of it. Shortly after, Mr. Starkey, speaking to a poor boy whom he saw shivering in the streets caught the infection of typhus fever and died. His widow remenbered his half-formed resolve and was anxious to carry it out, but difficulties arose. At this juncture Mr. Starkey's younger brother, who was addicted to the chase, had a narrow escape of death by drowning whilst following the hunt. He sent for Mr. Bateman and said : "* You want a church, do you not? I will see that one is built." St. Thomas' Church was designed by Sir Gilbert Scott. The east window, in three compartments, adorned with stained glass, commemorative of St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Joseph, also perpetuates the memory

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I 50 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

mod

of the three brothers to whose piety and munificence the

Church was so largely indebted. I have said that the Huddersfield Cemetery also is

coeval with Mr. Bateman's Vicariate, but I understand that it was owing to Mr. Bateman's influence that the well known gap divides the consecrated from the uncon- secrated part of the Cemetery Chapel, to remind generations that may live in days of truer concord of the times when the

infidel and the heathen were popularly supposed to be less obnoxious to the clergy than the professors of orthodox

dissent. _ Not many other of the monuments or inscriptions

call for special note, but exception must be made of those that recall the virtues of members of the Brooke

family long gathered to their fathers:

" Here lieth the body of Thomas Brooke, the second sonne of Edward Brooke, of Gate House, a true servant of God, a true sonne of the Church of England, who died the 5 day of Ivne, in the . . . year of his age, Anno Dom. 1665. 'My Redeemer liveth whom I shall see for myselfe and mine eyes shall behoyld and not another.' "

'" Here resteth the bodie of Thomas Brooke, the elder, of Newhouse, gentleman, who was buried November 17, An. Dni. 1638. In the church militant I fout so unshaken, That to the church tryumphant I am taken; I am one o' th' church still. Greve not friends to know me advanced higher, Whilst I stayed I prayed, and now I sing in the quier. ae, suae, 87, (Arms : on a bend a hawk's lure).

" Here lyeth the bodie of Elizabeth, the wife cf Thomas Brooke, the elder, of Newhouse, who lived a godly life and dyed in the faith of Christ, Ist of February, Ano. Dni., 1616. Her age 63 years. E.B. En Dieu ma foy."

" Here lyeth the body of Thomas Brooke, of Newhouse, who died the xxiii day of September, 1624. Ao. aetatis suae Ixxii11. A chief friend of the poore, a lover of the church, and a good member of the commonwealth, who had yssue 6

children, Thomas, William, John, Jennett, Elizabeth, and Susan. Arms as above.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 5 I

of Newhouse, gentleman, who was buried the 27 of July, Ao. 1687. Aet suae 27.

Christ is to me life, And death is to me advantag. Whether I live or die 1 am the Lord's. The memorialls of the just are blessed. Pressihous in the sight of the Lord Is the death of his santes." Arms as above.

The Event Book of Oliver Heywood contains more than one reference to the Brookes of Newhouse: " I cannot but take notice and exceedingly admire God's providence, that when one door is shut God opens another for service and employment. By an observable call I was brought to one Mrs. Brooke's, at Newhouse, to keep a fast upon a special occasion, November 18th, 1673, and indeed, I have very seldom found such en- largements and meltings of spirit. It may be God hath some design of good iz Hat very ignorant place, the old woman was carnal, I fear, her daughters civil. - Mr. Gill, the young gentleman that married the one, keeps a kennel of hounds, yet much affected." The Brookes of Newhouse, extinct in the male line, were connected on the distaff side with the Wilkinsons, of Greenhead, and

through that family with Sir J. L. Kaye, of Grange.

In this Choir are deposited ye bodies of -John Wilkinson of Greenhead Esqre. An upright magistrate and worthy gentn. He died Feby. ye. 29th 1727 aged 67 And of Ellen his wife, daughter and one of ye 5 Co-heirs of John Townley of Newhouse in this Parish Esqre. a right virtuous good woman, She died April 25th 1730. In ye 48th year of her age. She had issue John, Matthew and Ellen. Matthew died Oct. ye 19th., 1716. Aged 3 years -and Ellen

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I 52 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

who was married to Sir John L. Kaye, of Grange, Knut. died June 29th, 1729. In the 21st year of her age Both whose bodies are likewise here deposited. John Wilkinson Esq. Son and heir of the said John Wilkinson and Ellen His wife erected this monument to do honour to the memory of Persons so justly dear to him. Thomas Wilkinson, Gentleman. Brother of the late and Uncle of ye present John Wilkinson of Greenhead Esquire

is likewise here interred He died Oct. ye 3rd, 1725. Aged 59 years. Sir John L. Kaye and Ellen his wife had issue John and Ellen - Ellen died ye 3rd Septr. 1727 and is also here interred.

Arms; Az. a fess. erm., betwesn three unicorns' heads couped. Crest, a unicorn issuing from a mural crown.

" Here lies interred the body of Doctor John Kay, Physician, M.B., who died April 25th, 1749, aged 69 years. A man of solid and unaffected piety, known integrity, and a truly and most ingenuous noble simplicity, openness of heart, or manners equal to that of more early and better ages. Skilled in his profession beyond those who made more appearance of it and were more assuming, he practised more for the benefit of others, specially of the poor, than for any emolument he sought or made from it. Reader, if you know any of those he left behind to whom this character will not be disadvantageous, you will be just to the virtues of the deceased which you will commemorate by honouring the merit of the living."

" In memory of Thomas Parratt, of this town, who died 27th March, 1862, in the yoth year of his age. He was the first organist of this church, and that office with zeal and

ability for fifty years. This monument is erected by members of the congregation and other friends."

'" Sacred to the memory of Sir John Ramsden, Bart., of Byram, who departed this life 15th July, 1839, in the 84th year of his age. Beloved, revered, lamented."

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 53

<mmiims

'* Near this place are interred the remains of Fenton, of Greenhead, near this town, gentleman, who died 30th Nov., 1743, aged 52 years He was one of the younger sons of William Fenton, of Underbank, near Penistone, by Frances his wife, sole daughter and heiress of Richard West, Esquire, of that place. His widow and children have caused this to be placed in remembrance of an affectionate husband and parent, whose memory they honour and whose virtues they wish to

imitate, being able to say with the strictest regard for truth : HERE LIES AN HONEST MAN."

The Parish Church Registers date back to 1562, and some of the first entries of Births, Deaths, and Marriages will be of interest to those at least who have names that were well known in the district in

the time of Elizabeth.

BAPTISMS. (1562). ..ia, filia Robart! Hanson de Longwood bap. ..gareta, filia Gulielmi Hanson, baptizata. .. hanna, filia Gulielmi Priestley de Slaighwet.

..ohanna, filia Johannis Aneley de Longwood bap. DECEMBER. ..die Elizabetha, filia de Brooksbanke .... kes

baptizata fuit. JANUARYE.

Sexta die, Henricus, filius Roger Fraunce de Slaighwet

baptizatus fuit. Itm. xviiijj@ die Johannes, filius Thome Fyrthe de Lynley,

baptizatus fuit. Esdem die, Johanna, filia Gulielmi Fyrthe de Longwood

baptizata fuit. Esdem die, Johannes, filius Johannes Crowther de Lynley,

baptizatus fuit. Eadem die, Agneta, filia Gulielmi Armitage de Slaighweth,

baptizata fuit. Eadem die, Omfridus, filius Jacobi Shaye de Marsden,

baptizatus fuit. Itm xxiij> die, Johanna, filia Brooke de Hudders-

felde, baptizata fuit. Eadem die, Johanna, filia Arthuri Jepson de Huddersfelde,

baptizata fuit. Itm., xxxjo. die, Agneta, filia Thome Clayton de Hudders-

felde, baptizata fuit. Eadem die, Johanna, filia Johannes Sykes de Slaighweth,

baptizata fuit. Eadem die, Richardus, filius Robart Armitage de Slaighweth,

baptizatus fuit.

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154

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

APRIL, 1563. Itm., xix. die, Thomas, filius Johannis Sykes de Slaighw . . . Eadem die, Johannes, filius Georgii Thorpe de Slaigh . . . Itm., die, Henricus, filius Henricus Tayler de Hu.... Itm., xxvj> die, Gulielmus, filius Gulielmi Blackbur . . . Eadem die, Edwardus, filius . . . Blackburn. MAYE. Itm., tercio die, Georgius, filius Johannis Armitage de

Slaighweth, bap. JUNE.

Itm., vij* die, Edwardus, filius Johannis Shaye de Hudders- felde, baptizatus fuit.

Eadem die, Johannes, filius Johannis Dyson de Goldker,

baptizatus fuit. JULYE.

Itm., xij* die, Isabella, filia Thome Shaye de Huddersfelde, baptizatus fuit. Itm., xix die, Robertus, filius Robarti Blacker de Longwood, baptizatus fuit. Itm., xxv*: Johanna, filia . . . Hyrst de Goldker, baptizata fuit.

BURIALLS. - APRIL 1562. Itm., ix*> die, uxor Gulielmi Heaton de Huddersfelde, paupercula, sepulta fuit.* Item xxj* die, Margareta Whythwhamt de Golker, sepulta

fuit. MAYE.

Itm., ix. die, Johannes Haight de Longwood sepultus fuit. Itm., xvo die, Johanna Smyth de Golker sepulta fuit. Itm., xxo: die, Johannes Smythe de Golker sepultus fuit. Itm., xx* Catherine Cowper de Fyrtowne sepulta fuit.

JULYE. Itm., secundo die, Johannes, filius Johannis Tomson de Slaighwith sepultus fuit. Itm., quinto die, Johannes Brooke de Fyrtowne sepultus fuit. Itm., sexto die, Jacobus Shaye de Marsden, sepultus fuit. Itm., octo die, Ricardus Whythwham de Golker sepultus fuit. Itm., xx* die, Johanna, filia Rogeri Shaye de Storth sepulta

fuit. AUGUST,

Itm., xxviij. die Edwardus Heye de Scamonden sepultus fuit. Itm., xxx* die, Johanna Hey de Scamonden sepulta fuit.

*In the year 1562 the relief of the poor was first trans-

ferred from the alms collected in Church to what was equivalent to a poor rate. It may we'll be that this wife of William Heaton,

this paupercula, or poor little woman, was the first legal pauper buried in Huddersfield.

{The Whitwhams of Golcar.

{ The name HAIGH so common in this district is probably

from a German word meaning " Wood "-Richard Haigh, Richard of the Wood.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 55

SEPTEMBER. Itm., xv@-die, uxor Thomas Hoyle de Scamonden sepulta fuit. OCTOBER.

Itm, tercio die, Maria, filia Hugoni Croslande de Lynley sepulta fuit.

MARRIAGES. JANUARY. Maryed since January Ist in the yere of.... Lord god 1580. Imprimis Thomas Keghley and Alis Coupar were maried the xxijth. Henry Yates and Alis .. Thorne were maried the xxixth. FEBRUARY.

Gilbard Smith and Jenet Dyson were maried the sixte of February.

Thomas Crowther and Agnes.... were maried the same daye. APRIL, Ao 1581. Richard Watsone and Jane Beamonde were maried the xj.

of A... Robert Midwood and Margaret Beamonde were maried the xvijth

John Armetege and Mary Brooke were maried the xviij. of.... Thomas Blagburne and Elizabeth Wilson wer maried the.... Roger Lether and Janet Sickes wer maried the xxx*:

MAYE. Henry Dene and Elin Norclife were maried the xxviijth of Maye. JUNE.

James Brocksbanke and Elizabeth Brocke were maried the xvith of June. JULY. James Hirste and Alis Robucke were maried the seconde of July. John Bottomley and Catherin Speight were maried the.... William Bines and Christabel Ramsden were maried the same daye. Roger Shaie and John Scholefeild were maried the xiiij. of July.

The Rev. John Coates who made a summary of the Register beginning in 1606, states that in the first 1200

names there were 45 illegimate children and in the last 1200 ending in 1778 there were 71. In the first five years of

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156 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

that period (1606-1778) the marriages were after the rate of 28 per annum, a hundred years later there were 32 per annum, whilst in the last five years of the period they were at the rate of 120 per annum. In the year 1584 the Church was visited by Robert Glover, " Somerset Herald," who makes an elaborate note of the figure of "an ould Knight Kneeling" with five Coats of Arms. The effigy was supposed to have represented Sir John Beaumont of Whitley-Beaumont who was living in 1354. The arms are believed to have been those of Beaumont, Neville, and Quarmby. In 1627 Roger Dodsworth visiting the Church noticed the arms of the Quarmby, Clayton, and Byron families. On September 26th, 1775 the Church was visited by John Charles Brooke, a member of the family of the Brookes of Newhouse, and he describes, within the altar

rails, a gravestone inscribed : " Here lies the body of Mrs. Hellen Wilkinson, who died the 4th day of July, A.D. 1693." On another, " Here lyeth the body of Matthew Wilkinson, late of Greenherd, in the County of York, gent., who departed this life the 20th day of May, in

the 34th year of his age, and in the 8th year of the reign of Wm. the 111., King of England A.D. 1696.

On another-A shield of arms as follows :

Azure, a fess erminois between three unicorns passant argent. Crest, out of a mural crown gules a demi-unicorn rampant erminois. " Hic Matthei Wilkinson de Greenhead, Generosi, inhumatur corpus, In omnibus legum literis periti, ac summa sibi familiaeque accurrit decus quod singulari functionis sub honestate cessit nulli. Vixit annos sexaginta, obiit vicesimo primo die Novembr, A.D. 1688.

On a brass plate-

Infra depositum Matthei juvenis delectissimi filii secundi Johannis Wilkinson, de Greenhead, Arnigeri, qui obiit A.D. 1666, Aetatis suae 5th requiescit. On another-

Infra requiescit quicquid mortale Tho*- Wilkinson, generosi, qui dum vixit amicus fidelis, moriensque sui memoriam omni monumento celsiorem, reliquit. - Obiit Anno aetatis 61, salutis

1725.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. I 57

On a gravestone in the South Aisle-

" Here lyeth the body of Margaret Crossland, wife to Edward Crossland of Linly, who departed this life 19 Jany. in the year of our Lord 1673."

A Tablet on the south side of the Altar bore, in 1775, the particulars of sundry benefactions to the Church dating back to the year 1638. Among the names of the pious benefactors are those of Brooke, Armytage, Hirst and Walker. John Ramsden, Esq. of Byram, is recorded as the donor in 1681 of the ground for the school at Mill Hill. In 1804 this and the Almondbury Church were visited by the Rev. Joseph Hunter. Writing of the latter he says: © There are many good stones of yeomen and inferior gentle families in this parish, but they are so covered with dirt that there is no making out the inscriptions. This and Huddersfield are the nastiest Churches I ever saw,"-a reproach that certainly no longer attaches to either of these ancient edifices. The present Church of St. Peter was built, I have said, in 1836. It is a Gothic stone structure, with a tower, containing a clock and ten bells. Its construction cost near £10,000. The interior consists of nave, aisles, transept, and chancel. The pulpit, communion rails, and screen are of pure white stone beautifully carved. - Many of the windows are ornate with richly coloured limnings of sacred scenes and emblems, the representation of The Ascension and The Agony in the Garden (by Ward), constraining reverent admiration. The vicarage is of the yearly value of £450 with residence. I cannot close this chapter, devoted to the Church of St. Peter, without acknowledgment most justly due, to one whose eyes will never read this tribute to his worth and, expression of the great indebtedness which all are under,

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1 58 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

*~.

who are concerned about the ancient history of the town and neighbourhood of Huddersfield. I refer to the late G. W. Tomlinson, who has passed away whilst these pages have been penned-a just man, a worthy citizen, and a most patient and conscientious unraveller of these hidden and half-forgotten things which lie entombed in mouldering records and monuments effaced by time or obliterated by hands unconscious of their worth. I do not think I exaggerate in saying that it was Mr. Tomlinson who made possible a History of Huddersfield and its Vicinity, and in no pretence of humility I confess my sense of lacking many of the rare attainments he would have brought to such a work as this should be, and failing them, perhaps

is not.

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CHAPTER VII.

THE provision made by the Almondbury and Huddersfield Parish Churches, an account of which has occupied the two preceding chapters, did not exhaust the care of the Church for the diffusion of Christian doctrine and ministration to the needs of

the people. In order to realize to the full how ample was the solicitude of the earlier Church to supply spiritual

consolation and material assistance, it will be necessary to devote some attention to the ancient Priory of Kirklees, dedicated to the honour of the Virgin Mary and St. James. Standing in extensive grounds, about three miles from Huddersfield, just off the Leeds highroad, surrounded by gently undulating meads in which majestic trees spread sheltering arms of waving foliage, beneath which the placid kine and antlered herds may rest secure alike from mid-day heat and beating storm, its demesne watered by a purling brook, fit home of darting trout, the ancient Convent of Kirklees was for some four centuries the fair retreat of holy women devoted to God and to all gentle deeds of love and mercy. They belonged to the Cistercian Order, founded by St. Robert, one time Prior of the Benedictine Abbey of Montier la Celle, and later Abbot of Michael de Tonnerre. Here the pure soul of the good Abbot was outraged by the excesses of the monks under his rule, by the flagrant difference between their ghostly professions and their carnal practices. In vain he sought to reform his Abbey, but the sons of Zeruiah were too many for him. He withdrew from the Abbey in sorrow and in anger, living for a while, with other good monks his zeal had inspired, a hard and rigorous ascetic life in the woods

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160 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

of Molesme, clad almost like the Baptist of old, and feeding, not on locusts and wild honey, but on the less savoury roots and herbs the forest wilds afforded. At length, with some score or so of monks, he settled at Cisteaux, in Burgundy, on St. Benedict's day, March 21st, 1098, and founded there the Order, whose name Cistercian derives from the first fixed abode of the new foundation. The Order took its rise from the revolt headed by one sincere man against the luxury, and worse than luxury, which even then disgraced some of the religious establishments of the unreformed faith, and there is, therefore, little matter of surprise that the rules of the new college exacted more than Spartan austerity and rigour of life. Nor were these rules abated of their severity when separate foundations for women, Nunneries, arose under the discipline of the Cistercian Order. We are informed in " Stevens' History of Ancient Abbeys," that the habit of the Cistercian Nuns was a white tunick or robe, a black scapulary and girdle. "In the choir most of them wore coules, others only mantles, and the lay sisters had their habits of a dark colour. The novices were clad in white. Their observances were very austere. The first nuns wore neither linen nor linings, they were employed not only in sewing and spinning, but they went into the woods to grub up the briers and thorns, they worked continually, they observed much silence," a privation, we may believe, grievous to be borne by women. An offshoot of this Order was settled at Kirklees about the reign of Henry II., and in course of time acquired not inconsiderable possessions. The site of Kirklees Nunnery and other lands were granted to them in mortmain by Rayner le Fleming, Lord of the Manor of Clifton and a landed proprietor in Hartshead. The following extract from the charter of endowment affords some notion of the extent of this grant: Regner

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le Fleming gave and confirmed "to God, St. Mary et Sanctimonialibus de Kuthales, locum in quo manent, scilicet, Kuthelagum et Hedneslayam, sicut aqua de Kalder vadit, usque ad vetus molendinum usque ad rivulam petriost . . . . et sic ad Blakeland usque ad Wagestan, et de Wagestan sic per diviam, Liverseg et Hertesheved et Mirfield. Test, Anfrd et Elyas, Sacerdotes, Walterus Flandrensis, Adam fil. Armi, Suenus de Hoyland, Robert de Laci, etc.," i.e., The pious donor " grants to God, St. Mary, and the holy women of Kuthales, the place in which they dwell, i.e., Kuthelaga and Hednesleya, as the water of the Kalder goes to the mill and so by the road which leads to the old mill to the runlet of the rocky-( _. _. . . )-and so to Blackelana, and from Blackelana to Wagestan, and from Wagestan to the boundary of Liversege, Herteshevet and Mirfield, all within the limits named." The charter also conveyed twelve further acres of land to be held of the grantor and his heirs for the souls of his fathers and his ancestors for his safety and that of his friends, a provision which secured for the souls of the departed members of the family of the founder the daily prayers of the holy ladies of Kirklees. The first Prioress or Lady Superior of the Order was Elizabeth de Staynton. It is in memory of the last three nuns that well known hostelry on the Leeds Road, near the entrance of the grounds of Kirklees, bears the name- The Three Nuns. - The tomb of the first Prioress may still be seen on the site of the former chapel of the convent, marked by the carved sign of the Cross, and inscribed : DOVCE IHV DE NAZARETH FILZ DIEV TEZ MERCY A ELIZABETH STAINTON PRIORES DE CEST MAISON. © Sweet Jesus of Nazareth, son of God, take mercy on Elizabeth Stainton, Prioress of this house."

M

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162 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

ey,

The following, according to Mr. Hobkirk, is a complete list of the Lady Superiors of the Priory who succeeded Elizabeth :

Mary de Hopwood, 1187. Elizabeth Rhodes, 1361. Maud Clayton, 1211. Alicia Bradley, 1393. Marion Pinkerley, 1225. Margaret Allen, 1417. Elizabeth de Scervin, 1252. Elizabeth Kitcheman, 1453. Mary de Inchliffe, 1270. Celicia Hill, 1476. Judeth de Startinly, 1289. Johanna Stansfeld, 1491. Margaret de Claysworth, 1306. Margaret de Tarlton, 1499. Alicia Screvin, 1307, Margaret Fletcher, 1505. Elizabeth Jepson, 1329. Celicia Hopecliffe, 1527. Mary Startin, 1344. Jean Kepasset, or Keps, 1532.

Behind the altar of Mirfield Church, of which the Priory of Kirklees enjoyed the advowson, formerly ran the inscription : Dame Joan Kepast late Nune of Kirklees

was buried ye fyft day of February Anno Dni. mdlxiu.

which inscription was transferred into a window of the old tower when the church was restored. ' A copy of the Oath of the Lady Superior taken on appointment is preserved by Mr. J. Horsfall Turner in his Flistory of Brighouse, Rastrick, and Hipperholme :

'* Confirmation of the election of the Prioresse de Kirkeleges on the death of the Lady Celicia Hill, Dna. Johanna Stansfeld, Obediencia. In the name of God, Amen. I Dame Johanna Stansfeld chosyn and confirmed P'oresse of Kirkleghes of th' ord'r of Saynte Barnard of Yorke shall be true and obedient to the moste reverende fadir in God Thomas by the grace of God Archbishop of Yorke Primate of England and Legate of the Courte of Rome and to his successors lawfully entring and to their Officers and Ministers in all mannr of lawfull command- ments so God me help and thies eu'angelists."

The grant made to the Priory by Rayner le Fleming by no means constituted the whole of its possessions. The various grants are only now interesting as illustrative of the lavish care of our forefathers for the maintenance

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 163

mnt m s s - mene om : mur: omni me comme ram. » :no mmm

of religious houses, a care which it is easy but not

necessarily just to attribute to terror and superstition.

20 Henry III. Confirmation by the King to the Prioress and Convent of Kirklees of the place where they dwell (Kirkley and Hedensley) of three ox-gangs (forty-five acres) of land in Cullingworth with the appurtenances and common in Hereden for repairing their buildings, and for their fire and pasture, for their beasts of burden in Cullingworth, and for their pigs fed in that town food without pannage: This possession had come to the Convent by gift of Alan son of Peter. Of a toft in Barkeston and thirty acres of arable land and one acre of meadow in the same town. One mark of annual rent in the mill of Hathweyt given to the Convent by Henry Tyas. Certain pieces of land in Shelfe, viz. :- Wetecroft, Hallcroft and Northcroft and common of pasture belonging to the same town, for four hundred sheep by the great hundred (i.e. 120) with as many lambs, and for ten cows and as many calves, and for eight oxen and one horse. This had been settled on the Church by John the son of Amandus, and is noteworthy evidence of the great abundance of common land before the Inclosure Acts did their work. A rent of 3/- from three-fourths of an oxgang of land in Marten in Burgoshire, granted by Agnes de Flamevill. A rent of 4/3 from one oxgang of land given by Reimund de Medelay. Dimidiam eskeppam frumenti (qy., half a skep of corn), given by Robert, son of Gilbert, presumably yearly.

Another Charter, dated January 23rd, 1374, is a License in Mortmain to Thomas de Malhum, Chaplain,

Richard Brand, Chaplain, and Richard de Calthorn, Chaplain, to grant to the Prioress and Convent-

One messuage and eighteen acres of land and the third part of a messuage in Herteshead. One messuage, two tofts, eighty-eight acres of land, two acres of meadow, eight acres of wood, and 2/1 rent in Wykerislay. The whole valued at 33/4.

Another License in Mortmain, dated July 15th, 1375, authorised William de Mirfield, Clerk, and Roger de Barneburgh, Clerk, to grant to the Prioress and Convent-

The Manor of Westhalgh (qy., in Kirkburton), one messuage, one oxgang, and ten acres of land, and half of five acres of meadow, and 174$d. of rent in divers places mentioned.

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164 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

And to Thomas de Malhom, Chaplain, and Richard Brand, Chaplain, to grant-

Four messuages, one oxgang, seventy-two-and-a-half acres of land,

and 6/8 of rent in Magna Lyuersegge, Robert Lyuersegge, and Parva Lyuersegge (Hightown, Roberttown, and Littletown).

And to Thomas de Metham, Knight, to grant- 100 shillings of rent in Halgton. A still more important document, dated 25th January, 1395,

authorized John Mounteney, Knight,; John Woderoue, John Amyas, and William de Sandal, Chaplain, to grant to

the Prioress and Convent of Kirklees-

Fifty acres of land in Mirfield, and Txr Apvowson or THE CHURCH THERE, for the purpose of finding a Chaplain to celebrate Divine Service every day in the Conventual Church of Kyrkelees for the soul of Sir John de Burgh and for the souls of his ancestors, and of all the faithful departed ; the aforesaid fifty acres being valued at 12/6 per annum, and the Church eighteen marks (a mark of silver was 13/4) per annum.

By a subsequent instrument, dated August 4th, 1403, Archbishop Scroope ordained a perpetual Vicarage in the said Church, presentable by the said Prioress and Convent, the tithes of corn and hay and fallen wood, with the mansion of the rectory : to the Vicar were assigned the oblations, profits, minute tithes, or the altarage and personal tithes. A more interesting document, discovered among the archives of the Convent, is a grant of a female serf or nativa to the Prioress. The deed is undated, but we are able to fix its date approximately from the fact that the grantor, Sir John le Fleming, died about the year 1349. I extract the Deed in the original Latin with a translation, and I transcribe it in full that it may serve as an abiding memorial to the general reader of a state of English society when in this our own land, where as he touches it the chains fall from the feet of a slave, serfdom was a recognized institution and personal slavery supported by the law.

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- ome =>

* Sciant presentes et futuri quod Ego Dominus Johannes Flan- drensis Dedi concessi et hac presenti carta mea confirmavi et imperpetuam quietam clamavi de me et heredibus meis Priorisse de Kirkeleys et sanctis monialibus ibidem deo servientibus, pro anima patris mei et pro animabus ante- cessorum meorum et pro tres solidis vI denarriis argenti quod predicte mihi dederunt pre manibus Aliciaim filiam Willelmi Mounger de Clifton et heredes sui cum tota sequela sua et catallis suis mobilis et immobilis presentibus et futuris sine retenemento. Ita Scilicet quietam clamavi quod nec ego Johannes nec ullus heredum meorum clamam neque calump- niam versus predictam Aliciam vel heredes suos vel sequelam vel catalla sua de cetero possumus exigere nec vendicare. In hujus rei testimonium presens seriptum Sigilll mei impressione roboravi. Hiis testibus Henrico filio Godewini de Clifton Thoma de Grenegate Ada fratre ejus Johanne de Haveweldun Thomas del Clif Willelmi et Ada et Alus."

Endorsement : An oval seal in white Manumissio Nativae. wax with the words: S'Johannis le Flandrensis.

'" KNOW all men now and hereafter that I, SIR JOHN FLEMING, have granted and for ever quitclaimed from me and my heirs UNTO the Prioress of Kirklees and the Holy Nuns there serving God. FOR the soul of my father and for the souls of my ancestors and in consideration of three shillings and sixpence in silver which they the aforesaid have paid in hand, ALICE, daughter of William Mounger, of Clifton, and her heirs with all her belongings and her chattels moveable and immoveable, present and future, without reserve. ALSO that I have quitclaimed that neither I, the said John, nor any of my heirs will prefer or prosecute any claim or suit against another in respect of the aforesaid Alice or her heirs or belongings or chattels. IN WITNESS thereof I have confirmed the present writing by the impress of my seal." Witnesses : S'Johannis le Henry, son of Godwin, of Clifton, Flandrensis, Thomas, of Grenegate, Ada, his brother John, of Haveweldun, Thomas Cliff, William and Ada, and others.

It will be observed that the sale comprised not only Alice Mounger and her poor belongings, but also her heirs. By law the offspring of a slave followed the status of the mother, and Alice was doomed to be not only a serf but the

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166 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

mother of serfs. The deed was endorsed Manwmissio Nativae, but either there was a misapprehension on the part of the scribe who prepared the deed, or, as I think more likely, the grant of a serf to a religious body was considered tantamount to a manumission or grant of freedom. The Church from early times set its face against personal slavery, and often made the manumission of slaves the condition of absolution to a dying penitent. It may there- fore be taken for granted that the nominal slaves of the Convent were practically free, and we may be sure the gentle ladies serving God in the Convent of Kirklees were not hard task-masters.

A survey of the Priory was made in the reign of Henry VIII. from the record of which it must be concluded the Convent was not of great capacity, there being apparently stalls in the church only for twenty-two nuns, and at the Dissolution even that number had been reduced to seven. Some extracts from the survey will suffice to convey an adequate notion of the home of these ladies, drawn probably from the neighbouring families, devoting their time to prayer and meditation, to visiting and nursing the sick, and to educating the young ladies of the families of the gentry and more substantial yeomen and tradespeople of the district.

" The church conteynyth in length iiij*~ ffoote and in bredith xxj. foote, wt, a high roofe coueryd wt. slates, hauynge glasse wyndowes conteynynge L. ffoote of glasse, wt. a high alter, 1j.

alters in the quere, and ij. benethe, and xxij. stalles in the quere for the nones.

ItEMm the cloyster at the southe parte of the churche conteynyth in length XL. ffoote square and in bredith vij. foote, and iii. partes coueryd wt. slates, and chambres over th. other one parte wtoute any glasse."

Then follows a description of the chapter-house or meeting house of the priory, a dormitory, forty feet long and eighteen wide, covered with slates, and " a parler vndir the

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dorter xviij. foote square wt. a chymney, 1. baye wyndowes glasid conteynynge xxx. foote of glasse. We have par- ticulars also of a "* gyle" house or wort house, in which ale was worked ; a " fraytour " or dining-hall, thirty-four feet by eighteen feet, " stone walles, vnglasid, coueryd wt. slates ;" a house," or place for boulting or sifting meal; of "v. litle chambres for the ladies to work yn, coueryd wt. slates;" and of a " buttrye." The chaplain's house boasted a "chymney." The Prioress' chambers had "tymbre walles, was coueryd wt. slates, had no glasse." There was " a low chamber called the fermery (infirmary) at the nether end of the fraytour xviij. foote square, old stone walles, a chymney, and no glasse. Even the " Kychyn " of " stone walles and coueryd wt. slates" had no chymney. _ There were a brewhouse and bakehouse, a stable, an "old cole-house," " ane old almes house whereyn a poore man dwellith wt. oute the gate" ; "ane ither old almes house, by the bek syde," a cowhouse, "ane old round dovecote in the vtter yarde "; a corne chamber of two stories, 72ft. by 30ft., a carte house, an oxhouse, a Kylne house, a garner ; two little houses under the same, "ane of theym for seruauntes to lye yn"; a swyne cote and "ane orchard conteynynge, by estamacon iijj. roodes of grounde '- and many of these buildings may still be seen. Of all this Priory of " fair Kirkleys " little now remains but the farm buildings and the gate-house, with its massive walls and narrow windows. In its small upper chamber died, we are assured, one whose memory will never die, so long as there are boys in England-Robin Hood. I have already told what modern research has to tell about this darling of our youth. The window is still to be seen through which he sped the arrow that was to mark his grave, and if indeed, as I see no reason to doubt, he was

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laid to rest where tradition and his tombstone indicate, "* with a green sod under his head and another at his feet,"

he had at least his dying wish :

'* Let me have length and breadth enough, With a green sod under my head ; That they may say when I am dead, Here lies bold Robin Hood."

The Priory of Kirklees shared in the general dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. It must not thence be supposed that any of the abuses that, sometimes with reason, sometimes slanderously, were alleged against the religious houses of the country, were to be imputed to the White Ladies of Kirklees. They merely participated in the general doom. Nor are we to conclude that their fall was witnessed without regret. The monasteries and convents had their uses if also their abuses. They were sanctuaries, schools, infirmaries, and almshouses. Past the Dumb Steeple, or Doomed Steeple, that still stands on the Leeds Road, and which in former times is supposed to have marked the priory bounds, must oft have fled for refuge the hunted outlaw in times of violence and lawlessness, and through the convent gates the pale nuns flitted on their gentle errands of mercy and healing. When the fiat of dissolution went forth the nuns were driven from their sheltered cloisters, and their property was confiscated to the Crown. Dame Joan Kep, or Kepax, or Kepast-the name is variously spelt-along with four of her nuns is said to have found refuge in a house now called Paper or Papist Hall, at Chapel Well, at the top of Shilbank Lane, in Mirfield. The Rectory of Mirfield and the glebe lands, tithes, tithe-barn, and the right of presenta- tion of the Vicarage were sold to Thos. Savile, of Clifton, gentleman, at the price of £114. In 1545 the site and the precincts of the Priory, the demesne lands and other lands containing an area of about 260 acres were granted to

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 169

h mme commune «~

John Tasburgh and Nicholas Savile, to be held in chief of the King, by a service of one-fortieth part of a Knight's fee. The purchase money was £987 15s. 7d., and a rent charge of 13/4 yearly to the Crown. In the same year other property of the Priory was secured by William Ramsden, of Longley, who, as we have seen, about the same time acquired considerable possessions in Huddersfield. He appears not to have been desirous of retaining his Kirklees interests, for after sundry mesne transfers most of the estates, the rectory and advowson of Mirfield, the glebe lands, tithes, &c., came by purchase into the hands of John Armitage, described as of Fernley Tyas, Yeoman, the ancestor of Sir George Armytage, Bart., the present owner. I am indebted for this account largely to an article by Mr. S. J. Chadwick in the " Yorkshire Notes and Queries."

Page 192

CHAPTER VIII.

HE careful reader of preceding chapters will, one may hope, have received some assistance in arriving at a conclusion as to the social and religious life of the people of this district in the time of the Tudors. The provision for their educational needs now invites our attention. Prior to the Reformation the education of the middle classes, so far as it existed at all, was conducted by the clergy. The monasteries and convents were not only retreats for those who had abjured the world, they were Schools. We must not, however, suppose that the term education had the literal interpretation it now receives, though on the other hand it involved, perforce, a curri- culum more advanced than we associate now with elementary training. Books of any kind were few and costly. Books in the English language adapted for schools were almost so rare as to be curiosities. Even in the middle of the sixteenth century the Bible was not commonly read in English. It was only in 1525 that Tyndall completed his version of the New Testa- ment, fulfilling his vow to a learned controversialist, " If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the scripture than thou." The instruction imparted in the monastic. schools was limited to a degree that we can scarcely realise. The youths at a modern academy or higher grade school are expected to know something of French or German, or both. Those languages were not taught to the students of the older schools. History was little read, and such histories as there were were mostly

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monkish chronicles that had been almost better unread. As for geography, a little reflection will show there was not much to be learned except that which was necessary for the comprehension of classical authors. A map of Europe in the time of Henry VIII. would have little to record beyond the limits of the Mediterranean. _ In France, in Germany, in Austria, in Russia, and in Eng- land the cities and towns of importance might be counted on the fingers of one hand. Beyond the boundaries of Europe the whole world was a Zerra incognita. - Africa, save on its northern coast, was unexplored ; America, a mere geographical expression ; India but dreamed of, and Australia unheard of. To-day a boy must know a smatter- ing at least of chemistry. Chemistry in those days was regarded either as a machination of the unholy one or a means to the discovery of a something that would trans- mute all baser metals into gold. If, then, from an ordinary boy's education of to-day you estimate modern languages and science, if you cut down history and geography to the limits of medieval knowledge-what remains?: Divinity, the classics, grammar, and mathematics. _ We shall see, pre- sently, how this poverty of subjects affected the earliest provision for education in this neighbourhood for the more substantial classes. As for education for the poorer classes, they had neither time nor leisure for it. Sometimes a peasant's child of bright parts or winning countenance attracted the protection and assistance of the priest and he was taken under monastic care and educated for the Church; but even this might in many manors not be done without the leave of the manorial lord. We read that this practice was resented by the landowners who, in the time of Richard II., petitioned the Crown " that no bondsman or bondswoman should place their children at school, as has been done, so as to advance their children in the world

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mec nc. wom... mme omnes . come omen

by their going into the Church," and the colleges of the universities were closed, not only by their own poverty, but by statute, against the children of villeins. On the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII., there was a general rush to secure the broad acres of the Church that was indeed disestablished and disendowed. The courtiers made haste to get rich, and estates counting their acres by the thousand were flung to them by the king with as little heed as one flings a bone to a dog. Others 'not powerful at court acquired the lands of the monasteries on terms which sank and still sank in the glutted market. Many great landowners to-day owe their estates to the prodigality with which the Crown and its Commussioners trafficked away the estates wrested from the Church. In all this reckless extravagance of property, which the Church even in its most abandoned days never counted as free from the claims of the poor, just one small exception was made, and that in favour of education. The proceeds of the sales of the chantries were generally devoted to the endowment of Grammar Schools, and the institutions bearing that honourable though quaint title date back largely to the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Elizabeth, and the first James. It is a significant fact that it was in Almondbury and not in Huddersfield that the first public provision was made for the educational needs of the people. - It is to the Kayes of Woodsome that must be accorded the honour of the earliest educational endowment the neighbourhood could boast. There existed on the site still called "Chapel Yard," but when and for what purpose built I do not know, a small chapel at St. Helen's in Almondbury, probably deducted to St. Helena, a well adjoining which was possibly credited in the minds of the superstitous with medicinal powers. In Dodworth's Yorkséire Notes occurs a minute

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mies -+ .

which establishes the existence of this chapel in the fifteenth century : "I, John de Wridlesford haue given to Michael de Brertwisell and Maud his wife my sister and their heires all my land of Fekisby, as will in demeasne as service with homiages, wards, releifes, paying to the chapel of St. Elen of Farneley a pound of wax." " An old Manuscript Book at Woodsome " informs us that ""Arthur Kaye's ancestors buylded a Chappell of old tyme, in the lane above the Butts at St. Elyn well. About pmo. Edw: Sexti, (I. Edwd. VI.) he and I (Arthur Kaye and his son John) dyd shift yt, and by consent of the parish dyd translate the same into the Scole House that now is and I (John) did p'cure one Mr. Smith, a good scholar, to come and teach there." Such was the beginning, in 1547, of the Almondbury Grammar School. Its first benefactor by a grant of money was Robert Kaye, who died at the early age of 23, on January 16, 1576. The amount of his grant to the School was £46 13s. 4d. and it is presumed that the interest on that sum constituted the earliest endowment of the School. In 1609 the Charter of the School was granted by James I. and though the original document does not exist, or has been lost, its terms have

been preserved and are as follows :

" AT THE HUMBLE SUIT of the tenants and inhabitants of Almondbury, to establish a Free Grammar School for the bringing up of children in Grammar and all good learnings. To consist of one master, one usher, and governed by six honest men of the most wise and discreet religious persons within the said Parish or dwelling within two miles thereof, who shall be called Governors of the goods, possessions and revenues of the FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL of King James, in Almondbury The first named Governors are : ROBERT KAYE, of Woodsome, WILLIAM RAMSDEN, of Longley, GEORGE CROSLAND, Vicar of Almondbury, M .A. NICHOLAS FENAY, of Fenay, Esquire ) RICHARD APPLEYARD, of Over Longley - Gentlemen and ROBERT NETTLETON, of Almondbury, as a Body Corporate and Politique, to hold property with perpetual succession, for ever. The survivors have power,

} Esquires

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17/4 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

-=

with the consent and liking of the master, to appoint fresh Governors, on vacancy by death or removal with the family beyond the said boundary. They are to have a common seal ; to elect from time to time one honest, religious, and efficient schoolmaster, and one learned and honest usher. Vacancy of master to be filled up within two months by one having taken M.A. or B.A., to be master during good behaviour; and in like manner the usher-such usher, with the consent of the master, to be removable upon a quarter's warning. Should the Governors neglect, the Archbishop of York. Should his Grace omit, within two months, the Master and Fellows of Peter House, in Cambridge, to nominate and present. The consent of the Archbishop is required to make good and necessary statutes and ordinances under the Common Seal of the School ; to be kept in a chest under two locks, one for the master and the other for the Governor, appointed by the rest, as President."

Power is given to receive, acquire and hold property for the perpetual maintenance of the School, not exceeding the whole yearly value of thirty pounds, so as it be not holden of the Crown by knight's service, the statute of mortmain notwithstanding. The Charter is subscribed at Westminster, the 24th day of November, in the sixth year of the reign of His Majesty of England, France and Ireland, and forty-second of Scotland. The statutes of the Governors for the government of the school do not appear to have taken form till sometime between 1682 and 1705-6 when the Rev. Carus Philipson was Vicar of Almondbury. A copy of these statutes sealed by the Archbishop bore the signatures of Sir John Kaye, William Horsfall and John Wilkinson, Esquires, the Rev. Carus Philipson and Richard Armytage, Gentleman. By

these statutes provision is made for the teaching of Latin and Greek.

'* No popish, profane or immodest authors, to infect them with error or immorality. The master is to speak nothing but Latin to those who understand it. To take especial care of the scholars, not only in school, that they diligently apply them- selves to their books and studies, but also out of school with regard to their recreations, and to prevent all profane, idle and

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immoral practices, and to advise the parents to the same effect. Moderate corporal correction is enjoined. Poor scholars are to be taught Latin and Greek gratis: but to be obliged to get moss for the roof of the school, and do other offices. Provision is made for payment by other scholars, born in the parish, for tuition. None are to be admitted who cannot read the Psalter, or are afflicted with any infectious disease, or incapable of learning. Two days in the year are appointed for examination of the scholars, before Whitsuntide and Christmas. - The School is to be open at seven o'clock and close at five all the year round. Prayers are provided for morning and evening, with a chapter in the Bible-especially the Sermon on the Mount. Barring out the master is forbidden. The school- master, usher, and scholars are to resort to church on Sundays and Holy Days and other public days, and to behave reverently. The Church Catechism is to be taught once a week. Holiday tasks are to be given at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. Special holidays may be given at the request of any neigh- bouring or other gentleman or person of quality, except to scaolars in the Black Bill, once only in two years by the same gentleman."

The statutes do not enter into particulars with reference to the studies of the pupils, but we shall probably not err in supposing they followed on the lines laid down in similar grammar schools. The master of the neighbouring institution at Halifax was required "for the improvement of his scholars in learning to teach them, in the most familiar manner, grammar, and the Latin and Greek tongues, by reading to them all or some of the classic writers, which follow, as, in Latin, Phaedrus' Fables, Cornelius Nepos, Caesar's Commentaries, Terence, Livy, Tully, Ovid, Virgil, and Horace; and in Greek, the Greek Testament, Xenophon, Isocrates, Demosthenes, Hesiod, Homer, and Sophocles. And he was strictly charged to make his scholars, according to their age and capacity, perfect grammarians, and not to carry them on too hastily from prose to verse or from Latin to Greek, and especially to be constant and strict in the examination of their exercises."

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176 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

King James gave to the grammar school not only its Charter but the site of exquisite beauty on which it stands, and a stretch of land, then waste but now cultivated. William Ramsden, in 1611, gave to the school an annuity of 20/- ; Robert Kaye, of Woodsome, an annuity of 40/- in 1612; Sir Richard Beaumont, the ancestor of Mr. H. F. Beaumont, an annuity of 26/- in 1620; the Rev. Geo. Crosland a yearly grant of like amount in 1623, and Thos. Wilkinson, of Almondbury, one of 4/- yearly in the same year. The benefit of all these endowments, except the last-named, is still received by the school. But the greatest benefactors of the school were Robert Nettleton and Israel Wormall, both of whom deserve more than casual notice. By Indenture, dated 27th December, 1613, Robert Nettleton, of Almondbury, gentleman, " for the great zeal and goodwill which he owed and bore to the poor people that then were and which thereafter from time to time should be inhabiting and dwelling within the Town and Township of Almondbury, wherein the said Robert Nettleton then dwelt, and for and towards the making of such bridges and highways as should then or thereafter be in ruin and decay within the Township of Almondbury, and for and towards the preferment in marriage of such poor maids as should be born within the said town, or of such poor scholars as should be born in the said town whose parents were not able to prefer them respectively according to their calling, honest deserts and behaviour, and for the yearly ease and relief of the poor people within the said town, and for the erection of an almshouse for the perpetual relief of the poor therein," granted a rent charge of £3 6s. 8d. and certain lands and messuages situate at Mirfield, Dalton, Kirkheaton, and Burton Deyne to trustees who were to be assisted in their deliberations by six of the wealthiest, discreet, and godly disposed of the inhabitants

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 17"

of the said town. The first trustees were Sir Henry Savile of Methley, Knight and Baronet, Sir Richard Beaumont, of Whitley, Knight, Robert Kaye, of Woodsome, Willliam Ramsden, of Longley, John Armitage, of Kirklees, John Ramsden, of Lascelles Hall, Thomas Nettleton, of Thornhill Lees, and William Fenay, of the Fenay, Gentle- men. - The present trustees are Messrs. William Brooke, of Northgate Mount, Honley, Edward Brooke, of Meltham, Charles Ingram Armitage, of High Royd, Honley, John Arthur Brooke, of Fenay Hall, Joshua Littlewood, formerly of Newsome, now of Harrogate, James Priestley, of Taylor Hill, John Lancaster Shaw, formerly of Lockwood, now of Torquay, John Sykes, of Ashenhurst, and John Edward Taylor, of Almondbury. The " wealthy, discreet, and godly disposed " who assist the trustees and are usually called the "visitors "' are the Rev. William Foxley Norris, Vicar of Almondbury, Messrs. Joel Arlom, of Jackroyd, Joshua Day, of Moldgreen, Thomas Shaw, of Berry Brow, Arthur Vickerman Priestley, of Taylor Hill, Henry Taylor, of Scarwood Terrace, Newsome, and Joseph Golden, of Almondbury. The trust fund now vested in the trustees consists of about £3,000 in 2% / stocks, and lands let upon sundry leases, farm lands and buildings providing the gross income of about £220. There is also an almshouse, the site of which costing £63 2s. od. was given by Sir John William Ramsden in 1861. The monumental brass in the church, erected by the managers of the trusts founded by Robert Nettleton, preserves the memory of this pious benefactor of the village which in life he adorned and in death did not forget. It is believed that Robert Nettleton occupied an ancient timber and stone building with two gables and a "pent" or porch situate near the church, known as "* Pentice End." The building was also once known as " the Old Rectory" and a room in it was called ® the Ancient Priest's Chamber."

N

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178 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Let us now consider the Wormall charity : Tuz or Israrr was one of some an- tiquity in Almondbury. His great grandfather Isaac Wormall was buried in the church at Almondbury, in the Beaumont Chapel on the 29th of May, 1642. The tomb- stone has been removed to the Churchyard in consequence of structural alterations. It displays the Wormall Arms, Three Boars couped, and an Esquire's Helmet, and the record, plain and unembellished : " Here lyeth the body of Isaac Wormall, of Almondbury, who was buryed the twenty-ninth day of May, Anno 1642, aged 42 years.'' One of the few ancient dwellings in this district that have withstood the innovating hand, Wormall's Hall, was the residence of Isaac Wormall. It stands in Kirk- gate, opposite the Almondbury Church, a two storied building, with projecting upper storey. The rooms are low and panelled with oak, the upper room occupying the entire length of the whole structure. An archway at the south side leads to what were doubtless once the gardens and orchard of a substantial yeoman's home, commanding a prospect of wooded valley, unsurpassed, perhaps unequalled, by that of any mansion in the district. Over the front of the central door are the date and initials : W I 1631 M. The building is now occupied by the Almondbury Working Men's Conservative Association. Isaac Wormall the Elder was succeeded by a son, Isaac, who was buried at Almondbury, 11th July, 1659. To him was born a son Israel, in 1654, and he again had a son, Israel, who died in London, in September 5, 1737, but his will showed him not forgetful of the ancient home of his forefathers. It was dated 11th August, 1724, and it left a

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 179

+

yearly stipend of £5 for ever to the schoolmaster of Almond- bury and sundry lands and rent-charges the income whereof was to be applied for the placing out of such poor children of the Parish of Almondbury as the Trustees of his charity should approve, to be apprenticed to any of the lower sorts of Trade or Manufacture or Husbandry. Israel Wormall died without issue and it is a fact that all may ponder and moralize upon that long after his death a relation of his by the half blood was dependent in infirmity upon the benevolence of the Trustees of her ancestor's charity. For may years prior to 1881 much dissatisfaction prevailed as to the application of the revenues of the property comprised in the Trust Estate affected by the terms of Israel Wormall's will. Those revenues had considerably increased, and, as frequently happens, the Trustees of the charity were much exercised in mind as to how to dispose of their funds in such a manner as to be consistent alike with the Founder's intentions and the altered needs of their own day and generation. In that year accordingly, a scheme was approved by Her Majesty in Council, which dealt to some extent with the Nettleton and Wormall charities, and also determined the future Government of the Grammar School. By that scheme the administration of the school was vested in thirteen Governors, of whom seven are to be termed Representative and six Co-optative Governors. Of the former class, one is to be nominated by the Archbishop of York for the time being, one by the trustees of Nettle- ton's Charity, so long as they pay to the school the yearly sum of £25; one by the Justices of the Peace of the Petty Sessional Division of Upper Agbrigg, one by the Justices of the Borough of Huddersfield, and three by the Guardians of the Poor of the ancient Parish of Almondbury. The Representative Governors are elected for a term of five

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I 80 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

years. The Co-optative Governors consisted originally of eight persons named in the scheme, and vacancies in their number are to be filled by the general body of the Governors. The visitor of the school is His Grace the Lord Archbishop of York, and the present governing body consists of Miss Siddon and the following gentlemen :-

Joun ArtHur BrookE, Esq., J.P_ __ W. H. SikEs, Esq. WIrrIam BrooKkE, Esq., J.P. Joun EpwarDp TAaAyLOR, Esq. The Rev. A. Davies. T. TayrorR, Esq. The Rev. R. H. Mappox, B.D. J. E. Wirrans, Esq., J.P. The Rev. W. FoxreEy Norris, M.A. W. WarigLEy, Esq., J.P. Joun SyKkEs, Esq.

It is distinctly declared that religious opinion or attendance or non-attendance at any particular form of religious worship shall not in any way affect the qualification of any person for being a Governor under the scheme, and whilst there is a proviso that religious instruction in accordance with the doctrine of the Church of England shall be given in the school, there is a conscience clause that exempts from attending prayer or religious worship or from lessons on religious subjects, any scholar whose parent or guardian shall by written notice demur to such instruction or attendance. Twelve scholarships are created by the scheme, six to be called King's scholarships, six Wormall's scholarships. The Wormall's scholarships and at least two of the King's scholarships may be competed for by boys who are being and have for at least three years been educated at any of the public elementary schools in the ancient Parish of Almondbury, and the provisions affecting these scholar- ships are to be of such a nature as to attract good scholars to the school and advance education at the public elementary schools. The other four King's scholarships are open to general competition among the youths of the ancient parish. A yearly sum of £50, is to be applied to maintenance

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 181

scholarships, each of an annual value of not less than £10 and not more than £25, for the assistance presumably of boys whose fortunes are not so bright as their parts. Provision is also made for the institution, when the income of the Foundation permits, of Foundation scholarships to be enjoyed as the reward of excellence in work in the Admission or future School examinations. A yearly sum

of £50 is also granted to the Huddersfield Technical School, in consideration of which the Governors are to

have power to nominate six pupils to attend the Classes of the College free of fees.

No minutes of the proceedings of the Governors before 1821 exist, but Canon Hulbert, in his ZZistory of A/mondbury, mentions the following documents as preserved in the school chest :

1609. Petition of the Governors of the school to Sir Thomas Parry, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, requesting the King's Letters Patent for the Foundation of the School. The Petition is signed by WILLIAM RAMSDEN, RIC. BEAMONT (sic). G. CROSLAND, ISRAEL WORMALL, RV KAYE, N. FENAY, ROBERT NETTLETON.

From other documents in the chest we learn that the following gentlemen have been Governors of the School in addition to the original founders who signed the petition, and to those I have already mentioned as constituting the

present administrative and governing body :

1641. Sir John Kaye, of Denby Grange, Bart. 1642. Sir John Kaye, of Woodsome, Bart. 1648. Thomas Naylor, Vicar of Almondbury. Robert Nettleton, of Thornhill Lees, Gent. 1695. John Wilkinson, of Greenhead, Esq. 1700. Wm. Horsfall, of Storths Hall, Esq. Rev. Carus Philipson, Vicar of Almondbury. Richd. Armitage, of Deadmanstone, Gent.

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182 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

1727. Rev. Thomas Heald, of Huddersfield. Abraham Radcliffe, of A!lmondbury, Gent. 1734. Sir John Lister Kaye, of Grange Hall, Bart. 1750. John Kaye, of Grange, Esq. Wm. Radcliffe, Esq. North, Gent. John Radcliffe, Gent. 180g. John Lister Kaye, of Denby Grange, Esq. Joseph Scott, of Woodsome, Esq. Joseph Walker, of Lascelles Hall, Gent. Joseph Green Armytage, Gent. Rd. Hy. Beaumont, Whitley Hall, Esq. George Armitage, of High Royd House, Esq. 1816. Joseph Armitage, 6 Ben Haigh Allen, of Greenhead Esq. Ben North Rockley Battye, of Fenay Hall, Esq. 1848. William Walker Battye, of Thorpe Villa, Esq. George Armitage, of Edgerton, Esq. William Leigh Brook, of Meltham Hall, Esq. John Nowell, of Farnley Wood, Gent. 1855. Bentley Shaw, of Lockwood, Esq. Charles Brook, Junr.; of Meltham, Esq. 1858. Thomas Brooke, of Fenay Lodge, Esq. 1860. Rev. Lewis Jones, Vicar of Almondbury. 1867. Sir John William Ramsden, Bart. The Revd. Canon Hulbert, M.A. C. L. Brooke, Esq. Henry Butterworth, Esq. James Kilburn, Esq. James Priestley, Esq.

The list of Head-masters with, I fear, some omissions, with their dates is as follows :-

- Smith. George Ferrand. 1695. Abraham Walker, B.A. 1700. Rev. Obadiah Porrit. 1727. Samuel Brooke, M.A. Walter Smith, B.A.

Rev. John Coates, Senr. ) Locum 1847. Rev. Thos. Atkinson, M.A. j Tenentes.

1848. Rev. A. Easther, M.A. 1876. Rev. Thos. Newton, B.A. 1878. Rev. Frank Marshall, M.A. 1896. L. F. Griffiths, B.A.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 183

During recent years Almondbury Grammar School has taken high rank among the educational institutions of Yorkshire. Among the more distinguished of its latter day one may recall the names of :

Rev. J. P. Whitney, son of the Vicar of Marsden, who was

24th Wrangler, and took a First Class in the Historical Tripos of his university.

I. M. Thornton, Scholar of St. Catherine's College, Cambridge, and 4th Wrangler.

Craven Cudworth, Scholar of King's, and now Master at Leeds Grammar School.

S. Brown, Headmaster Beaminster Grammar School, Dorset.

I cannot conclude this notice of the Almondbury Grammar School without acknowledging with thanks the

assistance I have received in its composition from Mr.

Charles Hall, Solicitor, Huddersfield, from the present Head Master, and from his predecessor.

Page 206

CHAPTER IX.

T would be quite impossible to submit an adequate presentment of the condition of this district before its whole character was transformed by the expansion of what is now its distinctive industry without somewhat ample reference to three families, that have occupied and still maintain prominent positions in the neighbourhood. At any time the existence in any locality of a family marked out and exalted above the ordinary by the possession of large landed estates, and the power, authority and influence such possessions carry in their train, must affect the people of the district for good or for evil. Much more potent and far reaching must that influence have been in times when education and refinement were, immeasurably more than now, the almost exclusive birthright of the few, and people were more prone to bow before the pretensions, sometimes well founded, often exaggerated, of the titled and the rich. The reader will concur probably with me in thinking that on a survey of the history of our town and vicinity three families stand out in our local records with such prominence as to require such specific notice :-I mean those of Beaumont of Whitley Beaumont, Kaye of Wood- some, and Ramsden of Longley Hall, whilst a similar concurrence of opinion will, I think, justify me at a later stage of this work, in closely identifying at least one other family with the extraordinary industrial and social progress that has so happily marked the history of the town during the present century. And in naming the families of Beaumont, Kaye and Ramsden, one cannot but be struck by the reflection, how happily they seem to illustrate three aspects, if not three eras, of our national life, I

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mean the feudal, the pastoral, and the commercial, for of these great houses one was founded by a Norman soldier, another by an English yeoman, and the third and later by an acute and far-seeing speculator, him- self apparently knowing nothing either of the knightly sword or the peaceful arts of husbandry. About two miles east of Kirkheaton, below the crest of an elevated plain that slopes gently to the setting sun, stands Whitley Beaumont, the ancient seat of the Bellmontes or Beaumonts, much of the present structure dating back to the time of the Tudors, but with many alterations and additions of the Hanoverian period. A very elaborate pedigree of this knightly house is set forth at length in Foster's "* Yorkshire Pedigrees," to transcribe which in full, would be but to weary and probably perplex the general reader, but I cull from it what will suffice, I trust, to trace the history of the descent of Whitley Beaumont, and to revive the memory of such members of the family as have resided in the ancient hall. In the year 1294, in the reign of Edward I., Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, whom I have already had occasion to mention, was tenant ix capite of the ancestral lands of which the follower of the Conqueror had been enfeoffed. He appears to have made a considerable grant at Whitley to Wirri1am pE BELLomMontE. To him succeeded Sir Ricxarp pE BeErromonTtrE, who died before the feast of St. Barnabas the Apostle, 21, Ed. I., and married Annabella, daughter of ........................ who in her widowhood had a grant of lands in Hodres- field from Henry Lacy, earl of Lincoln. His successor in the lordship of Whitley-Beaumont was Sir Romrert pE BELromoNnNTE, Knight, who in the 31 Edward I. was seized of the manors of Over Whitley,

Crossland and Huddersfield ; who in 16 Edward II.

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186 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

was a Commissioner of Array, and who married Agnes, daughter of John de Querenby or Quarmby. He was one of 184 Knights of the County of York summoned to attend at Westminster. To him : Sir Joun pe BErromoNTE, Knight, Lord of Whitley Beaumont 21 Edw : III. In 1332 he gave to Adam, son of Alexander Ratcliffe, lands in Crossland. He settled his manor of Crossland on his sons, John and Robert, by deed dated at Crossland, on Sunday next after the feast of Corpus Christi, 1354. He married Margaret, daughter of ............ , by Magota, his wife, daughter of Richard Radcliffe of Radcliffe Tower, seized of Crossland Foss in dower. This son Robert would be the Sir Robert Beaumont of the Elland Feud.* To Sir John de Bellomonte succeeded Joun pe BELromoNnNTE, who married Alicia, daughter of Adam de Hopton, and died without issue, the estates passing therefore to Rosert pB of Whitley Beaumont, who was found heir to his elder brother, 28 Edw : III., and three years subsequently quit-claimed all his lands of inheritance to the younger and third brother, Henry pe BerromontE, who on 4 March, 45 Edw : III., was also found to be heir-male to Robert Beaumont and Agnes his wife. He was bound with all his sons to Sir John Assheton, Knt., by indenture date 15, Richard II. - By his will, dated Monday next after the Feast of St. John Baptist, 1396, he desired to be buried at Almondbury. It was in 1371 that 'Henry de Bellomonte succeeded to the family estates, and in 1389 he was indicted at York for the murder of John Darcy of Clifton, and acquitted. The indictment charged that Henry de Beaumont having a quarrel with Sir John Assheton, the latter harried the castle of

*See Appendix.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 187

: mme:

Beaumont at Crosland, Darcy being one of Assheton's party ; and that Beaumont gave Darcy a mortal wound with a sword on the right side of the head. To him Henry Beavmont-the reader will observe the modernized form of the surname-of Whitley Beaumont, who had livery of his lands in 6 Henry IV. To him, RicHxarp of Whitley Beaumont, who married Cecilia Mirfield, 35 Henry VI. He and his wife obtained license from the Archbishop of York to have an oratory in their house for three years. The following copy of the will of Richard Beaumont is interesting evidence of the great hold of the Church upon the lay mind : " In the name of God, Amen. On the first day of December, in the year of our Lord 1469, I, Richard Beaumont of Whitley, sound of mind and of healthy memory, make and ordain my will in this manner. - In the first place, I bequeath my soul to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and. all His Saints and my body to be buried in the Church of St. John the Baptist, in the Choir of the blessed Mary of Heton. Item, I bequeath in the name of a Mortuary my best animal according to the custom of the Parish. Item, I bequeath to the High Altar of Heton, two shillings. Item, I bequeath to the Hospital of St. Thomas of Canterbury in Rome, forty pence. Item, I bequeath to the Brother- hood of Knaresboro', twelve pence. Item, I bequeath to the Friars of the Order of St. Francis of Doncaster, two shillings. Item, I bequeath to the Friars of the Order of St. Augustine, of Tickhill, two shillings. Item, I bequeath to the preaching Friars of Pontefract, twenty pence. Item, I bequeath to Elizabeth, my daughter, twenty marks, for full satisfaction of her...... portion. Item, I bequeath to Alicia, my daughter, twenty marks, for full satisfaction of her...... portion.

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1838 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

The rest of my goods not above bequeath, I give and bequeath to Robert, Christopher, Richard, and William. Item, I ordain and constitute the aforesaid Robert, Christopher and William my sons, to be my executors. Item, I ordain and constitute Robert Nevate, of Liver- sedge, Thomas my son and heir, and Brian Midelton to be my supervisors. In testimony whereof I have affixed my seal, these being witness, Thomas Beaumont my son and heir, William Dalton, the Chaplain, and others. Dated on the day and year aforesaid." To Richard Beaumont succeeded Tnomas BrEavmont, of Whitley Beaumont, Esquire, who, in 1456, married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Nevile, of Liversedge, Esquire. His will, dated June 25th, 1495, directs his burial in the church at Heaton. To him, Ricnarp of Whitley Beaumont, Esquire, some- time resident in London and Westminster, who, in 21 Henry VII., paid a fine of five pounds to be released from being made a Knight of the Bath, and pleaded the same at the Coronation of the Prince of Wales, 7 Henry VIII. By patent, dated May 10th, 1573, he was authorized to add a crest to his ancient coat of armour. Richard Beaumont married Johanna, the daughter of John Sandford of Thorp Salvin, co. York, and their son, Roger, dying young, the estates passed to Ricxarp Beaumont, of Whitley Beaumont, Justice of the Peace for the County of York, who, on his majority, succeeded to his grandfather. He died intestate, 11th March, 1573, and was buried in the church at Heaton. He married first, Katherine, daughter of Sir Robert Nevile, of Liversedge; second, Alice, daughter of Robert Nettleton, of Thornhill Lees, Esquire. To him,

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 189

Enwarp BeEavnmont, of Whitley Beaumont, Esquire, who

SIR

on 16th October, 1571, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Ramsden, of Longley, Esquire, a marriage which connected, if but slightly, the houses of Beaumont and Ramsden, as a later marriage introduced a relationship with the family of Kaye of Woodsome. - Edward Beaumont died January 3rd, 17 Eliz., and was buried at Kirkheaton. To him, Beaumont, of Whitley Beaumont, who was born at \\ hitley, Aug. 2nd, 1574, and was knighted by James I., July 23rd, 1609. On May 18, 1613, he had a commission to command 200 of the trained bands, in 15 James I., he was a Justice of the Peace, and a treasurer for lame soldiers of the West Riding. He was returned member of Parliament for Pontefract in 1625, and created a Baronet, Aug. 19, 1628. He died, without having married, Oct. 20, 1631, and by his will, dated 22nd August, 1631, he devised the Whitley Beaumont estates to his cousin. A monument in multi-coloured marble to the memory of Sir Richard stands against the north wall of the Beaumont Chapel in Kirkheaton Church. A mural slab of considerable size is graved with the family arms and inscribed is the legend:

" Here lyeth the Body of Sir Richard Beaumont of Whitley Hall, in the Countie of York, Knight and Baronet, who departed this life the 20th day of October (anno aetatis suae 58), Anno Domini 1631, expecting a glorious resurrection at the coming of Christ: who dyinge unmarried made Thomas Beaumont, sonne and Heire apparent to Richard Beaumont of Kesburgh, in ye Countie of York, Esq., one of his Executors and heire to his Parke at Sandall, and to his ancient inheritance in Whitley, South Crosland, Meltham, and Lepton, lyeing in the said Countie, who having performed ye trust in him reposed, in memorie of his worthie kinsman hath caused this memorial to be executed. post sinera virtus."

A life size marble figure of the departed Knight is recumbent at the base of the tablet. To him,

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190 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Sir Tnxomas BEavMont, the son of Richard Beaumont of Lascelles Hall, born in 1605, and baptized at Mirfield. Thomas Beaumont was designed for the profession of the law and was entered as a student at the Middle Temple. The times however were not times of peace, and the law gave way to the sword. When the civil war broke out, Thomas Beaumont abandoned his books and took service on the King's side, being enrolled as serjeant-major in the regiment of Sir William Savile. In the following year he was appointed deputy-governor and in 1643, governor of Sheffield Castle.: _ He was Lieut.-Col. of the Yorkshire Militia and shared in the adversities that befel the Royalist arms. On the Restoration, Charles II., who was occasionally mindful of the sacrifices of the Royalist gentry of England, dubbed him Knight. He died May 31, 1668, and was buried at Kirkheaton. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Gregory Armytage of Netherton. To him, as son and heir, succeeded Apam of Whitley Beaumont, Esquire, who was born March 17th, 1631, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Kaye, of Woodsome, died November 17, 1655, and was buried at Kirkheaton. This marriage allied the families of Beaumont, Kaye, and Ramsden. To him, Ricxarp BEavmont, of Whitley Beaumont, Esquire, only son and heir. Baptized at Kirkheaton, May 4th, 1654 ; married Frances, daughter of Sir William Lowther, of Swillington, Co: York ; died March ist, 1691 and was buried at Kirkheaton. To him, RicHnarbp Beaumont, of Whitley Beaumont, only son and heir, born at Whitley, Sep. 2, 1677; married, June 11, 1699, Katherine, only daughter and heiress of Thomas Stringer, of Sharleston, Co: York. Died without issue, June 27, 1704. The estates therefore passed to

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. IQ I

BEavmont, son of Richard Beaumont of Las- celles Hall, grandson of Sir Thomas Beaumont. This Richard Beaumont was some time in the retinue of Christopher, Duke of Albemarle, and afterwards with the Duchess, and on his return to England was a Captain in Lord Castleton's regiment of foot from 1692-1700: High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1713. He was born at Lascelles Hall, Oct. 8, 1670; married susanna, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Horton, of Barkisland ; died Nov. 14, 1723, and was buried at Kirkheaton. To him succeeded Henry of Whitley Beaumont, Esquire, who dying unmarried in 1743, was followed by his brother, RicHarp BEavmont, of Whitley Beaumont, Esquire, who married Elizabeth, daughter of William Holt, of Gizzlehurst, Co: Lancaster, Esquire, who had two sons RicHarpo - HEnry - BEavmont, of Whitley Beaumont, Esquire, who was High Sheriff in 1793, and dying unmarried was succeeded by his brother, Joun Beaumont, of Whitley Beaumont, Esquire, who was born in 1752, was Lieutenant in the 29th Regiment of Foot and Captain of the Yorkshire Volunteers, enrolled in 1794, and married Sarah, daughter of Humphrey Butler, Esquire. To him, Henry BEAUMONT, LL.D., who was born May 22nd, 1777, and was constituted tenant for life with remainder to the heirs of his body, by the will of his uncle, Richard Henry Beaumont. He married Martha, daughter of Stephen Hemsted, M.D., of East Ilsley, Co: Berks. To him, Ricxarp Henry BrEavmont, of Whitley Beaumont, born Aug. 5th, 1805, Captain in the 2nd West York Militia, and Sub-Lieutenant in the 2nd Life Guards. By the

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I Q2 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Royal sign manual dated May 18th, 1827, the arms of the family were confirmed and exemplified in his person. He died in 1857, having devised the Whitley Beaumont estates to his godson, HEnry Fr.perick BEavmunNt, of Whitley Beaumont, Esquire, the present owner, whose descent from the knight of Plantagenet times, it would not be difficult to trace: but I have thought that the subject with which this work is professedly concerned required that the account of the Beaumont family should be limited to those of its members who have been lords of Whitley Beaumont. The present owner, Mr. H. F. Beaumont, has more than once sat in Parliament in the Liberal interest, but his name will perhaps be longer associated with the town and neighbourhood of Huddersfield, from the circumstance that the park which bears his family's name was given by him to the people of the district.

WOODsSOM E.

The earliest owners of Woodsome, or rather, perhaps, the earliest with whom we may concern ourselves, were the Tyases, whose name is still preserved in the adjunct Farnley Tyas. A Henricus Teutonicus, of which surname Tyas is the somewhat fanciful corruption, had a grant of the Manor of Slaithwaite, between 1195 and 1211, from Roger de Laci. Another, Sir Baldwin Teutonicus vel Ties, was living in 1235, and was Lord of Lede and Farnley, and buried at Lede. He married Margaret, daughter of Hugh Elland, of Elland. His son and heir was Sir Francis or Sir Franco Tyas, who was living in the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I., and was buried at Lede. In the later reign we find Sir Frances Tyas, Knight, brought an action in the Court of Wakefield

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Spm ifs/v. p - S98

+ V € a a I, € & S » * ~ % a> CY y h pae J C we?

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

against " Germanum Mercer," who apparently had, says Canon Hulbert, "arrested the horse of the plaintiff's squire, in consequence of which the latter was unable to attend his knight, to the great disgrace and loss of the knight. The plaintiff, for this affront, recovered 100 shillings, equal to at least as many pounds at present." The Tyas family continued owners of land in Slaithwaite and Farnley, for in the None Roll Edward I., Agbrigg, 1298, we find the entry :-*" Slaithwaite, John Tyeis, Peter de Wildboreleye (Wilberlee)" ; but it is stated by Whitaker, in his Zoidis et E/lmete, that "in the 20th Richard II. the reversion of the Manor of Woodsome, after the death of Alice, Lady Mirfield, and John Kaye, was granted to Laurence Kay, his son, which is the first mention of the name in Woodsome," and we are also informed by Whitaker that in the time of Henry VIII. there was a lawsuit for the Manor of Slaithwaite, which, from the time of John le Tyas, had accompanied Wood- some, between Charles Yarburgh and Arthur Kaye, when both parties claimed as heirs of the body of John Tyas the younger, and apparently the claim of the Kaye claimant prevailed. Intermediate, however, between the Tyas and the Kaye families were the Finchendens, for on October 8th, 1372, we find John Bothilden and Olive his wife make Richard Butler or Bulter their attorney to deliver seisin of the Manor of Woodsome, and all lands in Farnley to Sir William Fynchden and Alice his wife. The rights of the Fynchden probably merged by marriage in those of the Kayes, and the arms on the window of the Kaye Chapel at Almondbury and on the shield over the fire place at Wood- some, the arms of the Finchendens are quartered with those of Kaye. - Miss Farrand, in her interesting‘monograph, Records of Woodsome Hall, states that Dame Alice Finchen- den granted the reversion of Woodsome to Laurence Kaye,

O

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the son of John Kaye, and it seems certain that in the reign of Richard II., in the fourteenth century, the Kayes were established at Woodsome, as a reference to the Poll Tax which I have already set out at length seems to establish. The following pedigree of the Kayes of Woodsome is contained in Foster's VYorksAire Pedigrees :-

KAYE OF WOODSOME.

| WILLIAM KAYE.

t . JOHN KAYE OF WOODSOME.

| John Kaye Laurence Kaye = Cecily d. of Willm.

of Woodsome Bradshaw

John Kaye of Woodsome 6 Henry VI. = daughter of William Skargill

John Kaye of Wodsome living 38 Henry VI. = Jane, d. of John Lacy of Cromwell Botham. - The Lacy Arms are impaled with those of Kaye.

William Kaye of Woodsome.

George Kaye of

Margaret, d. of James Woodsome

T Radcliffe of Longley, | : Lancaster |

Arthur Kaye of Beatrix, daughter of

Wooodsome, Matthew Wentworth, living temp of Bretton. Henry VIII.

In the Woodsome Manuscript, quoted by Canon Hulbert, we read " Arthur Kaye, of Woodsome, Esquire, was Justice of the Peace many years, until his wife died, and then giving up his house into the hands of his son John, dwelt in Lancashire for quietness, and so was discharged of his (of the Peace). He had Woodsome, &c., in his own hands about fifty years. He was possessed by heirship of Woodsome, Farnley Tyas, and Slaithwaite, and purchased among other places the Royd House, at the

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bottom of Farnley Bank, Me House and Manor of Denby Grange, with all the members and free rents thereto appertaining, in Brustwell, Flockton, Whiteley and Emley, and also the Manor of Lingards. He built a Hall at Slaughwaite, where, after marrying a second wife in his old age, he probably lived the latter end of his lifetime until his death, which was on the 16 October, 1575 or 1578." Over the fireplace in the great hall at Woodsome, are in large capitals over a foot high, the words ARTHUR * KAY - BEATRIX * KAY. with the escutcheon quartered as above, and there is a portrait of Arthur Kaye in gown and girdle, reclining, and, as if proceeding from his loins, branches with the heads of his sons and daughters and their fruit-Zructus Wodsoniae domus, and beneath, attempt at combining art and genealogy,

are the lines :

* Here Arthur lies in quiet rest, Who justly delt and none opprest,

This tree too sprung out of his brest, His fruit, O Christ, that follow Thee be blest."

The Manor House of Slaithwaite still exists standing at the end of what was formerly the old turnpike road from Slaithwaite to Huddersfield, Almondbury and Woodsome, a rectangular building in Elizabethan style. The most ancient portion of it, that at the eastern end, contains two rooms on the ground floor, now used as offices for the transaction of the estate business, and the rooms above formerly used as the drill-hall and armoury of the 34th West York Rifle Volunteers. The structure is built of solid stone some three feet thick, the windows had stout frames with diamond panes. The partitions and joists were of oak, but this has in recent times been converted into chairs for use in the room of the Court Leet. There is also a long oak table, so large that it could not have been conveyed into the chamber, either by the former narrow

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doors or windows. How it got there was a standing puzzle to our Slaithwaite forefathers, a problem not less perplexing than George III. is said to have found the apple in the dumpling and one may suggest the solution is the same. In the Manor-House yard is a solid stone pillar six feet high, commonly known as the Dial Stone, and fifty years ago there was a sun dial there, still remembered, but now no more to - be seen. It is believed it replaced a still earlier cross, for the old inhabitants can remember meetings being summoned to the sun dial. At the back of the Manor House stood and still stands a public house now called the @/ode, formerly TZe Silent Woman. The sign displayed the figure of a kead/ess woman ; hence and only hence was silence! In the lodge room of the Silent Woman the early fathers and founders of Pole Chapel first gathered.* To Arthur Kaye succeeded his son Joun Kaye, of Woodsome, Esquire, Justice of the Peace, 1585, who married Dorothy d. of Robert Manleverer, of Wothersome, Co: York. He purchased among other things, Burton Mill, and the rent and suit of Court of Thomas Storrs, probably of Storths Hall, and a moiety of woods in Honley, with the Royalties, a Corn Mill, a Walk Mill, and other estates there of Sir Robt. Stapleton, Knt. He had nine sons and three daughters. In 1588 he got himself discharged from the Commission of the Peace, and went, like his father before him, to live at Slaithwaite. He interested him- self generously in the interests of the church, not only at Slaithwaite, but elsewhere. In the Notitia Paro- chialis No. 4, 349, we read : ®" The ancient chapel of Slaithwaite being much decayed, was repaired and en- larged at the charge of John Kaye and his tenants and other inhabitants in 1593." Under the Kaye Arms in- Honley Chapel, were the lines :

* From the M.S. of Mr. J. E. Freeman, B.A., of Slaithwaite.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 1 Q7

Newman m- me ~ wm men n cmmmmmmmentmn mmm: = oe me mma = » Z -n maen ~s ~ mmm - H _.. -

*I, John Kaye, Esquire, and Justice of the Peace, The ground of this Isle doth freely release, To joyn to this Chapel for ever and aye That the people may have the more room to praye, If wicked laws come to pull the chapel down, Then witness I give to the poor of the town."

It would appear that John Kaye was something of a rhymster if not a poet. His portrait and that of Arthur Kaye, are flanked by poetic effusions that bespeak a good heart if not an accomplished muse. The display of the presentations of the various families with which the Kayes had or claimed alliance, is explained by the verses :

These armes yt followe In this way, Are kin to Woodsom bi John Kay. These armes subscribed here so ryfe are kin to Woodsom by his wiffe. And again, This monument doth represent a thing that erst hath bene, As doth this work by dyvers coats of sundry frends I wene, Sith ancestry by armorye and vertuouse renowne, Hath bene regardyd and rewardyd with castle and with towne,

I think it skill to shew good wil such soothe here to renewe That when they spy their armorye their virtewes may ensewe.

When I am dead and laid in mould mi picture here ye may behold Whose care was great to teach you good before ye wisdom und'stood Learne ye therefore to excel, in vertew and in lyvinge well The gayne is yours in godly life ye payne is theirs yt live in str'fe When quarrels ryse yt provke Yre tread them down in you desir When brethrene live in unitie no greatr reward on earth can be Thus sarve yor God in charite and keep my pose's ma' fullie.

Sithe earthe to earthe must make refuge bi Gods appointed will Sithe worldly thinges must have an end ye scriptures to fulfil Sithe joys or payne must need remaine unto all.... Be wise in making enterprise before ye thinges begynne

Let wisdom weyve ye webbe I say yt virtew may advance So shall your doynges not decay nor fall into mischance.

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The following is so much superior in matter and manner to the above as to suggest that it was perhaps

adopted : VITA UXORIS HONESTAE To live at home in housewyverie To order well my famylye To see they lyve not Idyillye To bring upe childrene vertuislye To relyeue poor foulk willinglye This is my care with modestye To live my lyfe in honestye-

lines which I venture to think might be pondered with

advantage by the maidens of to-day with a view to recasting their ideals; tho' I hesitate to complete the quotations with John Kay's tristich :

Obeying our husbands in what lawful is Who housewifelye taketh delightyng in this Well may be called good matron or maistris.

To John Kaye succeeded Rosert Kaye, of Woodsome, Esquire, Justice of the Peace in 1612, and treasurer for lame soldiers, 36-40, Eliz. He married Anne, daughter of John Flower, of Whitwell, Co : Rutland, who bore him Joun Kavyr, of Wothersome, Justice of the Peace, and Treasurer for lame soldiers, 16, James I, who married Anne, daughter of Sir John Ferne, Knt., of Temple Belwood, Isle of Axholme, who was Secretary to the Council of the North, temp Charles I. John Kaye died in 1641, at the commencement of the civil troubles, leaving a son. Sir Joun Kaye, of Woodsome, who for his loyalty was advanced by Charles I. to the dignity of a Baronet. He, too, was Treasurer of lame soldiers, 23rd, Charles I. He served with distinction in the Civil War on the Royalist side, being a Colonel of a regiment of Horse, and in consequence was severely mulcted by the Republican Parliament. _ He however lived to see the

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nd

Restoration, dying July 25, 1662. Despite his military activity he did not neglect the gentler claims of love, marrying thrice, and it is curious to observe that his third wife before her death enjoyed the confidence of four husbands, her last being the Earl of Eglinton. The first Baronet was succeeded by Sir Kaye, of Woodsome, Baronet, who from 1685 to 1698, and again from 1700 to his death, sat in Parlia- ment for his native county. A minute in the Rev.

R. Meeke's diary is as follows :

1690, Feb. 19.-Arose about two o'clock this morning and went with Mr. Brown towards York, about ten we came to Leeds, and refreshed ourselves, and then to Tadcaster, and so at 5 o'clock to York. 1690, 20th. -Blessed be God, arose in a measure of health, though I was somewhat wearied, about 9 we went in the castle yard to shout for the Knights of the Shire, viz: John Fairfax and Sir John Kay, they were both chosen, none op- posed them. _ About 11, returned back, called at Tadcaster, and then to Leeds.

1690, 2Ist.-Arose in health again, praised be God, tho' yesterday through company I stay'd too late up, about 11 we came to Brighouse and so homeward.

Extracts that may serve to show the inconvenience and expenses of voting two hundred years ago. Sir John married Anne, daughter of William Lister, of Thornton-in-Craven. _ He left two sons, Arthur and George. Sir Artuur Kayr, of Woodsome, third Baronet, and George Kaye. Sir Arthur married Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Samuel Marrow, of Berkswell, Co : Warwick, Bart. The following extract from the diary

of the Rev. Robt. Meeks alludes to this marriage :

Aug. 6th, 1690.-To-day, many people went (from Slaithwaite), to meet Sir John Kaye's son, who being lately married brought his wife to Woodsome. - I went with Mr. Broom (the curate of Meltham, but who resided at Linthwaite Hall), and my landlord, called at Woodsome, met with some company, with whom we went to one Holden's, on Wooley Edge, stayed

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awhile, then went further to Staincross Moor, where we met all the company, and then returned with them to Woodsome. Stayed a little there, but came to Almondbury, called at Mr. Gibson's, and so home. There were many horses. Lord make me thankful that I came safe home, not hurt any way.

As issue of this marriage there was an only child and daughter, Elizabeth, who married George, Viscount Lewisham, and the Woodsome estates by will or marriage settlement were secured to the Legge or Dartmouth family, of which more presently. Sir Arthur was an unsuccessful candidate for Parliament. - I extract the following note from the Book of Remarks of William Horr. "In May 1708 there were five that stood candidates for the Knight of the Shire at Yorke, and the polling held three days :

My Lord Downes had poll for him {e 4737 Sir William Strickland had -. - 3452 Mr. Darcy had ». . 6. . 3257 Sir Arthur Kaye had 6. ». c. - 3136 His Honor Wentworth had but .. . - 958 In all the polls there was .. . 15540

In default of male issue to Sir Arthur, the Baronetcy and the

SIR

SIR

Denby Grange estate passed to his nephew, the son of his brother George. Joun ListER-KavE, 4th Baronet, the name of Lister being prefaced to the family name of Kaye in honour of a maternal relative and benefactor. Sir John Lister- Kaye married Ellen, the daughter of John Wilkinson, of Greenhead, who bore him Joun ListER-Kaye, of Denby Grange, 5th Baronet, who was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1761, but died

in 1789 without having married, and devised his estates to

Joun ListER-KavyeE, who was himself created a Baronet

Dec. 28th, 1812, and married the Lady Amelia Grey,

daughter of the Earl of Stamford and Warrington. Their son was "

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 20 I

Sir Joun ListER ListER-Kaye, who was the 2nd Baronet of the new creation, and married Matilda, daughter of George Arbuthnot, Esq. From him is descended the present Baronet, Sir John Pepys Lister-Kaye, who is the lineal head of the ancient and honourable family of Kaye, of Woodsome, though that patrimony was, as we have seen, dissevered from the family name by the marriage of Elizabeth Kaye with George Legge, Viscount Lewisham. The Legges were of an Irish family, and we learn from the Dartmouth MSS., published by Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswoode, that William Legge, eldest son of Edward Legge and Mary Walsh, was brought out of Ireland by Henry Danvars, Earl of Danby, President of Munster, his godfather, who had promised to take care of his education. He was placed in the army with some small commission, and saw service in the Low Countries. On his return he found favour at Court, and became a groom of the bedchamber in the Household of the ill-fated Charles I. Later, he returned to active employment in his profession, taking part under Lord Newport in the expedition against the Scots. When the Civil War broke out he remained faithful to his royal master, holding a com- mission in the celebrated and dreaded regiment generalled by Prince Rupert. He was in the battle of Newark, was taken prisoner at Dunsmore Heath, either escaped or was exchanged, and was again compelled to surrender his sword at Lichfield. During the negotiations with the King which preceded the final catastrophe and during which the King was in residence at Hampton Court, nominally free but actually under surveillance, Legge was one of the gentle- men he selected as his attendants, and when the King resolved to break off the negotiations and attempt a renewal of the war, Legge was one of the three he chose as com-

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panions of his flight. By a strange error they rode in the direction of the Isle of Wight, and in a few days the King was a prisoner in Carisbrooke Castle.: Before his death on the scaffold, he commended Legge to his son, " take care of honest Will Legge, he is the faithfulest servant ever prince had." After the King's execution, Legge was detained as a prisoner for some time, but was ultimately released on condition of leaving the country. Naturally he joined the exiled Stuart Prince, and accom- panied him to Scotland when he crossed over to make a grasp at his father's crown. The Prince with a Scotch army advanced into England, was met by Cromwell at Worcester, Sep. 3, 1631, and routed at the sword's point. - Charles for some months was a fugitive in England, a price on his head. Legge was no longer with him, for at Worcester he had been sadly wounded and taken prisoner. - He was lodged in the gaol at Coventry, but there was one who was as faithful to him as he had been to his Royal master and with better reason-his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Washington, of Jackington, Co : Leicester. With a woman's quick wit she contrived to convey into the prison woman's clothing, and disguised in this he made his escape. During the Commonwealth he was active in conspiring against the state, participating in any and every plot that promised the restoration of the exiled dynasty. At the restoration he reaped his reward. His old emoluments were restored to him and he received, besides sundry places of more profit than responsibility, a pension of £500 for the joint lives of himself and his wife. He died Oct. 13th, 1670, in his eighty-third year. To him Lrcor, born 1647, educated at Westminster and King's College, Cambridge. He adopted the naval pro- fession, served at sea under Sir Edward Spragge, was successively commander of the Pembroke, the Fairfax,

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and the Royal Catherine, was governor of Portsmouth in 1673, and master of the Ordnance in 1678. In 1682, he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Dartmouth, and in 1683, was entrusted as admiral of the fleet with the dispersion of the pirates that infested the Mediter- ranean, and directed the demolition of Tangiers, receiving for this service a grant of £10,000 from the nation. Like his father he was a faithful adherent of the hing. Even such a King as James II. could not shake his loyalty. When William of Orange was invited to free England from its own King, Baron Dartmouth was sent with the fleet to intercept the Prince's armament, but was not successful. _ After the Restoration he was suspected of correspondence with the banished and dethroned monarch, and committed to the Tower where he died suddenly, on Oct. 25th, 1691, of apoplexy. There is reason to believe his loyalty had been wrongfully aspersed and the King himself assured his son that only death had forestalled his release. To him, his son, Wirr1am Lrcoor, second Baron, who, like a sensible man, accepting accomplished facts and the Parliamentary succession, devoted his attention to affairs of state and his energies to a political life, was sworn of the Privy Council on the accession of Anne, and in 1710 became secretary of State in the Tory administration of Godolphin, was created Earl of Dartmouth in 1710, and in 1713, when but forty years of age, was entrusted with the Privy Seal. - He married Anne Finch, daughter of Heneage, Earl of Aylesford, and died December 15th, 1759. His eldest son, Viscount Lewisham, had married the daughter of Sir Arthur Kaye, of Woodsome, who took the Woodsome manor and estates into the Dart- mouth family. Viscount Lewisham died in 1727, of

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small pox, leaving to succeed him in the ancestral honours and possessions, a son

Wirr1am, second Earl of Dartmouth, who, five years after

his accession to the earldom, married Frances Katherine, only daughter and heiress of Sir Charles Gunter Nicoll, K.B., with whom he received a considerable dowry. Shortly after his marriage the Earl was so fortunate as to secure the intimate friendship of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, and through her introduction, of Wesley and Whitefield, and the other leaders of the Methodist revival, one of whom writing of him so early as 1757, said "I have not the honour of Lord Dartmouth's acquaintance, but I hear he is full of grace and valiant for the truth-a lover of Christ, and an ornament of his gospel." He was referred to by Cowper as "one who wears a coronet, and prays," a conjunction more remarkable then than now. From August, 1772 to November, 1775, Lord Dartmouth was secretary of state for the Colonies in the cabinet of Lord North, that puppet of the King. It is probable he by no means favoured the high-handed policy towards America fostered by the King which led to the War of In- dependence and the loss of that immense continent to the Crown. His friend Wesley wrote to him protesting against the attempts to impose on America taxation without representation : " All my prejudices are against the Americans, for I am an High Churchman, the son of an High Churchman, bred up from my childhood in the highest notions of passive obedience and non-resis- tance, and yet in spite of all my rooted prejudice, I cannot avoid thinking that an oppressed people asked for nothing more than their legal right, and that in the most modest and inoffensive manner which the nature of the thing would allow." Before the close of the

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war in 1782, Lord North had become the most hated man in England. We can therefore well understand the following letter addressed to Lord Dartmouth by his Woodsome agent, July 16th, 1780 : " As your lordship has not heard from Woodsome this good while, I take the liberty to say all is safe and well, and the plantations of last spring tolerably promising, considering the cold and dry weather we have had. I mention our safety as we have not been free from alarm here, owing to a strange idle report that Lord North has fled from London and was with your lordship here. This was so much believed here by the common people, that a man came from Lascelles Hall one evening, and demanded an audience of Lord North, being told he was not here he grew abusive, and the next day a considerable num- ber of rabble, about forty, with horns, pans, and one gun, assembled on the Coombs to come again, and another body beyond Kirkheaton. But happily they were dissuaded from it." Lord Dartmouth died Nov. 4th, 1810, being succeeded in the earldom by his son, GEORGE, third Earl, born Oct. 3rd, 1755, Chamberlain in the Court of George III. and Knight of the Garter. He married the Lady Francis Finch, daughter of the fourth Earl of Aylesford, and died Nov. 4th, 1810, to whom Wirr1am, fourth Earl of Dartmouth, born 29th Nov. 1784, and died Nov. 22nd, 1853. He was twice married, first to the Lady Frances Charlotte, daughter of the second Earl Talbot, secondly to the Hon. Frances, daughter of George, fifth Viscount Barington. He had a large family, fifteen children in all. He is described by the late Canon Hulbert, who knew him well, as "a man of sound and clear judgment, great

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amiability and genuine benevolence, but of a very retired disposition." The following letter addressed by him to Canon Hulbert disblays the amiablity of his disposition and the benevolence of his heart, but leads one rather to question the soundness of his judgment, at least in matters scientific: " I regret that I have little knowledge of geology, but I have fancied that the older formation of the earth may possibly be the remains of many former worlds successively taken up (as we are taught that this world is to be), and that it may seem most consistent with reason, and not at variance with revelation, to believe that the work of creation and re-creation, may have been going on for everlasting. That the present race of men has not existed longer than the scripture narrative discloses, is, I think, substantiated by the actual moral condition of mankind, and the great extent of countries still un- peopled, when we consider the rapidly increasing ratio in which both population and civilization have been advancing in the course of the last few centuries. In former worlds it seems probable that there would have been rational and responsible creatures, and may not have been raised again with their bodies to account for the absence of their bones / . . . . . | am sorry the hand-loom weavers do not partake in the general prosperity of factory labour, and shall be happy to contribute towards a further supply of bedding and warm clothing ; and to the aid of any Young Men's Association that you form." bore him

His lordship's first wife

Wirriam WartTtErR, fifth Earl, who was born in 1823,

educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, was a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for Staffordshire and Shropshire, sat in the House of

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 207

ane commune ~ won -mm

Commons for South Staffordshire, in the Conservative interest, from 1849 to 1853 ; married in 1846, Augusta Finch, daughter of the fifth Earl of Aylesford, and died Aug. 4, 1891, deservedly and sincerely lamented by the tenantry of his estates and by all who enjoyed his friendship or acquaintance, a man of great integrity of character, of unaffected piety, a great supporter of the Church, a stout Conservative, with the virtues and also, it must be confessed, the prejudices and foibles of his degree. He was succeeded by his eldest son and heir, Viscount Lewisham, who was born, May 6th, 1851, was Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, one of the Junior Whips of the Conservative Party, and who then became the Sixtx and present Earl. - The era of this nobleman should always be remembered with gratitude in this district, from the circumstance that so soon as the family settlements permitted, he began to sell his Slaithwaite estate in lots to suit the convenience of either small or large purchasers, affording equal facilities for mill and cottage. Previous to that time the system or custom of tenant-right had prevailed and people had not hesitated to build their homesteads on the security which was known as the "honour of the Dartmouth family." Writing as the descendant of those who for some generatons held property in that village on that tenure, I can say with pleasure, that I believe the popular confidence in that honour never to have been abused. But it is obvious that when the require- ments of modern commerce required the erection of great structures costing thousands of pounds and often necessitating the loan of large sums of money, those who contemplated trading operations required muni- ments of title which they could take into the market. The wise and just policy of Lord Dartmouth and his

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208 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

then heir apparent in facilitating the acquisition of the freehold by the manufacturers and citizens of the district has been amply justified by events and the progress of Slaithwaite during the past two decades, is of itself a lesson in land law reform. Woodsome Hall, the Yorkshire seat of the family, the old home of the Tyases and the Kayes, is beautifully situate in its extensive Park of Farnley. The trees that form the setting and the shelter of the mansion are of ancient growth and noble girth, and accident or design has so grouped them as to form an avenue so stately that merits well the name it bears : "* The Cathedral." The mansion, reared upon a succession of terraces and dating back to the period of Henry VII., with its many gables and its oak-panelled central hall and the black oaken staircase and blazonry of arms and heraldic devices, is a fitting home for a race in whose annals there is nothing that is not honourable.

Page 237

CHAPTER X.

THE RAMSDEN FAMILY.

ONG before the Huddersfield estates came into the I possession of the Ramsden family, there was resident at Longley a family of Wood or Woode, and just as the Legges or Dartmouths gained their estates in this vicinity by marriage with the heiress of the Kayes, so apparently did the first beginnings of their territorial importance accrue to the Ramsdens by the marriage of a remote ancestor with a heiress of the Woods. We have mention so far back as sixteen Edward III. (1342), of one Robertus de Wodde, who married one Majoria, and in 1343 his widow, Majoria or Margaret, relieved to Sir John de Beaumont all actions of appeal for the death of her husband from which one would argue a mortal fray between these neighbouring landowners. Then came Thomas de la Wodde de Longley, who lived 1354. To him, Wirims pErL Wopnpe de Longley. To him, Joun Wopnpe de Longley. To him, LawrexceE WoppE de Longley, generosus, who lived about the middle of the fifteenth century, and married Joanna, daughter of Adam Beaumont, of Newsome. According to the Visitation of Yorkshire, 1484, there was then a north window in the Almondbury Church with the arms of Wodde (argent, three fleurs de lis, between two cotises sable, a border engrailed of the last), and an inscription : orate pro animis Lawrenti{ [Vodde, Johannae ux ., Georgi: Wodde, Isabella ux. fil rum and pliarum meorum. - To Lawrence Wodde,

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2 10 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Grorciuvs Wopr de Longley, generosus, who married Isabella, daughter of William Radcliffe, of Todmorden, County Lancaster. To him, Joun WoppE de Longley, generosus, who married the daughter of Richard Beaumont, Esquire, and Joanna Sandford, his wife. This John Wodde, of Longley, is the same John Wodde who in the taxation of Almond- bury temp. Henry VIII. is assessed at £10, and appears to have been even then the most considerable personage in the Parish of Almondbury. He had three daughters, of whom the youngest, Johanna, married William Ramsden. This William Ramsden was the eldest son of RosErt RomyspeEn, or Ramsden, of Elland, and there is extant a marriage settlement, the parties to which were Robert Ramsden and John Wodde, of Longley, on the marriage, 19th July, 23 Henry VIII. (1531), of Johanna Wodde with Joun RamspEnN, a younger son, who thus became of Longley Hall and was Under-Farmer of the Queen's Revenue in the Manor of Huddersfield. He was returned at the Visitation of York, 1585, as one of the gentlemen of the Wapentake of Agbrigg. He died July 3rd, 1591, and was buried at Almondbury. To him, Wirriam RanmsopeEn of Longley Hall, Esquire, who was baptized at Almondbury, 27 Aug., 1558. He recorded his pedigree at the Visitation of York in 1612. He married Rosamund, daughter of Thomas Pilkington, of Bradley. William Ramsden must have been of considerable prescience and to have had a truly prophetic insight and more than a patriot's confidence in the happy destinies of his country. He neglected no opportunity of acquiring the estates which the

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 2 I I

memmnnen «> wee -- ~ - hs ‘ ai a mis mme comms | om

dissolution of the monasteries liberated from the dead hand. - We have seen already that he was a partner in the purchase of the Kirklees possessions. We find him now acquiring the manor of Huddersfield. The extent of his purchases at length led to the intervention of the Crown, and an order was made that he be at liberty to acquire no more lands. In tracing the descent of the manor of Huddersfield in a previous part of this work I traced its ownership to the Byron family, and thence to the hands of Gilbert Gerrard the Queen's Attorney-General, who sold it to William Ramsden at a price which in a former chapter I alleged to be not generally known. Since those words were written I have had access to copies of sundry documents that threw light upon the earlier dealings with the manor. The deeds attesting these transactions have been fraught with consequences so momentous to the people of these parts that one may be warranted in assuming their context will be read with interest. The

first ran :

'* THIS INDENTURE made the seconde day of Marche in the fifteenth yere of the reigne of our sovereigne Ladie Elizabeth, by the grace of God, Quene of England, ffraunce and Irelande, defendor of the faithe, &c. Betwene JOHN BYRON, of Newsted, in the County of Nottingham, esquyer, on the one parte, and GILBTE GERRARD, esquyer, Attorney- Genall to our said sovereigne Ladie on the other partie. WITNESSETH that the said John Byron in consideration of the sum of seven hundred pounds of lawfull money of Englande to hym beforehande payd by the said Gilbte Gerrard, hath solde and by these presents dothe sell to the said Gilbte Gerrard and his heiress, ALL THAT his manor and capytall messuage, called or knowen by the name of Huddersfelde, in the Countie of Yorke, and all his messuages, houses, buyldings, lands, tenements, meadows, pasturgs, feedings, woods, underwoods, rents, services, knight's-fees, customes, heryotts, dueties, fyshing waters, comons, wast grounds, and all other heredytaments whatsoever situate in Huddersfelde and elsewhere, in the said Countie of York,

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212 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

AND ALSO all wayves, strayes, goods and cattles of felons and fugytives, Courte-Baron, Court-leete, fynes, issues, ameyc- ments, and all other liberties, franchesies, privyleges, and heredytaments whatsoever comyng, renuynge, or to be had or used, perceived, or taken in Huddersfeld or elsewhere in the said Countie of Yorke, and whiche the said John Byron, Knight, his father deceased, or anye other the ancestors of the said John Byron had used or enjoyed or myght lawfullie have, use, or enioye in Huddersfelde, and elsewhere in the said Countie of York. AND also all evydences, deeds, charters, escripts, wrytings, and mynyments concernynge onelie the said mannor or other the premises or onelie anye partie or parcel thereof TO HAUE AND TO HOLDE the said mannor, &c., together with the deeds, evidences and wrytings UNTO the said Gilbte Gerrard, his heires and assignes, TO the onelie USE and behoofe of the said Gilbte Gerrard, his heires and assignes for ever. AND the said John Byron, for hym, his heires, &c., DOTH covenante and graunte to and with the said Gilbte Gerrard, his heires, &c., by these presents that the said mannor, &c. before by these presents bargained and sold the day and date of these presents be and at all tymes hereafter shall or may contynue and be unto the said Gilbte Gerrard, his heires, &c., to and of the cleare yerelie value of twenty-three pounds, eleven shillings of lawfull money of England, over and above all yerelie charges and repryses AND that the said John Byron, the day of the date of these presents, is verie true and lawfull owner of the said mannor, &c., by these presents bargained and sold and is nowe seased thereof of a good and perfect estate in fee symple or fee- tayle to his owne use without anye condition or mortgage, AND that he, the said John Byron hath full power and lawfull authoritie to sell the said mannor and all other the premises unto the said Gilbte Gerrard, his heires, and assignes, in manner and forme aforesaid, AND the said John Byron for hym, his heires, &c., DOTH further covenante and grannte to and with the saide Gilbte Gerrard, his heires. &c., and anye of them by these presents that he the said John Byron, his heires, &c., shall at all tymes from henceforthe acquyte, discharge or otherwise upon lawfull warnyng and knowledge to hym, his heires or assignes geven, save and kepe harmles as well the said mannor, &c., and all other the premises before by these presents bargained and solde, as also the said Gilbte Gerrard, his heires, and assignes of and from all form, bgaynes, sales, ioynters, dowers, tytles of dower, statuts, recognysance, execucons, iudgments, rents-charge, arrerage of rents, forfeytures, intrucons, and of and from all other charges and incumbrance whatsoever had made or done att any tyme before the date of

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«-__- nome :mmevotes s mme

these presents, the rents and seruice hereafter to be due to the chefe lord or lords of the fee of the premises, AND also certeyn leases heretofore made to the several tenants and occupyers thereof not excedynge thirtene yeres yet to come. Whereupon the accustomed yerelie rente or more is resued and payable duringe the said several termes of yeres onelie excepted and forprysed PROVYDED ALWAYS, and it is agreed betwene the said parties that if the said John Byron, his heires, &c., do contente and paye unto the said Gilbte Gerrard, his heires or assignes, the some of seven hundred pounds of lawfull money of Englande, at one whole and entyer payment on the twentieth day of Marche, which shall be in the yere of our Lord God, I573, att or in the mancon house of the said Gilbte Gerrard, scytuate in the pishe of Saynt Buttolph, in the suburbes of London, betwene the houres of seaven of the clocke in the fore- noone and fyve of the clocke in the afternoone of the same day, that then and from the tyme of the payment of the said sum of £700 in manner and forme aforesaid, this present indenture by bargain and sale shall be utterlie voyde and of none effecte, and that then and from thensforthe yt shall and maye be lawfull for the said John Byron, his heires, &c., into all and singular, the premises before by these presents bargained and solde wholie to reenter and the same to have agayne repossede and enioye as in his or their former estate, anythinge in these presents conteyned or in any other conveyance or assurance, hereafter to be made of the premises or anye parcel thereof to be conteyned to the contrarie thereof in anyewyse notwithstandinge, AND the said John Byron for hym his heires, &c., DOTH covenante and graunte to and with the said Glbte Gerrard, his heires, &c , and anye of them by these presents, that if the said John Byron, his heires, &c., and anye of them shall happen to make defalte in the payment of the said some of {700 to the said Gilbte Gerrard, his executors or assignes in suche manner and forme as before in these presents is lymyted and expressed that then the said John Byron, his heires, &c., shall within one yere next after suche defalte of payment delyur or cause to be delyured to the said Gilbte Gerrard, his heires, &c., all the deeds, charters, escripts, wrytings and munyments concernynge onlie the said mannor, lands, tenements, and other premises, or onelie any parte or parcel thereof, which nowe are in the possession or custodie of the said John Byron, or in the custodie or possession of any other person or persons to his use by his deliurye or which he may lawfullie obteyne and gett withoute suete in lawe. AND that also he the said John Byron, his heires and assignes, shall then after such defalte of payment had att all tymes, within the space of two yeres next ensuynge the said twentieth day of

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214 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

~

Marche, make, do, and knowledge all acte, dede and thinge for the further assurance of the said mannor, &c., before by these presents bargained and solde unto the said Gilbte Gerrard, and his heires, as by the said Gilbte Gerrard, his heires and assignes or his or their Counsell learned shall be reasonablie devysed or advysed to be had, made, or done, be yt by fyne, recouye, release, or otherwise, att the onlie costs and charges of the said Gilbte Gerrard, his heires, or assignes. AND it is also further covenanted and agreed betwene the said parties that all con- veyance and assurance by fyne, recourye or otherwyse hereto- fore made or suffered, or hereafter to be made or suffered of the said mannor, &c., before by these presents bargained and solde or of anye parte thereof by the said John Byron, and Alyce his wife, or either of them shall be and all persons nowe seased or hereafter to be seased of the premises or of anye parte thereof shall stande and be thereof seased to the onlie uses and intents before in these presents expressed and declared ana to no other uses and intents. In WitnNEssE whereof to these presents the said parties interchaungeable have put their seales the day and yere first aboue written."

There is a subsequent further charge of L100 on 3rd day of March. And there is also a memorandum of the acknowledgment of the indenture of March 2nd in the Court of Chancery, on March 4th, from which it is to be inferred the transaction was really a mortgage, but the lands on defeasance vested in the mortgagee. - Gerard appears to have exchanged the land of Huddersfield with the Crown, for in 1599 we find the following Charter

granted by Queen Elizabeth to William Ramsden :

'* Elizabeth, by the Grace of God, &c., to all, &c. Know ye that we, in consideration of the sum of NINE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE POUNDS and ninepence have granted to William Ramsden, his heirs and assigns, ALL THAT our Manor of Huddersfield, &c., and all our capital messuage or tenement called Bay Hall, in Huddersfield aforesaid, now or lately in the tenure or occupation of John Brooke, and all our several messuages, lands, &c., now or late in the tenure of Robert Hurst, Roger Hewe, John Batley, John Hesslegrave, George Bourke (otherwise Brooke), Percival Clay, and Thomas Brooke, &c., which Manor and premises were lately part and parcel of the land and possessions late of Gilbert Gerrard, our Attorney-General, and of one John Sankey, or of the one of them, with us lately exchanged, and to a certain Thomas Norris for or under the yearly rent of £23 19s. 9d., granted for a term of 21 years."

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 215

In this Charter the annual value of the town is stated at £23 1os. od. William Ramsden, thus lord of Hudders- field, died 7th June, 1623. To him Sir Joun RanspEnxn, of Longley Hall, and of Byrom, in the Parish of Brotherton, in the West Riding, who was born at Almondbury, 13th October, 1594, was knighted at Nottingham, 12th August, 1619, was Sheriff of Yorkshire 1626, Member of Parliament for Pontefract 1628 and 1640. When the Civil War broke out he was on the King's side; was taken prisoner at Selby in 1644; was committed to the Tower for high treason 31st May, released August Iith, died in Newark Castle, and buried in the Parish Church there March 27th, 1646. He was married first to Margaret, daughter of Sir Peter Frecheville; second to Anne, widow of George Chamberlain, of London, and Alderman of Poole. To him, son by his first wife, RanmspoeExn, of Longley Hall and Byrom, Esquire, who was baptized at Almondbury. 1oth April, 1625, and buried there September 26th, 1679. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of George Palmes, of Naburn. She survived him some years, and was buried July 1691, the entry recording her death being the last entry in the Almondbury Parish Register concerning the family. In Meekes' Diary there is the following entry under date July 27th, 1691: " Madam Ramsden, of Longley, was buried to-day, at Almondbury. Mr. Leake* preached from Numbers xxin., 10. - There was a very great congregation ; and she was buried in great pomp. - All her honours are now laid in the dust. Having laid all night at Mr. Richardson's, of Lascelles Hall, whither I came yesternight, blessed be God, I arose in health. Dined there and returned to Huddersfield." To William Ramsden succeeded

* Probably the Rev. John Leake, who for 56 years was Vicar of Kirkthorpe, near Wakefield.

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Sir Joun RamsoeEn, of Longley and Byrom, born April,

1648, and baptized at Almondbury. 1671, he procured a Charter to hold a market in Huddersfield. Prior to this time a market had existed at Almondbury, having been granted to Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, June 6th, 1294. The Almond- bury market sank into disuse after the grant to Sir

John Ramsden, which was in these terms : " I, the King, to whom these presents shall come, send greeting-

In November,

Whereas by a certain inquisition taken by our command at Huddersfield, in ye County of York, ye 12th day of September last past before ye date of these presents, and returned in due form and now to be found remaining upon record, it now appears to us that it will not be to the damage or prejudice of us or any others if we do grant unto John Ramsden, Esq., that he and his heirs may have and hold one market in ye town of Huddersfield, on Tuesday in every week for ever for ye buying and selling of all manner of goods and merchandise, and receive ye tolls, profits, and advantages from thence coming and arising for him and his heirs for ever, as by ye said inquisition may more fully and at large appear. Know ye therefore that we for divers good causes and considerations, us hereunto especially moving, have given and granted and by these presents for us our heirs and successors do give and grant unto ye said John Ramsden, his heirs and assigns, that he and they shall have and hold one market in ye town of Hudders- field aforesaid, upon Tuesday in every week, for ever, for ye buying and selling of all sorts of cattle, goods, and merchandise whatever, and further that ye said John Ramsden, his heirs and assigns, shall and may have, take and receive to his and their own proper use and uses all and singular ye tolls, profits, and advantages and emoluments to such market in anywise belonging or of right appertaining or from thence coming or arising. And may have hold and enjoy the aforesaid tolls, profits and other premises aforesaid unto the said John Rams- den, his heirs and assigns, to his and their own proper use and uses for ever, without anything to us, our heirs or successors, to be paid or performed. And we do by these presents finally command that ye said John Ramsden, his heirs and assigns shall freely, lawfully and quolly* have hold and enjoy ye afore- said market and ye tolls and profits to ye same belonging, or from thence from time to time coming and arising, according to ye tenor and true meaning of these our Letters Patent, without molestation, hindrance or denials of us, our heirs, or

* qy. quietly.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 217

successors, or of our Sheriffs, Bailiffs, Officers, or Ministers, or any other persons whatsoever.

Dated ye first day of November, in ye twenty-third year of our reign (1672)."

The John Ramsden, to whom this charter was granted, married Sarah, daughter and heiress of Charles Butler, of Coates, Co: Lincoln. He was sheriff of the county in 1672, and was created a Baronet, November 30th, 1689. It would seem therefore that he had not embraced or had abandoned the Stuart cause, for which his grandfather had drawn the sword. The policy of William of Orange was to conciliate in every possible way the former adherents of the exiled dynasty, and it was obviously a politic stroke to assure the goodwill of a landowner so considerable as the head of the Ramsden family. The new Baronet did not live long to enjoy his honours, dying June 11, 1690, in his forty-second year, and being buried at Brotherton. To him, Sir Wirriam RamspEn, of Byrom and Longley Hall, second Baronet, who was born at Brotherton, 22nd Oct., 1672. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Viscount Lonsdale. To him, Sir Joun RamsoreEn, of Byrom and Longley Hall, third Baronet, who was born at Brotherton, March 1698-9, was M.P. for Appleby, 1727-1747; married Margaret, daughter and heiress of William Norton, of Sawley, nr. Rippon ; died at Byrom, April 10, 1769. _ To him, the town was indebted for the Huddersfield Cloth Hall or Piece Hall, described as an extensive circular edifice, two stories high, divided on one side into separate compartments or shops, and on the other, into open stalls for the accommodation of manufacturers of woollen cloths. The doors were opened early in the morning of the market day and closed at half-past twelve at noon, and opened again at half-past three for the removal of cloth. _ A cupola and bell were placed

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

SIR

above the entrance for the purpose of indicating the time allowed for doing business. The Cloth Hall was enlarged in 1780. To Sir John Ramsden, succeeded : Joun Raxspen of Byrom and Longley Hall, fourth Baronet, born in 1755, was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1797, married Louisa Susanna Ingram, daughter and co-heiress of Charles Viscount Irwin in the peerage of Scotland, died at Hamilton Place, Piccadilly, 15th July, 1839, at the ripe age of eighty-four, having outlived by three years his eldest son, John Charles Ramsden, who was Member of Parliament for Malton from 1812-1831, for the County for 1831-1833, and again for Malton from 1833 to his death in 1836. It was during the tenure of the fourth baronet that the Huddersfield Enclosure Act was passed. The Award of the Commussioners under the Act was made March 7th, 1789. It dealt with 323a. 2r. 26p., and the following summary will shew that Parliament in disposing of the commons of the people did not forget the promise that to him that hath shall be given :

A. R. P. Allotted for Quarries .. -. 2 _ Oo - o Sir John Ramsden ._. . 286 2 26 The Vicar of Huddersfield - .. . 8 Ir - 8 Thomas Thornhill, Esq. -. -. 7 - o 36 J. Armitage of Bay Hall ». -. o - Oo 12 Rev. Samuel Brook o - o 16

Joseph Bradley ; the heirs of Marmaduke

Hebden; Mary Haigh ; John Thyer .. Bramhall Dyson

William Fenton _ .. John and Thomas Haigh Thomas Holroyd .. Henry Hirst

Sarah Nicholls, and Thomas Macaulay, and Ann his wife

O m O O H O O O w O O b O

9 - 2 - 4 John Whitacre _ .. 4 o O3 25 Benjamin Walker and Rlchard Collmg- wood at Bay Hall . . o - o 36 Joseph Walker, Bay Hall | .. . - I 32

323 - 2 26

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 210

On the death of Sir John Ramsden, fourth baronet, the title and estates passed to his grandson, Sir Jon Wirurarm Rarmsorx, of Byrom, and Longley Hall, and Ardverdike, Inverness, N.B., who succeeded his grandfather, July 15th, 1839, as fifth and present baronet. He was born September 14th, 1831. The attainment of his majority was celebrated in Hudders- field by public rejoicings, and noised by the loud clamour of the Parish Church bells, the shops and public buildings being decked with flags and bunting. He married Helen Gwendolen, third and youngest daughter of Edward, thirteenth Duke of Somerset, a lineal descendant of Edward III. He was Member of Parliament for Taunton from 1853-1857, for Hythe from 1857-1859; for the West Riding from 1859 to 1865, and since 1868 for the Monmouthshire Boroughs. He was Under-Secretary of State for War from 1857- 1858; Hon. Colonel of the West Riding Volunteers ; Justice of the Peace, and Deputy-Lieutenant for the West Riding and for Monmouthshire, and High Sheriff of the County of York in 1868. The relations of the present baronet with his Hudders- field tenantry have not always been of the most cordial description. Fortunately it is no part of the historian to pronounce an opinion upon the thorny question that bred so much discord some years ago. His the easier task of stating the facts or rather of re-stating them, in condensed form, from the impartial deliverances of the highest judges of the land. The question to which I advert is that cele- brated controversy that raged in the years '59 and '60, and continued to rage with ever increasing bitterness, till the matter was settled by the judgment of the House of Lords, in May, 1866, but though the iaw as it bore upon what is known as the Huddersfield Tenant-Right was then

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220 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

authoritatively and finally declared the angry passions roused by the discussion and litigation were not allayed by the solemn pronouncement of the last Court of Appeal. Among the property of the late Sir John Ramsden-I quote from the report of the case v. Dyson, 1 L.R. Appellate Series 130-were several pieces of land forming part of the commons or waste of the Manor of Huddersfield, allotted to him in the year 1789, and held by him in fee simple to the time of his death in July, 1839. Sir John William Ramsden became possessed of these pieces of land under the will of his grandfather. The mode in which the Huddersfield property was managed was peculiar. A book or roll of the tenants was kept at Longley Hall, and, as the town became extended, any person desirous to take land for the purpose of building a house, used to apply to the agents of Sir John for the land wanted. This was then marked out for him, he erected his buildings; the ground rent was fixed, and his name was afterwards entered on the roll as a tenant, and he paid his rents at the usual day or days of audit. If he wished to sell his house, he and the purchaser used to attend on the agent, and surrender, or purport to surrender, his property into the hands of Sir John, and the name of the purchaser was substituted for that of the original tenant. The same course was followed on a mortgage, only that in that case both names, that of the mortgagor and the mortgagee, were entered as tenants on the tenant roll. In the event of death, the name of the legatee or next-of-kin was substituted for that of the deceased. Persons thus holding land were popularly described as holding by tenant-right. But besides these tenants by tenant-right, there were other tenants who obtained regular leases ; and the universal or nearly universal form of lease was a lease for sixty years, renewable for ever at the end of every twenty or forty years

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 22 I

| oo

on payment of a stipulated These tenants holding by lease were entered on the same tenant roll as the tenants by tenant-right; but a memorandum was made against their names, signifying that they held by lease, and the rents at which they held was always at a considerably higher rate than that at which the other tenants held. Joseph Thornton, in the year 1837, according to his statements in the bill in equity, the judgments in which I am summarizing, being desirous of erecting a dwelling-house on a piece of high ground at Paddock, applied to Mr. Joseph Brook, agent or sub-agent of Sir John William Ramsden, and stated to him his desire to become tenant of the piece of ground in question, as he wished to erect a dwelling-house thereon for himself. - Brook, he says, informed Bower of what had thus passed, and Bower having afterwards come over to Huddersfield to an audit, went with Thornton to Paddock, accompanied by Thomas Brook (a son of Joseph Brook), who was then about nineteen years of age, and who acted for his father. Thornton pointed out to Bower the land he wished to have for his house, and Bower assented to the application, saying that he would leave to Joseph Brook the staking out of the exact quantity of land to be taken. The precise quantity of land was afterwards agreed on between Thornton and Joseph Brook, and the ground rent was fixed by Brook, at an annual sum of £4. Thornton then built his house, and had ever since paid the reserved rent of £4 per annum. The bill then alleged, that while the building of the house was in progress, and when it was nearly completed, Joseph Brook, accompanied by Thornton and his father, came on the land, and on that occasion Thornton con- sulted Joseph Brook as to the prudence of his taking a lease of the land and buildings; when Joseph Brook stated it would be folly in him to take a lease, that he was

*Such tenants were therefore practically freeholders subject to a rent-charge. D.F.E.S.

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222 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

equally safe without one, and that he could get a lease whenever he wanted it; the lease referred to being, as Thornton alleged, a lease for sixty years, renewable every twenty years on payment of two years' ground rent as a fine ; no other lease then existing or being then known on the Ramsden estates, at Huddersfeld. No paper or document was signed by Thornton, and he alleged that he took the land relying on what had been said by Joseph Brook, and on the belief, universally entertained at Huddersfield, and encouraged by Sir John and his agents, that he could have a lease of it for sixty years, renewable every twenty years, whenever he might think fit, and that he would never be disturbed so long as he paid his £4 ground rent, and in the knowledge that very many other persons who had taken plots of lands and built on them, on the same belief and assurance, had, on application, had leases granted to them for sixty years, renewable every twenty years. The book or roll of the tenants of the Huddersfield property was kept at Longley Hall, an old manor house situate on part of the property, and the bill alleged that after Thornton had taken the piece of land in question he was entered in that book as the tenant thereof at a yearly rent of £4. Mr. Brook died in the month of May, 1844, and on his death the trustees of the will of Sir John Ramsden appointed Mr. George Loch, then one of Her Majesty's counsel, to succeed him as auditor and manager of the estates, and as he resided at a distance, he appointed Mr. Alexander Hawthorn to be the resident agent, subject to his control and superintendence, - Alexander Hawthorn resided at Longley Hall. In this state of things it was alleged by Thornton that finding himself, in the year 1845, inconvenienced by want of out-door offices, he applied to Hawthorn for a second

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 223

~ » onine c x a ie mage: age comme: » + comes nets im

piece of ground, and that the same was accordingly measured out for him by two persons acting under the said Thomas Brook, who had survived his father Joseph Brook, and was then one of the authorized surveyors of the Ramsden estate ; that he, Thornton, then erected thereon, under the superintendence of Hawthorn, the additional buildings which he wanted, and that, after he had done so, he secured from Hawthorn a letter, partly printed and partly written, fixing the ground rent for this additional land at £1 os. 6d. per annum, which additional rent had ever since been regularly paid. Thornton alleged that the money expended in building on the two pieces of land amounted to at least £11830. The house and outbuildings on West View in Paddock now occupied by Mr. E. Kendal are, I understand, the premises comprised in this letting and may fairly be considered historic. On occasion of the first hiring in 1837, no paper was signed by Thornton, but on applying at Longley Hall for the second piece of land a paper, containing a form of

application, was put before him for his signature as follows:

'" Huddersfield, 16th June, 1845, Gentlemen,-I beg to make application to you for a plot of ground situate at Paddock, Huddersfield, on which I am desirous of building a mistal and other outbuildings, and which I am willing to hold under you as tenant at will. at such rent as you may think proper to fix.- I am, gentlemen, your most obedient servant. To the trustees and guardians of Sir John William Ramsden, Baronet."

This he signed, but, as he alleged, without considering its purport or effect, without being furnished with a copy, and without having had it explained to him; he signed it in the belief that it was a mere matter of course, and in the firm persuasion that he was to hold this second piece of land on precisely the same terms as to not being disturbed in the possession, and as to sixty years' lease, as those on which

he held the other land.

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224 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

These were the circumstances in which Thornton alleged that he became tenant, first of Sir John Ramsden, and afterwards of his devisees. ." And," said the Lord Chancellor (Lord Cranworth) in his judgment, " there could be not a doubt that he thereby became at /aw a mere tenant from year to year. Notices to determine the tenancies of Thornton were given by Sir John William Ramsden, and ejectments were brought to recover possession. There being no Zga/ defences to those actions, and Courts of Law not at that time having the power they now possess to entertain equitable defences, a Bill in Chancery was filed by Thornton and his mortgagee, on the ground that Thornton, though iz Zaw a mere tenant at will, had an eqwitadle right to a lease for sixty years with a covenant for perpetual renewal on payment of certain periodical fines. Whether he had established that right was the question raised in the cause. The case was heard in the first instance by Vice- Chancellor Stuart, and His Honour was pleased to make an order by which it was declared that Thornton was entitled to have a lease or leases of the two pieces of land on the terms stated in his bill. From that decision Sir John William Ramsden appealed and the case was determined by the House of Lords, May 1th, 1866. The Court was not unanimous. The Lord Chancellor (Lord Cranworth), Lord Wensleydale and Lord Westbury were of opinion that Thornton had not made out a case for equitable relief and it was stated that Lord Brougham concurred in this view. Lord Kingsdown on the other hand supported Thornton's contention. The appeal of Sir john Ramsden was accordingly sustained, but without costs, and although it is probable, one may perhaps say certain, Sir John William Ramsden would not have

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HUDDERSFIELDL AND ITS VICINITY. 225

asked for costs, the observations of all the judges upon the question of costs are quite as interesting as the very lucid exposition their judgments contain of the distinction between technical equity and honour. Thus the Lord Chancellor : " It is not my intention to step out of the line of my duty by expressing or even forming an opinion as to how far this claim "-the claim based on the reliance placed on the honour of the Ramsden family-" is well- founded. Probably the system was originally adopted in the notion that it would give to a humble and not generally wealthy body of dependent tenants an easy and cheap mode of holding and disposing of their houses. It was impressed on them that by means of the register kept in the books at Longley Hall, they could sell, mortgage or dispose of the property, so far as they had property in their houses, by will, at an expense of 2s. 6d., instead of many pounds. Now, whatever obligations of honour the mode in which the property was managed may have created in the Ramsden family, I confess that this case has satisfied me that it was absolutely necessary, for the interest of all parties, that some mode should be adopted for putting an end to it. It was an attempt to create a new and cheap mode of conveyancing, which was certain, sooner or later, to involve in difficulties those who had relied on it. The supposed transfers were altogether ineffectual, and it is a matter of wonder to me that litigation was not long ago occasioned by it. Sir John William Ramsden endeavoured to do what he thought fair and just by obtaining powers to grant leases for ninety-nine years. Whether that was more or less than his tenants at will had a right to look for from what they call the honour of the family is a point on which I give no opinion, but that some arrangements should be adopted which should put an end to the system hitherto pursued seems to me absolutely indispensable.

8

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226 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

In my opinion, the plaintiffs did not establish a title to any relief, and so their bill ought to have been dismissed. In the particular circumstances of this case, and not at all relying upon the facts that I know that the opinions of your Lordships are not unanimous, which I think is no ground for influencing your Lordships' judgment on the question of costs, but in consideration of the circumstance that this system had gone on so long, and that the parties might have thereby been misled as to what they supposed to be their rights, I shall advise your Lordships to send the case to the Court of Chancery, with the declaration that the bill ought to have been dismissed, without saying anything as to costs." Lord Wensleydale, in concurring in the Lord Chan- cellor's conclusions, said "I have satisfied myself that this is the true view of the case, and that no liability has been proved on Sir John William Ramsden in any way at law or in equity, which is all that we, in the course of our duty, have to decide. What Sir John William Ramsden may choose to do, if he succeeds in this suit, is entirely for him- self to decide, his obligation, if any, being one binding only in honour." Subsequent to this decision the system of granting ninety-nine year leases began to prevail on the Ramsden Estate, but the feeling existed that a ninety-nine years' lease was not an adequate equivalent for a sixty renewable in perpetuity, and one cannot but think that such feeling was well grounded. The case of the tenants was put in this way by a gentleman writing to the ZZuddersfe/d Chronicle, under the nom de plume of "Idem," but whom it would not be hazardous to identify with the late Frederick Robert Jones, for many years Registrar of the Huddersfield

County Court:

" To illustrate this lease in practice, take my own case, which with the slight difference of locality and other circumstances, is that of every other cottage Tenant-right owner. My buildings

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 22]

cost me £220, which I let for £14 rack rent. The ground-rent I pay, under the present arrangement is £1 17s. 6d., or 1$d. per yard for my plot. Under the new lease this ground-rent is to be, subject to Sir John's approval, £2 tos. od. In some cases the advance will be much more, and will be therefore so much worse for the "owners."" But I will deal with the facts and figures of my own case. I don't know what the insurance under the new lease will be; but to be low enough, as the buildings cost £220, we will say 5/-. This with the ground rent, makes £2 15s. od., which is what I shall have to pay to and for Sir John. The buildings have only been erected some half-dozen years ; conse- quently in a ninety-nine years' lease, there will be to me a decrease in value every year of that term, of od.; in fact a sacrifice to Sir John of that amount. Add to these items the cost of repairs and loss of rent from non-occupation and other causes, which will be, as my experience tells me, at least £1 a year. But, to be low enough, say 10/-. Then there is the property tax, which the tenant landlord has also to pay. This has not been and is not likely to be, less than 8/- a year. The account then will stand :

£s. d. £ s. d. Gross rent from buildings which cost £220 I4 O Ground rent 2 IO Insurance 6. 6. 5 Repairs, &c. .. ». 10 Property Tax .. o 8 o Decrease in value for 99 years 2 4 5 17 O0 Net Rental .. -. -. £8 3

or less than four per cent. upon my outlay.

'" A respectable builder estimates that my cottages will last, probably, with a renewal of wood-work, two hundred years. Hence there are one hundred years for me and one hundred for Sir Joun. I almost wonder that the honourable Baronet in his disinterested generosity didn't propose as a finale to the whole affair, that he and his tenants should up' which had the first hundred years."

"Idem" might have added that under a systém of leases for a fixed term, that essential value known as the * unearned increment '"' accrues to the ground landlord ; under the system for which the tenants contended it would have accrued to the men whose capital and enterprise have transformed the lands of Huddersfield from an almost worthless wild to the fair and opulent town the people's genius and toil have made it.

Page 256

XI.

LLUSION has already been made more than once A in these pages to the fact that during the Civil War the leading families of this district were concerned in the contest between King and Parliament and concerned on the side of the King-Charles I. When he took his decisive stand and determined to draw the sword he was necessarily thrown upon the support of the country gentry. Those great landowners who held ix capite were not, as yet, in theory at all events, released from the obligations of military tenure. Their swords were almost perforce at the service of the Crown, and the force of old associations and the almost instinctive habit of loyalty rallied many a country squire to the Royal banner who was far from approving all the King's acts or sympathizing at heart with the conspiracy in which Charles had engaged to stifle the ancient liberties of the people and to restore in this country the supremacy of the Roman Faith. If, then, we find the Beaumonts, the Kayes, and the Ramsdens all engaged on the Royalist side, we must not necessarily condemn them as adherents of tyranny or suspect them of conniving at an assault upon the Protestant religion. In the King's army were many gentlemen of ancient lineage and broad acres who were as sincerely attached to the Protestant Faith as the most vehement of the Roundheads, and not less jealous than Elliott for the maintenance of the freedom of the Commons. But the doctrine of passive obedience had been dinned in their ears by the emissaries of Archbishop Laud, they conceived the person of the King to be hedged round with

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ous «-~ rer oms

a peculiar sanctity, and the prejudices of caste, more potent then than now, allied them naturally with the party of the Court, and it may well be that they thought it safer and more honourable to be patient with Charles to the end rather than consent to the setting aside of the dynasty and the overthrow of the monarchy. Doubtless many a cavalier throughout the country thought what Sir Edmund Verney said : " I have eaten the King's bread and served him now thirty years, and I will not do so base a thing as to desert

9 9

him." Others no doubt there were who still clung, in the face of the severe penal laws to the unreformed Faith. In the list of Yorkshire Catholics in i604, compiled by that distinguished antiquarian, Mr. Edward Peacock, F.S.A., I

find the following named :-

HUDDESFIELD PARISH. John Armitage alias Hern, James Hallowes, William Longley ;

non-communicants for j. yere past. Mariage forth of ye parish. Richard Deighton, Sybill, his wife. John Turner, Margaret, his wife ; Humphrey Armitage, Elizabeth, his wife. Thomas Brook party to ye said mariages.

ALMENBURY PARISH. Richard Beaumont of Lydyat, John Robt of Netherthongue, non-communicants. No tyme set downe.

And we may be sure that such of the members of these families as still lived in the time of the Great War gave their assistance to Charles. Whatever the considerations that moved them, it is certain that the heads of the families I have mentioned espoused the Royal cause and fought under the Royal banner, and there is equally little question that when they rode forth from their estates to join the Royal forces they did not go singlehanded. Every farmer who was not too old, every farmer's son, every peasant, and every serving- man who could be pressed into the cause was rallied to his landlord's side, and many a youth, eager for adventure and distinction, shouldered a musket or a pike at his lord's

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bidding, who had but a misty conception of the grave questions involved in that contest on whose issue the destinies of England hung. The feudal system had made every man somewhat of a soldier, and weapons that had thrust and parried in the wars of the Roses were furbished anew and placed at the command of the King. The records of the war mention in the main but the names of generals and captains, but one does occasionally light upon some memorial of the humbler ranks. Thus, in the accounts of the ©"*Treasurer for Lame Soldiers," I find the following minute : " William Kay, of Almondbury, having received wounds in the services of Charles I. and Charles II. and desiring to travel to St. Thomas' Hospitall, in Southwark, where he hopes to be cured of his lameness, received an order at Leeds Sessions, July 1677, requiring all constables and officers to suffer him to pass from Almondbury to London, the direct way, peaceablye and quietlye be deameaning himself truely and honestly in his said journey as beehoves him." The strength of the Parliamentary cause lay, in the West Riding, in the towns. The manufacturers, the merchants, and the skilled operatives, were not bound to the Crown by territorial considerations, trade had been harassed by the King's illegal imposts at the ports and political intelligence, then as now, stood at a higher level in the great commercial centres, than in the hall of country squire, or the solitary homestead of the honest but slow- witted farmer. Although Almondbury stood in the very centre of a district whose territorial magnates were pledged to the King, it appears to have been a rendezvous for the Commonwealth forces, Zeste, the following appeal issued by

Sir Thomas Fairfax :

'" To the Constable of Mirfield." " WHEREAS the Earle of Newcastle, Sir William Savile, Sir Marmaduke Langdale, Sir Ingram Hopton, Francis Nevile, Esq.,

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 23 I

and others of that party, have brought into this county a great army of papists and persons ill affected to the peace of the county under a pretence of maineteyning the protestant Religion and the lawes of the land, intending no other than the utter overthrow of both religion and lawes as appeareth, by their irreligious and unlawfull practises of grinding the faces of his Majestie's subjects by pillaging and plundering their houses, imprisoning and abusing their psons and imposing on them such grievous tax and intollerable pressure as hath already in pt consumed and will shortly exhaust the whole treasure of this florishing county, for the prenting of wch injuries having at length received many armes more strength, and comands to assist the inhabitants of theise pts weh through God's assistance have resisted the said popish army with incredible successe. I do hereby require you to give notice hereof to all the inhabitants in your constablery that be of able bodies from the age of 16 to 60, to comand them to repair to ALMONDBURY or some other place near Mirfield, upon Saturday next, upon the 29th day of this instant January, by 9 a.m., each with the best weapons they can procure, and there to stay till they receive further orders from mee, that by unanimous consent wee may through the help of God drive out the popish army, establish peace in this County, and obtayne free trading again, to the comfortable support of poore and rich. Let every man that is able bring with him 4 or 5 dayes pvision, and let poorer sort bee furnished by you, the Constable, out of ye comon stocke for ye like time. Hereof faile yu not at yr prill as yu tend yor oune good and the Good of this bleeding and dis- tressed country. Given under my hand, at Bradford, the 19th

day of January, 1642, THOS. FAIRFAX." A similar exhortation to the adherents of the King in the

West Riding, convening a meeting in the Common Hall, at Doncaster, was signed, ixter alios, by John Ramsden. The Royalist army in the West Riding was com- manded by Sir William Savile, who held the town af Leeds for the King. In Sir William's army was a cadet of the house of Beaumont of Whitley. On the 23rd of January, 1643, Sir Thomas Fairfax, the Parliamentary general, who held Bradford for the Parliament, determined to attack the garrison at Leeds, and accordingly marched from Bradford with six troops of horse, three companies of dragoons, one thousand musketeers, and two thousand clubmen, men armed with staves, scythes, or such rude

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weapons of offence as came opportune to their hands. A trumpeter was despatched to Sir William Savile, requiring the town to be delivered into the hands of Fairfax for the parliament, to which Sir William returned a disdainful answer. The parliamentary guard then approached the town on the south-west side, with colours flying, to begin the assault, which commenced about one o'clock in the afternoon ; and in two hours the royalists were driven from their works and their cannoniers killed. Sir Thomas Fairfax, his brother Sir William, Sir Henry Fontis, and Captain Forbes, cut their way through all opposition, and, entering the town sword in hand, at the head of their troops, soon got possession of the place, where they found two brass cannons, with a good store of ammunition, and took 500 prisoners, among whom were six officers. There were about forty-six slain. Sir William Savile fled and escaped being taken by crossing the river, but Sergeant- Major Beaumont was drowned in making the attempt.* Lord Fairfax in his " Short Memoriall of some things to be cleared during my Command in the Army," thus alludes to this event : " The business was hotly disputed for almost 2 hours, But after ye Enemy was beaten from their works, the Barricades were soone forced open to ye Streets, where Horse and Foot resolutely entering ye Soldiers cast down their Armes, and render ymselves Prisoners. The Governor and some chiefe Officers swome ye River and Escaped, onely Major Beaumont was drowned." Following up his success of Leeds, Sir Thomas Fairfax, on May 2st, 1643, marched upon Halifax, then in the possession of the King's forces, and after an hour and a half's hard fighting entered the town and drove out the King's forces, taking 600 prisoners, 27 colours, and a large quantity of ammunition. Fairfax appears to have contem- plated securing this part of the Riding for the Parliament,

* * Annals of Yorkshire," 74.

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and consolidating the positions he had gained, for in a letter written in 1643 from Bradford to his father we find reference to the defences of Ambry or Almondbury. But Fairfax was checked in his victorious career. The Earl of Newcastle, who was one of Charles's commanders, lay to the south of him, holding Rotherham and Sheffield. " The Earl of Newcasle's army," wrote Sir Thomas to the Speaker of the House of Commons, May 23rd, 1643, " do now range over all the south-west parts of this country, pillaging and cruelly using the well-affected party ; and here about Leeds, Bradford and Halifax," he might well have added Huddersfield, " being a mountainous barren country, the people now begin to be sensible of want, their last year's provisions being spent, and the enemies' garrisons stopping all the provisions, both of corn and flesh and other necessaries, that were wont to come from the more fruitful countries to them ; their trade utterly taken away, their poor grow innumerable, and great scarcity to relieve them; and this army which now lies amongst them to defend them from the enemie, cannot defend them from want, which causes much murmurs and lamentations among the people ; and for the army itself, it is so far in arrears, and no way appearing how they shall either be supplied with money or succour as they grow very mutinous." The army of the Marquis of Newcastle fast closed upon the Fairfax position. On June 30th, the Parliamentary forces advanced to meet and check the hostile army, but on Adderton Moor they were routed and obliged to fall back upon Bradford. This, too, Sir Thomas was compelled to evacuate, retiring upon Leeds. To Leeds he was followed hot-foot by Newcastle's army, and, unable to hold that town, retired to Hull, whither the victorious Marquis did not deem it prudent to attempt to follow, for help was coming to the hard pressed forces of the Parliament, with Oliver Cromwell at their head.

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A junction of forces effected, the Parliamentary army assumed the offensive and laid siege to York, a Parliamentary Stronghold. From this the besiegers were diverted by the arrival of Prince Rupert, and to meet him the siege was raised, and Fairfax and Cromwell turned to meet their impetuous assailant on Marston Moor, July 2nd, 1644. Here a bloody engagement ensued, victory resting with Cromwell and his Ironsides. In this sanguinary contest Sir John Ramsden's regiment took part, but the knight himself had been taken prisoner at Selby in an encounter with Sir Thomas Fairfax's army, on its march to the siege of York. But Charles Nettleton, of Honley, and Captain Horsfall, of Storthes Hall were with the Cavaliers in the fight that ended so disastrously for the cause they championed. The victorious army was now in a position to assume the aggressive and Cromwell sent a large force to reduce Sheffield, which was held for the King by Sir Thomas Beaumont, of Whitley. In order to prevent the effusion of blood, a summons was sent to Major Beaumont requiring him to surrender the town, but the reply came that the garrison would hold no parley. The besiegers thereupon erected two batteries and kept their cannon playing upon the castle for twenty-four hours without any visible effect. Finding that the siege would be protracted, Major Crawford sent to Lord Fairfax for the " Queen's pocket pistol " and a whole culverin, which being brought to the spot, played with such fatal effects, that the garrison was forced to capitulate, and the castle was subsequently demolished. When the war was over the victorious party took somewhat ungenerous reprisals upon those who had adhered to the King. The partisans of the unhappy monarch were heavily mulcted. The Kayes of Woodsome were grievously fined. Smaller people did not escape scot-free. Thus Mr.

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Tomlinson in the contribution I have more than once quoted from, preserves a petition from Thomas Hirst, of Greenhead, and it may be treated as a type of the proceed- ings that formed a somewhat prosaic conclusion to the more spirited but little less ruinous contentions of the tented

field.

'* To the right honoble. the Commission for compounding with Delinquents sitting at Westmister.

The humble petition of Thomas Hirst, of Greenhead, in the Parish of Huddersfield, in the County of York, gentlemen,

Sheweth,

That your petitioner did adhere unto the forces raysed against the Parliament in the late Warrs, for which his small estate is liable to sequestration, being lately informed against by Major Blackmore. Your petitioner humbly prays (he being not yet sequestered) that he may be admitted to a reasonable composition for his delinquency and estate, according to the particulars annexed. And he shall ever pray, Tho. Hirst."

Thomas Hirst was fined £90, or one-sixth the computed value of his estate of Greenhead. It must not be supposed that only those who took arms or furnished money on one side or the other of this protracted and bitter struggle suffered for their partisanship. There were others who were neither soldiers nor con- tributors who in their own way showed their zeal for King or Parliament. The Rev. Richard Sykes, who was Rector of Kirkheaton, was expelled from his incumbency by Parliament because he refused to sign the Solemn League and Covenant which engaged him to the adoption of the Presbyterian system in the Church of England and to the substitution of elders for bishops in the government of the Church. The living of Kirkheaton being thus vacated was filled by the appointment by Parliament of the Rev. Christopher Richardson, M.A., of Trinity College, Cambridge, who, though he himself may be supposed to have

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been episcopally ordained, was willing to conform to the Presbyterian form of Church government. From 1646 to 1661 Mr. Richardson enjoyed the incumbency of Kirk- heaton, but on the restoration of Charles II. the supremacy of the Church of England being re-established, Mr. Richardson was "silenced" in 1661. He purchased Lascelles Hall, and congregations of the Puritans of the district found there a congenial service, the staircase being used as a pulpit. Later, Mr. Heywood was enabled to take out a personal license warranting him to preach, and also a license for Lascelles Hall. Under date January 2nd, 1693, Oliver Heywood tells in his diary how he preached for Mr. Richardson at Lascelles Hall, and how the serjeant of Sir John Kaye, of Woodsome, came thrusting through the crowd and demanded their licenses for preaching. Heywood and Richardson concluded the service and then set out for Woodsome accompanied by the serjeant and two of Sir John's livery men. Waiting Sir John's pleasure in the outer hall, they observed many waiting men playing at cards, and Heywood indulges the reflection that the devil was very spiteful against preaching since he did not hinder but promoted keeping open house, feasting, dancing and revelling. Mr. Richardson was able to produce his license, and Sir John appears to have contented himself with Heywood undertaking to forward his own license, and with a caution that the two reverend Nonconformists had gone beyond the King's intention. Still later, after the Toleration Act had heen passed, Richardson appears to have made up his differences with Sir John, probably through the good offices of Mr. Meeke, the Curate of Slaithwaite, for in Heywood's diary is the entry : " 75693, April 20th. Walked with Mr. Richardson to Woodsome. Sat with Sir John Kaye all the afternoon. Mr. Richardson's austerity in religious matters did not protect him from the darts of love. When between sixty

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and seventy years old we find him writing to the lady who became his second wife in terms which I commend as fitting for an old man's love letter in all times :

* My Dearest Love, I doubt not but since my departure from you, you have found my word too true, I meane that the warrants are forth against us. The Lord preserve and keep us out of their hands. I would gladly hope your father came safely home, and is in safety there. I called at Carr House, but finding the captaine much better I made noe stay, not soe much as to dine with him. * * * I am at my own house at present, and I blesse God, in health and wellfare, but not without peace, resolving as soon as I can, and hopeing ere long to see my dearest deare: In the meanwhile, as I desire to doe, soe you also may deceiv the weary time with some diversion, a better I cannot command unto you than in the intervalle of other business to intertaine God into your thoughts with something relating unto him-either his attributes, words and works, especially his works of mercy, wherein he aboundeth towards us in Christ Jesus.' Such meditation will purge your minde from vaine thoughts, the bane of heavenly mindednesse, the food, fewell and nourishers of corrupt affections and lusts: the quenchers of the Spirit, the griefe of gracious, but the com- placency and pleasure of carnall hearts. It will also leave a sweet relish uppon your spirit and give more solid delight unto your soul than all the vanityes of this world can afford you, which, when they have found entertainments in your thoughts, having kept out better things, leave nothing but emptiness and a sting behind them. As I have been honoured to bee received into your closet, soe that which most attested and took me there was the sight of your bible layd uppon your table, which, when I opened, I observed marked with pieces of paper, to direct into the places, which I conceive were a course in your daily reading; whence I gathered (and I hope truly) that you keep a constant daily course - of reading the scriptures. In which I question not, but you joyne secret prayer. God Almighty continue in that good way and bless you: which is and shall bee the prayer of Who is and hopeth to bee, Yours whilst his owne, C. Richardson. Lassell Hall,

November 24, '82. Mr. Richardson, after his second marriage-it was to

Mistress Hephizibah Pryme, the recipient of the above epistle-removed to Liverpool, and established at Castle

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Hey, the first Presbyterian church in that place. He died December 5th, 1698. The Rev. Christopher Richardson was not the only divine associated with this locality who figured in the theological polemics of the stormy period we are now considering. The Rev. ABranam Woopxrap was born at Meltham, and baptized at Almondbury Parish Church, as witness the following entry in the Parish Register :

" Abrahamis fil: John Woodhead de Meltham baptiz. 2d. Aprilis 1609 "' ;

And it is conjectured by the Rev. Joseph Hughes, author of The History of the Township of Meltham, that he received his early education at the Almondbury Grammar School. At the age of sixteen, he was sent to Oxford, and was admitted into University College. He became distinguished in the University as an acute Logician and a good philosopher. He took his M.A. in 1632 and was Skirland and possibly Freestone Fellow. He took the orders of the Church of England and was in 1641 elected one of the Proctors of the University. In the following year he was summoned to the bar of the House of Commons for " when the Parliament attempted by every means to gain the University over to the Republican party, and had proposed a convocation in order to introduce the Solemn League and Covenant, the firmness of Mr. Woodhead prevented in a signal measure the innovation ; and at the Bar of the House he made so able a defence, that he was dismissed without further molestation and returned to the University, where he remained till the expiration of his Proctorship.'"' He however found it desirable to leave the country, and on his return lived for a time under the protection of the Duke of Buckingham with apartments in York House, and still later we find him in concealment in the family of Lord Capel,

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from which there is little wonder that he was suspected not merely of High Church leanings but of looking Romewards. The authorship of that celebrated work, TIWho/le Duty of Man, has been often ascribed to Abraham Woodhead, and in the work I have mentioned Mr. Hughes supports the claims of this celebrated Yorkshire divine. Abraham Woodhead died, aged 70, on May 4th, 1678. By his will, made in 1675, after appropriating a small rent-charge to the claims of family affection, he directed his trustees to pay * ye residue of ye yearly rents of his lands in Meltham or Thickhollings to ye minister of ye word of God yt shall be settled and officiate at ye Chappell of Meltham att ye time of my decease, and so to his successor in ye same place and office for devise which may stand as the most effective and abiding answer to the charge of Romanism, which in those days was a common accusation against all clergy who sided with the Royalists. Besides Richardson, Woodhead, and the military captains, this district furnished to the conflicts of the day one other prominent figure : Sir Thomas Hoyle, M.P. Thomas Hoyle was the son of Thomas Hoyle, of Linthwaite, probably of Hoyle House. Early in life Thomas Hoyle, the younger, appears to have left the home of his fathers and sought a wider sphere of activity in the City of York, establishing himself there as a merchant, probably of the cloths manufactured in his native valley. He prospered in business and was active in civil life. He became a freeman of the city, a member of the Guild, of which he was governor from 1629-1631; chamber- lain in 1614, sheriff in 1621-2, alderman in 1628, mayor in 1632, and in 1632 member of Parliament for the city. He took an active part against the King and his appointment to the office of Mayor of York was made, not by the usual method of election by the council, but by ordinance of

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Parliament, though the council of the city endorsed the appointment. - On the first anniversary of the execution of Charles I., Alderman Hoyle strangled himself in his own chamber near Westminster Church. He had lately sunk into a profound melancholy, and "the coroner's inquest found him zos compos mentis, and so saved his goods and somewhat of his credit too, in reasonable men's opinions." The Royalist party were more jubilant over his death than was seemly, attributing his death on the anniversary of that of him they deemed a royal martyr, nothing less than a direct judgment of God. A pamphlet was published purporting to be a recantation of the principles of his life, by the unhappy alderman, but it probably owed its origin less to the pen of the deceased than to the ingenuity of his opponents. It was styled "The Rebel's Warning [Piece] being certaine rules and instructions left by Alderman Hoyle being a Burgess of Yorkshire who hanged himself January 30th, within half-an-hour after that day twelvemonth Ze and his sectarian Brethren murdered their king." This seasonable caveat written by his own hand, was found lying by him in the chamber where he hanged himself." In reviewing the connection of this district with the events of the civil war, it has been a necessary duty to record that whilst the mass of the industrial population were banded against the insidious designs of the crown upon the constitutional liberties and Protestant Faith of the people, the county families were for the most part active in the King's support. A happiernote was struck by them in the reign of James II. From the moment of his accession that monarch, himself an avowed Romanist, contemplated the subversion of the Protestant Faith and a restoration of the old religion. He was especially bent upon a Repeal of the Test and Penal Statutes. It may, of course, be permitted to urge that James was actuated merely by a commendable

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recto - . er arse r ~ menores mame: nne mnm ome < mes ermmm as nom n ncommemmnnmmemnmmmme - comme

spirit of religious toleration such as we of these days of religious freedom or broad-mindedness, ought to view with sympathy and approval. But there can be little question James was actuated by the desire, not only to relieve the Catholics from disabilities, but to foster the growth of Roman doctrines and Roman practices, to fasten, in short, the bonds of Rome once more upon the nation. Such it was apprehended was the sinister design that underlay the following questions that the king ordered the Lord Lieu- tenant to administer to every Deputy-Lieutenant and Justice

of the Peace.

in case he shall be chosen Knight of the Shire, or Burgess of a Towne, when the King shall think fit to call a Parliament, whether he will be for taking off the Penall Lawes and the Tests.

2.-Whether he will assist and contribute to the Election of such Members as shall be for taking off the Penal Laws and Tests.

It is manifest that such an inquisition on the part of the Crown was a gross interference with the freedom of election, and it is gratifying to find that the gentry of Yorkshire were in the main prompt in their repudiation of so unconstitutional an attempt. The following answer was returned by, among others, John Ramsden, of Longley, and John Key (Kaye), of Woodsome :

'" Seeing there is noe Commission produced from the King, neither any authority appears to us by the Statutes of the Militia whereby answers to the Questions may be required ; Wee take leave to make this Declaration, that we think ourselves under noe obligation to reply to them, otherwise than to show our willingness to express our obedience whenever, and by whomsoever the King's name is made use of. any of us be chosen members of Parliament, wee judge we ought not to pre-engage ourselves by consenting to the demand before arguments may be heard and considered in parliament, and we are further sensible that the protestant Church may be deeply concerned herein as to its security, which Church we are bound to support by all lawful means. 2.-Uantill such Penal Laws and Tests may be made appear to be repugnant to the Protestant interest, we cannot contribute to

any such election." R

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242 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

The Stuart influence, so far as it threatened the - liberties of the country, was practically dead in this District, and we find, therefore, that after the exile of that family, neither the gentry nor the commons of our neighbourhood joined in the attempts that were made to restore the exiled family. Indeed, in the year 1715, when the Pretender made the first attempt on the Crown, the whole country rose to swell the national forces. The following document is reproduced in Mr. Hughes' ZZistory of Mel/tham:

" To the Con'ble of Meltham-Halfe. West Rid.

Com. Ebor.}By virtue of a Warrant from his Majesty's Deputy Lieutenants,-These are to command you forthwith to give notice to all the Principals of Foot within your Constabulary, to provide for their men a Red Cloath Coat Lined with Orange and trimmed with Brass Buttons, and a Hatt bound with broad Orange Worsted Lace, and also to provide forthwith good and new arms, viz. :-a Musquett, Bayonett, Cartouch Bag, Sword and Belt, which are all to be in readinesse when called for. Hereof fail not; Given under my Hand the Eleventh day of March, Ano Dni. 1715, and by another Warrant from the Deputy Lieutenants, you are to be furnish't with the said Cloath and arms by Mr. Robert Milne and Mr. Thomas Warburton, in Wakefield, good and Reason- able Rates. JAS: BEUAR."

Mrs. Jagger in her Accounts of St. Mary's, Honley,* mentions that when a child she once saw some dilapidated military garments, worn by one of those who answered the call of the constable to help to defend his village. The coat was of red cloth of a now antiquated pattern and trimmed with brass buttons. A band of yellow lace adorned the hat. In 1745, when the Young Pretender made his incursion into England, this neighbourhood was again thrown into a state of wild alarm. _ We read in the Diary of the Rev. I. Ismay, under date Sunday, Dec. Ist, 1745: " The people at Huddersfield, Mirfield, &c., were put into a prodigious

* * Yorkshire Notes and Queries."

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 243

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panic by ye Lancashire Militia Officers suspecting them to be Rebels. A woman at Huddersfield was frightened to death with the report of the Rebels approaching the place. The coal pits at Mirfield Moor and other places were stocked with clothes and provisions." A contemporary letter written by a Holmfirth gentleman and dated Dec. 12th, 1745, quoted by Mr. Tomlinson, says: "I hear the rebels are returning [from Derby] and it is feared some of them will come this way ; they are in greater consterna- tion in Holmfirth than they were on Saturday, the 30th of last month. A great many troopers and dragoons lodged in Huddersfield and Almondbury last night belonging to General Wade's regiments, George Morehouse of Almond- bury had four troopers and four horses. They went away soon this morning. General Oglethorpe was with them and lodged at Greenhead." Scot Head, Honley, is said to owe its name to the fact that the invading army reached that spot. Some stragglers from the main body may have been seen in the neighbour- hood. One more reference to "the war's alarms" and we turn our attention to subjects more pacific. At the time when Napoleon, like a huge Colossus, did o'erstride the world, and England lived in daily dread of a French descent upon our coasts, a corps of volunteers was formed in this neighbourhood, and commanded by Sir George Armytage, Bart. A coloured plate referred to in Yorkshire Notes and Queries, purports to picture " A grand review on Heath Common, near Wakefield, of the gentlemen volunteers of Leeds, by Lieutenant-Colonel Lloyd, and reviewed by Lieutenant-General Scott on the 4th of August, 1796." In 1817, owing to the disturbed state of the country, "the principal gentry and merchants" of the district enrolled themselves into a corps of cavalry " to be

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244 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

called the Huddersfield Corps of Yeomanry for the internal defence and security of this kingdom." A subscription of over £400 was raised, the principal subscribers being Sir John Lister Kaye and Messrs. John Beaumont, B. Haigh Allen, John Whitacre, John Armytage, W. W. Stables, John Horsfall, William Brooke, Thomas Allen, Joseph Armytage, and General Bernard. Those who are curious on such matters may find the names of the first members of this patriotic and gallant corps in the VYorksAire Notes and Queries, vol. 11., p. 13. Their services were soon in request, and will receive full mention when I come to describe the troublous times that ensued on the close of the great

Napoleonic wars.

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CHAPTER XII.

HEN one contemplates the Huddersfield of the end of this century : its broad, well paved, well lighted streets, its ample warehouses and stores "' and shops, its stately churches and scarce less stately chapels, its imposing offices for the discharge of public functions, its palatial structures devoted to the general education, its parks and squares, its fair suburbs decked with elegant mansions, speaking both of opulence and cultured taste: a town well lighted, well drained, its buildings alike massive and elegant in their walls of white freestone, no less pleasing to the eye than solid and durable : a town well ordered, harmonious in a symmetry not too severe: approached from every side by a railway system ever perfecting, and its several parts knit by an efficient tramway service; the public order maintained by a staff of police, whose efficiency is well attested by the scarcity of serious crime and the rareness of unseemly broils even in the quarters where peace and decorum might hardly be expected-when, I say, such is the subject of our contem- plation, we read with amazement that might pardonably rise to incredulity, the accounts, of which many have been compiled, of Huddersfield as our forefathers knew it when the century was young. If an observer of the town a hundred years ago had taken as the centre of his survey the Parish Church, on whose low girdling walls pieces were once exposed for sale, what was the picture the town presented ? The main streets or " gates" were Castlegate, Northgate, Kirkgate, and Westgate. The first named is said by a writer, " Native," who contributed his interesting reminiscences to the EHZwddersfeld Examiner some twenty

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246 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

years ago, to have derived its name from the existence there of Towzer Castle, a small structure between Dock Street and Quay Street, formerly used as a prison. In the year 1800 Mr. Samuel Mosley was head-constable, and he owned a dog called " Towzer." By that common process of rhetoric called metonymy the name of the dog was transferred to the stronghold he guarded, and not only was the prison called "Towzer," but the name is still preserved when both constable and dog have long been dead and the old building levelled to the ground. I am not sure that "Native" is right in his statement that Castlegate owes its name to the circumstance he mentions. It is more probable that Castlegate was the gate or road to Almondbury Castle; but the existence of the old prison there is a well known fact, though it is not so well known that persons guilty of petty offences were tied to the tail of a cart and their bare backs flogged with the "cat" from the Cloth Hall to the Dog Inn in Old Street. Castlegate, however, to what association soever it owes its name, was in 1788, according to a map of that date in the possession of the late G. W. Tomlinson, not a continuous street. There were the beginning and the end of a street and gardens lay between, and according to Mr. Tomlinson there lay the fashionable quarter of the town. _ The name Rosemary Lane recalls a time when that district was not only more fashionable but more sweetly redolent than now, though at the beginning of the century it was abandoned to small cropping shops. The Beast Market was in existence, but its earlier and less comprehensive name was Cow Market, and it was connected with Kirkgate by a passage so strait that two carts could not pass. Northgate, too, which appears to have been the most populous part of the town, was called Norbar, and on the map is designated as the " New Turnpike to

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 24"

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Halifax." Near the church stood the old vicarage, of which I have already spoken, and the site of the present Parish Church Schools was then known as Parson's Croft, and adjoined the vicarage garden. Cross Church Street, as yet, was not. The Pack Horse Inn, in Kirkgate, though Mr. Tomlinson does not allude to it in describing the hirkgate of a century ago, dates back quite to that period. The Pack Horse Yard, approached by a high gateway, was more than two hundred yards in depth; there were stalls for a hundred horses, with granaries for the corn, and accommodation for stage coaches, post-chases and carriers' waggons. In Kirkgate, too, or rather in Old Street, was the Old Post Office, a sub-office served from Halifax, Wakefield, and Manchester. ** Native," speaking of the year 1804, tells how old Mrs. Murgatroyd did all the internal business of the Post Office, marking the price on each letter, for letters were at that time paid for on delivery. Another old woman named Brooksbank was the sole letter carrier of the town, and when she was superannuated, her daughter Betty succeeded to the onerous post. Above and to the west of Kirkgate was, as now, the Market Place, which was flanked on its north by the old George Hotel, on the south by Booth's Corner. On the low or eastern side of the Market Place were buildings, the lower part of which was used as shops, the higher, fronted by a gallery supported by stone pillars, and approached by steps, being utilized as separate dwellings. Near the gallery was the inn called the " Brown Cow," kept in the end of the last and the beginning of this century, by Daniel Armitage. - This hostelry was the rallying point of Cockle Jack who came from Leeds once or twice a week, with cockles and mussels for sale. The bellman advertised these wares through the district, crying: 'There is a large quantity of fine fresh West country

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248 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

cockles and mussels brought into town, and at the Brown Cow Inn they are set down, and will be sold at fourpence per quart." One other fish supply there was for the town, a small round stall at the bottom corner of the Market Place, tended by a person named Bradley, and one member or another of the Bradley family has ever since the first years of the century and possibly long before, been engaged in the fish trade in Huddersfield. On the West Side of the Market Place in what is now New Street, from the bottom of the present Cloth Hall Street, stretched northwards a block of buildings known as the New or Brick Buildings, and each of these was let at £20 a year, which was considered a heavy rent. - They were built out of bricks that had been procured but were not needed for the erection of the Cloth Hall. The corner house, now Mr. Smiles's shop, was occupied by Mr. Thos. Nelson, the head of the firm of Thos. Nelson and Co. It was used as a croppers' shop, and " Native" tells us how he sat on the doorstep and watched the croppers within at the dubbing board, scraping down the cloth with teazles to raise the pile, whilst from the upper chamber came the click of the hand-shears that cut down the nap. A stream of water ran from under the shop door into the street. Just opposite the Market Place was the shop of Edward Walton, leather breeches maker, " a little conse- quential man," magnifying his office of constable. His successor kept a tobacco-shop, much appreciated by those who loved a good cigar but had not the art of choosing one without the assistance of an expert. From Thos. Nelson's to High Street were fields, known as Macaulay's Croft and Cooper's Croft. In High Street there were only two or three houses. On the bottom side of New Street, at what is now its juncture with King Street-but there was then no King Street-were a shambles and slaughter house, and behind the buildings

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pools of blood and heaps of offal were no rare sight. The shambles were demolished about 1807, and the bricks used in the erection of livery stables in Chancery Lane, a name derived from the fact that its site, belonging formerly to the Dobsons, of Dobson's Bank, was thrown into Chancery on the failure of that firm. When the excavations were made for the foundations of the build- ings at the right hand corner of King Street, as you look down the hill, the stumps of great trees were dug up, hard as oak and black as ebony, significant reminder of the distant days when the giants of the forest spread their branches in the very. heart of the town. The Boot and Shoe Inn was even then a well-known resort, and near it a shop built by John Eastwood, dyer, was the theatre of the town. On the same side of New Street some old buildings had been converted into a cotton factory, by the father of the late John Sutcliffe, wool merchant. The second steam engine introduced into Huddersfield was at work there, the first being set up at Fisher's Factory at the top of Chapel Hill. As I have said, King Street did not exist, nor did Ramsden Street, green fields, orchards, and tenter crofts reaching to the Shore. Buxton Road was a highway rather than a street, and was called the " New Turnpike to Holmfirth ;" Albion Street, John Street, South Parade, were unknown, and a footpath ran across green fields to Outcote Bank. In Market Street stood a substantial residence with an extensive garden at its front. It was occupied in the early part of the century by Mr. John Brooke, J.P., a monument to whose memory may be seen in the cemetery. That dwelling-house is now the Queen Hotel, and warehouses stand where the roses of the garden bloomed. The Imperial Hotel, too, was originally a private dwelling house. From the Cloth Hall to Macaulay Street was an open field, with tenters in it for drying

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250 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

cloth. At the junction of Westgate and Upperhead Row stood a cluster of one-storied brick cottages whose tenants had established so unenviable a reputation that the block was called Hell Square. Hard by, where George Street now terminates, stood a house of modest proportions occupied in the first decade of the century by James Brook, father of that Charles Brook whose name is imperishably associated with the Convalescent Home at Meltham. If one sought to leave the centre of the old town and journey westwards, the road lay by a footpath that ran over what is now the site of the Roman Catholic Chapel, and fields spread on either side. Fitzwilliam Street, Bruns- wick Street, Railway Street, Station Street, John William Street, Byram Street, Lord Street, Peter Street, and others newer still, whose names will suggest themselves to the reader, were as yet untraced. Highfield Chapel, which was opened January Ist, 1772, and with the exception of a slender Baptist community at Salendine Nook, was the only Non- conformist church in the neighbourhood, was regarded as standing in the country, a very hill of Zion, and approached by a narrow tortuous dirty lane, often more than ankle deep in mud, whilst a grove of trees, clustering where Hudders- field College later based its academic cloisters, obscured the windows of the modest little meeting house. The only houses near it were at the end of Dyke End Lane (Portland Street). To Highfield people flocked from parts so distant as Crosland Edge, Berry Brow and Honley, on horseback or pillion, and stabling at the rear of the Parsonage perforce supplemented the resources of the nearest hostelry, the Old Cherry Tree Inn. Trinity Street, New North Road were not; at Edgerton, a mere sprinkling of scattered houses. A wood lay between the top of Blacker Lane and West Hill. But what boots it to enlarge a story of negations ?

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 2 5 I

Let it suffice to repeat the words of Phillips, in his Wa/Zs round Huddersfield; " The town was a miserable village; the houses poor and scattered, the streets narrow, crooked and dirty." Such was the home of the 7268 souls, who in 1I8or constituted the population of ihe town. Up to the year 1822 the Local Government of the town was in the hands of the Constable and the Overseers of the Poor. The appointment of the Constable lay primarily with the Court Leet, and the duties were multifarious, and for neglect of duty the Constable was responsible by indictment. Thus in 1671 the Constables received orders to search for guns, bows, nets, greyhounds, &c., to enquire if any weaver, harvest-men or servant had more wages than the statute allowed. In 1683 they had to search for conven- ticles and take two persons with them as witnesses. They were required to keep a sharp eye on Popish recusants, absentees from divine service and unlawful assemblies. Again in 1690 the constable of a neighbouring town was fined for not setting watch and ward, and for not keeping a cucking stool. In Slaithwaite the responsibility for the public peace seems to have been borne or shared by the churchwardens, for in their accounts for the year 1799 we

find the entries :-

UM

Wood for Cuck Ditto for Whipping Post ..........

In default of appointment by the Court Leet the Justices at Quarter Sessions, sitting at Pontefract, had power to fill the vacancy. Among the Ancient Sessions Notes, extracted from the originals by Mr. J. Horsfall Turner, I find under date January, 1689, a " Petition from Carus vicar, and eight others of Almond- bury, for a Constable, as the late one had died a week before this application, and the Lady of the Manor refused to call a court as her steward resided at a great

W -~ o o q.

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252 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

distance and the weather was unreasonable. George Sykes, senr., appointed by the Justices." The office of Constable seems to have had a tendency to become hereditary if we may judge from a document, dated April 1681, and preserved among the Pontefract Sessions Rolls : " Petition of Esther Bramhall reciting That Nicholas Bramhall yor Petitioner's husband was made Constable of Huddersfield for this psent yeare and yor poore petitioner being a poore widdow hath noe sonne to suply the office her sonnes being little boyes, and the Townsmen doe charge yor poore petitioner to provide a man to pforme the office for the residue of this yeare begs that another may be elected." The town was practically desitute of those provisions which now minister to the health and comfort and convenience of the people. There was no system of public drainage. There were Surveyors of Highways appointed by the ratepayers in public meeting, but their power was confined to maintaining existing streets ; to make new ones was beyond their province. Hence the streets of the old town were not made : they evolved. The water supply of the community was drawn from the river, then clear and sparkling as the mountain rills that swelled its waters, and innocent of the sewage and of the many coloured liquors from the dyers' pans. How pure and sweet were the waters of the Colne even sixty years ago, may be judged from the fact that baskets of trout were drawn from the river at Engine Bridge, and the Baptists of Pole Moor Chapel resorted to its banks for the immersion their faith enjoined. Hardy the fish and firm the faith that to-day would brave the waters of the Colne within a league of the town that pollutes its stream ! The first attempt at water- storage was a small reservoir that stood near Mr. Midgley's warehouse in Upper Head Row. This was fed by water pumped up from the river by an engine standing in a small

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house near Mr. Eastwood's mill at Folly Hall or Engine Bridge. The water was forced from the river into wooden mains consisting of the trunks of trees pierced by 3% in. bores. These rude mains were laid under the canal, up the hill to the top of Outcote Bank, along what was called the Upper Road to the small reservoir whence the town drew a supply supplemented by water carts, and by springs and wells. The whole " Waterworks Department" seems to have reposed in the person of Betty Earnshaw, " an old woman rather masculine looking, with a peculiarity about one of her eyes." Betty's function was to perambulate the town with a great turn-key and turn on and off the water. The visual peculiarity that affected poor Betty had its compensations. She was reputed to know more than man or woman ought to know, and many a servant girl received from her mistress praise for early rising on washing-day, whose zeal was stirred rather by anxiety to have an early and anxious interview with the fortune-teller. An abortive attempt to increase the water supply of the town is thus described by " Native": " Godfrey Berry, a leading man in the town, proposed a scheme whereby a larger supply of water might be obtained. His project was to construct a large reservoir in the Old Market Place, into which the Bradley spout water was to be brought. Then there were to be four pumps, one at each corner of the Market Place, from which the people might fetch water. Godfrey and his colleagues set to work with a right good will at the new waterworks. A large hole was dug, which might be, I dare say, thirty yards by seven. This they Ekuilt round and arched over, and when all was over, they made the astounding discovery that water would not run up-hill. The project was there- fore dropped. A considerable amount of public money had been spent and nothing accomplished. The large vault, however, is still there, and when Huddersfield becomes a

bonding town it may come in useful."

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254 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

The public lighting of the town was in keeping with the water supply : " People went about at night with hard glass lanterns, and our shops were lighted up with candles or muddy oil-lamps. It was then deemed by our authorities that our main streets should be lighted up. For this purpose lamp-posts were put down at wide intervals. These were furnished with glasses, something like an inverted bee-hive. In them were placed oil-lamps, which gave a dim uncertain light and only served to make darkness visible, . . . Gas was not known at that day as an illuminator. The first gas used in Huddersfield was made by William Waite, a plumber and glazier. His shop was next door to the Globe Inn. His gas apparatus was in the back workshop and from these he lighted up his front shop window. The new light in the district created great wonder. Ths shop was surrounded nightly by a crowd of spectators, who marvelled greatly how anyone could set fire to the end of an old lead pipe. The first inn in Huddersfield in which gas was burnt was the " White Lion" in Cross Church Street. Mr. Waite made a large leather bag something like a round bellows, and took it to the inn filled with gas, placed it under the table in which a hole was bored to admit a pipe that stood about six inches above the table. There the gas was ignited and consumed to the great astonishment of the jovial though perhaps not specially intelligent frequenters of the house." The public order was then, as now, the special care of the magistrates. - The bench was generally formed, in the early years of this period, by Messrs. Ben Haigh Allen of Green- head, Joseph Haigh of Springwood, and John Horsfall of Thornton Lodge. Justice was administered by these worthies in the front room of their clerk, Matthew Bradley's, house in Market Street. But each and every magistrate carried a court with him for ordinary offences. Thus on

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Saturday afternoon's offenders were conveyed to Milns- bridge to be dealt with by Mr., afterwards Sir Joseph, Radcliffe, whilst old Justice Armitage, of Armitage Bridge, held his court in the back parlour of the Black Bull Inn. The magistrates of early days seem to have been very jealous of their dignity, and to have exercised an almost paternal supervision over the people. Thus, William Woofenden, constable, of Quarmby, on oath, 1677, gave information, as collector of H. Majesty's revenue of hearth- money, against William Hirst, of Quarmby, for saying, when arrested for hearth-dues, that Woofenden was a knave, and Sir John Kaye was a knave, and that soon one could not . . . . . but a Justice of the Peace was ready to send out his warrant. This heinous offence cost William Hirst £10, a large sum in those times. _ Again an Informa- tion dated March roth, 1806, taken before Mr. R. H. Beaumont, of Whitley, may, I am told, be seen in a certain hostelry in Kirkheaton, settling forth "that on Saturday, the 8th day of March instant, at the house of William Armitage, of Whitley Upper, alehouse keeper, the informant heard Samuel Stocks, of Lyley Clough, clothier, swear two pro- fane oaths in these words, to wit, God Z . . . x yor, and By God, &c." The vigilance of the police was supplemented and perhaps stimulated by local associations or committees who appointed their own constable. For instance I have been favoured with the perusal of the minutes of the proceedings of the Marsh Prosecution Society. The minutes date back to 1816. The committee sat at the Nag's Head, Paddock, Mr. John Mortimer being the treasurer in that year, and Dobsons the Bankers of the Association. A salary of ten pounds per year was voted to "Mr. George Whitehead, constable for the Marsh Hamlet, to be paid by the subscri- bers in proportion to their ability." There are many

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256 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

notices directing and providing for the payment of the ex- penses of prosecuting petty offenders against the public peace and private property. There was no court of Civil jurisdiction in Huddersfield till 1839, when an act was passed abolishing the jurisdiction of the Ancient Court Baron of Pontefract and establishing courts for the more easy and speedy recovery of small debts and damages within the Honour of Pontefract, which included ixter alia, Huddersfield, Holmfirth, and Saddle- worth. Of public buildings Huddersfield could boast but few : the Riding School in Albion Street, now used as a ware- house by Messrs. G. W. Crosland & Co., in which Catalin has sung, and Captain Parry, the Arctic explorer, lectured ; a Playhouse on the west side of Queen Street ; the Cloth Hall; a private school or two, one notably kept by John Hartley, another by Mr. Tattersall. More and more the picture presents itself of a town ill-built, ill-drained, ill- paved with cobbles, ill-lighted, the shops small and dingy, the houses of the general people low-roofed, cramped, dark and almost indecent in the absence of conveniences. The streets from ten at night to the small hours were patrolled They were dressed

9

by a few old men, called " Charleys.' " in a long top coat with several capes, and a large slouched hat." They carried a large horn lantern "nearly as large as a butter firkin," and a large wooden rattle, and every half- hour would bawl the hour : " Half-past eleven o'clock and a weetish night." There were, however, some houses of the richer sort, as Clough House, which in 1549 was occupied by one of the Ramsdens of Longley; Newhouse, dating back to the year 1550, and for many generations the home of the Brookes of that ilk; Gledholt of which presently ; Green- head, where in 1581, a family of Hirst resided ; and on the outskirts, Milnsbridge House, Linthwaite Hall, Quarmby

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 257

Hall, Lascelles Hall, Crosland Hall, Fenay Hall, Storthes Hall-there was a Matthew de Storthes in the time of Henry III.-Longley Hall and Woodsome, seats of ancient families, whose wealth in most instances withdrew not only their residence but their interests from the life of the little town. The people who lived within the town were, according to Mr. Phillips, "debased and wild in their

manners, almost to savagery." John Wesley, writing in 1759, said of them: "*A wilder people I never saw in England. The men, women, and children filled the

streets as we rode along, and appeared ready to devour us." And again: "I preached near Huddersfield to the wildest congregation I have seen in Yorkshire; yet they were restrained by an unseen hand; and I believe some felt the sharpness of His word." Although the town boasted a playhouse, it is not probable that exponents of the higher drama often or ever visited a town so difficult of access from the metropolis. The general people, whose pursuits and lack of means confined their wanderings, owed such acquaintance as they possessed of the mimic art to strolling players such as those who strutted on the platform before Tom Wild's Booth at the annual May fair. The favourite pastime of the people was bull-baiting. - So late as 1802 a bill for the prohibition of that cruel and degrading sport was rejected in the House of Commons, the opponents of the measure pleading that it would banish the pastime of the poor while leaving unchecked horse racing and hunting, the diversions of the rich. There was a bull ring at Longwood the place being still known as " Bull Ring," another at Quarmby Clough, and still another at " Moles Head Hill," Golcar, and it was possibly memories of the unforgotten delights of his youth that caused Mr. T. P. Crosland, when pestered by too many

hecklers in his political campaign, to exclaim : " One bull,

S

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258 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

one dog!" Mr. Esther, in his @G/ossary of Almondbury District, has an account of this brutal diversion, which may well be incorporated here: " In former days many of the cottagers kept bulldogs, and it was positively dangerous at times to pass through the streets of our village. The bull was usually brought from Flockton, where one was kept for the express purpose of being baited at wakes, feasts, etc. At Almondbury Common is a triangular piece of ground (now occupied by the tenters of Messrs. Taylor) where, in the latter days of this delectable sport, the animal was tortured for the pleasure of other animals as fierce as itself if not more intelligent. The bull was tied to a stake with ropes about twenty yards long; the owners of the dogs stood in the front ranks with their pets, which were successively slipped at the bull. Sometimes they were tossed yards high; sometimes they caught the poor creature by the muscular part of his head, when the animal became frantic, tossing them wildly in its agony, and the spectators yelled and danced with delight. On a certain occasion it broke loose from the stake, and scattered the amiable bystanders in wild confusion. Once, too, an old acquaintance of mine (to whom I am indebted for certain reminiscences, and I am glad he escaped scott free)* was thrown up into the air, and thus was seen a long way off, he came down on his head, and was for a long time insensible. Ultimately the public voice put a stop to the barbarous custom. The last bull-baiting is said to have occurred at the Rush- bearing, 1824, when the animal was brought to town with a band of music." pastime, the animal being brought into the town to be

Bear-baiting, too, was an occasional

baited. Its throat was protected by a spiked collar. Many of. the people kept mastiffs and bull-dogs for these contests, the nearest modern analogue of which appear to be our football matches. - Cock-fighting was openly patronized by

* How so ?-D.F.E.S.

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all classes and even the magistrates kept and matched their game cocks. Wesley must, one fancies, have drawn his impressions from a set of men widely different from those who flocked in great numbers to the Parish Church to hear Mr. Venn, and who were inflamed with a zeal so enduring that they deserted the ancient edifice, chilled by his successor's lack of zeal, and built Highfield. There and in the church he might no doubt have seen substantial townsmen, the men dressed, as we are told our great grandsires dressed, on Sundays, in " a blue coat with buttons, buckskin leather breeches, and top boots, a frilled shirt, with the frill sticking out about two inches, and a gold brooch stuck in it." ' The little town was, at this period and for many years later, connected with the outer world by a service of mails and passenger coaches, and though the details I subjoin belong to a somewhat later period than that to which the main matter of this chapter must be assigned, it is sufficiently near in point of time to give us an idea not only of the facilities for travelling enjoyed by the towns- people in the early years of the century, but also of the commercial activity which in so small a community justified the maintenance of so considerable a service.

COACHES. To Lonpon. Tike Royal Mail (from Halifax) called at the Pack Horse Inn, every evening at 8-15; and TZXe Royal Hope, every morning at 7-15; both going through New Mill, Penistone, and Sheffield. The fare from Leeds to London was £1 11s. 6d. inside; £1 Is. outside. The time occupied was two-and-a- half days. To Braprorp. A coach from the George Inn, every Tuesday evening.

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To Harirax. 7ZT%e Royal Mail (from London) called at the Pack Horse Inn every afternoon at 4-30; and the Royal Hope, every afternoon at 6-30; both going through Elland. To Hormmrirtxu. T%e Tally-Ho, from the Wool Pack, every Tuesday afternoon at 5; going through Lock- wood and Honley. To Hurt. Fair Trader (from Manchester) called at the Pack Horse Inn every morning at 8, going through Mirfield, Dewsbury, Wakefield, Pontefract and Knottingley. To Leros. TZe Cornwallis (from Manchester) called at the Rose and Crown Inn every (Sunday excepted), at 10, and the Zndeperdent from the same inn every morning at 10-15; both going through Birstall, Morley and Mill-Bridge; the Dart, from the Pack Horse Inn, every morning (Sunday excepted), during summer at 7, and in winter at 8; going through the Upper Mill and Morley. The Umpire (from Manchester) called at the Pack Horse Inn every afternoon at 1-30 ; TXe True Briton, every afternoon at 4, and the 2?/o#f called at the Rose and Crown Inn, every evening at 7, going through Mirfield, &c. To MancurstEr. TZ%e Accommodation; from the Pack Horse Inn, every morning (Sunday excepted), during summer at 6, and in winter at 7, and T¥#e Fair Trader, every morning at 8; T#e Umpire (from Leeds), called at the same inn every morning at 11, and TZe Tr»xe Briton every afternoon at 3; and The Cornwallis (from Leeds and Wakefield), called at the Rose and Crown every morning (Sunday excepted), at 8; all going through Marsden, Delph and Oldham. TZ%e 2//of (from Leeds) called at the Rose and Crown and Swan

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- conn m

Inns, every afternoon at 1, and 7T#e Fuir Trader (from Hull), called at the Pack Horse Inn, every afternoon at 5; both going through Mossley and Ashton. To WaxerizELp. Z%e Cornwallis (from Manchester) called at the Rose and Crown Inn, every morning (Sunday excepted), at 10 ; going through Lepton and Horbury.

To London, Doncaster, Bawtry, Leicester, Nottingham, Northampton, Newark, Grantham, Uppingham, Stamford, &c., D. Dawson & Co.'s vans and waggons started daily from their warehouse in Kirkgate, bearing great trusses of the produce of the loom. Besides the Royal Mails that bore the letters from distant centres into the town, there were Foot Posts leaving Huddersfield every morning at 8 (Tuesday excepted), to Lockwood, Honley, Thongsbridge, Holmfirth, Paddock, Slaithwaite, Marsden, Longwood, Dogley Lane, Kirkburton, Farnley, Crossland, Netherton, Meltham, Deighton, Sheep- ridge, Rastrick, Brighouse, Dalton, Kirkheaton, Lepton and Outlane. The name of the Pack Horse Inn reminds us of a mode of conveyance earlier than the stage coach-the Bell Horse or the Pack Horse. A writer quoted in the Annals of Vorkshire,* says of the Bell Horses: "I1 have a faint recollection of them passing through Morley twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, as I am told. They were called pack-horses, from carrying large packs of cloth, &c., on their backs. These bell-horses and their drivers were the chief conveyances during the middle ages and down to the civil wars. By means of them, not only various goods, but letters, and even young Oxford and Cambridge students were passed from various parts of the Kingdom." The progress of the dashing coach with its brave team and tooting horn was not without its perils and disasters. ¢ Record-breaking " had its fascinations then as now, and

* p. 135.

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und

we read of a coach in hot haste to make the Pack Horse Inn dashing across the market place to save the corner. Especially keen was the rivalry between the drivers of the coaches owned by Mr. Bickerdike, of the Pack Horse, and by Mr. Clegg, of the Ramsden's Arms, and into the Olympic contests, of which the late Mr. Coney, senior, had many stirring tales, the passengers appear to have entered with a zeal not repressed by the peril to their necks and limbs. Hair-breadth escapes that brought the heart into the mouth were relished in those robuster days-but there were not always escapes. Fleece Coach, on its road to Sheffield, was overturned at the foot of Shelly Bank, six miles from Huddersfield, owing to the coachman driving at full speed down the hill, without locking the wheel. Among the passengers were nine Methodist ministers on their way to the conference at Sheffield, two of them, the Rev. Mr. Sargent and the Rev. Edward Parker Lloyd, were killed on the spot, and six of the others received serious but not fatal injuries. The driver was indicted for and found guilty of manslaughter. That was in August, 1823. In February, 1830, the Man- chester and Huddersfield Mail was overturned at Longroyd Bridge, and the coachman and passengers were precipitated a depth of ten or eleven yards upon some large stones by the river Colne. Mr. Samuel Statham, of Huddersfield, was killed, and Mr. D. Berry, of Almondbury, had his leg btoken ; whilst three years later Mr. John Donkersley, of Honley, was seriously injured by a mishap to the Leeds and Newcastle Coach. The roads on which these coaches ran were ill-made, seldom 'repaired, and constructed with little or no regard for man or beast. The engineers of those days had no idea of winding round a hill, they must confront the highest summit and surmount it. They used a corkscrew oft enough, but

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they had not yet learnt a lesson in road-making from it. The old Halifax and Manchester roads may still be traced by the pedestrian, and they will help him to realize the difficulties of the panting team that, along the rutty roads deep in mud or blocked by snow, drew the heavy laden coaches up the sides of steep hills, and not less to realize the dangers of the abrupt descent. The steep declivity from Grimescar Wood through the Ainleys was especially dreaded in the olden times. There were other dangers than those that befel when a horse stumbled or a shaft snapped. There were highwaymen that exacted their blackmail, and footpads that took their meaner levies, at pistol point. The small manufacturers who on the hill sides wove, in the long, low, many-windowed attics, the good broad cloths that our great-grandsires delighted in, braved dangers on the road by no means imaginary. It was one thing to sell your goods in the markets of Macclesfield or Nottingham : another to bring home in safety the good broad pieces of gold to feast the good wife's eyes withal. I have often sat by the winter's fire and heard my grandfather tell of the brave old days when the wain creaked and lumbered over Stanedge Moor, piled with the produce of many weeks' perhaps many months' hard toil at the loom, he and one faithful weaver the armed escort of the precious freight, and of encounters with mysterious foot-pads whose numbers and whose violence grew with the narrator's years. The inconveniences, dangers and expense of travel were not compensated by comfort, security and abundance at home. Truly the mud and wattled houses of the earlier poor had, in the seventeenth century, been replaced by brick dwellings ; capacious mansions of stone had for the rich, succeeded the timber structures of a preceding age. But the price of food pressed heavily on all classes, and with cruel rigour on the poor. In June 1783, with wheat at 60/-

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per quarter, the general distress was so acute that there were corn riots at Bradford, Halifax and Huddersfield. The rioters demanded an immediate reduction in the price of corn. At Halifax, two men who had headed the crowd were hanged on Beacon Hill that overlooks the town. In 1796 resolutions were largely arrived at by the principal families in the county to reduce their bread bills by one-third in hopes of reducing the price to the poor, and to abstain altogether from lamb in order to bring down the price of mutton. In November, 1799, soup kitchens were opened in Huddersfield to supply the poor at one penny a quart, but even a penny was beyond the purse of many, and on the 1gth of that month gangs of desperate men seized what corn they could find in the warehouses, and sold it at their own price. It had risen to £6 16s. od. a quarter. - The poorer class lived on barley, bran, and pea meal, when they could get it. There were not, of course, wanting those who made haste to get rich out of the necessities of the poor. Forestalling, regrating and en- grossing, anticipating the market, or in the Americanism of our time, " making a corner," was then a penal offence, and David Oliver of Lindley, who was a notorious offender in this regard, was indicted and fined £20 for forestalling wheat, whilst the Society of Friends in this neighbourhood declared their abhorrence of adding to the high price of provision by ©" forestalling and regrating in the markets, and that they would discountenance any of their society who should be guilty of any such nefarious practises." How about wages? An attempt, or rather several attempts, had been made by Parliament to fix the rate of wages by statutes called Statutes of Labourers, and the provisions of former acts were by an enactment of James I., extended to the wages of " all labourers, weavers, spinsters, and workmen or workwomen whatsoever, either working by

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the day, week, month or year, or taking any work at any person's hand whatsoever, to be done in great or otherwise." The same statute declared that " a clothier not paying the wages rated to his workmen, should forfeit 10/- for every such offence, and that a clothier being a justice, should be no rater of wages for any weaver, tucker, spinster, or other artisan that dependeth on the making of cloth." - The statute was generally evaded despite the activity of the magistrates. Mr. Walter Smith, in Q/Z Yorkshire, cites a warrant dated November 21st, 1604, addressed "to all and everye the Pettye Constables within the Wapentakes of Agbrigg and Morley," and signed by Sir John Savile, Robert Kaye of Woodsome, and John Armytage of Kirklees, in which the petty constables are exhorted to bring before the justices " from tyme to tyme, all and everye such Masters, Mistresses, Dames, and Servants, or others, which shall contemne or not obey" the provisions of the Statute. The interest that would otherwise attach to the scales of wages fixed under the Statutes of Labourers is much abated by the fact that they seam to have been systematically disregarded, and the wages of the working classes to have been fixed by the iron law of supply and demand, tempered by the occasional charity of benevolent employers. - The condition of the industrial classes in this district before the introduction of machinery, may be gauged from the fact, that in 1738, a pack of long wool made into fine stuffs would employ 158 persons a week, whose united earnings amounted to £32 12s. In 1788, the spinners were old men, women, and children of both sexes, and at that time their average earnings were sixpence farthing a day. In the year 1800, it was stated before a Parliamentary Committee, that in the woollen industry, men could earn from sixteen to eighteen shillings per week ; women from five to six shillings per week ; children from three to six shillings per week ; and old men from nine to twelve shillings per week.

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In the beginning of the century the Factory System was in its infancy, and its introduction was bitterly resented. The first factory worked by steam in this district was built in 1797 at Bradford, and the labourers employed in its erection worked under the menaces and assaults of angry crowds. What mills there were were used for scribbling, carding and fulling. The pieces were woven in the homes of the weavers. Every weaver had his donkey, and so close was the bond of affection between them supposed to be, that when a donkey brayed the urchins of the street would cry: " Another weaver dead!" Many can still remember seeing over a hundred donkeys at one time in the mill yard of Messrs. Walker, of Lindley. On the donkey's back and in the panniers slung upon the flanks the warp and the coppins of weft were taken from the mill to the weaver's home, and there the women of the household wound the weft from the cop on to spools or bobbins for the shuttle. All along the hill sides, each in its little garden patch, oft with a hen-coop and pig-stye hard by, of grim rough hewn ashlar, black with age and exposure to the storms that sweep the moors, stood the low cottages of the honest weavers, with their kitchens of sanded floors, ochred walls, and massive rafters, a long settle under the window in which the musk and geranium stood in pots, the sleeve clock in the corner with its steady tick, the reel for the oat-cake above the broad fireplace, the great chest of drawers, with its Bible and one or two other books of a sternly religious type, and above, in the long chamber, the hum of the bobbin wheel and the clack of the loom. - But it was not always work and toil. There were the days when the horn of the hunter and the bay of hound were heard on the hill, and every weaver donned his cap and away to the meet. He was no man's servant, that old time weaver. There was more independence then. He

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ove ems m

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worked when he liked, rising early in summer to get the full blessing of the morning sun, or working late into the gloaming of those precious hours of the waning light. But then there was the open window and the sweet fragrance from the flower-decked garden and the even-song of the lark in the cage above the window, and all the joyous sounds of home about. Ah, this factory system has not been all gain, my friends. There is less of that sturdy independence now, and less originality. We are all woven by one pattern now. And for the girls, too, life was better then than now ; for they were nurtured at home and they worked where they were nurtured. The atmosphere of the factory is none too sweet and wholesome for our young maids. Defoe, in his Tour Hhrough Great Britain, writing of the neighbourhood of Halifax in the year 1724, says: " The land was divided into small enclosures from two acres to six or seven each, seldom more, every three or four pieces of land having a house belonging to them ; hardly a house standing out of speaking distance from another. We could see at every house a tenter, and on almost every tenter a piece of cloth or kersie or shalloon. At every considerable house there was a manufactory. Every clothier keeps one horse at least to carry his manufactures to the market ; and every one generally keeps a cow or two or more for his family. By this means the small pieces of enclosed land about each house are occupied, for they scarce sow corn enough to feed their poultry. The housés are full of lusty fellows, some at the dye-vat, some at the looms, others dressing the cloths; the women and children carding or spinning, being all employed from the youngest to the oldest. . . . . Not a beggar to be seen or an idle person." It is scarely necessary to say that the mulls of a hundred years ago were very different from the immense piles we

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268 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

see to-day, their long chimneys menacing the skies, and their interior furnished with every mechanical appliance for _economizing labour and perfecting the output. The first mill of which there appears to be any recollection in the Colne Valley was at Merry Dale. It was worked by the Horsfalls, an old family now genially represented by Dr. Edwin Dean, J.P., of Slaithwaite, which owned also, at a later date, Clough House Mill. It was run first by a gin worked by a horse, a circumstance which suffices to instruct us as to its capacity. A water-wheel succeeded to the gin of the old mills, and then came the era of steam, to yield perhaps at a no very distant date to electricity. The mill at Merry Dale may be taken as a type of the old mills, which it would be scarcely accurate to describe as manufacturing mills. They were mills for scouring, dyeing, scribbling, carding and fulling. But the manu- facturing or hand-making of the pieces, was done in the homes of the weavers. Very often the weavers bought their own wool, scoured and dyed it themselves in the pans at the mull, paid for the scribbling and carding and finally for the fulling ; and it may probably be said with truth that the humble origins of most if not all of the oldest manu- facturing firms of to-day, the pioneers of the industry to which Huddersfield and the flourishing communities around rapidly rising to the dignity of towns owe their progress and their wealth must be sought in the cottage home of some thrifty weaver. I have already mentioned more than once the jealousy of our Legislature that prohibited the exportation of English wool to other countries. So rigorous was this prohibition that by 2 Edward III. the exportation of wool, by denizens or strangers, was forbidden under pains of death, and in the reign of Elizabeth, the exportation of live sheep was made penal. The wool of this mountainous and seeming barren

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 269

district, enjoyed, strange to say, a reputation peculiar to itself. The reason was stated by Mr. Edward Law, the eminent counsel, at the Bar of the House of Lords, on a memorable occasion. Over the large tracts of our moorlands, ' the sheep are used to stray at large, and in that wider range of pasture, the animal, from its habits of life, acquires that quality of fleece which is called the short wool, peculiarly fitted for our best fabrics, whereas in the richer and more luxuriant pastures, which enclosed and improved land usually affords, everybody acquainted with the subject knows, that a longer and much less useful quality of fleece is produced, wholly inapplicable to the texture and formation of finer cloths. The immediate tendency and actual effects of enclosing the to produce an animal bearing a fleece of what is called the longer sort of wool, such as the sheep in the county of Lincoln are particularly noted for, and which is not fit for the finer fabrics, but only for those of a coarser and less valuable texture." These words were uttered by the counsel for the body of manufacturers who, when the Union with Ireland was under debate in the Legislature in the year 1800, strenuously but unsuccessfully opposed the removal of the restrictions that closed the ports of Ireland to the English staple. A committee of merchants, manufacturers and others, had been formed to protect what they conceived to be the interests of the English industry, and to avert what they pronounced "the very serious and alarming consequences to be apprehended from a Repeal of the Laws prohibiting the exportation of wool, in arranging the Union with Ireland." The local gentlemen who re- presented this district, were Mr. Atkinson (of Bradley Mills), Mr. Houghton (is it that John Houghton, whose name is so honourably associated with Highfield Chapel's early days ?), Mr. Radcliffe (of Milnsbridge), Mr. Whitacre (of Whitacre Mills and Woodhouse), and Mr. Crowder (agent

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270 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

for Sir John Ramsden, Bart.) The only witness from this district examined before the Lords was Mr. John Ratcliffe, of Saddleworth. ~ The names just mentioned are no doubt those of men prominent in our local industry at the beginning of the century, and the list is as significant from its omissions as its contents. Another document, the " List of the Founders of the Huddersfield Subscription Librafy” in 1807, an account of whom was written by the late G. W. Tomlinson, contains other names that further assist us in determining who were the leading spirits in the town and district at the beginning of the century. Mr. Radcliffe, of Milnsbridge House, heads the list, and of him we shall learn enough presently. Then there are, among others, Mr. Thomas Atkinson, of Mould Green (sic), one of the Atkinsons of Bradley Mills; Thomas Holroyd, of Birkby, merchant; John Horsfall, of Thornton Lodge, manufacturer and merchant, with mills at Marsden and a warehouse in the Beast Market, uncle of the ill-fated William Horsfall and founder of the later firm of Norris, Sykes & Fisher; Joshua Crosland of Lockwood, and James Crosland of Fenay Joseph Walker of Lascelles Hall, a County Justice, who in 1751 bought Lascelles Hall for a sum of £1,600 ; Benjamin Haigh of Gledholt and Joseph Haigh of Golcar Hill, partners in the well-known firm of John and Thomas Haigh-it was Joseph Haigh who built Springwood Hall as a residence, and his property in Golcar sold after his death for over £100,000; John Sutcliffe, a woolstapler, who carried on business in the warehouse in Cloth Hall Street, occupied by Messrs. Chas. Hirst and Son :-he was the first Nonconformist to sit on the Huddersfield Bench of Magistrates (1838); Rowland Houghton, a surgeon of considerable eminence, and one of the family I have mentioned as active in the support of Highfield Chapel;

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 2] I

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Henry Nelson, son of that Thomas Nelson, who built Nelson's Buildings in Cloth Hall Street :-there are Guinea bank notes of the date of 1800, issued by that firm, reminding us of days when private traders issued their own notes; Walter William Stables, of Crosland Hall, near Meltham, of the firm of W. W. and H. Stables, whose warehouse in Chapel Hill, afterwards became the Model Lodging House; John Lees, who was the local agent for the unfortunate William Hirst, of Leeds, generally regarded as the founder of the Yorkshire Broad Woollen Trade, whose cloth was sold at so much as five guineas a yard, who in old age fell into poverty, relieved somewhat by a pension from the government of the day in recognition of his services to the improvement of the methods of manufacture; Joseph Armitage of Lockwood, and George Armitage of Highroyd, the descendants of that John Armitage, of the " Ermitage " or Hermitage in Almondbury, who died in 1527, and of the same family as the Armitages of Milnsbridge House; Joseph Scott, who resided at Woodsome Hall till the family came into residence again ; John Whitacre, of Woodhouse, the last of an old family, a Tory, but a stout friend of Richard Oastler, and the founder of Christ Church, Wood- house, where he was buried in 1869, having lived eighty- three years; Thomas Allen of Greenhead, father of Benjamin Haigh Allen, founder of Trinity Church; John Dobson, Junr., of the banking firm of Dobson and Co., whose bank was one of the many that succumbed to the financial stress of 1825. Again we notice that the list of those who were the pillars of the town a hundred years ago is as significant by its silence as its voice ; for it tells how great establishments that bulk so large in our commerce of to-day were then unknown or obscure, and it points a moral there is no need to enlarge upon.

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I cannot conclude this chapter without acknowledging the assistance I have received in preparing it from Alderman John Taylor, J.P., of Ball Royd, Longwood, who, himself a considerable manufacturer and active participant in all those duties of civil life that more and more engross the men who bear the burden of a public career, has not only witnessed, but contributed to the great development I have endeavoured to trace; to Mr. James Crosland of Paddock, who also for many years was engaged in the staple industry and sat on the Aldermanic Bench in the Town Council; to Mr. W. M. Hellawell, member of the Huddersfield School Board and Board of Guardians; to Mr. Collingwood Brierley, now in his 87th year, and who for many years had superin- tendence of the Royal Mail; to Mr. Cliffe, draper, Shore Head ; and to other friends who have supplied me with local material.

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CHAPTER XIIL

HE end of the last and the commencement of the present century were marked by the introduction of improved machinery in the textile industries. That innovation was universally and from the first regarded by the operatives with suspicion and hostility. Not only in this district and not only in the woollen manufacture was this feeling manifested. For instance, in the evidence given before the Lords in the year 18oo, on the manufacturers' petition to which I referred in the last chapter, Mr. William Jenkyns, a clothier of Shepton Mullet, in Somersetshire, stated that on erecting a gig-mill he had been compelled to apply for military protection; that in 1795 riots had taken place in consequence of its introduction ; that his warehouses were fired by the workmen. In Nottingham the use of the stocking frame was violently opposed. Secret associations of the artisans were formed. Ned Lud, or General Lud, was their reputed head ; but whether such a person as Lud ever existed is neither certain nor material. - It is certain that the men who were banded together to resist the adoption of machinery in what had hitherto been manual crafts, were generally styled Luddites. Up to the year 1812, cloth was " finished " by hand. The instrument used was not unlike the shears used in shearing sheep, save that the blades instead of being pointed at the end were square. One blade was passed under the cloth, the other, worked with dexterity, cut close the rough and uneven nap of the unfinished cloth. The men engaged in this art were called croppers, and they made fairly good wages when trade was good ; about twenty-four shillings a

T

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Se,

week. It must not however be forgotten that at the very time when the hand shears were sought to be superseded by frames, trade was not good, and provisions were at famine prices. We were engaged in a life or death struggle with Napoleon. The ports of England were closed alike against the importation of food and the exportation of manufactured goods. The war was popular with the landowners, whose rents it raised, and with the farmers, whose produce and stock fetched prices never realized before or since, but it involved in ruin the manufacturers who could find no outlet for their goods, and in the extremities of poverty the artisans, who could find no work. - The manufacturers of the West Riding were heartily sick of the war. In 1808, petitions were rained upon the Government imploring it to restore the blessings of peace. The Huddersfield petition, of that year, for peace, is said to have been signed by over 20,000 persons. Coming at such a period, the introduction of machinery was a piling of Ossa upon Pelion. It was hailed by the manu- facturers because it promised to enable them to complete their orders at a less cost to themselves ; but it threatened to throw great numbers of industrious men out of work and to swell the numbers of the unemployed and the destitute. There were at that time in Marsden, two brothers, Enoch and James Taylor, who had begun life as blacksmiths, but had established a reputation as skilled machine makers, and they engaged largely in the construction of the frames which became so obnoxious to the croppers of the district. The large hammer used in their and others' smithies was known colloqually as " Enoch," and when the smashing of the frames became a nightly pastime, it was a common saying, ""* Enoch made them, and Enoch shall break them." Mr. William Horsfall, a manufacturer of Marsden, had been resolute in his determination to introduce the new labour- saving machinery into his mill. _ Mr. Horsfall appears to

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have been a man of great resoluteness of character and some indiscretion of speech, and expressions of his determination to have and to use the new frames at all hazard, expressions possibly magnified and distorted, caused him to be regarded by the workpeople in general as one who did not scruple to grow rich on the misery of others, though it would seem that with his own workpeople he was popular. - Mr. Horsfall was well aware of the feelings of hostility that rankled in the general breast. He took careful measures to guard his mill, though careless in the hazard of his person. Local events justified his precaution. In March, 1812, the machinery of Mr. Francis Vickerman was destroyed, and, in April, Bradley Mills were assailed, but the assailants were intimidated by the presence of the troops. "At Ottiwells- Mr. Horsfall's Mills-at the upper end of the road fronting the mill, and on an elevation, level with the present dam, a cannon was planted behind a wall pierced with openings three feet high and ten inches wide. Through these apertures the cannon could be pointed so as to command the entire frontage of the mill, and fired upon an approaching enemy. This somewhat primitive battery still exists (1870), but the artillery disappeared long ago ; and though now walled up, the outlines of the embrasures formerly left for the cannon to be discharged through may yet be distinctly discerned. In addition to these means of defence, the workmen employed at the mill were armed, and kept watch and ward during the night. . . . . . There were both infantry and cavalry in Marsden. The 10th King's Bays, the 15th Hussars, and the Scots Greys, were alternately billeted at quite inadequate rates in the town, impoverishing and sometimes ruining the landlords, irritating the high- spirited, oppressing the neutral, and contaminating the whole neighbourhood. These regiments were not allowed to remain long in one place, for fear of the men becoming

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tainted with Luddite opinions. The soldiers marched every night to the market place in Marsden, and having been paraded, were then told off in two divisions, the one to patrol on the road to Ottiwells and Valeside, and the other to spend the night between Marsden, Woodbottom Mills, and Lingards. As their movements were well-known, and the clash of their swords, and the tramp of their horses' feet were to be heard at a long distance at night, it was easy for the Luddites to steal away behind hedges, crouch in plantations, or take by-roads to their work of Another gentleman who drew upon himself the ill- feeling of the operatives was Mr. William Cartwright of Rawfolds, Liversedge. Mr. Cartwright, also, was well aware of the feelings of ill-concealed aversion with which he was regarded, and for many weeks before the 11th of April of 1812, his mill had been guarded by himself, one or two trusted workmen and some of the soldiery. The local hot-bed of Luddism appears to have been at Longroyd Bridge. There was there a small finishing mill, owned by Mr. Wood, on the site of the present Sewage Destructor, another some two or three hundred yards distant, owned by Mr. Fisher. At Wood's, there worked his son-in-law, George Mellor, and Thomas Smith, and Benjamin Walker, commonly called Ben o' Buck's, his father rejoicing in the title, Buck Walker, from some air of gallantry or affectation of dress in his youth. William Thorpe worked at Mr. Fisher's. The oldest of these men was Benjamin Walker, and he was but twenty-five. George Mellor, a bright energetic young fellow with curly flaxen hair, was only twenty-two, but his ardent disposition, and possibly some superiority of position arising from his connection with his employer, gave him an ascendancy among his fellows. He was the King Ludofthedistrict-what in the

* " Old Stories Re-told," by Walter Thornbury.

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mn,

days of the Fenian conspiracy would have been called a head centre-and was foremost in denouncing the tyranny and selfishness of the masters and in forming the secret society which for many months established a reign of terror in this neighbourhood. The men who joined the conspiracy, some goaded by hunger and despair, some perhaps infected with notions doctrinaire and revolutionary, others assuredly, reluctantly and under menace, subscribed an oath in the following terms :-* 1, , of my own voluntary will, do declare and solemnly swear that I never will reveal to any person or persons under the canopy of heaven the names of the persons who compose this secret committee, their proceedings, meeting, places of abode, dress, features, complexion, or anything else that might lead to a discovery of the same, either by word, deed or sign, under the penalty of being sent out of the world by the first brother who shall meet me, and my name and character blotted out of existence, and never to be remembered but with contempt and abhorrence ; and I further now do swear, that I will use my best endeavours to punish by death any traitor or traitors, should any rise up among us, wherever I can find him or them, and though he should fly to the verge of nature, I will pursue him with unceasing vengeance. So help me God, and bless me to keep this my

9

oath inviolable." A small weekly subscription was paid by the members of these societies, and the common fund was employed in the defence of those who became involved with the law, in the support of the families of those who were unfortunate enough to be imprisoned, in the purchase of firearms and ammunition, and in the maintenance of dele- gates and organizers, for the conspiracy was wide-spread. The committee meetings were held at divers places, and the place of rendezvous was fixed for the occasion by the Head

Centre. The oath was administered with much circum-

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"o

stance calculated to inspire the ignorant and superstitious with awe-darkened rooms, masked faces, skulls and cross-bones, names signed in blood, and the familiar accessories of melodrama. But the real and most effective safeguard of the societies was the sympathy and connivance

of the general mass of the people. It was resolved by the committee of which George

Mellor was the leading spirit, that Mr. Cartwright should be made to suffer for his obduracy by the destruction of his machinery, and the night of Saturday, the 11th April, was fixed for the deed. On that day, Joshua Dickenson, a cropper, came to the work shop at Longroyd Bridge, and brought *a pint of powder, a bag of bullets and two or three cartridges, to distribute among the Longroyd Bridge Mill men. The party told off for the purpose were to meet at night, about ten o'clock, when it was not quite dark, about three miles from Cartwright's mill, in the fields of Sir George Armytage, at the Dumb Steeple. When more than a hundred men had assembled, Mellor and Thorpe, the two young leaders, mustered the Luds and called them over, not by names, but by numbers, in military fashion ; there were three companies-the musket, the pistol, and the hatchet companies ; the rest carried sledgehammers, adzes, and bludgeons. They were formed in line, two deep, William Hale (No. 7), a cropper from Longroyd Mill, and a man named Rigge, being ordered by Mellor to go last and drive the Luds up, and see that no coward stole off in the darkness; for there were many Luds who only joined through fear, and had no real heart in the matter. - The order to march was given, the band proceeded over Hartshead Moor, and thence into a close sixty yards from Rawfold Mill, where the musket-men put on masks, got ready their firearms, and took a draught of rum to cheer them on to the attack. Mellor then formed his company of musket-men into lines

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of thirteen abreast and moved on to the mill, followed by Thorpe and his pistol-men. The mill was a water-mill, erected for the express purpose of finishing cloth by machinery. - Previous to the 11th of April, Mr. Cartwright told the jury that nearly twelve months later tried many of the men engaged in the affair, he had been apprehensive of or rather he expected an attack being made upon his mill, and in consequence of this expectation he had taken such measures for its security and protection as he thought best adapted to the purpose. He had slept in the mill for six weeks previous to the attack, and had procured musketry and ammunition, and several of his workmen slept in the mill for the week immediately preceding the attack. He had beds in the mill, and himself slept in the counting-house. On the Ith of April, which was Saturday, he had in the mill five soldiers and four of his own people besides himself. He retired to bed twenty-five minutes past twelve o'clock ; in a quarter of an hour he heard the dog bark furiously ; it was on the ground floor, and had been placed there for the purpose of giving the alarm, on the approach of any person in the night-time. He got out of bed, supposing the dog had given a false alarm, because he expected the first alarm to proceed from the watch at the outside of the building. As soon as he opened the door he was astonished by a heavy fire of musketry, accompanied by a violent breaking of the windows on the ground floor ; the crash was considerable; a violent hammering was at the same moment commenced at the door, and a part of the assailants went round to the other door at the end of the building. One side of the mill was protected by a pond of water, and on that side there was only a narrow footpath. Mr. Cartwright proceeded to state that the defenders flew to their arms instantly, which had been piled the night before; they had not time to put on any of their clothes, nor did he

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think of it, but commenced a brisk firing. A bell had been put upon the roof for the purpose of giving alarm to a small detachment of cavalry stationed in the neighbour- hood. This bell was immediately rung, but unfortunately the rope broke. - His men fired through loop-holes, which were in an oblique direction with respect to the interior of the building, but which commanded the front of the building. The firing was kept up regularly by the people out of doors for a considerable time. He continued to hear the most violent crashing and hammering against the doors and occasionaly heard loud cries of " Bang up, lads," " In the bell,

get to it and silence it." The bell rope broke almost

with you," " Are you in ?" " Keep close," "* D

immediately on the first ringing of it, but so important did he consider it that it should continue to give the alarm that he ordered two men to get upon the roof to ring it. He distinctly heard the expressions : " In with you, lads," «« D-- them, kill them every one." The number of people appeared considerable. A constant firing on both sides continued for some time; he could not form a correct opinion as to the time, but from the number of shots fired by them he supposed it must have occupied as much as twenty minutes. After the firing from without had slackened, they abated theirs within, with a view to save the effusion of blood. He then heard a confused alarm on one side as if an attempt were making to carry off the wounded men. After the firing had ceased he heard the cries of the wounded men. The people in going off appeared to divide, and take different roads but both of them leading ultimately towards Huddersfield. Two men were mortally wounded in the assault and many received less serious injuries. - The gallantry of Mr. Cartwright excited considerable sympathy among his fellow manufacturers, and a subscription of £3,000 was presented to him to cover the losses he had sustained.

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Among the Luddites the failure of their most determined and best organized attack spread consternation and dismay. Hitherto they had experienced little serious opposition from the men whose houses they raided for firearms and whose machinery they destroyed. Mr. Cartwright's example infused a new spirit into the employers and stouter courage into the magistracy. - The leaders of the Luddites saw their deluded followers cowed and dispirited. It was necessary to do something to strike awe into the hearts of the masters and remove the misgivings of the men ; it was resolved to strike higher and deeper, to let the machinery be and have at the employers themselves. Two men stood to them as the incarnation of all their wrongs, Wm. Horsfall and Enoch Taylor, of Marsden. Of these, Horsfall was the most obnoxious. He was reported to have declared that he would ride up to the saddle girths in the blood of the Luddites. His saddle girths they vowed should be red with blood, but it should be his own. It had been a toss- up whether his mill or Cartwright's should be first attacked. Fortune had favoured him-now it was his turn. A fortnight had passed since the affair at Rawfolds. That was on April 11th, a Saturday. On Tuesday, April 28th, Mr. William Horsfall had ridden from Marsden to Huddersfield, as was his custom on a market day. He must have passed close by Wood's shop where a small knot of men were plotting his life. This is the story that was told by Benjamin Walker, the accomplice, who turned King's evidence : " I worked at Wood's shop : so did Mellor and Smith ; Thorpe worked at Mr. Fisher's, and I did not know him. After the attack on Cartwright's mill, nothing else was talked of in the shop. Mellor said we must give up breaking the shears and do for the masters. They had killed two of our men; now they must be shot. On the

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28th, after Mellor had returned from his drinking, Mellor came to me, along with others. He gave me a loaded pistol and said I must go with him and shoot Mr. Horsfall ; he told me it was loaded. with double ball; and it was primed and. loaded nearly up to the top; he ordered me to go to Mr. Radcliffe's Plantation." There was a grim humour in selecting this particular spot : for who so hot as Justice Radcliffe in hunting the Luds?: " We started off up the road. Smith and myself in close buttoned bottle- green coats walked first, Mellor and Thorpe came after us. On the road to the plantation I told Smith I would not do this deed. Smith said if we turned back the others would shoot us, it were better to try to dissuade them. He did: but it was no use. Then Mellor and Thorpe stood in the corner of the plantation nearest the Warren House; myself and Smith about twenty yards further in the copse, with orders to shoot if our comrades missed." About a quarter before six Mr. Horsfall rode up to the Warrener public- house on Crosland Moor, kept by Joseph Armitage. He pulled up without dismounting. John Sykes and Joseph Sykes, hawkers of cloth, were there and he treated each of them with a glass; he stopped about twenty minutes and then rode away. The plantation was about 400 yards higher up the road. There is a low whistle from Mellor : a whisper to the men crouched behind : " He is coming." Mellor and Thorpe fire from behind the low wall that surrounds the plantation. One of the men in his eagerness had jumped upon the wall to fire again perhaps, or to see his handiwork. But Mr. Henry Parr, who was riding within a stone throw behind Mr. Horsfall, galloped up exclaiming " What, art thou not content yet ? " and the men turned and fled, Mellor damning Smith and Walker because they had not discharged their weapons. But they had done enough. When Mr. Parr reached Mr. Horsfall, -so Parr told the story-" he

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w.

exclaimed *' Good man, I am shot." There was a mark of blood on the upper part of his breeches; he fell back and was going to fall off ; I took hold ofhis arm and came back a foot space ; the blood gushed out of his side several inches; he said, ° Good man, you are a stranger to me and I to you- go to Mr. Horsfall's,' he then fell off his horse, both his feet were fast in the stirrups and I loosed them out ; two boys, both sons of Abraham Wells, were gathering dung on the road, and I called them and then galloped down to Mr. Horsfall's brother's,"-passing on the road Joseph Banister, of Holdroyd, clothier, who was riding homewards, and helped to bear the dying man tothe Warrener House. One sees this murder was done almost in broad day, on a thoroughfare quick with traffic, and the poor man was simply riddled with slugs. When Mr. Rowland Houghton, the surgeon from Huddersfield, reached the Warrener House, he found Mr. Horsfall "lying on a bed with his clothes off; he was sick, pale, and much exhausted, and his pulse could scarcely be felt it was so weak and tremulous. There were two wounds on the upper part of the left thigh, about three inches asunder, another on the lower part of the belly onthe left side, another on the lower part of the scrotum, and two more on the right thigh; one ball had been extracted from the right thigh and a musket ball was extracted from the outside of the right thigh, near the hip joint ; the femoral artery was severed." His brother, the Rev. Abraham Horsfall had hastened to the inn. Mr. Scott, of Woodsome, a magistrate, took the sinking man's deposition, and late the next day William Horsfall was dead. As Horsfall reeled from the saddle the murderers had made off into Dungeon Wood. Thorpe had thrust his pistol, still warm and smoking, into Walker's hand, but Walker flung it from him in alarm. Mellor took it up. The two men who had fired the shots now parted from their half-

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hearted accomplices. Mellor gave Walker two shillings and bid him and Smith make their way towards Honley, and this they did, nothing loth, hiding their pistols and a powder-horn under a mole-heap in the Dungeon Wood. At the bottom of Honley they entered a public-house, kept by Robert Robinson, where was a collier "nearly drunk, making a deal of game." Smith was a good whistler, and with what heart he could he whistled while the collier danced. They drank eight pints of ale, and whilst they drank a man came in from the market with the news that Horsfall was shot by the Luds. Next morning George Mellor sent for Walker into the shop by another cropper called Joseph Sowden, of the Yews. There an oath was administered to him and to others to keep the circumstances of the murder secret. It is curious to notice the value Mellor set on the oath ; for, hot from the murder he had gone to the house of his cousin, Joseph Mellor, at the bottom of Dungeon Wood. Joseph was not in, but at Mellor's request an apprentice, Thomas Durrance, a lad of about seventeen years, took him upstairs into an upper room, and there Mellor, in the presence of Durrance, hid two pistols under some flocks, giving the lad five shillings to hold his peace. Of course, when Mellor was gone, the young fellow showed the pistols that lay under the flocks to his fellow apprentices-Kinder, Joseph Hildham, and Francis Vickerman. _ And yet George Mellor thought there was much virtue in ad- ministering the oath of secrecy ' When the news of Mr. Horsfall's death became general the magistracy redoubled their efforts, and each millowner his precautions. In Huddersfield the more substantial citizens assumed the office of special constables, patrolling and watching the town through the long summer nights.

It is curious to muse on the police system of those

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"~

days: merchants and shopkeepers, after a day's work done, leaving " home and the pleasing wife"" to steal in the shadows along lanes and byeways and highroads, whilst gangs of masked men broke into houses demanding arms and money. We must turn to Ireland when the Land League was in its full ascendancy to find a counter- part of those troubled times. At Marsden the cavalry made their headquarters at the Old Red Lion Inn, kept by John Race, and scoured the country by night. The infantry were at Ottiwells, and the mill there and the works of the Taylors were barricaded as for a siege. But the spirit of the Horsfalls was broken. The use of the machinery was discontinued ; hand-cropping was resumed at Ottiwells. A few years afterwards the Horsfalls dis- posed of their Marsden property, Bankbottom Mills passing to Messrs. Norris, Sykes & Kinder; Ottiwells to Messrs. A. & W. Kinder. It is said that after his son's tragic death, Mr. Abraham Horsfall never again entered the mill at Ottiwells, and when riding past it on his way to Bank- bottom would avert his face from a building associated with black and bitter memories. But there was one magistrate who was nothing daunted by the death of Horsfall, Mr. Joseph Radcliffe, of Milns- bridge House. Almost immediately after the murder, he appears to have had scent ofthe men concerned. - Several men were arrested on suspicion and brought before Justice Radcliffe, at Milnsbridge House; among them Benjamin Walker-but he lied himself off. Then came the reward of £2,000. Benjamin Walker's mother knew all about the murder, her son had told her the very night the deed was done. Two thousand pounds! The mother went to Milns- bridge House and told her tale. Two thousand pounds! Then Benjamin went, William Hall, another cropper, Joseph Sowden, another cropper, broke silence. But it was

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late in the year before the net was drawn tight enough to warrant a committal. It was on Wednesday, January 6th, of the following year when George Mellor, William Thorpe, and Thomas Smith were brought before a Special Com- mission, opened at York by Mr. Baron Thompson and Mr. Justice Le Blanc, charged with the murder of William Horsfall. The foreman of the jury was Mr. Humphrey Fletcher. The counsel for the Crown were Messrs. Park, Topping and Richardson, instructed by Mr. Allison, attorney, of Huddersfield. The prisoners were defended by Messrs. Brougham, Hullock, and Williams, instructed by Mr. Blackburn, attorney, of Huddersfield ; but, as the law stood, the defence was necessarily confined to the cross-examination of the witnesses for the prosecution, and the examination of those for the defence. The counsel for the accused were not allowed to address the jury. But even Brougham's eloquence could have availed them nothing. The evidence of Benjamin Walker, corroborated in detail upon detail, was conclusive. An attempt was made to prove an a/ibi; John Womersley, a watchmaker, spoke to being with Mellor at the White Hart, Cloth Hall Street, at the very time of the murder, and so on ; but everyone knows how frail a defence an a/bf is apt to prove, and the jury took but twenty-five minutes to deliberate '_ The sentence reads : " That you the three prisoners of the bar be taken from hence to the

upon their verdict of " Guilty."

place from whence you came, and from thence, on Friday next, to the place of execution ; that you be there securely hanged by the neck until you are dead, and your bodies afterwards delivered to the surgeons to be dissected and anatomized, according to the direction of the statute." The jury recommended Smith to mercy, but the recommen- dation was disregarded. It is said that another application, by whom made we may surmise, sought to have the

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mmm,

unhappy men executed on the very spot where the murder was committed ; but this application too was passed by. The poor fellows met their fate with great resolution, Mellor declaring that " He would rather be in the situation he was then placed, dreadful as it was, than have to answer for the crime of their accuser, and that he would not charge situations with him, even for his liberty and two thousand pounds." The men were hanged in their irons before an immense concourse, the gallows being guarded by a strong body of soldiery. At the same commussion, James Haigh, of Dalton (aged 28); Jonathan Dean, of Huddersfield (30); John Ogden, of Huddersfield (28); James Brook, of Lockwood (26) ; John Brook, of Lockwood (22); Thomas Brook, of Lockwood, (32); John Walker, of Longroyd Bridge (31) ; and John Hirst, of Liversedge (28), were indicted with being concerned in the attack of Cartwright's Mill. There were charges against others of seizing firearms and extorting money. In all sixty-six persons were tried at this commission. Seventeen were executed, one reprieved, six were transported for seven years, seven were acquitted, seventeen were discharged on bail, fifteen by proclamation, and one stood over but was not called on. The bodies of George Mellor, William Thorpe, and Thomas Smith were taken to the County Hospital at York for dissection, a strong military guard beirg placed there several nights to frustrate any attempt to rescue them. Walker continued to live in the outskirts of the town. His two thousand pounds did not prosper him. He and his were shunned. None so poor as do them reverence. In his old age Walker was in receipt of out-door relief from the Huddersfield Guardians, and I have been told that after his death his body was exhumed and sold to Mr. Robinson, the well-known surgeon, for dissection.

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2838 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

The services of Mr. Joseph Radcliffe were rewarded by a baronetcy. That gentleman has been described as a true

type of the " good old English gentleman." He appears to have been a man of a bluff heartiness of manner and to

have added to it a sort of bull-dog courage and pertinacity that are not the least conspicuous features of our national

character.

The following correspondence speaks for itself :

Milton, 15 Dec., 1812.

Dear Sir, Nothing can be so honourable to an individual, as when the

public voice calls for some mark of public consideration being bestowed upon him ; I have reason for thinking that the disturbed parts of the clothing district feel so strongly impressed with a sense of your indefatigable and unremitted exertions as a magistrate, the risks and dangers you have, and are now braving, with undaunted fortitude, in the service of the country, for the discovery of the disturbers of its tranquility, that it is the earnest wish of the most respectable gentle- men that a honourable mark of the Royal approbation should be conferred upon you : such an one as is suitable to the independent fortune you possess, and the high consideration you enjoy among your neighbours. Allow me to ask would a baronetage be acceptable, and I must go further, and still put another question, would it be acceptable to you to receive it on the recommendation, and at the solicitation of his Majesty's Lieutenant, stating the meritorious services (so ample a field for description), as the ground on which he makes his request? I feel the necessity of being explicit, because circumstanced as I am with the administration, I can ask, as an individual, no favour, nor can I assume that you would receive one at my hands but as an officer of the Crown. I feel myself justly entitled to recommend, for public reward, those who, in the department committed to my superintendence and care, render indisputable and essential service in emergencies of the most trying and alarming nature,-I have but one word to add, which is to assure you that it will be most gratifying to me to receive your permission to proceed in this business ; being, with sincere esteem, very truly yours, WENTWORTH-FITZWILLIAM.

Joseph Radcliffe, Esq.

Whitehall, 18 Sept., 1813. Sir, I have the honour of communicating to you the gracious in- tention of H.R.H. the Prince Regent, forthwith to confer upon you

the dignity of a Baronet of the United Kingdom. It is with great

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mn nen mung cnm somme -ith ww o mann memes o comme - noone .. mes «owe mms © > ane commmg

satisfaction that I convey to you such a testimony of the opinion entertained by H.R. Highness of that loyal, zealous, and intrepid conduct which you have invariably displayed at a period when the West Riding of the County of York presented a disgraceful scene of outrage and plunder; and by which, in the discharge of your duty as a magistrate, you contributed most materially to re-establish in that quarter, tranquillity and obedience to the laws, and to restore security

to the lives and property of His Majesty's subjects. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most obedient and faithful servant,

SIDMOUTH. Joseph Radcliffe, Esq.

Wentworth, 22 Sept., 1813. Dear Sir,

This morning's post brought a letter from Lord Sidmouth, to announce the pleasing communication of the Regent's intention to confer on you the dignity of a Baronetage, '" in consideration of your exemplary, useful exertions as a magistrate in the West Riding, at a period of the utmost difficulty, alarm, and danger." Though Lord Sidmouth says in his letter that he shall make the communication to you, I cannot refrain from troubling you with these few lines, to express how truly I consider the dignity to have been earned by the services performed ; how much I think it for the public interest necessary that exertions of this nature should not pass unnoticed by Government ; but on the other hand, they ought to be held up, as in this instance they now are, as examples for similar exertions in similar emergencies ; and lastly, to add, that a measure more acceptable to the West Riding could not have been adopted than this acknowledgment (so it will be considered), on the part of the Government, of the eminent service rendered by your exemplary firmness and exertions. I am, dear sir, Most truly yours,

wWENTWORTH-FITZ WILLIAM. Joseph Radcliffe, Esq. The Radcliffe family is one of considerable antiquity, the elder branch of it having been long established at Radcliffe Tower, in the County Palatine of Lancaster. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, a member of that house married the heiress of the Beaumonts of Meltham, connections of the family of Whitley Beaumont. About the year 1670, a young curate, William Radcliffe, the third son of Edmund Radcliffe, of Oldham, gentleman, married Mary,

U

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the daughter of Abraham Beaumont, of Meltham ; their third son, William Radcliffe, married Elizabeth, the widow of John Sillick Dawson, of Milnsbridge House. Their - eldest son, William Radcliffe, of Milnsbridge House, was a Colonel of the West York Militia, and Justice of the Peace for the West Riding. Dying unmarried at the age of eighty- five, on Sep. 26th, 1795, he devised his estates to his nephew, Joseph Pickford, eldest son of his sister Mary, who assumed the name and arms of the Radcliffes, and became Sir Joseph Radcliffe, Bart.

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CHAPTER XIV.

implicated in the Luddite rising, in the black year of 1812, doubtless struck terror into the hearts of the people, but it did not remove nor did it abate the intensity of their sufferings. After the fall of Napoleon in 1815 and the conclusion of the war, large numbers of the soldiery were disbanded. They returned to civil life only to find that every trade was already cumbered with work- men crying for employment. The misery of the poor was intensified by the selfishness or the purblindness of a legislature consisting almost exclusively of landowners. Alarmed at the fall of the price of corn, which had been inflated beyond reason by the protracted war, Parliament passed in 1815 a bill prohibiting the im- portation of wheat until corn had reached famine prices. An examination of the account books of the Overseers of the Poor for the Township of Huddersfield, to which Mr. Davis has kindly permitted me access, shows that other articles of food were at this period such as to place them far beyond the reach of the general people-tea, for instance, was eight shillings a pound, and paupers' tea at that. The poor-rate, often levied three and four times a year, was four shillings in the pound. The introduction of machinery had aggravated the sufferings of the industrial classes. Not yet had those blessings ensued which had been confidently predicted. Trade in the district was for a time crippled by the failure, in July, 1816, of the bank of Messrs. Benjamin and Joshua Ingham, of the Zuddéersfie/d Commercial Bank, caused by the stoppage of their London agents, Messrs. Bruce, Simson, and Co., who in their turn

THE execution of Mellor, Thorpe, Smith, and others

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202 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

had been involved in financial embarrassments by the constant calls of their country customers. The bank of Messrs. Brook and Sons, of Huddersfield, suspended pay- ment in the same month. Education was confined to the very few. The many were ignorant of political and economic science, and if they had possessed political knowledge they could not have applied it at the hustings. They only knew that they were starving and their little ones dying before their eyes. Public meetings had been proscribed as seditious: the Union Societies for the reform of the Constitution had been suppressed; magistrates were em- powered to secure and detain those whom they suspected of demoralizing or inflaming the people, and the publisher of every newspaper knew not when he went to press but the morrow would see him in gaol under an ex-officio warrant for libel. The means of Constitutional redress were denied the people. Can we wonder that in their agony and their impotence they lent an ear to those who whispered violence. In the year 1817, there can be no manner of doubt that a general rising of the disaffected, against the government or against all government, was expected. On Sunday, June 8th, of that year, there was an abortive attempt in Nottingham. The word ran that "all the country was to rise, all at one time." Throughout the midland counties it was whispered exultingly, that " the northern clouds, men from the north, would come down and sweep all before

9

them." The design of the conspirators was to seize the public offices, to confine the magistrates to their own houses, to secure the public arsenals, and in fine to capture the whole machinery of government. There was to be a Revolution in England as complete as, if less bloody than, that of France. The night of the 8th of June was fixed for the simultaneous rising of the people. A man called Oliver,

a handsome specious fellow, commonly believed to have been

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w-

in the pay of the government, moved from place to place seducing and organizing the people, and when Oliver assured the men of the north, made reckless by starvation, that London was waiting to receive them with open arms, he found ready audience. On Sunday, the 8th of June, at midnight, some three hundred men and youths had gathered in the gloom, near Folly Hall Bridge in Huddersfield. They were not all of Huddersfield. They had come as well from the surrounding villages, and they were armed with pistols, pikes, scythes, and such rude weapons as the farmhouses on the moor sides could yield. - What was precisely their plan of campaign probably not even themselves knew. Perhaps they expected to be joined by other forces, perhaps they looked to meet a heaven-sent leader who would direct their steps. A man called Taylor, who assumed some authority over them,. was heard to say "* Now, my lads, all England is in arms,-our liberties are secure, the rich will be poor, and the poor rich." Then, while they waited, was heard the sound of horses' hoofs. The patrol of the Huddersfield Yeomanry, six mounted horsemen, under Captain Armytage, were seen on the skirts of the crowd. The yeomanry are said to have first discharged their pieces-so, at all events, it was alleged by one Charles Hearnshaw, who made a deposition before Mr. B. Haigh Allen, a deposition-I will not say sup- pressed, but not used by the prosecution at the trial, and afterwards published by the Zeeds Mercury. - Some weapons were discharged from the crowd. The horse of Mr. Alexander, one of the yeomanry, was shot, and the corps, remembering that discretion is the better part of valour, retired in quest of reinforcements. When the reinforcements were mustered the insurgents had melted into the darkness, and the rising was at an end. _ For many days afterwards there was much

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hunting for rebels and for weapons. Many arrests were made. In the following month, at York Assizes, before Baron Wood, Joseph Sykes, Isaac Johnson, Joshua Thewlis, Abraham Oldham, John Oldham and Benjamin Donkersley, were charged with stealing arms from the house of Clement Dyson, of Honley: and Benjamin Lock- wood, George Woffenden, John Wilson, and Joseph Jyssop, were indicted for unlawfully shooting at Mr. Alexander. The evidence was not very conclusive, possibly there was some tenderness for the prisoners among the jurymen, and a verdict of " Not guilty" secured the release of these prisoners, though not without a severe lecture and caution from the learned baron. The Grand Jury threw out the bills charging the following with participation in an unlawful assembly :-Jonathan Bailey (25), clothier, Pog- Ing; Jonathan Brook (28), cloth dresser, Meltham ; John Kinder (41), cloth dresser, Honley ; Benjamin Taylor (24), fancy weaver, Honley; Benjamin Brook (18), weaver, Salford, Lockwood ; Joseph Beaumont (23), cloth dresser, Lockwood; William Crowther (17), shoemaker, Lockwood ; Benjamin Green (22), cloth dresser, Honley ; Joseph Haigh (20), weaver, Berry Brow; James Oldham (25), cloth dresser, Berry Brow ; John Oldfield (32), weaver, Almond- bury ; Abraham Oldfield (31), weaver, Almondbury. The Parish of Almondbury seems to have supplied a large proportion of those concerned in the attempted rising, if the names of those arrested is any index to the composition of the gathering ; and one ponders with increasing wonder at the fatuity of an assembly of men, nearly all in early man- hood, without one man among them of station or authority, without arms, without resources, and without leaders, who contemplated no less a design than the suppression by force of the central government of Great Britain. The following letter, from Lord Fitzwilliam to Captain Armytage, who commanded the yeomanry during

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<e

the crisis, is an interesting evidence of the anxiety which the general condition of the country had excited in the minds of those responsible for the public safety :-

Wentworth, June 20, 1817. Drar Sir,-The service that in the course of the last fortnight you and your troop have rendered to the country, calls for the gratitude of all who are attached to our constitutional establishments, and feel an interest in preserving the general order of things. Not: withstanding the readiness you have all evinced to devote your time to that important purpose, still it ought to be in the consideration of others, how great are the sacrifices you make for the safety of your fellow-subjects. Appearances being now so favourable, I trust one may with confidence rely that after the termination of the present week the magistrates will not see any further occasion for the continuance of your service. |. . . . . I have the honour to be, dear Sir,

Your most obedient Servant,

WENTWORTH FITZWILLIAM. Capt. Com. Armytage.

The distress of the people still continued. Their cry was for cheap bread, and for representation in the national councils. On August 2nd, 1819, I find mention of a meeting held on Almondbury Bank, which was attended by some eight thousand people. Banners were borne by the marshals with the inscriptions, "No Corn Laws," "Annual Parliaments." A Mr. Dickinson, linen draper, of Dewsbury, presided over the vast concourse, and Mr. Robert Harrison, of Huddersfield, appears to have been the only local speaker. Not then as now did the principal tradespeople, - merchants, manufacturers, ministers of religion, and professional men, vie with each other for prominence on the popular platform. I regret to say Mr. Robert Harrison appears to have allowed his feelings to out- run his discretion, for the note of his speech in the Zeeds Mercury informs us that he "made a tedious and violent speech which seemed to give much offence to many of the persons on the hustings; and which, for his sake, as well as to save the patience of our readers, we refrain from publish-

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ing." The time was not one for the making of violent speeches. The people were impatient of constitutional agitation : hunger is impatient. Again, the wild scheme of a march upon London was in the air. - Early in the follow- ing year a plot was entered into for the seizure of the town of Huddersfield. The magistrates were to be put under arrest, the military disarmed, the coaches stopped, and a beacon fire on Castle Hill was to spread the news to other towns and be the signal for a general rising. The Zeeds Mercury of the 9th April, 1820, states that for three weeks past the magistrates had had information that a simultaneous rising was intended in the manufacturing districts of the kingdom, and that emissaries were going about the country inciting the people to arms, and preparing them for some desperate enterprise. On Friday, the 31st March, a very unusual sensation was observable in many of the villages in the neighbourhood of Huddersfield. It is to be observed that whereas on the occasion of the fiasco of Folly Hall, the people of Honley and those parts were in the front of the enterprise, the rising of 1820 seems to have drawn its support from Kirkheaton and the adjacent parts. In Honley, Berry Brow, Holmfirth, and in the valley of Slaithwaite, we are told, where on former occasions much agitation had prevailed, the people appear to have been indifferent or inert. Perhaps they had learned the folly and cost of kicking against the pricks. When told that a new government was to be established on the morrow, they are reported to have said "* They would wait until to- morrow and see how the new government went on." But in the villages on the other side of Almondbury, women were seen passing to each other's houses, many of them in tears, and the men appeared unsettled, as if meditating some great enterprise. Others of them, it was afterwards stated, ran away from home, afraid to join the rising and

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cae irs. oce » sme woo cane

afraid or ashamed to say no. The magistrates were aware something was on foot, and the military throughout York- shire and Lancashire were kept under arms. The in- surgents' plan is set forth in the account from which I quote, with much precision. The Kirkheaton, Skelman- thorpe, Grange Moor, and Kirkburton sections, constituting the southern division, were to assemble on Almondbury Bank. The Mirfield, Hartshead, High-Town, and Colne Bridge sections, the eastern division, were to rendezvous in Kirklees Lane ; the Thornhill, Dalton, Rastrick, and Brig- house sections, forming the north division, were to assemble in Fixby Park, and the western division consisting of the Lindley, Quarmby, Outlane, Ripponden, and Barkisland contingents were to meet on Lindley Moor. When the beacon on Castle Hill shot its flames into the air the various sections were to join their forces at the Dumb Steeple, and an advance was to be made in force upon the town. On the night of the 31st, some belated travellers on the Leeds Road came upon the eastern section bivouacked by the Dumb Steeple, and on their arrival in the town gave the alarm. The military were on the alert, but for some reason the night broadened into day and no assault was made. The magistrates of Huddersfield, Messrs. Joseph Haigh, Benjamin Haigh Allen and John Horsfall, on the following day called a general meeting of the inhabitants at the George Inn, and asked for a resolution calling upon the Lord Lieutenant to put into operation the provisions of the Watch and Ward Acts. Intelligence was brought to the magistrates that in the early morning of Wednesday, the 11th April, the town was to be attacked. The shops were closed and barricaded, the townsmen armed themselves as though to repel an assault-at-arms, special constables were enrolled, and the members of the Armed Association proffered their services.

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Late on Tuesday night several gentlemen on horseback scoured the environs of the town. A mounted messenger came in hot haste, about five in the morning, with the alarming news that several hundred men, armed with pikes, guns, and other weapons, bearing a standard and beating a drum, had been encountered by the patrol in the village of Flockton, and that they were marching on Huddersfield. Then, hard upon, came tidings that another armed force, headed by a leader on horseback, bent in the same direction, had been seen on Grange Moor. The small military force in the town was concentrated in the market place, and a barricade was thrown up. A detachment of the Fourth Irish Dragoons was sent out to intercept the advance from Grange Moor. - Lieutenant Shaw commanded the dragoons, and they were accompanied by some of the yeomanry under Lieutenant Brock, the whole body being under Major de Bathe. - But the insurgents did not wait for the military. When Grange Moor was reached by the dragoons they found the mob had dispersed, leaving their pikes and scythes strewed upon the ground. William Constive, formerly a serjeant in the 29th Regiment of Foot, Richard Addy, a private in the Rifles, both Waterloo men; Charles Stansfield, Benjamin Hanson, John Lindley, Nathaniel Buckley, Thomas Blackburn, and others, in all twenty-two from the neighbourhood of Hud- dersfield and Barnsley, were arrested and conveyed by armed escort to York. On September 9th, 1820, they were arraigned before Justices Bayley and Park on no less a charge than that of high treason. The Crown had secured the testimony of the inevitable informer, one Thomas Morgan, who turned king's evidence. The night before the trial on this capital charge, an offer was conveyed to the men that if they would withdraw their plea of " Not guilty," and submit themselves to the clemency of the Crown, their lives

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should be spared. Constive, who appears to have been a leading spirit in the abortive rising, exerted himself to secure the assent of the prisoners to this course, and when the trial began, the prisoners, one and all, pleaded "Guilty." The judge assumed the black cap, formally passed sentence of death, and directed the bodies of the men to be dissected, but it was understood this was a mere form, though a necessary one, and the sentence was ultimately commuted to one of transportation for seven years. It remains but to record one more instance of armed and violent defiance of the law, and the story of Hudders- field's participation in unconstitutional protests may be closed. The year 1842 was one of severe and wide-spread distress among the people. The Corn Laws still pressed heavily upon the people. It was computed that in many districts one-fourth of the population were dying of starva- tion. In Lancashire the sufferings of the industrial classes were intense, and these were but aggravated by a general turn-out in several branches of the cotton trade. The hardships of the masses were, as usual, not attributable, or at all events were not attributed, merely to economic causes; they were alleged to arise from political grievances within the cognizance and power of Parlia- ment to remedy. It was the time of the Chartist agitation. The popular despair expressed itself once more in the destruction of machinery and in the stoppage of great manufactories. The mobs in great centres set about drawing or staving in the plugs of the mill boilers. The Plug Riots are said to have commenced at Staly- bridge. The operatives of Lancashire, generally referred to at the time as the "* Lancashire Turn-Outs," were on strike, and appear to have formed the resolve to compel the cessation of labour in adjoining industrial centres. On

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Friday, August 12th, 1842, a great body of half-starving men, women and children streamed over Stanedge Moor into Yorkshire, some by way of Holmfirth, some down the valley of the Colne. A deputation from the main body went to Messrs. Sykes and Fisher's mill at Marsden, and demanded that work should be instantly suspended. Mr. Fisher said if they did not retire they should be kicked out, and the crowd responded by plugging the boilers, ex- tinguishing the fires and drawing the shuttles. They also compelled the discontinuance of work at Messrs. Taylor and Co.'s foundry at Marsden. They marched down the valley through Slaithwaite, Golcar and Longwood, drawing the plugs at every mill they passed. At Longroyd Bridge the mob, now numbering between five and six thousand souls, was addressed by Mr. Thomas and Mr. Joseph Starkey, and the Riot Act was read by the latter. The workpeople of Messrs. Starkey offered to defend the mill, but it was deemed idle to offer a resistance to a concourse so vast. In the Holmfirth Valley, Stoney Bank Mill, Moorcroft Mill, Ing Nook Mill, Sudehill Mills and Schole Mills were visited, and at the mills of Messrs. Brook Brothers, Meltham Mills, Stables of Crosland Mills, Wrigley of Netherton, Beaumont and Storks, Lord's Mill, Honley, David Shaw, Son and Co., Honley, Beaumont Vickerman and Co., Steps Mill, and John Brook and Sons, Armitage Bridge, similar senseless tactics were pursued. The various divisions concentrated near St. Paul's Church in Huddersfield. They appear to have anticipated assistance and active sympathy from the local Chartists, but the local leaders were far too long-headed for that, and made no sign. A troop of the 5th Lancers under Captain Palmer and Lieutenant Hamilton, made its appearance, and the town was soon quit of its unwelcome and uninvited guests, happily no blood being shed. How great was the distress

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war: aie manemmmomomiimnsemamcome Ll

in this district at the time may be judged from the fact that in the Huddersfield Union at that time more than 11,000 people-more than one tenth of the whole population-were in receipt of parish relief, and that the average wages of a family did not amount to more than one shilling per head per week. I have alluded, I can do little more than allude, to the Chartist organization. Its objects were political, its methods would not now be deemed unconstitutional ; but those were days of national revolutions, and those responsible for the government of this country trembled at shadows. The continent was in the flames of mad revolt against the tyranny of centuries. In France the monarchy had fallen, in Belgium it was menaced. A Republican party existed even in this country, but the people in the main aspired mainly after such parliamentary reform as would enable them to procure constitutional redress of grievances too real and too many to be for ever ignored. Among the leaders of the Chartists of this district one may mention especially Lawrence Pitkeithly, Joshua Hobson, and William Armitage, each, in his own way, labouring for the just liberties of the people. Mr. Hobson was for many years one of Hudders- field's most noted citizens. He was born in West Parade in 1811, earned his living first as a joiner, later as a hand-loom cotton weaver, and contributed to the Lancashire papers revolutionary effusions under the name of " The Whistler at the Loom." He braved the Press Laws by publishing an unstamped periodical, hostile, we may be sure, to the government of the day and was imprisoned on that account; but the popular indignation compelled his release. He was active in the writing and distribution of those Radical journals of a half-century ago, Voice of the West Riding, and Nortkern Star, and during the prime of his man- hood threw himself with energy and enthusiasm into the

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advocacy of the popular cause. He stood by the side of Fergus O'Connor at the great meeting in October, 1838, at Peep Green, when some two hundred thousand people, gathered from the manufacturing towns of the West Riding, clamoured for the Five Points of the Charter-a meeting - largely attended by Huddersfield reformers, marshalled by William Armitage. Mr. Hobson took an active part in the Tenant Right Agitation to which reference has already been made, and he was also instrumental in procuring the forma- tion of the Huddersfield Commissioners' Board, of which he was for a time the Clerk. He was an able and a versatile journalist, contributing to the Star, the Leeds Mercury, a zealous if not over-consistent politician, sup- porting Mr. Thos. P. Crosland, and editing first the Huddersfield Chronicle and subsequently the Huddersfield Weekly News, the latter of which is still conducted by his nephew, Mr. B. Brown. He was a tall man, of good figure and carriage, of genial temperament, and a good speaker. He died May 8th, 1876, at Springwood, Huddersfield. Of a very different type was William Armitage, also a Chartist and one of those who laboured for the beneficent Factory Acts. - Armitage was born in 1815 at Wood Bottom, Honley. He was poor and of lowly station, a weaver, and more than once he was dismissed from this mili or that for his Chartist opinions. So too was George Brook, Senior, another Chartist, and his dismissal was on a happy day for him, for the great industry founded by him might else have never existed. William Armitage was associated with Lawrence Pitkeithly, Samuel Glendinning, William and John Rawson, Tom Johnson, and others, of whom Mr. S. Mitchell and Mr. Watts Balmforth are among the few survivors, in the advanced Radical propa- gandism of their day and generation. Armitage was not a platform orator. _ He mainly confined himself

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to giving to and begging for the cause, to distributing literature, and to quiet, unobtrusive but caustic advocacy in private circles, or, in the declining years of his life, in the famous forum at " Thornton's," where, in an atmosphere curiously blent of the odours of tea, coffee, and stale smoke, the garrulous philosophers and eager quidnuncs of the town formulate policies, construct ministries and demolish reputations. Although the arrangement involves some violence of chronological order, the remainder of this chapter may with propriety be devoted to the part played by the town and neighbourhood of Huddersfield in the agitation which resulted in the passing of the Factory Acts for the pro- tection of young children, and to that appalling disaster which cast a deeper gloom over the sufficiently sombre lot of the people of this district. In that agitation the working classes of the district and their leaders played a prominent and a noble part, and we may justly point to that move- ment as illustrating the best qualities of the toiling multitudes, for were they not fighting for the lives and limbs of the young children whom the pitiless constraint of poverty on the one hand and the unthinking or unscrupulous greed of employers on the other, united in condemning to a harsh and crushing servitude. ' Prior to the enactment of legislative restrictions upon the employment of young boys and girls in the mills, the age at which they might be set to work, the hours during which they might be compelled to toil, the sanitary con- ditions and provisions for decency under which their work was done, depended solely upon the humanity of the employers, the physical limitations of the little ones, or the parental affection that oft endured the gnawing pains of hunger rather than send the child to the mill. - In the early days of the factory system the mills were run by water

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power. At times there were seasons of dearth, the river beds were dry, and the reservoirs empty. Then the mills stood idle, the great water wheel was still, and the din of the machines was hushed. When the clouds burst and the rain fell, and the wheel began to turn again and send its power pulsing through the mill, the manu- facturers begrudged every minute that was snatched from work to be given to sleep. The hours were too precious for slumber. All hands, men, women, and little children, must work at the tireless machines, work till their hands refused their office and the weary brain could think no more. - There was one class of children who had the love of neither father nor mother to protect them-the pauper children. These poor waifs, often abandoned by the authors of their being, were not only in this district '* apprenticed," as the phrase went, to the millowners of their own neighbourhood, but were often sent to Lancashire and other parts, where they were lost even to such friends and blood relations as their own parish might have furnished them. They were in the language of the econo- mists " the cheapest raw material in the market." The term is very misleading. To put a lad to learn a trade and to fit him for the strife of life is apprenticeship. - But such was not the apprenticing that prevailed. It was in effect child slavery under which, till twenty-one, the "apprentice" must work at his master's will at any task to which he was set, without wage. - Here is a copy of one of these old time indentures of ship :-

THIS INDENTURE, TRIPARTITE, made the eighteenth Day of April, in the eighteenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King Groror the Third, and in the Year of our Lord OnE Thousand Seven Hundred and seventy- eight-BETwEEN Armitage and Wirriam STAN- CLIFFE of the Township of Kirkheaton in the county of York, Overseers of the Poor of the said Township, of the first

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part, Enmunp BryER of Kirkheaton aforesaid, Clothier, and James BryxvEr his son of the second part, and Brook of Dalton in the county aforesaid, Clothier, of the third part, WITNESSETH, that the said Overseers have, by and with the Consent of Henry of Whitley-Hall, in the County aforesaid, Esquire, and by and with the Consent of the said Edmund Bryer and James Bryer the son, (testified by their being made Parties to these Presents, and signing and sealing hereof) put, placed, and bound the said James Bryer an apprentice to and with the said John Brook, and with him after the Manner of an Apprentice, to dwell, remain, and serve from the date hereof for, during, and until he attain the Age of Twenty-one years; during all which time the said Apprentice his said Master well and faithfully shall serve, his secrets shall keep, his lawful Commands shall do, Hurt or NMamage to his said Master he shall not do, nor Alehouses nor ill Company frequent, nor Matrimony contract, but in all Things behave himself to his said Master and Family, as a good and faithful Apprentice ought to do. AND the said John Brook for himself, his Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, doth liereby covenant, promise, and agree to and with the said James Bryer his Apprentice, and to and with the said Richard Henry Beaumont, and to and with the said William Armitage and William Stancliffe and their Successors, Over- seers of the Poor of the said Township of Kirkheaton for the time being, and to and with every of them by these Presents, that for and in Consideration of the Sum of Five Pounds of lawful Money of Great Britain, to the said John Brook in Hand paid by the said Overseers, the receipt whereof he the said John Brook doth hereby acknowledge, (being part of the Money left by the last Will and Testament of Richard Beaumont, formerly of Whitley-Hall aforesaid, Esquire, deceased, for putting out poor Boys Yearly Apprentices out of the Township of Kirkheaton aforesaid, and paid by the said Richard Henry Beaumont, in Pursuance of the said Will, to the said Overseers and by the said Overseers paid to the said John Brook). He the said John Brook his Executors or Administrators shall and will, well and faithfully teach, learn and instruct or cause to be taught, learnt, or instructed, the said James Bryer his Apprentice, in the Art, Trade, or Occupation of a Clothier after the best Method or Manner that he may or can ; and shall and will find and provide for his said Apprentice, during the said Term, sufficient of Meat, Drink, Apparel, Washing, Lodging, and all other Things Necessary for him, and shall allow him One Shilling yearly for Pocket Money, during the said Term and at the end of the said

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Term, shall deliver to his said Apprentice, twa good Suits of Apparel, as well Linen as Woollen, and all other Things Necessary for Holidays, and also one for Working Days. AND that the said John Brook his Executors or Administrators shall not nor will at any time during the said Term assign over the said James Bryer his Apprentice, to any Person or Persons whatsoever residing within the several Townships of Lepton, Kirkheaton, South Crosland, or Mirfield, without the special License and the Consent of the said Richard Henry Beaumont, his Heirs or Assigns. In WitnNEss whereof the Parties above named to these Presents have interchangeably set their Hands and Seals, the Day and Year first above written.

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered WM. ARMITAGE. _ (Seal) (being first duly Stamped) WM. STANCLIFFE. (Seal)

in the presence of His X mark MICHAEL SYKES. EDMUND BRYER. (Seal) FRAS. MOORE. KX (Seal) JAMES BRYER. (Seal) (Seal) JOHN BROOK, (Seal)

The above deed is in terms an apprenticeship, but in fact and in practice such a document often rendered the apprentice the unpaid servant of his master for ten or eleven years of his life. I have examined " The Register of Poor Children of the Township of Huddersfield bound Apprentices from and after the ist day of June, 1802, kept pursuant to the Statute of the 42nd George III., c. 46." The first entry is dated August 19th, 1802, and many of the later entries are countersigned by Joseph Radcliffe and George Armitage, as assenting magistrates. - The register contains the names of children of seven, eight, and nine years and upwards. How the children fared in the mills before the hours and condition of their toil were regulated by Parliament, we may learn from evidence given in 1833 before a Parlia- mentary Commussion, presided over by Mr. Sadler, who in the following year unsuccessfully contested Huddersfield. The evidence is quoted from the short but admirable

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of the Factory Movement, by my late friend, W. R. Croft, of Huddersfield. This was the testimony of Joseph Habergam :-

I reside at Northgate, Huddersfield. I am seventeen years of age. My father died six years ago, but my mother is still living. I began to work when seven years old at George Addison's, Bradley Mill, near Huddersfield. The employment was worsted spinning; the hours of labour at that mill were Jrom five in the morning till eight at night, with an interval for rest and refreshment of thirty minutes, at noon; there was no time for rest or refreshment in the afternoon ; we had to eat our meals as we could, standing or otherwise. I had fourteen-and- a-half hours actual labour when seven years of age, and I received as wages two shillings and sixpence per week. I attended. to what are called '" throstle machines ;* this I did for two-and-a-half-years, and then I went to the steam looms for about six months. In that mill there were about fifty children, of about the same age as myself. These children were often sick and poorly ; there were always, perhaps half-a-dozen regularly that were ill because of excessive labour. The work was not very hard, but having to work so many hours made it worse ; it was rather hard of itself, but it would have been better if we had not had so long to stand. We began to grow drowsy and sleepy about three o'clock, and grew worse and worse, and it came to be very hard towards six or seven ; I had still to labour on. There were three overlookers; there was a head overlooker, and then there was one man kept to grease the machines, and then there was one kept on purpose to strap. Strapping was the means by which the children were kept at work. It was the main business of one of the overlookers to strap the children up to this excessive labour,-the same as strapping an old restive horse, that had fallen down and will not get up. This was the practice day by day. The overlooker was continually walking up and down with the strap in his hand, and his office was to strap the children on to their labour. Out of the thirty minutes allowed for dinner, five minutes and sometimes ten were occupied in cleaning the spindles. On Saturday we gave over at six o'clock, after which time we used to be made to fettle the machines, which took about an hour-and-a-half. Some- times, during the time I worked at Bradley Mill, the clock was a quarter-of-an-hour too soon in the meal time; we had just done fettling, and we had but half got our dinners, and the overlooker put the clock forward to one, and he rang the bell, and we were obliged to run back to our work. This was not an uncommon practice. During the two-years-and-a-half I worked at that mill, there were about a dozen of the children who died. The owner of the

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mill did not send after these children to enquire after them when they were disabled by their long confined labour-they lived some- times for three months after they left. If any one had taken an account of the deaths at the mill, the deaths of those children would not have been included in the statement. They did not die in the mill ; but I knew one boy who died when he had been out of the mill only two days; he was stuffed up by the dust. There is con- siderable dust in that employment ; you cannot take the food out of your basket or handkerchief but what it is covered with dust directly. It is necessary that we should have time to eat our breakfast and "drinking '"' which are brought to us, but they will allow us xo time, and we have to bite our food as we can ; it is laid up on the board-sometimes the " flue" gets into it, so that we cannot eat it. The children are often sick because of the dust and dirt they eat with their meals. The children ate their dinner on the boiler house thatch, or anywhere, as they could not go home. I lived a good mile off. In winter we, the children, ate our dinners sometimes out of doors, and sometimes in the mill. When I gave over attending the " throstles"" I worked at '" bobbin winding '' at the steam looms. - The labour was continued the same length of time, from five in the morning to eight at night. When trade was brisk, I have worked from five in the morning to nine at night. For this additional hour's labour each working day I received, for the whole six months, tenpence halfpenny. This was the sum received by each, big and little, for the whole time. This was when I worked at the " throstles." I was forced to work the additional hour. When we, the children, worked at the " bobbin work," we were not used so cruelly : there was no strap, only the overlooker was a very savage man, and he used to strike the children under the ribs, till it took their wind away, and they fell on the floor, and perhaps lay there for two minutes. All the over- lookers are in the habit of treating the children with severity ; the masters put them up to it, because they could not get the quantity of work done they wanted, unless they were to beat them. When I left Mr. Addison's, Bradley Mill, I went to Mr. Brook's, Upper Mill, Huddersfield. At Mr. Brook's the usual time of labour for the children was twelve hours per day. We worked from six in the morning till eight at night ; we had half-an-hour to breakfast, an hour at noon, and half-an-hour at drinking time, making altogether twelve hours of actual labour. The hours were too long, we could not stand them. I was ten years of age when I went there first; I remained nearly four years. I worked at Lewis's machine in the dressing department. I have stated the regular hours of working ; when trade was particularly brisk I was obliged to work from five in the morning till half-past ten, sometimes till eleven, for four months together, and once all night. My regular

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~~

wage was five shillings a week, and they gave a shilling extra for over hours. I must either have worked these over hours or left my place. It was the same in other mills when trade was good. I found that labour very distressing to me, and it increased the pain in my limbs. It also increased the deformity which came upon me, and I have had to drop it several times for a fortnight together. They did not use the strap there, they used to strike with the fist and kick with the foot. - During the time I worked there, I wished many times they would have sent me for a West India slave. I had heard the condition of the West India slaves described. I felt myself very much over-worked, with insufficient rest, and very much injured by that length of labour. This rendered me very miserable in my mind, and I thought there could be nothing worse, and that there could not be worse slaves than those who worked in factories. On one occasion, I worked all Friday, Friday night, and Saturday. I left that situation for this reason-One morning I was between ten minutes and a quarter-of-an-hour too late ; the overlooker met me, he gave me a knock on the head against a step and caused a great lump to rise; he said he would turn me off, " a young devil, for being too late."" He followed me up the steps, but he could not catch me. I ran round the steps to get away from him, and I left the place. I was then fourteen years of age."

The witness here, at the request of the committee, stood up and showed his deformed limbs.

" I was straight and healthful as any one when I was seven years old. There were other children at the mill who became deformed in like manner. There were some very often sick, and some were deformed; but the parents who were able to support their children took them away, in consequence of seeing that they would be deformed if they did not take them away. My mother being a widow, and having but little, could not afford to take me away. The parish would not have relieved me if my mother had taken me away. She had frequently been to the parish authorities, but she was no better for it. I have seen my mother cry oftentimes, and I have asked her why she was crying, but she would not tell me then, but she told me since. She was so affected by seeing my limbs give way by working such long hours. The overlookers under whom I have hitherto worked have been in the habit of strapping and cruelly beating the children for very little faults-for being late in the morning and for letting the ends run down. One part of the discipline of these mills is profound silence; they will not allow the children to speak ; if two are seen speaking they are beaten with the strap. The masters encourage the overlooker to treat the children in that manner. I have seen them when the master has been standing at one end of

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Comm

"w

the room and two of the overlookers speaking to him, and if he has

chanced to see two girls speaking to each other, he has said, 'Look yonder, at those two girls, talking,' and he has run and beat them the same as they beat soldiers in the barrack-yard for desert- ing. The strapping was going on principally in the morning from half-past five to six ; for if there were twenty that were late at their work they would all be beaten. There was strapping in the after part of the day also ; it began about three o'clock and continued then till the time they dropped their work-very cruel strapping. If they had not strapped the children they would have fallen asleep. The children could not be kept up so long to their labour if they were not so treated. It was reckoned by the children to be very bad usage. Towards the end of the day the flies of the machines would burst their knuckles. Accidents were frequent. The children were not' capable of performing the amount of labour that was exacted frop-them, without perpetual cruelty. I had at that time working similarly a brother and a sister, his name was John, and her name was Charlotte. I cannot say how old my sister was, when she began working in the mill, but my brother John was seven. They were often sick; my brother John died three years ago-he was then sixteen years and eight months old. My mother and the

medical attendants were of opinion that my brother died from -

working such long hours, and that it had been brought about by the factory. They have to stop the flies with their knees, because they go so swift they cannot stop them with their hands ; he got a bruise on the shin with a spindle board, and it went on to that degree that it burst ; the surgeon cured that, and then my brother was better. He went to work again, but when he had worked about two months more his spine became affected, and he died. His medical attendants state that spinal affection was owing to his having been so overworked at the mill, and that he died in co‘nsequence. Working in the mill has had a great deal of effect on my own health, and I have had to drop it several times in the year. When I had worked about six months a weakness fell into my knees and ankles ; it continued, and it has got worse and worse. It was attended with very great pain and the sense of extreme fatigue. Under these circumstances I had to work as often as I could, other- wise not any allowance would have been made to me by the occupier of the mill. I live a good mile from the mill ; it was very painful for me to move, in the morning. I could not walk, and my brother and sister, out of kindness, used to take me under each arm, and run with me to the mill, and my legs dragged on the ground in consequence of pain ; I could not walk, and if we were five minutes late, the overlooker would take a strap, and beat us till we were black and

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blue. The overlooker knew the occasion of our being a little too late; we have stated to him the reason, but he never minded that, he used to watch us out of the windows. The pains and weakness in my legs increased. I was beat and kicked in the way described for having been too late. It is customary in some mills to abate the wages. I do not think they did so at Mr. Brook's. When I left Brook's I went to Mr. William Firth's, Greenhead, Huddersfield, and they began this rule. They bated the boys three- halfpence for six minutes, and a man threepence ; and when it got to sixteen minutes they doubled it-sixpence for a man, and three- pence for a boy-and it was doubled again when it got up to thirty- one minutes; then the forfeiture for a boy was fourpence . half- penny-a boy's daily wages was tenpence, one shilling, and so on. I do not know whether the overlooker kept the fines or not; he used to take them when he paid the wages. I was beaten as well as fined for being too late. It was the general system in that mill, at times, to beat the children as well as stop their wages. They did not beat them so cruelly-they did not beat them with straps, but with their fists. The practice of stopping wages for being too late does not do away with beating, but they were most beat when they did not pay the fines. The longest hours I worked at Mr. Firth's were from five in the morning till nine at night. Two hours were allowed for refreshment, so there were fourteen hours of actual labour. I left that employment, because I could stand it no longer ; the weak- ness was so bad in my knees and ankles. I was obliged totally to give up work. I believe I should have died if I had not given up- the doctors have nearly cured me. I was placed by my mother under the medical treatment of Dr. Walker, of the Huddersfield Infirmary. In that infirmary they can only take into the house twenty at once, because there are not subscribers enough to enable them to take more, and there are so many accidents that they are obliged to take in. They would have taken me in if they could ; they have twenty-two in sometimes, but twenty is the regular rule. It is a new place. My mother got a recommendation from Mr. Bradley Clay. It is nearly eleven weeks since I dropped work. Mr. Oastler got me into the Leeds Infirmary, as an in-patient, under the care of Mr. Hey. He examined me, and said that my déformity was caused by the factory system, He said he thought he could have done me good if he had had me a few years ago; there would have been means of bringing me straight. He said it was all from the factory system- working so long, and standing so many hours. Mr. Hey said that there were but poor hopes for me. Dr. Walker says I shall never be right any more. The cause of my illness has been going on all along, but I have got rather worse since I was fourteen years of age: I cannot walk above

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thirty yards before my legs begin aching very bad, and then I cannot walk at all. When at the factory I had not any opportunity of learning to read or write-only a little on the Sabbath day. I have tried to learn to write within these last ten or eleven weeks, I do not think that there is above one in a hundred in the factories that can write. I am still an in-patient in the Leeds Infirmary. There are similar cases to mine. There is one boy; he is weak in the knees the same as I am, but not quite so far gone. He is under Mr. Smith, I think, a surgeon; and there is another boy in the same ward as I am, he was struck on the hip by a slubber, with a billy- roller. There is another boy who was kicked by an overlooker with his foot, and his body was the same as if it was taken off and set on behind him ; his body is twisted, and he goes upon crutches. I have been in the Leeds Infirmary a week last Saturday night ; if I had been this week at Leeds I should have been a fortnight next Saturday. Last Tuesday but one there was a boy brought in about five or six o'clock in the evening from a mill. He had been catched with the shaft, and he had both his thighs broke, and from his knee to his hip the flesh was ripped up the same as if it had been cut by a knife, his head was bruised, his eyes nearly torn out, and his arms broken. His sister, who ran to pull him off, got both her arms broke and her head bruised, and she is bruised all over her body. The boy died last Thursday night but one, about eight o'clock. Ido not know whether the girl is dead, but she was not expected to live. That accident occurred in consequence of the shaft not being sheathed. Dr. Walker ordered me to wear irons from the ankle to the thigh. My mother was not able to get them, and he said that he would write a note, and she might go and see some gentlemen in the town and give them that note, and see if they would give her something towards them, and she did so, and I got the bare irons made. I was afterwards asked by a man who lives in our yard to let him look at them. I told him I could not get money to line them with, and on his recommendation I saw Mr. Oastler and Mr. Wood (of Bradford) at Fixby. Mr. Wood gave me a sovereign. Mr. Oastler asked me what my lameness came on with. I told him, and he mentioned it at the County Meeting, at York. The foreman came to our house and threatened to discharge both me and my two little brothers, who were working at the same place. I have not been turned off, but I do not know whether he will let me start again or not. I had one of my arms broken. I was working at what is called a brushing-mill ; there is a pin they put into the roller to make it run round, and the pin catched my sleeve and twisted my arm round and broke it; and another boy had his arm broke the same

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way. At Mr. Brook's mill they cannot break their arms by that part of the machine, owing to a different arrangement. There was a boy, who, to " fettle"" the machine, was kneeling down, and a strap catched him above his ankles and carried him round the wheel, and dashed his brains out on the floor. These accidents usually happen at the latter end of the day ; the children get tired- that boy got killed at a quarter past seven at night. I have worked ten years in mills, and have in all cases been required to labour longer than my strength could bear. I have been rendered ill, deformed, and miserable by the factory system, as at present pursued. Oh! if I had a thousand pounds, I would give them all to have the use of my limbs again.

Abraham Whitehead said :-

I am a clothier, and reside at Scholes, near Holmfirth, which is the centre of very considerable woollen mills for three or four miles; I live near the centre of thirty or forty of them, and have had constant opportunity of observing the manner in which these mills are regulated and conducted, and I have observed them for the last twenty years. The youngest age at which children are employed is never under five, some are employed between five and six as pieceners. In the summer time I have frequently seen these children going to their work as early as five or six in the morning, and I know the general practice is for them to go as early to all the mills, with one or two exceptions; I have seen them at work in the summer season between nine and ten in the evening; they continue to work as long as they can see, and they can see to work as long in these mills as you could see to read. In winter there is a variation ; some of the mills begin to work at six o'clock, and some only begin so soon as they can see to work in the morning, but many of them begin at six, or between five and six in winter time. I live near to parents who have been sending their children to mills for a great number of years, and I know positively that these children are every morning in the winter season called out of bed between five and six, and in some instances between four and five. My business as a clothier has frequently led me into these mills, to carry work to or from them. I have for the last twenty years constantly made observations on these mills, having seldom missed a week going to some of them, and sometimes two or three times a day. I cannot say that I ever saw these mills actually at work later than ten; I do not say they have not been at work later, I have seen them as late as ten in the winter season-children of tender years were employed. I have been in mills at all hours, and I never in my life saw the machinery stopped at breakfast time at any of the mills. The children get their breakfast as they can ; they

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eat and work ; generally there is a pot of water-porridge, with a little treacle in it, placed at the end of the machine, and when they have exerted themselves to get a little forward with their work, they take a few spoonfuls for a minute or two, and then to work again, and continue to do so until they have finished their breakfast. This is the general practice not only of the children, but of the men, in the woollen mills in the district. There is not any allowance for the afternoon refreshment called "drinking" more than for breakfast. In summer some mills allow an hour for dinner and others forty minutes. There is no time allowed in the winter, only just sufficient to eat their dinner; perhaps ten minutes or a quarter-of-an-hour, and in some cases they manage the same at noon as they do at breakfast and drinking. The children are employed as pieceners. They, when at work, are always on their feet-they cannot sit and piece. The only interval the children have for rest is the very short time allowed for dinner, except it may sometimes happen that they may be out of what we call "jammed wool," and then the children have a short time to rest themselves, and even then they are frequently employed in cleaning the carding machine. I have seen children during the last winter (1832) coming from work on cold dark nights, between ten and eleven o'clock, although trade has been so bad with some mills that they have had nothing to do ; others have been working seventeen or seventeen-and-a-half hours per day. This requires that the children should be awakened very early in the morning. I can tell you what a neighbour told me six weeks ago-she is the wife of Jonas Barrowcliffe, near Scholes. Her child works at a mill nearly two miles from home, and I have seen that child coming from its work this winter between ten and eleven in the evening; and the mother told me that one morning this winter the child had been up by two o'clock in the morning, when it had only arrived from work at eleven ; it then had to go nearly two miles -to the mill, where it had to stay at the door till the overlooker came to open it. This family had no clock, and the mother believed, from what she afterwards learnt from the neighbours, that it was only two o'clock when the child was called up and went to work ; but this has only generally happened when it has been moonlight, thinking the morning was It is the general practice in the neighbourhood- and any fact that I state here can be borne out by particular evidence that, if required, I can point out. The children are generally cruelly treated ; so cruelly treated that they dare not hardly for their lives be too late at their work in a morning. When I have been at the mills in the winter season, when the children are at work in the evening, the very first thing they enquire is, " What o'clock is it?" If 1 should answer "Seven," they say, " Only seven ? it is a great while to ten, but we

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must not give up till ten o'clock or past." They look so anxious to know what o'clock it is that I am convinced the children are fatigued, and think even at seven that they have worked too long. My heart has been ready to bleed for them when I have seen them so tired, for they appear in such a state of apathy and insensibility agreally not to know whether they are doing their work or not; they usually throw a bunch of ten or twelve cardings across the hand and take one off at a time. But I have seen the bunch entirely finished and they have attempted to take off another when they have not had a carding at all ; they have been so fatigued as not to know whether they were at work or not. The errors which they make when thus fatigued are, that instead of placing the cardings in this way [describing it they are apt to place them obliquely, and cause a flying which makes a bad yarn, and when the billy-spinner sees that he takes his strap or the billy-roller, and says, '" D--n thee, close it, little devil, close it," and he smites the child with the strap or billy-roller. It is a very difficult thing to go into a mill in the later part of the day, particularly in winter, and not to hear some of the children crying for being beaten for this very fault. How they are beaten depends upon the humanity of the slubber or billy-spinner; some have been beaten so violently that they have lost their lives in consequence; and even a young woman had the end of a billy- roller jammed through her cheek. The billy-roller is a heavy rod, of from two to three yards long, and of two inches diameter, and with an iron pivot at each end ; it runs on the tops of the cardings over the feeding cloth. I have seen the billy-spinner take the billy- roller and rap the children on the head, making their heads crack, so that you might have heard the blow at the distance of from six to eight yards, in spite of the din and rolling of the machinery ; many have heen knocked down by the instrument. I knew a boy very well, of the name of Senior, with whom I went to school ; he was struck with a billy-roller on the elbow, it occasioned a swelling, he was not able to work more than three or four weeks after the blow, and he died in consequence. There was a woman in Holm- firth who was beaten very much with a billy-roller. This which is produced (showing one) is not the largest size, there are some a foot longer than that; it is the most common instrument with which these poor little pieceners are beaten-more commonly than with either a stick or a strap. With regard to the morals of the children who work in mills, we cannot expect that they can be so strict as children who are generally under the care of their parents. I have seen a little boy, only this winter, who works at a mill, who lives within two hundred or three hundred yards of my door ; he is not six years old, and I have seen him, when he had a few coppers in his pocket, go to a beer-shop, call for a glass of ale, and drink as

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boldly as any full-grown man, cursing and swearing, and saying he should be a man as soon as some of them. I do not know that there are many such boys, but the expressions of children in mills very much accord. You cannot go into a mill where even the most wealthy master clothier is called Sir or Master; they call them all * Old Tom" or " Young Tom," etc. They call their employers so. There is not any possibility of children employed in this way obtaining any instruction from day schools, but since this Factory Bill was agitated, when I have been at mills, the children have gathered round us for a minute or two as I passed along, and have said, '" When shall we have to work ten hours a day? Will you get the Ten Hours' Bill? We shall have a rare time then; surely somebody will set up a neet (night) school; I will learn to write that I will." The opinion of the inhabitants of my neighbourhood is, that if a Ten Hours' Bill be passed, it will be the greatest advantage that they could possibly enjoy. They are of opinion that the more they work the less they receive for it. They say that the markets are overstocked by overworking, and the men are overworked. When a master gets an order for a certain quantity of goods, he sets all his men to work night and day until it is completed. It is the general opinion that if a stop is not put to this excessive and increasing labour there will never be an end to the reduction of wages, but whether the wages will be reduced or not, they are convinced it will be a benefit ; and they are anxious that the Bill should be passed into a law. I live six or seven miles from Huddersfield. There is a mill at Smithy Place, three miles and a half from Huddersfield, and that mill worked so long about two years ago that a boy at that mill actually hanged himself, because he said he would sooner do it than work so many hours a day as he had done. I had a brother-in-law working at the mill at the time, and sufficient evidence can be produced before this Committee to prove the boy destroyed himself rather than be so overworked. From what I have observed, I do not believe that so beneficial an alteration in the hours of labour as would follow the enactment of the Ten Hours' Bill could come about except by legislative enactment, for the parents who send their children to the mills are generally those who could not provide for them by any other means, and they have no alternative but to send them. But the masters, as well as the men generally, in the neighbourhood of Holmfirth, are disgusted with the over- working of children, and they say that it ought to be remedied. But it cannot be remedied unless every one is compelled to do as others do. We understand by the Ten Hours' Bill, a bill that will not allow children of a certain age to be actively employed more than ten hours per day, which will be twelve, leaving two hours for rest and refreshment. I have never seen the harsh treatment I

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have described exercised upon persons of fifteen or sixteen years of age ; persons of these ages are generally employed in some other business than piecening. It appears to me that Parliamentary interference is necessary to protect the parents as well as the children. The children have excited commiseration by being over- worked. It is also injurious to the parents, because the masters or millowners who have no conscience or feeling do not care what length of time they run their mills When one takes the lead another must follow, and then all continue to work long hours, although the first might feel some advantage, yet when all come to that point, the advantage is lost, and they must strain another point or there is no advantage in it; by doing so, they lower the wages more and more-and the more they work the less wages are obtained. If protection were afforded by law to children up to the age of fifteen, those above that age would suffer ; and why should they continue to work seventeen or eighteen hours per day ?> It seems to me that youths ought to have some opportunity of learning to read and write, and other domestic duties. For instance, when females who were brought up in mills get married, they know not how to manage their children ; it is even a proverb in the neighbourhood of Holmfirth, that the man who would have a good wife must take care not to marry " a factory doll," as she will not know how to manage a family. I think all ought to be protected by law until they be twenty-one years of age. 2. I know, from my own knowledge, that children of the age of from six to twelve have really been working from sixteen and seventeen hours per day. I know it by seeing them going to their work and

coming from their work, the same children. Some years before the appointment of the Parliamentary Commission before which the evidence I have quoted was taken, an event had taken place in this district eminently calculated to impress the imagination and to intensify the indignation inspired by the general features of the unre- formed factory system. I refer to the fire at Atkinson's cotton mills, at Colne Bridge, near Huddersfield. The fire occurred in what should be the still hours of the night of the fourteenth of February, 1818, and seventeen young girls between the ages of nine and eighteen years perished in the flames. The children, who were spinuing their young lives into the yarns that enriched the millowners, had been locked into the mill, and it was generally stated and believed

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that when the flames broke out the key had been mislaid, and could not be found. When the incidents of this tragic event were made known at the inquest a thrill of horror passed through the country, the national conscience was shocked, and the great heart of England was profoundly stirred. A monument in Kirkheaton churchyard preserves the memory of this grim tragedy, but it is scarce too much to say that subsequent factory legislation is a more abiding monument still. The following inscription is graved upon the base :-South side :

To Commemorate the dreadful fate of Seventeen Children who fell Unhappy Victims to a raging Fire at Mr. Atkinson's Factory, Colne Bridge, Feby. the 14th, 1818. This Monument was erected by Voluntary Contribution,

, MDCCCXXI. West side:

Stranger ! if e'er a mother's tender fears Have watched thy steps from dawn to riper years : If e'er soft pity for another's woe Has swelled thy breast and caused a tear to flow ; Oh then ! will Nature speak in accents mild, A parent's anguish for a suffering child ; Then will a sigh escape the pensive head, A passing tribute to the untimely dead.

North side : Near this Place

Lie what remained of the Bodies of Seventeen Children ; A striking and awful instance of the Uncertainty of Life: and the Vanity of human attainments.

East side :

Martha Hey, aged 9 years; Mary Hey, 9; Elizabe \ Drake, 9; Abigail Bottom, 10; Elizabeth Stafford, 11; France Ajeller, 12; Ellen Haytack, 12; Elizabeth Ely, 13; Mary Moody 3; Ellen Stocks, 13; Mary Denton, 14; Mary Dutton, 14; Sarah Sheard, 14; Mary Laycock, 14; Nancy Carter, 16; Elizabeth Moody, 17; Sarah North, 18.

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Pee

Ah! those were terrible times for the children of the manufacturing districts, especially the winter times, when in the bitter cold mornings, half awake, still weary, ill-clad, half-fed, they crawled and shivered in the dark along the rough roads, to work. Well might Elizabeth Barrett-

Browning's great mother heart burst out in the wail-

Do you question the young children in their sorrow, Why their tears are falling so ? fax % hax ¥ The young, young children, O my brothers, Do you ask them why they stand Weeping sore before the bosoms of their mothers In our happy Fatherland ?

They look up with their pale and sunken faces, And their looks are sad to see, For the man's hoary-anguish draws and presses Down the cheeks of infancy -- '* Your old earth," they say, " is very dreary," '" Our young feet," they say, '" are very weak! Few paces have we taken, yet are weary,- Our grave rest is very far to seek."

" For oh," say the children, " we are weary, And we cannot run or leap- If we cared for any meadows, it were merely To drop down in them and sleep. Our knees tremble sorely in the stooping- We fall upon our faces, trying to go ; And underneath our heavy eyelids drooping, The reddest flower would look as pale as snow. For, all day, we drag our burden tiring Through the coal-dark underground- Or, all day, we drive the wheels of iron In the factories, round and round.

" For, all day, the wheels are droning, turning- Their wind comes to our faces,- Till our hearts turn,-our head, with pulses burning, And the walls turn in their places- Turns the sky in the high window blank and reeling- Turns the long light that drops adown the wall- Tur he black flies that crawl along the ceiling- are turning, all the day, and we with all. - A _- all day, the iron wheels are droning ; And sometimes we could pray, "O ye wheels '" (breaking out in a mad moaning), " Stop! be silent for to-day !"

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* k K *

They look up, with their pale and sunken faces, ' And their look is dread to see, For they mind you of the angels in their places, With eyes turned on Deity ; " How long," they say, " how long, O cruel nation, Will you stand, to move the world, on a child's heart, Stifle down, with a mailed heel, its palpitation, And tread onward to your throne amid the mart ? Our blood splashes upward, O gold-heaper, And your purple shows your path ! But the child's sob curses deeper in the silence- Than the strong man in his wrath !

In the year 1830 there lived at Fixby Hall, near Huddersfield, a man whose name should be enshrined in the hearts of all who love their kind-Richard Oastler, a Churchman and a Tory. He was the steward of the Thornhill estates. In 1830 he addressed to the Zeeds Mercury a passionate protest, under the title " Yorkshire Slavery," against the horrors of the factory system. The letter was greedily scanned by the working men and women of Huddersfield. One memorable Sunday a deputation of about half-a-dozen working men from the town walked up to Fixby, apologized for calling on Sunday as it was the only day in the week they had to themselves, explained that they were Radicals and Dissenters, but invited Mr. Oastler to put himself at the head of the oppressed operatives of the county. "After a good deal of conver- sation," says Mr. Oastler, in an account he has left of this interview, " we agreed to work together, with the under- standing that parties in politics and sects in religion should not be allowed to interfere between us." The outcome of that conversation was the Huddersfield Short-Time Committee, and these are the names of its original mem- bers Holt, cotton twister; John Leech, general dealer; - Lawrence Pitkeithly, general dealer; - Samuel Glendinning, cloth merchant ; Job Bolland, cloth finisher ;

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William Kitson, cloth finisher; John Hanson, fancy weaver; James Brook, furniture dealer; George Beaumont, weaver, Almondbury ; John Hirst, co-operative stores manager; John Rawson and William Rawson, late

cotton spinners, Bradford; Thomas Johnson, weaver, Paddock; Charles Earnshaw, cloth finisher, Paddock;

George Armitage, Paddock; and, subsequently, William Armitage, of South Crosland. The manufacturers of this district regarded the ten hours' agitation thus inaugurated with anything but favour. They took their stand upon the iron law of supply and demand and those principles of political economy which Mr. Gladstone had not yet declared to be relegated to the planet Saturn. On August 3rd, 1831, they presented to

the House of Commons a petition in the following terms :

* A petition of manufacturers, mill owners, and other persons interested in the woollen trade, resident at Huddersfield and the neighbourhood, in the West Riding of the County of York, setting forth : That all legislative interference in regard to the price of labour, or the mode in which masters should employ their servants, is injurious to the principles of sound commercial policy, and so far as respects the woollen manufacture is uncalled for; that the business in which the petitioners are engaged is in no one of its processes injurious to the health of young persons, but it is, on the contrary, a wholesome and com- fortable employment, not requiring any excessive heat, or other extraordinary exertion ; that this trade differs entirely from the cotton manufactures, the temperature of the atmosphere of a woollen mill being much lower, and the dryness and dust of wool (the inconvenience of which is felt in the spinning of coarse cotton to a great degree) being moistened by oil, which is used in large quantities in the first process of the manufacture; that in the particular villages about Huddersfield, where a woollen mill is not established, the working classes are in a much greater state of poverty, and the evils of a surplus population are felt with increased severity, the rents are worse paid, the people are worse clothed, the children are less orderly, and in short everything bespeaks the want of that order and activity which prevails in districts where mills are established ; that the petitioners observe with pain, that for the purpose of remedying abuses which in regard to the woollen trade they contend have not been proved, a bill should

W

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have been brought into the House, which will not only attach the stigma to the petitioners of having oppressed children, which they do not deserve, but will subject the petitioners to many inconvenient and uncalled for regulations, and will have the effect of injuring those whom it is meant to serve, by compelling masters to give less wages ; the petitioners therefore most humbly pray the House to reject the said Bill altogether, or to confine it to those branches of trade in which the alleged evils have been proved, but in all events to modify its provisions as regards the woollen manufacture, because many of its clauses are quite inapplicable to, and incompatible with the carrying on of that trade; the petitioners respectfully suggest to the House the following objections: Objection to the First Clause-Because a person at eighteen years of age is sufficiently formed, and perfectly capable of performing that which by this clause he is restricted from doing until twenty-one. Second Clause-For the several reasons before alleged in regard to the healthiness of the woollen manufacture, the petitioners would substitute sixteen instead of eighteen, in order to make it con- formable to clause six. Fourth Clause-In cases of mills worked only by water, the supply of power is often very uncertain, the mills are dependent, not only upon the weather, but also on the capacity of the reservoir, and those mllls lower down the stream are further dependent upon all the casualties which may happen to the mills above, and if the water should not reach the lowest mill till twelve o'clock at noon, how could the work of this mill be completed by nine in the evening; mills of this sort should be exempted from this regulation, and not less than two hours a day should be allowed them, instead of three hours per week, to work up lost time; in three hours per week such lost time would never be got up. Fifth Clause-Mills worked by a steam engine are also frequently in want of repair, and the stoppage occasioned by these frequent repairs could not be worked up in so short a space of time as one hour per day ; the petitioners would therefore particularly urge that two hours should be substituted, and this to continue for one month instead of ten days. Seventh Clause-The burthen of a large family is much alleviated to a poor man when he can get his children into early employment; those who are engaged in visiting the poor can testify that the first thing asked for is their influence in getting their children into a woollen mill ; children are now taken into Infant Schools at two and three, and at six years old they are enabled to attain the elements of instruction, and they are then capable of performing many of the light and minor employments about a woollen mill; the petitioners would, therefore, substitute eight for nine years old as the time for admittance. Twelfth Clause-The information should not be longer than ten days, and the summons not delayed beyond three days

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after the information ; a master would never be able to protect himself from what might be alleged against him, unless there be short limits within which such cases be heard. Sixteenth Clause- The keeping of a time-book is an oppressive regulation, the master may keep one if he chooses, for his own safe-guard, but he ought not to be compelled to do so. Twentieth Clause-The penalty is excessive, there will be a better chance of convicting a millowner in case the penalty be small. The petitioners would also recommend that the whole of the penalty be applied to the nearest infirmary, the poor rates are never less on account of these adventitious penalties.

The names of the following gentlemen or firms were affixed to the petition :-W. and W. H. and H. Stables, Crosland Mills ; Starkey Brothers, Longroyd Bridge; Jonas Brook and Brothers, Meltham Mills; Thomas Nelson and Co., Henry Brook and Sons, Roberts Brothers, David Shaw, Son and Co., Norris, Sykes and Fisher, John Hannah and Co., and Thomas Kilner, all of Huddersfield. Of all the meetings held during the ten hours' agitation the most remarkable was perhaps that at York, on April 24th, 1832, summoned by the High Sheriff. Mr. Croft, in the work I have already mentioned, quotes a spirited account of it, apparently penned by an eye-witness. Many of the operatives who swelled the great gathering had to walk from forty to fifty miles, some a greater distance still. The air was cold, the rain during the previous night fell in torrents, the weather was described in the castle yard as the most inclement within memory. _ Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Bingley, Keighley, Dewsbury, Batley, Honley, Holmfirth, Meltham, Pudsey, Elland, Rawdon, Otley, and other towns and villages were that day represented in the castle yard. _ Thousands of men, foot-sore, but not faint of heart, who had walked from 24 to 50 miles, were deeply thankful when their eyes that morning saw York Minster. Not only men, but factory boys and girls, mothers with infants in their arms, fifty miles from their own homes, were there to hold up their hands to heaven as

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an earnest of their desire to be freed from a worse than an Egyptian bondage. It was a sight to have made a man love his kind to have seen how the stronger helped the weaker along the road to York, and from York home again; to mark them share each others' food, to behold the noble spirit of self-sacrifice which made those in front wait for, and often return to help onward those in the rear. Oastler and Bull were everywhere cheering and encouraging the straggling bands. Fatigue, hunger, and thirst were borne with courage and self-denial. It was a great undertaking to conduct so many thousands to York. The night before the meeting Leeds was filled with people, who having been . refreshed and provided for a few hours' rest, moved forward all that tempestuous night. Many could not proceed in consequence of the weather. _ Thousands proceeded, mostly on foot, but some in carts and waggons which they provided for themselves. The appearance of the road was novel and impressive; it resounded with cheers, which were uttered by the pilgrims to those who passed them in carriages of various sorts. Some groups had torches composed of old ropes, and the undulations of the road afforded many views of illuminated groups successively rising over the hills and disappearing the next instant, leaving a loud long cheer behind, as they sank out of view. With the early dawn, the Race Course at York began to teem with multitudes. The writer of this sketch affirms that he saw numbers whose footsteps were traced in their own blood into the Castle Yard, and out of it homewards, occasioned by the length and wetness of the journey and the badness of their shoes and clogs. The meeting was an impressive one. The High Sheriff presided, and at the close of the meeting congratulated the multitude on their good conduct. The weather continued boisterous and wet, torrents poured down-bread was scarce-and where to

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rest that night many knew not. Stables, barns, school- rooms, and outhouses had been engaged at Tadcaster, and well strewn with "long feathers," but there were many who could not reach so far, their feet were bare, blistered, bleeding, some profusely, and far short of Tadcaster some hundreds implored a resting place at inns of various grades, or wherever they could get a roof to cover them. Oastler, Sadler, Bull, Pitkeithly, and John Wood did all they could to alleviate the sufferings of the sore crippled pilgrims. Covered waggons, with bread and restoratives, were despatched to bring up the rear. The leaders accompanied them armed with lanterns to inspect the road side and ditches if requisite. Oastler never asked his followers to do anything he was not prepared to do himself, and he "headed his subjects" on foot through the entire journey. The weather began to clear, the march became more cheerful, and home began to draw nearer. Arriving at Leeds, they were greeted by thousands and provided with refreshment in the White Cloth Hall Yard, where they were addressed by Sadler. The Hud- dersfield division, " The King's Own," started again and arrived at home amid the greetings and cheers of the women and children who welcomed them home. It seems incredible that after all this fatigue the Huddersfield men that same evening held a public meeting, and kept up the recital of their pilgrimage until a late hour, finishing that day's work with a dance in the Market Place. That night, when Oastler undressed, the 'skin of the soles of his feet peeled off with his stockings. An operative, who worked and resided near Holmfirth was a follower of the "Old King." He, along with others who were working at a mill, were going to their work as usual, when they heard the strains of the Holmfirth Band :

they there and then resolved to accompany their fellows to

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York, to see " Old Oastler righted." With the band they went. The contingent had started soon after five o'clock, but they overtook the main column at Dews- bury, where it had been delayed by the organising committee. Having walked about 14 miles, many began to falter, but the continual increase of the advancing multitude inspired them with renewed strength and vigour. At Leeds, they again halted, where they were provided with refreshments. On their arrival at Tadcaster, many were weary, and literally tired out, and great numbers were fain to sleep on the floors of the various public-houses in that village, and even in the green fields around. Those accompanying the bands of music were somewhat more fortunate than the rest, for both in going and returning they had the opportunity of "busking," which to some extent afforded them unexpected relief. They had also the sympathy of the inhabitants of the villages through which they passed, which also frequently resulted in practical assistance. This is not the place in which to record the incidents nor yet the final triumph of the great and humane agitation which culminated in securing to the children of the poor immunity from untimely toil; mine the less ample task of indicating the part taken in the national movement in this district. Neither is it within my province to write a life of Richard Oastler. His political candidature for the representation of Huddersfield will find notice in another place. Oastler, like many another man before and since, found that public life is a costly life; that politics in this country are for the rich, not for ability and enthusiasm unbacked by private means. He fell into arrears in the accounts of his stewardship. Some three thousand pounds were demanded by Mr. Thornhill, and Oastler could not

raise the money. He was imprisoned as a debtor in the

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- Fleet. Messrs. Lawrence Pitkeithly, John Leach, Samuel Glendinning, of Huddersfield and Mr. Schofield, of Rastrick, exerted themselves to raise a public subscription, and Oastler was released; and on Shrove Tuesday, February 20th, 1844, he entered Huddersfield in triumph with the Paddock and Lindley flags, inscribed respectively '"Oastler, and no Bastille," " Lindley-Welcome," borne before his carriage. He died at Harrogate on August 22nd, 1861, the father of the fatherless, the strength of the weak, the shield of the oppressed. Not from the inequities of the factory system alone has the lot of the people in this district been embittered. The storage of great volumes of water is a prime necessity of the manufacturing industry. To confine artificially the streams of the mountain sides, to dam them up in great reserves, is to concentrate a force which may be as baneful as beneficent. The commissioners who owned the Bilberry Reservoir were practically entrusted with the care and keeping of hundreds of human lives; but nothing is more common than remissness in great responsibilities when time and use have blunted the sense of their magnitude and significance. This reservoir is situated at the head of a narrow gorge or glen, leading from the Holme Valley, at Holme Bridge, to a high bluff of land called Good Bent, and was supplied by two streams flowing through the cloughs running to the north-east and south-east of Good Bent, and draining the moors of Holme Moss on the one side and the hills running up to Saddleworth on the other, including some thousands of acres of moorland. The con- fluence of the streams takes place between two large hills, called Hoobrook Hill and Lum Bank, and which run parallel to each other for a distance of about one hundred and fifty yards, when they open out and form an extensive oval basin of not less than three hundred yards diameter.

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The reservoir was formed by blocking up the valley below the basin and enclosing some twelve acres of surface. It was defective in its original construction, and was for a long time known to be in a most dangerous condition. At the time when the embankment gave way the quantity of water in the reservoir would not be less than eighty-six million two hundred and forty-eight thousand gallons, or the enormous and fearful amount of three hundred thousand tons in weight. It burst a little before one o'clock in the morning of February 5th, 1852. The moon shone brightly over the varied and romantic landscape; the streamlets, swollen by recent heavy rains, filled the river to its banks; the industrious population were recruiting their wasted energies by sleep, when all at once, in a moment, the ponderous embankment was carried away by the force and weight of the pent up waters, and desolation, ruin and death overspread the rich and fertile valley for miles. Trees were torn up by the roots and hurried onward by the rush of waters, roaring with renewed fury as they swept down each successive obstruction. The death-shrieks of scores were hushed as the flood passed forwards to new scenes of destruction and death, leaving in its track ponderous pieces of rock weighing many tons ; the dead carcases of horses, cows, goats, and other cattle; here and there broken machinery, bags of wool, carding machines, dye pans, steam engine boilers, timber, spars, looms, furniture, and every variety of wreck. It would seem as if the whole body of accumulated waters had tumbled down the valley together, sweeping all before them, throwing a four storey mill down like a thing of nought, tossing steam engine boilers about like feathers, and carrying death and destruction in their progress. In consequence of the narrowness between the mountain bluffs on either side, a vast volume of water was kept together,

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Sone

which spent its force upon Holmfirth, where the mass of houses, shops, mills, warehouses, and other buildings was expected to present a formidable barrier to its further progress. The check, however, was but momentary, for the flood, with the mass of floating wreck which it carried in its bosom, shot through buildings, gutted some and tumbled down others, until it found a further outlet and passed on, doing more or less damage lower down the valley at Thongs Bridge, Honley, and Armitage Bridge. After passing the last place mentioned the flood got more into the open country, spreading itself out in the fields, and swelling the river down below Huddersfield. Much might be written on the details and incidents connected with the catastrophe. A few of the most striking may be mentioned. A few hundred yards below the reservoir stood a small building two storeys high, called Bilberry Mill, in the occupation of Joseph Broadhead, and used as a scribbling and dressing mill. - The end of the mill was caught by the sudden swell, and about ten feet in length and its gable were washed down the valley. A little further down the valley, and on the same side as Bilberry Mill, stood Digley Upper Mill, lately occupied by Mr. John Furniss, woollen manufacturer. The building was a block of stone work, consisting of a factory, a large house, farm buildings, and outhouses. The end of the mill was washed away, a quantity of machinery, and a large amount of property in the shape of pieces, warps, etc., destroyed, and the gable end of the house, which was comparatively new, and the farm buildings swept away. In the latter were twelve tons of hay, three cows, a horse, and several head of poultry, which were all carried down the stream. A short distance below stood Digley Mill property, which consisted of a large building sixty yards square, four storeys high, built of stone; a weaving shed, containing thirty-four looms and other

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machinery ; two dwelling-houses, seven cottages, farm, and other outbuildings, making altogether a small town. Adjacent to it in the valley and on the hill side, were several fields of rich and fertile land ; the whole forming a secluded but compact estate, valued at from twelve to fifteen thousand pounds. In one of the houses built on the river side, resided Mrs. Hirst, widow of the late George Hirst; and in the other resided Henry Beardsall, her son- in-law. The cottages were occupied by workpeople. The buildings formed a mass of solid stone work ; but the torrent swept it away like a straw, carrying its ponderous machinery down the valley, and tossing its boilers about with the greatest ease. The engine was carried from its place, and became embedded in the mud lower down in the valley. The house built on the hill side remained, but the cottages and all the other buildings were carried away, except a tall engine chimney. With the buildings were swept away four cows and a valuable horse. Bank End mill was the next building in the valley. Its gable end and one window from the top to the bottom of the building were washed away. It was completely gutted in the lower rooms, and the machinery in the upper storeys was thrown together in heaps. The dyehouse and stove, about twenty yards long, were completely cleared away, leaving nothing of them standing above the ground. The property belonged to John Roebuck, whose loss was estimated at from two to three thousand pounds. The valley here widens until it reaches Holme Bridge, a small village composed of a few hundred inhabitants. The stream here is crossed by a bridge of one arch, about forty yards on one side of which stands Holme Church, in the centre of a grave yard; and about the same distance on the other side stood a toll-gate and a number of dwellings. The bridge was swept away even to its foundations. The wall surrounding the church was

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rome: wes e e e nme re \n

ravished by the speeding torrent and the few trees planted in the yard were uprooted and carried down the stream. The interior of the church and the grave-yard as seen a day or two after the flood presented a melancholy spectacle. Inside the church the water had risen about five feet. The floor was torn up-the pews had been floating, and the floor was covered with sand and mud several inches thick. In the centre of the aisle was laid the body of a goat which had been washed from upper Digley mill, and within a few feet of it, resting on the seat of one of the pews, lay a coffin and remains of a full grown man. Both these relics, with others not found, had been washed up from their graves by the whirlpools formed by the current, as it passed over the churchyard. The roads and fields from the reservoir downwards to this point were almost covered with huge masses of stone and other loose substances, of which the bank of the reservoir had been formed. Down to this point no human life appears to have been lost ; but a little lower down, at the village of Hinchliffe Mill, the loss of life was very great. This village was on the left bank of the river, and consisted principally of cottage houses. The factory, which gave its name to the village, was a large building five storeys high, built on the opposite side of the river, and which remained, though the water had passed its first and second floor, and done great damage to the machinery. The mill was for some time blocked up to the windows in the second storey with huge pieces of timber, broken machinery, and wreck of various descriptions, which the torrent brought down from the mills above. On the village side of the river, six dwellings which formed " Water Street," were swept down and hurled forward with the flood, and thirty-five of the inmates perished. The following is the list of the occupants of the houses that were swept down. The first house was

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occupied by Miss Marsden and three others ; the second by Joseph Todd, his wife and children; the third by ]. Crosland, and seven others ; the fourth by James Metternick, and nine others ; the fifth by Joshua Earnshaw, his little girl, and two sons; and the sixth by John Charlesworth, and nine others. The houses in this neighbourhood not washed down, were in some cases flooded into the chambers; and in one of them-the endmost left standing-were sixteen individuals, who saved their lives by getting on an adjoining roof. In the adjoining houses, five persons perished. Of the five persons who were over- come by the waters in the houses above Hinchliffe, three were drowned in one house, viz.:-James Booth, his wife, and a lodger. In the same pile of buildings, the wife of Joseph Brook (who was endeavouring to save herself and child) was drowned with her infant in her arms. The country grows wider below the last-mentioned place; and in the centre of a wide valley stood Bottom's mill. From the open country here offered to the stream, the factory, which was a very large one, sustained comparatively little damage. After leaving the mill, the torrent assailed the machine shops and works of Messrs. Pogson & Co.; proceeding thence to Harpin's Victoria woollen mill, doing great damage. Machinery was broken, cottages carried away, and much property destroyed. At the time of the calamity, twenty persons were in these cottages, who were only rescued by a communication being opened up through the walls with the end house, which was rather higher up away from the flood. Here in one chamber, the poor creatures were huddled together expecting momentary death, when at last the water abated sufficiently to allow of their being removed, which was scarcely effected before the house fell. Within a short distance of Victoria mill stood Dyson's mill, which was occupied by Mr. Sandford, in the

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yard of which mill Mr. Sandford resided. His house was swept away, and with it himself, his two children, and servant. The factory sustained very serious damage, both in its walls and machinery. Mr. Sandford was a person of considerable property, and is said to have had three or four thousand pounds in the house at the time. However this may be, it is known that he had just before been in treaty for the purchase of a considerable estate at Penistone, and that he had only that very week given instructions to a sharebroker at Huddersfield to buy for him a large amount of London and North Western Railway Stock. His life was also insured for a large sum. The bodies of Mr. Sandford's two daughters and his housekeeper were found a few days after the flood ; but the body of Mr. Sandford was not found till February 20th. His friends wished to find the body in order to prove his death, without which they would not have been entitled to receive the amount secured by his policy of insurance. A reward of ten pounds was therefore offered in the first instance for the recovery of his body, which sum was increased to one hundred pounds. Procklington or Farrars' Upper Mill stood next, the large dyehouse of which was completely destroyed. _ The damage was estimated at two or three thousand pounds; and one of the boilers, weighing six tons, was carried by the water to Berry Brow, a distance of three miles. These were the property of Mr. J. Farrar. The factory known as the Tower Mill, situate a little below, was built across the stream ; but the torrent rushed onward and carried the greater portion of the mill along with it, leaving the two ends standing. The mill was filled with valuable machinery and woollen material, and was the property of Mr. Hodson Farrar. In the factory yard two children were drowned, and a little further down a third child was found dead. At the George Inn, near this place, nine

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bodies, principally recovered from the stream, were laid. At Holmfirth, hundreds of dwellings were inundated, some of them were filled to the top storey, compelling the inmates to escape through and get upon the roof for safety ; indeed the houses were thoroughly gutted. Happily no lives were lost; but the most heart-rending scenes occurred to the inhabitants of some of the houses on the opposite side of the street. On the left hand side of what the day previous was a narrow street stood the toll-bar house, kept by S. Greenwood, who, with his wife and child, were swept away. He was seen to come out of the house with a lighted candle in his hand, return into the house, close the door after him, and in a moment or two not a vestige -of the house was seen. Lower down, on the same side of the street, was an extensive warehouse occupied by Messrs. Crawshaw, carriers, which was swept away. - To the left were some extensive blue dye works; the destruction of these premises was most complete. A little above the mill and between that building and a stable stood two small cottages, one occupied by S. Hartley and his family, the other by R. Shackelton and family. All the members, save three of these families, were swept away with the cottages. Victoria Bridge was dismantled. On the right hand side, over the bridge, was a new row of shops, built in the modern style, every one of which was flooded. The loss sustained by the various occupants was great. At Smithy Place (a hamlet about two miles north-east of Holmfirth) the water rose to a fearful height, and but for the alarm which had been given, the loss of life must have been great. Whole families had to leave their beds and betake them- selves out of the way of the flood, with no other covering than what they slept in, some quite naked ; and the shrieks and cries of children for their parents, and parents for their children, were heart-breaking. - The damage done in

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this place was very great. From Honley to Armitage Bridge the wreck was fearful, the front and back walls of St. Paul's Church, at the latter place, being compietely destroyed. Two children were found dead above the Golden Fleece Inn, one of them on the water side, the other washed into a tree; they were conveyed to the inn. A young woman, about eighteen years of age, was found dead and naked in a field near Armitage Fold. Beyond this part there was some slight damage done. From a statement published soon after the occurrence, it appears that so far as could be ascertained 77 lives had been lost, 38 of them being adults, and 39 children ; 26 were married, 12 unmarried, and 12 children were left destitute. The estimated damage and summary of property in addition to the loss from devastated land under tillage was as follows ;-Puildings destroyed : 4 mills, 10 dyehouses, 3 stoves, 27 cottages, 7 tradesmen's houses, 7 shops, 7 bridges, 10 warehouses, 8 barns and stables. Bwi/dings seriously injured : 5 dyehouses, 17 mills, 3 stoves, 129 cottages, 7 tradesmen's houses, 44 large shops, 11 public- houses, 5 bridges, 1 county bridge, 4 warehouses, 13 barns, 3 places of worship, and 2 iron foundries. Hands thrown out of work: Adults, 4,896 ; Children, 2,142; total, 7,038. The total loss of property was estimated at £250,000. The coroner's jury who viewed the bodies of the persons drowned by the flood, in addition to returning the usual verdict of " Found drowned," made a statement to the effect that the Holme Reservoir Commissioners had been guilty of great and culpable negligence in allowing the reservoir to remain for several years in a dangerous state, with a full knowledge thereof, and that had they been in the position of a private individual or firm they would certainly have subjected themselves to a verdict of " Manslaughter." Generous

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subscriptions were raised for the sufferers in various parts of the country amounting altogether to £68,000. A large surplus of the fund was left after relieving the sufferers, which was devoted towards the erection of five alms ° houses, the first stone being laid in 1856. A brass plate bears the following inscription :-

"The foundation stone of the Holmfirth Monumental Alms Houses, erected to commemorate the great flood caused by the bursting of the Bilberry Reservoir on the 5th of February, 1852 (by which upwards of eighty lives were lost), and also the munificent liberality of the British public, was laid by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Free Masons of West Yorkshire, on Monday, the 24th of April, 1856, 5856." *

* * Annals of Yorkshire," by Mayhall.

Page 369

CHAPTER XV.

N previous chapters I have set forth at some length the history of the Episcopalian churches of All Saints at Almondbury and St. Peter at Huddersfield. _ It behoves now to attempt some account of the origin of some at least, and those the most considerable, of the Non- conformist churches of the town and neighbourhood, and if of some dissenting communities the exigencies of space exact that scant notice be given, and if of others notice even less than scant be found in these pages, the reason must be sought in anything rather than the author's indifference to those spiritual and political movements which led to their establishment. SaLENDINE Noox Bartist CxarEL.-In and prior to the year 1739 there lived at Salendine Nook one Henry Clayton, whom the late Rev. John Stock, LL.D, describes as "a good man, not burdened with over much learning, but full of faith and of the Holy Spirit."* Mr. Clayton was a member of the Baptist Church of Rodhillend near Todmorden, and Stoneslack near Heptonstall, one church meeting in two places and itself an offshoot from the great mother church of the Baptist communities of Yorkshire and Lancashire, founded in 1675, " within the forest of Rossendale." Mr. Clayton seems for some years before 1739 to have carried on evangelistic work in Salendine Nook, and finally in that year a "commodious meeting-house" was erected at " Sallindon Nook," and

was duly licensed, as witness the following certificate :-

" West RypiNnG | At the General Quarter Sessions of the or Yorksuire. [ "° Y' Peace of the Lord the King begun and holden at Skipton in and for the said Ryding, on the tenth day of July in the twelfth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord,

* «History of the Baptized Independent and Congregational Church, meeting in Salendine Nook Chapel," by the Pastor, John Stock, LL.D., the main authority for the earlier portion of this chapter.

X

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George the Second, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c., and from thence continued and holden at Bradford by adjournment in and for the said Ryding, the twelfth day of July aforesaid, before Sir Walter Calverley, Baronet, William Horton, Esq., and others, their fellows, Justices of the Peace there, &c. The NEW ERECTED BUILDING situate at SALLInDON Nook in the Parish of Huddersfield in the said Ryding was certified by Thomas Greenwood to be a place of meeting for religious worship of Protestant Dissenters, which was recorded as such at the said Sessions, and a certificate made thereof pursuant to the Statute in that case provided.

By the Court, THOS. PULLEYN, Clerk of the Peace for the said

The statute under which the meeting house was licensed was presumably the Act of Toleration of 1689, an enactment which has been well styled the Macna Cnarta of Dissent. The eighteenth section of that act provides " that no congregation, or assembly for religious worship, shall be permitted or allowed by this act, until the place of such meeting shall be certified to the bishop of the diocese, or to the archdeacon of the archdeaconry, or to the justices of the peace, at the general or quarter sessions of the peace for the county, city, or place in which such meeting shall be held, and registered in the said bishop's or archdeacon's court respectively, or recorded at the said general or quarter sessions. The registrar, or clerk of the peace whereof respectively is hereby required to register the same, and to give certificate thereof to such person as shall demand the same, for which there shall be no greater fee nor reward taken than the sum of sixpence." . In 1743 the flock under Mr. Clayton's pastorate, who, though resident at or near Salendine Nook, were, according to the discipline of their community, members of the Church at Rodhillend and Stoneslack, "reflecting upon the great distance of most of their residences from the community to which they belonged, and the many disadvantages that

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siamo msm meme vo ntr . mmr: oom: .

attended them on that account, and also the hopeful prospect of several of their well-disposed neighbours joining with them in the fellowship of the gospel, if they had the encouragement of a fit opportunity to do it;" reflecting, I say, on these matters, Mr. Clayton's congregation determined to embody themselves together " in the relation of a distinct Church of Christ " and applied to the mother church "for their dismission from them and for their approbation and allowance of them to sit down together as a Church of Christ by themselves." The letter of request is very beautifully worded :-

" Dearly beloved Brethren, forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God (in whose hands our Times are) to bound our habitation at so great a distance from you, as greatly interrupts our fellowship and communion with you; and forasmuch as God hath been graciously pleased to send amongst us his faithful servant and our dearly beloved brother in the Lord, Henry Clayton, who hath, for some years past, laboured amongst us in Word and Doctrine to our Spiritual profit and mutual satisfaction, and under whose ministry we have been blest with a little reviving, and have now a hopeful prospect of a growing increase:-now that we may not be awanting to improve this happy opportunity to the best of our capacity, it is our desire to embody ourselves together as a Church of Christ, under the care of the said Henry Clayton as our Pastor."

Promptly came in answer the letter dismissory, signed and dated August 24th, 1743 :-

" Dearly beloved Brethren,-We heartily approve of, and cheerfully consent to your pious intention ; and for the end you have in view we do hereby give unto all of you jointly, and to each of you severally, a free and full dismission from us. And now, dear brethren, may the blessing of the Lord crown your Christian design with desired success :-may you be happy and comfortable together in your relation as pastor and people, and grow and increase with the increase of God, that we may have occasion always on your behalf to give thanks to our Father and your Father; to our God and your God, in and through our Lord Jesus Christ."

The Declaration of Faith of the new Church asserts its conformity, without exception, both for faith and order with the confession of faith set forth in 1689 and signed and

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340 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

&

assented to by more than one hundred ministers and messengers of baptized churches in England and and to be the same for substance with what is delivered in the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, excepting only the thirty-fourth (of the Traditions of the Church), the thirty-fifth (of the Homilies), the thirty-sixth (of Con- secration of Bishops and Ministers), and part of the twentieth (of the Authority of the Church), and part of the twenty-seventh (presumably that part relating to the Baptism of Young Children), and with some slight reserva- tions as to the proper construction or interpretation of the third and thirty-third articles. The solemn covenant of communion of the new church is expressed in impressive diction, and was signed by eleven members, of whom eight could not write their name. This

fundamental document may well be reproduced here :-

'" We, a small handful of the unworthy dust of Zion, usually assembling for the worship of God at Sallonden Nook, and in obedience to the command of God, and conformity to the example of Jesus Christ and his faithful followers, recorded in the New Testament upon profession of repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ,-Baptised in water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;-having first given our own selves to the Lord, are now met together with one accord, to give ourselves one to another by mutual consent and solemn covenant, according to the will of God, with deep humiliation for our past sins, and earnest prayer to God for pardoning mercy and preserving grace. We say with our hearts, we are the Lord's, -and subscribe unto him with our hands in manner following ;- Namely, We this day avouch the ever blessed Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (the one only true and living God) for our Covenant God, and all-sufficient portion ; and give up ourselves to Him alone for His peculiar people, in a perpetual covenant, never to be forgotten. We receive and submit to the Lord Jesus Christ, as our alone Saviour, Prophet, Priest and King, on whom alone we trust for wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. We devote and consecrate ourselves as living temples to the Holy Ghost, our Sanctifier, Guide and Comforter, whose gracious operations and heavenly conduct we desire daily more and more to feel and follow. We take the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the only ground and rule of our faith and practice,

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~ I - o » -. mere -nam

desiring in all things to be conformed to the holy will of God therein revealed ; according to the tenour whereof we now covenant with God, each for ourselves, and jointly together, to worship God in spirit and in truth :-to observe His commandments, and keep His ordinances, as he hath therein delivered them to us. To be subject to that divine order and discipline which Jesus Christ, our only King and Lawgiver, hath appointed in His Church ; and not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together for the worship of God in its appointed seasons ; but to continue in our relation to one another, and fill up our places in the house of God, and maintain His worship therein to the best of our capacity, until death, or evident calls of Divine Providence shall separate us one from another. To love one another with pure hearts fervently, and endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, for the honour of our God and our mutual good unto edification. We will, also, make it our care to walk before the Lord in our own houses with perfect hearts, and upholding the worship of God therein, by prayer to God and reading the Scripture, that so the word of God may dwell richly in us. And, as we have given our children to the Lord by a solemn Dedication, so we will endeavour to teach them the way of the Lord, and command them to keep it, setting before them a holy example, worthy of their imitation, and continuing in prayer to God for their conversion and salvation. We will also endeavour to keep ourselves pure from the sins of the times and places wherein we live, and so to be holy in all manner of conversation, that none may have occasion given by our unholy lives to speak evil of God's holy ways. And all this, under an abiding sense that we must shortly give up our account to Him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. Unto which solemn covenant we set our hands, in the presence of the All-seeing, Heart- searching God, this twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and forty-three."

Then follows the subscription of the fathers and

mothers in Israel :-

HENRY CLAYTON, Pastor. her STEPHEN BROOK. ELIZABETH X CLAYTON. his mark WILLIAM X SOUTHWARK. his mark DAVID X SOUTHWARK. his mark WILLIAM X SOUTHWARK, Jr. his mark JOSHUA X WORTH. SARAH FIRTH. mark her her GRACE JAGGER, G MARY X WATTERHOUSE. letter. mark her

SUSANNA X LEES. mark

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342 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

"=

Of these founders of the new church eight had belonged to the parent community: three, Stephen Brook, Joshua Worth and Mary Watterhouse were proselytes of Mr. Clayton. - The first man baptized in the original baptistry at the Pot Ovens, Salendine Nook, was Stephen Brook, by

Mr. Clayton, and thenceforth the spot has borne the name of Stephen's Well.

Mr. Clayton remained the minister of Salendine Nook Baptist Chapel till his death on December 21st, 1776, after a service as evangelist and pastor of forty-five years. At his death the church numbered sixty-one members, having triumphantly passed through a period of trial which threatened its extinction. That was during the time when the Rev. Henry Venn was Vicar of Huddersfield. Mr. Venn, I have already said, was a man of rare gifts and much acceptance with the people; so that he not only filled his own church but bade fair to deplete the Nonconformist conventicle. However, when Mr. Venn resigned his incumbency at St. Peter's the wanderers returned to the fold, and not only was the imminent collapse of dissent averted but its boundaries enlarged.

Mr. Clayton's successor in the pastorate of Salendine Nook was the Rev. Joshua Wood, who for four years had ministered to the church as assistant. Mr. Wood was a good Latin and Greek scholar, a fact more remarkable in a dissenting minister then than now. He officiated as sole pastor for seventeen years, and on his death the church numbered one hundred and thirty-seven members. - One of these, William Holy, lived at Rawmarsh, between Sheffield and Rotherham, and this ardent worshipper had

to ride a distance of twenty-five miles to attend the services of the church.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 343

On August 13th, 1795, the Rev. Robert Hyde became pastor of the church, and occupied that charge till his death in May, 1838, a period of forty-three years. Mr. Hyde was a man of humble origin. He was in early days a weaver, and for many years after his call to the ministry, he, like St. Paul, continued to supplement the slender emoluments of his spiritual work by toiling at the loom. Although his preaching was somewhat impaired by an infirmity of speech the congregation grew, men in those days looking more to matter than to manner, and in 1803 the old chapel had been pulled down and a new one taken its place. This edifice, too, became too small for the growing communion, and in 1843, during the pastorate of the Rev. James Macpherson, the present chapel was built, but since then it has been altered and renovated at considerable cost. His successor, the Rev. Thomas Lomas had a brief but brilliant connection with the church at the Nook and from May 1848 to April 1857 and again from Oct. 1872 to his death in 1884 the Pastorate of the Nook Church was held by the Rev. John Stock, LL.D., the intervening years having witnessed the ministries of the Rev. David Crompton and the Rev. James Parker. Of all those who have ministered at Salendine Nook, Dr. Stock probably enjoyed the widest reputation. He was a copious and eloquent preacher, a voluminous writer of theological treatises, and he dearly oved controversy and debate. He was the incarnation of what I suppose Churchmen mean when they talk of Political Dissent. - During Dr. Stock's ministry the church at Salendine Nook increased mightily and its members at his death numbered some three hundred. He was succeeded by the Rev. John Thomas, M.A., and in 1895 the Rev. D. Wilton Jenkins, the present pastor, was settled in a charge with associations so venerable and so inspiring.

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344 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

The following Baptist Churches have sprung up from the parent stock :

Salendine Nook ..1743. Lockwood ; ‘ Rehoboth ..1835. Lockwood ........ 1790. Milnsbridge Pole 1792. Bath Buildings ..1855. Blackley 1793. Elland Edge ....1863. Meltham ........ 1813. The Oakes ...... 1864. Slaithwaite ...... 1816. Holywell Green ...1864. Golcar 1835. Scape Goat Hill ..1871.

New North Road ..1878.

When it is remembered that the cost of erecting and supporting these churches has been and is borne entirely by the people themselves without the aid of one penny from State or other endowments it must be conceded on all hands that they present a magnificent monument of the zeal and self-sacrifice of the nonconforming portions of our people. Of these branches from the fruitful vine of the Nook none is more justly celebrate than the Chapel at Pole Moor, than which probably no church in England stands on a site more wild and desolate. I have already mentioned the humble beginnings of the Slaithwaite Baptists. Towards the end of the last century, anxious to obtain a site for a chapel at Crimble, they applied to the agent of Lord Dartmouth for a lease. This was refused, owing it is said to the strenuous opposition of the Vicar, Mr. Wilson. The Slaithwaite Baptists were perforce driven to the Moor in the township of Scammonden. Here a plain building, St. John's in the Wilderness, was raised, with a gallery sacred to the viol and double bass and a dial on a stone outside to mark the hour for the close of the morning and the opening of the afternoon service. Here ministered from 1829 to the end of 1874 the Rev. Henry Wilcock Holmes, among a people unexampled in the world for their theological acumen and stubbornness, who " knew sound doctrine, and had very keen noses to

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 345

mme --» nnn» we mm mas marcome nw ~

sniff heresy afar off," to quote from a Brief Account published by the Rev. T. R. Lewis. Mr. Holmes was an indefatigable labourer in his calling, journeying on foot across the wild bleak moor to distant places, " in journeyings oft," "in peril of robbers oft," preaching in his life well nigh twelve thousand sermons. When he was gathered to the rest he had so well earned and entered into the joy of his Lord, more than five hundred who had honoured and loved him in life gathered to pay him reverence in death, the President of the Baptist College at Manchester, and the Vicars of Scammonden and Slaithwaite among them. TITumr InpeEerpEnpENTs, the Rev. Henry Venn, " T'owd Trumpet," the friend and co-worker of John Wesley, left the Parish Church of Huddersfield, worn out by his unremitting labours, we are told by his biographers that " the people who had profited by his preaching were repelled from that church by discourses which formed a marked contrast to those which they had lately heard within the same walls: so that they were dispersed in various directions-some to neighbouring churches, and some to dissenting chapels. Several of them at length determined upon building a chapel, in the hope that they might be united together in one body, under a pastor of their own choice. Mr. Venn gave his sanction and assistance in the plan, and advised the people to attend -the chapel after it was built-a piece of advice very strange to come from the lips of a minister of the established church. It was Mr. Venn's first hope that the Liturgy would be used in the new chapel at Huddersfield. . . . . . But in this and in many other important respects his expectations were disappointed. In a short time, also, another vicar came to the living, from whose instructions he would never have wished his people to secede; but few, comparatively, returned to the Parish Church." Mr. Venn's advice, which

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churchmen might be excused in citing as a rebuke to impatience, was not approved by his curate, the Rev. Mr. Riland, whose counsel was to " stick to the church ; by all means stick to the church: by all means pray for the conver- sion of your minister, and if you cannot approve of his preach- ing, remember you have the gospel in the prayers." But Mr. Riland was not heeded. We are told in the Zife of ike Rev. Joseph Cockin, by his son, that just as in the motion of a fish the head is pushed forward by the tail, so in this instance, the poorer members of the Parish Church were the first to resolve upon a chapel and contribute towards it ; and afterwards wealthier persons concurred in the measure and added larger sums. The subscription list, in which, by the way, Mr. Venn's name may be noticed, began with a sum of £50 and ended with a donation by Sarah Radcliffe of one penny, possibly the widow's mite. - The chapel was opened January 1st, 1772, its erection having cost £827 4s., towards which £500 had been subscribed. It was a plain two- storied building, on the site of the present more commodious and imposing structure. The land on which it stands is freehold, having been bought from Mr. Bradley, of New- house, Sir John Ramsden, the baronet of that day, having refused to lease any site to the seceders from the established Church. The church was formed on February 14th, 1772, members being admitted, we are told, " by an invariable method of relating their experience before the church-

either in writing or by word." The following eighteen persons appear to have been the first members :- William Schofield, Lockwood Joseph Beaumont, Lane Head Katherine Goddard, Dyke-end Abraham Littlewoood, Hudd'f'd. John Houghton, Huddersfield Nancy Hepworth, Huddersfield George Styring, i John Horn, Marsh Joseph Hirst, Yew Green James Bray, Fartown William Hall, Quarmby John Brook, Flush House John Hirst, Dyke-end Joseph Miller, Longwood John Bradley, Lockwood John Batley, Marsh George Crow | Ann Batley, 6a

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 347

~

And it may be added that Mr. Thomas Starkey, of that family which built the church of St. Thomas, was one of the earliest worshippers at Highfield. By the end of the year of its foundation the church membership included 40 males and 34 females and it may be noticed that they were drawn not merely from the heart of the town but from Yew Green, Lockwood, Quarmby, Fartown, Marsh, Newhouse, Longwood, Moleshead, Berry Brow, Salendine Nook, Blackshaw, and even from Honley. The Trust Deed bearing date Sept. 2nd, 1808, declares

the Chapel to be held . . . .

© UPON TRUST and to the intent that the same Chapel, Chapel House, and other the premises may be held and enjoyed together during all the residue of the said several terms, and that, the same Chapel shall and may be set apart for, and at all times hereafter, during the residue of the said several terms of years, to be used for the worship of Almighty God, by that sect of Protestant Dissenters who usually distinguish themselves or are distinguished by the name of professing Christians called Independent or Congregational, and that the Doctrines intended to be therein preached and inculcated be those called Calvinistic-- not only as a system of Doctrines uninfluential, but, enforced in connection with their proper practical influence on the heart and life--and no other ; and that the following subjects be from time to time treated of and preached upon in the Sermons or Discourses in the said Chapel, namely :-Original Sin, as set forth in the Shorter Catechism used by the said sect or assembly; Unconditional Election; Effectual Calling; Justification by Faith, through the righteousness of Christ imputed to believers; the Final Perseverance of Saints; the doctrine of the Trinity (as treated in the same Catechism), and consequently the Divinity of Jesus Christ, as co- eval, co-eternal and co-essential with the Father, who in His own Incarnate state fulfilled most exactly all the precepts of the Moral Law, as the covenant head of His people, and at His death suffered fully all the penal effects of the sins of all those for whom He died. Which said several doctrines and subjects before mentioned and intended to be treated upon in the said Chapel are agreeable to the religious intents of the founders thereof, at whose instance and desire the Trust thereby expressed and declared, pursuant to the agreement of the Church at the time of granting the original Lease, bearing date December Ist, 1775, to the original Lessees ; the survivors of whom are the said W. Moorhouse, John Brook,

William Hall and J. Hirst.

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348 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

m.

And it is hereby declared that the Minister of the said Chapel shall be from time to time chosen by the Church, or the major part of them ; and that they shall have power to dismiss him at pleasure and to elect another to supply his place, and so from time to time, as often as they see cause, or as the said Chapel shall become vacant by the Death, Resignation, Removal, or Dismission of any Minister thereof."

The early Church appears to have not only exercised a commendable supervision over the morals of its members but to have carried to what we should now consider improper extremes the Puritan severity of its principles. Thus not merely do we find members excommunicated for Fornication, Intemperance and Disorderly Walking, but the Church Register contains entries testifying to Church condemnation of relaxations we now regard as innocent. [I.B.] Withdrawn, 1794, as the church would not agree to his children dancing. [Miss B.] Separated, 1794, for keeping a dancing school and attending public days (gy. A/Zays). The first minister of Highfield was the REv. WILLIAM Moornxouse, who was born in 1742, at Sheephouse, near Penistone, the son of a small clothier. In his early days young Moorhouse, like so many others, was attracted to the Huddersfield Parish Church by the eloquence and zeal of Mr. Venn, and as he grew to manhood, pursuing his manual art of cloth-making, he cast in his spiritual lot with the Methodists and preached in the congregations of that denomination. - Riper years, however, tinged his views with a sterner Calvinism and so he was able to accept the call of the Highfield Church, the pastorate of which he held till his death on the 29th of July, 1823, a period of more than half-a-century, in which he witnessed the steady growth of his flock, the erection of a parsonage and the enlargement of his chapel and the formation of a Sunday school, the first in Huddersfield, in connection with the chapel, of which more may be said later. His doctrine, we are told, was

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w onn stm: me mite » mc commons

pure and well explained. He weighed his argument in the balance of the sanctuary, and provided well that oil which was to enlighten his congregation. His successor was the Rev. Benjamin Boothroyd, who was born at Warley, near Halifax, in 1768, of poor parents, his father being a shoemaker and he himself working for many years at that humble but contemplative craft. He received in boyhood the scant smattering of a dame's school education, but he had a passion for books and an insatiable thirst for knowledge. - Withal he was not in early manhood more than a nominal Christian till the sudden conviction of sin was thrust upon him in the manner he himself has

told :-

" After having attended service at the Old Church, at Halifax, the singers retired, as they were accustomed to do, to an alehouse, where the conversation was unusually profane and sinful ; in which I joined, and was perhaps worse than any of my companions. With the suddenness almost of a flash of lightning, my mind was struck with horror under a sense of my sin and guilt. A trembling seized me to such a degree that I believe the chair shook under me. A thought darted into my mind that I was a suitable victim for the miseries of hell. Without saying a word to my sinful companions, I rose and set off to walk home, through a long solitary lane, on a dark night. I had not proceeded far, at a slow pace, before I felt compelled to kneel down by a road side, and confess my sins and implore mercy. This I often repeated before I reached home. When I got thither I retired to my own room to bed, as soon as possible ; but the feelings of my mind were such as to allow me little repose. The great inquiry in my thoughts was ' What must I do to be saved ?' From the general knowledge which I had, I was satisfied there was no salvation, without application to Christ. I then formed a resolution to break off my connections with my old companions, and to apply myself diligently to all the measures of grace."

In his twenty-third year, after having duly studied for the ministry at the Yorkshire Academy, he was chosen pastor of the Old Nonconformist Church at Pontefract. Here his congregation, though it increased in numbers, was so poor or, as Dr. Bruce puts it, so something else, that he found it necessary to add the business of a printer and

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3 50 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

bookseller to his ministerial labouts, and in that business be was assisted by William Moore, who subsequently accompanied him to Huddersfield and became its well- known and well-remembered post-master. He was not only a printer, he was an author. He wrote and printed a of Pontefract, and by that happy combination of attainments was able, one may hope, to reap more profit from his pen than writers less abundantly accomplished. But his most remarkable production was the ®" Biblia Hebraica, after the text of Kennicott, with the chief various readings selected from his collation of Hebrew MSS., from that of De Rossi, and from the ancient versions, accompanied with English notes, critical, philological, and explanatory." When he conceived the idea of this formidable work, formidable even to a scholar, he did not know a word of Hebrew. Dr. Bruce tells us how he learned the Hebrew alphabet from the letters which head the different parts of Psalm cxix ; then mastered the principles of the grammar, and with the help of such lexicons as were to be had, began reading the Pentateuch, and soon became acquainted with the principles of the Hebrew language. The work, "a marvel of industry, ingenuity and perseverance, and one of the grandest trophies of a self-educated scholar," engaged him from 1809 to 1816. To his ministerial labours he added six hours of daily toil at the printing press, assisted by his wife, who learned the names of the Hebrew letters and without knowing the meaning of the words pronounced the entire Bible, Zet/er dy Z/efter, whilst her husband corrected his proofs. O si sic omnes / - Add to this magnum opus, a translation of the Old and New Testaments, commenced in 1818 and completed in 1824, a work which procured for him the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Glasgow, and we gain some notion of the industry of this unwearying servant of God.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 3 5 I

-an. mtu isas --- co

P

The last volume of this work had been printed and published in Huddersfield. At that time Mr. Moorhouse, far advanced in the years of a long and arduous life, was in feeble health and Dr. Boothroyd was associated with him as co-pastor of Highfield. We are told that his preaching was not of the popular sort. He had no florid illustrations, no sensational or dramatic manner, no flow of poetic imagery ; but he was a trenchant, instructive and sound preacher, of Ezra's type; be "gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading." None the less his preaching attracted and kept large congregations and his denomination honoured him by his election to the chair at the second anniversary of the West Riding Congregational Union in 1833. The increase of church membership led to the first offshoot of local Congregationalism, the foundation of Ramsden Street Chapel in 1825. Dr. Boothroyd died on September 8th, 1836 and was interred at Highfield. In the Independent Chapel of his native village stands a marble tablet bearing the inscription :

To tnr MEMORY OF THE

REV. BENJAMIN BOOTHROYD, LL.D., anp D.D.

A native of, and once a poor boy in this village. This celebrated man was student at Heckmondwike Academy. At the age of 22 chosen minister of the Independent Chapel, Pontefract, and afterwards at Highfield Chapel, Huddersfield, where he died, 8th September, 1836, aged 68 years. His simplicity and Godly sincerity endeared him to all. His Biblical learning raised him to an eminence which few attain. He made a new translation of the whole Bible, which he published with a commentary, and in a good old age, crowned with labours and honours, entered into the joy of the Lord. This monument is erected at the expense of a few friends and strangers in honour of his memory, and to remind the youth of Warley, that "honour here, and happiness hereafter," is in the power of everyone, as the reward of well directed labour and holiness.

" By grace are we saved through faith, and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.'"-Eph. 11., 8, 9. p.

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Dr. Boothroyd was succeeded by the Rev. john Glendenning a native of Shelf who despite his youth was recommended to the suffrages of this church, which then enjoyed a membership of one hundred and twenty souls, by the retiring minister; and from 1836 to April 1853, a period of sixteen years, at the end of which he accepted a call to Lexbridge, Mr. Glendenning discharged the duties of the Highfield pastorate with ability and devotion. His charge was marked by the first celebration of marriage in the Chapel and by the erection of the present Chapel, the foundation stone of which was laid on May 31st, 1843. No less a sum than £4393 6s. od. was subscribed towards the Building Fund, the list being headed by a gift of £800 from Mr. William Cliffe of Paddock, one of the deacons and trustees, under whose wil the London Missionary Society, and the Huddersfield Infirmary received substantial benefits and the poor widows of Paddock receive from the deacons of Highfield the annual interest on the sum of £1,000. In 1854 the present revered pastor, Dr. Bruce, was called to the pastorate of Highfield, and despite the erection of other congregational churches in the town the member- ship of Highfield has kept pace with the great growth of the surrounding population. The prominent part taken by Dr. Bruce in the political, the educational, and the moral life of the town and district is too well known to need more than mention in these pages. The work is the eulogy of the man. A century and a quarter has passed since the Highfield Church was first formed. During that time but four ministers have held the pastorate of Highfield, though the same period has seen the reign of ten vicars of the parish. Dr. Bruce has so lived and borne himself, though foremost in political strife and educational controversy, that men and women of every party and of every sect will echo the wish that it may be long ere the church at Highfield is compelled to appoint his successor.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 353

The following congregational communities of the town

and district look to Highfield as their mother church :-

Ramsden

Hillhouse. 1864 Moldgreen ...... 1868 Paddock ........ 1871

Milton Church ..1885 The formation of the church last named was unhappily

occasioned by acute differences of opinion among the

churches.

The Rev. John Turner Stannard, a man of

unquestioned piety, of sublime devotion, and with a

remarkable appreciation of the sufficiency of the English tongue both for expressing and concealing thought, had succeeded the Rev. Robert Skinner in the pulpit of Ramsden Street Chapel, the first offshoot from Highfield. The schedule of the trust deed of the Ramsden Street community defines as part of the church doctrine :-

I.

The divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures and their sole authority and entire sufficiency as the rule of faith and practice. The unity of God with the proper Deity of the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit. The universal and total depravity of man and his exposure to the anger of God on account of his sins. The sufficiency of the atonement which was made for us by the Lord Jesus Christ and His ability and willingness to save all who come to Him for salvation. Free justification by faith and by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ. The necessity of the Holy Spirit's influence in the work of regeneration and also in the work of sanctification.

The predestination according to God's gracious purpose of a multitude which no man can number, unto eternal salvation by

Jesus Christ. The immutable obligation of the moral law as the rule of human

conduct. The resurrection of the dead, both just and unjust.

The eternal happiness of the righteous and the everlasting punishment of the wicked.

The interpretation placed by Mr. Stannard upon

certain of these articles of faith was not agreeable to certain of the older members of the congregation though

Z

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354 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

popular with the majority and especially with those imbued with more liberal and less dogmatic views of Christian doctrine. After much not very seemly dispute the con- troversy was transferred to the serene altitudes of the Court of Chancery by a suit in which C. H. Jones, William Atkinson, James Thompson, James Hartley, William Shaw, C. J. S. Couzens, Joshua Whitworth, Benjamin Halstead, John Whitfield, C. W. Ellis and Edward Stott- stout champions of Calvinism pure and undefiled-were the plaintiffs and the Rev. J. T. Stannard, J. E. Willans, Charles Hirst, Junr., W. H. Woodcock, Thos. Kettlewell, J. C. Moody, Stephen Arlom, Frederick Eastwood, John Joshua Brook, George Maitland and Walter Turner, were defendants. The case was tried before Vice-Chancellor Hall, in January 1881, and in the end Mr. Stannard was inhibited from preaching at Ramsden Street. Nought dismayed his disciples resolved themselves into a new church and the beautiful edifice named after the poet of the Independents was erected for their worship. Mr. Stannard,

" All too sensitive to bear the stress Of fretting cares unworthy of his gage,"

did not live long to adorn the church he had inspired. He died suddenly September 11th, 1889.

T'xr WresiEvans.-When one regards the large number of Wesleyan and Methodist Churches now flourishing in this town and in its neighbourhood and more especially when one reflects how largely the spirit and methods, if not the distinctive doctrines, of Wesley have influenced communities not avowedly connected with the Wesleyan cult, it is somewhat surprising to find that the first Wesleyan Chapel in the town was not erected till 1775. The staunch adherents of Wesley were fain to walk to Netherthong where the first Wesleyan chapel of the locality was erected in 1771, and in which John Wesley preached in

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 355

%,

July 1772. Of John Wesley's visits to Huddersfield and the outlying hamlets and of the impressions they made upon his mind we have many and oft quoted records. The first bears date June 9th, 1759-an entry in his journal-and is as follows:-" I rode over the mountains to Huddersfield. A wilder people I never saw in England. The men, women and children filled the streets as we rode along, and appeared ready to devour us. They were, however, tolerably quiet while I preached, only a few pieces of dirt were thrown; and the bellman came in the middle of the sermon, but was stopped by a gentleman of the town. I had almost done when they begun to ring the bells, so that it did us small disservice." Again in the same year, the great evangelist writes : "I preached near Huddersfield to the wildest congregation I have seen in Yorkshire: yet they were restrained by an unseen hand ; and I believe some felt the sharpness of His word." It was in that year that Mr. Venn came to Huddersfield, and between Mr. Venn and Mr. Wesley existed a warm friendship and close understanding. The Huddersfield pulpit was open to Mr. Wesley and it would appear that some of the clergymen of the adjoining parishes acted in a no less liberal manner. Thus, we find him preaching at Honley on April 30th, 1788, when the Rev. John Alexander, M.A. read the prayers, and Mr. Wesley records that after the curate had read prayers to a large and serious congregation he himself preached on the text " It is appointed unto all men once to die," and that many felt, as well as heard the word. Mrs. M. A. Jagger mentions in her Account of St. Mary's,* Honley, that Wesley preached in the churchyard and that he wore a black surplice, and that as a result of his preaching a year afterwards, Deanhouse Chapel, near Netherthong, was erected, the first Wesleyan chapel built in the valley of Holme. The cushion that was used by John Wesley when

* " Yorkshire Notes and Queries," II., 233.

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he preached at Deanhouse was long preserved in the study of the Rev. Charles Drawbridge, Incumbent of Honley. We have mention, too, in our local annals, of early disciples of John Wesley who spread the great schism. Thus Canon Hulbert tells how in 1766 the first Methodist sermon was preached in Almondbury by the Rev. John Murlin, commonly called "the weeping prophet," by some stigma- tized as a "false prophet "; but Abraham Moss, whose descendants still flourish in Almondbury, exclaimed " If he be a false prophet, the Bible is false, and the whole system of the Church of England is false also. He takes his text from the Bible, and supports all his doctrines by the teachings of the Church of England as found in her homilies and articles." ' f There appears to have been a disposition on the part of the Independents and the Methodists in the early days of what we may term modern dissent to unite in their secession from the church. Thus we learn from Mr. Cockin's Life of his father that the Netherthong Chapel was built at the joint expense of the Independents and the Methodists. But the divergence between Calvinism and Arminianism was too vast a gulf to be bridged over by any compromise and the Independents and the Wesleyans soon took their several ways. The first Wesleyan chapel in Huddersfield was built in 1775, and was a brick structure, known as the Old Bank Chapel, on the site, or more strictly speaking, on part of the site of the present Buxton Road Chapel. The site was the property of Thomas and Ann Hirst, of London, and by indentures of lease and release dated respectively the 20th and 21st April, 1775, was conveyed to one William Brooke, at the price of £60 1os., and by a somewhat later deed was vested in trustees-Thomas Hudson, John North,

Thomas Goldthorpe, Richard Pool, Thomas Ludlam,

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Somme

Joshua Collingwood, John Hardy, and James Sykes, the original trustees of the first Wesleyan chapel of the town. The doctrinal trusts of the chapel are set forth by what I venture to think is the most liberal use of the practice of inclusion by incorporation and reference ever known to con- veyancers: " Provided always that no person or persons whomsoever shall at any time hereafter be permitted to preach or expound God's holy word or to perform any of the usual acts of religious worship upon the said piece of ground and hereditaments nor in the said chapel or place of religious worship and premises or any of them or any part or parts thereof nor in or upon the appurtenances thereto belonging or any of them or any part or parts thereof who shall maintain, promulgate or teach any doctrine or practice contrary to what is contained in certain notes on the New Testament, commonly reputed to be the notes of the said John Wesley, and in the first four volumes of sermons commonly reputed to be written and published by him." The Chapel was for a few years included in the Birstall Circuit but in 1780 Huddersfield was constituted an independent district and is now divided into two circuits, with Buxton Road and Queen Street as their centres. The first ministers of the new Huddersfield circuit, in 1780, were Parson Greenwood and the Rev. Thomas Johnson. When the circuit was divided in 1845 the first ministers of the Buxton Road circuit were the Revs. Thomas Dickin and James P. Dunn, whilst the Revs. John Hobson and John Ryan were their contemporaries in the Queen Street circuit. Queen Street Chapel was opened in 1819 and was at that time the largest Methodist Chapel in the world. Its erection cost £16,000. _ Brunswick Street Chapel was erected in 1859 at a cost of £7,500. For some time previous to the year of Waterloo a grave controversy divided into two camps the hosts of the

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Wesleyan body. I refer to the question of lay representation at Conference. The Rev. Alexander Kilham, one of the * legal hundred," contended strongly in Conference itself for the infusion of lay representation. - He was in a minority in the executive of the official organization of the Wesleyan community and was desired to cease the agitation. This he declined to do and was expelled from the Society, a circumstance that seems to suggest that bulls of excom- munication are not unknown outside the Roman Church. The church at Buxton Road was largely in favour of Mr. Kilham's views and the majority-Kilhamites as they were called-proposed to themselves not only to constitute them- selves into a separate and revolted church, under the style of "The New Connexion of Methodists," but to annex and appropriate the Old Bank Chapel to which they conceived their numerical superiority entitled them; and here Mr. Joseph Haigh of Hall Ing, Honley, was then pastor. The minority however invoked the aid of the Court of Chancery and probably appealed to the Law of the Tables enshrined in the Trust Deed; and the minority prevailed. The New Connexionists were expelled and for a time were compelled to conduct their worship in an old warehouse in Buxton Road, now occupied by the Savings' Bank. Their sojourn here was but a temporary one for in 1815 the handsome structure in High Street had been reared and there the New Connexion established itself. Despite the fact that in 1819 the Queen Street Chapel had afforded such ample provision for the worshippers who embraced the Arminian doctrine, or, more probably, who preferred the heartiness and ease of Methodistic services, it became necessary in 1837 to pull down the Old Bank Chapel and to erect another and much more

commodious edifice-the present one-in its stead and over its foundations. The Old Bank Chapel had faced up-hill,

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onn one icone - - e one s more =e Ae one ommemig

and a flight of steps led from the surface of the steep decline to the chapel gates. On its gable stretched a small grave-yard, and when Chapel Hill was widened the road was constructed over the graves where the stout old fathers of Methodism lay in their last long slumber wrapt. Buxton Road is the mother church of Methodism in

Huddersfield and its vicinity. How great a force is that denomination in this district may be gathered to some

extent from the following table of the chapels that look to Buxton Road as their common parent:

In the Buxton Road Circuit :-

Erected 1806-Linthwaite Erected 1824-Marsden { , -_ 1866-Linthwaite New { , -_ 1871-New Chapel Chapel , -_ 1837-Longwood 6a 6a 1839-Slaith waite a 1822-Linthwaite Schools 6a 1865-Crosland Moor e 1824-Deadmanstone 6a 1866-Netherton Erected 1872-Paddock.

In the Queen Street Circuit :-

Erected 1795--Lindley Erected 1816-Almondbury { a -_ 1866-Lindley New Chapel , -_ 1824-Sheepridge 6a 1814-Cowms a -- 1836-Cowcliffe aa 1814-Houses 6 1845-Kirkburton 6a 1866-Leeds Road , -_ 18g9go0-Gledholt.

It would perhaps be no or little exaggeration to say that Methodism owes as much to its non-commissioned officers or lay preachers, commonly called local preachers, as to its ministers duly ordained. Often of limited education, generally of limited means but of unlimited fervour and devotion, these men have sown the good seed broadcast with a profuse hand. After working at the loom or counter for six hard days during the week they are more than content, they exult, to make their way to distant missions, and in little Bethels on the moorside their sonorous voices may still be heard Sunday after Sunday, raised high, very high, in song and prayer and exposition. What they lack in lucidity, in coherence and in scholarship,

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they make ample amends for in the exuberance of their fervour and in the absoluteness of their conviction. When they are leading a love-feast they lose themselves in passionate self-abandonment and, with streaming eyes and broken voice, the very inner soul struggling to burst from all restraint, they out-pour the story of their spiritual wrestlings and prevailings and all the drama of a labouring soul is rehearsed at large. The speaker speaks to responsive souls. From the prostrate worshippers come sobs and sighs and groans, the cry of triumph, the moan of despair. Still the fiery eloquent stream of the leader flows like molten liquid along and among-it is the gift of tongues- shouts of exultation, bursts of sacred song, mingle with the preacher's prayers and sobbing penitents, strangely torn, seek and ofttimes receive the assurance of salvation. It is the spirit of religious exaltation, an opening of the floodgates, a bursting forth of the stream usually dammed back by conventionality and an exaggerated British reserve, a manifestation that when real and spontaneous is a spiritual triumph, when forced and assumed of all things the most deplorable. Among the lay preachers of this district none has ever established a reputation to be compared with that of Edward Brooke, of Honley, " Squire" Brooke, son of William Brooke, of Northgate House, Honley, of a family of which I shall have later and fuller occasion to speak, born at Honley, April 2st, 1799. Mr. Edward Brooke's early and most impressionable days were spent at a period when the new revival was at its height and Wesley's influence was galvanizing to life the dwindling drooping faith of the Church in England. His father was of our country gentry, that curious compound of squire and manufacturer which is almost peculiar to the West Riding and of which we have not I think been sufficiently proud.

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His position led him in early manhood to addiction, harmless enough to all seeming, to the ordinary pursuits of leisured and moneyed youth-hunting, coursing and so forth. But in his twenty-second year a word of apparent chance from one Thomas Holliday-*" Master, you are seeking happiness where you will never find it "-turned the current of his thoughts; he sought the society of the godly minded, of humble converts of fervent Methodism ; he was frequent at cottage meetings and at length his tongue was loosed and his life's work was found. - The story of his conversion and profession spread; all Methodism exulted in this young squire and every pulpit in the Wesleyan church was open to him. He journeyed far and wide and his enthusiasm and his self-abandonment won victories everywhere. The whole secret of his work was this: he believed and he was in earnest. He was a type, a conspicuous and an excep- tionally circumstanced type, of a class of men for whom it is impossible to feel anything but the sincerest respect and of gratitude not a little. Edward Brooke died January 30th, 1871 and was buried at Honley, not the least honoured and not the least loved of a family rich in honour and the people's regard. The reading-desk from which Mr. Edward Brooke delivered, at a cottage mission at Cowcliffe, if not his first, near his first sermon, is still preserved by Mr. S. D. Tiffany, of West Parade. I have pleasure in acknowledging valued assistance in the preparation of this chapter by the Rev. Dr. Bruce, M.A., the Rev. W. Wilton Jenkins, minister of Salendine Nook Chapel, Mr. W. Whiteley Shaw of Longwood, and Mr. Richard Riley.

Page 394

CHAPTER XVI.

**~»REVIOUS to the passing of the great Reform I < Bill of 1832, Huddersfield had no independent

representation in Parliament, being merged in the County. The voters were the forty shilling freeholders. The polling stations were at York, whither voters were conveyed in coaches or rode on horseback, often almost fighting their way through mobs of hostile and excited non-electors. Those were days of open voting, and every voter was in honour bound to wear upon his breast the favours of his chosen candidate. The elections were necessarily spread over a prolonged period, for the most indefatigable of candidates could not in those days of © coaches and large electoral areas have made the merest acquaintance with his constituents in the few days now devoted to a general election. How arduous was the task of an aspirant for Parliamentary honours sixty years ago may be judged from the record of one day's work accom- plished by Henry, afterwards Lord, Brougham, during that memorable campaign in which he is said to have jumped from York Minster to the Woolsack. On Thursday, July 29, 1830, he left York, the Assizes being then on, at five o'clock in the morning. He breakfasted at Leeds, went to Bradford, attended there a public breakfast, which, by the way, is a quite different thing from breakfasting, and addressed the electors and non-electors; proceeded to Halifax and made another speech ; went on to Elland and spoke again ; addressed the people near Honley, and again at New Mill ; thence to Pontefract and another meeting ; reached Sheffield at 6-45 p.m. and addressed a vast multitude in Parochial Square; went on to Barnsley where

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- mun comes mm . wa w ow az ame nme i c me i mme menses ome

he harangued a great crowd in the Market Place, after ten o'clock at night, by torch-light ; slept at Thorne House, Mr. Gaskell's, having travelled by carriage one hundred miles and made eight speeches. On the following morning he was at Wakefield by six o'clock, addressing the people, and by nine o'clock was in the Court House, at York, wigged and gowned, ready to open a case before my lord and the gentlemen of the jury. The first election for the Reformed Parliament was held in December, 1832, the candidates for Huddersfield being Captain Lewis Fenton, of Spring Grove, Hudders- field, father, I believe, of that Edgar Fenton, solicitor, of the firm of Heap, Fenton and Owen, who so endeared himself to his professional brethren by his courtesy, amiability and fairness. Captain Fenton came forward in the Whig interest, and was opposed by Captain Joseph Wood, of Sandal, who is described as a Liberal, and was indeed the favourite of the non-electors. The Reform Act had created a constituency of ten pound householders, of professional men, manufacturers, merchants and shop- keepers. The working classes were as far removed from the vote as ever, and whilst the middle classes were disposed to rest and be thankful were smarting under a sense of betrayal, and consumed by that passion for electoral rights which was not gratified till full half-a-century had passed. Captain Wood, as the popular candidate, was in favour of extending the franchise, of reforming the Reform Act. His banners bore the legends: " The vorce of the people is the voice of God." " Wood, the unbought representative of an unsold people." " Pledge yourself to the Ten Hours' Bill: we will have no shuffling"; whilst another inscription, designed,fno doubt, to appeal to the new electors and to impress upon them to vote not as they liked, but as the non-electors liked, reminded them ® Your

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"%

franchise is only a trust; then vote for Wood, the man of the people." Captain Fenton, who probably knew the constituency and felt secure of return, contented himself by declaring his intention of supporting the Government- Earl Grey's Ministry. The hustings were erected in front of the Court House, and Mr. Stocks moved and Mr. Thomas Wilson, Banker, seconded the nomination of Captain Wood, Mr. Joseph Armitage and Mr. Wilks doing the like for Captain Fenton. Mr. Wood, in his speech from the hustings, declared himself in favour of an immediate repeal of the Septennial Act, of Household Suffrage on the scot and lot principle, vote by ballot, a modification 6f the Corn Laws, a reduction of the standing armies, and a repeal of the taxes on knowledge. Captain Fenton, as one who knew his strength to lie rather in the nature of the voters' lists than in much speaking, reiterated his confidence in the Government. The show of hands was greatly in Wood's favour. The poll resulted as follows :- ‘ Captain Fenton (Whig) ... 263. Captain Wood (Liberal) ... 152. The recording of these four hundred odd votes occupied two days, and the correspondent of the Zeeds Mercury, to the proprietors of which I am deeply indebted for access to the file of that invaluable journal, tells us that the two election days were days of outrage and indecency, such as he had never before beheld, some of those who ought to have restrained instigating the violence. Twenty or thirty special constables were sworn in, but they could make no head against the ""outrageous proceedings." Windows were broken, not a whole pane remaining in the frames at Captain Fenton's, the George Hotel, and the public offices: stones were thrown, sticks were freely used. In the midst of the turmoil Captain Wood withdrew

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from the contest, ostensibly to stay the riot, more probably because he knew it to be a hopeless one. A troop of horse arrived. The Riot Act was read by Mr. Walker, the Magistrate, who exhorted the people to go quietly to their homes. The military pushed their horses among the people, using only the flat of their sabres, and at length the angry crowds sullenly dispersed. At the next election in January, 1834, there were three candidates, Captain Wood returning to the charge, and this time being described as a Radical, Mr. Michael Thomas Sadler, the friend and colleague of Richard Oastler, taking his stand upon Factory Reform, and Mr. John Blackburn, K.C., who was generally supposed to be the nominee of Sir John Ramsden, standing in the Whig interest. He was proposed by Mr. William Brooke, of Moldgreen, and seconded by Mr. Thomas Starkey, of Spring Grove. He contrived to make himself peculiarly obnoxious to the great mass of the non-electors, who drowned his speeches by their yells and groans, and whom he stigmatized as bulls, tigers and serpents. Mr. Sadler was supported on the hustings by Mr. John Whitacre, of Woodhouse, and Mr. James Booth, of Thornton Lodge, whilst the Radical candidate found as sponsors, Mr. John Machan and Mr. Richard Scholes. The great question before the people was still the extension of the franchise, and in these days of labour contest it is interesting to find that the right of artizans to combine in the defence of their interests was also the subject of discussion at the meetings. Mr. Blackburn, as became an official Whig candidate and the nominee of the landed interests, declared himself opposed to an extension of the franchise and to the abolition of a property qualification for voters, though curiously enough he favoured the ballot. As to trades' unions he thought that working men would show more sense if they put their money into a bag at

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home instead of contributing two shillings a week to a union-a statement at which his audience groaned-but he went on, probably taking a hint from the groans-" if it is your pleasure to have a union, have one. I am anxious for the general good and I would not put unions down ; but I am quite convinced they produce a great deal of harm both to master and servant." - Mr. Sadler declared that he came forward to support an extension of the franchise, twenty-two out of twenty-five millions of the people being without a vote, and to rescue that pocket-borough from the thraldom of the Ramsden family. He was in favour of free trade, but not of one-sided free trade, and he leaned to such measure of Home Rule for Ireland as might be granted without derogating from the supreme control of the Imperial Parliament-declarations in which we may see cast before the shadows of great coming imperial and constitutional questions. The show of hands was again unmistakably in favour of Captain Wood, the darling of the non-electors, but the poll proved, as in these days it generally did, that to gain the show of hands was but the prelude to figuring at the bottom of the return. The figures were :-

Blackburn... .. c.. 234 Sadler 147 Wood .. 103

Again at the General Election of 1835 the burning question appears to have been the extension of the franchise. The Whigs brought forward Mr. Blackburn, who still thought the franchise established by the Act of 1832 broad and liberal enough, and that the country should wait for the manifestation of increased intelligence in the proletariate before entrusting it with the vote. A General Johnson, who I imagine was what, without any disrespect, I may term a carpet-bagger, was the Radical candidate, and

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the contest lay between the Whigs and the Radicals, the Tories taking no part in the contest. The polls were :- Blackburn (Whig) 241 Johnson _ ... .. .. IO9 In 1837 there were two parliamentary elections in Huddersfield, the one caused by the death of Mr. Blackburn, the other by the demise of the Crown. At the first the candidates were Mr. Edward Ellis, junior, a son of Mr. Ellis, the member for Coventry, who was the chosen of the Whig element in the town, and Mr. Richard Oastler, the champion of the factory children. It may cause surprise to some of my readers to find that Mr. Oastler was supported by the Tory party in the borough. As a matter of historical fact the old Whigs applied their doctrines of free trade even to the lives and limbs of young and helpless children, and he would be an uncandid writer who should deny to the Tories of that day the great merit of having supported protective measures for the young and tender lives of our factory operatives. It was freely stated ° at the time that a property qualification was found for Mr. Oastler by an influential Tory at Bradford. The Radicals of the borough were not deterred by this circumstance from lending their support to Mr. Oastler's candidature-that kind of support mainly which men call moral support, for the Radicals counted chiefly at the show of hands and not in the polling booth. The organ of the Whig Party waxed exceeding wrath at this alliance between the Tories and the Radicals, and expressed its horror at the unnatural union in terms less measured than we are accustomed to in these finicking days: " Mr. Oastler, it is said, is to receive a qualification from a Tory, and, as he says he must be maintained whilst in Parliament, of course the Tories will have to maintain him. Now are the Radicals such innocents as to suppose

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"o-

that the Tories do this unless they were well assured that Mr. Oastler would prove a supporter of Tory measures, and, as a necessary consequence, an opponent of Radical measures? The supposition is ridiculous to the last degree. No, No ! the Tories are panting and straining for a return to power. Mr. Whitacre, Mr. Armitage and their friends would see Mr. Oastler in that place to which he so often consigns his opponents before they would support him, if they were not morally certain that he would be found among the hottest partisans of Toryism. Can any man doubt that? Certainly not a man in Huddersfield. Then the Radicals are a gulled and bamboozled set, if they stir a finger towards seating a ferocious Tory in their representation." Again in the same strain the same journal: " We are at a loss to conceive anything more scandalous and monstrous in political proceedings than the union in one phalanx of the professed champion of the altar and the throne with the revolutionary Radicals who carry mob tyranny to the most insufferable length. To see Mr. Whitacre hand in hand with Mr. Pitkeithley,-to see the Huddersfield blues hallo-ing on the Alimondbury Radicals, -to see the rampant advocates of unbounded liberty shouting for the man who tells them he would repeal Catholic emancipation-these things make one blush for the degeneration of human nature." Mr. Oastler based his appeal to the electors upon factory reform, upon household suffrage and on opposition to the new Poor Laws. The proposed restriction of out-door relief and the plan of making willingness to enter the workhouse the test of destitution had been exceedingly unpopular with the labouring classes, who, especially in the agricultural districts, had come to regard out-door relief as a natural supplement to inadequate wages, and to seek in pauperism the solution of problems that still remain, but

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which cannot and ought not to be solved by state or parochial subventions. Mr. Oastler's banners accordingly were inscribed :-"Ellis is for separation, bastiles and starvation " : " Oastler is for comfort and happiness to the poor ": "Oastler is the friend of our factory children"; and on the hustings Mr. Oastler was supported by Messrs. James Brooke, John Whitacre, Jeremiah Riley, William Stocks, the Rev. Joseph Rayner Stephens, the eloquent Wesleyan minister, who is said to have given offence to conference by his pulpit advocacy of the cause of the factory children,-my God! whence if not from the pulpit should the cause of the little ones be pleaded !-Mr. Joshua Hobson, the able and versatile journalist and politician, Mr. Thomas Pedley and Mr. Lawrence Pitkeithley. The show of hands on the nomination day was in favour of Oastler-sure presage of defeat; and in the result the poll was declared to be :- Ellis 340 Oastler _ ... 290 a result which the Zeeds Mercury declared to be a triumph of Constitutionalism over a base and wretched coalition of Tories and Destructives. "After the conduct of the Huddersfield Tories," said the great exponent of Yorkshire Whiggery, ""in supporting a political incendiary like Oastler, who has boasted both in speeches and in print that he would Zack Hke factory children to destroy their masters property, nay, who has actually taught them how to ruin the machinery in the mills by a knitting needle-who has actually called for men that would fight up to the knees in blood for the Ten Hours Bill -who has threatened the mill owners not only with 'the needle' but with Ze dagger and the torch, - who has officially declared that ' title-deeds' are no security for property unless the people will it,-and whose whole conduct is that of the incendiary, only mitigated, if

A- I

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mitigated, by the buffoon-it is manifest that the Hudders- field Tories would support anything in human shape, provided that he called himself a Tory and avowed mortal enmity to the Whigs." lively interchange of incrimination and abuse more usual then than now, Mr. Oastler declaring that Sir John Ramsden had intimidated the voters, the Whigs retorting

After the election there was the

with a /x g#ogue, alleging that Oastler's friends had brought unhallowed pressure to bear upon the local tradesmen.

Some colour might certainly be found for this allegation in the election of 1837, when the Whig candidate was Mr. W. R. C. Stansfield, and the Tories and Radicals centred their support upon Mr. Oastler. The following letter, quoted by the Leeds Mercury, is an interesting specimen of the electioneering tactics of sixty years ago :-

'* Huddersfield, July 27, 1837. Dear Sir,-We have been informed you intend voteing! (sic) against the wish of the labouring class, as well as the men of wealth. Now, sir, we have to inform you that if you do not vote against the Whigs at this time we will mark your shop: We have associations formed in all the surrounding villages to such a degree that we can ruin your business. Perhaps you are relying for custom from those 400 printed names-if so you will soon find out the delusions. What are 400 names to support nearley (sic) 200 shopkeepers? What, in fact, are 400 names in comparison to 20,000 people and upwards who are waiting with longing anxiety for Mr. Oastler's return to Parliament ? If by your vote you blast the ardent wishes of the people, can you expect them to trade at your shop? We are sure you cannot-then be wise in time lest you should repent when it is too late. If you

wish the people to support you in your trade-support them by your vote-or else do not vote at all. FrRroM THE PEOPLE."

The polling brought Mr. Oastler nearer to the portals of Westminster than he ever again attained : Stansfield ... .k 323 Oastler _ ... ... _ 301 The publication of the return was followed by riots of the exasperated people, and the military were called out, but the

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r arre cmmome

mme num ane mms samme c an ome enn uue cme nme mm cmmemenmamy,

victory of Mr. Stansfield was considered so decisive that at the General Election of 1841 he was returned unopposed. In 1847 we find perhaps the earliest traces of the modern Liberal party, its ranks recruited from the younger and more enlightened of the old Whig families. Mr. Stansfield was again the candidate of the less advanced section of the electorate, but he had given grave umbrage to the dissenters by his votes on the Education question, and by his support of the Maynooth grant. We find, accordingly, that Mr. Stansfield, though professedly a Whig, was supported by Messrs. John Sutcliffe, Joseph Starkey, Joseph Kaye, T. P. Crosland, Joseph Shaw, John Mallinson, William Crosland, John Crosland, and W. Tatham, whilst his opponent, Mr. Cheetham, numbered among his foremost supporters the leading pillars of Nonconformity, William Willans, father of Mr. J. E. Willans, J.P., whose exertions in the cause of Liberalism and Non-Sectarian education, are too well known to my readers to require comment, Mr. Geo. Mallinson, father of Mr. William Mallinson, J.P., Mr. Thomas Mallinson, Mr. Foster Shaw, Mr. C. H. Jones, subsequently first Mayor of the Borough, Mr. T. A. Heaps, and Mr. T. W. Clough. The election was very hotly contested: out of 1,085 voters on the register all but fifty-six appear to have recorded their votes, the result being :

Stansfield, W. R. C. (W.) ... 542 Cheetham, John (L.)... c.. 487

The supporters of Mr. Cheetham complained bitterly that the Ramsden influence was cast into the scales against the popular candidate and a similar complaint was made in the next election-that of 1852-when Mr. Stansfield, with a dwindling majority, though supported by the solid vote of the Tory party-I do not observe that against this coalition the Zeeds Mercury launched its diatribes-carried the seat against Mr. William Willans. The figures were :-

Stansfield _ ... ... 625 Willans, Wm. ... 590

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Mr. Stansfield's triumph was short-lived, for he was unseated on petition and at the election that ensued in April of the following year the Whig party had disappeared or become distributed between the Liberal party and the Conservatives, who in turn had absorbed the old Tories. The Liberal candidate was Viscount Goderich, the present Marquis of Ripon, and Mr. Joseph Starkey, of the well- known and esteemed firm of Starkey Bros., championed the cause of the Conservatives. The poll resulted in a Liberal victory. Goderich, Viscount (L.) ... 675 Starkey, Joseph (C.)... ee 593 The contest of 1857 presented the curious picture of a contest between the right and left wings of the Reform party. - By a narrow majority Mr. Cobden had carried in the House of Commons a motion censuring the Government for its conduct of the war with China, and attention was fixed upon foreign affairs. The success of Mr. Cobden's motion had made a dissolution imminent and the Chancellor of the Exchequer brought forward an election budget promising a remission of taxation amounting to eleven million pounds. A week afterwards the Government threw itself upon the country, and Mr. Richard Cobden solicited the suffrage of Huddersfield. He was opposed by Mr. Edward Akroyd and the combina- tion of alarmists and those whose vested interests were menaced by the new political philosophy that was slowly but surely leavening the country rejected the apostle of free trade by a large majority :- Akroyd, Edward (W.) _ ... 833 Cobden, Richard (L.) Just two years later, in April, 1859, Edward Aldam Leatham, a junior member of the great Wakefield Banking firm, but who had been sedulously trained for a political

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mmmmnaco ool mass

career, young, energetic, ardent, avenged the defeat of Mr. Cobden. The Whigs and the Tories combined in vain against him. His audacity appalled them, his eloquence won him friends even from the camp of the enemy. When the poll was declared at the close of one of the most closely contested elections Huddersfield has ever known, the figures were :-

Leatham, E. A. (L.) 779 Akroyd, Edward (W.) ... _ 587 And the sway of the Whig party in Huddersfield was broken for ever. For six long years Huddersfield had political peace and rest from the strife and turmoil of contested elections. In twenty years there had been no less than nine elections. They were days, as I have said, of open voting, and party politics ran high. Families were divided against each other and the frequency of these embittered contests left little time for the healing of the wounds that bore witness to the fierceness of each successive fray. From his election in April, 1859, to the year 1886, Mr. Leatham held the seat save for a period of three years, when he was temporarily ousted by Mr. Thomas Pearson Crosland. More than one aspirant, greatly daring, endeavoured to wrest the seat from him. In 1868 his opponent was Mr. W. C. Sleigh, a serjeant learned in the law. In 1874 it was Mr. Thomas Brooke, who held a colonel's commission in our last line of defence -a succession of colonel upon serjeant that provoked from Mr. Leatham a mild remonstrance at the sanguinary character of the gentlemen who snatched the gauntlets he flung; in 1880 it was Mr. W. A. Lindsay, a barrister, of an ancient and noble Scottish family; in 1885 it was Mr., now Sir, Joseph Crosland, but in vain did these champions of Conservative principles woo

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the coy hearts of the Huddersfeld electors. The franchise had been extended; household suffrage, so long and so ardently desired by the people, was theirs at last, and the working men of the town, the small shopkeepers, and the great numbers who throng the various dissenting chapels were strongly tinctured with the ideas of advanced liberalism. - Of these Edward Aldam Leatham was for many years the darling. He seldom spoke in the town, wisely eschewing the frequent invita- tions that poured upon him to open this bazaar or to preside at that tea-party. But when he spoke to the crowded audiences of the Armoury and, later, in the Town Hall, his speeches were masterpieces of their kind, replete with pointed epigram and rounded with a not too florid eloquence. He had the rare gift of conveying an argument in a jest and of confuting an opponent by a quip. For the rest he usually voted straight and shone in a borrowed glory from the bright effulgence of his leader's name. In 1886 however, that leader saw fit to espouse the cause of Home Rule. Mr. Leatham was not supple enough to make the abrupt change which Mr. Gladstone's conversion to Home Rule required, the local leaders of the Liberal Party invited Mr. William Summers to espouse their cause, and the once brilliant and beloved leader of the advanced Radicals of the town had the mortification of learning that he was reckoned as effete, and decried as laggard, if not as retrograde. - He retired to his seat in the country, where as a county justice and a country squire, he sought the compensations of rural life and the solaces of lettered ease. The two most redoubtable opponents of Mr. Leatham, both intimately and enduringly connected with the town and neighbourhood of Huddersfield, were unquestionably Sir Joseph Crosland and Mr. Thos. Brooke. Sir JosEpu Crostanp is the head of an ancient family and of a

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 375

considerable manufacturing firm, chairman of one of, if not the most, successful Banking Companies of the West Riding, who has amassed great wealth in the staple industry of the district, and who on more than one occasion has given bountifully of his abundance to en- courage and endow great philanthropic and educational schemes for the bettering of those less amply favoured by fortune. Mr. Tromas Brooke has contested and contested in vain, not only but also the adjoining constituency, the Colne Valley Division, yet I probably do not err in saying that even those whom party considerations constrained to vote against him lamented the harsh necessity. The family of which Mr. Thomas Brooke is the head may be and indeed is proudly pointed to by Yorkshiremen when they contend that commerce has an aristocracy no less worthy than that of land. The commercial prosperity of the Brookes, built upon integrity, skill and assiduity, is perhaps its least title to honour. In all the relations of private and public life the name has for generations been a synonym for all that is most estimable and most lovable in our English character, and none, I believe, more frankly accord to the three of its members most intimately associated with the life of this generation, Thomas, William and John Arthur Brooke, the tribute that is their merest due than those whom sectarian or political strife has arrayed in opposing lists. The Brooke family was settled at Greenhill Bank, in the hamlet of Scholes and parish of Kirkburton, certainly in the time of the first of the Stuarts, and were probably yeomen farmers cultivating their own small freehold. To this pastoral occupation was probably added home manufacturing, for eighty years after the accession of James I. the Brookes were at law in that fruitful source of

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376 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

litigation among Yorkshire millowners-a water right. In the very early days of the last century William Brooke, the great great grandfather of the candidate for Huddersfield, married Sarah Kaye, of Farnley Tyas, and having bought some property and built a house in Honley, went to reside in that village about the year 1750. He was a successful manufacturer, and may be regarded as the founder of the present firm which was continued by his son John and his grandsons William and John, when the style of the firm was adopted which it has ever since retained. Under this William Brooke the concern thrived and flourished, becoming -one of-the most prosperous im a prosperous neighbourhood, three mills being erected at Honley with warehouses and finishing places within convenient distance. Northgate House was erected by William Brooke as a residence early in this century, and some twenty years later the large and still growing industry now concentrated at Armitage Bridge Mills was left by William Brooke to his two sons John and Thomas. From 1862 when John Brooke retired, the sons of his younger brother, Thomas, William and John Arthur Brooke have all been actively engaged in the business, Thomas Brooke, however, retiring in 1879, and Mr. G. H. Edgecombe having been within the last two years, associated with the other partners, William and John Arthur Brooke. Another brother, the Venerable Joshua Ingham Brooke, M.A., is Archdeacon and Vicar of Halifax and Canon of Wakefield, whilst still another and the youngest of a long family is Vicar of St. John the Divine, Kennington. The people of this neighbourhood know well the gentleman who has more than once solicited their parlia- mentary suffrages, and to whom it has been a sincere gratification to have the honour of dedicating this history of the town and neighbourhood he and his family

Page 409

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Cac a

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 377

mer sumer m " m Seme ~ grem

have done so much to benefit. Mr. Thomas Brooke, Mr. William Brooke, and Mr. John Arthur Brooke are all staunch conservatives and faithful churchmen and upright magistrates, and as employers of labour they have won the fidelity and affection of a large number of workmen, many of whom are but continuing the services their grandsires commenced. They have all been considerable benefactors of our local charities and to the cry of distress they have never turned a deaf ear nor an unmoved and unresponsive heart. - It is the singular merit of this family that a writer cannot set out to tell the virtues of its head and leave unnoticed its other members. In political contests Mr. Thomas Brooke showed warmth without passion, deter- mination and aggressiveness without acrimony. As a magistrate, often sitting as Chairman of Quarter Sessions, he has well known how to temper justice with mercy and he has shown a knowledge of principles and practice, of statute law and precedent, that has won the respect of the bar; as a scholar and antiquarian he is not without distinction, as a benefactor of the Church and as a munificent supporter of technical education he: has secured the gratitude of those who can appreciate, if they cannot imitate; and as an honourable English gentlemen, than which no higher title is, he stands acknowledged and confessed among our most regarded citizens. The political contests with which this chapter is mainly concerned have been noticed at length up to the time when Mr. E. A. Leatham wrested the representation from Mr. Akroyd. It is not desirable that I should do more than tabulate the later contests for it is well nigh impossible to write of events so recent without betraying a partisanship unseemly in a mere inditer of the annals of the past. It must suffice to give those names and figures without which

this record would be incomplete :-

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378

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

1865, July. Crosland, T. P. (L.C.) 1,019 Leatham, E. A. (L.) 787 1868 (on the death of Mr. Crosland). Leatham, E. A. (L.) I, LTI Sleigh, W. C. (C.) 789

1868, November. Leatham, E. A. (L.) Unopposed.

1874. Leatham, E. A. (L.) 5,668 Brooke, Thomas (C.) 4,985 1880, April. Leatham, E. A. (L.) 7,008 Lindsay, W. A. (C.) 4,486 1885, November. Leatham, E. A. (L.) 6,960 Crosland, Joseph _ ... 6,194 1886. Summers, William (L.) _ ... 6,210 Crosland, Joseph | ... 6,026 1892. Summers, William (L.) _ ... 7,098 Crosland, Sir Joseph (C.) ... 6,837 1893, February (on the death of Mr. Summers.) Crosland, Sir Joseph (C.) ... 7,068 Woodhead, Joseph (L.) _ ... 7,033 July 15, 1895. Woodhouse, Sir J. T. (L.) ... 6,755 Crosland, Sir Joseph (C.) ... 5,808 Smart (Labour) 1,594

Of all these electoral contests none excited keener interest

nor stirred intenser feelings than that of 1893.

Both the

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 379

candidates were townsmen, both had for many years been prominently identified with their respective parties in politics, and both were well-known to nearly every voter in the borough. Of Sir Joseph Crosland I have already spoken. His opponent, Mr. JosEru WoopxrEap, has long borne a distinguished and an honourable part in the religious, the social, the literary, the political and the civic life of the town and of many miles around. Born in 1824, in the neighbourhood of Holmfirth, the son of Mr. Godfrey Woodhead, - currier and leather merchant, he not only received a good education but from his earliest days he acquired a passion for good books that was encouraged and trained in a home where books were prized. It will surprise many of my readers to learn that in his youth he attended the services of the Church of England, and for some years taught in a Church of England Sunday School, whilst at a later period he gave his energies to the probably more congenial task of teaching gratuitously classes in English History and Literature in the classes connected with the Holmfirth Mechanics' Institute. His elder brother who was educated with a view to embracing the profession of medicine, was a keen politician and a frequent speaker at the many meetings, of which now all record is lost, in which before 1832 the people reiterated with ever increasing insistence their demand for Parliamentary Reform. At these meetings young Woodhead was an attentive auditor and learned early the lessons of political freedom of which in after life he was so earnest, so unflinching, an exponent. It had been intended that he should become a manufacturer, but all his bent was literary and polemic. He had early made up his mind that he must cast in his lot with the party of reform in the State, and ere long he was equally persuaded of need for reform in the Church. A local

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380 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

object lesson in the grave objections to Tithes levied upon Dissenters led him to reflect on the whole question of Religious Establishments and the erstwhile teacher of a Church School became the Secretary of the Holmfirth Branch of the Anti-State-Church Association. When he was but twenty-seven years of age several of the more ardent politicians of Huddersfield and the neighbourhood resolved to establish a newspaper for the advocacy of definite Liberal principles, and of this journal, the Huddersfield - Examiner, Mr. Woodhead became, first editor, and subsequently sole proprietor. Mr. Woodhead has the pen of a ready and forcible writer, he has an enviable command of English pure and undefiled, and every sentence he pens is written with a conviction that is often as effective as either reason or rhetoric. To believe yourself is the first step to persuading others, and Mr. Woodhead resembles Mr. Gladstone in this, that he not only is firmly persuaded that he is right, but he is at a loss to understand how any man of common sense and common honesty can fail to agree with him. Such a man seated in the editorial chair was bound to become a power in the town. But Mr. Woodhead was more than this. He is even now far away the best platform speaker within miles of Huddersfield. _ Mr. Leatham was more polished, his sentences were more elegant, his impromptus more carefully prepared. _ But Mr. Woodhead has a tall, a commanding figure, a fine head proudly set on broad and massive shoulders, an eye that glows with fire and sparkles with intelligence and an eloquence, if not so chastened, more spontaneous and more real. But, after all, the prime quality of the man was always the absoluteness and intensity of his conviction. Add to all this a life without fear and without reproach and it will be seen that in Joseph Woodhead the town borrowed from Holmfirth what Holmfirth could

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 38 I

mme mmm eme oe ommmmmmnninmmenmins ~ . ome tines.

not confine, and whom even the opponents he smote so hard and so oft were fain to admire. In the incorporation of Huddersfield the ZExamixer took a leading part and it was but fitting that its editor should sit in the first council on its assembling in 1868. In (871 he was alderman, in 1876 and in 1877 and again in 1883 he was Mayor. He is a Justice of the Borough and the County, President of the Huddersfield Liberal Association, and President of the Huddersfield Temperance Society, himself an almost life long abstainer from alcoholic beverages.

Before Mr. Woodhead consented to be put in nomina- tion as the Liberal candidate for Huddersfield, he had refused more than one invitation to contest safer seats. It was a pitched battle, but the defection of some of the artisans who had taken umbrage at Mr. Woodhead's attitude on industrial questions diminished somewhat the ordinary and natural supporters of the Liberal ranks. At a subsequent election he was returned as Liberal member for the Spen Valley Division; but the most brilliant passages of a long and honourable life are associated with the town of Huddersfield. A ripe scholar, a writer both facile and forcible, a stirring and convincing speaker, an able administrator and a just man-such he is known of all men and his name will ever stand high in the History of the Town.

The extension of household suffrage to counties and a consequent redistribution of seats, into the popular agitation for which measures of political justice the Liberals of Huddersfield threw themselves with generous enthusiasm, holding meetings innumerable and demonstrations not a few, created in this locality two new electoral areas-the Colne Valley and the Holmfirth Divisions. Since that time there have been four general elections :-

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382

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

CornNE Varmrury Division.

1885, Dec.

H. F. Beaumont, J.P., D.L. (L.) ...

Thos. Brooke, J.P. (C.)

1886, July. H. F. Beaumont, Unopposed.

1892, July. Sir James Kitson, (L.)

_- John Sugden, (L.U.)

1895, June. Sir. James Kitson, (L.) Henry Thomas, (C.)... Tom Mann, (Labour)

HormrirtHx Division.

1885, Dec. H. J. Wilson, (L.) _... Colonel Legge, (C.) ... 1886, July. H. J. Wilson, (L.) _... Walter Armitage,

1892, July. H. J. Wilson, (L.) H. Thomas, 1895, June.

H. J. Wilson, (L.) G. E. Raine, (C.)

5398 4 541

4987 4281

4276 3737 1245

6208 3164

5322 2780

564.0 3317

5001 3459

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 383

Of these candidates for Parliamentary honours Mr. H. F. Beaumont, of \Whitley Beaumont, was already an old Parliamentary hand. Mr. Thos. Brooke I have already mentioned in another connection. Mr. Walter Armitage was a solicitor well-known as a successful practitioner in the local courts, much esteemed by his professional brethren, but, I imagine, more at home in forensic strife than in party polemics. Colonel Legge is of that family of Woodsome to whom so large a space has been already devoted. Mr. John Sugden is a native of Slaithwaite, who from very modest beginnings has not only, by natural ability added to industry, founded a prosperous business but has secured no mean share of popular honours and confidence. During his early man- hood-he is still in his prime-he was associated intimately with the Liberal party, sitting in the Town Council of Huddersfield by the suffrages of that party, having already learned the alphabet of local government on the Slaithwaite Local Board, of which he was chairman. He enjoyed much acceptance on Liberal platforms, being a ready, fluent and pleasing speaker. His Liberalism was fervent and real, but when the historic party split on the rock of Home Rule, Mr. Sugden cast in his lot with the Liberal Unionists and sought to lead the people of his native valley in his train. He had, as may be seen, a considerable following, but not enough.

Page 418

CHAPTER XVII.

appears to have been divided between the Court Leet or Court of the Lord of the Manor and the Vestry. The jurisdiction of the Manorial Court was vague and ill defined. It had power to appoint and did, in fact, appoint a Chief Constable and in default the Magistrates at Quarter Sessions assumed the power of election to that office. The Chief Constable was responsible for the public order.. The Courts Leet of some manors took cognizance of offences against the public health. Thus it is on record in the manor of Stratford-on-Avon, that the father of | Shakespeare was fined by the Court Leet for depositing garbage in such wise as to endanger the general health.

D OWN to the year 1820 the Government of the town

In Huddersfield a special officer was appointed by the Leet to keep the river clear of dead cats, dogs and vermin. There was also an inspector of weights and measures and a pindar. The Lord's Court appears to have had no power to levy a rate and its powers were necessarily limited. The vestry or general meeting of parishioners, which, in these days, usually confines itself to the election of people's warden, the passing of church accounts and the various matters connected with the maintenance of the church structure and services, had, by common law, a general supervision over the affairs of the Parish. In Huddersfield, in the year 1812, a serious encroachment was made by the vestry upon the jurisdiction and functions of the manorial - court. On May 22nd of that year the vestry resolved that 'a standing constable, to act as a police officer, is highly necessary, and shall be elected in this township," and John Fernaby, formerly porter of the Leeds Infirmary, was

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 385

elected accordingly. In January, 1816, the vestry took steps more decisively indicative of the impatience of the residents with the inadequate provision for the peace and order of the town made by the existing machinery. A minute of the vestry of January 9th, 1816, reads :-

* In pursuance of legal notice having been given in the parish church, on the 28th December last, a general meeting of the inhabitants of Huddersfield was this day held for the purpose of taking into consideration the present alarming state of the country and the more effectual preservation of the peace ... when, after duly deliberating on the enormous burglaries and other depredations recently committed, we have thought it necessary to advertise for and engage an active and experienced man who will devote the whole of his time to the discharge of his duty as an assistant constable, &e. ;"

and by a later minute the assistant constable was required '* to look after, detect and take thieves ; to visit the lodging- houses frequently ; vagrants of all kinds to take up; to examine hawkers and pedlars, or those likely to have stolen goods in their possession ; to visit the public-houses frequently." It is obvious that the time had fully arrived for making ampler provision for the government of the town. On June 30th, 1820, an act was passed " for lighting, watching, and cleansing the town of Huddersfield." The preamble states that " the town of Huddersfield is large and populous "-it was then some thirteen thousand souls-'"and a place of considerable trade, and is also a great thoroughfare for travellers, and some of the streets, lanes and other public passages within the said town, are not lighted or watched, and all of them are not properly cleansed, but are subject to various nuisances, and it would tend to the safety, convenience and advantage of the inhabitants of the said town, and of the public, if the same were properly lighted, watched, cleansed and regulated, and the nuisances abated and prevented for the future." The limits of the Act were confined to twelve hundred yards from the spot where the

B -I

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386 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

old cross stands in the centre of the market place. The following gentlemen were appointed the first Board of Commissioners, and may justly be regarded as the first civic fathers of the rising community : Sir John Ramsden, Bart., and Messrs. John Charles Ramsden, Henry James Ramsden, William Ramsden, Charles Ramsden, Joseph Haigh, Benjamin Haigh Allen, Thomas Allen, William Walker Battye, James Brooke, Joseph Brooke, John Booth (Market Place), John Booth, Godfrey Berry, William Brooke, John Bower, Richard Clay, Bradley Clay, Joseph Clay, John Dobson, William Bowers Dobson, John Dyson, Robert Firth, Thomas Firth, John Horsfall, John Horsfall - (of Huddersfield), Thomas Hastings, Edward Hauxby, Joseph Kaye, Thomas Kilner, junior, John Lees, Thomas Lockwood, Abraham Lockwood, Joshua Lockwood, Thomas Marshall, Jeremiah Marshall, Henry Nelson, - William North, Joseph Schofield, Walter William Stables, William Stocks, John Sutcliffe William Shaw, Thomas Swift, William Wilks, Richard Atkinson, junior, William Booth, James Booth, Joseph Stoney, Benjamin Bradshaw, John Eastwood, John Graham, Thomas England, James Pilling, John Priest, William Rhodes, John Riley, George Starkey, and William Wigney. Only those were eligible for the position of commissioner who were possessed of not less than one thousand pounds personalty. The vacancies caused by death and other causes on the Board were to be filled by the surviving commissioners, only hose were to be elected who were approved by the Lord of the Manor, so that after the first generation of commissioners the ground landlord had positively the appointment of the governing body of the town. Can we wonder that in the earlier parliamentary contests Huddersfield was regarded as a pocket borough ? The commussioners were to meet every three weeks or on

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 387

wom mmm me nemen ow. ms mon mm mmmmmmmtsmmeemenm on om ~ amemmmmme wo mr comma ume:

emergency, at the George Inn. They were directed to cause the streets, lanes and public passages to be lighted, and to lay gas pipes, and to contract for the suppiy of the town with gas, and they were authorized to employ a sufficient number of able-bodied men as watchmen and as a patrol, for whom watch-houses and watch-boxes were to be provided. The watchmen or patrolmen were empowered to apprehend and secure in some proper place of security all malefactors, rogues, vagabonds, idle and disorderly persons, disturbers of the public peace, prostitutes, and all persons found wandering or misbehaving themselves within the limits of the Act during the hours of watching, and to conduct all such persons before some Justice of the Peace for the West-Riding-there were only County Justices at that time and misdemeanants were "* conducted before them." The authority of the pindar appointed for the town of Huddersfield at the Court Leet held for the Manor of Almondbury was recognised and confirmed, and the housewives of the town were exhorted to clean the footpath in front of their houses before nine o'clock every Wednesday morning. But probably the most popular clause of the Act was that exempting from rates all those whose rents did not amount to six pounds the year ; but on the other hand none of the ratepayers had any voice in the election of the Commussioners. The first care of the Commissioners appears to have been the better lighting of the town. A private company made the gas, and in 1822 that illuminant came into general use in the town and was gradually adopted in the near neighbourhood, many firms and companies being engaged in its manufacture, as Mr. Anthony Kaye, at Moldgreen, Mr. Thomas Midgley, at Almondbury, and at a later period the still flourishing Longwood Gas Company. The Huddersfield Gas Works were of slender pro- portion, occupying but 843 square yards of land, and even

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388 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

after near twenty years the annual consumption only amounted to thirty three million cubic feet. In the year November, 1896 to November, 1897, it was 516,615,000 cubic feet ! From its constitution in 1820 the Board of Commus- sioners, aided by a Board of Highway Surveyors appointed by the Vestry, conducted the public affairs of the town until the year 1848, when the Huddersfield Improvement Act received the Royal assent. The intermediate period had been one of progress and development. The increasing trade of the district had led to the establishment of the Huddersfield Banking Company in the year 1827, soon to be followed by the Halifax and Union Bank Company, which had its inception in the private banking- house of Messrs. Rawson and Co., by the Mirfield and Huddersfield District Banking Company, now bearing the more comprehensive name of the West Riding Union Banking Company, this also being a growth from the original private firm of Wilson and Co.; the Yorkshire Banking Company and the Midland Banking Company. Within a period almost identical with the rule of the Watching and Lighting Commissioners other signs of the development of the town became manifest. In 1817 Trinity Church was erected by Benjamin Haigh Allen, at a cost of about £12,000; Queen Street Chapel followed hard upon. In 1819 the National Schools had been erected at Seed-hill; Ramsden Street Chapel was opened in 1825, Woodhouse Church, Parsonage and Schools about the same time, having been erected at a cost of some £12,000, by Mr. John Whitacre, the brother-in-law of the patron of Trinity Church. The national purse had also been appealed to, and the fund created by "* The Million Act" had been drawn upon. St. Paul's Church and the churches of All Saints at Paddock, of Emmanuel at Lockwood, of St.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 389

mommies commmennes rs momen-: .

Stephen at Lindley, and the churches at Golcar and Linth- waite were built from the funds of the same act, whilst the Roman Catholic Church of St. Patrick in New North Road was raised by the united efforts of Roman Catholics and Protestants, and the Parish Church of Hudders- field was re-erected in 1836 at a cost of £13,000. Within the same period of less than thirty years the Huddersfield College and Collegiate, the Mechanics' Institute, and the Huddersfield Infirmary were established, and another quasi-public body, the Waterworks Com- missioners, had constructed the Longwood Reservoir; the population had increased from thirteen thousand to twenty- five thousand, and the Huddersfield Poor-Law Union had been formed. It is abundantly clear that in the three decades in which the destinies of the town were in the keeping of the Watching and Lighting Commussioners much material progress was made and much was done to provide for the needs of the town. The people however were impatient of a system of local government that afforded them little or no say in the shaping of the town's destinies. In 1841 and 1842 petitions were presented to the Privy Council praying for the grant of a Municipal Charter, and that petition was supported by the trustees of the lord of the manor, who was then a minor. A change of government at the very crisis of the proceedings led to the abandonment of the efforts to obtain a Charter of Incorporation, but the aspirations of the inhabitants after municipal self-government found some gratification in the Improvement Act, 1848, by which the government of the town passed to twenty-one Improvement Commissioners, of whom eighteen were to be elected by the ratepayers, and three nominated by the lord of the manor- this latter right, I understand, being generously waived

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390 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

during the time the Act was in operation. - The first Commissioners were designated in the Act and it is interesting to learn who were deemed the most fitting guardians of the public interests, exactly half-a-century ago : Joseph Armitage, George Armitage, James Booth, Joseph Beaumont, junior, John Brook, Thomas Pearson Crosland, Edmond Eastwood, Thomas Firth (Tea Dealer), Thomas Atkinson Heaps, Abraham Hirst, William Kaye, Jere Kaye, Thomas Mallinson, William Moore, Samuel Routledge, John Sutcliffe, and Joseph Shaw. Only those rated at not less than £30 a year to the Poor, or drawing not less than £50 yearly in rents from property in the town, or possessing not less than after payment~of their debts were eligible for seats on the Board. Their election rested nominally with the ratepayers at large, but in effect, by virtue of sec. 181 of the incorporated general act, all householders under £10 were excluded from the franchise, and to this injustice was added the cumulative vote which gave to the larger ratepayers a corresponding preponderance in the election of the Commissioners. Many public undertakings of great and abiding utility were inaugurated and completed by the Improvement Commissioners. To them we owe the Cemetery at Birkby. In the year 1847 it was proposed to lay a general rate by the Vestry for the maintenance of the Church Yard. But among Dissenters the feeling was very strong that there ought to be public provision for interments under conditions which would permit of the last sad rites being performed by ministers of their own denominations. Strong opposition was therefore made to the proposal to expend public moneys upon the Church Yard. An impression prevailed that the motion for a rate could not be met by a direct negative and accordingly at the Vestry held December 9th, 1847, under the presidency of the Vicar, the Rev. J. Bateman, an amendment

Page 425

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 3Q 1

was moved by Mr. Joseph Boothroyd, and seconded by Mr. Wright Mellor :-

" That a rate of one-eighth of a penny be laid for the Church Yard."

The Vicar is said to have objected that no such coin existed, but a handful of half-farthings was produced that an astute ratepayer had procured from the Bank of England; the objection was over-ruled, and the amendment carried. To collect such a rate would have been obviously not worth the candle and no more has been heard in Huddersfield of Church Rates, though Easter dues lingered for a time. It may interest the reader of future years to place on record a copy of one of the demand notes which was presented to-and I have very little doubt, disregarded by-Mr. John Hanson, father of Mr. George Henry

Hanson, for many years a valued and assiduous member of the Marsh Local Board and of the Town Council.

'* Mr. John Hanson.

Easter Dues. Easter, 1850. Parish Church of Huddersfield.

mome a

s. d. House Custom _. -. .. o 34 Persons in family above 16 years of age 2d. each .. - 4 Clerk o 2 o - 9%

On behalf of the Vicar, Thomas Hawkyard, Collector."

The attitude assumed by the majority or at all events a large and important section of the inhabitants necessitated public provision for interments, and the Improvement Commissioners obtained parliamentary powers for the purchase and maintenance of the Cemetery at an initial cost of some £11,500. The housing of the living also engaged their attention, and they availed themselves of

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392 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

their statutory powers to provide the large and commodious Model Lodging House, which was converted to its present use in the year 1854, at a cost of near £6,000. The right to grant charters for the holding of markets is part of the prerogative of the crown, and in former times the crown very often bartered away this right or conferred it upon favourites. A market right is an indirect method of levying a toll upon the ordinary necessities of life, taking a bite, in fact, of the poor man's loaf. The provision markets of Huddersfield were, under the charter held by the lord of the manor, held in the Market Place and in King Street, and stallholders were often in open revolt against the scale of fees drawn up by the agents of the Estate Office. The Improvement Commissioners took a lease from Sir John William Ramsden of the market-tolls and rights which he held under charter, or in other words commuted for a yearly payment his power to tax the food stuffs of the community. To the commussioners also we owe the opening up, laying and paving of many streets and roads, the construction of sewage work and the strengthening and disciplining of the police force. It must not be forgotten that the area under the jurisdiction of the Improvement Commissioners was confined to what we should now regard as the heart of the town. On the circumference lay many and scattered hamlets, each with its own Local Board, and each Board boasting its own chairman, its own executive, and displaying not a little jealousy of any encroachment upon its boundaries. A humorist, who for full a generation has enhanced the gaiety of nations, has presented to the world a picture of two coroners and two juries sitting on either end of a thigh-bone, that, after an explosion, had fallen across the dividing line of two transpontine counties; and similar conflict of jurisdiction must have often stirred the souls of the officials

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. mein s mnm c cnm mmm me mmm

of the townships that clustered around and about the central town-Marsh, Deighton, Bradley, Fartown, Lindley, Lockwood, Moldgreen, Almondbury and Newsome. "Each of these," said Mr. Joseph Batley, when supporting the application for incorporation, " has separate and independent jurisdiction, and it must be manifest that it is impossible under such circumstances to secure that harmony and unity of action on subjects of common importance which the public welfare requires. On questions of sewerage, sanitary regulations, water supply and other local interests, diversity of view and of action must be expected. Admitting even that no further or new power can be acquired through the charter for the area incorporated, it must be an obvious benefit to have the same powers exercised with uniformity through one governing body instead of two." Such and so pressi@pg were doubtless the considerations that, in 1867, led to a renewal of the agitation for a charter of incorpora- tion. The commissioners themselves, no less than the inhabitants at large, were oppressed with the necessity for the grant of enlarged or more concentrated powers. In May, 1867, they passed a resolution for their own extinction, and on the 29th of that month Mr. Joseph Turner presided over a meeting of ratepayers, which, with five dissentients, endorsed the death-warrant the commussioners themselves submitted : " That having regard to the position of Huddersfield and adjoining districts with respect to population, unity of commercial and public interests, and necessity of increased water supply, for which and for other purposes a more united system of local govern- ment would be advantageous, it is, in the opinion of this Board, desirable that a Charter of Incorporation for Huddersfield and the adjoining districts should be applied for. As a sequel to this resolution petitions in support and condemnatory of the proposed incorporation

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Semmes

were signed by the ratepayers, 4,933 ratepayers, representing a rateable value of £106,782 is. 2d., thus signifying their acquiescence in the scheme, whilst 2,049 inhabitants, rated at £16,750 fos. 11d. protested against it-a circumstance from which it might be argued that the poorer sort were adverse to a proposal in which they possibly scented ambitious and expensive projects of local improvement. The great preponderance, not only numerical but financial, in support, justified the holding of a govern- ment enquiry, and in November, 1867, Captain Donelly, R.E., the commissioner appointed by Her Majesty's Privy Council, conducted an enquiry, at which the case for the promoters was very ably presented by Mr. Joseph Batley, solicitor, who for many long and anxious years filled the dignified and responsible position of Town Clerk of Hudders- field. At that time the population within the limits and subject to the jurisdiction of the Improvement Commissioners was 24,100, with a rateable value of £ 100,108, to which must be added the populations of Marsh, Fartown, Deighton and Bradley, in Huddersfield proper, with a population of 15,725 persons, and a rateable value of £34,106, making a total population in Huddersfield proper of 39,825 souls, and a rateable value of £134,214. - With these it was proposed to incorporate Lockwood, Moldgreen and Dalton, Lindley, Almondbury and Newsome, bringing up the total population to 72,455, and the total rateable value to £ 199,497. The only opposition to the petition came from Bradley, which, said Mr. Batley, held the key of the sewerage of the town. Mr. Shaw, who appeared for the opponents of the scheme, urged that the rates in Bradley were but 4d. in the pound, whilst those in Huddersfield averaged 2s. 1d., that Bradley had an abundant supply of water; they wanted no gas beyond what they could get from the Rastrick and Mirfield mains; they wanted no drainage beyond what they already

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om on cog cnn

had ; in fact they had no wants which Huddersfield could supply, and Bradley was merely required as a " mouth of discharge for the inpurities of Huddersfield." The Com- missioner does not appear to have been moved by this piteous tale and on the 7th day of July, 1868, the Borough was incorporated-with twelve wards, fourteen aldermen and forty-two councillors. The following gentlemen constituted the first council for the new Wright Mellor, J.P., D.L., Henry Brooke, J.P., Alfred Crowther, J.P., Thomas William Clough, James Crosland, J.P., David Binns, Charles Henry Jones, J.P., George Scholes, David Sykes, J.P., Nathaniel Berry, John=Crawshaw, J.P., John Day, J.P., John Priestley, Thomas Denham, J.P., Councillors William Lidster, Charles Hirst (the elder) J.P., Joseph Woodhead, J.P., Jas. Jordan, Robert Skilbeck, J.P., Henry Hirst, Edward Clayton, James Hadfield, Joseph Hirst, John Hellawell, Robert Appleton, Read Holliday, Joseph Benson, John Eccles, William White, Daniel Calverley, Alan Brook Haigh, Henry Lister, Joseph Stork, James Scholes, Joseph Byram, James Starkey, Isaac Robson, Charles Crosland, John Varley, J.P., George Arlom, Roger Houghton, Alfred Walker, J.P., E. J. W. Waterhouse, J.P., Benjamin H. Hattersley, John F. Brigg, J.P., William Henry Aston, J.P., Oates Bairstow, Benjamin Thornton, William Marriott, J.P., Ginnethon Dyson, Joseph Barrowclough, Law Hopkinson, Enoch Sykes, John Shaw, Reuben Hirst, J.P., and Richard Porritt. The first mayor of Huddersfield was Mr. Charles Henry Jones-a man rigid, inflexible, curt, but with a warm and generous heart beneath a stern exterior. How much his fellow townsmen trusted him, how sagely he filled the office of chief magistrate, those who were not privileged to know him may judge from the fact that for four successive

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years he held the post of mayor, and, indeed, it was not till he' retired from the Council in 1872 that any thought of a successor was entertained in the Council. The following gentlemen have occupied the mayoral chair, and it is the merest justice to say occupied it worthily and with dignity :- Charles Henry Jones, Esq., J.P., 1868-71. Wright Mellor, Esq., J.P., D.L., 1871-3, 1883-4, 1886-7. Henry Brooke, Esq., J.P., 1873-4. David Sykes, Esq., J.P., 1874-5. John Fligg Brigg, Esq., J.P., 1875-6, 1881-3. Joseph Woodhead, Esq., J.P., 1876-8. Alfred Walker, Esq., J.P., 1878-80. Thomas Denham, Esq., J.P., 1880-1. John Varley, Esq., J.P., 1884-6. Joseph Brooke, Esq., J.P., 1887-9. Godfrey Sykes, Esq., J.P., 1889-91. Reuben Hirst, Esq., J.P., 1891-3. John Joshua Brook, Esq., J.P., 1893-5. John Lee Walker, Esq., J.P., 1895-7. William Henry Jessop, Esq., J.P., 1897, et Regnat. From the incorporation of the borough to the present time candidates for municipal honours have almost always been professed and often pronounced adherents of one or other of the great political parties in the state, and have commended themselves or by their friends been commended to the suffrages of the electors as much on political grounds as upon their acquaintance with or aptitude for the discharge of the essentially practical work of municipal government, and gentlemen have sat upon the Council who knew no more of sewage, road construction, lighting and so forth than they knew of the solar system, but possessed of the saving grace of political fervour. It has

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ensued that the Liberal party has always largely pre- ponderated on the Town Council, and as a consequence the mayors have almost without exception professed Liberal principles. The year 1897 has, however, in- augurated a new policy, and both parties have united in expressing their high admiration of the qualities and services of his present worship by conferring on him the highest honour the Council can bestow, unless it may be deemed a higher as it is assuredly a rarer honour to receive the honorary Freedom of the Borough, a distinction hitherto conferred only on Mr. Wright Mellor, Mr. Henry Frederick Beaumont, Sir Albert Kaye Rollitt, Bart., LL.D., D.C.L., M.P., D.L., whose intimate connection by blood though not by birth with the town, not less than his eminent services in connection with the Chamber of Commerce, almost justifies the people of Huddersfield in claiming him as their own. At the time of its incorporation the borough had a population of 72,455 souls, a rateable value of £199,477, and an acreage of 10,436. In 1890 Longwood was absorbed within the borough, increasing the acreage to 11,788, adding one member to the aldermanic bench and three to the number of councillors. The population of the enlarged borough at the present time is about 110,000, and the present rateable value of the County Borough (November, 1897) was £437,312 16s. od. The increase in population and in wealth has been accompanied by a marked development in the construction of undertakings designed to minister to the public needs and joys. The lease under which the Improvement held the market tolls from the ground landlord has been determined, and the charter rights of Sir John Ramsden have been bought at a price by the representatives and trustees of the people. A covered

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market in King Street, erected in 1880, at a cost of some £30,000, has replaced the stalls and stands of a generation ago, and the voice of the nomad Cheap Jack is no longer heard within our landmarks. A Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Market has been erected in Brook Street, at a cost of £14,700, and a Cattle Market in Great Northern Street, at a cost of £11,700, In the year closing September 30th, 1897, toll was paid upon a total live stock of 14,789 head : 10,585 beasts, 2,055 horses, 1,949 pigs, and 200 sheep, the market for pigs having been closed for half the year owing to the apprehensions of swine fever. In the same period 25,189 animals were slaughtered in the public abattoirs, and 4,431 in houses licensed by the Corporation, whilst but 1,901 carcases were imported from Birkhenhead, a circum- stance that ought to dispel the doubts of those who are prone to fear they often pay English prices for American beef. The total capital expenditure on markets and slaughter-houses, including £43,303 paid for market-rights and sites, has been £115,801, and in the last preceding financial year the market receipts from all sources amounted to £8,323 5s. 5d. In 1872, the Corporation, then but four years old, resolved to produce gas for the community under its care. The Huddersfield Gas Company was bought out at a cost of £130,336, and Mr. Anthony Kaye, who had a considerable plant at Moldgreen, from which that and adjacent hamlets were supplied, surrendered his works and mains and rights for a sum of £17,000. The gasworks were enlarged and reconstructed, and the capital outlay up to the end of the last financial year amounted to £322,655. The coal carbonized during the year was 56,183 tons, and the gas sold amounted to 516,615,000 cubic feet, a considerable increase having been recently made in the consumption by the introduction of domestic stoves for cooking purposes, the modest beginnings

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mie. oa

of a system which, with the increasing use of electricity for lighting purposes, will revolutionize the kitchen and enchant the cook. A nett profit of £8,342 5s. 6d. was made by the gas department during the year ending March 31st, 1897. In the year 1893 the electric light was first generated by the Corporation, and the use of that illuminant is becoming more and more general. It is safe to predict that ere many years gas will be regarded as an illuminant much as we now regard the malodorous " dips " of many years ago. The electric department of the Corporation is now its busiest. In November, 1894, there were but 199 consumers ; in 1897, there were 544. In the same period the number of lamps connected rose from 14,480 to 38,600, whilst the units of electricity sold surged from 216,341 to 417,740. - The capital outlay for electric lighting and plant up to the present day amounts to £65,917, and this enter- prise like its less brilliant sister, gas, shows a substantial profit to its undertakers. In January, 1882, was opened the first tramway service, that between Fartown and Lockwood, and since that time the service not only has been extended in all directions, so that every part of the borough is connected with the heart of the town, but steps have been taken which will probably result in linking the fringe of Slaithwaite with St. George's Square. There is a total rolling stock of 29 engines and 26 bogie cars running over 20 miles and 56 chains of lines, with a daily service of 17 cars and extra supplies on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Letter boxes are attached to the cars and postmen and telegraph messengers are carried at a special rate. Under this arrangement, made, I believe, at the suggestion of Alderman Charles Glendinning, no less than 423,000 letters have been deposited in the tram boxes for transfer to the General Post Office. The total expenditure upon the tramways'

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undertaking has been £139,488. During the year ending September 30th, 1897, the total receipts from passengers and parcels were £29,739 os. 4d., and the income for the year, after all proper deductions, showed a profit on the undertaking of £1,516 7s. 9d., a circumstance possibly due in no small degree to the fact that, from its inception, the Tramway Committee has been under the presidency of a practical engineer of great skill and experience-Alderman Armitage Haigh. The service has not however quite escaped the sinister hand of misfortune. In July, 1883, the Lindley cars descending into the town fully laden broke from control, and gaining each moment a velocity more appalling as each moment the passengers realized more fully that it was a speed only a fatality could check, rushed towards the Square terminus. - The fatality came at the Westgate curve towards the Square. Engine and car turned upon their near wheels and fell. Seven of the passengers were killed ; twenty-eight. more or less severely injured. A Government inquiry was held and compensation was demanded from and paid by the Corporation. In 1880-2 the Corporation profited by the Artizans' Dwellings Act to erect at Turnbridge houses of the kind contemplated by that measure. The total capital ex- penditure on that account has been £28,945, and the hundred and sixty houses erected and maintained under this scheme are practically self-supporting, demonstrating to other municipalities, and especially to London, the possibility of destroying their noxious slums without driving the indigent to the streets or the workhouse. Conceived in the same spirit and fraught with the happiest results has been the acquisition and management of the Model Lodging House, a building which in 1854 was converted from a warehouse to the purpose and use it now so admirably

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vam n te mme omar

serves. The prime cost was £6,000; the accommodation was extended in 1879, and now includes a Mechanics' Home. During the last financial year 43,998 males and 4,182 females paid threepence per night; 6,440 married couples twice that sum for accommodation, whilst 14,419 sixpences were received in the Mechanics' Home, where the accommodation is designed for a more permanent class of lodgers, and in which mechanics who have not yet established a home of their own may find comforts and decencies not always to be met in cheap lodging houses. The highest eulogy that can be passed upon this department of the corporate work is to be found in that imitation which is the sincerest flattery, and Lord Rowton and the London County Council have established in the Metropolis institutions based upon the same lines as, if not actually copied from, the model designed by the Huddersfield Improvement Commussioners more than half-a-century ago. The Young Men's Christian Association holds short and bright religious services in the House every Sunday through- out the year, and it may be hoped that the seed their missioners scatter with such loving hands fall not always on stony nor unfruitful ground. It is but a generation since the town was patrolled by two or three watchmen, aged, decrepid and timid, and the office of constable was rather honorary than responsible. In the time of the Improvement Commussioners there were thirty-one men of all ranks, including the superintendent, inspectors and constables, one of whom acted as markets' inspector and collector of market tolls. The police force of to-day numbers 120 men, under the able rule of Mr. John Morton, whose office of Chief Constable resembles only in name the chieftainship of a bye-gone day. A fire brigade is manned by the police, the station is connected by telephone with street fire-alarms, and the brigade is officially

C-I

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pronounced to be thoroughly efficient and fully equipped to respond to any demand upon its services. A St. John Ambulance Society exists in connection with the force, and - most of its officers hold certificates of efficiency. A new Police Station is in course of erection, and the establish- ment of four small branch receiving cells at various points on the confines prevents congestion and obviates the unseemly sounds and sights formerly associated with the procession of unruly misdemeanants to the central keep. The inhabitants of Huddersfield, even those most prone to grumble, most grudging of ought but the faint praise that damns, are apt to wax eloquent in eulogy of their water supply. Since, in 1743, the Lord of the Manor made provision for supplying the town from the waters of the Colne, and since the later days when the Longwood Reservoirs were constructed by the Waterworks' Com- missioners, the citizens of Huddersfield have never in their minds belittled the importance of a pure and abundant supply of water. It is to this district a prime necessity not only for drinking and ablution, but for the very industry on which the future of the town and neighbourhood depends. Almost the first care of the new Corporation was to acquire the property and privileges of the Commussioners-at a cost of £58,663. - Since that time the capital outlay upon waterworks account has increased to £1,145,666, being nearly one-half of the total capital expended by the Corporation on its great and varied undertakings. The Lonawoop RresERvoIRS, two* in number, are distant 2% miles from the town and are situate at the foot of the east side of Scape Goat Hill. _ Three springs bursting to the surface near the top of the hill supply these reservoirs, which cover an area of 114 acres and have a united capacity of 70,299,134 gallons. The water from these sources is piped to service

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tanks at Clough Head, Longwood, and Spring Street. Another reservoir, on the Longwood Brook, covering 84 acres, and holding, when full, 40% million gallons, is appropriated as a compensation reservoir for the Longwood millowners. Brackmoorroot distant 4 miles from the town, covers an area of 105 acres, it drains a surface of 1900 acres and is capable of supplying to the town and neighbourhood three million gallons per day, besides furnishing 841,000 gallons of compensation water during the twelve hours of every lawful working day. The water is conveyed to the Snodley service reservoir at West Hill, whence not only is the town supplied, but also Mirfield and Ravensthorpe. From Blackmoor Foot the villages of Netherton, Armitage Bridge, Berry Brow, Honley, Almondbury, Kirkheaton, Kirkburton, Shelley, and Shepley draw their supply of the only alterative known to Nature. It may reassure the reader to learn that the embankment of this large volume of water is 400 feet thick at its base. The Derrxitt ReEsERvoir® situate on the west side of Deer Hill, drains 800 acres, has a surface area of 45 acres, and contains 160 million gallons of water, of which 481,680 gallons are rendered by way of compensation to the millowners of the Wessenden and Colne Valleys. The Great Dyke Springs and the Blake Clough Springs, yielding a daily average of 500,000 gallons, supply Marsden, Slaithwaite, Golcar, Outlane, Milnsbridge, Quarmby ; and the main terminates at Lindley. There are also two compensation reservoirs in the Wessenden Valley, with a capacity of 189 million gallons. Additional reservoirs at ButtErLEy and will still further supplement the existing supply, and will constitute a guarantee against the contingencies of the future that may well excite the admiration, if not the envy, of less fortunate communities. The total length of water mains now in use is about 240

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miles, and in the financial year of 1897 no less than 490,838,000 gallons of water were supplied through meter, of which 86,820,000 gallons were consumed outside the borough. The water drawn from the moors is soft and apt to be tainted by vegetable matter. This pollution can be and is removed by filtration. The softness of the fluid renders the water eminently valuable to the dyer, and removes from the fibres of the fleece any askness that may inhere. Some years ago it was discovered that this quality of the water had its drawbacks. Passing through the lead pipes that connect the mains with the consumer's tap the water became affected by a lead compound, a cumulative poison. About the year 1882 many persons in the town and neighbourhood displayed symptoms of lead poisoning, and one of them, Mr. J. J. Milnes, was reduced to the brink of death. An action brought on his behalf resulted in a verdict at Leeds Assizes of substantial damages against the Corporation, who are under statutory obligations to supply pure and wholesome water, but on successive appeals, culminating in the House of Lords, the Corporation escaped liability on the ground that their responsibility ceased with the delivery of the water in the mains. The Council, however, profited by the lesson, and steps have been taken, it is hoped successfully, to counteract this dangerous property of the supply on which the health and fortunes of the vicinity so much depend. The efforts of the Town Council have not been directed to undertakings strictly utilitarian. Two years after the constitution of the borough the Council acquired, at the modest sum of £910, the baths and ground known as Lockwood Spas. These had been opened to the public by private enterprise in 1827. The existence of mineral springs had suggested to the speculative mind dreams of

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mum . moe has ~ R wesc n w- ame ncn. c =~ ~

an English Baden, or at least of another Harrogate. The river was spanned with a rustic bridge, grounds were laid, and a Bath Hotel opened its doors. But the waters of the Holme failed to seduce, the sparrow twittered in vain in the thin thorns of the ornamental gardens, and the medicinal virtues of the springs were proclaimed to deaf ears. The adventure was not a success, and the purchase by the Corporation devoted the baths to their proper use, medicine by cleansing. In 1880 a large building in Ramsden Street, erected as a public hall, which in its time had served many purposes down-or up-to those of a dancing academy, was purchased by the Corporation at the price of £2,000, and converted into public baths. In 1883 Beaumont Park, the site of which had been given to the public by Mr. H. F. Bravmont of Whitley Hall, was opened by the late Duke of Albany. In September of the following year Greenhead Park was purchased from Sir John Ramsden by the Corporation at a price of £30,000, towards which sum Sir John himself contributed £5,000, and thus at length was attained a public end for which the late Alderman Thomas Denham laboured unceasingly; and yet again another open space was dedicated to the public use by the quite recent acquisition, largely through the instrumentality of Councillor W. H. Moore, of the public Recreation Ground at Salendine Nook, a plateau of moorland commanding a wide and varied panorama of hill and dale, of hamlet and of spire. For many years attempts to obtain the adoption of the provisions of the Free Libraries Act were unsuccessful, but the year 1897 found the Council in a more enlightened mood, difficulties and complications that had thitherto militated against the scheme were removed and a Public Library, the property of the ratepayers, will ere long be added to the many public possessions of the inhabitants.

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"%

For many years prior to 1878 the various who have from time to time controlled the fortunes of the town, met in a small, gloomy and cramped building in Ramsden Street. In that year the Municipal Buildings, containing Council Chamber, Reception Room, Mayor's Parlour, Committee Rooms and departmental offices were erected at a cost of £19,000; and in the following year the Town Hall, one of the handsomest and probably the draughtiest assembly-room in the Riding, was erected at a cost, inclusive of the Magistrates' Court, of some £57,000. Enough, perhaps more than enough, has been said to show how thoroughly the Town Council has done its work. Within thirty brief years it has transformed the town : it has done in one generation the work of many, and though there have been murmurings and criticism, as murmurings and criticism there will ever be, I am not aware that any deep-rooted or other than transient dissatisfaction has ever existed with the manner in which the Council has discharged its high and serious trust. If we must judge them by the monuments they have reared on every hand the Aldermen and Councillors of the years that are gone have conceived to themselves a lofty ideal of the require- ments of the people, and have resolved that nothing that corporate enterprise can legitimately do should be left undone to attain and to sustain an exalted place among the municipalities of a kingdom which owes to the civic virtues of its people certainly not less than to the valour and devotion of its soldiers or the wisdom of its statesmen. That this should have been done without great cost was of course impossible. The total capital outlay has been £2,536,190, and the County Borough is cumbered with a debt of £2,574,293, borrowed at an average rate of £,3 3s. 3d. per cent.; but it is claimed that the money is well invested, and that the public assets of the town are

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more than an ample set-off against its liabilities, grave as they confessedly are, and the ratepayers suffer with resignation the borough rate of 5s. 8id. in the pound, entailed by the rapid development and consequent expenditure of the County Borough. Of all the burdens that pressed upon our forefathers none was so grievous as the Poor Law. In the year 1815 it amounted to no less than sixteen shillings in the pound. The system of out-door relief created the professional pauper. The population of England and Wales at the close of the American War in 1783 was about eight millions: the poor rate amounted to £2,132,487. Fifty years later, in 1833, the population numbered about fourteen millions : the poor rate amounted to £8,606,501. In other words the census showed an increase of 75 per cent., the poor rate an increase of 300 per cent. It is true that the half-century covered by these statistics had been a period of war and of want; but these alone did not account for the pauperization of the people. In the words of one of the witnesses before the Royal Commission appointed in 1832 to enquire into the practical operation of the Poor Laws, " the moral and intellectual character of the good old English labourer, who in former times had boasted with honest pride that he was never beholden to a parish officer, was destroyed altogether." According to another witness, " in youth and in age, in sickness and in health, in seasons of abundance and in seasons of scarcity, with low prices or with high prices, the parish was still looked to and relied upon as an unfailing resource to which everyone clung, and from which every poor man considered that he had a right to obtain the supply of every want, even although such want was caused by his own indolence, vice, or improvidence." The New Poor Law of Lord Althorp, passed in 1834, made entrance into the workhouse

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the practical test of destitution, and a howl of indignation went up from the thousands who had grown to regard themselves as privileged pensioners of the State. In this neighbourhood much difficulty was experienced in putting the New Poor Law into operation. Poor Law Riots were general, and the newly elected Guardians of the Poor held their first meeting under the protection of an armed force. The Huddersfield Union was formed by an order of the Poor Law Commussioners dated January 21st, 1837, and consisted originally of thirty-four parishes, and the constitution of the Union is much the same to-day, except that Scholes has been added, Lingards has been merged in Slaithwaite, the two Marsdens have been consolidated, and Cumberworth-Half has become Skelmanthorpe. There are now, consequently, but thirty-three parishes comprised in the Union, viz.:-Huddersfield, Almondbury, Dalton, Lindley-cum-Quarmby, Lockwood, Longwood (constituting the County Borough), Austonley, Cartworth, Cumberworth, Farnley Tyas, Fulstone, Golcar, Hepworth, Holme, Honley, Kirkburton, Kirkheaton, Lepton, Linthwaite, the two Marsdens, Meltham, Netherthong, Scammonden, Scholes, Shelley, Shepley, Skelmanthorpe, Slaithwaite, South Crosland, Upperthong, Whitley Upper, Wooldale. The population of the Union in 1837 was 88,792, and the average expenditure on the poor of the townships of the Union for the three years preceding March 25th, 1838, was £11,664, of which no particulars exist. The following figures will prove of interest :-

Year. Population. Total Received. Total Spent. £ s. d. £ s. d. 1840 ... about 90,000 ... 21,811 13 O0 ... 19,473 I 1876 ... I40,I15I ... 41,393 O0 ... 37,215 1886 ... 156,504 ... 53,563 ... 50,409

1896 ... 168,399 ... 47,666 o o ... 50,973 o

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< .- anl mones mm t.: sae c - -

The amount of the poor rate varies considerably in the several townships. In Huddersfield for the year ending March 25th, 1897, it was 8d. in the pound. The first workhouse for Huddersfield was a small brick building at Birkby. In 1872 the princely pile at Crosland Moor became the home of the poor. It cost £26,000, and a fever hospital and two vagrant wards have since been added. A workhouse is also maintained at Deanhouse, and is chiefly used for the reception of lunatics, hospital patients and the very aged ; and offices in Ramsden Street have replaced the dingy rooms in John Street for the transaction of the business of the Board. The following table shows the number of persons relieved since 1871, a year to which it is convenient to refer as Crosland Moor Workhouse was then opened, and out- relief in that year reached its highest point since the formation of the Union :-

No. Relieved. No. Relieved. 1871 .. 1689 1894 c.. 2730 I 891 .. 2558 1895 c.. 2703 1892 .. 2451 _ 1896 c.. 2533 1893 .. 2520 1897 .. 2257

The following gentlemen have, since 1837, held the honourable and onerous position of Chairman of the Board

of Guardians of the Huddersfield Union :-

1837. - William Swain. 1838. William Brook. 1839. Sidney Moorhouse. 1840 to 1845. Rev. J. M. Maxfield. 1846 to 1857. Matthew Sykes. 1858 to 1860. James Tolson. 1860 to 1862. Edward Clayton. 1863 to 1880. James Wrigley. 1881 to 1884. James Kilburn. 1885 and 1886. William Day. 1887 and 1888. Henry Butterworth. 1889 to 1896. James Kilburn.

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The present chairman, Mr. Charles Fitton, had since 1894 occupied the vice-chair. It has ever been recognized that however comprehensive may be our views as to the powers and functions of the State and the municipality in their provisions for enhancing the comforts and safeguarding the health and property of the individual, there are still many spheres of useful and benevolent activity that may most properly be left to the promptings of sympathy or the solemn injunctions of religion. The intelligent foreigner who visits London is usually most impressed by the number and the magnitude of those hospitals and other charitable institutions that the piety and benevolence of the wealthy have erected, and at great cost maintain, for the tending and the succour of those less rich in fortune's gifts. In Huddersfield and in its neighbourhood the successful and prosperous have not been heedless of the claims of the unfortunate nor deaf to the cries of the afflicted. The need for some institution where the victims of those accidents inseparable from the pursuits in which the great majority of the industrial population of the district are engaged must have been ever present to the eyes of the thoughtful and the charitable. In the year 1825, on the 26th of April, whilst the workmen were employed, at a height of fifty-one feet, in fixing the roof of the new Independent Chapel at Back-green, as Ramsden Street was then called, a plank of unusual length, without any support in the centre, suddenly broke, and seventeen men fell headlong into the body of the chapel, two being killed instantaneously, two lingering a few hours, and the rest being cruelly maimed. At that time a small Public Dispensary, established in 1814, constituted the public provision for casualties of this nature, and patients requiring careful and protracted nursing or skilled surgical treatment were perforce conveyed by coach or on drays

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sama s re **

to the Infirmary at Leeds. The calamitous event which sent to a sudden and awful death or condemned to pain and deformity men engaged in the very task of erecting a Temple to the God of mercy and love, appealed to the imagination and stirred the heart. It was determined to establish an Infirmary. At a meeting held at the George Hotel, on June 13th, 1828, under the presidency of Mr. Joseph Armitage, it was resolved " that the present building is not adequate for the wants of the sick poor of the district; it is the unanimous opinion of this meeting that the time is arrived when an infirmary should be erected on such a scale, and of such dimensions, as may be co-adequate with the resources and wants of the district, and that such infirmary should unite in itself the objects which are attained by the present dispensary," and the means were liberally subscribed. On June 29th, 1829, the first stone of the Huddersfield and Upper Agbrigg Infirmary was laid by Mr. John Charles Ramsden, M.P., and exactly two years later the doors of that noble institution were opened for the admission of patients. The following is the record of the first year's work :- No. of patients admitted into the house 220 137

No. of out-patients c.. 2,920 Average No. of patients at one time 20 Patients admitted with broken bones 18 Amputations | ... I 2

The cost of the original building was £7,500, a south wing was added in 1861 at a cost of £2,300 ; the north wing in 1874 at a cost of £6,000, and in that year a fund was established by Mr. William Brook, of Northgate House, to assist in sending to Buxton or Southport patients whose maladies required change of air or treatment. - Many others

have not been grudging in their response to the appeals necessitated by the noble work of the institution, a work

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4 I 2 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

constantly increasing from the growth of the surrounding population. In recent days the Infirmary, with the addition of the north and south wings, has become inadequate to the calls upon its resources. In the year 1897 the celebration of the Royal Jubilee was made the occasion of an emphatic appsal by the Prince of Wales for increased support to the London Hospitals. None knew better than the Governors of the Huddersfield Infirmary how pressing was the need, in their own case, of such increased support, and one may imagine the feelings of gratitude with which Mr. William Mallinson, the president of their board, read this letter, so brief, so unpretentious, so pregnant :--

Helme Hall,

Huddersfield,

31st March, 1897. Dear Mr.

I understand that £8000 is required to enable the Board of the Infirmary to carry out the necessary alterations and additions. I have much pleasure in enclosing cheque for this amount in commemoration of Her Majesty's long reign. With kind regards, believe me. Yours faithfully,

E. HILDRED CARLILE. To William Mallinson, Esquire,

President of the Huddersfield Infirmary.

The new building whose erection Mr. Carlile's munificence and humanity have made possible is to be called the Carlile Wing. In 1871 the Meltham Convalescent Home, the princely gift of the late Charles Brook, beautifully situate and so furnished and conducted as to be indeed a home for those worn by disease and painfully struggling back to health and life, opened its doors; and to another gentleman, Mr. George Brook, of Springwood Hall, the patients of the Infirmary owe the blessings of Medicated and Turkish Baths, opened in 1876. In the year 1896-7 381 convalescent patients were

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 4 I 3

transferred to the Home at Meltham, forty-nine were enabled to make some stay at Southport and seven were sent to the waters at Buxton. In the same period 946 house patients were treated in the Infirmary, and 30,216 out-patients attended at the Infirmary during the year. Much as the Infirmary owes to the beneficence of the wealthy, to congregational collections and to smaller subscribers whose numbers countervail the smallness of their contributions, it owes no less to the self-sacrificing services of a devoted body of honorary physicians and surgeons. Dr. was honorary physician for thirty- two years, Dr. William Turnbull for sixty years, Dr. William Scott for forty years, and Dr. J. S. Cameron since 1884. - For fifty-six years Mr. George Robinson was honorary surgeon, Mr. William Robinson for forty, Mr. G. W. Rhodes for thirty, and Mr. W. J. Clarke for twenty-five, and Mr. S. Knaggs is now in the thirty-fourth year of his connection in that capacity with this noblest of noble institutions. . The following gentlemen constitute the present honorary medical and surgical staff:-Doctors S. Knaggs, T. K. Clarke, J. S. Cameron, N. Porritt, I. Irving, J. W. Robinson, E. A. Wright, W. L. W. Marshall, and no words can adequately express the debt of gratitude owed by suffering humanity to those who have given freely their time and skill and care to the suffering poor. Mr. Frederick Eastwood has for more than 20 years acted as honorary treasurer to the Infirmary, and to Mr. Joseph Bate, who since 1879 has been its secretary, I am indebted for courteous assistance in the preparation of this brief account. The position of president of the Infirmary has since 1814 been occupied by the following gentlemen :-

Sir Joseph Radcliffe, Bart. 1814. Mr. Joseph Haigh, J.P. .. 1821. Mr. Joseph Armitage, J.P. 1836. Mr. James Campey Laycock ... 1861.

Mr. William Mallinson, J.P. ... 1885.

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4 I1 4 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

The latter gentleman, now full of years and rich in the affection and esteem of his fellow citizens, has been associated with the institution over which he now presides quite fifty years, a period during which he has displayed a keen and practical interest in every project which he has conceived to be helpful to the spiritual and intellectual life of the people, and in every institution designed to aid the poor and the afflicted. Space does not avail to enumerate and describe all the charitable institutions of Huddersfield and its vicinity. Among these none, however, does more useful and more unostentatious service than the Huddersfield Industrial Home, still known to many as the Ragged School. In 1861 Mr. Joseph Sykes, of Marsh House, built in Fitzwilliam Street a building in which young and destitute children _ were taught the rudiments of education free of charge, and care was taken that they should be decently clad and spared the sharp pinch of hunger. After the adoption of the Elementary Education Act there was less need to provide secular instruction even for the very poor, and the character of the work was changed. The school became a Home and is conducted on the lines of the celebrated Homes founded by Dr. Barnardo, and, like them, is dependent entirely on the support of the charitable. The object of the Home is stated to be the reclamation of the neglected and destitute children of Huddersfield and the surrounding district by affording them the benefit of a Christian education, and by training them to habits of industry, so as to enable them to earn an honest livelihood and fit them for the duties of life. There are now twenty-one children of both sexes and of varying ages in the Home under the care-one needs only to know the matron, to say the loving care-of Miss Bickerstaff. The following gentlemen were the first committee :-Messrs. Joseph Sykes, William

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 41 5

Mallinson, J. C. Laycock, William Hastings, Wright Mellor, William Wrigley, J. \V. Carlile, and with them were associated a number of ladies, of whom Miss M. M. Hirst acted as secretary and Miss Keighley as treasurer. An excellent institution, formed in March, 1884, called the Charity Organization Society, has for its object the assistance of the deserving poor and the repression of mendicity. Mr. William Brooke, J.P., is the president, Messrs. William Mallinson, J.P., and J. E. Willans, J.P., the vice-presidents, whilst Mrs. Adéle A. Clarke and Mr. Edward are the honorary secretaries. There are offices in Ramsden Street, and since the formation of the society upwards of eleven thousand applications for relief have been considered, the merits of each case carefully investigated and considered. During the past year 382 applicants were assisted with money, food or clothing, and work was found for thirty-seven. Others were referred to the Guardians and others were found undeserving of assistance, for the committee are pledged not to "encourage the drinkers and discourage the steady and industrious by spending money on families when the wage-earners waste their wages in drink, or squander them on other vices." In previous pages I have described at length the provision made at the Almondbury Grammar School for the sons of those parents whose poverty did not compel them to supplement their own earnings by sending their children to work when still of tender years. That school was founded in 1609. In 1721 the Slaithwaite Free School had its origin in an endowment by the Rev. Robert Meeke, which provided for the free instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic of ten scholars, two to be chosen from Golcar, two from Linthwaite, two from Lingards and four from Slaithwaite. The original value of this endowment was but £4 the year. In 1731 the revenues of the school were

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416 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

somewhat enlarged by the bequests of the will of Thomas Walker of Huddersfield, salter, who left the interest of a hundred pounds for the " upholding and maintaining of a school of good literature at Slaithwaite." In Huddersfield proper the most ancient foundation is certainly the institution now known as Fartown Grammar of which the Vicars of Huddersfield and of St. John are ex-officio Governors, and which enjoys from Holroyd's Charity an endowment that permits the creation of four assisted scholarships. The school dates back to 1770 and for many years a Mtr. Binns was head-master, and hence the school was in the earlier years of the century better known as Binns's School. The establishment was re-organized and the building enlarged in 1882, and under the headmastership of Mr. W. P. Yates, of London University, has established a good position among the institutions of the district devoted to secondary education. In the year 1731, William Walker of Wakefield, probably a native of Longwood, established or at least endowed the Lonawoop Grammar In Dewsbury Parish Church stands a monument recording a gift so

fruitful of good results :-

Here lyeth the body of Will. Walker late of Wakefield, Gent. Besides many distinguished acts of charity in his lifetime. By his will He left Four hundred pounds for a Free School in this town and T' wenty pounds per annum for a Free School at

Golcar in the Parish of Huddersfield.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 417

~ w- ~ mnm... ~

William Walker died August 21st, 1732, and his widow Dorothy, moved thereto perchance by her spouse's example, appears to have erected a school-house for the use af the master, or so one may infer from the legend on a stone nezr the entrance to the new school, but which formerly was

above the door of the master's house. It read :-

* The gift of Dorothy, the wife of William Walker." * Non ignora mali miseris succurrere disco."

1734. The appointment of the Headmaster was for many years

vested in the heirs of William Walker and their names have not been preserved. One Joseph Millar must have been, if not the first, among the first. He was, we learn from correspondence mentioned in Canon Hulbert's Azxmais of the Church in Slaithwaite, not only a good classic, but handled deftly the graver's chisel. The sun-dial on the south side of Longwood Parish Church records :-

Jos. Millar fecit 1749. Benj'n Hanson et Joseph Sayles refecit 1829 :

a lapse in grammar which would have mightily vexed the soul of Joseph Millar. An inscription now over the door- way of the school is said to have been graved by Mr. Millar:

Non operis famam poterit delere vetustas.

Other headmasters have been :-

The Rev. John Hadwin, M.A. 1798-1803. The Rev. William Robinson, M.A.... 1803-1822. Thomas Robinson - ... 1822-1865. Joseph Richardson | ... 1865-1868.

and the present headmaster,

Mr. John Edwin Bottom. In 1865 and again in 1878, the school was reorganized

under the provisions of schemes approved by the Charity Commissioners. Under these schemes the government of the school is placed on a more popular and representative basis, the premises have been enlarged at a cost of £3,000,

D - I

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418 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Noe

and six Free Scholarships have been instituted, tenable for two years at the school, by boys who have been educated in public elementary schools. Under the will of the late George Horsfall, of Acacia House, Quarmby Road, Hud- dersfield, the income from the sum of £300 is devoted to a scholarship to be called the " Horsfall Scholarship," and encouragement is given to the secondary education of the gentler sex by a scholarship at the Grammar School to be held by a girl, founded in 1896, by the will of the late Crosland Hirst, of Broomfield, Longwood, who for twenty years had been a governor of the school. The present chairman and vice-chairman are respectively Mr. John E. Ramsden and Mr. Arthur Broadbent. Probably from time immemorial private schoolmasters have competed here or elsewhere with the schools of a public or semi-public character. We have seen that when Mr. Coates was Vicar of Huddersfield, at the end of the last and beginning of the present century, he conducted a private school at the Vicarage. This was no doubt confined to the children of the wealthier parishioners. Another school, at Spring Grove, was carried on by Mr. Tattersfield, to whom succeeded Mr. John Thomas; another on Paddock Brow by Mr. Mowatt-where Sir William Broadbent, Bart., M.D., received his early instruction-and others, no doubt, in all the hamlets round, small seminaries where the boys and girls learned to write and " figure " after a fashion that must be the despair of the present generation. Space would utterly fail me to give an adequate account of the many excellent academies that have fostered the intellectual growth of the district; but no record of its educational past would even approach to sufficiency that omitted somewhat ample reference to the Huddersfield College, an institution differing from others of a similar nature, not only in its central position and in the number of its pupils,

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 419

but in that it attracted students from all those out- lying parts that seem so naturally to focus in the town they surround. Huddersfield College was founded in 1838, sixty years ago, and its design was stated to be the provision of a "course of instruction comprising the Greek, Latin, French, German and English Languages, Writing, Arithmetic, and Mathematics, and such other branches of General Literature and Science, as it might be deemed expedient from time to time to introduce, combined with moral and religious instruction based on the Holy Scriptures." The College was a proprietary school, formed by a body of shareholders, the capital being of the nominal amount of £6,000 divided into ten pound shares. The rules of the company were adopted at a meeting of the proprietors held in the Court House, on July 12th, 1838, and the first council of the College, which held its earlier meetings in the Counting House of Mr. David Shaw, appears to have consisted of the following gentlemen :-Messrs. John Sutcliffe, David Shaw, Joseph Milner, William Shaw, John Whiteley, William Greenwood, Thomas Pitt, R. G. Jackson, William Willans, Edward Lake Hesp, John Harpin, John Robinson, Frederick Schwann, Thomas Mallinson, the Rev. George Highfield, and the Rev. W. A. Hurndall. Mr. George Sargent was appointed first president of the council but does not seem to have accepted the post, which was in consequence conferred on Mr. John Sutcliffe, and was held in subsequent years by Mr. William Willans, Mr. C. H. Jones, Mr. Wright Mellor, and Mr. William Mallinson. The first principal of the College was Mr. William Wright, B.A., and among his successors were Dr. Milne, Mr. S. Sharpe, LL.B., Mr. H. Jefferson, M.A., Professor R. R. Hartley, Mr. J. F. Richards, and Mr. Symons. For many years the College in New North Road, a handsome stone edifice

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4.20 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

with quadrangle and a central hall, which to the writer looked much larger thirty years ago than it does to-day, continued to draw pupils in large numbers from the chief professional and commercial families of the neighbourhood, and many men now foremost in their various spheres of activity received at the College their entire scholastic training, and the least worthy of its a/zwm»xi acknowledges with the pen that has traced these pages the debt of gratitude he owes to the school of his youth. A rival institution to the College was for many years the Huddersfield Collegiate School, pleasantly situate at Clare Hill, and which preceded the College in point of time. It will probably surprise many "old boys" of the College and Collegiate to learn that the promoters of the former institution approached the patrons of the Collegiate with a view to a joint establish- ment, and that the agent of the Ramsden Estate hesitated to grant a lease for more than one proprietary school. The Collegiate never in numbers nor, I think, in academic distinction, attained the success of the later foundation. It was usually regarded as a church seminary and the College, though in constitution unsectarian, was usually affected by the sons of dissenters. The boys, oblivious of and certainly serenely indifferent to the sectarian jealousies that divided their sires, maintained a healthy rivalry in the, to them, more important domains of cricket and football. After the establishment of Board Schools, and when to send your son to a Board School ceased to be regarded as a confession of poverty or the herald of imminent bankruptcy, the College and Collegiate alike felt the pressure of the times. For a time they were amalgamated, but nothing could stave off the inevitable. The hall in Clare Hill was devoted to lighter arts than seem the groves of Academe, and the College buildings were acquired by the Huddersfeld School Board and

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 42 I

- ome ome .- come monome summoner - -m

opened in June, 1894, as a Higher Grade School for the continuation of the work begun in the elementary standards. The various institutions which I have mentioned rather than described, belonging to individuals or to companies, were not, of course, for the sons and daughters of the industrial classes. It was not the fees alone that closed the doors of these private schools against the children of working men. The dress and sometimes the speech of the poorer children would have excluded them, so much more potent is caste than principle in a town where the daughter of a cloth merchant has been known to refuse to dance in the same set of quadrilles with the daughter of a tailor. The Churches and the Chapels bore for many years the whole burden of educating the children of the working classes. Formerly, as we know, very young children laboured long hours m the mulls on week-days, and their only chance of learning the merest rudiments of education was to attend a Sunday School. In connection with the Parish Church, Jonathan Stanley, a shoemaker by trade, " a stout man with a brave, kind heart and consider- able common sense, but with no special faculty of imparting spiritual instruction," taught a mixed school on Sundays, first in his shop in Denton Lane, then over the stables in the Rose and Crown Yard. Stanley was paid three shillings a day for his trouble, and the sons of Mr. Coates, the Vicar, used to help him. In the Sunday School Memorial (1880), by the Rev. Dr. Bruce, are preserved two verses of an anniversary hymn remembered from his boyhood days by Mr. Charles Hirst, J.P., of Dalton Lodge, who attended Stanley's Sunday School in the Rose and

Crown Yard :-

Why do we on the Sunday meet At school, while others in the street Do run about and play ? It is that we may there be taught, And learn to read as children ought, While in their early days.

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422 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Oh ! see how many friends unite To teach us reading with delight, And make it all their care; They buy us books, their money spend, Give us their time, and will attend For our instruction there.

A composition from which it might be argued that the teachers intended that Heaven should not forget their sacrifices from any lack of due reminder.

The first building expressly devoted to the uses of a Sunday School appears to have been erected in 1812, when one was added to the west end of Highfield Chapel. Even then, however, the school was regarded as a provision of secular education for the children whose poverty or week- day labours debarred them from such instruction at other schools, the chapel trustees placing on record a declaration that the schools were intended for " children whose parents or guardians are either unable or unwilling to bear the expense of regular attendance at week-day schools," and further, "that no children who are in the habit of attending regular schools on week-days can be admitted, as it is contrary to the original designs of Sunday Schools and also to common equity and justice, to receive children who have the opportunity of getting a regular education, and, for want of room, keeping back numbers of poor objects who have no prospect of even being taught to read but at Sunday Schools." Other chapels followed the example of Highfield; the churches in time adopted a similar policy and Ragged Schools and National Schools-at Seedhill and in Northgate-furnished secular education throughout the week at a nominal cost. And thus, and chiefly thus, did the poor snatch crumbs from the ample feast of knowledge, till in 1870 the Elementary Education Act brought the means of culture within the reach of every child of the parent state, since which time

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 423

mmm om m tte: ~

the Sunday Schools now connected with every place of worship have changed their character, and teachers are no longer required to teach spelling and writing ; though some churches (eg.) the Friends' Meeting House, at Paddock, retain an adult school where the backward seek to retrieve the lost opportunities of their youth. ln the year 1841 a " few friends to popular education, who were desirous of affording to the young men of this town and neighbourhood an opportunity for the improve- ment of their mental faculties" formed an association that was called " Younc Mrex's Mentar ImnprRovEMENT SociEtTyv.'"" It numbered at first less than forty members and their place of meeting was in the British School, Outcote Bank. The young men of the town and neigh- bourhood were prompt to show their appreciation of the new institution, for by the end of the first year of its operations we find upwards of one hundred youths, of ages varying from sixteen to twenty-four, in attendance at the classes. _ The subjects of instruction were Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Grammar, Geography, Drawing, Design, and the French Language, and one sees in fancy the smile of indulgent compassion with which the modern Board School urchin peruses the curriculum that vexed the intellect of the young man of fifty years ago. In 1843, the number had grown to 182, possessing a small library, and the subjects of instruction now included elocution and vocal music, those who before had been content with the severely practical parts of knowledge now aspiring to its lighter graces. In 1844 there were 410 members on the books, a large number of them being © persons who previous to their entering this society, were unacquainted with even the first rudiments of knowledge. Six members of the society had not even learned to read, twenty could read a little but could not

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424 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Sm

write, fifty-six were not acquainted with the simple rules of arithmetic. Their ages ranged from thirteen to thirty." - The classes for Ornamental Design as applicable to manufactures were under the superintendence of Mr. Tomrinson, of the Huddersfield College and Collegiate Schools, and Mr. Schischkar, and the pupils in this class were chiefly artizans employed as fancy weavers, carpet weavers, woollen printers, painters, and joiners, and the committee of the had now assumed the title Mechanics' Institute-believed that this branch of instruction, which had been originated with a view of elevating the taste of the artizans engaged in the trade of the neighbourhood, would, in time, be the means of raising the manufactures of this locality to a level in taste and elegance with those of our continental rivals. About the same year, 1843, Mr. William Marriott, who has passed away since this work was commenced, began to teach a class in Chemistry, which the committee deemed of much importance in view of the "inferiority of our fabrics in beauty of dye and colour, to those of our continental competitors."" The following gentlemen constituted the first governing body of the institute:-President, F. Schwann; Vice-President, Joseph H. Walker; Treasurer, Samuel Holroyd; Secretaries, George P. Beaumont, John F. Brigg; Committee, Messrs. Foster Shaw, Samuel C. Kell, Henry Lumb, David Johnstone, Samuel Haley, William Dyson, John Agar, John Aspinall, Thomas Carter, James Sykes. Mr. David Johnstone, though more than fifty years have passed since he served on that committee, still retains a keen interest and takes an active part in educational work, and Mr. John Fligg Brigg, the youthful secretary of half-a-century ago, is now a Justice of the Peace, President of the Huddersfield Technical College, and has more than once been Mayor of the town of Huddersfield. Sic itu» ad astra.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 425

such then, down to the year 1870, was the provision, apart from proprietary schools, for the elementary and in some measure the technical education of the town, and it may be added that in Lindley, in Lockwood, and Holmfirth there were also Mechanics' Institutes founded at various periods. In that year the Elementary Education Act was placed upon our Statute Book, a measure proving more fateful than any battle England has ever waged, than any revolution our history has witnessed, than any charter our records enshrine. The first School Board was elected on February 6th, 1871, and consisted of one lady, Mrs. Edward Huth, and the following gentlemen: Henry Barker, Edward Brooke, Rev. W. B. Calvert, M.A., J. A. Crowther, J.P., John Dodds, Charles Glendinning, William Marriott, Wright Mellor, J.P., D.L., James Priestley, William Schofield, William Sykes, and the Rev. L. I. Wells, The election was hotly contested between the parties of sectarian and unsectarian education, and since that time there has been a triennial trial of strength between those on the one side who approve of definite and dogmatic religious instruction presumably on Catechismal lines, and those on the other who seek to limit the religious instruction to the teaching of Bible History and Gospel morality. Up to the present day the Undenominational candidates have always obtained a majority on the Board, the ratepayers being largely tinged with dissent and possibly suspecting that a majority of Churchmen might perceive a duty divided between the church schools and those of the public at large. The Board has not been sparing of the public purse, nor construed its powers and responsibilities in any narrow spirit. Its buildings, of the splendid stone of the district, designed with artistic taste, and many of them standing on sites of great natural beauty, have not merely an exterior

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426 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

that delights the eye, but are within so devised and so | equipped as to safeguard the health, secure the comfort and supply the needs of the scholars who attend them. It must indeed in many instances be true that the young children hear the school clock chime the hour for closing study with regret and leave reluctantly the comfortable class- rooms of their daily studies for the less alluring tenements they call their homes. The following schools had, at the time of the last triennial report, been erected and were conducted by the Board :

Date when opened. Accommodation. Almondbury Sep., 1875 | ... 433 Beaumont Street Aug, 1874 - ... 972 Berry Brow Nov., 1875 | ... 578 Brierley Wood April, 1875 _ ... I 20 Crosland Moor April, 1877 _ ... 532 Deighton May, 1874 - ... 4.09 Goitfield, Longwood ... 1884 317 Hillhouse Aug., 1878 | ... 898 Moldgreen Aug., 1876 - ... _ 1080 Mount Pleasant Aug., 1875 _ ... - 1520 Oakes Jan. 7, 1873 _... - 1093 Outlane 1887 329 Paddock Aug., 1884 _ ... 686 Spring Grove Dec., 1880 _ ... - 1143 Spring Street July, 1886 I 74 Stile Common Aug., 1876 _ ... 806 Spark Hall, Longwood 1888 278

And in addition to the schools, which since 1891 have been open to all children of proper age without fee or charge, the Board have erected in Peel Street, near the Town Hall, handsome offices at a cost, inclusive of the site, of £8,753. In 1892, a sub-committee of the Board, appointed to consider the desirability and feasibility of providing a Higher Grade School, visited similar establishments at

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

mome - mmm coum «-- ~- mmm oue me tive mementoes sme sme minor = nage: ar omote e

Leeds, Hull, and Birmingham, and reported that a Central Higher Grade School was very desirable, and that the Board should take the first favourable opportunity of providing one at a moderate cost. It so chanced that in the year 1893 the Huddersfield College closed its gates, and the company that had for so many years done a noble work was in liqudation. On November 20th, 1893, the Board resolved to purchase the College premises at the price of £5,000, and a further sum of £4,000 was expended in altering the internal arrangements of the building and adapting it to its new purposes, room being required for 532 pupils, if the Pupil Teachers' Central Classes be included. The school was opened in June 14th, 1894, by Mr. J. E. Willans, J.P., Chairman of the Board, and at a public meeting the Right Hon. A. H. D. Ackland, M.P., Vice-President of the Council on Education, spoke. The subjects of instruction in this school are of an advanced and a comprehensive character-the Classics, Mathematics, and Science. Some 250 boys and about 200 girls attend the classes, and how thorough is the work and how exacting its standard may be estimated when I say the pupils are led to the very threshold of the great Universities of our land, and many are now graduating in those illustrious seats of learning who took their first draught of the Pierian Spring in the elementary schools established by the Board. The Head Master is Mr. R. Montgomery, B.A.,; the Head Mistress, Miss Laura E. Green; and both at this and the elementary schools, graduates, dis- tinguished in arts and science, teach children whose fathers and mothers were fain to learn the alphabet and tables at a dame's or the Sunday school. There is a reverse side to every picture. All this has not been accomplished but at great cost. In the year ending August 31st, 1873-I omit the first two years when

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428 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

the Board had scarcely settled to its work-the amount received by the Board from the rates was £4,000, involving a rate of 4%d. in the pound. In 1895 the amount had increased to £19,000, entailing a rate of 11$d. in the pound ; but I believe the general sense of the ratepayers is that the money is well spent, that they are proud of the schools and of the teaching and of the teachers, and bear with patience the sacrifices for which they see so manifest and so good a return. It is not, I trust, improper to add that of those who have laboured most earnestly in the cause of popular education, Mr. William Marriott, Mr. Charles Glendinning, Mr. Joshua W. Robson, the Rev. Dr. Bruce, Mr. Thomas Shaw, and Mr. James E. Willans, have borne a conspicuous and persistent part; nor should I conclude this brief sketch without expressing my thanks to Mr. George Gaunt, the courteous Clerk of the Board, for his assistance in placing at my command the necessary statistics and other information. The following gentlemen have been chairmen and vice-chairmen of the Board since its formation :-

Mr. Wright Mellor, Chairman from February, 1871, to February, 1874, and from February, 1877, to July, 1879. Mr. William Marriott, Vice-Chairman from February, 1871, to July, 1879, and Chairman from July, 1879, to February, 1883.

Mr. C. H. Jones, Chairman from February, 1874, to February, 1877.

Mr. C. Glendinning, Vice-Chairman from July, 1879, to February, 1883.

Mr. J. W. Robson, Chairman from February, 1883, to April, 1894. Rev. R. Bruce, M.A., D.D., Vice-Chairman from February, 1883, to February, 1886; from December, 1890, to February, 1892; and Chair- man from February, 1895, to the present time.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 41429

Mr. T. Shaw, Vice-Chairman from February, 1886, to February, 1889. Mr. E. Brooke, Vice-Chairman from February, 1889, to December, 1890. Mr. J. WV. Shaw, Vice-Chairman from February, 1892, to February, 1898. Mr. Jas. E. Wiullans, Chairman from April, 1894, to February, 1895.

The Church of England has not been content to see the education of its young disciples pass to the hands of a Board that may or may not be composed of devout sons of its own communion. - Zealous churchmen have struggled against overwhelming odds to attach the children of their parishes to schools conducted by their own nominees and in a manner they themselves approve. That there should be a distinct school in connection with the Roman Catholic Church of St. Patrick was, of course, to be looked for ; but that the several flocks of the Protestant fold should not be able, even yet, to reconcile their differences and to agree upon a method of religious teaching acceptable to all Protestant Christians is, I venture to predict, an enigma that will baffle the judicious student of a century hence. The existence of such differences bas entailed heavy sacrifices upon churchmen. Associated with the church of nearly every parish a school has been erected, maintained largely by private subscriptions subsidized by Government grants. There are thus twenty-two Denominational schools with forty-three departments, providing education for some six thousand children. When it is considered that the number of children on the rolls of the Huddersfield Board Schools is but some ten thousand, it will be manifest how much more grievous would be the School Board rate were the whole burden of elementary education transferred to the community at large; and even those who oppose most

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4.30 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

violently the candidature of sectarian aspirants for seats on the Board might reflect with advantage on the relief the ratepayer enjoys in consequence of the scruples and convictions of the church party. On the 5th of October, 1859, the foundation stone of a new Mechanics' Institute, to accommodate the members of the original institution at Outcote Bank, was laid by the Countess de Grey and Ripon, and among others present on that occasion was Mr. W. E. Forster, whose name thereafter was to be so honourably and imperishably associated with the cause of popular education. The classes at that time were ninety in number, with 780 scholars under 51 teachers, of whom twenty were paid and the rest gave their services. A library had also been founded, Sir Robert Peel had contributed generously to the purchase of suitable books, and a Penny Savings' Bank had been inaugurated in connection with the Institute on lines suggested by Mr. Charles William Sikes, and which were subsequently adopted by the Postmaster General in founding the Post Office Savings' Bank, Mr. Sikes receiving the honour of knighthood many years later as a somewhat tardy recognition of his services to the cause of thrift. The education given at the Institute in Northumberland Street was still mainly of an elementary character, upwards of 500 out of the 780 pupils above- mentioned being occupied, we gather from a report, in learning to read, in acquiring a knowledge of the first four rules of arithmetic, and in being taught to write a plain legible hand. From 1860 to 1884 the Mechanics' Institute was carried on in Northumberland Street, but during the later years of that period a fundamental change had become necessary in the character of the instruction imparted. The Board Schools had usurped many of the original functions of the Institute, enlarged views of the meaning of the term education, a more intimate acquaintance with con-

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 4 3 I

Se mame acm . _ R _

tinental methods and possibly the increasing pressure of continental competition, had accentuated the demand for more advanced and more scientific instruction. In 1876 the President of the Huddersfield Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Edward Armitage, had publicly expressed the growing sense of a need for greater and better facilities for the acquisition of technical education. It were wearisome and profitless to record in detail the steps that were taken to supply this want. Their outcome was the Technical College in Queen Street, erected at a cost of £20,000, opened in September, 1884, by the Duke of Somerset, and now in course of an extension that will nigh double the original accommodation, so eagerly have the youths and maidens of the town and neighbourhood sought the many and varied advantages of a college that affords to students the most advanced every facility for pursuing scientific, classical or commercial studies under teachers of experience and distinction. The subjects include, in addition to those ordinarily comprised in a liberal education, the application of chemistry to dyeing, scouring and bleaching, the application of drawing to machine and building construction, pattern designing and its application to the loom and other branches of the textile trades. The Worshipful Company of Cloth Workers, impressed, no doubt, by a course of education so obviously directed to the needs of a great manufacturing community, not only contributed £2,000 to the Building Fund but continue an annual grant to the expenses of maintaining in efficiency and activity the work of the College, and the merchant princes of Huddersfield and its vicinity, mindful of the great rewards that have attended their own application to the staple industry, have vied in generous emulation of an example so nobly set. It may, one trusts, be not invidious to single out the gift

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432 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

by Sir Joseph Crosland, of the sum of £5,500. The following gentlemen constituted the first Board of Brooke, J.P., President; Edward Armitage, J.P., J. F. Brigg, Vice-Presidents ; Joseph Bate, Edward Brooke, Thomas Walker Brooke, Joseph Crosland, W. R. Haigh, Henry Lister, Joseph Lowenthal, William Marriott, Wright Mellor, James Priestley, Benjamin Schofield, John Sugden, G. W. Tomlinson, Governors; Enoch Heppenstall, Honorary Treasurer; and George Thomson, Honorary Secretary. The Mayor of Hudders- field, the Master of the Worshipful Company of Cloth- workers, London, the President of the Huddersfield Chamber of Commerce and the Chairman of the Hudders- field School Board and Board of Guardians are ex-officio Governors. The great increase in the population of this district, the magnitude and variety of the enterprises in which they win, some wealth, some but the means of existence, have been accompanied by the institution and development of the means of communication with the outer world. High- ways and turnpikes along which the coaches dashed and the heavy laden waggons droned have been supplemented by canals, along which the barges glide in monotonous silence ;* the canals in turn have been robbed of most of their traffic by the fleeter and more costly railroads. The postal service, the telegraph service, the telephone service have made the of intelligence all but as quick as thought. Industry has increased wealth; wealth and comfort have been accompanied, as ever, by an increase in the population, and increased population has developed enormously the amount of our industries. Such is the ceaseless play of the economical and natural forces of social and industrial life. In 1801 the population of Huddersfield was little over seven thousand souls. A century later it

* The canal tunnel under Standedge, which took eight years to excavate, was finished April 4th, 1811.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 433

mnm

will be nearer a hundred and twenty thousand. The valleys of the Colne and the Holme have within that century seen little hamlets grow into communities that in other countries, nay in other counties, would be regarded as important towns. They are no longer villages; they are not yet municipalities. Yet in population, in rateable value, in public institutions, and in civic enterprise and intelligence, such places as Holmfirth, Meltham, Marsden, Slaithwaite, Golcar, are towns in all but the name, governed by district councillors, possessing their own schools, and happy in an enjoyment of municipal advantages only chequered by vistas of increasing rates. Vast factories have displaced the small water-mills that did the " country-work " of sixty years ago. A writer better versed than I must tell the story of that great industrial growth, that vast commercial revolution. It were a romance of itself to tell how in Huddersfield such firms as the Martins have created a new Lindley ; the Taylors a new Newsome, the Learoyds set the town spreading out its arms with fresh vigour to Bradley ; how at Deighton co-operation* in manufacture as well as in distribution has been essayed with success under the spell of George Thomson's enthusiasm ; how in Meltham a world-known firm whose name is mentioned by the poor only to be blessed, have fixed their reputation as high in commerce as it is eminent in good deeds ; how in Slaithwaite and in Marsden the Spinning and Mill Companies that bear the names of the villages they have enriched, have gathered to their service hosts of operatives that are themselves a population. Since the introduction of machinery worked by steam, and since Cobden, Bright, and Villiers gave the people bread, the story of the rise and progress of this district is an almost unbroken record of victory joined to victory. There have

* "©The History of Co-operation in Huddersfield and District,"

by Mr. O. Balmforth (1895), renders unnecessary any account of the great part played by Co-operation in the social and material develop-

ment of the neighbourhood. E -I

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434 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

been occasional checks to this triumphant march. At times the relations between employers and employed have been strained, at times, unfrequent and at long intervals, there have been serious ruptures. Noticeably was that so in 1883, a year which will long be remembered as that of the Weavers' Strike. There had been in 1880 a local and limited trial of strength at the mills of Messrs. Taylor and Littlewood. A fund had been formed by the operatives during that contest, and when the strike was finished it was determined to establish a Weavers' Association. The terms of subscription were low-fourpence per annum from each member; but there was the more serious undertaking to submit to a levy in time of need. For some time the association, whose secretary was Mr. Albert Shaw, himself a weaver, conducted its operations with success. At that time there was no sort of uniformity in the rate or scale of wages paid in different mills. - Every employer conceived that he knew best the kind of cloth he made and at what rate he could afford to pay the men and women he engaged. The employers were not united in any association and for a time the tactics of singling out an individual manufacturer and insisting on higher wages in his mill under threat of a strike, in which the operatives could be kept out indefinitely by a levy on the whole district, and so, as it were, by adding precedent to precedent enhance the general rate of wages, were successful all along the line. The secretary of the Weavers' Committee, Mr. Albert Shaw, perhaps became too conscious of a power to which he was not used. At all events, it is said, his language to the employers with whom he had from time to time to treat, was not always that of sweet reasonableness. The idea too of any sort of outside intermeddling, even from a chosen agent of the men, was less familiar than now and even when a millowner suc-

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 43 5

cumbed to demands backed by the Concert of Weavers, to adopt a modern expression, he did it with black and bitter thoughts. At length the Huddersfield Woollen Manufacturers and Spinners' Association was formed, Mr. Joseph Crowther, of Marsden, and Mr. Alfred Sykes, of Brockholes, being active in its institution. A uniform scale of great comprehensiveness and complexity was drawn up by Mr. William Schofield, accountant, the secretary of the Employers' Association, and on March 26th, 1883, it was posted on the walls of most of the mills of the district. An open-air meeting of the men was held at the Tower at Longwood, to consider the new scale. Mr. Ben Copley, the president, and Mr. Allen Gee recommended the men to work for a time under the new scale and learn by experience how and to what extent it would affect their weekly earnings. But the men found it hard to believe that the masters' scale could mean anything but a blow to themselves. As a matter of fact, I am informed that the scale effected a reduction of 20 per cent. on the wages paid in those low woollen mills where good wages had obtained, but that its effect was to increase the wage of those engaged on the more expensive "cuts." It has had also another effect, at the time but dimly foreseen. Coupled with changes in the looms, it has largely increased the employment of young women in the mills, so that

whereas, twenty years ago, of a hundred weavers sixty were men and forty women, the proportions are now reversed. After the meeting at the Longwood Tower the operatives generally struck work, and for twelve weeks the strike continued with all the wearisome and distracting accompani- ments of demonstrations-one memorably on Castle Hill- newspaper leaders, letters from well meaning but uninformed correspondents, public subscriptions and so forth. The pinch of poverty was soon felt by the men. They were

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436 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

ill-prepared for such a contest. They had but £200 in hand, and though outside help to the extent of £1,200 came in, what was that among so many ?> But from the first day to the last there was no violence. The methods of the Plug-Drawers were scouted-a little booing, a little calling of names and conferring of epithets-save for these the men and the women waited and suffered in silence. Many efforts were made to bring the hostile parties together; there was a conference in the Town Hall at which trained and practised speakers were confronted by the unskilled and maladroit representatives of the men. It broke up without result. Then at length the Mayor, Alderman John Fligg Brigg, urged the men to give the scale a trial ; another conference was arranged, some slight modification of the scale was made in the men's favour, and work was resumed. During the continuance of the strike some of the manufacturers had established works at other places; Messrs. Martin and Messrs. John Taylor, for instance, at Halifax; Messrs. Armitage Bros. and Messrs. George Brook and Son at Bradford ; but this transfer of the sphere of great operations has been only partial and where permanent has not been due to the strike alone. It may be hoped then that those who still refer to 1883 as the Spaniard may be assumed to think of the year of the Armada speak with as little knowledge as authority. With the exception I have referred to at a length not unwarranted by its importance the whole district to whose history these pages are but a contribution, has rejoiced in the sunshine of a great and sustained prosperity, and a prosperity so securely based both on the natural riches of coal and water, in the midst of which its people toil, and in the faculties native and acquired of the people themselves, that we may believe with just confidence that it will not merely endure but enlarge.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 43"

Nor have the founders or proprietors of great industrial concerns themselves alone basked in the prosperity that capital and labour have combined to bring. If the suburbs of the town display the wealth and taste of the capitalists, not less do the homes of the industrious artisan establish that no stinted measure of the fruits of toil has fallen to the hands of labour. New North Road, the Kensington of Huddersfield, is adorned by mansion after mansion, standing in ground limited in area, but kept with care and decked by all the resources of the gardener's art. Within, costly upholstering, rare pictures and statuary, books chosen with judgment and richly bound, and those instruments by which Cecilia soothes the savage breast, make manifest that those whose wealth is spun by the spindle and wrought upon the loom have a refinement and culture that long descent and territorial power once arrogated as a monopoly natural and indefeasible. Education has won its way to the hall and to the cottage. The humblest boy in our midst may aspire and aspire not vainly to wear a mitre or grasp the rudder of the State. There is no eminence that a subject may reach that is not now open to the son of a poor man if ability be wed to application and to character. The century, too, has witnessed not merely a marked advance in the facilities and spread of education. The general morals are purer, sweeter, the general manners more refined. The police records indicate a steady but gratifying amelioration in the drinking habits of the people. In the year 1869, the number prosecuted in our Police Courts was 598 in a population of seventy thousand. In the year 1896 there were but 252 from a population increased by fully one half. Nor is this to be attributed to any lack of vigilance or laxity of construction on the part of the police, the present chief- constable, Mr. John Morton, yielding to none of his pre-

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438 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

*

decessors, in zeal and ability. It may be sought rather in - the untiring advocacy of temperance principles, in the efforts of such men as Mr. Fred Sykes, Mr. James Henry Firth, and other agents of the various Temperance Societies, in the lessons inculcated by the Bands of Hope, and in the change, the noticeable change, that on platforms devoted to the advocacy of total abstinence, has substituted sober arguments and rational discourse for the extravagance and buffoonery that for many years were associated with Temperance oratory. The efforts of those engaged in the labour of Temperance Reform might and ought to be supplemented by a Police Court Mission, such as has done inestimable service in the London and some provincial courts, and the modest beginnings of which may be found and fostered in the work, not yet fully and officially recognised, done in connection with the Huddersfield Borough Courts by Mr. John Calverley, the agent of the Huddersfield Temperance Society. The sports of the people have changed, and changed for the better. The theatre and the music hall have supplanted the prize ring and the cockpit. Football and cricket are the games of rich and poor alike. There is perhaps a danger in these piping times, when freedom is assured, and plenty is neither unknown nor showered

with partial hand, that the young men with whom so largely the future rests, will abandon themselves too entirely to sports that after all should be but distractions, and make of recreation the serious purpose and absorbing thought of their lives. There is too great an indifference to serious problems in the young mind that knows only by distant rumour and stale report the sacrifices by which our fathers won the blessings we now enjoy ; but we may well believe that in the hour of trial and when need may be the native character will assert itself, and that, under that

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 439

blessing without which we cannot stand, the sons and daughters of those who have enriched and ennobled this district by their labours will know how to prize the heritage they receive at their fathers' hands, and to maintain _ undimmed the glorious traditions of the past.

Page 474

APPENDIX No. I.

THE ELLAND FEUD.

An entry in the Assize Rolls of the year 1353, whilst establishing beyond cavil the main incidents of the Feud, necessitates some qualification of the narrative of the text.

The following is an extract from the Rolls :-

Deliberatio gaeol Castri Ebor. facta ibidem coram Willelmo Basset et sociis suis Justiciariis domini Regis de gaolam illam deliberandam assignatis die Jovis in festo Sancti Jacobi apostoli anno Regni Regis Edwardi tercii post conquestum Angliae vicesimo septimo et Franciae quarto decimo. Q5 h or:! } Robertus del Both de Holmfirth et Ricardus frater ~" *) ejus manens in Holmfirth, Mattheus de Hepworth de Hodersfeld Thomas Litster de Almanbury et Rudulphus de Skelmanthorp capti pro eo quod receptaverunt Willelmum de Lokwod et Adam Beaumond qui felonice interfecerunt Johannem de Eland chivaler apud Holmfirth Almanbury et Skelmanthorp scientes ipsos feloniam praedictam fecisse et esse utlagatos . . . . . Edmundus de Flokton pro eo quod receptavit Adam de Beaumond apud Flokton sciens ipsum esse utlagatum pro mortem Johannis de Eland chivaler felonice interfecti . . . . . Thomas Molot de Wakefield capto pro eo quod manutenuit Thomam filium Thome Lascy qui felonice interfecit Johannem de Eland chivaler et de eo quod dedit eidem Thome filio Thome x1 solidos argenti post praedictam feloniam factam sciens ipsum fecisse dictum in manutancione praedicti Thome fili1i Thome . . . . ._. unde coram Milone de Stapleton vicecomite Ebor. indicati sunt venerunt per vicecomitem ducti et per justiciarios singulatim allocati qualiter se velint de praemissis sibi impositis acquitare dicunt singula- tim quod ipsi in nullo sunt culpabiles de feloniis praedictis et de hoc de bono et malo ponunt se super patriam. Juratores de hoc electi et jurati dicunt super sacramentum suum quod praedicti Robertus del Bothe et omnes alii in nullo sunt culpabiles de feloniis praedictis nec unquam retraxerunt se occasionibus praedictis Ideo consideratus est quod praedictus Robertus del Bothe et omnes alii sunt inde quieti. Public Record Office Refererence : Assize Roll :

N : }1 29

Membrane 17 in dorso.

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 44 I

Deliberatio gaole Castri Ebor. facta ibidem coram Thoma de Seton Johanne Moubray et Rogero de Blaykeston Justiciariis ad gaolam illam deliberandam &c.

Q6 [J ors \ Johannes de Shellay capto pro indictamentum factum ' * ) coram Petro de Nuttle nuper vicecomite Ebor. de eo quod ipse receptavit apud Brighous Willelmus de Lockwod Adam Beaumond et alios qui felonice interfecerunt Johannem de Eland chivaler post praedictam factam scienter de felonia venit coram praefatis Justiciariis per vicecomitem ducti, &c., as before. See Proceedings of the Yorkshire

Archzological Society, Vol. XI., p. 128.

From these extracts it appears that Robert del Bothe of Holmfirth, Richard his brother, Matthew de Hepworth of Huddersfield, Thomas Litster of Almondbury, and Rudolph de Skelmanthorp were indicted at York for sheltering William de Lokwood and Adam Beaumond, knowing them to have killed John de Eland and to be outlawed : Edmund de Flokton was also indicted for sheltering Adam de Beaumond, Thomas Molot de Wakefield, for assisting Thomas Lascy and giving him forty silver shillings. John de Shellay was also indicted for sheltering William de Adam Beaumond and others at Brighouse. The jury found the prisoners " Not Guilty" and they were discharged.

A pillar now standing in a field belonging to Mr. Taylor of Salendine Nook, and known as Haigh's Cross, which is popularly supposed to commemorate the Feud, bears the

inscription :-

Quarmby's de

Quarmby Crest

I 304. To the late Councillor John Haigh of Lindley, we owe it that this ancient monument has not shared the fate of so many other relics of the past.

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442 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

APPENDIX No. IL.

ALMONDBURY PARISH CHURCH.

Since the earlier portions of this work were confided to the printer, some alterations of great beauty and no slight cost have been made in the interior of this church. The steps of priest and penitent now fall upon a pavement of Italian marble, the steps to the altar are in symbolic colours : the black marble denoting Sin, the red the crimson stream in which that sin is washed away, and the white the stainless purity of the redeemed. This transformation of the church, necessitating some trespass upon the Kaye and Beaumont Chapels, was designed by Mr. Hodgson Fowler, the eminent ecclesiastical architect and has been made at the cost of Mr. Thos. Brocklebank of Liverpool, the father of the Rev. J. W. R. Brocklebank, B.A., Curate at Almondbury Church. A screen at the West End, elegantly wrought and finished, has been erected by Mr. C. T. Armitage, J.P., of High Royd, in memory of his mother.

Page 477

LIST OF AUTHORITIES.

Annales 2. 2. . ae 2. c. _ Tacitus Annals of the Church and Parish of Almondbury .. ._ Hulbert Annals of the Church in Slaithwaite 2. 2. ._ Hulbert Annals of Yorkshire 2. a a .._ Mayhall Ancient Sessions Notes .. . .. j Turner Book of Remarks 2. 2. Win. Horr Brief Account of Pole Moor Chapel .. a .-- Lewis Burton in the Past .. .. . 2. .. - Collins Caesar's Commentaries .. Camden 2. 2. 2. .. . 2. 2. Celtic Britain .. .. 2. .. .. .. Rhys Collectanea | .. .. .. .. .. .._ Holroyd Curiosities of Literature .. a .._ Disraeli Diary .. 2. .. a Rev. R. Meeke Domesday Book Ecclesiastical History _.. . 2. .. Bede English Archzological Handbook 2. .. .. Goodwin Event Book | .. . - Oliver Heywood Glossary of the Dlalects of Almondbury and Huddersfield .. - Esther Historical Account of the Luddite Trials . .. ._ Cowgill History of Ancient Abbeys .. 2. .. . - Stevens History of Halifax .. 2. 2. .. 2. - Watson History of Halifax 2. 2. 2. .. .. Crabtree History of Holmfirth _ .. .. . 2. Moorhouse History of Huddersfield 2. 2. 2. .._ Hobhirk History of Huddersfield a a .. O. Balimforth History of Meltham - .. a .. .._ Hughes History of Salendine Nook Chapel .. 2. 2. Stock History of the Factory Movement ._. .. 2. Croft History of the Great Rebellion .. . 2. Clarenden History of Wool and Woolcombing . .. .. _ Burnley Home Words-History of Huddersfield .. .. G. W. Tomlinson Huddersfield Subscription Library a .._ G. W . Tomlinson

Journal of the Yorkshire Topographical and Society Law Reports-Appellate Series ..

Memorials and Annals of Paddock 2. e . -- Weints Memorials of Edward Brooke - .. .. e .. Lord Memorial of Highfield Chapel _.. .. 2. 2. - Bruce Old Stories Re-Told - .. a 2. . Thornbury Old Yorkshire .. 2. .. 2. e Smith

Origins of English Hlstory &. a . . Elton

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444 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Pedigree of the English People ..

Pharsalia e .

Poor Law Registers for the Huddersfield Umon Records of Woodsome Hall Richard of Cirencester.. Saxon Chronicles, The .. Short History of the English People

Slaithwaite MS. Social England

Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII Subsidy Roll of Richard II. The Golden Fleece . The Huddersfield Chronicle The Huddersfield Exammer The Leeds Mercury

The Triads

Tour Through Great Brltam

Vita Agricolz

Walks Round Huddersfield Yorkshire Catholics

Yorkshire Notes

Yorkshire Notes and Quer1es-Artlcle on Klrklees

._ Nicholas L ucen

Miss Ferrand

. Green J - E Freeman T raill

. (Anon.) Art. by " Idem"

. Art. by "Native"

Defoe Tacitus Phillips . _ Peacock Dodworth S. J. Chadwick

Yorkshire Notes and Queries- Article on St. Mary's, Honley

Yorkshire, Past and Present Yorkshire Pedigrees

M. A. Jagger Baines Foster

Page 479

I N D E X .

Ackroyd, derivation of name .. Act of Toleration, Provisions of Aetius, petition to Agbrigg, derivation of name .. Akroyd, Edward . Allen, Benjamin Halorh Almondbury, a Saxon Settlement Almondbury, Constable of Almondbury, Court at Almondbury, derivation of name Almondbury, descent of manor of Almondbury, dyehouse at - .. Almondbury Grammar School, Rev A Woodhead at Almondbury in Domesday Book | .. Almondbury in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII Almondbury in Subsidy Roll of Richard IIL. Almondbury, Market at . Almondbury, Methodism at .. Almondbury, Papists in . Almondbury Parish Church .. -. . Almondbury Parish Church, division of sittings at Alm>»ndbury Parish Church, extracts from Register Almondbury Parish Church, foundation of

Page. 2 338 30 2 372 388 . 32 63, 252 63 .. 3 45 et s2q. 64 238 42 IO4 88 216 356 229 157 134

.. I21 and seq. 108, 109 and seq. Almondbury Parish Church, other churches derived from Almondbury Parish Church, Tithes and other property

I 32

116, 117 and seq.

Almondbury, Rectors and Vicars of Almondbury, Rendezvous at .. Altar Roman, discovery of Ambulance Society Ancient Britons.. Appleyard, John -. Apprenticeship, System of . Archzological Society, Explorations by, at Slack Armitage, John .. . Armitage, John, founder of Armytage famlly Armitage, of The Armitage Armitage, Walter Armitage, William Armytage, Captain Armytage, Sir George ..

II8, 119 231

4 402

7, 9, I0, II, 24

71 304 16 7I 169 71 383 301, 302 294 243

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446 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Page. Artizans' Dwellings .. .. 2. .. 2. . .. - 400 Atkinson's Mills, fire at 2. 2. .. 2.0 317, 318 and seq. Atkinson, of Bradley Mills .. 2. .. a .. .. 269 Aulnager, the _ .. 2. 2. .. 2. 2. .. _ 80 Baptist Churches of Dlstrlct .. .. a 2. = 344 Bateman, Rev. Josiah, Vicar of Huddersfield 2. . ._ 148 Bath Buildings Baptist Chapel .. .. a s+ = 344 Baths, Public _.. 2. 2. .. 2. .. 2. 2. 405 Batley, Joseph .. ._. .. 2. a a . {. 393 Beaumont, Adam de - .. .. 2. .. 2. e .51I, 52 Beaumont, family of _.. . a a .. _._ 184 Beaumont, Humphrey . . 2. 2. 2. 2. 71 Beaumont, H. F. 2. e 2. 2. 2. 2. 383, 397 Beaumont, John . 2. 2. 2. .. . 2.00 71 Beaumont, John _. .. . 2. . . 2.00 71 Beaumont, of Whitley, in civil wars.. 2. . a 2. 231 Beaumont Park .. .. 2. 2. .. 2. 2. IQ2, 405 Beaumont Pedigree - .. 2. 2. .. 2. _._ 185 et seq. Beaumont, Richard, will of _.. 2. 2. 2. 2. _._ 187 Monuments of .. 2. 2. a e 2. .. _ 189 Beaumont, Sir Richard .. . .. 2. 2. .._ 176 Beaumont, Sir Robert .. 2. 2. .. .. 2. «+48, 49 Beaumont, Sir Thomas, in civil wars .. .. .. .. _ 190 Beaumont, William - .. . . 2. 2. 2. e 71 Bell Horses, the.. 2. 2. 2. . . .. _._ 261 Bellmont Robert de .. . . . . 2. cy, Bilberry Reservoir, Bursting of 2. 2. a 327 and seq. Binns's School .. . .. .. .. 2. 2. _._ 416 Birchencliffe, derivation of name - .. .. a . .. 2 Birkby, a Danish settlement .. 2. .. .. 2. 2. 33 Birkby, derivation of name _.. . .. 2. . 2. 2 Blackburn, John .. 7I Blackburn, John, K.G... 365 Blackley Baptist Chapel . . .. .. <. 344 Blackmoor Foot, Celtic remains at _.. . 2. .. 2. 4 Blackmoorfoot Reservoir 2. .. .. 2. 2. c. ~ 403 Boothroyd, derivation of name 2. . 2. 2. 2. 2 Boothroyd, Rev. Benjamin - .. . .. . . . 349 Bradley, a Saxon settlement .. ©. .. .. S ey Bradley, in Domesday Book .. .. 2. 2. {. - 42 Bradley in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII 2. 2. 2. _._ 103 Bradley Mills 2. . . 2.20 275 Bradley, Population of .. 2. 2. sk .. ._ 146 Breuc1, The 16

Brereton, Green. . ©. ©. -. . . . _ 50 Brierley, Mr. Collmgwood . . . . 2. 2.20 272

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HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 44"

‘‘‘‘‘ annonce me oem - P " o i

Page. Brigantes .. e 2. .. 2. 2. . 2. I, 2, 5 Brigg, John Fligg 2. 2. . a 2. 2. s. - 436 Britons, Ancient .. 2. 2. 2. 7, Q, I0, II, 24, 25, 26 Brockholes 2. .. 2. 2. a 2. 2. . I Brook & Son's Bank -.. 2. a 2. e 2. 2. - 2092 Brook, James | .. 2. e 2. 2. 2. . c. _ 250 Brook, William . . 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 41 Brooke, Charles 2. 2. a . 2. 2. c. ~ 412 Brooke, George.. 2. 2. 2. . 2. 2. c. ~ 412 Brooke Family The, some account of . . 2. {2 3735 Brooke, John Arthur _.. 2. 2. 2. . 2. {20 375 Brooke, Squire .. C. 2. 2. 2. . . .. 360 Brooke, Thomas 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. {. 71 Brooke, Thomas 2. . i. . . . {. 0375 Brooke, Thomas 2. 2. . 2. 2. 2. 383 Brooke, Thomas of Gate-house, of Newhouse . . 150. 151 Brooke, William O. i. . . 2. . {2 3735 Brougham, Henry .. . 2. 2. S .. ._ 362 Brow Grains, Drudical Stone at .. .. 2. 2. 2. 4 Bruce, Rev. Robert 1. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. {. 352 Brunswick Street Chapel 2. .. . 2. . el 357 Buckstones, Celtic relics at | .. l. 2. 2. 2. {20 3. 5 Bull-baiting 2. 2. . a . 2. 2. 257, 258 Burials in Woollens | .. 2. 2. e e e 2. -_ 82 Buxton Road Chapel .. 2. a . . . c. _ 356 First Trustees of _.. 2. . .. 2. . . 356 Trust Deed of a 2. . . 2. .. e- 357 First Ministers of .. . . k 00. . e 357 Byron, Arms of . 2. a 2. ._ 1356 Byron Family, Lords of Huddersfield . . . ct: Byron, Richard de, Lord of Huddersfield .. 2. 2. 2. 57 Caesar, Julius, in Britian 2. .. 2. 2. 2. {. ~ 7, 8 Calder, derivation of name 2. 2. .. 2. C. 2 Calverley, John .. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 438 Cambodunum .. .. . a 2. e .. c. 3, 16 Cambodunum, Church at 38, 39. 315 Camul | .. 3. 5 Canon Hall 51 Carlile, E. H. e .~ 412 Cartwright William . 276 278 and seq. Castle at Almondbury .. 7I Castleford & » I 3 Castle Hill 2, 4, 435 Castle Hill, castle on <. . 60, 62, 63 Celts, The I, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 27, 28

Celtic weapons, discovery of ..

3) 4

Page 482

448 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Page. Cemetery at Huddersfield I 50 Cemetery, Huddersfield 390 Chad's St. . 2 Chancery Lane, why called 2. ~ 249 Chantry of Holy Trinity, and of the Blessed Vlrgm 139, 140 Charity Organization Society 415 Chartists, The .. 209, 301 Cheetham, John 371 Child Labour _ .. 304, 319 Christanity, Teaching of ey, Church Rates .. 390, 391 Church School . .. 429 Cistercian Order, The ». 159 Civil Wars, Beaumont, of Whltley, in 231 Civil Wars, Col. Legge in 201 Civil Wars, local participation in 228 et seq. Civil Wars, Sir John Ramsden 215 Civil Wars, the Kayes in the .. 198, 199 Clarke, Rev. Mr., Vicar of Huddersfield 148 Clayton, arms of 156 Clayton, Henry .. 337 Cliffe, Mr. . 272 Cliffe, Wm., Charlty of -. 352 Cloghes, John del, Lord of Huddersfield 57 Cloth Finishing . 273 Cloth Hall, The . 217 Cloth Workers, Worsh1pful Company of 431 Clough House Mill 268 Coaches, list of .. 259 Coaching accidents 262 Coach roads | .. ». ». 6 ® -» 262 Coates, Rev. John, Vlcar of Huddersfield ». ». » . ee - I45

Cobden, Richard . College, the Huddersfield

and seq.

372

Collegiate School, the .. 420 Colne, derivation of name ° 2 Colne Valley Division, the Political Electlons in . 382 Congregationalists, rise of the 2. . . <- 345 Congregational Chapels ». ». -. -. . oo = 353 Constable, Appointment of .. 385 Constable of Huddersfield, The 251, 252 Co-operation 433 Copley, Ben 435 Corn, price of 263 Corn riots ». ». ». 6. ». <. 264 Cottiers, The - .. 6. 6 . 6 . 6 . o e o o oo _ 4§

Page 483

HIUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Court Leet, of the Manor Court Leet, Manorial .. Court Leet at Slaithwaite 2. Court for Recovery of Small Debts .. Cowper, Edward Criminal Statistics Cromwell, Bottom Wood Cromwell, Oliver

Crook, Rev. Harcar, Vicar of Huddersfield

Crosland, in Domesday Book . Crosland, in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII Crosland, in Subsidy Roll of Richard IL Crosland Hall Crosland Hall Crosland, James Crosland, of Linly Crosland Moor Workhouse

Crosland, Rev. Geo., Vicar of Almondbury. .

Crosland, Rev. Geo. Crosland, Sir Joseph Crosland, T. P. .. Crosland, Thomas Pearson Crossland, Sir Edward .. Crowther, Joseph .. Cupwith Hill, Celtic remains at Cudworth, John.. Cruthill, early cross at .. Dalton, a Saxon settlement Dalton in Domesday Book

Damelvill, Colinus de, sub-feoffee of Huddersfield

Danes, Evidences of settlements by . Danes, incursions of the Danes, Gods of .. Dartmouth, Earl of Dartmouth Family, Pedigree of Dean, Dr. Edwin Deanhead, Kennels at ..

Deer Hill Deerhill Reservoir Defoe's Tour . Deighton, a Saxon settlement Deighton, population of

Denby Grange .. Denham, Alderman Thomas..

Dewsbury, Mother Church at

Dewsbury, Pensions to Mother Church at ..

F- I

449

Page. 7 I 384 195 256 7I 437 50 233 144 43 1IO5 ~> - 93 48, 51 256 272 157 409 119 .._ 176 373. 374 302 373 48 435 3 7I 37 32 43 56 33 33 34

143 202 et seq.

268 62

I, 4 403 267 32 14} 195, 200 403 37 109

Page 484

450

Comme

Diggle, derivation of name Dispensary, Public Dixon, Jenkyn Doe Hill .. . Domesday Book Dress of a century ago .. Druids - .. Druid Altar . Education in early days Edward I., Inquisition of Edward III., Inquisition of . Edward III. fosters woollen industry Edwin, King, conversion of ©. lections of Huddersfield and Districts lections, Political, recent results at lectric Light, introduction of lizabeth, Inquisition of a lland Edge Baptist Chapel .. lland Feud, (see Appendix).. lland, Sir John de _ .. Ellis, Edward, Junior .. . Examiner, Huddersfield, the Factory Acts, agitation for Factory Acts, meeting at York on Factory System, introduction of Fairfax, Thos., appeal by Farnley, derivation of name .. Farnley in Domesday Book Farnley-T yas Farnley, Tyas family at

t to t to to to t

Farnley Tyas in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII.

Farnley Tyas in Subsidy Roll of Richard IIL. Fartown Grammar School

Fartown, population of Fenay Hall

Fenay, Nicholas . Fenay, Wm. de, tomb of Fenton, Capt. Lewis Fenton, Edgar .. . Fenton, Samuel, monument to Feudal services .. Finchenden family Fire Brigade Firth, J. H. Fixby, a Danish settlement Folly Hall Fight

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Page.

410

145 257 71 120 363 363 R 153 67, 68

193 401 438 33 293

Page 485

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Fortune, altar to Fortune, Invocation of Fox Royvd Free Library | .. Gas Company, Huddersfield Gaunt, John of . Gee, Allen

Gerrard Gilbert, owner of Huddersfield Glendinning, Alderman Charles Glendenning, Rev. John Goderich, Viscount | .. Golcar Baptist Chapel .. Golcar Church . . . Golcar, early gratlon of the Cross at Golcar in Domesday Book Golcar, population of .. . Greenhead, Gen. Oglethorpe at Greenhead, owner of, fined as malignant Greenhead Park Guardians, Chairman of Board of Habergam, Joseph, evidence of Haigh, Alderman Armitage Halifax Grammar School Halifax, storming of Halifax, wool drawers of Hall, Charles Hanson, George Henry Haughton, John . Helen, St., Chapel of .. Hellawell, W. P. Hepworth, Adam de . High Flatts, Celtic weapons at Highfield Chapel Founders of Trust Deed of Highroyd, derivation of name

Hill, Rev. Edmund, Vicar of Huddersfield

Hirst, John

Hirst, Thomas, of Greenhead petition of ..

Hirst, William, of Leeds Hobson, Joshua Hole- House Holme Moss 2. Holmes, Rev. Henry VVllcock Holmfirth, assessment of Holmfirth Division, political elections in

307 and seq.

451

Page.

405 398 I 435 59 399 352 372 344 389 37 43 I 46 243 233 405 409

4009 173 232 83 183 391 269

173 272

b Qi L rH J

344/345 58 382

Page 486

4 52 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

es mme.

Huddersheld, local government of Huddersfield Local Government Huddersfield Market, charter of Huddersfield Markets .. Huddersfield, Mayors of

385 and seq.

392, 397. 398

Page. Holmfirth Flood, the .. -. 327 Holmfirth Mechanics' Institute ». a 425 Holmfirth, in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII. 106 Holmfirth, in Subsidy Roll of Richard II. .. 99 Holywell Green Baptist Chapel 344 Honley, a Saxon settlement .. 32 Honley, faculty for celebrating mass at 133 Honley in Domesday Book .. 43 Honley, in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII 105 Honley, in Subsidy Roll of Richard II. 95 Honley, John Wesley at 355 Honley, Nettleton of .. 234 Honley, penance at 125 Honley, Richard of _ .. 58 Honley, Waley Lord of e y, _ Hood, Robin _ .. 52, 53, 167 Horsfall, of Storthes Hall 2. <. 234 Horsfall, William 274, 275, 281, and seq. Hoyle House - .. . 239 Hoyle, Sic Thomas, M. P 239 Huddersfield, advowson of I4 I Huddersfield, assessment of . 58 Huddersfield, Banking Companles at ». 388 Huddersfield Board of Highway Surveyors 388 Huddersfield Borough Debt .. 406 Huddersfield Cemetery . 150 Huddersfield College .. ° 415 and seq. Huddersfield Collegiate School . 420 Huddersfield, commencement of Church extension in 146 Huddersfield Commercial Bank 201 Huddersfield, corn riots at 264 Huddersfield, deed of conveyance of ». »} 211, 214 Huddersfield, descent of manor of 45 et seq., 56 et seq. Huddersfield Improvement Act 389 Improvement Commissioners . 390 Huddersfield, Incorporation of, Petition for 389 Huddersfield in Domesday Book - .. 42 Huddersfield, in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII 103 Huddersfisld, in Subsidy Roll of Richard IL. 86 Huddersfield in 1800 .. 245 Huddersfield, John Wesley at 257

251 216

396

Page 487

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Huddersfield Mechanics' Institute Huddersfield, origin of name ..

Huddersfiel

Huddersfie

Huddersfiel Huddersfiel Huddersfiel

d, panic at

d, Papists in 2. d Parish Church ..

d Parish Church, benefactions to

d Parish Church Registers

Huddersfield, petition for peace Huddersfield Pindar

Huddersfiel Huddersfhe!

Huddersfhe

Huddershel Huddersfiel Huddersfiel Huddersfiel Huddersfiel Huddersfiel

d, population of

d, public buildings in d, purchase of . d, Rateable Value of when incorporated

d School Board

d Short-time Committee, the

d, steps towards incorporation ..

d Subscription Library, founders of

d, the Young Pretender at

Huddersfield, tithes of ..

Huddersfiel Huddersfie] Huddersfie] Huddersfiel

d Vicarage, former value of

Huddersfield, vicarage house .

Huddersfeld Watch and nghtlng Commlssmners

153 and seq.

d Town Council, first members of d Vestry d, vicars of..

453

Page. 423 32 296 . 229 134 and seq.

157

27/4 387 1453. 155 256 59 397 425 and seq. 320 393 .. 270 242, 243 I 36 395 C2 - 384 142, 143 138, 140, 145 I 48 386

Huddersfield Woollen Manufacturers' and Spinners' Association 435 Huntingdon, Countess of

Hyde, Rev.

Hypocaust

Robert Roman, discovery of

Imperial Hotel ..

Inclosures

Independents, the Industrial Home Infirmary, Huddersfield . Physicians and Staff of .. Inglham's Bank .. Ireland, Union with James's, King, Grammar School Governors of Head Masters Scholars of . Jenkins, Rev. D. Wllton Jesus, College of, at Rotherham Johnson, General Jones, F. RK. Jones v. Stannard

204 343 15 249 218 345 414. 415 . and seq. 413 201 269 . . 172 and seq. 181 182 183

243 I IO

366 226

353

Page 488

454 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Justices of the Peace, early Kaye, Anthony . . 2. Kaye, Arthur, of Woodsome 2. Kaye, Arthur Marriage of.. Kaye, Arthur Kaye Chapel Kaye, Dame Anne Kaye, Dr. John, monument to Kaye, Elizabeth Kaye, John 2. Kaye, John (of the Cross) Kaye, Jonn (of Thorpe) Kaye, Laurence, acquires Woodsome Kaye motto . Kaye, of Woodsome, Famlly of Kaye, of Woodsome, Pedigree of Kayes, of Woodsome, in civil wars .. Kaye, Sir Arthur Kaye, Sir John .. . e 2. Kaye, Sir John, resists repeal of Laws against Papists Kaye, Sir J. L. 2. Kaye, Sir John Lister .. Kaye, Robert _ .. Kaye, William .. Kaye, William, wounded in civil wars Kean, Rev. Mr., insubordinate Kepasst, Dame Joan Kirkburton, a Danish settlement | .. Kirkburton in Subsidy Roll of Richard II Kirkburton tributary to Mother Church Kirkheaton, a Danish settlement Kirkheaton Church, monument in Kirkheaton in Domesday Book 2. Kirkheaton in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII Kirkheaton in Subsidy Roll of Richard II.. Kirkheaton, Rector of . Kirkheaton, Rector of, expelled . I Kirkheaton, Rev. Christopher Richardson, Rect01 of Kirkheaton, Rev. Richard Sykes, Rector of Kirkheaton tributary to Mother Church Kirklees .. Kirklees, endowments of Kirkless, Lady superiors of Oath of Kirklees, Priory of

.. 159 and seq.

Page. .~ 254 387, 398 120 194 199

173 129, 131

I 30 I 52 I 3I 7I 7I 7I 193 I 3I .. - 184 I9Q4, 198 234 129, 130 236 241 200 173, 176 7I 230 133 162 33 QI LO9

33 189

43 105 q2 64 235 120 I 20 ._ 109 32) 53 163 162 162

Page 489

HUDDERSFIELD AND

Kirklees, survey of Kkilham, Rev. Alexander Inight's Fee, nature of Labourers, Statute of ..

Laci Fee, descent of Laci, Ibert de

Lacis, the, patrons of Hmondbury Parlsh Church

Lacy . Lancaster, Earl of Lascelles Hall

Lascelles Hall, the Rev. C. Richardson at..

Lead Poisoning .

Learoyd and Compam Leeds Road Learoyd, derivation of name .. Leatham, Edward Aldham Leeds Mercury, the Legge Family, the Legge, Hon. George, marriage of Lewisham, George, Viscount .. Lighting, early

Lindley, Church of St Stephen at ..

Lindley, derivation of name Lindley, forestalling at 2. Lindley, in Domesday Book .. Lindley Mechanics' Institute .. Lindley, population of.. Lindsay, W. A. .. Lingards, a Danish settlement Lingards, derivation of name.. Linthwaite 2. Linthwaite, a Danish settlement Linthwaite Church Linthwaite, derivation of name Linthwaite Hall Linthwaite, Matthew de Local Boards, Conflicts between Local Preachers . Lockwood Baptist Chapel Lockwood, Church of Emmanuel at Lockwood, derivation of name Lockwood, John Lockwood Mechanics' Institute Lockwood, of Lockwood Lockwood Spa .. Lomas, Rev. Thomas .. Longley Hall

ITS VICINITY.

455

Page. 166, 167 358 56 2604 45 et seq. +49, 45 {. - 50 54 256 236 404 433 2. 2 372 et seq. 320, 364, 367, 369 201 I 3 I 200 254 389 2 264

42 425 146 373 33 2 239 33 389 2 256 49 392 359 344 388

7 I 425

404 343 257

Page 490

456

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Longley Hall, owners of a Longroyd Bridge, Luddism at Longwood, derivation of name Longwood Gas Company Longwood Grammar School .. Longwood, population of Longwood Reservoirs .. Longwood, Roman altar at Longwood Tower Lucan - .. Luddites, the Lytherwythe, custom of Machinery, introduction of Mails, the Royal Mallinson, William Manchester

Manufacturers' petition against Factory Legislation Markets at Almondbury and Huddersfield..

Market, Huddersfield .

Marsden, a Saxon mark Marsden, derivation of name .. Marsden, E. and J. Taylor of.. Marsden, Hunting ground at . Marsden in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII Marsden, Military at Marsden Mill Company . Marsden on Inquisition of Edward III Marsden, population of Marsh, population of .. Marsh, Prosecution Society .. Mass, celebration of, at Honley Martin, Messrs., of Lindley Mechanics' Institute Meeke, Rev. Robert _.. a Mellor, George, the Luddite .. Mellor, Wright.. Meltham, a Saxon settlement Meltham, armed preparations at Meltham Baptist Chapel

Meltham, birth-place of Rev. A. Woodhedd

Meltham Convalescent Home Meltham, curate of insubordinate Meltham in Domesday Book.. Meltham in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII Meltham in Subsidy Roll of Richard II. Meltham, Mr. Broom, the curate of ..

and seq.

412, 413, 414

.423 and seq. 430

Page. 209 276 2 387 416 146 402 4

435 IO

. . 68, 69

273 261

I3 321 216

392 32 2 274 67 107 275 433

146 143 255 133 433

415 276 397 32 242 344 238 412 133

43 106

199

Page 491

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Merry-Dale mill Methodist Chapels Midgley, Thomas .. Milt Kmg's, at Almondbury Mills, former Milnes, J. J. . . Milnsbridge Baptist Chapel . Milnsbridge House Milton Church . . Mirfield, advowson of, orranted to Kirklees . Model Lodging House . Monasteries, dlssolutlon of Moorhouse, Rev. William, brief account of Morton, John, Chief Constable Morton, John Moss, Abraham .. Municipal Buildings - .. Murlin, Rev. John, the " Weepmg Prophet i Naylor, Rev. Thos., Vicar of Almondbury .. Netherthong, a Danish settlement Netherthong Wesleyan Chapel Nettleton's Charity, Trustees of Nettleton, Chas., of Honley .. Nettleton, Robert, Charity of Nettleton, Robert, monument of New Connexion of Methodists New North Road Baptist Chapel Nonconformity, local history of Norman Castles, description of Normans, invasion of the North, John | .. . North, Wasting of the.. Oakes Baptist Chapel .. Oastler Richard Old Bank Chapel .. Oliver, David, of Lindley, fined Olroyd, derivation of name _.. Oswald, St., Priory of, patron of Huddersfield Ottiwells .. Pack horses . Pack Horse Inn, the .. Paddock, All Saints' Church at Papists in Huddersfield Parish Parks, Public Parratt, Thomas, monument to Patrick, St., Church of

64, 70 72 164,

271, 392,

354) 355»

320 356,

2735,

457

Page. 268

359 387

268 404 344 256 354 168 400 172 348 401 438 356 406 356 I 20 33 356 177 234 176 177 358 344 337 61 40 7 I 44 344

, 367

358 264

I 32 285 261 261 388 220 409} I 52 389

Page 492

458

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Paul, St., Church of Paulinus, mission of Penance .. . -. Pike-Law, Celtic remains at .. Pitkeithly, Lawrence Plug riots Pole Chapel, origin of .. Pole Moor Baptist Chapel Pole Moor baptistry Police of former days .. Police Stations .. Poor Law, Act for rellef of Poor Law Burdens Poor Law Riots Poor Law Union formed Poor-rate Population, present Posidonius, exploration of _ .. Post Office, first, at Huddersfield Pretender, the resistance to Provisions, early price of Provisions, price of Pule Hill, Kistvaen at .. Pytheas, expedition of .. Quarmby, a Danish settlement Quarmby, Agnes de Quarmby, arms of Quarmby, assessment of Quarmby, contumacy at Quarmby Hall .. Quarmby, Hugh of _ .. Quarmby, in Domesday Book

Quarmby, in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII.. . Quarmby, in Subsidy Roll of Richard II. ..

Quarmby, Margerie de Quarmby, Stapleton of Queen Hotel e . Queen Street Chapel, opening of Queen Street Chapel .. Radcliffe, of Milnsbridge Radcliffe, Sir Joseph Ragged School .. ». Ramsden Estate, Agent of Ramsden family, account of .. Ramsden, family of Ramsden, John ..

Page.

388

35, 39

301,

57,

. 282, 285, 288,

125

308 299

209

Page 493

HUDDERSEFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. +59

Page. Ramsden, John, of Longley, marriage of _.. . . . [£9 Ramsden John, as Royalist _.. . 2. a 2. s. 231 Ramsden, John Charles, M.LP. 2. . . . c. 411 Ramsden, Sir John, purchases Manor of Huddersfield 2. el 55 Ramsden, Sir John 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. o 2.0 I43 Nlamsden, Sir John, monument to _ .. 2. .. 2. poy Ramsden, Sir John, at Selby .. . 2. 2. . 2.20 234 Ramsden, Sir John, resists repeal of laws against Papists 241 Ramsden Street Chapel, accident at 2. 2. 2. c. _ 410 Ramsden St. Chapel, Trust Deed of 2. a . 20 353 Ramsden v. Dyson, case of 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. .. 220 Ramsden William 2. 2. . . 2. 169, 176 Ramsden, William, purchases advowson of Huddersfield c. _ 142 Ratclifte, John .. O. 2. . . . . _._ 270 Rates, School Board _.. 2. .. 2. 2. . 2. ~ 428 Rawfolds, . 2. 2. .. 2. .. 276 278 and seq. Rayner le Fleming . .._ 160 Raynes, Rev. Gabriel, Vlcar of Axlmondbury and Huddelsheld 146 Recreation Ground, Public .. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2.0 405 Reform, agitation for .. 2. a a 2. 2. 2092, 295 Rehoboth Baptist Chapel . . 2. . 2. {. 344 Richard II., Subsidy Roll of .. . . 2. o 85 Richard, Rev. Mr. 2. S 2. 2. a c. _ 346 Richardson, Rev. Chrlbtopher 2. 2. 2. 2. 120, 235 Riding School, the 2. 2. 2. ._ 256 Rishton, Rev. Edward, Vlcar of Almondburs 2. a .. - 120 Robert, St. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2.0 159 Rolf the Norman 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. c. - 40 Rollitt, Sir Albert .. 2. . . . 2. c. ~ 39 7 Roman altar at Slack .. 2. . . 2. 2. I 4 Roman camp, construction of 2. 2. . . e Roman Camp at West Nab _.. . 2. . . e Roman roads | .. 2. . . 2. . 2. e: Roman rule ir Britain, manner of _.. 2. 2. 2. o I 2 Romans, withdrawal of . a 2. 2. 2. oce Royd House 2. . 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. - 195 Saddleworth, a Saxon Settlement . S 2. C. 2 32 Saddlewortb, forest of . l . . . Cl a 2 Sadler, Michael Thomas 2. . 2. 20 3635 Salendine Nook Baptist Chapel, foundatlon of = .. a . 337 Salendine Nook Chapel, covenant of communion .. 2. c. ~ 340 Salendine Nook Chapel, founders of.. 2. 2. . 20 341 Salendine Nook Recreation Ground .. . . . _._ 405 Saxons, arrival of a . . . . . c. - 30 Saxon Settlements, evidence of 2. i o c.31, 32

Savile, Sir William, defence of Leeds by _.. . c. 231

Page 494

460 HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Page. Scammonden, population of ... 146 Scape Goat Hill Baptist Chapel 344 School Board, Huddersfield .. 425 Schofield, William 435 Schools, Church 429 School, Coates's 145 Schools, early I 70 Education of 171 Schools, Grammar .. 172 School, Higher Grade .. 427 Schools, National 388 Schools, some private .. 418

Schools, Sunday . 2. . 2. . .421 and seq.

Scot de Rotherham, Archblshop IIO Serf, grant of | .. .. .. .. _ 164 Short Time Commlttee The Huddersfield .. 2. .. _ 320 Silent Woman, The - .. ». .. .. 2. 2. .. _ 196 Slack . . . -. ©. 2. 2. 2. c. 4, 13 Slack, Roman altar and camp at | .. .. I4, I5, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 Slaithwaite Baptist Chapel -.. a 2. 2. 2. 2. = 344 Slaithwaite, derivation of name -. .. 2. 2. a 2 Slaithwaite Free School 2. 2. c. ~ 415 Slaith waite in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII a 2. .._ 107 Slaithwaite in Subsidy Roll of Richard II.. 2. C. .. _ 100 Slaithwaite, Manor House at .. . .. . 2. _._ I95 Court Leet at ». -. -. .. 2. 2. . _ 195 Slaithwaite, manor of litigation for .. 2. 2. a c. _- I93 Slaithwaite, population of | .. . 2. a R c. _ 146 Slaithwaite Spinning Company 2. 2. i. 2. 2. 433 Slaithwaite, the Cucking Stool at | .. .. 2. 2. 20 257 Slaithwaite, tenant right in _.. 2. .. a 2. .._ 207 Slaithwaite, Tyas family at _.. 2. .. 2. 2. c. _ 193 Smith, Thomas, the Luddite .. .. .. 2. 2. ._ 276 Society of Friends -. e a 2. 2. 2. . 264 Somerset, Duke of .. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. c. - 219 Stag Hill.. .. . .. 2. 2. . . e I Stanedge . ». 2. . . 2. 2. . I Stannard, Rev J T -. 2. a 2. 2. 2. {- 353 Stansfield, W. R. C. .. 2. . 2. 2. 2. 370, 371 His Chief Supporters | .. a 2. 2. . {. 371 Stapleton, Thomas - .. . a 2. 2. . _._ I4O Starkey, Joseph .. .. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2.0 372 Starkey, Thomas . . a 149, 347, 365 Staynton, Elizabeth de, Prloress of Klrklees 2. 2. .. - 161 Stephens, Rev. J. R. .. . . . . 2. . 369

Stock, Rev. John . . . 2. 2. 2. 337, 343

Page 495

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Storthes Hall | .. . Storthes Hall, Horsfall, of _ .. Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII. .. Subsidy Roll of Richard II. Sugden, J »hn Sweyn, Saxon owner Sykes, Alfred Sykes, Fred Sykes, Joseph -.. . . Sykes, Rev. Richard, Rector of Klrkheaton Sykes, Rev. Richard

Talbot, Robert, Huddersfield church formed to ..

Tattersall's School Taylor, Alderman John _. Taylor, E. and I., of Marsden Taylor, Messrs., of Newsome. . Technical College, the.. Temperance Efforts .. Tenant Right Case, the Huddersfield Theatre, first Theatres, former Thomas, Rev. John | .. Thomas, St., Church of Thomson, George . Thornhill in Domesday Book Tomlinson, G. W., tribute to. Town Hall . Trades' Unions, Blackburn on Tramcar Accident Tramway Service Triads, the Trinity Church .. Turner, Joseph . Tyas. family of .. .. Tyas, John, owner of Slaithwaite Tyes, H »nrv, Lord of Slaithwaite Tyl>r, Wat, rising of .. Upper Thong, a Danish settlement . Uther, Pendragon - . Venn, Rev. Henry, vicar of Huddersfie d 2. Vickerman, Francis Villeins Volunteers, the ..

Wages, early . 2. Wages in Woollen Industry 2. Wakefield, Michael de, vicar of Huddersfield

IO2, 85,

146,

143. 342, 345

44} 45. 67 68, 69, 80

461

Page.

257

234 107

I OI 383 44 435 438 414 I 20 235 1 36 250 272 274 433 431 438 219 249 257 343 149 433 43 I 58 406 363 400

399 IO

388 393 IQ2 1Q3 53 85 33 32

273

243 65 265 I 36

Page 496

462

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Richard, Lord of Honley Walker, Benjamin, the Luddite Walker, Dr., discovery of antiquities by Walker, Messrs., of Lindley .. Walker, Thomas Walker, William Walton, Edward Warren, Earl Water Supply Waterworks, early . . Watson, the Rev. Mr., discoveries by Weavers, early .. Weavers from Brabant Weavers. Hand-loom .. Weavers' Strike, the Wesleyanism, rise of local Wesleyan, offshoots from Buxton Road Wesley, Rev. John 2. Wesiey John, at Huddersfield West Nab, camp at - .. 2. Whitacre, of Whitacre Mills.. Whitacre, John .. 2. . Whitehead, Abraham, ev1dence of =.. Whitfield .. Whitley-Beaumont, mansion of Whitley in Domesday Book ..

Whitley in Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII.

Wilberlee, Tyas family at Wildboarley a .. Wilkinson, John, of Greenhead Willans, William William the Conqueror Wolfstones . A Wood, Captain joeeph Wood, family of Longley

Wood, Rev. Joshua, pastor of Salendme Nook Chapel

Wood's, of Longroyd Bridge . Woodhead, Rev. Abraham Woodhead, Joseph Woodhouse Church Woodsome Woodsome, Celtic remains at Woodsome, description of Woodsome, manor of, grant of Woodsome manuscript Wool, early price of

. .379 and seq.

Page. +47, 53 276 o 4, 15 266 416 416 248 47 402 252, 253 2. I4 .. 78, 84 77 266 <+ 434 354 355 359 143, 204 257 13 269 388 313 143 185 43 1IO4 193 . I I5I, 156 371 40 I 363 209 342 276 238

146, 388

Iq2, et seq., 257

3 207 193

194 65

Page 497

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Wool, exportation of . Wool, superiority of Yorkshire Wooldale, derivation of name Woollen, Burials in . 2. Woollen Industry, statutes protecting

Woollen Manufacturing, early evidences of Further history of..

Wormall, Israel, charity of House of Trustees of .. Yates, \V . P.

Yeomanry, Huddersfield Corps of York

York, Factory Reform TVIeetmor at Young Men's Christian Association ..

243. 244, 293

403

Page. 268, 269 269

2. 32 . 81, 83

gut

R ()3 74, et seq.

I 78 1 78 I 80 416

I 3 323

Page 499

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

Ainley, Hefford, The Knowle, Kirkheaton. Allen, Benj., 52 Trinity Street. Allison, Thos., Milnsbridge. Anderson, J. C., Park Drive. Anderton, Wm., J.P., Elm Bank, Cleckheaton. Arlom, Joel, Jackroyd. Armitage, Ed., Beaumont Park Road. Bailey, D. J., Yorkshire Bank Chambers Bamford, E., 44 Oakes Road, Lindley. Bamforth, B., Linthwaite. Barber, B. T., Higher Grade School. Barrett & Barrett, King Street and New Street. Bateman, A. F., Glenholme, Gledholt. Bates, J. Ed., Thornhill Road Bates, Robt., Platt House, Slaithwaite. Baxter, S8. A., Higher Grade School. Baxter, Ned., Linthwaite. Beadon, F. W., Major, Estate Offices. Beal, W. J., B.A., 25 Park Terrace. Beaumont, Albert, Richmond Avenue, Fartown. Beaumont, C. H., Corn Mills, Slaithwaite. Beaumont, Dan, Mount Havelock, Longwood. Beaumont, E. A., 28 Queen Street. Beaumont, Fred, Town Gate, Marsden. Beaumont, L. Rev., Green Bower, Marsden. Beckwith, F. E., Woodthorpe. Beckwith, J. B., 44 King Street. Bedforth, Geo., Cedar Grove, Edgerton. Beever, Jno., Northgate. Berry, C. L., Royds Terrace, Linthwaite. Berry, J., 9 Queen Street. Binns, Jno., 10 Kirkgate. Blackburn, W., Royd Street, Slaithwaite. Blamires, Henry, Leeds Road. Blamires, J., Fartown. Booth, F. B., 14 Westgate.

Page 500

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Boyd, H. J. Rev., 3 Park Crescent, Sheffield. Bradley, J. T., 153 Church Street, Paddock. Bray, E., 22 Bath Street. Bray, J. A., 12 Chancery Lane. Bridgewood, E., Albion Street. Brierley, C., Beech Street, Paddock. Brearley, Jno., Sunny Bank, Longwood. Brierley, J. P., 7 Wentworth Street. Brierley, Miss Lucy A., Wesley House, Slaithwaite. Brierley, Stanley, Wesley House, Slaithwaite. Brigg, J. F. Ald., J.P., Greenhead. Briggs, J. E. Rev., Elmsleigh. Broadbent, Coun., Lindley. Broadbent, J., Kirkfield House, Kirkheaton. Broadbent, N., 40 Beech Street, Paddock. Brook, A., Moorbottom, Cleckheaton. Brook, D., Marsh. Brook, E., 7 Water Street. Brook, Ed. F., 19 John William Street. Brook, Jno., 266 Moorbottom Road. Brook, N. K., Clevelands. Brook, T., Armitage Buildings. Brook, T., South Parade. Brook, Tho., 2 Wood Street, Longwood. Brook, Wm. & Sons, Dyeworks, Slaithwaite. Brooke, E., J.P., Fieldhouse. Brooke, J. Ald., J.P., Rein Wood. Brooke, J., 3 Wood Street, Longwood. Brooke, Jno. A., J.P., Fenay Hall. Brooke, Thos. Col., J.P., Armitage Bridge House. Brooke, T. W., J.P., Fieldhead, Mirfield. Brooke, Wm., J.P., Northgate Mount, Honley. Bruce, E. J., Mount Royd, Marsden. Bruce, Robt., General Post Office, London.

Buckley, Mrs., Ryecroft Hall, Andershaw, nr. Manchester

Butterworth, Frederick J., Board School, Deighton. Butterworth, G. M., 47 Bradford Road. Butterworth, Jno. Wm., 10 Fitz William Street E. Byram, Wm. H., Town Hall. Caine, W. S., J.P., Clapham Common, S.W.

Page 501

HUDDERSEFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 4607

Cairns, James, Normanby, Dalton. Calverley, F., Crow Lane Terrace, Milnsbridge. Calverley, Jas., Quarmby. Calverley, John, Longwood. Calverley, J. W., Bank House, Milnsbridge. Calverley, T. W., Oakes House, Lindley. Carlile, E. H. Col., J.P., Helme Hall. Carter, Thos., Market Street, Paddock. Chappell, G. M., 85 Bradford Road North. Chappel, J., Glen Holme, Fartown. Chrispin, S., 36 New Street. Clarke, T. K., M.D., FR.C.S. Clay, Asa, Town Hall. Clegg, Jesse, Grove Place, Dalton. Cliff, Wm., Dark Lane, Longwood. Clough, W. 0., M.P., 89, Gresham Street, London, E.C. Cockin, T. A. Coun., Fartown. Cocks, Thos., 43 Carr Lane, Slaithwaite. Cockshaw, Ed., 65 Blacker Road, Birkby. Collins, Eli, Albert Square, Holmfirth. Collinson, B., Golcar. Cooke, John, Fisher Street. Coop, Shaw, Market Walk. Cooper, Godfrey, Spring Grove Board School. Cotton, A. E., Slaithwaite. Cousen, Lewis, 90 Chapel Hill. Coward, F. A., M.D., Ramsden Street. Craven, R. Hy., 8 Kaye Buildings, Moldgreen. Crosland, (G. N. Kilner, 26 New North Road. Crosland, Jno., Oakes, Lindley. Crossley, J., 34 Beech Street, Paddock. Crossley, W. H., Mountjoy Road. Crowe, Robt. Rev., M.A., Woodhouse Vicarage. Crowther, G. H., 101 Exchange. Crowther, Hy. N., 21 Springfield Terrace, Somerset Road Crowther, J., Claremont Villa. Crowther, J., J.P., Woodley. Crowther, Joe, Wellhouse, Golcar. Crowther, J. E., Willow Bank. Crowther, J. R., Stanley House, Marsden.

Page 502

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Crowther, Wm., J.P., Slaithwaite. Cullan, L. Chas., Board School, Deighton. Curry, T. Rev., M.A., North Kelsey Vicarage, Lincoln. Dannatt, Jno., Paddock. Davies, A. J. Rev., Milnsbridge. Davis, Jno., 34 Ramsden Street. Dawson, Jno., Surrey Side House. Dawson, W. Wm., Milnsbridge. Dawson, Wm., Portland House. Dean, E., M.D., Lewisham House, Slaithwaite. Dearden, F. W., 19 Westbourne Road. Denham, Herbert, 30 John William Street. Denham, J. W. Ald., Hartford House. Denton, H. Rev., Glenside Villas, Slaithwaite. Denton, John, Holme, near Holmfirth. Dodd, J., 50 Willow Lane. Donkersley, E. O., Lockwood Road. Drake, James, J.P., BeechholIme, Balham, S.W. Drake, Thos., 24 Ramsden Street. Drummond, J. S. Rev., 8 Belgrave Terrace. Dugdale, R. S., C.E., Highfield. Dunbar, John Rev., M.A., Rashcliffe Vicarage. Dyson, Fred P., 23 Longwood Road. Dyson, George, Salendine Nook. Dyson, Geo., Springfield Terrace, Marsden. Dyson, Hiram, Salendine Nook. Dyson, James, Beech Street, Paddock. Dyson, T. J., Kirkburton. Dyson, W., Milnsbridge. Eagland, J. B., The Sycamores, Slaithwaite. Eastwood, Benj., Firth Street. Eastwood, B., Junr., Honley. Eastwood, D. S., National School, Milnsbridge. Eastwood, F., J.P., Buckden Mount. Eastwood, J. F., Honley. Eastwood, Wm., Longwood. Ellam, E., Manningham, Bradford. Ellis, C. W., Firth Street. Ellis, John, Whilegate Lane, Blackpool. Ellis, Lewis, 97 Church Street, Paddock.

Page 503

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 469

Evans., D. W., Dalton. Evans, H., 17 Lethbridge Road, Southport. Farrand, R. Wm., Mark Street, Paddock. Field, J. Hy., LL.B., Town Hall. Fieldhouse, A., 49 Fartown Green Road. Finlayson J. J., Accountant. Firth Bros., Colne Road, Milnsbridge. Firth, J., Aspley House. Firth, Jas. Hy., Agent Huddersfield and District Tem- perance League. Firth, John, Grocer, Milnsbridge. Firth and Miller, St. John's Road. Firth, Stanhope, Paddock. Firth, S., The Manse, Marsden. Firth, Tom, 15 Clara Street, Fartown. Firth, Walter S., Thornton Lodge Fisher, Ed., Bryan Lodge. Fitton, Wm., Moldgreen. Foster, F., 60 Northgate. Fox, G. H., Wells Mills. France, Tom, Lockwood. Freeman, Chas. E., Col., 47 New Street. Freeman, J. Bray, 14 Wood Street, Slaithwaite. French, M. Thos., Paddock. Furness, John, Gas Works, Slaithwaite. Furniss, Thos., 2 Melbourne Terrace, Newsome Road. Gaunt, Geo., Poplar Villas, Fartown. Gee, R., New Hey Road, Lindley. Girling, W. H. Rev., M.A., Lockwood Rectory. Gledhill, A. E., Golcar. Gledhill, Gideon, Lindley. Gledhill, E., Slaithwaite. Gledhill, J., Glenside Villas, Slaithwaite. Glendinning, C. Ald., J.P., Ashfield. Goldthorpe, C. A., 30 Norman Road, Birkby. Gordon, A., Somerset Road. Gothard, Edith, Deighton Board School. Graham, Abraham, Senr., Bankfield Road. Grayson, Fred, Milnsbridge. Grayson, J. M., Chapel Hill.

Page 504

470

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Green, A., 138 Halifax Old Road. Green, J. T., Station Master. Greenhalgh, T. H. Rev., M.A., Paddock Vicarage. (Greenwood, Geo. F., Aspley. Greenwood, J. H., 66 Cleveland. Haigh, A., 27 New Street. Haigh, Allen, 27 New Street. Haigh, D., Ash Grove, Longwood. Haigh, J., Ash Villa, Ashenhurst. Haigh, J., 6 York Place. Haigh, J. R., New Street. Haigh, Sam, 15 Lewisham Road, Slaithwaite. Haigh, Wm., 28 Bankficld Road. Hall, A. E., Portland House, Lindley. Hall, Chas., Station Street. Hall, Geo., 20 King Street. Hall, Tom, Beech Street, Paddock. Hamer, H. & Sons, Quarmby Clough Mills, Longwood. Hammond, Geo., F., 17 Brudenell Grove, Leeds. Hands, Jas., Paddock National School. Hanson, A., Buxton Road. Hanson, Geo. Hy., Delph House. Hanson, J. B., Brook Villa, Shelley. Hanson, J. H., Gledholt. Hanson, J. W., Longwood. Harman, E. A., Corporation Gas Works. Hattersley, Thos., 11 The Crescent, Paddock. Heap, J. E., Market Street, Milnsbridge. Hellawell, Benj., Marsh. Hellawell, G. W. Ald. Hellawell, Thos., 10 Luck Lane, Marsh. Hellawell, W. P., Paddock. Helliwell, W. G., Milnsbridge. Heppenstall, E., Cambridge Road. Heppenstall, F., Longwood. Hepworth, F., Lion Arcade. Hepworth, Friend, Fartown. Hepworth, J. Ald., Headingley House, Leeds. Hesketh, Geo., Queen Hotel. Hewitt, Henry, 32 Queen Street.

Page 505

HUDDERSEFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Hinchliffe, A. E. T., 13 Woestgate. Hinchliffe, WV., Newsome Road. Hirst, A., Sear Lane, Milnsbridge.

Hirst, B. H., Ashfield Terrace, Slaithwaite.

Hirst, Chas., J.P., Thorndene. Hirst, D., Firth Street Mills. Hirst, E. E., Moor Lea. Hirst, G. C., Broomfield. Hirst, J., Gledholt. Hirst, R. Ald., J.P. Hirst, S., Wood Street, Longwood. Hirst, Wm., Lockwood. Hirst, Wm., Slaithwaite. Hirst, Wm., Turnbridge. Hodgkinson, E., Hawksby's Court. Holliday, Thos., Edgerton. Hollingworth, Ed., Moordale, Dobecross. Holmes, James, Mountjoy Road. Holroyd, J., Slaithwaite. Holroyd, J., Seed Hill. Hood, Ed., 29 Colquitt Street, Liverpool.

Hooper, L. S., 5 Jubilee Terrace, Slaithwaite.

Hopkinson, A. H., Edgerton. Hopkinson, James, 17 King Street. Hopkinson, R. A., 18 Cambridge Road.

Hoyle, G. R., Crow Lane Board School, Longwood.

Hoyle, J., Prospect Mills, Longwood.

Hoyle, Hy., 46 Longwood Road, Longwood.

Huddersfield Co-operative Society. Huddersfield Free Library.

471

Ingledew, Jno., C., 71 St. John's Crescent, Fartown.

Inman, R. H. Ald., Firth Street. Iredale, Ben, Luck Lane, Paddock.

Iredale, J., Longwood. Irving, John, M.D., Greenhead Road.

Jackson, Thos., Stanley House, Fartown. Jenkins, D. W. Rev., Croft House. Jenkinson, R., Kirkheaton. Jessop, Wim. Hy. Ald., Moldgreen. Johnson, W., 6 Clara Street.

Page 506

472

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Johnstone, W. E., 43 Thornton Lodge Road. Jury, Samuel, Eleanor Street. Kaye, Hy., Kirk Royd, Almondbury. Kaye, J. E., Crosland Moor. Kaye, S., 15 Brow Road, Paddock. Keeley, A. W. Rev., M.A., 10 Bow Street. Keighley, C. W., J.P. Kendall, Sam, 6 Byram Street. Kenyon, P., Thornhill Road, Marsh. King, J., Vesper Road, Kirkstall. Kilner, J. T., Imperial Road, Edgerton. Kinloch, S. G., Golcar Hill, Golcar. Kinnings, A. T. Rev., 112 Halifax Old Road. Kitson, James Sir, Bart., M.P., Gledhow Hall, Leeds. Knaggs, F. H., M.D., 26 Ramsden Street Knight, Joe, Milnsbridge. ‘ Lawton, D., 26 Firth Street. Lawton, Wm., Beech Street. Learoyd, A. E., Dalton. Learoyd, E. G., Sherwood House. Learoyd, F., Leeds Road. Learoyd, S., Sherwood House. Ledger, R. Joiner, 30 Lockwood Road. Lee, Geo. F., 140 Halifax Old Road. Lee, J. Percy, 1 Peel Street. Lee, John, Park Drive. Lees, J., 1 Wood Street, Longwood. Lefevre, Wm., Higher Grade School. Liddell, W. Hy., 14 St. Peter's Street. Lidgate, C. W., Berry Brow. Lister, Albert, Stile Common Board School. Littlewood, L., Spring Grove Board School. Livesey, J. Hy., 17 Adelaide Terrace, Paddock. Livesey, W. A., Waterloo Mills. Lloyd, F. C., Mossville. Lockwood, A., Linthwaite. Lockwood, Fred, 44 Somerset Road. Lockwood, H., Deighton. Lockwood, Hy., Linthwaite. Lockwood J., Black Rock, Linthwaite.

Page 507

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 473

Lockwood, Joe., 34 Quarmby Road, Lindley. Lockwood, Robt., 46 Aire Street, Lindley. Lockwood, Wm., 11 Market Street. Lomas, Geo., 4 Albany Terrace, Lockwood. Longbottom, Fred, Paddock. Longbottom, F. Coun., Lockwood. Longbottom, J. W., Holmfirth. Lum, Ben, Beech Street, Paddock. Lum, John, 82 Church Street, Paddock. Lumb, J., Park Drive. Lunn, A., Top of High Street. Lunn, A. W., 15 West View, Paddock. Lyddon, Robt., A.D., Board School, Milnsbridge. MacGregor, P., M.D., Lockwood. Mackenzie, F. L., M.D., North House, Lockwood. Mackenzie, J., M.D., New North Road. Makin, Smith & Co., Ltd. Mallinson, B., 24 New Street. Mallinson, El, J.P., Linthwaite. Mallinson, Geo. Wm., Gledholt. Mallinson, Joel Rev., Glenside. Mallinson, Wm., J.P., 80 New North Road. Marshall, C. H. Marchant, G. M. Marchant, J., 117 South Street. Marshall, J., 44 New Street. Martin, E., The Ravine, Filey. Martin, Frederick, Lindors, Colefield, (Glos. Martin, Harry A., Stoneleigh. Matthewman, Geo., Great Northern Street. Mellor, A. G., 91 Gledholt Bank. Mellor, J. R., Royd House, Holmfirth. Mellor, Robt. R., Springfield Terrace, Holmfirth. Mellor, T., 42 Cross Church Street. Mellor, W., 1 Brook Street, Marsh. Metcalfe, W. V., East View, Hillhouse. Mills, Chas. Moody, E., Fisher Street. Moody, J., Page Street. Moody, J. C., 13 Wentworth Street.

Page 508

474

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Moody, J. E., Richmond Avenue, Fartown. Moody, Thos., Fisher Street. Moon, Chas., New Mill. Moore, Jas., 63 Wellington Street, Lindley. Moore, T. H. Coun., Thornhill Villa, Marsh. Moorhouse, John A., 49 Somerset Road. Montgomery, Robt., B.A., Higher Grade School. Morley, R., Milnsbridge. Morton, J., Cloth Hall Street. Morton, Jno., Chief Constable. Morton, W., 50 Blacker Road North. Mosley, H., Kirkheaton National School. Munroe, G. R., 39 John William Street. Munroe, W. F., 39 John William Street. Neison, J., Thornton Road. Newman, Jno., Kirkheaton. Norris, W. Foxley Rev., M.A., Almondbury. Nixon, D., 26 Market Street, Paddock. Oddy, Miss Amy, Board School, Milnsbridge. Oldfield, T. D., 32 Buxton Road. Osborne, H., John William Street. Owen, H. Owen, Wm., Town Hall. Oxley, Ed., 68 South Street. Oxley, Oliver, 133 New Hey Road, Salendine Nook. Parke, John Latimer, D.P.H., Milnsbridge. Paterson, D. H., Thewlis Lane, Primrose Hill. Pearce, Hy., New Street. Pearson, J. H., Oakes Board School. Pickersgill, Fred, New Street, Milnsbridge. Piercy, J. W., LL.B. Pogson, Isaac, Forest Road, Dalton. Pogson, Joseph, Bridgefield House. Pontefract, Hy., 38 Ballroyd Road, Fartown. Pontefract, Jno., 19 Beech Street, Paddock. Pontefract, J. C., 8 Eleanor Street. Porritt, G. T., Crosland Hall. Porritt, N., M.D., 42 New North Road. Potts, S8. C., Town Hall. Prentis, J. T., 27 Buxton Road.

Page 509

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 475

Preston, W., 17 Swallow Street. PFuilon, Hy., M.D., Paddock Crescent. Pullan, Leonard Chas., Board School, Deighton. Pyrah, J., Fartown. Radcliffe, F., Mountjoy Road. Ramsden, H., 92 New Street, Paddock. Ramsden, Sykes & Ramsden, 1 Westgate. Randerson, J. W., Leighwood, Alma Road, Winton, Bournemouth. Rayner, G. T., 7 Longwood Street. Rayner, J. WV., Lyndene, Fartown. Rayner, O., Paddock. Raynor, W. P., Park Drive. Rhodes, Alfred, Upper Mill. Rhodes, G. P., M.D., Queen Street South. Rhodes, Thos., Birkby. Rigby, Ed. A., Union Offices. Riley, Benj., 12 Bankfield Road. Riley, Joe, 14 New North Road. Riley, R., Bent House. Rippon, J., St. John's Road. Ripon, Marquis of, Studley Royal, Ripon. Rippon, W. G., St. John's Road. Roberts, A. S., Cleckheaton. Roberts, J. W., " Guardian " Offices, Slaithwaite. Robertshaw, F., 75 Milford Street. Robinson, F. W., M.D., 4 New North Road. Robinson, S. A., Grafton Place. Robson, J. H., Dalton. Robson, J. W., Dalton. Roebuck, H., Cabinet Maker, Moldgreen. Rushworth, A., 2 Westgate. Ruston, A. E., 9 Clara Street. Schofield, A., Dalton. Schofield, J., A.R.C.S., Higher Grade School. Schofield, J. W., Town Hall. Schofield, Miss Emily, 14 Fitzwilliam Street. Schofield, W., Beaumont Street School. Senior, A. W., 106 Bradford Road North. Sharp, C. H., 8 Stonefield Street, Dewsbury.

Page 510

476

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Sharp, Joe, Queen Street. Sharpe, Wm., National School, Woodhouse. Shaw, A., Hollens Mill, Marsh. Shaw, A., John William Street. Shaw, Allan, 93 Birch Road, Berry Brow. Shaw, Benj., Brook Street, Marsh. Shaw, C., 3 Leslie Road. Shaw, F., Fisher Street. Shaw, Geo., 53 Birkby Crescent. Shaw, H., 16 King Street. Shaw, Joshua, Crosland Moor. Shaw, J. W., Longwood. Shaw, J. W., Milford Street. Shaw, Robt. M., Longwood. Shaw, W. A. W., Outlane. Shaw, W. D., J.P., Longwood. Shaw, Wm., 39 Bk. Beverley Terrace, Beeston Hill, Leeds. Shields, R., 41 Buxton Road. Shires, G. H., New Street, Milnsbridge. Shires, Wm., Bank House, Milnsbridge. Shirtliffe, D. O., Fartown. Siddle, Jno., East Parade. Sizer, George H., 32 Road, New Wands- worth, London, S.W. Slocombe, A. J., Longwood House, Fixby. Smith, B. T., Beaumont Park. Smith, Fred, Cliff End, Longwood. Smith, J., Quarmby Lodge. Smith, John, Stainland Road, West Vale. Smith, Mrs., The Gleddings, Halifax. Smith, R. W., Mount Pleasant, Milnsbridge. Spencer, R. J., 45 Cleveland Road, Marsh. Starkey, A. H., Clifton, Meltham. Stather, Geo. P., 26 Bath Street. ' Stead, E., 41 Whitehead Road. Stephen, S., 10 Longwood Road. Stewart, Jno., Broadfield Mills, Lockwood. Stockdale, W., New Hey Road, Lindley. Stocks, Ben Ald., 16, Cambridge Road.

Page 511

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY. 47 ]

Stocks, J., Eldergrove, Milnsbridge. Stork, F. H., Burnhill House, Quarmby. Stott, Joe, North Field, Lockwood. Studdard, U., 67 New Street. Sugden, John Coun., Greenhead Road. Sugden, Samuel, Slaithwaite. Sugden, Wm., Slaithwaite. Sutcliffe, H., Town Hall. Sutcliffe, J., Richmond Mills, Fitzwilliam Street. Swallow, E. Coun., Richmond House, Dalton. Swire S. Rev., M.A., St. Thomas's Vicarage. Sykes, A., Low Westwood, Golcar. Sykes, A., Thongsbridge. Sykes, A., 59 Birkby Crescent,. Sykes, Chas. F., Dalton. Sykes, Chas., Gladstone House, Paddock. Sykes, D. F. E., LL.B., Paddock. Sykes, D. M., Fir Lea, Longwood. Sykes, E., 4 Royal Chambers, St. George's Square. Sykes, Emma Miss, Bedford Street, Liverpool. Sykes, Fred, 33 Arnold Street, Birkby. Sykes, F. L., Paddock. Sykes, James, Bottom Hall Mills, Milnsbridge. Sykes, James, 13 Westgate. Sykes, Jno., Ashenhurst. Sykes, Jno., 38 Water Street. Sykes, Jno. Lewis, Holm Field, Fartown. Sykes, Joe, Gas Works. Sykes, J. E., Morpeth House. Ealing, London, W. Sykes, J. H., Bryancliffie. Sykes, J. H., 51 New Street. Sykes, J. W., Holly House, Halifax. Sykes, J. W., 76 Lockwood Road. Sykes, J. Wm., 45, Fitzwilliam Street. Sykes, Mrs. E., Bedford Street, Liverpool. Sykes, Mrs. David, Manor Heath, Clapham, London, S. W Sykes, Mrs. Mary L., Paddock Sykes, P. P., Holly Grove, Diggle. Sykes, Rev. Geo., 58 Cleveland Road. Sykes, Thos. E., New Hey Road.

Page 512

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Sykes, Thos., 89 Thornton Lodge Road. Sykes, Wm., Bridge Street, Slaithwaite. Sykes, W. S., Glenwood, Edgerton. Tatham, Geo. J. Rev., M.A., Milnsbridge Vicarage. Taylor, Benjy. & Son, Bankhouse Mills, Milnsbridge. Taylor, E., Haigh House, Milnsbridge. Taylor, Fred, Cleveland Terrace, Leeds Road. Taylor, J., Hebble Bridge, Bradford Road. Taylor, James, Berry Brow. Taylor, John Ald., J.P., Longwood. Taylor, Stanley A., Croft House, Newsome. Taylor, Wm. H., 110 Grove Place, Dalton. Thomas, Jno., 35 Spring Street. Thomas, Mrs. Ann, 4 Mount Pleasant, Paddock. Thomas, Robt., 23 King Cliffe Road. Thomas, Sam, 4 Bradley Street. Thompson, J. Guest., Cleveland House, Dalton. Thompson, J. H., 68 Doddsroyd Road, Berry Brow. Thompson, Wm., 2 Garden Street, Lockwood. Thomson, Geo., Woodhouse. Thorp, Thos., Technical College. Thorpe, Hy., New Mill. Thorpe, James Ingham, 64 Beech Street, Paddock. Thorpe, Wm., 41 Lidgett Street, Lindley. Thornton, F. W., 35 New North Road. Thornton, Thos. E., 117 Thornton Road. Thoruton, Wm., Park Valley Mills. Thornton, Wm., 132 Halifax Old Road. Tiffany, S. D., Cowcliffe. Tinker, Hy., 23 Market Tinker, Jno., Thongsbridge. Town, J. & Sons, Leeds. Trethewey, Jno. Hy. Rev., Thornton Lodge Road. Turner, J., 3 Norman Road, Birkby. Turner, J. H., Idle, Bradford. Turner, J. H., Solicitor. Varley, Thos., 7 Lewisham Road, Slaithwaite. Varley, Wm., Higher Grade School. Varley, W. H., Norwood Place, Slaithwaite. Vautrey, A., Ashenhurst.

Page 513

HUDDERSEFIELD AND ITS VICINITY,

Verity, W. H. Rov., M.A., 15 East Parade. Waddington, J., Kirkroyd, Longwood. Wadsworth, J. A., Firs Mount, Longwood. Wainwright, J., 10 Bast Parade. Walker, A., J.P., Lindley. Walker, Ed., Milton Church.

Walker, Fred, Commercial Buildings, Slaithwaite.

Walker, Fred, Stile Common Board School. Walker, Geo., Warrene House, Wakefield. Walker, G. H., 3 New Street, Slaithwaite. Walker, J., 92 Tower Gate, Longwood. Walker, J. Lee Ald. Walker, J. S., 2 Old Bank, Slaithwaite. Walker, R., Lucanhouse Lodge, Ripon. Walker, R. S., Albany Mills, Firth Street. Wallace, A. Coun. Gledholt. Walshaw, Robt., 24 Stile Common. W ard, J. Hy., 11 & 13 John William Street. Ward, Thos., Lindley National School. Washington, Geo., 10 Portland Street. Washington, Hy., Lord Street. Watkinson, E., Norleigh, Gledholt. Watkinson, F. C., 27 Greenhead Road. Watkinson, F. T., Brooklands, Gledholt. Watkinson, Jno., Fairfield. Wentz, Hy., for Thornton's Hotel. Welsh, Robt. Wheawill, C., Huddersfield. Wheawill, Chas., 27 Beech Street. Whitaker, C. L., 7 West View, Paddock. White, A., 64 Cleveland Road, Marsh. Whitehead, J. T., Market Place, Marsden. Whiteley, J., Gledholt Road. Whiteley, J. B., Thornfisld, Lockwood. Whiteley, T., Bankside House, Rochdale. Whiteley, Wm., Hoily Mount, Edgerton. Wigglesworth, V., Draper, Moldgroen.

Wild, T. J., High Street, Uppermill, Saddleworth.

Wilson, D., M.D., Paddock. Wilson, F., Bradley Street.

Page 514

HUDDERSFIELD AND ITS VICINITY.

Wilson, Hy. J., M.P., Osgarthorpe Hills, Sheffield. Wilson, T. L., 1 Ramsden Street. Wilkinson, J., 66 Beech Street, Paddock. Wilkinson, F., Victoria Street, Holmfirth. Willans, J. E., J.P. Winn, W., Hawksby's Court, New Street. Womersley, C., 11 Victoria Street, Deighton. Wood, Benj., Turnbridge. Wood, E & Sons, Milnsbridge. Wood, G. B., Milnsbridge. Wood, J. & Sons, New Street. Wood, Jno. W., 12 Beech Street, Paddock. Woodhead, A. L., M.A., Longdenholme. Woodhead, Ernest Coun., M.A., Clovelly. Woodhead, E. B. Ald., Edgerton. Woodhead, E. T., LL.B., Huddersfield. Woodhead, G., Ashfield. . Woodhead G. S., M.D., F.R.C.P.E., F.R.S.E., Night- ingalo Lane, Balham, S.W. Woodhead Joseph, J.P., Longdenholme.

Woodhead, Walter, Beach Cot., Gt. Orme's Head, Llandudno.

Woodhouse, Sir J. T. (Knt.), M.P. Yates, W. P., Fartown Grammar School.

Advertiser Press, Limited, Page Street, Huddersfield.


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