The Kershaw gravestone at Heptonstall

Four generations of Kershaws are buried in the graveyard of St Thomas the Apostle church in Heptonstall. Their names are commemorated on the gravestone shown below:

The Kershaw gravestone

M.F. was Mary Farrer (nee Kershaw)

G.K. was Grace Kershaw (nee Farrer)

A.K. was Abraham Kershaw

R.W. is unknown

The family tree below shows  the relationships between the people named on the gravestone - marked in blue. Thomas and Elizabeth were no doubt related but we haven't found their connection to the other Kershaws so far. Other brothers and sisters in each generation have been excluded.

James Kershaw (1803-1860), killed on Mytholmroyd station, featured in the last two posts. His son James Kershaw (1851-1887), married at Mankinholes in 1874, featured in the post before that. This James was known as 'Jim Screw' - more about him in the next post.

Derrick and Evelyn Kershaw cleaning the Kershaw gravestone at Heptonstall

James Kershaw (1803-1860)

In the last post we learned how James Kershaw met an untimely death on Mytholmroyd Station.

His great grandson Derrick Kershaw researched the Kershaw and Taylor families in his retirement, visiting record offices, searching through archives, and finding and photographing the places where his ancestors were born, lived and were buried. His research was done well before the days when the availability of computers, together with transcriptions of parish records, baptism, marriage and burial records, and censuses made researching family history a lot easier. Derrick compiled a large file of family photographs, documents, records and reminiscences.

Below is his entry for James Kershaw:

Derrick's photos of his trip to Mytholmroyd:

Mytholmroyd Methodist Graveyard

Mytholmroyd Methodist Church

Grave of James Kershaw and his family

James Kershaw killed on Mytholmroyd station in 1860

James Kershaw (snr), 1803-1860, was the father of James Kershaw (jnr) who married Mary Ann Clough in 1874 and was mentioned in the last post.

He was involved in a fatal railway accident on Mytholmroyd station.

The following article appeared in the Halifax Courier on 25th August 1860.

Mytholmroyd station 2014

Early photo of Mytholmroyd station
(used with permission)

Death certificate of James Kershaw

Next post: More about  the life of James Kershaw (snr)

The maternal side of the family

As promised at the start of the year, it is time to devote some posts to the maternal side of the family which has been neglected for too long. 

Henry Hiley married Barbara Kershaw in Durn Baptist Chapel in Littleborough on 18th November 1944.

Previous posts in this Blog have described how the Hiley family originated in an area on the Sowerby hillside above Luddendenfoot in the Upper Calder Valley. James Highley moved west in the 1750s and settled in Todmorden. James was a 4 x great grandfather of Henry.

George Redmonds was unsure of the origin or origins of the Kershaw surname. It occurred in Lancashire from the late 1200s and in Yorkshire from 1307 where the first reference is that of Adam Kyrkeschawe of Sowerby. So the Hiley and Kershaw families may have originated very close to each other.

Barbara's Kershaw ancestors never lived far away from Henry's Hiley ancestors.

In 1874 the marriages took place of two great grandfathers, Samuel Hiley and James Kershaw. At York Street Chapel in Todmorden on 13th September, Samuel Hiley (aged 21), a cotton weaver of Alma Street, Walsden married Elizabeth Taylor (aged 23), a cotton weaver of Hollins Mount, Walsden. And at Mankinholes Methodist Church on 2nd February, James Kershaw (aged 22), a Bookkeeper of Hollins Place, Walsden, married Mary Ann Clough (aged 19), a Cotton Factory Operative of Beech Street, Walsden.

Hollins Mount

Hollins Place

The four residences of the two couples are all within a stone's throw of each other in Walsden, so the couples would almost certainly have known each other. Little did they know that two great grandchildren from these families would bring them together 70 years later.

So where were the Hileys and Kershaws 100 years before these two weddings?

Samuel's great grandfather James was living with his wife Martha and children at Swineshead Cottage between Todmorden and Walsden. James's great grandfather John Kershaw was living with his wife Martha and children in Sowerby. We know that he was born in Westfield and died in Hollinhey, both places in the township of Sowerby. From Swineshead to Hollinhey is about 5 miles as the crow flies.

Swineshead

Hollinhey

Alice Mitton nee Hiley 1865-1967

David Hiley (1868-1961) featured in the post of 22nd August 2019. He lived to the age of 93 and was recorded as the longest lived of all the Hiley/Highley members in the family tree (where we know the years of birth and death.) I invited readers to get in touch if they knew of any Hileys who reached a more advanced age.

I am delighted to report that a reader has written to say that David's sister Alice lived to the age of 102, and so now takes over the title of longest lived member of the Hiley family.

Alice was born in Oldroyd, Langfield on 1st July 1865, the daughter of John Hiley and Hannah Crossley. The family lived at 8 Shade Street, Walsden and Alice worked as a Cotton Weaver. John was killed in the boiler explosion at Lord Bros. in Todmorden in 1875 (described in a previous post).

In 1894 Alice married John Thomas Mitton. The 1901 census showed them living in Major Street, Todmorden with Alice's mother Hannah. John Thomas was working as a Newsagent. The couple emigrated to Australia in 1910 but returned, disillusioned, the following year. They lived in Formby and in the 1921 census John Thomas was listed as a Farmer and Grocer and Alice as a Grocer's assistant. John Thomas died in 1926 aged 61 and was buried with Alice's parents in Christ Church graveyard in Todmorden. The couple had no children. 

Alice remained in Formby and looked after a shop there for many years. She died in 1967 aged 102.

Edward Highley (1866-1932)

Edward Highley was born in Todmorden in 1866, the son of James and Ruth (nee Kershaw). Two daughters, Ruth and Betsy, were born two years later but Ruth and both her daughters are all recorded as dying in July 1868 and are buried in the graveyard at Lumbutts near Todmorden. James remarried the year after - this time to Alice Roberts (nee Smith). 

Edward married Hannah Mary Ingham in 1896. A daughter Doris was born in 1898.

The family lived in Station Road in Cornholme. The 1921 census shows Edward working at Frostholme Mill in Cornholme as a Drawer-in and Twister (Cotton), Hannah Mary working in Vale Mill, Cornholme as a Cotton Weaver, and Doris working at Springwood Mill, Cornholme as a Cotton Weaver.

Edward played the B-flat tuba in the Todmorden Brass Band. He can be identified from the lists of names in the following photos.

Todmorden Brass Band 1921-22

Todmorden Brass Band 1923

Edward is buried along with Hannah Mary in the Mount Zion Methodist Chapel graveyard in Cornholme. His grave is situated right at the top of the graveyard but is currently inaccessible because of all the overgrown bushes and vegetation.

The graveyard at Cornholme

Admiral Sir Anthony Hiley Hoskins

Sir Anthony Hiley Hoskins (1828–1901) was a senior officer in the Royal Navy. Born into a naval family, he entered the navy as a cadet while still young and spent many years serving at sea during the nineteenth century, a time when the fleet was changing from sail to steam-powered ships.

 
Over a long career he rose steadily through the ranks, holding important sea commands and senior administrative posts. In 1891 he was appointed First Naval Lord, the professional head of the navy and the senior naval adviser to the government, serving until 1893. He retired soon afterwards and died in 1901.

But where did the name Hiley come from?

Anthony's grandfather William Hoskins married Elizabeth Addington in London in 1782. Elizabeth was the sister of Henry Addington, the 1st Viscount Sidmouth, who was the British Prime Minister from 1801 to 1804. Elizabeth and Henry's parents were Anthony Addington and Mary Hiley (1722-1778).

So it seems that the Hiley part of Anthony Hiley Hoskins' name would have come from Mary Hiley .

Type 'Prime Minister' in the 'Search This Blog' box to learn more about Anthony, Mary and Henry.

A sister of Elizabeth and Henry was Charlotte Addington. She married Charles Bathurst and they had a  son William Hiley Bathurst.

Type 'William Hiley Bathurst' in the 'Search This Blog' box to learn more about him.