The following entry appeared in the Todmorden Advertiser and Hebden Bridge Newsletter on this day in 1867.
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Newspaper image © The British Library Board. All rights reserved. With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive |
John (Jack) Highley was born in Halifax in 1839. His parents were John and Mary (nee Eastwood). His father John was a Cordwainer or Shoe Maker.
John married Mary Dawson in 1860 and the following year was recorded in the census as living with Mary's family in Todmorden and working as a Boot, Shoe and Clog maker. In 1871 he was described as a Boot and Shoe Maker, employing 2 men.
By 1881 John and his family had moved away from Todmorden and they were living in a house called 'Highley Villa' in Blackpool. He must have been a man of many talents. From starting his working life as a Shoemaker, in 1881 he was a 'Tailor and Draper', in 1891 a 'Pork Butcher', and in 1901 a 'Pig Dealer'.
Like John, his brother William also followed in his father's footsteps. In 1881 he was a 'Master Clogger' in Todmorden.
John and Mary had two boys and two girls. Their daughter Clara died at age 3 and is buried in the graveyard at Mankinholes on the moors above Walsden and Todmorden. Also buried here are John and Mary.
Their other daughter Bertha married George Henry Hall in 1894 and Bertha and George's son Clifford was born in 1899 and brought up in St Anne’s. Clifford was a Lieutenant with the Royal Air Force 214th Squadron. He was killed when he crashed in mountains between Lyon and Marseilles, aged 20, on 9th July 1919, while flying a Handley Page bomber with two mechanics and an observer. Clifford was buried at Mazargues War Cemetery in Marseilles but is also named on the gravestone above.
In the 1939 England and Wales Register, Jack Highley is listed, working as a 'Boot Repairer & Clogger own a/c single handed'. Living with him at the time in Todmorden were his brother Clifford and sisters Cora and Mary. Jack was the grandson of William the Master Clogger mentioned above.
Jack Highley's Cloggers shop was a familiar fixture behind the Market in Todmorden until the early 80s. The picture below is from 1973 and, along with the description, is included with the kind permission of Daniel Birch.
