A family history trip to Calderdale - 1 The boundary stone and Hill End

Every year I make two or three trips to Calderdale to look at places which had some connection to a member of the Hiley/Highley family in times past - for example where they used to live, where they worked, where they were baptised or married, or where they were buried.

My latest trip was to a part of Calderdale on the edge of Halifax and just north west of it. The map below shows this area and the numbers show the places of interest visited. Remember that you can click on the map to see an enlarged version.

The next few posts will give short summaries of these places and describe the connection to members of the the Hiley family.

On Balkram Edge near Moor End, just past the Crossroads Inn and the football field, is a boundary stone. Erected in 1805, it shows the boundary between the townships of Warley and Ovenden. Warley is to the left and Ovenden is to the right. The camera is looking to the north.

Photo of boundary stone - May 2023

Earlier photo of stone with clearer lettering

The post of 3rd October 2022 told how David Hiley obtained a 'Settlement Certificate' from the parish of Warley regarding his move to the parish of Ovenden. 

David made the move with his three sons, Mark, James and David. Mark and James subsequently made the journey west along the Calder valley to Todmorden and became the patriarchs of the Hiley/Highley families who became established in the Todmorden and Walsden areas. David remained in Ovenden and his descendants became established as the leading family line in the Halifax area.

In the background behind the stone can be seen a rising hill to the right. This is Hill End.

Hill End

Mary (Mally) Highley was born at Hill End in 1789. She was a descendant of Henry Hiley who died in 1732. On 1st January 1811 in Halifax Parish Church the marriage was recorded of James Crowther of Ovenden, weaver, and Mary Highley of Warley, spinster. 

Mary and James had 7 children, the first 4 being born in Yorkshire and the last 3 in Abbeville, South Carolina, U.S.A. The couple were buried in First Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Anderson, South Carolina.

The inscription on Mary's gravestone reads: 

Mary Crowther 

wife of James Crowther

Born in the township of

Warley Yorkshire in England

Feb 28 1789 and came

to America in 1819

Died June 29 1854

Mary and James feature in some of the other posts about this trip.