Wilfrid Kershaw - the mill worker

Ealees Road in Littleborough, leading to Ealees Mill

Wilfrid Kershaw - early years

The next few posts look at the life of Wilfrid Kershaw.

Today's post covers the period  from his birth in 1886 up to the year 1914. Derrick Kershaw, Wilfrid's son, wrote the following about his father.

Wilfrid, aged 20

Littleborough Baptist Church, Durn, Blackstone Edge Road.
Closed 1953. Sold for use as an engineering workshop.
Destroyed by fire. Two houses built on site.

Wilfrid and Ada 13 April 1907

2 Pennine Villas, Limefield, Littleborough
(now 2 Halifax Road)
photo 2012

James Mitchell

James Mitchell was the youngest son of Robert Mitchell and Mary Clough, the parents of Jeremiah Clough. He was born in about 1849. He appeared on the Censuses of 1851 and 1861, working as a Cotton Doffer in 1861, by which time the family had moved to Newchurch in Rossendale.

Amongst Derrick Kershaw's papers was a group photograph featuring 36 people. This must have been given to him by his friend (mentioned in the last post). Nearly all the people in the photo are named, along with a few who were ‘known to have refused to be on the photo’. The photo shows the children of Jeremiah by his second wife Amelia (nee Jennings) except for Clara who was a granddaughter from his first marriage.

‘The occasion of the photo was James Mitchell’s return from Australia, taken in Littleborough Park about 1919.’ Most of the children from Jeremiah’s second marriage are on the photo along with spouses and children. Right in the middle of the photo is an elderly, distinguished looking gentleman and this is James Mitchell, the younger brother of Jeremiah.

On 25th July 1914 the following article appeared in The Rochdale Observer:  

The following year another article appeared in the same newspaper:

The sister mentioned in the article must have been either Elizabeth, born in 1839, or Susannah, born in 1853. James also had two brothers - William, born in 1837, and John, born in 1841.

The man on James Mitchell's left in the photograph may have been the Mayor of Rochdale (Alderman Redfern) who was instrumental in reuniting James with his long lost relatives.

And what happened to Mary Mitchell (nee Clough), the mother of Jeremiah Clough and James Mitchell? The last record we have of her is the 1871 Census where she appears as a widow, living near Blackpool with Susannah and working as a Lodging House Keeper.

The Clough branch of the family - Part 3 (Jeremiah Clough's early years)

In this post we trace Jeremiah's early years and upbringing.

A friend of Derrick Kershaw told him that ‘Jeremiah Clough was born out of wedlock and took his mother’s name of Clough. She later married his father Robert Mitchell and had another son who was James Mitchell.’

The Census records of 1861, 1881, 1891 and 1901 all give Jeremiah’s birthplace as Burnley. The 1871 record has not been located yet. The 1901 entry shows his birthplace as North Bank Extwistle, just east of Burnley. 

North Bank farm, Extwistle
(photo by Kris Baxter, the Briercliffe Society)

The Briercliffe Society has collected records of births, marriages and deaths including those in the Church of Briercliffe and Haggate Baptist Chapel. Using these I have established that William Clough (b 1786) and Nanny Clough (nee Jackson b 1786) had ten children between 1803 and 1826. Amongst these was Mary (b 1812), born whilst the family was living in Cockenden in Briercliffe. By the time of the birth of their last child Thomas in 1826 the family had moved to North Bank in Extwistle.

In about 1832 Mary Clough gave birth to a son Jeremiah. Mary was not married at this time. It appears that this son was born at the family home at North Bank, Extwistle and lived there with his grandparents William and Nanny and his mother Mary.

In 1837 Mary Clough married Robert Mitchell, a Carter from Todmorden, at St Chad's Church in Rochdale. The 1851 Census shows Robert and Mary living in Todmorden with Jeremiah, now 18 and a Picker Maker, and four other children, William, Elizabeth, John and James. Jeremiah’s surname is given as Mitchell, but this is the only record which doesn’t show him as a Clough.

The previous Census in 1841 had shown Mary and Robert with the three oldest children but no Jeremiah. At that time he was still living with his grandparents at North Bank. He is shown as Jeremy, aged 8.

Jeremiah married Grace King in 1854 - see the previous post.

The Clough branch of the family - Part 2 (Jeremiah Clough)

Jeremiah Clough, born in 1832 and the father of Mary Ann, was one of my great great grandfathers. This post covers his life from his marriage to Grace King in 1854 until his death in 1908. The next post will look at his childhood and upbringing.

Jeremiah and Grace were married at Halifax Parish Church. They were both aged 22. No father’s name is given on the entry for Jeremiah. At the time they were both living in Stansfield. Jeremiah was a weaver.

There were four children from this marriage – Mary Ann (b 1854), my great grandmother, who featured in the last post, Sarah (b 1856), Joseph (b 1860) and Mary (b 1860) known as Polly, who married Joseph Crabtree. In 1861 the family were living in Mill Street, Todmorden. Grace died in 1864, aged only 32.

Jeremiah remarried the following year, to Amelia Jennings at Holy Trinity Church, Littleborough. Between 1868 and 1887 they had 10 children – James Henry, Helliwell, Crossley, Susannah, Herbert, Frank Arthur, Rose and Gertrude twins, Elizabeth A and Sarah J. They lived in Paul Row, Summit, Littleborough, and later in Todmorden Road.

Derrick Kershaw wrote of Jeremiah:

Jeremiah was living at Dobroyd at the time of the ‘great flood’. He later moved to Calderbrook, Littleborough where he lived in ‘Paul Row’ and at Whitfield. His occupations were gardening, labouring, stone waller, carter, weaver, engineer.

Both his legs were broken in an accident caused by firing a cannon placed on the top of Whitfield overlooking Townhouse to celebrate the return from sea of one of the Molesworth family.

My father Wilfrid Kershaw remembers him when Jeremiah kept a garden in the land overlooking the entrance to Summit Tunnel. He was also a visitor to the Duke of York Hotel, Ealees (kept by Joseph Crabtree, an uncle of Wilfrid’s) being quite a noisy customer, clapping down his two sticks on the table and shouting ‘whoever takes them takes me’.

The former Duke of York hotel, Littleborough
(Derrick Kershaw photo)

Entrance to Summit Tunnel (2025)

We know that Jeremiah was buried at Calderbrook church in Littleborough, but there is no record of the burial or grave reference in the church grave book. The photo below show a marker stone with the initials J C but this is only a guess at where he might be buried.

Calderbrook church, Littleborough

Marker stone

The Clough branch of the family - Part 1 (Mary Ann Clough)

The next few posts will cover the Clough branch of the family.

Mary Ann Clough was born on 31st July 1854 in Toad Carr, Stansfield. Toad Carr is an area just off the Burnley Road on the way out of Todmorden. Her parents were Jeremiah Clough and Grace (nee King). Mary Ann was not baptised until 17th September 1871.

Mary Ann's baptism entry for Holy Trinity church, Littleborough

Mary Ann married James Kershaw ('Jim Screw' - see the previous post) on 2nd February 1874 at Mankinholes Chapel. Her occupation was shown as 'Factory Operative - cotton'. Between 1874 and 1886 the couple had 5 children - Henry Taylor, Grace Ann, Allan, Fred and Wilfrid. James died of consumption in August1887.

In 1891 the family were living at Greenvale Cottages in Littleborough and Mary Ann was working as a Cotton Winder at Greenvale Mill. She died of pleurisy in August 1893. After Mary Ann's death the home was broken up, Wilfrid going to live with Harry, his eldest brother, and his family. Wilfrid's story will be told in a future post shortly.

Mary Ann Kershaw (nee Clough)

Mary Ann with Wilfrid on her right and Fred on her left

Next post: Mary Ann's father, Jeremiah Clough

James Kershaw (1851-1887) - 'Jim Screw'

 Derrick Kershaw wrote this summary of the life of his grandfather James Kershaw:

The photo below shows Greenvale Mill in Littleborough where James worked as a Warper, and the adjoining Greenvale cottages where his son Wilfrid was born on 15th August 1886. James died a year later and his wife Mary Ann (nee Clough) died in 1893.

Greenvale mill and cottages

Grave of James and Mary Ann Kershaw at Cross Stone church in Todmorden

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.

Lister Lane Cemetery (3) - graves 2908 and 2721

Grave no. 2908

Norris Highley, son of Harry Highley and Annie (nee Stapp).

Elizabeth Sunderland (nee Robinson), wife of William Sunderland, great great grandmother of Harry.

George Nutton, son-in-law of Elizabeth, and his wife Hannah. 

Harry Highley was an Iron Moulder who lived in Halifax. 

Grave no. 2721

John Highley

Matilda Jane Brooksbank and Sam Brooksbank, stepchildren of John

John was the third husband of Caroline Helliwell. Her first husband, William Brooksbank, was the father of Matilda and Sam, and her second husband was Thomas Eastwood.

John was a Labourer, born in Warley but later lived in Halifax.

There are several Hileys/Highleys listed in the burial records but buried in unmarked graves or unable to be located, along with a number of adults and children in public or infant vaults with no markings.