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 James 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.