A family history trip to Calderdale - 6 Box Trees

There are several references to Boxtrees amongst records relating to the Hileys and Highleys of Halifax and district.

In 1633 Edith Hileley, of Boxtrees in Ovenden, made her will. Edith was the widow of Edmund Hileley of Sowerby, and previously the widow of Robert Starky.

James Crowther (who married Mary (Mally) Highley in 1811 - see no.1 in this series of posts) was born in 1787 while his family were living at Boxtrees.

The photos below show Boxtrees in May 2023. 

The next photo shows the view from Boxtrees across the valley to Mount Tabor and Pellon. Part of the woodland beyond the railway is Ramsden Wood.  John Crowther, son of James and Mary, was born here in 1811.

The railway is the 'Wheatley Viaduct', a 10-arched, 100 foot high viaduct which carried the High Level Railway across the Wheatley valley. The line carried passengers from 1890 to 1917, then became a goods-only line until 1960, and was finally dismantled.

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.

David Hiley 1700-1767 (Part 2 - David's children and his Settlement)

The parish registers for St Mary's Church in Luddenden record these two baptisms:

Mark Hyley, son of David Hyley of Warley, on 11th September 1720 and David Hyley, son of David Hyley, on 16th January 1725.

David's wife Dorothy died in 1733.

In 1744 David obtained a 'Settlement Certificate' from the parish of Warley regarding his move to the parish of Ovenden.

The Settlement Certificate

At this time every parish was responsible for looking after its own poor. 'Overseers of the poor' were officers who could give out poor relief to those who were unable to support themselves. The money came from a rate which the overseers levied on the better off households in the parish.

In 1662 an Act of Settlement was passed to define which parish had responsibility for providing a poor person with relief. A person's parish of settlement was usually his or her birthplace, but married women took their husbands' settlements and children their fathers'. 

After 1697 the poor were allowed to enter a different parish in search of work, so long as they had a signed Settlement Certificate guaranteeing that their parish of settlement would be responsible for paying their poor relief and would take them back if necessary. Without one, a migrant was liable to be sent back to his or her parish of settlement. An examination could be made if the parish of settlement was uncertain or if the new parish felt that the person was likely to become chargeable to them.

David's certificate

Reproduced by courtesy of Halifax Antiquarian Society, West Yorkshire Archives, Calderdale, HAS:73(236)80

The certificate confirms that David and his children Mark, James and David, have their legal settlement in the township of Warley and that this township will provide for them if they become chargeable to the township of Ovenden. The map below shows that Warley and Ovenden were neighbouring townships.

We have no record of a baptism for James but the order in which the children are listed suggests that Mark was the eldest, David the youngest with James in the middle. So given that Mark was baptised in September 1720 and David in January 1725 it seems likely that James would have been born in about 1722 or 1723. 

At the time of the Settlement, the approximate ages of the 3 children would have been: Mark 23, James 21 and David 19. 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 one of the leading family lines in the Halifax area.

Next post : Part 3 (Morton Beck)