High Lee today

Below are some recent photos of High Lee and the surrounding area. Part of the property is now a Care Home and part private residences.

High Lee taken from Sowerby Lane

Looking from Hathershelf across to High Lee Green. In the distance on the left is the Warley hillside across the Calder valley

From above Luddendenfoot on the Warley hillside 

looking west across the Calder valley

From behind the cricket field of Luddendenfoot C.C.

The buildings at High Lee

The Myers map of Halifax

This month the posts will concentrate on the area where the Yorkshire Hileys originated.

George Redmonds, the expert on Yorkshire surnames, said that the Hiley name came from High Lee in Luddenden. Go back to the post of 10th February 2019 for more about the origin of the name.

J.F. Myers produced a map of the Parish of Halifax in 1834-1835. An extract from it is shown below.

High Lee is situated on the Sowerby hillside to the west of Luddenden Foot across the Calder valley. Strangely it seems to be marked as 'Higher Lee', a name not seen anywhere else.

The map is held by the Halifax Antiquarian Society and the digital image belongs to the Digital Archives Association (www.digitalarchives.co.uk). Permission to show this extract has been given by both of these organisations.

You will need to click on the map to enlarge it.

Myers map of Halifax

The Thiepval names

The four Hileys/Highleys whose names appear on the Thiepval Memorial in France - see the last blogpost.

James Highley
James was a Rifleman with the Rifle Brigade (8th Battalion). He was born in Halifax and on the night of the census in 1911 was living at home with his 2 brothers and 2 sisters. His mother Emily Caroline, recently widowed and working as a Charwoman, spent the night elsewhere. James was working as a Painter’s Labourer.

The 8th Battalion was part of the 14th Division, 41st Brigade and was involved in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette in the Somme in September 1916. James was killed in action on 15th September 1916. His effects were sent to his sister Elizabeth Stott (nee Highley).

Leonard Hiley
Leonard was born in Eccles, Lancashire in about 1885. In 1905 he married Ethel May Whitehead in Weaste and a daughter Dora was born the following year. Leonard and his father Beaumont Hiley were both Tripe Dressers. In 1911 Leonard, Ethel May and Dora, along with another child Winston Beaumont were living with Ethel May’s father George Whitehead, now a widower. Another son Leonard was born in 1912.

Leonard enlisted in Salford in 1915 with the Lancashire Fusiliers 19th Battalion, the 3rd Salford Pals. Their first taste of action was at Thiepval Ridge in the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916, the Salford Pals being almost wiped out. Leonard was one of those killed in action on that day.

Norman Hiley
Thomas Norman Hiley, born in 1889, was from Shipley near Bradford in Yorkshire. He was the youngest of the 7 children of Joseph and Sophia who survived, 4 having died young. In 1911 Norman was a Warehouseman.

Norman was a Sergeant in the East Yorkshire Regiment 7th Battalion. The Battalion was part of the 17th (Northern) Division. The Division’s first major engagement was in July 1916, when it fought in the battles of Albert and Delville Wood, both part of the larger Battle of the Somme. Norman was killed in action on the first day of this battle, 1st July 1916.

Joe Hiley
Joseph (Joe) was born in Torworth near Retford in Nottinghamshire in 1892. In 1911 he was listed as a ‘Ram Driver at Pit’ and when he enlisted in September 1914 a ‘Coke Oven Worker’.

Joe joined the York and Lancaster Regiment 8th Battalion where he became a Lance Corporal. He was killed in action on 1st July 1916, attacking Ovillers where his Battalion suffered 635 casualties. It was the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The Battalion suffered very heavy losses and most of the men were either killed or injured. His medals and effects were sent to his mother Hannah Hiley, widowed, of Wickersley in Rotherham.

The Thiepval Memorial

Continuing the series on Hileys/Highleys who lost their lives in the First World War...…...

The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme battlefields, near Albert in northern France, bears the names of 72,194 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces.

Four of these bear the Hiley or Highley name - James Highley from Halifax who was in the Rifle Brigade, Leonard Hiley from Eccles who was in the Lancashire Fusiliers, Norman Hiley from Shipley who fought in the East Yorkshire Regiment and Joseph (Joe) Hiley from Retford who was in the York and Lancaster Regiment.

Brief histories of these soldiers will appear in future Blogposts.

The first four photos are included courtesy of Steve Rogers, The War Graves Photographic Project.

The Thiepval Memorial

The Thiepval plaque

James Highley

Leonard Hiley

Norman Hiley

Joseph (Joe) Hiley

(included courtesy of Lady Linda at Find A Grave)

Hiley signatures

Going back in time to the 1800s and earlier centuries many people were illiterate and could not sign their own names. Documents like marriage certificates would often show the bride and bridegroom making their mark, usually a cross, next to their name as written down by the official.

On 8th June 1845 Thomas Highley and Sarah Jackson (and the two witnesses) both made their marks on the certificate when they were married in St Chad's Church in Rochdale.

Marriage of Thomas Highley and Sarah Jackson (Ancestry record)

The signatures of 6 generations of Hileys are shown below:

6 generations of Hileys, fathers and sons

John Highley, marriage to Grace Ogden in 1783

John Highley, marriage to Mally Unsworth in 1810

Charles Highley, marriage to Betty Harrison in 1844

Samuel Hiley, letter about his property in Walsden, 1931

Harold Hiley, marriage to Grace Annie Heyworth, 1925


Henry Hiley, document from Service Record, 1945






The Blogpost of 5th June 2019 showed the inventory of Henry Hyley of Warley from 1732/3. The inventory accompanied an 'admon', or letters of administration, which was issued if there was no valid will and was a formal permission allowing the administrator (usually a relative, appointed by the court) to deal with the deceased person's estate.

In this case, Henry's widow Sarah was the administrator. Her signature appears at the bottom of the document. Also witnessing the document is John Hily, referred to elsewhere as 'Johannes Hiley of Warley the Clothmaker'.

Excerpt from the will of Henry Hyley 1732/3

These are the earliest Hiley signatures so far found.

Lord Hiley

As far as I know there has never been a Hiley (or Highley) to be given the distinguished title of Lord, although there are one or two who have received knighthoods.

But there was a Lord Hiley who lived for only a short time in Walsden near Todmorden in 1873.

The Blog of 7th May 2019 included a story about Reuben Hiley ('Old Wraggs'). Reuben and his wife Betty had 5 children, including a son James. In 1857 James married Mary Ann Lord and the couple had 10 children. The eighth of these was Lord.

Lord was born on 16th April 1873. The family lived in Newbridge, Walsden and the occupation of Lord's father James was recorded on Lord's birth certificate as a 'Carter for Manufacturing Chemists'. The birth was not registered until 28th May. Lord's mother Mary Ann was the informant at the Register Office in Todmorden and, unable to sign her name, she made her mark on the form.

Lord, only six months old, passed away on 10th November the same year. This time his father James was the informant and he had been present at the death. He also made his mark on the form.

Lord had been seen only once by a doctor. The cause of death was given as pneumonitis. Pneumonitis is inflammation (swelling) of the tissues of the lungs. A dry cough and shortness of breath are symptoms of the illness.

Lord was buried in the graveyard of St Peter's Church in Walsden. In the same grave were buried four other children under 10 years old - his brother William (aged 8), his sister Mary Ann (aged 6 months), and two infant children (aged 2 and 9 months) of his sister Sarah Ellen and her husband Fred Smith. Lord's parents James and Mary Ann were buried with him.

There are 23 graves in the St Peter's churchyard where Hileys or people connected with Hiley families are buried.

The photo below shows part of the graveyard at St Peter's. The walking stick marks the grave of John and Mally Highley, distant relations of Lord and his family. Lord's grave has not yet been located.

St Peter's, Walsden graveyard

St Peter's Church, Walsden

Double dating

The last Blogpost (11th December 2019) mentioned the baptism of Agnes Hylyle on 24th February 1539/40.

Before 1752 the calendar year started on 25th March rather than on 1st January so the year used for dates between 1st January and 24th March was the same as for the preceding December.

Dates between 1st January and 24th March before 1752 are often recorded using a technique called 'double dating'. They are given as two years. So Agnes's baptism on 24th February took place in 1539 under the old style (Julian calendar) and 1540 under the new style (Gregorian calendar). 1539 was the year the baptism appears in the parish register and 1540 is the modern year equivalent. Hence 1539/40.

The Blogpost of 5th June 2019 showed the inventory of the goods and chattels of Henry Hyley of Warley. The date of the inventory is properly recorded as 23rd February 1732/3. The record of the entry for Henry's will in the Prerogative & Exchequer Courts of York Probate Index is shown below.
(1732/3 Martii (March), Hyley Henrici de Warley P (Parish) Hallifax).

Record of entry for Henry Hyley's will