Monthly Archives: January 2024

West Riding Comtemporary Biographies

CENTRAL WEST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE

AT THE OPENING OF XXth CENTURY

Contemporary Biographies

I bought this book quite a few years ago, even though it was in a rather sad state. I seem to recall that it was on a stall at the York Family History Fair – I can’t remember how much the asking price was; however, I do remember parting with £5 after some bargaining. The front and back covers were, and still are, separate from the rest of the book; the spine is damaged, and the front fly cover is also loose. Saying all that, there is only one loose section – one piece of paper folded in two with the names – The Right Hon. the Earl of Scarborough; Mr Alexander Wentworth MacDonald Bosville, JP; The Most Rev. William Dalrymple Maclagan, PC., DD., DCL., and Sir John Austin, Bart., JP., pages 103, 103a, 104 and 104a. Considering the outside condition, the other pages are in very good shape.

It seemed such a shame to leave such a once handsome, large and heavy book to an unknown future. I knew it would come into use one day. The following are extractions with a Wakefield connection.

Bruce – Samuel Bruce LLB., JP., St John’s House, Wakefield: only son of the late Thomas Bruce, gent., of Wakefield: born at Leeds, July 10th, 1829: educated at the West Riding Proprietary School (now the Grammar School), Wakefield and University College, London. Barrister-at-Law; graduated 1851 and a member of Convocation; student of the Middle Temple (1851-55); called to the Bar, November, 1855; has practised in Wakefield; appointed Stamp Distributor in 1874, and is one of three only in the United Kingdom allowed to receive death duties; appointed a Justice of the Peace n the first grant of a Commission of the Peace for Wakefield, 1870; a Governor and Treasurer for the Crowther and other local charities; has long taken a prominent part in public affairs, especially in educational and political matters.

Fernandes – Charles Bathurst Luis Fernandes, JP., Wakefield; son of Joze Luis Fernandes, the elder, of Wakefield, and his wife, Catherine Mary, only daughter of George Hutchinson, of Whitton House, near Stockton-on-Tees, in the county of Durham, and of Wet Brunton, in the county of Northumberland; born at Porto Bello House, Wakefield, November 27th 1833; of Portuguese extraction, being descended, on the paternal side, from the Marquis de Tavora, the political opponent the Marquis de Pombal; educated at Christ’s Hospital, London, and Wakefield Grammar School. Admitted a Solicitor in 1857; is Solicitor to the Governors of the Wakefield Charities; Clerk to Normanton Urban District Council;Clerk to the Normanton and District Joint Hospital Committee; Clerk to the Trustees of Lady Hutchinson’s Charity, etc.,;acted as Solicitor in promoting a scheme for supplying Wakefield with water from the Penistone Hills, instead of the water which was then drawn from the River Calder; was also engaged as Solicitor either for or against nearly all the schemes propounded for supplying pure water to Wakefield, which culminated in the present supply from Rishworth Moors, takes a deep interest in agriculture and the breeding of horses, particularly thoroughbreds and draught horses; owner and breeder of Middlethorpe, Yorkshire Lad, and Chief Baron; owns and maintains the Sturton Stud Farm, near Gainsbro’; Lincolnshire. Married Francis Sarah, daughter of Thomas Bayldon, of Hollinghurst, near Wakefield, who was the proprietor of a large landed estate at Mowthorpe, in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Kingswell – William Henry Kingswell, 95 Northgate, Wakefield; son of William Henry Kingswell, silk merchant; born at Wakefield, December 29th 1874; educated at Wakefield Grammar School. Articled with H Plews, of Wakefield; admitted 1899; was Managing Clerk with Messrs. Clements, Williams and Company, 11 King Street, E.C.; returned to Wakefield, 1901, and acquired the practices of Messrs. Brown, Wilkin and Scott, and Mander and Company; Steward of the Manor of Crigglestone, and of the Manor of Newland-cum-Woodhouse Moor.

Ottley – John Bickersteth Ottley – 1, Hatfield Street, Wakefield, eldest surviving son of the late Rev. Lawrence Ottley, Rector of Richmond and Canon of Ripon, Yorkshire, who was the eldest son of sir Richard Ottley, late Chief Justice of Ceylon; his mother was Elizabeth Bickersteth,, was daughter of the late Rev. John Bickeresteth, of Sapcote, Leicestershire, and sister of the late Bishop Bickersteth, of Ripon, and Dean of Bickersteth, of Lichfield, and niece of the late Lord Langdale; born at Acton, Suffolk, February 5th 1845; educated at St Peter’s School, York, and afterwards a Foundation scholar at Charterhouse, London; in 1864 he obtained an pen Exhibition at Trinity Hall, and afterwards an open Scholarship at Emmanuel College, Cambridge; graduated Second class in the Classical Tripos in 1868; articled to the late Mr Octavius Leefe, of London; admitted solicitor, Trinity term, 1871; succeeded, in 1874, to the practice of the late Mr Charles Oriel (also an old Carthusian); appointed, after the passing of the Bancruptcy Act, 1883, Official Receiver in Bankruptcy at Wakefield, the Bancruptcy district of Barnsley County Court being added to his jurisdiction in 1895, on the death of the late Mr Clegg, of Sheffield. Married August, 1896, Margaret Wray, of Newmillerdam, near Wakefield, and had two children living.

Beverley – Christopher Beverley, JP., West Royd, Farsley, near Leeds; son of the late Christopher Lodge Farsley, of Wakefield; born at Wakefield, November 22nd 1847; educated locally. Justice of the Peace for the city of Bradford; head of the firm of C Beverley and Company, commission wool combers, Albion Works, Bradford, Chairman of Beverley Bros., Ltd., Eagle Brewery, Wakefield. Married Evangeline, daughter of the late Israel Roberts, of Westfield, Stanningley Club: Bradford and County Conservative.

Fawcett, Joshua Swallow, JP., Ashleigh, Ossett; son of Frederick Fawcett, of Horbury; born at Thornes, near Wakefield, March 28th 1842; educated at local school, Leeds and Dewsbury. Extract wool, merino, and mungo manufacturer, and oil extractor, Caldervale Mills, Healey, Ossett; started business in 1872, in partnership with Messrs. Firth and Jessop; formed company, 1898, as Fawcett and Firth Ltd.; is Chairman of the Company; was member of Ossett Borough, 1893. Married Mary, daughter of the late Jeremiah Fisher of Horbury.

Rhodes, William, Fern Bank, St John’s North, Wakefield; son of the late Joseph Rhodes; born at Wakefield in 1844; educated at local schools in Wakefield, and at Almondbury, near Huddersfield. Engineer and ironfounder; proprietor of the Grove Iron Works, Wakefield which were established in 1824, by his father, whom he joined on leaving school; for the last nine years member of Wakefield Corporation, formerly member of the Board of Guardians; Chairman and Vice-President of Wakefield Liberal Club; Chairman of the Engineering Employers’ Federation (Wakefield Association); Governor of Wakefield Charities; member of the Society of Freemasons, Sincerity Lodge, No. 1019, Wakefield.

note – ironfounder is one word in the book.

Wade, Henry, Redville, St John’s North, Wakefield; son of the late Walter Wade, of Wakefield; born at Stanley, June 17th 1866. Cloth manufacture; entered his father’s business, 1881; became partner, 1895; in 1897 the business was turned into a private company, of which Mr Wade is one of the Managing Directors; a Governor of Clayton Hospital; a member of the Council of Mechanics Institute, Wakefield; Treasurer of Wakefield Cricket Club. Married Emma, daughter of John Northcote, of Newton Abbott, Devon.

Ward, Joseph, Bottomboat House, Ossett, Yorks; son of the late Samuel Ward; born at Ossett, in; educated locally. Mungo manufacturer at Bottomboat Mill; started business in 1854; for the past forty years has been interested and associated with all Ossett improvements and advances; served on the old Board of Surveyors, then on its successor, the Local Board, and finally a member of the Corporation; Mayor, 1898, member of the Finance Committee; was Chairman of Gas-works Company, now Corporation property.

Married Elizabeth, daughter of the late James Benson, of Liverpool.

Childe, Henry Slade, Homegarth, Wakefield and Holbeck Hill, Scarboro’; son of Joshua Childe; born April 4th, 1861, at Eccleshill, near Bradford; educated at Wakefield Grammar School. Member of the firm of Messrs. Childe and Rowand, mining engineers, 59, Westgate, Wakefield and Barnsley Union Banking Company Ltd., and of the Yorkshire Railway Waggon Company Ltd.; returning as a member of Wakefield City Council, representing St John’s Ward, in 1898; Mayor of Wakefield, 1901-02; a Freemason. Past Provincial Grand Registrar in West Yorkshire Freemasonry, and Vice-Chairman of the Charity Commission of that Province. Married in 1890, Kate, only daughter of Henry France, of Thornes. Clubs; St Stephen’s. Leeds and Wakefield.

Note- Rowand – spelling as in the book.  It could be Messrs. Childe and Rowland, mining engineers. Reasons- Childe history pages and one of Childe’s children using the middle name Rowland.

Another Walk Around Sugar Lane Cemetery – Rhodes

 

Another Walk Around Sugar Lane Cemetery – Rhodes

William Jepson Rhodes was born in Wakefield in 1876. He was the son of Ezra Rhodes and his wife Hannah. By the time William was 15, his father, Ezra, was a widower looking after two teenage boys who both worked as joiner labourers with their father, a joiner. Home for the small family was Rhodes Yard, in the Primrose Hill area of Wakefield. Both Rhodes boys had been born in Wakefield, while Ezra had been born in Morley. Next door was widow Elizabeth Rhodes, who was living on ‘Own Means’ also from Morley – could she have been his mother? And could her husband have been responsible for the building of Rhodes Yard? William, now 25, lived in Epsom Place in the Parish of St Mary, Wakefield. He was working as a cabinet maker.

 Just short of ten years later, William was now the father to three daughters and one son. Home for the family was Mollacree’s Yard, Kirkgate, Wakefield. He had married Mary Ann Nee Ward in the summer of 1898. William’s father, Ezra, was on the marriage certificate as a Master Joiner. He was also a witness on the happy day. Mary’s father was James Ward of Sun Lane, Warrengate, Wakefield, a foreman railway waggon shunter.

 In 1939, William and his wife Mary were together in Duke of York Street, Wakefield – William was now a joiner and shopfitter.

 Between the census dates, another set of documents tells another side of the Rhodes family – passenger lists. In 1908, mum Mary and three children were on SS Etruria bound for Middlesbro’ Kentucky from Liverpool. Why? The passenger list tells that the nearest relative was an aunt who lived in Northgate, Wakefield – no name of the aunt, but something maybe to research later. Where was William Jepson Rhodes? Had he died? No, I have seen the headstone; William was still alive. Did he stay in Wakefield? No. William, aged 32, travelled on SS Lusitania in February 1908. His wife Mary was living in Zetland Street, Wakefield, probably preparing for her upcoming journey. Why did the family leave the country? They only stayed briefly, as they are in the 1911 census. All eight of them are living in Mollacrees Yard. William, a shopfitter, works for George Blakey on Back Lane, Westgate, Wakefield.

William died in May 1945. His wife, Mary, followed in October 1958. The headstone gives the reader one valuable snippet of information – Mary was the sister of Thomas Ward. Thomas, included on the memorial, died in Boston, USA, in November 1946. There is now a link to America. In modern-day traffic, the journey from Boston to Middlesboro, Kentucky, is over 14 hours and a longer and more arduous journey during the first decade of the twentieth century. A visit to Mary’s brother could be the reason for the short stay.

 Although I am curious to dig a little deeper and delve further into the Rhodes / Ward families, I must tell myself to stop and leave any further digging to the family or someone with another connection – not me!

Another Walk Around Sugar Lane Cemetery – Horsfall

Another Walk Around Sugar Lane Cemetery – Horsfall

When taking you on a walk around one of Wakefield’s cemeteries, I often wonder what I will find.  Will I be surprised when I see their occupation or where they lived?  Where will my little walk take me this time?

Who will get their chance today?

A granite memorial in shades of pink, white and grey – a solid structure yet simple in its design and wording ‘In Affectionate Remembrance of Henry Horsfall, Surgeon Wakefield. Born August 20th 1817. Died March 13th 1898.’

The first workable census to look for Henry is 1851. He lives at ‘Manor House’ in the All Saints Ecclesiastical District. A single man, he tells the enumerator he had been born in Wragby. His occupation fills his section and encroaches into the line below ‘General Practitioner of the Royal College of Surgeons & Pharmacists (?) of Apothecaries Hall, London’. Joseph Balmford was born in Wakefield 16 years earlier and was a medical pupil under the tutelage of Henry. Also in the male household was 25-year-old Ann Pickersgill, a servant.

Twenty years later, Henry is still a single man. His housekeeper (Domestic) is now Featherstone-born Jane Earnshaw (aged 48). Not only has he changed his housekeeper, but he has also now changed his address to Southgate. A few houses away is another surgeon, John Whiteley – a General Practitioner and a Royal College of Surgeons member.

By 1881, there has been another change in housekeepers (Jane Beckett) from Featherstone. Is this the same Jane with a name change, even though she’s saying she is single in the 1871 and 1881 census, or is she just stretching the truth a little? Henry has also been on the move again; he now lives in Burton St, St John’s.

The census of 1891 gives a house number for Henry’s house in Burton Street – six. A new general servant looks after Henry, Stanley, born Kate Wilkinson, aged 20. Kate also looks after Sarah Whiteley, aged 53, his niece. Do you remember the surname Whiteley? Dr Whiteley lived a few doors away from Henry in the 1871 census – could there be a family connection or just a coincidence?

We know a little about Henry from his census entries, but who were his parents? On the 28th of December 1817, John Horsfall, a farmer of Hill Top, Wragby and his wife Sarah, took their young son to St Micheals Church, Wragby, to be christened by J (?) Morville, Curate. John, of Hill Top, died at 50 in 1823.

John of Wragby and Sarah (Smirthwaite) are found in Pallot’s Marriage Index, 1780-1837, as being married by License in 1796. Pallot’s Marriage Index includes over 1.5 million marriages in England (three million people) from 1780 until the beginning of Civil Registration in 1837. The Boyd’s Marriage Index includes over 3.5 million marriages, kept by the Society of Genealogists and goes back to 1538 up to 1837. Both marriage indexes have been transcribed and are now available online.

What kind of person was Henry in his professional capacity? The Editor’s Letter Box of 1853, page 225 of the Association Medical Journal, exact date unknown, includes a letter dated February 19th 1853. ‘Memorial, From Medical Practitioners In Wakefield and Its Vicinity To the Royal Colleg Of Surgeons’ was signed by over 20 General Practitioners and Surgeons from Wakefield, except one from Redcar. What was Henry and his fellows up in arms about? These men, members of the Royal College of Surgeons, felt a little put out that women could be granted a Licenciate qualification in Midwifery. These men were greatly concerned that they had undergone much training over several years. Their concerns also went on to say that they felt their hard-earned qualification would be regarded less by the local people. They also thought that the College would be introducing an inferior class of practitioners into their midst. Could this annoyance also be fuelled by the fact that these midwives could take away some of the general practitioners’ and surgeons’ trade? But they did sign, ‘We have the honour to be, Gentlemen, Your obedient servants. Henry gave his address as Kirkgate – could this be the Manor House address? Other names included Benjamin Walker, Westgate End; Ebenezer Walker, sen., Wakefield; Benjamin Kemp, Westgate End; William Wood, Cheapside; and S Holdsworth of Grove House, Wakefield.

Henry and Ebenezer Walker, both members of influential surgical families, were medical officers at the Wakefield Medical District and Workhouse. Henry was also a surgeon at the headquarters of the West Riding Constabulary and a medical officer at Hatfield Colleries. Henry’s brothers John and Francis were also doctors and this family were the forerunners to one of the towns existing surgeries. Between these brothers they called the great and good of the town their patients, including Squire Warterton. Henry and Francis were the first surgeons in the North Riding to perform a Tracheostomy. The London and Provincial Medical Directory of 1850 shows Henry living and working in premises adjoining the Market Cocoa and Coffee Tavern in Manor Courtyard. He later, as we know, had premises in Southgate – does this sound familiar to those who live locally? Mr Whiteley also joined the surgery.

During the 1849 cholera epidemic, Mr Waterton distributed his own Waterton’s Pills. Henry and Waterton had a verbal conflict following the death of a patient who had been relying on Waterton’s Pills. Henry vigorously attacked Waterton for his lack of medical knowledge and interference. Henry ate humble pie and apologised to save a legal suit. Waterton had both wealth and standing in the community – Walton Hall.

The Wakefield Microscopic Society was founded by Henry and six other doctors who could vote on other people to join at the cost of 2/6d, and they must own a ‘good’ achromatic microscope. Several more doctors joined in the following years, with others attending occasional meetings.

So Henry had an interesting life. He died in March 1898 and rests, as we know, in Sugar Lane Cemetery. The Probate for his estate was granted to John Horsfall and Frederick Wilson Horsfall, both farmers, the following month. His estate had been re-sworn in September, and the amount had been increased slightly to £113,277 17s 7d. Frederick Wilson Horsfall moved to Potto Grange, Northallerton and lived on private means. When he died in 1920, he left just over £16,000.