PEOPLE

EIGHTEEN CENTURY

Thomas Lister, Clockmaker

Thomas Lister of Luddenden was recorded as born 1718 and died 1779.

His son, also Thomas of Halifax was born 1745 and died 1814

A good maker.

In 1774 he contracted to make for £60, Halifax Church clock;

In 1801 he made to the order of Dr. Birkbeck , for the Anderson College, Glasgow , an orrery, which had been designed

by Joseph Priestley of Bradford

In 1802 he made for Illingworth Church a clock having a pendulum 30 ft. long, vibrating 20 times a minute.

On a paper label inside one of

his clocks was the following:

“ Lo! Here I stand by you, upright,

To give you warning day and night:

For ev’ry trick that I do give,

Cuts short the Time that you have to live.

Therefore, a warning take by me,

To serve thy God as I serve thee

Each day and night be on thy guard,

And thou shalt have a just reward.”

The above from ‘Old Clocks and Watches & their Makers’ F.J. Britten

NINETEEN CENTURY

Branwell Brontë, Painter & Writer

Patrick Branwell Brontë, born 26 June 1817, was an English painter and writer. He was the only son of the Brontë family, and brother of the writers Charlotte, Emily, and Anne.

In 1840 Branwell was appointed as 'assistant clerk in charge' at Sowerby Bridge Railway Station. In 1841, he was promoted to 'clerk in charge' at Luddenfoot Railway Station. In 1842 he was dismissed due to a deficit in the railway accounts. It is probable that this money was stolen by a colleague, while Branwell was off drinking.

However, he drifted between jobs, supporting himself by portrait-painting, and gave way to drug and alcohol addiction, apparently worsened by a failed relationship with a married woman. Brontë died at the age of 31, on 24 September 1848

Branwell lived briefly at The Lord Nelson Inn.

William Heaton, Poet

Heaton was born in poor circumstances in the village and lived most of his life in the cottage opposite the Lord Nelson and close to the church gates. His start in life meant that he did not attend school but he strived against the odds to better himself. At first he taught himself to read and write by tracing letters on the gravestones in the churchyard.

Quite late in life he earned his living by carpet weaving at home. Along with other young men in the village he joined the lending library and they began to collect items of Natural History and coins. Later he started to write poetry which he showed to Branwell Brontë who gave him great encouragement.

From this contact with Brontë and the artistic circle of friends at the Lord Nelson, he settled down to write poetry seriously. It is believed he composed at the loom and scribbled his verse on the walls of the cottage.

His first collection of poems was published in 1847 called 'Flowers of Calderdale'. In the 1851 census, Heaton is described as a carpet Weaver and poet. At that time, besides his wife Elizabeth, there were six other members of his extended family living with him in the small cottage.

A second volume entitled 'The old soldier, the wandering lover and other poems' appeared in 1858. This work contains a poem, 'The song of the handloom Weaver', which captures very well the circumstances and feelings of the handloom weavers in the period 1830 to 1850 when mechanisation swept them away.

Towards the end of his life influential friends like William Dearden obtained a sinecure for him as the first keeper of Peoples Park in Halifax. He died in 1871, and his gravestone at Mount Pellon describes him as the Calderdale Poet.

TWENTIETH CENTURY

The War Dead

All the servicemen commemorated on the Midgley and Luddenden War Memorial have been researched and their histories are listed below:

World War One Servicemen

World War Two Servicemen

Roll of Honour

In addition, you can explore of the Villages' Rolls of Honour here

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