PEOPLE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY
SEVENTENTH CENTURY
EIGHTEEN CENTURY
Doctor Edward Watkinson, Curate
 | A very interesting character who was the curate of St Mary's for only a few years. We can see in the parish records several sections written by him. The ones shown here do not relate to the recording birth, marriage and death, but of other subjects, such as the purchase of a silver chalice: ‘In the chappel yard at the upper end of it grew a wild ash of an exceeding bulk and which had stood there time out of mind, being apprehensive it would by its fall, prove destructive to the chappel it was judged convenient to take it down and make sale of it to the best bidder.' The money to be converted to the purchase of Communion Plate, this will be after generations, make the inscription upon the patten very intelligable 'contulib ornios hanc satinam et calicem' upon the chalice.  |
We can also see some other administration recorded in the Parish records, this page written in 1726 relates to the dues to be paid to the Mother Parish Church in Halifax, written in latin:
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The Reverend Vicar of Halifax claims as his own right one penny for every funeral in our chapel. Everyone Baptised in our Chapel - as ancient custom maintains - gives six pennies which small sum always belongs to the Vicar. Each year, a copy of this register is transmitted to York, specifically from that day on which the Messenger Gabriel was sent to the Holy Virgin Mary. |
The last section refers to 'the day on which the Messenger Gabriel was sent to the Holy Virgin Mary'. This is Lady Day (25th March) and was until the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752 the start of the New Year.
So in 1726 when this text was written, the 24th March was New Year's Eve and the last day of 1725, the 25th March was New Year's Day so it was the first day of 1726! Confusing!!
In 1732, he gave the rent from property in Leeds and Hunslet to buy:
“twelve 2d loaves each week and distribute these every Sunday after morning service to six poor widows in Midgley and six in Warley. Each person also received 6d on Trinity Sunday, 12d on the Sunday before Christmas, and 6d on Easter Sunday.”
The Doctor Watkinson Trust was still providing support for the needy of the Parish in to 2020's.
Thomas Lister, Clockmaker
Thomas Lister (1717-1778) was born in Keighley. He married Hannah Holroid in Halifax in 1738. They moved to Shepherd House in Luddenden. All the clocks he made between 1742 and 1778 are signed to indicate they were made in Luddenden.
In later years he worked with his son, also Thomas(1745-1814). He had a workshop at the corner of Lord Street and Bull Green in Halifax, later with a partner (Lister and Bromley 1801 until about 1814). This photo is the face of a Longcase clock made by the son, Thomas(1745-1814).
Here was Interred March 22nd 1779 Thos Lister of Halifax late of Shepherd House in the 62nd year of his Age.
Also Thos Lister his Grandson Oct 18th 1784 aged 1 Year and 3 months Also Lanct Greenwd Lister July 20th 1790 aged 2 Years and 11 months
Also Mary Mother of the above said children on July 8th1795 aged 36 Years Also Sarah Lister March 9th 1796 aged 9 months Also Thomas Lister of Lord Street in Halifax Husband of the above Mary and Father of the above said Children who departed this life on the 26th day of December 1814 in the 70th Year of his AGE
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
COINERS
If you are unfamiliar with the Story of The Cragg Vale Coiners, there are many references including these here and here.
The Full list of people from Luddenden Dean who were accused of Diminishing the Coin of the Realm:
- Issac DEWHIRST of Luddingden Dean
- William HOWARTH of Midgley named in the examination of Thomas Varley on 4th Jan 1770
- Nathan HORSFALL Butcher of Saltonstall listed as a suspect in November 1769
- Jame OLDFIELD Stuffmaker from Saltonstall hanged at Tyburn 20th April 1770
- Thomas SPENSER Weaver from Warley. Found guilty of the murder of Mr. Dighton, the excise man. Hanged at Tyburn
- John UTTLEY of Luddenden
- Thomas VARLEY Weaver from Midgley, son of William Varley below, acquitted
- William VARLEY Cornmiller from Luddenden Sentenced to death alongside David Hartley and James Oldfield but pardoned at the last moment.
- Abel WILKINSON of Midgley used as a witness.
James Oldfield
Transcript: BURIALS 1770 May 1st James Oldfield Warley - He was Hanged at York on Saturday 28th of April for diminishing the Gold Coin of This Kingdom.
James Oldfield, a Stuffmaker from Saltonstall was implicated in David Hartley's coin clipping operations.
He was one of many arrested in December 1769 after other local people gave evidence against him.
He was imprisoned in York awaiting trail, found guilty and the following morning (28th April) he was hanged alongside David Hartley, the mastermind of the Coiners.
James Oldfield's family or friends collected his body returned it to the village where he was buried in St Mary's Churchyard.
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.
James Ambler, Mill Owner
William Hartley, Luddite
The Luddites were members of a 19th-century movement of English textile workers who opposed the use of certain types of automated machinery due to concerns relating to worker pay and output quality. They often destroyed the machines in organised raids. Members of the group referred to themselves as Luddites, self-described followers of "Ned Ludd", a legendary weaver whose name was used as a pseudonym in threatening letters to mill owners and government officials.
The Luddite movement began in Nottingham, England, and spread to the North West and Yorkshire between 1811 and 1816.
Mill and factory owners took to shooting protesters and eventually the movement was suppressed by legal and military force, which included execution and penal transportation of accused and convicted Luddites.
William Hartley was a Tailor from Warley. He was accused of burglary along with John Hill and Job Hey, the three men had used force to steal a piston from George Haigh a farmer from Copley Gate, Skircoat on 29 Aug 1812.
On 11 Jan 1813, we find William Hartley in prison at York Castle where he was put on trial. He was hanged for his crime on 13 Jan 1813 along with another 14 Luddites, 7 in the morning, 7 in the afternoon.
His body was returned to the village (by family or friends?) and was buried in St Mary's Churchyard on 20th January.
His wife had also died, orphaning their eight children who were cared for by their grandparents.
A Quaker Missionary Thomas Shillitoe took it upon himself to visit all the families of the executed men.
We next proceeded to the cottage of the parents of William Hartley, who suffered for robbery: with them resided his eight children, bereft of both parents, the mother having been deceased about three weeks. The neighbours observing us go into their cottage, followed us, quietly taking their seats: the opportunity proved to many, especially some of the children, a heart-tendering season—one, I believe, that will long be remembered by some present.
TWENTIETH CENTURY
MIDGLEY AND LUDDENDEN SERVICEMEN
The War Dead
All the servicemen commemorated on the Midgley and Luddenden War Memorial have been researched and their histories are listed below:
Roll of Honour
In addition, you can explore of the Villages' Rolls of Honour here