Category Archives: Batley

Murderous Assaults with Poker & Rope: The (Un)Fortunate William Gavan

Posted on April 17, 2016 | 2 comments

This is a tale of my 2x great grandfather William Gavan, a victim of crime but perhaps himself a wrong-doer? Two recent record releases, one on Ancestry UK and the other on FindMyPast, have supplemented earlier findings. One has possibly revealed a twist on this earlier research. 

William Gavan hailed from County Mayo, moving to England at around the time of the Great Famine of the late 1840s. He was certainly in Kidderminster by the 1851 census. It was in the town’s Roman Catholic chapel that he married County Mayo-born Bridget Knavesay in 1852. They moved to Batley in around 1860 with their young family, Honor, Margaret, Sarah and John. Eldest son James died sometime prior to the move, and Honor’s death followed in 1869. The couple had four further children – Mary, Thomas, Bridget (my great grandmother). Their youngest, William, was born in 1872. 

In the absence of any baptism record, William’s year of birth ranges anywhere between 1821-1832 depending on source. 

The story begins in April 1870. This was the first mention I found of William in Batley’s only town paper at the time, the “Batley Reporter”. I discovered the entry by pure chance whilst doing a library newspaper search for something totally unrelated. The headline captured my imagination: “Murderous Assault with a Poker“. It conjured up visions of the reputed cause of death of Edward II whose tomb I saw at Gloucester Cathedral. This story proved to be far less gruesome, but on a personal level far more interesting. As I read on I realised the victim was my 2x great grandfather William Gavan. 

On Saturday 9 April, at around 9.30pm, William was drinking with a friend, James Brannan, in John Farrar’s establishment, the “Ringers’ Arms” on New Street, Batley. The beerhouse was gain-hand for William, as he lived on the same street. Thomas Cain, a New Street neighbour, sat opposite William. Thomas, a much younger Irish man in his early 20s, lived with his mother.  

“Ringers Arms” sign, a few decades later – image courtesy of Batley Community Archive

 Initially conversation was friendly. At some point though Thomas made some remark, about William beating his wife. William responded by telling Thomas to go home and mind his mother. This seemingly innocuous response triggered a dramatic reaction. Thomas grabbed a poker and struck William on the head, a blow so violent as to render him unconscious and draw a copious flow of blood. William was taken home and the Doctor, William Bayldon, summoned. 

He found William slumped in a chair, faint through blood loss which had saturated his hair, covered his face and even soaked into the chair. The almost two inch long wound, on the left of his head, extended through the whole thickness of his scalp and resulted in an arterial rupture of a branch of the left temple artery.  

Police Sergeant Lund apprehended Thomas in his home at around 4am in the morning of 10 April. When charged with the assault he declared “I did hit him once with the poker, and I hope the b______ will die, if I thought he would not, I would have given him another blow”. So a fairly clear admission. 

William was confined to bed for five days after the assault, necessitating the deferral of the case against Thomas. Finally able to give evidence, William appeared at Batley Borough Court on 18 April. He must have cut a dramatic figure with bandaged head, remaining seated throughout the process. Dr Bayldon said the wound had not healed and would probably require treatment for a further fortnight. So a pretty impressive injury. Equally theatrical was the dramatic production of the offending poker during the case.  

The assault was of such a serious nature Batley Borough Court decided to refer the case to the Quarter Sessions at Bradford. The “Batley Reporter” had a one liner reporting the outcome on 21 May 1870: “Nine Months – Thomas Cain, unlawfully and maliciously wounding William Gavin [sic], at Batley” 

This is where the new records in Ancestry.co.uk come in. A recent addition is the West Riding Quarter Session records, 1637-1914. They are searchable by the name of the person indicted, but not by victim or witnesses. Luckily, through newspapers, I knew the name of William’s assailant. The indictment book gives detail of the full charge against Thomas Cain – in essence that he unlawfully made an assault on William and unlawfully beat, wound and ill-treated and did other wrongs to him. It also provides the names of the witnesses. The case was heard on 19 May 1870 and Thomas pleaded guilty. The wording is very formulaic and repetitive and doesn’t really add many details – for that the newspaper report is best. But it does provide another layer of detail, and a search of these records could help identify hitherto unknown charges against ancestors. 

By the time of the 1871 census Thomas was back home from the Wakefield House of Correction and once more living with his mother in New Street. The Gavan family had upped sticks and left the street on which they’d lived since their arrival in Batley. They now resided at Spring Gardens. I do wonder if the re-location owed something to the return of William’s attacker. I don’t expect many would want to remain living in the immediate vicinity of their poker-wielding assailant. 

But at the back of my mind was the wife-beating allegation Thomas made against William, which precipitated events that April 1870 night. Was there any substance in the claim? Was William ever hauled in front of the Magistrates to answer accusations? Did he beat Bridget? No charges on this count showed in the Quarter Session records, but any case wasn’t bound to get to that level. It may most likely have been dealt locally in the Petty Sessions.  

I never got round to further perusing the local newspapers for the period to see if William featured again. In the absence of any other information it was too formidable undertaking; neither did I check at West Yorkshire Archives for any lists of those appearing before Batley Borough Court.  

Here FindMyPast’s newspaper collection came to the rescue. It pays to keep checking because newspapers are added regularly. I was overjoyed to discover the addition of the “Dewsbury Reporter”. Not quite as good as having the “Batley Reporter” or the later Batley town paper, the “Batley News”. But not to be overlooked, because Batley stories feature in this neighbouring town’s paper. Also, it’s fair to point out, on FindMyPast there is a limited run for the Dewsbury paper. So far, it covers editions from its inception in 1869 until 1884. But it is part of the period of my ancestors lived in the town. So definitely worth a speculative search one evening. Hopefully the coverage will expand over time.

I really had to play around to overcome OCR errors as well as the dreaded surname variants for Gavan. It was worth the effort. Whilst there may be more to find, I unearthed some absolute corkers. And not confined to the occasional drunk and riotous episode either. 

Reports for the Gavan family included a rather interesting one dated 6 September 1873. In short William was summoned to appear at Batley Borough Court on Monday 1 September to answer a charge preferred against him by his wife, Bridget, of threatening to take her life. When the case was called she refused to say anything against her husband until Inspector Wetherill said he would lock the pair of them up. This loosened Bridget’s tongue. Apart from anything else, she had young children to consider. Youngest child William was only one.

She and William quarrelled on the 29 August. During the row he threatened kill her, something she took seriously. Afraid he would do her grievous bodily harm she reported him. William was bound over to keep the peace for six months. So perhaps there may have been something in what Thomas Cain alleged over three years earlier. Maybe Thomas was indeed upset at the way William treated his wife. And the hot-headed youth acted whilst in his cups. 

The next gem involved Bridget. On Wednesday 2 June 1875 it was her turn to appear in the Borough Court. I love the phraseology and images conjured up by the newspaper report, so much so I’m reproducing it in its entirety: 

“Bridget Gavan was charged with assaulting Mary Winn, wife of Peter Winn, Spring Gardens, on the 20th May. Mr Hudson appeared for the complainant, and stated that the complainant’s husband was a coal agent, and sold coals in the neighbourhood, and collected money in small instalments. On Saturday last he called at the house of the defendant for some money, but instead of receiving the money he received a very warm reception from the defendant’s tongue, which induced him to leave the house and go away about his business. After visiting several other places, he went again and saw the defendant, who struck him, and scratched him in the face. He went home and told his wife, who naturally was not very well pleased with it, and on Monday she happened to meet with the defendant at a friend’s house, and asked her why she had insulted her husband. The defendant used some very naughty words, and afterwards she followed complainant to her house, seized her by the hair of the head, and a scrimmage took place to the detriment of both parties; and then it was that the complainant took out a summons for assault, and the summons was served on Monday. The summons was taken by the defendant, and in a very indecent manner was thrown by her into the complainant’s house, and she also broke a window. Evidence having been given by Peter Winn and the complainant, the defendant said the complainant struck her first with a brush. The Bench thought there had been some provocation on both sides, and only inflicted a fine of 2s 6d and costs”. 

I do wonder what constituted “very naughty words” and the mind boggles at how a summons could be taken in an “indecent manner”.  And why did Bridget react like this? Had Peter Winn overcharged her? Was he trying to collect money already paid? Was the coal he supplied of inferior quality? The dispute between the Winns and Bridget must have been the talk of Spring Gardens! I wonder if the Gavan’s used a different coal agent subsequently? 

But the residents of Spring Gardens were to be treated with another far more dramatic domestic disturbance in the Gavan household a little over a year later, stoking their gossip fires in a way far beyond the coal dispute. 

This jewel in the crown of my finds was accompanied by yet another “murderous assault” headline. Once more William had the role of victim. This time his attacker was his son-in-law, John Hannan. Again a much younger man in his 20’s.

John married the eldest surviving Gavan daughter, Margaret, at St Mary of the Angels RC Church, Batley on 21 September 1875, shortly after Margaret’s 20th birthday. The newly-weds lived at Spring Gardens in the household of Margaret’s parents. 

Less than 12 months after their wedding John, who was well-known to the authorities, appeared in Batley Borough Court facing charges of being drunk and riotous at Spring Gardens, assaulting Inspector Inman and assaulting William. His previous convictions included unlawfully wounding, larceny and attempted breach of the peace in connection with a prize fight. So an array of offences. 

His latest brush with the law followed drink-fuelled events on the evening of Saturday 1 July 1876. At 9pm that evening several women besieged Batley Police Office to report William lay seriously injured, probably dying, following an attack by John. 

Inspector Inman went to the house to find William with his head on a pillow, surrounded by more women. When Inspector Inman asked John what he’d been doing, John’s responded “What are you doing, you b____”. As the Inspector attempted to take John to the police station, John got hold of him by the thigh, threw him on his back and made his escape, assisted by several of the women. These allegedly included William’s daughter, 19 year old Sarah Gavan. She vehemently denied this, claiming she was away at that particular point in proceedings. 

In the meantime Dr Bayldon attended William, the same physician as was called following the 1870 attack. Again mirroring the earlier attack, William had several facial cuts, including a two inch one down to the bone. Bizarrely he also had a rope tied around his neck.  

Crime Scenes – Batley

 Fortunately William’s injuries were less serious than initially thought. Able to appear in court, without undue delay this time, he asked the Bench to “go easy” on his son-in-law. Upon being told that the matter was far too serious, William claimed not to remember anything about the night, when he “had had a sup of drink himself”. He believed John had tied a rope around his neck, but he had no feeling as John had rendered him insensible. Whether this memory loss was legitimate or a way of protecting John is open to question. I know where my suspicion lies. And the Mayor did remark to William “And yet you want to be very kind to him”. 

In his defence John claimed both he and William were drunk. He was attempting to get his father-in-law in the house and to bed. He’d pushed William causing him to fall and receive his injuries. He denied all knowledge of the rope around William’s neck. 

Sarah Gavan’s answers proved equally unsatisfactory and vague. John brought her father home and the pair participated in some “acting”, one trying to get twopence out of the other’s hand. She accounted for the rope around her father’s neck as part of this horseplay. John tried unsuccessfully to get her father to bed and she left them to it.  

It seems that concluded the evidence. John pleaded guilty to the drunk and riotous charge, and to the assault on William. For each of these offences he was fined 10s and costs, or 14 days. To the assault on Inspector Inman, he pleaded not guilty. However the Bench convicted him, imposing a one month prison sentence. No fine option for this offence. 

So a very fruitful search, adding more colour to the characters of my paternal ancestors. What struck me was how neatly the incidents linked, the symmetry between them – neighbourhood quarrels; family fall-outs; hot-headedness; Dr Bayldon’s visits to patch William up; and too much booze.

I am now in the process of a series of visits to the Wakefield branch of West Yorkshire Archives to see if the Batley Borough Court records point to any further potential ancestral misdemeanours. The list of complainants, defendants and dates will make a newspaper search more manageable. And, even in these early stages, there are plenty more newspaper searches to go at as a result.  

However, it’s something of a race against time, given the planned closure of Wakefield on 13 May until early 2017. My impending surgery could in effect mean I may have to wait until next year to finish. I do have a number of archive visits booked, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. 

Sources: 

  • Ancestry.co.uk:  West Riding Quarter Sessions 19 May 1870 & HO 27 – Home Office: Criminal Registers, England and Wales 
  • Batley Community Archive – “Ringers Arms” sign
  • “Batley Reporter” – 16 & 23 April 1870 and 21 May 1870
  • Census: 1851-1881 
  • GRO Marriage Certificate: William Gavan & Bridget Knavesay 
  • Parish Register: St Mary of the Angels, Batley 
  • FindMyPast: 
  • “Dewsbury Reporter” – 6 September 1873, 17 October 1874, 5 June 1875 and 8 July 1876 & HO 140 – Home Office Calendar of Prisoners 

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Posted in Ancestry, Batley, Criminal Ancestors, Family History, Findmypast, Genealogy, Petty Sessions, Quarter Sessions, St Mary's RC Church, Yorkshire

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A Shout Out for Libraries – A Family History Gateway

Posted on March 3, 2016 | 3 comments

My local library has been so much a part of of my life I can’t imagine a world without it. It has been there at all stages: from the magical joy of childhood stories; to the text and reference books for my school studies; the escapist pleasure of novels transporting me to different worlds, times and places from my armchair (or bus seat); and full-circle taking my own little girl to choose her first books.

But more than that: 10 years ago it provided my gateway to family history. 

When I took my first tentative family history steps, they took me to the familiar surroundings of Batley library. There I got used to operating the microfilm and microfiche readers to look at the local censuses, newspapers, parish registers and cemetery records. There I practised deciphering old handwriting and making transcripts and abstracts.

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Batley War Memorial & Library – Jane Roberts

In those early novice days I don’t think I would have dreamed of going to West Yorkshire Archives. The prospect was far too daunting. It would be full of experienced, serious researchers. Not a place for a “newbie” like me who didn’t have a clue what a microfilm reader was, let alone how it worked.  

I felt far more comfortable going to my local library where I knew the staff. And they had endless patience showing me what records were available and how things worked. 

Their holdings provided a very local focus. Beyond the newspapers and parish registers they had those peculiarly local resources, often provided by researchers with a love of and affinity with the area. From the card index of local War Memorials compiled by Christopher Frank, (I still don’t know who he is but I’m eternally grateful to him because it was through his index that I had the jolting realisation that one of my ancestors was on the Memorial, a fact never mentioned by the family), to the research piece by Janice Gilbert on “The Irish in Batley”.

Even now my local library is a go-to family history research location. It is still the place for local newspapers – neither “The Batley News” or “The Batley Reporter & Guardian” are on the British Newspaper Archive or FindMyPast. Not all West Yorkshire Parish Registers are on Ancestry. There are resources such as Batley Cemetery Records, Batley Borough Council minutes, Directories, Batley Grammar School Magazines and various programmes, brochures and memorabilia from a multiplicity of local events. Then there is the wonderful Soothill War Register which I wrote about in a recent post.image

One of my particular library favourites are the annual Reports by the Batley Borough Medical Officer of Health. I briefly referred to them in “A Short Life Remembered“. They provide a fascinating and detailed insight into all aspects of health, disease and social conditions of my Batley ancestors: from school-by-school statistics of Batley children, to breakdown of causes of death; from birth rates and infant mortality to incidence of infectious diseases. I find them an invaluable source for giving context to the times, lives and deaths of my ancestors.image

They even have free computers, Wi-Fi and Ancestry access! 

The impressive Batley Market Square library building is steeped in history. With funding from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie it opened to the Batley public in 1907. I imagine my ancestors browsing through the thousands of lending and reference library books or catching up with latest local, national and international events in the newspaper room. And over a century later I am researching the lives of those ancestors in the very same building.

In an era of Government spending cuts and their knock-on impact on Council funding for services, libraries are easy targets. “My” library was a fundamental first step up the genealogy tree all those years ago; and it is just as relevant for me today. I do so hope that such valuable community hubs, important at all stages of life, are not lost. 

Given the subject it seems appropriate to post this on World Book Day.

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Posted in Ancestry, Batley, Family History, Genealogy, Libraries

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We Will Remember Them: Contemporary Parish War Register Books

Posted on February 25, 2016 | Leave a comment

War Memorials can be found in churches, towns and villages the length and breadth of the country, inscribed with the names of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Years later researching those named can prove problematical, as all that exists on the Memorial is a name.  I know this only too well from my Batley St Mary’s research!

However some Parishes and Districts went a step further and, in addition to these Memorials, they produced registers and books containing more details about their war dead.

This Christmas my parents bought me a limited edition reproduction of one such book, the Upper District of Soothill War Register and Records of War Service 1914 to 1920.  Soothill War Book

The original was compiled by the Rev W.E. Cleworth, Vicar of St Paul’s, Hanging Heaton. Printed by E.F. Roberts in Batley, it was based on a War Service Register kept by the Vicar from the start of the war. The Soothill Upper War Memorial Committee subsequently assisted. When the war ended 1,000 Record Forms were printed, information inserted from the Manuscript Register and then these were distributed to households in the area for correction and additions. Over 900 were returned and these were used in the production of the book, which was truly a parish effort. Copies of the original book are held at St Paul’s Hanging Heaton and Batley library.

It is particularly noteworthy that this book contains the names of not only those who gave their lives in the course of the conflict; it includes information about all those from the District who served. So a wonderful record of those who came home and are all too often overlooked.

It contains addresses, Units, age when war service commenced, places served, promotions, distinctions and other points of interest about the service careers of those featured.

Details of the limited edition reproduction organised by Margaret Watson, including more about the original, can be found in October 2014 editions Batley & Birstall News. However I understand the reprint has now sold out. The book includes a number of men linked to my family tree, including Jesse Hill, so I am so pleased to now own a copy. And I am indebted to Margaret and all those who worked on putting the reprint together.

On a recent visit to Lavenham, Suffolk I popped into the local Parish Church of St Peter and Paul to look at their War Memorial. To my surprise and joy beneath their Memorial they too had a book.

Lavenham Church

Lavenham Parish Church – Jane Roberts

This one commemorated those who died in both World Wars. A handwritten Book of Remembrance dating from 1922, it was compiled with the specific intention that those who died would have more than their names remembered.

Lavenham War Memorial

Lavenham War Memorial – Jane Roberts

There appeared to be a page devoted to each man, giving name, age and address alongside service details and even extracts from letters informing families of their loss. A wonderful lasting legacy for generations to come.  Lavenham book of remembrance

These books are particularly poignant because of their “of the time” nature. I wonder how many more are out there? And how many are being reprinted to ensure these men’s memories are perpetuated?

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Posted in Batley, Hanging Heaton, Lavenham, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, Soothill, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2

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A Short Life Remembered: Margaret Hill

Posted on February 18, 2016 | Leave a comment

Immersing myself in the lives of my ancestors inevitably means dealing with their deaths. Lots of them. Because I invest so much time in my research, that connection with my ancestors goes way beyond the simple bloodline link. Learning about their lives and struggles, I develop an emotional attachment. Discovering their deaths, which were occasionally under traumatic circumstances, can stop me in my tracks. And whilst not quite moving me to tears it can bring a lump to my throat. I’m not sure if this is a common feeling amongst other family history researchers.

The deaths of children can be particularly difficult. They never had a chance to make a mark, achieve their potential, fulfil their parent’s hopes and dreams, marry and have families of their own. But for family history research, many would be forgotten for ever. One of my first blog posts, A Census In-Betweener, was one such example. It remembered the all too fleeting existence of Thomas Gavan, my great grandmother Bridget Gavan’s eldest child. Towards the end of the year another post focused on the tragic accident in which Oliver Rhodes died. He was the son of my great grandparents Jonathan Rhodes and Edith Aveyard.

Victorian Headstone for a Child – Photo Jane Roberts

This year I intend to write a series of blog posts commemorating more of the briefer lives of those in my family tree. This is the first. It marks the short life of Bridget Gavan’s youngest child, Margaret Hill. But for the 1911 census I would never have known about her existence. It was news too to other family members, something I find difficult to comprehend. After all it wasn’t that long ago.

In this post, as well as describing what little is known of her short life, I will try to give a flavour of the times in which she lived.

In 1897 Bridget Gavan married coal miner John Herbert (Jack) Hill. Jack was a widower, Bridget an unmarried mother of two girls, though it is possible Jack was the father of the younger of the two, Agnes.

Jack and Bridget went on to have seven further children. Margaret, their final child, was born on 29 August 1910 in the family’s home at 16 New Street, Hanging Heaton. The family now totalled nine children ranging from newly-born Margaret to eldest Annie, who celebrated her 17th birthday the day before Margaret’s arrival.

The 1911 census shows the complete family unit. It is notable for Jack and Bridget’s judicious tinkering with names and dates. Interestingly they claimed to have been married for 17 years, which conveniently corresponded with the age of Bridget’s eldest daughter Annie who is listed as “Annie Hill”, not Gavan. Daughter Agnes, also born outside of wedlock, is similarly listed as Hill and not Gavan. All nine children are claimed as “children born alive to present marriage”. There is also the usual flexibility around adult ages to minimise the gap between Jack and Bridget’s ages (she was born in 1869).

In terms of events during Margaret’s short life, 22 June 1911 marked the coronation of the new King, George V, and his wife Queen Mary. A cause for celebration with parades, parties, decorations and a bonfire to mark the occasion. And in December that year the Liberal Government introduced a National Insurance Act. It meant for that workers would have cover against sickness and unemployment. So there was perhaps some optimism as the things seemed to be on the up for families like Jack and Bridget’s.  But this may have been tempered as a result of industrial action the following year, and its affects on family income.

Miners were notoriously militant with frequent strikes. The records of the Yorkshire Miners Association (YMA) show in the latter part of the 19th century and early into the 20th Soothill Wood, the pit where Jack worked, was one of the more non-militant and politically moderate pits. Nevertheless, although being characterised in district ballot votes as non-militant it was conversely, even then, regarded as particularly “strike prone”.

Just a glimpse through newspapers show for instance strikes were threatened in 1892 over amongst other things distribution of corves. A short strike took place in 1894 over reduction of wages. Outside this period, a lengthy strike took place in 1906 affecting not just Soothill, but wider throughout Yorkshire. And in 1912 there was a national strike, lasting five weeks, the objective being a national minimum wage.

The national strike began in February, Britain in the grip of yet another severe winter with temperatures plummeting and thousands dying of hypothermia. Heavy snow fall had affected Yorkshire at the end of January. A strike was the last thing Britain needed at this particular time. As a result of the action more than a million people were out of work.

Although the outcome was not as profitable as the miners wanted, hewers in the Batley area, such as Jack, were guaranteed a minimum daily wage of 6s 8d, subject to clauses around for example age and attendance, although some employers did try to flout this.

Then another 1912 Soothill strike in early July resulted in 72 men being summoned to appear in court that month  – just a small fraction of the hundreds involved.

A newspaper report in 1918 stated the wages of a Soothill Wood Colliery averaged of £2 13s a week. But this needs to be seen in context of the economy at the time. Since the beginning of the war to 1916 there was an estimated 45 per cent reduction in the purchasing power of foodstuffs. Soothill Wood is more accurately described as a low to average pit in terms of wage level during the period 1894-1918.

So although the Hill family were not in the poorest category, life would still be a struggle full of difficult spending choices to make. Balancing how much to spend on rent against food and other essentials such as coal (although this would be cheaper than the norm given Jack’s job), lamp oil, gas, wood, candles, matches, soda and soap (a particular high usage item for a mining family), blacking and transport costs. And if you went for cheaper rents, these houses would be smaller, damper and darker resulting in higher expenditure on fuel and lighting, not to mention being more detrimental healthwise.

The family would weigh the affordability of burial insurance against the risks of not having it. As we saw in the story of Thomas Gavan, Bridget was minded to take out insurance, but was this still the case with a much larger family?

Then there was clothing and boots. Could they afford to put aside weekly in a clothing or boot club, or were they faced with the hit of paying it all upfront as and when needed? The school log book for St Mary’s, the school the Hill family went to, has accounts of children not being sent to school for lack of boots during this period.

And then there would be budgeting for emergencies such as medicine and doctor’s bills.

As for food, for the working class it was bland and monotonous, the emphasis being on staving off hunger rather than nutrition. Men, the breadwinners, had the most. They needed to be fit and strong to go out to work, especially for a manual job such as Jack’s. The principal article of diet in this period was bread which was cheap and convenient. It was followed some way behind by potatoes, meat and fish. Meat was principally bought for the men, with the main expenditure being on Sunday dinner when the entire household would be at home. Cold cuts from Sunday would be eaten on Monday, eked out longer if possible. When potatoes did not feature, the replacement would be suet pudding with golden syrup. There would be the occasional egg, and tiny amounts of tea, dripping, butter, jam, sugar and greens.

Milk, although crucial for children in particular, was costly. There were also issues of storage to consider in these years before refrigeration. A pint of milk a day for an infant or child would equate to around 1s 2d a week when the food for a whole family may have to be supplied out of 9s a week after all other household expenses were taken into account. As a result women nursed their babies as long as possible, often until they were about one year old. After that often the only milk children got was tinned evaporated milk, this despite it not being recommended for infants. This tinned product was used in tea, and sometimes also used as a spread on bread. Where boiled milk was given to babies and infants it was often thickened with bread and biscuits in an attempt to bulk it out. In 1916 the local Coroner censured such a practice in the inquest of the baby son of a fellow Batley St Mary’s parishioner. But the reason why infants did not get milk was the same reason they lacked good housing and clothing – it came down to cost and family finances. In short the diet where there were several children in a family, such as the Hills, would be chosen for its cheapness and for its filling, stodgy qualities.

All of these considerations may have played a part to some extent in Margaret’s death.

On a national scale one event dominated 1912. British confidence was shaken in the spring when news reached home of the unthinkable, the sinking of the “Titanic” on 15 April, with the loss of more than 1,500 lives. Headlines screamed out from billboards and newspapers – day upon day of grim news. Deaths included those of bandleader and Dewsbury resident Wallace Hartley, with tales of how the band played on adding to the whole pathos surrounding the event.

There were perhaps some particular highlights to the Hill’s year though. On 10 July 1912 following much preparation and accompanied by great excitement King George V and Queen Mary visited Batley. A three minute ceremony in the market square was attended by around 4,000 school children hoping to catch a glimpse of their monarch. However, it ended in disappointed children and much indignation on the part of parents and teachers when many failed to see the Royal couple, such were the crowds and the swiftness of the event. Margaret was too young, but some of her siblings may have taken part and returned home dispondant.

It is also doubtful whether the event took Jack’s mind off the Soothill Wood Colliery strike which culminated in those July court cases.

On a more personal family level one event dominated the year – the marriage of Bridget’s daughter Annie to Lawrence Carney on 30 November 1912.

So things ticked over until 4 August 1914, when a life-changing announcement was made which would affect many families nationwide: Britain declared war on Germany. There now followed a period of intense hardship and sorrow for many families including the Hills, now living at 2 Yard, 2 Victoria Street in the town’s Carlinghow area. But that was still to come.

With the war in its infancy and family members, such as Lawrence, now serving in the military, tragedy closer to home struck the family. On 9 October Margaret, died age four, as a result of tuberculous (TB) meningitis. She was one of only nine people in Batley Borough to die of this illness in that year.

TB meningitis typically affected children under ten years of age. It was especially associated with improper feeding, malnutrition, poor hygiene or childhood illnesses such as measles and whooping cough. Caused by tuberculosis bacteria invading the membranes and fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, it usually began with vague, non-specific symptoms such as fatigue, listlessness, loss of appetite and headache. The afflicted child became peevish and irritable. Vomiting and constipation followed along with a dislike of lights and sound. As the headache intensified the child would scream with a peculiar cry and display classic neck stiffness. As the disease progressed seizures occurred, the child lapsed into a coma and eventually died. Horrifically Margaret suffered these symptoms and decline over a period of three weeks.

1914 Mourning Dress Advert

Apart from the tragedy, such an event was crippling financially to already hard pressed families. A child’s funeral alone could cost upwards of £2, including a death certificate, funeral costs, flowers, gravediggers, hearse attendants, a woman to lay the body out, and a black tie for the father. Most families took out burial insurance. This cost on average each week 1d per child, 2d for a mother and 3d for a father, though some overcautious women paid more. So for the Hill family, with their flock of children, this would amount to a weekly sum of just over 1s. But even with insurance a burial plot may not have been affordable.

Batley Cemetery – Photo Jane Roberts

This proved the case for the Hill family.

Margaret was buried on 12 October in a common grave in Batley cemetery, echoing the fate of her eldest half-brother Thomas Gavan.

Sources:

  • Batley News
  • Batley Reporter & Guardian
  • Batley Cemetery Burial Records
  • Batley Medical Officer of Health Reports
  • GRO certificates – Birth and Death certificates for  Margaret Hill
  • “The History of the Yorkshire Miners 1881-1918” – Carolyn Baylies
  • “The History of Batley 1800-1974” – Malcolm Haigh
  • “Round About A Pound A Week” – Maud Pember Reeves
  • St Mary of the Angels School Log Book
  • FindMyPast – 1911 Census

 

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Posted in Ancestry, Batley, Family History, Genealogy, Yorkshire

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Obsolete Mayo Family History Website: Wayback Machine to the Rescue

Posted on February 4, 2016 | 2 comments

In a couple of my blog posts (My County Mayo Family and The National Library of Ireland Catholic Parish Registers Website and Parish Registers: Brick Wall Breakers and Mystery Creators) I’ve referred to one of my much loved, and missed, websites. It was a County Mayo baptism and marriage transcript site, EastMayo.org, launched in 2005. Mainly using LDS films, it’s aim was to provide a free facility to researchers of family history in East Mayo. It concentrated on “that area of County Mayo encompassed by the Roscommon border and the towns of Charlestown, Boholo, Swinford, Kiltimagh, Knock, Claremorris and Ballindine”.  

 The transcripts included:

  • Aghamore 1864-1883 and Knock 1869-1905 Baptisms; 
  • Aghamore Marriages 1864-1882; 
  • Claremorris Civil Registrations 1872-1875; 
  • Claremorris Marriages 1806-1890 and Baptisms 1835-1912; 
  • Kilconduff Marriages 1846-1878; 
  • Kilmovee Baptisms 1854-1910 and 1881-1913; 
  • Kilmovee Marriages; 
  • Kilmovee Marriages Out of Parish; 
  • Knock Marriages 1883-1943 

With generations of my family from the Catholic Parish of Kilmovee, this site was a Godsend. I was disappointed when it disappeared. Although in 2015 the National Library of Ireland launched its free Catholic Parish Register website plugging some of the gap, the EastMayo.org had a broader date range for its limited number of Parishes.   

And there were some extras such as the fabulous “Kilmovee Marriages Out of Parish” transcriptions. Basically, if someone married out of Parish, the priest in the Parish the marriage took place contacted the priest in the person’s baptismal Parish informing them. 

I’ve seen something similar in the Batley St Mary’s registers. These contained such letters slipped between the pages. Indeed in this Parish, the priests went so far as to annotate the person’s baptismal entry with their subsequent marriage details, whether the marriage took place in or out of Parish.  

The Kilmovee transcripts covered marriages in the first part of the 20th Century, with marriages taking place within Ireland and beyond. Although only a snapshot of around 30 years, the Batley marriages of my grandpa (John Callaghan) and his brother (Martin Callaghan) are captured in them. 

An example of the global range of these marriages is seen in the initial transcriptions. They included former Kilmovee parishioners marrying as far afield as Glasgow, Batley, Orange – New York, Stockport, Congleton, Manchester, Doncaster, Accrington, Huddersfield, Charlestown, St Helens, Jersey City – USA and Silver Falls, Canada.  

Information on these Out of Parish marriages varied, but could contain: 

  • spouse; 
  • baptismal date (a bit of creativity here – most of the dates given seem to be approximate); 
  • parental details, with sometimes the mother’s maiden name; 
  • date and place of marriage (church and location);
  • witnesses; 
  • officiating priest; 
  • age; and  
  • if the person is widowed. 

The information provided linked your ancestor to a Parish. It also enabled you to track back further, for example by looking at the baptism transcripts.  

Yes, there were acknowledged transcription difficulties, but it was a wonderful resource.  

An updated EastMayo.org site domain name still exists with links to Irish-related websites, though it is not the original site with all that wonderfully name-rich information. But all is not lost. The original, as it stood between 2006-2011, can still be accessed via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. 

And I’ll end with another really useful County Mayo website, which can be found here. Besides current day information, including where to stay and things to do, there is information about the area’s history, geography and culture generally as well as that of individual towns and villages. There is also a message board which may be helpful for those with Mayo roots.

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Posted in Ancestry, Batley, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Family History Tips, Genealogy, Ireland, Kilmovee, Parish Registers, St Mary's RC Church

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King’s Cross War Memorial for Railwaymen

Posted on January 29, 2016 | 8 comments

This week was a full-on working week with two long London trips. Although I didn’t have time to do any family history research, I did take the opportunity to visit the War Memorial at King’s Cross station.

Over 20,000 railwaymen died in the First World War and there are various memorials to them dotted around the country. The one at King’s Cross is dedicated to employees of The Great Northern Railway (GNR) who lost their lives in that conflict. It contains 937 names. Originally erected in 1920, it was further dedicated to employees of the London and North Eastern Railway who gave their lives in World War Two. Their names are not listed.

The memorial was re-designed and re-dedicated in 2013. Its 11 tablets are reminiscent of John Singer Sargant’s painting “Gassed“.

I had a particular reason for wanting to stop off at the memorial. Amongst those named is William Colbeck. He was a parishioner at St Mary’s, Batley, and someone whose life I researched as part of my St Mary’s War Memorial book.

Born in 1887, William was the son of David and Catherine Colbeck (neé Garner). He initially followed his father’s trade as a woollen spinner before switching to become a platelayer employed by the GNR at Batley station.

William enlisted in March 1916, serving as a Sapper with the 264th Railway Company, Royal Engineers. The Royal Engineers by the end of the war numbered over a quarter of a million officers and men. Amongst a myriad of other construction roles, they built and maintained the railways. These were a vital part of the war effort, essential for moving men, supplies and equipment. So Williams specialist skills, developed in civilian life, were utilised during his military service.

He died from pneumonia in the 41st Stationary Hospital, France on 6th November 1918 and is buried at Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery.

At the time of his death his family placed a number of “In memoriam” notices in the “Batley News”. The one below is from his fiancée Elsie:

No one knows how much I miss him,
None but aching hearts can tell;
Forget him, no, I never will,
Loved him here, I love him still.
“Ever in my thoughts”
From his loving fiancée Elsie.

More information about railwaymen who died in the First World War can be found at the National Railway Museum (NRM) website. It includes a searchable database on the fallen.

I’ve included a series of close-up photos of the names of the men, which hopefully will be of use to those connected with the men commemorated.

Kings Cross 1

Close up of the names on the first two tablets

Kings Cross 2

Close up of third and fourth tablets

Kings Cross 3

Close up of marble tablets five to eight

Kings Cross 4

Close up of the names on the final three tablets

However, as with many War Memorials, not all those names you expect to find are included. Michael Lydon, another St Mary’s man, is one such example. According to newspapers he was employed as a goods porter by the GNR at Batley station. He lost his life on 1 September 1918. He does not feature on the GNR memorial or on the NRM database.

It would be good if both men (and any others with connections) could be remembered at Batley Railway Station.  

Colbeck and Lydon

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Posted in Batley, King's Cross, Railways, War Memorial, WW1

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A “German” Family in WW1 England – Pork Butchers in Liversedge

Posted on January 20, 2016 | 18 comments

Whilst browsing a September 1914 edition of “The Batley News” an announcement in the public notices column caught my attention. Addressed “To All Whom it May Concern” it read as follows:

“Notice is hereby given that Mrs Christiana Schulz and her family are all naturalised British subjects and, in the present circumstances, it has been deemed advisable that the public of the immediate neighbourhood should be made acquainted with the following facts, namely:-

1. Mrs Christiana Schulz, now residing at Frost Hill, Liversedge, is the widow of the late Mr George Schulz, and she, along with her late husband and family, have resided in England for a period of nearly 50 years.
2. The late Mr George Schulz and his wife and family for a period of over 14 years have been naturalised British subjects and gave resided in the immediate neighbourhood.
3. All the children of the late Mr George Schulz are British-born and are loyal British subjects.
4. The late Mr George Schulz prior to his death carried on, and since that date his Widow in conjunction with her family have carried on, business in the immediate neighbourhood as ‘Pork Butchers’ under the style of ‘George Schulz and Sons’ in an honourable and straightforward manner. The said business has been carried out at the following addresses namely:- Frost Hill, Liversedge, Batley Road, Heckmondwike and 165, Bradford Road, Moorend, Cleckheaton.
5. Since settling in England they gave to the utmost of their ability discharged in a proper manner all their obligations as British subjects.
6. England is the country of their adoption and their interests and sympathies are entirely British, and notwithstanding rumours to the contrary they have neither relations in nor any interests whatever in Germany. On the other hand they desire it to be publicly known that as loyal British subjects their interests and sympathies are purely British, and by this Notice to intimate to the public that their sincere desire is for the ultimate success of the British and their Allies in the present regrettable struggle.

Dated this 2nd day of September 1914.
Thomas Mitcheson
Market Place, Heckmondwike
Solicitor for the said Mrs Christiana Schulz and her family”.

Public Notice in the “Batley News” 5 September 1914

I was intrigued by the notice and wondered what became of the family. However I failed to find any further reference to Christiana Schulz in the GRO indexes. I could track her up to the placement of the notice, but thereafter I drew a blank.

In terms of family prior to this public proclamation of British sympathies, I first traced what appears to be George Schulz in the 1871 census. A 21 year old pork butcher from Germany named George Schalz is lodging with the Wray family in New Bridge Street, Dewsbury. As this is just one of a number surname variants which occurred in records for the family I’m not too hung up about the spelling. All other details fit in with what I’ve discovered.

The following year, GRO indexes record the marriage of a George Schulz and Nanette Egner in Dewsbury Registration District (Q3 1872). From subsequent census entries, combined with Parish Register baptismal entries, I suspect Nanette is Christiana.

Thereafter followed a steady flow of children born country-wide. These are detailed in the table below:

Schulz

Ancestry.co.uk (West Yorkshire births and baptisms 1813-1910 and West Yorkshire non-conformist records 1646-1985). GRO indexes and Huddersfield and District FHS Heckmondwike St James baptism booklet 

The censuses corroborate the family’s journey round the England, with their children’s birth locations corresponding with baptismal details. I’ve not discovered George Frederick’s baptism, but censuses identify Birmingham as his birthplace (1). GRO baptism indexes record the Q2 1879 birth registration of a George Frederick Schulz in the Birmingham Registration District.

The family census addresses were:

  • 1881: 9, Doncaster Road, Liverpool;
  • 1891: Woodhall, Healey Lane, Batley;
  • 1901: Frost Hill, Liversedge; and
  • 1911: Frost Hill, Liversedge

I’ve not traced a death for Nanette or a marriage for a George and Christiana. But, as mentioned, the censuses combined with the baptism details are the main reasons for my suspecting Nanette is Christiana:

  • The 1877 baptism of Caroline names her mother as Christiani [sic];
  • The 1881 census taken on 3 April 1881. This was prior to the birth of George Arthur. The family address is 9, Doncaster Road, Liverpool. The household comprises George Schulz, his wife Christina [sic] and children Fanny E, Caroline and George F. All details match the family. Then in July 1881 the Parish Register of St Martin in the Fields, Liverpool has the baptism of George Arthur. The address corresponds with the family, as does George’s occupation – but the baby’s mother is Nanette;
  • Adolphus Egner, brother-in-law, is in the household in 1901. Not conclusive as it could be a brother-in-law through a previous marriage, but it is another nugget of information; and
  • The 1911 census states George and Christiana have been married for 39 years – which would correspond with a 1872 marriage

I’d love to obtain some certificates to prove or disprove the theory. However, given their cost, it may be on permanent hold. The Schulz family are not part of my ancestry and I still have certificates I want relating to my own family history research.

Some censuses indicate George and Christiana were from Württemberg, Germany. George’s birthplace is confirmed in his February 1900 naturalisation papers. He was born in the Württemberg town of Langenburg,  the son of George and Margaret Schulz.

Probate records show George died on 6 April 1911. He was 61 years old. But there were plenty of family members to continue his business. Sons George Frederick, George Arthur, Charles, John Herbert and Ernest were all engaged in the trade. Son-in-law Carl Schuler, also from Langenburg (2) and husband of Caroline, owned a pork butcher’s business in Shipley.

However, their Great War fate continued to niggle me. It wasn’t my ancestry but so many of the locations associated with the Schulz’s were familiar to me. Staincliffe Church is less than ten minutes walking distance from my home; the location of their Batley Road shop is a similar distance and I can recall a butchers shop there, although it may not be the same one; I can see the Woodhall area from my window, about five minutes walk away; and I discovered they had a Healey business which burned down in 1891 – the area I’ve spent most of my life in. So I wanted to know how their story ended.

Staincliffe Church, scene of a number of Schulz baptisms & marriages

I knew British attitudes to foreign nationals changed at the outbreak of war, with Germans living in the country categorised as “enemy aliens“. I was also aware that, naturally enough, anti-German feelings were prevalent and hardened as the war progressed, especially after incidents such as the May 1915 Lusitania sinking.

From August 1914 newspapers carried numerous reports ranging from boycotting of German businesses, to attacks on and looting of German shops, even those belonging to naturalised British subjects. Many of these attacks were on the shops of pork butchers, a trade particularly associated with Germans. And many occurred in West Yorkshire.

One incident was far too close to home for the Schulz family. On 29-30 August 1914 anti-German riots broke out in Keighley. Over the course of the weekend a huge, angry, largely Irish mob attacked shops owned by tradesmen of German origins, including several pork butchers. Fuelled by alcohol and spurred on by cries of “Down with the ***** Germans”, “Come on: Let’s do to the ***** Germans the same as they are doing to the Belgians” and “Who will join Darcy’s Army” (3) they caused pandemonium in the town, terror to the citizens and injuries to several policemen. They also caused damage estimated at over £400. One shop was even set alight.

As I’d discovered from the 1911 census Charles Schulz had a pork butcher’s shop in Low Street, Keighley. And indeed his was one of the shops attacked. The 12 September edition of the Yorkshire post states:

“Next the crowd went to the shop of a pork butcher named Schulz, in Low Street, which was also damaged and rifled, the windows being kicked through”.

The violence is also referred to in Lyn MacDonald’s “1914: The Days of Hope”. It contains the reminiscences of Eva Leach, daughter of a Keighley publican. She recalls the attacks on, and looting of, the pork butchers in Keighley. She recalls the Schulz’s as a “nice couple with a baby“. When the looting of their shop commenced “the Schulzes rushed next door and sheltered with the Mitchells until the trouble died down. Mrs Schulz was in an awful state, quite terrified“.

Undoubtedly this is the incident which prompted the family to employ a solicitor to place the newspaper notice within days of the Keighley events. If Christiana’s son’s Keighley shop could come under attack, so could the family’s Frost Hill business. The notice is powerful testimony to their concerns and the threat they were under.

But I was still no nearer to finding out what happened to Christiana after September 1914.

Then finally in January 2016 the final jigsaw puzzle piece clicked into the place. Not by any research on my part other than generally sharing the September 1914 notice on social media (4). As a result someone told me they believed the family adopted the English surname Schofield.

“The Gate Hangs High” is a book by Mildred Coldwell. It recounts her family memoirs about living in Heckmondwike between 1909-1921. A passage from it provides confirmation of the wartime name change:

“….there were quite a number of families in the Spen Valley of German descent who were ostracised by a section of our community. One such person was Mr Schultz [sic] (5), the pork butcher, whose spotless shop was up Frost Hill, a man and his family respected by us all. I cried when I heard that a stone had been thrown through his shop window. Mr Schultz wasn’t a German, he was one of us, a Spen Valleyer. Arthur, his little boy, was in my class at school and would even fight in the playground. Anyhow, the Hun wore helmets with a spike on top, and I couldn’t imagine Mr Schultz wearing one of those. But he stood his ground and showed everybody that he didn’t want to be a German, he was English, so a new sign was put up over his shop ‘Schofield’s Pork Butchers”. Mr Schultz had made his choice. It was lovely to go down with a basin as usual for half a pound of warm, roast pork covered with gravy, and served by the now Mr Schofield, smiling once more, standing there in his lovely, laundered blue and white striped apron, sharpening his long knife on the hone fastened on to a polished leather belt round his ample waist. Quite a few more families with German names followed his example”.

The changing of Germanic surnames to British sounding ones was not unique to the Schulz family. Many adopted this device to hide their origins and proclaim their Britishness.  Even the Royal Family did it in 1917, ditching Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in favour of Windsor.

Further corroboration of the Schulz to Schofield change comes with the death of Christiana in 1922. The National Probate Calendar has the following entry:

“ SCHOFIELD Christianna [sic] Rosina Sophie of Frost Hill, Liversedge, Yorkshire died 21 April 1922 Administration London 8 June to George Frederick Schofield butcher. Effects £1913 15s 7d”

The GRO indexes (Q2 1922) confirm that Christiana R S Schofield was 69.

I’ve loved researching this family and feel there is so much more to discover. The early 20th century is my favourite period of history and I enjoyed researching it from a slightly different perspective: that of families of German origin in England during World War 1. This is just one family. I’m delighted to find they remained in England. 

The Schulz Family


Footnotes:

(1) The 1911 census says Worcester, Birmingham. Others state Birmingham, Warwickshire
(2) Taken from his 1912 naturalisation papers
(3) One of the ringleaders was William Darcy
(4) Spen Valley Family and Local History Group on Facebook
(5) A son of George carrying on the family business

Sources

  • Ancestry.co.uk – England & Wales National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1858-1966
  • Ancestry.co.uk – HO 334 Naturalisation certificates and declarations of British nationality 1870-1912
  • Ancestry.co.uk – West Yorkshire births & baptisms 1813-1910 and West Yorkshire non-conformist records 1646-1985
  • “Batley News” – 5 September 1914
  • Find My Past – 1871-1911 Censuses
  • Find My Past newspapers
  • GRO Indexes via FreeBMD and Find My Past
  • Huddersfield & District Family History Society Heckmondwike St James Baptisms 1883-1907 (note this West Yorkshire parish is not covered by Ancestry)
  • “The Gate Hangs High” – Mildred Coldwell
  • “1914: The Days of Hope” – Lyn MacDonald

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Posted in Ancestry, Batley, Findmypast, Genealogy, Germans in WW1 England, Keighley, Liversedge, Pork Butchers

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I Left it too Late: Batley’s Greenhill Mills Destroyed

Posted on January 16, 2016 | 6 comments

Thank goodness no-one died, but even so I am feeling quite emotional about this. On 14 January a massive fire ripped through Greenhill Mills, Grange Road, Batley razing it to the ground.  

Apart for the sadness for those who will have lost their jobs, it was a place very much associated with an ancestor, Jesse Hill, who died in WW1: the ancestor I have spent most time researching. 

That connection has now gone, wiped out in a matter of hours. 

The firm Jesse Hill worked for, Wrigley & Parker, went into liquidation in the late 1920’s and the mill was sold. But it was still the same building. 

The mill was only down the road from me. I kept meaning to photograph it but I never got round to it. And I never made the effort to see inside, walk on the wood floors, touch the stonework. I know that sounds odd, perhaps it’s a family historian thing. 

Unlike many other places connected with my family history, because it was on my doorstop I didn’t have to make a special trip. It was there, I’d do it one day, no rush. A Victorian structure, still being used. It wasn’t like it would disappear overnight…..or so I thought.  

Following the inferno of 14 January, that’s exactly what happened.   

Not sparing the time to take that handful of photographs to record Jesse Hill’s workplace is something I now very much regret. As is never seeing the interior. It’s example of how we take for granted our local and family history.  

So a lesson learned the hard way. Don’t put off the chance to visit a family history connected location; don’t put off talking to family to record memories. Because one day you’ll wake up and realise that chance has gone. 

This is the only photo I took – too late.  

The remains of Greenhill Mills

 
Neither does Jesse Hill’s Spurr Street home exist. 

Spurr Street, Batley

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Posted in Ancestry, Batley, Family History, Family History Tips, Genealogy, WW1, Yorkshire

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My 2015 Blogging Year in Review: A San Francisco Cable Car

Posted on December 30, 2015 | Leave a comment

Promise, this really is my last post for 2015. But as a bit of a stats geek I couldn’t resist sharing the WordPress.com 2015 annual report for my family history blog. Momentous for me, because 2015 marked its birth!

The report includes useful information such as:

  • posting patterns;
  • top referring sites; and
  • most viewed posts

And on the subject of my most popular posts, I’ve added links to some of my favourites from 2015 which didn’t make the official “hit” list. These are:

As ever I’d welcome any feedback about which of my posts you particularly enjoyed in 2015; and what you would like to see more of in 2016.

So thank you for reading. And I hope to share more posts in 2016.

Here’s an excerpt from the report:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,900 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 48 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Posted in Ancestry, Batley, Body Snatchers, Family History, Genealogy, Review, Rugby League, Uncategorized, WW1

My Bizarre Christmas-Associated Family Name: AKA There’s more to Family History than DNA

Posted on December 21, 2015 | Leave a comment

In “Shrapnel and Shelletta” [1] I wrote about war-associated baby names. This is a more seasonal post about a particular Christmas-associated family name.

When naming a baby at Christmas-time, which names conjure up this magical time of year? Which can be considered as festive and beautiful as this special period? Holly, Ivy, Joy, Noel/le, Merry, Nick or Rudolph might spring to mind. Perhaps Caspar, Gabriel, Emmanuel, Balthasar and Gloria? Or maybe the Holy Family names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph?

In contrast, which name would make you recoil with shock and horror? Which name would you think “No way! How inappropriate! What on earth are they thinking of?”

Probably near the top of the list would be the one associated with my family tree.  For on 24 December 1826 at Kirkheaton’s St John the Baptist Parish Church (oh, the irony of date and church name)[2] the baptism of Herod Jennings took place.

Saint-Sulpice-de-Favières_vitrail1_837 Herod

Magi before Herod the Great, Wikimedia Creative Commons License, G Freihalter

Herod was born on 3 November 1826, one of five children of coal miner George Jennings and his wife Sarah Ellis. They married in October 1818 at St Mary’s, Mirfield and by the time of Herod’s baptism had settled in Hopton, a hamlet in that township, midway between Mirfield and Kirkheaton.

Herod’s siblings included the equally wonderfully named Israel (baptised 20 June 1824) and Lot (born 8 March 1830), so some fabulous biblical associations there too. The other family names of James (baptised 24 September 1820) and Ann (baptised 20 October 1822, buried 7 July 1823) seem disappointingly ordinary in comparison.

Sarah died in 1832, age 36 leaving George to bring up his four surviving children. James married Sarah Pickles on 25 December 1839, another example of Christmastime events in this branch of the Jennings family![3]So, by the time of the 1841 census, it was just George and his two sons, Israel and Herod, along with a female servant Jemima Gibson living in the Upper Moor, Hopton household. Youngest child Lot was along the road at Jack Royd, with the Peace family. This may have been a permanent arrangement given the family situation.

By the time of this census young Herod already worked down the mine, a job which ultimately would possibly contribute to his death.

On 7 October 1850 he married Ann Hallas at St Mary’s, Mirfield. Both Herod and Ann lived at Woods Row, Hopton. Ann was slightly older than Herod, being born in 1824. By the time of their wedding, she was already the unmarried mother of two. Her son, Henry, was born in 1843; and my 2x great grandmother Elizabeth’s birth occurred in November 1850, 11 months prior to Ann’s marriage to Herod.

This then is my family connection to Herod: His marriage to my 3x great grandmother. And it is one of the mysteries I still hope the DNA testing of mum and me will solve. Was Herod the father of Elizabeth? She was certainly brought up to think so, with all the censuses prior to her marriage recording her surname as Jennings, whereas her brother Henry went under his correct Hallas surname. And when registering the birth of her son Jonathan, there is a slip when Elizabeth starts entering her maiden name as “Jen”. This is subsequently scored through and correctly written as “Hallas”.

It appears Henry too was minded to look upon Herod as his father-figure. At his baptism at St Peter’s, Hartshead in June 1857 he appears in the register as Henry Jennings, not Hallas. When he married Hannah Hainsworth at Leeds All Saints on 24 December 1866, his marriage certificate records his father’s name as “Herod Hallas”. And in 1870 he named his eldest son Herod. Although by no means a common name, a glance at the GRO indexes shows it did appear occasionally, along with its alternative forms of Herodius and the feminine Herodia. The fact Henry gave his son this unusual name seems to indicate a measure of affection for the man who brought him up. Finally, at the time of the 1871 census Herod, son William and nephew Charles were boarding in the Leeds home of Henry.

So, whether or not there is a DNA link, he is still a major figure in my family tree. And for me this brings home the fact that there is more to family, and family history research, than DNA links alone!

Herod and Ann had nine other children: Ellen (born April 1851), Louisa (born January 1853), Harriet (born November 1854), Mary (born May 1858), William (born 1860), Eliza (born April 1862), Rose (born 1864), Violet (born 1866) and James (born 1871).

The family moved frequently, presumably due to Herod’s work as a coal miner. They are recorded at various locations in the area, many within walking distance of where I live. These included Mirfield, Battyeford, Hopton, Hartshead, Roberttown, White Lee and Batley.

Outside of work Herod had a keen interest in quoits, arranging and taking part in park challenge games especially around local Feast times. This game was particularly popular with miners and mining communities in Victorian times, with the metal rings being made of waste metal from mine forges. Challenge matches were also a way to raise funds, for example for sick and injured miners.

Herod died age 52, at Cross Bank, Batley as a result of asthma and bronchitis, which presumably owed something to his mining occupation. Working in cramped, filthy, air-polluted, damp, sometimes wet conditions from an early age, this was a hazardous and unhealthy occupation. The conditions and physical exertion led to chronic muscular-skeletal problems and back pain as well as rheumatism and joint inflammation. Most colliers had lung associated problems, with many becoming asthmatic whilst still relatively young. So Herod’s cause of death, from a lung-related illness, is unsurprising.

Ironically Herod’s date of death occurred on 5 January 1878, a day we associate with the Christmas period, falling before 12th night. And in the Western Christian tradition the 6 January is the Epiphany, marking the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus in Bethlehem. This brings us once more to the King Herod connection, at Herod Jennings’ death as well as his baptism.

This is what Matthew’s gospel says about those events at the first Christmas:

“Then Herod summoned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on which the star had appeared, and sent them to Bethlehem. ‘Go find out all about the child,’ he said ‘and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.’  Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And there in front of them was the star they had seen rising; it went forward and halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. But they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way. 

After they had left, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod……Herod was furious when he realised he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men”.[4]

Herod was buried in Batley Cemetery on 7 January 1878.

I have a great deal of affection for Herod, whether or not there is a direct family blood-tie. The fact he took on one, possibly two children when he married Ann; and they in turn acknowledged him as a father, which speaks volumes for him. I can relate to the location links. And I can totally sympathise with his asthma suffering.

This is my final family history blog post of 2015, and an apt one given the time of year. Thanks ever so much for reading them. As someone new to blogging your support, encouragement and feedback has meant so much over the past eight months.

Merry Christmas everyone – wishing you all peace, health and happiness for 2016!

Sources:

[1] Shrapnel and Shelletta: Baby Names and their Links to War, Remembrance and Commemoration | PastToPresentGenealogy https://pasttopresentgenealogy.wordpress.com/2015/11/04/shrapnel-and-shelletta-baby-names-and-their-links-to-war-remembrance-and-commemoration/
[2] Herod the Great was responsible for trying to elicit the three wise men to reveal the  whereabouts of Jesus and, when this failed, subsequently ordering the killing of all infant boys under the age two and under, the so-called “Massacre of the Innocents”. His son, Herod Antipas, had John the Baptist killed.
[3] It was not uncommon for working-class people to have wedding ceremonies on Christmas Day. It was, after all, a holiday so they had time off work.
[4] The Jerusalem Bible, Popular Edition 1974 – Matthew 2: 7-17

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