Tag Archives: Talks

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 30 November 2025 Additions

Posted on December 1, 2025 | Leave a comment

November 2025 was a busy month for the Batley St. Mary of the Angels One-Place Study. Four new posts were added, bringing the total number to 419. I also gave two talks about the early history of the Irish in Batley and the parish – one via Zoom to the Society of One-Place Studies; the other in-person to Batley History Group. If you missed them, I will be repeating the Irish and St. Mary’s talk next year with bookings already made for it, along with my other talks.

To start off with, I wrote a light-hearted piece about Buffalo Bill and A Right Royal Celebration for Batley’s Schoolchildren, a celebration in which the children of St Mary of the Angels participated. I describe, and include a photograph, of the special commemorative medal presented to all the schoolchildren, so that if you have one in your family you can identify it and know more about its history.

In a change of tone, with November being the month of Remembrance, one of the new posts was about James Edwards, one of the parishioners commemorated on the parish’s World War One War Memorial.

In the May Queen section I have added a piece about the 1952 ceremony when Patricia Anne Cain was the May Queen (as shown in the photograph to the left). It includes names of many others involved in the procession that day, which was a historic one in terms of its format that year.

The final post for the month was the parish history snippets piece for November 2025. These snippets cover a variety of events and people from the parish from years gone by, and can be found in the Bulletin for Batley St Mary of the Angels and Birstall St Patrick section. Even if you have seen them on the Bulletin, it is worth checking them here as some have links to more detailed pieces I have written.

Below is the full list of pages to date. I have annotated the *NEW* posts, so you can easily pick these out. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the relevant page.

If you want to know the background, and what is involved in a one-place study, click here. Otherwise read on, to discover a wealth of parish, parishioner and wider local Batley history.

Postscript:
I may not be able to thank you personally because of your contact detail confidentiality, but I do want to say how much I appreciate the donations already received to keep this website going. They really and truly do help. Thank you.

The website has always been free to use, and I want to continue this policy in the future. However, it does cost me money to operate – from undertaking the research to website hosting costs. In the current difficult economic climate I do have to regularly consider if I can afford to continue running it as a free resource.

If you have enjoyed reading the various pieces, and would like to make a donation towards keeping the website up and running in its current open access format, it would be very much appreciated.

Please click 👉🏻here👈🏻 be taken to the PayPal donation link. By making a donation you will be helping to keep the website online and freely available for all.

Thank you.

As a professionally qualified genealogist, if you would like me to undertake any family, local or house history research for you do please get in touch. More information can be found on my research services page.

Finally, if you do have any information about, or photos of, parishioners from the period of the First World War please do get in touch. It does not have to be War Memorial men. It could be those who served and survived, or indeed any other men, women and children from the parish.

I would also be interested in information about, and photos of, those parishioners who were killed in World War Two, or others from the parish who undertook any war service and survived. This can be as broad as serving in the military, or work in munitions factories, the Land Army, even taking in refugees. This is an area I’m looking to develop in the future.

I can be contacted at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

1. About my St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church War Memorial One-Place Study;

Batley’s Public Buildings and Institutions
2. Batley Hospital: The First 50 Years – 1878 to 1928
3. The Early History of Batley’s Public Baths

Batley St Mary’s Population, Health, Mortality and Fertility Information and Comparisons
4. 1914: The Health of Batley School Children Generally, with a Particular Focus on St Mary’s School Children

Batley Statistics and Descriptions – Population, Health, Mortality, Fertility etc.
5. 1914: Borough of Batley – Town Information from the Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
6. Batley and the 1921 Census
7. Batley Population Statistics 1801-1939

Biographies: Men Associated with St Mary’s Who Died but Who Are Not on the Memorial
8. Thomas Gannon
9. Reginald Roberts
10. William Frederick Townsend

Biographies: The War Memorial Men
11. Edward Barber
12. William Barber (Memorial name spelling)
13. Herbert Booth
14. Edmund Battye
15. Dominick (aka George) Brannan
16. Michael Brannan
17. John Brooks
18. Michael Cafferty
19. Patrick Cafferty
20. John William Callaghan
21. Lawrence Carney
22. Martin Carney
23. Thomas William Chappell
24. William Colbeck
25. Michael Cunningham
26. Thomas Curley
27. Peter Doherty
28. Thomas Dolan
29. Thomas Donlan
30. James Edwards *NEW*
31. John W. Enright
32. Mathew Farrer
33. Thomas Finneran
34. Michael Flynn
35. Thomas Foley D.C.M.
36. Martin Gallagher
37. James Garner
38. Harold Gaunt
39. James Gavaghan
40. Peter Gavaghan
41. Thomas Gavaghan
42. Henry Groark
43. James Groark
44. Michael Groark (also known as Rourke)
45. James Griffin
46. William Hargreaves
47. Michael Hopkins
48. Patrick Hopkins
49. Michael Horan
50. James Hughes
51. Lawrence Judge
52. John Leech
53. Michael Lydon
54. John Thomas Lynch
55. Patrick Lyons
William McManus – See William Townsend below
56. Thomas McNamara
57. Clement Manning
58. Patrick Naifsey
59. Austin Nolan
60. Robert Randerson
61. James Rush
62. Moses Stubley
63. William Townsend, also known as McManus
64. James Trainor
65. Richard Carroll Walsh
66. Arthur William Bayldon Woodhead

Biographies: Those who Served and Survived (this includes a list of those identified to date and who will later have dedicated biographical pages)
67. Patrick Cassidy
68. James Delaney
69. Thomas Donlan (senior)
70. Thomas Gannon
71. Michael Rush

Burials, Cemeteries, Headstones and MIs
72. Cemetery and Memorial Details
73. War Memorial Chronology of Deaths .

Guest Contributions
306. Memories of Skelsey Row – by Brian Foley

Maps and Photographs
307. A Description of the Parish Boundaries
308. Aerial View of St Mary’s Church and the Surrounding Streets
309. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1894
310. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1907
311. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1922
312. Batley St Mary’s – Map Published in 1933

Miscellany of Information
313. A Bitter-Sweet Remarriage
314. A Colliery Accident with Tragic Consequences
315. A Description of the Parish of St Mary of the Angels in 1950
316. A Grave Disturbance in Batley
317. A Part of St Mary of the Angels in Batley Cemetery
318. A “Peace” of Batley History
319. An Appeal to Ireland to Build a Catholic Church in Batley
320. A Potted Early History of the Irish in Batley, the Building of St Mary of the Angels Church, and the Parish Priest’s Fatal Accident
321. A St Mary’s Parishioner in the Holy Land
322. A St Mary’s School Sensation
323. A St Mary’s School Trip Souvenir
324. Batley’s Secret Irish Society and the Ammunition Seizure
325. Batley St Mary’s First Torchlight Procession
326. Batley St Mary’s Second Torchlight Procession
327. Buffalo Bill and A Right Royal Celebration for Batley’s Schoolchildren *NEW*
328. “Daddy’s Death and then Triplets”
329. Heritage Impact Assessment: St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Convent, Batley
330. Hot-Cross Buns and the Yorkshire Tea-Cake Dilemma. Plus A Suggested Meal Planner for Batley Families in 1917
331. Into the Valley of Death – One of the Six Hundred
332. “I’ve Done it for Love” – A Batley Murder
333. St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church – 1929 Consecration Service
334. The Consequences of a Refusal to Work in 1918
335. The Controversial Role Played by St Mary’s Schoolchildren in the 1907 Batley Pageant
336. The Deaths of the Smallpox Hospital Caretakers
337. The Debate Over Grave-Diggers’ Holidays
338. The Earliest Published Account of Batley St Mary’s Church and Schools
339. The Great War: A Brief Overview of What Led Britain into the War
340. The Unholy row between St Mary’s Church and the Batley and Birstall Irish Clubs
341. Thomas Ate My Rat
342. William Berry – A Beautiful Voice Stilled
343. Willie and Edward Barber – Poems

Occupations and Employment Information
344. Occupations: Colliery Byeworker/Byeworkman/Byworker/Bye-Worker/By-Worker
345. Occupations: Confidential Clerk
346. Occupations: Lamp Cleaner
347. Occupations: Limelight Operator
348. Occupations: Mason’s Labourer
349. Occupations: Office Boy/Girl
350. Occupations: Piecer/Piecener
351. Occupations: Rag Grinder
352. Occupations: Willeyer

The Families
398. A Death in the Church
399. St Mary’s Schoolboys Wreak Havoc in a Batley Graveyard

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Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, Catholic, County Mayo, Family History, Family History Talks, Genealogy, Great War, History, Home Front, In Memoriam, Ireland, Local History, Local History Talks, Occupations, One-Place Study, Remembrance, Roll of Honour, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, Talks, The Great War, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

Tagged Ancestry, Batley, Birstall, County Mayo, family history, Family History Talks, genealogy, History, Home Front, Local History, Local History Talks, One-Place Study, Schools, St Mary's RC Church, Talks, War Memorial, WW1, WW2, Yorkshire

Your Personal ‘House Through Time’ Experience

Posted on January 2, 2025 | Leave a comment

If A House Through Time has piqued your curiosity about your own home and its previous residents, why not make this the year to find out more?

I can unveil the mysteries of the history of your house, discover more about those who have also called your home theirs and the events which influenced their lives, all interwoven with tales of their triumphs, alongside sensitive handling of the more challenging times they may have faced.

I will place your home within its local history context, often integral to shaping the stories of those who lived there. Viewing your home through the lens of local, and even national, history will help you see it in an entirely fresh light, giving you a new appreciation of its place in the history of your local community.

Through my meticulous, professional research, drawing upon a wide range of sources including archive-only material, the rich and colourful tapestry of the lives of those who have left their invisible footprints in your home will be once more brought to light. As an experienced researcher, I really can breathe life into the history of your home.

Whatever the house style or era, a professionally researched and written house history is a wonderful talking point amongst family and friends. It is a fabulously unique house-warming gift to treasure. It can also be a real selling point if you do eventually wish to move on.

*Edwardian, 1930s, Victorian and older – a whole range of house ages and styles can reveal fascinating backstories*

Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s the feedback from two of my recent house history clients.

Jane has gone above and beyond in producing a written account of the history of my house. It really was like having my own personal “A House Through Time” researcher. I am amazed at what she discovered, both about the history of the house and those who lived in it. CI, UK

We finally moved in and I gifted the [house history] book to my wife. She loves it. She hasn’t read it all but now she knows the names of all the ghosts she can hear. Thanks again. BK, UK

If you want to discuss the various options about engaging me to write the history of your home, please do get in touch via email at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com.

This includes if you are undertaking your own house history research but live a distance from the West Riding Registry of Deeds, and would like me to undertake look-ups on your behalf there.

Alternatively, you can access me via my Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA) profile, which can be found here.

House history is just one of the research services I offer. I also undertake family and local history research, ranging from individual document look-ups and archive visits, to brick wall busting, and multi-generational family trees or full family histories. I can also be engaged as a speaker, with my list of current talks here. Contact details for all these services are as above.

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Posted in AGRA, Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA), Family History, Genealogy, House History, Local History, Professional Researcher, Talks

Tagged AGRA, Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA), family history, genealogy, House History, Local History, Professional Genealogist, Professional Reseacher, Talks

Details of my Family and Local History Talks for 2025-2026

Posted on November 20, 2024 | Leave a comment

If you are looking for a family or local history speaker during 2025 and 2026, here are the details of my current talks:

Charles the Pigeon and a Yorkshire Spy.
Local Links to the Lusitania.
My Batley St Mary’s One-Place Study. (Covers the history of the Irish in Batley and the Catholic parish of Batley St Mary of the Angels until turn of the 20th century).
The Home Front: the White Lee Explosion of 1914 and the Unlucky History of the Site (available from September 2026).
Tips for Researching your Great War Ancestors. This is based around my book about Northern Union – rugby league – players killed in the First World War. For local history groups, I can drop the research tips aspect, and base the talk solely about the players.
How to Research your Family Tree. This talk will help those embarking on their family history journey, but it will also provide useful reminders and advice for those who have already started out on their ancestral adventure.

The first four have a distinctly Yorkshire flavour. The fifth will be tailored around rugby league players from your locality. The family tree research talk can be geared around research tips for Yorkshire ancestors.

Charles the Pigeon and a Yorkshire Spy is the story of an unsung Yorkshire hero, living behind enemy lines and carrying out works of espionage and sabotage during World War One. His adopted pigeon Charles played an important part in these wartime exploits. Their daring deeds are more like a boy’s adventure story than real life. But this is a true tale of wartime courage, and one which deserves wider telling.

Local Links to the Lusitania focuses on people with Yorkshire connections on board the Cunard liner, torpedoed and sunk off the Irish coast on 7 May 1915. The sinking did not affect only the rich and famous. Many Yorkshire people were involved. This talk explores some of their stories.

There is a possibility this talk can be tailored to your local area.

My Batley St Mary’s talk is based around my one-place study into the Catholic parish of St Mary of the Angels, with a focus on its early history and period up to the 1880s. It investigates what a one-place study is, why I embarked on one, why I chose this particular study, as well as my findings – including the Irish migration angle, how they were received locally, the building of the church, all with a focus on ordinary parishioners.

The Home Front: the White Lee Explosion of 1914 is a talk based around the events of December 1914 when a devastating explosion, caused during the manufacture of picric acid for the war effort, took place at White Lee. It resulted in deaths and injuries, as well as damage across a vast area of Batley, Heckmondwike and the Spen Valley. It is an event often overlooked because of later explosions in Yorkshire at Low Moor and Barnbow. This talk aims to provide more information about this Heavy Woollen District incident, the forerunner to the later explosions. The talk will explore the unlucky history of the site, as well as the events on the day and the aftermath.

Based on my groundbreaking book The Greatest Sacrifice: Fallen Heroes of the Northern Union about rugby league players who died in World War One, the talk investigates the stories behind some of the men. It is also packed with tips for researching your own Great War Army ancestors.

In this talk I will guide you through building your family tree. I will cover the basics to help you start your research on the right track, give you lots of tips, help you avoid those all-important pitfalls, and provide ideas for taking your research further. If required, I can slant this talk towards Yorkshire ancestral research.

For more details about these talks, including cost and booking one, please contact me at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

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Posted in Ancestry, Family History, Family History Talks, Genealogy, Local History, Local History Talks

Tagged family history, genealogy, Local History, Talks

Details of my Family and Local History Talks in 2024 -2025

Posted on February 8, 2024 | Leave a comment

If you are looking for a speaker during 2024 and 2025 covering family or local history, here are my list of talks for the period.

They are:

Charles the Pigeon and a Yorkshire Spy.
Local Links to the Lusitania.
My Batley St Mary’s One-Place Study. (Covers aspects of the Catholic parish of Batley St Mary of the Angels until circa 1929).
The Home Front: the White Lee Explosion of 1914.
Tips for Researching your Great War Ancestors. This is based around my book about Northern Union – rugby league – players killed in the First World War. For local history groups, I can drop the research tips aspect, and base the talk solely about the players.

The first four have a distinctly Yorkshire flavour, whereas the final one is far broader despite its rugby league connections.

There is a possibility this talk can be tailored to your local area.

My Batley St Mary’s talk is based around my one-place study into the Catholic parish of St Mary of the Angels, with a focus on its early history and period up to the aftermath of the First World War. It investigates what a one-place study is, why I embarked on one, why I chose this particular study, as well as my findings – including the Irish migration angle, and with a focus on ordinary parishioners – including some of their tales.

The Home Front: the White Lee Explosion of 1914 is a talk based around the events of December 1914 when a devastating explosion, caused during the manufacture of picric acid for the war effort, took place at White Lee. It resulted in deaths and injuries, as well as damage across a vast area of Batley, Heckmondwike and the Spen Valley. It is an event often overlooked because of later explosions in Yorkshire at Low Moor and Barnbow. This talk aims to provide more information about this Heavy Woollen District incident, the forerunner to the later explosions. The talk will explore the unlucky history of the site as well as the events on the day and the aftermath.

For more details about these talks, including booking one, please contact me at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

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Posted in Family History, Family History Talks, Local History, Local History Talks, Talks, Yorkshire

Tagged family history, Local History, Talks

Talk: Researching Your Great War Army Ancestors. (Includes details of my other 2020 talks)

Posted on February 3, 2020 | Leave a comment

Heads up about my forthcoming talk on 4 March at Leeds Central Library.

Based on my groundbreaking book The Greatest Sacrifice: Fallen Heroes of the Northern Union about rugby league players who died in World War 1, the talk investigates the stories behind some of the men. It will also be packed with tips for researching your own Great War Army ancestors.

The book, co-authored with Rugby League writer Chris Roberts, has received widespread acclaim, locally and nationally, in print and on radio. The reviews include:

The talk will take place in the Leodis Room, starting at 1pm. It will last for one hour, with opportunity to ask questions. Tickets are free and available through Ticket Source. You can also contact the library direct on 0113 378 5005.

This is one of a series of talks I give. The others scheduled for 2020 are:

Blogging for Family and Local History; and
The Home Front: the White Lee Explosion of 1914

For more details about these talks please contact me at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

That’s also the contact if you would like to buy a copy of the book. The price, including p&p within the U.K., is £14.99. It is also available direct from the publisher, Scratching Shed Publishing Ltd. It is also stocked at independent Leeds bookshop, Philip Howard Books. And it’s also available from the normal retail outlets.

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Posted in Ancestry, Blogging, Family History, Family History Talks, Family History Tips, Genealogy, Home Front, Local History, Local History Talks, Munitions, Rugby League, Sporting History, Talks, WW1

Tagged Blogging, family history, genealogy, Great War, Local History, Talks, WW1

My Family History Goals for 2020

Posted on January 1, 2020 | 3 comments

2020 promises to be another busy and exciting family history year, both professionally and personally. Away from my professional research, I’m continuing with my monthly family history column in ‘Down Your Way’ magazine. I’m also starting my second year as editor of the Huddersfield & District Family History Society Journal.

But, as ever, I want to set myself some personal family history and general research targets. I’m aiming for a variety of tasks which will be mentally stimulating and stretching, as well as emotionally rewarding. Setting them down in writing will, I hope, focus my mind on these specific pieces of work. If I formally write them down, I can’t ignore them.

Keep on Blogging: If you’d have said back in 2016 how many would read my blog in 2019 I’d be gobsmacked. Due to other time-pressures, blogging is becoming increasingly difficult. The local history pieces are particularly labour-intensive. However, because the mix of local history, family history tales, genealogy tips and one-name studies posts is proving of interest I want to continue with the variety. I am formally committing to continuing writing a minimum of two posts per month.

Conference Commitment: In 2020 I aim to attend one national event, as well as a mixture of courses, talks and local family history fairs. I do feel formalising this is a signal that family history is not only looking backwards. It is pushing forwards, equipped with new skills and strategies.

Tree Review: My family tree has been developing for over 15 years. In 2020 I want to revisit this early research. This is important because my skills today are so much more advanced than my 2004 research abilities. Looking at everything with fresh eyes, using the knowledge I’ve gained over these years, may help me spot gaps and provide a wrecking-ball to earlier brick walls. I also want to re-visit my earlier research to include full source citations. When I started out I was more concerned with the thrill of the hunt, rather than establishing fully documented proof. Now I realise the importance of the latter, not only for me and the need to record the sources for hypothesis and their results, but also for the future generations to whom I will pass on the family history baton. They need to see exactly how I built my proof case.

A New Book Beckons: After completing ‘The Greatest Sacrifice: Fallen Heroes of the Northern Union‘ I said never again to researching and writing another book. The whole experience of authorship was akin to having a baby. The anxiety, doubts and pain of researching, writing, re-writing and proofing took over my life for months. My daily existence revolved around producing a perfect book which would do full justice to those in it. In the final weeks my entire being seemed to be totally devoted to creating this entity. It was my first thought in the morning, my last at night … it even haunted my sleep. And even then, once I’d given birth to it, the nurturing continued. I wanted to ensure others loved it the way I did. Seeing the fruits of all my labour was an overwhelming experience. And now, over a year on from publication, it is out there with a life of its own. I’m there guiding it and watching over it.

But it’s gained its independence. And I’m now ready to create once more. So 2020 will be the start of my new book’s research and development phase. Publication won’t be until 2021 at the earliest. I won’t say too much for now. But it will be based around giving voices to those not normally heard. And it will use my family history research skills. Watch this space for further updates.

It’s Good to Talk: I have already delivered several talks locally. However, I’m expanding on this in 2020. I am rolling out three talks aimed at family and local history audiences. They are about my Rugby League WW1 book, and more generally researching Great War Army ancestors; a Batley and Spen Valley local history talk; and, based on my experience as a genealogy blogger, I have one talk dedicated to blogging for family and local history.

For more details about these talks, including fees, please contact me at: pasttopresentgenealogy@btinternet.com

All that remains is for me to thank you for reading my blog in 2019, and to wish you a very Happy New Year. May it be all that you hope.

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Posted in Books, Continuing Professional Development, Family History, New Year Resolutions

Tagged Blog, book, Continuing Professional Development, family history, New Year's Resolutions, Talks

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Tag Archives: Talks

St Mary of the Angels, Batley: One-Place Study Update – 1 to 30 November 2025 Additions

Your Personal ‘House Through Time’ Experience

Details of my Family and Local History Talks for 2025-2026

Details of my Family and Local History Talks in 2024 -2025

Talk: Researching Your Great War Army Ancestors. (Includes details of my other 2020 talks)

My Family History Goals for 2020

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