Wigan and Leigh's local history magazine

Produced by Wigan Archives & Museums Issue No. 84 April – July 2020

VE Day 75th

Anniversary

ARCHIVES & MUSEUMS

Contents4-5 The Second

World War and theHome Front

6-8 A Wigan's Soldier Story of Survival

9 John (Jack) Morris

10-12 The Importance of the Douglas Navigationto the Development of Wigan

13 Hercules Dowie

14-16 He would not Pay a Farthing

17 Mary Tomlinson

18-19 Tyldesley Memories

20-23 A Glazebury Tragedy

24-27 The Snake Grave of Billinge

28-30 Out of the Pits and into Parliament

31 The River Douglas

32 Museum Collection Corner

33 Letter

34 Talks at the Museum of Wigan Life

35 Society News

FRONT COVER Wings for Victory’ poster,1943 (Wigan Archives &

Local Studies) Information for contributors, please see page 27

2

FOLLOW US

Letter from the

Editorial TeamWelcome to PAST Forward Issue 84.In this edition we are marking the 75th anniversary of VE Day, witharticles that reflect on the impact of the war across the Borough, aswell as the experiences of individual men and women from ourtowns and villages.

Another significant local anniversary this year takes us to the water. It will be 300 years since the Douglas Navigation Act, which allowedthe river to be navigable, connecting Wigan with the lower reachesof the Ribble Estuary.

We have more compelling local history stories from Marlene Nolan,Brian Joyce and Kath Graham, and a look at a highly unusual gravein the churchyard at Billinge St Aidan’s Parish Church.

To round up the winners of the 2019 Past Forward Essay WritingCompetition, you will find Alison Armfield’s memories of Tyldesleyand a history of the life of the wonderfully named, Hercules Dowie.

Revealing Wigan andLeigh Archives The Leigh Town Hall project continues to pick up pace as we work towards the re-opening of the building and new facilities for visitors and researchers at the Archives & Local Studies.

Detailed design work is being completed on the furniture and fittings for the new publicsearchroom and our specialist conservation anddigitisation studio. On the upper floors of thebuilding decoration work is well under way and conservation progressing in the historic councilchamber and committee rooms to bring these spaces back to their full glory.

Our exhibition designers, Creative Core, are

Completed restorationwork on the copperdome at the top of

the cupola on Leigh Town Hall

3

@WiganArchives Service @MuseumofWiganLife @WiganMuseum @wiganandleigharchives

Name

Address

Postcode

Telephone No.

Email

Signed Date

� Please tick here if you would like to receive information regarding Wigan Museums & Archives activities andevents.We do not pass your details to other organisations.

Return to: The Museum of Wigan Life, Past Forward Subscription, Library Street, Wigan WN1 1NU or email us at archives@wigan.gov.uk

Past Forward SubscriptionMagazine subscription is £9 for three issues (incl. UK delivery). Payment by cheque (payable to Wigan Council), postal order or credit/debit card (telephone 01942 828128).

For worldwide subscription prices and information, please contact us.

Digital subscription (delivered by email, worldwide) is £6 per year. Payment options as above.

Please state which issue you wish your subscription to begin at:

PAST FORWARDSubscription Form

Copy Deadline for Issue 85Contributors please note the deadline

for the receipt of material for publication is Friday, 12th June 2020.

working alongside the Archive and Museum team to finalise the display designs and select objects. Wehope to be able to share some of the designs with Past Forward readers in the next edition of themagazine in the summer.

We will also be shortly recruiting for two project officer posts to support the delivery of activities,educational workshops and volunteering for the duration of the National Lottery Heritage Fundsupported scheme (until March 2023). If you are interested in applying for these posts, please keep aneye on the Greater Jobs website (https://www.greater.jobs/) or our social media pages for moreinformation on when and how to apply.

Story Map for the new exhibition space at Archives: Wigan & Leigh

Design and display ideas for the new exhibition space

4

With the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europetaking place in May 2020, work has begun onindexing life on the home front of the towns of theBorough. The following article is a very briefintroduction to just some of the events unearthed.

Preparation for the war started long before theoutbreak on 3 September 1939. In Atherton, localpeople had been training in civil defence services fortwo years prior. A travelling gas chamber visited thetown from time to time to test the gas masks, andin images from that era we can see people testingmasks in the Water Street area of Atherton in whatlooks like a chamber.

In Wigan, Corporation staff were sent on anti-gastraining courses and 70,000 gas masks had beendistributed by October 1938. Air raid precautionmeasures were taken with paid staff and volunteersbeing recruited for civil defence, air raid wardens,fire watching, first aid and decontamination squads.

When the war did arrive, the local workforcedwindled with people going to serve in the armedforces and work in the munition factories. The firstfew months of the Second World War is oftenreferred to as the ‘Phoney War’ since there was littlemilitary land operation. Perhaps then it is not

surprising that local newspapers reported sandbagsrotting, shelters being vandalised, and absenteeismoccurring in industry and the civil defence. But thenDunkirk happened, the bombing of Manchester andLiverpool, and the increasing threat of invasionwiped complacency from the town according to theLeigh Journal.

In Wigan, the Borough Librarian, Arthur Hawkes,compiled the ‘Air Raid Distress Information Manual’.In the event of a heavy air raid an Information andAdministrative Centre was to be set up in theCentral Library Newsroom which today we know asthe Museum of Wigan Life.

Thankfully, neither Leigh nor Wigan suffered theextreme air raids endured by Liverpool andManchester but there were still bombing fatalitieswithin the towns. By autumn 1940 the Blitz hadspread beyond London to other major cities andboth Manchester and Liverpool suffered major Blitzattacks. Local police, fire and civil defence workerswent to assist in the affected towns.

Liverpool suffered the most raids after London with

The Second World War and the Home Front

May Marland, Golborne Air Training Corps 1150 Squadroncanteen worker (Wigan Archives, PC2013.7016)

Visit of Indian troops to Wigan, 6 October 1943 (Wigan Archives, PC2009.13)

By HannahTurner

5

Bootle enduring substantial bombing and evacueeswere sent to local towns including Leigh. For thefirst eight days of May 1941, Merseyside wasbombed almost every night. In Bootle, 8000 out of17,000 houses were destroyed or damaged. In total70,000 people are said to have been madehomeless in Merseyside. No wonder that in thesame month the Leigh Rest Centre Service in Leighfed and housed over 3000 evacuees.

From early 1940 to 1942, alert sirens became analmost nightly occurrence with enemy aircraft flyingover to Manchester and Liverpool. In October of1940 bombs fell in the grounds of Damhousedemolishing a joiner’s shop; luckily there were nofatalities. In September of that same year bombs fellon Platt Bridge and a civilian called ElizabethMeadows was killed. Casualties in Atherton andLeigh followed when Air Raid Warden Peter Shawand Fire Watcher Harry Wadsworth were killedwhen bombs fell on Atherton. Another civilianfatality occurred over that same period when MaryKnowles was killed by bombs falling on Leigh.

New neighbours and visitorsWith the air raids came evacuees and soon bothLeigh and Wigan welcomed visitors from acrossBritain. Refugees escaping the horrors of the wararrived in Wigan from the Netherlands, Belgium andGuernsey from 1940 onwards. Over 700 Guernseyrefugees arrived in Wigan for billeting, some stayedin Wigan throughout the duration of the war.

Visitors from Britain and Ireland also came to Leighfor reasons of employment as the demand forlabour was great. Naval training camps and laterAmerican forces brought even greater numbers to

the towns. Troops from different nations visited; in1943 Wigan entertained and welcomed troops from India.

Keep the home fires burningFundraising was a key theme on the home frontwith many people from the community raisingmoney. The Mayor of Leigh’s War Comfort Fundsorganised dances, concerts, and competitions toraise funds for postal orders to be sent twice a yearto those serving abroad. Both Leigh and Wiganadopted and raised funds for warships HMS Ulyssesand HMS Janus. HMS Janus was lost in 1944 and amemorial service was held for the officers and menat All Saints Church, Wigan.

The Leigh Journal organised the readers' fundproviding cigarettes for those serving abroad. ByMay 1945 over 6000 parcels of cigarettes had beensent overseas. British Restaurants openedthroughout the towns. The restaurants were acommunal kitchen to help those on rations, in need,or who were homeless. Atherton opened the first inthe Leigh district and the first one in Wigan was onKing Street in 1942.

Tom Burke, an international opera singer fromLeigh, sang at both the Leigh Hippodrome andWigan’s Ritz Cinema to raise money for warcharities. Another celebrated opera internationalstar, Dame Eva Turner, also performed at the Ritz tohelp raise funds.

The end of the warVictory in Europe was announced in 1945 andcelebrations took place across the country. In Wiganit was said that dancing took over the streets, andlocal men wearing uniform were invited into thehouses of strangers to share drinks. Evacuees fromLondon and refugees from the Channel Islandscould finally return home and local church bellscould ring to their hearts’ content.

The end of the war must have been a sombre affairfor many. Hundreds of local people in the armedforces, civil defence and civilian communities hadlost their lives leaving many local families bereaved.There were those people still living who would nowhave to endure the traumatic memories of combator life in a prisoner of war camp, or the horrors of aconcentration camp. Party celebrating Victory in Europe Day, Hurst Street,

Bedford, Leigh, 1945 (Wigan Archives, PC2010.3253)

6

This is the story of Donald Jolley.An ordinary lad from Wigan whogot caught up in the Second WorldWar and went on a series ofincredible journeys that wouldshape him and his view of theworld. Like many of his generation,the war would pluck him away

from the life he knew. He wouldtravel to places he could not havedreamt of and endure hardshipsthat would severely test his abilityto survive. It is said that in times ofwar ordinary people doextraordinary things. That certainlyapplied to Donald.

Like most who experience war, hewas reluctant to talk about hisexperiences, preferring to keep hisworst memories deep inside. Byresearching service records, wardiaries and archives, and using therecollections of his sons, we canpiece things together and tellDonald’s story.

When the Second World War brokeout, Donald was busy following inhis father’s footsteps learning histrade as a bricklayer. He lived withhis family in a cosy terraced houseon Stirling Street. He was justeighteen when he went for his

medical at the Ministry of Labourand National Service, next to theold Ritz Cinema on Station Road,Wigan. A couple of months later, inJanuary 1942, he was on his way toAldershot to join the HertfordshireRegiment.

He spent a couple of monthsdefending beaches in South EastEngland, before being transferredto The Royal Fusiliers. This historicregiment was formed to defendKing James II. Their ceremonial basewas the Tower of London. Alongwith other London-basedregiments, they formed an infantrydivision known as ‘The Black Cats’.Donald came to value their iconic insignia and believed it was both respected and feared by the enemy.

When Donald was given‘embarkation leave’, it was a suresign that he was about to headoverseas. He returned to Wigan tospend a precious two weeks withhis family. As he looked out fromthe departing train window, hemust have wondered if he wouldever see them again. There was justtime for a morale boosting visitfrom George VI, before theregiment travelled overnight to theFirth of Clyde. This is where aconvoy was assembled, away fromthe prying eyes of Fifth Columnists.

He was on his way to join thePersia and Iraq Force. TheMediterranean was controlled bythe Axis forces, so that meant atwo-month trip around Africa, toIndia and then across to Basra inIraq. The young lad from Wiganhad to quickly find his sea legs. He

discovered places like Sierra Leone,Cape Town, Mombasa, andBombay. Any excitement wasovershadowed by the constantthreat of U-boat attack. Thestopping points were safe portswhere they received a warmwelcome. Donald later confessed tohis sons that he enjoyed thehospitality a bit too much in CapeTown and ended up spending anight in the cells!

The regiment’s role was to securethe Persian and Iraqi oil fields, aswell as a land route from the Gulfto Russia. They spent time learningmountain warfare in northern Iraq.This was preparation for whatwould come later. Donald wasabout to start another epic journey.It was now March 1943 and hewas on his way to joinMontgomery’s 8th Army in NorthAfrica.

They headed south throughBaghdad, then east throughPalestine. They crossed the SinaiDesert battling throughsandstorms. They passed throughTobruk and Benghazi on the Libyancoast. They reached Tunisia at theend of April having travelled 3,223miles in 32 days. It was anexhausting logistical achievement:moving equipment, supplies andarmaments across hostile terrain.

The Allies had already pinnedItalian and German forces back tothe area around Tunis. OperationVulcan and Operation Strike wereto be the last push to take Tunisand the surrounding area. Thiswould give the Allies victory inNorth Africa.

A Wigan Soldier’sStory of Survival

BY JIM MEEHAN

Donald as a new recruit

7

Donald’s battalion reachedEnfidaville on 29 April 1943. Thiswas to be the site of the last battleof the Tunisian Campaign.Although the Axis forces faceddefeat, they deployed elite troopsfrom the German ParatrooperRegiment and Italian Young FascistBattalion to make a final stand.Donald’s battalion were ordered tooccupy a ridge above Enfidaville.There was little cover and eachman had to dig hard to shelterfrom enemy fire. They werecontinually shelled and mortaredsuffering 42 casualties.

Further North Allied forces liberatedTunis but fighting continued atEnfidaville. On 9 May Donald’sbattalion were ordered to advanceand take enemy positions on hillsoverlooking Enfidaville. A smokescreen was created, and then theyadvanced between tanks and BrenGun Carriers. As the smoke screencleared, they came under attackfrom shelling, mortars and machinegun fire. The Commanding Officerwas hit. He managed to crawl to atank and was hauled inside.

They withdrew but continued to bemortared. They were shelled bytheir own guns, who were givingdefensive cover to a nearby unit.They suffered over 400 casualties. Afew days later the Italian andGerman forces in North Africasurrendered unconditionally.

Donald’s battalion were able torecover and bury their dead. Thefinal push came at a high cost.Enfidaville War Cemetery is the finalresting place of 1,551 Alliedsoldiers. This was Donald’s first

major battle experience. It musthave made a lasting impression onhim and his surviving comrades.

The battalion then moved to acamp outside Tripoli, but there waslittle time to rest. Donald’s nextjourney would form part ofOperation Avalanche: the invasionof Italy. Their objective was to landat Salerno, a long sandy bay nextto the Amalfi coast. On the voyageacross the sea, morale was boostedby the news that Italy hadsurrendered. They were warnedthough that they would “have tofight just as hard”. This wouldprove prophetic. As the landingcraft was lowered Donald and hiscomrades must have feared fortheir lives.

They landed under the cover ofdarkness and successfullyestablished bridgehead ‘Oliver’.They were ordered to take thenearby town on Battipaglia andachieved this with little opposition.Things would soon changedramatically. German forceslaunched a devastatingcounterattack. The town wasquickly surrounded by tanks of the16 Panzer Division. Donald’sBattalion were ordered to hold thetown at all cost.

They barricaded themselves intohouses, but they were attackedfrom all sides. The tanks flattenedthe buildings they occupied. Theyretreated but many were cut off.Donald’s company were thenordered to hold a bridge with theGrenadier Guards. In just one day,the battalion had suffered 14 killed,39 wounded, 96 missing and 1

missing believed killed. This washalf of the battalion. The Britishand American forces were nearlydriven back into the sea by Germantanks equipped with flame-throwers. With the help of shellingfrom Navy ships offshore, the Allieseventually turned things around,and the German forces retreated.

Donald’s battalion pushed on totake Naples and move up the spineof Italy using their mountainwarfare training in places likeMonte Cassino. As for Donald, hewas now missing in action. Thenews reached his family in Wiganin October 1943. There was anagonising wait of a month before itwas confirmed he was alive and aPrisoner of War (POW). He was inStalag 8B at Lamsdorf in Silesia,(modern day Poland).

It was a large camp with 120,000prisoners. It is the camp whereDouglas Bader (a skilled aviatorimmortalised in the book and filmReach for the Sky), was held.Donald had to knuckle down andaccept life as a POW. The GenevaConvention did not allow POWs tobe used as forced labour, but manyvolunteered. Life on a workingparty at least got him out of camp.There are many accounts ofprisoners establishing a goodrapport with their working partyguards and the local people theyworked with.

Donald was put to work in a coalmine. This held little fear for a ladfrom Wigan, but the work washard and there are accounts ofprisoners deliberately placing theirhands on rail tracks to getEnfidaville War Cemetery: the final resting place of Donald’s Comrades.

Men of Donald’s battalion in Salerno September 1943

8

transferred away from the mines.Donald’s working party was inKonigshutte-Bismark. This was onthe outskirts of modern-dayKatowice, which is the large townDonald recalled being taken to formedical tests when he was takenill. There was a sub-camp ofAuschwitz there, which housedJewish prisoners forced to work atthe steel plant. Donald alwaysremembered the dreadful acridsmell that emanated from theconcentration camp.

The months rolled by, punctuatedby the occasional Red Cross parcelor letter from home. One particularletter from his father at Christmas1943 would become precious toDonald. Excitement ran throughthe camp when they learned Britishtroops reached the bridge atArnhem in September 1944. Theadvance eventually failed. It was 'abridge too far'. It would be severalmonths, as well as another journeywith more extreme hardship,before liberation finally came.

Donald was about to face thehardest journey of his life. As theRussians advanced from the east,the camps were emptied andprisoners forced to march west toremain under German control. Itwas January 1945 during a freezingSilesian winter when Donald andhis comrades were forced to startwalking. The conditions wereincredibly harsh with little food orwater. Armed guards forced themto keep moving. Many did not havethe strength and were left by thewayside to die. Some were shotand a number of guards were later

prosecuted for war crimes. Thereare stories of Jewish and politicalprisoners being marched into thesea. The marching went on forseveral hundred miles and lastedfor three months.

The ‘Long March’ reachedAltengrabow Camp, (west ofBerlin), when his captors realisedAllied forces advancing from thewest were nearby. There was apeaceful surrender and theprisoners were at last liberated.What an incredibly joyous momentthat must have been for Donaldand his comrades after spending solong in captivity. Donald was readyfor one more journey. He wouldhead home to Wigan. Victory inEurope was marked by VE Day on 8May 1945. Six days later Donald setfoot on British soil for the first timein three years. However, therewould be some sad news.

Donald’s father Edward did not getthe chance to greet his son’s return.He had passed away a few monthsearlier. His letter from Christmas1943 became even more precious.Donald had carried it close to himthroughout the gruelling ‘LongMarch’. It must have helped to keephim going. It was simply about thefamily and what was happeningback in Wigan, but for Donald itprovided a precious link with homeand his father. Miraculously itsurvived in near perfect condition.Donald’s son Anthony continues tokeep it safe.

Donald had been on an incrediblejourney during his formative years.He travelled thousands of miles. He

had been involved in fierce fightingon two continents. He had facedlife threatening situations. He hadsurvived, but watched many othersclose to him perish. He had enduredthe hardship of being held prisonerand survived the ‘Long March’. Howdifferent the world must havelooked as he returned home toWigan to start the rest of his life?

His service record showed Donaldwas entitled to three medals.Second World War medals had tobe claimed unlike First World Warwhich were automatically issued.Donald never explained why hehadn’t claimed his. Perhaps he justwanted to get on with his life orperhaps he simply didn’t getaround to it. Nearly 75 years later,his son Anthony applied to theMinistry of Defence to receive themposthumously. After a few weeks apackage arrived. Anthony was filledwith pride to find five gleamingmedals enclosed: The Africa Star(with 8th Army clasp), The WarMedal, The Italy Star, The 1939/45Star, and The Defence Medal. Aprecious tribute to an ordinary ladfrom Wigan.

Donald, centre, being liberated nearBerlin in 1945.

Donald’s medals received by his son Anthony in 2019, over 74 years after the end of the Second World War.

The precious letter from hisfather that Donald carried on the

‘Long March’

9

From an early age I had always known that my Uncle John, known as ‘Jack’, had been a prisoner of war(POW) in German hands and that hewas captured in France on 28 May 1940 and interred in a camp in UpperSilesia, Poland.

I never met him as he was tragicallykilled before I was born. This happenedon 25 April 1950, in a road trafficaccident on Princes Street, Edinburgh. Ihave had a lifelong interest in his life,prompted by family photographs of himin uniform and I think some of themwere taken in a POW camp. I began myresearch into Jack’s Second World Warservice by contacting the ICRC(International Committee of the RedCross) Central Tracing Agency in 2009.After many months I received a coveringletter from their office in Geneva alongwith the following Attestationinformation.

Gooderwerlat is given as the place ofcapture; I think this has beenmistranslated and should beGodewaersvelde which is a village inFrance near the Belgian border. This fitsin with research I have carried out intothe fall of France between 10 May 1940and 25 June 1940. Jack is recorded asbeing held firstly from 11 June 1940 inStalag XX1B Szubin, and thentransferred to Stalag V111B Lamsdorf,from 22 August 1944.

Jack was born on 17 September 1915 at1 Fitzadam Street, Wigan. His ArmyTrace Card shows he first attested inWigan on 8 November 1932 and wasgiven the Service Number 824255. Threeyears later on 7 November 1935 hetransferred from the Regular Army tothe Army Reserve. Living at 52 WiganLane, the 1939 National Register alsorecords that he was a Regular ArmyReservist; this meant he was called up atthe outbreak of the war.

In August 1940 an appeal was publishedin the Wigan Observer by his wife whowas a Conductress for Ribble MotorServices and living in Scholes at the time.She was asking for any informationconcerning his disappearance. Jack hadbeen serving in France since February1940 and was last heard of on 28 May1940. He was a Lance Bombardier in the58th (Sussex) Field Regiment, RoyalArtillery, which was part of the 44th(Home Counties) Infantry Division, an allTerritorial Army formation.

Jack was part of the British ExpeditionaryForce (BEF) and was originally listed inthe British Army Casualty Lists as missingon 14 June 1940, later to be listed as aPOW, number 4224.

The Order of Battle for the BEF recordsthat on the day of Jack’s capture the44th Division was located in an Abbey atMont des Cats, about a mile fromGodewaersvelde. The Germans wereattacking around the area of Cassel andHazebrouck. On 28 May, German forcesbroke through the defences. I think thatthis is when Jack was captured; I hopeto discover more when I receive hisService Record.

Despite surviving The Long March andfour years a prisoner, on liberation heremained a Class Z Reservist. This was aReserve contingent of the British Amymade up of previously enlisted soldiers,now discharged, that were available forrecall if under 45 years of age.

JOHN (JACK) MORRISPOW 4224

BY RITA FELL

Jack Morris (centre)

Jack Morris’ trace card

The Importance of theDouglas Navigation to theDevelopment of Wigan

By Dr Stephen Craig Smith

2020 marks the 300th Anniversary of the Douglas NavigationAct, passed on 24 March 1720, allowing the River Douglas tobecome a navigable waterway connecting Wigan with thelower reaches of the Ribble Estuary. It was not the firstattempt to make the River Douglas navigable, that occurred inApril 1713, but the earlier attempt was unsuccessful.

Although the Douglas Navigation existed for a relatively shorttime (it was finally opened in 1741 and all lock gates hadbeen removed by 1782) its significance as a catalyst for thedevelopment of the Wigan Coal Field is out of all proportionto its short period of active use and its relatively mediocrefinancial performance.

Wigan had been associated with coal extraction for manycenturies before the Douglas Navigation Act was passed. There is reference to coal extraction as early as 1320 when‘Margaret of Shuttlesworth exchanged land with Robert ofStandish but he reserved firestone and sea coal if it be possibleto find in the lands mentioned’ (Hannavy, 1990) and in 1434reference was made ‘to coal mining in Pemberton and Orrell’(Shryhane, 1994, Anderson, 1975).

Until the opening of the Douglas Navigation all mining activitywas small scale and focused on a local domestic market. Thiswas due to the appalling state of Lancashire’s roads prior to theeighteenth century. Coal is a heavy, bulky product which had tobe transported either in paniers carried by, or in carts pulled by,horses. This involved roads which were quagmires in winter andrutted obstacle courses in summer. The cost of coal at the pointof extraction doubled after carriage of only a few miles.

Liverpool was expanding rapidly around the early 1700s bothas a settlement and as a port. Liverpool merchants were keento improve docking facilities and following an Act ofParliament in 1710, contracted Thomas Steers to build a newdock. Improved docking facilities made Liverpool moreaccessible by sea, but profitable trading also depended onaccessing coal from inland locations. Liverpool merchantswere well aware of the high-quality coal and cannel mined inand around Wigan but how could it be transported to theport cheaply and efficiently?

Steers had a good understanding of the relationship betweentransport and commerce and by 1712 had surveyed the River

10

Copy of the original Thomas Steers 1712 Survey of the River DouglasCopyright - Lancashire Record Office

Douglas to assess its navigable potential to connect Wiganwith Liverpool by water transport. On the upside there wererelatively few water mills to contend with between Wigan andthe river mouth, but on the downside there was frequent riskof winter flooding. Steers felt the Navigation was possiblewith the construction of seven locks on a total river rise of 75feet between the river mouth and Wigan.

A Bill was duly presented to Parliament on 10 April 1713,although it is unclear exactly who was behind the project.Steers may have been, Sir Roger Bradshaigh and the Earl ofBarrymore, both significant landowners around Wigan, werecertainly keen supporters having much to gain if the proposedproject went ahead (Anderson and France, 1994).

Although there was much support for the Bill there weremany against it. Serious opposition came from local riversidemeadow and marshland owners who feared the Navigationwould interfere with seasonal flooding thereby depriving themof periodic rich silt deposition on their land. In the face of thisopposition the Bill was rejected by the House of Lords on 6June 1713.

Following the failure of the 1713 Bill there was little interest inthe project for the next six years. When interest finallyreturned, Steers became more closely involved, being named‘project undertaker’; Liverpool merchant William Squire was astrong supporter and Wigan M.P. Sir Rodger Bradshaighexpressed enthusiastic interest. The Borough and Corporationof Wigan, together with other interested parties, petitionedParliament in 1720.

This time the project proposal was more favourably received.It passed its first reading on 21 January and after someamendments passed its second reading ten days later.Following further petitions from local landlords still concernedabout riverside farmland, and Ormskirk merchants afraid trademight bypass their town, the Bill was finally sent to the Houseof Lords where it was approved following further minoramendments (73 for and 27 voting against) on Thursday, 24March 1720. Thomas Steers and William Squire, both ofLiverpool, were named undertakers of the project and 32landlords were named commissioners whose job it was tosettle any disputes between the undertakers and locallandowners. The Act stipulated that the River Douglas,between Miry Lane End and its outfall into the Ribble Estuary,had to be completed within 11 years (i.e. 1731).

Given eight years had elapsed between the initial survey in1712 and the passing of the 1720 Act one might haveexpected a swift construction start but financial problemsdelayed progress further. Unfortunately, the Act was passed atthe time of the South Sea Bubble when shares soared to dizzyheights only to crash a short while later.

Some construction work started but was severely limited by achronic lack of capital. A ford was removed and replaced by abridge near Rufford, about one and a half miles of riverdownstream from Rufford were widened and straightened,and a start was made on a second lock. At this pointconstruction work stopped, and little further activity tookplace until the 11-year 1731 deadline was rapidlyapproaching.

Alarmed at lack of progress and cognisant of the approaching11-year deadline stipulated in the 1720 Act, AlexanderRadcliffe of Ormskirk and Alexander Leigh of Wigan both

offered to take over supervision of the project. This wasgranted on 12 June 1731 and a further 11-year constructionextension period was granted. Both these individuals had beenagainst the initial project in 1720 but now recognised itsfuture potential and its benefits to the Wigan coal miningindustry.

A new river survey was commissioned and completed byWilliam Palmer in March 1733. This survey recommended 12locks each 12-foot wide, 60-foot long and 3-foot deep tocope with the 60-foot fall in river level between Wigan andthe Ribble estuary. This was estimated to cost £6,684. Thepossibility of rerouting the Navigation in its lower reach acrossMartin Mere and entering the Irish Sea just north of Southportwas considered but rejected.

In spite of this renewed interest and enthusiasm, and with justfive years left of the 1720 Act’s extended terms, no furtherconstruction started until 1737! Four locks were constructedin 1738 and a further three in 1739. By mid-1739 the riverwas navigable from its mouth to Bispham and Lord Derbycould export his coal down river to the Fylde. In 1741 Steerswas paid for advice on Crooke Lock and a mooring basin atWigan. In 1741 at a cost of £12,385 the Navigation was finallyin full use – 21 years after the passing of the successful Actand 30 years after the project was initially conceived.

The Navigation, ten miles in length with just under two milescanalised, finally comprised thirteen locks: Croston Finney,Rufford, Wanes Blades, Bispham, Douglas Bridge (Newburgh),Chapel House, Gillibrands, Appley Bridge, Upholland (nearBank House), Gathurst, Crooke, Hell Meadow, and HarrisonPlatt just below Wigan.

Boats using the Navigation were of two kinds. Small openboats called ‘flatts’ were confined to river work and capable oftransporting up to 20 tons of cargo. These were pulled alongthe river by men walking along the riverbank, crossingboundary fences using stiles. Larger boats capable of carrying30 or 40 tons had fixed masts and sails so these boats wereconfined to the open sea, sailing from the river mouth tonorth Lancashire, to Liverpool or across the Irish Sea to Dublin.

In the early 1840s ‘Resolution’ (20 tons capacity), and‘Dispatch’ and ‘Speedwell’ (both 30 tons capacity) worked theriver, but by the late 1740s there were 12 boats in regularoperation plus a ‘Pleasure Boat’, probably used for riverinspection purposes. Private traders operated their own boats– one Samuel Bold claiming he worked on the Navigation for35 years, transporting over 2000 tons of limestone to Wiganover the years.

Once open, the Navigation facilitated a significant increase inthe volume of coal transported to north Lancashire via theFylde, and the rest of the world via the port of Liverpool.Wider markets encouraged increased coal extraction,formation of larger mining companies and an expanded workforce. Coal was not the only commodity carried on the river,but it was very significant. Other materials carried on theNavigation included limestone, pig iron, timber, buildingstone, sand, gravel, slates, soap and ashes.

The Navigation was a success, but it had its limitations. Likemany early navigation projects, there was initial scepticismabout just how profitable it might be, and with limitedinvestment much construction work was not of the highestquality requiring much maintenance and repair. The fact that

11

12

cargo had to be moved from one type of boat to another atthe river mouth was a further drawback. Variable river flowsranging between raging floods in wet weather and a lack ofwater during long dry spells was another issue.

Despite its economic limitations the Navigation did lead tofurther advances in water transport which have also to beconsidered when examining the project’s full significance. Notlong after the Douglas Navigation started operation, greatstrides were being made in canal engineering projects whichultimately overtook most of the original river navigations - theDouglas Navigation included.

The Douglas Navigation had operated for just 25 years whenthere was a national interest in canal construction the lengthand breadth of England. Canals had many advantages overriver navigations: greater reliability of water levels, fewerbends and curves and properly planned tow paths. The majorscheme to potentially affect the Douglas Navigation was aLancashire and Yorkshire joint plan to construct the Leeds andLiverpool Canal from Liverpool on the Irish Sea coast to Leedsin west Yorkshire via Preston and the Aire Gap – a natural lowpoint over the Pennine chain.

This idea was first reported in a York newspaper in 1764 andwas followed by numerous surveys the following year. Many possible routes and options were discussed. Leedswanted the canal to cross the Pennines via the Aire Gapbetween Skipton and Preston, being the lowest crossing pointand therefore the cheapest option. Liverpool merchants, onthe other hand, wanted the canal to take a more southerlyroute thereby connecting Liverpool with the Wigan andBurnley coalfields. This was a more expensive option but ofgreater benefit to Liverpool.

Without fully resolving the ‘cross Pennine issue’ the Leeds andLiverpool Canal Act was passed on 19 May 1770. The DouglasNavigation operators had a keen interest in thesedevelopments, and although they lodged an objection to theinitial idea they were not totally averse to some form ofcooperation. Not only did the 1770 Act allow for a branchcanal to link Parbold with Wigan, by November 1771 theDouglas Navigation operators had sold the greater part oftheir operation to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company.(The branch canal was called Leigh’s Cut after Holt Leigh -Alexander Leigh’s son and a major shareholder of the DouglasNavigation) (Clarke, 2016).

The first section of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Lancashire(linking Liverpool with Parbold) was launched with an opening

ceremony in November 1770 and work on Leigh’s Cut soonfollowed. By 1774 the Leeds and Liverpool Canal was open toParbold and Leigh’s Cut linked Parbold to Gathurst. The finalsection from Gathurst to Wigan was still via the RiverNavigation.

By 1776 another branch canal linking the Leeds and LiverpoolCanal with the mouth of the Douglas Navigation was started.By 1781 the entire Douglas Navigation was duplicated bycanals from its mouth on the Ribble Estuary to the heart ofWigan thereby rendering the old river navigation redundant.By 1782 all lock gates on the river navigation had beenremoved emphasising the end of its working life. One lockgate remained on a link between the canal and the river atGathurst, but this was primarily for controlling water levels.

Financially, the Navigation itself was not a great success andoperated for just 40 years but, taking a broader view, it isimportant to remember the significant increase in coalextraction made possible by the Navigation. This expansiongenerated substantial profits for numerous colliery enterprisesin and around Wigan. It allowed Wigan collieries to expandbefore the height of the industrial revolution and, thanks toLeigh’s Cut linking Wigan with Liverpool, the Leeds andLiverpool Canal operators finally changed their mind on thenortherly Aire Gap route to a more southerly one which putWigan on the path of one of the most significant canals inEngland.

Wigan owes a lot to the Douglas Navigation.

References

Anderson D. (1975) The Orrell Coalfield, Lancashire 1740 –1850 Moorland Publishing

Anderson D. and France A. (1994) Wigan Coal and Iron,Smiths of Wigan

Clarke M. (2016) The Leeds and Liverpool Canal, MilepostResearch

Hannavy J. (1990) Historic Wigan, Carnegie Publishing

Shryhane G. (1994) Potted Guide to the History of Wigan,Malbon Books

Steers T. (1712) Survey of the River Douglas Lancashire RecordOffice, Preston

Acknowledgements

Alex Miller and Kathryn Pass for help and support

Cargo transhipment at Tarleton Joining the Douglas from the Ribble The river narrowboats at Parbold

13

When I discovered several years ago that I had a four timesgreat-grandfather called Hercules, who lived in Wigan andwhose father was a sailor, I felt sure that this was going tobe the highlight of my ancestry research. My imaginationgot somewhat carried away as I pictured him as a hugered-bearded Scotsman (he was born in Newburgh in Fife),probably a sea captain and most likely to have performedan act of heroism. The story I discovered about Hercules’life, however, was very different to this.

Hercules Dowie was baptised on the 3 September 1780, atNewburgh Parish Church. His parents were William Dowie andCatherine Craigie, who had married in 1774 in Aberdalgie,Perth. Hercules was their third and youngest son. His brother,Robert, was born two years prior to this and may have beenAble Seaman Robert Dowie who was killed at the Battle ofTrafalgar on the HMS Bellerophon in 1805.

In the late 1700s, according to his will, a Robert Dowie, ashipmaster baptised in 1761 in Newburgh, moved toLiverpool. This was very likely a relative of Hercules, perhapshis father’s cousin. Robert died in June 1800, leaving hiseffects to his parents and five siblings. Records showed thatHercules had been living in Liverpool in 1800 and it seemspossible that he arrived with Robert in the late 1700s,probably seeking employment.

Using parish records and census returns, I began to piecetogether what Hercules was doing in the North of Englandin the 1800s. On the 28 June 1801, Hercules married AliceLayland at St. Thomas’ Church, Upholland. In 1802 theyhad a son, William, followed two years later by anotherson, John. The family were then living in Scholes, Wiganand Hercules was employed as a weaver. Sadly, William diedof ‘dropsy’ (a term previously used to describe swellingcaused by heart failure) at the age of two in 1804. Alicegave birth to four daughters between 1805 and 1813 buttragically none of them survived beyond the age of two;causes of death recorded on their burial records beingcroup, smallpox, fever and weakness. A few weeks afterthe birth of their fifth daughter Alice died of ‘consumption’(an earlier term for tuberculosis). She was buried on the 23August 1813 at All Saints Church, Wigan, where her fivebabies had all been laid to rest. Hercules and his son Johncontinued to live at the family home on Queen Street, Ince.It is unclear if Hercules was still working around this time.He was mentioned as being a weaver in 1810 at the time ofthe death of his daughter, Margaret.

Three days after Christmas in 1814, Hercules married myfour times great-grandmother, Ann Rigby, at All SaintsChurch, Wigan. Ann gave birth to four daughters and sixsons between 1817 and 1833. Of these ten children onlythree daughters and one son survived beyond childhood.Four of the children died between the ages of two andtwelve weeks old of fits or weakness; ten months old babyHercules junior died of weakness and nine year old William

died of dropsy in 1831. The family continued to live atQueen Street, Ince but there is no mention of Herculesworking.

Lancashire Quarter Session Records revealed that inDecember 1826 a Removal Order was made by WiganParish authorities stating that the Churchwardens andOverseers of the Poor from Ince-in-Makerfield, Wiganshould have the Dowie family (which then consisted ofHercules, Ann and their four remaining children) removedto Liverpool. The order states that the family had notgained a ‘legal settlement’ to live in Ince nor had they‘produced any Certificate owning them to be settledelsewhere’.

Settlement Certificates were issued by parish authorities toprove which parish a family belonged to and subsequently,if needed, which parish was legally responsible to providepoor relief. The 1662 Act of Settlement and Removal wasresponsible for the establishment of this system. A RemovalOrder was served if the family did not have ‘right ofsettlement’.

Documents state that Hercules made an appeal against theRemoval Order and it appears that he won as in the 1841census Hercules, Ann and their daughter, Fanny (my threetimes great-grandmother, born in 1829) were still living inthe Parish of Wigan on Broome Street, Ince. Hercules wasthen working as a cotton weaver.

Hercules’ son, John, had married in 1826 and his wife,Martha, gave birth to seven children between 1826 and1839. Sadly, they also lost two children: William in 1832aged 20 months from weakness and Alice in 1834 age 13months of measles. The address given at the times ofbaptism and burials of most of John and Martha’s childrenwas Queen Street, Ince. John and family were living in thesame street, if not the same house, as their father Herculesand family. The loss, suffering, hardship and the incrediblesadness this family must have faced year after year isalmost incomprehensible. In the space of 30 years, between1804 and 1834, Hercules lost his first wife, twelve childrenand two grandchildren, many to poverty related illnesses.

Hercules died in 1851, followed by his wife, Ann, in 1858.He was buried in an unmarked grave in Wigan All SaintsChurch graveyard, where so many of his family had beenburied previously.

A new Poor Law in 1834 introduced workhouses and statedthat ‘All relief whatever to able-bodied persons or to theirfamilies, otherwise than in well-regulated workhouses shallbe declared unlawful’. Would Hercules and his family havefared better under this new system? I’m not so sure. Butwhat I do know is that, despite Hercules being a weaverand not a ship’s captain as I’d originally envisaged, andafter discovering what he and his family had to endure, hewill always remain a hero in my eyes.

Hercules Dowie 1780-1851BY JEAN BRANDWOOD

PAST FORWARD ESSAY COMPETITION ENTRY

14

This is the story of a love trianglebetween John Sinclair, astonemason, ‘a very worthy man’,his wife, Susan, ‘a younghandsome and well-educatedperson’ and a Methodist Minster,Henry Cook, whose ‘rascality andduplicity’ had hitherto beenunsuspected.

The Minister in question was HenryCook, a Minister on the Leigh andHindley Primitive Methodist Circuit.Born in Lowton about 1842, theson of Thomas Cook, a railwayporter and his wife Ellen, formerlyShaw. Henry and his four siblingsfollowed in their mother’sfootsteps and became silk weavers.Aged nineteen he married a localgirl, one year older than himselfcalled Sarah Ashton. By 1871 hewas settled in Church Lane,Lowton where he gave hisoccupation as coal agent and aMethodist local preacher.

The Wigan Observer notes thatHenry Cooke spoke at a gathering

at the Primitive Methodistschoolroom in Platt Bridge inOctober 1868. He became amember of the Circuit Committeeand in 1871 became a trustee ofthe Lowton Chapel. Any furtherpromotion within the churchceased, when in September 1875the minutes of the Committeereported that ‘in the consequenceof the damaging reports afloatrespecting him (he was to have)his number and name taken offthe plan’. By 3 June 1876 his namewas to be discontinued and allcontact with the church ceased.

Sarah had given birth to ninechildren between 1862 and 1875but four of them had died soonafter birth. Their eldest child Lucylived with relatives, William andEmma Shaw, very near to herparents in Church Lane. Lucy wasprobably a sickly child and isdescribed in 1881 as ‘not well, noemployment’. She died five yearslater aged 23 and was buried atSt Luke’s church in Lowton.

By 1881 Sarah, abandoned by herhusband, is living in the OldWorkhouse on Turnpike Roadwith four of her children. Williamaged seventeen, and nowdescribed as a coal agent, andthree daughters Jemima, Sarahand Eliza. She gives her status asmarried and her last child Elizawas born on 5 May 1875. Whenher husband, Henry, was alreadycarrying on his affair with one ofhis parishioners, Susan Sinclair.

Susan was the daughter ofGeorge Edwards, a shoemaker,who according to the 1871

census was born in Tipperary,Ireland. Prior to her elopementwith Henry Cook we know verylittle about her. The first sightingof her is in Liverpool when shemarried John St Clair at StMichael in the Hamlet on 12December 1866. She was residentin the parish, living in ParkfieldRoad, an affluent area, and wasprobably a domestic servant.

The marriage produced threesons, the first two born inLiverpool, John in 1868 andGeorge in 1870. Her youngestson, Thomas, was born in 1872at the family home Hob HeyLane, Kenyon. Susan then had adaughter, Mary, born 26 February1876, also at her family home inHob Hey Lane. By the time sheregistered the child on 31 March,however, she is living at ChinaCourt in Bedford. Her husbanddoes not appear as the father onMary’s birth certificate. She wasactually the child of Henry Cook,whose daughter by his wife Sarahwas only ten months old at thetime. In 1871 John and Susan StClair had been living inWarrington Road, Bedford withtheir two eldest sons but by 1875she had met Henry and begun anaffair with him.

On 1 June 1876 the coupleattempted to elope but wereintercepted at Parkside Railwaystation where her husband, John,administered a beating with astick to his wife’s lover. This actended with Henry beingsummoned to Leigh PettySessions to answer for his

HE WOULD NOTPAY A FARTHING

BY KATH GRAHAM AND MARLENE NOLANWITH SPECIAL THANKS TO JOHN HARDY

Runcorn Workhouse, Cheshire

15

actions. It would appear that thiswasn’t the first occasion thatHenry and John had crossedswords, as a number of threatshad been recorded as far back asJanuary of that year. The couplemust have made their getaway asthe Bolton Evening News recordsthat Henry had returned fromWarrington for his courtappearance whilst Susan hadremained in Warrington.

When she eloped with Henry, shedeserted her three young sonsaged eight, six and four. Herbaby, then around three monthsold fared no better as she wasleft with a friend in Frodsham.Unfortunately, Susan either failedto leave any money to care forthe child or the money ran outand the ‘friend’ placed her in theworkhouse at Runcorn.

On 19 July the Runcorn Board ofGuardians accordingly contactedSusan’s husband, who in law,was deemed to be the child’sfather, requiring him to providefinancial support. John repliedthat ‘he would not pay afarthing’ as the child was not hisand he was attempting to divorcehis unfaithful wife. Although,they acknowledged theunfairness of the situation, theBoard of Guardians felt they hadno option but to try and recouptheir costs from John but HenryCook, to his credit, didacknowledge paternity, so Marynow became his responsibility.

There is no record of Susan’sfeelings about abandoning herthree sons or baby daughter, sowe don’t know whether she feltany guilt or remorse for doing so.However, the couple, along withbaby Mary, disappeared beforeJohn could serve the promiseddivorce papers. It took two yearsand the efforts of an amateurdetective before they werelocated and the papers could beserved. We don’t know whathappened to the couple afterthat as the divorce was neverfinalised and presumably, theychanged their name and left thedistrict.

John Sinclair was born inScotland but lived variously inLiverpool, Kenyon and finallyLeigh. He was a stonemasonwho, eventually, set up his ownbusiness as a Monumental Masonin Queen Street, Leigh. A businesswhich must have had somesuccess. Unfortunately, hismarriage to Susan was lesssuccessful and he sued fordivorce on the 20 February 1877naming Henry Cook in thepetition. The petition claims thatup to 21 August 1875 Susan andHenry were carrying on an affairand the couple separated on thatdate. From 21 August 1875 to

6 October she was residing withHenry at Landside, near Kenyon.At which time she returned to herhusband but by May 1876 shehad resumed her affair withHenry Cook. Unfortunately, Susanand Henry disappeared and itwas not until nearly three yearslater that they were discovered.

John must have been a verydetermined man and must havehad a substantial income. Divorcewas very uncommon for theordinary man before 1857 whenthe Divorce Bill was passed.Although it was still out of thereach of many due to the highcost. The report of the RoyalCommission reported that ‘thetotal cost, under the mostfavourable circumstances, ofobtaining a divorce can hardly beless the £700 or £800 and whenthe matter is much litigated, itwould probably reach somethousands’. At the very least Johnwould have been looking at £700for the court case alone whichtoday would have equated tobetween £45,000 and £50,000,well out of the reach of a man likeJohn Sinclair. The fact that he thenhired an amateur detective totrace the couple over a two-yearperiod would have added to thiscost. This would explain the factthat in 1877 only 551 divorceswere granted and by 1901 thenumber was still low at 1848.

‘The Tea Party in Wigan’ © Morag Burton

Advertisement for John Sinclair,Monumental Mason 1885

16

In 1879, the Leigh Journalpublished a story outlining JohnSinclair’s case. The eloping couplehad disappeared in 1877 makingit impossible for him to proceedwith the divorce. So, determinedas ever, he employed Mr Reid, atailor and amateur detective fromLeigh, to find them. He tracedHenry, Susan and Mary to ahouse in Wigan. After obtainingthe citations from London, Johnand Mr Reid visited Mrs Sinclair’snext-door neighbour. Theneighbour was shocked to heartheir story and declared that thecouple, who had been herneighbours for the last fiveweeks, were the most moralpeople in Wigan.

Mrs Sinclair, upon entering herneighbour’s house and findingher husband and a detectivewaiting for her and after beingrevived by brandy on severaloccasions, agreed to sit downwith the two men to discuss thesituation. According to the reportshe handed her wedding ringback to her husband and beggedhis forgiveness. The neighbour,the detective, John, Henry andSusan then sat around the tabledrinking tea. It’s not clear whathappened next but it wasreported in one newspaper thatHenry, fearing financialimplications, sold his stock, leftthe farm, his wife and family and‘incredible as it may appear, stillcontinues to be a lip-reverent,sanctimonious backslider, whohas stolen his neighbours wife’.

This is the only mention of Henryliving at a farm, which it wasclaimed was at Landside. However,many men combined his mainoccupation with running a smallfarm. It is not clear what happensto Henry and Susan after this datebut by 1881 John claims to be awidower living with his mother,Margaret, and three young sonsat 32 Lloyd Street, Bedford.

Two years later he has moved tonew premises in Queen Street,Leigh where he is involved in theprosecution of John Harrison whohad stolen a coat from his

workshop. His mother Margarethad died that year but hisyoungest son Thomas, was stillliving and working with him. Hewitnessed the theft and wasallowed to give evidence in courteven though he was only elevenyears old. In 1885, Johnadvertised his business in theLeigh Postal Directory where headvertises that he is a ‘first classmonumental mason (using)Scottish granite’. Sadly, when hedied four years later oftuberculosis, at the early age of51, there was no headstone tocommemorate his life over hisgrave in Leigh Cemetery.

When he died on 8 April 1888 at53 Princess Street, Leigh, he left awill. This was probated atLiverpool on 4 May, the executorsnamed as Colin Sims,schoolmaster of Chapel Streetand Thomas Stones, anagricultural machinist of QueenStreet. His effects amounted to£132 2s 11d gross with a netvalue of £52 1s 1d. Three dayslater Henry James Widdowesplaced an Advertisement in aLeigh newspaper requestingpeople who might have a claimto John’s will to contact him. Thiswas not unusual for a man inbusiness as he may have haddebts to settle or people mayhave owed him money beforeprobate could be granted.

John’s will makes provision forhis sons George and Thomas, but

no mention is made of his eldestson John, who would have been20 when the will was made, soperhaps regarded asindependent. His two youngersons, George, then aged 18 andThomas aged 14, were tocontinue to live together in thefamily home until they reachedthe age of 21. The Executors andTrustees, Colin Simms andThomas Stones were to provideGeorge the sum of £1 percalendar month and Thomas 15shillings per calendar month outof the estate until the youngestson became of age and then theproperty was then to be sold andthe money divided equallybetween them.

His eldest son John had movedback to Liverpool but by 1891 hehad moved to Warrington wherehe was living with his secondwife and daughter in GorseyLane. He died there in 1942 andwas buried in WarringtonCemetery. George remained localall his life, marrying his landlady’sdaughter, Elizabeth Tyrer, andliving for 20 years at ClarenceStreet, Bedford. He then movedto 92 Edale Road where he diedon 5 June 1947 leaving £633 14s6d to his wife Elizabeth. Thomaswas less easy to trace, and thelast confirmed sighting of him iswhen he registered his father’sdeath in 1888, when both menwere living at the same address.

Of Susan, Henry and their child,Mary, there is no sign. Perhapsthey changed their name andmoved to an area where thescandal of their elopement couldnot follow them.

Sources:

Ancestry

Find My Past

The British Newspaper Archive

Postal Directory for Leigh 1885

Primitive Methodist Magazine1843

Primitive Methodist CircuitMinute Books 1867-1885 –Wigan Archive

Bradshawgate PrimitiveMethodist Chapel

17

WIGAN BOROUGHENVIRONMENTAND HERITAGENETWORK

Wigan Borough Environment & Heritage Network is the representativebody for all local societies, groups andindividuals interested in protecting andpromoting the Borough’s Heritage and

Natural Environment.

The network provides advice, speakers, site visits and partnershipworking with Wigan Council, InspiringHealthy Lifestyles, Greenheart and other

relevant bodies.

All are welcome to our meetings, held every six weeks at the Museum of

Wigan Life.

For further details please contact theSecretary on 01942 700060,

joe41@blueyonder.co.uk or visit

www.wiganheritage.com

BY SHEILA RAMSDALEFor a number of years I corresponded with thiswonderful woman, Mary Tomlinson, who started life in1899 in a terraced house in Loch Street, Pemberton.

She worked in the cotton factories at the age ofthirteen and later in the mining industry on the coalface, but also had a religious calling to one daybecome a missionary in India. She had never heard ofIndia until she spoke to the Methodist Minister at herlocal church. He set her on the path to obtainingqualifications at Wigan Mining and Technical College(now the Town Hall), then further training to become anurse. Finally, she was encouraged to become a doctorand completed her studies in 1930.

She decided to become a missionary doctor andembarked on a six month journey to Madras in India,ending up in a Methodist Missionary hospital in anoutlying village called Ikkadu where she worked withvery poor young women.

I discovered her when I was doing research on Irishimmigration to Wigan. I read a newspaper article whichshowed her on furlough in Wigan in 1936 where shewas giving lectures and fund raising for her hospital.She completely fascinated me, and by then she waslong retired and living in a village near Great Yarmouth.I managed to contact her and she agreed to send mecopies of her diaries, which I then transcribed. By thenshe was in her 80s and it was very clear she wanted nopublicity in her lifetime. She stated, ‘I have only been aservant of God’. She was a very humble person but herstory was truly remarkable.

After Mary died at the age of aged 101, with the helpof a friend, Rita Fell, who also at the time worked inWigan Local Studies, I wrote a booklet about herfascinating life. Before completing the book I went overto Chennai with my husband to find the hospital shehad worked in. I met the Medical Director of Health, DrJannath, and I was awe-struck to be standing on thevery spot she had lived and worked. I promised I wouldreturn when I had completed the booklet and I did thisin January 2020. Needless to say Dr Jannath was verysurprised when I turned up one Monday morning topresent him with a copy. My mission was finallyaccomplished.

If you wish to know more about this wonderfulwoman, copies of the booklet can be purchased at acost of £7.50 from the Museum of Wigan Life, Library Street, Wigan or from Sheila Ramsdale on01942 244309.

Sheila Ramsdale presenting a copy of the book to Dr Jannath, Medical Director of Health

18

I was delighted to read in the Leigh Journal 26September 2019, that the once thriving mill town ofTyldesley has the chance of being awarded £1.7 millionfrom Historic England. This is to make improvements toElliott Street, the main street of the town.

Locals will recognise the name Tyldesley Bongs. Bongs isan old word for banks (a sandstone ridge). The townwas once known as Tyldesley Banks due to itsgeographical 250-foot position on top of the banks.

I am a Bongser. I have lived in the town for most of mylife and my childhood home was 243 Elliott Street. MumIrene and Dad Ernie decided to move the family fromGolborne to Tyldesley when I was seven. They hadpurchased a shop which was to be the family home aswell as being a source of income and future security. Asa mere seven-year-old girl I didn't appreciate theenormity of the move, I just remember being devastatedat being wrenched away from my friends.

In Golborne I lived in a bay windowed council housewith a large garden and now I was expected to survivein one room and a lean-to kitchen ‘back of shop’. Noseparate dining room and parlour and no garden to playin. I did at least have my own bedroom, but myoverriding memory is of how cold it was. I can still seethe icicles hanging from the bath taps. Roomtemperatures were not helped by the fact that a hugecellar ran underneath the entire building. A great placeto play hide and seek with my brother and perfect forkeeping ‘rescued’ newts and frogs in the stone sink andthe dolly tub, but warm it was not!

243 Elliott Street was flanked on one side by The MortArms Public House and a hairdresser's. On the other wasHardman's bakery, Grundy's sweet shop (with theBeechnut Chewing Gum dispenser fixed to the wall) andBainbridge's greengrocer and fishmonger. Further downthe street was a coffee bar with a jukebox. I was onlyallowed to listen to the strains of Frank Ifield's ‘IRemember You’ from the backyard of the premisesbecause, as I was informed on more than one occasion, Iwas too young! I was, however, allowed into TheTemperance Bar at the top of Castle Street, to eat Smith'scrisps and drink hot Vimto to my heart's content.

At this time in Tyldesley's history, Elliott Street was linedon both sides with shops. From its junction withManchester Road at one end, to where it joined CastleStreet near the Parish Church. Butchers, bakers, grocers,greengrocers, fishmongers, newsagents, speciality shops.The smell of fresh ground coffee emanating fromRedman's grocers and pork butchers was delightful.

Those were the days when if you lived in Tyldesley, thenyou shopped on Elliott Street and you had plenty ofchoice. At least two of each type of shop. Bond'sbutchers and the Co-op butcher, Bainbridge’s fishmongerand Wrend’s, Hudson's and Bainbridge's greengrocers,Co-op, Redman's, the Bob Shop were all grocers andHardman's and Withington's were bakers andconfectioners. I had my first Saturday job at Withington'sand it was where I met my now ex-husband!

PAST FORWARD ESSAY COMPETITION ENTRY

TyldesleyBy Alison

Memories Armfield

Pownall’s Shoe Shop, Tyldesleyj20

19

Believe it or not there were also at least four shoe shopsin Tyldesley. The Co-op, Freeman, Hardy and Willis,Dearden's and yes, 243 Elliott Street. Pownall's Shoe Shop,my mum's pride and joy! It turned out that she was a veryastute businesswoman and Pownall's Shoe Shop becamethe ‘go-to’ place for your school shoes, plimsols, socksand stockings as well as the latest ladies fashion shoes.She was also a very innovative woman. If the shoe thatyou liked didn't quite fit, perhaps you had an awkwardbunion, then she would disappear into the cellar with saidshoe, take out her cobbler's tools, soften and work theleather until hey presto, the shoe fit - sale made!

From the age of seven until I left home at eighteen, Ilived with shoes. Shoes weren’t just stored in the shop,they infiltrated the living room, under and on the diningtable, on the stairs, even in my bedroom. Wednesdayafternoon was half day closing when all the shopkeeperson Elliott Street replenished their stock. For Mum andDad this meant a weekly trip to Manchester to thewarehouses. Mum would always insist that they also visitthe street barrow boys to buy fruit and veg and stock upon cheeses, hams, bacon and sausages from the market.Consequently, my brother and I could often be seencrouching in the shop doorway after school, waiting forthem to return! I grew to hate shoes and even now I ama barefooter!

Moving to Tyldesley at the age of seven was hard. It wassmack bang in the middle of the school summerholidays, so I had no opportunity to meet other children.However, I discovered that there were three girls livingnext door but one at the sweet shop. Amazingly theeldest was my age exactly. By the time school went backafter the holidays we were best of pals and foundourselves in the same class at Tyldesley British School onUpper George Street.

I often wondered why my school was known as ‘TheBritish School’. Recent research has gone someway toanswering that question for me. It apparently refers tothe move away from education establishments beingdominated by the church and private ‘philanthropic’organisations to a more non-sectarian approach thatrecognised the social needs of children. Joseph Lancasterwas the founder of this approach and it is credited withbeing the beginnings of the education system as weknow it today.

Tyldesley British School was opened in 1902 and itsheadmaster was George Beddow, who presided over theschool until he retired in April 1926. On his retirementhe was described as ‘an outstanding teacher of greatability and personality’. The headmasters of my time atthe school were Mr Robinson and Mr Houghton, both ofwhom I remember as being loud and scary.

My time at this school was relatively uneventful bar onememorable occasion when my Mum, Irene Pownall,

Chair of The Parent Teachers Association, President ofAtherton and Tyldesley Chamber of Trade, wassummoned to the Headmaster's office! Why? Herprecious daughter (me!) had been caught fighting in theschool yard. Mum was mortified and on getting mehome, gave me a sound dressing down and confiscatedmy reading books - I just loved reading! She deemed thisto be a just punishment for having had her reputation asa successful businesswoman and outstanding member ofthe community tarnished.

Many of the shopkeepers on Elliott Street werecommunity orientated, getting involved in various localinitiatives. In addition to being involved in the PTA andthe Chamber of Trade, Mum was also actively involved inTyldesley Old People's Welfare Society. Together with acolleague she began a Meals on Wheels Service for theelderly residents of Tyldesley. The meals were prepared atFrank's Chippy on Elliott Street and then delivered byvolunteers. My Dad Ernie was one of those volunteersdelivering tasty meals from the back of his car.

The Meals on Wheels Service was a great success and asit expanded it was taken over by the local Social Services.This was probably one of the first indications, alongsidethe closure of local pits and mills, of the demise ofTyldesley as a thriving, independent town.

As a Bongser, I have witnessed this decline with sadness.Gone are the shops and the community spirit of mychildhood. What exists today is a plethora of pubs,eateries and takeaways. There have been occasions whena more adventurous entrepreneur has attempted tochange things but to little avail.

The news of a potential £1.7 million funding pot showsthe emergence of a new positive spirit for theregeneration of Tyldesley. Too late I'm afraid for my oldschool on Upper George Street. After a stint as a WiganEducation Authority Youth Club (of which I was both amember and later an assistant youth worker) and then asa Community Life Centre, it was left empty and derelict. Itwas eventually demolished and the land on which it onceproudly stood is now a Guided Busway car park.

As for Pownall's Shoe Shop, 243 Elliott Street, it servedthe town for almost 30 years. It has since been a florists,an accountants, a renovation workshop, a lighting shopamongst other short-term ventures. Its future isuncertain as it lies outside the conservation area ofTyldesley town centre which will be the focus of the £1.7million. Mum Irene, Dad Ernie and my brother Greg haveall passed away, so number 243 Elliott Street feelsparticularly special to me now. All good things come toan end they say. I live in hope that 243 will find its placein the future of Tyldesley. Failing that, I look forward toseeing, experiencing and living in the ‘new’ Tyldesley.

20

On the afternoon of Wednesday 17August 1921, a funeral processionslowly wound its way from Gill Streetin Glazebury to the parish church.This would be no ordinary interment.A reporter from the Leigh Journalbelieved it to be “...a spectacleunprecedented in the memory of thepresent generation…” quite a claimconsidering the Great War had endedjust a few years before.

The whole village appeared to haveturned out, along with hundreds ofmourners from the surroundingtowns and villages. Shops wereclosed and blinds were drawn in thecustomary manner. The men in thehushed crowds lining the streetsremoved their hats as the cortegepassed and some wept alongsidetheir womenfolk.

The coffin was borne into the churchon the strong shoulders of elevenworkers from Gill and Hartley’s Mill,colleagues of the deceased.Following a funeral service, the mencarried the coffin to the gravesideand after further prayers were said, itwas gently lowered into its finalresting place. Eventually a headstonewas erected to the uniform designspecified by the Commonwealth WarGraves Commission.

The inscription reveals that thedeceased was a former private in the21st (Empress of India’s) Lancers. Hehad recently returned from service inthe North West Frontier but was nota casualty of war. He had not died atthe hands of Afghan tribesmen.Private William Hindley of Glazeburyhad been shot by one of hismanagers at Gill and Hartley’s Mill.

Hindley had been born into thetightly knit community of Glazeburyin 1889. His parent’s occupationsreflected the economy of the village.Frederick Hindley was an agriculturallabourer and his wife Elizabeth acotton winder. The 1911 censusreveals that William, their only child,was a railway labourer living withthem in Fowley Common Lane, inthe same four room cottage inwhich he had been born 22 yearsbefore.

Living a few cottages away fromWilliam in 1911 was 21-year-oldAnnie Slater, who was keeping housefor her widowed father and hersiblings. Annie had been born inHutton near Preston but since thedeath of her mother in the 1890s,the family had been peripateticbefore arriving in Glazebury. Annie’selder brother was a railway labourer;

perhaps it is through this connectionthat she met her near neighbourWilliam Hindley. Either way, thecouple married in April 1912 at thesame parish church where Williamwas baptised and would be buried.Annie gave birth that same autumn,although the baby died soonafterwards. The couple had nofurther children.

The Great War disrupted theHindleys’ unremarkable lives. We donot know whether Williamvolunteered for service or wasconscripted. He may even have beena Regular by 1914. What is certain isthat from 1918 he was in Indiaserving as a Private in the 21stLancers. His unit was attached to theFirst Battalion Dragoon Guards

A GLAZEBURY TRAGEDY

BY BRIAN JOYCE AND MARLENE NOLAN

E. M. Monaghan Wm. Hindley

Gill and Hartley's Mill, Glazebury

21

stationed on the North West Frontierresisting incursions fromAfghanistan during the so-calledThird Afghan War.

After serving for two and a half yearsin India, William was demobilisedand in 1920 returned to the close-knit village of his birth. He secured ajob in the dye house of Gill andHartley’s Mill, where his wife Anniewas already working as a weaver. Thecouple had every reason to assumethat their lives would resume thesame predictable rhythm that theyhad experienced before 1914.

However, in 1921 a stranger arrived who would shatter their expectations.

Ernest Morris Monaghan came froma lower middle-class family inWalkden. He was single, and at only21 years old was still living with hisparents in Egerton Terrace. Hisyounger brother had died in 1912,leaving Ernest the youngest of hisparents’ surviving five children.Monaghan had his eighteenthbirthday in May 1918 and so had nothad time to experience the Great Warat first hand.

In early 1921, he obtainedemployment as the Assistant Managerand bookkeeper at Gill and Hartley’sMill in Glazebury. This was a veryresponsible position for such a youngman, particularly as the manager,John Wood, was 70 years old and verydeaf. At the time, Glazebury was afairly isolated village on the roadbetween Leigh and Warrington. Alarge amount of money, for whichMonaghan was responsible, was keptat the Mill. He was often on thepremises alone at night.

Furthermore, the Irish War ofIndependence was at its height in1920-21 and Sinn Fein activistsbrought the struggle to the Britishmainland. There were terroristoutrages throughout the North-West.In late 1920, eighteen warehousesand timber yards were set alight inLiverpool, and cotton warehouses inManchester were similarly attacked.In 1921, Sinn Fein arsonists weresuspected of causing fires aroundManchester at a chemical works atNewton Heath, an oil depot at HoltFarm and a factory at New Cross.Arsonists had also attacked cotton

mills in Failsworth, Royton andHollingwood near Oldham. Apoliceman had been shot atBridgewater House, a packing andshipping warehouse in Manchester.

Given the potential threat to Gill andHartley’s, the police had issuedMonaghan with a permit to carry agun. After this, the 21-year-oldassistant manager appears to haveroutinely carried a loaded automaticpistol, and in June 1921demonstrated that he was preparedto use it. Boisterous horseplay amonga group of youths outside the millhad led to a cracked window.Monaghan hurried outside. The boys(some of whom were not muchyounger than he was), refused toanswer his questions. In response,Monaghan pulled the pistol from hispocket and opened fire.

The bullet struck the ground andricocheted, striking the clog of one ofthe youths and lodging between theiron and the sole. It may appearincredible to us, but neither the boysnor their parents reported thispotentially fatal incident to the policeor anybody else for two months.When the case finally did come tocourt, the father of one of the youthsintimated that the boy was afraid oflosing his job if they launched acomplaint. The man himself was outof work and was looking after eightchildren. Such was the apprehensiveclimate in the post-war recession.

Ernest Monaghan failed to learn hislesson from this shooting incidentand a tragic sequence of eventsbegan to unfold at the mill the

following month. The young assistantmanager was patrolling round theweaving shed, when he spotted aweaver reading at her loom whenshe should have been working. Thiswas Annie Hindley. The 21-year-oldreprimanded her, warning her that ifshe was not careful in future, shewould be given her cards. Thatevening she told her husband whathad happened.

The following description of eventson the afternoon of Tuesday 9August is based on police andeyewitness testimony. These accountsare surprisingly consistent. At about2.45pm, John Wood, the millmanager, spotted a group ofemployees standing talking near thedye house adjoining an orchard atthe rear of the mill. William Hindleyand another dyer, James Adamsonappeared to be looking into theorchard. Wood warned them theycould get into trouble for this,perhaps hinting at dismissal, and toldthem to get back to work.Meanwhile Monaghan had joined thegroup and asked Adamson whetherthere was anybody in the orchard.Adamson replied in the negative. Bythen most of the men had driftedback to the dye house, leaving onlyMonaghan, Hindley and Adamson. Aheated argument between the toughex-soldier and the callow assistantmanager now erupted. Accounts ofwhat exactly was said vary, but theycentred on Monaghan’s warnings toAnnie Hindley a week or two before.

According to Adamson, Hindleybecame excited and said, “It looks as

Warrington Road, Glazebury

22

if some people can have their cardsand some can’t”. Adamson saidHindley continued, “It was only theother day you wanted to give mywife her card”. Monaghan himselfclaimed he replied, “I don’t intend togive her her card. That’s my business,not yours”. Adamson claimedMonaghan went further, “I don’tintend to give her her card, but youare asking for yours”. Monaghanhimself confirmed this, saying thatHindley had accused him of two-faced dealings and that there werepeople at the mill who ought to havetheir cards besides his wife.Monaghan admitted to replying,“Yes, and you are going the rightway to get yours”.

Both Superintendent White of theLancashire Constabulary and JamesAdamson claimed in court thatMonaghan actually sacked Hindleyon the spot: “Right, you can haveyour insurance card”. Hindley thenyelled: “Well, you can give me my******* card”. William Hayes, theforeman dyer, worried about wherethese events were leading andpleaded: “Come inside and don’targue the point here”. But if he saidthis, Hindley ignored him.

There is virtual unanimity as towhat happened next. Monaghanturned away and walked off withhis hands in his jacket pockets.Hindley then sprang at him,grabbed him by the throat, yelling“I will ******* bash you!”

In his right jacket pocket, Monaghanhad the automatic pistol whichcontained two live rounds. He laterclaimed: “Hindley was shaking mewhen instinctively my hand grabbedat the revolver. I tried to take myhand from my jacket pocket whenthere was a report. Hindleystaggered back and said: ‘My God,he has shot me!’ He walked onepace and sat down on theembankment”. He was lying on thebank unconscious by the time Annierushed up a few minutes later.

William Hayes had just re-entered thedye house when James Adamson ranin shouting: “He is shot!” Hayes washurriedly leaving the building whenhe encountered a shaken Monaghanwho was on his way in. “Have youshot him?” asked the foreman. WhenMonaghan admitted what he haddone, Hayes demanded: “What the**** did you do that for?”.

“I don’t know” Monaghan replied.“What can we do for him?”

Hayes went on: “I went with him upthe yard and I said, ‘I think the bestthing would be for you to send forthe police’, and he did so”. PC Busksoon arrived. Later the officer quotedMonaghan as stating in the mill’soffice: “I had some bother with himnear the dye house. He rushed at meand got hold of me by the throat,and in the struggle, I accidentallyshot him”. He then reached in hispocket and gave Busk the pistol,which contained one live and one

spent cartridge. PC Busk arrested himand took him to Leigh Police Station.There Monaghan was cautioned andcharged with feloniously woundingWilliam Hindley, who, after beingexamined by Dr Flitcroft, a localphysician, had been rushed to LeighInfirmary with abdominal wounds.

On being charged, Monaghan stated“I didn’t intend to shoot him; it wasa pure accident”. Monaghan waskept at Leigh Police Station overnightand appeared at Leigh County PoliceCourt the following day.

While stating that he quiteappreciated that the police wishedMonaghan to be remanded incustody, the young man’s solicitorAH Hayward offered the court whathe called “very substantial bail”. Aspart of this offer, he intriguinglyclaimed that: “A Member ofParliament says he will go bail for theyoung man”. Unfortunately, Haywarddid not name the MP concerned, butMonaghan’s hometown of Walkdenlay in the Farnworth constituency,whose MP at the time was theUnionist Captain Edward Bagley.

Superintendent Whitehead objectedto this request. Hindley was stillcritically ill at Leigh Infirmary, butonce he was off the danger list, thepolice would drop their objections tobail. The magistrates thereforeremanded Monaghan in custody untilFriday 12 August, when he wasfurther remanded.

Meanwhile, surgeons at LeighInfirmary had frantically attempted tosave the life of William Hindley.Monaghan’s bullet had entered hisbody two inches below the navel,seriously damaging his intestines. Noexit wound was found, so it wasassumed the bullet had lodged in themuscles of Hindley’s back. Thedoctors repaired his injuries, and heappeared to be making satisfactoryprogress. However, he showedincreasing symptoms of bloodpoisoning throughout Saturday andSunday and his conditiondeteriorated badly. Hindley diedduring Sunday night, August 14, fivedays after having been shot.

By the time Ernest Monaghanappeared in court the following day,the charge against him had beenamended to that of murder. He wasGlazebury, showing the location of the Mill

23

remanded in custody untilWednesday 17 August, when acoroner’s inquest was held.

Monaghan flanked by a policeconstable attended the inquest atLeigh Infirmary. The Coroner, SFButcher and the Foreman of theInquest Jury expressed sympathy withthe widow. Monaghan’s solicitorechoed this on behalf of the youngman’s parents, who were also toshow their sorrow by attendingHindley’s funeral. The eyewitnesses,an emotional Annie Hindley and theaccused himself, gave their accountsof the tragic events of Tuesday 9August. Then the Coroner gave hissumming up.

Butcher reminded the Jury thatmurder presupposed malice, eitherexpressed, evident or implied. Thecrime of killing was reduced frommurder to manslaughter if a personwas attacked, had reason to feargrievous bodily harm and tookreasonable grounds to protectthemselves. According to the LeighJournal, Butcher continued, “I will tellyou straight away that I don’t think itis a case of murder because althoughMonaghan was carrying a pistolthere is no evidence of their havingbeen any quarrelling anterior to thistime. On the other hand, there issomething to be said on the questionof manslaughter”. In other words, onthe day, Monaghan, with Hindleyyelling threats and gripping himround the throat, was justified indefending himself by shooting hisattacker. The Jury concurred andreturned a verdict of manslaughter.Ernest Monaghan was committed toappear at Liverpool Assizes inNovember.

After the inquest, the Coroner hadtold Monaghan’s solicitor he wouldnot object to the County Courtreleasing Monaghan on bail.Consequently, he was released at theend of the week on his ownrecognizance of £50 and two othersof £25 each from his father, aninsurance agent, and his brother, amaster furrier with premises inBolton.

We do not know for certain whether-or-not Monaghan returned to workat Glazebury Mill during thesubsequent two months, but the

chances are that he did not. He didmake a further court appearancethough. After the death of WilliamHindley, the parents of the boysinvolved in the previous shootingincident outside the mill in June nowcame forward to complain. For“wantonly discharging a pistol withinfifty feet of the centre of thecarriageway”, Monaghan was finedfour shillings, a sum which to usappears derisory.

In November 1921 Monaghanappeared at Liverpool Assizes andgave evidence on his own behalf. Heclaimed he had not intended toshoot Hindley. According to the LeighChronicle, “Monaghan said he didnot know the automatic pistol was inhis pocket. When he drew his handsfrom his pocket to defend himself,the weapon went off. He had no ideaof using it in self-defence”. He toldthe court he himself had telephonedfor the police and a doctor “and thewhole affair had filled him with deepremorse”.

The Leigh Journal summarised theJudge’s reaction to this defence. “Thejudge said there was not one jot ofevidence that prisoner fired therevolver [sic] with the intention ofinflicting injury upon Hindley. Thecharge of involuntary manslaughterremained, and that turned uponwhether or not prisoner had beenguilty of culpable negligence”.

There was a recent precedent. In theprevious year George Williamson,another 21-year-old, had beencarrying a loaded automatic pistol,this time in Little Hulton. He hadsupposedly reached into his pocketfor a handkerchief and the gun hadgone off. The bullet had shattered awindow nearby and killed a 15-year-old girl. The inquest jury had foundthat the young man had fired thepistol inadvertently, so the girl’sdeath had been an accident. TheCoroner in that case had acceptedthe verdict, adding: “The soonerpeople get rid of the habit ofcarrying revolvers about, the better”.

When the jury consideringMonaghan’s case returned, they tooaccepted that although the shooterwas carrying a loaded automaticpistol with the safety catch off, hewas not culpable. They found ErnestMonaghan not guilty ofmanslaughter. He was dischargedand walked out of the court a freeman. Annie Hindley’s reaction to thiswas not recorded.

Postscript

Annie disappears from the recordafter this. She may have remarried.Certainly, an Annie Hindley whosedate of birth coincides with theformer Annie Slater’s baptismal datemarried Walter Jones in the Leighregistration District in 1930. If thiswas the widow of William Hindley,she was living as Annie Jones inLiverpool in 1939.

Ernest Monaghan is easier to track.After his trial and acquittal, hedecided to leave the North West,probably wisely. He moved across thePennines to Huddersfield, where hemarried Henrietta Roberts Tait in1927. The couple had at least onechild. In 1939, still in Huddersfield,he was listed as a “foreman healdingand twisting woollen and worsted”.He remained in the textile industry,moving to Gloucestershire and dyingin Stroud of lung disease in 1978.

The upwardly mobile young manwho had been assistant manager at Glazebury Mill in 1921 was listedon his death certificate as “TextileClerk Retired”

William Hindley's gravestone

The site of the church of St Aidan’s, Billinge, has beena place of religious worship for over 480 years. Built ataround 1539, the original chapel was probably erectedwhere the church now stands. It spared the villageresidents from having to make the journey into Wiganto perform their devotions, and has remained asteadfast place of worship despite periods ofeconomic, social and religious reformation.

In 1552, in the aftermath of Henry VIII’s dissolution ofthe monasteries (1536-1541), the church bell wastaken by the King’s Commissioners and sent to theTower of London to be melted down. Officially, thiswas done to prevent embezzlement of goods by‘corrupt’ church officials, but the reality is that it wasactually a thinly-veiled ploy to compensate for the boy-King Edward VI’s (1547-1553) desperate need formoney. It helped to help restore the crippled treasuryhe inherited from his father, and cover the costs ofquashing small-scale rebellions, a futile war withScotland, and the ultimately unsuccessful defence ofBoulogne-sur-Mer. Following Edward’s death at thetender age of 15 this process was reversed by Mary I(1553-58), who ordered the return of such valuables.However, there is no record of the bell, or its

equivalent value, being returned to the parish duringher reign or at any other time. In 1553, an inventoryof items taken from the church listed the value of thebell at £3.

Despite the ongoing religious and political upheavals ofthe sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the churchpersevered and by 1718 a new chapel was erected.Professed in its day to be one of the finest in the area,it had a grand 200-worshipper capacity. It is a meretwo years later that our tale begins.

During the Industrial Revolution, the North West ofEngland became a world leader in the development ofindustry, technology, culture and economy. To supportthis unprecedented development, the area becameheavily dependent upon seasonal ‘tramping’, often byhighly skilled labourers carrying with themoccupational surnames such as Tinker, Chapmen, Pedlarand Hawker. The contemporary travelling labourer wasa much-valued thread in the fabric of everyday workinglife, providing a large, seasonal, casual workforcewhich played a particularly important role inagricultural events, such as the bringing in of harvests.

Amongst the hundreds of thousands of travelling

24

By Charlie Guy

The Snake Grave of Billinge -George and Kitty Smith

The Parish Church of St Aidan, Billinge

workers making their way across the country in thesummer of 1720 were George and Kitty Smith. Young,and very much in love, George and Kitty stole awayone afternoon, with the idea to enjoy the privacyafforded at the top of Billinge Hill. George, a strongman with dark, handsome features and a kind manner,was utterly devoted to his red-haired lover, Kitty; anatural beauty with an enviable singing voice. Uponreaching the summit they sat upon the hill, enjoyingthe summer air and the peace of each other’scompany. But their happiness was not to be. On lyingback within the tall grass, Kitty, unwittingly, disturbedan adder and was bitten. She died shortly thereafter inher devastated lover’s arms.

George, beside himself with grief, carried the body ofhis beloved back to the village, before taking his ownlife. The community were so affected by the loss ofsuch a vibrant, young couple. They respondedgenerously, and arranged a burial in the finest spot ofthe finest churchyard, with an elaborate memorialcommissioned to stand atop the grave. The resultantmonument remains to this day, as a testament to theirtragedy and devotion. It consists of a coffin-shapedgrave marker (complete with what are likely decorativebier or pall-bearing rings), and a skull, with the wingsof a bat, encircled by the adder who so cruelly tookyoung Kitty’s life. The relief sits in front of a curtain,symbolising grief and the unknown twists of fate.

Or, at least, that is how one version of the local legendgoes.

In another version, it is George who falls victim to theadder, resting from work at a local quarry. In yetanother, an unknown man is found dead from a snakebite at the top of Billinge Hill. But then, how did theysettle upon the name of George, and who was Kitty?

In reality, very little is known about the real Georgeand Kitty Smith. The church, despite having extensiverecords, has no official document of the burial. Whilethis has served to strengthen the legends surroundingthe mysterious couple, the burial records for the years1715-1720 are in fact missing in their entirety. It wouldappear that a ledger was at some point removed andhas not been returned, and it is indeed far more likelythat the entries for George and Kitty Smith have beenlost, rather than never having existed in the firstplace.

A further problem arises when we consider thesupposed manner of George’s death. Until the passingof the Suicide Act of 1961, suicide within England andWales was both a criminal offence and a grave sin. Assuch, George’s burial within consecrated ground wouldnot have been permitted. While local traditions fordealing with the burial of suicides varied from regionto region, common methods throughout theeighteenth century included burial at a crossroads, andburial head-down - both in un-consecratedground. However widely these burial methods varied,many were connected by the belief that a suicide wasan ‘unnatural’ death, and therefore could subsequentlyonly produce an ‘unnatural’ corpse. Burial at acrossroads, for instance, therefore served to confusethe spirit of the dead, who - if risen - would bedisoriented by the junction at which they foundthemselves and therefore be unable to find, andtrouble, the living. The burial of suicides in consecratedground was not permitted until 1823 - over 100 yearslater than our tragic lovers - and even then it was onlypermitted between the hours of 9pm and midnight,and without any form of ceremony.

Given that the grave of George and Kitty Smith lies notonly within consecrated land, but also close to thesouth side of the church wall, the suicide element ofthe story becomes even more unlikely. Thegeographical placement of the grave is significantwhen we consider that burials on the north side of thechurchyard would lie behind the church itself. Thenorth side of the churchyard was therefore consideredof lower status socially than the south side. Peoplewalking into the church would not pass by thosegraves, and so would not pray for the souls of theindividuals within them. It therefore became commonfor wealthier individuals to be buried in south sideplots, and poorer, less affluent members of society tobe buried on the north side.

There is, however, arguably some room to speculatethat the couple were from a travelling community. The

25

The grave of George and Kitty Smith

26

name Kitty, a common Irish shortening of Katherine,was in popular use even before Kate came into fashion.The informality of the use of Kitty (rather thanKatherine) on the grave is reminiscent of a Romanycommunity – being historically far more likely to use anaffectionate sobriquet than their contemporaries. Also,the name Smith is occupational, being related tometalworking, and could suggest an occupation as ablacksmith. This would have been an importantposition within a travelling community, who at thattime would have relied heavily upon their horses formeans of both travel and trade. However, this is meresupposition, as by the seventeenth century the namewas also widespread amongst people outside thisprofession.

While it would be nice to believe there was an elementof truth to the community funding of the memorial, agrave as elaborate as this would not have come cheap.It is far more likely that the couple were insteadwealthier members of society, and it is likely that theyeither commissioned the grave themselves, or it wascommissioned by their relatives and paid for from theirestate. Interestingly, the date 1720 has at some pointbeen re-cut into the stone, while the rest of the script,untouched, is now illegible. The names, which are cutinto the lower end of the stone, also appear out ofplace with the rest of the inscription, and have the

appearance of having been re-cut at some point in thenineteenth century (being of a more common Victorianscroll). Some speculation as to whether-or-not Georgeand Kitty Smith are actually resident within the gravecould therefore be afforded - what came first - thedead, or their legend? Without the missing ledger, wemight never really know.

Whatever the story behind the couple, the grave itselfis a remarkable example of memento mori and isindeed the only surviving example of its kind within StAiden’s churchyard. Grade II listed status was grantedin 1985.

Memento mori translates quite literally as ‘rememberyou shall die’, and artistic representations ongravestones and monuments became common practicethroughout both the eighteenth and nineteenthcenturies. So, what do the symbols here really mean?

Let’s start with the shape of the grave itself. A coffinshaped burial marker serves as a literal message fromthe dead to the living: we were once alive, just likeyou… and one day you’ll be dead, just like us. Not verysubtle, but it wasn’t supposed to be. The purpose of amemento mori was to ensure the viewer kept in mindthe fact that death comes to everyone, regardless ofsocial status. We all end up the same. As such, a goodChristian should always be mindful of the day ofjudgement and take immediate responsibility for thecare of their immortal soul. This was also the purposeof the skull. A churchgoer, walking past the grave ofGeorge and Kitty, would immediately be reminded oftheir own inevitable death, and the sense that allpleasurable experiences are fleeting. It would thereforeserve them best to be modest, rather than fall to prideand vanity; being conscious of the transient nature ofexperiences, material possessions, and life. Throughsuch reliefs the dead are able to give lessons to theliving in how to spend their days, with their messagebeing that the best use of time is spent incontemplation of the afterlife.

The bat wings, however, are a much more unusualaddition. Wings on a grave usually serve to representthe soul’s ascent into heaven, and would usually depictthose of a bird, or angel. Butterflies are also commonlyseen on graves, being representative of rejuvenation ofthe soul, and the circle of life and death. Bat wings,however, are more representative of the underworld.Far from suggesting the fiery descent of George andKitty, however, the use of bat wings here is likely toserve as a reminder of the consequences of not living agood life. Demons, temptation, and the prospect ofeternal damnation are never far away.The grave of George and Kitty Smith

Information forContributorsWe always welcome articles and lettersfor publication from both new andexisting contributors.

If you would like to submit an articlefor PAST FORWARD, please note that:

• Publication is at discretion of Editorial Team

• The Editorial Team may edit your submission

• Published and rejected submissionswill be disposed of, unless yourequest for them to be returned

• Submissions may be held on file forpublication in a future edition

• Articles must be received by the copy date if inclusion in the nextissue is desired

Submission Guidelines• Electronic submissions are preferred, although handwrittenones will be accepted

• We prefer articles to have amaximum length of 1,000 wordsbut please contact us if you wouldlike to submit an article of a greaterlength

• Include photographs or imageswhere possible – these can bereturned if requested

• Include your name and address – we will not pass on your details toanyone unless you have given uspermission to do so

We aim to acknowledge receipt of all submissions.

CONTACT DETAILS:pastforward@wigan.gov.uk or The Editor at PAST FORWARD, Museum of Wigan Life, Library Street, Wigan WN1 1NU.

27

And now for the adder, the creature responsible forthe tragic death of Kitty Smith, curled around the skullas a macabre warning of the dangers of long grass.Alas, it is here that our legend loses further traction. Itis extremely likely that the legend of the snake bitearose as the meanings of the carvings were lost totime. Snakes were a common depiction on eighteenthcentury gravestones, and the way in which they arecarved serves to represent differing messages. UsuallyBiblical in meaning, an uncoiled snake on a gravestonerepresents the devil, sin and the perpetual closeness ofevil, while a snake depicted crawling through a humanskull would be representative of the dangers of fallingto temptation - that nobody is safe from the devil,even after death. The snake here, however, has beencarved as a hooped snake (or ouroboros) with its tailin its mouth. This symbol is representative of eternity,immortality and rejuvenation. The presence of anouroboros suggests to the viewer the beginnings of a new life in paradise and is also representative ofunity. An appropriate marking, therefore, for a married couple.

Finally, we reach the curtain, unusual also primarily forthe manner of its carving. Curtain rings have beenadded to distinguish it from a veil - which wouldusually be representative of the veil between life anddeath, through which we all must pass. A curtain,however, sets a scene for the memento mori: theplaying out of life and death, the need to always bemindful of the soul, and the Christian promises ofeternal life in paradise.

We may never know the true story of George and KittySmith, but the memento mori they left behindprovides many fascinating clues into the times inwhich they lived.

The Parish Church of St Aidan, Billinge

28

Out of the Pits andinto Parliament: Part 1The legacy of Ashton-in-Makerfield MinersBy YvonneEckersleyIn 1893 the Wigan Observerreported ‘Ashton in Makerfield isat present the largest miningtownship in the County ofLancashire and there hasprobably been more collierydevelopment in that townshipduring the last ten or twentyyears than any township inEngland’.

Little physical evidence of thisremains. The pitheads, spoil tips,mineral railways and footpathsthat criss-crossed the area andmining communities have longgone.

There were five collierycomplexes in the immediatearea of Bryn Gates andBamfurlong alone: GarswoodHall, (their spoil tips were theThree Sisters), Lily Lane (CoffinWood), Bryn Hall (Bryn GatesLane), Bamfurlong Pits(Bamfurlong), and Mains Colliery(Mains Lane, Bryn Gates). All of

these complexes were connectedto the London and NorthWestern Railway via the minerallines. They employed thousandsof people, many of whom livedin the miners’ cottages, mostlybuilt by the colliery owners.

Some examples of these housesinclude Bryn Gates (CrippensLump), built to accommodatethe Welsh Miners brought towork at Crippen’s Bryn HallColliery. Bamfurlong, whereCross Street and Tetley Streetwere built by Cross TetleyCollieries. And much of thehousing along Bolton Road intoAshton which was also built tohouse the miners.

There were so many Welshminers living along Bolton Roadthat the stretch from Ashton toStubshaw Cross was known asLittle Wales. These miners wereconsidered vital to the emergingtrade union and labourmovement. This is borne out bythe fact that speeches given atthe miners’ mass meetings inAshton were delivered first inEnglish and then in Welsh.

Miners Unions -Problems and Solutions

Ashton Miners Association andtheir fellow miners had beendemoralised and impoverishedby the unsuccessful seven-weekstrike of 1881. The strike hadbeen called, in part, to challengethe power of employers ininsisting that as a condition ofemployment, miners should opt

out of the 1880 EmployersLiability Act. The 1880 Act hadthe potential for miners to holdan employer responsible foraccidents if negligence wasproven. By opting out of theAct, and accepting the terms oftheir employers, the miners ofLancashire and Cheshire MinersPermanent Relief Societyaccepted that they, not theiremployers, would be legallyresponsible for deaths or injuriescaused in the mines.

The morality of this was publiclyquestioned by union leadersafter the Bamfurlong Miningdisaster. On the 14 December1892, sixteen miners, eight ofwhom were boys, had beenkilled during a fire accidentlystarted by 13-year-old lasher on,John James Rowley. The boy,new to pit work, was put incharge of the undergroundengine that ran the pit’s endlessrope haulage system, withouttraining or adult supervision.Though a verdict of accidentaldeath was recorded, InspectorHenry Hall criticised the mine’smanagers for putting such ayoung and inexperienced boy incharge of the engine. Should theinquest have found Rowley’sactions in any way negligentthen he, not his employers,would have been charged withmanslaughter. Sam Woods MPand Thomas Aspinwall whorepresented the miners at theinquest, questioned the wisdomof Cross Tetley in insisting theboy opted out of the 1880 Act.

Plan giving showing the proximityof Bamfurlong, Brynn Hall and

Lily Lane Collieries

29

Throughout the 1880s the unionmovement remained weak.However, farsighted unionleaders were working to build afinancially viable and unifiedminers organisation, strongenough to challenge mineowners’ power. It was not aneasy thing to do and was a longhaul. District unions wereestablished and resistant tochange. They were in essenceneighbourhood lodges, meetingin local pubs rather than at pitswhere they worked. In 1893Leigh had nineteen differentminers’ lodges meeting atnineteen different pubs.

This could cause problems forstriking miners at the same pitwho lived elsewhere. Wiganbased miners from Bryn HallColliery found that their lodgeswere unaware of the need forstrike pay. Many local strikesfailed because of lack of funds.As membership subscriptionswere the only source of income,they were often in competitionwith neighbouring unions formembers. There were manyconflicts. Tyldesley, Leigh andAtherton objected to a newlodge, split from Leigh, joiningthe Platt Bridge District. PlattBridge objected to new lodgeformed through BamfurlongMiners Association, especially assome members had previouslybeen members of Platt Bridge.And Bamfurlong objected toAshton and Haydock takingsome of their members.

With the aim of creating acounterbalance to the powerfulCoal Owners Association, minerswere forming large Federations.Ashton Miners Association(Lancashire’s largest union)amalgamated with Haydock andBolton. They became thesuccessful Ashton and HaydockMiners Federation with thirty-three affiliated branches. Withinmonths of the 1881 defeat, theLancashire and Cheshire MinersFederation formed, with Ashton

miners’ agent Sam Woods aspresident. Almost ten years laterSam Woods was elected a vicepresident of the newly formedMiners Federation of GreatBritain.

Colliers’ checkweighmen basedat the pit head, and in constantcontact with miners andemployers, were in an idealposition to promote the benefitsof Federation. This was helpedas union lodges andcheckweighmen’s funds wereoften the same organisation. Forinstance, Stones Hope ofGarswood Union Branch andCheckweigh Fund, Pride ofGolborne Miners Trade Unionand Checkweigh Fund, and thePlatt Bridge Miners andCheckweigh Association.

The potential power of miners’checkweighmen did not escapethe notice of colliery owners.The manager of Ashton’s GreenColliery (at Parr) tried to sidestepthe 1887 Coal Mines RegulationAct by choosing his owncandidate to be elected by ashow of hands. The potential forintimidation had beenrecognised, hence the Act’sstipulation that miners had theright to elect a man of theirchoosing by ballot. Sam Woodstook the issue to Parliament, the

manager was criticised and anInspector appointed to oversee anew ballot.

Miners and Politics

But building Federations ofminers was not enough. By1890 there was a growingrealisation that until miners hada voice in Parliament, theywould remain vulnerable toexploitation.

Ashton and Haydock MinersFederation led the way. In April1890 their branches elected SamWoods as their Parliamentarycandidate for the Ince Division.They formed an electioncommittee with Stephen Walshas Secretary. This committeecreated an election fund, levyingmembers a penny a month.Then on the 1 May they notifiedthe Lancashire and CheshireMiners Federation and askedthem to take over the financialresponsibility for the campaign,expenses, and salary of SamWoods.

Not all district unions in theFederation wanted to pay thelevy but risked disaffiliation ifthey didn’t. Thomas Aspinwalloffered a £15 donation from the Liberal Party. There were

Three Sisters, Garswood Hall Colliery spoil tips (Wigan Archives, 1675.39)

30

Conservative miners on theelection committee, thereforebecause of the miners’ dividedpolitical loyalties, to accept themoney would risk alienatingthose Conservative miners.Despite deciding the campaignwould be neutral, Sam Woodswas elected as a Lib-Lab MP in1892, defeating the Conservative candidate Colonel Blundell.

In reaction, the WiganConservative Labour Union (ablue button union), wasestablished. Although not allConservative miners joined, itsleaders claimed a membershipof 2000. As they campaigned toestablish branches locally, manyminers questioned their claimthat they were a politicallyneutral working minersorganisation. In Leigh, minersasked that if they were non-political, why was ‘Conservative’in their title? And, if they werenot a Master’s Association, thenwhy did they send condolencesto Messrs Cross Tetley and Co.concerning the BamfurlongDisaster, rather than givinggrants to support the widowsand orphans as the MinersFederation had.

In an attempt to influence thepolitical direction of miners,they sent their Ince delegate,Tom Ward, to the 1893 MinersFederation Conference. InBirmingham, he was refusedadmittance. Conference leadersconsidered his union did nothave the miners’ interests atheart, as the union was onlyformed because of Woods’defeat of Blundell.

Not that resistance to the growthof trade unionism was confinedto Conservatives. One of SamWoods’ first successes as an MPwas the defeat in Parliament ofLiberal, George McCorquodale’spersecution of his Newton leWillows compositors, for joininga trade union.

McCorquodale had issued anultimatum; if the compositorsjoined a trade union they wouldbe sacked. Sam Woods tooktheir case to Parliament. After anumber of debates, Parliamentdecided no contracts would begiven to companies thatinterfered with the legitimaterights of their working peopleto become members of a tradeunion. To save his governmentcontracts, McCorquodalerescinded his ultimatum.

The 1893 Strike

This strike was the direct resultof coal owners’ efforts toenforce archaic practices tofacilitate a 25% wage reduction,and the miners refusing to bemanipulated. Their policy ofbuilding up coal stocks at pitheads and railway sidings, thencancelling miner’s annualcontracts, waiting until theminers were impoverished, thenrenewing these bindingcontracts at a lower rate of payhad worked well in the past.Following this pattern in July1893 the Coal OwnersAssociation issued miners withan ultimatum. That they accepta 25% reduction in pay, or theircontracts would be ended.

For the first time in history theywere thwarted. The CoalOwners Association hadmiscalculated the financialposition, organisation, andtenacity of the miners. Forsixteen weeks 300,000 miners,supported by their unions, heldout. There was no abrupt endto the strike. With minersstruggling, Miners Federationsagreed to allow miners toreturn to work at collieries whoagreed to revert to the statusquo. Returning miners, andBamfurlong miners, wereamong the first. They remainedsolidly behind miners still onstrike, paying a levy of 1 shillinga day to support them. On the7 November the strike was over.Owners capitulated, pitsreopened, and miners were paidpre-strike pay rates. A precedenthad been set. From 1893 wagesno longer fell with the price ofcoal. The Miners Federation hadcalled for a living wage, minershad responded as one body,and proved a match for the coal owners.

References. Wigan Observer -1881-1893 Raymond Challinor,‘The Lancashire and Cheshire Miners’

Bamfurlong Colliery's endless rope haulage system(Wigan Archives, PC2010.2070)

31

THE RIVER DOUGLASBY BOB HEAVISIDE

The location of the water wheel at Jolley Mill on theRiver Douglas, alongside Chorley Road

Route of the River Douglas

I always thought of the River Douglas as the ‘Wigan river’, until recently when I started gettinginterested and what then?

I could not find a map that gave me all the evidence,yet I had always understood that it finally emptiedinto the River Ribble.

The Douglas, also known as the Asland and Astland, isa river that has two main tributaries, the River Tawdand the River Yarrow. Parts of the Douglas werethought to have been used by the Romans, but only insmall boats and for short journeys.

It has its source at Winter Hill; its length is 35 miles. It flows in a sweeping pattern, commencing fromRivington in a number of streams, flowing down tothe reservoir, then as a river, joined by the BucklowBrook, on to the Worthington lake reservoir, throughthe Plantations into Wigan town centre. From there itgoes under Greenough Street before which it iscrossed by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal a shortdistance from Pearson’s and Scotman’s Flashes,

At this point it takes ‘in a sweeping curve’, where theLeeds and Liverpool continues to keep in touch with it,later to be joined by the River Tawd, and the EllerBrook and the Mill Ditch. It is now in the region ofRufford then Tarleton and at long last it becomes atributary of the Ribble, and so into Preston.

Regarding the material on the River Douglas in this short digest, I have to thank the Wigan LocalStudies Library where there is much more informationto be found.

Newspaper article describinglevels of pollution in the

River Douglas

32

Recently we have beenlooking through our objectsrelating to the Second WorldWar, as we prepare for theupcoming 75th anniversary ofVE Day on 8 May.

Many of our artefacts focuson the soldiers themselvesand we hold a selection ofdocuments, photographs andmedals relating to local menwho were posted to thefrontline. For example, thisframed photograph and fivemedals belonging to BillyFlynn who fought both inItaly and Africa.

Framed photograph andmedals belonging to BillyFlynn (C16.220, WiganMuseum Collection)

We also have collections fromcampaigns further away andhave recently taken inmaterial from the Wiganbranch of the Burma StarAssociation, much of whichrelates to this period. Thisincludes a framed piece ofwood which is claimed to be from the Bridge over theRiver Kwai.

One of our more unusualobjects is a self-heating soupcan. These revolutionary tinswere a joint development byHeinz and ICI (ImperialChemical Industries) and werereputedly invented for the D-Day landings. Inside the can isa metal tube which is filledwith a smokeless chemicaland a fuse. When the cap onthe top of the tin wasremoved the fuse would light,taking four and a halfminutes for the soup to heatup. This allowed troops hotfood in all conditions withoutthe need to light fires, whichcould reveal their location tothe enemy. The soup came inseveral varieties – tomato,oxtail, pea and even mockturtle and was hugely popularwith British, American andCanadian troops.

Self-heating can of Heinz oxtail soup (C16.220,

Wigan Museum Collection)

As well as representing thoseserving overseas ourcollections also aims to reflectwhat life was like on theHome Front. In particular, we

have objects relating to theCivil Defence Service. Thisincluded both the AuxiliaryFire and Air Raid PrecautionsService. One revealing item isan Air Raid Wardens bookletbelonging to James Charltonof Tyldesley. This lists localwardens, duties andequipment as well asproviding advice on first aid.Included in the back of thebooklet is a full list of peoplewho owned ladders andwater pumps for firefighting.

Many women entered theworkforce during this periodto fill the gap left by enlistedmen. This is reflected withobjects such as a pair ofrubber safety clogs worn byfemale munition workers or abus conductor badge wornby Lilian Watts who workedon Wigan CorporationTransport.

Part of Civil Defence Uniform (B83.199-200,

Wigan Museum Collection)

Some of these artefacts willsoon be on display in ashowcase exhibition at WiganLocal Studies. If you have anystories or objects from thisperiod, you wish to shareplease get in touch.

Museum Collection Corner

Second World War Collections

VE Day Book It is important to preserve our local history.

In commemoration of VE day in May 2020 I am planning a project to collect letters and postcards sent from local soldiers serving in the Second World War to their families,and vice versa.

I am hoping to publish these online, alongside any photographsand to also publish a book.

There will be a VE day coffeemorning held in Leigh Library inMay with a display of copies ofthese letters and postcards.

If you have any such letters in your family and would be willing to participate in this project, please contact:

Maureen O’Bern 07845170856maureenobern@outlook.com

Thanks very much, Maureen O’Bern

33

If you need gift ideas for anyone interested in local history, biographiesor historic diaries look no further...NOW ON SALE, the story of thecompelling Lancashire diarist, Nelly Weeton.Written in solitude, Miss Nelly Weeton’s letters, journal entries and other autobiographicalwritings transport the reader through Georgian Lancashire and beyond.

Edited by local historian Alan Roby and published by the Archives, the volume brings new research into Miss Weeton’s life to print for the first time, updating the works of the diary collector, Edward Hall.

We are extremely proud of the new volume and it is a testament to Alan’s meticulous research – as well as his career inthe printing industry, in producing such a high quality volume. It includes several wonderful colour reproductions andbiographies of the key indivduals in Miss Weeton’s story. Crucially, we hear Nelly Weeton’s life recorded in her own voice,giving us a near unique insight into Wigan and the North West (thanks to her extensive travels) in the Georgian period.

In Alan’s words: ‘Miss Weeton was an ordinary woman who was highly gifted. She learned the complete alphabet inthree hours at little more than the age of two and her favourite toys were chalk, slate and quill. She was a voraciousreader who seemed to have access to a bottomless pit of appropriate adjectives to describe people and events. Everyword she used meant just what she wanted it to mean, nothing more and nothing less.’

We could not recommend it highly enough – a perfect gift for anyone interested in history!

The book, ‘Miss Weeton: Governess & Traveller’ is priced at £20 and is available from the Museum of Wigan Life and the Archives. For more information visit http://missweetonbook.wordpress.com/ On sale at the Museum of WiganLife, Wigan Waterstones, online through the blog or by cheque for the sum of £20 plus £2.80 p&p, made payable toWigan Council at Museum of Wigan Life, Library Street, Wigan. WN1 1NU. Please note that the Museum of Wigan Life iscurrently closed. Please do not send cheques during this time. See the website for updates.

LETTER

TRADITION FILMSTradition Films is a North West-based film production companyspecialising in heritage, arts and social issues.

We have our own YouTube channel which features several filmsabout local history within Wigan Borough, including CrookeVillage, Wigan Pier, Abram Morris Dancers and Bedford HighSchool War Memorial. A brand new addition to the channel is‘Culture Counts!’.

Filmed a few years ago, ‘Culture Counts!’ highlights differentstrands of arts, sports and heritage in Wigan, including AspullOlympic Wrestling Club, Tyldesley Little Theatre and WiganArchaeological Society, all linked by performances by Manchesterpoet Tony Walsh.

Please visit: https://www.youtube.com/user/traditionfilmsto find out more.

Tony Walsh narrating, ‘Culture Counts!’

Young people taking part in a WiganArchaeological Society dig

Cotton TownChronicles by Peter & Barbara SnapeThursday 14 May, 1pm-2pmCotton Town Chronicles is a folk song-based presentation that provides aninteresting overview of working lifeduring the age when cotton and coalwere king. It is a journey in which keymoments of social history provide thecontext for the song to take centrestage. Each song tells a story; it’sgrease and grime, mills, mines andmachinery, poverty, struggle, love,humanity and the ability to look onthe bright side of life.

Protest Under the PharaohsFriday 5 June, 1pm-2pmAncient Egypt saw the first recordedstrike in human history, and there isplentiful evidence for ordinary peoplereacting against centralised rule ofthe Pharaohs. This lecture exploressome of the alternatives to the imageof the powerful Pharaonic state.Come along to this illustrated talk byDr Campbell Price.

125 Years of Rugby League inLeigh and Wigan by Mike LathomThursday 6 August, 1pm-2pm

Calling allRugbyLeague fans!

In this specialanniversaryyear, join us for anaudience with sports journalist and Leigh Centurions chairman MikeLatham as he looks back on the highsand lows of what many people in theBorough regard as the Greatest Game of all. Whatever side youfavour, this talk has specific reference to both Leigh Centurionsand Wigan Warriors.

TALKS AT THE MUSEUM OF WIGAN LIFE

34

Due to government restrictions the Museum of Wigan Life temporarily closed on18 March 2020. If necessary, talks will be rearranged where possible. Please check

the website before attending. All talks £3.00 include Tea/CoffeePlaces are limited so please book by phoning 01942 828128 or emailing wiganmuseum@wigan.gov.uk

Please note that some of the events listed may be cancelled in light of advice to restrict movement due to C

Aspull and Haigh Historical Society

Meetings are held on the second Thursdayof the month at Our Lady’s RC Church Hall,Haigh Road, Aspull from 2pm to 4pm. Allare welcome, contact Barbara Rhodes forfurther details on 01942 222769.

Atherton Heritage Society

Please note – From 2019 the meetings willbe held on the second Wednesday of themonth. Meetings begin at 7.30pm. in St.Richards Parish Centre, Mayfield St.Atherton. Visitors Welcome – Admission£2, including refreshments. ContactMargaret Hodge on 01942 884893. April 8th - "REVEALING WIGAN ARCHIVESPROJECT" Speaker - Alex MillerMay 13th -" PEACE & WAR - 2nd/3rd September 1939" Speaker - Jeff Scargill.June 10th - " THE OLD PERSON'S GUIDE TONOSTALGIA "- Speaker - Peter Watson.July - 8th - "THE WORLD OF FRED KARNO"- Speaker - Brian Halliwell.

Billinge History and Heritage Society

Meetings are held on the second Tuesdayof the month at Billinge Chapel EndLabour Club at 7.30pm. There is a doorcharge of £2. Please contact Geoff Crankfor more information on 01695 624411 orat Gcrank_2000@yahoo.co.uk

Culcheth Local History Group

The Village Centre, Jackson Avenue.Second Thursday of each month. Doorsopen 7.15pm for 7.30pm start.Membership £10, Visitors £3 Enquiries:Zoe Chaddock – 01925 752276 (Chair)

Hindley & District History Society

Meetings are held on the second Monday of the month at 7.00pm at TudorHouse, Liverpool Road, Hindley. Please contact Mrs Joan Topping on 01942 257361 for information.

Leigh & District Antiquesand Collectables Society

The society meets at Leigh RUFC, BeechWalk, Leigh. New members are alwayswelcome and further details available fromMr C Gaskell on 01942 673521.

Leigh & District History

www.leighanddistricthistory.com An exciting new, free, local historywebsite, covering Leigh and thesurrounding districts. Still in its infancy,it already boasts a list of births,marriages and deaths, 1852-1856,including cemetery internments,nineteenth century letters from soldiersserving abroad, a scrapbook ofinteresting articles, local railwayaccidents and an embryonic photograph gallery. There are also linksto other sites covering historic andgenealogical interest.

Leigh Family History Society

The Leigh & District Family History HelpDesk is available every Mondayafternoon (except Bank Holidays) from12.30pm to 2.30pm, at Leigh Library.There is no need to book anappointment for this Help Desk. Monthlymeetings held in the Derby Room, LeighLibrary at 7.30pm on the third Tuesdayof each month (except July, August andDecember), contact Mrs G McClellan(01942 729559).21 April, ‘Everyone Remembers their Co-op Number’, Stephen Caunce; 19 May, ‘The Working Class MovementLibrary’, Royston Futter 16 June, ‘The Clergy of this Parish’, Richard Sivill July-August, no meeting held.

Lancashire Local History Federation

The Federation holds several meetingseach year, with a varied and interestingprogramme. For details visitwww.lancashirehistory.org or call 01204 707885.

Skelmersdale & Upholland Family History Society

The group meets at Upholland LibraryCommunity Room, Hall Green,Upholland, WN8 0PB, at 7.00pm for7.30pm start on the first Tuesday ofeach month; no meeting in July, Augustand January. December is a meal out atThe Plough at Lathom. For moreinformation please contact Bill

Fairclough, Chairman on 07712766288or Caroline Fairclough, Secretary, atcarolinefairclough@hotmail.com

Wigan Civic Trust

If you have an interest in the standard ofplanning and architecture, and theconservation of buildings and structuresin our historic town, come along andmeet us. Meetings are held on thesecond Monday of the month at7.30pm. The venue is St George’sChurch, Water Street, Wigan WN1 1XD.Contact Mr A Grimshaw on 01942245777 for further information.

Wigan ArchaeologicalSociety

We meet on the first Wednesday of themonth, at 7.30pm at the BellinghamHotel, Wigan on the first Wednesday ofthe month (except January and August).There is a car park adjacent on the left.Admission is £2 for members and £3 forguests. For more information call BillAldridge on 01257 402342. You can alsovisit the website atwww.wiganarchsoc.co.uk

Wigan Family and Local History Society

We meet on the second Wednesday at6.45pm, at St Andrews Parish Centre.Please contact wigan.fhs@gmail.com tofind out more information. Attendancefees are £2.50 per meeting for bothmembers and visitors. Our aim is toprovide support, help, ideas and advicefor members and non-members alike.For more information please visit,www.wiganworld.co.uk/familyhistory/ orsee us at our weekly Monday helpdesksat the Museum of Wigan Life.

Wigan Local History &Heritage Society

We meet on the second Monday of eachmonth, with a local history themedpresentation starting at 7.15pm in The Function Room at Wigan CricketClub. Doors open at 6:30pm. Members,£2.50, Visitors, £3 per meeting. For more information please contact ushttps://www.facebook.com/wiganhistoryandheritage/

SOCIETY NEWS

35

oronavirus disease (COVID-19). Please check with event organisers for further information before attending.

How to Find Us

STAN

DISH

GATE

STA

NDIS

HGAT

MESNES STREET CROMPTON ST SCHOOL LA W

ARRINGTON LA A573

NORTHWAY POWELL ST A

49

PARK

WA

FROG LANE

NEW

MAR

KET S

T

MILLGATE

RIVE

R W

AY

A

49

MILLGATE

SCHOLES

KING ST DARLINGTON ST

QUEEN ST

CHAP

EL L

A

A49

KING ST W.

DORNING STREET

HALLGATE

ORCH

ARD ST

CAROLINE S

GREAT GEORGE ST

BUS STA.

SATONLY

WALLGATE STA.

TESCO

THEGALLERIES

GRANDARCADE

MARKET

NORTH WESTERN STA.

PARSONS WALK M

ARKET ST LIBRARY ST

P

PP

P

P

P

P

PP

P

P

PP

HISTORYSHOP

MUSEUM OFWIGAN LIFE

S

S

Museum of Wigan Life & Wigan Local StudiesLibrary Street, Wigan WN1 1NUTelephone 01942 828128heritage@wigan.gov.uk

Archives & Leigh Local Studies(temporary location until 2020)Leigh Library, Leigh WN7 1EB

Telephone 01942 404430archives@wigan.gov.uk BUS

STATIONMARKETSQUARE

CIVICSQUARE

SUPERMARKET

SUPERMARKET SUPER

MARKET

SPINNING JENNY WAY

ST H

ELEN

S RD

KI

NG S

T

M

ARKE

T ST

RAILWAY RD BRADSHAWGATE

GAS STCOOK

ST

LORD ST

CHURCH ST

HENRIETTA ST

CHAR

LES

ST

VERN

ON S

T

BOLD

ST

SILK

ST

HOPE

ST

UNIO

N ST

ST MARYS WY

BENGA

L ST

V

ICAR

AGE

SQ

WALMESLEY RD

BK. SAL

FORD

WIL

KINS

ON S

TSTRINGER ST

YOUD STBOUGHEY ST

BOND ST

GREG

ORY

ST

ELLE

SMER

E ST

P

PP

P

P

P

ARCHIVESARCHIVESLEIGHLEIGH

TOWN HALLTOWN HALL

ARCHIVESLEIGH

TOWN HALL

LEIGHLEIGHLIBRARYLIBRARYLEIGH

LIBRARY

BUS STATION

WALLGATE STATION

NORTH WESTERN STATION

CLAYTON STREET

PRESC

OTT

STRE

ET

S

S

FROG LANE

MIRY LANE

WALLGATE

WALLGATE QUEEN STREET

CAROLINE STREETPOTTERY ROAD

W

ALLG

ATE

MARKET STREET

DORNING ST

HALLGATE

P

P

P

PTRENCHERFIELDTRENCHERFIELD

MILL ENGINEMILL ENGINETRENCHERFIELD

MILL ENGINE

Trencherfield Mill EngineWigan Pier Quarter, Heritage Way, Wigan WN3 4EF

@WiganArchives Service @MuseumofWiganLife @WiganMuseum @wiganandleigharchives

Due to Government advice related to the coronavirus our services are

temporarily closed. Please check the website for further updates.