Saturday 24 September 2022

The Millthorpe Aircrash - Derbyshire 12th May 1955

This report appeared in the Times dated 13th May 1955


I was going to research the circumstances surrounding the crash at Milthorpe near Holmesfield but I found this excellent article. It is an impressive piece of research.

It names the pilot as 19 year old Pilot Officer Robert Anthony Tritton of Stonehouse, Gloucestershire who was killed instantly in the crash. It also identifies the site of the crash as Brookside Farm on Mill Lane, Millthorpe in the Parish of Holmesfield, Derbyshire.  



Another Overturned Charabanc - Sheffield 1907

 Many years ago I posted an article to the site about the tragedy that occurred at Moscar near Sheffield on 25th August 1907

But there was an earlier incident that year involving a charabanc outing from Sheffield. This report is from The Scotsman Friday 14th June 1907



The Derwent Valley Water Works at Birchinlee is covered in Graces Guide. and was a popular day out for the people of Sheffield. The report does not state where the accident occurred but thankfully there were no fatalities. But eight people sustained injuries that required hospital treatment.

I am also wondering if this was the first incident of it's kind in the Sheffield area - it pre-dates the Moscar tragedy by two months. 



Thursday 22 September 2022

Bertram Kirk's Wooden Shed - Meadow Head Allotments Sheffield - February 1926

This is also from The Sheffield Daily Independent dated 26th February 1926, the same edition that carried reports of the late Florence Hargreaves inquest and the prosecution of Sheffield's first licence evader. 

It appeared that due to a severe housing shortage in 1920's Sheffield, Mr Kirk and his family took to living in a wooden shed on Meadow Head Allotments which contravened so many local by-laws the corporation were compelled to seek the demolition of the wooden building. 

"LIABLE TO £400 PENALTY. 

Wooden Building on Meadow Head Allotments. 

When Bertram Kirk was summoned at Sheffield yesterday for failing to remove a wooden building- from the Meadow Head allotments within the period allowed by the local authority, Mr. G. H. Banwell, prosecuting, said the maximum penalty which could be imposed was about £400. 

Mr. Banwell said that on January 25th last year, defendant was told not to use the building as a dwelling house. He received the formal notice to remove the dwelling and afterwards was convicted before the Court. 

The period which had expired since the date of conviction was 211 days (the penalty which can be imposed is £2 per day). Mr. F. W. Scorah stated that defendant had a wife and child, and had applied to the Corporation fo» a house, but his name was about the 6,600th on the list. 

Although the Corporation wanted to turn him out they were not prepared to find alternative accommodation. 

He asked for an adjournment that defendant could make an appeal to the Ministry of Health. 

The magistrates (Mr. Peter MacGregor and Sir Henry Hadow) said if defendant wished to lodge a local appeal they would allow him 14 days to do so.

The case was taken up by the local MP Mr Frank Lee who raised the matter in the House of Commons. a couple of days later.

From the report it appears that Sheffield Corporation had been making strenuous efforts over the preceding months to ensure that the Kirk family were without a roof over their head. But the fault according to the report is that when faced with notice of eviction and demolition of his home, Mr Kirk did not follow the correct appeals procedure 

Mr Neville Chamberlain (yes the peace in our time man) had specifically referred in December last to the appeals procedure under the Housing Acts but to date, no appeal had been received. He therefore declared that Sheffield corporation were now at war with Mr Kirk's family (sorry I just could not stop myself writing that!)

There was a vague undertaking that Mr Chamberlain would look into the matter but Sheffield corporation accused the minister of appeasing the soon to be homeless! 

The fate of the wooden building and the Kirk family are unknown  



 

"Pirates of the Ether" - Sheffield's First Licence Evaders - February 1926

 I have just posted to the site another piece of Sheffield's "criminal past". I came across it after a conversation with a neighbour earlier this week. I am a bit mystified why I missed the article in the past because it appears next to the report of Florence Hargreaves inquest (see The Strange Death of Florence Hargreaves - Sheffield 1926). 

The Sheffield Daily Independent dated 26th February 1926 carried this report of  these miscreants who listened to their radios in the comfort of their modest dwellings. One can only applaud the magistrates for their leniency towards these wrong-doers


Of course Helen was the first of thousands of Sheffielders who were to face the the wrath of the magistrates for failing to obtain the appropriate licence.  


 

  

Monday 19 September 2022

Maurice Madden's Last Day - Friday 02 July 1915 Nether Edge Sheffield - An update

Earlier this summer I posted an article to the site that centred around the death of a 10 year old boy Maurice Madden who was killed by a motor vehicle in July 1915

The Madden family lived on Montgomery Road Nether Edge Sheffield

The tragedy was fairly well documented in the local press at the time. However in November 2021 there was an article that was written for The Grapevine Magazine by Mr. Jason Heath of the funeral directors John Heath and Sons. In the article there was a request by the author for further assistance in identifying the road etc and two months later in January 2022 there was a response under the title "Lost Funeral Found"


  

I believe that the photo of the funeral was taken in Montgomery Road but it may not be that of the boy Maurice Madden. The reason for this is that his father also called Maurice Madden died more or less two years to the day after his only son Maurice. (July 1917).

I think that the only way the funeral can be identified is by referring to the weather for the day of the funeral. The son's took place on 4th July 1915 and the father's funeral on 7th July 1917. If one of those days was "a gloomy Sheffield day" then it just may identify whose funeral it was.


     


Saturday 17 September 2022

The 1871 Census - Sheffield

 This is from the Manchester Guardian dated 20th April 1871 and shows the census returns for Sheffield




Between 1861 and 1871 the population of the six townships that comprised Sheffield had increased by nearly 30% whilst the population of Crookesmoor had increased by 62%. It is a phenomenal rate of increase in just ten years

But the greatest increase occurred in Attercliffe where the population more than doubled. In fact it increased by a staggering 120% in the space of ten years  

Friday 16 September 2022

Suicide at Winnats Pass, Castleton, Derbyshire. - January 1927

 I have had this article for quite a few years. It is from The Scotsman newspaper dated 12th January 1927 and is a report of an inquest that was held into the deaths of Miss Marjorie Stewart and Mr Harry Fallows. They were found in a cave at Winnats Pass, Castleton, Derbyshire 


I was going to research the tragedy by accessing the British Newspaper Archive to see if I could add further information to the events that unfolded. However I found this article on The Monocled Mutineer website that is very informative and explains fully the events that led up to the tragedy and the aftermath. It is an excellent piece of research  and one I could not better