Rose Sanby (1894 - 1986)

I've just found my gran in the 1911 census after more or less giving up hope of finding her. Her mum, my great grandmother died in 1904 and her dad, my great grandfather died six years later in 1910. He literally coughed himself to death!. The supposition was that she went to live with one of her older siblings, but I traced them all and there was no sign of my gran living with any of them. I tried all the ususal variations associated with the name SANBY, and believe me there are a few, and still no success. It was a mystery.

But a relation of mine found her working as a 17 year old general domestic servant at a pawnbrokers shop in Attercliffe. And her surname was LANBY

1911 Census Record
Name     Rose Lanby
Relationship to Head of Household     Servant
Condition     Single Gender     F
Age     17 Estimated Year of Birth     1894
Occupation     General Servant Domestic
Employed     Yes Working at Home     No
Place of Birth     Yorks Sheffield
Enumerator Information
Address     Attercliffe Road Attercliffe Sheffield Parish     Sheffield Town     Attercliffe Sheffield
Type of Building     3 Shops
Number of Rooms     Five
Inhabited     Yes
Reference     RG14PN28000 RG78PN1600 RD510 SD7 ED12 SN258
Administrative County     Yorkshire (West Riding) Registration District     Sheffield
Registration Sub District     Attercliffe Enumeration District     12 

This was due to a transcription error but that is no surprise. The head of the householder (the pawnbroker) completed the form but his writing is difficult to decipher which I suppose was an asset in his profession, but it certainly has wasted a few hours of my life!

And now I've got to get some more information about the owner and his shop once I can find his name out.

 

Walkley Cemetery

As the crowds seemingly failed to appear for the publication of Sheffield's Shocking Past, I spent a few hours the following day in Walkley Cemetery helping the "Friends" clear some of the graveyard that has been inundated with every kind of bramble known to man.

The weather was "mixed" or "changeable" but it was nice to get out in the fresh air in a rather peaceful and tranquil setting. I spoke to Hugh and he passed me the following sheet that lists the forthcoming events in the cemetery

I can recommend the summer tours of the cemetery but would advise visitors to wear stout shoes!

 

Sheffield's Shocking Past

Well after 58 years I have finally managed to get a book into print. On Friday the 13th of April 2012 the publishing world was stunned by the publication of Sheffield's Shocking Past: Forgotten Tales of Murder, Mishap & Gruesome Misdemeanour by Chris Hobbs and Matthew Bell

 

I would like to have reported that queues had formed overnight outside bookshops, and police had to be called in to control the crowds of eager booklovers, but to date no reports have been received to this effect 

I have thought for many years that I would like to write a book but never got around to it. And if it was not for the sterling efforts of my co-author Matt, and publisher Neil, I very much doubt that the book would have come into being. It was a great team effort and what is more important, an enjoyable one.

I am really pleased how the book has turned out. Comprimises have been made with regard to length, format and style but these are inevitable if you want to keep the price of the book down to a level that is "affordable".

There is another similar book in the pipeline that will compliment "Sheffield's Shocking Past" but more about that in a later blog    

 

Secrets of the Past

Holloway's Ointment

From the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent dated 27th April 1899

 

I could just do with some of Holloway's Ointment now!

But I am puzzled how the application of Holloway's Ointment can cure "bad breasts". In fact what are "bad breasts". I would like to know but I fear that putting the search term in Google may open the proverbial can of worms. In addition the advertisement below looks very suspicious - I wonder if it is a Victorian version of the "postal scam" 

Note

Holloways ointments which cured "Cuts, wounds, burns and bruises, inveterate ulcers, chilblains, chapped hands, insect bites, boils, bad legs ... etc" according to the pots addressed 113 Southwark London and "Gout and Rheumatism" (instead of cuts, wounds, burns and bruises) in the later pots from 533 Oxford Street.
From 1842 - 1867 Holloways was situated at 244 Strand Street, from 1868 - 1881, 533 Oxford, 1881-1909, 78 Oxford Street and from 1910 - 1931, 113 Southwark Street. 

George Sanger's Circus

From The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent dated 2nd May 1899.

I placed an article on the site a few years ago which detailed the ill-treatment and eventual death of "The Baldwin Pony". Judging by the advertisement, the circus went from strength to strength.

"Nothing Ever Changes"

As the current incumbent of 11 Downing Street is delivering yet another budget that will favour the rich and hammer the poor, he will no doubt remark how well he is steering the UK economy through treacherous waters, and that he must be vigiliant in ensuring that the workers don't get "uppity" and start demanding living wages. And furthermore he will also maintain that by pursuing the current course of belittling the working class , he will ensure that one day, every rich person will reap the rewards of his stewardship.

BUT if you are middle-aged and had "life experiences" the chances are that you will find yourself under-employed or unemployed as the economy follows the traditional Conservative course of low growth, high prices and rampant unemployment.

But this is not a new phenomina. Mr John Crisp, a sixty two year old Walkley resident from Highton Street notes of his census form that he was "formerly a spring-smith but now thrown on' scrap heap for old age"

He said it a hundred years ago though!!

A chorus of "Nothing Ever Changes" is called for

A Double Wedding in 1920 Walkley Sheffield

A great photo showing a family wedding in Woodview Road Walkley Sheffield that was taken in 1920.

I could not find any trace of "Bullors" in the 1911 UK census but enter the name "Bullers" and there are quite a few entries inj the Crookes/ Walkley area. But what I can't find are any entries for the marriages in the BMD registers. If her maiden name was Bullors/Bullers then you would expect her father and uncle to have that name but so far I have not been able to trace them    

Thomas Huntley Wood

Just come across a cutting from the Daily Mail dated 30th May1998

It appears that there is quite a lively correspondence in The Guardian's Notes and Queries column with regard to the face of Players Navy Cut.

It appears that the Mail may have obtained the story from a local paper The Argus

"

GRANDPA, AN OLD SALT WHO PLEASED PLAYER'S

WHEN the Robinson children watched their grandfather light his pipe, they did not realise they were gazing at one of the tobacco world's most famous faces.
But as they grew older, the five youngsters began to look at his portrait on packets of John Player's cigarettes as that of a family member. And 50 years after Thomas Huntley Wood died in Portslade, Bert, Ron, Bill, Les and Rene still fondly remember the face that was familiar around the world. Born in Lyme Regis in 1868, Thomas was in the Royal Navy for 24 years, latterly as a chief petty officer, before becoming a Southwick coastguard. It was while serving on HMS Edinburgh in Galway Bay that he was offered two guineas and some tobacco to be photographed as the Player's mascot. Since then, the nameless portrait based on his photo has become an institution among smokers worldwide. Thomas's family history came to light after Argus antiques expert George Greenway appealed for information about the mysterious Player's sailor. His identity was revealed in a letter from Vera Robinson, the wife of one of Thomas's grandsons, Bert. now 74 and living at West Hill Place, Brighton, used to smoke Player's himself. And he was the only one of Thomas's grandchildren to follow in his seafaring footsteps. He says: "My father was in the Navy, serving on HMS Hercules in the Baltic in World War One, and he always smoked, so we were used to our grandfather's image being used on cigarette packets. "All my brothers were in the Army but I was in the Navy." Younger brother Bill, 71, of St Leonards Avenue, Hove, says Thomas never spoke of his claim to fame. And though his face graced cigarette packets the world over, he always preferred a pipe. Bill says: "I remember him as a nice old chap who used to collect pipes." Younger brother Ron, 65, of Trafalgar Road, Portslade, recalls that even in retirement, Thomas was unmistakable as an old sea dog. He says: "He used to wear a peaked cap but he only had a moustache when I remember him, not the beard." Thomas died in Portslade in 1951, aged 83, leaving six sons, five daughters, 18 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren. He is buried in Portslade Cemetery alongside his wife Rebecca and one of his sons who also became a sailor, Petty Officer William Wood. Granddaughter Rene Baird, 65, of Shelldale Crescent, Portslade, still visits Thomas's grave while going to and from a senior citizens' club at Portslade Town Hall."

James Welch VC

I've just updated an article on James Welch VC who was awarded awarded the VC for his actions in WW1.Like many articles on the website I update them as and when information becomes available but James' details are thin on the ground. Wikipedia have a small article which states that James was cremated in Bournemouth in 1978  - information I think they may have obtained from the Dorset Advertiser

.But as these two photos show that may not be the case. From the wording on the grave it seems to me that James was intererred alongside his wife Daisy. The inscription does not mention "cremation". Of course his cremated remains may have been placed there, but I get the impression that is not the case.

But from my point of view the information on the incription has enabled me to trace the family and update the article. In fact the 1911 Census shows James' future wife Daisy working as a servant for Mr Tasker (Solicitor) in Cairns Road Crosspool

Tasker, Arthur Abney (, Solicitor & commissioner for oaths).
     Residing at 22 Bank Street h.Holmedene Cairns Road Cross Pool, in 1905.
     Recorded in: Whites Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham.

Let the Good Times Roll

" New financial figures released in conjunction with the 2011 Cambridge University Annual Report last Friday, 2 March, have valued the combined endowment assets of all Cambridge colleges and the separate Cambridge University Endowment Fund at £4 billion.
This makes the University the wealthiest institution of higher education in the UK. In addition, if the endowments of Oxford (£3.3 billion from combined college and university endowments) and Edinburgh (£200 million) are excluded, Cambridge’s wealth stands as larger than double that of all other UK universities combined".

 

The staggering wealth values the university – with a staff and student population population of 30,000 – at more than £130,000 per head. It eclipses Monaco, the richest country in the world, which was most recently calculated to have a GDP per capita of £108,409.

The reason for the size of Cambridge’s wealth is the success it has in securing donations among alumni who have gone on to make large fortunes upon leaving the University. Mmmm.. and nothing at all to the benign and relaxed regime it experiences under each successive UK government  

George Brittain and his family - Walkley

Last Saturday 25th February I spent a few hours at the workday at Walkley Cemetery, removing brambles, undergrowth etc in a section of the cemetery that had burials from the 1940's and 50's. Whilst doing this I uncovered this headstone which I thought was a marvellous design. The inscription was also intriguing and so with a bit of spare time on my hands I did some research and uncovered a rather interesting story that I posted to the website

Pet Care in Victorian Sheffield

From The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent 28th August 1886

Nowadays if PC Porter had taken action like he did then, he would most likely receive a short prison sentence and be fired from the police force. And probably have to move house. Just goes to show, how times have changed

Dreams Come True - Eventually!

A couple of days ago an old lag from the class of 65 contacted me. He was propping up the bar in the newly re-opened (yet again) Millhouses Hotel when he looked out of the pub window, and thought his dreams had come true at last, albeit 47 years too late.

Where once stood a mighty citadel of academic excellence and/or a blight  on the butt of post war education (cross out where applicable) there was only a pile of rubble.

He did not contact me straight away with this great news as he prefers supping beer (a common failing amongst the 65'ers)but he let me know once he'd come round.

I of course legged it across Sheffield and saw one of the finest sites ever - photo's below

.

Whilst I sat on a wall in Hastings Road smoking a large cigar and laughing at the madness of Britain in the twenty-first century, I had "visions" which is worrying development at my time of life. The mountain of rubble that was once a bastion (I think that is the right word) of scholarly endeavour should be grassed over and at the top a sculpture/statue should be commissioned. For instance it could depict a local government officer closely clutching a bulging brown envelope or a group of mean spirited camel-coated property- developers lying prostrate at the feet of an impassive St Margaret of Thatcher or a old shabby florid-faced man filling his pipe with a pinch of ready-rub or a small bewildered schoolboy with a tear running down his face.

He's Doin' Alright!

As I look forward to an impoverished old age, I can only stand back and admire the perpetrators of the ever deepening moral abyss that bedevills much of Britain today. Whilst I have recently been duped out of my employers pension and received yet another insulting pay-rise for the nth year running, the leader of this unprovoked assault on my living standards has been lining his already deep pockets with yet more "spending loot". The fact that many of the low paid staff that he is supposed to represent are descending at an alarming rate into poverty and future misery, he and his ilk think that this descent should be rewarded by pay AND benefit awards that are bordering on the obscene.

The Times Educational Supplement dated 2 Feb 2012 takes up the story.  

"The vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield received a bonus that increased his pay and pension package by almost 6 per cent to £311,000 last year, as the institution prepared to cut pensions for its lowest-paid staff.

Keith Burnett's 2010-11 award was condemned as "morally irresponsible" by the university's Unison branch, although his total package is still below the Russell Group average.

The rise came in a year when Professor Burnett, in his former role as chair of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, negotiated a 0.4 per cent national pay rise that applied to the majority of the UK's higher education staff.

During 2010-11, Sheffield proposed closing its defined-benefit pension scheme for support staff and switching those on the lowest pay grades to a "cash-balance" scheme. It implemented the plans on 1 December amid continuing opposition from the Unison and Unite unions, which have mounted strikes against the changes.

The deficit in Sheffield's support staff pension scheme was £52.8 million at 31 July 2011, compared with £58.3 million a year earlier.

Unions say Sheffield's move - which closes the defined-benefit scheme to current as well as future staff - will halve the previous typical £7,500 annual pension for support staff earning £15,000 a year.

Professor Burnett's total package (up 5.8 per cent from £294,000 in 2009-10) comprised £267,000 salary, £4,000 of benefits in kind and £40,000 in employer pension contributions, Sheffield's recently published accounts reveal.

A Sheffield spokesman said that Professor Burnett "is a leading vice-chancellor" and his total remuneration package is in the "mid range" compared with his peers at comparable universities. He added that the 5.8 per cent increase was a result of "a non-consolidated performance bonus payment" in 2010-11.

Times Higher Education revealed last month that the vice-chancellors at the 18 of 20 Russell Group universities to have published their accounts by 12 January received an average pay, benefits and pension package of nearly £318,000. The average increase for Russell Group vice-chancellors was 0.4 per cent.

Cardiff University is the only Russell Group institution yet to publish its accounts online.

Under the Sheffield pension changes, unions say, workers on the higher support staff pay grades were allowed to join the defined-benefit Universities Superannuation Scheme designed for academics, while those on the lowest grades were not.

Stuart Anderson, Unison branch secretary at Sheffield, said that for Professor Burnett to receive a pay rise "taking his total remuneration to...more than 20 times the pay of the lowest-paid worker, in the same year that the university effectively tore up many people's retirement plans, is obscene".

john.morgan@tsleducation.com.

To date Professor Burnett who according to the press "is a leading vice-chancellor", has not shared his good news with his fellow employees. I wonder why?? 

Fit for Heroes!!

I came across the following cutting from The Observer dated 7th July 1918

There are not many times in life where words cannot express the depth of disgust that you are feeling but this is one of them.

Of course traditionally the UK's policies towards discharged and injured members of the armed services has been patchy at best and absolutely lamentable at worst. You would hope that in the C21st matters would have vastly improved but in 2007 a report stated

"One in 10 homeless people in the UK are former members of the armed forces, a charity working with veterans says.

A survey in 1997 by the Ex-Service Action Group on Homelessness suggested that 22% of people who were "street homeless" had a military background."
This was cited as an "improving picture" and not a national disgrace. And given the current governments zeal in making people unemployed/unemployable I fear for a repeat of July 1918

Have You a Keen Nose For Value?

As I was researching a story about the murder of a bailiff in Sheffield by a local builder I came across the following advertisement. From The Sheffield Telegraph and Daily Independent - February 1939

 

I had never heard of the brand but ascertained that the producer of the cigarettes were Gallaghers who marketed them under the Kensitas brand. As a matter of interest I checked what the price of the cigarettes would be today factoring inflation. The answer would be approximately £2.65. 24 cigarettes nowadays would be in the £7.00 range which illustrates the effects that successive goverments have had on the price of cigarettes in particular and tobacco in general.

And as we all know indirect taxation such as exise duty and VAT always hits the poorer paid in society. mmm....

Downfall through Racing

When I first read this report I thought for a moment that Inspector Naylor was commenting on William Ibbotson's record of backing winners. It is only when I got to the end of the article that I realised they were commenting on his criminal convictions!!

From The Sheffield Telegraph & Daily Independent 1925

Turning down $5.1 million

I have just received this e-mail - after reading the mail I became suspicious when he referred to the fact that he had become disheartened with the level of fraud in the world, and harked back to the days of real trust. And this is from a Nigerian accountant!

"FROM THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ACCOUNTANT
TO (ASOPADC)
ADDRESS;PLOT 45 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ROAD,
NEW GOVERNMENT STATION LAYOUT  UMUAHIA
ABIA STATE, NIGERIA
PHONE NUMBER;+234 08102427690


Dear Sir,

Basically, from the depth of my heart I want to ask you for partnership, desperately through human consciousness of understanding I have known that there is no way somebody can actualize his real aim in life without a helpful hand. Definitely, I strongly believe that if you would agree with me you will come to the oneness of mind with me.

I am the Chief Accountant  to Abia State Oil Producing area development community (ASOPADC) ,THIS ministry  was establish by the Government  of Abia State to oversees for the welfare of all the oil producing communities in the State, and this is my six years competent experience in the office as the Chief Accountant  . Really, my main purpose of writing this formative is to acquire if you will assist me  to save money in your account  the sum of (us$17,000,000) which I want to transfer to abroad and also needed a foreign account for the transaction.

But, the unusual thing that actually disheartened me is the heavy fraud in the world today which had intently  destroyed  real  trust, yet I  believe that there are still genuine people therefore if you are interested to assist me in this transaction just sincerely forward  your  name, home address, office address, phone number, and Bank account. While your percentage will be 30%, Wholly I urge you to keep it confidential.

Thanks,

Yours Sincerely,
Nwakadibia Afarata
The Chief Accountant

Mrs Smithurst's "habit of taking a dose"

I came across the following cutting when I was researching some details on the long established Sheffield firm of Reuben Thompson who were

My grandad was manager of the firm in the 1930s and 1940's

Whilst doing this I also came across this cutting from The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent dated 12th April 1900 relating to the death of Ann Smithurst

I'd never heard of this medicine and so a quick net search revealed that it started its life as a medication used in the treatment of cholera but due to its "narcotic properties" it proved to be one of the best selling medicines of the C19th. Its principal ingredients were a mixture of laudenum (an alcoholic solution of opium), tincture of cannabis, and chloroform, and so it readily lived up to its claims of relieving pain, as a sedative, and for the treatment of diarrhea.In fact it was highly addictive hence Mrs Smithurst's "habit of taking a dose"

Sadly the mixture was diluted throughout the C20th. The cannabis was removed from the formulation, and the amount of opiates in the medicine were progressively reduced. Shame really!

As It 'Appens

As relief at the Prince's apparent recovery floods over us at these trying times, our minds were drawn to someone who could have fixed it for him but sadly is now unable to do so

Thanks Richard

A New Year

A Happy New Year to all my reader(s)

It hardly seems to be two minutes since we (myself and the good wife) were discussing putting one or two things aside for Christmas during our weekly shopping trip; a tin of beans one week, or a packet of OXOs another, when suddenly Christmas and the New Year was upon us. 
No doubt, like yourselves, your Christmas festivities were over shadowed by the news of dear Prince Philip's heart attack, this certainly cast a gloom over proceedings, not just in our house but everywhere I visited - The Royal, The Sheaf View T'Club etc. Thank goodness that he seems to have survived this untoward threat to his Royal life - may we both wish him many more years of happiness and good health. 

Despite everything, we did our best to enjoy ourselves, a brief respite from the hard daily grind of our existence, glued, as we were to the wireless set, lest we miss the latest update regarding the recovery of our beloved Prince. Merry-making was kept to an absolute minimum (not hard when you live in the Crookes area of Sheffield) which is the correct way to conduct oneself when the Prince's life was threatened. We remained calm, dignified, and prepared, should there have been any adverse turn in our Prince's health.

Gawd bless 'im, that's what we say! 

North Norfolk police are currently investigating the discovery of a female body on the Prince's Sandringham estate. 

At the moment although the police are not ruling anything out, there have tentatively admitted that the death is not related in anyway to the Prince's recent illness.  

PS Thanks Richard 

The Hathersage Gravedigger

From The Sheffield Star dated Saturday 12th February 1983 - it appears that security at the Lodge Moor POW camp left a bit to be desired

The sad thing is that I had never heard of Sam until I came across this cutting. I am also left wondering who made up the "notorious Sheffield gang" - if they were resorting to nicking lead off church roofs I seem to think that they may have been in the "minor leagues"

February 1939

I was reasearching an article about a murder of a bailiff in Greenhill when I cam across the following page from the Sheffield Star in February 1939. It provoked a wry smile - at a time when gas masks were being issued and Einstein's cousin was discovering Haydn's lost symphonies, the Sheffield Magistrates were pondering why Mrs Bertha Terry of Baslow Road Totley had parked her car the wrong way round outside the City Hall. They fearlessly upheld the law and the wishes of Sheffield's Chief Constable and fined Mrs Terry £1 plus costs

The Sheffield Magistrates also took a tough line with Stanley Burrows of Ripley Street who was found guilty "of exposing himself with intent to insult a female". He was bound over, placed on probabation and ordered to pay £3 costs. Mmmm

But at least the English Amateur Draughts Championship (Sheffield section) did not suffer the attentions of Mr Burrows!

A Grave Concern - "digging up Uncle Charlie"

I had a wry smile at this report that appeared in the national press just over ten years ago in July 2001.Under the title

FRIVOLOUS EXHUMATION REQUESTS CAUSE CHURCH GRAVE CONCERN

" THE Church of England is "seriously concerned" about an unprecedented rise in the number of people applying to exhume relatives' remains when they move house.

The Church says that "digging up Uncle Charlie" and reburying him near the new house has become "almost a fashion" over the past five years, with a sevenfold increase in exhumation requests in many parts of the country. The Ecclesiastical Judges Association, made up of diocesan chancellors who rule on local exhumation requests, said that there was a growing view that "exhumation on demand" was acceptable because burial had lost its "religious and moral significance" for many people.

Timothy Briden, the Chancellor of the Bath and Wells Diocese and the association's secretary, said: "We are very concerned about this trend. An alarming number of people seem to have lost the notion of the grave as the final resting place and see human remains as assets to be dug up and taken with them like any other possessions when they move house.

"This is a serious issue because, to the Anglican Church, interment is an important act that achieves finality, marking the end of the mortal life and the commitment of the soul to God."

Until as recently as five years ago, the number of exhumation requests from families was about "one or two cases per diocese", Mr Briden said. These were usually "highly exceptional cases" involving foreigners whose relatives wanted them reburied in their own country, or non-Christians whose families wanted a new funeral according to their faith.

In the past five years, however, the number of applications has risen to about 15 a year in many areas, with the biggest increases in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Chester and the Isle of Man. One application that was rejected recently came from a family who wanted a relative to be exhumed because she was next to the grave of a family they did not like.
The association has now drawn up guidelines reinforcing the Anglican view of burial and insisting that exhumation will not be allowed unless there is a strong case for it. If an exhumation is approved by the Diocesan Chancellor, a licence must then be sought from the Home Office. The grave is usually opened during the night. The coffin is disinfected and lime sprinkled around the grave to prevent the spread of disease.
Neil Cocking, the owner of Chelsea Funeral Directors, who has done several exhumations, said: "The original coffin is lifted out and put inside a larger coffin, which is sealed and transported by funeral directors to the new grave."
Clare Faulds, the Vicar-General on the Isle of Man, said that the rise was linked to increased mobility and a decline in religious faith. "People are not rooted to their local communities as much as they used to be. Far fewer people live and die in the same place, and that seems to have encouraged this sense that bodies can be moved around when people move house."

It appears that exhumations are on the increase much to the disapproval and chagrin of the Church of England. But the mere thought of increasing numbers of old corpses and cadavers being on the roads defies belief. Imagine if there was a delay, a breakdown or worse still an accident whilst the body was being transported to it's new "resting place." The consequences could be quite literally horrific!

 

Welcome Home Hector

Surname      First name(s)      Spouse      District      Vol      Page
Marriages Jun 1936 
Hearn          Rosina M           Murdoch     Uxbridge     3a    257   
Murdoch     Hector W A        Hearn          Uxbridge     3a    257  

The marriage of Hector and Rosina led to one of the most famous photographs to have come out of the Second World War. And is certainly in my opinion one of the finest ever taken 

Gunner Hector Murdoch arrives at his new prefabricated house in Tulse Hill, London, — on his birthday no less - and is greeted by his wife Rosina and 9 year old son John. He has been away for four and a half years, three and a half years of which he was a prisoner of the Japanese after the fall of Singapore in 1942.

"They are virtually airborne with joy as they charge down the garden path to greet him".

There was nothing staged about this photograph which was taken by Harry Todd. Hector nearly died of cholera in Singapore. For 18 months, Rosina had no idea if he was alive or dead. Yet here, a new age dawns before them all, just as it did for a whole generation.

I wonder what happened to Hector, Rosina and John - the new prefabriacted house in Tulse Hill is no longer there. They were built to last for ten years but in some parts of the country a few have survived to this day. Ah the UK's post war housing policy!  

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Author of the Sherlock Holmes detective novels

I was not aware of the following information 

Whilst sudying medicine, Arthur Conan Doyle had a brief acquaintance with Burngreave in Sheffield. In 1878 he came to Sheffield to work as an assistant to Dr Charles Sydney Richardson on Spital Hill. This was in the building on the corner of Spital Hill and Hallcar Street, which is now the New Roots Café and Burngreave Ashram. It seems that Conan Doyle did not get along with Dr Richardson or Sheffield patients as he later wrote:

'These Sheffielders would rather be poisoned by a man with a beard than saved by a man without one"

It appears that he only lasted three weeks with Dr Richardson before moving at first to Shropshire working for a Dr Elliot and then to Birmingham where he was employed by a Dr Reginald Hoare
1882: Doyle set up as a Doctor in Plymouth with a fellow student from Edinburgh Dr George Budd but it was unsuccessful and the two did not get on. Doyle then set up in Elm Grove, Southsea near Portsmouth but had very few patients and therefore little money. He subsidised his income writing detective stories. His first story was accepted by Chambers Journal in Edinburgh.

Five years later he published the first of his Sherlock Holmes story "A Study in Scarlet" in Becton's Christmas Annual and had enough money to give up medicine. Holmes was reputedly based on one of his medical school lecturers Doctor Joseph Bell.

It makes you think that if Conan Doyle had got on with Dr Richardson would Sherlock Holmes have had offices in Spital Hill Sheffield as opposed to Baker Street London mmm....

Doris Best 1896 - 1998 - Britain's First Girl Guide

"Something Must be Done"

One of the best photos ever taken is that of the Duke of Windsor visiting South Wales in the 1930's and being introduced to unemployed Welsh miners. 

I can never understand why the miners look as though they are "on parade" and for the life of me, what are the row of wooden planks there for? It looks as though they have flattened t'tip especially for his visit. The other thing to note is that the Duke is the only person there wearing a hat. All the flat caps

belonging to the miners are held behind their backs. Very strange! Anyway after viewing the grinding poverty and hopelessness in the Valley,s the Duke was heard to say "Something must be done". Unfortunately he did not elaborate on this observation and in the light of that, nothing was done. 

However this lack of action must have bothered him. A few years after the visit, a now hatless Duke and his new wife were introduced to 

 There is no record of the Duke asking his host to "do something" but within two years "something" did happen and the Valleys returned to full employment. 

Thought for the Day

"Philosophers do not solve problems but create them in forms ever more difficult to solve, thus perpetuating philosophy. This is not unique; economists, sociologists and politicians behave in exactly the same way with corresponding consequences"

James William Longman Beament, entomologist and biophysicist (1921-2005)

Ten Ancient Trees

I came across the following cutting and thought it may be an idea to visit all these trees sometime in the future. Anyway reviewing the list I was puzzled about the ninth tree listed - the Big Belly Oak in the Savernake Forest. Quite why anyone wants to summon the Devil up when we already have "Old Nick" Clegg is beyond me. But I suppose each to there own.


However when I did a bit of research I found that there is a bit more than just jigging about naked in front of an old oak tree. According to legend anyone wanting to summon Old Nick up has to

"to dance naked at midnight twelve times anticlockwise around the Big Belly or Decanter Oak in Savernake Forest. "

To compound one's difficulties, the tree is reached by a short walk down a busy and quite dangerous road, the A346.Mmmmm....

Private Harry Wilkinson of the 2/Lancashire Fusiliers

Private Harry Wilkinson of the 2/Lancashire Fusiliers. body was found in 2000, and he was reburied in 2001 with full honours.- the above cutting is from The Daily Telegraph

A cross commemorating Harry Wilkinson stands by the side of the road near to where his remains were found, 86 years after he died. This cross is not too far from Prowse Point Cemetery, and is located south of the St. Yvon craters. Private Harry Wilkinson was killed in action on the 10th of November 1914, and there is a faded picture of him next to the cross.

In the field behind this cross, the remains of three more British soldiers were found in March 2006. An identity disc was found with one, and he has been "identified" by the press as Private Richard Lancaster who, like Harry Wilkinson, served with the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers and also died on the 10th of November 1914. Private Richard Lancaster was re-interred at Prowse Point Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery on  Wednesday 4 July 2007.

 Harry's Grave at Prowse Point Cemetery with its memorial stone

Notice To Quit - Sheffield 1958

In the BMD registers there is the following entry - Deaths Mar 1958
LIGHTBROWN     Margaret    Age 79     Sheffield    Volume  2d Page 160

Lightbrown is not a common name in Sheffield  - this is the entry in the 1911 Census for margaret
Name     Margaret Lightbrown
Relationship to Head of Household     Wife
Condition     Married
Gender     F
Age     30
Estimated Year of Birth     1881
Employed     N
Working at Home     N
Place of Birth     Lancashire Burnley
Enumerator Information
Address     206 Firth Park Road Sheffield
Parish     Sheffield
Town     Sheffield
Type of Building     Private House
Number of Rooms     6
Inhabited     Y
Reference     RG14PN27955 RG78PN1598 RD510 SD5 ED32 SN14
Administrative County     Yorkshire (West Riding)
Registration District     Sheffield Registration Sub District     West Brightside
Enumeration District     32

According to the census Margaret had been married less than a year to her husband James Edward Lightbrown, a 34 year old manager of a joiner's shop in a steelworks. Both originated from Lancashire, James from Accrington and Margaret from Burnley.

I know nothing else about their lives together after this point. But neither would have envisaged that Margaret would have ended her days in misery and turmoil.

The Manchester Guardian dated 19th March 1958 reported

I have come across the coroner Mr Alan Lockwood before in connection with the deaths of the Derbyshire family in 1945 and I was not very impressed with his demeanour and attitude then, and this inquest has into Margaret's death merely confirms that impressison. He was correct in his assertion that the tennancy agreeement was not within the remit of the court, but his comments with regards to a possible "future" resolution, and Mrs Lightbrown's right to consult lawyers are both vacuous and meaningless. Margaret was 79 years of age when the notice of eviction was served - did she have the wherewithal, or more importantly from the lawyers perspective, the money to contest the notice - I very much doubt it.  

"It may well be that nearer the time (for the eviction) some arrangement  might have been come to for her to continue living there on suitable terms". By far the more likely scenerio given the greed and avarice inherent in private landlords, is that Margaret would have been turfed out of her home. She had received "Notice to Quit" end of story, a notice that led to her be terribly upset". So upset in fact that she killed herself in a tragic manner
.

As a final note for younger readers - prior to the 1960s most domestic gas supply in the United Kingdom was coal gas aka town gas, which in its unburned form contained high levels of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide poisoning by intentionally inhaling coal gas was a common suicide method, accounting for nearly half of all suicides in the UK in the late 1950s. After the British government phased out coal gas in favor of natural gas (which lacks carbon monoxide) in the 1960s, the suicide rate in Britain fell by almost a third and has not risen since.

Lieutenant William John Clegg MC

And yet another mail I received this week but this time I was receiving information rather than researching it

"I came across your site on the Clegg family and your appeal for information. I have some information on William John Clegg as part of research into the Great War poarticipation of the former pupils of Hazelwood Prep school at Limpsfield in Surrey and thought you might like to see it, and if you would like to,  include it on your site

His entry is below and I hope you find it useful/interesting

  

(98) Clegg, William John Lieutenant MC

1/1^st Yorkshire Dragoons (Queens’ Own) Yeomanry

He was born in September 1897 the son of Leonard Johnson Clegg JP, a solicitor, and his second wife, Kate M (nee Turton) Clegg of Whiteley Wood, Sheffield in Yorkshire. He left Hazelwood School in the summer of 1911 for Uppingham School where he was educated from September 1911 until April 1914.

On leaving school he was articled to the firm of L.J. Clegg, solicitors of Sheffield.

He was appointed as a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Yorkshire Dragoons on the 12^th of November 1915. He was later promoted to Lieutenant and served in France, Belgium and Germany from September 1916 to May 1919.

He was awarded the Military Cross which was announced in the London Gazette of the 4^th of October 1919 and the citation read:-

"On 20th October 1918, south-west of Vichte, for conspicuous gallantry and good work whilst leading an advanced platoon. He continually came under very heavy machine-gun fire from his flank. He pressed forward, and succeeded in capturing seven field guns and over thirty prisoners. It was greatly owing to his fearless leadership that his company were able to advance about a mile and a half in front of the infantry."

After the war he returned to work as a solicitor.   

He married Audrey Ivy (nee MacLaren) at Hove Parish Church on the 2^nd of September 1926 and they lived at Bay House, 1 Marine Parade, Budleigh Salterton.

During the Second World War he served with the War Claims Commission and he died in February 1969"

Needless to say I have posted this information to the site 

The Hendersons Were There After All

The other day I received the following e-mail which refered to an article that had been on the site for a few years The Hendersons Were Not There (neither was Mr Kite) - Sheffield 1848


"Found your site via google and was intrigued to read your article on John and Agnes Henderson at which I thoroughly enjoyed.

You mention that the history of John Henderson was detailed in 'King Pole' (not familiar to me) and I wondered if you had any information on his ancestry or place of birth. I am descended from a line of Hendersons from Dumfries in Scotland and would be interested in trying to trace John Hendersons ancestry if it is not already known".

Basically the article is based on the Beatles (John Lennon) song "For the Benefit of Mr Kite" which appears on the Sgt Pepper album. Pablo Fanques Fair did appear in Sheffield in 1848 but Mr Kite and the Hendersons did not.

Anyway I decided to check the UK censuses to see if I could help the correspondent out but found out that John Henderson was born in Lambeth London and not Scotland. The ODNB gives the following information

"Henderson, John (1822–1867), circus performer and proprietor, was born in London, the son of John Henderson, an actor. He was advertised as a rider with Price and Powell's circus at Bristol in 1842. After a spell with Pablo Fanque in Lancashire, he was with Powell's circus at Hammersmith in 1843, performing as a trampolinist, clown, vaulter, and somersault thrower. He married Agnes Selina (c.1825–1879), the fifth daughter of Henry Michael Hengler, the circus rope-dancer, on 2 October 1843, at Canterbury. Their only child, a daughter, died at the age of twenty-one. In 1844 Charles Hengler (Mrs Henderson's brother) took over Powell's company; Henderson and William Powell were joint ringmasters in 1845. Henderson appeared as a leaper at Astley's Amphitheatre, London, in 1847, in William Batty's time, and returned in 1850 to perform on the iron wire. He continued with Hengler's company for many years, a brilliant all-round artiste, although he occasionally appeared in other arenas.

In October 1858 Henderson left Hengler to fulfil engagements in Moscow and St Petersburg, first selling his black mare Bess. By 1859 he had become involved in circus management, probably for Hengler, ostensibly of Frowde's Cirque Modele, at Sheffield, while at the same time appearing on the slack wire. The company was then transformed into Henderson's Grand Cirque, at Chester. Although he was always associated with Hengler, Henderson always strove towards success in his own right. During 1860 his circus toured England. For the next seven years he alternated between Hengler's, other circuses, and his own temporary companies. He was manager of the Christmas circus at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, London, for three seasons from 1863 to 1864, and ran the winter 1866–7 circus at the London Music Hall, Manchester. Henderson died of pleurisy on 10 May 1867 while his circus was at Ipswich, and was buried on 13 May in Ipswich cemetery. He was a fine tall man with curly hair and a bushy moustache.
John M. Turner
Sources 
J. M. Turner, ‘The excitement and romance of circus history’, King Pole, 71 (June 1986), 4ff. · T. McDonald Rendle, Swings and roundabouts (1919) · G. Van Hare, Fifty years of a showman's life, or, The life and travels of Van Hare, new edn (1893) · Boase, Mod. Eng. biog. · The Era (19 May 1867) · Suffolk Mercury (11 May 1867) · Suffolk Mercury (18 May 1867) · m. cert.

But whilst researching this information I came across the following entry from the 1861 Census

"From the 1861 UK Census
Name Agnes Henderson Age 33 Estimated Year of Birth 1828 Relationship to Head of Household Lodger Occupation ...artist Address Sidney Street District Sheffield, South Sheffield Parish Sheffield Administrative County Yorkshire (West Riding) Birth Place Canterbury Birth County Kent

Staying with Agnes was her 15 year old daughter Jane.

The word that was missing was "equestrian" Agnes was an equestrian artist and the wife of John Henderson. She was lodging with her daughter (Martha) Jane in Sydney Street in 1861, Her husband John was lodging in Soho mmmm Name John Henderson Age 37 Estimated Year of Birth 1824 Relationship to Head of Household Lodger Occupation Equestian Address 5, Spur Street District Strand, St Anne Soho Parish St Anne Administrative County London, Middlesex Birth Place London Birth County Middlesex

The Hendersons were of course "immortalised" in the Beatles (John Lennon) song "For the Benefit of Mr KIte" which appears on the Sgt Pepper album. Sadly their daughter died at the age of 21 and is buried with her father John in London's Highgate Cemetery. His body was exhumed from Ipswich Cemetery where he was first laid to rest in May 1867. His wife Agnes died on 10th October 1879, in Liverpool. She was buried in Toxteth Cemetery, Smithdown Road, with no surviving children

 

 

Frederick Nodder - A Child Murderer from Sheffield

The other day I received the following e-mail about an article that I had written quite a few years ago cocerning the abduction and murder of Mona Tinsley in Nottinghamshire

 "I have just read your excellent article on the murder of Mona Tilsley but I am unable to agree with your opening statement that ‘Frederick Nodder’s case is a rarity in British legal history because he was convicted on separate charges, at two trials, in different towns of the SAME offence’

He was firstly convicted of ‘child stealing’ under S.56 of the OAP 1961 then, following the discovery of Mona Tilsleys body, murder at common law. Clearly, these are two separate offences though both convictions resulted from his actions!"

Initially I was sceptical but after reviewing the article and sentence I agreed with the writer and replied

"Having reviewed the sentence and the wording I can see where you are coming from - they were indeed two offences. I have altered the wording to reflect this."

But I also got around to thinking that I knew very little about Nodder's early life. I tried to find material when I posted the article but was unsuccessful. The newspaper reports did not give much background but they all stated that Nodder was 45 years of age at the time of his execution. and so I based my checks on this fact but to no avail. But I should have checked the BMD register. Free BMD gives the following information
Deaths December 1937
Nodder     Frederick     Age 50     Lincoln    Volume 7a Page    603
Nodder was 50 years old when he was hung and not 45 as stated in the press. Based on this new information there is a corresponding entry for his birth
Births September 1887 Nodder     Frederick           Sheffield     Volume 9c    Page 440.

After that I was up and running and had enough material to post a supplement to the main article - my research did show that Nodder and his family were from Sheffield and that they lived for quite some time in the Crookes/Walkley area. But given the horrendous nature of his crime it is not something that is likely to be publicised  

Elijah Moor (1867- 1961) - Over 60 years with Millwall FC

I came across the following cutting which was in the ever growing "to do" pile. The cutting relates to my family history.

Elijah was my second cousin's Barbara's great grandfather or to put it another way, Elijah's daughter Agnes was my grandfather's sister in law. Elijah can be see on the team photo of Millwall FC that was taken in the 1905 - 06 season. He is on the back row wearing a flat cap

I also have a photo of Elijah that was taken with my great grandmother Elizabeth Hobbs that was from an old photograph album that my gran had. The photo may have been taken in New Cross London in the late 1930's

 

"Hold on Blanche, we are in for it here"

On the useful FreeBMD site there are the following entries for the following people who were from Walkley in Sheffield

Surname      First name(s)      Mother      District  Vol  Page

Births Dec 1915
Mountain     Blanche     Egginton     Ecclesall B     9c    830
Births Dec 1912 
Glossop     Frederick W     Green     Ecclesall B.  9c    813     
Deaths Dec 1932 
Glossop     Frederick W     20     Ecclesall B.       9c    343

And this cutting from The Manchester Guardian dated 23rd November 1932 reports on how it ended

Unusually the report does not state where the accident took place. 

But three years later the same FreeBMD has the following entry for Blanche
Marriages Sep 1935 
Burton     Joseph C     Mountain     Sheffield     9c    1151
Mountain     Blanche     Burton     Sheffield       9c    1151

and then these two entries

Births Sep 1937 
Burton     Brian J     Mountain     Sheffield     9c    694
Births Mar 1939  
Burton     Beatrice RMountain     Sheffield     9c    542

And so with at least two children to bring up Blanche had over 30 years of married life to Joseph before she too died

Name     Blanche Burton
Year of Registration     1967
Quarter of Registration     Jan-Feb-Mar
Registration District     Sheffield Registration County     Yorkshire
Age at Death:     51 Volume Number     2D Volume Page     202

I wonder if she ever thought of Fred Glossop or told her children of what happened in November 1932?

Getting Worried

When I woke up this morning, I turned the radio on and started listening to "Wake Up to Money" on Radio 5 Live. Anyway I was shocked and dismayed. They were interviewing a man about the UK economy and what he would like the Coalition government to do in the future. He managed to get through the whole interview without any mention of the working classes which is de-rigeur amongst politicians nowadays, and espoused a series of measures that would in effect pander to the "haves". But the shock I experienced was when he started making references on more than one occassion to the "broad sunlit uplands". 

Taking his cue from Churchill's "Finest Hour" speech in 1940, he inferred that if the Coalition government take heed of his advice in the coming years then the "sunlit uplands" beckon. Unfortunately there was nothing in his advice that would advance the standard of living for the working classes - in fact most of it was actively hostile to them and would ensure that they remained forever in the "narrow dark valleys". 

Anyway after the interview finished I was told that this "Churchillian rhetoric" was uttered by John Longworth the Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce speaking from the 2011 Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. When these leaders of industry and defenders of the banks start using the language of 1940 you know you are in deep deep trouble. 

His fellow traveller David Cameron has also made references to the "uplands" in the past when he stated that a better world that awaits us on the other side of our current fiscal ordeal. When this will happen he is not saying at the moment which is just very worrying. 

It would be far better if they just told the truth but that would be even more worrying!

As a final point Churchill did refer to the likes of David Cameron and John Longworth in one of his quotes

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."  

 

Letter of the Day

Just came across this newspaper cutting I had saved from an "Agony Aunt" dated July 2007. It was sent from a Mrs B in Essex