LANCASHIRE FAMILY HISTORY AND HERALDRY SOCIETY

Rossendale Branch Newsletter August 2012

Research and Advice Sessions at Haslingden Library every Monday 5.30 – 8.30 pm
Note: the doors to Haslingden Library close at 7.30 pm.

and at Rawtenstall Library every Tuesday 1.30 – 3.30 pm

We may be able to do simple look-ups for distant members. When contacting us with an enquiry, please include your membership number

The LFHHS Resource Centre.

The Society’s Resource and Research Centre at 2 Straits, Oswaldtwistle, BB5 3LU is open every Thursday from 1.00pm – 5.00pm and 1st Saturday of each month 1.00pm..

Additions to LancashireBMD

Added 16th July for the Hyndburn and Rossendale RD - 26,031 Births for comprising:

Rawtenstall A 2nd (1937-1974); 933 Marriages
Accrington, Wesley Chapel, Abbey Street (1957-1963);
Haslingden, Salem Chapel, Regent Street (1899-1961);
Helmshore, Wesleyan Methodist (1923-1958);
Newchurch, Salem Methodist, Hollin (1952-1963);
Oswaldtwistle, Methodist School Chapel, York St. (1959-1966);
Accrington, Congregational Church (1922-1968);
Accrington, Wesleyan Methodist Union Street (1930-1955);
Accrington, Kenyon St. Methodist School Chapel (1957-1981);
Facit, St John (1975-1986)

Coming Events
Saturday 4th August 2012
8th Annual Celebration of Local History
Astley Hall and Astley Coach House, Chorley PR7 1XA. The day will include talks with a family history focus Admission to the Celebration and car parking are both free of charge. For further details tel 077 30 793 990 or see www.lfhhschorleybranch.com

Sunday 30th September 2012
LFHHS Annual Dinner
hosted this year by the Preston Branch
at Alston Hall, Longridge, Preston
PR3 3BP 12.30 for 1.00pm.
£17.50 per head. Booking form and menu etc. are given in your May “Lancashire” journal.
The speaker is Dr. Alan Crosby, the renowned Preston historian.
Limited availability so please book early.

Rossendale News, Notes and Queries
At our last meeting we had a fascinating talk by Brenda Hustler on the Nutter Family of Newchurch in Pendle. Originally she had been trying to find a link with Alice Nutter who was executed as a witch in 1610. However, her researches took her into a series extremely interesting and well illustrated by-ways.

INDUSTRIAL TERMS
Extracted from a glossary of Rossendale dialect words, by George Nightingale, published 1917. Available in Rawtenstall Community History Library.

BACKTENTER The assistant behind the calico printing machine also any other worker behind textile machinery.
BARIN Baring the top stone in a quarry, that is, removing the top soil and top rubble.
BONKSMAN A man who has control of the coal pit entrance or bank.
CAWL A dam constructed across a stream to hold the water.
CAWISED A cut; that is a piece of cotton cloth in the loom, not quite finished by the weaver and therefore cannot be taken into the warehouse. and receive payment that week for it.
CINTHER CONS Coke ovens for the conversion of coal to coke for use in blast furnaces.
CLEARER A wooden or iron roller used in spinning mills
CLOW A sluice or flood gate in a mill dam penstock.
COP TICKET A small ticket attached to yarn cops.
CREELER A boy or girl employed in the cotton industry to replace empty bobbins with full ones from the roving frames.
DENTER A long blade of steel, brass or nickel silver used in a calico printing machine to scrape of surplus colour from the engraved roller.
DEVIL HOILE A room in the cotton mill were the hard waste breakers were housed
DEVILLER An attendant upon the hard waste breaker.
DOFFER The half timer boy who takes off the full bobbins replacing them with empty ones on the throstle frame (cotton).
FALLER A straight rod used in the cotton and wool industry
FEIGH To excavate earth and worthless material from off the top of saleable building stone.
FENT A short piece of calico fragment.
FIREBEATER One who is employed as stoker for a Lancashire or any other make of steam boiler. Generally fixed in a horizontal position.
FLOAT A damaged place in the cloth caused by an obstruction in the shed of the power loom.
FULLING MILL A machine whose action is for thickening cloth
GALKER A tub for containing home brewed wort.
GALS Small horses, ponies, galloways “Lime Gals” so called because these diminutive horses were employed to carry lime pannier from the neighbourhood of Clitheroe up to the hillsides for farmers to spread on the fields.
GANTRY A wooden structure to support a travelling crane.
GATH-IRON Iron used for making barrel and tub hoops, probably a corruption of girth iron
GINVIN or GIVER IN A half timer in a cotton mill who gives in the ends of the warp threads to the twirler, who twists the ends of the old and the new thread together.
GOYT The head or tail stream to the waterwheel.
HACK-HAMMER A tool with two sharp ends used for facing masonry
HARDEN A very coarse material manufactured from the refuse of flaxen or hemp.
HILLOCK The ground round a crane in a quarry.
JOB HAMMER Used by quarrymen for roughly squaring flags and paving stones
KEIR A large vessel for bleaching cotton, usually cylindrical or globular
LAITHE That part of the loom where the reeds are fixed.
LAP A roll of cotton as it leaves the carding engine.
MAYSH The bleaching of a number of warp threads.
NOIL The short wool left over after combing. The refuse of wool.
PICKIN STICK A mechanical movement which throws the shuttle across the shed.
POVERTY KNOCKER A power loom weaver.
POVERTY KNOCKING Weaving cotton goods.
PUMMER A heavy iron shod piece of wood used to beat down flag stones or earth.
QUARRY BANT A piece of tape eighteen feet long, made of linen, used for computing the number of superficial yards in any given quantity of flags made to 3’ x 2’ 6” gauge.
RABBIT A rebate. An internal right angle cut into either wood or stone.
RAGLET Loosely woven; course; of an open texture; a channel ploughed in joinery work for the purpose of receiving another piece of joinery.
REMLET A remnant.
ROVER A female who attends a coarse kind of spinning.
SALLY WINDTHER A winder in a cotton mill.
SAVELISTIN Sewing selvedges onto woollen pieces so that the cloth can be stretched on tenter hooks
SCRAPPLINS The pieces of stone struck off during quarrying and masonry operations.
SHODDY A pitched or rock faced wallstone also a course kind of cotton fabric.
SHUTT To get rid of work or anything very quickly.
SHUTTLE KUSSERS Cotton weavers who suck the weft through the eye of the shuttle.
SKELLER To warp; to be out of true; applicable to wool.
SKEWERIN A COP Guiding the shuttle peg through the weft cop.
SLUBBER A woman who attends the slubbling frame.
SQEEZER A wringing machine.
STIDDY An anvil also the blacksmith’s shop
SWINGER A single width of calico forming the back part of a woman’s gown; the other portion of the dress (of coarse material) being hidden under a large apron; to be worn only on a Sunday.
TACKLER A power loom overlooker.
TAPER A sizer; One who prepares cotton warps.
TACHINEND A shoemaker’s waxed hempened thread used for sewing on the soles of boots and shoes.
TEARBOY A youth whose job it is to attend upon a felt or woollen block printer.
TEMPLE A mechanical contrivance for stretching the cloth on the loom.
TENT To attend to machinery generally.
TENTER Anyone who is responsible for the work in hand as a back tenter; the man who superintends the work on the back of the calico printing machine.
TWIRLER A person who joins the ends of the old warp.
WEIGHBAWK The beam of a stationary steam engine.
WIRE IN Making up for lost time; working harder;
WOOLLEY A bye name for a wool sorter.

Obituary
Ken Simpson

We were saddened to hear of the death of Ken Simpson, who died on July 13th aged 86. Ken was an early member of the Rossendale Society of Genealogy & Heraldry back in 1973. He was on our branch committee for many years until age and infirmity prevented him from attending meetings. He was also involved in many aspects of Bacup life. His interests included crown green bowling, dog training, football, cricket and brass band music. Perhaps he will be best remembered for his association with Bacup “Nats”. He took over as the curator of Bacup’s eclectic collection of local history artefacts in 1994.