LANCASHIRE FAMILY HISTORY AND HERALDRY SOCIETY

Rossendale Branch Newsletter March 2005

Coming Events

Saturday 5th March 2005

Irish Ancestry Group Mini Conference

at The Resource Centre, 2 The Straits, Oswaldtwistle

10.30am to 4.30pm. Payment £5. Details and application forms are available at the back of the room.

Enquiries: email mpurcell@redbankmp.fsnet.co.uk.

Tuesday 15 March 2005

Lancashire Record Office, Bow Lane, Preston -

User Consultation Open meeting.

All users are invited, especially those who consider that they have a disability, to discuss all aspects of the service and in particular, to discuss how easy you find it to access the Record Office, both services and archives, and how they may be improved.

Sunday 20th March 2005 Cumbria Family History Society Family and Local History Fair

10.00am - 4.00pm Shepherd’s Inn, Rosehill Estate, Carlisle, Cumbria (200 yards from M6, Junction 43) £2.00 admission.

Lancashire BMD

Update The registers for the Lancashire County Council area are to be moved from local register offices in a phased operation from the beginning of April 2005. They will be merged into one district i.e. Lancashire Registration District. The new office will be at Preston Docks. Any queries, contact your local office, this will not be closing.

There is a large backlog of material indexed and checked by this branch waiting to be put on the website. Just keep checking the "Up Date" information on the home page.

Branch AGM 2004 - 2005

Anyone wishing to be considered for the committee or wishing to put forward items for the agenda, should contact the Chairman John Dalton. All nominations will be welcome.

September 2005

An exhibition is being planned for next September at Haslingden Library to be entitled -

The Irish in Haslingden

If you have Irish ancestors, you might like to be thinking how you can participate. Family trees, photographs, etc. will be welcome.

Rossendale Ancestry

Do you have Rossendale ancestors? Are you a member of the Society? If so, please let us have your story, for this section of the newsletter.

Andrew Taylor - Husband, Father, Miner, Innkeeper, Churchwarden, Raconteur.

Further to the articles on Andrew Taylor in Rossendale Newsletters, November 2004 and January 2005, I have received some information from Clive Seal a mining historian. Clive has sent me two newspaper accounts from his archive:

Andrew Taylor’s Retirement Presentation

Bacup & Rossendale News 9th January 1864.

On Monday afternoon about 200 men employed by Messers Hargreaves, Ashworth & Co, Rossendale Collieries met at the Miners’ Arms, Scout and sat down to an excellent dinner consisting of roast beef, plum pudding, roast and boiled mutton and ham and the customary pastry, which was served in the club room.

After dinner Mr. Joshua Holt was called upon to preside over the presentation of a silver snuff box inlaid with electric plate gold, a gold guard and gold lever watch value nearly £22, to Mr. Andrew Taylor, the foreman of Messers Hargreaves, Ashworth & Co, who has been in the employ of the firm for upwards of 40 years.

The Chairman in rising to address the meeting, said that he had worked under Mr. Taylor for 27 years and had always found him kind and upright, both to master and servant in dealings.

Andrew Taylor’s Obituary

Bacup & Rossendale News 14th December 1867

Mr. Andrew Taylor who died in is 76th year was interred at Newchurch graveyard. He was a mine sinker under the employ of George Hargreaves and moved here from Darwen about 30 years ago to work in a similar capacity. He remained acting as a colliery steward for a number of years to the satisfaction of masters and colliers in general. He resided at the Miners Arms, Scout Bottom. He was father to 37 children and was married to his fifth wife. With one wife he had 18 children and with another 6.

Hargreaves, Ashworth and Co.

Clive Seal adds: The records aren’t exactly straight forward. I am not sure if Hargreaves had an interest in Belthorn colliery or not. They did however have large interests in Baxenden and Accrington. Although I think that would be too far to travel especially when there were other larger collieries nearer to Belthorn. Whatever, he appears to have left the area in his 46th year at that time being a sinker. Very few records survive pertaining to Hargreaves collieries and certainly none from that time. Official records by the government began to be kept in 1850; although there were a few lists available in the 1840’s.

From what is known, Hargreaves, Ashworth & Co operated collieries at Brex and Dean during this time, whilst above Crawshawbooth the first coal from Swineshaw colliery came down the new tramway in 1837. However the coalfield was expanding rapidly.

Sources call Andrew Taylor a foreman, steward and inspector, all could be one and the same thing. When he came to Rossendale at the age of 46 he would be getting a bit old for sinking, whether it be shaft sinking or drift driving. Maybe more will come to light.

The story so far...

We know that Andrew claimed to have 37 children by 5 wives, married his deceased wife’s sister twice, married on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday. 18 of the children were with one wife and six were with another. I have done a little research myself. I have found 5 possible wives. Only two appear to be sisters. I have found only 12 children.

Andrew was born in Ashton Under Lyne in 1793 son of Jonathan Taylor and Mary Grimshaw. His first marriage appears to be to Ann Holden, 21 August 1814 at Haslingden. 1817/8 he had a son William born at Belthorn, Blackburn. His next wife may have been Ann Modesley at Accrington 31 August 1823. There are no details in the register, of occupation or marital status. 4th September 1826, Andrew was living at Baxenden, when he married at Haslingden, Ann Hudson of Rings Row, Rawtenstall. (a Saturday).

His daughter Mary (wife of James Rostron) was born 1827/8 at Accrington. Grimshaw son of Andrew and Ann, of Rothwell Mill, Coal Miner was baptised 3rd January 1830 at Accrington St. James. In 1838, Andrew married Alice Hudson (deceased wife’s sister?) at Haslingden Register Office, She is buried at Newchurch, July 1843. There were two children with Alice, Jonathan 1838/39 and John 1842/43. In 1844/45, a son Ashworth was born (census). He does not appear to have been baptised or registered.

1st May 1846, Andrew Taylor, of full age. widower, Inspector of Mines of Waterside, married Mary Buckley, spinster. Her father was William Buckley, miner. Mary must have been heavily pregnant as her son Grimshaw was born on 29th June 1846. He wasn’t baptised until 17 June 1849. In the meantime another son Edmund, had been born 10th December 1847and baptised the following year.

Also born to Andrew and Mary were Martha Ann c1855; Andrew c1857; Elizabeth c1860; and Ellen c1861. When Mary died, Martha and Edmund continued to live at the Miner’s Arms, with James and Mary Rostron. Ellen went to live with William Taylor, who was by this time a coal agent in Ramsbottom. John stayed at Scout, Jonathan moved to Accrington. There must be descendants. I would love to discover what stories been have passed down in the family.