Discovering Ossett’s history through Francis Cockburn’s sketches

The book of sketches by Francis Charles James Cockburn was published by Ossett Historical Society in 1987. The following is from the society’s website.

For over forty years the Ossett Historical Society fostered an interest in the history of Ossett, and that of the surrounding area. This was accomplished through lectures, publications and exhibitions. Sadly, as a result of declining membership, an Extraordinary General Meeting on 26 September 2022 reluctantly decided to wind up the Society.

I’m grateful to David Hoyle for digitising the book, which is offered here, with additional images and information from Ossett Through The Ages (OTTA), and my own original, copyrighted research.

Anne-Marie Fawcett
December 2024

INTRODUCTION

Frank C. J. Cockburn, who made most of these drawings of Ossett scenes and buildings during the last two decades of the 19th Century, was a son of the first Stephen Cockburn who purchased the Ossett Observer from the Beckett Brothers in 1873. They first appeared, reproduced as woodcuts, in the ‘Ossett Almanacs’ published annually by Cockburn’s until the early 1900’s. A number of drawings of churches, including Ossett, South Ossett and Thornhill, were used for years afterwards on the title pages of church magazines, which Cockburn’s printed. Frank Cockburn emigrated early this century to New Zealand where he became principal of the Art College in Nelson, New Zealand, where descendants still live. His eldest brother Stephen was second editor-proprietor of the Observer and was succeeded on his death in 1903 by the late Mr. S. E. Cockburn, the last owner of the Observer before it was acquired in 1956 by the ‘Wakefield Express’ series. Another brother, Herbert, emigrated to Ontario, Canada, where he started a local weekly paper. He was a bachelor and had no descendants.

S. F. Armitage
Ossett 1987

FRANCIS CHARLES JAMES COCKBURN

Francis Charles James Cockburn was born in Ramsgate, Kent in 1869. He was the youngest of the six children (five sons and a daughter) of Stephen Cockburn (1830–1900) and Marianne Pettman (1830–1893) who were married in Kent in 1854. Their only daughter (also named Marianne) died in 1870 at the age of 12, and three years later Stephen Cockburn moved his family from Ramsgate to Ossett.

By the time of his marriage to tailor’s daughter, Jessie Irene Coldwell Shaw (1879–1914), in Wakefield in June 1900, Francis was the.Assistant Art Master at Halifax Technical School. Their daughter, Frances Irene, was born in Halifax on April 13 1902. By 1905 Francis, Jessie, and their daughter had left Yorkshire and were living in Thames, a town at the southwestern end of the Coromandel Peninsula on New Zealand’s North Island. (I found this information in the membership registers (1751-1921 ) from the collection of the United Grand Lodge of England held by the Museum of Freemasonry ).

Jessie died in 1914 at the premature age of 35. In 1917 Francis married Mary Quartley Melhuish (born in Devon in 1869) in Nelson.

STEPHEN COCKBURN 1, 2 & 3

Stephen Cockburn moved to Ossett to take over as the editor and proprietor of The Ossett Observer newspaper. He and his family lived next door to The Bull’s Head on Bank Street, in the old home and offices of the Beckett brothers (the founders and original owners of The Ossett Observer). In the 1881 census Stephen Cockburn was described as ‘a journalist and master printer, employing five men and four boys‘. In 1890 The Borough Works, at the junction of Station Road and Prospect Road, was built to house his print works and the Ossett Observer newspaper offices.

Stephen and his family were still living at Bank Street when the the 1891 census was taken. Also living with them ,and employed to work in the Cockburns stationary shop, was Marianne’s 17 year old niece, Harriet Jane Pettman (1873-1913).

The Cockburns named their new home, ‘Northbourne House‘ and it formed part of the Borough Works. It was unoccupied in 1891: an indication that it was still in the course of construction.

In 1895 Harriet’s mother Diana died and Harriet returned to her father’s house in Northbourne, a village in the Eastry district, Kent.

Stephen Cockburn (1830-1900) died on May 1 1900 at 87 Cambridge Place, Siddal, Halifax. One of his sons, the eponymous Stephen Cockburn (1856-1903) was also born in Kent and a journalist. In 1881 he was living at Westfield Terrace, (Headlands), Ossett. In 1891 he had a Headlands Road address, but by 1901,(by then a newspaper proprietor, printer and journalist), he was recorded at Station Road. He died in September 1903. His address was Northbourne House, 44 Station Road, Ossett.

After his death the Ossett Observer was owned and run by his son, Stephen Ellis Cockburn (1877-1959). In 1901 he too was living at Northbourne House, and he was recorded as a journalist and author. By 1911 he was living at the same address with his widowed mother, his aunt and his sister. By 1927 he was living at Brentwood, Station Road, which is immediately opposite Northbourne House.

Stephen Ellis Cockburn’s sister, Harriet Kate Pettman Cockburn, of Northbourne House died in 1927 and his mother, Alice Jane of the same address, died in January 1932 thus ending the Cockburn occupancy of Northbourne House, 44 Station Road, Ossett. At the time of his death in 1959 Stephen Ellis Cockburn was living at Croftlands on Lime Street.

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CHARTER DAY AUGUST 16 1890

Never within the memory of the oldest inhabitant or previously has Ossett been the scene of such a striking and unanimous demonstration of popular rejoicing”.

This was the day when Ossett received the Charter of the Borough.

The Royal Charter was granted on June 30 1890. Which is correct? The charter arrived – by train – to a huge fanfare on August 16 1890. Ossett was now self administering with a mayor, four aldermen and 12 councillors. A public holiday was declared and the streets were festooned with bunting, banners and balloons. Lampposts were decorated with flags and shields. A grand procession of 5000 people took place and a public luncheon was served. 4000 schoolchildren sang in the streets and each child was fed cake and tea. All day long the bells of Holy Trinity rang. The day also included a military tournament and a firework display was provided by Rileys of Flushdyke.

Ossett Observer August 1890

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COCKBURN & SON BOROUGH WORKS

These modern day photos shows just how much of the Borough Works was demolished.

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OSSETT’S RAILWAY STATIONS

Flushdyke Station was the first station to be opened in Ossett in 1862 as a temporary terminus of the Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds railway. The line extended to Ossett and then on to Batley in 1864 when the line was doubled throughout. By 1883, Ossett had three railway stations: at Flushdyke, Ossett and Chickenley Heath, all on the Wakefield, Batley and Bradford branch of the Great Northern railway. Flushdyke station finally closed in 1941.

There are very few persons who, having had the good or ill fortune to pay a visit to Ossett, will not have been struck with the inadequacy of its station accommodation as compared with the size and importance of the town. For many years Ossett has been growing steadily both in population and the extent of its manufactures, and this growth has been marked on the part of the inhabitants themselves by the erection of more commodious and imposing public offices than had heretofore existed. But there has been no corresponding improvement in the station accommodation or the approaches to the town, which are now, the former as small and inconvenient, and the latter as dangerous, as ever they were.

In 1884 the first real move towards an improvement of this state of things was made when the manufacturers, merchants, and others interested in the scheme held a meeting, at which the present station was condemned as ‘inconvenient, dangerous, and generally inadequate’ and a committee was formed to wait upon the directors. This step had the effect of drawing an acknowledgment from the company that a grievance existed, and they promised to remedy it as soon as they saw their way to deal with it in an effectual manner.

On the 22nd of December, 1884, the Local Board received a letter from the secretary to the company which stated that the directors had sanctioned the reconstruction of the station, and that the engineer was then engaged in preparing plans. The company were evidently in earnest, for at their next half-yearly meeting, two months later, the sum of £17,618 was voted for the undertaking; and, in fact, a considerable extension of the goods shed, sidings, &c., was carried out. Some correspondence took place regarding the plans, and eventually the company’s chief engineer met a deputation of gentlemen representing the Chamber of Commerce and the Local Board. At this meeting it was suggested that the approaches to the station were dangerous and inconvenient, and a more suitable road should be constructed, to lead direct from the Market-place, through an intervening field, and straight on to the station, a distance of about 1,050 yards.

The levels of the adjoining land were all favourable to this scheme, and the engineer said that there would be no difficulties to be coped with which would require his skill. The question was merely one of cost, and a letter was sent to the company by the President of the Chamber of Commerce, which contained an offer from several members of the Local Board to try and induce the board to make, flag, and sewer the road, on condition the owners would give the land and build the fence walls, if the company would make a 12-yard bridge instead of a foot-bridge, in continuation of the road. A town’s meeting was held, and it approved of the construction of the street by the Local Board on the above provisoes. The directors then offered to modify their plans for the reconstruction of the station, they to build and maintain a bridge 30ft. wide across the station, on condition the board would provide and maintain the footway over the same, the approach from the bridge to the platform to be provided by the company. The Local Board negotiated with the landowners through whose property the proposed street will pass, and arrangements are now almost completed which will allow of the work being commenced.

The street will begin in the Market-place, and, as at present arranged, terminate in Park-square – though there is no doubt it will eventually be continued to Horbury – and the company have agreed to erect a bridge over the station 90 yards long by 10 yards wide. The Local Board has now an application before the Local Government Board for power to borrow £4,000 for the commencoment of the work, and there is every probability that about spring the work will be entered upon. The entrance to the station is intended to be from the bridge, and it will be easy of access both for foot passengers and vehicles. A covered incline about 140 feet long will lead down to the booking-offices and the platform. This latter will be on the island principle, 450 feet long, and upwards of 30 feet wide, the up and down lines running on either side. In addition to the booking-offices, there will be extensive waiting-rooms and the other requisites, while the platform will be covered with a roof of glass.

Tenders for the work were invited twelve months ago, and the contract actually let; but at the request of the Local Board the operations were suspended to allow of the arrangements for the new approaches. On the south side, the company have purchased a piece of additional ground way for extra sidings, and by their completion of this scheme they will not only benefit the town, but themselves most materially.

Leeds Mercury – Wednesday 26 January 1887

An important public improvement was inaugurated on Saturday at Ossett, which is expected to accelerate the development of the town, and in a measure to remove the straggling appearance which it presents at present. By the joint action of the Ossett Local Board and the Great Northern Railway Company a new thoroughfare is about to be formed, which will afford much more direct and convenient communication between the centre of the town and the large area lying to the south and south-east of the railway. The company [will] build a bridge over the end of the Town Station – at the same time entirely reconstructing the station itself – and in consideration of this the Local Board have acquired land for, and undertaken to construct, a street upwards of 1,000 yards long. The latter runs in a south-easterly direction from the Market-place to Park-square (Manor-road), and will give excellent approaches to the station, beside being advantageous for general traffic; the contract for one section of it has been already let, and the remainder will be in the course of a few days. The bridge is to be about 90 yards long and 10 yards wide, chiefly of iron, and the railway company’s contractors commence their work almost immediately.

The ceremony of cutting the first sod of the street was performed on Saturday afternoon by Mr. William Paterson, Chairman of the Local Board, in the presence of an assemblage of interested spectators. The board and officials walked in procession from their offices to the appointed spot on the north side of the station, headed by the Ossett Brass and Reed Band playing a marching tune.

Mr Patterson, having cut the sod and removed it in a new wheelbarrow, made a short speech. He remarked that he did not recollect any scheme of a public character in Ossett which had been surrounded by so many difficulties; -and to these had been due the delay an carrying out this improvement.

Leeds Mercury – Monday 28 May 1888

The Great Northern Railway Company is now building a new town passenger station at Ossett in place of the existing one, which is inadequate to meet the requirements of the traffic. In conjunction with the Ossett Local Board, the company is also forming new approaches to the station, which will have the effect of making the latter much more accessible and convenient. The new station will be on the island principle. It will consist of a central platform, 160yds long by 31ft wide.

The buildings thereon will be of wood and glass, and more than half the length of the platform will be under cover, a glazed roof being supported by iron pillars, with ornamental brackets. The platform will be 3ft high, and formed of concrete, with stone edging. The entrance will be by a covered passage, on a gentle incline from a road bridge which is intended to carry a new thoroughfare over the station premises. The bridge itself is a substantial structure of iron, 250 ft long and 30ft wide, divided into four spans, with piers and abutments of solid brickwork. Over this the Ossett Local Board is about to carry the new thoroughfare already mentioned, which will be upwards of 1000yds long, and, except on the bridge, 36ft wide throughout. The whole of the land has had to be acquired by the Local Board for the purpose.

Commencing at the Market Place, the new road, which is to be called Station Road, will be as nearly as possible straight, running across the railway station, and terminating for the present at Park Square (Manor Road) until arrangements are made with the Horbury Local Board for carrying it forward. It will shorten the distance by road from Horbury to the station and Ossett Market Place by nearly half a mile, besides avoiding the heavy gradients of the existing road. The works of the railway company and of the Ossett Local Board are now making fair progress, and are expected to be completed in the early part of next year.

The contractors employed by the Company are Messrs W. Nicholson and Son, builders, Leeds, and Messrs J. Butler and Co., Stanningley, under the direction of the district engineer, Mr W. Kell, of Leeds; and those of the Local Board are Messrs Aliffe and Mr E. Ellis, under the supervision of Mr Hirst, the Board’s Surveyor.

Dewsbury Chronicle and West Riding Advertiser
Saturday 15 September 1888

The Ossett Town Station. An open air meeting was held in the Market Place, Ossett, on Friday evening, for the purpose of taking steps to secure an additional entrance to the Town Station of the Great Northern Railway Company. There were between 500 and 600 persons present. Mr Bennet Brook, the chairman, moved a resolution declaring the present means of access to the station to be inadequate, and asking for a subway entrance from The Green to the platform. Mr W Patterson seconded, and the speakers in support included Messrs. H Westwood, E Clay, JS Wilby, Allan Mitchell, Alfred Ellis and J Thwaite. The resolution was carried unanimously.

Leeds Mercury
June 30 1890

STATION ROAD, THROUGH THE AGES

When Ossett Had a Railway Station ~ Patricia Adams

Mike and I first arrived in Ossett in 1959 when the town still had a railway station. Newly married, we moved into a new small bungalow on Spa Croft Road which was called Lynda Avenue in those days. In 1961 our firstborn arrived and we had a beautiful large carriage built pram for her – no folding buggies then. A trip to Wakefield to visit family therefore involved a journey on the train so I would push my pram up Manor Road and along Station Road to the railway station. A journey of possibly a mile.

There was usually two or three of us with prams and when the train arrived, the guard would help each of us to lift the pram and baby into the guards-van and off we would go on the ten minute journey to Westgate Station in Wakefield. The return journey was a similar arrangement.

In October 1964, Ossett Railway Station and the line became a victim of Dr. Beeching so our trips on the train came to an end. It was at this time that a new road from Queen’s Drive into town was being developed and as our little bungalow in Spa Croft Road became too small for our growing family, we bought a larger house on the new road which is now known as Towngate. However, before the road could be completed, the railway bridge which carried the line no longer in use had to be demolished. So one Sunday morning the Army arrived to blow it up!

Our house was the last one before the bridge so we were told to leave the property and large army lorries were placed all around the house to protect the windows, etc. After watching the explosion from afar we returned some time later relieved to find the house still standing but the railway bridge was no more.

Read the rest of Patricia’s story here

YARNS is a project led by Leeds University. Ossett and Gawthorpe Community Archive collected and shared yarns about the locality of Ossett and Gawthorpe, West Yorkshire. The yarns are contributed by local (and ex-pat) people of all ages in the areas of heritage which interest them. Ossett Through The Ages (OTTA) is proud to be one of the partners in this project.

A trio of treasure, loaned to OTTA by Eric Robinson. The photos are the property of Eric and he holds the copyright ©

Raymond Davies told us that the houses on Longlands Road, by the petrol station, are built on the old railway embankment. He was told of this by Malcolm Asquith, the builder (and a former Mayor of Ossett). Raymond’s house was the first semi to be completed and, he said: “People still used the original footpath which ran at the bottom of the embankment, even after the passage and path was completed from Tumbling Close. We still get the weeds etc that are usually found by railways.”

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WA KENDALL’S ARCHITECTURE

William Arthur Kendall was born in the village of Leadenham in Lincolnshire in April 1857, the eldest son of eight children of school teacher Stephen Holliday Kendall and his wife Emma, née North. The couple married in Leeds in August 1853. William was named after his grandfather William Kendall, whom, like his son Stephen, was a school teacher.

In early 1862, Stephen Kendall, his wife Emma and their four young children moved from Tadcaster to Ossett.

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CUSSONS’ CHEMIST (the Imperial Leather connection)

Cussons’. Pickard’s. The Yorkshire Bank.

Built in 1893 this building, on the corner of Station Road and Prospect Road, opened in March the following year for John William Cussons, postmaster and chemist. Marjorie, the daughter of JW’s brother Alexander, was responsible for developing Imperial Leather, an achievement that some in Ossett believe JW to have been responsible for.

In 1900 Samuel Norman Pickard purchased the business from Cussons. In 1924, when he moved to new premises on Wesley Street, the Yorkshire Penny Bank moved in.

Mr. S. N. Pickard begs to announce that he has purchased the business of chemist and wine & spirit merchant, carried on successfully for many years by Mr. J. W. Cussons. Having had a large experience of the dispensing of medicines, analyses and pharmacy, he hopes to be accorded a fair share of the patronage from his many Ossett friends, and the public generally.

The purest drugs and chemicals only employed. Patent medicines at lowest London prices. Note the address: S. N. Pickard, Member of the Pharmaceutical Society, Dispensing and Family Chemist, Station Road. In 1924 the Observer reported: Change of premises: S. N. Pickard, chemist & optician, begs to announce that owing to expiration of lease he is transferring the business to larger and more commodious premises in Wesley Street, Ossett, which he hopes to open on Wednesday next, August 5th.

For almost half a century Pat Bennett (née Harrop) worked in the Ossett Branch of The Yorkshire Bank. I took this photo of her in 2017, not long before the bank closed.

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THE LIBERAL CLUB

The corner stone of Ossett Liberal Club on Station Road was laid in October 1893 by Liberal Politician, Earl Compton. The contractors were: R. Oldroyd, mason and bricklayer; R. Stubbs, joiner; A. Lucas, plumber and glazier; RW Clegg, plasterer; G Hargreaves (Dewsbury), slater; and J Snowden, painter. The architect was WA Kendall.

The following is an excerpt from an article in The Leeds Mercury, dated Thursday 11 April 1895.

The building, situated in Station Road, is externally a substantial and handsome stone structure, one of the best architectural features of the town. Considering how strong the Liberal party is in this section of the Morley Division, the probability is that the accommodation within may not long suffice. But it is at present adequate, comprising a reading room, a smoke room, two billiard rooms, and smaller apartments, all comfortably, if not luxuriously, furnished.

At the official opening on April 10 1894 a procession was led from the Temperance Hall by Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale. On his arrival at the building Lord Ribblesdale was presented by the secretary, Mr. JF. Hainsworth, with a gold key. After a few words, he opened the door, and led the way to the large billiard room, in which a short meeting was held. Mr. J.E. Glover, president of the club, conducted the proceedings, and there were also present Mr. Harold J. Reckitt (formerly M.P. for Pontefract), the Mayor of Ossett (Ald. G H. Wilson), Mr. W. Wilson (president of the Morley Division Liberal Association), Mr. O. Myers, Mr. R. E. Phillips, Ald. Clay, Mr. H. Westwood. Mr. Albert Mitchell, and others.

The President, in opening the proceedings, said that the thanks of the Liberals of Ossett were due to the ladies of the town for the assistance they had rendered in connection with the furnishing of the club. The sewing class organised two years ago had done excellent work, and no less than £700 had been raised by the bazaar held last year. The club, he was glad to say, was to be managed upon temperance lines, and as long as the gentlemen who were at present responsible for the management continued to be identified with it, it would be managed union temperance principles. Sufficient temptations existed for young men already, without drink being placed before them in every spare hour.

In 1972 Ossett’s Liberal Club was getting set to close. Mr WF Ford, president for the previous 13 years and Ossett’s Mayor from 1947-49, said that the members’ decision to sell the building was unanimous. In recent years only the upstairs had been occupied by the club – the ground floor was a restaurant owned by Mr Eric Ross. The club had been running at a loss for some time and with the expected expenditure to comply with new fire regulations, due to the opening of the restaurant on the ground floor, it was decided to call time. Assets were distributed among the 25 paid up members. A proposal that proceeds should go to charity was voted against by six members who asked for their names to be recorded. They were Mr D Secker (who said his share would go to the National Liberal Association), Messrs Brian Wilson, B Fitton, E Ross, D Proctor and WF Ford. Mr Cyril Mountain abstained.

During its last 20 years the club functioned almost entirely as a social club, with snooker tables and a reading room as its only facilities. The building was sold to Mr Ross, of Park Square, who intended to convert the top floor into a large banqueting room with a dance floor and a stage for cabaret.

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THE MECHANICS INSTITUTE

On the afternoon of Friday 12th December 1890 the new Mechanics Institution and Technical School was opened. The ceremony was performed by Mr Swire Smith of Keighley, a recognised expert on technical education.The mayor and other dignitaries met at the Temperance Hall along with invited guests, and at 3:00pm they walked in procession to the new premises.

On arrival Mr Swire Smith was presented with a silver key, which he used to unlock the building. They then went upstairs into the central classroom where he gave a long speech.In the evening a reception took place. A number of potted plants were used to decorate the steps to the building and the entrance. Outside the front door and in the main room upstairs were large electric lamps, powered by a dynamo worked by steam power, which was on the premises of Messrs Whitehead, joiners, Bank Street. A couple of telephones had also been lent.

The Public Library was officially opened by Alderman Allen Mitchell on Monday May 8 1899. The building was designed by WA Kendall and was also the Mechanic’s Institute. It housed a dyeing room, lecture room, classrooms, physics room, a chemical laboratory and an art studio.

On October 25 1935 Ossett’s new Public Library was opened. Alderman JH Knowles was the Chairman of Ossett Public Library Committee and in his speech he said he had hoped to erect an entirely new building, but the cost was excessive. When the County Council transferred some of the evening classes from the Mechanics’ Institute and Technical School to the Grammar School, the Library Committee was left with a more or less derelict building.

The gas showrooms which, until then, had been housed in the basement of the Town Hall, came to the rescue and agreed to rent part of the building. The estimated cost of the reconstruction was £3,000 which is more than £150,000 today.

Ossett Library is now housed at the Town Hall and this building is empty (2024). I hope that whoever buys it decides to reinstate the front door.

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THE PICKARD MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN

When the waterworks had been established in the town in 1875, and piped water provided, a number of cast iron water fountains were ordered for the use of the public for filling water carts etc. But the local Board of Health objected to the idea. The fountains weren’t used and were sold as scrap some years later.

When Hannah Pickard died in 1891 she left £500 in her will for the erection of a drinking fountain.

An excerpt from the will states: “I direct my executors to erect a drinking fountain and water trough combined, for the use of cattle and dogs, in the market place, Ossett, or in some other suitable situation, at a cost of about £500, to be presented to the Corporation of Ossett as a memorial of the incorporation of Ossett, and of the donor”.

In July 1893 work started on the fountain, the site being surrounded by a wooden hoarding, and was officially opened on Saturday 21st October 1893. It was described as: “Standing on a base of Aberdeen granite, it is mainly of Boltonwood stone, enriched with figures and other carving.”

The design was prepared by Mr. W.A. Kendall, under whose superintendence it was executed by R. Tolson and Sons, masons, and Mr. F. Wills, sculptor, all of Ossett.

The shaft and massive bowl are of Peterhead granite. On the shaft is carved a lion (the crest of the Pickard family), the Borough arms, and the following inscription: “This fountain is the gift of the late Miss Hannah Pickard of this town, to the Corporation of Ossett, for the benefit of the inhabitants and was erected in 1893. W. A. Kendall, architect”.

The whole is about 15 feet high and four gas lamps are attached to the upper portion. The water flowed into the bowl and then into four drinking troughs for cattle, and as many smaller ones for dogs.

The fountain was officially opened by the mayor, Mr F. L. Fothergill. A procession was formed at the Temperance Hall, which then walked to the fountain headed by the Borough band. The fountain was surrounded by a crowd estimated to number between two and three thousand. A couple of letters were read from Miss Pickard’s executors, and then part of Miss Pickard’s will. The band then played Auld Lang Syne.

After a speech by the mayor, the water was turned on and he filled one of the drinking cups and drank to the prosperity of the town. After the speeches the band played the national anthem, and the procession returned to the Temperance Hall, were about 30 gentlemen were entertained at tea by the mayor.

The date and occasion of the photo above is unknown. it was donated to me by Mary Welburn.

With the reorganisation of the town centre in 1958, the memorial fountain was removed and put into storage until Green Park was reopened on April 23 1962. It was decided that the fountain should be refurbished, placed in the park and used as an ornamental flower bed. This is where it remained for the next 45 years.

In 2007 Green Park was refurbished and it was decided, by Wakefield MDC and Friends of Green Park, that the fountain was not in a condition to form a part of the refurbishment project. Instead of restoring the fountain and creating a scheme in which it would fit, it was simply given away to one of the contractors who was working on the project. According to the Wakefield Express, without this man the fountain would most certainly have been destroyed.

Whilst removing the fountain from the park the large bowl which sat atop of it was shattered into pieces. The base of the fountain was restored and subsequently advertised for sale at a price of £5,000. Its whereabouts are still unknown. The Peterhead granite shaft remained in the park where it slowly began to deteriorate. Vandalised and weather damaged, the remains of the Hannah Pickard Memorial Fountain lay forgotten by all but those few who visited this part of the park. With no information attached to it, how were those who saw it to know of its huge significant value? Where else is there anything tangible which commemorates this momentous occasion in Ossett’s history?

All that remains of the fountain.

This is in my possession but, despite many attempts to see it returned to the Market Place, I can get no interest from Wakefield Council.

If you think you can help to find a suitable site to display this tangible piece of Ossett’s heritage, then do please get in touch. Email me.

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THE TEMPERANCE HALL

Initially the Temperance Hall was going to be built on a plot of land near the junction of West Wells Road with Queen Street and Bank Street. Ossett Temperance Society bought this piece of land but they couldn’t raise the funds they needed to achieve their plans. Anyway, Ossett Local Board of Health was against the plans and thought that the building would be too large for the site, leaving a narrow entrance into West Wells. Subsequently the trustees of the land exchanged it with the Local Board of Health for a plot on the corner of Illingworth Street and Prospect Road. The new Temperance Hall was built at a cost of £1,500 in 1888 to a design by architect W.A. Kendall.

Part of the temperance movement’s success was the formation of Cocoa Houses, where people were offered non-alcoholic beverages as an alternative to the lure of the many inns and alehouses. Ossett had a Temperance Cocoa House on Dearden Street, fronting Bank Street and Queen Street. The proprietor of the Cocoa House was Charles Hallgath who, with his wife Ann née Turner, were natives of Lincolnshire. The Hallgarths were living in Ossett by 1871 and by 1879 they were running the Temperance Cocoa House.

It would appear that it continued in the family until at least 1911, when the census for that year records May Squires, the 20 year old granddaughter of Charles and Ann, as a boarding house keeper of the seven roomed house at 78 Bank Street. Charles and Ann still lived there along with May, her husband George (a blacksmith at Charles Roberts) and their two year old son Charles Edward Squires.

By the way, in 1914 Ossett had 34 taverns or pubs. It would seem that not everyone in Ossett fancied cocoa, even if it did come with a hot dinner and a well aired bed …

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MORE ARCHITECTURE

In 1894 the Ossett Observer reported: Good stone buildings have arisen along both sides, and such is the impetus given to the adoption of a more ornamental style of architecture in the erection of new business premises that the appearance of the centre of the borough is altogether changed for the better.

THE LONDON CITY & MIDLAND BANK

The London City & Midland Bank was built in 1891 – just a year after Ossett received its Charter of Incorporation. Founded in August 1836 as the Birmingham and Midland Bank, it became the London City & Midland Bank in 1891. It became the Midland Bank in 1923 and less than a decade later it was the largest deposit bank in the world. In 1999 it became part of the HSBC group.

Some photos I took in 2016 when the original signage was uncovered.

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THE WAKEFIELD & BARNSLEY UNION BANK

The directors of the Wakefield and Barnsley Bank have at length succeeded in obtaining an eligible site for a new branch bank with manager’s house, in Town Street, and have lost no time having the design prepared, and contracts let. The new building will have a frontage of forty feet to Town Street, and fifty feet to a new street running at right angles therefrom. The design is classic, and will be carried out in hard Huddersfield stone. The bank entrance is in the centre of the front elevation, wide and spacious, circular beaded doorway, and right and left are two circular headed windows. Above runs an elaborate cornice and frieze, on which will be inscribed ‘Wakefield and Barnsley Union Bank’. Over on the first floor to the front are five circular headed windows, and above them moulded strings and cornices, which is surmounted by ornamental blocking and moulded coping. The side elevation having the entrance to the manager’s house will be similar in character. The whole building will be faced with stone, giving it an appearance of strength and substantiability. The banking room will be twenty-one feet by twenty feet, and thirteen feet high, and adjoining will be the strong room, and the directors private room. The house is of good size, having ten rooms, good cellars, end every other accommodation. The bank will be fitted with patent shutters, and every other modern appliance requisite for a building of such a character. The cost of the building will be about £2,000. Messrs. Eastwood and Tolson have entered into a contract for the whole of the work, under the superintendence and from the designs of Mr. W. Watson, architect, of Wakefield.

Wakefield Express – Saturday 16 April 1870

The Wakefield & Barnsley Union Bank was established in 1832 in Wakefield as the Wakefield Banking Co. In 1840, after acquiring Beckett, Birks & Co of Barnsley, its name changed to the Wakefield & Barnsley Union Bank. In 1884 the bank was registered as a limited company and remained independent until 1906 when it was absorbed by the Birmingham & District Counties Banking Co. In 1916 it became a part of Barclays Bank Ltd.

Watson insisted that “all timber to be of the best red Baltic produce and should be clear of sap, shakes, large or loose knots, wavy edges or other defects”. Elland sandstone was used for the walls with a roof of Bangor countess slate.

This building bears some fascinating sculpted figure heads on the keystones. None more so than this one.

There’s also the mystery of the two different figure heads over the front door. Evidently, a portico was a later addition. Some of the heads are the classical deities, Minerva, Venus, Mars, Diana, Hebe and Mercury.

Photos: Phil Waud for Ossett Through The Ages (OTTA) August 2021

The whole of the building shall be ready for the roof on or before the 15th day of August 1870, and be completed and finished on or before the first day of December 1870, under penalty of £10 per week for each and every week beyond the period during which the said building shall not be completed as aforesaid. In case there should arise a strike or combination among any of the workmen of the said contractor, for the purpose of obtaining higher wages or other privileges, the said contractor shall be entitled to such an extension of time for the completion of the said contract beyond the time herein stipulated as shall be reasonable under such circumstances as the architect shall decide.

Notices in the Ossett Observer:

January 22nd 1870: The old smithy, dwelling house and land adjoining in upper Dale Street were purchased on behalf of The Wakefield & Barnsley Banking Company, who propose to erect a bank and manager’s house on the site.

April 16th 1870: The directors of The Wakefield & Barnsley Banking Company Ltd have accepted the tender of Messrs Eastwood & Tolson of Ossett for the erection of the new bank, at a cost of £2,000.

August 12th 1871: The new Wakefield & Barnsley Union Bank was opened in Ossett on August 8th with Mr W. Hunter as manager. Mr Eli Mitchell, solicitor, was the first customer to transact business.

In 1881 Stephen was wanted on warrant for embezzlement of the Wakefield & Barnsley Banking Co. Apparently he’d gone away with a lady and wasn’t expected to return. He had left household furniture to the value of £100 and also shares in The Halifax Building Society. I can find no evidence to suggest that he was ever caught!

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Barclays became part of Ossett in 1916 when it absorbed the Wakefield and Barnsley Union Bank.

Claire Bellenis 2018: My dad, Eddie Briggs, elegantly leaning against a chair! And some members of the long gone century club, which was above Barclays Bank.

Martin Dearnley 2020: There was a gentleman’s club called “The Century Club” of local mill-owners, businessmen and professionals. Join by invitation only. They met/owned the top floor of Barclays Bank. Named as such because there were 100 members.

Although the bank is now closed, there are still signs of it – if you know where to look.

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THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL

In 1733 a fund was raised by public subscription and used to build the grammar school in the centre of the town; it opened two years later. In July 1754 the school was enlarged so that it could teach reading, writing and accounting. In 1805 it was enlarged again and in 1837 a two storey building was built. (NB The dates in the original publication are a little out).

I’m curious as to why there would be a chimney above a window …

The fees were £3 a year for boys under 12 and £4 a year for those over 12. There were no girls in the school. For an extra fee the boys could learn Latin, Greek, German, chemistry, algebra and trigonometry.

This was the only school in the West Riding to charge an extra fee for Latin and Greek.

In 1895 the Royal Commission of Education instructed a number of Assistant Commissioners to report on the condition of secondary schools around the country. The report on Ossett Grammar School wasn’t particularly favourable. Mr AP Lowrie, the assistant commissioner, described the Grammar School in the Market Place as a small building consisting of a house for the headmaster that had the ‘look of a regular workman’s house’, and one dirty classroom.

Relying on private donations, the school struggled for many years and, as other schools around the country improved, it became obvious to all connected with it that the old grammar school was no longer sufficient for modern requirements.

It was decided that it was impossible to do anything with the existing school buildings and, when the 1902 Education Act reorganised the administration of education and placed it under the control of the county borough councils, Park House came into the hands of the corporation and became the solution to the problem. The old school was demolished in 1905 and for a while it was housed in the Central Baptist schoolroom in old Church Street.

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THE OSSETT INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY

These images were captured by members of Ossett Through The Ages (OTTA).

OSSETT CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY TEA PARTY. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday a tea party was given in connection with the above society, to celebrate the completion of its 25th year and also the opening of new stores. Free tickets were issued to the members, about 600 for each evening. Mrs. Ellis, confectioner, Bank-street, provided a substantial knife and fork tea in the Assembly Rooms, the trays being presided over by lady members of the society. Tea was followed by a musical entertainment and speeches in the Wesley-street schoolroom. On Monday evening there was a crowded audience, the chair being occupied by Mr. Daniel Godley, president of the society.

Mr. Holmes of Leeds, spoke of Co-operation as a remedy for the present unequal distribution of wealth. He advised working men to take a pattern from what the capitalists had done. They had some nice snug houses in Ossett, and some wretched holes. He did not want to pull down the former, but to build up the latter. It was labour which made wealth, and the produce of labour which paid wages. Co-operation was a means of doing good and making the world better

The Secretary, Mr. George Illingworth, read a report, giving a short account of the growth of the society from its commencement in February 1861, it having just completed its 25th year. During the first half-year or so the founders were collecting funds to make a start with. The first balance-sheet was issued in November, 1861, and showed a membership of 81. On looking over the list many and varied reflections were awakened. 51 of the 81 were now passed away.

When business was first commenced it was only in a small way in cottage houses, but in 1864 the society felt itself strong enough to buy land and build a store, now used as the No. 1 Boot and Shoe Store [Dale Street]. Immediately afterwards it built the No. 2 store at South Ossett [Manor Road], and in 1871 it was felt that the time had come to extend again. During the last five years the society had built, at South Ossett [ManorRoad], new stores for the butchering and shoe trades; and last, but not least, premises for the drapery, millinery, chemist’s, and butcher’s departments at the Central Stores [Dale Street], the completion of which this gathering was to celebrate.

Ossett Observer – Saturday 10 April 1886

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Co op number 2, Manor Road, South Ossett.

Eric Robinson: I think Mr Gregson was manager at No 2 store on Manor Road. I was doing a job on the tower clock and he forgot that I was up there and he closed the shop and went home. I managed to escape through the double doors on the first floor, using a length of rope which I found among the junk in the upper room.

I lowered my toolbox to the ground – about 20 feet ,I stood on the ledge outside the door and was able to lock the door using a piece of string passed under the door and attached to the bottom bolt, by pulling up hard on the string which did the trick. I then put the rope through the metal bars which were leaded into the stonework surrounding the doors and was able to lower myself to the ground. I pulled the rope out of the metal bars and left it behind the shop.

Mr Gregson was surprised when I turned up at his house ! No mobile phones in those days and the internal doors were locked – no access to the shop telephone I could have been there all night but for a little reasoned thought. We do see life, It’s all part of the Tapestry !

Co Op number 3 opened in 1871 on Dewsbury Road, Streetside (aka Leeds Road End).

Paul Laycock: Clifford Laycock (my grandfather) is the right hand chap of the three stood in the centre of this photograph.

Tim Ward: Leeds Rd End (above and left). I was the butcher’s lad, late 60s/70s. Albert Wilkinson was the butcher and Donald Sanderson was the manager of the Co-op. As it was the main road, you got a lot of passing trade.

On the way to Batley Variety Club was Eartha Kitt and she stopped at the butchers. Albert recognised her straight away. ‘Give me some of your finest steak minced up, for my poochy’, she said. He minced up all the rubbish you could think. Next day, she called back in. ‘Darlink, that was the finest my poochy has ever had’. So he minced her some more rubbish. True story.

Co op number 4, on Junction Lane. Built in 1896.

Co op number 5 at Flushdyke was opened in 1901 by the President of the Co Op, Alderman FL Fothergill.

Co op number 6 by the Maypole Green, Gawthorpe

The original buildings on Dale Street were built in 1873 & 1884. They closed on Saturday 10 April 1993. Following reconstruction, using much of the original stone, the West Yorkshire Co-operative Supermarket was opened on Monday 21 September 1998.

This decorative beehive is on the Co-op building on Dale Street and is one of several pieces from the original Co-op building. The beehive is an emblem of the Co-operative movement. Co-operative societies across the UK have been using the beehive as a symbol of working together for the common good.

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THE REST

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THE WESLEYAN CHAPEL

According to the deeds of a piece of land purchased in 1781 for the building of a large chapel, Wesley Street was once known as Oxley Lane, the highway leading from Ossett to Dewsbury. The men who purchased the land were John Harrop, William Ellis, John Milner, John Phillips, Timothy Fozard, David Mitchell, Benjamin Hallas, Joseph Megson and James Fozard. There is no record of a chapel being built until 1798.

In 1825 another chapel was built. The builders were Tolsons of Ossett and the architects were Bulmer & Holton from Wakefield and Dewsbury. Said to be the third largest Methodist Chapel in England, it cost £6,000 to build and it seated 1,427 people. Described as having a fine classical facade, which faced out on to Wesley Street, the three remaining sides had rather a plain appearance. This became the Sunday school when the “new” Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was built between 1866 and 1868.

Steve Wilson: The Church decided to provide it with a burial ground and this was done. It was used chiefly in its earlier years, although there was an internment as late as 1879. However, some details are important. In total, 360 people were buried there and details are known of 342 of them. Their average age at death was 30.6 years; the life expectancy of a newly-born child of white ethnicity in 2004 was about 76 years for a male and 81 for a female. The bodies were not disturbed during the building and road-making works of recent years. Many of those interred in the burial ground are believed to lie under parts of Wesley Street and Ventnor Way. (This refers to the chapel built in 1825.)

David Simmonds: Charging for Sittings and Pews seems archaic to us, but it gives a good idea of how churches used to be funded and of the impact there must have been on church income since such charges were abolished. A charge of 4/- a Sitting in 1890 equates with £25 today. Thus, the income in 1890 from the 36 Sittings in the ‘back row’ of the Chapel alone – Pews 28, 28, 64, 65, 100 and 101 – would be £7 4s 0d; £900 today. Albeit some attracted a lower charge than those I’ve referred to, the income from the 128 Pews must have been considerable.

On Monday November 14 1921, the dedication and unveiling of a War Memorial Tablet occurred. Crafted from alabaster and marble, it was designed by W.H. Fraley & Sons Ltd of Birmingham. Inscribed upon it wee the names of 23 brave men from Ossett who lost their lives in World War I. What has become of this memorial? Where is it located today?

The reasons behind the demolition of the Wesleyan Methodist Church on Wesley Street have frequently been questioned. This statement originates from Charles Wilson (left), Superintendent Minister in 1935.

“The financial burden resting upon those who are responsible for the upkeep of a suite of premises such as ours at Wesley Street is as everyone must realise, a very heavy one. Our Church has always had to depend upon the free will gifts of the members and friends, and we have never had cause to be disappointed. We therefore confidently appeal to all those who love the House of God, and especially those who have a particular affection for Wesley Street, to support us liberally. We are deeply grateful to all who have helped us generously in the past.”

The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel closed its doors on January 2 1954 and was demolished in 1961. On Saturday 14 July 1962, after a service in the Dale Street Church conducted by Rev.Edward J Prentice (the Chairman of the District), there was a procession to the site of the new church, where the foundation stone was laid by Dr.Marjorie Lonsdale. At this time, £3000 was still needed to open the new buildings free from debt.

On Saturday August 31 1963, at 3pm the New Church, designed by Barker & Jordan of Bradford and built by Harlow & Milner of Ossett, opened its doors and welcomed its congregation. In September 2001 the United Reformed Church joined with the Ossett Methodist Church to become the King’s Way Church and Christian Centre at Wesley Street.

The plaque was erected to celebrate peace in the Napoleonic Wars and it now features in the wall that surrounds the current church. Look at the date – 1814. Napoleon escaped from Elba in 1814 and this led to the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

How many of you remember Shaw Peace in the Market Place? It was long gone by the time I arrived in Ossett in 2007, but I’ve seen several photos of it. It never occurred to me that ‘Shaw Peace’ wasn’t the name of two people in business together. It isn’t. Though it is the name of two people. I’ll explain …

Priscilla Shaw and William Peace were married in Kirkburton in 1866. Together they had eleven children and their third son, born at Brooks Yard, Thornhill Edge on November 9 1870, was named Shaw Peace. Shaw, like his brothers and his father, became a miner, whilst his sisters worked in the local mills. Just after Shaw turned 18 his father was in an accident at Ingham’s Pit. He was crushed when the roof fell in and was taken by ambulance to Dewsbury Infirmary where he died soon after his arrival. An inquest into the tragedy was held at The Rose & Crown, Dewsbury and returned a verdict of ‘accidentally injured’. Priscilla was pregnant at this time and her daughter Lillian was born a few months later in June 1889.

When he was 23 Shaw married Clara Halstead (also 23). By the time they were both 30 they had two sons – Charles and Armitage – and Shaw was a self employed printer. In 1903 their daughter Mary was born in Thornhill and in 1904 Shaw was listed in Kelly’s Directory of Printers with the address ‘Market Place, Ossett’. The West Yorkshire Tax Valuation of 1910 shows that Shaw Peace rented a house and a warehouse on Wesley Street from the trustees of the old Wesleyan Chapel. Shaw Peace died aged 77 in 1948.

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HOLY TRINITY CHURCH

The history of this church, and some of its people has been covered elsewhere on this website. You’ll find it here.

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THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Likewise, some of the history of this church, and its people, can be found here.

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THE OLD STORRS HILL HOSPITAL

When the new hospital was finished this old church was taken down, and burned at 3 o’ clock in the morning under the watchful eye of various members of the board. The aerial photo (above) shows roughly where it was located.

Steve Wilson: The last smallpox epidemic in Ossett was back in 1930 and those suffering from this terrible disease were treated at the Isolation Hospital on Storrs Hill. Over the years, Ossett has seen a good number of smallpox epidemics. At the end of 1892, a man named Shaw from Greatfield in Ossett was admitted to the hospital along with two other patients, all suffering with smallpox. At around 6:40 the next morning, Mr Shaw was so distressed about his condition that he left the hospital and committed suicide by running in front of a train at the foot of Storrs Hill. One of the most serious smallpox outbreaks occurred in Ossett in 1904 when Park House, later to become Ossett Grammar School was bought by Ossett Borough Council to serve as a hospital for smallpox patients. The Isolation Hospital at Storrs Hill was so full that temporary tents had to be erected to house the massive influx of new patients.The Isolation Hospital at Storrs Hill started off originally in 1881 as an iron building and was replaced later in 1896 by the new brick built building that is still there today. Eventually, after smallpox was eradicated in the UK, the Isolation Hospital was converted in 1951 into three houses. Nev Ashby has researched the history of the Storrs Hill Isolation Hospital(s) and has written a detailed article which you can read on ossett.net

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CALDER VALE MILLS

In 1840 the Manchester and Leeds Railway company were extending their line between the two cities and wanted to divert the Calder at Healey. Being confident of getting approval they built the five arch stone bridge which is behind the Calder Vale. The owners of Healey New Mill objected to the diversion and, after quite a while, obtained an injunction which was later overturned. In the interim the Railway Company wanted to get on with laying the rail track and had built a temporary wooden bridge to carry the track over the Calder. The intention then was to demolish the wooden bridge and build an embankment to divert the river under their new five arch stone bridge.

I took these photos in 2017.

Having spent £3000 (£300,000 today) on this new stone bridge the Rail Company changed its mind (!) in the early 1850’s and replaced the temporary wooden bridge with a stone bridge with three arches which is the one over the Calder today near the footbridge. So almost two hundred years on the five arch bridge behind Calder Vale Mill, built to span the Calder, has never seen a drop of moving water.

The 1843 Tithe Map here shows what was intended and named the proposed diversion Healey New Canal.

WILLIAM GARTSIDE & HEALEY HOUSE/ DUNDALK/ DUNKELD

William Gartside’s Dye Works were built in 1864 on the site of the Healey New Canal, which was partly filled in by the late 1850s. Part of the old canal was then used by the dyeworks and later Calder Vale Mill, as the dyeworks were to become, as a mill dam. In 1887, the dyeworks were sold to Fawcett, Firth and Jessop, rag merchants and mungo and extract makers.

William’s business was highly successful and concentrated on producing dyes for wool. Dundalk House was built for William Gartside who was a drysalter and, at one time, was the owner of a colliery and many acres of land in Ossett. A drysalter dealt in chemicals such as glue, varnish and dye. The land on which the pinfold now stands had also belonged to William Gartside. On April 17 1871 Ossett Board of Health agreed to exchange the original pinfold of 144 square yards for William Gartside’s plot adjacent to the West Well (120 square yards). It was agreed that he would pay £50 towards the building of a new pinfold – it was to be 3 yards high with pitch faced walls.

The census returns of 1851, 1861 and 1871 record William as being resident at Dewsbury Lane. Prior to this, the road was called Oxley Lane. By 1876 it had been given the name that we’re more familiar with:- Wesley Street. Wesley House was built in the early 1870s for William Gartside but he only lived there briefly. Probably because he had another house built. Ossett mungo manufacturer and Ossett’s first mayor, Edward Clay purchased the Wesley House estate and the Clay family have now lived there for over 100 years. It wasn’t only the road which had several changes of name. The house did too. Whilst we know it now as ”Dundalk House”(or ”Dundalk Court”), before this it was called ”Dunkeld”. As you might know, Dundalk is in Ireland, whilst Dunkeld is in Scotland. When William Gartside lived there, he gave his new home another name:- ”Healey House”. There are those who believe that this house was actually at Healey and I can see why as, in 1864, William had built his extensive dyeworks on the site of Healey new canal. See what you think.

William Gartside died in November 1876 and was buried at Holy Trinity Churchyard. On the burial register his address was ”Healey House”. William’s obituary in the Ossett Observer stated that he died at home. On Wesley Street. At Healey House then?

By 1881(and possibly earlier) Healey House was a doctor’s surgery occupied by 35 year old Dr John Greaves Wiseman. Dr Wiseman, whose father William Wood Wiseman, was also a doctor, was admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons in 1867 and appears to have begun his career at Guy’s Hospital in London. The 1871 census records him at Dearden Street. This would then imply that the doctor’s practice was established at Dunkeld between 1871 and 1881.

Using the electoral role I learned that, in 1891, keeping his surgery on Wesley Street, Dr Wiseman moved to Wakefield Road, not far from The Red Lion. This move was no doubt prompted by the arrival that year of Dr George Symers Mill who came to Ossett as an assistant to Dr Wiseman. Dr Mill was born in 1865 in Arbroath in Scotland. Just a few miles away is Dunkeld, on the north bank of the River Tay. I suspect it was a favourite place of Dr Mill. Described as the “Gateway to the Highlands”, I can’t fault him. Dr Mill moved into Healey House. He married Alice Mary Harrop of Green House, The Green at Holy Trinity Church in September 1897 and their only child, Constance, was born the following year. When Dr Wiseman retired, Dr Symers succeeded him and, by 1905, the house had been renamed Dunkeld. Dr Wiseman died in 1934. He was 88. His address on his probate record is “Stranraer”, St Peter’s Road, Middlesex. Seems he too dreamed of Scotland.

Dr Mill became the first School Medical Officer in Ossett, and for 26 years was on the honorary medical staff at Dewsbury and District Hospital. He served, with the rank of major, in the 4th battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and was associated with the Territorials for many years. He also conducted classes for the St John Ambulance Association which was founded in 1877. During WW1, at the age of 51, Dr Mill served in France with the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC). Wounded, he returned home and later took charge of the medical division of Staincliffe War Hospital. When he died, at the age of 59 in January 1925, his funeral was held at Holy Trinity Church. It was filled to capacity by the general public, which his obituary stated “was a striking testament to the esteem and respect in which the doctor was held”.

Five months after the death of her father, Constance married Dr William Simpson. Dr Simpson had qualified in 1923 and, after a brief spell in Obstetrics at the Royal Maternity and Women’s Hospital in Glasgow, he moved to Ossett to work with Constance’s father at Dunkeld. Following in his father in law’s footsteps, Dr Simpson became the School Medical Officer for Ossett and was involved with the St John Ambulance Association. Like his father in law, he also held a position at Dewsbury and District Hospital. By 1927 Dr Simpson was joined at Dunkeld by the newly qualified Dr William Donald Mitton. By 1939 the Simpsons had left Ossett for Preston where Dr Simpson worked as an obstetric surgeon. Dr Mitton was by this time running the practice at Dunkeld.

During WW2 Dr Simpson joined the RAMC (just like his father in law had done in WW1). In 1944 he died from a heart attack which he suffered whilst on active service in Jamaica. He is one of 47 Commonwealth service personnel, who lost their lives in WW2, buried at Kingston (Up Park Camp) Military Cemetery, Jamaica.

Dr Mitton continued to work at Dunkeld until his death, in Switzerland in 1964, at the age of 62. Dr Mitton’s wife, Helen, died in early 1998 and, in that same year, an application was submitted to WMDC for development of the house and land. What became of the house in those intervening years? I believe Dr Mitton had a partner, Dr Cole. Did he continue to practice out of Dunkeld?

As for Dundalk … Would you believe it is thought to have been a simple administrative error? A misinterpretation? A typo? I wonder if that’s correct … Could be. Or maybe someone was dreaming of Ireland.

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TEMPERANCE MILL

Francis Lumb Fothergill was the Mayor of Ossett three times. During his third tenure, there was a terrible tragedy.

OSSETT’S MAYORESS FOUND DROWNED

An inquest was held at the Temperance Hall, Ossett, yesterday, touching the death of Mrs. Rebecca Fothergill, wife of Ald. F. L. Fothergill, the Mayor of Ossett, who was found on Tuesday morning in the dam of her husband’s mill. Ald. Fothergill identified the body as that of his wife, who was seventy years old. They had been married forty-two years. His wife had enjoyed good health until a few years ago, when her mother and sister were asphyxiated by gas in Leeds. On Christmas Day of 1901, their eldest son died after an illness of five hours; and about last Christmas her sister and several other near relatives died within two or three days. These circumstances naturally depressed her very much, and in addition she underwent a severe illness at the commencement of the present year, from which she was not expected to recover.

Shortly before eight o’clock in the morning, after finishing breakfast, she went out of the house, but, as she appeared to be in her usual state health, no particular notice was taken of the fact. As she did not return a few minutes later, Mr. Fothergill asked his niece to see where his wife was, and upon going outside she was informed that the body of a woman had been taken out of the dam. Examination showed that the body was that of Mrs. Fothergill. Great sympathy is expressed on all hands with Ald. Fothergill in his trouble. At the inquest, on Wednesday, the jury returned a verdict of “Suicide while temporarily insane,” and expressed their sympathy with Mr. Fothergill.

Leeds Mercury – Saturday 24 October 1903

NORTHFIELD MILL

Church Street was once known as Field Lane. In an Ossett Observer dated June 2nd 1872, Field Lane is referred to as Northfield Lane.

Abraham Pollard was a mungo manufacturer at Northfield Mill on Church Street. He had been in partnership with his father in law, John Speight, but after a dreadful fire in 1888 which destroyed the four storey mill and left them with damage adding up to £15,000, John left the business and Abraham became the sole owner.

DESTRUCTIVE MILL FIRE! At about 7 o’clock yesterday evening a fire broke out at Northfield Mill on Church Street, belonging to Messrs. John Speight & Sons, mungo manufacturers. The main building, four storeys high, fifteen windows long and five windows broad, was completely destroyed. Portable fire extinguishers were unreachable due to dense smoke. The yard was equipped with a powerful steam fire engine. Unfortunately, due to the lowness of the water in the dam from which it was fed, this could not be made to work. Hose pipes were affixed to the town’s mains but the fire was ferocious and spread rapidly. The Fire Brigade at Victoria Mills, belonging to Messrs Ellis Bros, received the alarm at twenty to eight and proceeded to turn out their manual engine. When they arrived the mill was already doomed. Within an hour the roof had fallen in, quickly followed by one of the end walls. The damage is estimated at £15,000. Much sympathy is expressed for Mr Abraham Pollard of Longlands, who is now the sole partner in the firm.”

Ossett Observer- October 23 1888

A couple of old and a bit tatty pictures of Church Street (previously called Field Lane) circa 1900 – 1910, showing the mill chimneys of Northfield Mills and Temperance Mill in the background. First picture taken from (1) on the map and the second from position (2).

Steve Wilson

The Pollards lived at Longlands, Flushdyke. Built in the 18th Century, with its twelve rooms and its own plantation, it was the largest house in Ossett. For more than a hundred years Longlands had been occupied by the Haighs who were said to be one of the town’s richest families. When the last of the Haighs died in the late 1850s the ownership of the house passed to wealthy landowner Charles Wheatley and subsequently Abraham Pollard became his tenant.

George Pollard was the eldest son of Abraham and Sophia who had married at Dewsbury Parish Church on November 1 1862. At that time Ossett’s new Parish Church was just starting to take shape. Reverend Thomas Lee had laid the foundation stone of the church on June 30 1862 and in May 1865 he also placed the final stone on top of the steeple. George was baptised at the newly built Holy Trinity Church on April 13 1865. Almost four years later his brother; William Ernest, was also baptised at the new church by Reverend Lee.

George was educated at Bramham College in Wetherby where he was a boarder. The college once attracted the sons of many leading Yorkshire families but in 1869 there was a severe epidemic of cholera and the popularity of the college began to decline. Still, Abraham chose to send his eldest son, and George was there in 1881. The headmaster at that time was Edward Oldroyd Haigh; the son of Dr Benjamin Bentley Haigh who had opened the school in 1842. Could they have had a connection to the Haighs of Longlands? The college eventually closed and, after laying derelict for some years, in around 1907 it was dismantled entirely so that its stone could be used in the rebuilding of Bramham Park. In 1881 George’s brother William was also in school, yet the preparatory school which he attended – Gresford Lodge in Clifton, Bristol – was brand new, having opened a year earlier. On completion of his studies in Wetherby, George joined his father in the family business. William later studied law but he too went on to join his brother and their father in the textile trade.

On June 13 1888 George married Ellen Sykes at St Peter’s, Huddersfield. Their first daughter, Margaret Sophia was born in March 1889 and baptised at Holy Trinity Church the following July. The address on her baptism record is South Ossett, though later the family lived at Church Street. Following the death of his father in 1891, George and his family moved to Longlands where William was already resident. On February 18 1892 a second daughter, Dorothy, was born to George and Ellen.

In September 1908 George Pollard died in Copenhagen and William became the head of the household at Longlands. William died in April 1921 and probate was granted to his sister in law, Ellen.

Photo of the two houses, taken by Helen Bickerdike for Ossett Through The Ages (OTTA).

Let’s go back to the daughters of Ellen and George Pollard. Margaret married 28 year old Frank Fearnside at Holy Trinity Church in July 1914. Like Margaret’s father and her grandfather, Frank was a mungo manufacturer and he lived at “Lyndhurst”, Station Road. After their marriage, Margaret joined him at “Lyndhurst” and together they had four children; Margaret, Joyce, Sheila and William Henry Pollard Fearnside. Margaret died in 1959, aged 70.

Dorothy Pollard was 31 and living at “Glendene” when she married in April 1923. Her groom, 30 year old John Francis Carter Braine, lived at Wimpole Street, London, and was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. Perhaps they met when Dorothy was serving during WW1 as a Nursing Sister in the Voluntary Aid Department (VAD) at St John’s Auxiliary Hospital at Wentworth House in Wakefield. Wentworth House was built in 1802-1805 for John Pemberton Heywood, a barrister. In 1878 the house and its grounds were bought for £8000. It became Wakefield Girls’ High School. Dorothy and John made their home in Kent. Dorothy died in 1974, aged 83.

Longlands was demolished in the early 1970s.

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ROYDS MILL

HENRY WORMALD

OSSETT’S NEW MAYOR. Broad-shouldered, well built, robust, and of middle age, such is the personality of councillor Henry Wormald, of Gawthorpe, Ossett’s new Chief Magistrate. A native of Gawthorpe, as was his father. Mr. Joseph Wormald, the Mayor, as a boy, received his education at the Gawthorpe Church day school, that being the only school in the neighbourhood at that time. Those studies, however, were supplemented by attendance at a night school, but the budding Mayor had to rely on his own efforts at home during his leisure moments.

At an early age he commenced work as a piecener at Royds Mill, little dreaming, no doubt, that he was destined to become the owner. Leaving here when he was about 18 years of age, the youth transferred his services to Messrs. Stockwell, Barran and Co., Morley, where, his merit being recognised, he became foreman.

In 1873 he joined in partnership with the late Mr. George Hanson, in the mungo and rag trade, premises being rented at Chickenley Heath. In 1880 Royd’s Mill was purchased, and the business transferred to those premises, where a disastrous fire seven years later resulted an a loss of between £6,000 and £7.000. His partner, Mr. Hanson, who was then Mayer of Ossett, died in 1893, and Mr. Wormald, with Mr. Hanson’s widow as sitting partner, took over the mungo and rag trade at Royds Mill.

In 1865 Mr. Wormald took Miss Sarah Ada Illingworth, a Gawthorpe young lady, as a partner of his joys and sorrows, but he was bereaved of her companionship twenty-five later, and had to bear the blow alone, there being no children.

Mr. Wormald was first elected to the Council in 1893 as a representative of North Ward, his candidature berg unopposed, and he was similarly returned in 1885. and last year. ln him the gas purchase movement has a strong supporter, his views in municipal matters being progressive, blended with moderation. Congregationalist in religion, and president of the Gawthorpe Free Church Council, he is a worshipper at the Zion Church, Gawthorpe, where he has officiated as deacon, having also acted in a similar capacity at The Green Congregational Church. For two years (1901-2) Mr. Wormald was president of the local Chamber of Commerce; in 1895 he occupied a similar position with regard to the Ossett Liberal Association. and still retains the presidency of the North Ward Liberal Club.

Batley Reporter and Guardian – Friday 10 November 1899

GEORGE HANSON

George Hanson died in April 1893 at Southport and was buried at the Holy Trinity Churchyard. The towns people showed their respects by a general cessation of business, shops being closed and blinds drawn. The long funeral procession comprised the band of the 1st Volunteer Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, G Company, a detachment of West Riding Constabulary, the members and officials of the Ossett Corporation, the Mayors of Dewsbury, Wakefield, and Batley, magistrates, Chamber of Commerce, Tradesmen’s Association, Mechanics’ Institution and Technical School, Hospital Committee, ‘Temperance Society, Women’s Temperance Union, Chairmen of neighbouring Local Boards, and many others. Its progress through the streets was witnessed by thousands of spectators. The first part of the funeral service was performed at Zion Congregational Church, and the remainder at the graveside. It was conducted by the Rev. E. Goodison (Congregational), of Earlsheaton, and E. Greenwood (Baptist). senior Nonconformist minister in the borough. Mr. Hanson left a widow, a son (Mr. Charles Edward Hanson), and two daughters (Mrs. Cliffe, wife of the Rev. C. W. Cliffe, of Gawthorpe, and Miss Julia Hanson).

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WESTFIELD COLLIERY

This colliery and its owner, Henry Westwood, is mentioned here . Steve Wilson also offers his research into the colliery, on his website ossett.net

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