programme and newsletters for mlhs during the season...

MORLEYLOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Founded 1965www.morleylhs.btck.co.uk

Talks Programme for 2018-19

11 September 2018 Mary Twentyman Illustrated The Roots of Judy Woods

9 October 2018 Trevor Moody Illustrated Wentworth Woodhouse

13 November 2018 Clive McManus Illustrated Morley and the Great War

11 December 2018 Chris Helme Illustrated Other Folks’s Rubbish

8 January 2019 Janet Niepokojczycka Illustrated I am come Home, Sir

12 February 2019 Martin Cocker Illustrated F/Sgt Arthur Aaron - Leeds’ own Air VC

12 March 2019 Jane Ellis Illustrated Curiosities of the North Yorkshire Moors

9 April 2019 Annual General Meeting and Clive McManus: will give an Illustrated talk on Christopher Saxton, map maker

MEETINGS are held in the Labour Rooms, Commercial Street at 7.30pm.EXCURSIONS are arranged to places of interest in the Summer months.The society publishes booklets from time to time.MEMBERSHIP is £9.00 per Member per year and VISITOR’S CHARGE is £2.00. Further details from the Secretary, MAURICE SYKES (0113-2535128).

MORLEYLOCAL HISTORY SOCIETYNewsletter

September 2018 Founded 1965www.morleylhs.btck.co.uk

TonightGood evening and welcome to the first meeting of the 2018-19 season. Our speaker is Mary Twentyman, a member of Bradford Family History Society who those of us in the Community Archives have known and respected for a good number of years. She will be talking about the layout and history of Judy Woods, South Bradford, an area where she has also arranged a number of walks.

The Last meetingThe AGM was good humoured and business-like with a satisfactory financial and membership position. Afterwards I gave a talk on the Rhodes Mill family which had a profound effect on the industrial and social life of Morley during much of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Many influential people were related to the family’s patriarch, Joseph Rhodes (1809-1891) who founded their textile manufacturing interests. They maintained this presence right up until the 1960s when the textile trade began to fail in Morley as elsewhere.One of our founders, George Atkinson, worked at their Prospect Mill for many years and I was able to add colour to the talk by showing photos and recollections from the family archive put together by him and his son David.

Future EventsSat. 15-Sep-2018: Heritage Open Day in Morley Town Hall. Tours at 10:30am and 2pm. Historical displays. No chargeSun. 16-Sep-2018: A guided tour of Morley Cemetery. 11am - 1pm. Discussion on the Cemetery and some of the people and families interred there. No charge.Sun. 30-Sep-2018, 11am: Guided Heritage Trail walk along Queen Street. No charge.Fri. 5-Oct-2018, 11:45am : Laying of the Blue Plaque for Sir Titus Salt in the precinct corner with Albion Street. Followed by a talk on Sir Titus by Maria Glot, a noted authority on his life. Tickets for her talk are £5.Fri. 9-Nov-2018: A memorial service at Central Methodist Church to commemorate 100 years since the end of the Great War. Ticket by invitation.Sat. 10-Nov-2018: A road show in Morley Town Hall to commemorate the end of the war. Entertainment and displays. No chargeSun. 11-Nov-2018: Commemoration at the Cenotaph for the end of the war.

1889: The 80th Birthday of Joseph Rhodes at Hughenden, home of his son-in-law William Holton

The Society TripI am using Robert Brook’s notes and photos to describe the annual excursion to Normanby Hall and the North Lincolnshire Museum on Sunday 10th June. It was a good day for the outing with warm dry weather throughout.Poor communication by the folks at Normanby Hall meant that there was a shorter time there than was actually possible and no guides were available to show folks around the house. However, the grounds are extensive and well arranged. On this day there were two displays showing a hospital set up during the Great War and various historical costumes and styles besides what now seems to be an obligatory view of some vintage cars.

Robert said that the North Lincolnshire Museum at Scunthorpe was a delightful surprise. Although the building was small, the displays were many with interest from a variety of eras. Sections ranged from the pre-historic Jurassic Sea gallery to the much more modern Steeltown gallery. This reflects Scunthorpe’s recent history which has come under threat from international competition and tariffs. Then there were sections on local folklore, including the Saints and Sinners gallery which

looked at people’s beliefs in the medieval period. It’s clear from Robert’s other photos that the group enjoyed the refreshment facilities which were available and I understand that the staff were most helpful in providing these.

The trip was rounded off with a meal at the King’s Chamber pub-restaurant at Thornes, near Doncaster. Robert tells me that the staff there were also very obliging and flexible so that choices of food could be made without any fuss.I think that the trips are an important part of the life of this society and it’s important that we carry on with them. Any ideas that you might have will be gratefully received and I think we need to give Robert a big vote of thanks for all the work he has done in organising them.

Clive McManus

Susan Brook and friends outside the hall

Brian Dykes outside the museum

Left: Brian Terry, Joan Fieldsend, Diane Robinson, Mary Terry and Michael Robinson take refreshmentCentre: one of the meals (Robert’s?) at the King’s Chamber, ThornesRight: Brian Dykes and friends in the busy dining room at the King’s Chamber


October 2018 Founded 1965www.morleylhs.btck.co.uk

TonightTrevor Moody is to give us an illustrated talk about Wentworth Woodhouse, the large mansion in South Yorkshire, near Rotherham. It had become an isolated and rather desolate place until relatively recently. I understand that it is now owned by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust and there are big plans to develop the site. I’m sure we are all looking forward to hearing the progress that has been made.

The Last meetingMary Twentyman gave us an excellent illustrated talk about the work which her ‘Friends’ group has done in developing an understanding of Judy Woods in South Bradford besides looking after its future. Mary is known to some of us as a Family Historian of note but in this talk she showed what a variety of interests she has. A good deal of the talk dealt with work in clearing up the woods so that visitors could walk around them with some ease. However, the Friends have also carried out various professional archaeological, geological and ecological surveys - all with the aim of preserving and caring for this precious resource on our doorstep.

A Blue Plaque for Titus SaltOn Friday, 5-October, Colonel Alan Roberts unveiled a Blue Plaque for Titus Salt on the wall of the old Co-op Emporium near the Queen Street precinct-Albion Street junction. These are erected in co-operation with Leeds Civic Trust. Various of us have established good relations with them over the years with the result that we can now make recommendations of suitable names to be so honoured in this area.Titus Salt was born on 20-September-1803 in the old Morley Manor House which stood in this area from the 17th Century until 1937 when it was demolished to make way for the Emporium. I am sure that Morley influenced this remarkable man’s early years very strongly and am happy that this has been done. The old plaque, erected by Morley Local History Society and the old Borough of Morley Council remains.After the unveiling ceremony, Maria Glot gave a talk about Sir Titus to a large audience in the Town Hall. She gave us a splendid account, based on some fine and original research about the folks who worked in his mills besides some insights into his personality. All of this was done in a quite original and entertaining way. We could do worse than invite her to one of our evenings.

Blue Plaque for Titus Saltin Queen Street Precinct

Cemeteries in MorleyWe know that the oldest chapels in the area had graveyards attached to them. Those at St Mary’s-in-the-Wood, the Rehoboth Chapel on Dawson Hill and Queen Street Wesleyan Chapel were in use right up to the 1950s and 60s. That at St Mary’s contains gravestones from the 17th Century but it is very likely that many people were buried in sites which are no longer known. In 1800, the population of the town was around 2000 but it had grown to 15000 by 1881. Life expectancy was much shorter than now - in the 1880s a new born child would be lucky to reach the age of 50. Finding a suitable place for burial was becoming very difficult and I believe we don’t know the full story of how the town dealt with it, apart from at St Peter’s Church where overcrowding was creating difficulties in the surroundings.

The Local Board did start to address the problem in 1882 by setting up a Burial Board. The Morley Observer accounts of their meetings give deep impressions of the strong and opposed religious attitudes in the town. There was a great deal of distrust between important members of the Nonconformist and Anglican groups.It was a relatively easy task to find a suitable site in those days, unlike today, and they controlled their purse strings carefully. The main problem was the insistence that there be two chapels, one on consecrated land, for those of differing religious beliefs. The Vicar of St Paul’s Church in Morley was particularly vehement in this wish.In the end the Board insisted that only one chapel was erected with

this on unconsecrated land. They held the view that Anglicans could hold a burial service there without conflict with their doctrinal views. The cemetery cost £5800 (£1100 for the chapel; £1000 for the lodge) and it was formally opened on 29-Nov-1884. However, perhaps as an indication of the situation in Morley the first funeral was on 14-Nov-1884 for Samuel Clough. Some very rough calculations by the Board indicated that they expected it to be used for around 100 years. The chapel was widely used up to the 1950s but by then the Cottingley Crematorium was chosen by many families. Probably in consequence to this, the Chapel was demolished in 1977. New gravestones are still added but, now, Leeds City Council is looking for other land in which to place them. Thanks to Alan Briggs for the research.

The Society TripOnce again it is time to consider our annual excursion. At the last committee meeting, it was suggested that it could well be appropriate to visit the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington. We have been there before but it was in 1988 and the site has been upgraded since then with a lot of new exhibits. The 1940s atmosphere - Glenn Miller music etc - remains.It has also been suggested that we could combine this with a visit to the nearby Breezy Knees Gardens which has had high praise from some on the Committee. Both places have cafetarias and good access. Please let Robert know your view on this, or indeed, of any other suggestions you might have.

Clive McManus

Two listed gravestones in theSt Mary’s-in-the-Wood

churchyard

The Cemetery ChapelBen Clark. 1920c


November 2018 Founded 1965www.morleylhs.btck.co.uk

TonightThe Great War ended 100 years ago last Sunday at 11am and I am going to summarise my findings and those of the Community Archive. We have been studying the effect of this catastrophic event on Morley in particular and I think we are now in a position to tell you about this work.The talk will be illustrated and I want to show you the contributions of the men (and some women) who dealt with the sharp end of the war besides those who remained in Morley and kept the place running, sometimes under conditions of great difficulty. Much of this work has relied on information to be found in the records of the Morley Observer and the use of the digital reader in Leeds Central Library has enabled us to access this information quickly. I recommend that you use it should you wish to review this newspaper.

The Last meetingTrevor Moody gave us a detailed and interesting talk about Wentworth Woodhouse with a wide range of illustrations to show off every corner of it. He began by describing the activities of the Fitzwilliam who were associated with the site up until the 1940s. He also described the house and its grounds in details and the plans which have been made in recent times to restore it to something like its former glory. It was a stimulating evening.

Recent eventsThe past two weeks have been full of Great War Commemorations and some of us have been deeply involved in it, helping with poppy sales and taking part in events which have taken placeOur work on the 1914-18 period has helped these events considerably.We have been able to determine the vast majority of men on the War Memorial and have been gratified with the help we have received from local people whose ancestors took part in the conflict.

The Society tripThe committee still feels that it is appropriate to make an important part of the trip a tour of the Air Museum at Elvington. However, we’ve had second thoughts on a second venue. Elvington is quite close to York and we think we could supplement this with a visit to the Railway Museum in York. To the best of my knowledge we have not been there before and it must be one of the most highly rated of its kind in the country. Entry is free.We appreciate that not everyone will share this interest but it’s our intention to take the coach into York after the visit to Elvington. People can then decide for themselves if they want to go to the museum or visit some other part of York without suffering any penalty.

Memorial BookletFinally, Julie Heeley and I have been able to gather together all the work we’ve done over the last 4-5 years, researching the lives of the men named on the Morley War Memorial. Julie has brought some of the booklets along tonight and I hope you will spend some time looking at them. We have got really good information on 448 men named out of a total of 454. The information is presented in compact form but the original findings have been preserved either on paper (Julie’s preference) or on the computer (mine). Jeff Chambers has made a super job of the printing and they are on sale at £5.00 each.

Complimentary copies have been given to all the Morley and District Schools.

A Renamed MemorialWilliam Smith has given us the fascinating story of Mary Bosanquet whose wealthy family cast her out with her belongings and some money, when she decided to embrace the radical form of Christianity which became Methodism. She eventually settled in the house known as Cross Hall on the Bruntcliffe Road near Scotchman Lane, turning this house into an orphanage for infant girls and becoming a friend of John Wesley who visited her on a number of occasions.She struck up a friendship with John Fletcher, the vicar of Madeley in Shropshire and he clearly became smitten with her since he returned to Morley to propose marriage to her. She insisted the orphans be

properly cared for and they then married in Batley Parish Church in November 1781. Shortly after this they left Morley to live in Madeley. Fletcher died in 1785 but she continued to live there for another 30 years.Memories of her remained in both Morley and Madeley as I found out when I visited that area some years ago. In 1879, when Morley was expanding, it was decided to build a new chapel of the Wesleyan Methodist faith, the Mrs Fletcher Memorial Chapel in the area close to Cross Hall. In 1906, the Chapel elders, led by William Middlebrook decided to build a new chapel on Fountain Street and the postcard shows how it looked in 1928 when the trams were still running. The old church became the Sunday School. I recall many of my neighbours attended this chapel in the 1950s and it’s true to say that it was most popularly known as Cross Hall Chapel. However the connection with Mary Bosanquet-Fletcher still remained.After the chapel was closed in 1989 it was eventually converted into flats. The people who did this decided to rename it Fountain House. I don’t know the precise details but it was also decided, around the same time, to rename the refurbished Sunday School Bruntcliffe Chapel. This is incorrect as Andy Dalton has said.

Clive McManus

Mary Bosanquet(1739-1815)

The Fletcher Memorial ChapelFountain Street


December 2018 Founded 1965www.morleylhs.btck.co.uk

TonightIt’s our special Christmas meeting where we once again have free drinks and some festive food. These will be served before and after the speaker, Chris Helmes talks about Other Folks’ Rubbish. This is his first visit to us but he is a much-in-demand speaker and this talk is said to have a local history theme spiced with humour.Society GDPR PolicyIn these days when personal information can be used for unscrupulous purposes and stolen we wish to reassure our members that we are doing all we can to make sure this does not happen. Please read our GDPR policy on this matter.The Last meetingI summarised the work which myself and a group of friends at Morley Community Archives have done over the last four years in researching the effects of the Great War on the town, wanting to balance the sacrifice made by the soldiers with the efforts of family and friends on the home front.

I found it pretty gruelling at times and I’m sure that you the listeners did too. But we can’t forget these things and I hope that this talk and the booklet which Julie Heeley and I put together about the men on the Morley War Memorial will serve as an appropriate reminder of that terrible timeThe Society TripThe committee feels that the plan to visit Elvington air museum followed by a do-as-you please visit to York in the environs of the Railway Museum is to go ahead. The cost of the trip should be around £23 and it will be on Sunday, 9th June. Now we are looking for a suitable restaurant for the evening meal. Any suggestions will be gratefully received. Please let Robert know if you wish to go on the trip.

Christmas time in 1918It was, generally, the happiest Christmas since 1913 with many servicemen finally returning to their families. For most of the town, work stopped on the Tuesday Christmas Eve evening and they did not return till Monday 30th-December.Food was still in short supply and there was a general complaint about the shortage of apples after the price had been controlled at 9d (old pence)/lb. Likewise, poultry was too expensive for most but beef, mutton and English meat were reasonably plentiful.Parties of carol singers were not as numerous as pre-war but three brass bands filled the air on Christmas Day. Social gatherings were held at many of the town’s Sunday Schools and these were very popular, with large scale family parties. Dances at various clubs were also a popular feature. The General Election - 14-Dec-1918The local Liberal Party decided to join forces with the National Coalition rather than its national party which numbered Morley-born Henry Asquith among its supporters. Men from poorer backgrounds got the vote for the first time if they were over 21. More striking was that Women over the age of 30 were also entitled to vote for the first time The constituency boundary changed to have Morley and Batley together and this also increased the number of voters. Gerald France, formerly a Liberal MP for Morley in the Asquith Government, beat the Labour Candidate, Ben Turner, a trade-union leader and former Mayor of Batley by 13519 votes to 12051. You might consider what would have happened if absent voters due to military service (1021 out of 6483 in Morley) had been present and women (4516) had been given the same voting rights as men.

A Soldier’s TaleThe Morley Observer made profiles of a number of Prisoners of War who returned after the Armistice. One such who caught my eye was Private Dennis Hirst of the Second Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment.Before the war he had lived with his parents in Cross Street and had worked as a fettler at the Grove Mills. He had joined the army in March 1917, probably under conscription, It is likely he was captured at the time of the German Spring Offensive in 1918, as many were and he told of the conditions in which they were kept: working behind the lines under orders, very close to the fighting line and exposed to artillery fire. The pay was derisory and I thought it interesting that he complained they owed him for 6 weeks. After the armistice they were told to ‘clear off ’ and had a tough time until they met friendly Belgians.On a hunch, I did some research and found that this man was indeed the Dennis Hirst who later showed a very keen interest in Local History, joining our own society and the Morley Civic Society. Amongst other things, he wrote one article on the local Fire Service for our 1973-74 Yearbook and a lovely sentimental poem about the Seven Hills of Morley.It’s so good to find out about a man who survived the Great War and later made valued contributions to our town.

Clive McManus

Dennis Hirst - 1980cStudying an old pamphlet


January 2019 Founded 1965www.morleylhs.btck.co.uk

TonightFirst of all, I trust you have all had fine Seasonal Cheer. We welcome the return of Janet Niepocojczycka after several successful visits in the recent past. She is to concentrate on the adventures of Bonnie Prince Charlie. The talk will be illustrated.

The Last meetingThe Christmas meeting went well with our usual festive food and drink, in between which Chris Helme from Brighouse talking about ‘Other Folks’ Rubbish’. For me, he hit some nails uncomfortably on the head as he detailed the things which some folks, particularly those involved with local history, store in their houses besides a catalogue of materials which might ‘come in handy’. He was fluent, funny and pertinent and did not need any slides. I would hope we will have him back. In the meantime, I will consider the problem of decluttering before someone else has to do it for me! Not an uncommon problem?

Anniversaries and Events in 2019A group of us will be helping Morley Town Council and the Morley branch of the British Legion to commemorate those men, buried locally, who died in 1919 as a result of their service in the Great War. Most are in Morley Cemetery and the first is for Dennis Hartley who died of influenza on 19-January-1919 while generally in a weakened state.So far, I have not heard of any other special events which refer to the town’s heritage except for the usual ones associated with the Heritage Weekend (early September) and the Arts Festival (September-October).Recently, I’ve noted an increase in local interest about the Morley Co-op. The result is that we have now sold all of our copies of Anne Jones’ book ‘Divi Day’. Apparently, one can buy a version of this on Amazon but I’m not sure how it was possible to print an alternative version of it. Sadly, we no longer have contact with the family.Two dates of interest in the Morley Co-op’s history have noteworthy anniversaries this year. The group’s first Morley store opened on the corner of Commercial Street and Albion Street on 18-Sep-1869. This building is now the offices of the solicitors, Chadwick Lawrence. On 8-April 1899, 30 years on, the group was so successful that it was able to open a large store which is now Barclay’s Bank, at a cost of £12,000.I wonder if we could do some kind of Commemoration of the Morley Co-op days in town. Any suggestions will be welcomed.

Busy Albion Street in late Victorian times

Education in Morley before the Education ActsIt took Parliamentary action in the form of a series of Education Acts, starting in 1870, before a system of schooling could be set up in this country in which all children could have some sort of benefit.The first record we have of any education in Morley is the school which existed in a part of the Old Chapel on Troy Hill in the early 17th Century. This was run by Captain Thomas Oates who was living in the Morley Manor House at the time. After the Restoration he was arrested for his part in the Farnley Wood plot and executed.William Smith bemoans the fact that this section of the Old Chapel was rebuilt and thus Morley lost a lot of information about its early heritage. Is this similar to the fire at St Mary’s in 2010?After this, the first school of any note was the Old Town’s School on Troy Hill. This was built on land donated by Lord Dartmouth and it is said to have opened in 1720. It was fee paying. Titus Salt was educated there for a while before he went to Batley Grammar School during the family’s last year in Morley. It’s likely his teacher was John Trenholme (1748-1828) who is buried in the Central Methodist Graveyard.In its later days, William Swainson (1789-1849) was the teacher there. William Smith was one of his pupils and there are drawings in his books of the town Schoolmaster. We cannot be sure this is Mr Swainson but Smith likens him to Oliver Goldsmith’s description of a similar man : ‘A man severe he was and severe to view .... yet he was kind; or if severe in aught, the love he bore to learning was in fault’. The image seems to bear this out! Mr Swainson died of Cholera during the epidemic of 1849 and it is said the school then closed. His daughter Sarah continued to teach in Morley.

In the 19th Century the churches and chapels in the area offered education to a wider range of families. In 1866, Smith noted that there were 8 such schools in town. All of them gave lessons on a Sunday but only four of them had day scholars. Queen Street Wesleyan Chapel, the forerunner of Central Methodist was the largest with 429 day scholars. Once again, it would seem that the day scholars had to pay to attend. Along with these facts, the pamphlet shows that by 1869, there was an urge by a substantial number to receive an education although many families continued to rely on their older children (some less than 10 years old) to do some work to support them fully. Even the fee of the few pence required at the Rehoboth Evening School

stopped many families from seeking education. It took the 1870 Education Act which advocated publicly funded education for all children from the ages of 5 to 12 to deal with this.I’d like to thank Brian Dykes for help with this project on Education in Morley.

The Society TripThe plans for the trip on Sunday 9-June to Elvington, the old RAF airbase and York Railway Museum are going ahead and anyone interested in going should give their names to Alan.

Clive McManus

Fees: 2 old pence/week


February 2019 Founded 1965www.morleylhs.btck.co.uk

TonightAfter all the attention we have given to the service of local men in the First World War, our speaker tonight, Martin Cocker, will tell us about the life and service of F/Sgt Arthur Aaron, a Leeds man who won the Victoria Cross for his actions in the RAF. The talk will be illustrated and we know from others that Martin has made a very detailed study of this brave man.The Last meetingJanet Niepokojczycka gave us an account of the life of Bonnie Prince Charlie who has been given harsh treatment by a number of historians in the past. In her thorough treatment of him she was kinder, telling of a man who pursued his goal of claiming the throne of England, following on from his Catholic forebears. Sadly he did not know when he was beaten but Janet, once more, gave us an interesting story and lots of lovely landscape photographs.The Society TripWe want to continue with the Society Trips but, this year, the organisation will be done by a group of us and we need to know the wishes of you, the members very shortly. We wish to organise the trip for Sunday 9th June, leaving Morley around 9:30am to go to the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, outside York. In the afternoon, the plan is to go to the National Railway Museum in York itself and then follow it with an evening meal, possibly in the outskirts of the city. The Railway Museum is free and you can go into the city if you wish. We would like to keep the cost to around £23 each.We think we can promise you a very full and interesting day as the pictures below show.

Planes from different eras, Exhibitions, Atmospheric tea room at Elvington.Train displays, Train Rides, Exhibitions at York. Or tour York yourself

Please let us know your intentions, preferably this evening so that we can make a coach booking with confidence. If we don’t have at least 20 people going on the trip it will cost too much money for it to be sensible to continue.A decision must be made in the next month.

Smithsons in the Wars

Recently we had a query on the website about F/Sgt Alfred Smithson, a Morley man who fought and died with Bomber Command during the Second World War. It was from a Dutchman, Willem de Jong who lives near the area where Alfred was killed. He is collecting as much information as he can about RAF personnel who lost their lives in this sector of their actions and he wanted further information on Alfred.He informed us that Alfred had been shot down with two comrades, flying a Blenheim bomber on a mission on 31-May-1942, near to the village of Marx, Lower Saxony. He was the radio operator in the three man crew. The pilot was a New Zealander, Peter Geary and the plane had been stationed at RAF West Raynham, Norfolk with the 114th ‘Hong Kong’ Squadron.This set off a big online search and it has become quite personal for me. We were able to show that Alfred was on the Memorials in Morley and St Andrew’s Church and, after some work in Ancestry we found that his descendants had constructed a Family Tree. With the help of Julie Heeley, I contacted one Elizabeth Smithson, the wife of Howard, the nephew of Alfred via his brother Leslie. She has provided family photos of Alfred and some are shown below.

The family lived on Worrall Street and Elizabeth told me that Alfred’s father Ernest had a bad experience as a Prisoner of War in the First World War.Although their work has been very thorough it was clear that we needed to see if there were any newspaper reports about the family.Once again we were in luck and found that the Morley Observer had made reports about the war time experiences of both men. As was often the case, Alfred’s fate was not immediately known to his family and they clung to the hope that it was similar to his father who had also been declared missing but was

later found to be a prisoner of war. The details are shown across though I wonder if the Observer’s information is at fault in places. Sadly, Alfred was killed. He was 22 years old and had worked for the printers, Tillotson & Firth, besides enjoying an active role with the Morley Technical Operatic Society. He is commemorated at the Sage War Memorial in Germany.There is a personal element which has, perhaps, made me pursue this query with more interest than is usually the case.My own nephew and niece are the great grandchildren of Thomas Smithson (b 1877, Undertaker in Wesley St.) and Thomas was the brother of Ernest. It is a small world!

Clive McManus

1942: Alfred Smithson in uniform

Left: 1920s: Ernest and Ethel Blanche with Leslie (l) and Alfred (r).Right: 1930c: Alfred in St Andrew’’s Church Choir.

Left: Morley Observer cutting: 5-June-1942Right: Morley Observer cutting: 21-June-1918


March 2019 Founded 1965www.morleylhs.btck.co.uk

TonightJane Ellis is to give an illustrated talk on Curiosities of the North Yorkshire Moors. I met her some years ago when she came on one of our Heritage Trail Walks. Her knowledge of Architecture and Archaeology was impressive and I see that she is the speaker secretary for the Yorkshire Archaeology Society. I think we can look forward to a delightful and interesting evening.

The Last meetingMartin Cocker told us about the life and service of F/Sgt Arthur Aaron, the Leeds man who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Second World War. It was obvious that he had done a fantastic amount of research into this man as well as the operations and equipment of the Bomber Command section that he was involved with. Mr Cocker’s talk was rather longer than usual and I apologise if this caused inconvenience to anyone. He is clearly a very knowledgeable man, keen to explain his findings.

The Wheatsheaf InnWe are compiling a record of the licensed premises in the local area with a view to eventual publication and this inn came under the microscope recently.The photograph shows when a Charles Hirst was its licensee and it’s thought that the people of short stature on the right were entertainers. However, their names are not known and there has been uncertainty of the date. 1920? 1930?The Wheatsheaf was on America Moor Lane and it was originally associated with Lord Dartmouth. We know that the licensees in the 1870-80 period were members of the Barraclough family. Unfortunately we have not been able to find when Charles Hirst was running the place. Perhaps it was the same Charles Hirst who was licensee of the Commercial Inn, Churwell at the end of the 19th Century.However, we do know that the Wheatsheaf lost its licence in the early 20th Century and a retired policeman, Albert Hobson, took it over. He turned it into a temperance place and licensed billiard saloon until his death in August 1917. The Ordnance Survey map of the area in 1922 shows the building but it is not labelled as a Public House.On this basis and taking account of the clothing of the folks in the photo, I would estimate this was taken around 1900 but it would be good to know how the inn lost its licence.

The Wheatsheaf Inn1900c

Two Silver TraysRecently we had a query from Peter Edmondson, asking if we had any information about two silver trays which had become part of his family’s memorabilia. Both of these concerned Dr Sidney Thomas Steele (1850-1929) and his association with Morley. This has, once more, led to a flurry of activity which has given us a fuller understanding of the town in the early 20th Century.Dr Steele was a local GP and the borough’s first Medical Officer of Health. As such, he was responsible for reporting on general matters of health and making suggestions on how these could be improved. It was a time when waste disposal, unsatisfactory housing and water supply were evident in built up areas and notifiable, infectious diseases such as scarlet fever and typhoid were common. Dr Steele informed the council of problem areas and oversaw many positive changes in the 50 years he was in charge and it was his job to locate the source of disease and isolate its cause by sending affected folks to isolation hospitals.

A second plate, telling of his marriage in 1919, was also presented by the Borough. We’ve found little about it in the local press but we knew that he had married a widow, Elizabeth Hepworth, relatively late in life and that she had died.Some searching showed that his second marriage was to a Madeline Collins (1876-1963) who was a nurse. She had been born in Chester to a couple recently emigrated from Ireland. Further work showed that she had been the matron at the

Bruntcliffe Isolation Hospital since around 1908. Furthermore she had applied for and got the job of Matron at the new Morley Maternity Hospital, which had been built out of Morley Hall after Charles Scarth had bought it for the town in 1917.I’m not sure if the couple miscalculated the feelings in the town or whether some other force acted on them but she resigned this post of Matron shortly before the marriage in May 1919 after only a very few months in office. I think times have moved on from that kind of social attitude, have they not?Peter then helped by indicating that Madeline might be related to his aunt and we then found that, indeed, this aunt had married a brother of Madeline. She and Sidney went to live on the south coast when he retired in 1927. It was a fulfilling search but, still, we have no photo of Madeline. The Society TripThe plans for the trip to Elvington and York on June 9th are not going well. To date we simply do not have enough numbers to justify making any solid plans. Please let us know tonight if you wish to go so that a decision can be made before the AGM.

Clive McManus

November 1927: Silver tray to commemorate Dr Steele’s 50 years service as Morley’s Medical Officer or Health

27-May-19: The Borough’s wedding gift to Dr Sidney and Mrs Madeline Steele


April 2019 Founded 1965www.morleylhs.btck.co.uk

TonightIt’s the last of our meetings for the 2018-19 season tonight and it will start off with the AGM as usual. I trust that we can deal with this in an efficient way. After a refreshment break I will speak to you about the life and work of Christopher Saxton, the Tudor map maker and surveyor, forever linked with Dunningley in West Ardsley. The talk will be illustrated and I will be showing and discussing a number of his superb county maps besides telling of the research into his background which has been done by various authorities over the years.

The Last meetingJane Ellis gave us a detailed talk about interesting archaeological artefacts she has found and observed during her many visits to North Yorkshire. While many of the places she pointed out were off the beaten track I’m sure some of us must have seen places which are more accessible which we have not visited before. Jane’s photography and delivery of well-researched material were excellent.

Can You Help?The studio photographs on the right were taken in the 1955-63 period by Mr R.I. (‘Bobby’) Cooper who was a member of the Morley Photographic Society at that time.Mr Cooper was a pharmacist at the Pickard Pharmacy on Scatcherd Hill. He left Morley in 1963 with his wife Grace and two daughters to take up a position in Lancaster.He gave permission before his death for Morley Community Archives to use his photos and we have already published some of them. I think we can agree, can we not, that on the basis of the two above, they deserve more publicity.Bobby was a painstaking craftsman but I’m afraid we have few details of the two people shown. I think they both lived in Morley but all I can state is that the young woman was called Diane and the fellow with the camera was a keen mountaineer. Could this have been Ralph Whitling, a local teacher?Please let me know if you can identify them.

Meetings for 2019-20Maurice has done a sound job in arranging a variety of talks for the next season with a good mix of subjects from some folks who have visited us before and others who haven’t.

All the talks will be illustrated.

10-September Two Knights, Some Pigs and a Duchess David Glover will talk about the beginnings of the Piece Hall in Halifax which has been renovated recently.

8-October Some Forgotten Women Composers Kitty Ross. This is a subject which has had a lot of publicity in the media recently. I believe she will give examples of the work of the women concerned.

12-November Two Fraudulent Regency Attorneys in Leeds Geoffrey Foster will talk about the affairs of Joseph Blackburn and Thomas Wainwright who were local Regency scoundrels. Recently he gave us a talk on the History of Waxworks.

10-December Weathervanes : What’s Blowing in the Wind Jackie Depelle has visited us before and I believe this talk will be related to some aspect of family history research.

14-January Zeppelin: The Air Defence of Yorkshire in the Great War Dr Phil Judkins is a Wakefield historian. Without doubt, the introduction of Zeppelins into aerial warfare did cause a great deal of panic. What actions were taken against them?

11-February A look at the lives of Leonora Cohen and Sir Montague BurtonJackie and Bob Lawrence. Leonora Cohen was well known for her work on Women’s Rights and Social Justice. Montague Burton made inexpensive, good quality clothing. 10-March Our Cousin Flo: Florence Nightingale and the Gascoigne Family. Stephanie Davies will talk about the connection of the Gascoignes and Lotherton Hall to Florence in the bicentenary of her birth,

14-April AGM plus an illustrated talk about MorleyI will likely give the talk on a subject not yet chosen. Any suggestions?

The Society TripSadly, we have concluded that we cannot run a society trip this year due to the lack of numbers from people prepared to book a place. This is something of a first and we will try again, in the next season. We are very open to any suggestions you may have.

Let me wish you all a lovely Summer and I trust to see you here at MLHS in September.

Clive McManus

Programme for 2018-19September 2018October 2018November 2018December 2018January 2019February 2019March 2019April 2019

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