Oakworth's long gone Mills

 

Map of Corn Mill, Higher & Lower Providence Mill & Mytholmes Mill & mill pond

 

As many of our fellow Bancroft researchers will know there were many Bancroft families, men women and children who relied for the many wool and cotton mills in Yorkshire to provide a living. There were more than fifty textile mills around Keighley in Yorkshire. Sadly virtually all have disappeared. The last few that remain have now been put to other uses as office space or accommodation.

Its hard to believe the lengths that some local people had to go through to provide water power to some of these mills in the more isolated districts.

I want to concentrate on a cluster of woollen mills around the village of Oakworth near Keighley, which have now all disappeared, but which flourished in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries thanks to many local people toiling together to make a water course to provide the power needed for them to operate.

Oakworth Mill, Mytholmes Mill, Lower Providence and Upper Providence Mills were all built thanks to the hard work and diligence of local people who collectively dug up several miles of moorland to lead an adequate water supply to the village to make the power for these mills and provide employment for people of the village.

Like most medieval manors, Oakworth had a corn mill, which and ground the corn grown by farmers and tenants in the manor.

Power to drive it's waterwheel came from a small beck that rose from springs about half a mile due west of the mill, a boggy depression and water would have drained from it into the beck, providing additional flow to power the wheel. There was a small pond to the rear of the corn mill that fed directly onto the waterwheel that turned the grind stones. A pair of grind stones, one on top of the other, constituted a ‘mill’ and therefore when a second corn mill is recorded in the 1600s it is referring to another set of stones working alongside the original pair. The requirement for a second set of stones suggests that the population of the manor had greatly increased.

Route of dug-out water course

However, the small beck had a limited catchment area and must have been hopelessly inadequate to power two sets of stones, particularly during periods of drought. As there were no other watercourses to supplement the supply, the villagers looked for an alternative source. They found it two miles away on Oakworth Moor in an area known as Flask. The Flask was a large moorland bog, and as its name suggests, contained substantial reserves of water. It drained naturally into Will Clough and then down the valley side to the River Worth. To resolve their problem, the villagers hand-dug and diverted the water from the top of Will Clough into a narrow canal that they dug from Hill Top, on the road to Colne, for over two miles to Turnshaw Slack. Except for a small section, it runs along the low side of the road as far as the present Grouse Inn where it crosses and then continues through the fields to the head of the beck feeding the mill. The canal, known as Will Gutter, runs along the valley side and has a gradual fall of 150 feet between the 1,100ft contour at Hill Top and the 950ft contour at Turnshaw.

Will Gutter

The date that Will Gutter was built is unknown but there was clearly a need for it if the corn mill was to keep the stones turning. Its construction would have needed the agreement of all the Oakworth freeholders, who owned the moor, and required a huge community effort to manually hand dig the land to complete. It is therefore most probable that it was conceived and built during the 17th century.

Regardless of when it was built, Will Gutter was to play an important role in the prosperity of the village and following the onset of the industrial revolution it was to provide water to power the mills. The old village corn mill was replaced by Oakworth Mill, that spun worsted yarn, and a new corn mill was built downstream on Providence Lane. Below the corn mill a large mill pond covering some three-and-a-half acres was constructed to provide power for Higher Providence Mill, Lower Providence Mill and lastly to Mytholmes Mill, via an underground conduit and aqueduct. [the mills and mill pond can be seen on the map at the top of the page.]

Mill pond remains - 2026

 

As late as the 1930s men from Mytholmes Mill were sent once a year to clear debris from Will Gutter and undertake general maintenance. It had been built in 1791 as a cotton mill and later converted to worsted production. It burnt down in 1967.

Today water continues to run and the flow from Flask remained unaffected during the droughts in recent years.

All the above mentioned mills have long since disappeared, the last one was Lower Providence mill which was demolished in the 1980's.

Oakworth Mill prior to fire in the 1980's

Lower Providence Mill shortly before demolition - 1980s

 

 

 

For some reason , although the mill was demolished, it was decided to leave the Lower Providence mill chimney standing and it remains so today. 

Little else remains today of this large employment which went on in the village from the mills, and supported many families.

[I am grateful to the Keighley News for providing some of this information]

 

The Bancroft's connection with the Freemasons

 

Black Bull Inn - Haworth

 

 The Freemasons organisation is a long established and respected body and two Bancroft men locally were involved with the Haworth branch.

Firstly a Timothy Bancroft [1761-1837] helped to set it up with two other local men. Records from 1805 explain about its formation in its earliest form known as :

'This degree of “Knights Templar”, or to give it its full title, "The United Religious Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple, and of St. John of Jerusalem, Palatine, Rhodes and Malta in England and Wales and Provinces Overseas," has, as one can deduce from its title, a history based on the medieval orders of chivalry, and there are many books devoted to this Degree and its origins.'

 In Haworth the initial application to form this Degree was made by the members of Prince George Lodge in 1805, reference to which is made in the history of Prince George Lodge.

The Principal Officers were to be John Barraclough, John Sutcliffe and Timothy Bancroft.

The Haworth Lodge was formed in September 1792 and the first recorded meeting was held at the Black Bull on 7th July 1806. They continued to meet at the Black Bull until they moved to Lodge Street in 1821. 

The Lodge had an early connection with the well known local man Branwell Bronte, son of the famous Patrick Bronte, the Haworth minister.

In February 1836, at the age of 18, Branwell sought companionship and intellectual stimulation by joining The Lodge of Three Graces. At the time, the lodge met at the Black Bull Public House, situated mere steps from the Brontë Parsonage at the top of Haworth's steep main street,as shown above.

Branwell quickly became a central figure in the lodge. His education and eloquent writing style made him a perfect fit for leadership, and he was appointed Lodge Secretary in June 1837.

The Records, his minutes are preserved to this day. They reveal a man who took great pride in his work, written in an elegant, flowing script. Alongside formal administrative entries, he occasionally left small sketches in the margins.

The Freemason meetings provided Branwell with an audience. He was known for his witty conversation, his ability to recite poetry from memory, and his brilliant storytelling.

Unfortunately, meeting at the Black Bull meant that lodge nights were directly tied to drinking. The pub was already Branwell's second home.....he even had his own designated chair there. The culture of post-meeting drinking sessions exacerbated his growing alcoholism.

Branwell’s tenure as secretary ended under a cloud in 1842. Due to his increasingly erratic behaviour, financial mismanagement of lodge funds, and frequent absences caused by his worsening addictions, and the lodge replaced him.

His decline into alcohol and drugs and final early death in 1848 at the age of only 31 years has been widely recorded elsewhere.

Now onto the Bancroft's connection.

Timothy Bancroft's history is that he was born in the Haworth area and baptised at Haworth Parish Church on 14/6/1761, the son of Joseph and Grace Bancroft. He is shown on various records as a farmer from the late 18^th century and died around February 1837 at Deaning Bottom at Lees on the outskirts of Haworth, and was buried there in the Parish Church by Patrick Bronte.

 

Timothy Bancroft's burial 1837

He was married twice, firstly to Ellen Mitchell, known as Nelly who died at the young age of 35 years. The parish records say she died of the 'decline'. He then went on to marry an Ann Mitchell who lived into her nineties. [It is not confirmed whether or not they were related...possibly sisters?]

His will, which was published a few months after his death show he left £207 in his estate, which at that time was a substantial sum of money. Together with his two wives he had twelve children

A second, and unrelated Bancroft was George Bancroft [1860-1915]. The following picture shows George in full  Grand-Master masonic attire, but it is not clear exactly when he took on this role. It is is thought that it was between 1900 and 1915, when he was probably seen as an important businessman in the local area and was listed  as 'a Gentleman', probably because he owned at least eight houses locally which were valued at the time as worth £1500.

The Masonic Lodge is still there at Mill Hey Haworth, close to where he was living  and running his tailoring business at the time and he, no doubt, was able to get lots of business from his lodge connections.

George Bancroft in masonic apparel 

 The full story of George's life can be read here on an earlier blog article

 

The current Lodge at Mill Hey was constructed in 1907.

 

                                                                    Haworth Masonic Lodge

The Bancroft brothers employed in Iron Manufacturing

 

Smoky Keighley with mills & foundry works

 

Here's the story of four Bancroft brothers who although all born in West Auckland in Co Durham, were the sons of George and Ann [Rewcastle]. George grew up in Keighley and moved up north seeking work as a coal miner and married local girl Ann, when up there. They had at least eleven children and moved back to Keighley around 1860 where most of their family were born. George seems to have then had various jobs as a general labourer and then got work as a wool washer.

Four of their sons, James, George Isaac and Michael all got employment in the iron manufacturing industry in the town and all lived close to the foundries where they worked.

 

Keighley once had a dozen or more iron foundries, as can be seen from the smoky atmosphere in this photo from the time. They mainly provided castings for textile machines, the machine tool industry, washing machine manufacturers and the gas and water industry. The picture below shows normal work in a local iron foundry in Keighley making items generally for the textile trade.

 

 

 

Iron foundry moulders

The earliest foundry in the town was established in the late 18th century and a letterhead dated 1822 refers to it as the Keighley Old Foundry. It was in Cook Lane, only 50 or so yards from its junction with Low Street. When it came up for sale in 1863 it occupied almost a quarter of an acre between Cook Lane and North Street. The foundry had two cupolas for melting iron, two cranes, a mechanics’ shop, a blacksmiths’ shop and a model room where patterns were made and stored.

Casting, particularly of gear wheels,as the above picture shows, required a large degree of skill on the part of both the moulder and the pattern maker. The first process was to melt the iron. This was done in a cupola, a large vertical cylinder filled with layers of coke and fired from the bottom. When the fire was hot enough, pieces of iron were then dropped in through the top. Additional coke together with limestone, to act as a flux, was then added. As the iron melted it collected at the bottom of the cupola from where it was run out when the doors were opened.

The molten metal was then poured into boxes containing sand into which a wooden pattern had been pressed. The patterns were joiner-made and had to be slightly oversized to allow for shrinkage after the molten iron had cooled. However, in the early days poor quality casting often resulted in the cogs breaking off on large gears. The remedy, until the quality improved, was to fit wooden cogs into a cast iron gear wheel. These could then be individually replaced in the event of a breakage.

The quality of a casting not only depended upon the skill of the moulder, but on the sand that formed the mould. High-quality silica sand, whose grains would stick together and not collapse, was required. Local sand may once have been used but better quality sand came from Castleford, and the finest was brought by ship from Cornwall, via Liverpool.

One of the largest Iron Foundry company was Clapham Brothers, who had three foundries at Nelson St, Wellington St and Market St in Keighley and probably employed the Bancroft brothers. In fact two of the Bancroft brothers actually lived on Nelson St.

Looking at this Bancroft family firstly parents were George Bancroft, who was born at Sykes Head near Keighley in 1836 and by the 1861 census had moved away from his family and was working as a coal miner in West Auckland, Co Durham, probably moving up there for work. He married a local girl Ann Rewcastle [b 1839] They had married at Auckland Register Office in 1860 and went on to have at least eleven children. By 1871 the family had moved back down to the Keighley area was George was described as an 'outdoor labourer', and then in later years a 'general labourer' and then a 'wool washer'. He died around 1895 in Keighley.

More about his four sons who were all involved in the iron foundry work in the town and all lived close to each other in a run down part of the town.:

Michael was born in West Auckland in 1864 before the family moved back to Keighley. He married Ann Hart, who came from Shropshire and they had nine children, although census records show that three of them died as children. Michael was living at Nelson St in the town and by 1891 was working as a labourer in a foundry making parts for weaving looms, which was a big industry locally.

Nelson St circa 1900

Michael had various jobs, initially a worsted weaver when he still lived at home with his parents at Vale Mill Lane, and then after marrying Ann they lived in central Keighley at Turkey Street, a long gone slum area demolished around 1900.

Michael- 1901census -Nelson St

By 1901 he had moved to Nelson Street with his family was was by then working as a labourer in one of the local iron foundries connected with Loom Manufacturers. The census explains that together with his wife, Ann [Hart] they had had a total of nine children although only six had survived. He died at the same address in 1914, at the young age of 50 years and was buried in the Utley graveyard [grave number E39]

George was also born in West Auckland in 1862 and married Ellen Holmes who was born in Keighley and they married in Keighley in 1882. He too was employed in the Iron industry and had various jobs over the years as a general labourer, a machine tool fitter and furnace tender. In 1901 he was living with his family at Wellington St, which was by then a fairly run down area of Keighley, soon to be demolished as part of a general slum clearance of the town.

Wellington St- circa 1900

James, again born in West Auckland in 1860 married Ellen Thomas in1888. He, like his brother George was living at one time in Wellington St was was listed as an iron core worker in an iron factory. He died in 1934 in Keighley.

Isaac, born when the family moved back to Keighley and were living at Flappit Springs. By 1901 he was listed as an iron moulder, and like his brothers also lived at Wellington St. He married Mary Louisa Elliot in Keighley in 1891.

James & George 1891 census 

And finally here is a copy of a map circa 1900 showing the main foundries in Keighley shown in blue and a couple of streets marked in yellow where some of the Bancroft brothers lived. Much of this area was demolished around 1900 as part of the slum clearance work.

Keighley Centre 1900. - blue denotes foundries- yellow denotes Bancroft streets

Old shoe used to keep away bad luck in't Mill

As many of our Bancroft ancestors will know, many of men, women and sometimes children were textile workers, working long and poorly paid hours in local mills from the mid 19^th century when mechanisation in the industry took hold from home working.

Here's an interesting story from the Telegraph & Argus newspaper [T & A] about a find in Dalton Mills in Keighley, West Yorkshire about life working in the mill....not sure that any of our Bancrofts were involved in this old tradition!

[I acknowledge that most of this information came from the Telegraph & Argus Newspaper]

'From out of a void between two floors at Dalton Mills, Keighley, emerged a woman’s shoe, possibly having lain untouched for more than 120 years.

'It could be a product of the ancient Yorkshire superstition that by secreting away a shoe in the bowels of a building, it kept the devil and bad luck at bay or warded off witchcraft.

Women particularly believed that a walled-up worn shoe prevented evil being put on them.'

'The shoe is likely to have been placed between the floorboards soon after the mill was constructed in the 1870s.

It was rescued by joiner David Dunbar and his colleague Mark Briant, who are among the team working to transform the mill into homes and business units.

Covered in dust, the brown leather, side-buttoned left shoe is a size three or four.

It was already well worn when its last owner disposed of it. Two of the buttons are missing, including the top one, and the former mill worker had been forced to use the third to fasten it tightly.

She had also soled and heeled it on a number of occasions.

Mr Dunbar told the T&A: “You can almost picture the person who wore it. Someone like those women you see on film footage from the turn of the last century flooding out of the mills in their shawls and ankle length skirts.

“She probably worked for very little wages, had three or four kids at home where she stood the chance of getting a good hiding from her husband when he rolled home drunk from the pub.

“Finding her shoe like this I think brings those times back to life again very vividly.”

Mr Briant added: “I reached into the void to remove what I thought was some paper and pulled the shoe out. I tried to find another and reached further in but I couldn’t find anything.'

Both hoped the shoe could be preserved and perhaps put on display at Cliffe Castle Museum, in Keighley.

They handed it over at the museum to Liz McIvor, Bradford council’s museums officer for social history.

They handed it over at the museum to Liz McIvor, Bradford council’s museums officer for social history.

She said it would be scrutinised by the acquisitions group to decide whether it was worthy of being included in the collection, but because of its history and links with the old and new Dalton Mills, it had a very good chance of being accepted.

And she confirmed that it was likely to have been placed there as a spell breaker.

“It is a very ancient folk tradition to place a shoe in a wall to ward off evil spirits or a curse, “ she explained.

“It is a fascinating find and is interesting not just because it is an example of what working women wore then, but of what it tells us about the person and about the times, “ she continued.

“It has been soled and heeled a number of times and the owner has slashed the leather upper at the side to make it more comfortable.

“This was a common thing to do at the time because feet can swell when someone is standing all day.”

Cliffe Castle conservator Dale Keaton who has a special interest in the history and development of shoes, said by its design, particularly of the heel, it was a shoe of the late 19th century.

 

Martha Ellen Bancroft and the Mayday celebrations

 

Martha Ellen Bancroft is second from right

Some time ago I wrote an article for the blog about a lady called Martha Ellen Bancroft, who's details I found on one of my many trips to the local reference library. It was only recently that I came across lots more information and photographs which gave more details about her and the photograph of her taking part in what looks like Mayday celebrations in the Sutton-in-Craven area, a village between Keighley and Skipton.

Martha Ellen was the daughter of Smith and Mary J Bancroft and was born on 13/3/1905 in the Crosshills area. She had 3 siblings, Emily,Florence and John.

 

Her father Smith Bancroft died at an early age in 1914 when she was about 9 years old, which must have meant a struggle for her mother Jane bring up 4 young children.

The picture at the top of the page shows Martha Ellen around 1911 taking part with the other village girls in the local Mayday celebrations. The occasion marked a resurgence of interest in England country dance and folk music. Some years later, a Maypole was erected in the park and pupils at the Church of England school did Maypole dancing. This annual celebration seems to have started around the time of Edward VII's coronation in 1902 and continued up around 1960 when the village Maypole was removed.

 

Martha Ellen, along with her two sisters all worked as weavers in a local mill as the 1939 census shows, and she seems to have remained a single lady all her life.

Here's the story about finding her details and the poem I wrote some time ago:

I have for a long time been writing poetry, just really as a bit of a hobby, and only when I have come across something that inspires me to put pen to paper, and this was one of those occasions

Some time ago while doing some research at the local Reference Library, I came across an old dusty box file which had been deposited there by the family of a lady called Martha Ellen Bancroft, after her death. The box was full of lots of little things which this lady had obviously treasured throughout her life not just photographs and letters, but some personal items such as glasses and nail scissors. I began to build up a picture in my mind, while going through the contents, of what this lady must have been like, and how she led her life. I felt a little sad that this lady’s whole life now seemed to be represented by just a box full of old papers left to gather dust on a shelf in the Library, and was moved to write a poem about this experience.

Anyway, on with the story….I sent this poem to a local magazine, which has a family history section, and was lucky enough to have it published, and that was the end of the story as far as I was concerned…..but then out of the blue I was contacted by a lady from Cowling near Skipton, who recognised the person who the poem was written about and sent me more information about this lady and her family.

Martha Ellen Bancroft lived all her adult life in Cowling area, and had worshipped at at Ickornshaw Methodist Chapel, and when it closed in 1985, the remaining members transferred to St Andrews Methodist Church Cowling.
In memory of her and her sisters, the Church later named their meeting room as “The Bancroft Room”.

The Local History Group meet monthly in The Bancroft Room at St Andrew's, and at their last meeting they read out my poem to the audience, some of whom had known Martha Ellen….. I wish I could have been there to read it out in person !!

Here's the poem:

Memories of Martha Ellen
It was just a box of old papers
Left for all to see
What was hidden there waiting
Had it been left for me

So many pictures to look at
Scraps of paper, nothing else
Momentoes of some happy times
Memories now, nothing left

Her life, just a bundle of papers
Laid bare to be viewed by all
Was it a life full of interest
Or just a sorry tale

So many items to look at
So many thoughts left unsaid
Was she this quite gentle soul
Or lively and outgoing instead

All these items…..treasured memories
Made happy times, I’ll bet
Did this lady live her life
With such a gregarious set

Pictures of that bonny babe
Holding her mother’s hand
And later in life….a maiden lady
Abroad in a foreign land

How strange it feels, just looking
Invading her private life
These photos of her twilight years
Why was she never a wife

So what was her life made up of
Would she have changed if she could
Or was she content with the way it was spent
Did she live life to the full
And who will remember her passing

The following picture taken around 1911 shows all the girls in full  Mayday outfits which must have been taken around the same time as the pic from the top of the page.

And another picture of the girls in costume at the official Sutton Park opening.

 

[It is unclear as to who or why someone deposited Martha Ellen's papers in the local library but I'm glad they did!]

Herbert Bancroft died in WW1 29th January 1917.

 

'PICTURED IN MEMORY AS YOU USED TO BE YOU LEFT BEHIND ACHING HEARTS'

Here's the details of Herbert Bancroft who died from injuries in WW1 and was buried in Stony Royd Cemetry, Halifax along with other WW1 casualties.

I was not clear how exactly how old he was at the time but it seems likley he was born circa 1883 in Claremont area ofHalifax area, the illegitimate son of a Martha Ann Bancroft who seems to have lived in and around the Halifax area, and like her son Herbert led a somewhat mysterious nomadic live moving from pillar to post before a marriage in 1897 to a Robert Warton Cockroft. 

The 1901 census shows Herbert living with his mother in Halifax, and also shown as a 'boarder' is her husband, who she married in 1897!...obviously an error!

1901 census

 

It is also not clear when he enlisted in the army but he was serving with the 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, with a reg number of 33682, and their war diary for the first part of 1917 and the early entries for January mention very wet, boggy conditions followed by freezing temperatures, 'perishing cold' and snow. They were in billets for the last week or more of January and although that would be a relief for the men I suspect it was too little too late for Herbert who might already have been evacuated back to the UK for treatment, which suggests his condition was already serious.

He died of pneumonia in hospital which the pension record card gives as the reason for his death in Ashington War Hospital and whilst it could have been cause by his service it might have been due to influenza. It was January of course, so a death of this nature in winter isn't unusual, particularly if he's been serving in the trenches.

Pension Record

The pension record shows that his mother, Mary Ann Cockroft being the beneficiary of his war pension.

Soldier's effects

 

Herbert got himself into trouble earlier in his life when he was sent to prison, when he mistakenly caught begging from a policeman! The story can be read here

 

Stoney Royd Cemetery

 

Anthony Bancroft of Lightcliffe 1803-1845

                                                  St Mathews Graveyard -Lightcliffe

Here's a sad story about an Anthony Bancroft who committed suicide in 1845.

Anthony was the son of James [1767-1840] and Sarah Lister [1767-1831]who lived all their married lives in Lightcliffe, Yorkshire and had 10 children. They were married on 8^th March 1789 at St John's Halifax and were both listed as coming from nearby Hipperholme and James occupation was listed as a 'dresser', a textile job that many of his sons, including Anthony also worked as .

James & Sarah's marriage record

 

Anthony was baptised on 28/12/1803 at St Mathews, Lightcliffe, as were all the other children. 

 

Anthony's baptism

 

Not much is know about Anthony's life, and he appears to be missing from the 1841 census, which is not unusual. We know from newspaper records that his occupation was a ' cloth dresser' working for a company called Messrs James Brown & Co at the time of his death. He appears to be living alone in lodgings and unmarried at the time, probably because the whole family had separated after the earlier deaths of both parents. Anthony was not without money and the newspaper report describes him 'He was a steady industrious man, and had saved an amount of money, which, for a man in his circumstances,might be looked upon as a considerable, and which was invested in houses, valued at between two and three hundred pounds.' It seems clear from the reports that the poor man had some mental heath issues at the time of his death.

Anthony's burial record

Here are the reports from two local Leeds newspapers:

Leeds Intelligencer 03 May 1845

DEATH BY HANGING.—An inquest was

held on Thursday last, at the Court House,

Leeds, before Blackburn Esq., on view of the

body of Anthony Bancroft, a cloth dresser, in

the employ of Messrs. James Brown and Co.,

who had been found that morning suspended

by a silk handkerchief, in his lodgings, in St.

James’s-street. The Jury returned a verdict

“that the deceased was labouring under

temporary insanity.”

Leeds Times 03 May 1845

SUICIDE BY HANGING. – On Thursday last

an inquest was held before John Blackburn,

Esq., relative to the death of Anthony Bancroft,

a cloth dresser, who had been in the employ of

Messrs. James Brown and Co.. The deceased,

who was a single man, 37 years of age, resided

in lodgings, in St.James’s Street. For the last

fortnight, he had been labouring under

depression of spirits, but continued at his work,

up to the day when the unhappy deed was

committed. This was on Thursday morning.

The occupant of the house called him up as

usual about six o’clock, to go to his work, after

which he himself continued in bed till about an

hour after that time, when he got up, and on

going into the cellar kitchen, was horrified at

seeing his lodger suspended by the neck, from

a nail over the kitchen fire-place, which was

used for roasting meat. Life was quite extinct.

The deceased had suspended himself from the

nail by a black silk neckerchief, which had

apparently broken with his weight in the first

instance, but he had tried it a second time, and

too fatally succeeded. He was a steady

industrious man, and had saved an amount of

money, which, for a man in his circumstances,

might be looked upon as a considerable, and

which was invested in houses, valued at

between two and three hundred pounds. The

jury agreed upon a Verdict—That the deceased

had destroyed himself in a temporary fit of

insanity.

Anthony was buried with his parents and infant brother Edwin at St Mathews Lightcliffe.

Bancroft family grave

 

                                   In memory of EDWIN the son of JAMES and SARAH BANCROFT

of Lightcliffe who departed this life April 29th 1815

aged 3 years and 8 months

Also of SARAH wife of the above named JAMES BANCROFT

who died July 31st 1831 aged 64 years

Also of the above named JAMES BANCROFT

who died January 27th 1840 aged 72 years

Also of ANTHONY son of the above JAMES and SARAH BANCROFT

who died May 1st 1845 aged 41 years

 

William Bancroft from 'Old Snap' farm

 

)

Old  Snap Farm  2025

Here is a story about a married couple, William Bancroft & Ann Binns who lived all their lives in and around a farm called “Old Snap” on the outskirts of Keighley, Yorkshire. 

 

William married Ann Binns in 1785 at Haworth Church, even though where they lived was actually in the Keighley Parish area, most marriages around there took place at Haworth, because that was geographically nearer. It is noticed that neither William or Ann were able to write their names as they just left an X as their mark and William's surname is spelt with a "K" which was not unusual in those days where people could not read either.

William & Ann's marriage at Haworth PC 1785

 

William is listed as a weaver in the Craven Muster Rolls of 1803, This was an important historical document produced in 1803, when England declared war against France and the threat of invasion by Napoleon made it necessary to prepare the whole of the active male population of the country between the ages of 17 and 55 for military training, but not military service. The purpose of the lists was to organise reserves of men, not already serving in the military services, who would be required to take on such duties as evacuation of the civilian population, moving food supplies and gathers arms and equipment in the event of an invasion. 

They had at least five children, Ann being their fourth child. Shown near the bottom of this burial records page is the entry for a poor child of 2 years of age, Ann Bancroft, who was the daughter of William and Ann Bancroft and died from Smallpox.

As the following page from the Haworth burial records shows in September/October 1794, smallpox was rampant in the area around this time. The records for this six week period shows 15 out of the 20 burials in this small village were due to smallpox, and nearly all were young children.

 

Haworth Burial Record

William and Ann lived in a small isolated farmhouse know as ‘ Old Snap’ which is still there today on the outskirts of Haworth. Just surviving must have been a daily toil for William and his family, due to the rough moorland that surrounded them, were he scratched out a living as a hand loom weaver.

William seems to have lived his whole life in the area around Old Snap, and died in 1823, and was buried at Haworth Churchyard, as the following parish record shows, written by the hand of Rev’d Patrick Bronte. 

William's burial at Haworth PC

His wife Ann and family seem to have carried on living in the same area, but not at Old Snap, After William's death,  Ann is shown as living nearby at Deanfield as a servant with a farmer called Joseph Heaton…the Heaton family being the large landowners in the area at the time, and the owners of Old Snap farm, which the Bancroft had probably been renting from them. [The ages on the 1841 census are approximate]

1841 census

It seems likely that Ann lived to a good age and died aged 91 years and was buried at Haworth Parish Church as had been her husband William.

Ann's burial at Haworth PC 1/3/1850

 

Bancrofts from Yorkshire Strays 1881

Bancrofts from Yorkshire Strays 1881

 

 I am sure many of our Bancroft researchers, whilst looking for ancestors from Yorkshire have drawn a blank because the people they are looking for have disappeared from the county.

 Here's a list of Bancroft families from the 1881 census, where the head of household originated from Yorkshire but by 1881 was living elsewhere in England [not Scotland or Wales] 

 Have a look and see if yours is there.

 

NAME  ST S/M AGE OCCUPATION    PARENTS     BORN                 LOCATION

LANCASHIRE

STEPHEN H M 64 C.W.TWISTER JOS/ISABELLA OAKWORTH 40 ROBINSON ST,BURNLEY
HANNAH W M 66 WIFE HARDEN
ELIZ ANN D U 24 C/WEAVER HARDEN

EDITH ANN GD 9 SCHOLAR HOLBECKETHEL GD 6 SCHOLAR HOLBECK

MARY H W 71 L/HOUSE KEEPER HALIFAX 62 BONNY ST, LAYTON

RUTH H W 70 SEAMSTRESS WAKEFIELD 12 DAVIES ST,SALFORD

EDWIN H M 56 CLERK HEBDEN BRIDGE 25 WATERLOO ST,OLDHAM
MARY A W M 56 DRESSMAKER HEBDEN BRIDGE
CLARA A D U 24 DRESS ASS ROTHERHAM

JOHN H M 56 FARMER WADSWORTH LOWER PEMMIN,WARDLE
MARY W M 64 F'MERS WIFE CLITHEROE

HENRY H M 55 CORN DEALER HALIFAX 10 MOUNT PLEASANT,TODMORDEN
MARY A W M 55 HALIFAX

WILLIAM H S 13 FUSTIAN CUTTER CLIVIGER, LANCS

WILLIAM H H M 30 CARVER/GILDER SHEFFIELD 18 NEW PARK ST,BLACKBURN
MARY J W M 31 BIRMINGHAM
EDWIN T S 7 SCHOLAR BIRMINGHAM
FREDERICK S 6 SCHOLAR OLDHAM
HARRY S 3 SCHOLAR BLACKBURN

JONAS H M 40 STONE MASON JAMES/HANNAH BINGLEY 162 COLNE RD,BURNLEY
MARY W M 37 BURNLEY
HANNAH D U 17 C/WEAVER BURNLEY
CLARENCE S 15 C/WEAVER BURNLEY
ELIZABETH D 14 C/WEAVER BURNLEY
CLARA D 13 C/WEAVER BURNLEY
ROBERT S 11 C/WEAVER BURNLEY
JAMES S 9 SCHOLAR BURNLEY
ALICE D 8 SCHOLAR BURNLEY
FRANCIS S 6 SCHOLAR BURNLEY
BERTHA D 4 SCHOLAR BURNLEY
HANNETTA D 3 SCHOLAR BURNLEY 

SELINA D 1 ?

JOSEPH H M 37 C/WEAVER JOHN/REBECCA DENHOLME MODEL LODGING
HOUSE,ACCRINGTON
ELIZ A W M 32 C/WEAVER BURNLEY

JAMES H M 46 GAMEKEEPER HALIFAX TOWNLEY,BURNLEY
SUSANNA W M 33 CLIVIGER
WILLIAM S U 20 SAWYER CLIVIGER
MARY ELLEN D 14 C/WEAVER TODMORDEN
EMILEY D 10 SCHOLAR NEW CHURCH
CROPLEY S 8 SCHOLAR HALIFAX
ELIZA D 5 SCHOLAR HALIFAX
MAY D 1 HABERGHAM EVE

TITUS H M 48 FORMER PUBLICAN JOSEPH/RACHEL BINGLEY 22 EDWARD ST,POULTON
BANCROFT W W 39 BINGLEY
HANNAH D 8 BINGLEY
ADA D 3 BINGLEY

THOMAS H M 51 COARD WAINER HALIFAX 46 HACKING TER,TODMORDEN
ELIZABETH W M 43 TODMORDEN
HANNAH J D U 21 C/SPINNER TODMORDEN
MARY E D U 16 C/SPINNER HALIFAX
SARAH E D 12 C/SPINNER TODMORDEN

MARGARET H W 52 HOUSEKEEPER LEEDS 3 IRK ST, OLDHAM
JOHN S U 17 WAREHOUSEMAN LEEDS
WILLIAM S 13 SCHOLAR OLDHAM

JOHN H M 52 C/WEAVER LUDDENDENFOOT WESTS VIEW NEWCHURCH
RD,NEWCHURCH
SUSAN W M 51 C/WEAVER NORLAND
ELIZABETH D U 27 C/WEAVER COTE HILL WARBY
MARY ELLEN D U 23 C/WEAVER NEWCHURCH
SARAH ANN D U 21 C/WEAVER NEWCHURCH

GRACE H W 52 ANNUITANT WARLEY GALE,CALDERBROOK
BETSY D U 16 ROCHDALE
ANNE D 9 SCHOLAR ROCHDALE
FLORANCE D 5 LITTLEBORO

WILLIAM H W 55 COTTON MANUF'ER KEIGHLEY 25 PALADINE SQ,HABERGH EAVES

WILLIAM H M 55 HOTEL KEEPER SHEFFIELD OLD RED LION
HOTEL,BURNLEY
MARIA W M 56 H/K'S WIFE ...HAMPDEN
THOMAS S U 20 DRAUGHTSMAN MANCHESTER

JAMES H M 26 C/CLOTHLOOKER STEPHEN/HANNAH OAKWORTH 139 ABEL ST,BURNLEY
FRANCIS W M 31 

ELLEN D 3 BURNLEY
ANNIE D 1 BURNLEY
GEORGE
ALFRED

H M 26 C/WEAVER COTEHILl,WARLEY 65 NEWCHURCH OLD
RD,NEWCHURCH
ANN MARIE W M 24 TIPTON
FLORANCE B D 3 CLOUGHFOLD

JOHN
CHARLES S 1 CLOUGHFOLD

JOSEPH G H M 27 CORN DEALER S/MAN
poss ILLEGIT STANBURY 54 NAPIER ST,ARDWICK
MARY A W M 28 GRASSINGTON

DERBYSHIRE

JOE H M 30 SHOE MAKER LOXLEY GREEN LANE,DRONFIELD
JANE W M 27 DEINHEAD
HARRY S 5 SCHOLAR ROYDE
WALTER S 4 HASLAND
SARAH D 1 DRONFIELD

INGHAM L W 43 RAILWAY CLERK HALIFAX 44 BAINBRIGGE ST, DERBY
WERBURGH
WILLIAM L 11 SCHOLAR DERBY
AUGUSTUS L 5 SCHOLAR DERBY STAFFORD

HUDSON H M 26 COLLIER YORK 49 BROOK ST, BURNSLEM
SARAH A W M 29 BURNSLEM
SAMUEL S 5 SCHOLAR BURNSLEM
ABRAHAM S 3 BURNSLEM

ABRAHAM H M 22 COLLIER YORK 13 CLARANCE ST,BURNSLEM
MARIA W M 20 CREWE
WILLIAM T S 4M BURNSLEM

DURHAM

ARTHUR B 7 SCHOLAR BRADFORD 18 WILLIAM ST,DARLINGTON

WILLIAM H M 55 FOREMAN/QUARRY KILDWICK TROW ROCKS,HARTON
ANNE W M 50 SHIELDS

GLOUCESTER 

JAMES H M 40 COACHMAN HALIFAX HENLEY GROVE LODGE,WESTBURY
MARY W M 40 C/MANS WIFE HALIFAX

 
MIDDLESEX

 
JAMES H M 52 CAB OWNER YORK 43 CHEYNE WALK,CHELSEA
MARY ANN W M 49 C/OWNERS WIFE NORTHAMPTON
JENNY D U 17 ACTRESS CHELSEA
ANNIE H D 12 SCHOLAR CHELSEA
MARY M D 9 SCHOLAR CHELSEA