1873

   A HISTORY OF FEATHERSTONE

1873

FEATHERSTONE MAIN COLLIERY COURT CASES

  On April 13 there was a fire at Featherstone Main Colliery and some ponies were burnt to death. Ten more were bought to replace them and others were to follow, but in the meantime the manager Mr Andrew took a pony from a part of the pit which he thought could spare it. There were eight colliers using that pony and he offered to pay them for the loss of time in running their own coal out in the tubs instead of the pony pulling them.

  The next morning he went to the pit at 5.30am and found 200 men refusing to go underground. Mr Hughes, the checkweighman, said the men would not go to work until the pony was returned. Mr Andrew said they had nothing to do with the eight men and if they did not go to work he would summons them. He returned at 6.30am and went down the pit. He found 14 men were absent so he took out a summons.

  A few weeks later Henry Rigby appeared at Pontefract Court charged with absenting himself from the employment of John Shaw, proprietor of Featherstone Main Colliery, on the 14th day of April.

  Mr Andrew said he engaged Rigby and supplied him with a set of the bye-laws, one of which was no man should leave his employment without a month's notice on either side, except in the case of fraud, and then a master had power to dismiss without notice. There were 350 men engaged on those terms. Mr Andrew also said he had offered to meet a deputation, but not on that day, and he offered to transfer the eight men to another part of the mine where they could have a pony but they had refused. He claimed six shillings compensation from each man for the day's absence.

  The defence said the summons was informal (irregular) as the defendant had been summonsed for absenting himself from the service of the Featherstone Main Coal Company, and no such company was in existence there being only one owner.

  This was overruled by the Bench who stated the case was fully proved against the defendant, and they were bound to put a stop to such conduct. Masters could not be tyrannically behaved to their men. If the men felt themselves aggrieved they could give a month's notice, but they must not rise up in a body at every little matter. The Bench would always act towards the miners with justice, but they advised them to keep out of the unions and go to work like men.

  Henry Rigby was fined one shilling plus six shillings compensation plus costs. The case against the other thirteen miners was then only a formality and they all received the same sentence. The 14 strikers were:

   Henry Rigby, Samuel Spiers, Ebenezer Arundel, Richard Hartley, Joseph Green, Isaac Wright, Thomas Foster, Barney Jepson, James Page, Albert Steel, Thomas Owen, Thomas Marsh, Samuel Taylor and James Hyatt.
  The photo below of Pontefract Courthouse is from the Old Pontefract website. 

     In another dispute John Shaw gave notice to George Bradley in May 1871 of his intention to take up the lease on the Haigh Moor seam but after a long correspondence George Bradley refused to grant it (no doubt he wanted it for his own colliery to be sunk near the railway station).

  John Shaw took the disagreement to the Court of Chancery in November 1873 where George Bradley sought to have the agreement overturned on two counts - that John Shaw was not a proper party to the contract (maybe his father George Shaw signed it), and the time for taking up the lease had expired. The Master of the Rolls ruled against George Bradley on both counts, so John Shaw was free to expand his colliery.

 GAS TO BE AVAILABLE IN FEATHERSTONE

  Lighting in the rows of new houses being built in Featherstone for the influx of miners was by candles or oil lamps. A group of Featherstone and Purston business men got together to form the Ackworth, Featherstone, Purston and Sharlston Gas Company. In August the following advertisement appeared in the Pontefract Advertiser.

THE ACKWORTH, FEATHERSTONE, PURSTON AND SHARLSTON GAS COMPANY LIMITED

    Incorporated under the Companies Act 1862 and 1867, whereby the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount of his shares. Capital £5,000 in 1,000 shares of £5 each. Deposit on application 5s per share and 15s on allotment. Subsequent calls 20s per share.

    Directors   Messrs E Cowling, merchant, Purston

                                  E Andrew, colliery manager, Featherstone

                                  A Mason, builder, Featherstone

                                  J D Parker, accountant, Featherstone

                                  J Waller, farmer and innkeeper, Purston

    Bankers     Messes Leatham, Tew and Co. Pontefract and Wakefield

    Solicitors  Messrs E Dixon and Son, Wakefield

    Engineer   William Cartwright Holmes, London and Huddersfield

    Secretary   J D Parker, The Poplars, Purston

  It has long been a matter of surprise that Ackworth, Featherstone, Purston and Sharlston with their populous and rapidly increasing neighbourhood have not had the advantage of gas.

  This company has been formed to supply this want and for the erection of the necessary works, buildings, plant, main pipes, meters and service pipes for the supply of gas.

  It is now well known that as a general rule no security can be safer than shares in a local gas company; they have the additional advantage over mortgage securities, that as the dividend increases the value of the principal increases also.

  An eligible site for the works has already been secured.

  The extensive collieries in the neighbourhood supply a first rate coal for gas, but the Company are authorised by their Articles of Association to adopt any new method of gas making, so soon as the same shall be proved to be commercially profitable.

  A large proportion of the capital has already been taken by private subscription.

  Prospectus with forms of application for shares to be had of the directors, bankers and secretary.

  Applications for shares accompanied by deposit may be made or sent to the bankers, directors or secretary.

 

  Note: The response to this offer must have been slow because the advertisement appeared almost every week until November 22 . Not many locals would have had that kind of money to spare, but the company eventually got going.
  The photo of the gasometers in Girnhill Lane is from the Tony Lumb Collection. Many local people called it Gas House Lane.

                               

 FRACAS IN SOUTH FEATHERSTONE

  A number of Featherstone men and women were summonsed in December for assaulting Ben Luckman his wife Charlotte and son Edward. The defendants were of the opinion the Luckmans were responsible for them getting notices to quit, and they attacked the Luckmans with a variety of weapons including a pick shaft, poker and knife. Their court appearance was delayed because of the seriousness of the injuries to Luckman and his wife. Dr Wood of Ackworth and his assistant Dr Buncle described the injuries and said the parents' lives were in great danger. 

  The evidence was there was a noise in the street and on the Luckmans going to the door Charlotte was dragged by her hair to the ground by Mary Newell and beaten with a pick shaft by Edward Hughes. Elizabeth Pitchford gave her a blow on the head which knocked her unconscious.  All the defendants except one who had an alibi were found guilty. Edward Hughes was fined £3 or two months in jail, Mary Newall £1 or one month, and Elizabeth Pitchford £2 or two months.

  Henry Newall, Jonah Pitchford and Daniel Poppitt were charged with assaulting Benjamin Luckman. Newall hit Luckman with a poker causing an injury which the doctors said could have proved fatal. Newall was sent to jail for two months, and Pitchford and Poppitt were fined £1 or one month.

  Henry Newall and Edward Hughes were further charged with assaulting Edward Luckman when he went to his father's assistance. Newall got a further month in jail, and Hughes was fined £2 or two months. William Hughes proved he was in Pontefract at the time and the case against him was dismissed.

1873 NEWS ITEMS

JANUARY  Francis Robinson, a Featherstone teacher of music, was charged with having threatened to take the life of his wife. He said he knew nothing about it but he was given a severe caution and bound over.

  An inquest was held at the Heywood Arms on Mary Ann Hyett aged 54. She had gone to Snydale Colliery to inform William Swain her son had eloped with Swain's wife. Swain accompanied her back to Featherstone when she suddenly became ill and fell to the ground. Swain obtained a cart and took her home, but she died immediately on being taken into the house. The jury returned a verdict of "Died by the visitation of God".

FEBRUARY  The Board of Guardians received a letter from the Rural Sanitary Authority saying South Featherstone and Streethouse were in a wretched state. The people in both places were the reverse of clean and many of the buildings were without sanitary accommodation. The wells were very near the surface and the soakings from the ash pits and dung hills percolated into the wells and impregnated the water. There was moreover no drainage.

MARCH  Peter Maean, an Irishman who went about the country with a donkey and cart as a hawker, was in court for wilfully breaking down a fence belonging to Mr Cuttle of Purston and putting it in his cart. The damage was estimated at one shilling. He was fined one shilling plus damages and costs.

APRIL  Elected overseers for the new financial year were :

     Featherstone   John Waller and William Gower

     Purston            J Hepworth and M Spink

MAY  Frederick Burgess, a Featherstone collier, was charged with damaging a drum by deliberately putting his foot through it. The drum was the property of a brass band at Featherstone. He claimed he was swinging his foot about and his toe end happened to catch the drum. He was fined one shilling, 19s 6d damage and costs

  In the County Court the case of Mumby v Bradley was heard. Mumby said he was engaged as a groom by Bradley who agreed to provide him with a cottage, garden and 18 shillings a week, rising to one pound if satisfactory, and also removal expenses. Mumby stayed for six months and then left after having words with Bradley.

  He was out of a situation for three weeks and he claimed £4 for lost wages and £4 for expenses. Bradley denied having offered removal expenses, only rail fare for Mumby. His Honour awarded £1 for rail fare and £3 wages.   

JULY  The Pontefract Advertiser commented: We are glad to hear that the upper end of Featherstone Lane (the road alluded to as the more recent road from Park Gates to Featherstone) is now likely to be repaired and made decently fit for traffic. The lower part up to Mr Wilton's farm was made about three years ago under Mr Wilton's supervision, and on Thursday last he received authority from the Duchy to make the remaining 800 yards.

AUGUST  John Street and Elijah Fellwood were charged with doing wilful damage to a brick kiln. Robert Garbett said when he went to fire up at his brickyard the defendants were in his kiln with a barrel of beer and refused to come out. Eventually he had to send for the police to get them off his premises, and he was forced to burn a large quantity of coal value 16s 6d to get the furnace back to normal. The defendants were ordered to pay 8s 3d damages each.

 

  Police Sergeant Grimshaw said in court he had received many complaints from the owners of property about South Featherstone respecting the manner in which the colliers trample down their corn and grass. He arrested three colliers he had found in one of Mr Bradley's fields and Robert Newsome, Mr Bradley's keeper, estimated the damage at 6d each. The three colliers were fines 2s 6d plus 6d damages and costs, or seven days in Wakefield Jail.

  Robert Brook was summonsed by the overseers of Purston for £2 4s poor rates and £1 16s 8d highway rates which he refused to pay because the footpath to his property was not kept in repair, and because the money was spent on gin and water every month. "They have their town's meeting monthly and every person who attends has two or three glasses of gin and water, and it is paid for out of the rates".

  It was explained the overseers were obliged to give them something for attending, or they could not get a meeting. It was alleged the defendant made this complaint because he was drunk one night and he was turned out.

  Chairman - Does the auditor allow money for men to get drunk out of the rates? Overseer - Men don't get drunk. There is only some 3s or 4s spent per month. We put it in another book under a different heading, rent or something else. The meetings are held at the public house and the drink is instead of rent. The Bench said if the landlord would not let them a room the overseers must get one somewhere else.  The defendant was ordered to pay the rates and costs.

  Two more colliers were charged with damaging one of Mr Bradley's fields. They said they had gone into the field for a necessary purpose. The Bench said the sanitary state of South Featherstone was becoming a serious matter, and they were determined to have something done for its improvement. They asked for the name of the inspector and considered the facts brought to light in this case evidences a serious neglect which ought to be looked into.

 

  Mr F Halliday, president of the Amalgamated Association of Miners said the owners were seeking to introduce "a terrible engine of oppression" known as the discharge note system. This meant that no colliery manager would employ a man unless he had a discharge note from his last employer. Mr Halliday said this was a conspiracy against the natural rights of his fellow working man, and he advised his members not to accept or apply for a discharge note. "The man who carries a discharge note with him after this warning will in truth bear the brand of Cain, and be guilty of his brother's blood."

OCTOBER  The births and deaths statistics for the first nine months of the year showed the death rates for Featherstone, Purston and Snydale were far higher than anywhere else in the district. The Pontefract Advertiser commented "Featherstone, Purston and Snydale continue to show a state of things not creditable to those concerned". Most deaths were of infants under one year old.

  A goods train from Leeds to Doncaster was passing Snydale Colliery when an axle on one of the wagons broke and several wagons were derailed strewing their contents in all directions and blocking both lines. Breakdown gangs cleared one line to allow trains to run and then spent hours clearing the other line.

NOVEMBER  A notice in The Pontefract Advertiser announced that under the provision of the Public Health Act of 1872 the Guardians of the Poor of the Pontefract Union were taking over the responsibilities of the sanitary arrangements from the overseers. The districts named included Featherstone, Purston and Snydale. 

 DECEMBER  Thomas Wolforth, the landlord of the Bradley Arms, was fined £7 and costs for permitting drunkenness on the premises and having been found drunk himself along with two other persons when the police entered the premises. The Bench informed him he was not a proper person to hold a licence, and ordered his certificate to be endorsed with the conviction.