1876

   A HISTORY OF FEATHERSTONE

1876

HOME RULE PART TWO

  On March 11 the following notice appeared in the Pontefract Advertiser.

PONTEFRACT UNION

Ackton, Featherstone, Purston Jaglin and Snydale Townships

  I the undersigned Alexander Buncle of Purston Jaglin, the summoning officer duly appointed by an order of the Local Government Board dated the 26th day of February 1876, to take the requisite steps under the provision of the Public Health Act 1875, with reference to the constitution of a Local Government District in the place the boundaries whereof the said Order settled to be such portions of the existing boundaries of the above mentioned townships of Ackton, Featherstone, Purston Jaglin and Snydale, as in a continuous line would include the whole area of these townships, do hereby in pursuance of a requisition which has been duly delivered to me, signed by upwards of 20 ratepayers and owners resident in the said place, summon a meeting of the owners and ratepayers of the said place, to be held in the schoolroom, Purston Jaglin, on Tuesday, the 21st day of March, 1876, at 7 o'clock in the evening, for the purpose of taking into consideration, and if the meeting shall so determine, for the purpose of passing a resolution declaring that the said place should be constituted a Local Government District.

Dated this 10th day of  March, 1876.

Alexander Buncle

Summoning Officer.

  At a packed meeting George Bradley opposed the scheme yet again. He said at Castleford the rates had gone up from 10d to 6s 8d when a Local Board was established. He was the ratepayer most affected by the proposal, and he contended the meeting had been wrongly convened. If they constituted a Local Board they would speedily have an injunction against them.

  Mr Fearnley of Featherstone and Mr Waller of Purston, both Guardians, said the Pontefract Union had more business than it could properly manage, and it was desirable the proposed district should be constituted; more especially as a "Parochial Committee" which Mr Bradley had advocated had been tried and proved a failure.

  The resolution was put to the meeting and was passed by 57 votes to 16. Mr Bradley demanded a poll which was granted. This was held on 28 April and was again in favour.

  Mr Bradley still did not give up and in October there was another inquiry held at Purston School before Lieutenant-Colonel Cox of the Royal Engineers to consider if Ackton and "that portion of Featherstone called North Featherstone" should be excluded from the proposed Local Government District.

  George Bradley junior, solicitor, said North Featherstone, Ackton and Loscoe should be excluded from the scheme because the natural drainage was into the Normanton valley - the opposite direction to that proposed. Mr Phillips, for the Messrs Briggs, Son and Co. of Loscoe Collieries said Loscoe was well supplied with water and was well drained.

  Mr Middleton, on behalf of the other townships, said if that area was omitted it would be left undrained and surrounded by other Boards. Dr Buncle said North Featherstone had suffered greatly from fever epidemics during the past nine months, as many as five in a house being attacked. The death rate was 40 per 1,000, which would not have been the case if there had been good drainage and a proper supply of water. In Loscoe things were somewhat better, but the houses were built on the back to back principle.

  The inspector said he would visit the various townships before giving in his report. After his visits he recommended the Featherstone Local Board should comprise of Ackton, Loscoe, Snydale, North Featherstone, South Featherstone and Purston Jaglin.

ANOTHER STRIKE AT THE MAIN

  In May the manager at Featherstone Main Colliery laid off 14 men and 206 miners came out on strike. According to the union the manager had said there was a fault in the district where the men worked and fewer colliers were needed until a road had been driven through the fault. The 14 were said to be prominent in the local union and Ben Pickard, secretary of the West Yorkshire Miners' Association, declared it was a clear case of victimisation and the union would fight for them.

  John Shaw, the owner put up a notice saying the pit would be open for work on  May 25 for all those who had not given the necessary two weeks notice, or had withdrawn their notice, and anyone who did not turn up would be charged with breach of contract.

  Some 42 miners stayed out so Mr Shaw sued them all for £10 compensation each, based on 19 shillings a day per man. He claimed the total loss to date for continuing to run the mine was £391 10s. Mr Clegg of Sheffield for the men said in court the amount of compensation claimed was excessive, also the summons was taken out on May 27, therefore the claim could only be for one day.

  Five of the summonses were withdrawn because of illness or not being served, and the remainder were told to pay £7 each plus costs. Mr Clegg applied for leave to appeal which was granted, but he failed to send in his notice of application to the Queen's Bench within the required three days, so the appeal was turned down at the June hearing. Mr Hall for the owners said so far no compensation had been paid and some of the men were leaving the district.

  Note: The Pontefract Advertiser said the cause of the strike was men were being gradually discharged because of the slackness of trade, and the union had agreed to this; but when it came to their turn they incited the men to strike saying their discharge was a blow to the union.

  In July the men on strike, both those who had given notice and those who had not, asked Mr Andrew, the manager, for a meeting in order to come to terms but he refused saying any man could come and apply for work, and he would employ or refuse employment as he might think fit.

  James Savage had been in the union but he accepted the offer of Mr Andrew and returned to work. He was moving house when he was attacked by ten men and women who threatened to break his furniture, so he called for the police who arrested the troublemakers. In court the Bench said the defendants had a right to join the union, but not to interfere with another man who exercised his right of going to work on the employer's terms. The men were all fined £5 and the women £2. They were all unable to pay so were removed in custody.
  Jonathan Hudswell also continued working and was attacked by Frank Richards and Peter Johnson. They were both fined 20s. It was said a policeman had to accompany Hudswell to and from the pit.

  The police said they had called at the houses of the miners ordered to pay compensation but they found many had left the district.

  In August the Advertiser commented: We are glad to hear that the men who have been out on strike at Featherstone Main Colliery for several months past, have now agreed to resume work on the master's terms as far as he can receive them, though the places of many of them will have been already filled up by fresh hands. The strike was, however, hopeless from the first, and we cannot affect to be surprised at its termination in the manner in which it has terminated.

  The union called the fresh hands "blacksheep", and the last word on the strike was at the hearing of an assault charge on another back to work miner at Featherstone Station which cost Jonathan Haigh a £2 fine. The Bench said they were determined to protect those who worked.

  Note: Some of the above information is taken from Frank Machin's book The Yorkshire Miners published in 1958.

PURSTON CHURCH

  In January His Grace the Archbishop of York licensed the Revd Benjamin Burgon to the parish of South Featherstone cum Purston, and on April 18 the foundation stone for the new church was laid by Percy Craven Hall of Purston Hall, son of the Revd T H Hall. The contractors were Messrs Kassell Brothers of Castleford who were to build the church in the Early Decorated style with stone from Brackenhill quarries. The woodwork would be in pitch pine.

  There was a very large gathering although the ceremony took place in a downpour of rain. After the singing of the hymn The Church's One Foundation and suitable prayers and readings, Mr Hall performed the ceremony with a mallet and silver trowel which were then presented to him. It was announced the subscriptions had passed the £2,500 mark and a collection realised a further £23 6s.

  After the ceremony nearly 400 people gathered for tea in the schoolroom and two sittings were necessary. After the tea Revd Burgon said when Mrs Hall deposited the £1,000 in the bank at Pontefract she laid the first foundation stone. Another feeling in their hearts was one of pleasure at seeing her son, now growing up to manhood, lay the foundation stone of the new building. Mr Hall said it had given him great pleasure, the more especially so because it was the desire of his late father (for a Purston Church). Mr Pollard, the architect, said he and his partner would do their best to have the work completed in 18 months.

1876 NEWS ITEMS

JANUARY  Levi Halstead, a collier at Featherstone Main, was summonsed for not having his lamp hanging two feet from the swing of his pick, and neglecting to put it out after it was damaged. He said the damage was accidental, and the usual practice at the pit was to fine a man 5s for "picking" a lamp. The bench decided to fine him £1 plus costs.

  George Stainthorp was charged with having taken matches into Featherstone Main Colliery. One of the hurriers (pony drivers) had looked in Stainthorp's pocket to find the time and he had found the matches. He told his mate who took the matches to the deputy. When confronted by a fellow collier Stainthorp replied "They'll do nobody harm if left alone", to which his mate replied "That's not it. My life is as good as thine". Because he had left his pipe and tobacco on the surface the Bench decided on a fine of £2 and costs instead of prison.

  At a Board of Guardians meeting a letter was read from Dr Buncle of Purston to the effect he had received instructions from Mr Lindley, relieving officer, not to attend any case of compound fracture until first having an order. If he was to adhere to these instructions serious complications might result. He therefore wished to know if he was to follow the order of Mr Lindley or the Guardians. Dr Buncle was advised to follow the instructions laid down by the Local Government Board. In an extreme case the overseers could give an order, and the doctor would be held justified by the Board in attending it. One Board member thought there had been some misunderstanding and Mr Lindley meant that no assistance (paid by the Board) was to be given to persons who were able to pay for surgical aid.

FEBRUARY  William Street was charged with vagrancy (sleeping in the engine house at Featherstone Main Colliery). He was committed to prison for three months with hard labour because his previous conduct was described as bad.

APRIL  The attendance at the Board of Guardians meetings by the local Guardians for the past year was George Bradley 1, Joseph Fearnley 19 and John Waller 15.

  Alfred Belsher of Birmingham was charged with begging at Featherstone. When arrested by PC Hobson he said he had heard a good account of Wakefield Jail and would like to go there. The Bench obliged with a sentence of one month.

  Mary Ann Newton age 40 lived with Emanuel Hodgkiss at Clark's Buildings as his wife. After a dispute he walked out and went down Green Lane and she followed him. He ran across the railway line when a train was coming to escape her (probably the Middle Lane crossing). She followed and was hit by the train and killed. The inquest jury at the Railway Hotel returned a verdict of accidentally killed, and censured Hodgkiss for inhuman and cowardly conduct.

JULY  An inquest was held at The Railway Hotel on John Henry Short age seven weeks. He had been restless for a night or two when his mother, Sarah Short, (who said she had twelve children) asked a neighbour, Sarah Hughes, to give her a drop or two of laudanum to pacify the child. She administered it with tea at 6pm and at 1am the child died.

  Dr Buncle said the death was solely caused by the laudanum. The coroner said the law was at fault for not putting a further restriction on the sale of laudanum and other opiate poisons. It was a shocking state of things children should thus be drugged out of the world. The jury's verdict was "the child was poisoned by two drops of laudanum administered in ignorance by its mother".

  John William Buckley age 17 came from Todmorden to work at Featherstone Station. He was caught between the buffers of an engine and wagon while attempting to couple them. He died a few days later from his injuries.

AUGUST  The overseers, elected by the parishes, were responsible for collecting the rates and passing the money to the Board of Guardians at Pontefract. The local overseers, John Waller, John Atkinson and William Gladworth, were summonsed by the Guardians for not paying the call. The Guardians, acting as the Rural Sanitary Authority, had incurred additional expenses in Purston, Featherstone and Snydale of £23 general expenses and £90 16s special expenses. This had been shared between the townships who had 21 days in which to object. The defendants said the account was exaggerated and they had been excluded from a discussion on it. The Bench said they could not enter into the merits of the case and payment must be made within one month.

  Mr Bedford, a joiner at Featherstone, sued Bezekiah Windmill and others of the Featherstone Concert Hall Company for £10 for 23 seats for the hall. There was no defence and an order was made for payment at £1 per month.

OCTOBER  Four men employed at Manor Colliery took George Bradley to court over a wage claim. They were Henry Gladwin, a blacksmith paid 35s a week, Walter Ireland, a blacksmith's striker, on 21s a week, Filney Mace, an engineer on 30s, and Frederick Pearce, a bricklayer's labourer paid 25s a week. They said after their first week's work they claimed overtime but George Bradley refused to pay and said if they persisted they could have it but there would be no more work for them. 

  They insisted on their money and were sacked, so they claimed 14 days pay in lieu of notice. In court Mr Bradley said hundreds of men left him without giving notice, and he could not see why he should not have the like privilege. The Bench decided the men were entitled to a fortnight's notice each.

NOVEMBER  As a sequel to the above case George Bradley charged Henry Gladwin with obtaining three shillings by false pretences from Joseph Blackburn, the manager of Manor Colliery. Mr Bradley said Gladwin claimed 10s 2d overtime, but although he (Mr Bradley) knew the time claimed was wrong he paid him. The Magistrate's Clerk said that was the end of the matter because it could not be obtaining money by false pretences where money was paid on a claim, which at the time was known to be wrong. Mr Gladwin claimed costs but the Bench said they had no power to grant costs.