1881

  A HISTORY OF FEATHERSTONE 

 

1881

THE DRAINAGE SCHEME COMPLETED

  Featherstone Local Board received the final account for the drainage scheme in May from the contractors. It came to £5,800 6s 8½d. The estimated cost had been £6,324 so it came in under budget and had been completed in a satisfactory manner and in accordance with the specifications. The drains were now ready to be handed over to the Board. When other outstanding payments were made to the engineer (Mr Hodgson), the surveyor (Mr Cross), and Marsden and Williams of Wakefield, the Board would have overspent by £90. The chairman called it a very close shave. The Ordnance Survey map shows the sewage works by the side of the Went Beck from Streethouse.

THE WATER SUPPLY

  Dr Buncle had taken water samples from around the district which showed the water from the wells was polluted. There was no other source of supply so the Local Board concentrated on compelling house owners to connect their houses to the new drains which would help to prevent the pollution.

  At the June meeting of the Local Board David Denton proposed the Board should take measures to supply water for such parts of the district which needed it. He was satisfied the present supply of water was both insufficient and bad. He said if the members who dissented knew better than the analyst, who had condemned all water sent to him from the district, he would give way. When it was asked as to where the water would be obtained the chairman, Joseph Fearnley, said he had some wells dug to a depth of 17 yards from which a good and plentiful supply had been obtained.

  No decision was taken  at that meeting but at the next one Mr Denton brought it up again. Some Board members still would not accept the present supply was tainted. Mr Denton said the Board would do better to spend their money in obtaining a good supply of water than in meeting the cost of an epidemic. It was agreed the surveyor, Mr Cross, would investigate and report back.

  Mr Cross reported there was not the slightest doubt there was a sufficient quantity of water which could be obtained at a reasonable cost. It would be necessary to sink a well away from the collieries and pump up the water. The brooks were no use and mostly polluted. The Board members couldn't agree so the matter was dropped.

FIGHTING IN THE STREET

  PC Watson told a court hearing he heard a disturbance while at home in June and he went out in plain clothes to Clark's Buildings where he found two men fighting surrounded by about 300 men, women and children. He separated the fighters, Thomas Price and George Leadbeater, but Price assaulted him. He succeeded in getting hold of him but he was attacked by other men and women in the crowd and had to let him go. Supt Whincup said there would have been five cases of assault had not the offenders absconded. These disturbances on Saturday nights were getting to be a frequent occurrence. He meant to stop such riotous proceedings, even if he had to take the whole of the force to Featherstone on Saturday night. Price was sent to prison for two months.

LOITERING IN THE STREET

  Eleven Featherstone youths were charged in October with obstructing the free passage of the footpath in Station Lane. Supt Whincup said the annoyance in consequence of these lads loitering on the footpath was becoming intolerable. From 4 o'clock to 10 o'clock the footpath was obstructed and people had to pass on the road and receive their abuse. It was impossible to obtain witnesses, and if summonses were issued the witnesses were afraid to go to the railway station to come to Pontefract.

  The Bench said there was a general feeling Station Lane was a disgrace to the inhabitants of Featherstone, and that sort of thing must be altered. They were fined half-a-crown each. 

1881 NEWS ITEMS

FEBRUARY  For the first time in one of his quarterly reports Dr Buncle was able to report the death rate in Featherstone (19.6 per thousand) was less than the whole Local Board district. There was no case of cholera and no epidemic disease.

MARCH  It was reported to the Local Board meeting that at one house there was a litter of pigs in the same room as the family, and at another there were 12 people living and sleeping, some of them married.

  William Hewson was in trouble again, this time for keeping his poultry under his van. He was ordered to abate the nuisance at once.

APRIL  George Bradley hadn't attended one Board of Guardians meeting in the past year but he was still re-elected unopposed, as were Ernest Andrew (11 attendances) and John Waller (20 attendances).

  An inquest was held on William Wait age 62, of South Featherstone, who was fatally injured at Featherstone Main Colliery. He stood aside to let some full tubs pass and he was run over by a horse and two empty tubs on the other track. He was conveyed home in a cart and he died the same night. The coroner commented strongly on a 13 year old boy being allowed to drive tubs without a check rein, trusting only to the docility of his horse to stop when spoken to. The jury's verdict was the deceased died "from injuries to his spine caused by being knocked down and run over by some empty wagons in the Featherstone Main Colliery".

MAY  The Local Board fixed a rate of one shilling which would bring in £1,080. The increase over last year's 10d rate was because of the drainage scheme.

  Thomas James Kassell, owner of five houses in Albert Street, was taken to court by the Local Board for non-payment of £12 5s for the connection of his houses to the drainage scheme. He complained he had laid drains into an open ditch when the houses were built and he did not see the need to have new drains. He was ordered to pay.

JUNE  At the Local Board Meeting Dr Buncle said in the last quarter 18% of all deaths in the district were of children under one year old, and 76% were of children under five years old.

  James Tattersall, a builder of Wakefield, was summonsed by the Local Board for letting new houses in Featherstone before they had been passed by the Board. In his defence it was said he was the owner of many houses in Featherstone, and as one had been inspected out of his latest ten he thought that would do for them all. He was fined 10s, a nominal amount as this was the first case under the new bye-laws. 

  Benjamin Hinde, Vicar of Featherstone, wrote to the Yorkshire Post urging those who had promised money for the restoration of All Saints' Church to give it now to enable work to continue. He wrote most had sent a cheque, but some were waiting until the work was done, and the committee were responsible for the payment of £200 in excess of what they had already received. 

  An eight years old boy named Jones was playing with friends on a vacant piece of land in Station Lane when a gun was fired and he was hit in the hand and side. He was taken to Clayton Hospital. The police were trying to find out who fired the gun.

JULY  There were two court cases of tenants doing a moonlight flit to avoid paying rent arrears. One had moved his belongings at 2am. They were both ordered to pay the arrears off at 2s a week.

AUGUST  Messrs Smith and Freeman, contractors for the drainage scheme, asked the Local Board for the £480 outstanding on their account. The Board said it was unable to pay because it had only £280 in the bank. Out of the £1,000 rates for this half year only £160 had been collected. It was agreed to pay £200 on account.

  William Kellett, a collier, was charged with having been drunk and refusing to quit the Junction Hotel. He was described as a maniac when in drink but mild when sober. He had been fined only a fortnight ago, and Supt Whincup asked for a committal. Kellett promised to sign the pledge so he was given another chance by the Bench and fined 5s.

SEPTEMBER  A music festival was held in a field near the railway station in aid of Clayton Hospital and Pontefract Dispensary. The members of the various societies walked in procession from their respective lodge rooms. The united choirs of the district totalled 200 and they were accompanied by brass bands from Crofton and Featherstone.

OCTOBER  James Umpleby applied for an interim order to keep open the Railway Hotel. The Bench said the house was one of the most difficult in the district, and as the applicant had no previous experience he would find it difficult to keep the house in order. However, his application was granted.

  Alfred Harrison was charged with embezzling £172 from John Shaw, owner of Featherstone Main Colliery. Harrison was an assistant traveller employed to solicit orders and to receive money for them. He had entered less money in the colliery's books than he had received for two months until found out. He was sent to Wakefield Jail for six months with hard labour.

NOVEMBER  The Local Board fixed the half year rate at 9d but had to put off the paving of Station Lane and Streethouse in order to keep it at that figure.

DECEMBER  There were £13 to distribute at Purston Church from Bailey's Charity. Thirty-one poor folk received 7s each and £2 was given to Pontefract General Dispensary. 

  William Henry Nutt age 28 was killed by a fall of roof in Manor Colliery. The inquest jury at the Railway Hotel decided it was accidentally killed.

  The Local Board were told the Midland Railway Company intended to build a railway line to connect the local collieries, including Featherstone Main, with Leeds and Hull. It would be for minerals only.