1882

  A HISTORY OF FEATHERSTONE

 1882

CHANGES WANTED AT THE STATION

  Mr Andrew was in the chair for the August meeting of the Local Board. He said it was 34 years since the railway was opened. At that time the houses from the Went Beck to Old Featherstone could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and the only pit was a small insignificant one at Purston where the top bed was being worked. Now the population was ten times greater at 4,000.

In spite of this nothing had been done on the north platform of the station for the accommodation of the passengers in inclement weather. On a wet night, as soon as the train approached, there was a general rush for the other side of the line, and this rendered accidents exceedingly probable. The Board agreed to write to the railway company.

  At the October meeting it was said 150 miners were kept waiting half an hour at the station gates at 5.30am while a goods train was shunted. It made them late for work, and it was suggested a subway should be built.  

ALL SAINTS CHURCH REOPENED

It took nearly three years to do the restoration work on North Featherstone's church which included almost completely re-erecting the south wall and part of the east end. The porch was replaced and part of the south aisle as were all the window mullions. The old ceilings were removed and renewed, battlements were added and the tower repaired. New pitch pine stalls and oak chair stalls were installed together with a pulpit pedestal and stonework round the font. It was also intended to repair the bells.

  The church was reopened on July 18 at a special service when the sermon was given by the Archbishop of York. He said the former condition of the church was truly deplorable and it was hardly a fit place for the worship of God. The mind of a man was shown in the buildings he had around him, and as we all made our own home comfortable, so surely we should endeavour to spare something to make God's house a befitting place for his worship. Their church, after its restoration, was now all a church needed to be; not particularly splendid or excellent, but good and substantial. There was only one thing he was sorry to say, and that was the restoration was not wholly paid for. During the last few days a large amount of money had been received but there were several hundred pounds still owing. He hoped the money would not be long unpaid.
 Below - Featherstone Church rebuilt with battlements. A photo from the Tony Lumb Collection. 

A FEATHERSTONE SCHOOL BOARD

  The 1880 Education Act made school attendance compulsory from the age of five to ten years old. This meant the local National Schools would no longer be able to cope. An election was held in September for a Featherstone School Board to oversee the building and running of elementary schools. The voting for the five members was:

Ernest Andrew, colliery manager   493

Joseph Chambers, underviewer (undermanager)   337

George Bradley, solicitor   206

Joseph Battye, checkweighman   170

Thomas Phipps, builder   160

Michael White, schoolmaster   137

Benjamin Burgon, vicar   92

David Blythe Foster, draper   51

William Bowling, miller   6

1882 NEWS ITEMS

  JANUARY  Frank Hill of Wakefield was going down the hill to Wood Corner with a wagon so he locked the three inch wide wheel with a chain, but he didn't put a skid pan under the wheel. He was seen by PC Missenden who summonsed him. The wheel had cut up the road made of stones for about 100 yards. He was fined half-a-crown.

  A fight on a train from Tanshelf resulted in three Featherstone youths being fined 10s each. The Bench said the railway company should not allow the carriages to be overcrowded and should not sell tickets to drunks.

FEBRUARY  Henry Haines, a labourer for George Bradley, was fined one shilling for taking a wagon down a hill at North Featherstone with a locked wheel and no skid pan or slipper. The road was badly damaged.

  The Pontefract Advertiser commented: A large proportion of the deaths in Featherstone are those of young children dying from convulsions, congenital debility, marasmus or other causes pointing to an unintelligent mode of life. The fact should not be lost sight of by those who have the opportunity of spreading information as to sanitary subjects, a better knowledge of which by the mothers of the township might very well have reduced this rate very considerably.

  The Local Board responded by summonsing John Buckhouse for emptying closets into the street. It was said that such cases were very frequent.

  John Lewis of Featherstone was in a train in Leeds which had been sent off on the wrong line. It collided with another train and he was badly injured and left with one leg half an inch shorter than the other. He sued the Midland Railway company and told the court hearing medical attendance and loss of earnings already amounted to £140. The jury awarded him £250 compensation. The judge asked is that in addition to the £140 and the foreman replied no, including that. With expressions of surprise in the court room the judge asked them to reconsider. They then decided the £250 was in addition to the £140.

APRIL  John Walmsley, a Featherstone builder, had been served with a notice to connect his houses and street to the drains. He had ignored it so the Local Board carried out the work and charged him £48. He refused to pay and was taken to the Magistrates' Court who ruled in his favour. The Board took it to appeal and won, so Mr Walmsley paid up.

  Messrs B and William Walmsley were summonsed by the Local Board for £105 for the cost of carrying out sewage works and making a causeway. This time the magistrates ordered payment.

  John Stead and John Holmes were in court for a breach of peace on the highway. PC's Missenden and Watson said that on hearing a great noise at 10pm in Green Lane they went and saw the two men fighting each other surrounded by a great number of spectators. They arrested the fighters who were ordered to pay the costs and they were bound over for six months.

  All the local Guardians were re-elected unopposed. George Bradley (Ackton) had made only one appearance in the last year, Ernest Andrew (Featherstone) had turned up 13 times, and John Waller (Purston) was the most regular attender with 22 appearances.

JUNE  The Local Board purchased some land from Mr Andrew for £200 to use as a depot for storing material and for a new boardroom. The material (mostly stone for road making) was previously stored from Fox's Row to the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Wakefield Road, and children were continually wasting the dross and causing annoyance.

JULY  The Local Board decided to advertise for a rate collector at £30 a year (a bond of £200 was required). Joseph Watson, the nuisance inspector, got the job, and his previous work was added to that of Mr Cross the surveyor whose yearly salary was increased from £75 to £100.

AUGUST  Thomas Parker of Purston said "It was the drink that did it" when he was charged with abusing his wife. In court she said they had been married for 35 years and for 20 of them she had led a life of misery being beaten and kicked. He was sent to prison for three months.

SEPTEMBER  The Local Board held a special meeting to discuss demands of £141 and £65 from the Public Works Loan Commission. The Board had only £126 in the bank. It was decided the only course to adopt was to sign the cheques and urge the rates collector to get in the amount required.

  Part of Station Lane was paved and it was estimated the rest would cost £55. Anything left over from the £100 provided for this work would be spent on re-laying flagging at Old Featherstone. A tender was received to complete the work for £80 and it was accepted.

OCTOBER  Elizabeth Grant, age about eleven, was charged with having a net and bags on her and being on land in search of game. The defence claimed immunity because the Act only referred to men. The Bench agreed and dismissed the case. Supt Whincup asked what to do with the articles taken from her as her father was one of the most notorious poachers in Yorkshire. The Bench said they would have to be given back to the girl. The Pontefract Advertiser didn't think much to the verdict and expressed the hope her escape would not encourage other notorious poachers to set their children to such work.

DECEMBER  The GPO agreed to a request by the Local Board that the morning delivery should be 30 minutes earlier and the evening delivery should be 1½ hours later. They would not agree to a Sunday delivery.

  Mr Cross, the Board's surveyor, had resigned to take up another post. Mr J B Fearnley of Castleford was appointed in his place.

  Two boys, aged 13 and 17, were accused of stealing a pair of skates from Charles Searby, a grocer. Supt Whincup said there was in the village a number of lads whose only object was mischief and theft. The Bench ordered nine strokes each with a birch rod.

  Abraham Holdsworth was a cutter employed by Henry Phipps, a tailor in Featherstone, at 3½d per hour. He was owed £1 8s 7d back wages, and when he asked for some money to go away at Christmas he was only given half-a-crown. Holdsworth took his claim to court and Phipps, who claimed hard times, was ordered to pay 7s a week.