our family history - plant-fhg.org.uk

Our Family History

The ancestors of Denise Margaret (nee Harwood) and John Stewart Plant

by

John Stewart Plant

Contents

1 Nana Denise’s ancestors 7

1.1 Harwood: Inherited Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.2 Harwood: Genealogical Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.2.1 The Stead(e) connection to Harwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.2.2 The Bradbury and Barrat(t) connections to Harwood . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1.3 Sharpe: Inherited Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1.4 Sharp(e): Genealogical Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

1.4.1 Goddard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

1.4.2 Brackenbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2 Grandad Stewart’s Plant ancestors 21

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2.2 Our family connection to some key events in Sheffield history . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2.3 Shoemaker William’s origins and kin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

2.3.1 Wm(shoe)’s evident father, marriage, and associates . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

2.3.2 Wm(shoe)’s children and death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

2.3.3 Wm(shoe) at Sylvester Street and his son James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

2.4 Grandad Stewart’s great grandfather James Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

2.4.1 The Sheffield ‘Little Mester’ James Plant (1829-1904) . . . . . . . . . . . 26

2.4.2 Some tales of James (snr) and his children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

2.5 Grandad Stewart’s grandfather Tom (snr) and his children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

2.5.1 Tom’s son Tom (jnr) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

2.5.2 Other children of Tom (snr) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

2.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

3 Rowlinsons in Sheffield 43

3.1 Historical Significance of the name Rollinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

3.2 Family History of Mary Rowlinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

3.3 Alderman E G Rowlinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

3.3.1 His Obituary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

3.3.2 The Rowlinson Campus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

4 Till Rose Bea (1868-34) 49

4.1 WRIGHT - reconstruction at 18.12.1987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

4.2 FRANKS - reconstruction at 18.12.1987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

4.3 FRANKS - reconstruction at 20.9.91 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

4.3.1 Robert’s son Robert (1811-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

4.3.2 Robert’s son John (1811-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

4.3.3 John’s son Thomas (1833-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

4.3.4 John’s son Henry (1836-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

4.3.5 John’s son John (1837-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

3

4 CONTENTS

4.3.6 John’s daughter Sarah Ann (1842-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

4.3.7 John’s son Robert (1846-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

4.3.8 John’s daughter Roseanna (1849-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

4.3.9 John’s son William (1852-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

4.3.10 John’s son Benjamin (1854-) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

5 Ellen’s stories: Vasey 61

5.1 Inherited information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

5.1.1 Circa George Vasey, d 1888 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

5.1.2 Brother William . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

5.1.3 Circa Mary Hanah, d 1897 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

5.1.4 Circa George Vasey, d 1905 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

5.1.5 Sister Lilly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

5.2 Widow Ellen and Lait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

5.2.1 Daughter Ada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

5.2.2 Daughter Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

5.2.3 Grandson Louis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

5.2.4 The Lait family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

5.3 Genealogical Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

5.3.1 Gunn(ee/ey/y) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

6 Ellen’s stories: Sayles 67

6.1 Inherited information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

6.1.1 The Family Chemists Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

6.1.2 The Simpson Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

6.1.3 Edward Sayles’s children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

6.1.4 Ellen’s sister Ada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

A Our link to earlier records for the Plant surname 73

A.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

A.2 Various William Plants in our family history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

A.3 Wm(0)’s 18th century will and family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

A.4 Plants near Sutton and Clowne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

A.4.1 Wm(0)’s sons Robert, James and Benjamin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

A.4.2 Plants from near Buxton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

A.4.3 James and Ellen of Sutton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

A.4.4 Wm(0)’s son, our ancestor Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

A.4.5 Thomas’s second marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

A.5 Offspring of our ancestor Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

A.5.1 Sons of Thomas and Ann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

A.5.2 Sons of Thomas and Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

A.5.3 Grandsons called William . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

A.6 Departure from Clowne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

A.6.1 Plants ariving in Sheffield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

A.6.2 A contended connection with Clowne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

A.7 Our farmer Thomas’s son Wm(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

A.7.1 Wm(1)’s death in Sheffield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

A.7.2 Wm(1)’s wife and children in Sheffield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

A.7.3 Wm(1)’s son Thomas from Clowne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

A.7.4 Wm(1)’s daughter Ann from Clowne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

A.7.5 Wm(1)’s son Benjamin from Clowne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

A.7.6 A little guidance to the reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

CONTENTS 5

A.7.7 Some ambiguities of birth place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

A.7.8 Possible travels of this family group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

B Plants Yard Plants 95

B.1 Early owners of Ben(bellows)’s Coal-pit Lane site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

B.2 The Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

B.3 Bricklayer John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

B.3.1 The bricklayer John’s 1816 will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

B.3.2 An 1834 deed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

B.4 Ben(bellows)’s property and Plant posterity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

B.4.1 Some pre-Enclosure Award rate books and deeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

B.4.2 Allotments from the 1788 Enclosure Award and our ancestor Wm(1) . . . . 109

B.4.3 Land near the Broomhall Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

B.4.4 Dukes Allotment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

B.4.5 The Spurr or ‘Spur Gart’ Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

B.4.6 Some business and family connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

B.4.7 The three favoured Plant nephews in Ben(bellows)’s 1805 will . . . . . . . 116

B.4.8 Benjamin’s finally listed properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

B.5 Some offspring of Ben(bellows)’s brother James (1740-1825) . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

B.5.1 Two 1816 deeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

B.5.2 Four deeds of 1823 and 1824 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

B.5.3 Ben(carp)’s son Ben(son.of.Ben) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

C Austin Plant: World War I casualty 125

C.1 The Great War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

C.1.1 Historical context of Austin’s actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

C.2 Austin’s first Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

C.3 Austin’s final Battles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

C.4 Austin’s personal record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

C.5 Names and Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

C.6 From the Ministry of Defence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

D ‘Sayles’ addresses 143

D.1 The Simpson Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

D.2 Ada Gamble’s Notebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

6 CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Nana Denise’s ancestors

THE ANCESTORS OF NANA DENISE’S FATHER ERIC HARWOOD AND MOTHER EDNA SHARPE

1.1 Harwood: Inherited Information

Nana Denise’s father was called Eric Harwood whose father was called Frank Harwood whose

father was called Harry Harwood. Both Harry (b 1861) and Frank (b 1887) were silversmiths.

Eric (b 1917) was a transport manager.

Eric’s grandfather Harry Harwood is recorded in 18871 as being a silversmith sets maker

of 17 Pembroke Street, Sheffield.2 Harry is said to have been born (30.11.1860) at the Stag Hotel,

Psalter Lane, Sheffield3 and he died in 1924 at his home (41 Glover Road); he was described by Eric

to have been ‘clean living and a good citizen’ and ‘liked walking and a drink of beer before Sunday

lunch’. Harry’s wife (Eric’s grandmother) (see Figure 1.2) is believed to have been the younger

sister of Joseph Stead (1850-3.1917). She was said by Eric to have ‘loved baking bread, etc.’ and

she died (aged 69) in the Sheffield Royal Infirmary.

Eric’s father Frank Harwood is recorded to be a projectile examiner on Frank’s marriage

certificate of 1916; this became similarly a shell examiner on the 1917 birth certificate of Eric.

Later, Frank was a silversmith for the company Mappin & Webb; his address (41 Glover Road4)

was that of his parents in 1916 but had become 27 Woodhead Road in 1917, 1926 and at his death, in

his sleep, in 1958. Frank’s daughter Nora (Eric’s sister) was still living with her father at Woodhead

Road5 in 1958; her mother had died earlier there (aged 50) in 1936.

Eric had an Aunt Emily and Uncle Harry at the same Glover Road address as Eric’s grandfather

Harry’s as well as his father Frank’s (until Frank left there in 1916). Frank’s sister, Emily B, is

recorded to be at this address (41 Glover Road) in 1924, 1931, 1936, and 1958. Frank’s younger

brother Harry (jnr) served in the Royal Artillery during the 1914-18 war and died suddenly in 1963

aged 68 years; Hugh, the son of Harry (jnr), was born at the same Glover Road address and he

served in the RAF Coastal Command during the Second World War 1939-45.

Eric’s mother Seney Barrat Bradbury was the twin of Francis Barratt Bradbury and Seney in

turn had twin children who both died. Seney was born (5.1.1886) at 23 Malvern Road, Darnall,

Sheffield and was married (6.5.1916) at St Barbabas Church, Highfield. She was described by Eric

1This is on the birth certificate (1887) of Eric’s father Frank.2Pembroke Street lies off Cemetery Road near the General Cemetery (opened in 1836) and nearly opposite the end of

Washington Road.3The Stag Hotel derived its name from the Stag’s head in the MacKenzie family crest; the Reverend Alexander

MacKenzie, Vicar of St Pauls, Pinstone Street (on the site of the present Peace Gardens by the Town Hall), had inherited

the nearby Sharrow Head House from his wife’s family, called Battie, in 1789 (his second wife belonged to the Wilson

family of the nearby snuff mill).4Glover Road is on the opposite side of Wolsey Road from the ‘Harwood Works (Cutlery)’ that are marked on a 1903

map as being on land between Staveley Road and Abbeydale Road; adjoining the Harwood Works was the Atlas Foundry.5Woodhead Road is the next road but one to Harwood Street.

7

8 CHAPTER 1. NANA DENISE’S ANCESTORS

Figure 1.1: Denise in 1969 and with her sister Pauline and mother in 1953. Also, Denise’s parents:

Eric Harwood in 1944 and Edna (nee Sharpe) in 1942.

1.1. HARWOOD: INHERITED INFORMATION 9

(a) Earliest inherited information

?

Georgeb 1859d 27.1.1924m Emily Memmott

Nelliem Ernest Bates

Emmiem Ernest Evans

Reginald

Kenneth

George (jnr)army 1914-18d aged 24 yrs

Jamesm Annie

James (jnr)m(1) Mabel Jackson

d 1965m(2) 1966 Heather

Mark

Edithm Wilfred Westnidge

Rene

Audrey

Edithb 7.7.1904d 27.02.1984spinster

Harryb .8.1906m 1944 Kathleen

Williamm ?

Alicem ?and brotherWilliam (jnr)m ?(details of parentageof children not known)

Vera

Alice

Frank

Doreen

Douglas

Harrysilversmithb ??30.11.1860d 26.12.1924m Emily Bertha

Steadb 15.12.1862d 24.12.1931

Franksilversmithb 23.3.1887d 18.8.1958m 6.5.1916

Seney BarrattBradbury(see Figure 1.5)

see (b)below

?Emily Bb 4.12.1893

Harry (jnr)b 7.1.1895d 28.10.1963m Nellie

Hughm Rita Peace

Elizabethm ?

3 children

Robertm ?

2 children

Elizabethspinster

(b) Descent from Frank Harwood and Seney Barratt Bradbury

from (a) above

Ericb 7.7.1917d 21.12.1989m 31.7.1937

Edna Sharpe(see Figure 1.7)

Pauline Valerieb 24.1.1938 Sheffieldm 14.9.1957 Highfield, Sheffield

Leslie Kerriganb 7.11.1929d 24.4.2010

Glennab 19.12.1959 Sheffieldm 30.6.1995 Tim Pryor (div 2010)

Isobel, b 12.1.1995

Olivia, b 13.5.1997

Tracyb 23.12.1961 Sheffieldm ?.7.? Robert Allan

Benjamin Harry, b 9.10.1992

Edward James, b 24.6.1994

Denise Margaretb 1.5.1946 Sheffieldm 15.6.1968 Norton, Sheffield

John StewartPlantb 27.9.1945 Sheffield

Robert Stephenb 12.1.1973 Sydney, Australiam 17.3.2001 Lancaster

Hiroko Elizabeth Shortb 16.4.1972

Freya Megan, b 12.3.2004 Reading

David Andrewb 22.9.1974 Grenoble, France= Vanda Teuta Vucicevic

b 12.11.1978

Leon Johnny, b 9.7.2010 London

Norab 28.2.1919d 2.4.1993spinster

twins, both died

Figure 1.2: Inherited Harwood Family Tree


Figure 1.3: Eric Harwood’s parents Frank (1887-1958) and Seney nee Barrat Bradbury (1886-1936);

and, his paternal grandparents Emma Bertha nee Stead (1862-1931) and Harry (1860-1924).

1.2. HARWOOD: GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH 11

as ‘a good lady who loved her faith and family’ and ‘a good cook and baker’; she was employed as a

Doctor’s Cook and Housekeeper. Her mother Mary E Barrat was the daughter of Charles Barratt

(23.7.1841-3.5.1914). Seney’s address is given on her marriage certificate of 1916 as still being 23

Malvern Road, Sheffield. Her father Arthur Mann Bradbury (see Figure 1.5) was a printer.

1.2 Harwood: Genealogical Research

As already mentioned, Eric’s grandfather was a silversmith called Harry Harwood (b 1861). It

has further been discovered that Harry’s father was a publican called William (b 1822/23) whose

father was a brewer called David Harwood.

In 1834 and 1837, David is listed as the proprietor of the Theatre Tavern on Arundel Street in

Sheffield6 which, after his 1845 death, was apparently taken over by his wife, Mrs Ann Harwood,

from 1845 to 1862.7 In the 1841 Census for Arundel Street, David (aged about 45) is listed as a

publican with Ann (abt 35), William edge tool grinder (abt 15), ?Ann dress maker (abt 15) and,

also in the household are F.S.8 Ann Roberts (abt 15), Henry Jackson (abt 50) and Mary Jackson (abt

25) - all were said to have been born in the county of Yorkshire.

On the 1850 marriage certificate of William to his first wife, he is listed as a grinder living at

Masbro.. (near Rotherham),9 aged 27, and his father is given as a brewer called David Harwood.

William had changed his occupation to a publican on an 1852 birth certificate10 and he is listed as

a victualler at the Kings Arms, 17 Fargate in an 1852 Directory.11 William remarried in 1857 and,

on an 1859 birth certificate,12 William is listed as a licensed victualler of Sharrow Head, Ecclesall

Bierlow and his wife (Eric’s great grandmother) is listed as Hannah Harwood, formerly Mount

(Figure 1.4).

In the 1861 Census13 for the corner of Sharrow Moor and Kenwood Bank14, the (Stag Hotel)

household comprises: William Harwood (aged 37) Publican and Coach Proprietor, employs 6

men and 1 boy; wife Hannah (aged 25); daughter Ann E (9) scholar; sons William (4), George

(2) and Harry (5 mo); unmarried sister-in-law Ellen Mount (15) general servant; and, unmarried

servant William Waterman cab driver from Saltflat in Lincolnshire. William Harwood’s wife,

sister-in-law and eldest son William are listed as being from Wentworth in Yorkshire with the rest

from Sheffield (though no trace of the baptism15 of Eric’s great grandfather William has been found

in Sheffield). The neighbourhood of this household at this time was evidently a prosperous one, with

neighbouring houses inhabited by Gentlemen, Gentlewomen, a Surgeon’s wife, the Superintendant

Registrar for Ecclesall Bierlow (Thomas South), a Shoe Manufacturer and a Proprietor of Houses.

In the 1871 Census for “1 Castle Folds and 13 Castle Hill (New Market Inn)”, there are publican

William Harwood (aged 47), wife Hannah (35), daughter Amelia (17), sons William (13), George

(12), Harry (10), Frank (8) scholar and daughter Elizabeth (6) scholar.

In the 1881 Census for 26 Thorp Road16, William’s widow Hannah Harwood is recorded (aged

45) as having been born at Brampton in Yorkshire; living with her are her unmarried sons William

6e.g. Pigot’s 1834 Directory for Sheffield.7This is listed for 1845, 1846, 1849, 1851, 1852, 1854, 1862.8This probably denotes Family Servant.9There also seem to be ditto marks indicating that his bride, the spinster Hannah Marshall, aged 24, was also a grinder

and she also was living at Masbro.. – her father is given as a fender maker Samuel Marshall.10Eric’s grandfather, Harry Harwood, had an older half-sister called Ann Eliza (this is apparent in the 1861 Census

data) whose mother is given on the 1852 birth certificate as Hannah Harwood, formerly Marshall, living at Fargate,

Sheffield.11White’s 1852 Directory for Sheffield.12This 1859 birth certificate is for Harry’s elder brother George.13Item 84 of Ecclesall Bierlow dist 507 4G 3614On a 1905 map, this is the site of the Stag Hotel PH.15The Civil Registration of births did not begin until 1837.16Thorp Road runs parallel to, and lies between, Woodhead Road and Harwood Street


Davidbrewerb ca.1796 Yorkshired Apr,May,Jun 1845(Sheffield 22 398)

m Annb ca.1806 Yorkshire

Williampublicanb 1823/4 Sheffieldm(1) 10.4.1850 (Rotherham 22 425)

Hannah Marshalldau. of fender maker Samuel Marshall

m(2) Jan,Feb,Mar 1857 (Rotherham 9c 431)Hannah Mountb ?1835/6

Wentworth/Brampton

Ann Elizab 1.3.1852 Fargate, Sheffield

William, b ?1857 Wentworth

Georgeb 27.3.1859

(Ecclesall B 9c 237)

Harrysilversmithb Jan,Feb,Mar 1861

(Ecclesall B 9c 218)

Frank, b ?1862/3

Elizabeth, b 1864/5

?Ann, b ca.1826 Yorkshire

Figure 1.4: Harwood Ancestry

(23) cab driver, George (22) engraver, Harry (20) silversmith and Frank (18) printer, as well as

daughter Elizabeth (16) and neice Elizabeth Brodie (aged 1).

In the 1891 Census for 66 Spencer Road, Heeley in Sheffield, there is Harry Harwood silver-

smith (30), wife Emily B (28), and son Frank (4), all born in Sheffield.

The resulting reconstructed tree in Figure 1.4 for the Harwood ancestry accords well with the

inherited information in Figure 1.2(a).

1.2.1 The Stead(e) connection to Harwood

Eric’s grandfather Harry Harwood married Emily Bertha Stead who quite clearly seems to have

been illegitimate. Not only is no father given on Emily’s 1861 birth certificate, the 1851 and 1861

Census returns show that her mother Sarah Steade formerly Harper (b 1826/7) had long been a

widow.

Some inherited Stead(e) postcards to the Harwoods

Eric’s grandfather Harry Harwood and father Frank Harwood are both mentioned in eight in-

herited, undated postcards from Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA which have been passed down by

Eric’s sister Nora to Eric’s elder daughter Pauline. The postcards are variously addressed to Uncle

Harry, Aunt Emley and cousin Frank from ‘George Henry’ Stead.17 This may be Harry Har-

wood’s nephew-in-law George Steade who is listed (aged 21) amongst those present in Harry’s

1901 household in Sheffield.

In the 1901 Census return for 45 Alderson Road, Ecclesall Bierlow, Sheffield, there is Harry

Harwood (40) silversmith, wife Emily (37), son Frank (14) errand boy and son Harry (5). Also

in the household are widower Joseph Stead ‘B I Law ’18 (57) undertaker and George Stead ‘?Ne I

Law’ (21) joiner. These Steades are clearly relatives of Harry’s wife Emily Bertha Steade.

17They also mention other members of the Steade family in Bridgeport, to wit: ‘grandson’ A. Steade of 57 Booth St;

‘son and daughter and grandchildren George Hy, Bertha, George, Albert, Doris, Irene and our baby Nellie’; and, also, ‘G

H, B, G, A, D, I and N Steade’.18This no doubt means ‘brother in law’. It seems that Emily Bertha was born to the same mother as Joseph long after

the death of Joseph’s father Joseph Stead and that Joseph junior was in fact a half-brother of Harry Harwood’s wife

Emily.

1.3. SHARPE: INHERITED INFORMATION 13

Genealogical data for the Stead(e) ancestry

In the 1851 Census return for 255 Arundel Street in Sheffield, there is Joseph Stead (aged 28)

moulder with wife Sarah (24) and children Mary H (5), Joseph (2) and Sarah Jane (3 mo); all were

said (perhaps incorrectly) to have been born in Sheffield.

By the times of the 1861 Census, Sarah Steade had become the head of the household as a

widow, with children Joseph (12), Sarah J (10), William A (8) and Charles (5) along with unmarried

lodger Jane ?Denton (17). The address in the 1861 Census is given as ‘Back of Ecclesall Road’

and the address on the 27.3.1853 birth certificate of William Albert Steade (Ecc B 9c 216) had been

‘Back of 3 Ecclesall New Road, Ecclesall Bierlow’, with the mother given as Sara Steade formerly

Harper, who registered the birth with a cross as her mark, and with the father given as Joseph

Stead iron moulder. The 16.12.1861 birth certificate of Emily Bertha, was registered identically

by mother Sarah Steade formerly Harper except that the address was now given as 76 London

Road, Ecclesall Bierlow and no father is given.

In the 1871 Census return for 106 New Thomas Street, Ecclesall Bierlow, Sheffield, Emily’s

mother is listed as widow Sarah Steade (aged 44) from Hull with unmarried sons William Albert

(18) electro plater and Charles (15) omnibus conductor, as well as daughter Emily B (9) scholar.

In the 1881 Census return for 268 Fitzwilliam Street, Sheffield, Sarah (54) is described as

an annuitant from Hull with unmarried son Charles (25) cab driver and daughter Emily B (18)

warehouse woman. Her son William Albert Stead (27) rolling mill labourer is by then in a

separate household at 54 St Johns Road, 8 Court, House 2, Sheffield with wife Hannah (27) and

children Lilly (6), Wm Albert (4) and Harry (2).

1.2.2 The Bradbury and Barrat(t) connections to Harwood

Though the 1886 birth and 1916 marriage certificates of Eric’s mother, Seney Barrat Bradbury,

give her address as 23 Malvern Road, Darnall, Sheffield, the 1891 Census returns list her in her ma-

ternal grandfather’s household, as a scholar aged 5, at 127 Main Road, Darnall. In that household

are: wheelwright Charles Barratt (aged 49) from Glapthorne, Notts; his daughter Lucy (16) from

Darnall who was acting as housekeeper and his son Albert (10) from Darnall, scholar, as well

as Charles’s grand-daughter Seney Bradbury (5). It seems that Seney’s parents were not far away,

at 41 Back of Main Road where there is listed: Arthur M Bradbury (aged 28) printer’s com-

positer from Sheffield; wife Mary E (25) from Notts, Glapthorne, daughter Frances (5) scholar

from Darnall and son Charles W (2) from Darnall. This Frances was evidently Seney’s twin sister.

There is some confusion about the place of birth of Seney’s mother – the 1901 Census return for

41 Main Road, Darnall gives it as Northamptonshire instead of Nottinghamshire – this 1901 return

lists: printer’s compositer Arthur M Bradbury (37) from Sheffield; wife Mary E (35), said here to

be from Northampton ?Oundle; son Charles (13) coach builder from Sheffield; and, daughter May

(2) also from Sheffield.

1.3 Sharpe: Inherited Information

Nana Denise’s mother was called Edna Sharpe whose agnate great grandfather was called William

Sharpe. A piece of paper lists the marriage of this Wm to Elizabeth (see Figure 1.7); it also lists the

dates of birth of their children, apart from Betsey who is mentioned merely with a question mark.

William’s daughter-in-law was called Priscila, who was Edna’s grandmother. The father of

Priscila (see Figure 1.7) was said to be a rock maker from Wragby in Lincolnshire. Priscila owned

three Public Houses in Sheffield which included the Rising Sun in Pumona Street and the Red Lion

in Holly Street; the latter had a connection to Gus Platts19 the Boxer. She may be the same Priscilla

19There was (also?) a Speedway motorcycle rider called Gus Platts.


Charles Barrattwheelwrightb 1841/2 Glopthorne, Notts

Albert Barratt, b 1880/1, Sheffield

Arthur Mann Bradburyprinterb 22.5.1864

m Mary E Barratb 15.11.1865 Glopthorne, Notts

Frances Barrat Bradburyb 15.1.1886?m Samtwin of...

Seney Barrat Bradburyb 15.1.1886d 7.6.1936m 6.5.1916

Frank Harwood(see Figure 1.2)

Charles William Bradburyb 11.10.1887

Arthur Mann Bradbury (jnr)b Oct,Nov,Dec 1893d Apr,May,Jun 1894

May Bradburyb 2.8.1898?m George

Figure 1.5: Barrat(t) and Bradbury family connections to Harwood

Figure 1.6: Edna’s Uncle George Sharpe in 1950 and Edna’s mother, Lucy Sharpe nee Goddard

(1878-1974). George owned several houses which he left to Edna’s eldest sister, Winnie Brown.

1.3. SHARPE: INHERITED INFORMATION 15

Richardcottager

Williamb 1814 Thornton Moord 1.4.1874 Fiskertonm 17.5.1842 Horncastle

ElizabethBetsy)Brackenbury(1816-84)dau of NuttBrakenbury (1779-1854)and Mary Pinder (1785-1856)

?Betsey

Maryb 26.6.1843

Georgeb 14.3.1846

Charlesb 17.5.1848m Ellen

PriscilaHarthursb 1847d 30.5.1936

William Richardb ?1870d 15.7.1947m Violetta

d 26.12.1907

William

Mary Florenceb 1872.3qtr

Ecclesall B 9c 295d 11.6.1911

Sheffield 2qtr 9c 273aged 38

m George Hibberd(no children)

George Edwinb 1876/7bachelor

Charles Albertb 26.11.1881d 23.7.1961m Lucy Goddard

b .2.1878d 10.11.1974

Winifredb 17.7.1905d 20.2.1998m Charles Brown

b 11.5.d ?

(no children)

Floried aged 7

Elsiem Herbert Cutts

Jean Elsied 9.5.2011 (aged 79)

m Eddie Osborne

Susanm Garry Powel

2 boys

1 girl

Russelm ?

George Haroldd 29.5.1972

m(1) Reney(no children)

m(2) Norah Aldridge

David Georgeb 22.8.1959

Janet

Amyb 9.8.1914d 19.2.2005

m Ronald Gladwinb 22.4.1916

Malcolm Ronaldb 15.1.1943m Patricia Barret

b 6.11.1944

Darrenadoptedb 22.7.1971

Janineadoptedb 19.8.1978

boy

Ednab 10.7.1918 Ecc.B. 9a 839d 4.10.2016

m Eric Harwood(see Figure 1.2(b))

Isaacb 4.2.1850

Richard Wmb 6.5.1852

Jasonb 18.7.1854USA

Sarah L Eb 2.4.1857

Eliza. Annab 28.1.1859

Figure 1.7: Sharp(e) Family Tree


Figure 1.8: Edna’s father: Charles Albert Sharpe (1881-1961) circa 1910

Ellen Sharpe of 8 Club Street, Highfield, who in 1924 was left money in the will of Elizabeth

Simpson (nee Sayles) (cf page 69).

Priscil(l)a’s daughter Florence married George Hibberd, who was a Tobaconist in Union Street

Sheffield, and she died in 1911 without children when she fell down the cellar steps.

Priscil(l)a’s son Charles Albert was Edna’s father. He worked for Vickers Steel and was fond

of buying and selling old furniture, such that the furniture in his and his wife Lucy’s house was

rarely for long the same. His eldest daughter Winifred was born in Portland Street, Hillsborough

and married Charles Brown who worked for Jonas & Colver (Steel) Mill Department.

1.4 Sharp(e): Genealogical Research

Nana Denise’s mother was called Edna (b 1918) whose father was called Charles Albert (b 1881)

whose father was a Sheffield publican from Lincolnshire called Charles (b 1848) whose father was

a cottage farmer there called William (b 1813/14) whose father was a cottager of Thornton Moor,

Lincolnshire called Richard (b ca.1786).

The 1841 Census return for Thornton Moor (near Horncastle) lists Richard Sharp cottager

1.4. SHARP(E): GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH 17

(aged about 55), Elizabeth (abt 55), William Ag Lab20 (27), John (?25), Eliza (22), Betsey (12) and

Eliza (2). All were stated to have been born within the county of Lincolnshire.

On the marriage certificate of 17 May 1842 at Horncastle (Lincolnshire) of bachelor William

Sharp labourer of Thornton, his father is given as Richard Sharp cottager and the father of

the spinster bride, Elizabeth Brackenbury servant of Horncastle, is given as Nutt Brackenbury

farmer.21

The 1851 Census return for Thornton lists waterman Willm Sharp, his wife Betsy22 (35),

daughter Betsey (14), son George (?5) scholar, daughter Mary (7) scholar, son Charles (3) scholar

and son Isaac (1). All are stated to have been born at Thornton apart from the two Bets(e)ys who

were born at Kirkby in Lincolnshire.

The 1861 Census return for Thornton lists cottage farmer William Sharp (47), wife Elizabeth

(44), daughter Mary (18), sons Charles (13), Isaac (11), William (9), Jason (7), and daughters Sarah

(4) and Anna Eliza (2). All are stated born at Thornton Moor apart from Elizabeth at Wilksby,

Lincolnshire.

The 1871 Census return for 69 ?Franklin Street, Ecclesall Bierlow (Sheffield) lists grocer’s

carter Charles Sharp (22) from Kirkstead in Lincolnshire, wife Priscilla (24) from Sheffield and

son William R (1) from Fiskerton in Lincolnshire, This is evidently around the time when the Sharp

line move from Lincolnshire to Sheffield where Charles’s wife Priscilla was born.

There are claims on the internet (in connection with a widespread interest in Sheffield pubs)

that, in 1881, Charles was the proprietor of the Cricket Ball Inn (46 Sutherland Street and 2 Savile

Street East) and also the Monument Tavern (190 South Street, Park, Sheffield). An 1881 Census

return confirms this information for the case of the Monument Tavern – the 1881 return for 190

and 192 South Street, Park lists publican Charles Sharp from Thornton in Lincolnshire (33), wife

Priscillar from Sheffield (34), and scholar children William R (11), Mary F (8) and George E (4).23

On the subsequent birth certificate of Charles Albert Sharpe (27 Nov 1881) his place of birth is

given as this same address – 190 South Street, Sheffield – and his parents are listed as Charles

Sharpe publican and Ellen Priscilla Sharpe, formerly Harthurs;24 the informant was Mary Mills of

Court 22, South Street, who was present at the birth.

The 1891 census return for 70 and 72 Pinstone Street, Sheffield lists grocer and beerhouse

keeper Charles Sharp (42), wife Priscilla (43), unmarried son William R gilder (21), unmarried

daughter Mary F (19), son George E mechanical engineer (14) and son Charles A scholar (9).

A list of proprietors of the Old Red Lion, 18 and 20 Holly Street, Sheffield lists Charles

Sharp in 1898 and Mrs Priscilla E Sharp in 1901 and 1902. The 1901 Census return affirms

that Priscilla’s husband Charled had by then died – it lists for “18 Hollis Street (Old Red Lion)”

widow Priscilla E Sharpe licensed victualler (55), unmarried son George engineer’s fitter (24),

unmarried son Charles Ed engineer’s labourer (19), all born in Sheffield; and, Huddersfield born

domestic servant Ann Hughes (31).

1.4.1 Goddard

Nana Denise’s mother is called Edna whose mother Lucy lived a long life from 1878 to 1974. In the

years before her death, Lucy lived in a modern flat in the St Phillips district of Sheffield where she

said she had ‘returned home’ though she had always lived in Sheffield. The genealogical records

show that she had been born in 1878 in that district, which she called her home, to the silversmith

20This denoted ‘agricultural labourer.21The witnesses were Thomas Smith Friskney and Louisa Dawson; the bride and groom are both merely stated to be

‘of full age’.22This is still presumably the aforesaid Elizabeth nee Brackenbury.23William R is listed as born in Fiskerton and Mary F and George E as born in Sheffield.24In the 1851 Census for Anson Lane, Sheffield, she is listed aged 4 as the grandr Ellen Arthurs of 57 year old smelter

Richard Arthurs from Gloucestershire with servant Pricilla Arthurs (38) from Newark, Notts. In the 1861 Census for

28 Anson Street, she is listed aged 14 as the grandaur scholar Pricilla E Arthurs of 73 year old furnace man Richard

Arthurs from Gloucestershire with wife Pricilla Arthurs (48) from Newark, Notts.


Samuelb 1809/10 Style Green, Cheshirem Hannah Braithwaite

b 1812/3 Sheffield

Samuel, b 1836/7

William, b 1837/8

Hannah, b 1839/40

Ellen, b 1843/4

Lucy, b 1846/7

Alfredb Apr,May,Jun 1849 Sheffieldm(1) Jane

b 1852m(2) ?Emilia

b 1862

Joseph, b 1873/4

Lucy1878-1974m Charles Albert Sharpe

see Figure 1.7

Alfred, b 1880/1

Ellen, b 1882/3

Albert, b 1884/5

William, b 1889/90

Edith, b 1890

Annie, b 1891/2

Amy, b 1894/5

Harold, b 1896/7

?Ernest, b 1899/1900

Joseph, b 1854/5

Figure 1.9: Goddard ancestry of Edna’s mother Lucy (1878-1974)

Alfred Goddard (b 1849/50) who was a son of the silversmith Samuel Goddard (b 1809/10) who

had apparently moved to that St Phillips district of Sheffield by around 1835 from Style Green in

Cheshire; Samuel’s Sheffield-born wife was Hannah Braithwaite (b 1812/3).

In the 1841 and 1851 Census returns Samuel and his wife Hannah are listed with their children

at 21 Dun St. The children are Samuel (5), William (3) and Hannah (1) in 1841; and, in 1851, they

are Samuel silversmith (14), Ellen (7), Lucy (4) and Alfred (1). Also in the household in 1851 is

Samuel’s unmarried brother-in-law John Brathwaite (41) spring knife cutler.

In the 1861, 1871 and 1881 Census returns, Samuel’s household was still in the St Phillips

district but at the different address 67 Portland Street. In 1861, Samuel is listed as a British Plate

Maker25 from Sayle Green, Cheshire but as a silversmith from Wimslow Cheshire in 1871 and

from Style Green, Cheshire in 1881. His son Alfred is listed as a scholar (11) in 1861. In 1871 and

1881, Alfred is listed as a silversmith (aged 21 and 31) apparently with wife Jane (aged 18 and

29). In 1881, Samuel’s wife Hannah (68) is listed as late-cottonweaver and the offspring appear

as: son Alfred (51), daughter[-in-law] Jane (29), grandson Joseph (7), grand-daughter Lucy (3) and

grandson Alfred (9 mo).

In 1891 and 1901, Alfred is the head of household at 67 Portland Street; he is listed as a

‘silversmith, gold’ (41) in 1891 and as a silversmith (51) in 1901. Alfred’s wife by then appears to

be Emilia or perhaps Luisa (28) in 1891 and the name (aged 39) is even less decypherable in 1901.

The child William, aged 1 in 1891 is missing from the 1901 Census but all the others appear to

have survived until 1901 when the full list of children is: Joseph (27) machine ?knitter, Lucy (23)

silver warehouse woman, Alfred (20) silversmith, Ellen (18), Albert (16) cutler table blade,

Edith (10), Annie (9), Amy (6), Harold (4) and ?daughter ?Ernest (1).

1.4.2 Brackenbury

Nana Denise’s mother is called Edna whose father Charles Albert Sharpe had paternal grandparents

called William Sharp and Elizabeth (nee Brackenbury). The 1988 IGI26 lists a child called Betsy

25This may have been EPBM (Electro-Plated Britannia Metal, i.e. an alloy of 93% tin, 5% antimony and 2% copper)

which became widely used for cutlery and other household goods after 1846.26International Genealogical Index.

1.4. SHARP(E): GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH 19

Johnm 19.5.1762 F

Elizabeth Ancell

John, bap 2.4.1763 F

Benjamin, bap 9.3.1765 F

Benjamin, bap 13.2.1767 F

Nutbap 4.3.1770 Wm Mary

Sarah, bap ?.?.1812 W

John, bap 2.10.1814 W

?Isaac, bap 5.1.1815 W

Elizabethbap 22.3.1816 Wm 17.5.1842 H

William Sharp

Betsy (Brackenbury

or Sharpe)bap 20.8.1837 W

Henry, b 1843.2qtr XIV 413 H

George, b 1846.2qtr XIV 459 H

Charlesb 1848.2qtr XIV 466 Hsee Figure 1.7

Isaac, b 1850.1qtr XIV ?46 H

William, b 1852.2qtr 7a 462 H

Jason, b 1854.3qtr 7a 444 H

Sarah A, b 1857.2qtr 7a 481 H

Eliza H, b 1859.1qtr 7a 487 H

Isaac, bap 17.7.1817 W

Matthew, bap 18.7.1820 W

Nutt, bap 2.6.1822 W


Marybap 25.9.1825 W

George, bap 5.5.1851 W

George, bap 24.2.1828 W

Thomas, bap 6.12.1829 W


Mary, bap 17.9.1775 W

Mary, bap ?.?.1777 F


Figure 1.10: A scheme for Brackenbury at Freiston (F), Wilksby (W) and Horncastle (H)

of William Sharpe and Elizabeth Brackenbury baptised (20.8.1837) at Wilksby in Lincolnshire

and this is, no doubt, the (first) child ‘Betsey’, of our William and Elizabeth (cf Figure 1.7). The

parish of Wilksby is roughly between Wood Enderby and Moorby and at a distance of only 3 small

parishes (5 miles) from Horncastle, which lies to the NNW. In the Index latterly known as the St

Catherine’s House Index, some corresponding births have been found for Horncastle and, apart from

some slight variations in the names (such that Richard Wm in family papers becomes William in the

Index and Mary appears to be a mis-reading of Henry), there is good agreement for the children of

William and Elizabeth between Figure 1.7 and the information from the Index which is included

in Figure 1.10.

Most of the information in Figure 1.10 comes from 1988 IGI entries for Wilksby, which Wilson’s

Gazateer states to be a parish of 670 acres in Horncastle district, with 11 houses and a population of

57; the manor belongs to J.B.Stanhope Esq, the living is a rectory in the diocese of Lincoln and the

church is good.

A search for all children of ‘John and Elizabeth Brackenbury27’, in the Lincolnshire IGI, re-

veals 3 or 4 such (concurrent) families.28 However, it seems that the grandfather of our Elizabeth

Brackenbury (William Sharpe’s wife) could be the John Brackenbury who married Elizabeth An-

cell (19.5.1762) at Freiston and had some of his children baptised there (Figure 1.10); Freiston is

about 15 miles SSE of Wilksby near Boston near the coast. Other children of ‘John and Eliza-

beth’ were baptised at Wilksby, as indicated in Figure 1.10, such that it may be the same ‘John and

Elizabeth’ were at Freiston in 1762-9 and 1777 but at Wilksby in 1770-5 and 1783.

It seems most likely that the Brackenbury ancestry back from this stage remains at Wilksby, such

that the correct John is the one baptised to Matthew and Mary of Wilksby in 1735 (Figure 1.11).

Before this date, however, the family appears to have been in a different parish. Thus, if this John’s

27and the variant spellings of Brackenbury28These records for John and Elizabeth include those for 9 children (baptised at nearby Spilsby between 1763 and

1781) who are all presumably children of the John Brackenbury who married Elizabeth Buff (27.7.1762) at Spilsby.


Willm....

.Robertbap 12.2.1560 B

Robtebap 14.11.1596 B

.

.

.

.

.Robtbap 7.9.1634 Bm(1) 1669 EK

Ellin Holgatem(2) 22.6.1671 EK

Alice Lajfeild

Isaacbap 11.3.1671 EKm Eliz

Robert, bap 6.9.1696 EK

Alice, bap 19.10.1701 EK

John, bap 31.1.1702 EK

John, bap 17.2.1705 EK

Matthewbap 2.2.1708 EKm Mary

Jno.bap 3.7.1735 Wsee Figure 1.10


Wm, bap 5.10.1742 W


Elizabeth, bap 7.1.1749 W

Robt, bap 4.5.1712 EK

Figure 1.11: Brackenbury scheme for Belchford (B), East Kirkby (EK) and Wilksby (W)

Johnm Ann

Mathewbap 26.2.1698 Em 3.5.1731 I

Mary Parkinson

Ann, bap 30.9.1733 KU

John, bap 26.1.1734 KU

Figure 1.12: Another Mathew Brackenbury of Edenham (E), Irnham (I) and Kirkby Underwood

(KU)

father Matthew were the one who married Mary Parkinson (3.5.1731) at Irnham, the appropriate

Matthew could be the one who was baptised to John and Ann of Edenham (near Irnham) as indicated

in Figure 1.12; Edenham, Irnham and Kirkby Underwood are all perhaps a little far away for those

times, however, at about 28 miles SW of Wilksby. Perhaps more likely, the correct Matthew could

be the one baptised to ‘Isack’ (27.2.1708) at East Kirkby (Figure 1.11), which is only 3 miles E of

Wilksby and Nana Denise’s Brackenbury ancestry could then involve, as indicated in Figure 1.11,

a succession of Roberts at Belchford, which is 10 miles NNW of East Kirkby; this would take the

ancestral line back to 1560.

Thus, from 1735 until 1842, when Elizabeth Brackenbury married William Sharp at Horn-

castle, the relevant line of Brackenburys appears to have been in the small parish of Wilksby and,

before that since 1669, they appear to have been at East Kirkby which is only 3 miles to the east. It

is hence of some interest to note that Cromwells have been linked with Tattershall, just 6 miles SW

of Wilksby, since the 14th century and that Tattershall Castle and the adjacent Church of the Holy

Trinity were both built by Ralph Cromwell (d 1456) who was the Lord High Treasurer of England

under Henry VI. The castle at Old Bollingbroke, which is just 2 miles north of East Kirkby, fell into

ruin after being captured in the Civil War by Oliver Cromwell and his troops who, despite being

outnumbered, defeated Royalist forces in 1643 at the Battle of Winceby nearby — it was at this bat-

tle that Cromwell’s horse was killed beneath him. Revesby, which is just 1 mile south of Wilksby,

was the home of one of England’s greatest naturalists, Sir Joseph Banks, who accompanied Captain

James Cook on his voyage around the world between 1768 and 1771.

Chapter 2

Grandad Stewart’s Plant ancestors

OUR PLANT ANCESTORS AROUND SHEFFIELD AND IN NE DERBYSHIRE

2.1 Introduction

Grandad Stewart’s father was a school teacher called Tom whose father was an electric tram

conductor called Tom whose father was a dram flask maker called James. These ancestors,

carrying the Y-chromosome of our Plant ancestral line, are pictured in Figure 2.1.

A photograph of Tom (senior), as a boy with his parents and some siblings, is shown later in

this Chapter as Figure 2.3. His father, the dram flask maker James, was the sole surviving son

of a shoemaker called William; and, it was this William who came to Sheffield with his father

William from nearby in north-east Derbyshire. This relatively recent history of our Plant ancestors

is described in Sections 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5 of this Chapter.

Appendix A below introduces some earlier history of our Plant line of descent. This is con-

cerned with tracing our ancestry back to earlier centuries and establishing our family’s connection

to some key aspects of Shefield’s formative history around the times of the Industrial Revolution. In

Section 2.2, I indicate how you may pick and choose which bits of this genealogical evidence, with

its associated history, you may care to read. Further guidance on this matter is given throughout the

Appendix.

2.2 Our family connection to some key events in Sheffield history

Sections A.3 to A.7 of the Appendix are concerned with painstakingly piecing together our Plant

ancestral line, back as far as the early eighteenth century, by reconstructing the genealogical trees

of some Sheffield area Plants. If you are not interested in the full details of the genealogy, there is

some guidance to the most relevants bits or, ideed, you may wish to skip over these Sections entirely

after reading the brief summary below.

To summarise the conclusions from these deliberations, it seems probable that grandad Stewart’s

great great grandfather, the Sheffield shoemaker William was the son (b 1803) of an agricultural

labourer William who moved to Sheffield from Clowne, which is in nearby NE Derbyshire. This

William in turn was the son of a Clowne farmer Thomas (b 1745) who was a son of a brickmaker

and farmer William of nearby Duckmanton. Before then it is difficult to identify a particular Plant

line for our Plant family, though it seems likely that they came from the main medieval homeland

for the Plant surname near the border of east Cheshire and north Staffordshire.

Thus, our earliest, directly-identifiable Plant ancestor was the brickmaker William of Duck-

manton, who died in 1768. Some of his sons evidently had important associations with key devel-

opments of Sheffield town around the times of the Industrial Revolution. These brothers, of our

ancestor farmer Thomas, deserve a mention; fuller details about them are given in Appendix B.

21

22 CHAPTER 2. GRANDAD STEWART’S PLANT ANCESTORS

Figure 2.1: Four generations of Sheffield Plants: Stewart as head boy in 1956; his father the school-

master Tom (junior) (1905-89); his father the business owner then tramcar conductor Tom

(senior) (1859-1934); and, his father the dram flask maker James (1829-1904).

2.3. SHOEMAKER WILLIAM’S ORIGINS AND KIN 23

Briefly, however, grandad Stewart’s great great great great great gandfather, the brickmaker and

farmer William, had sons who found their way to Sheffield and they founded Plant’s Yard. First,

there was ‘Late Plant yard’ at the edge of the then small town of Sheffield and then there was ‘Plants

Yard’ a little further to the south, down Sheffield Moor, in the township of Little Sheffield; this was

shortly before Sheffield grew greatly to engulf both. In particular, one of these sons Benjamin

married into a prominent family of Master Cutlers1 and had links to, for example, the internation-

ally famous inventor of crucible steel, Benjamin Huntsman. It was the youngest brother Thomas

(b 1745) of these ‘Plants Yard’ Plant brothers who was grandad Stewart’s great great great great

grandfather.

Many years later, both Nana Denise and Grandad Stewart began life in the 1940s not far from

the Little Sheffield site of what had been ‘Plants Yard’ which was near the large property ‘Mount

Pleasant’ which also had a family connection as described in Appendix B.

2.3 Shoemaker William’s origins and kin

It hence seems clear that the progenitor of the Plant’s Yard Plants was the brickmaker William Plant

(i.e. Wm(0) ) of Duckmanton in NE Derbyshire (Figure 2.2). The farmer Thomas Plant was his

youngest son and he settled just 5 miles NE from Duckmanton at Clowne (NE Derbyshire), where

his eldest son Wm(1) was baptised in 1772. As described in detail above, the shoemaker William

Plant (i.e. Wm(shoe) ) was almost certainly a brother of another Sheffield shoemaker, Benjamin

Plant (i.e. Ben(shoe) ) from Clowne; it seems quite certain that both of these shoemakers were

sons of Wm(1) .

Wm(shoe) was found in the 1840s near the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard. Nana Denise

and Grandad Stewart, who is Wm(shoes)′s great great grandson, began their lives in the 1940s in

the same general region of Sheffield.

2.3.1 Wm(shoe)’s evident father, marriage, and associates

It seems that the Sheffield shoemaker William’s evident father Wm(1) may have traveled fairly

extensively for his times.

It seems possible that Wm(1) married at Wirksworth (Figures 2.2(a)) which is

some 20 miles SW of his family home at Clowne (Clowne is about 10 miles SE

of Sheffield). It then seems possible that he had a child at Matlock, which is near

Wirksworth, before returning to Clowne for the baptism of his (?further) children by

1799. He may already by then have traveled to Ecclesall Bierlow near Broom Hall,

Sheffield, perhaps working there as an agricultural labourer as well as on his father’s

farm in Clowne — at that time in this region, farm work was often supplemented by

metal craft activities and Wm(1) may have taken advantage of his Plant’s Yard un-

cles’ prominent industrial connections in Sheffield to improve his income. Such an

early connection with Sheffield would help to explain the mention of Wm(1) in the

1805 will of his uncle the bellows maker ‘Benjamin Plant of Sheffield Moor’ — this

will mentions only three of Ben(bellows)′s many Plant nephews and Wm(1) was

one of those favoured few.2

1Each Master Cutler held office for one year in which he was the most prominent official for Sheffield’s surrounding

region of Hallamshire.2Wm(1) was awarded only £10 in Ben(bellows)′s will, though he apparently also retained some connection with

some of Ben(bellows)′s former lands 2 miles to the west of the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard. Later records of

1851 indicate that Wm(1)′s widow was living at the site of those lands and they indicate that she was from Pontefract,

which is 20 miles NNE of Sheffield.


The shoemaker William Plant ( Wm(shoe) ) married Elizabeth Hartley in Sheffield in 1828.

They were married by banns at the parish church, later to become the Sheffield Cathedral of St

Peter and St Paul.

They were married by Edwin Goodwin; both were of that parish, bachelor and

spinster, and both signed in the presence of John Plant and Benjamin Hudson. It is not

clear whether the witness John Plant could have been Wm(2a)′s brother, cousin, or

uncle for example, all of whom are included in Figure 2.2(a).

Later, in the 1841 household of this shoemaker William Plant of Sylvester Street,

there is included Samuel Hartley, aged 22, file smith, who was no doubt a younger

relative of Wm(shoe)′s wife Elizabeth Hartley, whose stated rounded age by that

time was 30.

It seems likely that a Button Lane shop of a William Plant in Sheffield Directories.3 was that

of the shoemaker William. In view of the substantial evidence for a close association between the

shoemakers Benjamin and William (regardless of whether they were brothers or cousins, though

probably they were brothers), it seems that this shop could have been an outlet for:-

• the hats and dresses made by Ben(shoe)′s wife; as well as,

• Ben(shoe)′s shoes and other leather goods; and perhaps also,

• shoes made by Wm(shoe) who was the more senior, in as much as he was older than

Ben(shoe) by 14 years.

2.3.2 Wm(shoe)’s children and death

Wm(shoe)′s eldest son, James, was grandad Stewart’s great grandfather. Apart from James, who

will be described in some detail later below, the (known) sons of the Sheffield shoemaker William

died young. Wm(shoe)′s son William ( Wm(3a) in Figure 2.2(b)) died in infancy in 1838 and

this was followed soon after by the birth and death of Thomas.

Death of Wm(3a). The informant of the death of Wm(shoe)′s 3 month old son William is given

on the death certificate as ‘William Plant shoemaker of Porter Street, Sheffield’. This 1838

death certificate shows that this baby died of convulsions. Included in the box ‘when and

where died’ there is 3PM and Porter Street whereas, above this box, is written Haymarket

which suggests that a visit there may have been involved in the final days of this baby’s life

and a hay-borne disease may have been suspected.

Birth and death of Thomas. Eighteen months later there is a birth certificate for a Thomas, who

is stated to be a son of the shoemaker William and his wife Elizabeth (who is here clearly

stated to be ‘formerly Hartley’). This birth certificate shows that the family had moved by

1840 from Porter Street to the nearby Sylvester Street. In the 1841 Census returns, for a

household in Sylvester Street, there is listed shoemaker William (stated rounded age 35),

Elizabeth (30), James (12), Sarah (10), Elizabeth (8), Emma (5) and Thomas (1); all are

indicated to have been born in Yorkshire. The death of William and Elizabeth’s son Thomas,

at 8 years 11 months in 1849, was registered by Elizabeth Plant of Sylvester Street; Thomas

is recorded on his death certificate to have died of ‘Small Pox after vaccination’ and to be a

son of ‘William Plant shoemaker deceased’.

3There is a Directory entry William Plant, shopkeeper, 49 Button Lane (W.White’s 1841). No Plants are recorded

in the 1841 Census returns for Button Lane suggesting that the said ‘shopkeeper’ did not live at the shop and the only

likely contender seems to be the ‘shoemaker’ William, who lived in 1838 in the nearby Porter Street and, by 1840, in the

adjoining Sylvester Street — all these addresses were at the foot of (Little) Sheffield Moor.

2.3. SHOEMAKER WILLIAM’S ORIGINS AND KIN 25

(a) Probable descent from the Duckmanton Plants of Wm(shoe)

Wm(0) ofDuckmanton(Figure A.1)

7 older siblingsof Thomas

Thomasfarmer1745-1827SuttonCDto Clowne

Wm(1)Ag.Lab.1772-1848cf. the ‘William Plants’who married Eliz Wilsonm 21.2.1790 Wirksworth

Clowne?to Wirksworth/Matlockto Ecclesall Bto Shef.

?Josephbap 3.4.1791 Matlock

John (1799-?)

Thomas (1801-?)

Wm(2a) 1803-?1848?shoemakerClowne ?to Shef.

cf Wm(shoe) of (b) below

Ann (1805-?) Fig. A.9

Benjamin (1817-?) Ben(shoe) of Fig. A.10

John1779-?Clowne

Wm(2b) 1801-?less likely alternative forWm(shoe) of (b) below

John (1806-?)

last son ofAnn (Coldwell)

George/?Charles1802-?78Clowne ?to Shef.

Isaac1814-79Clowne to Shef.

(b) The Sheffield shoemaker William’s wife and family

probably Wm(1) of (a) above

William — Wm(shoe)shoemaker

probably Wm(2a)rather than Wm(2b)of (a) above

b 1803d 8.10.1848 (aged 45)m 13.7.1828 SHEFFIELD

Elizabeth Hartleyb ?1805-11

Jamesbap 16.1.1829 SHEFFIELD

d 10.4.1904 (aged 75)m 25.12.1850 BannsSt Georges SHEFFIELD

Mary RowlinsonStreetb ?1831/2, d 7.8.1908 (aged 76)

Figure 2.4

Sarahb ?1830/1

Elizabethb ?1832/3

Emmab ?1835/6

William — Wm(3a)b 1838.2qtrd 3pm 7.9.1838 (aged 3 months)

Thomasb 25.2.1840d 7.1.1849 (aged 8yrs 11mths)

Figure 2.2: Shoemaker William’s descent and family


Wm(shoe) and his apparent father Wm(1) both died in 1848, in adjoining Sheffield streets

near Plant’s Yard in Little Sheffield.

Death of Wm(shoe). The above reference to shoemaker William as deceased, on Thomas’s death

certificate, helps to provide confirmation that the correct death certificate for Wm(shoe) is

the one for a William Plant at Sylvester Street, who had died just 3 months earlier on the

8th October 1848. This William had died of phthisis (i.e. a lung condition), as registered

curiously by ‘the mark of Rachel Plant present at death Sylvester Street Sheffield’; no other

trace of a ‘Rachel’ Plant has (yet) been found in this region throughout this era though the

certificate states that it was she who gave shoemaker William’s occupation simply, at death,

as ‘labourer’.

2.3.3 Wm(shoe) at Sylvester Street and his son James

Thus, the household of the shoemaker William, at least by 1838, was at Porter Street which is

about 0.4 miles NE from the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard. Wm(shoe) is known to have

been living nearby at Sylvester Street by 1840 and, after the 1848 death of Wm(shoe) here, his

only (known) surviving son, James, is known also to have been living in Sylvester Street in 1851

together with his new bride whom he had married the previous year (Figure 2.2(b)).

Sylvester Street. In 1700, Mr. Field Sylvester had laid a foundation stone, near the head of (Little)

Sheffield Moor, for the Presbyterian Meeting House.4 He also gave his name to the Sylvester

Wheel5 on the Porter Brook near the foot of (Little) Sheffield Moor. It was on the adjoining

Sylvester Street that the shoemaker William Plant was to be found approaching the time of

his 1848 death (aged 45) and he died there, fairly young, from a lung condition which was an

endemic disease of smoky Sheffield. It seems that it was around this time that water power

ceased to be used at the adjacent Sylvester Wheel — the power of the Sylvester Water Wheel

was assessed as 10hp in 1835 and, though 1850-1 rate books still note the head and fall of

water, an 1851 map labels the dams as ‘reservoirs’ which some take to imply that they were

by then being used as storage for steam engine boilers.

2.4 Grandad Stewart’s great grandfather James Plant

It seems that the Plant’s Yard Plants moved from north east Derbyshire to Sheffield in the late

eighteenth century. One of their descendants was evidently a Sheffield shoemaker, William Plant

(1803-48). It was his eldest son, the Victorian tradesman James Plant (Figure 2.3), who became

the Plant who appears most consistently in Victorian Sheffield’s many surviving Trade Directories.

Though a few large industrial concerns were developing in Sheffield, manufacturing was based

mainly on a host of so-called ‘Little Mesters’ who each had relatively few employees.

2.4.1 The Sheffield ‘Little Mester’ James Plant (1829-1904)

It may be recalled of Wm(shoe)′s children that, in the 1841 Census returns for Sheffield, both

James (12) and Emma (5) were living with other siblings and their parents in Sylvester Street,

prior to their father’s death there in 1848 (cf. Figure 2.4). By 1851, in Court 2 of Sylvester Street,

in the household of William Shaw, there is listed a ‘visitor’ Emma Plant (15) silver burnisher

who is undoubtedly the sister of James. James himself was by then living nearby with his wife

4A 1771 plan of Sheffield by William Fairbank names the Chapel that he founded as the Upper Chapel for Dissenters

whom, it was noted by Hunter in 1819, ‘followed the manner of French preachers’.5The water wheel called the Sylvester Wheel was just downstream from the foot of Little Sheffield Moor, to Sheffield’s

south, on the Porter Brook which flowed north eastwards to join the River Sheaf at the Pond Tilt which was near Pond

Lane at the western edge of Sheffield town.

2.4. GRANDAD STEWART’S GREAT GRANDFATHER JAMES PLANT 27

at 262 Sylvester Street, sharing the house with the family of shoemaker (journeyman) William

Beaumont (39).

James’s marriage

In 1850 James, who is described as a shot pouch maker and son of shoemaker William, was

married St George’s Church Sheffield, though the addresses of James and his bride are given as

Sylvester St and Eyre St, which are near the foot of ‘The Moor’ in Sheffield. The father of James’s

bride Mary is given on the certificate as ‘Geo.=’, suggesting that there may have been some prob-

lem distinguishing whether the original handwriting was ‘Geo.’ or ‘Cha.’ — it is known from other

information that Mary’s father was elsewhere called Charles. The witnesses on the marriage certifi-

cate had the forenames William and Charlotte and the bride’s family surname, which is variously

spelled as R(o/a)(w/l)li(n/s)son(s/S)treet. Mary’s father ‘Geo.=’ (actually Charles) is here described

as a tableknife ?manager — there is an 1833 Sheffield Trades Directory entry...

• Charles Rollison, table knife and razor mfr., 92 Peacroft; home 24 Pyebank (White’s 1833)

James’s early businesses

A few months after their marriage, the 1851 Census shows that James (aged 22) and his wife Mary

(aged 19) were living in Sylvester St, where his father Wm(shoe) had died in 1848 and where

James’s had been living prior to his marriage. James is here described as a powder flask maker

(journeyman). A journeyman is a qualified (as distinct from an apprentice) artisan who works for

another.

Table 2.1 lists some records of Sheffield’s early nineteenth century Powder Flask Makers and

it can be noted, for example, that the name Sykes appears in this capacity in Coalpit lane in 1825,

1834, and 1839. The name Richardson appears as a Powder Flask manufacturer in Broom Close in

1854. Coalpit lane and Broom Close correspond with the two Sheffield locations of Plant’s Yard.

The Sykes’s business interests in Coalpit lane had also included the manufacture of Sportsmen’s

pocket liquor bottles in 1834, which evidently corresponds with James Plant’s subsequent primary

interest in Dram Flask manufacture. By the mid 1850s, there appears in Sheffield Trades Directo-

ries:

• James Plant, Powder Flask manufacturer — flask, dram bottle & shot belt manufacturer, 6

Furnival street (Kelly’s 1954)

• James Plant, Dram Bottle and Pouch Maker, home Furnival Street (W.White’s 1856)

This indicates that, by 1854, James was running his own businesses and that these included Dram

Bottle making.

By 1859, James had evidently extended his business activities..

• James Plant, wholesale and retail tobacconist and cigar merchant, 28 Union st (Melville’s

1859)

• James Plant, manufacturer of powder flasks, shot pouches, dram bottles, and cigar cases,

Pinstone street (Melville’s 1859)

James and his apparent uncle Ben(shoe)

It may be recalled that James’s apparent uncle Ben(shoe) was recorded as a shoemaker in

1841 and as a cordwainer by 1851. Although cordwainer often implies simply a shoemaker, it

more generally means a worker or trader in leather goods. Thus, the description of Ben(shoe)′soccupation as cordwainer in 1851 might cover, it seems, both Ben(shoe)′s recorded occupation


Figure 2.3: James (1829-1904) with wife Mary (nee Rowlinsonstreet) and children including James

(b 1858) and Tom (b 1859)

William ( Wm(2a) )shoemaker, b ?1803d 8.10.1848 aged 45m 13.7.1828 SHEFFIELD

Elizabeth Hartleyb ?1805-11

James dram flask maker, bap 16.1.1829d 10.4.1904 (aged 75)m 25.12.1850 Banns, St Georges SHEFFIELD

Mary RowlinsonStreetb ?1831/2, d 7.8.1908 (aged 76)

Emma, b ?1851/2, d 20.3.1876 (aged 24)

Annie, b ?1857.qtr1, m 27.10.1880 Thomas Martin

James (Jim), b 22.10.1858, To USA

Tom, b 28.11.1859, d 20.10 1931m 16.12.1890 St Georges SHEFFIELD

Rose Beatrice Wright

see Figure 2.10

Mary, b ?1861/2

Kate, bap 20.9.1864, m Charles Herbert Harvey Hugh

Ada, b 1866.1qtr, m 24.11.1891 Neil Martin

Jack D L, m Peggy

Colin, m Peggy

Duncan

Mabel, b 1872.2qtr, m 17.9.1900 James Findlow

Sarah, b ?1830/1

Elizabeth, b ?1832/3

Emma, b ?1835/6

William — Wm(3a) , b 1838.2qtr, d 3pm 7.9.1838 aged 3 months

Thomas, b 25.2.1840, d 7.1.1849 aged 8yrs 11mths

Figure 2.4: William’s son James’s siblings and children


• Firth Peter and Co., optician and powder flask manufacturers, Arundel-street (W.Brownell

Directory 1817)

• Sykes & Son, patent powder flask and shot belt manufacturers, 12 Duke St (Gell’s 1825)

• Sykes & Beatson, manufacturers of real patent fire proof powder flasks and secret spring

pocket shot charges, brass inkstands, etc., Coalpit Lane (Gell’s 1825)

• Firth Peter and Co., opticians & patent powder flask and shot belt mfrs., 32 Arundel st., home

Sheaf bank (White’s 1833)

• Sykes & Sons, patentees and manufacturers of the fire-proof powder flask, & of Sportsmen’s

pocket liquor bottles mark ‘Sykes’ and ‘Sykes’ patent, Duke St (Piggot’s 1834)

• Sykes William, powder flask & shot belt maker, Coalpit lane (Piggot’s 1834)

• Sykes Wm, powder flask & shot belt manufacturer, No 44 Coalpit Lane (Robson’s 1839)

Under Powder Flask manufacturers in Kelly’s 1854 Directory...

... Bartram, Harwood & Snowden, North street works, 53 North street

... Bartram John, 100 Wellington street

... Dixon James & Son, Cornish place, Cornishstreet

... Plant James, 6 Furnival street

... Richardson William, 6 Broom close, London road

... Wilkinson Charles, 39 1

2South street

Table 2.1: Some records for Sheffield’s early 19th century Powder Flask Makers

as a shoemaker in 1841 and as a Powder Flask Maker by 1857 — evidence that Ben(shoe) was a

Powder Flask Maker appears in a deed dated 15 August 1857 (TX-421-502)6 which is in the name

of Benjamin Plant of Sheffield, Powder Flask Maker.

It hence seems likely, from the 1851 description of James’s occupation as a Powder Flask

Maker (Journeyman), that in the early 1850s the fatherless James could have been helping his uncle

Ben(shoe) who is known to have been a Powder Flask Maker by 1857. Such activities may have

followed on from the Plant family interest in Coalpit lane, for example, where the Sykes family were

active in this trade. On the other hand, it is conceivable (though perhaps less likely) that Ben(shoe)adopted the trade of Powder Flask Making only after having been influenced by the 1851 activities

of his nephew James as a Journeyman in that trade.

It seems that Ben(shoe) survived at least 10 years after Wm(shoe)′s 1848 death which had

left Wm(shoe)′s son James fatherless at the age of 19. Ben(shoe) is known to have been living

in Attercliffe, towards the northern edge of Sheffield, in 1851, and the aforementioned 1857 deed

for the Powder Flask Maker Benjamin Plant is in accord with this in so far as it is for property at

‘Nursery and Tom Cross Lane, Brightside’ near Attercliffe.7 Another deed (UD-31-41), in the name

of Benjamin Plant, is for Attercliffe itself (Town Street) and it is dated 1858. Thereafter, there are

several deeds in this area in the name of a William Plant who, it seems likely, was the eldest son

William (b 1841) of Ben(shoe) . The deeds for (?this) William are for property at Brightside in

1859 (UH-739-887 and UI-483-564), at Jenkin Lane in 1860 (UW-190-207) and at George Street

in 1863 (XI-711-758).

It seems that James retained a close association with his apparent uncle Ben(shoe)′s family

beyond the times when Ben(shoe)′s eldest son William was left, possibly, fatherless in 1858 at

the age of 17, as will be outlined further below.

6Wakefield Deeds Office, ibid.7Nursery Lane is near Ben(shoe)′s 1851 address at The Wicker. Brightside extends about 2 miles to the north east.


Figure 2.5: A business advertisement of Grandad Stewart’s great grandfather James

James in the 1860s

In the 1861 Census returns, James (stated age 31) is shown to be living at 28 Union Street with

his wife Mary (29) who is here described as a tobacconist’s wife. This 1861 Census return and

subsequent records suggest that such ‘shopkeeping’ activities may have fallen mostly under the

auspices of James’s wife Mary. James himself is described as ‘Dram Flask Maker employs 2 men,

1 boy and 10 girls’. His listed children are Emma (9), Annie (4), James (2) and Thomas (1).

Also in the household are James’s sister Elizabeth (28) general servant, mother-in-law Elizabeth

Rollinson (64) cutler’s widow and the additional general servant Emma Bennett (17) unmarried

from ‘?Holmsfield, Yorkshire’.

In the 1860s James’s businesses are listed in Trades Directories as follows:-

• James Plant, vict. Devonshire Arms, 60 Ecclesall road (White’s 1860)

• James Plant, powder flask manufr., yard 38 Pinstone street, and tobacconist, 28 Union street

(White’s 1860)

• James Plant, Dram Bottle manufacturer and Tobacconist, 28 Union Street

(F.White’s 1862)

• James Plant, Manufacturer of Powder Flasks, Dram Bottles and Cigar Cases,

39 Pinstone Street and 181 Cemetery Road (& London)8 (Drake’s, 1863)

• James Plant, powder flask, dram bottle, etc. mfr., 39 Pinstone st; home 181 Cemetery rd

(White’s 1864)

• James Plant, shopkeeper, 96 Little Sheffield (White’s 1864)

• James Plant, manufacturer of powder flasks, shot pouches, dram bottles, cigar cases, etc.

Dram Flask works, 194 Fitzwilliam street. The entry also states ‘See advertisement (page

143)’. (Kelly’s, 1865)

• James Plant, Dram Bottles, Melville Place, 181 Cemetery Road (Kelly’s, 1865)

• Jas. Plant, manufacturer of powder flasks, shot pouches, and dram bottles, yard 154 Fitzwilliam

street; home 181 Cemetery road (White’s 1868)

8His London Office was at 4 Pancras Lane, with D. Friedlander as Agent.


• Jas. Plant, confectioner, 201 Cemetery rd (White’s 1868)

Thus, for example, James is listed with a home (?and business) address of 181 Cemetery Road

(Melville Place) in 1863, 1864, and 1865 and, shortly before, the Census return of 1861 shows

that the family of a merchant’s clerk William Christopher Banister (aged 43) was living there.9

There is also for James an 1868 address of 201 Cemetery road, for which the circumstances seem

a little more curious. The address 201 Cemetery Road (Holly Mount) was evidently the home in

1861, 1862, 1863, and 1865 of a corn factor William Plant from Shireoaks and, in 1861, of his

brother a tailor and draper John Plant. Unless the house numbering changed, this same address

then appears in 1868 to have become a confectionery of the dram flask maker James Plant who, it

seems however, was no closer that a third cousin of the two Plant brothers from Shireoaks.

The aforementioned evidence of a likely business link to Ben(shoe) in the 1850s, as well as the

listed evidence for James developing business interests throughout the 1850s and 1860s, provides

a general picture of how it was that James came to be employing two of Ben(shoe)′s daughters

in his Dram Flask Making business by 1871, as was mentioned earlier. The daughters and wife

of Ben(shoe) were then living near James. Ben(shoe)′s son William was, in 1871, a breech

loading implement maker living near the Ponds in the same general area of Sheffield.

The White House, Bramall Lane

By 1871, Wm(shoe)′s son James was living in the White House(s) on Bramall Lane which was

0.5 miles south of his father Wm(shoe)′s earlier Sylvester Street home and just 0.2 miles SE from

the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard. In the 1871 Census returns there are 6 households called

‘White Houses’, interspersed by the households of the keepers at the ‘Bowling Green’ and the

‘Cricket Ground’ and by ‘White House Cottage’, but James Plant lived in the last of those listed

as the ‘White Houses’ and his is seemingly the most substantial of the ‘White Houses’ households;

listed next is the large household of a cooper (master) at ‘Sheaf Cottage’ with 3 servants and then

that of a plumber, glazier and innkeeper at ‘Sheaf House’, also with 3 servants. A photograph of

the White House(s), perhaps taken some time later, is shown Figure 2.6

This can be compared with a 1977 account by David Robbins10:-

(The White House in Bramall Lane) was the home of Mr. D Bramall, after whom

the lane is named. ... (Bramall) was the proprietor of a file factory in Cherry Street

opposite the football ground.11 etc... Almost next door (to the White House) was the

Sheaf House built by the same D.Bramall and between these two houses was a large

building where indoor sports took place. Unlike the White House, the Sheaf House is

not in danger of demolition for road improvements as it stands well back and could be

there for many years yet; its present function is as a public house of that name.

9It is hence not clear whether this clerk was working for James, as James’s business is not known for certain to have

been there until 2 years later.10In A Century of Sheffield 1835 to 1935, Folio 6 (1977), David Robins describes the White House as follows:

Another old house that was still with us in 1975 is the White House in Bramall Lane. It belonged

to Messrs. Arnold Laver next door who have, despite protests, pulled it down to make space for their

vehicles. etc.... The area appears to have been a sporting centre, for, in 1850, there was a swimming

bath in John Street and within the confines of the present football ground, at the corner of John Street

and Shoreham Street, was a large roller skating rink, remains of which were still there in the 1930’s after

its destruction by fire at the turn of the century. Between John Street and St. Mary’s Church there was

a cricket ground named the ‘old’ cricket ground after the new one was created at the other side of John

Street by the formation of the Sheffield Cricket Club about 1837 and which, toward the end of the 1890’s

became the Sheffield United Football and Cricket Club.

11Bramall’s goods were protected by trade marks and in 1905 a Birmingham manufacturer infringed one of his patents

and was ordered to pay Bramall’s £2000 in compensation. Bramall Lane really was a narrow lane at that time and

finished as a path to the silver mills at Heeley.


Figure 2.6: Grandad Stewart’s great grandfather, James Plant (1829-1904) the dram flask maker

and James’s 1871 home, the White House on Brammal Lane

It may be recalled that Ben(bellows) (i.e. the brother of James’s great grandfather Thomas

Plant of Clowne) was the rate payer of the Spurr Whl when it was sold to the filesmith Daniel

Bramall in 1802.

James in the 1870s

In the 1871 Census returns, there appears James Plant (stated age 41) of White Houses, Bramall

Lane, husband of Mary (age 39) and father of Emma (19), Annie (14), James (12), Tom (11), Mary

(9), Kate (6) and Ada (5); all the children are described as scholars. Here, James is described

as a Dram Flask Maker (Master employing 4 men, 3 boys, 22 girls). Also at the White Houses

address in 1871 is the domestic servant Harriet A Pickering (17) from Grenoside, Yorkshire and

concurrently there appears:

• James Plant, Dram Bottle and Pouch Maker, 154 Fitzwilliam Street, home Whitehouses, Bra-

mall Lane (1871)

It may be recalled that the two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary A., of James’s presumed uncle

Benjamin (i.e. Ben(shoe) ) were dram flask closers in 1871 and, hence, were apparently among

the 4 men, 3 boys and 22 girls said to be working for James at that time. It may have been the

William who was Ben(shoe)′s son who also turned his hand to similar activities as indicated by

the Directory entry:-

• William Plant, (journeyman) powder flask maker, 110 Pumona Street (White’s 1876)

Although James’s son Tom (grandad Stewart’s grandfather) was still only 16 in 1876, it can be

added that, according to family stories, he met his future wife Rose Beatrice Wright whilst she was

employed by James, to sow leather.

James homes address appears to have remained the Whitehouses throughout the 1870s, as evi-

denced by the further directory entries:-


• James Plant, dram flask and cigar case manufacturer, 154 Fitzwilliam street; home Brammall

lane (White’s 1876)

• James Plant, manfr. of dram bottles, powder flasks, shot pouches, cigar cases, and butchers’

knife sheaths, 154 Fitzwilliam street, home 1 Whitehouses, Bramall lane (White’s 1879)

The numbering ‘1’ Whitehouses, along with other clues, suggests that James’s home was at the

town end of the row of houses show in Figure 2.6. In other words, his house was apparently the

White House, nearest the camera, and it seems that other white houses abutted it.

It seems that James may have prospered during the ‘golden age’ of English Industry (1850-73),

though at some time between the Sheffield slumps of 1873-8 and 1884-6, he changed both his home

and business addresses.

James in the 1880s to 1900s, with his children including our ancestor Tom (snr)

In the 1881 Census returns, James Plant of 41 Harcourt Road is recorded as a dram flask maker

living with his wife Mary (age 49) and children James (22), Tom (21), Mary (19), Kate (16), Ada

(15) and Mabel (8); the occupation of sons James and Tom is given as Merchants Clerk and that

of Kate and Ada as Pupil Teacher School.

Shortly after, there are the Trades Directory entries:-

• James Plant, dram flask manufacturer, 245 Rockingham Street (Residence 41 Harcourt Road)

(White’s, 1883)

• James Plant, dram flask manufacturer, 245 Rockingham st (Huley 1884)

• James Plant, dram flask, shot pouch and solid knife sheath mfr., Ecclesall Wks. 245 Rocking-

ham st.; home 41 Harcourt rd. (White’s 1884))

James’s home address of Harcourt Road overlooked the Dams of Crooks Valley Park, which lies

behind the Weston Park site of the subsequent University.

It seems that James’s son Tom (Grandad Stewart’s grandfather) became involved in some of the

family business interests in 1887:-

• Tom Plant, manufacturer of dram bottles, powder flasks, etc., 245 Fitzwilliam st (Slater’s

1887)

at which time the business address of James (?senior) changed from 245 Fitzwilliam Street to Tudor

Street:-

• James Plant, dram bottle & powder flask manufacturer, Tudor st (Slater’s 1887)

• James Plant, leather shot pouch etc. maker, 13 Tudor Street (Kelly’s 1888, 1890, and 1893)

The Census Return for 95 Chesterfield Road, Sheffield in 1891 includes the correct details for

’dram flask manufacturer’ James (62) as head of family except that the word Thomas is erroneously

substituted for James. It also includes his wife Mary (59) and spinster daughters Ada (25) and Elicia

(18); a boarder (31) ’foreign representative for merchandise’ and his wife Maria (22).

There is a separate entry for our ancestor, James’s son Tom (aged 31) at 497 Abbeydale Road

with wife Rose B Plant (22) who is stated as born in ‘Worcestershire, Worcester’. Tom’s occupation

is given as ‘Dram bottles, Shot Pouches & Cigar case maker’ though he is also ticked under the

column ‘Employed’ with ‘Pipe’ added under ‘employer’.

By 1895, James’s is still at the same home address:-

• James Plant, dram flask manufacturer, 13 Tudor street; home Chesterfield Rd., Meersbrook

(Pawson & Brailsford 1895)


In the late nineteenth century, history records that views in Sheffield on ‘temperance’ had be-

come fierce — this may offer some explanation of why the ‘dram flask’ aspect of James’s interests

was omitted from his advertisements around 1888-93, though the above entry shows that the de-

scription dram flask manufacturer again appears, in 1895. It is said that James’s son Tom was

later forced to close the business and it is against such a background that Tom and his family were

destined to become both teetotal and relatively poor. Two further Trades Directory entries are:-

• James Plant, manufacturer of dram & powder flasks, cigar cases, knife sheaths etc., 13 Tudor

street (White’s 1898 and 1902)

though, in White’s Directory of 1903, there is no mention of James or his son Tom.

In the 1901 Census returns for 40 Peveril Road (near Greystones in Sheffield), James (aged 72)

is listed as ‘Living on own means’ with his wife Mary (69). Also listed in his household are: his

married daughter Ada Martin (34); his granddaughter Margaret L Martin (6); his grandsons John

B L Martin (3) and Colin Martin (1); and his ‘Domestic (general) servant’ Minnie Ward (18) from

Ireland. The grandchildren are all listed as being born in ‘Central India, Shaghai China BS’ which

seems to relate to their father’s shipping line.

James’s 1904 death

James Plant (senior) died (aged 75 in 1904) at 44 Onslow Road, Ecclesall. He was buried in his

wife’s family grave, which dated back to 1820, though the site of this grave in Ecclesall All Saints

parish churchyard has subsequently been re-landscaped. Also listed on the inscription for this grave

were James’s eldest daughter Emma (d 1876), his infant grandson James (our ancestor Tom’s son,

d 1896) and his wife Mary (d 1908), who was the last mentioned on the memorial inscription and

who brought the total (mostly Rollissons) to 7 adults and 2 infants.

2.4.2 Some tales of James (snr) and his children

My cousin, a grand-daughter, Diane Marshall, of this James’s son Tom writes (1987 and 1990), in

connection partly with some notes made by her mother:-

James Plant was a dram flask and fancy leather goods manufacturer. He also had

a tobacco shop at the top of Moorhead which [subsequently] had the first plate glass

windows in Sheffield.

I have part of a sheet of notepaper which is headed Memorandum from James Plant,

245 Rockingham Street and 150 Rockingham Lane established 1850 and which appears

to have been used to practise writing; it includes a variety of notes Grammar, French,

Arithmetic and Geometry and interestingly Thos Plant, James Plant, Lord Chamber-

lain, Duke of Albany and Leopold. The latter may suggest that he was supplying the

nobility or even the court, especially as the handstamp states warranted.

In October 1894 Mr Plant of 13, Tudor Street was approached by James Pinder &

Co requesting his ‘best terms’ for powder flasks.

A receipt issued the following May shows that James was a manufacturer of every

description of Dram Bottles, Powder flasks, shot pouches, dogwhistles, cigar cases,

butcher knife sheaths, shale straps etc.

The following further information has also been checked in genealogical records in conjunction

with that supplied by descendants of James’s son Tom.

James’s sons James (jnr) and our ancestor Tom (snr)

James and Mary’s sons, James and Tom, went to the USA. James (jnr) could not return due to sea-

sickness and it is said that he remained there and had 12 boys, and a girl who died young; also that


Tom was advised to take a sea voyage due to illness and it was thus that he returned to work in the

family business in Sheffield.

Genealogical records show that James (jnr) and Tom (snr) were in the family household in 1861

(28 Union Street), 1871 (Brammal Lane, Whitehouses) and 1881 (41 Harcourt Road) with both

described as Merchants Clerk in 1881. Thereafter James (jnr) dissapears from the local records.

James had been born 22 Oct 1858, Tom on 28 Nov 1859; and both were baptised on 11 Mar 1860

at the Cathedral as sons of James Powder Flask Maker and Mary of Union Street, Sheffield.

Sister Ada of Tom (snr)

Ada was born in 1866 and baptised 2.2.1866 at the Cathedral as daughter of James and Mary of

Cemetery Road. She was married on 24th Nov 1891 in Shanghai, China to Neil Martin (son of John

Martin) though, in 1901, she was with her parents at 40 Peveril Road, Sheffield with two daughters

(6) and (3) and son (1), all born in ’central India, Shaghai China’. Her husband has been said to

have been ‘owner of a shipping line’ though he is described just as ’first mate’ at his marriage.

There is a letter from this Ada Martin (nee Plant) written 27.12.1933 which includes some

interesting information. She was staying with her son Jack D L Martin and his wife Peggy and

children Barbara (3.5 years) and Dick (2 years) at Hankow, China; this was 600 miles by river

steamer from Shangai where her younger son Colin and his wife Peggy and their children Jenifer

Ann (2 years) and Rosemary (9 months) lived. They were all to visit England the following spring.

Ada hoped that her sister (not named) would not be ill as she was during a visit the previous year.

Ada often thought of her ‘dear brother Tom’ and had just received a letter from her brother Jim

whose daughter Josie had married Mr Emmes. In a further letter, written 20.12.1946, Ada was

staying at 46 Chartfield Avenue, Putney Hill, London SW15 but planning to visit her youngest son

Duncan and his wife in Canada; Duncan was in the RCM (Royal Canadian Mounties); Peggy was

due to join her there and accompany her to South Africa.

Sister Kate of Tom (snr)

Another of Tom’s sisters Kate (b 20.9.1864) was baptised 23,12,1864 at the Cathedral and married

2.4.1889 Charles Herbert Harvey (b 24.7.1864) at St Pauls, Norton Lees, whose father Charles was

described as a Professor of Music of 38 Church St at his Cathedral baptism (bap 9.9.1864). It is

possible that two or three of Kate’s children are included in the photo in Figure 2.7 though there is

a story of two sons of brother James (jnr) coming to visit from the USA. As yet, I have not found

genealogical evidence evidence of James family in the USA whereas the approximate date of 1908

for Figure 2.7 can be readily compared with the ages of Kate’s children.

Apart from 10 years difference in their ages, the Census entries of 1901 and 1911 for Kate’s

family are similar. Both are for 28 Dover Road, Sheffield Ecclesall with, in 1911, Charles Herbert

Harvey (46) described as a ’Grocer and Wine and Spirit Merchant’ with his wife Kate (46) and

children Dorothy Tofield (Dolly) Harvey (20), Donovan (18) ’Clerk Insurance’, Herbert (17) ’Clerk

Accountant’, Elsie (Else) (15) and Katheline (11) at School. In 1891, they had been at Broomspring

Lane with a General Domestic Servant though Charles is there described as a Grocers Assistant. In

1901, they had a domestic cook and a domestic nurse (perhaps for 1 year old Katheline) but again

just 1 domestic general servant in 1911.

On 3 Aug 1915, the son Austin of Tom (snr) was on brief leave from the war, and he notes that

he visits both his aunts Kate and May on the same day; he has also in his notebook the 28 Dover

Road address confirming that his Aunt Kate was still there in 1915. See also nearby Aunt May as

Tom’s sister Alice Mabel below.

The family story is that the Harveys owned a grocers shop (perhaps called Sharmans) in Glos-

sop Road, and used to send Tom senior Christmas hampers. Kate, in a letter dated 6th September

1927, had been staying in Belfast for six weeks but was returning to Sheffield that week. Although

her address is not stated she was obviously still in contact with the family of Tom senior. Indeed


Figure 2.7: Tom senior with Tom junior by his knee towards right, Rose Beatrice with baby daughter

Winifred on her lap and perhaps son Norman on left and daughter Bea or Jessie in middle. The two

boys behind were perhaps sons of Tom’s sister Kate Harvey though there is a story of two sons of

Tom’s brother James visiting from the USA, circa 1908.

there is a letter of sympathy following (Tom’s daughter) Elsie’s death; on 25.2.1954 Kate Harvey

(she would, by then, be aged 91) was living a 66 Bents Road, Sheffield (postal district 11) and,

apart from rheumatism, was well for her age although not able to go out alone. When Kate Harvey

lived at 66 Bents Road, Sheffield she had an Irish housekeeper; her son Hugh had a grocer’s shop in

Baslow and Hugh’s daughter worked at Steel, Peach and Tozer (in the same office as James Varney

(snr) of Figure 2.10) where she had met a fellow employee whom she married.

Sister Alicia Mabel (May) of Tom (snr)

Alice Mabel was evidently born in the 2nd quarter of 1872 and baptised 6.2.1873 at the Sheffield

church of St Mary while her parents were at the White House on Bramall Lane. She is Mabel (8) in

the 1881 Plant household at 41 Harcourt Road and Elicia M Plant as an unmarried daughter (sic) in

the rather confused 1891 Plant household at 95 Chesterfield Road, Sheffield.

The previous year, on 17.9.1900 at St Pauls at Norton Lees Sheffield, Alice Mabel (28) had in

fact married James Findlow (25) son of William Findlow. In the 1901 Census, they are at 26 Car

Bank Lane, Upper Hallam, Ecclesall as James Findlow (26) carpenter from Heathylea in Stafford-

shire and Alicia A (28). In 1911, they are at Greenside, Stannington near Sheffield, Bradfield with

James (36) Joiner and Farmer, wife Alicia Mabel (38) and daughter Phyllis Mary (9). However,

when Tom’s son Austin was on brief leave from the war on 3.8.1915 he visits both his aunts Kate

(28 Dover Road) and May (sic) on the same day; this tallies with May’s address being the one just

mile away in Austin’s notebook: Mrs J Findlow, 52 Cruise Road, Oakbrook Rd, Sheffield.

This also tallies with a family story that Tom’s sister May (Mabel) married and lived near

Hunters Bar in Sheffield with (?son Gerald and) a daughter. The family were in the habit of walk-

ing in the adjacent Botanical Gardens, which was considered to be fashionable at that time. Sister

Kate’s Dover Road address was particularly close, just below the boundary of these gardens.


Figure 2.8: Tom senior perhaps upon hearing of death of son Austin in 1917; and some of his

children including Tom junior, at front on right, circa 1910.

The death of Alicia M Findlow (51) is recorded in the 3rd quarter of 1923 in the corresponding

district of Ecclesall Bierlow. Her daughter Phyllis Mary Findlow had been born 18.11.1901 and was

baptised 4.5.1902 at Sheffield Christ Church, Fulwood.

Sister Annie of Tom (snr)

There is also Annie Plant born in the 1st quarter of 1857 who appears in the 1861 household as

Anne (4) scholar and as Annie (14) in 1871. At the St Mary Church at Walkley on 27 Oct 1880 (as

Annie Planet) , she married Thomas Martin of 38 Barber Road whose father was John Martin, cab

proprietor. The witnesses included Mary Plant and James Martin.

In the 1881 Census for 38 Barber Road, Nether Hallam, Ecclesall Bierlow, there is just Thomas

(26) and Annie (24) Martin with Thomas described as a Brewers Traveller born in Edinburgh,

Scotland. In the 1891 Census for 10 Dorset Street, Thomas (35) is described as a Commercial

Traveller born in Scotland with wife Annie (30) and scholar sons John C (9) and Neil R (8). These

two sons were John Colin Martin bap 26.10.1881 at Sheffield St Silas church on Broomhall Street

and Neil Reginald Martin who was born in the 1st quarter of 1883. Their 1891 address of Dorset

Street is now near the current site of the Sheffield Hallamshire Hospital and around half a mile from

the Botanical Gardens mentioned for Annie’s sisters Kate and May.

So far, we know little of the Neil Martin who married Annie’s sister Ada in China in 1891

except that his father was called John Martin, as also was Annie’s father in law who was a cab

proprietor with son Thomas who was born in Edinburgh. Though Neil is rather more distinctive

with the Martin surname than others such as John and James and Thomas, it might be no more

than an insignificant coincidence that in 1851 at 42 Home St, St Cuthberts Midlothian, there was a


coachman John Martin (26) from Paisley with a son Neil Martin (5) born in Melfort, Argyllshire.

Indeed, it is unknown whether the two bridegrooms of Annie and Ada, both called Mr Martin, were

related.

Other brothers and sisters of Tom (snr)

There is genealogical evidence for a sister of Tom (snr) called Emma born 17.11.1851 and baptised

26.12.1851 at the Cathedral. She appears in the 1861 Plant household as Emma (9) and in 1871 as

Emma (19). As confirmed on the memorial inscription for her parents’ grave at All Saints church at

Ecclesall, she is the Emma who was buried there on 23.3.1876.

In the gap between Emma (b 1851) and Annie (b 1857) there were two brothers who died young.

William Arthur Plant was born 1853.2qtr (9c 273) and died (aged 5) 1858.4qtr (9c 226) and was

buried 2.12.1858 at St Mary church Sheffield. Charles was born 1855.3qtr (9c 205) and died (aged

1) 1857.1qtr (9c 201) and was buried 27.2.1857 at St Mary.

Another sister is Mary born 24.1.1862 and baptised 23.12.1864 at the Cathedral. She appears in

the Plant household of 1871 as Mary (9) and as Mary (19) in 1881.

According to unconfirmed family stories, Tom’s sister Mary emigrated to Australia, the second

eldest sister (?Annie) to the USA. There is also a story that one child died young after a fall off the

swings in the stables.

2.5 Grandad Stewart’s grandfather Tom (snr) and his children

Tom (snr) was born in 1859 at 28 Union Street near where, in 1863, the Crimean Monument (which

was moved to Endcliffe Park in the 1950s) was erected at the corner of Union Street and Pinstone

Street; one of the addresses of his father’s businesses in 1863 was nearby on Pinstone Street — this

area was subsequently altered, when the new Town Hall was built in the 1890s.

Tom (snr) was confirmed on Friday March 23rd 1877 at St Mary’s Church — this is the year in

which his name appears on the Fitzwilliam Street business, when Tom would be 18. In 1884 he took

a reduced passage, and therefore presumably intended to emigrate, to Australia. There is a family

story (perhaps allegorical) that he dropped a ring over a bridge in Sydney, apparently as a futile

gesture of ‘love lost’. He only stayed in Australia for about 8 months and arrived back in Plymouth

at 6am 17th October 1885. This was probably the trip he was sent on to separate him from Rose in

the hope that he would forget her.

Tom (snr) married Rose Beatrice Wright in 1890 at St Georges, Hanover Square at which time

his address was Wortley Villa on Chesterfield Rd (at corner at bottom of Derbyshire Lane). On a

birth certificate of 1892, he is described as a ‘Cigar Case Maker (Master)’ of 497 Abbeydale Road

though he is described as a ‘Dram Flak Maker’ of 104 Bungay Street on a death certificate 4 years

later. His children James and Cyril Valentine died young: James of ‘Acute Pneumonia Convulsions’

in 1896 and Cyril Valentine (aged 2) of ‘Meningitis - 8 day Exhaustion’ in 1898. Tom is described

on this 1898 certificate as a ‘Dram Flask Maker’, then as a ‘Dram Flask Coverer’ in February 1900

though as a ‘Tram Car Conductor’, still in Bungay Street, by that October.

In the 1901 Census returns for 104 Bungay Street, he is described (aged 41) as an ‘Electric

Tram Car Conductor’ with wife Rose Beatrice (32), sons Austin (7) and Norman (5) and daughter

Jesse (1). In 1911, he is (aged 51) at 26 Person Place as a ’Tramways Car Conductor’ with wife

Rose Beatrice (42), son Austin (17) ’Silver Roller’ at Heely Silver Mills, son Norman (15), Jessie

(11), Beatrice (9), Elsie Mabel (7), Tom (5), Mary Winifred (4) and niece Amy Wright (14) born in

Huddersfield, In 1920, he is recorded still as a ‘Tram Car Conductor’, of 28 Pearson Place; this is

on the death certificate at Pearson Place of his unemployed spinster daughter Jesse who died (aged

20) of ‘(1) General Milliary Tubeculosis, (2) Asthenia p.m.’.

There is an uncertain family story that Tom had to close the business (when he became a 40-year

old Electric Tram Car Conductor around 1900) because ‘family debts had not been honoured’; and

2.5. GRANDAD STEWART’S GRANDFATHER TOM (SNR) AND HIS CHILDREN 39

Figure 2.9: Tom Plant junior and senior (4th and 5th from right, front row) with shooting fraternity.

that, around that time, he went to see a relative called Charles. It may be no more than coincidence,

however, that the shoemaker Benjamin had a son called Charles Thomas who lived near Tom in his

childhood: this Charles was 7 years older than Tom and a cousin of Tom’s father James.

2.5.1 Tom’s son Tom (jnr)

Thus it was that Tom’s son Tom (jnr) was born in 1905 to poorer circumstances (Figure 2.8) than

his father had been (Figure 2.3). An inherited family photograph shows young Tom (jnr), perhaps

around 1915, with his father Tom amongst the ‘shooting fraternity’ – this evidently related back to

the company that Tom (snr) had kept when he had ‘taken over’ the family business of ‘dram bottles,

powder flasks, etc.’ from 1887 to 1900 (Figure 2.9).

After working for the engineering firm Tyzacs at Heeley, Sheffield, Tom (jnr) went on to Teacher

Training College around 1930 postponing his 1934 marriage until qualified. In 1939, he is listed

as an ’Elementary School Teacher’ with his wife Ada in Lorne Grove, Bingham rural district near

Nottingham presumably in connection with the evacuation of their first child Austin (b 17.1.1939).

The early years of his married life, through the times of the second World War as Home Guard

and Teacher, were spent at 30 Meersbrook Avenue in Sheffield, still not far from his grandfather’s

Chesterfield Road address of 1895, though in the 1960s he moved to leafier suburbs of southern

Sheffield near some of his sisters at Norton who later died or moved to Solihul, Birmingham. By

1950 he had become national President of the National Federation of Class Teachers and the press

coverage of his Presidential Address highlighted such items as the shared responsibility of parents

with teachers to uphold discipline. Subsequently he was President, then Treasurer for many years

of the Sheffield Branch of the National Union of Teachers, becoming acting Headmaster of Meynell

Road Secondary School and then head of Chaucer Comprehensive Middle School, in the times of

Comprehensive School reorganisation, at the far northern side of Sheffield whilst still living to the

south of Sheffield at Norton.

Some further details are given of the press coverage of Tom junior’s 1950 speech as the President

of the National Federation of Class Teachers at

http://plant.one-name.net/articles/articles.html#33


Tom (snr)b 28.11.1859d 20.10.1931m 16.12.1890

Rose Beatrice Wright

Jamesb 9.2.1892, d 17.3.1896

Austinb 9.11.1893, d 10.10.1917

Normanb 1.7.1895d 13.8.1963m 1933 Ada Rushby

b 3.11.1906d 6.2.1994

Pauline Roseb 3.5.1934d 20.11.2020m Russell Edward

Scott Masonb 1.10.1925d 24.5.2004

Jonathanb 9.12.1960

Charlotteb 25.9.1967adoptedm 15.8.1992

Richard Kaye

Rowan Emilyb 16.10.199

Fletcher Scottb 25.2.2001

Travisb 6.5.2003

Margaret Anned ?2016b 25.5.1943m Evan Gough

b 21.2.1942

Timothyb 5.2.1970d 7.2.1970

Nicholasb 10.9.1975m 6.8.2005

Sarah ElizabethJoy Anderson

Matthew Jamesb 11.7.2008 Oxford

Richardb 24.4.1979m 28.6.2003

Lindsay Rachel Hodge

Cyril Valentineb 14.2.1898, d 13.10.1900

Jessieb 13.2.1900, d 19.3.1920

Beatriceb 20.8.1901, d 17.2.1988

Elsie Mabelb 13.5.1903, d 17.2.1954

Tom (jnr)b 10.4.1905d 6.10.1989m 11.8.1934

Ada Vaseyb 13.3.1903d 16.7.1992

George Austinb 17.1.1939d 23.11.2019m 16.7.1960

Barbara AileenBradshawb 12.2.1937

Geoffrey Davidb 1.5.1966 at

Chesterfield, Derbyshirem 15.9.1990

Deborah Jane Richardsondivorced .12.1994

= Rachael Whitem 1.7.2006 Melton Mowbray

Kim Absolom

Eleanor Day (White)b 12.9.1995 Loughborough

Louie Davidb 12.11.2003

Reuben Georgeb 3.10.2005

Richard Nevilleb 10.12.1967 at

Matlock, Derbyshired 30.9.2001 at

Rugby, Northamptonshire

John Stewartb 27.9.1945m 15.6.1968

Denise MargaretHarwoodb 1.5.1946

Robert Stephenb 12.1.1973 in

Sydney, Australiam 17.3.2001 Lancaster, England

Hiroko Elizabeth Shortb 16.4.1972

Freya Meganb 12.3.2004 Reading

David Andrewb 22.9.1974 in

Grenoble, France= Vanda Teuta Vucucevic

b 12.11.1978 Sarajevo

Leon Johnnyb 9.7.2010 London

Larab 6.1.2013 London

Mary Winifredb 16.1.1907, d 18.11.1983m James Russell

Varneyb 3.1.1904, d 1.11.1980

Rosemaryb 24.8.1935d 7.4.2009

James Russellb 26.11.1938d 14.10.1982

Ada Millicentb 8.2.1912, d 1989m Alec Frank

Marshalld 18.6.1998

Celia Beatriceb 11.4.1945m Michael Bignell

John Stephenb 21.4.1975

Mark Davidb 22.9.1977m 22.7.2006 Knowle

Jie

Gemma Louiseb 9.2.1980

Diane Maryb 11.11.1954

Figure 2.10: Descendants of James’s son Tom senior.

2.6. SUMMARY 41

Figure 2.11: Tom Plant junor (2nd row from front, far right) in choir of St Pauls, Norton Lees, circa

1914.

2.5.2 Other children of Tom (snr)

Tom (snr) and Rose Beatrice had 10 children but the first and third, James and Cyril, died young and

the second, Austin, was killed in the First World War in 1917 aged 23 (Appendix C). The fifth child,

Jessie, died shortly afterwards in Lodge Moor isolation Hospital, after allegedly ‘contracting an

illness’ (tuberculosis) whilst nursing an elderly Aunt Newman12 near Town Head Street, Sheffield.

2.6 Summary

There seems to be little room for doubt that the Sheffield shoemaker William Plant (1803-48) was

related to the Plant’s Yard Plants and that he and his descendants remained near the Little Sheffield

site of Plant’s Yard until late Victorian times, by when they were moving outwards with the ex-

panding southern outskirts of Sheffield. William’s son James (1829-1904) seems to have enjoyed

reasonable fortunes as a dram flask maker, at least at times; but it is said that his son Tom (snr)

married one of the workers, amidst class-ridden Victorian attitudes, and his young family fell upon

harder times, though with perhaps also a part played by the econmic slump of the 1890s in his loss

of inherited business interests. One of his children, my father Tom (jnr) (1905-89), became a Teach-

ers Union official with for example some substantial press coverage of his 1950 presidential speech

and by the 1960s he had become a headteacher.

12This was possibly an aunt related to Tom’s wife, Rose Beatrice Wright.


Figure 2.12: Tom Plant junior and senior, together on left, circa 1926; and, Tom junior on left with

future England player Albert Quixall 2nd left front row, circa 1945.

Chapter 3

Rowlinsons in Sheffield

SOME INITIAL NOTES ONLY

James Plant’s wife Mary (Figure 2.2) was from a family Rowlinson whose name has played a

well-recorded role in the history of Sheffield.

3.1 Historical Significance of the name Rollinson

The name Ro(w/l)linson appears amongst some of the prominent names associated with the early

history of Sheffield, as is indicated by the following extracts from the book ‘Sheffield Its Story and

Its Achievements’ by Mary Walton1.

1. The new Earl (Gilbert), the seventh to hold the title (Earl of Shrewsbury), did not altogether

uphold the traditions of his line. ...... Nevertheless, he was not unpopular with his obstinately

loyal people, who positively admired him for living beyond his income; and ...... he took

a true Talbot interest in the affairs of the town. For instance, he was plainly consulted as a

matter of course when the Grammar School was founded. The real founder of the school was

...... Thomas Smith of Crowland, in Lincolnshire. ...... In 1603 he made provision in his will

...... He died soon afterwards, and the people of Sheffield petitioned King James, asking him

to incorporate the Vicar and twelve inhabitants as a body suitable to carry out the project and

manage the school and its finances. ...... the twelve who were to assist the Vicar as Governors

were nominated by Earl Gilbert. The usual representatives of the Rollinsons, Dickensons,

Brights, Rawsons and Hollands appear among them.

2. Unfortunately, it is only from the actions of the Hallamshire people that any clue to their

thoughts can be got. ...... To read the story of this Sheffield in its legal and trade documents

is like watching a silent film without sub-titles. This is the more disappointing because his-

torians of many parts of England have access to scores of personal narratives. Squires and

their wives, noblemen, religious zealots, learned statesmen ...... But the people of Sheffield,

of whatever degree, remain obstinately uncommunicative. We know the names of the men of

middle rank who were the chief actors in the seventeenth century drama. One would give the

most fanatical collector’s prize for the diary of a Skargill, a Rawson, a Shemeld, a Rollinson,

a Creswick or a Webster. But they are only names to us.

3. Mediæval Sheffield had been fairly well off for water, being built on a hillside rich in springs,

whose water was used for the “town wells” which can now hardly be traced. ...... Wells were

also supplied privately for the use of single houses, or groups of houses. On 1st Novem-

ber, 1610, Robert Rollinson of Sheffield, mercer, drew up an agreement with the tenants

1Printed and Published by The Sheffield Telegraph & Star Limited, Kemsley House, Sheffield 1. First Edition -

October, 1948. Second Edition - March, 1949.

43

44 CHAPTER 3. ROWLINSONS IN SHEFFIELD

Figure 3.1: Mary Plant (nee Rowlinson) circa 1865 and 1895

of Figtree Lane about the rules for the use of the Plumtree Well, which he had sunk at his

own cost, for their joint use. There are provisions for making and keeping in repair a fence

round it, with a door that could be locked at night, and it was found necessary to prohibit the

washing of “cloaths and calfes heads” in the well; and all tenants were to pay one farthing a

year.

4. The only other source of water was the Barker’s Pool, at the top of the street which commem-

orates it; and we have seen that the lord of the manor and the two bodies of Burgesses had all

counted the care of the pool among their prime duties. But their efforts had not sufficed with-

out private help, for this same Robert Rollinson, who was born in 1540 and died in 1631,

had practically remade the pool some time during a life characterised by much public service.

By 1700 such provision had become inadequate ......

3.2 Family History of Mary Rowlinson

An enlargement of Mary Rowlinson from Figure 2.3 is shown in Figure 3.1 along with a photograph

of her taken some 30 years later.

3.3. ALDERMAN E G ROWLINSON 45

3.3 Alderman E G Rowlinson

3.3.1 His Obituary

In the Sheffield based Newspaper the Telegraph and Independent of Monday, January 6, 1941,

there appears a major story with a photograph under the headlines:

DEATH OF ALD. E. G. ROWLINSON

GREAT MUNICIPALADMINISTRATOR

CONTROLLED CITY’S

AFFAIRS 14 YEARS

which reads:

The deaths occurred on Saturday of Alderman E G Rowlinson, leader of the Labour

Party in Sheffield, and of Alderman W F Wardley “father” of Sheffield City Council.

Alderman E G Rowlinson, dominant figure in Sheffield municipal politics since

1926, and Lord Mayor of Sheffield in 1937-8, died at his home, 36 Dalewood Road,

Beauchief, Sheffield.

Alderman Rowlinson’s health had not been good for many years — his constitution

was undermined by his experiences in the last war — and, latterly he suffered a severe

breakdown which prevented him from taking an active part in municipal affairs.

By his death Sheffield lost one of the best-known public men, whose strenuous and

devoted work on behalf of the Labour Party, education, and other causes was admired

both by his supporters and political opponents.

His public duties during these last few years were manifold and he devoted an

enormous amount of time to them, discharging them with a conscientiousness which

won him the esteem of political opponents and friends alike.

A Hard FighterHe was, indeed, a very likeable man — a hard fighter, keen to gain every possible

advantage for his side, but always courteous and fair. He took his position very seri-

ously and all shades of those who worked with him will regret the passing of a shrewd,

pleasant-mannered colleague, and a sincere worker in what he believed to be the best

cause.

He was originally a railway worker, and in his twenties was a leader of his fellow-

workers in the fight for the recognition of the National Union of Railwaymen. He was

a delegate to the Sheffield Trades and Labour Council, of which he became president.

He held that position at the time of the outbreak of the Great War, and he resigned it to

volunteer for active service.

He was badly wounded and gassed twice during the war while serving with the

Highland Light Infantry and Scottish Rifles, and had to be invalided out of the Army

in such a shattered condition that for a long time it appeared unlikely that he would be

able to resume public service.

Councillor in 1921For a time he was a member of staff of the War Pensions Committee, which position

he left in 1921. Later, he again became president of the Trades and Labour Council,

and held that position for several years.

His municipal career dates from 1921 when he defeated the late Mr J H White and

became councillor for Crookesmoor Ward. He had unsuccessfully contested the Ward

in the previous year. He quickly made his mark in the Council, and he succeeded Mr

Cecil H Wilson as leader of the Labour group when that gentleman entered Parliament.


Alderman Rowlinson’s tenure of office in the Council was interrupted more than

once. When he stood for re-election in 1924 he was defeated by Mr Luther Milner,

but in the following year he regained his seat by a narrow majority — again at the

expense of Mr J H White. The municipal contest of November 1st 1928 again saw

Mr Rowlinson unsuccessful, Mr Samuel Osborn (recently knighted) (one of the Citizen

representatives whom the Labour Party had dismissed from the Aldermanic Bench in

1926) beating him by a majority of 140.

Labour in the Lead

Alderman Rowlinson’s absence was only a matter of a few days, however. Mrs

Cheetham resigned her seat at Brightside, and Alderman Rowlinson was her successor.

The great success of the Labour party in securing the majority on the City Council

was achieved in November, 1926 and it was upon that that Alderman Rowlinson be-

came the leader, succeeding to the position that had been held for many years by Sir

William Clegg.

Since then the municipal affairs of the city, which were for so long under the di-

rection of one or other of the older political groups, or of both combined as a Citizen

Party, have (with the exception of one year) been governed by Labour with Alderman

Rowlinson as its head.

In addition to being the leader of the Council, Alderman Rowlinson took a great

share of committee work. He was chairman of of the Education Committee and the

Parliamentary Committee, and a member of the Establishment, Finance, Public Hall,

Tramways, Watch, and Lord Mayor’s Committees.

He was eager for furtherance of Socialist views and did not confine his efforts to

municipal work but was also agent for the Park Divisional Labour Party. He could have

been a Parliamentary candidate himself had he chosen.

Outside Activities

Outside Sheffield, in the Government departments at Whitehall and in the meetings

of associations of municipalities, he was recognised as a great municipal administrator.

In 1932, for instance, he was appointed to serve on the committee set up by the

Government to review the whole field of local expenditure, and not long afterwards he

was appointed to the Advisory Council on Housing matters.

In 1934 he was elected president of the Association of Education Committees and in

1937 he became chairman of the Education Committee of the Association of Municipal

Corporations.

Another big honour came in 1936 when he was appointed a member of the Con-

sultative Committee of the Board of Education, and in 1936 he became a member of

the national advisory committee dealing with the administration of the Cinematograph

Act, 1909.

In February, 1940, he was appointed one of the 12 trustees of the Nuffield Hospitals

Trust.

Popularity Proved

During his year of office as Lord Mayor, Alderman Rowlinson was afforded the

opportunity of discovering for himself how popular he was with all sections of the

community — his own Party supporters and his political opponents.

He made an interesting innovation at the annual civic service by inviting 300 school

children to church on Lord Mayor’s Sunday — a happy gesture significant of his

tremendous interest in education and child welfare.

Anything connected with the welfare of children had his sympathetic support and

co-operation. He dressed a doll for the “Star” Doll Show of 1929, this being an example

of the versatility displayed by the leader of the City Council.

3.3. ALDERMAN E G ROWLINSON 47

He took a keen interest in the “Telegraph and Independent” Children’s Seaside Hol-

iday Fund, whose home at Mablethorpe he visited at various times.

Alderman Rowlinson was a magistrate for the city, having been appointed in 1924.

He was twice married and leaves a widow, who before her marriage was a schoolteacher

in Sheffield, and who has been a valuable helper to him in his public work.

3.3.2 The Rowlinson Campus

A booklet Rowlinson Campus: Official Opening was produced by the City of Sheffield Educa-

tion Committee to commemorate its official opening by The Right Honourable HAROLD WILSON,

OBE, FRS, MP on Friday 15th October 1971 at 2.45pm2. The booklet includes, for example, the

explanation:-

Site The new development was based on the original Secondary Technical School which

was opened by HRH the PRINCESS MARGARET in 1953. The site was enlarged by

taking a further area to the east which used to be occupied by the Admiralty. The total

area of the site is now 31.5 acres.

and it begins with the passage:-

For close on half a century the name Rowlinson has been closely associated with

the growth of Sheffield’s education service and, in turn, with the contribution which

that growth has brought to the evolution of the education system of the country as a

whole.

The late Alderman E G Rowlinson, a former Lord Mayor of Sheffield, was Chair-

man of the Education Committee from 1926 to 1932 and again from 1933 until his

death in 1941. During this latter period he served on the Consultative Committee on

Secondary Education which was responsible for the production of the Spens Report,

one of the landmarks in the development of English secondary education and one which

paid special attention to the growth of technical courses in secondary education. The

school which was named after him and which, now in a re-organised form, provides

the oldest established section of the Rowlinson Campus, explored with marked success

developments in this particular field and through the work of its first Headmaster, the

late Mr C V Kay, carried its experience well beyond the confines of the school and the

city itself.

It is thus fitting that from these beginnings, already moving away from the con-

cept of a school serving only a selected group to one offering secondary schooling for

all young adolescents in its area, there should emerge Sheffield’s first experiment in

community education.

The Campus Rowlinson Campus, designed to provide a focal point for the cultural

needs of the local community, is based on the belief that people of all ages, with di-

verse interests and abilities, can live, work and play together to their mutual advantage,

different groups sharing facilities and where appropriate joining in common activities.

2This information has been supplied by W E Wardle, Principal, Norton College, Dyche Lane, Sheffield S8 8BR, which

is now on the site of the Rowlinson Campus along with the Rowlinson Sports Centre, in place of the former Rowlinson

Technical School.

Chapter 4

Till Rose Bea (1868-34)

SOME RECONSTRUCTIONS BY HER GRAND-DAUGHTER

Rose Beatrice Wright married Tom Plant (1859-1931) in Sheffield in 1890. These reconstruc-

tions are by one of her grand-daughters, Diane Mary Marshall, and are of both the paternal and

maternal families of Rose Beatrice, who lived around the general area of Warwickshire.

4.1 WRIGHT - reconstruction at 18.12.1987

Although more common and therefore harder to trace, the Wrights have been traced back to 1799

when James, son of James and Mary Wright, was possibly the first of three children baptised

in Warwick. There may have been others baptised between 1800 and 1806 but the last two were

certainly Joseph and Elizabeth born in 1807 and 1809. At present, there is no trace of the marriage

of Joseph and Emma Elizabeth in about 1830. They may have met as apprentices or employees

of Joseph Whitaker a tailor and staymaker of Smith Street Warwick. Joseph Wright was a tailor

and his wife Emma a staymaker1 and in 1841 their second child Edward was staying with Joseph

and Elizabeth Whitakre whose own children, at least two daughters, had left home. Furthermore, in

1866, one of Joseph and Emma’s grandchildren was baptised Joseph Robert Whitacre Wright.

Joseph and Emma had six children. the family tree descends via the fourth, Joseph Alfred,

baptised in 1840 who presumably married Sarah Ann Franks in about 1860 but there is no record

of this. Most of his siblings followed their parents’ occupations at least temporarily. The eldest

Ellen Elizabeth was a milliner and dressmaker living with her parents in 1861, aged 29, while her

sister Ann Sophia was a dressmaker. Edward was a tailors apprentice in 1851 but 10 years later

was a letter carrier. He may have been apprenticed to Joseph Whitaker who died or left Warwick

in the early 1850s before the apprenticeship would have finished. Walter was a page and general

servant in 1851 but may have been apprenticed to a tailor later.

Only Joseph Alfred clearly broke with the family traditions from the start of his employment. He

was a scholar in 1851 and a fishmonger in 1861 but had presumably served an apprenticeship as

a woodcarver and french polisher. This would have been completed by his 21st birthday in 1861

which would have allowed him to marry and it is possible that he was working for his neighbour

Edam Mitchell, a fish dealer, while looking for employment in his trade.

Joseph and Sarah had been childhood friends and the families knew each other, often living in

the same area or road. On 15 August 1848, Ann Sophia Wright and Roseanna Franks were both

baptised at St Mary’s and both families were living at Emscote. By December 1861, when their first

child was baptised, Joseph had found work as a french polisher. Although Warwick was famous

for woodcarvers, by 1864 the family had moved to Worcester staying for at least six years before

returning to Warwick for a short time and later moving to Sheffield. Of eight children, two were

baptised in Warwick, five in Worcester, and the youngest probably in Sheffield. Unfortunately, the

1They were living in Smith Street in 1832, possibly with the Whitacres

49

50 CHAPTER 4. TILL ROSE BEA (1868-34)

JamesWrightm Mary

Jamesb .2.1799bap 1.9.1799

Josephb 1807bap 29.12.1809m Emma

Elizabethb 1810

Ellen Elizabethbap 30.4.1832

Edward Williambap 21.4.1835m Mary Ann

Arthur Edwd1861

Walter Henrybap 28.9.1838

Joseph Alfredbap 11.3.1840m pre 1861

Sarah AnnFranks

Sarah Emilybap 21.12.1861

Harriet Hannahbap 27.11.1864m Johnson

Joseph Robert Whitakerbap 29.8.1866

Ellen Anna1867

Rose Beatriceb 2.5.1868m Tom Plantd 15.3.1934(see section ??)

Kate Elizabeth1870

Alfred Edwardbap 29.10.1872

Tom, m Lena3 daughters

AnnSophiab 1845bap 15.8.18489.9.1849

Elizabeth

bap 29.12.1809

Figure 4.1: Wright ancestry of Rose Bea’s father.

4.2. FRANKS - RECONSTRUCTION AT 18.12.1987 51

ElishaFranksm 26.12.1797

RebeccaClarke

Annbap 30.9.1799

Mary Ann

bap 21.9.1801

Rebeccabap 20.6.1804

Sarahbap 28.12.1807

Johnbap 17.12.1810m Hannah

Thomasbap 31.12.1833

Henrybap 4.12.1835m Ann

Johnbap 1861

Johnbap 10.7.1839m Emma

William

bap 6.12.1863

Sarah Annbap 24.7.1842m Joseph Alfred

Wrightd 1889(see section 4.1)

Robertbap 22.11.1846

Roseannabap 9.9.1849

Williamb 1852bap 10.9.1854d c1930

Benjaminbap 10.9.1854

Josephbap 19.4.1813

Figure 4.2: Franks ancestry of Rose Bea’s mother (at 18.12.1987).

1985 I.G.I. for Yorkshire only covers up to the early 19th century. The fifth child, Rose Beatrice,

born in 1868, married Tom Plant. Of her siblings, Harriet married a jeweller, Mr Johnson, and

Ellen married Mr DePledge and had a daughter Winnie who married but was childless and a son

killed in the first World War. Tom married Lena and had three children, Nellie, Ioy and Isabel.

4.2 FRANKS - reconstruction at 18.12.1987

The late 18th and early 19th century entries are taken from the International Geneological Index

(I.G.I.) produced on microfiche by the Mormons for the whole country and have to be checked

in the parish registers. Fortunately the surname is uncommon and it is probably safe to trace our

family back to the marriage of Elisha Franks and Rebecca Clarke 190 years ago in Birmingham.

As neither were born in Warwickshire further research will be difficult; it is possible that Elisha

came over from Ireland. He and Rebecca had six children baptised in Birmingham in 14 years from

1799. The fifth, John baptised in 1810, appears to be the John Franks aged 50 recorded in the 1861

census for Warwick, although his place of birth was there stated to be Warwick not Birmingham. He

may well have been born in Warwick but baptised in Birmingham especially as it appears they had

relatives in Warwick. These were Robert Franks and Hannah nee Bone born in Warwick in 1811


and 1806 respectively and married there on 27th April 1830. The link between Robert and John is

not yet known. It is unlikely that they were brothers but John may have been involved in and later

taken over Robert’s business as a coal dealer on the Saltisford. John is described as a boatman,

or even a labourer, in the baptism registers for 1833 to 1842 but as a coal dealer or merchant

between 1846 and 1854. However in directories for 1841 and 1851 he described himself as a coal

merchant and dealer. John may have increasingly taken over from Robert as the latter branched out

into other areas. Robert described himself as a coal merchant and dealer in the directories for 1850

and 1851, as a furniture broker and coal dealer from 1866 to 1872 and in 1880, and as a furniture

broker in 1876 and probably died or retired in the early 1880s. John may have been responsible for

the canal haulage side of the business which would account for his description as a boatman by the

parish clerk until 1842. He also changed his occupation, possibly due to his age, being a dealer in

second hand clothes in 1872. His widow Hannah continued this occupation until at least 1884

describing herself rather poshly as a wardrobe dealer in 1880.

Unfortunately it has not been possible to trace the marriage of John and his wife Hannah born

in Barford, Warwickshire but the Warwick baptism registers record eight children baptised between

1833 and 1854. The family tree descends through the fourth child, the first daughter, Sarah Ann

baptised in 1842, who married Joseph Alfred Wright. Of the others Henry, her second eldest

brother, and John, the third, were both coal merchants in Warwick in the early 1860s. John stayed

in Warwick until at least 1888 but, by 1876, was describing himself as a carrier. The fourth son

Robert may have been the Robert Franks described in the directories as a furniture broker and coal

dealer in 1866, 1872, and 1880, or furniture broker in 1876, but as there is no trace of the burial

of the Robert Franks listed in the 1841 and 1851 census, at least in St Nicholas Warwick 1851 to

1856, this is not certain at present. His younger brother William, born in 1852, was employed as

a french polisher in 1872 while living with his parents John and Hannah at 19 Friars Street, and

was still living there in 1908. By 1912 he had moved to 3 Warwick Place in nearby Leamington

and had expanded his business, having become an antique furniture dealer at Warwick Place, but

continuing in french polishing at 2 Brook Street and 1a Wood Lane Street in Leamington. Nine

years later he was still running both businesses but was no longer using Brook Street. However, by

1928 his son was working with William and it seems that antique furniture dealing had prospered,

with a move to 55 Regent Street, one of the best roads in Leamington, and the abandonment of

french polishing. This prosperity was probably ended by the depression as the business is not listed

in 1936.

4.3 FRANKS - reconstruction at 20.9.91

Although the surname is fairly uncommon it is difficult to trace the family back with any certainty

beyond the mid l9th century. While the I.G.I. is generally accurate, this surname is associated

with several omissions which limited earlier research. Even after the examination of several parish

registers more information is needed. However, it is almost certain that the family can be traced

back to Robert Franks, a woolcomber, born in 1774. By 1814 he, and his wife Susan were living

on Saltisford, Warwick. The parish register records a daughter, Ann, baptised 2 October of that

year and a son, Benjamin, 8 October of the next. As John, from whom “our” line is known to have

descended, and Robert, who appears to have been his brother, were both said to have been born

in Warwick in about 1810 - 12 which fits precisely with this family, the names are used in other

generations and there were no alternatives it is probably safe to assume that Robert and Susan were

their parents. The two boys may have been baptised in their mother’s parish of birth as this was

a common practice then especially with the first born. The ages given in the censuses vary but it

seems that Robert may have been a year older or they may even have been twins. Furthermore, it

is possible that there were other children in the family. In particular there was a Thomas Franks

in Birmingham of about the same age who followed the identical trades, furniture broking and

coal dealing, in 1851 and 1862. The family may have been related to some of the many Franks


RobertFranksb 1774

bur 10.5.1816m Susan

Robertb 1810/11

Johnb ?1811

m 5.3.1832HannahTarplin

b 1812

Thomasbap 31.12.1833

m Emmab 1836

Susannah, bap 14.1.1853 and 22.8.1862

Mary Ann, bap 12.1.1856, m 4.7.1872 Wm Stock

Thomas, bap 10.1.1858

George, b 1862

Emma, bap 16.3.1863

William, bap 26.12.1864

Elizabeth Ann, bap 4.3.1866

Louisa, bap 17.2.1868

Theodore, bap 6.4.1870

Lucy, bap 1.9.1872

Henrybap 4.12.1836m Ann

b 1838

John, b 1860

Ellen, b 1861

Ann, b 1863

Henry Robert, b 1865

Winifred, b 1871

Johnb ?1837bap 10.1.1839m Emma

b 1836

Caroline, b 1863

william, bap 6.12.1863

Roseanna, b 1867, bap 21.1.1872

Sarah Emily, b 1869, bur 14.12.1871

Lucy, bap 29.1.1872, bur 30.3.1872

John, bap 1.11.1873, bur 6.11.1873

Ernest, bap 30.1.1873

Sarah Annbap 24.7.1842d 1889m 1861

Joseph AlfredWright

(see section 4.1)

Robertbap 22.11.1846

Roseannabap 9.9.1849m 29.7.1867

John Newmanm 6.8.1883

Charles Sparket

Florence, b 1869

Amy, b 1870

Biny Elizabeth, bap 21.1.1872

Beatrice Hannah, bap 5.1.1873

William

b 1852bap 10.9.1854d c1930m Emma

b 1850

Lillie Hannah, bap 16.3.1873

Benjamin, b 1875

Lavinia Rose, b 1875, bap 18.1.1880


Benjaminbap 10.9.1854m Eva

bur 24.11.1896

Harry, bap 18.1.1880

Nellie, bap 16.10.1881

Benjamin, b 1883, bur 12.12.1885

John, bap 25.1.1886, bur 30.1.1886

Daisy, bap 2.10.1887

Annbap 2.10.1814


Figure 4.3: Franks ancestry of Rose Bea’s mother (at 20.9.1991).


in Birmingham. It is known that there were other concentrations of Franks in West Bromwich,

Staffordshire and in Tipperary, Ireland. Unfortunatly Robert died in 1816 and his widow probably

left Warwick before the mid 19th century censuses which record places of birth.

4.3.1 Robert’s son Robert (1811-)

The first members of the family positively identified in Warwick at present are Robert Franks and

Hannah nee Bone, born there in about 1811 and 1806 respectively and married there on 27th April

1830. Although, as already discussed, evidence is limited it is probably safe to assume that Robert

and John were brothers. Robert and his wife were witnesses at John’s wedding in 1832. Fur-

thermore, as will become clear later, the two followed similar occupations and may have worked

together. In 1841 Robert was described as a labourer but, sometime during the next decade, became

a coal merchant and dealer. By 1862 he had diversified, possibly as John took over the canal based

part of the business, and was also a furniture broker. He still had this dual-occupation in 1880 and

continued to live on the Saltisford near the canal.

Several members of the family could be considered “colourful characters” in mid-nineteenth-

century Warwick, making numerous appearances in the local paper, the Warwick and Warwickshire

Advertiser and Leamington Gazette, usually under the Police Intelligence section, during the 1860s.

Robert only made two appearances in court during the decade. In May 1865 he was charged with

being drunk and indecent behaviour in Milverton Street. He was dismissed with costs of 4s 9d but

his promise not to offend again was soon broken. A year later he was charged with assaulting a

neighbour, Henry Banbury, a baker. Banbury had lived in the house for over 50 years and was in

the closet which was shared with other houses. He did not defend himself against an unprovoked

attack by Robert striking him on the cheek and the back of the head. Robert said that Banbury was a

“perfect nuisance” to the neighbourhood, didn’t know what he was about half of the time and he had

only pulled his nose. Harriet Maycock, a neighbour, from her door saw Robert go to the closet and

ask Banbury if he had still got his nightcap on but there was no reply. Robert then told her “Me and

Henry have been having some words.” Although Maycock advised him to take no notice because

Banbury was odd, Robert said he wouldn’t be humbugged and would kick him for half a farthing.

Robert claimed that he kicked and struck Banbury twice following provocation but was told by the

bench that he had no right to take the law into his own hands. He was fined 6s with costs 14s and

Banbury requested a transfer to the county court to consider compensation.

4.3.2 Robert’s son John (1811-)

John senior was probably a relatively respectable small tradesman gaining a fairly honest living from

a variety of occupations. He is described as a boatman or even a labourer in the baptism registers

for the nine years to 1842, as a coal merchant or dealer for the next three decades, as a grocer in the

1871 census and as a dealer in second-hand clothes the following year. Furthermore, he was able to

combine coal dealing with night-soil collection employing the cart, if not the horse, during the hours

of darkness when by-laws allowed the closets to be emptied. John say also have been increasingly

involved in canal haulage, probably bringing coal to Warwick from the Black Country, taking over

from Robert as he developed other interests. In 1832 he married Hannah Tarplin, born in the nearby

village of Barford, and during the next 22 years they had eight children.

Not surprisingly John and his family lived near the canal for many years. For about 10 years,

while John was a boatman, they were in Brookhouse or Commercial Buildings beside the present

Dun Cow on the Saltisford to the north-west of the town by an arm of the canal leading to the gas

works. Originally known as New Buildings, the 42 dwellings, including 36 back-to-back houses,

built in about 1813, condemned by the inspector of health in 1849 and demolished during the 1960s.

By the mid 1840s John had become a coal-dealer and moved to better accommodation in houses to

the east of Warwick near or adjoining the Grand Union Canal but apparently retained a link with the

Saltisford, possibly having his own wharf or one shared with Robert Franks there. The family lived


at The Hop Pole, Emscote in 1846, on Emscote in 1849 and on the newly built Pickard Street two

years later before moving to Wharf Street in the early 1850s. They stayed there for over ten years

and it is possible that Sarah Ann’s memory of workmen riding the carthorses ducking their heads

under an archway and laughing when she copied them unnecessarily refers to this address as the

buildings on the surviving wharf have an arch which may require this. Following another change of

occupation the family moved again. In 1871 John, Hannah and their youngest sons, William aged

19, a French polisher, and Benjamin aged 16, a labourer, were living in the recently built Friars

Street to the south-west of Warwick. John was described in the census as a grocer but the following

year was a dealer in second-hand clothes. Following John’s death, in May 1875 aged 63, his widow

continued the business from 19, Friars Street for over ten years although she was described rather

grandly as a wardrobe dealer in Stevens directory for 1880. The following year she, her son William,

his wife and their four children were living at number 19 and her youngest son Benjamin, now also

a French polisher, his wife and their son were next door at 17.

John appeared in court at least twice, both times concerning cruelty to horses. On Tuesday 31st

December 1861 Mr John Gibbs of Leamington, an acting honourary secretary for Prevention of

Cruelty to Animals, applied for “as brutal a case of cruelty as had ever come under his notice.” The

previous day P.C. Woodward, in Smith Street, saw a horse hooked to a cart loaded with nightsoil to

be taken by the boy with it about three miles to Barford. The horse appeared very weak and had a

sore place on it’s right shoulder where the end of the shaft rubbed when it put it’s near fore to the

ground. At the police station it was also found to have a discharging sore eye which the blinker

rubbed and several sores on it’s back. The police took possession of the horse and cart. There

had been frequent complaints about the bad treatment of the horse, which frequently fell due to

exhaustion. Mr Gibbs had cautioned the boy several times in Leamington and was “ashamed that

anyone should be so lost to feelings of humanity.” John maintained that the horse was fed as well,

if not better, than most others and the sores were due to it trying to get out of the stable. Following

a fine of £1 for the clear case of cruelty, costs of 10s 9d and a caution about using horses in future

John said that he would take care that Mr Gibbs did not see him in future. However, only five days

later, John was charged with causing a horse to be ill-treated on the day of his first case. Due to

information received P.S. Webb and P.C. Woodward went along the canal towards Hatton and found

a horse in “a very bad state” drawing a boat in charge of his son. It had several sores, including

a large one on it’s eye and a raw, bleeding one due to the friction of the harness on it’s shoulder.

The son, probably Thomas, threatened to kill the horse with the knife that he was using to remove

blood from the sores if the police tried to remove it. At the hearing John claimed that he had lent

his son the horse because he thought that the journey to the Black Country would do it good. He

and his witness, Cattel, claimed that he gave the horse plenty of food and did not ill-treat it. The vet

reported that the roan horse was emaciated, weak, reeled as it walked, had wounds and was unfit to

take even an empty boat but was not subjected to great cruelty. John was fined 30s plus costs.

4.3.3 John’s son Thomas (1833-)

Thomas, the eldest son, like his father, was involved in night-soil removal, having his own cart with

his name on it in 1863, and various other occupations. These included coal dealing while living with

his parents at Wharf Street in the early 1850s. Following his marriage he is stated to be a labourer

but may have continued to work for his father as in 1862 he was said to be a boatman, two years

later he was a higgler and in 1872 a hawker. With the exception of 1865 when Thomas was again

at Wharf Street, possibly with his parents, he, and his growing family, lived on the Saltisford for at

least 10 years before becoming more mobile, living nearby in Pigwell Lane, now Albert Street, and

Pepper Alley or Union Row, a mid 19th century terrace replaced by Lammas Walk, in 1868, Stand

Street two years later and Linen Street and Union Buildings in 1872.

Thomas appears to have been the most “troublesome” of the Franks. He, his wife and one of

their daughters were even sent to gaol. Thomas, described as “the greatest brute to dumb creatures

I ever saw in my life”, was charged with cruelty to horses on several occasions. He seems to have


been the son involved in the case discussed above and, only a week later, was charged with cruelly

ill-treating a horse which had strayed at Hatton. Despite the prosecution’s comment he was just

warned and dismissed. Three months later he was fined 10s plus 29s expenses or, in default, given

a month in the House of Correction with hard labour, for ill-treating a mare in Milverton, near

Leamington. Similarly, he was charged on 7th April 1861 after John Stiff, hotel keeper in Bath

Street, Leamington reported to the police at 7.15 pm that the horse that he first saw in the lane of

nearby Regent Place at 1.15 pm was still there. P.C. Glenn found the horse, attached to a cart, had a

wound under the crupper between the saddle and tail oozing blood and matter and a raw, hand sized

one under the saddle. While taking the horse to the Town Hall he met Thomas who asked “What are

you going to do with that horse?” and was told that it was unfit for work and therefore being taken

in charge. Thomas replied “It’s my horse and I’ll be d— if you shall take it” and tried to take it

from Glenn. Thomas and his companion Chambers, tried to get the horse away and Thomas kicked

it repeatedly. They struggled until P.C. Heeler arrived. Mr Gibbs found blood and matter on the

harness, wounds nearly all along the horse’s back, an old one on the withers and a long-established

raw one the size of a half-crown on a shoulder. Thomas was fined £2 5s plus 15s costs with two

months hard labour in default. He was fined a further 12s 6d with 7s 6d costs, or 14 days in default,

for assaulting Heeler.

Thomas also frequently “interfered with the police” when they were clearing the streets of dis-

orderly characters on Saturday nights. On Saturday 3rd June 1865 he tried to pick a fight with some

boatmen at the corner of Wharf Street where his parents then lived. P.C. Waters told him to go home

quietly and the boatmen said they did not want to fight. Thomas, who was drunk, noisy and riotous,

used very bad language stating that he didn’t care a b—r for any policeman and, having been threat-

ened with being taken into custody, that no policeman would take him and, if Waters would go onto

the bridge, he would knock his head “as big as a bucket”. The mayor stated that Thomas must be

punished for defying authority and imposed a fine of £2 with costs of 15s 6d to be paid immediately

or his goods distrained and, if not enough raised to cover the fine, imprisonment.

Thomas was also convicted for theft. He may have been the “Thomas Franks of Warwick”

sentenced, in January 1852, to 21 days in the House of Correction for stealing a victorine from the

daughter of James Kibler of Wellesbourne Hastings. Certainly the following year Thomas, probably

while working for his father, was sentenced to six months in gaol for feloniously forging an order

for payment of 10s 5d for 25 cwt. of coal with intent to defraud Elizabeth Lee of Leamington Priors.

Furthermore, in June 1862 Thomas stole a lead mallet which he claimed to have found amongst the

ashes while emptying a dust hole for William Branston, carpenter and joiner, of Guy Street. He

sold it to Mr Russell, a marine store dealer of the Saltisford, who had often bought things from him

and considered him an honest man. Thomas was sent to gaol for 28 days with hard labour. This

did not deter him as only a year later he was charged and remanded for removing night-soil worth

ls without permission in a cart with his name on it from the house of Mrs Pearson, Emscote Road.

Thomas claimed that he paid a man named Hodgson for locating night-soil and had paid him ls

3d for it. As Hodgson could not be found the case was dismissed. Similarly, in September 1865,

probably while living with, and working for, his father, Thomas, then a remover of night-soil of

Wharf Street, was charged with stealing a piece of wrappering, value 6d, while emptying the hole at

Alfred Egerton’s, a grocer of Victoria Terrace, Leamington, without permission. Thomas somehow

heard that the robbery had been discovered and, not for the first time, returned the stolen property.

He narrowly escaped committal being dismissed with a caution. However, in January 1868 Thomas

was convicted of stealing a pair of boots from the stable of James Colledge, a coal dealer in Castle

Street while emptying the dust hole. When P.S. Maycock went to Thomas’s house he claimed that

he had bought the boots, which he was wearing, with another pair and a child’s petticoat, from a

woman who came to the door. As Thomas had several previous convictions the mayor inflicted the

heaviest punishment in his power - six months in gaol with hard labour.

Emma, the wife of Thomas Franks, was also charged or involved in several offenses. She, like

many other women of her status, often visited the local public houses and drink may have led to


most of her offenses. In May 1862 Edwin Lewis was charged with stealing a coat worth £1. Emma

was called as a witness and stated that she saw Lewis in the White Lion, Saltisford and accepted his

offer of buying the coat for 5s. However, Lewis denied this and claimed to have sold it to a woman

with a baby in her arms who bought half a gallon of beer. This could have been Emma as George

was born that year and, if so, she appears to have been a hard drinker. This appears to be the case

as, three months later, she was charged with being drunk and disorderly in the streets. At 11 pm

on 9th September she came out of the Black Horse in Saltisford and began to fight with a woman

called Hodson. P.C. Elvins was attempting to persuade her to 90 home when her husband came up

and she started to abuse and fight him. She was then locked up. Emma was ordered to pay a fine of

7s plus costs or serve 14 days in gaol and, as she did not pay, was sent to gaol until she was able to.

A little over a year later she was accused of being drunk and disorderly and causing a disturbance

in the White Lion and in March 1867 was summoned for using very violent and obscene language

on the Saltisford. Similarly in January 1868 she was charged on remand with assaulting Matilda

Whitehead, a domestic servant employed by Mr Davies of the Black Horse Inn, Saltisford. Since the

previous hearing Emma had given birth to Louisa and was unable to attend. Whitehead withdrew

the summons due to this and because Emma had admitted the offence and expressed contrition. The

case was dismissed after her husband promised to pay the expenses of £1 9s 6d within a fortnight.

Four years later Emma, with Lucy in her arms, was in the dock again. Humphrey Wilkins, coachman

to Mr T.B. Dale of Guy Street, went to the Dolphin Inn, Emscote to see a Mr Ashmore on business.

He left his umbrella, worth 3s, on the back of his chair while he saw Mr Ashmore in the kitchen but

when he came out both it and Emma had gone. He went with P.C. Ruane to Union Buildings and

saw the umbrella inside the door. Emma offered no defence and was given 14 days in gaol although

liable for up to three months with hard labour.

Thomas and Emma’s eldest child also appeared in court. Susannah, a rag and bone collector,

was only 15 when she stole two pieces of lamb left hanging under a projection outside the kitchen

door at Mr Batchelor’s in Emscote Place. Amelia Scarrote, servant to Mr Cardell, his neighbour,

saw the meat in her basket when selling Susan rags and bones. She pleaded guilty and, having a

previous conviction for stealing geese in Leamington, was sentenced to three months in prison with

hard labour to be followed by five years in a reformatory in Ipswich. Later in the year her father

was summoned under the Reformatory Act and ordered to pay 1s a week towards her maintenance.

However, the following year he was in arrears with this.

4.3.4 John’s son Henry (1836-)

In contrast with Thomas the second son, Henry, seems to have been quite law abiding. He was

probably the most intelligent and best educated being described as a scholar in the 1851 census

although he was then 15. By that age his younger brother, Robert, was already working as a labourer

on a coal wharf. This may have been because his father intended Henry to inherit the business

instead of his rather “wild” elder brother, Thomas. Like his father, Henry may have started his career

in coal dealing by working on the barges. His eldest son John was born in 1860 at Ringswood, near

Lapworth, an important basin on the Birmingham-Stratford Canal where the majority of barges off-

loaded their cargoes. The following year Henry, was employed as a coal dealer and living with his

wife and their son at 162, Pigswell Lane, now Albert Street. This may have been short-lived as,

only four years later, he was described as a labourer and lived on Saltisford. By then he, like his

father and brother, was a scavenger. This may have been a temporary decline as by 1871 he was

working as a baker and living with his wife and their five children, none of whom were baptised in

Warwick, in a relatively new terrace at 23, Crompton Street. Ten years later he had reverted to his

original trade, coal dealing, and was living at Joyce Pool, behind Barrack Street, under the present

library. The eldest son, John, may have continued the trade into the present century as an elderly

former resident of Warwick remembers a canal boatman known as Jack Franks.

Uniquely, in October 1865 Henry, a “quiet respectable man” appeared in court as the victim

of threatening language. He was employed in getting night-soil at about 3am on Northgate Street


when Henry Banbury, aged 70, a baker of Saltisford threatened him with bodily harm. According to

the prosecution, Banbury frequently made foolish complaints against people. He accused Henry of

disturbing him in his slumbers and had previously falsely charged him with having six militia men

dancing in the house. Banbury promised not to repeat the offence and was discharged and, only

eight months later, was the victim of an assault by Robert Franks as already discussed.

Henry, then a labourer of Saltisford, and Edward Treadwell of Brook Street, were charged with

theft in August 1867. The housekeeper to Mr Tibbits, a solicitor of Church Street, left a message

with Henry’s wife asking him to arrange to empty the ash pit as he had for the last four years. Henry

and Treadwell, also a scavenger, who had not worked for him before, arrived at 1.30 am., did the

job and were paid 5s of which Treadwell received 6d or 1s. Henry claimed that a bag on the barrow

which they used contained cinders and coals that a servant gave them but it was alleged that it was

full of large pieces and cobbles of coal. Tibbitts admitted that he had never heard anything bad

about either man and they were eventually acquitted.

4.3.5 John’s son John (1837-)

John, then aged 13, was not at the family home in Pickard Street on the night of the 1851 census

but the one ten years later records that he was there, still single and worked as a coal dealer. He

married a year or two later but continued to live in Wharf Street, possibly with his parents, until

after the christening of their first child. By 1871 he was living with his wife and their four children

at 34, Friar Street near his parents at number 19. During the next decade he changed his occupation

to carrier and, in 1875, moved the short distance to 6, Market Street, where he remained for at least

nine years. By 1896 William, his eldest son, had taken over both the premises and the business but

is not recorded in the directories after 1900.

In addition to being a coal dealer John was also involved in night-soil removal. On 6th April

1872 he pleaded guilty to allowing certain night-soil to remain in All Saints Road, Emscote, between

11pm and 9am on 28th March. P.C. Ruane saw John and a cart up the road towards All Saints

Church, since demolished, at 5pm. The stench from the cart was “very great” and some of the

contents had fallen onto the road. Removing night-soil at that time contravened the by-law as John

should have known having been “in work for all of his life time”. He explained that there had been

two deaths, Sarah buried 14th December and Lucy 30th March, and one birth, presumably Lucy’s,

in his family in the last three months and was ordered to pay costs of 8s 6d.

4.3.6 John’s daughter Sarah Ann (1842-)

Sarah Ann was the fourth child but first daughter and it is through her that our family descends.

She seems to have been rather strong willed. When her childhood friend Joseph Alfred Wright, an

apprentice French polisher, lost his position following the death of his master in December 1859

and was therefore forced to go on the tramp in search of work she probably followed him. While

it is known that they did marry there is no record of the ceremony in Warwick. This apparently

secret marriage may have been against the wishes of her father. He seems to have disowned her.

In October 1861 her husband was unable to support her having accepted an offer to complete his

apprenticeship. As he did not receive wages, and was therefore unable to support her, Joseph went

to see her father at his house, Emscote. He refused to consent to any arrangement to maintain her

and said that she must become chargeable to the union. As he thereby condemned his daughter,

who was due to have her first baby shortly, to remain in the workhouse it appears that relations

between them were not good. This may be because of her marriage. Fortunately Joseph’s father

offered to guarantee her maintenance. This arrangement only lasted for about four weeks before

she left home, was disowned by her husband and appeared in court for breaking five panes of glass

in her father-in-law’s shop, due to aggravation and a request with regard to her husband not being

complied with immediately. The case was dismissed when her solicitor promised that there would

not be a repetition and agreement was reached on where she should collect her husband’s money.


4.3.7 John’s son Robert (1846-)

Little is known about Robert. The last record of him is the 1861 census which records that he

was 15, living with his parents on Wharf Street and working as a labourer on a coal wharf. He

presumably left Warwick as he is not listed in any later censuses.

4.3.8 John’s daughter Roseanna (1849-)

Roseanna, as the only other daughter, appears to have been close to her sister although about seven

years younger, being the Aunt Newman who wrote saying that the streets of Sheffield were “paved

with gold.” By the time she was 19 she had left home and was living on the eastern side of neigh-

bouring Leamington where she met and married her future husband. On 29th July 1867, aged 19,

she married John Newman, a Leamington upholsterer, who was about nine years older than her. It is

possible that her father did not attend the ceremony as the witnesses, John and Emma Franks, were

probably her brother and his wife. Interestingly, while Emma could at least sign her name, John

was totally illiterate. However, by 1871 the Newmans were living in half of her parent’s house at

19, Friar Street with their daughters Amy, two, and Florence, nine months both of whom had been

born in Warwick. They left Friar Street before the christening of their third child, Biny Elizabeth,

in January the following year, moving to nearby West Street where they stayed for at least a year.

The family may then have left Warwick, possibly to visit or even live in the Sheffield area as John’s

mother was born at Thornor, Yorkshire. Certainly the family were absent for the 1881 census but

Rosanna returned, probably after the death of John. She returned to Friars Street and probably her

parent’s house as she, like her father, was a furniture broker. On 6th August 1883 Rose Newman,

then 33, married Charles Sparket who was five years younger and a porter living with his father on

the same street. She, and presumably her husband and children, later moved to Sheffield where she

was known as Aunt Newman to the end of her days despite her remarriage.

4.3.9 John’s son William (1852-)

William was perhaps the most successful member of the family. He is the first one to have been

apprenticed to a trade as he became a French polisher. This was a common occupation in Warwick

which was noted for it’s woodcarvers and cabinet makers, but was subject to fluctuations in demand

and therefore in wages. William was living at home in 1871. He probably finished his apprenticeship

at the age of 21 but continued to live at 19, Friars Street after his marriage to Emma, a lacemaker.

He was still living there in l9O8 but then expanded his business and moved to nearby Leamington.

In 1912 he had moved to 3, Warwick Place where he had a business as an antique furniture dealer

in addition to operating as a French polisher at 2, Brook Street and 1a, Wood Lane Street. This

may even have been a continuation and relocation of his Uncle’s furniture broking. Nine years later

William was still running both businesses but was no longer using the Brook Street premises. By

1928 the antique furniture business had prospered and French polishing was no longer important or

had been abandoned. William had been joined by his son and relocated the business at 55, Regent

Street, one of the best roads in the commercial heart of Leamington. However this prosperity was

probably ended by the depression as the business is not listed in the 1936 directory.

William was also unusual in appearing in court as a witness rather than the defendent. At

5pm on one Saturday in May 1868 William, apprentice to Mr Storrey of Leamington, was passing

the haberdashery shop in Coton End Warwick kept by George Edward Ives. He saw a man, later

identified as Walter Clarke of Quebec, a steward on a ship, steal a pair of boots from the window of

the shop. William then followed Clarke and waited outside the Welch Harp on Smith Street until he

came out. He then continued to follow Clarke until he met a P.C. walking down the street and was

able to tell him about the theft.


4.3.10 John’s son Benjamin (1854-)

As in many families the youngest son was named Benjamin. He, like William, became a French

polisher and he may have worked for his brother as there is no evidence that Benjamin set up on

his own. He, and William, were part of a close knit family. Even after his marriage to Eva he only

moved next door to 17 Friars Street and remained there until at least 1896 when his wife was buried.

Chapter 5

Ellen’s stories: Vasey

SOME NOTES RELATING TO HER COLLECTION OF PAPERS1

When about 8 years old I remember asking my grandmother, who lived with us and told me stories of

the old times, to repeat the stories to others like my older cousin Louis, lest I forgot them. With help, some

of these stories survive.

5.1 Inherited information

The father of George Vasey2 was probably called George and so on, it is said, so on before him. It

is accordingly unclear whether an envelope addressed:-

Mr G Vasey, Decorator, 27 Randall St, Highfield, Sheffield

is to father or son, but such an envelope is handwritten on the back with notes about Alexander the

Great, which start:-

Sudenly (sic) taken ill after a Banquet and died 11 days after

The postmark on the envelope has the date ‘MR 88’. A few days later, on the 7th April 1888, the

firm of ARMSTEAD AND VASEY Joiners, Builders, Contractors and General Undertakers of

95 Sharrow Lane Sheffield bore their own late departed George Vasey in one of their own coffins to

his newly-dug grave in Ecclesall Church Yard.

A bible has writing inside which reads G Vasey, a present from Edward Snaith, Newcastle on

Tyne 1838 and elsewhere George Vasey 1841 and George Vasey 1876.

5.1.1 Circa George Vasey, d 1888

A notebook (containing the date 1857) shows, George Vasey was a member of the local Cricket XI.

Also written there are the lengths of local railway tunnels, quantities of house building materials

used, bets placed (with him) with odds for the Lincoln Handicap, and:-

Independ Order Druids, Old Crown Lodge. The first grand dinner of the above Lodge

and Concert will be held at the Old Crown Inn, London Rd Mr J M Needham on Wed

March 14th at 7 O’clock. Tickets for dinner 2/-.

This is followed by the names of people paying 2/- and the formative plans for a Programme

of events. His President’s sash has been handed down through the family and has the emblems

‘Sheffield Equalized Independent Druids Friendly Society’ and ‘Equality, Truth and Fidelity’.

A badge of the same Friendly Society is engraved on the back:-

1Made by her grandson, John Stewart Plant, in 1990 with added recollections by another grandson Louis Lait (and a

daughter Ada Plant aged 87).2According to The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames, Vaisey (or Vaizey) is an old french nickname meaning ‘playful’.

61

62 CHAPTER 5. ELLEN’S STORIES: VASEY

?

Georgeb ?1830d aged 58 (9c 198)bur 7.4.1888m Mary Hannah Gunnee

b ?1829d aged 68 (9c 239)bur 27.2.1897

Georgeb 20.5.1868 Sheffield

d aged 37 (9c 252)bur 31.8.1905m 1891.3qtr (9c 757)

Ellen Sayles(see Figure 6.1)

Mary Ellenb 4.9.1893d 26.3.1975m Clement Pierre Lait

b 24.1.1892d 28.12.1969

George Louisb 30.11.1914m Betty Hooke

b 22.10.1918d 26.8.1980

(no children)

Joseph Edwardd aged 1 (9c 223)bur 24.2.1897

Adab 13.3.1903m Tom Plant(see Figure 2.10)

Lillym Mr Graham

Charliem Marretta

Georgem Janie Mercer

son (adopted)

Adab 1897 approxd 1927 approx

Vaseybachelord 1930 approx

Williamm(1) Annie Dinnin

Canada

boy, d young

John, b 1857 approx

m(2) ? in USA 2 children by 1865

Figure 5.1: Vasey family tree

Presented to Bro.G.Vasey by the members of the Old Crown Lodge March 20th 1892

and this would have been to George (jnr).

There is also an undated document entitled ‘Specification for a house to be Built at Heeley Bank

By Joseph Taylor for George Vasey’ for £117-0-0, though Joseph Taylor’s signature to ‘Received

on account the Sum of thirty Pounds’ is, at the end, crossed out.

5.1.2 Brother William

The George Vasey (b 1830) of ARMSTEAD AND VASEY had a brother3 called William, who was

living with his wife Annie Dinnin in Canada with her parents around 1855. William Vasey went

to Detroit USA to work in the summer and returned to Annie in Canada in the winter. William and

Annie had two sons; the first died young. Since Annie would not go to Detroit Michigan with her

husband in the spring, he went alone and by around 1865 he was twice married, with another two

children by his USA wife, and running a Building Contractors business in Detroit. This information

is given in a letter dated 22nd Dec 1879 from Annie’s brother Wm¯ Dinnin, who was the postmaster

of Lumley PO Huron Ontario. Postmaster Dinnin writes:-

Owing to the way Wm¯ Vasey acted; leaving his wife and family. Marring (sic) another,

his first wife still living we never corresponded, his Son John has Been well cared for

by his Uncle Joseph Dinnin.

John was born around 1857; his mother Annie died around 1870.

In 1879 John Vasey was planning to move to Manitoba to take up 320 acres of land. It is not

clear whether this is the same John D Vasey whose address is noted in family papers, on the back of

a compliment slip of THE INSPECTOR, POLICE STATION, HIGHFIELDS as 295 Lafayette Avenue,

Buffalo, New York, USA.

3It may also be noted that, in the early part of the 20th century, there was a gable end of a building at Lowfields painted

with the words ‘Vasey’ and ‘saws’ but it is not known that this was a relative.

5.1. INHERITED INFORMATION 63

5.1.3 Circa Mary Hanah, d 1897

It seems that George Vasey (d 1883) of ARMSTEAD AND VASEY lived rather more conventionally

than his brother William and left his one wife, Mary Hannah, only for the grave. The remnants

of a Prayer Book suggest that Mary Hannah Gunnee came from Thorne in Yorkshire though the

significance of an accompanying date, 18th Dec 1852, is unknown.

Various papers, including ones of the Sheffield solicitors Alfred Taylor & Co., indicate that she

was living with her husband at 27 Randall Street in 1887 and, by 1895, was still in the neighbour-

hood at 15 Batt Street, Highfield.

Personal Estate

The solicitors papers relate mostly to George Vasey’s personal estate following his funeral in April

1888. Thus, for example, the solicitors refer to actions in June 1888 that include:-

• Notice to creditors to send in their claims .......... in London Gazette ...... in Sheffield papers

• Attendances on you and your eldest son in reference to loans to enable you to carry on your

business ...... until probate ......

This bill from the solicitors was for £56-15-6d.

27 Randall Street

Four years later, there is another bill for £32-3-4d; in April 1892 there are actions in connection

with the property of Mary Hannah’s Randall Street address, such as:-

• Instructions for ..........completing Assignment of leasehold Beerhouse and Shop ........ to you,

subject to Mortgage to Court Mathews Friendly Society to secure £350

• Instructions for .......... Mortgage of leasehold Beerhouse and Shop ........ from you to Mrs

Graham4 to secure £89 ........ subject to prior mortgage

Sale of 27 Randall Street

Just two years later still, the sale of the ‘Beerhouse and shop’ (occasionally termed ‘Public House’)

of the Randall Street address was the subject of still further legal dealings extending from 19th July

1894 to 2nd Aug 1895.

Initially £800 was offered for the property on behalf of Mr Greenwood of ‘Spring lane Brewery’;

there was also an offer from someone else but a tenant, Mrs West, kept until the end changing her

terms for departure. The original offer was eventually withdrawn on the technical pretext that rights

existed to build a wall in front of the Randall Hotel (next door at 29 Randall Street) and the formal

removal of such rights depended on the agreement of ‘a Lunatic .... and other of them .... all over

the world’.

When the beerhouse was eventually sold by auction, for £700, the solicitor’s fees had reached

£50-1-2d. The balance left for Mary Hannah was £129-9-2d.

Mary Hannah’s death

When Mary Hannah died, the undertaker’s bill for her funeral on the 27th Feb 1897 had the Vasey

of ARMSTEAD AND VASEY crossed out in ink as so also was the main address of 146 Club Garden

Road, leaving only that of the original ‘YARD’ at 95 Sharrow Lane. Mary Hannah was borne to the

same grave as her husband in Ecclesall Church Yard.

4This is presumably Mary Hannah’s daughter Lilly Graham.


5.1.4 Circa George Vasey, d 1905

Only a few months later, son George was billed again by ARMSTEAD, this time for a ‘small coffin’

and ‘funeral bus to Ecclesall’, presumably for his and his wife Ellen’s son, who is believed to have

died soon after birth; it is thought that he was called George (or, perhaps, was a second son called

Joseph with both dying very young).

Ellen often used to have to fetch ice from local butchers and fishmongers (on medical advice) to

place on the chest (to ease the suffering) of her husband George’s TB; somtimes, this would be in

the middle of the night. For George’s funeral, on 31st August 1905, the undertaker’s bill is not on

print-headed paper but hand-written:-

Mrs Vasey Dr To J Armstead

This Mrs Vasey would be his widow Ellen, who was (in 1903) living with her husband and two

daughters at 11 Crowther Place5 Highfield Sheffield, just opposite from her former mother-in law’s

Batt Street address.

5.1.5 Sister Lilly

Ellen’s husband George Vasey had a sister Lilly Graham who lived in Cheltenham Street, Black-

burn with three sons and daughter (see Figure 5.1). Lilly Graham’s eldest son Charlie was wounded

in the first world war with a bullet left lodged dangerously close to his spine; his wife Marretta

worked on the weaving looms and went to live in Loughborough after being widowed with no chil-

dren. George Graham worked for the Gas Board and married Janie Mercer, who wore size 9 shoes

and worked in her family’s toy shop; she was later widowed with one adopted son and living at Dar-

wen near Blackburn. Ada Graham was awarded books for Attendance at Blackburn Public Higher

Grade (Girls) Evening Continuation Schools in 1908 and 1910 but died aged around 30, after a long

illness, in about 1927. Vasey Graham died a few years later from a heart attack; he was a bachelor

and a salesman in a shoe shop.

5.2 Widow Ellen and Lait

Edward Sayles’s daughter Ellen is said to have had a hard life after the death of her husband George

Vasey when she was 35, leaving her with two daughters Mary Ellen (aged 9) and Ada (then aged 2).

She is said to have commented that there was plenty of work in Sheffield but her husband had gone

to do a job in Blackpool shortly before his death; she also commented on some property at ‘Skulls

Coppice’ (believed to be in the general direction of Rotherham or Barnsley)6 which she said ‘really

belonged to us’.

Ellen went to live at 91 Meersbrook Bank Road, subsequently renamed Meersbrook Avenue,

where she lived with her two daughters and, in time, Mary Ellen’s husband and son also lived with

them. During the day, she charred for such people as the builders Hattons (at the corner of Norton

Lees Road and Derbyshire Lane) who had a lot of children and Miss Pilley, the Headmistress of

Meersbrook Bank School. At night she washed beer glasses, such as at ‘Wirrals’ which is believed

to have been in the area of The Moor Sheffield.

5.2.1 Daughter Ada

When Ellen’s daughter Ada married Tom Plant in 1934, she went to live with them, first at 30

Meersbrook Avenue7 and, for her last year, at 11 The Meads Norton. Ellen was buried (1960) in the

5It is said that, at some stage, Ellen’s husband George had lived on the then adjoining Mount Pleasant Road.6This is probably, in fact, Scholes Coppice which is just off the Rotherham-Chapeltown road (A629) about half way

between the two. It is noted for the monument Keppel’s Column.7Louis Lait recalls that during the Sheffield blitz of the Second World War, Betty, Ada Plant, and baby Austin were

in the air-raid shelter at 30 Meersbrook Avenue whilst Louis’s father and grandmother were at 91 Meersbrook Avenue;

5.2. WIDOW ELLEN AND LAIT 65

Louis Cavalierm Kate

Clement Pierreb 24.1.1892m Mary Ellen Vasey

George Louisb 30.11.1914

(no children)

Arthurd quite young

sond aged 2 approx

Figure 5.2: Lait family tree

same grave as her husband and his parents (cf the 1888 funeral on page 61) though the headstone

was removed and the area grassed over only a few years later in 1972 whilst daughter Ada was

visiting, each with their spouses, her son (JSP) in Australia.

Prior to her marriage at the age of 31, Ada had worked at the cycle shop Ebdens and at the

florists shop Denniffs in Chapel Walk, Sheffield.

5.2.2 Daughter Mary

Ellen’s older daughter Mary Ellen (see Figure 5.1) was left after 1934 in Ellen’s house at 91 Meers-

brook Avenue; she had worked for Cobbs the silversmiths and had married Clement Pierre Lait. She

was fond of appearing in Operatic Society productions; eventually she died at the house of her only

son George Louis Lait at 7 The Meads, next door but one to her mother’s final home.

5.2.3 Grandson Louis

Louis Lait married Betty Hooke who died childless; she was born in Leicester and lost her mother at

the age of 4. Her father was in the army and she was brought up by her grandfather, loosing almost

all contact with her brother Dennis (RAF) and three sisters.

Louis Lait had been brought up partly by his grandmother Ellen Vasey (nee Sayles). He had

obtained his first (temporary) job through the influence of his aunt Ada Vasey who was already

working at Ebdens cycle shop; he lost his next job after a fight in which the boss’s son went through

a door; he was also quite severely injured in a motor bike accident. From 1934 until 1984 he

worked for the Engineering firm of Becket and Garner, first at Union Lane and then Hodgson Street

Sheffield. Around the 1960s he quite frequently appeared in BBC television sports programmes,

participating as the passenger to the driver Loll Hurt in Motorcross Hill Climb championships.

5.2.4 The Lait family

Louis Lait’s father Clement Pierre (Figure 5.2) had a brother Arthur who died quite young and a

younger brother who drowned in a pond when aged about 2. Their father Louis Cavalier Lait was a

coach and tram painter from a family of coach-buiders in Lincolnshire. Their mother was called

Kate and had sisters Ada and Florie, who had a son Lesley, who married Eunice and had a daughter

Betty Brothwell who lived at Wetherby. Some of these relatives, such as Betty Brothwell, used to

attend Christmas parties at Mary and Clement Lait’s house (91 Meersbrook Avenue) with others,

such as Ellen and daughter Ada, Tom, Austin and Stewart Plant (from 30 Meersbrook Avenue), in

the 1950’s.

Tom Plant and Mary Lait were missing but they eventually managed to complete their journey back home from work in

other parts of Sheffield the following day.


Wmm Hannah

William, bap 3.1.1781 C

Thomas, bap 20.9.1782 C

John, bap 16.11.1784 C

Georgebap 10.12.1786 Sm Elizth

Georgebap 19.3.1818 T?m Jane

George, bap 21.1.1844 T

Sarah Elizth,bap 25.11.1844 T

Mary Ann, bap 1.10.1848 T

Thomas, bap 7.4.1820 T

Jonathan, bap 31.5.1822 T

Emma, bap 23.11.1823 T

Ann Carolinebap 27.12.1826 T

Marie, bap 10.7.1856 T

Mary Hanh.bap 21.9.1828 Tm George Vasey

Amelia, b ?1863 Sh

Alfred, b ?1867 Sh

Georgeb 20.5.1868 Shm Ellen Sayles

Saml Ingmire, bap 4.4.1830 T

Willm Thos, bap 15.11.1831 T

Edward, bap 10.8.1834 T

Thos Patrick, bap 22.8.1841 T

Samuel, bap 10.10.1788 S

Emmy, bap 10.11.1790 S

Hannah, bap 20.6.1797 S

Maria, bap 30.4.1800 S

Figure 5.3: Ancestry of Mary Hannah Gunnee (C=Cottingham, S=Sculcoates, T=Thorne,

Sh=Sheffield)

5.3 Genealogical Research

On the birth certificate (20 May 1868) of George, son of George Vasey Painter and Paper Hanger

and Mary Hannah (formerly Gunnee), the address is given as 52 Broomhall Street, Sheffield. In the

1871 Census for that address, there appears George Vasey (aged 39 from Newcastle) decorator and

his wife Mary Hannah (42 from Thorne) with their Sheffield born children Amelia (8), Alfred (4)

and George (3).

5.3.1 Gunn(ee/ey/y)

From the 1988 IGI, the family tree of Mary Hannah Gunnee can be pieced together as shown in

Figure 5.3; Cottingham and Sculcoats are both near Kingston upon Hull.

Chapter 6

Ellen’s stories: Sayles

SOME NOTES RELATING TO HER COLLECTION OF PAPERS1

When about 8 years old I remember asking my grandmother, who lived with us and told me stories of

the old times, to repeat the stories to others like my older cousin Louis, lest I forgot them. With help, some

of these stories survive.

6.1 Inherited information

On Ellen Vasey’s birth certificate of 1870, her father Edward Sayles of 122 Brammal Lane, Sheffield

is said to be a Table knife grinder; it was generally said by the family that Edward had been brought

up as a ‘gentleman’ and that daughter Ellen and her siblings had been brought up very strictly in a

Beerhouse.

6.1.1 The Family Chemists Shop

The name Sayles, though rare, has long associations with Sheffield and in particular with early med-

ical practise there. For example, in the IGI a marriage is recorded between Henry Sales and Agnes

Joans on 2 Jun 1580 and Mary Walton (1948) writes in ‘Sheffield Its Story and Its Achievements’:-

(By 1740) there had been a distinct rise in the general level of social rank in the growing

town. John Fisher, son of the ejected minister, was probably the first medical man to

practise regularly there, and he was followed by Robert Drake, son of a late Vicar, John

Pearson, Thomas Stacye, Andrew Sayles, Richard Handley and Robert Lee; some of

these, as Handley certainly was, may have been apothecaries all seem by their names

to have been of local origin, and they did not grow rich. The lawyers were more

fortunate.

This reference to the possibility of Andrew Sayles’s being an apothecary (circa 1750) may be

related to an old family story from Ellen that a chemists shop was passed down the family; it is

thought that it went through Ellen’s uncle Henry Sayles (see Figure 6.1) to her cousin Joseph who

moved from Sheffield and bought another chemists shop, perhaps near Bridlington, where Ellen

and her sisters often used to visit. Ellen’s family were known to use regularly such pharmaceutical

sayings as ‘purple for poison’ perhaps because of this former connection.

6.1.2 The Simpson Will

Ellen’s father’s sister Elizabeth Simpson (nee Sayles) (see Figure 6.1) had been active in the hiring

out of washing items such as mangles, dolly tubs, scrubbing boards and maidens, which were five

1Made by her grandson, John Stewart Plant, in 1990 with added recollections by another grandson Louis Lait (and a

daughter Ada Plant aged 87).

67

68 CHAPTER 6. ELLEN’S STORIES: SAYLES

?

Henry Joseph

Edwardd before 1927m Elizabeth Smith

Emmam (?James) Gamble

Marym Mr Ward

Anne Elizabeth‘AnnieLizzy’m Mr Hinsley

son

Dollyb 14.4.m Mr Wells

Alicem Mr Hardisty

Mabelm Mr Wain

?Elizabeth

Anne (‘Annie’)

b ? 6.8.1858m Mr Osborne

Mr H O (Sayles)Ericm Margaret

2 daughters 3 daughters

‘Freddy’

Mr E

Elsied? 1983m Bertram Bailey

Teresa

Ellenb 27.4.1870

bur 13.4.1960m George Vasey(see Figure 5.1)

son, d young

Mary Ellenb 4.9.1893m Clement Pierre Lait

George Louisb 30.11.1914

son, d young

Adab 13.3.1903m Tom Plant

George Austinb 17.1.1939

John Stewartb 27.9.1945

Adab 4.12.1875d 10.11.1969m 23.11.1927

William Gamble(see Figure 6.3)

Edward(‘Fred’)

Edward

Elizabethd .2.1923m Mr Simpson

d before 1918

Figure 6.1: Sayles family tree

?

Elizabethm Edward Sayles(see Figure 6.1)

Elijahd before 1918

Herbertd before 1918m Ada A

Floriem Mr Johnson

Kitty Violet

Pollym Mr Nixon

Nelliem Mr Wilson

Samuelm ?

Herbert ? Mr F

Figure 6.2: Smith family tree


legged wooden devices for agitating the washing by hand. Her husband Mr Simpson was dead

at the inception (12th Nov 1918) of her will, which helps make clear several family relationships

including some of those of Ellen’s mother Elizabeth (nee Smith) (see Figure 6.2).

The will, with its codicil of 12th Nov 1923, was proved on the 25th April 1924 and its clauses

can be summarized as follows:-

1. £100 to each of the trustees of the will; viz retired grocer Thomas Coates (Queens Road),

spinster neighbour Fanny Thompson (602 Shoreham St), the solicitor William Tudor Fernell

2. 200 Imperial Tobacco shares to her niece Elizabeth Sayles

3. £10 to Louisa Jones (5 Sorrel Hill, Birley Carr) and £5 to widow Priscilla Ellen Sharpe2 of 8

Club Street

4. The above 3 items to be paid duty free

5. Money to be accrued by the trustees from ‘all my real, and the residue of my personal es-

tate .... income arising from investments’ and essentially to be divided equally between the

following...

6. her nephew Joseph Sayles (son of Henry Sayles), each of the seven children of her brother

Edward Sayles, Herbert son of her brother-in-law Samuel Smith, Ada widow of Herbert son

of her late brother-in-law Elijah Smith, the said Ada Smith’s daughter Florie Johnson

7. (to 11.) The contingencies arising upon prior death of those named above; the powers of the

trustees over ‘my property .... houses and buildings .... tenants’, and further legal details

codicil Tenancy rights and £400 mortgage of 222 Psalter Lane (occupied) to her nephews Walter,

William and George Brittain3

It may be that the Elizabeth Sayles (mentioned in clause 2.) was a sister of Ellen Vasey (nee

Sayles). If so, it seems that the other five of Edward Sayles’s seven children (mentioned in clause

6.) can be identified as Emma Gamble, Anne (Annie) Osborne, Teresa, Ada Gamble and Edward

(apparently sometimes colloquially called ‘Fred’) (cf Figure 6.1).

6.1.3 Edward Sayles’s children

A bible was presented to Teresa Sayles for ‘Best Mark’ and has the date 12th Sept 1873.

Anne Sayles’s copy of The New Testament is written inside to be ‘The Gift of the Sheffield Bible

Society’ and has the added date 6th Aug 1858, which is quite likely her date of birth. This is pre-

sumably ‘Annie’ Osbourne (nee Sayles) who was living with her sister Ada Gamble at 112 Lancing

Road Highfield near the time of her death around 19504; her four children included Mr.F.Osborne

(usually called ‘Freddy’) and Elsie Bailey (nee Osborne)5 (some further details are given in Fig-

ure 6.1 and in an Appendix).

Around 1925, the then young Louis Lait (Figure 6.1) recalls being taken to the home in Sum-

merfield Street of the (eldest?) sister, Emma, by Ellen (his grandmother) and her daughters Ada (his

aunt) and Mary Ellen (his mother), typically on Sunday evenings. Often there also, was Emma’s and

2By coincidence, it appears that this may be a great grandmother Ellen Priscilla Sharpe (d 30.5.1936) of Denise

Margaret Plant (nee Harwood) (see Figure 1.7) mentioned in this will of a great great aunt of her husband.3It seems that, by the time Elizabeth Simpson died in Feb 1927, her spinster neighbour Fanny (of clause 1.) had

changed her name to Brittain.4Ada Gamble’s husband William was living at this address when his first wife died in 1926 and until his death in

1943.5This (aged) Elsie was living in the 1960s (it is thought childless) at 11 Homesdale Close Dronfield near Sheffield,

where Ellen’s daughter Ada (and Tom) Plant used to visit her.


Josephd before 1927

Josephb? 1875bur 11.11.1949 age 74

Williamb? 1879d 6.8.1943 age 63m(1) Lily

b? 1881bur 26.10.1926 age 45

m(2) 23.11.1927Ada Saylesb 4.12.1875d 10.11.1969 age 93bur 17.11.1969

Figure 6.3: Gamble family tree

Ellen’s only brother ‘Fred’ (Edward) who had a large cancerous growth on his neck, from which he

died shortly afterwards. There, they used to pass round a common jug of beer and keep a look out

for Emma’s younger sister Ada who objected on religious grounds.

Emma‘s four daughters included ‘AnnieLizzy’ (presumably Anne Elizabeth) Hinsley and Mrs.Mabel

Wain. ‘AnnieLizzy’ Hinsley lived in Sitwell Place Highfield and had a (son and a) good-looking

daughter called Mrs.Dolly Wells who was living at (192) Edmund Road (a few houses from the

junction with Queens Road Sheffield) around 1938. Emma’s daughter Mabel Wain lived at 43 Ar-

gyle Road next door to the music teacher Eva Farrar LRAM, who gave Ellen’s grandson Austin

Plant and then his brother Stewart (from 1949) piano and singing lessons.

It is thought that ‘Jim’ (James ? ) was Emma Gamble’s husband (or son-in-law) and he is

remembered for having lost some of the fingers on his left hand, which he kept covered with a black

glove. Jim had the job of pushing in shoddy clothes very expensive silver-ware though the streets

(e.g. Charles Street in the centre of Sheffield) in an old wicker-work trolley from one manufacturing

process to a finishing process; Ellen (told how Emma) used to remark on what might happen if

anyone realised that this was really a consignment of ‘hundreds of pounds worth of silver’.

6.1.4 Ellen’s sister Ada

Ellen’s sister Ada Gamble was 51 when she became the second wife of William Gamble6 (see

Figure 6.3) a corkscrew and tin-opener manufacturer shortly after the death in 1926 of his first

wife Lily. The witnesses at the marriage at St Mary’s Sheffield were Arthur Gamble, Ada Vasey and

Thomas Robinson; Ada Sayles’s residence was given as 1 Montgomery Road. Ada Sayles had been

the maid and Nanny of the Oakes family in Montgomery Road (Nether Edge, Sheffield) bringing

up their children almost as her own; these children later did much to look after her and, still by the

1960s, she visited one of them, called Bobby Oakes, in Wallasey where by then he lived with his

wife and children. Ada normally called her husband ‘Billy love’ and they were known for being

religious and were always, for example, very insistent on saying grace before meals. Both William

Gamble’s father and elder brother were called Joseph and examples of their cutlery still survive

stamped with their trade-mark:-

JOSEPH GAMBLE

SHEFFIELD

Firth Stainless

The childless Ada Gamble was looked after by her sister Ellen Vasey’s daughter Ada Plant shortly

after Ellen’s death in 1960 and, eventually she died, in November 1969, after a brief stay in Nether

6A book was presented to William Gambles (sic) in April 1890 for punctual attendance at Heeley Bank School.


Edge Hospital whilst her niece Ada (and Tom) Plant were visiting their son (JSP) and his wife in

Abingdon (near Oxford UK)7.

Like Ellen, Ada Gamble used to recall the ‘old times’; one of her earliest memories, she said,

was visiting an old (chemists) shop with (in her memories) large dark wooden panels in front of the

counter and bottles on shelves high up the wall. She has passed down the family two large volumes

of the eighth edition8 of Johnson’s Dictionary, in archaic text fonts, which includes for example An

Essay of the Life and Genius of Samuel Johnson LL.D. (1709-84). Also from her are two medals

and a badge marked CETS or Church of England Temperence Society, one (possibly her husband’s)

marked Superintendent on the medal ribbon bar and one displaying for Long & Faithful service on

its reverse.

7Ada Gamble was burried (1965) in grave 5235, section C4, 6th Row, 1 right, No.4SS of City Road Cemetry, Sheffield,

in the same grave as William’s first wife Lily (1926), William (1943) and his brother Joseph who died (1949) at 2 Herries

Place, Sheffield.8The dictionary had run to four editions by 1784.

Appendix A

Our link to earlier records for the Plant

surname

LINKING BACK OUR PLANT ANCESTORS TO EARLIER CENTURIES

A.1 Introduction

Most Plants are our blood relatives, in so far as they have inherited the Y-chromosome of our me-

dieval Plant ancestor, or they are thereby related to our male line through a female link. To that

extent, they are all our distant relatives though I shall outline this only briefly, in this short Section

about the Plant surname.

The earliest known record of the ‘Plant’ name is for Julius Planta in the Italian Alps in 46AD

but it seems unlikely that this gave rise to the modern Plant surname. More recently, in 1202, there

are records for Eimeric de la Planta (also called de Plant’) in Anjou shortly after the times of the

Count of Anjou, Geoffrey Plante Genest, who fathered the royal ‘Plantagenet’ dynasty. It is not

clear whether Eimeric’s name de la Planta gave rise directly to similar thirteenth-centry names in

Normandy and SE England and whether this was the same family as the Plants who are found in the

fourteenth century in the main Plant homeland around east Cheshire.

The DNA evidence indicates that there is an abnormally large single Plant family widely scat-

tered around this main homeland and our Plant line descends intact from that large Plant family. I

have described this more fully elsewhere.1

A.2 Various William Plants in our family history

As already indicated, it can be discerned that grandad Stewart’s great great great great great grand-

father was the brickmaker and farmer William Plant of Duchmanton. There are a lot of William

Plants in our family history; and, for convenience, I shall use the notation Wm(0) to distinguish

our ancestor William of Duckmanton from other William Plants.

Using a similar notation, we can trace out that Wm(0)′s grandson was Wm(1) who was

an agricultural labourer. There is then the Sheffield shoemaker Wm(shoe) who was almost

certainly the same person as Wm(1)′s son Wm(2a) (Figure A.1). This brings us down our

ancestral line to Wm(shoe) who was grandad Stewart’s great great grandfather.

1For example, academic papers are available at: http://cogprints.org/5985/ and

http://cogprints.org/5986/ and http://cogprints.org/6595/

73

74 APPENDIX A. OUR LINK TO EARLIER RECORDS FOR THE PLANT SURNAME

The estate demised to James included:-

‘my Messuage House or Tenemant and Hereditaments in Bolsover in the said County of Derby

which I purchased of Richard Bennett and now in the possession of Isaac Wood or his assigns

with the Appurtenances ... all my Moneys, Goods, Chattels and personal estate ... all Moneys

due to me upon Bond ... together with all my Right of Possession to the House and Farm at

Duckmanton where I now dwell provided always ... that he [James] permit and suffer my Wife

Elizabeth Plant to dwell in the House she formerly lived in before I married her ...’

The further provision for his widow Elizabeth comprised a series of options, as follows.

option (a) — ‘[James] pay to her ... the Sum of six pound ten Shillings a year, half yearly, for and during

the term of her Widowhood ... find a Cow for my said wife Elizabeth Plant and keep her the said Cow

both Winter and Summer in the Same Manner he keeps his Own ... allow her to take unto herself all the

Household Goods she had when I married her ... lead her what Coals she burns and a sledfull of Wood

to kindle Fires with for Nothing ... give her Liberty to Whiten her Yarn in the Orchard, and one half of

the fruit trees in the Orchard to her own Use.’

option (b) — ‘But in Case my said Wife Elizabeth Plant do not, nor be not Willing to accept the beforemen-

tioned Annuity and Priviledges, Then ... the Sum of Ten pound a year ... to be paid her Quarterly’

option (c) — ‘ ... if the Sons of my said Wife Elizabeth Plant viz; Robert Fern or Francis Fern ... pay the

Arrears of Rent, unto my Executor, which I paid to Godfrey Clarke Esq. being due to him from my wife

Elizabeth Plant when I married her; then ... I will that he or they enjoy the Possession of the Land again

which were in her Possession before I married her; ... Then ... I only give unto my Wife the Sum of forty

shillings a year ... ’

Table A.1: Demise from Wm(0) to his son James

A.3 Wm(0)’s 18th century will and family

Piecing together the descent from the NE Derbyshire brickmaker and farmer Wm(0) is helpedby his will which includes mention of some offspring. This will, made 5th August and dated 15thDecember 1768, describes Wm(0) as William Plant of Duckmanton in the Parish of Sutton andcounty of Derby, Farmer and Brickmaker. A summary of Wm(0)′s bequests, mentioning his kin,is:-

£20 — daughter Esther, the wife of John Jackson;

£70 plus all wearing apparel — son Robert Plant;

£70 — son John Plant;

£20 — daughter Anne, the wife of Joseph Morton;

£20 — grandson William, the son of Edward Milnes;

£70 — son Benjamin Plant;

£150 — son Thomas Plant; and,

the remainder — son James Plant and heirs.

The fairly substantial inheritance by Wm(0)′s son James was subject to the proviso that he

would provide for his mother-in-law, to wit Wm(0)′s widow Elizabeth (Table A.1).

Wm(0) added ‘his mark or Ink’ as a cross and a blob.

A.4 Plants near Sutton and Clowne

Thus, our earliest identified Plant ancestor was Wm(0) of Sutton-cum-Duckmanton. Many of his

offspring are then found in the nearby NE Derbyshire parish of Clowne. Some effort is required to

sort out the records for this large Plant family around here. You may skip to Wm(0)′s youngest son

Thomas (b 1745), whose story is picked up in Section A.4.4, if you are only interested in following

our own Plant line of descent.

A.4. PLANTS NEAR SUTTON AND CLOWNE 75

Wm(0) ofDuckmantonfarmer andbrickmaker?-1769bur 29.9.1769m 12.12.1725

Ann Websterbur 24.2.1760

?m 1729Anne Green

m 18.12.1764Elizabeth Fernbur 26.5.1800

(aged 87)

Esther

Robertbap 13.10.1727 BOLSOVER

see Figure A.2

William (bap 10.11.1731)?m(2) 18.12.1764Elizabeth Fern (widow)

?bur 26.5.1800 (aged 87)

John (bap 1.1.1734)bricklayer1733-1816SuttonCD to Rotherham and Beighton and ‘Plants Yard’ in Little Sheffield

Ann (bap 12.9.1736)?m Josph Morton

Sarah (bap 7.8.1738)

James (bap 29.6.1740)1740-1825Main beneficiary of Wm(0)′s willbur 31.1.1825 (aged 84)m 7.12.1769(H)Ellen Woodhead(witnesses Thos Allwoodand Jane Woodhead)

bur 21.1.1826 (aged 78)

see Figure A.3

Benjamin - Ben(bellows) (bap 5.11.1742)bellows maker1742-1806Married the sister of Sheffield’s Master Cutler andalso became based at ‘Plants Yard’ in Little Sheffield

Thomas (bap 26.12.1745)farmer at Clowne1745-1827Father of Wm(1) who sons included Wm(2a)who was almost certainly the sameperson as the Sheffield shoemaker Wiliam ( Wm(shoe)who was my great great grandfather

see Figures A.4 and A.5

Figure A.1: Some key descendants of Wm(0) of Duckmanton

Robertbur 19.3.1791 (pauper)m 18.7.1751

Rachel Spanerbur 18.9.179? (pauper)

William, bap 20.12.1751John, bap 24.11.1776


Ann, bap 14.7.1754

Elizabeth, bap 14.5.1758

John, bap 10.8.1760

James, bap 3.7.1763

Sarah, bap 1.12.1765?m 7.5.1782 George Fox

Robert, bap 3.7.1768?bur 10.4.1786

Figure A.2: A scheme for Beighton


Records have been found (incomplete) for various Plants in parishes around Clowne. For exam-

ple, Sutton-Cum-Duckmanton is immediately to the south of the parish of Staveley, which in turn is

immediately to the west of the parish of Clowne.

It transpires that our progenitor William ( Wm(0) in Figure A.1) was of Duckmanton when

he married Ann Webster in 1725 in the parish of Ault Hucknall.2 It appears that their first child,

Robert, was born to the north of this parish. It should be added, however, that the 1988 version of

the IGI also records at Sutton-Cum-Duckmanton, in 1729, a marriage between a William Plant and

Anne Green.

A.4.1 Wm(0)’s sons Robert, James and Benjamin

A Robert Plant married Rachel Spaner at Beighton in 1751 (Figure A.2); the parish of Beighton is

about 8 miles to the north of Sutton-Cum-Duckmanton. This quite certainly the same Robert Plant

as the one baptised in 1727 to William and Ann (included in Figure A.1) in the parish of Bolsover.3

There is for example a Cutlers’ apprenticeship record for Hallamshire:-

• Robert Plant, son of William of Duckmanton, brickmaker; to sicklesmith William Staniforth

of Hackenthorpe, 1741.

This 1741 record refers unambiguously to ‘William of Duckmanton’ (i.e. Wm(0) ). It informs us

that Wm(0)′s son Robert was apprenticed (aged 14) at Hackenthorpe, which is just 5 miles SE of

central Sheffield. Hackenthorpe is very near Beighton where Robert married in 1751.

Another Hallamshire apprenticeship record refers to Coalpit Lane, which was at the southern

edge of the then small town of Sheffield itself:-

• James Plant, son of William of Branside, Prestbury, carpenter; to (I) scissorsmith John Holling-

worth of Coalpit Lane, 1768; to (II) scissorsmith Benjamin Oaks, 1772.

This reference to a Plant in Coalpit Lane can feasibly be connected with the presence there of

Wm(0)′s son Benjamin Plant ( Ben(bellows)′s ). This son Benjamin of Wm(0) is known to

have been in Sheffield by 1766 and to have been at Coalpit Lane, at the southern edge of Sheffield

town, at least by 1774. This possible connection at Coalpit Lane between the Duckmanton Plant

family and a William Plant of ‘Branside, Prestbury’, as implied by the above 1768 apprenticeship

record, is worth a little further consideration.

A.4.2 Plants from near Buxton

Bakewell’s Chapelry of Buxton (1718) lies about 25 miles to the WSW of Sheffield, at the western

edge of Bakewell parish (1614) which is in north Derbyshire. This is not far from the county

boundary with east Cheshire and north Staffordshire.

Two Cutlers’ apprenticeship records for Plants around Sheffield were listed in the preceding

section and they both appear to relate to the Duckmanton Plant ancestor Wm(0) of the Plant’s

Yard Plants. There are two more such Cutlers’ apprenticeship records and these are dated slightly

later:-

• John Plant, son of Francis of Buxton; to filesmith Valentine Johnson of Sheffield Park, 1776;

and

• John Plant, son of John of Hollins End, collier; to knifemaker George Wilkinson, 1810.

2Ault Hucknall (not to be confused with Hucknall near Nottingham) is two parishes south of Sutton-Cum-

Duckmanton, near Hardwick Hall near Mansfield, and about 7 miles south of Clowne.3The parish of Bolsover lies between those of Sutton-Cum-Duckmanton and Clowne; there is also a region of Ault

Hucknall called Glapwell which is a chapelry of the parish of Bolsover. For completeness however, it could also be

mentioned that there is also a Robert (bap 6.3.1727) for the parish of Edensor which is twice as far as Bolsover from

Beighton.


No. of Possible Possible Nearest 5 Distance

1984 IGI William William (1690-1705) from

surname county records baptisms baptisms baptisms Duckmanton

1680-1710 1690-1705

PLANT Derbyshire 525 0 0

Yorkshire 305 2 1 Sherburn-in-Elmet (1695) 40 miles N

Nottinghamshire 60 0 0

Lincolnshire 535 2 0

Leicestershire 475 2 2 Medbourne (1700) 50 miles SSE

Thornton (1704) 40 miles S

Lancashire 760 0 0

Cheshire 590 1 1 Gawsworth (1696) 30 miles W

Staffordshire 4280 6 2 Leek (1698, 1702) 30 miles WSW

Shropshire 590 1 0

Worcestershire 620 0 0

Warwickshire 495 0 0

Gloucestershire 27 0 0

Table A.2: Some possible baptisms for Wm(0) of Duckmanton

These two apprenticeship records apparently relate to a Plant family which came from Buxton.4

Two more apprenticeship records relate to a Samuel Plant near Chesterfield who apparently had an

earlier connection with Chelmorton near Buxton.5 As already mentioned, there are also the two

apprenticeship records which apparently relate the Plant’s Yard Plants to ‘Branside, Prestbury’.

The Prestbury mentioned in the 1768 apprenticeship record for Coalpit Lane, Sheffield seems

likely to be the one in Cheshire near Buxton.6 There is a ‘Brand Side’ (Derbyshire) just 3 miles

south of Buxton and the large parish of ‘Prestbury’ (Cheshire) lies just 2 miles to its west.7

In particular, the aforementioned 1768 Sheffield apprenticeship record mentions a son James

of a carpenter William Plant of Branside, Prestbury. As indicated earlier, it seems likely that this

carpenter William Plant was connected with the Duckmanton Plant family. For example, he could

be Wm(0) of Duckmanton himself or this Wm(0)′s son William. The apprenticed son James

of William of ‘Branside’ might accordingly be either Wm(0)′s son James Plant of Sutton-cum-

Duckmanton or a hitherto unknown close relative.8

There is known data for only one suitable James.9 The known data supports a contention that

the carpenter William Plant of Branside, Prestbury was the same William Plant as the brickmaker

Wm(0) of Duckmanton. It can be added that it is possible to augment this interpretation of the data

with possibilities for the baptism of Wm(0) which are near both Brand Side (NW Derbyshire) and

4Both of these records appear to relate to a Plant family of coalminers who, for many subsequent generations, remained

at Handsworth which is just 3 miles east of central Sheffield.5Bakewell’s chapelry of Chelmorton (1580) lies immediately to the SE of Buxton chapelry. Records from the IGI

indicate that a Samuel Plant moved from Bakewell parish to Chesterfield parish and that he may have had an earlier

connection with Bakewell’s chapelry of Chelmorton.6The 1984 version of the IGI contains no evidence for a link to Plants around Prestbury in Gloucestershire, whilst the

Plant name is far more common (Table A.2) around Prestbury in Cheshire.7There are a few houses marked Brand on an 1842 Ordanace Survey map (Sheet 27, reprint of the first edition of the

one-inch Ordanace Survey of England and Wales, Buxton & Stockport, Published by David and Charles, Brunel House,

Newton Abbot, Devon). These are about 1 mile to the east of the village of Flash, on high ground at the northern tip of the

county of Staffordshire, near the road from Leek to Buxton. The 1842 map also shows Brand End lying 1.5 miles to the

NE, over the county border into Derbyshire, and Brand Head lying about 0.5 miles to the SW of Brand. On some modern

maps, the whole area is labelled Brand Side though on some less-detailed 18th century maps Brand Side is marked as a

village in this part of Derbyshire. About a mile to the west of Brand End, the detailed 1842 map shows Brand Side School

just over the border from Staffordshire, near Cheshire, in Derbyshire.8Wm(0)′s son William would have been aged 37 in 1768 and, if he had a hitherto unknown son James of apprentice-

ship age (normally about 14), then it could have been Wm(0)′s son William who was the carpenter William Plant of

Branside, Prestbury.9It might be considered that, at 28, Wm(0)′s son James would have been rather old to be serving an apprenticeship in

1768, and then again later 1772. On the other hand we know that, by the time of Ben(bellows)′s 1805 will, Wm(0)′sson James was a yeoman at Calow, which is just about a mile from Duckmanton, and it may have been this James from

Duckmanton who was apprenticed in Coalpit Lane. This would fit with the information that it was this James’s son

Benjamin who inherited Ben(bellows)′s Coalpit Lane property.


James (bap 29.6.1740)bur 31.1.1825 (aged 84)m 7.12.1769

(H)Ellen Woodhead(witnesses Thos Allwoodand Jane Woodhead)bur 21.1.1826 (aged 78)

Annbap 24.10.1770bur 6.2.1783 (aged 13)

Jamesbap 12.6.1772bur 21.4.1831 (aged 59)m 24.12.1800

Mary Smith(witnesses Peter Smithand Ellen Plant)

Josephbap 12.4.1808?m 8.9.1831 STAVELEY

Eliza Ann Marples

Butram Walter Johnbap 23.9.1832 STAVELEY

George Herbertbap 22.3.1834

Eliza Annbap 1.5.1836

Mary Annbap 25.3.1838

Jamesbap 30.10.1839

Helen, bap 30.9.1810

Susannah, bap 12.9.1813

Mary, bap 26.7.1815

James, bap 21.10.1819

Hellenbap 26.6.1774

Williambap 19.12.1776bur 27.2.1777

Marybap 8.4.1778

Susannahbap 13.8.1780bur 24.10.1780

(aged 11 weeks)

Sarah

bap 12.2.1782m 18.3.1810

Samuel Hopkinson

Hannahbap 28.6.1784

Josephbap 9.4.1787?m 24.1.1820

Ann Waller(witnesses Wiliam Brittand Elizabeth Machin)

see Section ??

Williambap 22.12.1823

Aletheam William Percival

Ellenbap 7.3.1825


Hannahbap 20.2.1831

Herbertbap 12.2.1835


Figure A.3: A descending scheme for Sutton-Cum-Duckmanton

the parish of Prestbury (E Cheshire). This interpretation would then mean that the 1768 appren-

ticeship record referred to Wm(0) near the time of his death. The 1768 description of William

of Branside as a carpenter might hence refer back to Wm(0)′s earlier activities, perhaps to his

youth, before he moved some 20 miles to the east and became a brickmaker at Duckmanton (cf. Ta-

ble A.2).

A.4.3 James and Ellen of Sutton

It would seem that William’s son James (Figure A.1) and perhaps subsequently this James’s son

James (Figure A.3) were the ‘occupiers’ of a substantial amount of land (with a house) at Sutton-

Cum-Duckmanton; the tithe payment in 1801 was 118s 3d and the proprietors were Clarke and J

H Price Esq; in 1829/32 the tithe was 157s 3d and the proprietor was Rich Arkwright.10 In the

will of (William’s grandson) James in 1831, less than £600 is left to widow Mary with letters of

administration applied for by Mary and her son Joseph (Figure A.3). In the 1832 Electoral Roll for

Sutton-Cum-Duckmanton, (this) Joseph Plant jnr is listed as a ‘tennant of land over £50pa’ as so

also is (his uncle) Joseph Plant.

10The namesake, the famous inventor Sir Richard Arkwright (1732-92) from Preston was, by now, dead but it may be

relevant that the ‘village’ of Arkwright Town is just to the west of Long Duckmanton.


A.4.4 Wm(0)’s son, our ancestor Thomas

As already mentioned, grandad Stewart’s great great grandfather was Wm(shoe) and he was a

grandson of Wm(0)′s youngest son Thomas of Clowne and his wife Ann.

This ancestor in Figures A.4 and A.5, Thomas Plant, apparently had 2 wives and 18 children.

This did much to raise the Plant population in the area. Thomas was married by Banns, by the

Rector of Langwith Michael Hartshorne, to Ann Coldwell on 7.2.1771 at Norton Cuckney (Notts),

which is on the edge of Welbeck Park about 2 miles east of Langwith and 6 miles south-east from

Clowne.11

Thomas and Ann signed the marriage papers and the witnesses were called James Plant and

Joseph Woodhead. It may be noted that the aforementioned James (Section A.4.3), an older brother

of the Thomas in Figure A.1, married (H)Ellen Woodhead and the coincidence of the names for

both witnesses at Thomas and Ann’s marriage provides substantial evidence of a link between the

Clowne and Sutton-Cum-Duckmanton Plants; furthermore, the age of (the same) Thomas Plant at

his burial in Clowne confirms that this was the Thomas in Figure A.1, from the parish of Sutton-

Cum-Duckmanton and, also, presumably the same Thomas as the one who married Ann Coldwell

at Cuckney and took up land in the parish of Clowne.

The name Joseph Woodhead appears also 30 years later, with Mary Woodhead, as a witness at

the marriage of (this) Thomas and Ann’s son John to Sarah Taylor at Clowne in 1801 (Figure A.4)

and, some 30 years later still, the names Joseph Woodhead (rent over £50pa) and William Woodhead

(copyhold estate) appear in the 1832 Electoral Roll for Clowne.

The story of the descent from our ancestor Thomas (b 1745) is taken up again in Section A.5.

A.4.5 Thomas’s second marriage

Thomas’s first wife Ann Coldwell was buried on 6.3.1800 and it seems quite certain that it was

her surviving husband Thomas (apparently then aged about 55) who was the widower (recorded in

parish records) who married Mary Bennet of the parish of Staveley on 26.1.1802 at Staveley (see

Figure A.5); the witnesses were William Bennet and John Bennet. This seems more likely than an

alternative supposition that the bridegroom was, for example, Thomas and Ann’s son Thomas (bap

3.10.1777)12 since there are records of a Joseph (Figure A.4) who, though baptised (30.3.1793) as

the ‘son of Thomas and Ann Plant’, was buried (12.2.1811) aged 17 as the ‘son of Thomas and

Mary Plant’.

A possible indication that Thomas’s son Thomas was still in the area can quite easily be dis-

counted, if it is presumed that the tithe records were not fully up to date. Father Thomas was buried

at the stated age of 81 on 26.2.1827, at Clowne; following this burial the tithe records for 1829/32

for Clowne still refer to a Thos Plant in a manner essentially unchanged from 1801, both as occupier

of House and Land owned by Thos Hill or D T Hill (tithe payment 25s 5d) and as the proprietor of

House and Land occupied by John Hopkinson (tithe 1s) and John Bingham (tithe 1s).

In the baptism records, for the children of Thomas and Mary, their father Thomas is described

as a farmer in 1814 and 1816 but as a labourer in 1819, by when Thomas senior would have been

aged about 73.

Mary Bennet(t) from Staveley

Thomas’s widow Mary was apparently still alive in Sheffield (aged 77) much later in 1851 and these

data indicate that Isaac’s mother was a Mary born in Staveley, which is compatible with her being

the same Mary Bennett who married Thomas at Staveley. A family of Bennet(t)s in Staveley is

represented in Figure A.6

11This general area is known as ‘The Dukeries’ because of the large number of Dukes who owned the great estates in

this northern area of Sherwood Forest, such as the eccentric 5th Duke of Portland who added a labyrinth of underground


Thomasm(1) 7.2.1771AnnColdwellat CUCKNEY

William - Wm(1)bap 16.3.1772m? Elizabeth

John, bap 9.10.1799

Thomasbap 5.7.1801

see Figure A.8

William - Wm(2a)bap 12.9.1803

see Section A.5.3

Ann, bap 14.4.1805

Peterb 23.3.1808bap 16.4.1808rec 22.5.1808

Elizabethb 28.7.1810bap 19.8.1810)bur 9.2.1833 atClowne, age 22

Sarah, bap 20.1.1813

Benjamin

bap 21.10.1817see Section A.7.5

Jamesbap 16.12.1775?bur 14.7.1799

Thomasbap 3.10.1777

Johnbap 16.8.1779m 14.3.1801

Sarah Taylorat CLOWNE

William - Wm(2b)bap 5.8.1801

see Section A.5.3

Ann, bap 24.4.1803

John, bap 2.2.1806

Josephb 4.2.1811bap 7.2.1811


see Section ??

Nancy, bap 24.7.1784

Hannahbap 9.7.1786?bur 14.9.1788

Elizabethbap 19.10.1788?bur 30.10.1788

Josephbap 30.3.1793bur 12.2.1811, aged 17

Figure A.4: First marriage of Thomas.

A.5. OFFSPRING OF OUR ANCESTOR THOMAS 81

Thomas(widower, Clowne)m(2) 26.1.1802banns STAVELEY

MaryBennet(spinster, otp)bap 24.6.1776at STAVELEY

George, bap 12.12.1802

Aaron, bap 2.12.1804m? 28.10.1833Banns BARLBOROUGH

Sarah Billam

Thomas (bap 24.5.1834 CLOWNE)

Mary, b 17.6.1806bap 23.6.1806, rec 12.10.1806

Hannah, b 29.7.1808bap 1.8.1808, rec 18.10.1808bur 26.1.1810, aged 1 year

Harriet, b 18.8.1810

bap 19.8.1810, rec 15.10.1810bur 19.2.1811, age 6 months

Elizabeth Ann, b 21.4.1812bap 21.4.1812 (privately)

Isaac, bap 4.5.1814m 28.2.1835Banns WHITWELL

Jane Candlinb ?1814 WORKSOP

Joseph (bap 2.8.1835 CLOWNE)

James (bap 12.2.1837 BEIGHTON)

Ellen (bap 10.6.1838 BEIGHTON)

(?)

Hannah (b ?1843 SHEFFIELD)

Thomas (b ?1844 SHEFFIELD)

Sarah (b ?1846 SHEFFIELD)

Mary (b ?1849 SHEFFIELD)

Joseph, bap 18.8.1816

Sarahbap 25.7.1819, ?rec 6.8.1819

Figure A.5: Second marriage of Thomas.

A.5 Offspring of our ancestor Thomas

All of Thomas’s children (Figures A.4 and A.5) were baptised at Clowne, some first being baptised

privately before being ‘received into the Church’. There is some room for debate as to whether our

line descends to Wm(shoe) through Thomas’s eldest son Wm(1) or Thomas’s fourth son John.

This debate is taken up in Section A.5.3 below.

A.5.1 Sons of Thomas and Ann

The children of Thomas and Ann’s eldest son William ( Wm(1) ), who is described as a labourer

in 1813 and 1817, were baptised (from 1799 to 1817) at Clowne as so also were those of Thomas

and Ann’s third son John (children baptised 1801-11). The fourth son Benjamin apparently had his

children baptised (1807-29) at nearby Harthill, just two parishes to the north.

A.5.2 Sons of Thomas and Mary

The witnesses at the marriage of Thomas and Mary’s son Aaron (Figure A.5) to Sarah Billam of

Barlborough (one parish to the north of Clowne) in 1833 were called Joseph Scott and Sarah Cox;

Aaron is described as a labourer when his son Thomas is baptised at Clowne in 1834.

In 1835 the witnesses at the marriage of Aaron’s brother Isaac to Jane Candlin of the adjoining

parish (to the east) of Whitwell were called George and Ann Candlin; their first son was baptised at

passages to Welbeck Abbey in the 19th century.12If still living, this Thomas would have been about 24 at the time of the marriage.


Johnm 10.1.1770

banns (both otp)Hannah God(b/l)y

Mary, bap 24.6.1776 (Mastin Moor)m 26.2.1802 Thomas Plant

see Figure A.5

Ester, bap 22.3.1777 (Mastin Moor)

Sarah, bap 8.2.1780 (Hague Common)

John, bap 7.4.1782 (Hague Common)

William, bap 20.6.1784 (Hague Common)

Figure A.6: A Bennet(t) family at Staveley

Clowne but subsequent children were baptised nearer to Sheffield, initially at Beighton (Figure A.5)

which is about 6 miles to the north-east from Clowne.

It would seem that it may have been Isaac’s uncle Robert (Figure A.1) who had moved earlier

to Beighton, by 1751, as discussed in Section A.4.1.

A.5.3 Grandsons called William

The above information may well represent the ancestry of Wm(shoe) to wit grandad Stewart’s

great great grandfather, the Sheffield shoemaker William Plant. This William of Sheffield was

quie clearly both the husband of Elizabeth Hartley (married in Sheffield in 1828) and the father of

James Plant, who was grandad Stewart’s great grandfather. There is however some room for debate

as to whether this Wm(shoe) is the same William as the one who appears in the tree of Figure A.4

as either (i) Wm(2a) i.e. William (bap 12.9.1803) or (ii) Wm(2b) i.e. William (bap 5.8.1801),

both grandsons of Thomas Plant and Ann Coldwell.

It may be added that a William Plant was buried at Clowne on 2.9.1801 and this may well have

been the William Wm(2b) who was baptised there on 5.8.1801. That would mean it was Wm(2a)rather than Wm(2b) who was on our direct line of Plant ancestry. This debate of distinguishing

between Wm(2a) and Wm(2b) is expanded in some considerable detail in Section A.6.2 though,

if you want to skip to the conclusion of this debate, you may proceed straight to Section A.7.

These Williams’s sisters Ann

It may be noted (from Figure A.4) that both grandsons William, of Thomas and Ann, had younger

sisters called Ann (baptised 1805 and 1803). It could have been either of these who married (banns at

Clowne) Robert Askham of Ryhill (Wrigley?) of the County of York on 27.11.1822 (with witnesses

William Drabble(?) and Elizabeth Wilson). Also an Anne Plant is recorded as the mother of John

Plant (bap 5.7.1834 at Clowne).

Brothers of Wm(2a)

Two of the brothers of one of these Williams ( Wm(2a) who was baptised on 12.9.1803 at

Clowne) are subsequently recorded in Sheffield: viz Thomas (bap 5.7.1801) and Benjamin (bap

21.10.1817). It may well have been this family in particular who, amongst others, moved from

Clowne to Sheffield.

A.6 Departure from Clowne

Most of the family appear to have departed the immediate vicinity of Clowne by 1841; the Clowne

Census Data mentions (i) ‘Nan Plant’ (stated age 65) a Derbyshire-born charwoman who might

perhaps have been Thomas and Ann’s daughter Nancy (bap 24.7.1784), who would however have

been only about 56. The 1841 Clowne Census Data also mentions (ii) Elizabeth Plant (aged 60

A.6. DEPARTURE FROM CLOWNE 83

approx) born outside Derbyshire who may have been the (?visiting) wife of the William designated

Wm(1) – this William was the eldest son of grandad Stewart’s great great great grandfather Thomas

Plant and first wife Ann (Figure A.4).

A.6.1 Plants ariving in Sheffield

The unravelling of the data for a number of William Plants, for whom there are records at Clowne

and at Sheffield, requires careful consideration. Some other Plants apparently came, perhaps as a

family group, from Clowne to Sheffield before 1841 but the evidence is scarcer for two Williams

who, even so, are believed to have made the same journey. Despite a scarcity of direct evidence

there is an appreciable body of indirect evidence to support a contention that both these Williams

were from the same family and hence Wm(1) and his son Wm(2a) — the lack of direct evidence

can be understood largely in the light of a finding that both these Williams died in 1848, not long

after the instigation around 1837 of better records for keeping track of people’s movements near

such rapidly growing centres as Sheffield.

A.6.2 A contended connection with Clowne

When I was young my father asserted that the family had come to Sheffield from Clowne though

the details were not clearly remembered.

Steps towards trying to confirm this start out with straight-forward genealogical studies. These

show that my father’s grandfather was the Sheffield-born dram flask maker James Plant (1829-

1904) and that his father was a Sheffield shoemaker called William. In order to make further

progress it has been found to be necessary to set aside an indicated county of birth for this shoemaker

William as ‘misleading’ and some justification for this is presented later. This ‘misleading’ data

appears in the 1841 Census returns which indicate that this Sheffield shoemaker had been born in

the county, which was Yorkshire, and this has to be reconciled with the fact that his baptism appears

to have been at Clowne which, though only 10 miles away, was in the different county of Derbyshire.

The manner in which this apparent anomaly can be assimilated with the fuller information will be

discussed later.

First, however, we begin by considering various Williams and we may recall that there were

three different baptisms for Williams at Clowne. In order to clarify the reasoning whereby Williams

around Sheffield can be pieced together with the data for Williams at Clowne, it is helpful to label

the three Williams that were baptised at Clowne as:

Wm(1) bap 16.3.1772

Wm(2a) bap 12.9.1803 son of Wm(1)Wm(2b) bap 5.8.1801 nephew of Wm(1)

The Clowne data in itself seems quite straight-forward and indicates that the Clowne-baptised

Wm(1) was the eldest son of Thomas of Clowne from Sutton-Cum-Duckmanton; Wm(2a) and

Wm(2b) were respectively his son and a nephew.

Some family folklore

Though fully convincing connections for the Williams seem initially to be elusive, between Clowne

and Sheffield, further progress is in fact possible. Some clues to finding a way forward arise partly

from a few snippets of inherited information. In particular, some of the family folklore is borne out

by data that has become available relatively recently, for the 1871 Census listings, and this provides

a basis from which the evidence can be developed more completely. The useful pieces of inherited

folklore are as follows.

In my childhood, my father Tom maintained that:


• ‘the family’ came from Clowne.

• there was a story of shoemaker brothers, told by his father, though he coud not remember the

details.

The latter of these two stories leads on to the next step in our deliberations, which is to consider a

possible link between my great great grandfather, the Sheffield shoemaker William, and the family

of a Clowne-born Sheffield shoemaker called Benjamin Plant.

An explanation of this inherited information

In the 1871 Census returns, in the same district as where my grandfather Tom Plant was living (aged

11), the shoemaker Benjamin’s family can be found at ‘56 New Hereford Street’. At that time my

father Tom’s father Tom was living with his father James (1829-1904) at nearby Bramall Lane, near

the Litte Sheffield site of Plants Yard, and so close together were:

F amily (Wm) =

Descendants of the shoemaker William,namely my family via the lineWm(shoe)− James − Tom− Tom−me

F amily (Ben) =

Family of the shoemaker Benjamin,who is known to have beena son of Wm(1) of Clowne

Earlier Census returns (1841 and 1851) show that Benjamin was certainly from Clowne and living,

in 1841, on the site of the present town hall. The subsequently released 1871 Census data shows a

household that includes Benjamin’s widow, Elizth Plant (57), who is listed as a mangle woman.

I had always taken my father’s assertions to mean that ‘my’ family had come from Clowne but

there is perhaps an alternative explanation — it seems conceivable that the inherited story could

have arisen from my grandfather’s recollections of the F amily (Ben) since this family lived near him

in his childhood. Even if this is the case, this interpretation of the above described 1871 data at least

suggests the likelyhood of a close association between the F amily (Ben) and the F am

ily (Wm) to which

the following pieces of 1871 data can be added:

...the unmarried children of Benjamin’s widow are listed as Elizth (26), Mary A (21)

and Chas ?H (18) brass turner — in particular, these two daughters from the F amily (Ben)

are described as dram flask closers and, hence, presumably worked for my great

grandfather, the nearby dram flask maker James Plant (1829-1904) from the F amily (Wm)

.

Thus, members of the F amily (Ben) not only lived near the F am

ily (Wm) but they were also, it seems,

no doubt so employed.

This then just leaves us to try to confirm the remaining snippet of inherited information:

...that the two shoemakers were brothers

and this now forms the key to further progress. Confirming this is a little less straight-forward and

relies rather more on an accumulation of indirect evidence, including for example the following

piece of vaguely supportive evidence:

...a witness at the wedding of a sister of the shoemaker Benjamin had the same surname,

Hartley, as the shoemaker William’s wife.

A.7. OUR FARMER THOMAS’S SON WM(1) 85

Such evidence is not fully convincing in itself and it has to be viewed together with other evidence

as indicated below.

To summarise the evidence, the standard official sources of genealogical data produce the fol-

lowing deduced family groupings:

investigated family

data summary of results groupings

Sheffield my agnate ancestry back to the F amily (Wm)

records shoemaker William

1871 shoemaker William’s son James F amily (Wm)

Sheffield closely associated with mcensus shoemaker Benjamin’s family F am

ily (Ben)

If we now extend this established association between the F amily (Wm) and the F am

ily (Ben) back to

form a contention that the shoemaker William was from Clowne, like the shoemaker Benjamin, we

can form possible links, which are denoted ? ❀ F amily (Wm) below, from the Clowne Plants to the

Sheffield shoemaker William:

investigated family

data summary of results links (?)

Clowne Wm(1) was... (1) father of shoemaker Benjamin ❀ F amily (Ben)

data (2) father of Wm(2a) ? ❀ F amily (Wm)

(3) uncle of Wm(2b) ? ❀ F amily (Wm)

In other words, we arrive at two alternatives for the shoemaker Williams’s identity, namely Wm(2a)or Wm(2b) . Moreover, from a wider consideration of the regional data, these are the only known

possibilities for this shoemaker William’s origins.13

These two possibilities for the identity of the shoemaker William are indicated with adjoined

*’s in Figure A.7. Either possibility would allow for a close relationship between the shoemaker

William’s and Benjamin’s families though Figure A.7 helps to suggest why an association is slightly

more expectable if the shoemaker William were Wm(2a) rather than Wm(2b) . If the shoemaker

William were Wm(2a) then he would have been a brother, rather than a cousin, of the children

of Wm(1) who are known to have travelled from Clowne to Sheffield as will be described in more

detail later. Also, the 1871 dram flask closers Elizth. and Mary would then have been working

for their cousin James, rather than for a second cousin. Furthermore, the shoemaker William’s wife

would have had a namesake as a witness at her sister-in-law’s wedding, rather than at the wedding

of her husband’s cousin. To this may be added the evidence of the shoemaker William’s Sheffield

death certificate, on which his age fits precisely with that of Wm(2a) and differs by 2 years from

that of Wm(2b) .

Given the limited number of other William Plants in the area and the lack of others of a suitable

age, the shoemaker William is hereafter presumed to be from Clowne and to be Wm(2a) , rather

than Wm(2b) . In short, successive investigations have tended to strengthen, rather than weaken,

the hypothesis that the two shoemakers were brothers.

A.7 Our farmer Thomas’s son Wm(1)

Having accepted that an adequate body of evidence has by now been presented to establish links

for two of the Clowne Williams who turn up in Sheffield, we can move on to piecing together a

13It seems that there were few Plants in this region at that time and, even though a surprising number of them were

called William, it seems unlikely that any further suitable Williams will be uncovered.


William - Wm(0)?-1769SuttonCD

James1740-1825SuttonCD

Some offspringto Sheffield

Thomasfarmer1745-1827SuttonCDto Clowne

William - Wm(1)Ag.Lab.1772-?1848Clowne?to Ecclesall B?to Shef.

John1799-?Clowne

Thomas1801-?Clowne to Shef.

Fig. A.8

William - Wm(2a) ❀

1803-?1848

Clowne ?to Shef.

*

Ann1805-?Clowneto Ecclesall B

Fig. A.9

Benjamin - F amily (Ben)

1817-?Clowne to Shef.

Fig. A.10

John1779-?Clowne

William - Wm(2b) ❀

1801-?Clowne

*

last son ofAnn (Coldwell)

first son ofMary (Bennett)

Figure A.7: Outline Summary of some Sheffield Plant ancestry from Clowne


story about the elder one Wm(1) and his children. Our ancestor, the Sheffield shoemaker William

Wm(shoe) is now presumed to be Wm(1)′s son Wm(2a) who was baptised at Clowne in 1803.

Fuller details for him are reserved until later, after discussing his father Wm(1) and there is more

general information about the Plants near Sheffield’s Plants Yard in Appendix B.

The Clowne data show Wm(1) as a labourer at the baptisms of his children in 1813 and 1817.

As he was the oldest son of the land owning farmer Thomas (1745-1827), he would most likely

have been an agricultural labourer. Such a William appears in the 1841 Census returns, at Hunter

Roade, Ecclesall Bierlow near Sheffield (Table A.3), as an ‘Ag.Lab.’ of stated rounded age 65 which

fits adequately with the expected age 68/9 of Wm(1) from Clowne.

A.7.1 Wm(1)’s death in Sheffield

There is no suitable William to fit Wm(1) in the local Census Indexes for 1851 and, in view of

his age, it seems reasonable to suppose that he had by then died. Investigations of all three deaths

recorded in the Civil Registration Index throughout a wide area (South Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and

Nottinghamshire), for William Plants between 1841 and 1851, have remained consistent with the

idea that the ‘Ag Lab’ William of Hunter Roade is the same William as one who died in Sheffield

in 1848. From the death certificates, we have:

• two Williams who died at Earl Street and in the adjoining Sylvester Street, in 1848, were of

the correct ages to be father and son ( Wm(1) and Wm(2a) ) from Clowne.

The name, age and occupation of labourer William (77) of Earl Street, on his 6.12.1848 death

certificate, correspond closely with the Clowne data for Wm(1) . His death from ‘Decay of Nature’

was registered by the mark of ‘Elizabeth Plant present at death Earl Street’. It seems unlikely that

this mark of an Elizabeth was that of his presumed daughter-in-law, the shoemaker Wm(2a)′s wife

Elizabeth, as this shoemaker’s wife had signed her name at her marriage in 1828 and, also, signed

with her address given still as ‘Sylvester Street’ at the death of one of her sons, on 7.1.1849, just one

month after this nearby Earl Street death. Another possibility is that it belonged to another daughter-

in-law, the shoemaker Benjamin’s wife Elizabeth. However, alongside the baptisms in the Clowne

parish register is written Elizabeth Webster, suggesting a possible maiden name for Wm(1)′s wife,

and so it may have been Wm(1)′s widow Elizabeth who placed her mark on the 1848 certificate

of Wm(1)′s death at Earl Street.

A.7.2 Wm(1)’s wife and children in Sheffield

Further data indicates that several of Wm(1)′s family had travelled the 10 miles or so from Clowne

to live near Sheffield by 1841. Certainly two of Wm(1)′s sons, Thomas (1801-?) and Benjamin

(1817-?), had made this journey, as will be described more fully below (Sections A.7.3 and A.7.5).

To these can almost certainly be added a daughter Ann, with her mother Elizabeth (Section A.7.4).

These children, and their mother, outlived the two Williams considered above and so more complete

accounts can be assembled quite readily from the fuller data in later Censuses.14

A.7.3 Wm(1)’s son Thomas from Clowne

This Thomas seems to have had little to do with our own line of descent. You may skip over this

section if you wish.

One of those clearly shown to be from Clowne, in the 1851 Census listings, is a Thomas; this is

quite certainly the second son (bap 5.7.1801) of Wm(1) as indicated in Figure A.7. The IGI shows

a marriage in 1826 of a Thomas Plant and Ann Jeffcock of Ecclesfield and this, together with the

14Although the two Williams outlived the 1841 Census, this Census is less helpful than later Censuses in establishing

people’s origins and the limited clues given in 1841 for these two William’s households were moreover ‘misleading’,

giving rise to a need for the above discussion of the evidence that these two Williams’ origins were indeed in Clowne.


Thomas (bap 5.7.1801 CLOWNE)m(1) 25.9.1826 ECCLESFIELD

Ann Jeffcockb ?1806 ECCLESFIELD

?m(2) 7.9.1862Elizabeth Scholeyb ?1816 RANMOOR

John, b ?1827/8

Sarah, b ?1829/30

Mary, b ?1834/5/6

Ann, b ?1836/7/8

Thomasb ?1838/9

m Sarahb ?1837/8

Sarah A, b 1864/5

Martha, b 1865/6

Mary, b 1867/8

Elizabeth, b ?1850/1

Figure A.8: Wm(1)’s son Thomas from Clowne

available Census data, forms the basis of the tree in Figure A.8 for this Thomas of Sheffield from

Clowne (1801-?).

The 1841 Census returns for Hill Square, Sheffield show this Thomas (rounded age 35) as a

steel burr(?er) with Ann (30), John (13), Sarah (11), Mary (6), Ann (4) and Thomas (2); all are

stated to have been born in Yorkshire except for the senior Thomas in this household. Their address,

Hill Square, was near Hoyle Street in Sheffield, which runs from Meadow Street to Infirmary Road

and this is very near the addresses where soon were to be found this Thomas’s step uncle Isaac from

Clowne and his son, the successful provision merchants, who lived near Meadow Street from

about 1855 to 1885.

Thomas (1801-?) had moved from his 1841 address only as far as nearby 77 Hoyle Street by

1851, where he is listed as a steel refiner from Clowne; with him are his wife Ann (45) from

Ecclesfield and offspring Sarah (22), Mary (15), Ann (13), Thomas (11) errand boy and Elizabeth

(3 mth); finally there is also in this household Fanny E Negister (1) nurse child. All the children

are shown in this Census data to have been born in Sheffield, indicating that this Thomas had moved

from Clowne (via Ecclesfield) to Sheffield by as early as 1828.

In the 1871 Census listings, we find that Thomas from Clowne had moved from Hoyle Street

only as far as 57 Infirmary Road where he is listed (aged 69) as a steel melter with his wife, who is

here listed as Elizabeth (55) from Ranmoor;15 the likely remarriage of Thomas to Elizabeth Scholey

is included in Figure A.8. This Thomas’s son Thomas (32) is to be found as a steel refiner in 1871

in the adjoining Portland Street, in Court 25, with wife and daughters Sarah (33), Sarah A (6),

Martha (5) and Mary (3).

A.7.4 Wm(1)’s daughter Ann from Clowne

Grandad Stewart’s great great great grandfather Wm(1) was seemingly in the household of this

Ann in 1841 and it seems that Wm(1)′s widow Elizabeth remained with this household in 1851.

This section is hence relevant to our line of descent, though you may wish to skip over the details

included in this section. Section A.7.5 is possibly of more direct relevance to our more recent family

history.

Parish records show a marriage by Banns at Rotherham on 14.10.1834 between William Roberts

and Ann Plant. Both were of that parish, bachelor and spinster, and both signed their names as did

the witnesses William Plant and Amelia Hartley. It may be noted that the latter witness had the

same surname as the wife of the shoemaker William Plant, who was called Elizabeth Hartley, and

this provides a component of the evidence outlined above in support of a link between the shoemaker

William (supposed to be Wm(2a) ) and Wm(1) who was baptised at Clowne. Wm(1) was quite

surely Wm(2a)′s father. He was similarly surely also this bride Ann’s father and he appears, in

his late year’s, in her household.

15Ranmoor is just 0.6 miles NE of the Rustlings address that is featured in Section A.7.4 below.


(a) 1841 Hunter Roade (b) 1851 Rustlings

William Roberts 39 farmer William Roberts 51 head M Derbys Holmsfield

Ann ” 38 Ann ” 46 wife M farmers wife ” Clowne

Jonathan ” 21 son U farmers son ” Clowne

John ” 5 John ” 16 son U farmers son ” ”

George ” 4 George ” 15 son scholar Yorks Ecclesall

Sarah ” 3 Sarah ” 12 daug ” ” ”

N K ” 1 week (female) Jane ” 9 daug ” ” ”

Jonathan Plant 10

George Drewrey 15 Henry ” 1 son ” ”

Ann Widdowson 15 F S Mary ” 7 daug ” ” ”

William Plant 65 Ag Lab Elizabeth Plant 75 m-i-l W ” Pontefract

Hannah Roberts 60 Thomas Barlow 12 serv U Farm labourer ” Ecclesall

Jane ” 15

William Plant 6

Table A.3: A Roberts/Plant household in Ecclesall ecclesiastical district

The date of this Ann’s marriage helps to explain why, in 1841 Census data, the eldest children

are called Plant and the youngest Roberts. In the 1841 Census returns for Hunter Roade, Ecclesall

Bierlow (adjoining Sheffield), there is the large household that is listed in Table A.3(a) and a similar

1851 houshold is listed alongside as part (b) of the Table. The stated occupation ‘F S’ of Ann

Widowson in 1841 probably denotes ‘farm’ or ‘family’ servant; Thomas Barlow appears as a servant

in the later 1851 data. All, except the farmer William Roberts and Ann Roberts, are indicated in

1841 to have been born within the county though this is not fully borne out by the 1851 data, which

shows that some others also had been born outside the county, in Derbyshire.

The 1851 Census entry for the ‘Rustlings’, Ecclesall Bierlow (Table A.3(b)) appears to provide

more accurate ages and it seems to confirm that this Ann Roberts, now stated to be aged 46 and to

be the Clowne-born wife of farmer William Roberts, was Wm(1)′s eldest daughter, who had been

baptised in Clowne in 1805 as indicated consistently in Figure A.9. The ‘Ag Lab William’ who

appears in the above 1841 household is missing in 1851, as is consistent with the supposed death of

Wm(1) at Earl Street in 1848. However, the 1851 household now contains an Elizabeth Plant (75)

who is stated to be the farmer William Roberts’s ‘mother in law’ and a widow, born in Pontefract,

Yorkshire. She can be presumed to be the widow of the Ag Lab Wm(1) and she is included as

such in Figure A.9.

The William Plant that was stated to be aged 6 in 1841 ( Wm(3b) in Figure A.9) is missing from

the 1851 household but a Jonathon is still present, though now called Roberts instead of Plant. There

are few known records of a Jonath(a/o)n Plant in the area but a Jonathan Edwin Plant of the correct

age was baptised in Beighton on 16.5.1830, with mother called Anne Plant. This is probably the

Ann Roberts (nee Plant) who appears in Table A.3 and it seems possible that her son Jonathan was

baptised some 6 miles away from Clowne because he was illegitimate. Subsequently (5.7.1834),

however, the further child, John (Plant/Roberts), was baptised as a son of Ann Plant at Clowne itself

(Figure A.9), perhaps indicating an increased level of acceptance by this family’s home circle in

Clowne, though mostly the family had by then apparently moved away from Clowne anyway.

In the 1871 Census returns, the eldest known son, Jonnathan Plant (aged 41) from Clowne, is

to be found as an ‘Ag.Lab.’ in Dobbin Hill Cottages living next door to the ‘Sexton of Ecclesall

Church’. Dobbin Hill was just to the south of the ‘Rustlings’ which was near where an earlier Plant

had owned land. With Jonathan are his wife Jane (44) from Totley and children Elizth. (16), William

(13) errand boy ( Wm(4) in Figure A.9), Arthur (11), Anne M (8) scholar and Edward P (1); all

of these children had been born in Ecclesall.


William - Wm(1)Ag.Lab.1772-1848Clowneto Ecclesall Bto Sheffieldm Elizabeth (?nee Webster)

b ?1770-6 Pontefract

Johnbap 9.10.1799 Clowne

Thomas1801-?Clowneto Ecclesfieldto Sheffield

see Fig. A.8

William - Wm(2a)shoemaker1803-48Clowneto Sheffieldm Elizabeth Hartley

Family

(Wm) — Fig. 2.2

Annb 1804/5 Clownebap 14.4.1805 Clownem 14.10.1834 Rotherham

William Robertsfarmerb ?1799/1800 Holmsfield

Jonathon (Plant)Ag.Lab.b ?1830 Clowne?bap 16.5.1830 Beightonm Jane

b 1826/7 Totley

Elizthb 1854/5 Ecclesall

William - Wm(4)b 1857/8 Ecclesall

Arthurb 1859/60 Ecclesall

Anne Mb 1862/3 Ecclesall

Edward Pb 1869/70 Ecclesall

?William (Plant) - Wm(3b)b ?1834/5

Johnb ?1834/5 Clownebap 5.7.1834 Clowne

Georgeb ?1836 Ecclesall

Sarahb ?1838/9 Ecclesall

Janeb ?1841/2 Ecclesall

Maryb ?1843/4 Ecclesall

Henryb ?1849/50 Ecclesall

Peter1808-?

Elizabeth1810-33Clowne

Sarah1813-?

Benjaminshoemaker1817-?Clowneto Sheffield

Family

(Ben) — see Fig. A.10

Figure A.9: Wm(1)’s eldest daughter Ann from Clowne


Benjaminshoemakerb 1817 CLOWNE

d ?1852-71m Elizabeth Thomasb ?1814 SHEFFIELD

Williamb 10.1.1841 SHEFFIELD (XXII 590)m Maryb ?1840/1 SHEFFIELD

Benjamin

b ? 1866/7 SHEFFIELD

Anna Eliz

b ?1868/9 SHEFFIELD

Wm Thosb 1871 SHEFFIELD

Elizth (dram flask closer)b 8.12.1843 SHEFFIELD (XXII 589)(cf. b ?1842/3 ECCLESALL)

Mary A (dram flask closer)b ?1850 ATTERCLIFFE

Charles Thomasb 1852.2qtr SHEFFIELD 9c 293

Figure A.10: Descendants of Benjamin from Clowne

A.7.5 Wm(1)’s son Benjamin from Clowne

This son Ben(shoe) appears to have been a close associate of grandad Stewart’s great great

grandfather Wm(shoe) and this family connection appears to have been kept alive into the life of

Wm(shoe)′s son, our ancestor the dram flask maker James.

In ‘A Century of Sheffield 1835 to 1935’ David Robins writes:

... in 1886 the present town hall site was bought for £49,000 with a view to general

improvements being made, as the site was then a muddle of small cottages and streets,

prominent among them being CHENEY SQUARE the home of several of Sheffield’s

most eminent men ...

though the reason for this reference to “most eminent men” is not clear from the 1841 Census

listings. The shoemaker Benjamin was living there in 1841.

The birth certificate of this shoemaker Benjamin’s son William (b 10.1.1841) gives the address

as 5 Cheney Square; and, furthermore, the 1841 Census return for Cheney Square shows ‘shoem.’

Benjamin and milliner Elizabeth with William (then aged 4 months). There is also, at this time, in

Trades Directories:

• Benjamin Plant, Shoemaker, and Elizabeth, Dressmaker, 5 Cheney Square

(W.White’s 1841)

In the 1851 Census return, Benjamin’s wife and children are shown to have been born around

Sheffield (as indicated in Figure A.10). There is only one slight inconsistency; the indicated birth

place of ‘Ecclesall’ for the daughter Elizabeth does not tally quite exactly with the fact that her birth

certificate gives her birth place as ‘5 Cheney Square’, the same as for her older brother William, who

is indicated in the same 1851 Census records to be from Sheffield not Ecclesall. This inconsistency

can be set aside, however, as being small and perhaps due for example to a slight change, between

the two birth dates of 1841 and 1843, in the agreed boundary, since Cheney Square was almost on

the boundary of the chapelry of Ecclesall in the parish of Sheffield.

By 1851, the shoemaker Benjamin (aged 34) was living at Victoria Square, The Wicker, Sheffield

where he is listed as a cordwainer (i.e. shoemaker) with his wife Elizabeth (35), son William (10)

errand boy and daughters Elizabeth (8) and Mary A (1). Mary’s stated birthplace of Attercliffe was

near The Wicker which is where the Victoria Railway Station was opened in 1851. In these 1851

Census returns, Benjamin’s birth-place is given as Clowne and this is quite surely the Benjamin (bap

21.10.1817 at Clowne) who was the youngest brother of the Thomas (1801-?) and Ann (1805-?) of

the preceding sections and who, as discussed earlier, was most probably also the brother and a close


associate of my great great grandfather, the shoemaker William (1803-48), who has been presumed

to be Wm(2a) of Figure A.9.

Benjamin’s eldest child William was apprently known by my grandfather, as a cousin of his

father, and he is shown in 1871 Census returns at 50 Sheaf Gardens as a breech loading implement

maker (aged 30) with wife Mary (30) and children Benjamin (4), Anna Eliz (2) and Wm Thos (1

day). He similarly appears in a contemporary Directory as:

• William J Plant, Breech loading implement maker, 50 Sheaf Gardens (W.White’s 1871)

Sheaf Gardens was near the Ponds where Sheffield’s other main railway station, the Midland Station

was opened at this time, in 1870.

A.7.6 A little guidance to the reader

It seems that the detailed records for our Plant line of descent, around the times of Wm(1) are a

little muddled. If you are not interested in these complexities you might wish to skip the next two

subsections.

It is of some interest, however, that Wm(1) is mentioned in the will of his uncle Benjamin

Plant whom I denote Ben(bellows) and who is perhaps the most illustrious Plant in our Plant

family history. If you are interested in Ben(bellows) and his times and influence, you may skip

to and read the lengthy Appendix B. If however you are only interested in our direct ancestral line,

you may proceed straight to Section 2.3.

A.7.7 Some ambiguities of birth place

The general evidence seems to remain consistent with our underlying hypothesis:

...that the ‘Hunter Roade’ data is for Wm(1) and

...that the Sheffield shoemaker William was Wm(1)′s son Wm(2a) who had moved

with others of the family to live in Sheffield after being baptised at Clowne.

We are left with an apparent contradiction however. Both Wm(1) and Wm(2a) were baptised

at Clowne, which is in Derbyshire, and this needs to be reconciled with the 1841 Census returns,

which list each of these two Williams with a ‘Y’ to the question of whether they had been born ‘in

the county’ which was Yorkshire, albeit near the border. This now leaves us to ponder such notions

as:

• the 1841 entries of ‘Y’ to Yorkshire for these two Williams may have been incorrect entries

that arose simply from carelessness of the Census Data Collector or the forgetfulness of the

household member telling him the information; or,

• the shoemaker Wm(2a) and his father Wm(1) (assuming he is the one indicated above to

be at the Hunter Road farm of the Roberts in 1841) perhaps did not wish in Census returns to

point out that they were from a different county for administrative reasons (e.g. around 1835,

Samuel Roberts championed the protests of the poor against the prospects of their being

herded into the centralized workhouses of the two new Unions of townships — viz. Sheffield

and Ecclesall Bierlow — and the ratepayers were also discontented at the prospects of their

having to share the costs of the problems of other ‘foreign’ townships; this may have led to

some reticence in some individuals to admitting that they had come from a ‘foreign’ area).

At least in the case of Wm(1) , there is some evidence to favour possibilities in the nature of

‘carelessness’. In the same 1841 Hunter Roade household where Wm(1) is recorded as ‘Y’ to

Yorkshire, just such ‘carelessness’ is evident in that the children Jonathon Plant and John Roberts

are also recorded as ‘Y’ to Yorkshire, despite the 1851 Census entries which indicate that these


children had been born, in fact, at Clowne in Derbyshire. It is conceivable that a sub-culture of

‘carelessness’, or even evasiveness, may have arisen in this household partly in connection with the

illegitimacy of Ann’s first children, given the contemporary emergence of a growing emphasis on

rectitude throughout early Victorian society. This evidence for ‘carelessness’ or ‘evasiveness’ is

augmented, for this household, by further inaccuracies, as appear for some of the stated ages in the

1841 data, and this combines to provide ample justification for disregarding the ‘Y’ for Wm(1) .

However, the explanation might be different for Wm(2a) , such as:

• the mother (Elizabeth) of the shoemaker Wm(2a) may have returned from a visit into York-

shire, after his (perhaps premature) birth, for a baptism at Clowne — for example, the parish

of Clowne in Derbyshire almost touches the parish of Harthill in Yorkshire. Furthermore,

Wm(1)′s widow was from Pontefract and, assuming that it was this Elizabeth who was

Wm(1)′s wife at the time of Wm(2a)′s birth, it may perhaps be regarded as relevant that

Pontefract is some 20 miles north into Yorkshire. It may be added that it seems that the family

may have had associations with nearby Little Sheffield in Yorkshire from an early date. Thus,

possible visits of Wm(2a)′s parents to Little Sheffield in Ecclesall Bierlow could provide

another possible explanation of Wm(2a)′s stated birth place of Yorkshire.

The nature of the connection between Wm(2a) and Plant’s Yard in Little Sheffield will be

explored in some detail later and some relevant discussion of when this family may have arrived

near this ‘Yard’ is presented in the following section. The ‘link up’ between Clowne Plants from

Duckmanton and other Duckmanton Plants in Sheffield is confirmed by an 1805 will. This will

and related information links our Plant ancestry quite closely to some ‘mainstream’ episodes of

Sheffield’s history around that time.

A.7.8 Possible travels of this family group

In view of the foregoing considerations, it may be assumed that the 1841 statement of ‘Y’ to York-

shire, for the ‘Ag.Lab.’ Wm(1)′s birthplace of 1772, could be spurious. He may not in fact have

moved to Yorkshire until as late as 1835, for example, when it began that his daughter Ann’s chil-

dren were being born near Plant’s Yard in Ecclesall Bierlow instead of at Clowne. On the other

hand, it may be noted that the Plants had a base near Sheffield from as early as the mid 18th century

and Wm(1)′s wife was apparently from Pontefract in Yorkshire implying that some appreciable

travelling must have been incurred by Wm(1) or his wife before 1799, if she is the one who by

then was bearing his children. These children were being baptised (and according to some of the

Census returns born) until as late as 1817 at Clowne, which is where Wm(1)′s father was buried in

1827 and where one of Wm(1)′s children was buried (aged 22) in 1833. Certainly, Wm(1)′s son

Thomas was in Ecclesfield, near Sheffield, by 1826 and Wm(1)′s presumed son, the shoemaker

Wm(2a) was married in Sheffield in 1828. Also, it may have been Wm(1)′s cousin Benjamin (a

son of James 1740-1825 of Figure A.7) who was the carpenter Benjamin who was in Ecclesall by

1826.

Wm(1)′s youngest son, the shoemaker Benjamin, would only have been 9 by 1826, or 18 even

by 1835, and it seems reasonable to consider that he may have moved from his stated birthplace

of Clowne with (one or both of) his parents and/or (some of) his siblings (such as the shoemaker

Wm(2a) ), to live nearer to Sheffield whilst he was still young (perhaps between 1817 and 1826).

The Duckmanton Plant family had an early base near Sheffield and it is accordingly conceivable

that Wm(1)′s family may have travelled back and forth between Little Sheffield and Clowne

from before the turn of the century. In the 1841 Census returns, there is at Clowne an Elizabeth

Plant (rounded age 60, born outside Derbyshire) and this may have been Wm(1)′s wife, who was

missing from Hunter Road near Sheffield on the Census night of 1841, and so we may suppose that

she may still have been making the journey even by then between Sheffield and Clowne, perhaps by

that time to visit old friends in Clowne.

Appendix B

Plants Yard Plants

As already outlined, grandad Stewart’s great great great great great grandfather was evidently

Wm(0) of Duckmanton who was the progenitor of the Plants Yard Plants. In the mid 18th century

Sheffield was a small town (Figure B.1). Wm(0)′s son James (b 1740) and Benjamin (b 1742)

appear at Late Plant yard in Coal-pit Lane in Shefield (Figure B.2) and then this Benjamin and his

elder brother John (b 1734) appear at Plants Yard about a mile to the south in the then separate small

settlement of Little Sheffield (Figure B.3). This was not far from the Mount Pleasant home at High

Field of Benjamin’s nephew Samuel Broomhead Ward (Figure B.4).

Thus, the story of the origins of Plant’s Yard near Sheffield includes the histories of two Plants,

namely a bricklayer John and a bellows maker Benjamin. They appear to have been connected

to the development of Sheffield’s iron and steel making ‘plant’ at a formative time of the Industrial

Revolution and to have become eponymous with the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard.

By the 1760s, Wm(0)′s son, the bellows maker Benjamin Plant (1742-1806) had travelled the

10 miles north from Duckmanton near Chesterfield to Sheffield. This Benjamin is hereafter denoted

Ben(bellows) . His apparent brother, the bricklayer John (1733-1816), went first to Rotherham

before arriving in Little Sheffield by the late 1780s. In Sheffield Directories1 there appears:

1787 John Plant, bricklayer, Little Sheffield

1797 Benjamin Plant, bellows maker, Little Sheffield

and these two Plants were in Little Sheffield just as it was beginning to be reached by Sheffield’s

spreading buildings.

1Directory published by Gales and Martin (1787) reprinted in facsimile by Pawson & Brailsford 1889 and Directory

printed by J.Montgomery — the Hartshead (1797) for John Robinson, Spring Street.

Figure B.1: Sheffield about 1740 (Adapted by Martin Davenport from “The East Prospect of

Sheffield in the County of York” by Samuel and Nataniel Buck)

95

96 APPENDIX B. PLANTS YARD PLANTS

(a) (b)

Figure B.2: The south half of Sheffield town in (a) 1736 and (b) 1771, showing Coal-pit Lane

heading southwards into the bottom left corners of the figures and the pear-shaped dam of the Pond

Tilt water wheel towards the bottom right corners. In (b), the area around Alsop Fields, between

Coal-pit Lane and the Pond Tilt is just beginning to be developed.

Figure B.3: Sheffield by 1795, showing a triangle of development splaying out SW across (Little)

Sheffield Moor from Sheffield town (top right quadrant of the figure) towards Little Sheffield near

the bend in the road before the road heads south to High Field near the bottom of the figure.

B.1. EARLY OWNERS OF BEN(BELLOWS)’S COAL-PIT LANE SITE 97

Figure B.4: The Mount Pleasant home at High Field of Benjamin Plant’s nephew Samuel Broom-

head Ward.

Ben(bellows)′s 1805 will, which mentions widespread properties, names the the first trustee

of the will as ‘my Friend Samuel Broomhead Ward’. By 1794, this nephew of Benjamin owned a

large house called Mount Pleasant (Figure B.4) located just 0.2 miles south of the site of Plant’s

Yard as shown near the bottom right corner of Figure B.7(a). In 1798, Benjamin’s nephew S.B.Ward

was Master Cutler, the region’s most authoritative official.2 In the early 19th century, the Sheffield

properties of Ben(bellows) were demised to his nephews and thereon to a nephew’s son, with our

ancestor Wm(1) receiving a relatively small bequest. By the mid 19th century, some of the Plant

Yard Plant offspring had moved to near London whilst others helped to populate the developing

areas towards Sheffield’s growing industrial north east. By the 1840s, grandad Stewart’s great great

grandfather Wm(shoe) was living near the Little Sheffield site of Plants Yard.

B.1 Early owners of Ben(bellows)’s Coal-pit Lane site

It seems that Coalpit Lane can be associated with the arrival in Sheffield of the Plant’s Yard Plants

from Duckmanton, by the 1760s. It accordingly seems relevant to consider some of the early history

of this apparent site of ‘Late Plant yard’.

A 1784 deed indicates that Ben(bellows)′s Coalpit Lane property had belonged to Joseph

Downes in 1695 as well as to Benjamin Downes for whom there is a 1707 will. These are, no doubt,

the Joseph (bap 13.10.1637) and Benjamin (bap 13.8.1668) Downes who appear in Figure B.6 and,

along with this Benjamin Downes’s brothers John and Richard, they no doubt comprise the family

of Master Cutlers Joseph Downes (MC 1690), Richard Downes (MC 1697) and John Downes (MC

1708). Around this time, this Coalpit Lane property was occupied by, amongst others, Elkanah

Roberts the Elder who is mentioned along with James Hool in the first known patent record (1704-

5) of the Company of Cutlers. It can be added that this patent record connection between Elkana

Roberts of Coalpit Lane and a ‘James Hool’ can be related back to the Downes family of Coalpit

Lane, in as much as a ‘James Hoole’ was John Downes’s successor as the 1709 Master Cutler.

Ben(bellows) married in Sheffield in 1766. The 1774 Sheffield Directory lists John Holling-

2The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire was formed by an act passed by the Commons on 23.4.1624 ‘for the good

order and government of the makers of knives, sickles, scissors and other cutlery wares in Hallamshire ... and the parts

neere adjoining’. Around the time of Samuel Broomhead Ward’s year of office, there had been the ‘thirteen to a dozen’

controversy but the rulers of the Company were known in general less for their commercial efficacy than for their zeal

for the public good and they were active in all the benevolent and administrative activities of the town, with the Master

Cutler taking precedence over the Town Collector as chief citizen. Their central base was the Cutlers Hall which stood

(and still stands, though rebuilt in 1832) near the Trinity Church (now the Cathedral) in Sheffield.


Wm(0)brickmaker?-1769SuttonCD

Robert (1727-1791)Bolsover to Hackenthorpe and nearby Beighton

William (1731-?)SuttonCD to ?

John (1733-1816)bricklayerSuttonCD to Rotherham and Beighton and Little Sheffield

Fig. B.8

James (1740-1825)yeomanSuttonCD?? possibly the son James apprenticed in Sheffield

whose father was the carpenter William of Prestbury

Fig. B.11

Benjamin (1742-1806) — Ben(bellows)bellows makerSuttonCD to Sheffield and Little Sheffieldd 3.1.1806bur 8.1.1806 SHEFFIELD

m 16.12.1766 SHEFFIELD

Hannah Wardd 20.2.1812

Hannah Ward was..niece of Benjamin Broomhead, M.C.1784

only sister of Joseph Ward, M.C.1790

aunt of Samuel Broomhead Ward, M.C.1798

and aunt of Thomas Asline Ward, M.C.1816

Marybap 30.3.1768 SHEFFIELD

dsp 18.11.1812m(1) 21.7.1788 SHEFFIELD

Samuel Sampsonm(2) 16.6.1802 SHEFFIELD

Timothy Hancock

Fannybap 11.9.1772 SHEFFIELD

Thomas (1745-1827)farmerSuttonCD to Clowne

Wm(1)1772-1848Clowneto Ecclesall Bto Shef.

F amily

(Wm)

etc

F amily

(Ben)

8 more children ofAnn (Coldwell)

9 more children ofMary (Bennett)

Figure B.5: Ancestry of the Plant’s Yard Plants and the related descent of our F amily (Wm) line.

B.1. EARLY OWNERS OF BEN(BELLOWS)’S COAL-PIT LANE SITE 99

John/Josephusm 20.7.1634

Dorothy Hall

Johannis, bap 15.3.1632

Joseph, MC 1690bap 13.10.1633m 5.6.1659

Mary Hemmingway

John, b 14.12.1660, MC 1708

Richard, b 7.9.1665, MC 1697

Benjamin, b 13.8.1668

Mary, b 22.7.1675

John, bap 5.11.1637

Robertbap 20.2.1638

Sarah, b 14.11.1661

Rebecka, bap 15.10.1663

Johes, bap 8.2.1666

Maria, bap 12.8.1669

Elizab., bap 8.2.1672

Robert, bap 10.7.1673

Marthabap 26.7.1676m 7.11.1676 Jonathan Turner?also spouse of John Kent

Anna, bap 10.4.1679

Sam., bap 9.4.1682

Nath., bap 12.5.1684

Willmbap 27.6.1641

Sarah, bap 18.9.1673?m 12.11.1719 at Rotherham

Richard Kent, MC 1741of Coal-pit Lane

Willus, bap 1.1.1675

Johes, bap 27.10.1687

Radus/Ralph, bap 20.8.1643

Ricus, bap 16.11.1645

Figure B.6: A scheme of Downes parish records for Sheffield (around 1650-1700)

worth as a horn button maker3 and he is earlier stated to be a ‘Coalpit Lane scissor maker’ when

in 1768 he became the apprentice master of James Plant, son of William.4 This James was evidently

Ben(bellows)′s brother from Duckmanton.

A 1784 property deed refers back as far as the demise of a cutler Joseph Down(e)s to a cutler

Samuel Thwaites, in 1695, though it does not indicate how a Plant connection had subsequently

arisen. A 1794 Deed in the name of the bellows maker Benjamin Plant (DO-684-836) refers to

this earlier 1784 deed (20 Dec 1784) registered at Wakefield on 18 April 1785 (CQ-240-350). This

1784 deed is between ‘Benjamin Plant of Coalpit Lane otherwise Cowpit Lane .... Bellowsmaker

.... and Joseph Kay of Sheffield aforesaid penknifemaker’5 and concerns a ‘piece or parcel of a

Close situate lying and being at the South West End of the Town of Sheffield on the west side of the

Cowpit Lane called Balm Croft alias Garlick Croft’. The ground is specified to contain ‘the House

of the said Joseph Downes as the same was demised and let by the said Joseph Downes .... cutler to

Samuel Thwaites .... cutler in and by a certain Indenture of Lease bearing date’ 25 March 1695 ‘for

the Term of seven hundred and ninety five years’. The ground is also stated to contain ‘those three

Tenements or Dwellinghouses thereon erected and built together with the Garden and Yard thereto

belonging as the same premises were heretofore in the several possessions of Elkanah Roberts the

Elder, Elkanah Roberts the Younger ..... and now of the said Elkanah Roberts the Younger ... and

James Bennet’. This 1784 deed also mentions ‘and all outhouses Edifices Buildings Barns Stables

.... Yards Orchards Gardens Ways Watercourses Easements ... ’.

Furthermore, there are two 1805 deeds, which are in the name ‘Benjamin Plant of Little Sheffield

3The evidence suggests that Ben(bellows) can be associated, through his apparent brother James Plant, with a Coal-

pit Lane horn button maker by 1768 and, hence, it seems possible that this horn button maker may have had a base near

the site of the 1850’s Coal-pit Lane Horn Works. This base would apparently have been near the site of Ben(bellows)′slate 18th century property which seems likely to have been near the surviving buildings of the subsequent Leah’s Yard.

4History of the Company of Cutlers, Vol II, ibid.5The later 1794 deed was in the names of ‘Benjamin Plant late of ... Cowpit Lane ... but now of Little Sheffield ...

Bellowsmaker .... Joseph Kay of Sheffield ... Gentleman ... heretofore penknifemaker .... and Elizabeth Pitt of Carlton in

the parish of Royston in the said County of York Widow’.


(a) 1784 deed (CQ-240-350)

heretofore afterwards now

Elkanah Roberts the Elder Elkanah Roberts the Younger Elkanah Roberts the Younger

Elkanah Roberts the Younger Richard Watson Joseph Brierly

Joseph Wilcockson Joseph Brierley John Sheldon

George Hawkesworth James Bennet

John Sheldon

(b) 1805 deed (EX-28-40)

heretofore now

Elkanah Roberts the Younger Edward Middleton

Joseph Brierly John Prince

John Sheldon Joseph Gillot

James Bennet Richard Baxter

Table B.1: Occupants of the 13 yards part of Benjamin Plant’s Balme Croft property

.... Bellows Maker’ and which refer to property ‘on the west side of the Cowpit Lane6 called Balm

Croft alias Garlick Croft’. The 46 yard strips of land in these deeds no doubt extended between

Coal-pit Lane and Back Fields Lane, which is shown in outline to the west side of Coal-pit Lane

in Figure B.2.7 It seems likely that the strips of land in these Balm Croft deeds were near the Balm

Green end of Coal-pit Lane and quite likely formed a part of the current large site of Leah’s Yard.8

The first of the two 1805 deeds 9 lists the former and current occupants of a 13 yard wide part

of Ben(bellows)′s Coal-pit Lane property (Table B.1). These include Elkana(h) Roberts, which

name (presumably Elkana Roberts the Elder) is associated with the aforesaid ‘first known patent

record’ (1704-5) and which name (presumably the Younger)10 is adjacent to Benjamin Plant’s in

property records dating back at least to 1772. The property in the first deed includes ‘...the house

of the said Joseph Downes and also all those three tenements or dwelling houses theron erected

... together with the Garden and yard therto belonging ....’. The ground in this first deed is said to

adjoin ‘the lands late of Joseph Downs on the south and the lands late of Benjamin Downes on the

north’. This Jospeh Downes was no doubt the 1690 Master Cutler. Moreover there is a 1707 will for

the Coal-pit Lane cutler Benjamin Downes which indicates that he exceptionally had a three storey

dwelling — this dwelling had a house (i.e. living room), kitchen, parlour, chambers over house,

kitchen and parlour, near garret, and far garret.11

6Cowpit Lane, as indicated for example in Figure B.2, was another name for Coal-pit Lane.7The deeds mention a 13 and an 11.5 yard wide strip though, as strips of about this width are shown all along the west

side of Coal-pit Lane in the map shown in Figure B.2(a), this provides little immediate help in identifying the precise

location of this property. This map is entitled ‘A Correct Plan of the Town of Sheffield in the County of York Drawn by

Wm Fairbank 1771’.8Balm Croft, which is given as the name of Benjamin Plant’s Cowpit Lane property in these deeds, may have been near

Balm Green. The exact location of even Balm Green is unclear however, as it is written on the map in Figure B.2(a) to be

in front of Barkers Pool (Sheffield’s main drinking water supply) and it is shown instead to be an adjacent continuation

of Coal-pit or Cow-pit Lane in Figure B.2(b).9The first 1805 deed concerns the same Coal-pit Lane property as that described in other available deeds, of 1784 and

1794, and this property is described as ‘thirteen yards .... of the said croft from north to south measured by the line of the

hedges on both sides .... and forty six yards east to west’. The second of the two 1805 deeds apparently concerns nearby

property, which is described as ‘eleven yards and a half down the said Close to be measured by the hedges on both sides

from that part hertofore demised to Joseph Downes .... and all the erections and buildings theron made ...’.10The 1787 Sheffield Directory lists Elkana Roberts as a Coal-pit Lane baker and the corresponding 1805 deed (18 Sep

1805, EX-28-40) is between Benjamin Plant and baker Edward Middleton who, by 1805, had replaced Elkana Roberts

the Younger as a current occupant of the property (Table B.1). The name Middleton appears adjacent to Benjamin Plant’s

in property records dating back to 1772.11The will of this Benjamin Downes mentions two brothers and a brother-in-law (How they lived in Old Ecclesall

1600-1800, Mary M Bramhill, 1986, page 41).

B.2. THE LITTLE SHEFFIELD SITE OF PLANT’S YARD 101

In the 1793-5 rate books for Coal-pit Lane, there are 13 houses in the name of John Bennet which

are followed by 4 houses in the name of Benjamin Plant (payments 2/- 9d 3d 2/334 ). The fourth

property of Benjamin Plant has ?C Roberts written alongside in the rate book of 20 March 1795,

which may be compared with the mention of Elkana(h) Roberts in conjunction with Benjamin Plant

in the pre-Enclosure Act rate books and in a 1784 Coal-pit Lane property deed. These four entries

for Benjamin’s houses are followed by Joseph Smith’s properties (a house, shops, and Clogg Field)

and then by Benjamin Plant’s 5th to 17th premises listed under Coal-pit Lane (all are described as

houses except for the 10th, 12th, and 13th, which are described as shops).

Directory information indicates that Ben(bellows) had moved his main base from Coal-pit

Lane to Little Sheffield by 1797. By the time of the Ecclesall rate book for 29 Oct 1799, the evidence

for Ben(bellows)′s Coal-pit Lane rates payments had eventually diminished to a note ‘1800

January the 3 Recd 1:16:11 for 2 Houses in Coalpit Lain’ which is written alongside Benjamin

Plant’s Little Sheffield entries. Moreover the same sum £1:16:11 is written alongside his entries for

18 May 1802. In the rate books of around 1804-7 (recorded rate of 12p in the £ ) the Plant entries

listed under Coal-pit Lane itself have diminished to just a single mention in the form of an entry

‘Plant Shop 6d ?Emte’. However, subsequent evidence shows that Ben(bellows) and his Plant

heirs remained associated with Coal-pit Lane in property deeds dating well into the 19th century.

It seems that those who were, by 1800, paying the rates for this Coal-pit Lane property were the

occupiers in place of Ben(bellows) who still owned (at least some of) the property.

On a modern note we can add that Coal-pit Lane is now called Cambridge Street and that it

lies amidst modern Department Stores at the shopping heart of a busy central Sheffield. Anachro-

nistically, some old property survives on the west side of this street and this comprises the listed

1870’s buildings that became known late in the 19th century as Leah’s Yard. A range of three storey

buildings lines the north side of this Yard and these building lie at the site that is shown on an 1850

map to be the Coalpit Lane Horn Works. It is not clear whether these three storey buildings had

anything to do with Joseph Downes’ three storey house around 1700 or whether these Horn Works

had any connection to James Plant’s apprentice master around 1770.

B.2 The Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard

It seems that Benjamin Plant of Sheffield Moor moved his main base from the head to the foot of

the Moor, from Coal-pit Lane to Little Sheffield to where his brother, John Plant from Rotherham,

is known to have been based by 1787. Little Sheffield was separated from Sheffield by (Little)

Sheffield Moor, until this Moor was developed into mixed residential and commercial property after

its enclosure as part of the 1779-88 Ecclesall Enclosure Act. Development from this south west

boundary of Sheffield town was encouraged by this Act, since it divided the common of (Little)

Sheffield Moor into small allotments which were of little use except for building. This partitioning

led to the spread down the Moor of Sheffield’s buildings from Coal-pit Lane at its head, where

Benjamin Plant held property, subsequently to engulf the site later known as Plant’s Yard in the

hitherto separate hamlet of Little Sheffield just south west of the Porter Brook at the foot of the

Moor — even the ancient estate of Broom Hall, which lay immediately to the west of this Sheffield

Moor development, did not escape the impact.

The entries listed in the 1793-5 rate books, under Little Sheffield, seem to continue on for the

whole of the rest of Ecclesall though the entries shown in Table B.7 appear near the beginning of

these and they are apparently for Little Sheffield itself, at least in part. These entries suggest that

Benjamin and John Plant may have been living close to each other in Little Sheffield by 1793, pre-

sumably at the Broom Close site which subsequently became widely known as ‘Plant’s Yard’. The

first of the many rate books summarised by Table B.7 is for 15th Jan 1793 and it states ‘Benjamin

Plant for his Yard’ — it is rather unclear whether this relates to the pre-Enclosure Act entry ‘Late

Plant yard’ apparently in Coal-pit Lane at the edge of Sheffiled town or the subsequent Broom

Close site in Little Sheffield. However, there is clearer information by 1794. A 1794 deed (DO-


Figure B.7: Site of Plant’s Yard (a) in 1808, showing Little Sheffield to the south of the Porter Brook

at the bend in the road with Mount Pleasant near the bottom right corner of the figure; and, (b) by

1850, showing Plant’s Yard further developed into a pentagon of buildings at the bend in the road.

684-836) for Sheffield property refers to Benjamin Plant ‘late of Coalpit Lane otherwise Cowpit

Lane in Sheffield but now of Little Sheffield, bellows maker’.

Figure B.3 (dated 1795) shows a triangle of new development splaying out down (Little) Sheffield

Moor and this led south west from central Sheffield town towards the town’s new frontier at Lit-

tle Sheffield.12 Evidence for the extents of the Plants’ holdings at Broom Close in Little Sheffield

is contained in property deeds for around 1800 (Table B.2) and these make it clear that Benjamin

Plant’s part of this site was 0.4 acres and John Plant owned a further 0.5 acres to the south. The

detailed measurements indicate that these adjoining Plant lands at Broom Close extended over and

beyond the site that became widely known in 19th century Sheffield as Plant’s Yard. The surviving

remnants of the pentagon marking Plant’s Yard extend about 45 yards to the west of the road and a

similar distance north to south, though the actual frontage onto the road is under 30 yards, whereas

John’s and Benjamin’s lands at Broom Close had reached about twice as far as this to the west of

the highway and, taken together, somewhat further (64.5 yards) along it.

There is a 1797 deed (DZ-313-424) for Little Sheffield property involving John Plant ‘late of

Rotherham ... bricklayer but now of Little Sheffield’. Rotherham is 6 miles to the NE of Sheffield.

This is where John had been twice married and had had several children baptised, around 1760-85.

John’s children do not seem to have become established near Plant’s Yard, as later records for this

locality (1851 Census) have revealed only one of John’s grandsons near here and he came from

Beighton which is where his father Samuel (1785-1865) was a corn-farmer. Beighton is 6 miles

SE of Sheffield. In his 1816 will, the bricklayer John is described as ‘of Sheffield but ... late of the

Township of Beighton’.

Although it seems that the bellows maker Benjamin had no sons of his own, his 1805 will

mentions nephews Benjamin and Joseph (sons of his brother, yeoman farmer James 1740-1825 of

Duckmanton). It also mentions our ancestor, his nephew Wm(1) (eldest son of Ben(bellows)′syoungest brother, farmer Thomas 1745-1827 of Clowne). These three favoured nephews appear to

12The Broom Close land of Plant’s Yard was sited on the left of the bend in the road, which can be seen near the centre

bottom of Figure B.3.

B.2. THE LITTLE SHEFFIELD SITE OF PLANT’S YARD 103

The available information, around 1800, for Benjamin and John Plant’s parts of their Little Sheffield Plant’s

Yard base can be detailed further as follows. The aforementioned 1805 deed for Benjamin Plant’s part of

Broom Close refers to premises described as ‘... being part of a certain close or parcel of ground called

Broom Close situate at Little Sheffield ...’. This site is described as ‘... late in the possession of Edward

Shepherd ...’, bounded on the north and west by ‘lands of John Rotherham esquire’, on the south by ‘another

part of the same close belonging to Mr John Plant’, and on the east by ‘the highway from Sheffield to

Chesterfield and a certain footway’. The mention of the footway in particular suggests that this ground may

have contained the subsequent pentagon of Plant’s Yard.a A similar description is given for John Plant’s

adjacent land to the south. A property deed dated 22 Feb 1798 (DZ-319-424)b is in the name of ‘John Plant

late of Rotherham ... bricklayer but now of Little Sheffield’. This relates to ‘that piece or parcel of ground

being part of a certain close or parcel of ground called Broom Close situate at Little Sheffield in the parish

of Sheffield aforesaid heretofore in the possession of Edward Shepherd...’. This piece of ground is described

as ‘... adjoining to another part of the same close sold to Mr Benjamin Plant on the north ...’ and it is

stated that to the east was the Sheffield to Chesterfield highway, to the south another part of the same close,

and to the west ‘the land of John Rotherham Esquire’.c The specified property of John Plant in this 1798

deed comprises ‘those four several messuages tenements or dwellinghouses on the said close ... now in the

several tenures or occupations of the said John Plant, Sarah South, Widow Beard and John Senyor’. These

same names are listed adjacently in 1799 rate books.d Another reference to Jno Senior appears in Land

Tax records in connection with land that was occupied by ‘Self W Smith Jno Senior & anth’ and which is

stated to have been owned by John Plant. It can be added that these 4 households were apparently contained

within the Land Tax description ‘2 Messes & a small piece of land’. These ‘2 Messes’ would tally with 2

large buildings which, on a map dated 1808 (Figure B.7(a)), are to the south of the subsequent pentagon

of Plant’s Yard and hence apparently on the area of John Plant’s land. The corresponding rate-book entries

indicate that John Plant was paying a larger rate (4/-) than each of the other 3 occupants, who were paying

4/6 in total. It hence seems likely that the bricklayer John Plant was occupying the whole of one of his

two messuages at Broom Close while the other messuage was being occupied as 3 ‘dwellinghouses’ by his

specified tenants.

aThe ground in this deed is stated to measure 91 yds 12 ins on the north, 96 yds 27 ins on the south, 7 yds on the

west and 37 yds 18 ins on the east ‘containing in the whole one thousand nine hundred and seventy four superficial

square yards or little more or less’.bThese reference numbers for deeds apply to the referencing scheme of the West Yorkshire Archive Service, Wake-

field Headquarters, Registry of Deeds, Newstead Road, Wakefield WF1 2DE.cJohn Plant’s parcel was measured as ‘two roods be the same more or less’ being 94 yds on the north, 81 yds 32 ins

on the south and 27 yds 5 ins on both the west and the east.dFor example, the name of the occupant John Senyor, in the 1798 deed, appearing spelled quite similarly as in the

rate book entries (John Senier). This seems to indicate that John Senior was a resident of John Plant’s part of the Little

Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard and indeed the name John Senior still appears in an 1816 property deed in connection with

a garden on Benjamin Plant’s adjoining part of the site of Plant’s Yard.

Table B.2: Benjamin and John Plant’s Broom Close deeds


have settled near Plant’s Yard in Little Sheffield in the early nineteenth century. The name Plant’s

yard (sic) appears as an address in Sheffield Directories of 1825 and 1833.13

B.3 Bricklayer John

It seems clear that the bricklayer John Plant, who was to be found in late 18th century Sheffield,

was a son of the brickmaker Wm(0) of Duckmanton. The descendants of Wm(0) have been

considered is some detail already (Figure B.5(a)). In particular, it seems almost certain that the

bricklayer John, who appears in Ecclesall property records at the site of Plant’s Yard in Little

Sheffield by the 1780s, was a brother of the owner of the adjoining Plant’s Yard property, who was

the bellows maker Benjamin Plant (i.e. Wm(0)′s son Ben(bellows) ).

Before his appearance in Little Sheffield, the bricklayer John had some of his children baptised

at Rotherham. It has not yet been established however whether this might somehow relate to the

origins of Plant Row near Rotherham, which existed about a century later.14

The development of the site of Plant’s Yard in Little Sheffield, on the other hand, is known in

some detail. It can be traced back to Benjamin and John Plant, to the times of the late eighteenth

century. It seems possible that an extended block of dwellings called Plant’s Yard may have been

built near the bricklayer John Plant’s land in Little Sheffield shortly after his death in 1816. This

so-named block of buildings seems to have been largely on the adjacent land that had belonged to

the bellows maker Benjamin Plant (1742-1806).

B.3.1 The bricklayer John’s 1816 will

In a 9 May 1816 will (under £100, administration 5 Dec 1816, proved 4 Jan 1817), the testator is

described as ‘John Plant the Older of the Township of Sheffield in the west Riding of the County

of York but late of the Township of Beighton in the County of Derby’ and, later in the will, he is

described as a ‘Bricklayer’. The will mentions his ‘Household property situate in Little Sheffield,

which was to be chargeable at £7 yearly and this was to be paid to his widow ‘Elizabeth’ which

suggests that his second wife Dorothy had died by 1816. Five shillings (only) are made payable to

each of his ‘sons George, Benjamin and Samuel’ with the (apparently more substantial) remainder to

be divided between his seven ‘children John Plant, Ann Watkin, Elizabeth Blythe, Sarah Boulding,

Mary Haywood, Catherine Stones and Sophia Moseley’.

B.3.2 An 1834 deed

Many of these children reappear in an 1834 property deed (22 and 23 June 1834, LX-193-181) relat-

ing to John Plant’s part of the site of Plant’s Yard. This deed mentions, amongst others, the children

Elizabeth Blythe, Sarah Boulding, Catherine Stones, Sophia Moseley and possibly a grandchild

(cf. Figure B.8) a bricklayer Jonathan Plant; all of these, except Catherine and Sophia, had moved

by the time of this deed to the county of Middlesex which was around London, about 150 miles to

the south.

This 1834 deed also mentions Joseph Plant of Duckmanton ... farmer and this provides a clear

link between the bricklayer John and the Duckmanton Plant family. The ground in the deed is

13The address Plant’s yard, Highfield appears in the Alphabetic Street Indexes of W.White’s Directory (1833) and a

Sheffield Directory compiled by R.Gell and printed at the Albion Press, Manchester (June 1825). It does not appear in the

indexes of three earlier Directories, namely R.Gell and R.Bennett’s Directory (1821), W.Brownell’s Directory of 1817

(secretary to the Sheffield Fire Office), and Wardle and Bentham’s Commercial Directory (1814-15), though this does not

necessarily mean that the site had not been developed beyond the original two buildings rather earlier than 1825.14The site of Plant Row was 5 miles north of Rotherham, at the northern end of the parish of Swinton adjoining the

parish of Adwick on Dearn. An 1851 map shows the area as almost undeveloped though it was near the Mexborough

(railway) Junction and the Dearne and Dove Canal. The 1861 census returns list Plant Row as 12 households between

Roman Terrace and Whitelee Road though it appears as an address in only the 1861 and 1871 censuses. On an 1890 map,

the area is shown to be further built up and it is possible that the houses had been absorbed into one of several new roads.

B.3. BRICKLAYER JOHN 105

Johnbricklayerm(1) 27.11.1759

Rotherham All SaintsElizabeth Birdwistle

m(2) 8.3.1763Rotherham All SaintsDorothy Needham

?m(3) Elizabeth

Ann

bap 1.10.1760 Rotherham?m 1.6.1783 Sheffield St PeterEdward Answer

m Mr Watkin

Johnmasonbap 23.3.1764Rotherham All Saints

m 31.3.1785Rotherham All SaintsMary Mellor

Elizabethbap 23.12.1787 Rotherham

Jonathanbap 9.5.1790 Rotherham

Church of our Father?bricklayer to Sollington in Middlesex

Josephb 1.10.1792 bap 7.10.1792 Roth.

Church of our Father

Elizabethbap 31.3.1765 Rotherhamm John Blytheyeomanto Finsbury Square, Middlesex

Dorothybap 3.1.1770 Rotherham

Catherinebap 20.4.1772 Rotherhamm 14.7.1799 Sheffield St PeterWilliam Stonesrazor case maker

Georgeb 3.3.1774 bap 4.4.1774 Roth.Church of our Father

Jamesb 7.7.1776 bap 4.8.1776 Roth.Church of our Father

d 3.11.1778(added to baptism transcript)

Sophy/iab 4.3.1779 bap 4.4.1779 Roth.Church of our Father

m 10.11.1799 SheffieldGeorge Moseleyedge tool maker

Samuelbap 16.1.1785Rotherham All Saints(son of John and Dorothy)

farmerd 28.3.1865

ECKINGTON

m 7.2.1808SHEFFIELD

Maria

Moorhouseb ?1786INTAKE

Johnbap 22.1.1809 BEIGHTON

b 1808/9 BIRLEY

d 25.12.1876 BIRLEY

m Elizabeth Aitkinb 1808/9 S.WOODHAM, YORKS.?d 7.11.1884

= Sarah Ann Littlewood

Florence Plant Littlewood

Eugenie Plant Littlewood

Ann, bap 28.12.1810 BEIGHTON

Elizabeth, bap 15.11.1812 BEIGHTON

m Charles Methley

Mary, bap 30.10.1814 BEIGHTON

m Joseph Jackson

Maria, bap 24.11.1816 BEIGHTON

m Thomas Hill

Samuelbap 3.1.1819 BEIGHTON

m Sarahb ?1827/8 SHEFFIELD

Samuel ?Fb ?1847/8 SHEFFIELD

Ann Eb ?1849/50 SHEFFIELD

Joseph, bap 4.2.1821 BEIGHTON

Ellen, bap 14.7.1822 BEIGHTON

Georgebap 12.6.1825 BEIGHTON

m Janeb ?1826/7 WORKSOP

John Thomasb ?1856/7 SHEFFIELD

Arthurb ?1857/8 SHEFFIELD

Samuelb ?1858/9 SHEFFIELD

Tobiasb ?1860 SHEFFIELD

Fanny, bap 31.5.1829 BEIGHTON

m William Warburton

Benjamin

Sarahm Mr Boulding

Marym Mr Haywoodwidowed by 1834to Middlesex

Figure B.8: Some descendants of the bricklayer John (1733-1816)


(a) Deeds information

1798 deed

and stated as former occupants in 1834 Stated as current occupants in 1834

John Plant John Roberts

Sarah South Benjamin Waller

William Beard Joseph ?Framley

John Senyor vacant

(b) Some apparently associated Directory entries

Name Directory

John Senior carpenter and joiner, 11 Cheney-row Montgomery 1797

John Senior builder, carpenter and joiner, 1 Castle-hill Gell’s 1825

Benjamin Waller blacksmith, Little Sheffield Gell’s 1825

Benjamin Waller jobsmith & violin repr, Little Sheffield White’s 1833

John Roberts mattrass manuf, Broom Close, Little Sheffield Robson’s 1839

Table B.3: Early 19th century occupants of John’s part of Broom Close (Plant’s Yard)

described identically as that in a 1798 deed for John Plant’s 0.5 acres of ground at the Broom Close

site of Plant’s Yard.

The occupants of the ‘four several Messuages or Dwellinghouses’ on John Plant’s Little Sheffield

site had changed between 1798 and 1834, as is indicated in Table B.3(a). John Senior, who was one

of the occupants in the bricklayer John Plant’s time, has been associated with the conversion of the

Slack Wheels to a forge around 1790. John Senior is listed (Table B.3(b)) by the time of the 1825

Sheffield Directory as a builder though, in John Plant’s lifetime, he was listed just as a carpenter

and joiner. It seems possible that John Senior had played a part in his landlord John Plant’s ac-

tivities and then later become a builder. The new occupants of John Plant’s part of Broom Close

(Table B.3(b)), by 1834, include the local blacksmith Benjamin Waller, who was also a violin15

repairer, and John Roberts who was a mattress manufacturer.

B.4 Ben(bellows)’s property and Plant posterity

As described earlier, the bellows maker Benjamin Plant ( Ben(bellows) ) appears to have arrived

in Sheffield rather earlier that his apparent brother John Plant. The records for Ben(bellows)′sproperty in Sheffield’s chapelry of Ecclesall are more extensive than those of his brother John who

just owned adjacent property to Ben(bellows)′s Little Sheffield Plant’s Yard site.

In 1766 Ben(bellows) had married Hannah, the only sibling of Joseph Ward who became

the 1790 Master Cutler (Figure B.9). The guests at Joseph’s Cutlers Feast included, amongst many

others, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, the Duke of Norfolk, William Wilberforce MP,16

William Huntsman,17 Robert Asline,18 John Kenyon,19 William Hoyle,20 Joseph Ibberson21 and

15Here, violin may refer to a part of the mechanism by which a horse drew a wagon rather than to a musical instruement.16William Wilberforce is famous for the abolition of the Slave Trade.17William Huntsman (1733-1816) the was the son and heir of the famous inventor of crucible steel, Benjamin Hunts-

man, whose Attercliffe works were just 2 miles NE of central Sheffield.18Joseph’s second wife was Sarah Asline.19Joseph co-owned the Pond Forge where John Kenyon’s forging business was based; John Kenyon is mentioned in

one of Ben(bellows)′s deeds.20An 1805 deed is in the names of Ben(bellows) and William Hoyle who was presumably he who owned the Upper

and Nether Slack Wheels to the immediate NW of Sheffield.21Joseph Ibberson owned Land, Spur Gart wheel & woods which was co-occupied by himself and Ben(bellows)

according to an 1802 rate book entry and Ecclesall Land Tax Records (nominally 1894-8). The Upper and Lower Spurgear

B.4. BEN(BELLOWS)’S PROPERTY AND PLANT POSTERITY 107

Figure B.9: Ben(bellows)′s brother-in-law Joseph Ward (1745-1820) and nephew Thomas Asline

Ward (1781-1871)

Peter Spurr22, as well as Mr and Mrs Benjamin Plant and Mr and Mrs John Plant.23 Some of these

were evidently business associates of Ben(bellows) who is mentioned, particularly through his

surviving widow, as Benjamin Plant of Sheffield Moor in the published diary (Table B.4) of her

nephew Thomas Asline Ward (MC 1816).

The bellows maker Ben(bellows) (1742-1806), or ‘Benjamin Plant of Sheffield Moor’ as he is

known in a standard work on Sheffield’s history24, held various properties around the edges of (Lit-

tle) Sheffield Moor in Ecclesall as well as further afield. Taking just Ecclesall itself, five rate books

have survived for here for the year 1793-4 with similar instalments recorded as paid in each book.

The 17 premises of Benjamin Plant in Coal-pit Lane attracted, for each instalment, a total charge

of 13/634d which, when added to Benjamin’s payments for other properties in Ecclesall Bierlow

gives £1/3/7d. This seems a significant payment even when compared with those in Ecclesall Bier-

low from the wealthy Josh Ibberson (17/712d) and even from Benjamin Plant’s friend and nephew

Samuel Broomhead Ward (£2/3/334d) who was already the owner of the substantial property Mount

Pleasant in Ecclesall.

B.4.1 Some pre-Enclosure Award rate books and deeds

A 1779 Ecclesall rate book, signed on the 6th September 1779, states a Poor Relief rate of 2d in

the pound. The rate increases threefold to 6d in a rate book of 27 June 1786, though the individual

instalments typically double as indicated in Table B.5.

Though the items are listed in a rather different order in the 1786 rate book, it may be noted for

Wheels adjoined the now-preserved Porter Wheel (now the Shepherd Wheel Museum) under Greystones Cliffe which was

owned by Edward Shepherd who had been the previous owner of the Little Sheffield site of Plants Yard.22The 1781 master Cutler Peter Spurr had an association with Ibberson and hence perhaps also the Spur Gart Wheel.23History of the Company of Cutlers, Vol II, Robert Eadon Leader, 1909.24Peeps into the Past: being passages from the diary of Thomas Asline Ward, edited by A.B.Bell, 1909.


The book Peeps into the Pasta is based one the diaries of the nephew T.A.Ward of Ben(bellows)′s wife. A snippet

from this book, dated to Ben(bellows)′s later years, concerns the birth of T.A.Ward’s younger brother, John (b

20.1.1801). Falsely anticipating that she might not recover from her forthcoming ‘hazard’, T.A.Ward’s mother (Sarah

Asline, 1757-1829) wrote a long letter to her husband, Joseph Ward, who was Ben(bellows)′s brother-in-law. Amid

wifely love, she expressed her wishes for the upbringing of her children and cautioned her husband to be careful to alter

his will so that the younger children may not suffer great hardship through the eldest son (S.B.Ward, by a former wife)

getting over much. Her requests for the disposal of her ‘cloaths’ (sic) include:

Mrs Plant, a black sattin (sic) petticoat, which is quilted, and black sattin (sic) cloak with grey fur.

Mrs Sampson, black silk gown and coat.

Mrs Plant, my bombazeen gown and cloak.

This Mrs Plant was quite clearly Ben(bellows)′s wife, Hannah. The Plants’ daughter was called Mrs Sampson at

that time (Figure B.5) and this, no doubt, is the Mrs Sampson who is named above as another potential beneficiary.

Other such bequests were made to Miss Goddard, Mary Ward, and a Mrs Trickett. Unfortunately, it is only just before

Ben(bellows)′s 1806 death that T.A.Ward’s diaries begin, in 1804, though there are a few items of interest in his

earlier notebooks. These begin with an 1800 pocket book which starts in French, breaking into Latin and Italian. These

notebooks and the subsequent diaries include an occasional reference to Ben(bellows)′s family.

1800 The French of the 19 year old T.A.Ward was not impeccable and the book gives a sample: “J.Sampson la

famille di Morton prient du the & du souper chez nous.”. This presumably relates to the Plants’ daughter Mrs

Sampson.b

1802, June 16 “Mrs Sampson married” ( Ben(bellows)′s daughter Mary Ward Plant married her second husband,

Timothy Hancock).

1804, August 26 Mr Ward went with his father, mother and sisters to Hellaby (near Maltby, 12 miles to the east) to

dine with Mr Sampson there.

1805, April 1 “My Aunt Asline was buried in St Paul’s by Mr Mackenzie ... The pall was supported by Mrs Trickett,

Huntsman, Plant, Younge, and Morton, and Misses Younge and Wainwright.” (Mrs William Huntsman, who is

mentioned here alongside Mrs Plant, was the daughter-in-law of the famous inventor of cast (or crucible) steel,

Benjamin Huntsman, 1704-76c).

1805, October 29 In the evening “I drank tea at Mr Plants’s, and supped at J.Roberts’ with a party of gentlemen.”.

1806, January 3 The editor notes the entry “Mr Plant died.” commenting ‘This was Benjamin Plant, whose wife was

Hannah, sister of Mr Ward’s father’.d

1807 The editor A.B.Bell notes that ‘A feature of the life at Howard Streete at this time is that Mr Ward’s Aunt Plant

appears to have made a practice of turning up with almost unfailing regularity at the Sunday dinner.’.

1808 A.B.Bell notes ‘The regular Sunday visits of Mrs Plant continued throughout the year; and, almost invariably,

she had as her fellow guest on these occasions Mrs Trickett, of whom Mr Ward says: “Her husband was a

respectable baker, who set up his sons in business, one as a baker, the other as a silversmith, both of whom

failed. Mrs T has long been a friend of my mother’s family.”.’ and R.E.Leader adds ‘Mrs Plant, frequently

mentioned as “Aunt Plant” was sister to Mr Ward, senior, widow of Benjamin Plant, Sheffield Moor.’.

1810 Near the beginning of this year A.B.Bell notes ‘Mr Ward’s friends were marrying ... There were deaths too —

our old friend “Aunt Plant”, Mr Joseph Ward’s sister; Joseph, a young son of Danniel Brammall at Inchbald’s

Schoolf; and a particularly sad tragedy in which one of the Mount Pleasant nieces lost her life.g’.

aPeeps into the Past, edited by A.B.Bell, 1909.bThis entry is followed, in French, by mention of Mrs Plant’s brother, Joseph Ward, who on the 18th August attended

a birthday dinner for the Duke of Norfolk at the Tontine.cBorn in Lincolnshire in 1704, Huntsman had first worked as a clockmaker in Doncaster. About 1740 he moved

to Handsworth where he experimented to make finer steel, suitable for his clock springs. He perfected his process by

completely melting the steel in clay crucibles subjected to great heat by means of coke. Huntsman did not patent his

invention and although his work was carried out in the utmost secrecy his idea was finally copied.dSimilar brevity, without any mention of ceremony by T.A.Ward, appears later on 17 Nov 1814 with “I married

Ann Lewin.”.eHoward Street, near Pond Lane, was at that time the home of T.A.Ward and his parents, Joseph Ward and Sarah

(nee Asline).fThis is the Brammall of Bram(m)all Lane, which is now widely known as Sheffield United’s football ground and

one of the Yorkshire county team’s cricket grounds. Danniel Brammall bought the Spurr Wheel in 1802 at a time when

Benjamin Plant is recorded as its rate-payer.gBen(bellows)′s nephew, S.B.Ward, was walking in the fields near his house with his wife, two sons, three

daughters, and a nursemaid — all had safely crossed the swollen River Sheaf on a narrow wooden bridge, except for

the nursemaid and 2 year old Anne when the bridge broke and only the nursemaid was rescued alive.

Table B.4: Some extracts from the diary of Ben(bellows)′s nephew Thomas Asline Ward.


(a) 1779: 2d in £ (b) 1786: 6d in £

... Joseph Sampson 8

... Mr Ibbotson 1/8

Mr Fairbank 1/- And for Wheel 4

Widw Middleton 4 ...

Mr Plant 1/- Benjn Plant 2/-

Ellena Roberts 8 And for Roberts 1/4

Mr Newbold Wheel 2/- ...

... Late Plant yard 2/4

Late Plant yard 1/2 Mr Sykes for Gibbet 7/0

... ...

Mr Ibbotson Wheel 2/- Plant 312 Unwin 61

2 1/8

Table B.5: Some pre-Enclosure Award rate book entries

example that the 1779 entry ‘Mr Plant’ appears almost next to an entry ‘Mr Newbold Wheel’ which

no doubt refers to the Newbould family’s water wheel, the Broomhall Wheel, on Broom-hall land

as will be detailed further below.

There is also, in 1786 (Table B.5(b)), a reference to Joseph Sampson who also appears in the

1774 rate book and who may have been a relative of the Samuel Sampson who married Benjamin’s

daughter, Mary Ward Plant, in 1788. There is an associated reference to J.Sampson in 1800 in

the diary of Benjamin Plant’s nephew, T.A.Ward. The 1786 entry for Sampson is next to one for

Ibbotson and his Wheel which is known to have been rented by Benjamin Plant.

The name Roberts seems closely associated with the name of Benjamin Plant in the 1779 and

1786 rate books (Table B.5) and just such an association was noted earlier for Elkana Roberts in

Coalpit Lane on Sheffield’s SW edge (Section B.1).

B.4.2 Allotments from the 1788 Enclosure Award and our ancestor Wm(1)

Benjamin Plant, and his brother John, were awarded small allotments in the 1788 Ecclesall Act, as

indicated in Table B.6.25

Benjamin’s allotment No.247 was only around 439 square yards but its location holds some

interest. Its location is shown on a map in a book by Carolus Paulus26 and it appears in a later, more

detailed 1850 map to be near a few trees called ‘Rustling Place’ where a track led from Greystones

Road about 500 yards northwards to ‘Rustling Farm’ past a few buildings called the ‘Rustlings’.

A rate book for 6 Jan 1800 includes, under Saml Newbold and his Wheel, a substantially charged

entry ‘ditto for Ruslings’ suggesting that the area known as ‘Rustlings’ was, at that time owned, or

being leased, by the Newboulds who are known to have been associates of Benjamin Plant’s wife’s

family.27 A deed registered on 5 Aug 1802 records the transfer from Benjamin Plant to James

Beal, for £50, of Benjamin’s adjacent allotments (247 and 247A of Table B.6 which adjoined the

Rustlings) which are described as ‘ground commonly called Rottenspot at the bottom of Brincliffe

Edge ... containing ... sixteen perches ... be the same more or less ... ground ... allotted and awarded

by the Commissioners to the said Benjamin Plant ... and also all that barn laith or building thereon

erected and built together with all ways, waters, watercourses, hedges, ditches, gates, styles ...’.

This location was about 1.5 miles to the west of Ben(bellows)′s Little Sheffield base and it

is where, some 50 years later in 1851, the widow of his nephew, our ancestor Wm(1) was to be

25The units ‘A. R. P.’ in this Table denote ‘acres, roods and square poles’. A pole, or perch, or rod were all the same

measure, with a square pole equalling 30.25 square yards and 160 square poles = 4 roods = 1 acre.26Carolus Paulus (1927) The Manor and Parish of Ecclesall; including the enclosure of Common and Waste Lands

there, Chapter XV.27Peeps into the Past: being passages from the diary of Thomas Asline Ward, ibid.


Name of

A. R. P. Situation Allottee

320 0 0 7 Sharrow Moor John Plant

247 0 0 1412 Brincliffe Edge Common Benjamin Plant

247A 0 0 112 Brincliffe Edge Common Benjamin Plant

Table B.6: Plant Allotments in the 1788 Enclosure Award

(a) 1793: 12d in £ (b) 1795: 12d in £

... ...

Benjamin Plant for his Yard 2/4 1

2Benjamin Plant for Ho & Gard 2/4 1

2

do for own & Smiths Allotment 5 1

2do for New Barn Allotment 3

do for Broomhall Land 3/2 3

4do for Broomhall Land 3/2 3

4

do for Ibberson Land 3/11 1

2do for J Ibberson Land 3/11 1

2

John Plant for Hos & Gardn 1/9 do for Dukes Allotment 3/9 1

4

do his 2d House 7 1

2do for Land at Broomhall Wheel 3/3 1

2

3d 11 1

4JOHN PLANT’S ENTRIES...

4th do 9 3

4...SAME AS FOR 1793

do for Allotment 3 ...

... ...

Table B.7: Some post-Enclosure rate book entries, excluding Ben(bellows)′s aforementioned

Coal-pit Lane entries

found with her son-in-law William Roberts.

The post-Parliamentary Enclosure Award rate books are, in general, more detailed than the

earlier ones. By 1793, we find Benjamin Plant’s properties listed both under Coal-pit Lane and

under Little Sheffield, to the north and the south of (Little) Sheffield Moor, and it seems that he also

acquired properties to the Moor’s east and beyond Rustlings to the west.

In the 1793 rate books, both Benjamin Plant’s and John Plant’s properties include ‘Allotments’

which were no doubt the small lands allotted to them in the 1788 Enclosure Awards. It seems that

Benjamin had a ‘New Barn’ on his allotment by the time of the 2 Feb 1794 rate book (cf Table B.7)

and there is also mention, in an 1802 deed, of a barn for this allotment.

B.4.3 Land near the Broomhall Wheel

The Broomhall Wheel was on the Porter Brook just to the NNW of John and Benjamin Plant’s

Broom Close base in Little Sheffield (Figure B.3) that was subsequently known as Plant’s Yard. A

‘Land near Broomhall Wheel’ entry first appears under Ben(bellows)′s name in 1794 rate books

and it is replaced in 1799 (Table B.8(a)) by ‘Stalker Wheel land’ with an exactly doubled payment.

This suggests, as the rate had doubled, that these two descriptions refer to the same land. It hence

seems probable that this land lay between the Stalker Wheel and the adjacent Broomhall Wheel. The

Stalker Wheel was in the tenancy of Benjamin Plant’s brother-in-law, Joseph Ward and had been in

the hands of his family since 1765.28 The Broomhall Wheel belonged to the Newbould family who

are known to have been close associates of the Wards and the Plants; it appears to have been built

in the mid 18th century as it does not appear in a 1742 rate book but it is recorded in a 1759 survey

28The dam and goits of the Stalker Wheel, which was on the north side of the Porter Brook, appear just downstream

(to the right) of the Snuff Mill which is shown near the lower left edge of Figure B.3). The dam of the next Wheel

downstream from the Stalker Wheel, the Broomhall Wheel, is on the south side of the Brook and it appears just upstream

of the smaller dam of the Corn Mill, which is shown just to the NNW of Little Sheffield in Figure B.3.


(a) 1799: 24d in £ (b) 1802: 24d in £

Joseph Smith ...

John Bennett charged ...

John Hobson before Plant Benjn 4/9Benjn Plant for Hos 1/9 do Barn Empty 6do for Barn 6 do Stalker Wheel Ld 6/7 1

2

do for Broomhall Land 6/5 1

2do Dukes Ld 7/6 1

2

do for Ibberson Land 7/11 do Hos & Land 1/9do for Stalker Wheel Land 6/7 Broomhall Ibbn Ld 7/11do for Dukes 7/6 1

2do Spurr Whl 17/6

Widow South for Hos 1/3 do Jn Wood 1/6John Plant 3/6 Biggin Andrew 1/3do for Land 6 South Widw 3/6

?Wm Beard ?Emte 1/7 1

2Plant Jno Allt 6

John Senier 1/7 1

2...

Table B.8: Some Ecclesall rate book entries around 1800

field-book as Thomas Newbould’s wheel and dam immediately to the south of the Broomhall Mill.29

This Wheel is remarkable for apparently being in the tenancy of the Newbould family throughout

the whole of its existence. There are repeated mentions of the Newboulds in the book based on the

diary of one of Benjamin Plant’s nephews30 where it is mentioned that a sister (Mrs Mary Watson)

of the first wife (Hannah Watkinson) of Ben(bellows)′s nephew, S.B.Ward, married into this

family by marrying the Sheffield Moor merchant, Thomas Newbould. This Thomas Newbould was

a grandson of the earlier Thomas Newbould (d 1782) of Newbould Lane.31

B.4.4 Dukes Allotment

It is interesting to note that allotment No.101 for example, of the 1788 Enclosure Award, was

granted to the Duke of Norfolk and that this allotment apparently adjoined the Little Sheffield site

subsequently known widely as Plant’s Yard.32 However, it seems unlikely that such a small allot-

ment (1 square pole) would attract the large Poor Rate payment attributed to the ‘Dukes Allotment’

in Table B.7(b).

Certainly, the Duke had obtained several larger allotments on Sheffield Moor, for example, as

part of the 1788 Award but it seems more likely that the above reference to the ‘Dukes Allotment’

applied to land to the east of The Moor. This area was known as Alsops Fields, which was private

land that was not part of the common allotted in the 1788 Act, though it was contemporaneously

being developed as leased allotments, between 1776 and 1793. Just such a location (viz Pond Lane)

for land leased from the Norfolk family is indicated in Benjamin Plant’s 1805 will which explicitly

mentions his ‘Leasehold Messuages Lands and Tennements situate in or near Pond Lane in Sheffield

aforesaid which I hold by lease under the Norfolk family’.

Thus, this land referred to as Dukes Allotment was apparently near the home of Benjamin Plant’s

brother-in-law, the 1790 Master Cutler, Joseph Ward, and near to one of the Ward’s major industrial

29By 1850, shortly before the Broomhall Wheel’s disappearance, the rate books record a dual function, as an edge-tool

wheel-house and a saw wheel-house, though only a single 16′2′′ 11hp Water Wheel is described in 1830 (Water Power

on the Sheffield Rivers edited by D.Crossley, 1989).30Peeps into the Past, edited by A.B.Bell, 1909, pps 7 and 11.31Newbould Lane is just to the north of the old site of Broom Hall. It now adjoins the school that was, until the recent

abolition of selective entrance (the so-called 11 plus), Britain’s most academically successful non-fee-paying school

(King Edward VII Grammar School) which had been formed partly from T.A.Ward’s alma mater, the Sheffield Grammar

School.32The public footpath provision of the 1788 Award describes ‘One public footway from the ancient enclosure belonging

to Mary Battie at Little Sheffield eastwards, into and along the Duke of Norfolk’s allotment 101 into the Sheffield turnpike

road.’ Carolus Paulus identifies this footway as Cross Walk.


Land Tax Assessed

Owner Occupants and Exonerated

Joseph Ibbotson Benjamin Plant & oths 6/8 3

4

Benjamin Plant John Ogley 7/9 1

4

John Plant Self & oths 2/1 3

4

Table B.9: Ecclesall Land Tax records (nominally 1836-93 but evidently referring back to earlier)

Owner Occupiers Properties Exonerated

Ibberson Jos Self and B Plant Land, Spur Gart wheel 6/8 3

4

& woods

Plant Benjn Jno Ogle, W Banks Land premises 7/9 1

4

& others & hereditiments

& Barn

Plant Jno Self W Smith 2 Messes & a 2/1 3

4

Jno Senior small piece of

& anth land

Table B.10: Ecclesall Land Tax records (nominally 1894-8 but evidently referring back to earlier)

enterprises, the Pond Tilt.

B.4.5 The Spurr or ‘Spur Gart’ Wheel

The 17/6 rate payment by Benjamin Plant for the ‘Spurr Whl’ in 1802 is precisely twice that paid

by Josh Ibberson in 1793 for ‘Spurr Wheel, Dam &c’ and, since the rate had doubled, these two

descriptions presumably apply to the same property. Between 1799 and 1802 (parts (a) and (b) of

Table B.8) Benjamin Plant’s rate book listings add extra items including ‘do Spurr Whl 17/6’ and

‘do Jn Wood 1/6’. This suggests that Benjamin had acquired the tenancy of the Spurr Wheel, which

was just under 2 miles to the west of the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard (upstream on the Porter

Brook off to the left of Figure B.3).

The reasoning behind identifying the names ‘Spurr Wheel’ and ‘Spur Gart Wheel’ with the

Nether Spurgear Wheel can be summarised as follows. Both of the names ‘Spur Gart’ and ‘Spurr’

appear in Ecclesall records and, unlike the Upper Spurgear Wheel, the Nether Spurgear Wheel was

on the Ecclesall side of the Porter Brook boundary33 .

The various names ‘Spurr’, ‘Spur Gart’ or ‘Spurgear’ for these Wheels hold some interest in

so far as they apparently relate to the mechanics of these water-powered premises. W.T.Miller34

33Both the Upper and Nether Spurgear Wheels are described in Water Power on the Sheffield Rivers edited by David

Crossley. According to this text, the Upper Spurgear Wheel was at first called the New Wheel, after its inception in 1754

and then the Cutlers Wheel in the 1760’s, before Joseph Ibbotson became its sole tenant in 1775, whereafter it became

known as the Ibbotson Wheel. The description of the Nether Spurgear (Third Endcliffe) Wheel in this book does not

mention that it was apparently also called the Spurr Wheel. For the Nether Spurgear Wheel it is merely mentioned that a

John Ibberson had obtained a Norfolk lease in May 1749 to build a weir above Smith Wood, to convey water to a cutlers

wheel to be built on lands of Montague Wortley, opposite Smith Wood.34W.T.Miller, The Water Mills of Sheffield, Second Issue (1947), page 51.


comments on the recorded 1794 name ‘Upper Spurgaire’:-

‘Perhaps spur-gearing was something of a novelty in this district as compared with

the more common bevel-gear drive’.

though this 1947 published explanation omits to mention the additional information that there was

apparently a connection with Peter Spurr (Table B.11).

Land associated with the ‘Spur Gart wheel’ in Land Tax records is stated to have been owned

by Joseph Ibberson (often recorded as Ibbotson) and to have been occupied by ‘Self and B.Plant’ or

‘Benjamin Plant & oths’ (Tables B.9 and B.10). The property is described in these records as ‘Land,

Spur Gart wheel & woods’ and the woods in this description were presumably those shown on an

1850 map, on which the Upper Spurgear Wheel is called the Ibbotson Wheel with the Ibbotson

Woods lying between it and the Nether Spurgear Wheel35. It can be added that woods were often

cultivated for charcoal. This might help to explain Ben(bellows)′s interest in his Greystones lands

since charcoal was used in forges, though higher-temperatures were obtained with coke which was

used by Huntsman for completely melting blister steel to form his high quality cast steel. Woods

were also no doubt a source of the timber for the bellows and other mechanical plant which was

installed to operate Sheffield’s developing forges (cf. Figure B.10).

B.4.6 Some business and family connections

The precise date of the Plants’ purchase of their Little Sheffield Plant’s Yard base is unknown but

it seems probable that the previous owner of the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard was the same

Edward Shepherd as he who, in 1749, acquired the Porter Wheel (now the Shepherd Wheel Mu-

seum) under Greystones Cliffe and he retained this Wheel until his death in 1794.36 The allotments

that were awarded to Benjamin Plant in the 1788 Ecclesall Enclosure Act were near this Shepherd

Wheel. Table B.6 also lists allotment number 320 (7 square perches on Sharrow Moor) which was

allotted to John Plant and which lay roughly amidst the 2 miles between the Shepherd Wheel and

Plant’s Yard. A deed dated 6 Nov 1804 (registered 25 March 1805, Wakefield Deeds Office, ET-

371-181) shows that John Plant’s Sharrow Moor allotment, number 320, was bounded to the south

by a slightly larger allotment (number 321 of 1 rood and 17 square perches) which lay between it

and the turnpiked road to Manchester. This 1804 deed indicates that the allotment 321 had passed

from its original 1788 allottee, John Wright, to John Plant and his wife Dorothy’s brother, William

Needham. This helps in making it clear that this John Plant in Ecclesall was the bricklayer John

Plant from Rotherham, where he had married Dorothy Needham.

An 1805 deed for the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard (EX-153-206) is in the names of ‘Ben-

jamin Plant bellows maker’ and William Hoyle ‘Gentleman’. This William Hoyle is presumably

he who, by 1806, owned both the Upper and Nether Slack Wheels near the confluence of the River

Loxley with the Don, just to the immediate NW of Sheffield. William Hoyle had acquired the ten-

ancy of these Wheels from John Senior in 1784 and this no doubt relates to the John Senior who is

recorded to be an occupant at the Little Sheffield Plant’s Yard site by the 1790’s. It is also known

that, when James Cam took a part share in this William Hoyle’s ‘Houle’s Wheel’ in 1793, it had

recently been converted into a forge.37

There is also another deed which relates the Plant’s Yard Plants, albeit indirectly, to forges and,

in particular, to the introduction of steam power at the Pond Forge by 1805. More traditionally,

water power had been used to drive large bellows in a forge (Figure B.10). The second of the two

35The Upper Spurgear Wheel dam remains, with water fowl, at the foot of Bingham Park. The building was demolished

around 1950, despite suggestions around 1930 that it could be preserved as an Industrial Museum along with the adjacent

Shepherd’s Wheel, which is a Museum (Water Power on the Sheffield Rivers, ibid). The dam of the Nether Spurgear

Wheel also survives, with rowing boats, at the western end of Endcliffe Park.36There is only one Edward Shepherd in 18th century Sheffield Directories and this is in the 1787 entry Shepherd,

Edward, factor, and manufacturer of cutlery wares, Far-gate.37Water Power on the Sheffield Rivers, ibid.


The cutlery trade’s apprenticeship recordsa show that Peter Spurr was apprenticed to Joseph Ibbotson in 1748, becoming

a Freeman in 1758. Moreover, the father Timothy Hancock of Ben(bellows)′s son-in-law was also apprenticed to an

Ibberson, to a John Ibberson in 1772 becoming a Freeman in 1784. The preserved guest list for the 1771 Cutlers Feast

provides some clarification as it lists Joseph jnr along with John, and Joseph snr who is described as ‘Joseph Ibberson,

MC 1759, Town Trustee 1770-5, Town Collector until his death in 1775’. No doubt it was subsequently Joseph Ibbotson

jnr who was to be found at the Spurr or Spurgear Wheels though the 1774 Sheffield Directory entry is apparently in the

name of Joseph Ibbotson snr, just before his death, and it takes the form Ibberson Joseph, and Sons, cutlers, Norfolk

Street.

Thus, it is presumably this Joseph Ibbotson jnr who was the tenant of the Upper Spurgear Wheel from 1775, before

he held its freehold between 1817 and 1826. Ibbotson’s presence at the Spurr or Nether Spurgear Wheel is apparent in

rate book entries of 1774 and 1793b . We can add that the Land Tax records seem to suggest that Joseph Ibbotson jnr

became the owner of the Nether Spurgear Wheel, perhaps around 1800, before he obtained the freehold in 1817 of the

adjacent Upper Spurgear Wheel.

It seems that this Joseph Ibbotson jnr had sufficient wealth, perhaps inherited from the 1759 Master Cutler Joseph Ib-

botson snr, to become a shareholder of the Tontine Inn in 1782. Other shareholders of the Tontine included the Broom-

heads and Jonathan Watkinson, who have been mentioned earlier in association with Benjamin Plantc. The shareholder

Samuel Broomhead was no doubt the step-father of Benjamin Plant’s wife, Hannah, whilst the other Broomhead share-

holders would have been her step-uncles. The shareholder Jonathan Watkinson was no doubt the ill-famed ‘W—’ who

was the first father-in-law of Benjamin Plant’s nephew S.B.Ward. It seems that the shareholder Joseph Ibbotson jnr was

based in Little Sheffield, near Benjamin Plant, as can be judged for example from the 1797 Directory entry Ibbotson,

Joseph, weavers’ knife maker, Little Sheffield.

An indirect connection between Benjamin Plant and the Spurrs is apparent in the early 1790’s when Benjamin Plant’s

Coal-pit Lane property is listed in close proximity to that of Thomas Tillotson (MC 1790), whose wife was Peter Spurr’s

sister. At this time, Benjamin Plant’s brother-in-law, Joseph Ward (MC 1791), was a fellow officer in the Company

of Cutlers of Tillotson (MC 1790) and it seems that Joseph Ward’s succession as 1791 Master Cutler may have had

some connection with Ben(bellows)′s being Tillotson’s neighbour. Subsequently in 1812, 1814, 1816 and 1824,

there are references to the Spurrs, as social acquaintances, neighbours and fellow administrative officials, in the diary

of Benjamin Plant’s nephew T.A.Wardd.

Around the time of Ben(bellows)′s appearance as the rate-payer for the Spurr Whl, this Nether Spurgear Wheel was

sold, in May 1802, to Daniel Brammall who enlarged the dam. Daniel Brammall, who was a filesmith, lived in the

White House on Brammall Lane which was close to the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard and which was just 0.2

miles to the east of the Mount Pleasant home, at Highfield, of Benjamin Plant’s friend and nephew Samuel Broomhead

Ward.e

A 1794 description of the Upper Spurgear Wheel mentions 11 troughs and, by 1830, 17 troughs are mentioned for the

Nether Spurgear Wheelf. The adjacent Shepherd’s Wheel Museum, whose origins can be dated back to 1566 but whose

current buildings date back to the late 18th century, has 10 troughs in 2 grinding hulls or ends (i.e. separate workshops)

— the grinding wheels in both these ends are driven through plant that comprises wheels and leather belts, from a

crown wheel which has teeth on the side (i.e. on the vertical face) of its rim. This contrasts with a spur gear, for which

the teeth form extremities projecting radially outwards beyond the wheel’s rimg.

The precise function of the Spurr Wheel around 1800 is not entirely clear though the mention of 17 troughs by 1830

might lead us to deliberate whether Benjamin Plant may have been employing jobbing grinders here, around 1800.

Perhaps more likely however, we may contemplate whether the bellows maker Benjamin Plant may have been active

here, around 1800, in the installation of suitable bellows prior to Daniel Brammall’s interest in the Wheel, perhaps as

a file forge. Though there is no known direct evidence, it seems possible that new ‘spur-gear’ mechanisms could have

been demonstrated here by the 1758 apprentice, Peter Spurr, of Joseph Ibbotson snr with Ben(bellows) perhaps,

around 1800, using robust gearings at these premises of Joseph Ibbotson jnr for the activation of powerful, perhaps

even cylinder (steam) bellows.

aHistory of the Company of Cutlers, Vol.II, ibid.bWater Power on the Sheffield Rivers, ibid.cThe Tontine Inn was completed in 1785; it was a type of stately English inn of the great days of coaching, the

Post House and main transport centre of Sheffield, as well as being the scene of many social, business and political

meetings. At a meeting on 1 Nov 1782, it had been decided to issue shares in the form of a tontine, whereby the shares

of subscribers who died were to be added to the profits of the survivors. From the more prosperous townspeople, 39

had taken 48 £ 100 shares, including The Earl of Surrey (4 shares), Vincent Eyre (2), Samuel Broomhead, Benjamin

Broomhead, Joseph Broomhead, Jonathan Watkinson and Joseph Ibbotson.dPeeps into the Past, ibid, pages 196, 212, 216, 233, 280, 284.eThe White House is shown near the bottom centre of Figure B.3. Subsequently, a grandson of Benjamin Plant’s

nephew Wm(1) was living here, in 1871.fThe mention of ‘troughs’ implies grinding troughs whereby water in the each trough would moisten a stone

vertically-spinning grinding wheel to cool it and, incidentally, this would also limit the dust which is now known

to have been a serious health hazard.gA large oak-toothed spur wheel can be seen in the Tilt Forge of the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet museum on the

nearby River Sheaf.


(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure B.10: An 18th century iron forge: (a) bellows (approx 20ft long); (b) plan view of 2 bellows

besides furnace; (c) spur-wheel drive for compressing each bellows in turn and counter-weights for

raising bellows between compressions


aforementioned Coal-pit Lane deeds (7 Oct 1805, EX-152-205) is between Benjamin Plant and a

surviving executor, John Kenyon merchant, of a silversmith John Winter deceased. This is quite

surely the John Kenyon of the Pond Forge, at the other end of Pond Lane from the Pond Tilt,

as well as of Middlewood Forge and Rolling Mill on the nearby River Don. The 1797 Directory

lists Kenyon, Frith & Co., iron masters, Forge Street and Forge Street adjoined the Pond Forge.

This Directory also lists Kenyon, John, merchant, filesmith, and sawmaker, 9 Hollis Street, which

apparently refers to the premises for Kenyon’s end products. Kenyon, Frith & Co are known to have

acquired a steam engine for the Pond Forge by the time of this 1805 deed with Ben(bellows) .38

Ben(bellows)′s apparent association with the Pond Forge by 1805 can be connected to the fact

that he was leasing nearby property in Pond Lane. More particularly, an 1805 deed for his Little

Sheffield Plant’s Yard property lists him as the first party with John Kenyon as the second party.

The partners of the Pond Forge were subsequently Kenyon, Frith and Woolhouse and the latter

two surnames subsequently appear amongst the listed occupants of Ben(bellows)′s properties

(Tables B.13 and B.15).

The three 18th century Sheffield Directories (1774, 1787, and 1797) provide no direct evidence

of the type of bellows Ben(bellows)′s made. It seems possible that Ben(bellows) may have

been involved in the development of better mechanisms for his bellows at the Spurr Wheel near

Greystones, prior to his (perhaps indirect) association with the first known introduction of steam-

power to a Sheffield forge, the Pond Forge, by 1805. We can comment no more than his known

business partners make it seem likely that he might have been involved with the introduction of

steam-cylinder bellows to the Pond Forge. The 18th century Directories list Benjamin Plant simply

as a bellows maker. The only other mentions of bellows in these Directories are for the Lin(d)ley

family who are also listed simply as bellows maker. About 20 years after Ben(bellows)′s death,

the 1825 Directory entry is a little more explicit:-

Thomas Linley, patent treble circular and common bellows maker, 1 Stanley St, Wicker.

It is not clear exactly how the Linleys had by then benefited from Ben(bellows)′s demise though

it may be relevant that there were other Linleys near the Plants’ Coalpit Lane property:

George Linley, 6 Coalpit Lane — manufacturers of weavers shears, nippers loom knives, butcher

and cook knives, silk nippers, engine spindles for silk, magnets, sheep shears, horse and

woolster’s shears, sinder shovels, cut clog nails and bill clogs, shoe clasps, edge tools, drawing

knives, &c.

Samuel Linley, 15 Burgess St. — victualler, Oxford Blue; also table knife manufacturers.

Even by 1921, there is in White’s Sheffield Directory:-

Thomas Linley & Sons, 34 Stanley Street — inventors and manufacturers of double blast bellows,

smiths’s hearths, vices etc.

On the other hand, it seems that the Plant family ceased their involvement with bellows making

when Ben(bellows) died without sons in 1806.

B.4.7 The three favoured Plant nephews in Ben(bellows)’s 1805 will

The bellows maker Benjamin’s nephew Benjamin appears to have been a carpenter and he will be

denoted Ben(carp) as this serves to distinguish him from his uncle, the bellows maker Benjamin

– Ben(bellows) . Ben(carp) may have been the most favoured nephew for the long term

perpetuation of Ben(bellows)′s estate since, though only aged 15 at the time of the 1805 will, he

and his heirs male were to receive the residue of the estate, following various bequeathals and life

38Water Power on the Sheffield Rivers, ibid.


annuities to others. His brother Joseph, then aged 18, and his heirs male were to be substituted only

if the eldest son of Ben(carp) died without heirs male.

The remaining nephew, our ancestor Wm(1) , was a cousin of the other two nephews and older

(aged 33). He was to receive immediately a simple gift of £10. Wm(1)′s known address of

1841 was a little over 1 mile W of Plant’s Yard and near where his uncle, Ben(bellows) , had

owned some land. A supposition that a close relationship developed between the families of all

three nephews mentioned in Ben(bellows)′s 1805 will is supported by the fact that, by the time of

more detailed 1841 records, Wm(1)′s son, the shoemaker William, was living near Ben(carp)′sson who was by then living in the household of Ben(carp)′s brother Joseph. Thus, children of all

three of the ‘favoured nephews’ were living by 1841 about 0.4 mile NE from Plant’s Yard, near the

foot of Little Sheffield Moor.

B.4.8 Benjamin’s finally listed properties

By 1804 the number of properties listed in Ecclesall rate books under Ben(bellows)′s name was

dwindling and, listed under Little Sheffield, there is by then just a single entry ‘Plant Benjn 6/6’.

This charge reduces to ‘4/9’ in the 16 July 1805 book. In the 21 April 1806 book the name ‘Benjn’ is

crossed out and ‘W o’ is written alongside. This no doubt indicates that Benjamin’s widow continued

to make the rate payments on his Little Sheffield property (presumably at the Broom Close site of

Plant’s Yard) after Benjamin’s death on Jan 3 1806. An entry ‘Plant W o 4/9’ continues at least as

far as the 7 March 1807 rate book, by when Benjamin’s widow is known to have been a regular

visitor, for Sunday lunch, at her brother’s Howard Street home (Table B.4).39

The evidence suggests that Benjamin Plant had disposed of some land in the vicinity of the

Spurr Wheel at Greystones before making his 1805 will (Table B.12). From 1804, up to the 1 July

1806 rate book, there appears an entry ‘Smith Thos 5/4/0’ followed by ‘do Late Plant Ld 7/6’ in

an area that appears to be near Greystones, about 2 miles to the west of Little Sheffield. Almost

the nearest property to the Spurr Wheel, about 0.5 miles to the east in the direction of Plant’s Yard,

is shown on an 1850 map to be the ‘Rustlings’ which has already been discussed in association

with the allotments (247 and 247A) that were awarded in the 1788 Ecclesall Enclosure Act to Ben-

jamin Plant. It may perhaps have been these allotments that gained a barn in 1793.40 We can

thus conjecture that the land described as ‘Land premises & hereditaments & Barn’ in the Land

Tax records of Table B.10 might perhaps apply to a large piece of land that might have included

Benjamin Plant’s small 1788 allotments near the Rustlings. The Land Tax and other records ac-

cordingly suggest that the bellows maker Benjamin Plant owned this moderately large piece of land

and that he was also leasing nearby land around the Spurr Wheel. It seems unlikely that these Grey-

stones lands were part of the unspecified ‘freehold’ and ‘leasehold’ possessions that are mentioned

in Ben(bellows)′s 1805 will. It seems that, instead of being passed on to the will’s principal Plant

beneficiary (i.e. Ben(carp) ), this freehold land in particular may have passed in some sense into

the hands of another of Ben(bellows)′s nephews, the ‘Ag.Lab’ William Plant (i.e. Wm(1) ).

Wm(1) was the oldest son of the farmer Thomas Plant of Clowne and it is not inconceivable that

Ben(bellows) , who had no sons or grandchildren of his own, may have been holding this rural land

at Greystones in some sense ‘to the advantage of’ his nephew Wm(1) . The widow, for example,

of our evident ancestor Wm(1) can be found with her son-in-law at the Rustlings in 1851.

It is not clear exactly when Wm(1) may have come from Clowne to Ecclesall though it seems

probable that he came to work lands near the ‘Rustlings’ at Greystones, around 2 miles WSW of

Sheffield, before the time of Ben(bellows)′s 1806 demise. It is possible that some (?informal)

connection with this land may have been retained by Wm(1) after Ben(bellows) had disposed

39Howard Street lies across the Alsop Fields developments shown in Figure B.2(b) and it is the ‘Proposed Street’ there

that leads from the Tilt Dam to the ‘New Church’ (St Pauls) near Cheney Square, which lies just to the east of Coal-pit

Lane.40This is apparent in rate books and confirmed in an 1800 deed.


As well as providing for his wife and daughter, Benjamin’s 1805 will provides for a ‘widow Bradley’, a Ward nephew

(S.B.Ward) and potentially three Plant nephews. Two of these Plant nephews were sons of the second trustee of the will,

the yeoman James Plant, who was one of Benjamin Plant’s brothers. This James Plant, who is no doubt he who can be

associated with Coal-pit Lane through his 1768 apprenticeship record, was buried 10 miles to the south at Duckmanton

near Chesterfield some 20 years later in 1825.

In his 12 Nov1805 will (under £ 450, administration 10 July 1806, proved 16 Aug 1806), the testator is described as

‘Benjamin Plant of Ecclesall Byerlow in the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York Bellows-maker’. The trustees

are described as ‘my Friend Samuel Broomhead Ward of Sheffield aforesaid Merchant and my Brother James Plant

of Calowa in the Parish of Chesterfield ... Yeoman’. The specified property bequeathals to the trustees suggest that

Benjamin Plant held some other properties, in nearby parishes, besides those which have been investigated in detail for

Ecclesallb.. The ‘bequeathals in trust’ continue with ‘... And also my five sittings in Trinity Church in Sheffield’ but

some property is excluded by the statement ‘ ... (except for the Rent of a House in Pond Lane in Sheffield ... and of a

House intended and directed to be built for Ann Bradley Widow)’.

This aforementioned widow Ann Bradley was to be bequeathed accommodation near Benjamin’s homec . The will

contains ‘... bequeath unto Ann Bradley the widow of Abel Bradley deceased ... yearly sum of Ten Pounds ... and direct

my said Trustees do and shall with all possible speed convert the Laith adjoining to the House I have let to Robert Swift

near to my own dwelling house into a convenient Tenement or Dwelling ...’.

The will includes ‘I do hereby give and bequeath unto my dear Wife Hannah Plant yearly ... Forty Pounds ... Also

... Five Pounds to be paid to her immediately after my decease and also the choice of either of the Houses in Pond

Lane aforesaid ...’. These Pond Lane houses would have been quite near to the Howard Street house of Hannah Plant’s

brother, Joseph Ward, and to this extent they were perhaps thought to be more convenient to her as a town house than

the dwellings at the Plants’ Little Sheffield base.

The only offspring mentioned is ‘my daughter Mary Ward Hancock ... and ... her Husband Timothy Hancock of

Sheffield Cutlerd’ who eventually in stages, if she outlived her mother and husband, was to receive Fifty Pounds yearly.

Following the deaths of his wife and daughter the estates were to be divided amongst Benjamin Plant’s nephews. The

only Ward nephew mentioned is S.B.Ward as follows. ‘I Give devise and bequeath all my Leasehold Messuages Lands

and Tenements situate in or near Pond Lane in Sheffield aforesaid which I hold by Lease under the Norfolk Family with

the appurtenances unto the said Samuel Broomhead Ward ... ’. Further property rights that were to be reserved for

Samuel Broomhead Ward are subsequently clarified to be ‘Tithes arising ... out of certain Lands belonging to Dronfield

School and to Joseph Ward in the Parish of Dronfield aforesaid and now in the possession of John Folds and also an

annual Fee Farm rent of threepence issuing out of the said Lands of the said Joseph Warde ... ’. Further provision

includes the choice to Benjamin’s wife of up to half of his ‘Household Goods and Furniture Plate China and Linen ...’.

There is also an allocation of £ 20 and expenses to each of the Trustees.

The assessed value of the will only corresponds to around £8000 at 1985 prices (after allowing for the negative inflation

of the early nineteenth century as well as the more significant positive inflation of the twentieth century). This was still

a significant amount however, since the assessed values of wills before 1858 were calculated only on the personal

estate that they contained, which was usually minimal.f There is moreover evidence to suggest that Benjamin had

already disposed of some of his property by the time he made his 1805 will. Thus the evidence for Benjamin’s wealth

lies rather more in the earlier indications of widespread properties (and influential connections) than in the will, which

shows that Benjamin Plant had retained until his 1806 death just £450 of (taxable) ‘personal’ estate.

aCalow was the site of Eb Smith & Co’s iron works near Duckmanton.bThe trustees are bequeathed ‘All my Freehold and Leasehold Messuages Lands Tenements Tithes and Heredita-

ments situate and being in Sheffield and Ecclesall Byerlow or elsewhere in the Parish of Sheffield aforesaid and at

Apperknowle in the Township of Unston and Dronfield in the Parish of Dronfield ... and all and singular other ...

whatsoever and wheresoever ...’.cThough no details have been established about Bradley family relationships, it is interesting to note that some

thirty years later (in 1833) a J.Bradley was miller at the Broomhall Corn Mill, which was just NNW of Little Sheffield

(Figure B.3). Although the precise locations of some of Benjamin’s properties remain uncertain, it seems possible for

example that the accommodation to be granted to Ann Bradley might have related to the ‘Land near Broomhall (or

Stalker) Wheel’ that is mentioned in rate books. This was near the Broom Close site of Plant’s Yard in Little Sheffield

which appears to have been the site of Benjamin’s home. Alternatively, this accommodation could have been on part of

Broom Close itself.dThere is a 1797 Directory entry Hancock, Timothy, Springknife cutler, 41, Broad Lane.eThis was no doubt Benjamin’s brother-in-law, the 1790 Master Cutler Joseph Ward.fReal estate belonged in theory to the King, unlike personal estate which belonged to God, and it was hence the

convention that only the value of personal estate was assessed for wills, which were administered up to 1858 by the

Church Courts. Personal estate comprised leasehold and household goods and the assessed value of Benjamin’s will

would not include the ‘Freehold ... Messuages Lands Tenements Tithes and Hereditaments’ that it mentions.

Table B.12: Some details of Ben(bellows)′s 1805 will

B.5. SOME OFFSPRING OF BEN(BELLOWS)’S BROTHER JAMES (1740-1825) 119

of it shortly before making his 1805 will. This would then help to explain why Wm(1)′s widow41

was to be found living in the household of her farmer son-in-law here at the ‘Rustlings’ in 1851.42

Wm(1)′s offspring remained in Sheffield, evidently including Wm(shoe) who was grandad

Stewart’s great great grandfather.

B.5 Some offspring of Ben(bellows)’s brother James (1740-1825)

These offspring are relevant to the subsequent history of Plant’s Yard since they contain the line of

inheritance of much of Ben(bellows)′s property though they eventually lost it and moved away

to the east in Sheffield while their ‘cousins’, our own Plant ancestors, stayed close to Plant’s Yard.

The yeoman James Plant (1740-1825) and most of his children appear to have remained mostly

in Duckmanton near Chesterfield. He may well be the James who was apprenticed in Coalpit Lane

in 1768. Certainly, some of his offspring travelled the 10 miles north from Duckmanton to the

vicinity of Sheffield. In particular, James’s sons Joseph (1787-?) and Benjamin (1790-?1827) are

mentioned in the 1805 will of their uncle, Ben(bellows) who had no sons of his own. As will

be indicated below, there is confirmation in property deeds that James Plant’s son, the carpenter

Benjamin (1790-?1827) (i.e. Ben(carp) ), was a major beneficiary of Ben(bellows)′s will.

Ben(carp)′s brother Joseph Plant (1787-?) is also mentioned occasionally in deeds relating to

Ben(bellows)′s late property. This Joseph is also mentioned in an 1834 deed (Section B.3.2) that

relates to the property in Little Sheffield that had earlier belonged to the aforementioned bricklayer

John Plant (1733-1816).

Ben(carp)′s inheritance seems to have been near to central Sheffield, at the Coalpit Lane site

that has been supposed to be ‘Late Plant yard’, as well as at the subsequent Little Sheffield site of

Plant’s Yard. Some confirmation of Ben(carp)′s inheritance can be found in two deeds dated

1816, for example, which apply to the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard. There are also four

further deeds dated shortly before Ben(carp)′s 1827 death.

B.5.1 Two 1816 deeds

Two deeds were registered at Wakefield on 22 April 1816. The first, dated 16 Jan 1816 (GK-123-

13143), was in the names of ‘Benjamin Plant of Dore ... carpenter ... Joseph Plant of Duckmanton

... farmer ... and Thomas Pierson of Sheffield ... stationer’ whilst the second, dated 23 Jan 1816

(GK-124-132), is an indenture of appointment and mortgage in the names of the same Benjamin

Plant and Thomas Pierson as well as ‘Ann Wilson of Sheffield aforesaid widow’.

These two deeds clearly involve Plants of the Duckmanton Plant family. The deeds name those

two of James’s sons, Ben(carp) and Joseph, who are named in Ben(bellows)′s 1805 will

and they provide confirmation that the property described in them had passed with Ben(bellows)′sdemise to his nephew Ben(carp) in particular. Both of the deeds apply to ‘those several messuages

or dwellinghouses with the Yard vacant land ...’ as listed in Table B.13(a). The description of the

area of the land is identical to that given earlier for Ben(bellows)′s part of the Little Sheffield site

of Plant’s Yard.

B.5.2 Four deeds of 1823 and 1824

Some further indications of Ben(carp)′s inheritances are contained in four deeds (Table B.14)

registered on ‘21st July 1823 at Two in the Afternoon’ (HX-9-9 and HX-13-14) and ‘14th Oct 1824

41Wm(1)′s widow was from Pontefract, which is about 23 miles to the north of Sheffield and not far from Sherburn-

in-Elmet (cf. Figure ??(b)).42Wm(1)′s father was buried at Clowne in 1827, about 7 weeks before the death of Wm(1)′s cousin Ben(carp)

who was the main beneficiary of Ben(bellows)′s 1805 will and who was buried (aged 37) in Ecclesall.43These reference numbers for deeds apply to the referencing scheme of the West Yorkshire Archive Service, Wakefield

Headquarters, Registry of Deeds, Newstead Road, Wakefield WF1 2DE.


Jamesyeoman1740-1825SuttonCD

Joseph1787-?SuttonCD to Shef.

William1823-?SuttonCD to Shef.

AletheaShef.

Benjamin — Ben(son.of.Jo)carter1828-?SuttonCD to Shef.m 1859 St Georges, Shef.Ann, b 1827/8 Shef.

Williamb 1858/9 Shef.

Herbertb 1861/2 Shef.

Harriettb 1864/5 Shef.

Josephb 1870/1 Shef.

Benjamin — Ben(carp)bap 1.1.1790Sutton-C-D

carpenter/victualler?bur 15.4.1827Ecclesall B

m 18.9.1815Sheffield St PeterMary Hancockb ?1790/1?bur 14.10.1826Ecclesall Baged 35

Elizabethbap 3.1.1816 Shef. St Peter

Benjamin — Ben(son.of.Ben)bap 18.5.1817 Dorerazor manufacturer

Thomasbap 10.10.1819 Dore

Marybap 25.11.1821 Dore

Williambap 9.5.1823 Shef.

?Janebur 2.11.1826 Ecclesall Bage 1

Figure B.11: Some Sheffield descendants of the yeoman farmer James (1740-1825)

(a) Deeds information

1816 deed 1823 deed

Thomas Whitehead messuage and workshops Jasper Ryalls

William Swift dwelling house William Swift

William Mycock dwelling house Samuel Dronfield

Robert Frith workshop Robert Frith

Joseph Benson garden Joseph Benson

John Senior garden John Senior


Name Directory

Jasper Ryalls pen and pocketknife manufacturer, Little Sheffield Brownell 1817

Jasper Ryalls grocer and flour dealer, Little Sheffield Gell’s 1825

Jasper Ryalls pen, pocket and tableknife mfr and grocer, Little Sheffield White’s 1833

William Swift hosier and glover, 17 Angel Street White’s 1833

Wm Swift tableknife mfr, 3 Tudor Street White’s 1833

Wm Swift pen knife maker, Steel Bank White’s 1833

Samuel Dronfield gardener, Sharrow Lane White’s 1833

Robert Frith wheelwright, Little Sheffield Piggot’s 1834

Joseph Benson victualler, tavern keeper and penknife mfr, Old Crown, Little Sheffield 1825, 1833, 1834

Table B.13: Occupants of Benjamin’s part of the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard


near Seven in the Evening’ (IC-201-208 and IC-204-211).

The first deed (HX-9-9) lists the properties on Benjamin’s part of Plant’s Yard as unchanged

from those listed for 1816 (Table B.13(a)) except that the names of the occupiers Thomas Whitehead

and William Mycock are changed respectively to Jasper Ryalls and Samuel Dronfield.

The listed occupants of this Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard by around 1820 (Table B.13)

indicate that a workshop there was being used by a penknife and pocketknife maker, Jasper Ryalls,

who was also a flour dealer — no doubt his trades related to the water-powered grinding wheels and

Corn Mill nearby on the Porter Brook. The stated occupants also include the victualler of the Old

Crown, which was on the opposite side of London Road from Plant’s Yard. The participants of the

1823 and 1824 deeds (Table B.14) include the common brewer John Woodward and the victualler

James Wilson who is listed in the 1825 Sheffield Directory at the Black Bull, 40 Hollis Croft.

The second 1823/4 deed (HX-13-14), which also applies to the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s

Yard, makes it clear that the carpenter Ben(carp) had become a victualler between 1822 and

1823. This Little Sheffield victualler, who is mentioned in the 1823 deed, is stated to be the same

Benjamin Plant as he who appears in an earlier ‘Indenture of Lease and release bearing date re-

spectively’ the 11 and 12 of June 1822 ‘therin described as being then late of Dore .... but then of

Sheffield .... Carpenter’.

The property in the third deed (IC-204-211) is identified as ground in Coalpit Lane containing

‘Leasehold Messuages Tenements or Dwellinghouses Workshops Warehouses erections and Build-

ings of him the said Benjamin Plant’ occupied as indicated in Table B.15. The fourth deed (IC-

204-211) clarifies that this gound is the ‘eleven yards and half’ part of Balm Croft in Coalpit Lane,

as opposed to another ‘thirteen yards’ part — both parts were described in Ben(bellows)′s 1805

deeds for Coalpit Lane (Section B.1).

It hence seems clear that by 1824 Ben(carp) was still retaining some of the Coalpit Lane and

Little Sheffield properties that had belonged to the bellows maker Benjamin Plant until 1806 when

this Ben(bellows)′s 1805 will demised the remaining estate to Ben(carp) following certain

other specified bequeathals.

B.5.3 Ben(carp)’s son Ben(son.of.Ben)

There is also an 1839 deed for a part of Balm(e) Croft (Coalpit Lane) as well as some 1839 deeds

for the Little Sheffield site of Plant’s Yard. Both of these sites of a (Late) Plant(’s) (Y/y)ard had

earlier belonged to Ben(bellows) and then to Ben(bellows)′s nephew Ben(carp) (Table B.14).

The 1839 deeds suggest that Ben(carps)′s property had passed, by then, to a razor manufacturer

Benjamin Plant. The property description in part of one of the 1839 deeds mentions that its previous

occupants were those who are listed as occupiers of the 11.5 yards part of Balme Croft in 1824

(Table B.15) though the current occupants for 1839 are left blank. It may be noted (Tables B.15(a)

and (b)) that one of the early occupants of this property was a razor manufacturer which might

perhaps have some connection with Ben(son.of.Ben)′s subsequent adoption of this trade.

The razor manufacturer Benjamin Plant of these 1839 deeds can be presumed to be Ben(carp)′sson Ben(son.of.Ben) as indicated in Figure B.11. This razor manufacturer is listed (aged 20) in

the 1841 Census as living in the Wicker with ‘Pump Manufacturer’ George Saville (25) and his wife

Martha. This is no doubt the George Saville whose name appears in the 1839 deeds (Table B.14).

By 1851, unmarried razor smith Benjamin Plant (32) from Dronfield in Derbyshire is a lodger at

67 Spring Street with an assortment of 9 others, including 2 shoemakers, another razor smith, a

laundress, and a cabinet maker.

It may be noted that the recorded witnesses on the marriage certificate of Ben(carp) are

George and Frances Saville. The former is no doubt the pump-maker George Saville who was the

father of the pump-maker ‘George Saville the younger’ mentioned above. Both George Savilles are

named in the 1839 deeds, along with Ben(carp)′s son Benjamin Plant (Table B.14).

It seems clear that the main beneficiary of Ben(bellows)′s 1805 will was his nephew Ben(carp)who turned from carpentry to being a victualler before he died young (aged 37 in 1827). Ben(carp)′s


Year Deed No Property Participants

1823 HX-9-9 Plant’s Yard Benjamin Plant of Sheffield, Victualler

James Wilson of Sheffield, Victualler

William Keeton of Sheffield, Gentleman

Anthony Rotherham of Sheffield, Cordwainer

John Hoole of Crookes, Sheffield, Tanner

1823 HX-13-14 Plant’s Yard James Wilson of Sheffield, Victualler

Benjamin Plant of Shefffield, Victualler

John Hoole of Crookes, Sheffield, Tanner

1824 IC-201-208 Coalpit Lane Benjamin Plant of Little Sheffield, Victualler

John Hancock of Dore, Farmer

John Woodward of Sheffield, Common Brewer

Creditors of the said Benjamin Plant

1824 IC-204-211 Coalpit Lane William Keeton of Sheffield, Gentleman

John Hancock of Dore, Carpenter

John Woodward of Sheffield, Common Brewer

Benjamin Plant of Little Sheffield, Victualler

Thomas Shirley of Sheffield, Grocer

Thomas Hancock of Dore, Gentleman

1839 NE-534-466 Plant’s Yard Benjamin Plant of Sheffield, Razor manufacturer

John Hancock of Dore, Farmer

George Saville of Sheffield, Pump Maker

George Saville the younger of Sheffield, Pump Maker

1839 NE-536-467 Plant’s Yard and Benjamin Plant of Sheffield, Razor manufacturer

Coalpit Lane George Saville the younger of Sheffield, Pump Maker

Robert Plum of Bristol, hardwareman

Table B.14: Participants in some 1823, 1824 and 1839 deeds


(a) 1824 Deed information

late in the possessions of and now

Mary Birley Mary Birley

John Carr John Carr

Joseph Woolhouse Joseph Woolhouse

John Barber William Cooper

John Lomas John Schofield

Jonathan Thompson John Thompson

Hugh Wiseman Hugh Wiseman

Jermiah Yates Christopher Green

William Kent William Kent

William Rose William Rose


Name(s) Directory

John Carr surgeon, 8 Pinstone Street Gell’s 1825

John Carr penknife manufacturer, 10 Duke St, Park Gell’s 1825

Joseph Woolhouse victualler, Wicker Brownell 1817

Kenyon, Frith, and Woolhouse Pond Iron Works Brownell 1817

Woolhouse, Joseph & John carpenters and builders, 9 Broad Street, Park Gell’s 1825

John Barber pen & pocket knife manufacturer, Radford St Brownell 1817

John Barber razor manufacturer, South St Brownell 1817

John Barber victualler, Pea Croft Brownell 1817

William Cooper scissor manufacturer, Hollis Croft Brownell 1817

William Cooper victualler, Sir John Falstaff, 66 Wicker Gell’s 1825

John Lomas flour dealer, Broad Lane Brownell 1817

John Schofield grocer and tea dealer, 13 Angel St Gell’s 1825

William Kent scissor and silversmith shear manufacturer, 16 Calver St Gell’s 1825

William Rose pen and pocket knife cutler, Wadsley Brownell 1817

Table B.15: Occupants of Benjamin’s 11.5 yard part of Balme Croft (Cowpit Lane)


son, a razor smith Benjamin Plant, then inherited the Plant’s Yard properties and this so-called

Ben(son.ofBen) (i.e. the razor smith) was still unmarried (aged 32) by 1851. The family of

Ben(son.of.Ben)′s cousin, the carter Ben(son.of.Jo) , was still living to the east of central

Sheffield by 1881 whilst the family of their second cousin Ben(shoe) (i.e. a shoemaker) was

living just to Sheffield’s south. This was near a dram flask maker James Plant (1829-1904), who

was a son of an apparent brother Wm(shoe) of Ben(shoe) . It seems for example that our line

of Plants through Wm(shoe) and his son James Plant remained near Sheffield from Georgian to

modern times, as described in Chapter 2.

Appendix C

Austin Plant: World War I casualty

SOME EXTRACTS FROM AUSTIN’S NOTEBOOKS ETC.

This account was initially compiled in 1990 by Austin’s nephew, Grandad Stewart, and was

based on Austin’s personal effects, such as postcards, letters and his notebooks, prefixed with some

general information about the war. Subsequently, in 2007, the dated entries in particular were sup-

plemented by information from the Official History of Austin’s Regiment; that information was

supplied by Grandad Stewart’s cousin, Diane Mary Marshall. Also, in 2011, information supplied

by another of Grandad Stewart’s cousins, Margaret Anne Gough (nee Plant), was included, con-

cerning extracts from some further letters which Austin had sent home; these extracts are denoted

MAG in the dated entries.

C.1 The Great War

Perhaps the most famous words written about The Great War were by the poet Siegfried Sassoon:-

I died in hell -

(They called it Passchendaele); my wound was slight,

And I was hobbling back, and then a shell

Burst slick upon the duck-boards; so I fell

Into the bottomless mud, and lost the light.

My uncle Austin was killed by a shell near Passchendaele after surviving through most of the

War.

C.1.1 Historical context of Austin’s actions

The Great War, now generally considered to have been the worst to have taken place in Europe,

was originally hoped by the British at home to be only a short campaign of about six months. The

British Expeditionary Force (volunteer army) was to help the French repel a German attack on the

Western Front through neutral Belgium towards Paris.

1. Germany invaded Belgium and Britain declared war on 4 Aug 1914. Austin Plant enlisted

shortly after on 3 Sep 14. By 1915 recruitment posters were rife.

2. Shortly after Austin’s arrival in France, a Great Allied Offensive began on the Western Front,

on 25 Sep 15. The Battle of Loos, at which Austin fought, was part of a wider three-pronged

assault intended to drive the Germans out of northern France.

3. The Battle of the Somme (1 Jul - 18 Nov 16) was an Anglo-French offensive under Haig

and saw the first (ineffectual) use of tanks in war, by the British on 15 Sep 16 at the start of

the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (Somme). Austin was wounded on 29 Sep 16 at Martinpuich,

125

126 APPENDIX C. AUSTIN PLANT: WORLD WAR I CASUALTY

which lies between the two villages, about 1 mile from Courcelette, 2 miles from Flers; it

is 6 miles NE of Albert in the Somme; it is 4 miles beyond the British front line as it was

delineated at the beginning of this (series of) battle(s) which marked the emergence of the

British army into fighting on the European scale of major operations (Casualties: German

437,500; British 420,000; French 203,000).

4. Poperinghe in Belgium is mentioned in Austin’s notes of 17 Oct 16 and 6-23 Aug 17; it is

about 7 miles W of Ypres. Poison gas (chlorine) had been used for the first time successfully

in war by the Germans at Ypres on 22 Apr 15 and mustard gas was used in 1917. Austin was

killed on 10 Oct 17 at Hooge, which is on the Menin Road running eastward from Ypres, just

north of the strategic high ridge that formed the southern flank of the eastwards advance into

Passchendaele.

C.2 Austin’s first Battle

The Battle of Loos1, which began 25 Sep 15, was part of the first major offensive for some of

Kitchener’s New Army division. Haig was to assault on a seven-mile front between Loos and

La Bassee. This was flat country covered in industrial workings, predominantly mines and their

slag heaps. There were several heavily protected villages protected by deep belts of barbed wire;

this was country the Germans would find easy to defend. Six divisions, some 75,000 men, were

in the opening attack following a four day bombardment and the first British use of poison gas.

Cavalry were to exploit the breakthrough. However, torrential rain the night before slowed the

battalions’ arrivals. In the morning the rain stopped and the breeze dropped but gas from 1,500

cylinders were still used. The attack was at 6:30 a.m. At the north end, the gas was blown back

into British lines and the attack failed. At the south end, the gas was blown into the German lines,

and German trenches and Loos town were taken; but the success could not be exploited quickly as

three Divisions of reserves were held 5 miles behind the front lines, which were many hours of hard

slog away through the heavy rain of the next night; and the reserves were not in place by the next

morning, so the Germans counter-attacked and succeeded. Seven Victoria Crosses were earned on

the first day. By mid-October, the battle petered out – 15,800 men were killed or missing, 34,580

wounded. The line had advanced 2 miles at the most. The village of Hulluch and Hill 70 were still

in German hands.

C.3 Austin’s final Battles

In 1917 there were serious mutinies in the French army and, to relieve the situation, Haig ordered an

all-out attack with a stated eventual (phase 3) objective of cutting the German U-Boat rail transport

link at Bruges, which is about 35 miles NE of Ypres. The ensuing Battles of Ypres in 1917 is often

called ‘Wipers 3’ for there had been earlier battles in 1914 and 1915. Wipers 3 barely succeeded as

far as the phase 1 objective of capturing Passchendaele only 6 miles NE of Ypres. The campaign

was eventually described by Lloyd George as:-

the battle which, with the Somme and Verdun, will always rank as the most gigantic,

tenacious, grim, futile and bloody fight ever waged in the history of war

In the initial action a ‘gigantic system’ (4 miles) of mines was exploded just beneath the German

front line at 03:10am on 7 Jun 17; the explosion was heard in England. This marked the start

of the Battle of Messines (7-14 Jun), after which there was a slow British advance until 31 Jul

when ‘Wipers 3’ proper began with advances to the east by about 2 miles along a 12 mile front,

taking the action by 4 Oct to within about 1 mile of Passchendaele whereafter the campaign came

1R. van Emden (2005) Boy Soldiers of the Great War.

C.3. AUSTIN’S FINAL BATTLES 127

almost to a standstill in costly and bitter fighting in the swamps around Passchendaele; the intricate

drainage system of the low ground around Ypres had been shattered by the long bombardment and

the consequent overflow of streams, swollen by heavy rain, turned much of the battle area into a

bog.

The battles of ‘Wipers 3’

Though there was much other fighting, the main officially-designated battles of the Battles of Ypres

(1917) comprise:-

1. Battle of Pilckem: 31 Jul - 2 Aug

2. Battle of Langemarck: 16 - 18 Aug

3. Battle of the Menin Road: 20 - 25 Sep

4. Battle of Polygon Wood: 26 Sep - 3 Oct

5. Battle of Broodseinde: 4 Oct

6. Battle of Poelcappelle: 9 Oct

7. First Passchendaele: 12 Oct

8. Second Passchendaele: 26 Oct - 10 Nov

Austin appears to have been around Langemark [27 Aug] shortly after the battle there [16-18

Aug]; then at the Battle of Menin Road [20-25 Aug]; and at Polygon Wood before his Division was

relieved on October 8th only for him to be killed two days later.

Around Langemarck

The last entry in Austin Plant’s notebooks was August 27th in which he mentions men working on

a light railway and moving through ground just taken from German hands with numerous dead and

decaying bodies. One may hence contend that Austin Plant may have been advancing through the

general area of Langemarck.

Just before this (16-18 Aug) the Battle of Langemarck had taken place and Beatrix Brice records

a light railway in that region in the following story taken from The Battle Book of Ypres first

published in 1927:-

The 7th York and Lancaster Regiment2 were sent into the area to open up railway

communications between the backward and passable areas west of the Yser Canal3 and

the area forward of Langemarck.4 For months they had laboured night and day, until at

length a circle of light railway was laid, and in operation, from Elverdinghe along the

track of the old broad gauge, up to Langemarck; and back over the Steenbeek,5 which

had to be bridged in two places. The main line was the one on the site of the broad

gauge, and the other had been made with the double objective of simple utility, and to

mislead the enemy should he be led to inquire into the question of communication and

supply. The main line must be kept a vital secret.

2Contributed by an officer of the regiment.3The Yser Canal passes almost north-south through Ypres.4Langemarck is almost 3 miles E from the Yser Canal along a line 4 miles N of Ypres which passes N of Pilckem

through Langemarck and then further by about 2 miles to Poelcappelle.5The Steenbeek flows northwards towards Langemarck.


At Hooge on the Menin Road

Austin Plant is reported to have been killed instantly on 10 Oct by a shell at Hooge Crater. The tiny

hamlet of Hooge, on the Menin Road, lies two and a half miles east of Ypres. Completely obliterated

early in the war, it was looked upon as the worst section of the Ypres salient being continuously

subjected to shell-fire, machine gun fire and gas. The British cemetery at Hooge contains some

2,000 graves.

In Passchendaele: The Story behind the Tragic Victory of 1917 Philip Warner writes:-

There were battles around Hooge in 1915: the Chateau stood on slightly higher ground

and the area was heavily garrisoned by German troops. The position was mined by the

British troops and when it was blown up a huge crater was left. It became known as the

Witches Cauldron, and as bodies fell or were flung into the water which soon filled it,

the crater became indescribable.

and:-

Here the enemy were very close, but even closer were the dead of both sides, under their

feet, half buried in the sides of trenches, lying in the slimy water in the shell holes, and

constantly disturbed by shelling and digging. Even for the dead there was no peaceful

resting place.

Black Watch Corner is a little over a mile to the east of Hooge, near Polygon Wood, and Beatrix

Brice records an action (4 Oct 1917) that was almost contemporary with Austin Plant’s death:-

By the time the attack was launched all indication of the route had been blasted away

by the enemy’s shells and the way between two deep morasses was one of infinite peril.

What was left of the road was in full view of the enemy, and the advancing tanks were

met by a hurricane of shells, rifle and machine gun bullets.

A little earlier, in the ‘morale boosting’ trench newspaper The B.E.F. Times, No 2, Vol 2 of

Saturday 8 Sep 17, there had appeared a slightly more light-hearted account of the nearby Menin

Road, through Hooge, under the heading Seen from an Aid-Post:-

There are many roads on Flanders, where the horses slide and fall,

There are roads of mud and pave, that lead nowhere at all,

They are roads that finish at our trench; the Germans hold the rest.

But of all the roads in Flanders, there is one I know the best.

It’s a great road, a straight road, a road that runs between

Two rows of broken poplars, that were young and strong and green.

You can trace it from old Poperinghe, through Vlamertinghe and Wipers;

(It’s a focus for Hun whiz-bangs and a paradise for snipers)

Pass the solid Ramparts, and the muddy moat you’re then in,

The road I want to sing about — the road, that leads to Menin.



It’s a road, that’s cursed by smokers; for you dare not show a light;

It’s a road, that’s shunned by daytime; and is simply used by night,

But at dark the silent troops come up, and limbers bring their loads

Of ammunition to the guns, that guard the Salient’s roads.



And for hours and days together, I have listened to the sound

Of German shrapnel overhead, while I was underground

C.4. AUSTIN’S PERSONAL RECORD 129

Figure C.1: Austin Plant in (a) 1914 and (b) 1917

In a damp and cheerless cellar, continually trying

To dress the wounded warriors, while comforting the dying

On that muddy road, that bloody road, that road that runs between


C.4 Austin’s personal record

This record comprises extracts from Austin’s contemporary letters home and, more especially, from

two notebooks returned from his belongings. I have interspersed the dated entries with information

from Colonel Willy’s official history entitled ‘The York and Lancaster Regiment’, Vol. II which are

labelled below [Y&L II].

The first section of Austin’s first notebook contains various quotes, such as one dated Good

Friday April 2nd 1915:

You can not dream yourself into a character. You must work hard and persiver. Above

all put your trust in God.

This is then rewritten as:


You can not dream yourself into a character. You must hammer, and forge yourself one.

Another, apparently taken from the Daily Mirror of 16 Jul 15, is:

The dead do not need us; but for ever and for ever more we need them. Garfield.

Other parts of the notebooks contain such things as a list of family birthdays, drawings of horses

with superimposed crosses, notes on human anatomy, gun drill and some French phrase translations.

There are also diary-like entries which, along with a dated book, postcards, information from his

personal file held by the MOD, etc., can be summarised as follows:

• 1906

– Jul 31 [Book ‘The Innocents Abroad’] Presented for Punctual Attendance at Meersbrook

Bank School, Sheffield.

• 1914

– Sep 3 [Information from MOD] Enlisted as Number 15861 into the York and Lancaster

Regiment and posted to 8th Battalion.6

– Sep [Y&L II] 8th Y&L was part of the 70th Brigade of the 23rd Division; the 70th

Brigade began to assemble at Frensham.

– Nov 11 [Letter to his sisters] Under training; postmark is Frensham Common, which is

about 4 miles NE of Bordon Camp, Hampshire.

– Dec 1 and 2 [Y&L II] 23rd Division moved from Frensham to Aldershot.

• 1915

– Jan 14 [Y&L II] 70th Brigade inspected at Aldershot by Kitchener and the French War

Minister.

– late Jan [Y&L II] Khaki uniforms issued.

– Feb, last week [Y&L II] Division moved to Shorncliffe area, Kent.

– Mar 15 [Letter home] At Hythe, Kent; visits Folkestone with other soldiers.

– Apr 2 [At start of first notebook] Austin Plant, Pte No 15861, B Company, Y & L

Regiment. 58 North Rd, Hythe, Kent.7

– Apr 7 [Postcard to his brother Tom] From Kent.

– Apr 18 [Letter to his sisters] At Hythe, Kent, under training including route marches;

airship guarding coast.

– Apr 18 [Birthday Postcard to his brother Tom] Saying he ‘was delighted to have another

baby brother at the time’.

– Apr 18 [MAG supplied extract of letter home] “it is such a lovely place”. “You can see

miles out to sea from our window and there is an Airship sailing up and down over the

sea to help guard our coast”. Will be glad to come home again.

– Apr 26 [Letter to sisters] Askcham House, Hythe; bathing feet in sea before morning

parade.

– Apr 26 [MAG extract of letter] “My feet are all right now, you see we bathe our feet

every morning in the sea, before we go on parade. And that has done them a lot of

good”.

6This date is 1 month after war was declared.7This address near Folkestone is later written again as that of a Mrs Rogers.


– May 24 [Y&L II] Division move to Bordon; in hutments erected on the various com-

mons.

– May 25 [Notebook] Arrived at Bordon Camp (Hampshire) after just 2 weeks stay at

Bromley, Kent.8

– Jun 1 [MAG extract of letter from St Lucia Barracks, Bordon Camp] “The huts we are

living in are fairly comfortable. We are getting good food”. On a route march that

afternoon. ”Tell Norman I thank him for his nice letter, but cannot answer it yet. I will

answer his letter as soon as possible”.

– Jun 4 [Letter to his brother Tom] From St Lucia Barracks, Bordon, he asks Tom (aged

10) to keep drawing and sending him pictures.

– Jun [Y&L II] Service rifles issued to the Division; practice on Woolmer and Longmoor

ranges.

– Jun 22 [Letter to sisters] Now fully equipped; 20 mile route march with full packs for

first time.

– Jun 22 [MAG extract of letter home] “we have been a twenty mile route march today,

and it as been terrible hot. We went without any tunic on just in our shirt sleeves, & you

know our pack is awfully heavy, for we have got everything now complete ... my shirt

was wet through with sweat, when I got back”.

– Jul 14 Weds. [Notebook] Caught a 3ft snake whilst on manoeuvres on the moors close

to White hill range.

– Jul 14 [MAG extract of letter home] “they are stopping all passes for one week on ac-

count of some more shooting we have got to do”. “when we were on manouvers this

afternoon we caught a large snake about three foot long on some moore lands. One

of our men killed it with his rifle”. “Lots of our men grumble and swear at things we

have to do, but it does not make any difference”. Remembered “when I came home for

Xmas”.

– Jul 15 [Notebook] Four or five men got stuck waist-deep in a bog and had to be helped

out.

– Jul 19 [Notebook] Made 7 o’clock orderly in Orderly Room.

– Jul 21 [Letter home to sisters, referring back previous week] One of men had used a rifle

to kill a 3ft snake on moorlands; recalls his leave home at Xmas 1914.

– Jul 21 [Y&L II] Firing, so no man allowed a pass for a week. Got identification medals

that morning.

– Jul 21 [MAG extract of letter home] “We are firing this week and no man is allowed on

pass when his company is firing. You see it is very important that we should all learn to

shoot well”. “We have just got our identification medals this morning ... It is teeming

with rain so we are all stopping in the Barrack Room. I should not be writing this if it

had been fine weather. I do not know how I managing to write this letter our fellows are

making such a horrible noise, & we have had orders to stop in Barracks. There are two

men playing m..er macks some are dancing some are whistling & some singing I mean

shouting”.

– Jul 28 [Notebook] Two vaccinations in left arm.

– Jul 30 [Notebook] Came home to Sheffield, arrived 2 a.m.

– Aug 3 [Notebook] ‘Visited Aunt Kates and Aunt Mays this morning’.

– Aug 5 Thurs. [Notebook] Got back to Bordon, midnight.

8Bromley, now an outer suburb of London, is about 50 miles from Hythe.


– Aug 16 [Y&L II] 23rd Division inspected by King on Hankley Common.

– Aug 18 Wed. [Notebook] Cleaning up all day for inspection.

– Aug [MAG extract of letter home, postmarked Bordon Camp] “Tell Norman he need not

be anxious to join Army, for it is not all beer and Skittles by long way. We are at it from

first thing in morning to last thing at night. Tell him I will change places if he likes. I

wish I had never seen the Army”. “I have got to be on parade to night at eight oclock &

we shall have to be up in the morning at fice oclock”.

– Aug 27 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L marched to Liphook and entrained for Folkestone, arrived

Bologne in evening.

– Aug 27 [Information from MOD] Started Overseas Service in France (until his death on

10 Oct 1917).

– Aug 28 [Y&L II] Having spent the night at Ostrohove Rest Camp, the 8th Y&L marched

to Pont-de-Briques, entrained at noon for Audriceq arriving at 3 p.m., then marched to

Nielles-les-Ardes near St Omer where they were billeted in farm buildings.

– Sep 3 [Notebook] Billeted in an old farm in France, no blankets and short of food.

– Sep 7 [Y&L II] 23rd Division marched to the Borre-Vieux Berques area; this was a

trying march due to the very great heat and its all being on the pave.

– Sep 9 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L to front-line trenches beyond Erquingham for training by the

Royal Irish Regiment.

– Sep 14 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L appear to have supplied a working party of 400 for the Di-

vision’s trenches of c.4,500 yards from a point 300 yards south of the farm Grande

Flamengie to the road from Armentieres to Wez Macquart.

– Sep 15 [Letter to sisters] One of his platoon had drowned in a pond before he even went

into the firing line. He had already seen a British plane bring down a German one and

had been in trenches for 34 hours.

– Sep 15 [MAG extract of letter home] “I was very pleased to hear that you are all well at

home & that you are going to send me a lamp ... A lamp would be very useful out here

especially in the trenches”. “We have been on the move ever since we landed in France

& ... have seen some rare sights”. Been in the trenches 34 hours. “the day before we

went in the trenches one of the chaps in the same platoon as myself got drowned. He

went for a bathe in a pond quite close to where we were staying & he took cramp. Lots

of our men jumped into the water to try and save him, but the water was very deep & I

think myself they got in one anothers way. We had to burrie him the same day as he was

drowned, because you see we were due in the trenches the following day. The other day

one of our Aerolanes brought down a German Aeroplane”.

– Sep 17 [Notebook] Building a trench between German and British lines at night, perpet-

ual German sniping; one R.E. shot through head and buried today.

– Sep 18 [Notebook] Left Reserve Trenches and went into firing line.9

– Sep 25 [Y&L II] Battle of Loos. After 4 days of artillery fire, the 8th Y&L were in

support in the left section with the aim of capturing the German line between Corner

Fort and Bridoux Fort. The German front line was indeed captured, and part of their

second line, though by nightfall the 8th Y&L was back in the original trenches.

– Sep 30 [Y&L II] 23rd Division, to left of the lines, arriving about 8.30pm; 8th Y&L

withdrawn to billets in the Rue Marle about 2 miles to the rear left of the lines.

– Oct 11 to 18 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L at Estaires.

9This date coincides with the start of the Great Allied Offensive.


– Oct 18 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L marched to Sailly. Part of Division reserve under training, by

association with more experienced troops.

– Oct, late to Nov, early [Y&L II] 8th Y&L strengthening front-line trenches, preparing

winter accommodation in and behind the lines and preparing for an attack similar to the

Battle of Loos; but the proposed attack was abandoned after 48 hours of rain.

– Nov 24 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L marched to billets in and around Steenbecque; withdrawn to

army reserve, under training.

– Dec 15 [Notebook] Left the trenches to stay at another barn in France for a rest.

– Dec 15 [Letter to his brother Norman] Not keen to get back to trenches.

– Dec 18 [Notebook] Company and Battalion drills in morning on bad, wet ground.

• 1916

– Jan 9 [Y&L II] The Division began to return to the Lys area, with his Brigade to the right

of the Fleurbaix sector.

– Feb 4 [Y&L II] Tyneside Scottish troops sent to 8th Y&L for instruction in trenches.

– Feb 8 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L patrol, comprising 2nd Lt., sergeant and 7 men, discovered

3 enemy working parties. Several Mdls bombs and rifle grenades were thrown ‘with

apparently good effect’.

– Feb 9 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L patrol in hand-to-hand fighting. £ Germans killed. Lt Willets

wounded.

– Mar 26 [Y&L II] The 8th Y&L marched in afternoon via Estairis, La Gorgue and

Calernne; they were entrained for Longeau near Amiens; and marched to Vignacourt

arriving the night of the 27th.

– Apr 4 [Y&L II] The Division was in the Le Boiselle-Thiepval sector overlooking the

River Anere. The 8th Y&L were in brigade reserve in billets in Albert at first.

– Apr 7 [Notebook] Attached to 179th mine-laying Company, Royal Engineers.

– Apr 13 [Letter to sisters at home] Working with Royal Engineers in France.

– Apr 13 [MAG extract of letter home] “Now working with a Royal Engineers [censored

word: ?mining] company ... Yes it will be a blessing when this War is finished. Young

fellows are getting killed every day out hear ... I received a very nice parcel from

mother”.

– Apr 28 [Notebook] Working with mine-laying Company at Albert, France.10

– Apr 30 [Notebook] Big bombardment on front at about 1.30 a.m., third one recently.

– May 7 [Notebook] Still working 8 hour shifts with 179th mine-laying Company.

– May 10 [Notebook] Expecting to return to his own Regiment and move from this part of

line tomorrow.

– May, late [Y&L II] The 8th Y&L were in trenches in the left sub-sector of the 8th

Division in front of Authuille Wood; German machine gunners were ‘very active’. For

the next few weeks, they moved between the advanced trenches and reserve in Albert

where an attack was practised over a flagged course.

– Jun 6 [Y&L II] The 8th Y&L were sent by train to Bruay. The Battalion was reinforced.

– Jun 17 [Y&L II] An 8th Y&L patrol, comprising 2nd Lt, sergeant and 6 men, suffered

one killed and all the rest wounded in a bombing attack on 15 Germans.

10Albert in the Somme is near Amiens and was entirely destroyed by German artillery. It is now, with a population of

10,000, a centre for visiting the 1914-18 battlefields.


– Jun 30 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L moved into position for attack, facing an exceptionally wide

No-Man’s-Land beneath the southern spur of the German’s Thiepval Salient.

– Jul 1 [Y&L II] First Battle of the Somme. At 6:30am, the Allies’ guns delivered an

intense bombardment; the enemy replied. There was heavy shelling of the 8th Y&L

front-line trenches in the Nab but very few casualties. As the wind was unfavourable,

smoke could not be liberated during the attack; but, at 7:30am, the first wave of 8th

Y&L left the trenches maintaining perfect order, but they were met with exceptionally

heavy fire from the front and both flanks. Most of the men were killed or wounded.

The remaining waves were also mown down by machine guns before getting half-way

to the German trenches. About 70 men reached the German front line, some eventually

reached the third line where all were killed or taken prisoner – one returned. Almost all

of those who were held up at the German front line were killed – three returned. Many

Germans were killed in their trenches and when marching across the open to counter the

attack. The 8th Y&L suffered heavy casualties – 90% killed, wounded or missing. Of

23 officers, 13 were killed and 5 wounded. Of the NCOs and men, 612 were killed or

wounded or missing. In the evening, the few survivors were withdrawn to Long Valley,

Millencourt.

– Jul 4 [Notebook] ‘Bat as just been cut up’, moving down line, big advance on British

Front.

– Jul 14 [Y&L II] The Brigade left the Bruay area, moving to Poulainville.

– Jul 17 [Y&L II] The Brigade moved to Pierregot and Miruaux.

– Jul 21 [Y&L II] Division marched to Baizieux Wood with the 8th Y&L probably being

held in reserve.

– Aug 7 to 17 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L moved by way of Millencourt, La Vieille, Bresle,

Franvilles, Frenchencourt, Longpre, Cocquerel and Metern to Steenwerck.

– Aug 17 to Sep 2 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L moved to Steenwerck; took over the front line and

support trenches in the left sector until they were relieved on Sep 2.

– Sep 12 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L in Bresle in reserve corps; they supplied large stretcher car-

rying parties during the capture of Martinpuich.11

– Sep 18 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L moved into trenches near Martinpuich. The Division pushed

forward with varying success for the next few days.

– Sep 29 [Notebook] ‘Wounded at farm just to the right of Martenpuch on the 29th inst

about 1 o’clock’.

– Sep 29 [Y&L II] Destremont Farm. The 8th Y&L made an infantry attack on the farm

supported by divisional artillery. [This is apparently when Austin was wounded]. From

about 6 a.m. on the 29th until 9:30 on Oct 2nd, they and a section of 70th Machine Gun

Company held the farm. Of the 8th Y&L, 3 men were killed, and 2 officers and 14 men

were wounded [one apparently being Austin].

– Sep 29 [Y&L II] Destremont Farm. Two previous attacks had failed. The 8th Y&L

Captain Burlen’s Company were to attack the farm with a second Company in support.

At 5:30am, the Company assembled at over 700 yards from the farm, moved forward

in two waves 50 yards apart, under cover of an artillery barrage, to within 50 yards of

the enemy lines. The artillery barrage ended; and immediately the Germans opened up

intense fire with rifles and machine-guns. But it was too late. The 8th Y&L charged

the position with loud cheers, killed a large number of Germans and drove the rest away

in great disorder. One machine gun, a thousand bombs, many thousands of rounds of

11Martinpuich is about 1 mile beyond the British Front Line as had been delineated on 13 Sep 16.


ammunition and a large number of rifles were captured. Heavy German artillery bom-

bardment of the farm resulted in 3 platoons being withdrawn for safety. The farm was

held by one platoon of the 8th Y&L and a section of the 70th Machine-Gun Company

until they were relieved at 9:30am on Oct 2nd.

– Oct 2 [Notification from Infantry Record Office, York, dated Oct 20] Austin had been

wounded in action (gunshot wound to head) and admitted to 5 General Hospital, Rouen

on Oct 2nd. [It would seem that, following his wounding on Sep 29th, Austin did not

reach hospital until Oct 2nd].

– Oct 7 [Notebook] In Marquee, expecting to leave hospital today (following a ‘slight

scalp wound’); fed up with war but thankful to have come through 13 months.

– Oct 7 [Y&L II] Le Sars. 8th Y&L were a reserve battalion to the 69th Brigade during

the attack on Le Sars; 5 killed, 14 wounded, 2 missing.

– Oct 9 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L relieved and moved into camp in Lozenge Wood, Contalmai-

son. ‘With the Battle of Sars’ the 8th Y&L ‘had seen the last of the mud and slaughter

of the Somme battlefields’.

– Oct 17 [Notebook] Arrived back with Regiment, now with A Company, at Poperinghe.

– Oct 18 [Y&L II] The Division reached Ypres in the evening and was placed in the In-

fantry Barracks. The Division held a front of 3,500 yards, commencing east of Zillebeke

and left to the Ypres-Menin Road, 250 yards west of Hooge. The weather was fair, the

trenches dry, but there was much raiding by both sides.

– Nov 17 [MAG extract of letter home] “I would give the World to be in Dear Old Blighty

at Christmas time ... We are getting very cold here & frosty”.

– Nov 21 [MAG extract of letter to sister Beatrice] “Very pleased to hear you won a

Scholar Ship at your school. It is a very good idea the way they arrange the money. I

wrote a letter thanking father for that Postal Order”.

– Dec 3 [Y&L II] Two Lts and 50 other men from the ranks of the 8th Y&L, in three

parties, went on a night raid on German trenches just to the north of Clonmel Copse.

At 12:15am, the first party left to clear the wire; but the night was very still, the frozen

ground pitted with shell holes and pools of water, and the enemy were alert. The party

were fired on repeatedly. At 4:00am, a torpedo was fired clearing 15 yards of wire.

The assault parties pushed through the gap. Six or seven Germans were killed, sev-

eral wounded and the rest of their garrison dispersed. Of the 8th Y&L, two men were

missing, believed killed; both Lts and 5 other ranks were wounded.

– Dec 9 [Carte Postale to his brother Tom] Christmas Greetings.

– Dec 25 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L had their second Christmas Day at the front, in the trenches

at Ypres.

– Dec 29 [MAG extract of letter home] “We have been having some cold and frosty

weather out hear, but it as been a lot warmer this last two days ... I send heaps of

love to all”.

– Dec 31 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L at rest area at Winnipeg Camp, prior to weeks of training.

• 1917

– Feb 15 [MAG extract of letter home] “Pleased to tell you the weather is a lot warmer

now”.

– Feb, late [Y&L II] 8th Y&L moved by rail and route march to the Bollezeele and Tilques

training areas, where they stayed for over 3 weeks.


– Mar 11 [MAG extract of letter home] “To day, Sunday, the weather is beautiful. In fact

it is just like a summers day, although during the week we have had some very cold

weather & snow”.

– Mar 19 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L moved forward to Herzeele.

– Apr 2 [Postcard photograph of himself to home] Says he is ‘in the pink of condition’.

– Apr 6 [Y&L II] The Brigade started returning to the front line, taking over the Hill 60

sector, 2500 yards from Verbrandenmolen to Observatory Ridge, 50 to 150 yards from

the German front line.

– Apr 8 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L relieved 19th London Regiment on Hill 60 sector.

– Apr 9 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L under intense German bombardment and attacked by a large

German raiding party – 26 men killed, 2 officers injured, 77 NCOs and men wounded

and 69 missing.

– Apr 18-21 [Letter to his mother and father on B.E.F. notepaper] At YMCA near front,

inspected by Brigade General, congratulated on behaviour whilst holding trenches.

– Apr 21 [MAG extract of letter home] “We were having a short rest when Photoe was

taken ... Do you mean that Norman as got to join the Army in two months time”.

– Apr 21 - May 4 [Letter to his mother and 3 sisters] Refers to photo of himself and

comrades taken during short rest. In trenches from 21 Apr, in the front line for 10

days, but then at a large farm a few miles behind the firing line. At ‘that do’ on Easter

Monday, Goodwin was wounded and by now probably in Huddersfield, Ploughwright

was presumed killed, the sergeant was awarded the DCM and only 5 men in the platoon

survived.

– Apr 29 approx. & May 4 & 5 [MAG extract of letter home] “It is now about April 29th,

& I am in the trenches. We have been in the front line now eight days. May 4th 1917 we

came out of the trenches after ten days in the front line. Feel about done up will write

tomorrow when I feel a bit livelier. May 5th I feel a lot better now after a good nights

rest, but I felt awful when we came out of the trenches yesterday. By the way, I told

you abour Goodwin getting wounded on Easter Monday. Well I have received a letter

from him & he is now in Blighty. I believe he is in Huddersfield. Our sergeant got the

D.C.M. for that do on Easter Monday. There was only five men left out of the platoon.

Of course I was lucky ... We are now staying at a large farm a few miles behind the

firing line but I expect we shall soon be in action again. I think Ploughwright got killed

on Easter Monday”.

– May 5 [Letter home] Sleeping in a barn in ‘a bit of a village’ a few miles behind the

firing line.

– May 5 [MAG extract of letter home] “Very sorry to hear you had blood poison in your

thumb ... If I had my way there would be very few German prisoners. We have just done

a long spell in the trenches & we are now resting. The place where we are staying is a

bit of a village a few miles behind the firing line. We sleep in a barn & I must say we

are having lovely weather just lately”.

– May 6 [Letter to his brother Norman] Says ‘lost a good many old pals’ on Easter Mon-

day.

– May 9 [Letter to his father] Someone who had worked at the same firm (in Sheffield) as

he had, who was also called Plant, had had to have his leg amputated after having been

wounded on Easter Monday. Currently out of trenches, training.

– May 9 [Letter to his mother] Remembers her birthday (May 3) and recalls his brother

Tom’s birth (10 Apr 05).


– May 12 [Y&L II] After a week out of the trenches, the 8th Y&L returned to the front

line in the Observatory Ridge-Hooge sector, and were preparing for a great offensive to

free the Ypres Salient from enemy observation.

– May 31 [Notebook] On leave in Sheffield, ‘two more days to go and then back to Bel-

gium’.

– Jun 2 [Notebook] Left Sheffield Midland Railway Station 11.35 p.m.

– Jun 3 [Notebook] Derby. arr. London 6.00 a.m., arr. Folkestone midday, dep. Folkestone

6.00 p.m., arr. Boulogne rest camp 10.00 p.m.

– Jun 4 [Notebook] Dep. Boulogne 2.30 a.m., arr. Abeele rest camp 10.00 a.m., dep. Abeele

6.00 p.m., arr. rest camp 11.00 p.m.

– Jun 5 [Notebook] Arr. Y & L transport 10.00 a.m.

– Jun 6 [Notebook] Sent up the line on carrying party.12

– Jun 7 [Letter home] Gives details (as in Jun 3 entry in notebook) of journey from Eng-

land to France.

– Jun 7 [MAG extract of letter home] “it does not seem as thoough I have been Home ...

It was five oclock in the morning on June the third when we arrived in London & we

were in France about nine oclock at night. We had to stay about five or six hours at

Folkestone ... it went down rotten when I had to leave home ... We are having very hot

weather”.

– Jun 7 [Y&L II] Battle of Messines, Ypres. The 8th Y&L were in the second phase;

they suffered heavy casualties. They were successful but 300 were killed, wounded

or missing. The 8th Y&L, particularly A Company (which Austin says he had joined

in his notebook entry of 17 Oct 1916) suffered heavy casualties from artillery fire be-

fore and during their movement to their forward assembly position. A Company lost

3 officers and many NCOs and, as a result, became disorganised and missed direction.

Captain Barlow, acting second-in-command of the 8th Y&L, went forward to lead the

company to its target. The Company killed many Germans and took several prison-

ers. The Battle of Messines was described as the ‘most complete and overwhelming

success yet achieved in trench warfare’. On Jun 7, 7200 prisoners and 67 guns were

captured. There was no serious German counter-attack; heavy German bombardment of

the captured area, on Jun 9 and 10, failed.

– Jun 9 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L moved by lorry to camp near Busseboom.

– Jun 14 [Notebook] Out of trenches for short rest, expecting reinforcements.

– Jun 16 [MAG extract of letter home] “Very pleased to hear that all at Home are quite

well & especially to hear Dad’s leg is a lot better ... It is awfully hot. My hands & face

are as brown as can be. The people out hear are just as brown as us, with the heat of the

sun ... Please tell Norman to write”.

– Jun 20 [Notebook] Billeted at a farm near Metern,13 on stretcher bearing course.

– Jun 24 [Y&L II] Division back to the front, in the Hill 60 sector.

– Jun 26 Sun. [Notebook] German aeroplane brought down.

– Jun 30 [Notebook] Holding trenches taken from the Germans in the last push (Jun 7);14

shell holes, mud and water, terrible smell of dead men and horses; staying with some

R.A.M.C. chaps in an old German concrete dug out, which is being used as an Aid Post.

12This date coincides with the start of the Battle of Messines (7-14 Jun).13Meteren is about 12 miles SW of Ypres.14On 7 Jun much of the Messines Ridge was captured by the British in just one hour and forty minutes and, by

midnight, they had advanced down the far side and also taken ground to the N as far as ‘Hill 60’. The subsequent work

was largely to consolidate this ‘completely successful limited attack’ brought about largely by exploding 4 miles of mines

just beneath the German front line, on which work had been carried on for the previous year.


– Jul 1 [Notebook] Heavy attack from Germans just before dawn; up to knees in mud

and water. He notes from letter to him that his brother Norman is to have his medical

tomorrow, on the day after his birthday (his 19th): he hopes that he fails it.15 Also, his

sister Elsie (aged 14) is to go for an examination this month: he hopes that she passes.16

In dug out, with sentry, by day and laid in open by night. Expecting to be relieved by

K.O.Y.L.I. into reserve dug outs soon.

– Jul 2 [Notebook] Lot of casualties from German artillery attack just before dawn; sev-

eral killed and a lot wounded in a party of R.E.’s and Infantry who were laying cable

just behind British third line; much stretchering; been holding the same trench, called

Compton Corner, for 5 days.

– Jul 4 [Notebook] Digging support trench at night.17

– Jul 5 [Notebook] Relieved by Durham’s but got lost on way out.

– Jul 9 [Notebook] Still resting under canvass (Mickmack camp).

– Jul 10 [Notebook] Two men of M.G.C. Corp. killed, about 5 wounded, from 2 shells on

camp; ‘one fellow was blown up in the air’.

– Jul 12 [Notebook] On Hill 6018 last night, digging trench for cable.

– Jul 13 [Notebook] Arr. Steenvord19 10.00 p.m., by train and 5 km. march.

– Jul 18 [Notebook] At Metern, training for S.B.

– Jul 18 [Letter home] Near to 8th Battalion pioneers of the Royal Sussex.

– Jul 18 [MAG extract of letter home from No 4 Platoon] “there is a Reg of the Sussex

near us, 8th Batt pioneers. We are having very hot weather, but the country is beautiful

out here ... When is Norman going to write?”.

– Jul 22 [Y&L II] The Division was withdrawn to the Berthern area, for training in Wiz-

ernes and Meteren.

– Jul 29 [MAG extract of latter home] “Just liven them up a bit at Home. They do not

write very often & when I do get a letter there is very little news. What about Norman

he is the worst of the lot. When is he going to write? How is Norman getting on? is he

in training yet”.

– Aug 3 [Letter to his mother] He expects that the bad weather will have affected the

British advance.

– Aug 4 [Letter home] Still out of trenches.

– Aug 4 [MAG extract of letter home, Post Office 103] “We are having awful bad weather.

It has done nothing but rain this last two or three days ... We are out of the trenches at

present”.

– Aug 6 [Notebook] Left Metern, marched to Arques where stopped in tents for night,

then to St. Omer, then about 8 km. to a little village near Watten, then up the line near

Poperinghe.

– Aug 11 [Notebook] Resting under canvass near Proven.

15Compulsory military service for single men aged 19-30 had been introduced for the first time in Britain on 10 Feb

1916.16She later progressed to becoming a Headmistress.17The period from 14 Jun to 31 Jul was one of slow British advance, such as by about 600 yards further down the far

side of the Messines Ridge.18Hill 60 is about 3.5 miles SE of Ypres and at the most northerly point of the 5 mile length of slightly high ground

gained at the Battle of Messines, whereafter a further 6 miles of the ridge NE to Passchendaele formed a strategic

southmost flank of the subsequent eastwards advance (Hooge, where he was later killed, is about 2 miles north of Hill 60

on the edge of this subsequently taken strategic ridge).19Steenwerk is near the railway and about 4 miles SE of Meteren, which is about 12 miles SW of Ypres.


– Aug 14 [Letter home] Still out of trenches.

– Aug 14 [MAG extract of letter home] “I am not in form for letter writing ... we are still

out of the trenches & it may be some time before we go in again ... I would have liked

to have been with you when you went on that walk to Fox House. Norman is a funny

fellow. I should have thought he would have finished the walk with you & your friend.

You could have easily walked to ‘Cross Scythes Inn’ while you were waiting for the bus

... Very pleased to hear you are going to chapel do not forget to take Jessie with you”.

– Aug 20 [MAG extract of letter home] “I am in the peak of condition ... Sorry to hear

about Millie and Winnie but hope they are quite better by the time you receive this letter.

Yes your letter was rather a mess in places. It looked as though you had been writing

with a piece of wood dipped in ink. But it does not matter so long as I can read it”.

– Aug 21 [Notebook] German aeroplanes over camp.

– Aug 23 [Notebook] Moved to tents on other side of Poperinghe from Proven.

– Aug 25 [Notebook] At Bond Ypres.

– Aug 27 [Notebook] Men working on light railway20 in field were subjected to 4 bombs

and machine gunning from low German aeroplane. Moved up the line into trenches

amidst pouring rain, shell holes, dead horses and men, horrid smells. Moved through

remnants of a wood21 which has become razed to just a charred patch and has just been

taken from German hands; tree stumps and numerous decaying bodies ‘brave British

Soldiers who have give...’ (incomplete sentence, no more entries in notebook).

– Aug, late [Y&L II] Brigade had been moved to the front line beyond Busseboom. The

8th Y&L came under very heavy shell and rifle fire and were engaged in hand to hand

fighting; 12 killed, 44 wounded, 2 missing.

– Aug 30/31 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L were relieved and withdrew to billets in Abeele.

– Sep 5 [Letter to his mother and 3 sisters] Had been out of trenches for 5 days. ‘Fritey’

planes were active ‘the other week’. Whilst they were resting in a field about 7 planes

came over and dropped 4 bombs quite near but no-one was hurt. He writes ‘had a rather

rough time of it, this last time in the trenches’. His friend was killed and, at the same

time, he himself was hit in the leg but it did not go in and only caused a slight bruise;

otherwise, it would have been ‘a nice Blighty one’ especially if he had been sent to

hospital in Sheffield but ‘No such luck’. Now billeted in a barn on a farm.

– Sep 5 [MAG extract of letter home] “We are having beautiful weather & I am keeping

well ... We have been in trenches & have been out about four days ... Fritey is very

active with his Aeroplanes. The other week while we were resting in a field not far from

the fireing line about seven of Fritey machines came over & they dropped four bombs

quite close to us, but I am pleased to tell you they did not hurt anyone. We had rather

a rough time of it, this last time in the trenches. I am sorry to tell you my friend was

killed. It made me feel rather bad to see him get killed but I am feeling quite well at

present. I was hit on the leg the same time, but it did not go in. Just made a slight bruise.

It would have been alright if I had got to Hospital in Sheffield. No such luck... We are

still having grand weather & there is some beautiful country where we are staying. We

are billeted at a farm sleeping in a Barn”.

20This may have been the supply line to Langemarck, or its dummy, as discussed above. This suggests that, after being

on the south flank at Messines and after his retreat for training at Meteren, he had returned to the front at a position 3 or 4

miles NE of Ypres, to where the centre of the action had then switched (Poelcappelle is about 5 miles NE of Ypres along

the road to Roulers which passes through St Julien, which is about 2 miles south of Langemarck along the Steenbeek).

Later still he was at Hooge, where he was killed; Hooge is about 3 miles south of St Julien, in a (largely destroyed)

woodland area which had, by then, become the main focus of the battles of advance.21The only known substantial wood in the general area of Langemarck was Kitchener Wood about 0.5 miles W of St

Julien (this had been captured earlier on 1 Aug) though there may also have been other small copses. In the advance of

15 Aug (Battle of Langemarck) the gain was roughly 1 mile along a 10 mile strip NNW from just S of St Julien.


– Sep 18 [Y&L II] Brigade in Dickebusch area. The 8th Y&L supplied a raiding party of

50 men and took 24 German prisoners. At 6:00am, 2 officers and 50 other ranks of the

8th Y&L raided 300 yards into Inverness Copse. One of the 24 Germans drew a bomb

from his box-respirator and flung it at a party of the 8th Y&L; he was killed ‘for his

treachery’. Of the 8th Y&L, 1 officer and 2 other ranks were wounded. Of the rest, 2

officers and 21 other ranks were killed; 2 officers and 48 other ranks were wounded.

– Sep 20 to 25 [Y&L II] Battle of Menim Road, started at 5:30 a.m. Of the 8th Y&L, 3

were killed and 4 wounded. On the 20th, one officer of the 8th Y&L and 90 other ranks

carried rations from Bedford House to Tor Top. On the 21st, the 8th Y&L were still in

Railway dug-outs. On the 22nd, Companies A, I and F of the 8th Y&L [Austin was in

A] moved up to relieve the Australian’s Met Guides at Clapham Junction; the relief was

complete by 11:15pm. On the 25th, the 8th Y&L were relieved.

– Sep 30 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L in front line. 4 men were killed, an officer and 12 other ranks

were wounded.

– Oct 1 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L under heavy bombardment and attack after attack. Around

5:30am to 5:45am, a barrage was directed at the front and support lines of the 8th Y&L.

The barrage continued on the Tower-Battalion HQ-Inverness Copse area until 6:30pm.

There were direct hits on a room in HQ and on two dug outs.

– Oct 2 [Y&L II] From the 30th Sep to that night, the 8th Y&L had: one officer and 8 men

killed; one officer and 50 NCOs and men wounded; and 3 men gassed.

– Oct 3 [Y&L II] 8th Y&L moved to billets at Meteren.

– Oct 7 [MAG extract of letter home] You are quite right when you say time flies. We shall

soon have Xmas again. This year does seem to have passed quickly. I affraid I shall not

be able to come home for Xmas but still one never knows their luck... We are not having

nice weather, cold & rain. I sent word that I had received that parcel. Thank mother for

her kindness. Your letter was not a bad attempt at type writing”.

– Oct 8 [Y&L II] The Division was relieved by the 7th Division in front of Polygon Wood.

– Oct 10 [Notification from Infantry Record Office, York, dated Nov 7] Austin reported

killed in action in France on 10 Oct 1917.

– Nov 7 [MAG extract of Notification] “It is my painful duty to inform you that a report

has been received from the War Office notifying the death of 15861 Private A.Plant 8th

Bri York & Lancaster Regiment which occurred in France on the 10.10.1917. The report

is to the effect that he was killed in action”.

• 1918

– Jan 31 [Letter from S.Walker, Lt, 8th Yorks and Lancaster, Italy] In reply to letter from

Austin’s father, he explains that Austin was killed whilst the battalion was on its way to

the trenches, passing Brigade HQ at Hooge Crater (on the Menin Road, Ypres salient)

when a shell hit him. He died instantaneously.

– Jan 31 [MAG extract of Walker’s reply] “I received your enquiry dated Jan 14th re your

son Pte Austin. He was killed on October 10th. The Batt was on its way to the trenches

& the Coy were at the time of your sons sad death, passing Brigade H.Q. Hoole Crater

(on the Manning Road Ypres Salient) a shell came & your son was hit, dying instanta-

neously. You have his Comrades, & my, sympathy. They have all missed a very gallant

comrade”.

C.5. NAMES AND ADDRESSES 141

C.5 Names and Addresses

It is known that Austin Plant’s grandfather, James Plant, died on 7 Apr 1904 at 44 Onslow Road

Greystones Sheffield and left some of his daughters living in that district. In the 3 Aug 15 entry

above, Austin visits both his Aunt Kate and Aunt May in the same morning. From such information,

it is thought that the following names and addresses taken from the first notebook might perhaps be

those of respectively his Aunt Kate, his Aunt May, and others.

• Acacia Villa, 28 Dover Road, Sheffield.

• Mr Whitfield, 68 Tullibardine Road, Endcliffe, Sheffield.

• Mrs J Findlow, 52 Cruise Road, Oakbrook Road, Sheffield.

• Mrs Blackwell, 6 Catherine Street, Pitsmore, Sheffield.

Certainly the first is believed, from family memories, to be the address of an Aunt who lived just

below the Botanical Gardens. The second may (also) be the person who employed Austin and later

his younger brother Norman (?); there is an entry dated 25 May 15 ‘Received a letter from Mr

Whitfield, 68 Tullibardine ....’. Possibly related to the fourth, there is also written later (near the

date 18 Dec 15):-

• Pte T W Blackwell 15836, 8th Y & L, 31 Ward Northumberland War Hospital Gosforth

Newcastle on Tyne.

and the name Blackwell is also jotted down early on with other surnames and small sums of money

(perhaps card playing debts) most crossed off.

There is an entry 15 Aug 15 ‘This morning wrote a letter to Mr Moore and one to Mr and Mrs

Rowe’ and, earlier, there is the address:-

• Mrs Rowe, 77 Newbury Road, Bromley, Kent.

which presumably relates to the stated visit to Bromley (cf. the item 25 May 15 above).

In addition, there is a postcard from Austin in Pontefract (undated) to his brother Tom (jnr)

saying ‘I did not find out there were no trains on Sunday until I went out to see if Norman was

coming’. Also, there are two postcards from someone called ‘Bert’ in Belgium to Austin’s father

Tom (snr) dated Sep 1927, saying he would have a lot to say about his visits to Ypres and the

battlefields when he got back.

C.6 From the Ministry of Defence

The following are extracts from a letter dated 1 Oct 1990 from the Army Search Unit of the Ministry

of Defence.

• As mentioned in my letter of 14 September 1990 there are only a few documents in the file of

the above-named, your Uncle, and those that do exist have been badly damaged by fire.

• Medals Awarded: 1914/15 Star; British War and Victory Medals.

• On attestation Private Plant declared that he was born ‘in the Parish of Sheffield in or near the

town of Sheffield in the county of Yorkshire’. It is difficult to read his trade on enlistment but

it would appear to be sawpiercer. He gave his age as 20 years and 310 days.22

22His date of birth was 9 Nov 1893 and his date of enlistment was 3 Sep 1914; this stated age would correspond to a

date 15 Sep 1914.


• He gave his next of kin as his father Tom and his mother Rose Beatrice of 28 Pearson Place,

Meersbrook.

• His brothers are listed as Norman aged 24 and Tom aged 14 and his sisters as Jessie aged 19,

Beatrice aged 18, Elsie Mabel aged 16, Mary Winnifred aged 12 and ? Millicent aged 7.23

• He is described as being 5 feet 7 1/2 inches tall, weighing 110 lbs with brown eyes, dark hair

and a fair complexion.

23With the exception of Norman, these ages could only be correct for a date lying between 20.8.1919 and 15.1.1920.

Appendix D

‘Sayles’ addresses

D.1 The Simpson Trust

Following the death of Ada Gamble (nee Sayles), who was the last surviving Life Tennant of the

will of Elizabeth Simpson (nee Sayles) (see page 69), the remaining estate was divided between the

children of the Life Tennants (with the exception of Joseph Sayles). The associated Legal Papers of

29 April 1970 contain the following addresses.

1. Exors of Mrs Mary Ward c/o Francis Parkes 1 Station Road, Reading

2. Mrs Annie E Hinsley 23 Woodseats House Road, Sheffield 8

3. Mrs Alice Hardisty’s Rep Mr F Hardisty 12 Gordon Road, Sheffield 11

4. Mrs Mabel Wain 43 Argyl Road, Sheffield 8

5. Rep of H O Sayles c/o Eric Sayles 24 Huntley Road, Sheffield 11

6. Mr F Osborne, 57 Smalldale Road, Frecheville, Sheffield

7. Mr E Osborne, 138 Fox Lane, Gleadless, Sheffield 12

8. Mrs Elsie Bailey, ‘Torholme’ 11 Holmesdale Road, Dronfield

9. Mrs Plant 11 The Meads, Norton, Sheffield 8

10. Mrs M E Lait 91 Meersbrook Avenue, Sheffield 8

11. Children of Mrs Ada A Smith; (a) Mrs F Johnson’s Rep; (b) Mrs Polly Nixon, 5 Wasdale

Avenue, Halfway, Sheffield S19 5HB; (c) Mrs Nellie Wilson, 23 Manor Park Centre, Sheffield

2

12. Child of Mrs F Johnson; Mrs Violet Kitty Johnson, 6 Fydell Crescent, Boston, Lincs

13. Child of Mr H Smith; Mr F Smith, 209 Low Edges Crescent, Sheffield 8

14. Child of Mr Edward Sayles; Mr Edward Sayles, 148 Dagnam Road, Sheffield 2

D.2 Ada Gamble’s Notebook

It is thought that these addresses were noted by Ada Gamble between about 1930 and 1960.

1. Mrs Gamble 112 Lancing Rd, Sheffield

143

144 APPENDIX D. ‘SAYLES’ ADDRESSES

2. Miss Cecily M Gamble (altered to Mr & Mrs R Watson) “Huthwaite”, Machon Bank, Nether

Edge, Sheffield 7

3. Mrs D Sayles 75 Carwood Rd, Sheffield 4

4. Miss J Griffin 58 Swaledale Rd

5. Mr H Sayles 46 Cawthorne Grove, Millhouses, Sheffield 8

6. Mrs M Wilds 34 Wheatfield Crescent, Shiregreen, Sheffield 5

7. Mr E Osborne 89 Hopedale Rd, Frecheville, Sheffield

8. Miss Watkin 471 Queens Rd, Sheffield

9. Spencer 99 Harrington

10. Mr F Osborne 57 Smalldale Rd, Frecheville, Sheffield

11. Mrs A Wilson, c/o Miss Tyzack 27 Barkers Rd, Nether Edge, Sheffield; c/o Mrs Ellis, Manor

Croft, Gosforth Lane, Dronfield, Nr Sheffield

12. Mrs S Needham, c/o Mrs Beal 22 Fir Street, Walkley 6

13. Mrs Wells 48 Richard Rd, Heeley, Sheffield (altered to 192 Edmund Rd)

14. Mrs (P?) Cooke 162 Ecclesall Rd, Sheffield

15. (Ms?) A Gamble 52 Machon Bank, Nether Edge, Sheffield

16. Mrs Nicholson 92 Bocking Lane, Beauchief

17. Mr J G Dakin 79 Firth Park Rd, Sheffield

18. G Collins 169 Southey Hall Rd, Southey, Sheffield

19. Miss S Watkins 47 Queens Rd, Sheffield (5 May)

20. Mrs B Kirk 41 Priestley St, Sheffield

21. (Miss A Dow crossed out) c/o 19 Wilson Road, Westcliff on Sea, Essex

22. Mrs Gibbons (2525?) Cromford St, Sheffield (Aug 11)

23. Trevor Higginbottom 118 Lancing Rd (same)

24. David Foster (126?) Lancing Rd (July 26)

25. George 9th Sept Edith 18 Nov

26. Mr (F?) Braddock 93 Alderson Rd North, Sheffield

27. Mrs C Storf 49 Washington Rd

28. (crossed out) Mrs (Watson?), c/o Mrs Needham, 4 Foulds (Drive?), Beauchief, Sheffield

29. Mr E Sayles, 88 Murray Rd, Ecclesall, Sheffield (Jennifer)

30. Mr W 27 June; Mrs W 19 Sep; Woodward 89 Lancing Rd, Sheffield

31. Stewart 27 Sep; Rita 24 Sep; Nellie Lait 4 Sept; Elsie 14 Sept

D.2. ADA GAMBLE’S NOTEBOOK 145

32. Mrs Cooke, 70 birthday on 15 June, 162 Ecclesall Rd

33. Mrs (W?) Hinsley 40 Reney Avenue, Greenhill, Sheffield 8

34. Dolly Wells B, 18 Nov

35. Mrs C Herrod 116 Tupton Rd, Greenhill, Sheffield 8

36. Mr & Mrs A Coleman 177 Upper Hanover St, Sheffield 3

37. 202 Edmund Rd

38. Mrs Critchlow 135 Charlotte Rd, Sheffield

39. Spendown House 15 Fredrick St, Cleethorps

40. Mrs S Moore (50?5A) Brum St, Brumswick

41. Now A Gamble, Ada Sayles, born Dec 4th 1875

42. Mrs (Wills?) Birthday, 14 April

43. Harry Oakes, Newland Drive, Wallasey, Cheshire

44. Mrs Milner 7 Pembrooke Avenue, Bridlington

45. Mrs H Wood 74 Marshall Avenue, Bridlington

46. Stewart Birthday 27 Sep, Austin Jan 17

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