Billinge History (the book)

APPENDIX A

Holt Avenue 1947-1948

2 – L Richmond	1 – Edwin Littler
4 – John Carney	3 – James John Littler
6 – Harold Hardman	5 – Thomas Atherton
8 – Len Mousdell	7 – Joe Speakman
10 – Thomas Littler	9 – W Garner
12 – James Albert Littler	11 – J Boardman
14 – Francis Liptrot.	13 – Nora Chisnall
16 – H Eaves.	15 – Andrew Carney
	17 – T Frayne
	19 – Amos Cunliffe
	21 – William Foster
	23 – Michael Carney
	25 – G Boardman
	27 – Elizabeth Gee
	29 – G Grundy
	31 – Thomas Berry
	33 – James Garner
	35 – P Garner
	37 – Harry Richmond
	39 – William Lowe
18 – James Gee	41 – Brimlow
20 – Albert Morris	43 – Fred Gee
22 – W Melling	45 – Thomas Green
24 – J Witherington	47 – G Clayton
26 – J H Smith	49 – Harry Melling
28 – Stanley Littler	51 – Levi Liptrot

R Hewson Len Mousdell Ernie Middlehurst Stanly Littler

Holt Crescent 1947-1948

1 – James Clayton	2 – Cliff Littler
3 – Charles Wilkie	4 – R Moyers
5 – Thomas Taylor	6 – Matthias Hilton
7 – Jimmy Mousdell	8 – J Mason
9 – Fred Gee	10 – Ernest Middlehurst
11 – Ernie Fairweather	12 – Peter Simpson
13 – Eric Bold	14 – Jimmy Roper
15 – James Grundy	16 – Jimmy Roughley
17 – Albert Wilson	18 – Stanely Liptrot
19 – Bert Foster	20 – Frank Smith
21 – Andrew Power	22 – Henry P Cunliffe
23 – Bert Corday	24 – Ms M Wilcockson later C Taylor
25 – Jack Middlehurst	26 – Ernest Gee
27 – Wilf Birchall	28 – Frank Ashcroft later P Liptrot
29 – Alfred Dennet	30 – Joe Parr
31 – Fred Rigby	32 – Mathew Barton
33 – Hary Green	34 – Mary E Hewson
35 – Joe Hennesy	36 – Mary E Twist.
37 – Alfred Smith
39 – Elizabeth Melling
41 – Mark Coalman
43 – Frank Chisnall
45 – Joe Dierden
47 – Seth Littler
49 – William H Melling
51 – John Malone
53 – Fred Cunliffe
55 – Ellen Rabbit
57 – Albert Mitchel
59 – Fred Speakman
61 – Wilfred Grundy
63 – R L Patterson
65 – Henry Liptrot
67 – H E Boardman
69 – Ellis Foster
71 – John Barton

APPENDIX B

Billinge Farms 1929

FARM	FARMER	LANDLORD
Manor House Farm	Issac Barton	G Bankes
Dukes Farm	Richard Bradburn	G Bankes
Windy Arbour Farm	James Turner	G Bankes
Sandy Forth Farm	John Smith	G Bankes
Ashgrove Farm	Edward Moyers	G Bankes
Norbury Farm	Edward Moyers	Eddleston Charity.
Birchley Farm	Joe Middlehurst	Joe Middlehurst
Land at Birchley	Herman Hitchen	Robert Neville
Land at Birchley	Rev. Joseph Rigby	Robert Neville
Land at Birchley	John Wilson	Robert Neville
Brownlow Farm	Henry Middlehurst	Henry Middlehurst
Greenfield Farm	Henry Hitchen	Kate Taylor
Barrows Farm	William Kearsley	Lord Gerard
Tanyard House Fram	William Robinson	G Bankes
Startham Hall	Thomas Kearsley	William Kearsley
Lime Grove (Orchards)	Jane Hayes	G Bankes
Otterswift Farm	Hannah Tinsley	Sir D Gamble
Lime Vale Farm.	William Abbott	G Baknes.
Land at Bispham Hall	E J Pennington	G Bankes
Plane Tree Farm	Smith Bros.	G Bankes
Nevilles Farm	Smith Bros.	G Bankes
Beacon Farm	John Middlehurst	Henry Middlehurst
Promised Land Farm	Arthur Lavatt (?)	Joseph Gibbons
Shaley Brow Farm	John Hart	Smith Bros
Crows Nest Farm	John Makin	G Bankes
Billinge Hall Farm	Mrs Halewood & J Traverse	G Bankes
Derbishire House Farm	John Traverse	E J Pickmore
Red Barn Farm	Henry Birchall	Mary Wilcock
Billinge Brook Farm	John Makin	G Bankes
Rainford Brook Farm	John Makin	G Bankes
Ashfield Farm	Herbert Moyers	Kate Taylor
Greenslate Farm	Samual Glover	Wigan Board of Guardians
Billinge Lane Farm	John Birchall	G Bankes
Higher Billinge Lane Farm	Thomas Birchall	G Bankes
Lower Billinge Lane Farm	Edward Sumner	G Bankes
Blackleyhurst Hall Farm	Charles Taylor	Lord Gerard
New House Farm	James Alker	G Bankes
Hesketh House Farm	Laithwaits	G Bankes
Swiftgate Farm	Robert Alker	G Bankes
Farrass Farm	Samuel Fouracre	G Bankes
Athertons Farm	Thomas Nicholson	G Bankes
Longshaw House Farm	John Ashall	G Bankes
Hill House Farm	William Smith	G Bankes
Jamesons Farm	Edward Dierden	G Bankes
Kings Moss Farm	John Makin	John Makin
Lower Heaton Farm	Littler Bros.	Littler Bros.
Wiswall Farm	John James Simm	John James Simm
Mount Pleasant Farm	William Makin	G Bankes.
Maddocks Farm	Richard Petty	G Bankes
Orrits Farm	Samuel Redfern	G Bankes
Sefton Fold Farm	John & Peter Moyers	Lord Gerard
Little Houghwood Farm	E Makinson (?)	John Reed
Houghwood Farm	James Maudsley	James Maudsley
Crookhurst Farm	Joseph Owen	Lord Derby
Hayes House Farm	Thomas Makinson	Mary Holcroft
Fir Tree Farm	Joseph Jones	Abbot Brothers.

APPENDIX C

Longshaw 1929

Park Road.

1. Michael Roby	2. William Boardman.
7. Rachel Cheetham	4. John Rigby.
9. Elizabeth Ashall	6. James Moyers
13. Robert Unsworth.	8. James Melling.
	10. Stanley Hurst.
	12. Thomas Nicholson.
	14. John Nicholson.
	16. Sarah E Ashall.
	18. Thomas Halliwell.
	20. Mary Melling.
	22. James Beelsy.
	24. Albert Hampson.
	26. James S Silcock.
	28. James Roby.
	30. William Hurst.
35. Humphrey Ashall.	38. John Halliwell.

Longshaw Old Road.

2. Robert Hallwood.	20. Henry Swift.
4. Clifford Ashall.	22. Joseph Roby.
6. Margaret Balmer.	24. Alfred Roby.
8. Mary Horrocks.	26. Luke Melling.
10. Mary & Elijah Roby.	28. Joe Wilkinson..
12. Henry Wilkonson.	30. Jane & Ann Roby.
14 Robert Connolly.	32. Henry Heaton.
16. James Melling.	34. Martha Sutton.
18. Thomas Pennington.

Longshaw Common.

2. Thomas Lawson.	1. Mary E Barton.
4. John Barton.	3. John Minton.
6.	5. Henry Dillon.
	7. Joseph Barker.
10. Stanley Melling.	9. Alfred Smith.
	11. John Carnk.
	13. William Smith.
16. James Heaton.	15. Francis Hewit,
18. Thomas Nicholson.	17. John Moyers.
20. William Crank.	19. George Atherton.
22. Mary E Anderton.	21. Ernest Heaton.
24. George Hampson.	23. William Hewit.
26. Henry Littler.	27. John Melling
	29. Joseph Miller.
	31. Sharlot A Barton.
	33. Richard Roby.
	35. William Bold.
	37. Thomas Gee.
	39. Elijah Boardman.
	41. Thomas Barton.
	43. Joseph Gee.
	45. Mary Laithwaite.
	49. William Chorlton.
	51. Alice Barton.
	53. Sarah Bates.
	57. John Dingsdale.
	59. Joseph Laithwaite.
	61. Richard Melling.
	63. Peter Moss.
	65. Thomas Melling.
	67. Henry Heaton.
	69. Thomas Melling.

APPENDIX D

Businesses, Pits, Pubs¹ & Landlords 1929

Masons Arms	Margaret Berry.
Holt Arms.	John Hayes.
Stork Inn.	Wilfred Horthersall.
Foresters Arms.	Peter Mather.
Oddfellows Arms.	James Smith.
George & Dragon.	Charles Rich.
Labour-in-Vain.	James Birchall.
Eagle & Child.	William Atherton.
Colliers Arms – Moss Road.	Harold Dickinson.
Colliers Arms – Kings Moss.	Arron Parr (? Hard to read)
Brown Cow.	Thomas Hill.
Hare & Hounds.	Edward Borrows
Unicorn Inn.	James McLoghlin.
Off Licence. 208 UpHolland Road.	Joe Chisnall.
Off Licence. 140 UpHolland Road.	Alfred Barton.
Off Licence. 80Rainford Road.	Joseph Beesley.

Billinge Collieries & Other Businesses 1929

Carr Mill Arley Colliery		Lime Vale.
Billinge Colliery.		Brownheath.
New Billinge Colliery.		Newton Road.
Blacklyhurst Colliery.		Newton Road.
Windy Arbour Colliery.		Windy Arbour.
Worsly Mesnes Colliery.		Pemberton Road Winstanley.
Sand Pit.*	Joseph Middlehurst.		Birchley Road.
Builders Yard.	Melling Bros.		Park Road.
Brick Works	Bispham Hall Brick & Terra Cotta		Smetherts Road.
Brick Works.	Orrell Brick Co. Ltd.		Orrell Raod.
Stone Quarry.	Melling Brothers.		Billinge Hill.
Builders Yard.	Gaskells Ltd.		UpHolland Road.
Builders Yard.	W & A Mather.		Cross Lane.
Cinema.	Associated Theatres.		Main Street.
Stone Breaking Plant.	Peter Wild.		Crookhurst.
Clog Sole Factory.	Higson & Parkinson.		UpHolland Road.

*Sand was mined opposite Lime Vale Farm then tipped near Birchley Road. A woman, Francis Eddleston, who lived in the house at the far end of Birchley School, then loaded it into wagons, by hand, for transportation to Pilkingtons.

APPENDIX E

Carr Mill Road 1929

1 Joseph Smith	1A John Thomas Gee
2 Ellis Corless	3 Michael Dearden
4 Thomas Rigby	5 Thomas Dunken
7 Richard Barnes	11 Peter Acker
15 Ellen Bromilow	17 James Roby
19 Seth Martlew	21 Thomas Lowe
23 James Parr	25 Edger Compson
27 Ellen Lomax	31 Margaret Berry
33 Robert Berry	35 Joseph Littler
37 Edwin Bellis	39 James Berry
46 Richard Beesley	46A William Hampson
46B Martin Conroy	47 Margaret Gaffney
49 William Harrison	51 Francis Taylor
53 Robert Dixon	55 William Dixon
57 J T Hogan	59 William E Lomax
56 Elizabeth Bolton	61 Masons Arms Margaret Berry
63 Francis Foster	65 John Hardman
67 William Thomas Foster	69 Fred Willimas
71 Mary Atherton	73 James Robinson
75 Edward Platt	Tanyard House Farm William Robinson
77 John Thomas Melling
81 (Startham) Joseph Mason	83 (Startham) Arran Hayes
Lime Vale Peter Lomax	Live Vale William & Walter Platt

The Mason’s Arms as it used to be

APPENDIX F

Reminiscences of Billinge

By Mrs. N E Twist.

Billinge, as I knew it, for 60 Years.

My earliest and most pleasant memories in childhood, in Billinge was the clip-clop of horses hooves, ringing on the ‘sets’ of the roads, bringing supplies, and keeping the village in touch with faraway towns.

The beautiful dapple grey shire horse that every other day brought the covered wagon to the ‘Stores’. Newly baked bread and cakes, plus hardware, household goods and any other wares unobtainable in the little shops.

One of the most interesting places for us, was the smithy, that stood at the bottom of the ‘Square’, high, dark and mysterious the only light, the red glow, where the horseshoes were heated, and the sparks from the anvil, as the blacksmith twanged, and hammed the shoes to fit. Alas, we were never allowed to stay long, as the horses waited to be shod, we were ‘shooed’ away, in case of accidents.

Then there was ‘Quick Dick Barnes’ the baker, a massive man, who used to draw the bread, at a certain time each day, with a red handkerchief over his nose, against the coke fumes, from the ovens. When he was refreshed, after this early shift at the bakehouse, he used to saddle up the pony and trap and deliver the bread to outlying districts. Simm’s Lane Ends and Garswood were one of this chief stopping places, and anyone coming by train to Garswood station at the same time, would get a ride home.

Newspapers were delivered, mid mornings in a natty little governess cart and pony by members of the Barton family from Longshaw.

Milk was delivered by horse and cart, but the customers, took the jugs to the milkman, who ladled it from the huge urn, with a pint or1/2 pint measures. Some people went to the farm as they wanted it, what a lovely smell there was, if it was milking time when you were there, and could watch the fresh milk, cooled and measured out, while you waited.

One of the village characters, used to deliver milk to Greenfield House, ‘Our Lady’s Convent’. Mornings and evenings she used to trundle her three iron wheeled cart, backwards and forwards, muttering to herself, and calling down the curses of ‘God.’ on the boys who used to tease and play pranks on her.

The children of the Convent and the Sisters were a well established part of village life, and Birchley School, four times a day, they walked in crocodile form, back and forth, and Church on Sunday. During the Spanish Civil War, there were several Spanish Refugee children housed at the Convent for some time.

Long happy summer days, when mothers sat outside with their babies and knitting, waiting for their menfolk to come from the pits, marred sometimes, by the news of tragic death, or injury to some member of a family, but they never suffered alone, everyone rallied round, and helped where they could.

Winter, always a warm happy time, fires roaring up the chimney, coal at 5 shillings a ton, baking days, and lamplight evenings. Games round the fire, relatives visiting, when everything but adult conversation stopped. Children should be seen and not heard!!

Once a week, if we behaved, we were allowed to go to the Magic Lantern show, at the Methodist Chapel, some of the expressions of description, used to illustrate the films are still in use today, and can conjure up the image of ‘Old Hugh’ as clearly as some of the television personalities of today.

The General Strike of 1926, to my mind signifies the end of the happy village life, where had been neighbourliness and friendship, was replaced by misery, poverty and degradation. The degradation came, after weeks of no work, no income the people were forced to go for ‘relief’, perhaps 6 or 7 shillings per week, or maybe vouchers, to be used at a certain shop for groceries. How the greyfaced women hated lining up outside the house in Main Street when the ‘Relief’ was paid in public and discussed later.

When anyone needed Medical attention beyond what could be given, in the stone floored doctor’s surgery it meant an interview at Longshaw House, with ‘Sir Ellen Mather’ for a ‘recommend’, issued at the discretion of the ‘Board’, with regard to circumstances.

Occasionally, there was an issue of a few yards of Calico, referred to as DOW, for the very poor of the parish. I think? this concern, is still administered under the Bispham Charities, also some charity, that provided coal for the needy, every three or four years. Maybe this has ceased under the Welfare State.

Growing up, during school holidays, meant pea-picking at Birchley Hall Farm, where Miss Lily used to farm with a tractor, an innovations at that time. She was a well know figure walking the village, with the Irish Setter dogs she used to breed. Her sister married a doctor from Wigan, and when they used to visit it was like the Royalty riding through the streets.

There was one time, when the Queen Mother and the late King George the 6^th, as Duke and Duchess of York visited the village, but there was so much unemployment at that time I do not remember any great enthusiasm then.

Today there are new estates, peopled from far away places, with different accents, we are part of St Helens and Merseyside, to a degree, our parents would not have believed possible.

Like everything else in this changing world, it has advantages and disadvantages. I for one am pleased to enjoy at least some of them.

APPENDIX G

SOME MEMORIES OF A CHILDHOOD LONG AGO

by Jack Heyes

Donkey-stoned steeps and flagstone floor

Cooling your dinner behind the front door

When the dark windows told us it was night

Paraffin lamps were lit, to give us some light.

Hot-pot, with a big suet crust on top

Then out if a big stone bottle a drink if pop

Clogs polished brightly, ready for school

Fishing for jacksharps in nearby pool.

Smells of wash-days, with steaming soap suds

Using camphorated oil and wintergreen rubs

In the evening, as fire burned bright

You sat, looking for faces in the firelight.

Hurrying down the garden path in the pouring rain

To answer a call of nature on a wooden frame

Newspaper squares hang threaded on string

Some settled for half a story, others would sing.

Trundles, yo-yos, tops and whips

The smell of vinegar on your chips

Big jam butties to fill up a gap

The corporation pop straight from the tap

On Friday nights the tin bath came down

In front of the fire we were all scrubbed down

Then dried down, stood on a cosy peg rug

A hot drink of cocoa in your favourite mug.

Hours playing hapily, by a clear running stream

Making shadow figures with a wall as your screen

Free from sex maniacs and muggers’ attacks

Respect for old age when sex meant sacks.

Up to the pictures once a week we would go

Tuppence a time, on the front row

Oh the excitement as we settled in

To watch Buck Jones or Rin Tin Tin.

Net curtains as the window peg-rugs on the floor

Friends always made welcome at the ever-open front door

Now I live in a modern flat and have colour TV

But nothing can replace that old cottage for me.

APPENDIX H

The Eddleston Trust

The following is taken from the Victorian History of Lancashire Volume VI.

Published 1911. (Page 67).

Concerning Charities:

For the Billinge townships the principal foundation is that of John Eddleston,* who, in 1672, bequeathed his house and lands for charitable uses. There were several other benefactors.**

* This estate consisted of a house and about 14 acres of land, part of the Blackleyhurst Estate, on which was a quarry called Grindstone Delph; it was subject to a fee-farm rent of 20s to John Blackburn (to Sir William Gerard in 1828 by purchase). The use was for the maintenance of a pious and orthodox minister for Billinge Chapel, for the school, and the relief of the poor. In practice the house and land were occupied by the incumbent of the chapel and the profit from the quarry, leased for $50 a year in 1828, to the schools and poor of the two townships of Billinge. The gross income in 1899 was $98, out of which £1 ground rent was paid to Lord Gerard. The beacon on the hill stands on this property. As the quarry has become exhausted the trustees have ceased to distribute the income from it but £10 a year had been given to the poor.

** William Bankes in 1775 left £20 to each of the Billinges and in 1828 18s was paid yearly out of the estate of Myrick Bankes. £57 resulting in the sale of William Birchall’s estate and a gift of £40 by – Okill, was used in 1799 to purchase a cottage, the rent was spent of linen for the poor. The cottage, in 1899, produced a net income of £4 3s 6p, distributed by the vicar in money and clothing, with 18s paid to the overseers by Mrs. Bankes of Winstanley, and distributed in doles of calico or flannel. Elizabeth Comber in 1896 left £100 for the provision of coal and food for the poor at Christmas.

APPENDIX I

Gaffney Records in St Mary’s Registers 1792-1912

As God Parents

27/11/1869	John Gaffney	Carol Cunliffe
31/3/1872		Carol Cunliffe
6/9/1876	Elizabeth Gaffney	Maria Derbishire
6/5/1877	John Gaffney	Maria Fazrrar
30/4/1881		Mary King
28/1/1882		Mary Case
11/4/1891	Elizabeth Gaffney	Agnes Dixon
25/7/1908	Thomas Gaffney	William Willcock

Births

20/10 1884	Thomas	John & Margaret
8/9/1886	Joseph
16/4/1889	Therisa
16/7/1895	William
16/7/1895	Mary Elizabeth

Burials.

16/11/1873	Elizabeth	61?
15/1/1888	John	62
25/7/1895	Mary Elizabeth	9 days
17/7/1918	John	65 (47Carr Mill Rd)
18/4/1919	Jane (James’ wife)	65 (132 Main Street).
23/7/1934	Margaret (John’s wife)	78
14/8/1937	James	81
26/10/1950	Thomas	66
5/7/1961	Laura Wain (Joe’s wife)	74
30/9/1965	Therisa	76
4/3/1967	Joseph	81
16/6/1972	Rose (Tom’s 2^nd wife)	81 (nee Whitle)

Weddings

11/10/1882	John x Margaret Sumner	John – father
18/6/1892	Eliz x Bill Harrison	John
11/2/1889	James x Jane Derbyshire	John

APPENDIX J

THE FOSTERS

By Alan Foster

William FOSTER born 17-- married Anne, born 17--, at - church, in the year of – and had 5 children,

Elizabeth FOSTER, born Billinge in 1774,

John FOSTER, born Billinge in 1777,

Thomas FOSTER, born Billinge in 1779,

Paul FOSTER, born Billinge in 1781 and

Henry FOSTER, born Billinge in 1782.

Henry FOSTER (1782-1860) was born on December 27, 1782 in Billinge to his parents
William and Ann FOSTER. At the age of 21 on July 23,1804 at "All Saints" church in Wigan he married Jane ATHERTON of Ashton. They had 5 children of which 2 died prematurely.

William FOSTER born on May 26, Billinge, Lancs 1805, died prematurely.

Mary Anne FOSTER born December 30, 1810, Colchester, Essex

William FOSTER born March 24, 1816, Weedon, Northants

Bartholomew FOSTER born July 8, 1821, Billinge, Lancs, died prematurely.

Bartholomew FOSTER born August 15, 1826, Billinge Lancs

Henry, was a Tailor by Trade. On January 6, 1807 in Wigan, enlisted in the Royal Regiment of Artillery as a gunner. He was assigned to Major Alex Campbell's company, 3rd Battalion. From the WO54/276 Description Book reads: - Age 24, Height 5'10", Trade Tailor, Could Read and Write, Fair Complexion, Dark Brown Hair, Grey Eyes.

Royal Artillery...1807-1819)

1807-1809, Stationed at Colchester Barracks, Essex

1809 July, Sailed to Ter Veer, Belgium for the Walcheron Expedition and the Seige of Flushing.

1809 Sept, Stationed at Norwich

1810-1812, Stationed at Colchester Barracks, Essex

1813-1814, Sailed to Eastern Spain via Lisbon and Alicante to Tarragona for the Peninsula Wars and the Seige of Tarragona.

1814 July, Sailed back to the UK and Colchester Barracks, Essex.

1815-1819, Stationed at Weedon Ordnance Depot, Northants

1819 Dec, Stationed at Woolich Barracks then discharged.

Henry's known addresses in Billinge where Main Street, Billinge Slack (1841 Census), The Rant (1851 Census), Gorsey Brow at Death 1860. Henry died of bronchitis on September 20, 1860, in Billinge, at the age of 78 years.

Mary Anne FOSTER (1810-...), born Colchester Barracks, Essex, had 4 children - Marjorie, Agnes, Alexander, Thomas, prior to her marriage in 1853 to Timothy HEYES (1818-1882), following which they had a child, Anne.

William FOSTER (1816-1891), born Weedon Barracks, Northamptonshire, married

3 times (see below).

Bartholomew FOSTER (1826-1899), born in Billinge, married Sarah HESKETH (1831-1908), born in Rainford. They had 6 children, Mary (1853-…), Henry (1855-1894), James (1857-1903), Sarah (1859-...), William (1866-...) and Joseph (1873-1939).

William FOSTER (1816-1891) (see ‘The Highwayman’ below) whose 1^ST first marriage was to Catherine GASKELL (1821-….) in Billinge in 1839 and they had a son Thomas.

Thomas FOSTER (1840-...) married Elizabeth HEATON (1837-…) and had a child, John.

John FOSTER (1857-1925) 1st marriage to Mary WARD (1861-1880) and had a child Thomas (see Thomas Foster 1880-1945 below).

John FOSTER (1857-1925) 2nd marriage to Elizabeth TAYLOR (1860-1934) and had 3 children, William (*), John (**) and Ellis (***).

Thomas FOSTER (1880-1945) married Annie BARROW (1887-1945) and had 12 children.

Eliza FOSTER (1907-1977) married Ernest DIXON (1903-...) and had 3 children, Eric, Kenneth and Maureen.

Mary Ward FOSTER (1909-1975) 1st marriage Arthur WADE (1906-...)

Mary Ward FOSTER (1909-1975) 2nd marriage William GEE (...-...)

Elizabeth FOSTER (1911-...) married Uriah SMITHIES (1901-1982) and had 3 children, Roy, Archie and Colin.

Annie FOSTER (1913-1997) married Bernard DUTTON (1903-...) and had 2 children, Camilla and Frances.

John Thomas FOSTER (1915-1944) married Violet Minnie UNSWORTH (1919-….) and had 1 child, Barbara.

William FOSTER (1918-1964).

Ellis FOSTER (1921-1994) married Elsie DRAPER (1921-...) and had 2 children, Trevor and Alan.

Margaret Alice FOSTER (1925-...) married Gordon GEE (1926-...) and had 1 child, Kathleen.

May FOSTER (1927-1995) 1st marriage to William GLYNN (19...-...) and had 1 child Anne.

May FOSTER (1927-1995) 2nd marriage to William RADCLIFFE (1922-1993).

Olive FOSTER (1930-...) married Harold TICKLE (1923-...) and had a child Roy.

Roy FOSTER (1933-...) married Winnie GASKELL (1930-...)

(*) William FOSTER (1892-1966) married Margaret WATERWORTH (...-1964) and had a son John (1921-1997)

(**). John FOSTER (1895-1973) married Minnie ROBY (1897-1964) and had 2 children, Sarah (1923-...) and Kenneth (1926-...).

(***) Ellis FOSTER (1898-1962) married Frances BOLD (…-1925) and had a child, Mary (1925-…).

William FOSTER (1816-1891) 2^nd marriage was to Maria HOPKINS (1819-1865) in Tasmania in 1849. They had no children.

William FOSTER (1816-1891) 3rd Marriage was to Martha CUNLIFFE (1833-1883) in Billinge 1866 and they had 2 children Sarah and William

Sarah FOSTER (1867-1927) married John FRODSHAM (1860-1929) in Billinge 1884 and had 14 children

William FOSTER (1874-1954) married Elizabeth RATCLIFFE (1878-1925) at Billinge in 1900 and they had 9 children, all born in Billinge. After the death of his first wife, William married Mary TAPLIN nee HUGHES (1879-1961), in Billinge in 1925.

Mary FOSTER (1898-1988) married Albert HILL (1898-1986) and had a child Hilda (1924-...).

William FOSTER (1900-1986) married Jane HEYES (1902-1993) in 1926 and had a child, Jean, (1927-...).

Fred FOSTER (1903-1972) married Eleanor BIRCHALL (1907-1992) and had 2 children, Mildred (1933-...) and William (1938-...).

Burt FOSTER (1906-1984) married Elizabeth MOYERS (1907-1990) and had 3 children, Betty (1929-....), Barry (1937-...) and Valerie (1945-...).

Simon FOSTER (1908-1988) married Mary PEACH (1913-1973) and had 2 children, Arthur (1933-...) and Phyllis (1938-...).

Harold FOSTER (1910-1982) married Marian LEWIS (1915-...) and had a child, Margaret (1950-...).

Jesse FOSTER (1912-1968) married Emily LAWTON (1915-1994) and had 2 children, Alan (1941-...) and Hazel (1943-...).

Stephen FOSTER (1915-1969) married Hilda ROBERTS (1915-...) and had a child, Rita (1940-...).

Frank FOSTER (1920-....) married 1st wife Annie SUMNER (1920-1943) and had a child, Rita (1940-...) & married 2nd wife Elizabeth MATHEWS (1923-...) and had 2 children, Keith (1954-...) and Glen (1956-...).

"THE HIGHWAYMAN"

(WILLIAM FOSTER 1816 - 1891)

William was the second child of Henry & Jane FOSTER, born and baptised in 1816 at Weedon Barracks, Northamptonshire, during his father's tenure in the Royal Regiment of Artillery. His trade was that of a weaver. In 1839, at the age of 23 years, he married Catherine GASKELL in Billinge and had a son named Thomas. In June 26th, 1841, he was charged and arrested for Highway Robbery and Stealing then incarcerated at Kirkdale Jail awaiting trial. The offense was committed at Windle, St Helens, together with two other accomplices, namely John BIRCHALL aged 19 and William LIPTROT aged 23. At the trial, on July 15, 1841, at Kirkdale, William and his two accomplices were found guilty and sentenced to ten years, to be served in Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania). They were transported aboard the 549 ton Barque the "John Brewer" sailing out of Sheerness on December 5, 1841, via Teneriffe and arriving at Hobart, Van Dieman’s Land, on April 6, 1842.

During his stay in Van Dieman’s Land he was housed in a camp called Finders Bay Station, now known as Taranna. While there, he made three applications to marry Sarah Pring 1844, Hannah Osborne 1848 and Maria Hopkins 1849. All these girls were convicts. He decided on the latter and married Maria Hpokins on May 14, 1849 at the Bothwell United Church, Van Diemans’s Land. At the end of their sentences, in 1851, they returned to the UK and settled in Billinge, William's hometown, where they lived at Gorsey Brow. Maria died in 1865 at the age of 46 of an Abdominal Tumor. Not wanting to waste any time, William found another wife (# 3) by the name of Martha CUNLIFFE and they where married October 23, 1866. They had two children, Sarah and William. Martha died in 1883 at the age of 49 of Phthisis. William lived alone for the rest of his life and died in 1891 at the age of 75 years.

APPENDIX K

THE MELLINGS

There exists a record of Richard and Betty Melling, born in the late 1760’s and married in the late 1780’s. I think that they were the parents of Thomas and possibly John Melling.

Thomas Melling (1^st July 1804 – 4^th March 1854) married a woman called Margaret who died 20^th November 1883. They appear to have had five children; a boy, Richard 1838-1887, and four girls, Elizabeth, born 1828, Margaret, born 1833, Mary, born 1841 and Lydia, born 1850.

Elizabeth may never have married but there is a grandchild, Thomas Melling, mentioned in the 1861 census that may have been her illegitimate child.

Margaret’s husband’s surname was Ashall and their three boys were christened John, James and Thomas.

Mary’s husband was Robert Ormeshire. Her son Robert married Elizabeth Melling, discussed below, and their children were Alice and Edward.

Lydia married William Robinson and together they made the long journey from Longshaw Common to Chadwick Green and gave this work its title. Their lives of their four children, two boys and two girls, are dealt with in the main body of this text. When Lydia came to Chadwick Green, three Melling children came with her, Harry, Thomas and Elizabeth. Harry Melling became the father of eight girls, a crippled son who died at the age of eleven and a son, Tom, who worked at Hitchen’s Farm in Carr Mill Road for fifty-four years. Who the parents of these three children were is unclear at this stage. Their father may have been the grandchild Thomas, mentioned in the 1861 census and probably the son of Elizabeth, making Lydia their aunt. What is known is that the younger Elizabeth Melling, whoever her parents were, married Robert Ormeshire, the son of Lydia’s sister Mary.

Richard’s wife’s christian name was Sarah (1842-1892). Her maiden name may have been Melling also. She appears to be the daughter of John Melling and Ellen nee Holland who lived at the Hare and Hounds. They were, I think, the proprietors of the Hare and Hounds at the bottom of Longshaw Old Road, before it was rebuilt by their grandson, John Thomas Melling (1864-1925), in 1907. John and Ellen had daughters named Sarah and Margaret and it could be that John was the brother of Thomas (1804-1854), making Richard and Sarah cousins.

Richard and Sarah had five children, John Thomas (1864-12/10/1925), who became a builder, Margaret, Ellen, Elizabeth Ann and Richard.

Margaret's husband, John Thomas Heaton was the landlord of the Queen's Arms in Sandbrook Rd, Orrell now known as Sandbrook Arms. Richard and Sarah's other daughters, Ellen and Elizabeth Ann, married the brothers of John Thomas Heaton - three sisters thereby marrying three brothers. Ellen married Henry and they became the first proprietors of the new Hare and Hounds. Elizabeth Ann married Fred Heaton, a miner.

Richard Melling was the father of Cyril, Ken and Winifred Melling. Ken Melling ran the garage in UpHolland Road, across from the Unicorn and is featured in ‘One Man’s Pitch’ by David Young.

John Thomas Melling (1864-1925) built many of the houses in and around Longshaw. He and his sisters and brother lived in the old Hare and Hounds in Longshaw, later building the new Hare and Hounds around 1907. John Thomas' two sons Richard (1891) and Francis (1893) carried on the building firm known as J.T Melling & Sons. His daughter Ellen (1895) married William Atherton and they became the proprietors of the Eagle and Child on Church Brow. As this couple had no children they are not the parents of Irvine Atherton who was subsequently landlord of the same pub. Jane Atherton, sister of William Atherton, married Joseph Tinsley from Otterswift Farm. They lost two girls at birth and helped run the Eagle and Child for about 10 years. When William married Ellen Melling, Joe Tinsley went back to farming for a while then married again to Clara Edwards from Tarbuck House. They subsequently moved to Brownheath House and there were no kids by this marriage.

Francis Melling married Catherine Smith from Plane Tree Farm, Crank Road, and had one son, John, who died in 1979.

Richard Melling married Maggie Bradley from Sutches Farm, UpHolland and had two children, Elizabeth Anne and William.

William married to Ethel Hitchmough and left 4 sons: Stephen, Andrew, John and Anthony when he died in 1973.

Elizabeth married Leslie Houghton in 1949 and had two children. Anne born 1952 married Ian Gaskell and has two daughters, Amy and Alison. David, born1955, married Lynn Sherrif. They have a son Gareth and daughter Bethany.

APPENDIX L

LITTLERS & HALLIWELLS

Alan Littler’s parents were Jervis Littler and Miriam nee Halliwell. Miriam was the daughter of John Halliwell who married a woman named Ashton around 1880. Their children were Thomas, Robert, Edward, Henry, Jane, Annie, Miriam, Margaret and Peter.

Jane married Nat Liptrot and their son, Thomas Edward, married Jane Kersley from Barrows Farm. Annie married John Thomas Ashall from Coulshead Farm, Makin’s Corner. Miriam married Jervis Heyes Littler and they lived at Morris House, Longshaw and then 68 Claremont Road. Margaret married John (Jack) Edwards and died giving birth John.

There are several Littler families in Billinge. To differentiate between them they were know by nicknames. Alan’s Littlers were called ‘Tablys’; other Littlers were know as ‘Gubbys’ and some even by their real name, Littler. The ‘Tablys’ where an interesting family; Alan and all his brothers are the university educated sons of a miner. His father’s brothers owned and farmed Lower Heaton² House Farm, near the up and down steps. Some indication of their background is evident in this letter, from Alan, outlined below.

Tashkent12^th July 2000

Dear Joe

I’m not sure about the Ashton’s. The only ones I ever met lived in Hare’s Finch and were descendants of my mother’s Uncle Billy who was a mine manager of one of the Pilks collieries. My grandmother was an Ashton, in service at the Stork, who married John Halliwell, a gardener there. They lived for many years in the cottages down Beacon Rd. just behind the Eagle and Child.

My Uncles Jimmy, Billy, Tom and Bob Littler farmed Lower Heaton House Farm from the early 1920’s to the 1970’s. Jimmy died of gangrene after an accident with a pitchfork in the 50’s. My Dad hero-worshipped him. He’d been through WW1 and was a good athlete in his day. It was the only time I ever saw my Dad cry. He’d just come back from a night shift and I can see the tears rolling through the coal dust as I write. When they all died out, there was a bit of a family dispute over the wills. The law in them days didn’t bear a lot of close scrutiny. Most of them were virtually illiterate and there had been a great deal of double dealing over the years. As they were all unmarried, the farm, by rights should have come to us.

My dad was a beneficiary of his father’s will but we gave up in the end as it was messing around for peanuts and my brothers and I had too much else to think about. Most of the spoils went to the Clephan family who, probably still live in the Rant Cottages. It’s a very complex story and it’s over 25 years ago now. My brother Tommy, who died of leukaemia in 1980, always maintained that their solicitor was a crook (aren’t most for that matter). He was proved right a few years later when the guy got seven years for embezzling funds from St. Helens Parish Church.

As for George, I remember him well. He lived near the Unicorn in Orrell and was never directly involved in the farm but was often there. He did a bit of this and that and was always regarded as the black sheep. My Ma took a pretty dim view of the lot of them although I must say that she did all she could to help. They were useless farmers – my Dad never lost an opportunity of letting them know it too. One thing I can say for my Dad – it was his lucky day when he met Miriam.

I have a dim recollection of George’s demise. I can’t recall what happened but I think they didn’t report the death for some days and transported the body around a bit. You just couldn’t make some of this up. I’d be glad to know what your Mum remembers about it.

There was a darker secret than that. There was a sister Emma - I think - who was insane and spent all her life a virtual prisoner in the farmhouse in conditions I can only imagine. I never set foot over the threshold although I was often there as a kid, riding the tractors for days on end. They built a new house at the “top end” of the land – not far from the brickworks - in the 50’s and that’s where we met most of the time.

Stee and Tommy Littler were my father’s nephews – my cousins. The eldest of my father’s brothers, Henry (I think!) married a Catholic and was ostracised. All that side of the Littlers comes from him. There was another Littler sister too – not sure of her name – I’ll have to check with my brother John. She married a Coleman. My cousins, Peter and John Coleman were fair boxers. Your Dad would have known them from Lowe House days. I remember another brother Jimmy – he used to visit us in Claremont Rd.

I never knew the Catholic Littlers, what a waste of time. I was once on a bus with my brother, Gordon, in St. Helens. I was about ten at the time. We were coming back from Liverpool where Gordon was a student. This chap got on and Gordon started talking to him. When he got off at Birchley, Gordon said, “ You don’t know him do you? He’s your cousin”. It may have been Stee. My Dad kept in contact of course, both with them and the Colemans. They’d remember “Uncle Jerv”.

As for your family, of course I remember your Mum and Dad very well. I only have a vague memory of Enid though as she was older than we were. I remember Stan and Doug Williams very well of course. We were in the church choir together for years. I remember one choir practice, on a beautiful summer evening. Only Duggy and I showed up and the organist, Albert Mather, thanked us and let us go. We went round Billinge Hill together and I remember Doug climbing up to a suspected hawk’s nest in the quarry. I wonder if he remembers. Also I have very fond memories of your Aunt Doris. I doubt if I ever met a more cheerful person in my life. I can see her broad smile now.

I thought, probably not the only one, that your cousin Ann Wilkie was the best looking girl in Billinge. Probably still is. She used to deliver to Claremont Road – was it milk? I never missed a visit! Give them all my very best wishes.

As for you, I have so many memories. Remember the Webley 410, marking the cards with black ink before playing brag – so many memories. As I get older I realise how lucky we were to come from a place like that at the end of an era in many ways.

Last night I had dinner under the stars here with about ten other project leaders from the EU. We have a little bash about every two months or so. One of the guys, a Brit who lives in Brussels, was saying that he found it difficult to adapt when he went home. He found it so claustrophobic and boring. (Mind you Brussels is an awful place at the best of times). He asked me “Will you ever go back?”. Well “ever” is a long time but I could see what he meant. Having watched people trying to survive for the past six years, I find it hard to spend time with people who discuss nothing but the price of things, people who are rich beyond the wildest imaginings of most people on the planet. I think that most of my trips to England in future will be as a tourist. But sitting in our old house in Park Road a few weeks ago, I could be tempted in my old age.

The photos are great. I wouldn’t have recognised Fed Rigby – mind you it’s a long time. I’d just about have recognised you – if prompted. Send me a clearer photo! You look to have two great kids. I never mentioned that my best mates are Kiwis – from Invergargill in the South Island. They are not there now – one is in Sydney (he was a student with me) and the other in Hong Kong. He’s a lawyer and came to Wigan with me to give our family lawyer a pep talk in the late 70’s – that day we met John Waterworth, from Beacon Road, in the pub. He was then a senior detective, in court, putting a local hood away for a long time. I had a great time in London in the 70’s with the Kiwis. Paid a visit to see the guys in NZ in 1978. Played cricket and sailed with them and am still very much in touch.

I’ll be back again in the UK mid-October – any chance of a meeting?

Hear from you soon.

All the best, Alan

Elizabeth Swift Ellen Rigby ? Elizabeth Bold Miriam Halliwell

APPENDIX M

The Billinge Family in Haydock

1871 Census

At Haydock Green

Isaac Billinge aged 47 born Parr – underlooker

Ann aged 48 born Ashton

Gertrude aged 17 born Haydock

Jacob aged 14 born Haydock

Pauline (?) aged 2 (grandchild) born Bolton

1881 Census

At Haydock Green

Isaac Billinge aged 57 Colliery Manager

Ann aged 58

Gertrude aged 27

Jacob aged 24 mining foreman

Alice aged 4 granddaughter born Bolton.

At Old Toll Bar

Roger Billinge aged 21 & John Billinge aged 19, both miners, lodging with William (59) & Susanna Greenall (57)

1891 Census

At Tailor’s Shop in Church Street

Isaac Billinge widow aged 67 living on his own means

At Albert Terrace

Elizabeth Billinge 35 (widow of Jacob?) born Sutton.

Walter aged 8 born Haydock

Ada aged 5 born Haydock

Ann aged 4 born Haydock

Amy aged 2 months born Haydock

At Stone Row Chipoly (?) Lane

Allan Billinge aged 30 coal miner born Haydock

Mary aged 27 born Haydock

Temperance (?) aged 10

Doreen (?) aged 7

Elizabeth aged 6

John aged 5

Catherine (?) aged 2

Gertrude aged I month

Baptised at St James Haydock

6/8/1882 Lily by John & Ann – collier born Haydock

Baptised at Methodist Chapel Haydock

29/5/1853 Gertrude by Isaac & Ann

9/7/1885 Ada

4/4/1888 Ann

24/1/1891 Amy

29/4/1894 Albert

28/4/1926 Robert Kenneth by Albert & Louise (40 Chifily (?) Road

Note. The directors of Ashton Grammar School elected John Billinge as manager of Ashton Charities in 1852³.

APPENDIX N

THE LAVINS

Thomas Lavin was born in, Kiltimagh, County Mayo in 1876. He was but one of countess thousands who left that poverty stricken country for a hopefully better life in England. His aspirations proved fruitful. He came to work for Jacob Bradburn on Leyland Green Farm, at the corner of Leyland Green Road and Winstanley Road, and somehow won the hand of the farmer’s daughter Margaret. They married and raised a family of nine children by operating a milk business. Harold, Margaret’s brother inherited the farm. Thomas died 10^th February 1949 aged 72. His wife Margaret died 13^th May 1947 aged 68. Their children were:

Frederick Lavin married Winifred Glover from Garswood. Their children were Thomas, Frederick, Irene and Marion. Fred died 2^nd August 1973 aged 75. Winifred died 7^th August 1975 aged 78. Irene married William Mason from Startham Hall & Thomas married Eunice Dickinson from Billinge.

James Lavin married Lillian Ashton. Their children were Mildred, Olive, Arthur, and Reginald. James died 12^th December 1967 aged 67. Lillian died 25^th November 1997 aged 96.

Henry (Harry) Lavin did not marry. He died 6^th February 1967 aged 65.

William Lavin married Alice Parker from Pemberton. Their children were Joyce, Kathleen and Margaret. Kathleen married John Tinsley, son of John Tinsley and Annie nee Cunliffe. Bill died 15^th February `975 aged 69, Alice died 1^st August 1979 aged 66.

Francis Lavin married Nelly ? from UpHolland. Their children were Pauline and Michael.

Lawrence Lavin married Alice Grundy from Bryn. Their children were Norman and Jeffrey. Lawrence died 27^th October 1992 aged 72.

Thomas Lavin married Teresa Bibby from Ashton. Their children were Anthony and Janet. Thomas died 28^th May 1958 aged 43. Teresa died 13^th February 1990 aged 70.

Helen Lavin did not marry. She died 12^th July 1947 aged 36.

Joe Lavin married Bessie Turner from Bryn. They had a daughter called Marjorie. Joe died 10^th July 1999 aged 79.

Thomas Lavin must have inspired his sons to get ahead in the world by his enterprise and adventurous spirit. Within one generation the family owned five farms, an extensive coal delivery business and a productive coal mine. James Lavin became a successful builder in his own right apart from getting into the coal business with his brothers Fred, Lawrence and William. In 1942/43, when Lord Gerard put up part of his estate for sale, he bought Garswood Hall Farm, which is still in the family, run by his grandson Keith. Lawrence bought Senley Green and Hollin Hey Farms, which are still in the family, owned by his sons Norman & Jeffrey. William bought Charity and Arch Lane Farms. He left them to his daughters who sold them to the present owners. James Lavin’s first venture into the colliery business was not successful. His second attempt was however but part of the Bank’s requirement was that his brothers William, Frederick and Lawrence were part of the company. They started what became know as Lavin’s Pit before James took his family to Rhodesia 26^th March 1947. William Russell, a plumber from Moffat, shipped out for Africa on the same vessel. He came to work for James Lavin when the latter started a building business in Salisbury, Rhodesia, and eventually married James’s daughter, Olive. James made a coupe of trips home, buying Billinge Lane Farm in 1950, still farmed by his son Reginald, before returning for good on 1952. The colliery continued to function as an ongoing concern until 1970.

Jacob Bradburn and family at Leyland Green Farm

Thomas Lavin (far right) with son Henry (far left)

APPENDIX O

THE DIXON STORY

By Gerry Rigby

This is the story of the Dixon family, the brothers & sisters of my great grandmother Margaret Rowson (formally Margaret Dixon). Margaret Rowson was a child of John & Mary Dixon (formally Mary Rigby) from Brownheath Nook, Chadwick Green, Billinge.

The full family of John & Mary Dixon, all born in Brownheath Nook, was:-

Margaret, born 1834, married James Harvey Rowson from Eccleston in 1860, died 1910 age 77, buried at Birchley.

William, born 1837, married Jane Bone from Winstanley in 1862, died 1907 age 70, buried at Birchley.

Simon, born 1839 died 1840, exact date of death and burial place unknown.

Simon, born 1842, bachelor, died 1866 age 23, buried at Windleshaw

John, born 1845, bachelor, died 1880 age 35, buried at Birchley

George, born 1848, married Ann Witherington from Ashton in 1870, died 1928 age 79, buried at Birchley

Joseph, born 1852, married Margaret Witherington from Haydock in 1873, date of death and burial place unknown.

The two Witherington girls above were both daughters of Frederick & Ellen Witherington, (nee Morris).

Frederick Witherington was the son of George & Margaret Witherington.

The first family (the Rowsons) has been almost fully catalogued, and the last family (Joseph Dixon) has also been fairly well catalogued. However the lives of William & George are very much incomplete.

Taking William first.

In the 1861 Census, William is shown single and living in Chadwick Green. In 1862 he marries Jane Bone from Winstanley, the daughter of Robert & Ann Bone. In the 1871 Census the family is living in Chancery Lane, Parr and is listed :-

Dixon William Head 33 Sawyer Billinge 1838

Jane(nee Bone) Wife 32 Winstanley 1839

John Son 7 Billinge 1864

George Son 5 Wigan 1866

Robert Son 2 Parr 1869

After the 1871 Census two further children were born, namely :-

William Son Parr 1872

Ann Daughter Parr 1874

Unfortunately as Ann was born on 3^rd September 1874, her mother Jane died on 7^th September 1874, age 35 from Parr Stocks.

The children were then John 10 yrs, George 8 yrs, Robert 5 yrs, William 2 yrs, and Ann newly born.

Ann was taken by her Uncle & Aunt, James Harvey & Margaret Rowson, living then at 41, Croppers Hill, St Helens, and Robert & William were taken by their Grandparents, John & Mary Dixon who were still living in Chadwick Green. All these movements are shown on the 1881 Census, namely Robert age 12, William age 9, and Ann age 6.

However on the 1881 Census for Lancashire there is no listing of William (now age 43), or his son John (now age 17), or his son George (now age 15). The latter child re-appears on the 1891 Census.

The 1891 Census shows the two grandchildren Robert & William still living with their grandmother, now a widow in Chadwick Green, their grandfather, John Dixon having died in 1887.

Ann Dixon is still living with James Harvey & Margaret Rowson but now at Billinge Brook Farm.

Apparently when Ann grew up she stayed a spinster and eventually lived with her bachelor brother Robert, in Chadwick Green and they became known by my mother as Uncle Bob & Aunt Annie Dixon.

On the 1891 Census, George, the missing son of William now re-appears age 25 and living at 57, Carr Mill Road, Chadwick Green. He has now married Sarah Burrows from Billinge, the daughter of William & Sarah Burrows (nee Taylor), in 1885 and has the following children:-

William 1886 Born Billinge

Jane 1888 Born Billinge Spinster died 1945

Other children followed, the details of which are taken from the Birchley St Mary’s Baptism Register:-

Joseph 1890 Died age 8 months

Mary 1891

Cecilia Helen 1895

Agnes Josephine 1902

Beatrice 1905

At the moment little is known about these children.

In 1898, William, son of William & Jane Dixon (nee Bone), marries Ellen Atherton and lives next door to Uncle Bob and Aunt Annie Dixon in Chadwick Green. It is thought that William Dixon was related to Ellen Atherton as Ellen’s mother was formally Margaret Rigby and William was a grandson of the marriage of John Dixon = Mary Rigby. This has not yet been proved although there is gossip in the family about it.

William & Ellen had the following children:-

Ann 1899 Cripple died 1932 age 33, buried at Birchley grave 3/3 with Thomas & Margaret Atherton.

Jane 1900 Drowned 1928 age 28, buried at Birchley grave 2/46 with her great grandparents John & Mary Dixon

Robert 1903 Married Annie Tinsley

Margaret 1906 Tailoress, Spinster, died 1993 age 87, buried at Birchley grave 6/10 with her parents William & Ellen

Mary Antonia 1909 Married Arthur Case

Joseph 1914 Died 1922, age 8

Going back a generation and summarising the children of William & Jane Dixon (formally Bone)

John is unaccounted for since the 1871 Census.

George marries Sarah Burrows from Billinge in 1885 and dies on 3^rd February 1930 age 64, and is buried at Birchley grave 2/44 with his wife Sarah, who died 30^th January 1945 age 79, and their daughter Jane who died 10^th January 1945 age 57.

Robert stays a bachelor (Uncle Bob Dixon). Died 1945 age 77, buried at Birchley grave 2/39 with his parents William & Jane Dixon (nee Bone).

William married Ellen Atherton from Billinge in 1898. He died on 15^th October 1944 aged 72 years, Ellen died on 17^th July 1956 age 81 years, both are buried in Birchley grave 6/10 with their daughter Margaret mentioned above.

Ann stays a spinster (Aunt Annie Dixon). Died 1920 age 45, buried at Birchley, grave 2/39 with her parents William & Jane Dixon (nee Bone).

The father is also unaccounted for since the 1871 Census until 1907 when he dies age 70 from an address in Chadwick Green and is buried in Birchley with his wife Jane. The first in the grave is Jane (1874), then William (1907), followed by Aunt Annie Dixon (1920) and finally Uncle Bob Dixon (1945).

There are 3 questions left to be answered, namely:-

Where has William (husband of Jane) been since the 1871 Census till his death in 1907?
What happened to his son John last seen on the 1871 Census?
Where was his son George at the time of the 1881 census?

Continuing the family downwards we have:-

Robert Dixon = Annie Tinsley who had the following children:-

Joseph Marie
Margaret Mary
Mary Barbara
Mary Joan
Mary Magdelan
Robert

Robert and Annie are believed to be dead but many of the above children are still alive and details are being obtained.

Arthur Case = Mary Antoine Dixon who had the following children:-

Tony
Margaret now Margaret Lea
Helen now Helen Wilcox
Teresa

Now to George

George was born 1848 in Brownheath Nook, Chadwick Green and married Ann Witherington from Ashton in 1870.

The 1881 Census listed the four children below living at 83, Chancery Lane, Parr.

Mary Ellen, born 1871 in Earlestown.

Margaret, born 1873 in Parr.

Jane, born 1875 in Parr. Didn’t marry.

Alice, born 1879 in Parr.

Ann, born 1884 in Ramford Street Parr, didn’t marry.

On the 1891 Census the family is shown at 163, Ramford St., Parr

George Head 42 Carpenter Born Billinge

Ann Wife 42 Born Haydock

Mary E Dau 19 Glass Smoother Born Newton

Jane Dau 15 Dressmaker Born St Helens

Alice Dau 11 Scholar Born St Helens

John Son 9 Scholar Born St Helens

Annie Dau 7 Scholar Born St Helens

George Son 4 Scholar Born St Helens

Elizabeth Dau 2 Scholar Born St Helens

The known sequence of events after 1891 is as follows:-

1899 George (father) dies age 51 from Parr. Buried at Birchley.

1903 Ann (daughter) dies age 19 from 78, Chancery Lane, Parr. Buried at Birchley.

1928 Ann (mother) dies age 79. Buried at Birchley.

1948 Jane (daughter) dies age 73. Buried at Birchley.

All the above are in the same grave.

James Harvey Rawson and Margaret nee Dixon at Billinge Brook Farm c 1890

Ellen Dixon nee atherton 1875-1956 William Dixon 1872-1944

APPENDIX P

THE COLEMANS

The first record of a Coleman in Billinge is the birth of Mary 7^th Mary 1856, the daughter of John and Catherine nee Lavell. John Coleman was born 18^th November 1860 and died, aged 6, 18^th Feb1867. Margaret 30^th April 1864 was their next child and then Catherine 30^th October 1865. There are no further children recorded to this couple. How they came to Billinge is unknown; they were probably already married with children when they arrived. John, aged six, is the first recorded Coleman burial so maybe John and Catherine, his parents, came here looking for work around 1856, found it and then moved on sometime after 1867. No other members of this family have been traced as being buried in Billinge.

The next Coleman record in Billinge is the marriage of Patrick, son of Patrick and Bridgett, and Margaret, daughter of Patrick and Mary Mulroy, 6^th November 1870. Margaret came from Portico evidently and used to keep pigs behind the old post office. If and how this Patrick Coleman was related to John, husband of Catherine Coleman, is unknown but they could have been brothers. Patrick lived to be 69. He was residing at Wigan at the time of his death in 1909 but is buried at St Mary’s. Margaret Coleman died 19^th July 1903 at 53.

Patrick and Margaret were godparents to Catharine McManus 28^th December 1877, the daughter of John and Ann nee Fay. It seems that Irish drovers used to bring cattle over from Ireland to sell in Billinge. These drovers used to board with the McManus and Durkin families, pasturing their cattle at Joe Middlehurst’s Farm, in Birchley, until they disposed of them at the best price. It could be that this association with the McManus family stems from Patrick, and maybe his brother John, being Irish drovers and former lodgers.

Whatever Patrick Coleman’s origins, he settled in Billinge and raised a family. The children were Bridgett 21^st September 1871, William 31^st December 1873 who later married Martha Lloyd in Wigan 29^th July 1937*, Patrick 11^th December 1876, Mark 29^th May 1879, Peter 16^th July 1881 - 31^st July 1952, Geoffrey 22^nd November 1883 and Mary 7^th May 1887. Bridgett lived for four years and Mary died as a three-year-old.

Mark Coleman married Ellen Littler, daughter of Thomas Littler from the Rant, on the 21^st of September 1907. The Colemans are thus related to the Littler brothers from Lower Heaton Farm, the demise of which caused much controversy. Mark and Helen’s children were Mary 10^th July 1907 - 28^th July 1907, Peter 15^th February 1910, Joseph Norman 21^st February 1911 – 22^nd September 1911, Mark 1913 – 1^st September 1986, Josephine 1916 – 25^th May 1972, John, Rachel 1920, Mary 1923 and James 1926 – 14^th September 1987 William was the last, date of birth unknown.

There is a record of the death of Mary Coleman 9^th December 1920 aged 3 months and William Coleman 11^th April 1928 aged 11 months. At this stage the parents are unknown.

Elizabeth Coleman died 1^st June 1973 at 63. She was, presumably, related by marriage.

James Coleman’s wife Evelyn died 26^th March 1988 at 59, six months after her husband. They were the parents of Linda Pye nee Coleman, who still lives in London Fields.

Mark Coleman above and Ellen Coleman nee Littler below

APPENDIX Q

THE McLOUGLINS

The first McLouglin in Billinge was James, an Irish lad looking to better his prospects in England as so many of this countrymen did. He appears to have been a miner who found lodgings in Fair View with a fellow countryman, Patrick Fogherty. Patsy, as he was know, had a couple of nieces working in the cotton mills near Bolton. One of these girls, Mary Murphy, married James McLoughlin at St Mary’s 18^th November 1866. James had been around a while by that time as he stood as godparent to Joan Gahagan at St Mary’s in 1860.

James McLoughlin was the first child born to this couple. He arrived 29^th March 1867, to be followed by John 18^th April 1869, Thomas 5^th April 1871, Ann 29^th December 1874, Jane 25^th June 1876, twins Joseph and Nicholas 26 February 1878, Ann 4^th June 1879, Jane 25^th March 1881, and Mary 12^th August 1883. Two of these children died young, Jane at three weeks and Ann at two years. Succeeding children were named after them, as was the custom of that era of high infant mortality.

James McLoughin married Ann Cunliffe from the Labour-in-Vain 3^rd September 1891. Ann was the eight of eleven children born to Francis Cunliffe, who married Mary Derbyshire 5^th February 1856. The first child born to this couple was Sara, my great grandmother. Francis and Mary ran the Labour-in-Vain; in time James and Ann McLoughlin took over the management. Ann and James’s fist child, born out of wedlock, was Francis 2^nd November 1887, but he died in 1890, aged three. They had four more children, Mary 11^th June 1892, Christine 11^th April 1895, James 29^th January 1897 and Beatrice Irene 16^th August 1899. The last child lived for eight months; the mother died 26^th December 1901, aged thirty. She had been godmother to Gertrude, Thomas Cuthbert and Aloysius Taylor, the children of her elder sister Sara, among others. Another of Sara’s children, James Taylor, married James McLoughlin’s sister, Jane. Helen, another Cunliffe sister, married William Eddleston 28^th June 1894. Their two girls were Frances 24^th October 1894 and Helen 20^th July 1896.

After Ann’s death, James remarried a teacher from Birchley School, Elizabeth Maxwell, originally from Liverpool. They had three more McLoughlin children, Irene Mary 20^th August 1909, Helen 25^th November 1910 and Patricia.

John McLoughlin married Margaret Harrison of Fair View 24^th November 1900.

Their children were Mary Elizabeth 26^th April 1902, Joseph 1^st December 1903, Thomas Kerian 23^rd September 1905, James 21^st November 1907 John 9^th March 1910 and Margaret.

Thomas McLoughlin never married.

Joseph McLaughlin married Martha Chisnall of Simms Lane Ends 26^th January 1905. Their children were James Joseph 23^rd September 1905, Martha Ursula 15^th June 1907, Mary Patricia 17^th March 1908 and Joseph Cyril 29^th March 1911.

Nicholas McLaughlin married Susan Pendlebury and kept the Stag Hotel at Garswood then moved to Doncaster. Their children were Ann, Lawrence and John

Ann McLoughin married William Blackburn of Birchley 4^th July 1906.

Their children were Ann 5^th May 1906, James 11^th April 1908, Marcella Mary 31^st January 1911, Sheila, Josephine, Mary and Leo.

Jane McLoughlin married James Taylor of 94 Rainford Road 30^th November 1912. He was killed in action in WW1 and Jane never remarried. There were no children.

Mary McLoughlin married James Hanranhan of Fair View 30^th May 1907. Their children were James 23^rd May 1908, Bernard 18^th September 1910, Gerard, Denis, Joseph, Mary, Patricia and Kevin Edward the last 29^th August 1926.

APPENDIX R

THE JACKSONS

From: Dallas <manicom@canada.com>

Subject: JACKSONs, etc in Billinge

Date: Thursday, January 25, 2001

Elizabeth JACKSON's parents James JACKSON and Margaret UNSWORTH were

married at St Mary's Birchley Billinge in 1847

Elizabeth JACKSON was born Sep 7 1848 in Billinge and baptised Sep 10 1848 in

St Mary's.

Elizabeth's ancestors are listed in the parish baptismal records for Birchley

Chapel from 1792 to mid 1800.

I can go as far back as the patriarch Thomas JACKSON married to Mary FLETCHER

about 1759 and their 8 children.

Their eldest son, Jonathan JACKSON baptised Feb 20 1760 in Billinge and then

married to Jane DARBYSHIRE on Jul 13 1786 in Wigan All Saints. They had 8

children all baptised at Birchley Chapel.

Their eldest son John JACKSON (born 1787 in Gorsey Brow Billinge) married to

Elizabeth FRODSHAM on Dec 9 1811 in Wigan All Saints. They had 9 children all

baptised in Birchley Chapel/St Mary's. (Elizabeth FRODSHAM was baptised Oct 10

1790 in Birchley Chapel to Joseph and Mary according to the IGI online)

Their son James JACKSON baptised Mar 25 1820 in Birchley married Margaret

UNSWORTH on May 31 1847 in St Mary's and they had 5 children.

Elizabeth JACKSON, my 3X great grandmother is their daughter born 1848.

She married Henry LITTLERMar 2 1868 in Birchley/St Mary's OR St Oswald's Ashton in Makerfield.

Henry LITTLER was born Sep 23 1845 in Parr St Helens but I haven't yet

sent away for his birth cert.

Elizabeth's uncle *John JACKSON was boarding at Rant Billinge Chapel End in 1881

1881 CENSUS

James Heyes, head, carter, 68 b Billinge, Lancs

Jane, wife, 69 b Billinge

James Kelly, lodger, collier Unm 26 b Liverpool, Lancs

*John Jackson, lodger, general labourer Unm 66 b Billinge, Lancs

John JACKSON would have been born abt 1815 and his parents were John JACKSON and

Elizabeth FRODSHAM.

Here's a few more names and their spouses:

Children of Jonathan JACKSON and Jane DARBYSHIRE (born abt 1765 in Billinge)

Margaret JACKSON married 1st John HEWSON 2nd Jonathan SIMPKIN

Mary JACKSON had child Ann JACKSON in 1815; married John BARKER in 1820

James JACKSON married Sarah FAIRHURST in 1824

Children of John JACKSON and Elizabeth FRODSHAM

James JACKSON married Margaret UNSWORTH

Elizabeth JACKSON seems to have married 1st Henry BIRCHALL; 2nd Thomas FAIRHURST

Joseph JACKSON seems to have married Sarah HOLLAND

Jonathan JACKSON married Rachel abt 1854 and their children were born in Peasley

Cross.

Joseph JACKSON, son of James JACKSON and Sarah FAIRHURST seems to have married

Ann CARTER in 1850 and had several children, all born in Billinge.

Children of James JACKSON and Margaret **UNSWORTH (born May 31 1824 in Windle

Prescot)

Elizabeth JACKSON married Mar 2 1868 to Henry LITTLER in Birchley/St Mary's OR

St Oswald's Ashton in Makerfield.

John JACKSON married Elizabeth CUNLIFFE in 1872 in St Oswald Ashton in

Makerfield.

James JACKSON married Alice LEA / LEIGH

**The parents of Margaret UNSWORTH were James UNSWORTH and Margaret HEYES who

were married on Oct 14 1821 in Lowe House Windle Prescot.

James was born 1790 in Windle, the son of George UNSWORTH and Elizabeth BATE who

were married Aug 12 1795 in St Helens Parish.

Margaret HEYES was baptised Mar 10 1801 in one of townships of St Helens, the

daughter of Thomas HEYES and Margaret PILKINGTON who were married Dec 29 1794 in

Farnworth Prescot.

Thanks for any light you or anyone else can shed on these families!!

Dallas Manicom

Nova Scotia Canada

APPENDIX S

THE HEATONS

By Paul Heaton

James Heaton & Ann Heaton first appear in the 1841 Billinge Chapel End census when they were living at Brown Heath. James was born 1821 and Ann was born 1822. They produced a number of children over the years as follows:

Henry (B 1840), Mary (B1848), Elizabeth (B1850), Jane (B1859), James (B1857) & Ann (B1860).

I have traced them through the census returns with their addressess as follows:-

(1851) 120 Chadwick Green, (1861) 5 Chadwick Green, (1871) 103 Hollin Hey farms, (1881) 136 Chadwick Green.

Apart from the census, which lists James as “a farmer of 46 acres” each census, return records James as a collier. I wonder if James was a collier at Brown Heath Pit? James died on the 8th January 1891, Ann died on the 23rd September 1891 and were both interred at Billinge Parish Church. I have also got a copy of their funeral card with these details on. Their daughter Mary (B1848) was my great-great-great-grandmother who herself produced a number of children. Ellis Heaton (illegitimate) was born 1869. I have obtained Ellis’s baptismal, birth, marriage & death certificates, none of which name a father, a puzzle that I am also keen to solve. Presumably she then married a man named Ashall as she then had 2 children by him - Elizabeth Ashall (B1874) and Charles Ashall (B1876). On the 26th August 1878 she then married Moses Phythian and produced the following children:

Jane (B1879), Mary (B1881), Moses (B1883), Ellen (B1883), John (B1887) & Catherine (B1889). These details were obtained from the 1891 St Helens census, which registered the family as living at 166 Twists Cottages, Clipsley Lane. Mary died February 12th 1922 and Moses died July 23rd 1922. I also have their funeral card with these details.

I wrote to all Phythians within the St Helens phonebook and obtained a contact via a gentleman called Albert Phythian (Marys great grandson) who furnished me with a copy of the family bible she kept which details all the marriages of her children as well as the names of their partners. If anyone is descended from these people I will be only too happy to furnish them with a copy. I also placed an ad in the St Helens Star and obtained a contact via Iris Heaton who provided me with a photograph of Mary Heaton and Moses Phythian. I am now searching for any documents relating to James & Ann Heaton (photographs especially) as well as modern day locations for the places that they lived. It goes without saying that I would also love to get even further back.

Can anyone help please?

Thanks a lotPaul Heaton

APPENDIX T

THE FARRARS

By Maureen McManus

ELIZABETH FARRAR and BILLINGE

Tracing my Family History was, for many years, something that I promised myself I would do ‘one day ’. I think I was deterred somewhat by warnings that, as a hobby, it was very addictive and time consuming and also by the family folk-lore stories that all of my great-grandparents came from Ireland and therefore records would be unavailable or even non-existent. I used to dream of tracing a family of “olde English yeomen ” with roots going back two or three hundred years.

Early retirement was the chance to indulge myself. My starting point was my father’s parents, married in St. Helens in 1904. I had never known my grandmother, Elizabeth Farrar, nor any of her family as she had died in 1925 when my father was 12 years old. I was surprised to discover that she had been born in 1879 in Chadwick Green, Billinge, a place that I had heard of but knew nothing about. The 1881 Census gave me the address Brown Heath Nook and details of the family; parents Thomas and Elizabeth and seven children, Elizabeth being the youngest.

Some time soon after that, I found myself one Sunday afternoon with nothing planned and decided to visit Billinge. I don’t know what I was expecting to discover. I drove through the village and noticed St. Mary’s Church, Birchley. It looked old enough to have been there in Elizabeth Farrar’s time so I stopped to look around. I noticed many people walking round behind the building and followed them. I arrived at the doors of the Parish Hall on which was a notice announcing an exhibition of Parish History!

Inside, the Hall was crowded with people and displays of all types. I soon realised that I hadn’t time to read everything. Noticing a table with two ladies selling booklets I asked if there was one about the exhibition. They pointed to a man at a table in the middle of the room and said he was the one to answer that question. It turned out that he was responsible for staging the whole event and was just looking forward to it being over so that he could get his life back. He asked about my interest in the exhibition and couldn’t believe that I had arrived that day just by chance. I explained that I knew nothing about Elizabeth Farrar, her family nor of any connection with St. Mary’s. He then introduced me to several people in the room who were from old Billinge families and might be able to help me.

One lady told me that the reason for the exhibition that weekend was that the original Church Bell was going to be re-hung in the restored bell tower and that the bell was on display in the Church. If Elizabeth had lived in Billinge, she would have grown up hearing that bell. I decided to go across to the Church to see it. Walking across the Hall I had to pass a pillar with part of a display on it. The names on one of the notices seemed to jump out at me. They were a Farrar family with the same Christian names I remembered from Elizabeth’s family; Ralph, Thomas, James, Francis, Ann and Elizabeth. The list was the Papist Return for 1767 in Billinge. I knew then that I was meant to be there but I didn’t know then that my dream was about to come true.

THE FARRAR FAMILY 1702 - 1925

THOMAS FARRAR (16?? – 1745) and ALICE (16?? – 1739)

THOMAS and ALICE FARRAR are my 5x GREAT GRANDPARENTS. The Register of St. Aidan’s Church lists the burial of Alice, wife of Thomas Farrar, Billinge on 6 December 1739 and of Thomas Farrar, Billinge, yeoman, on 29 December 1745. The only other information I have comes from Thomas’s Will, which is in the form of a Court Roll so he must have been a Catholic. It was drawn up in 1740 probably just after Alice’s death, as he leaves his Estate “the shop, Bawkhouse and New Garner at the house where I now dwell ” to his eldest son Ralph for “ nourishing, cherishing and providing for me with necessaryes during my natural life and Decently interring my body after my decease ” His younger son William was charged “ to satisfy pay and Discharge all my just debts ”. Ralph Farrar, Tom Marsh and Tho. Mather were named Executors and the witnesses were John Morris, Thomas Wiswall, and Jeffery Burchall.

RALPH FARRAR (1702 – 1761) and ELIZABETH (c1709 – 1780)

RALPH and ELIZABETH FARRAR are my 4x GREAT GRANDPARENTS. Ralph was baptised at Wigan on 23 November 1702. In the Will of Thomas Marsh of Winstanley made in 1732, Ralph and his brother William are named as nephews and beneficiaries. The Will also states “I give to the poor people in Winstanley the sume of fifty shillings, the Interest whereof to be distributed by the overseer to the most necessitous on every St. Thomas Day before Christmas” The money is left to Ralph Farrar to do as directed.

Ralph’s signature is on the record of the Vestry Meeting to agree the Church Lays of St. Aidan’s in 1749 and in the burial Register he is named as Ralph Farrar, Billinge, weaver, father of Elizabeth, died 1741; Margaret, died 1745 and William died 1752. Ralph’s burial is recorded in 1761.

The rest of the family are listed on the Papist Return for Billinge in 1767. Names and ages are shown as – Elizabeth (58), Thomas (29), Ann (27), James (23), Ralph (19), Francis (11). All of the family had lived in Billinge from birth and the occupation of the sons was weaver. The burial of Elizabeth Farrar is recorded in 1780.

WILLIAM FARRAR (c 1703 – 1770) and ELIZABETH (c 1711 – 1776)

William was the second son of Thomas and Alice and younger brother of Ralph. His family are also named on the 1767 Papist Return - William (64), farmer; Elizabeth (56); John (25) carter; Thomas (20) nailer; James (18) husbandman; and Mary (22). William and Elizabeth are recorded as residing in Billinge for 8 years, the children for 12 years. William died in 1770 and was buried at Windleshaw.

His Will describes him as William Farrar of Winstanley, yeoman, and is also in the form of a Court Roll. The Will states “ I do hereby Give Devise and Bequeath all those my three Messuages or Dwelling Houses with all the Outbuildings Land and Hereditaments and Appurtenances thereunto belonging called Farrars situate lyeing and being in Billinge unto my loving wife Elizabeth Farrar ” and at her decease, to the four children “ share and share alike ”. The Executors are named as William Marsh of Winstanley, Yeoman; Thomas Farrar of Winstanley, son; and Peter Locker of Billinge while the Witnesses were John Unsworth, Seth Hampson and William Vose. His wife, named Betty on the Memorial Inscription, died in 1776 and was buried at Windleshaw. Also named on the Inscription are John Farrar, son, died 1806; James Farrar died 1816; Elizabeth Rimmer daughter of the above John Farrar, died 1847; Alice Case died 1876 and John Case died 1886.

William’s son James who died in 1816 left a Will which stated that his Real and Personal Estate including “ the Land and Buildings where we now live… the cottage on the west side of my building in the occupation of Thos. Haslinden…the adjoining house in occupation of Peter Taylor... the Messuage or Cottage in the occupation of William Smith… the cottage in the occupation of Thos. Melling … and them four Cottages lately erected by me situate near the Crab Lane in Windle ” were to be divided between his wife, daughter Betty and her children Alice, James and John. The Executors were daughter Betty, John Rogerson and James Bassonett with John Rogerson, George Taylor and Ricd. Borrows as witnesses.

RALPH FARRAR (c1748 – 1812) and JANE FAIRCLOUGH

RALPH and JANE FARRAR are my 3x GREAT GRANDPARENTS. Ralph was the sixth child of Ralph and Elizabeth Farrar. The 1767 Papist Return gives his age as 19 years, residence in Billinge 19 years and occupation as weaver. He married Jane Fairclough in 1803 at Farnworth, near Prescot. St. Aidan’s Register records his death in 1812 and His Will names him as Ralph Farrar of Windle, yeoman. His Real and Personal Estates “the Messuage and Tenement-Buildings and Land which I now occupy in Windle “ and “ my Messuages and Land In Billinge ” are bequeathed to his wife Jane and his sons John and Ralph, or if the sons die before the age of 21, at his wife’s death to his nephew John Farrar of Windle, Check-manufacturer and William Fairclough, “son of my wife.” He also states “ it is my wish that my Sons do follow the Roman Catholic persuasion”. Executors were Jane, his wife, friend and beneficiary Simon Dixon of Billinge, chairmaker and James Twist of Parr, Husbandman. Witnesses were Henry Bridge, Jonathan Case and Tho. Sherratt.

THOMAS FARRAR (c1738 – 1803)

Thomas was the eldest child of Ralph and Elizabeth, age 29 in 1767, occupation weaver and had lived in Billinge from birth. When he died in 1803, his Will named him as Thomas Farrar of Billinge, yeoman, and his “ Estates Lyeing and being in Billinge and Windle ” were to be divided between his two brothers, James and Ralph who were also appointed Executors together with Thomas Marsh. Witnesses were William Marsh, John Marsh and John Mather.

JAMES FARRAR (c1744 – 1817)

James was the fourth child of Ralph and Elizabeth, age 23 in 1767, occupation weaver, in Billinge from birth. The Windleshaw Record of Burials records his death in 1817 and his residence as Billinge. His son was John Farrar of Billinge, who is named in Baines Lancashire Directory 1824 with William Fairhurst as “Check Manufacturers”. John Farrar died in 1827 when Letters of Administration were granted to his widow, Elizabeth, the other signatures being Thomas Berry of Winstanley, servant man, and John Barlow of Wigan, manufacturer.

FRANCIS FARRAR (c1756 – 1801)

Francis was the youngest child of Ralph and Elizabeth, age 11 in 1767, residence in Billinge from birth and a weaver. St. Aidan’s Parish Register records his burial as 1801 but it was not until 1829 that Letters of Administration were granted to John Farrar of Windle, lawful nephew and next of kin, when Francis was described as “a Bachelor deceased without Parent, Brother or Sister, Uncle, Aunt, child or Grandchild”. The other signatures were those of Simon Dixon, chairmaker, and John Mather of Billinge, Farmer.

JOHN FARRAR (1803 -??) and ANN MATHER (1803 -??)

JOHN and ANN FARRAR are my 2x GREAT GRANDPARENTS. John was the elder son of Ralph and Jane, baptised at St. Mary’s, the godparents being William Marsh and Ellen Birchall. The 1841 Census shows them living at Birchley Gate with five sons, Ralph (12), James (10), Francis (8) Thomas (6) and John (4) John’s occupation is given as Ag. Labourer and Ann’s as cotton weaver.

By 1851 Ann was a widow, living at 91 Birchley Road, dependent on the children while the son’s occupations were Ralph, shoemaker; James, coal miner; Francis, Thomas and John all Coal miner Labs. Also living with them was Ellen Lowe age 6, niece, a scholar. All the residents had been born in Billinge. The eldest son, Ralph, appears again on the same Census at 18 Chapel Brow, the home of William Knowles, cordwainer and Beerseller; his wife Mary and 7 children. Also named are Thomas Knowles, brother; Wm. Bold, lodger, Thomas Welsh and Ralph Farrar, visitors. The occupation of the last three was shoemaker.

In 1861 Ann with James, Thomas, John and Helen Lowe was living at 8 Lower Rant. Ralph had married Jane Knowles, daughter of James and Alice Knowles of Winstanley at St.Mary’s and they were living at 10 Lower Rant with their son John age 1. Francis married Teresa O’Gorman and their daughter Ann Frances Farrar was baptised at St. Mary’s in 1864.

The 1881 Census records Ann Farrar, widow, age 78, living at Moss Bank, Windle with Alice A. Mather age 18, granddaughter, occupation teacher. Ralph and Jane’s address is given as Birchley Road, Lower Rant, and living with them are John, 21; James, 18; William, 14 and Richard, 3. Jane Farrar died in November 1881 and was buried at St. Mary’s. Ralph died in 1899 and was buried with her.

THOMAS FARRAR (1835 -?? and ELIZABETH MIDDLEHURST (1846 -??)

THOMAS and ELIZABETH FARRAR are my GREAT GRANDPARENTS. Thomas was the fourth child of John and Ann Farrar, baptised at St. Mary’s, William Rowe and Mary Pennington being the godparents. In 1865 he married Elizabeth Middlehurst, daughter of John Middlehurst and Margaret Sumner of Moss Bank, Windle, at St. Helens Parish Church.

The 1881 Census shows the family living at 124 Brown Heath Nook, Billinge with Thomas age 46, coal miner, Elizabeth 35, and seven children: Joshua, 14, a farm labourer born in Windle, Ann,12, born in Haydock, Margaret, 10, born in St. Helens, John, Thomas, Mary, and Elizabeth all born in Billinge. St. Mary’s Register records the baptisms of the children with members of the family and friends as godparents - Ralph and Jane Farrar, John Gaffney, Mary Foster and Sarah Sumner. Another child, Esther, was baptised in 1882, godparents George Rigby and Mary Sumner.

By the time of the 1891 Census the family were living at 55 Owen Street, St. Helens with the addition of two more children, Joseph age 7 and Catherine age 1, both born in Thatto Heath. In 1904, the year of their daughter Elizabeth’s marriage, the family were living in Roby Street, St. Helens.

ELIZABETH FARRAR (1879 – 1925) and JAMES PATRICK HYLAND (1881-1972)

ELIZABETH and JAMES PATRICK HYLAND are my GRANDPARENTS. They were married in 1904 at St. Austin’s, Thatto Heath, St. Helens. Their eldest son was born at 74 Elephant Lane but by 1907 they had moved to Farnworth, near Bolton where the rest of the family, including my father, was born. Which brings the story back to where I started - except for one more addition.

Two of Elizabeth Farrar’s sisters, Ann and Mary, married two brothers, James and Charles Garner of Eccleston in Prescot. Ann and James Garner had a son George, who died in April 1918 and was buried in Frie drechsfeld Cemetery, Condi, Germany. He had been engaged to be married to Mary Latham, daughter of James Latham and Mary Whitfield. In 1925, when Elizabeth Hyland was seriously ill, it was Mary Latham who went to Farnworth, Bolton to help to care for Elizabeth, the aunt of her late fiancé. She later married James Patrick and became stepmother to Elizabeth’s children, George Garner’s cousins, and, later still, my Granny Hyland.

APPENDIX U

THE WINSTANLEYS

By Eric Winstanley

It’s strange how we embark on certain projects and later, when we think back, we ask ourselves, ‘what if’, ‘why’ or ‘if only’? Such is the case with the compiling of my family tree.

I often think back to seven years ago, to that afternoon when for some obscure reason I decided to strip the wallpaper from around the window without taking the curtains down and without removing the television from the nearby plinth. It was only an afterthought that prompted me to move the TV to safer place. What a mistake! How was I to know that my back would collapse? Since then, and who knows for how much longer, I’ve been in constant pain and utter discomfort.

My time off work prompted next-door neighbour John to pay a visit and try to help fill my time by showing me the computer he’d acquired on retirement. He just had to show me what it was capable of and how he’d been spending his newly acquired free time. What he showed me was how to compile a family tree. Both his computer and the family tree package were almost antique compared to the packages we have at our disposal these days.

That was the start. I attacked the project of compiling notes and asking my parents questions with vigour, although when I resumed work the project was put on the back burner. When I acquired my own computer with a family tree programme in 1999, the project was resurrected.

I’d retained all the information obtained previously. Now I had to dissect and re-input it into the new package - a far cry from my neighbour’s antique version. To compliment already acquired information came more searching questions for family and friends. Some of these questions were for confirmation and others were more probing.

It helps if there’s someone around to ask questions of and if that person has a good memory. In this respect I was lucky. While his recent memory is a little shaky, my father’s distant memory is excellent - when you’re in your eighties it doesn’t half help. That isn’t to say he was alone in furnishing me with family connections and other relevant information. My mother had her input. She hasn’t as much information as my dad but she would, and still does, throw in a new name occasionally to trigger another memory tester. Another useful source of information has been visits to local graveyards to verify dates and confirm certain statistics.

My family tree centres around two villages - Downall Green and Billinge - and the surrounding countryside. They are very closely situated; even more so nowadays with all the new estates and new roads, nevertheless they are still uniquely identifiable.

DOWNALL GREEN

My mother has always said that around the time she was born, 1922, there were only three families in the village of Downall Green – the Lowes, the Shaws and the Fairhursts. The 1881 census confirms this, albeit not as literally as my mother would have me believe. When you consider that my mother, Lizzie Ashton to her friends, Elizabeth Winstanley to officialdom, has only lived in two houses all her life and these are two doors apart in Spindle Hillock, then she must know what she is talking about.

You can paint a fair picture of the past was from census information. Rectory Road doesn’t appear to have changed much. In 1881 there was the shop at the bottom (number one), the Blue Bell Inn at the other end and further on the Church of Holy Trinity. In between we find a sprinkling of names with possible family connections. Shaws occupied the first three houses. Because Shaw, Lowe and Fairhurst are names in my family tree, I’m pursuing their relationships with extra interest. The same kind of family connection possibilities occurs in Downall Green, Brocstedes (Brocstedge in the census), Leyland Green Road, Moss Lane (Billinge Road to modern day inhabitants), Tapster’s Moss and up to Simms Lane End. Shaws, Lowes and Fairhursts occur in these streets also.

BILLINGE

The other side of my family lies in the other village – Billinge. This is my dad’s territory and we still have family living in Billinge. My dad’s cousins live in Rainford Road and his brother lives with his wife in Park Road, Longshaw.

At this point, I would like to go back some 18 months. Having arrived early at the History Shop in Wigan, I was waiting for the doors to open when I entered into conversation with a chap who’d just chained his cycle to the rail and approached me in a friendly fashion.

We initially passed the time of day. When the pleasantries were over, he asked what I was researching. I said that I was just embarking on my family tree research and was that day looking at the registers of St. Aidans Billinge. He took a keen interest in this information. When my two-hour session at the microfilm viewer was over and I was about to leave, a voice from the other end of the room beckoned me over.

“My name is, Joe Taylor, how have you gone on?”

It was the cyclist. He was soon appraising my finds with interest and offering possible help. It was obvious he knew Billinge, had an idea who my dad was and knew the Winstanley family. We must have talked for about a good 45 minutes. As my parking time was almost up, I left, but not before we had exchanged phone numbers and I’d received an offer of assistance, from my new friend, with computer related work. He offered to come around to the house and help me set up with varying family tree related projects on the Internet; something at that time that I was completely ignorant about

You may well be wandering what on earth this episode has to do with compiling my family tree? I mention it because, as I stated at the beginning, life is full of ‘what ifs’. If I hadn’t arrived at the History Shop early that day I would probably not have encountered Joe Taylor and he would not have met me. Still wandering? Some eighteen months after this meeting, I was in bed with flu when my wife came into the bedroom and told me that Joe Taylor was on the phone and wanted to speak to me.

Having forgotten about our little chat in Wigan, the name was a little cloudy. I picked up the phone and realised in seconds who it was.

The purpose of his call was twofold. First, he’d come in contact with an ex Billinger, living in Shropshire, trying to trace her Winstanley connections. He had instinctively thought of me and wanted to put us in contact with each other. Secondly, he wanted me to have input into a ‘History of Billinge’ that he was working on and asked if I could write up my Billinge connections.

Some time has gone by since then. I’ve spent some of it pondering whether I should or could write-up my Billinge ancestry. It seems easy enough to put down on paper but to have it put it into print is another thing all together. There may not be enough information and it may not mean anything to anyone other than myself and family, but having seen first-hand the amount of work that has already gone into the History of Billinge, I thought it only right to give it a try.

My dad is Fred Winstanley, born at Alder Lane Farm Crank in August 1918. From there the family moved, via Beacon Lane, to their home at 42 Newton Road, where I can well remember every Sunday catching the bus from Downall Green and going, with my parents, to my grandparent’s. I can remember we used to catch the bus for our return, at alternative ends of Newton Rd.

My grandparents, Frederick Winstanley and Lydia Alice nee Green, had three more sons after my dad.

William was the second son, born and raised at Alder Lane Farm before settling down for quite a while with his wife, Freda Ablett, in Newton Rd. They have no children and are now living at East Mount, Orrell.

Thomas Winstanley lived with his wife, Lillian Penk, and their two sons Alan and Ian, with my grandparents at 42 Newton Rd whilst Uncle Tom embarked on the not too easy task of building his own bungalow at Park Rd, Longshaw. He still lives there with my aunt.

The youngest brother is my namesake, Eric Winstanley who can be seen on the St. Aidan’s Soccer Team of c.1939 on the Billinge web site. He must have handed down his sporting prowess to me, as my dad didn’t take an active role in sport. He was the eldest son, born in 1918, and spent much of his younger life in the army.

Eric divorced his first wife, Anne Bennett. They had two children; Carol, now living in Birmingham with husband Brian and two girls, Claire and Leonora, and Andrew, who live in Appley Bridge. Eric’s second wife is Betty nee Sharples. They live in Sandy Lane, Orrell.

To round things off, I am the only child of Fred Winstanley and Lizzie nee Ashton. I live with my wife Janice at Fernlea Grove, Downall Green. My daughter Kerry is married to Gareth Morris and they live with their son Owen Gareth, at Bryn. Our son Martin still doesn’t relish the thought of moving out and lives at home with us.

Having been born at Crank, one may not be considered as being strictly a Billinger but there is not much my dad doesn’t know about both the place and its people. He felt somewhat aggrieved the other day when he encountered a lady who could identify him as a Winstanley but couldn’t place his name. When he reminded her where he was born, she jokingly remarked that he wasn’t a true Billinger.

All three of my uncles worked at the two Heinz factories in their time. My dad spent most of his working life at Thomas Crompton and Sons in Ashton-in-Makerfield, working as the painter. My mother also worked there in the packing department, where she made a number of friends, one or two being from Billinge. Ironically enough it was at the recent funeral of one of these friends, Marjorie Laithwaite, that my dad met the disbelieving lady.

I spent twenty years at Crompton’s myself before moving on.

Tracing my Winstanley background has not been easy. My grandfather Frederick was one of four children but he was the only one to have a family. His parents were Thomas Winstanley (born 1855) and Elizabeth nee Hurst (born1855).

Alice, their first child (b.1878), didn’t marry. Neither did their second child, Thomas (b.1880). Both children were living with their parents at Longshaw at the time of the 1881 census.

Thomas, like his father before him, was a stonemason and did much of his work on St. Aidan’s church.

Ellen Winstanley (b.1882), the third child, married Louis White but didn’t have a family.

Finally came my grandfather Frederick (b.1892).

I can go back two more generations on the Winstanley side but don’t know where they lived or anything about them other than their names. My great, great grandparents were Thomas (b.1833) and Elizabeth. I think Thomas’s parents were Richard and Margaret Winstanley, my great, great, great grandparents.

I know that dad’s grandmother’s side of the family has a strong Billinge connection. Elizabeth Hurst’s parents were Thomas Hill and Ellen Hurst. Elizabeth was one of two children born to Ellen before she married Thomas. Her brother was John Hill; forever know in Billinge as ‘Our Nell’s Jack’. The other children born to Thomas and Ellen Hill were; Ann, who married Thomas Ashall; Ellen, who married James Frodsham; Margaret, who married Thomas Melling; Alice, who married Joseph Haselden and Mary Ann, who married James Lomax.

In 1881, John Hill, the champion skater, was living with his wife Mary Jane Frodsham at the Rant and six children; Mary Ellen, Sarah Ellen, John, Alice, Thomas and James.

Mary Ellen Hill (Aunt Polly to me) married John Huyton Green, a brother to my dad’s mother, Lydia Alice Green. After John died in December 1929, Mary Ellen married William Swift. Mary Ellen and John had two girls, both of whom are living in Rainford Road - Mary and Kate. Mary (Nurse Green to many of the population of both Ashton and Billinge) never married. Kate Green married Colin Sixsmith.

Sarah Ellen married David Liptrot, John never married, Alice married Thomas Fairhurst, Thomas married Julia Jackson and James married Mary Ann Fairhurst.

In compiling my family tree and doing research on Downall Green, I have lost count the number of times that coincidence has played an active role. It is surprising how many people are compiling their family trees or doing some sort of family research. One of many tools available for Family research is the Family Genealogy Forums on Internet. Whilst browsing these recently, I stumbled on the Fairhurst Family Forum. As the name appears on both sides of my family, I took a closer look. I scrolled down the messages until I came across a request for information on a familiar sounding name, George Fairhurst of Billinge. Carol Littler had made the request two years previously. I’ve since met Carol as we are researching the same families.

My Grandmother, Lydia Alice Winstanley nee Green, was the daughter of Robert Green and Catherine (Kate) nee Huyton. She had six brothers, Charles, James, Joseph, Robert, William and John. John and Charles retained the surname of Huyton Green. John Huyton Green was the same man who married Mary Ellen (Polly) Hill, mentioned earlier. Robert, (b. April 1852) and Kate (b. May 1859) Green were born at Aughton. They both married in February 1881, also at Aughton and came from predominantly farming backgrounds.

My great grandfather was Robert Green. His father was William Green, born 1810 at Lydiate. He farmed Rookery Farm at Rainford, a 40-acre farm employing four men and three boys. My great grandmother was Kate Green nee Huyton. Her father was William Huyton, born in September 1818 at Scarisbric. William Huyton was also a farmer, at Hills Lane, Aughton, where he lived with his wife, Lydia nee Georgson and family. Also at Hills Lane in 1881 was William Huyton’s son John, on another farm that he shared with his wife Ann and family.

William Huyton’s daughter Anne lived with her husband, John Prescott, her father-in-law James Prescott and her two children, at Hills Lane, where they operated a market gardening business.

Farming goes further back on the Huyton side of the family. William Huyton’s father, Jonathon Huyton, born in 1795 in Skelmersdale, was also a farmer, as was William’s father in law, William Georgson, born in 1791 at Burscough.

One of my Grandmother Winstanley’s brothers, Robert Green, (Uncle Bob) and his wife, Elizabeth Margaret nee Hogg (Auntie Lizzie), born in Littleborough in 1891, also carried on the farming tradition. They had a farm at Eccleston that I remember going to on numerous occasions. With no electricity it was always an adventure. Once they gave up the farm, they moved to Ormskirk, where Uncle Bob was the envy of the market gardening fraternity. What he didn’t grow in his allotment wasn’t worth growing. He did a great deal of trading with the Ormskirk community, not to mention his relatives from Downall Green! Whatever it was that he fed his vegetables on it certainly worked. He and his wife both lived until well into their nineties, Auntie Lizzie dying literally weeks before reaching her century. They had two children, Harold and Mary (Bunty). Mary is living in Downend, Bristol with her husband, Raymond Prangle and family.

CONCLUSION

People have had all kinds of family heirlooms handed down to them through the ages; mine was my Grandfather’s shed. He had the shed originally in Newton Road, where he used it to kept poultry. It was handed down to my dad who also used it to house hens and turkeys. My father in turn handed it down to me. I don’ t use the shed keep poultry but it’s been used as a play room for my children in and is now a fourteen by twelve storage area for gardening equipment. It came with me from our last house in Hindley Green, where my son and nephew once began to paint it white, as they didn’t like the creosote colour. Hopefully it will be used for some time to come, possibly as a play area for my grandson.

There are hundreds of Winstanley’s in the area but I haven’t been fortunate enough to discover family connections other than the ones already mentioned. I believe that should the door of opportunity open slightly, it could produce a flood of Winstanley family connections for me.

I have enjoyed writing this account of my family tree and hope that my doing so helps contribute to a successful venture into Billinge History. I hope that anyone reading this shares the same enjoyment. If anyone out there can help to with my research, I will be very pleased indeed to hear from them.

Eric Winstanley

3 Fernlea Grove

North Ashton

01942 714571

Email jl.winstanley@blueyonder.co.uk

APPENDIX V

THE BIRCHALLS

By Adrian Birchall

My Birchall Line - The Story So Far.

I am sure that what I am setting out below will need to be added to and amended to in the fullness of time but on the basis of getting the show on the road here goes! I should also say at the outset that I will include all sources and acknowledgements of help received. The improvements I am imagining will involve both people in more modern times and people farther back in time.

On Feb 3 1813 a James Birchall from Ashton married an Anne Copple, also from Ashton, at Winwick. The witnesses were an Elizabeth Copple (Anne’s mother?) and a Thomas Hayworth. This information was taken from the Vital Records Index (VRI- Mormons). The VRI also gives the children of James and Anne. These were:

George b. Sept 8 1816 ch. Oct 6 1816

Eleanor b. Dec 14 1818 ch. Jan 24 1819

John b. Sept 9 1821 ch Oct 21 1821

Betty b. Jul 15 1824 ch. Aug 15 1824

Anne b. Mar 13 1827 ch. Apr 15 1827

George b. Mar 23 1830 ch. Apr 12 1830

Now moving on to the 1851 census we find living in Gorsey Brow, Billinge the following Birchall family.

James aged 60 a nailmaker from Ashton

Anne aged 58 his wife from Ashton

Elizabeth (Betty?) aged 27, a handloom weaver, born in Wigan

George aged 21, a handloom weaver, born in Ashton

Robert aged 17, a coalmine labourer, born in Billinge

Martha aged 6, a scholar, born in Billinge (Martha would appear to be the daughter of Elizabeth).

I am working on the basis that this is the James and Anne Birchall who were married in Winwick in 1813. The first George b.1816 had probably died and Eleanor, John and Anne had met the same fate or by 1851 they had left the family home.

On Oct 241852 George Birchall, aged 23, described as a collier (had he changed jobs since the 1851 census or was it just an error on the census?) and living in Pemberton married a Margaret Peet, aged 24, also shown as a resident of Pemberton but with no occupation. I’m pretty sure the marriage took place at Billinge Church, as the vicar presiding was Howard St. George who was the vicar of Billinge at this time. George’s father is shown as James Birchall and his occupation is given as nailor (as in the 1851 census) which is the same occupation shown for George Peet, Margaret’s father. It would appear that neither George nor Margaret could write, as they were unable to sign the certificate. The witnesses were a Thomas Berry and a Jane Hurst (I believe that Margaret’s mother, Mary Peet was Mary Hurst before she was married and so is Jane Hurst Margaret’s aunt or grandmother?).

Turning now to the 1881 census, we see that George (now 51) is described as having been born in Ashton and is now blind. He is living at Overton (off Up Holland Road) with his wife Margaret (aged 52) and their daughters Alice (aged11), Sarah (aged 9), Margaret (aged 5) and a granddaughter, Edith (aged 4). All the family, apart from George, is shown as born in Billinge.

We are now faced with some “interesting” questions. Where was their son James, who was born in 1867 and would therefore have been aged 13/14 in 1881 and who were the parents of the granddaughter Edith? Given that George and Margaret were married in 1852 it is highly likely that they had a number of children before James in 1867. While not all of them may have survived, if some did, including a parent of Edith, where are they in 1881?

In the 1891 census, George (61) is now described as a blind widower (clearly Margaret had died between 1881 and 1891) and is living with his son James (aged23), a coalminer and his daughter Alice (aged 21) in Up Holland Road. So James is back at home. Did he return to help look after his blind father, following his mother’s death, or was he only away temporarily in 1881? What about Sarah, who would have been 19, Margaret, who would have been 15 and the granddaughter Edith, who would have been 14?

The 1881 mystery of the missing James is probably solved by the discovery that the 1881 census does show a James Birchall, aged 13 and born in Billinge, working as a farm boy, living at Lion’s Den Farm, Culcheth with Thomas Gormley.

Now we know that by 1891, James was living with his father George and his sister Alice. Around this time he married Wilhimena Parr who in 1881, aged 6, had been living with her family at Longfold in Billinge. The family included Hugh, aged 8, and the parents James and Susannah. The household was headed by the grandmother, Ellen Parr (aged 64 and born in Parr, St. Helens).

James Birchall and Wilhimena Parr had 2 children, James and Wilhimena (Minnie) who became the mother of Richard (Don) Lewis. James’ wife, Wilhimena, died shortly after giving birth and Minnie was brought up by the Parr family. James, the son, was to own the petrol station near The Stork Inn in Billinge, later in life. Did the Birchalls bring him up?

Following the death of Wilhimena in James Birchall fathered 2 children with Alice Melling before they married. These children were John (born?) and Wilfred (born May 30 1897). James and Alice were married on May 28 1898 at Billinge with James’ father, George, shown as being a collier. Alice Melling was 25. Her mother Mary Melling attended the wedding and was one of the witnesses. The other witness was Amos Marshall. Alice’s father is not shown. James’s address is given as 39 Up Holland Road and Alice’s as 2 Longshaw Common. After the marriage they had a number of further children, Joseph, Albert, George, Nellie, Elizabeth, Mary, Alice and Edith.

Alice Melling was born on May 29 1873 and the 1881 census shows her, aged 7, living with her mother Mary (aged 34 and a shopkeeper in Longshaw) and sister Mary, aged 2. If Mary was 34 in 1881 then she should have been born in 1846/47. There is a record of a Mary Anne Melling born March 14 1846, the daughter of a collier, George Melling and his wife, Elizabeth.

Returning to James Birchall living on Gorsey Brow with his family in 1851 - there is an interesting development in the 1871 census. This shows, living on Gorsey Brow, William Fairhurst, a coalminer (aged43), living with his wife Elizabeth (aged 46 and this I believe to be the Elizabeth Birchall in the 1851 census), a daughter, Anne, aged 9, a grandson William Birchall, aged 8 (parents?) and the father-in-law, James Birchall, described as a 82 year old ex-nailmaker, born in Ashton. As there is a record of the Martha Birchall (aged 6 in 1851) being the daughter of Elizabeth, is William Martha’s son? Coincidentally, the 1871 census also shows living on Gorsey Brow Thomas Fairhurst, a coalminer aged 47, living with his wife, Elizabeth, aged 45, their 2 sons James (aged 17) and Thomas (aged11) and a step-son, Henry Birchall, a coalminer aged 23. What’s the connection I wonder?

At the time of writing this I could find no mention of George and Margaret Birchall and their son James who would have been three or four in the 1871 census for Billinge and Ashton. Where did they live at this time or did I just overlook them?

APPENDIX W

Greenfield House Intermediate Approved School

By Bert Morris

I spent six very happy years in Billinge, 1963-69, as a teacher at Greenfield House, which opened as a Boys' Approved School in mid 1963. The premises had previously been used as an orphanage and the people in the Billinge community were not at all happy at the change.

To understand why, it is necessary to realise that an Approved School was a sort of open prison for juvenile offenders and was administered under Home Office supervision rather than under the Department of Education. Billinge residents were appalled that juvenile offenders were to be housed in the village and I understand that a number of public complaints and appeals were made to prevent this happening. These were unsuccessful and Greenfield received its first “pupils” in May 1963. The Catholic Arch Diocese of Liverpool administered the school as an Intermediate School, which housed boys aged 13 to 17. The Diocese already had a Junior Approved School at Formby and a Senior School at Widnes. Greenfield House completed the range of provision for Catholic boys who were committed by the courts for a variety of offences. Committal was for three years although boys could be released earlier if their behaviour was satisfactory and the School believed they were unlikely to re-offend.

The school accommodated fifty boys and had a staff of three teachers, three trade instructors, two House Masters, a Head Master, a Deputy, various cooks, and administrative and ancillary staff. Although regarded locally as a junior prison, the school, like all other Approved Schools, did not lock up its students. As the staff numbers indicate they were closely supervised during their waking hours and had a night supervisor on duty in the dormitories when the day staff went off duty. Outside of school hours, the boys were offered a wide range of sports and hobbies including canoe building and canoeing, fishing, photography, boxing, handicrafts and swimming. The school has its own mini-bus and outdoor education including hiking; camping and map reading was a regular activity. The school functioned as a regular boarding school and its pupils were soon frequently seen around the village on their way to the new library, to church at St Mary’s and to the shops, particularly Brown’s Hardware. After the first two years local residents were happy to have the school and volunteered that it was less trouble than the orphanage had been.

My time in Billinge was a particularly happy time. Initially the three teachers lived in schoolhouses on the Windsor Road estate. I was the first teacher to arrive having transferred from a much larger Approved School in Bristol. When we arrived in Billinge at lunchtime one day complete with three children we found that the house we were to move into at 52 Windsor Road, was finished but had not been cleaned. The rooms were littered with builders’ rubble and of course no floor coverings had been installed! And our furniture was to be delivered from Bristol at 8 a.m. the next day. The Head Master, Mr McCarthy, had assured us that “Yes the house was finished” and “Yes it was all ready for us to move into”! Not the best introduction to Billinge. When we later bought our own house at 26 Trent Road, we made very sure that it was finished and cleaned and fitted up before we even thought of moving in.

Moving to Billinge was a great experience for us. My wife and I, from Manchester and Salford respectively, had not enjoyed Bristol where we found the people reserved and difficult to get to know. The Billinge folk could not have been more different; warm, accepting, friendly and cheerful. Queuing up in Peggy’s fish and chip shop was an education; the Billinge accent was so broad we couldn’t understand a word. However the fish and chips were great and we loved it. Trying all the pubs was another experience and I found myself at home in all of them. Fond memories of the Stork, the Eagle and Child and the Midway, pasties and a pint of bitter.

What of the Greenfield House boys? Although they had all been in trouble with the law in their hometowns, very few of them were any trouble when they came to Billinge. Most came from Lancashire with the occasional one from the Potteries or Cheshire. All were very easy to get on with and from a teacher’s point of view they were the best students I ever had. Not the brightest but respectful, enthusiastic, cheerful and appreciative - far better to teach than many classes in “ordinary” schools. Why were they there? Mainly because of the homes or areas from where they came. Certainly as people I found them great and would be happy to regard the vast majority as friends.

I left Billinge in 1969 and moved to Canada and then to Australia. Although I have no intention of moving back to Britain to live, Billinge would be one place I would be happy to return to if it happened that did “go back”.

Thank you Billinge. Thank you the Billinge people and thank you Greenfield House and all the young men I taught there. Bye.

Bert Morris

APPENDIX X

DONATIONS TO BIRCHLEY NEW INFANT SCHOOL

Work on the building of the school began on March 8^th 1898 and the Infants moved in on January 9^th 1899.

A considerable proportion of the cost of the school came from donations made by

local people. The names of the donors, listed by area, are given below.

Birchley District

The Very Rev Dean Powell Mr Thomas Boyle

Mr Joseph Middlehurst Mrs Sarah Ann Boyle

Mrs Priscilla Middlehurst Mr John Joseph Balmer

Miss Bridget McGrath Mr Thomas Webster

Miss Jane Bolton Mr james Blackburn

Miss Elizbeth Maxwell Mr John Blackburn

Miss Ann Beesley Mr William Hampson

Miss Rosalie Rowson Mrs Bridget Hampson

Mr James Jackson Mrs Bridget Conroy

Mr Henry Taylor Mr Martin Conroy

Miss Sarah Ellen Taylor Mr Miles Frodsham

Master William Taylor Mr John Durkin

Mr Lawrence Beesley Mr John Kilmurray

Mrs Jane Eddleston Mr Ralph Pendlebury

Mr James Eddleston Miss Louisa Pendlebury

Mr William Eddleston Miss Mary Webster

Miss Catherine Eddleston Mrs Ann Dixon

Miss Alice Eddleston

Chadwick Green District

Mrs Margaret Mather, R.I.P. Mr William Dixon

Miss Jane Mather Mrs Ellen Dixon

Mr William Wilcock Mr Owen Nulty

Mrs Mary Rigby Mr Robert Owen Nulty

Mr John Rigby Mr Francis Beesley

Mr Thomas Rigby Mr James Cunliffe

Miss Margaret Rigby Mr George Dixon

Mrs Mary Dixon Mr Thomas Chisnall

Mr Robert Dixon Mr William Harrison

Miss Mary Dixon Mr John Gaffney

Mr Thomas Taylor Mr Benjamin Massey

Mr Francis Taylor Mrs Mary Foster

Mr James Taylor Mr Francis Foster

Mr James Gaffney Mr Thomas Wilcock

Mrs Jane Gaffney Mr John Wilcock

Miss Mary Derbyshire Mr Henry C Beesley

Mr John Derbyshire Mr James Loftus

Mr John Beesley Mr William Beesley

Mr Thomas Rigby (late of Startham Hall) Mr William Houlton

Mr Joseph Houlton Mr William Bold

Mr Joseph Gaskell Miss Elizabeth Hurst

Miss Ellen Gaskell Mrs Alice Rigby

Mr Joseph Rigby Mrs Ellen Fenny

Mr Thomas Rigby (Brown Heath) Mr Charles Brannon

Rainford Road District

Mr Frederick Leather Mr James McLaughlin

Master Frederick Joseph Leather Mr Joseph Cook, Sen

Miss Mary Teresa leather Mr William Cook

Miss Sarah Ellison Mr Joseph Cook

Miss Constance Ellison Miss Mary Cook

Miss Annie Ellison Mr John Morris

Mr Henry Wilson Mr Thomas Morris

Mr George Burrows, Sen Mr Thomas Hewson

Mr George Burrows Mr Patrick Coleman

Mr Robert Pigott, Sen Mr Mark Coleman

Mrs Ann Pigott Mr John Chisnall

Mr James Pigott Mr William Chisnall

Mr Charles Pigott Miss Ann Chisnall

Mr Robert Pigott Miss Martha Chisnall

Miss Mary Pigott Mr M Connaughton

Miss Eliza Pigott Mr John Connaughton

Mr Henry Liptrot Mr Henry Connaughton

Mr John James Quinn Mr John Power

Mr James Moran

Sephton’s Fold, Fair View & Gorsey Brow District

Mr James Mc Laughlin and Family Mr James Eddleston

Mr Patrick Fogherty Miss Mary Eddleston

Mr Henry Bolton Mr John Cross, Sen

Mrs Mary Bolton Mr John Cross

Miss Jane Bolton Mr James Cross

Miss Elizabeth Bolton Mr Thomas Malone

Miss Josephine Bolton Mr Peter Malone

Mr William Bolton Mr Thomas Roby

Mr William J. Townshend Mrs Elizabeth Harrison

Mrs Ann Townshend Mr Thomas Harrison

Master William Townshend Mr John Harrison

Master George V. Townshend Miss Eliza Harrison

Master James Townshend Miss Ann Harrison

Miss Phoebe Ann Townshend Mr Thomas Atherton

Mr George Bolton Mr James Fairhurst

Mrs Sarah Bolton Mr Thomas Fairhurst

Mr John Fairclough Miss Kate Roughley

Mr Henry Fairclough Mr William Roughley

Mr Peter Fairclough Mr Henry Birchall

Mr Peter Taylor Mr Patrick Frayne

Mr William Taylor Mrs Bridget Frayne

Mr William Foster Mr Michael Power

Mr James Hanrahan Mr Michael Mitchell

Mr John Mullin, Sen Mr James Wilson

Mr John Mullin Mr Peter Wilson

Mr Thomas Mullin Mr James Green

Main Street & Billinge Higher End District

Mr Thomas Mather Mrs Kate Littler

Mrs Margaret Cliff Mr John Littler R.I.P.

Mr William Cliff Mr Richard Littler

Mr John Cliff Mr James Littler

Miss Mary Cliff Miss Elizabeth Littler

Miss Jane Cliff Mrs Sarah Gee

Mr James Swift Mr John gee

Mr Geoffrey T. Crank Mrs Martha Mather

Mr Edward Summer Mr Joseph Mather

Mrs Margaret Frodsham Mr James Mather

Mr Thomas Frodsham Mr William Whittaker

Mr Vincent Frodsham Mr Joseph Littler

Mrs Ann McManus Mr Joshua Blackburn

Mr Thomas McManus Mr Robert Ward

Mr Nicholas McManus Mr William Balmer

Miss Kate McManus Mr John Balmer

Miss Annie McManus Mr Henry Dunkin

Mr John McManus Mr James Dunkin

Mrs Mary Cunliffe Mr John Dunkin

Mr Francis Cunliffe Mr William Gore

Mr Thomas Derbyshire Mrs Jane Green

Mr John Derbyshire Mr Joseph Green

Miss Sarah Derbyshire Mr John Malone

Mr Peter Frodsham Mr John Frodsham

Mr Thomas Gee Miss Alice Frodsham

Mr Levi Gee Mr Thomas Connor

Mr Frederick Gee Mr George Grundy

Mr Thomas Beesley Mr John Wadsworth

Mr Charles Beesley Mr Albert Cross

Mr William Beesley Mr Joseph Ward

Billinge Higher End District

Mr John Middlehurst Mr William Fishwick

Miss Elizabeth Middlehurst Mr John Cook

Miss Kate Middlehurst Mr Richard Rigby

Mr Henry Middlehurst Mr Daniel Hitchen

Mr John Middlehurst Mrs Elizabeth Sutton

Mrs Alice Rimmer Mr Henry Sutton

Mr James Hurst Miss Mary Sutton

Mr William Hurst Miss Margaret Sutton

Miss Esther Hurst Miss Jane Sutton

Mr James Harvey Rowson Miss Martha Sutton

Miss Helena Rowson Mr James Huyton

Mrs Mary Rimmer, R.I.P. Mr William Rowson

Miss Annie Dixon Ms Mary Ann Coxhead

Mr Henry Stringman Mr Joshua Sumner

Mr James Sumner

Rainford District

Mrs Elizabeth Middlehurst Mr Thomas Hopkins

Miss Mary Ellen Middlehurst Mr William Hopkins

Miss Mary Smith Mr James Sumner

Mrs Sarah Smith Mr Philip Costello

Miss Mary Agnes Smith Mr Patrick Costello

Miss Phoebe Ellen Smith Mrs Margaret White

Miss Sarah Elizabeth Smith Mr Thomas White

Miss Sarah Jane Cliff Miss Margaret White

Miss Ann Foster Mr Peter Boardman

Miss Mary Ann Foster Mr George Sumner

Miss Ann Cliff Mrs E Lathom

Mrs Margaret Glover Hull Mr James Higgins

Mr Thomas Seddon, R.I.P. Mr Dominic Higgins

Miss Valentine Mrs Margaret Sumner

Mr Thomas Green Master Austin Sumner

Mr Joseph and Mary Houlton Master Stephen Sumner

Mr Robert Houlton Miss Mary Sumner

Mr John Houlton Mr Michael Burke

Mr Thomas Houlton Mr John Burke

Miss Ann Houlton Mr John Graley

Mrs Elizabeth Connolly Mr Michael Devine

Mr Michael Hopkins Miss Catherine Gore

Mr John Hopkins Mr James Duffy

Windle District

Mr & Mrs William Sumner Miss Margaret Ashall

Mrs & Miss Mary Jane Sumner Mr James Ashall

Mrs Margaret Cunliffe Mr Joseph Beesley

Mr John Webster Mr William Beesley

Mr & Mrs Peter Case Miss Margaret Beesley

Mr William Case Miss Frances Beesley

Mr John Case Mrs Ann J Brookfield

Miss Sarah Ann Case Mrs Flaherty

Miss Martha Case Mr Henry Brown

Miss Elizabeth Case

There were several anonymous donations in all districts.

The total amount donated was £395 – 7s – 3d towards a total cost of building the school, including all fees etc., of £1050.

APPENDIX Y

HEYES & WOOD

By Peter Wood

Introduction

I was born in Leigh in 1941, and grew up in nearby Atherton, so why do I think it worth recording my brief memories of Billinge? The insistent Joe Taylor is the main reason, but also the fact that among my ancestors are one or two of the Billinge Heyes families. While searching for Internet information on Billinge, I came across the Billinge History Society site with its wealth of information and photographs. Among the photographs was one of an old man and a dog, captioned ‘Mr Heyes, father of Hannah Robinson’. Surely, I thought, that must be Hannah Heyes who married James Robinson of Tanyard House Farm, a place I had often visited as a boy. So she proved to be, and one of Hannah's younger sisters was Alice Heyes who married Sydney Wood, my grandmother and grandfather. So ‘Mr Heyes’ of the electronic image was none other than my great grandfather, a shadowy ancestral figure who according to half-remembered family conversation, either drove a horse and cart around the farms, or worked as a dataller in the coal pits. I had to know more, and that led me to Joe Taylor and his request to record whatever memories I could. But firstly, a digression into the name Heyes.

The Heyes Surname

I am a retired volcanologist living in New Zealand, and I do not pretend to be an expert on the origin and development of English family names. Nonetheless, I take some pride in having surnames in my ancestry which are distinctively Lancashire, possibly as an antidote to the ubiquity of my actual surname, Wood. Heyes is one such name, and the others include Higson and Charlson, all of which appear to have originated in south Lancashire.

Although I knew my grandmother's maiden name was Heyes, I had never seen it written, and when I started researching family genealogy, I assumed it was spelt Hayes or Hays. This lead me along a few false trails till I discovered, thanks to the internet and the ready availability of data for the 1881 and 1901 Censuses of England and Wales, that Lancashire families often used an 'e' as the first vowel.

By 1881, major population movements had already occurred, and were still in progress. The rural counties were becoming relatively depopulated as people migrated to find some brass among the muck of the industrial north. As migrants brought in surnames characteristic of other counties, the stock of Lancashire names would have been diluted, but by the same token there was no great incentive for Lancashire folk to disperse across the country and globe as happened in later years. So the census of 31 March 1881 gives a good indication of the localisation of names such as Heyes.

Out of a total of 2200 people called Heyes in England in 1881, some 90% were born in Lancashire. By 1901 the figure had dropped to 66%, but the Lancashire influence continued through the 20^th century, and as late as 1999, some 60% of all Heyes people in England still lived in Lancashire. This is not to say that Hayes is not a Lancashire name, for in 1881 there were twice as many Lancashire-born people called Hayes, as there were Heyes. But step across the county boundary in any direction and the vowel switch is immediately obvious. From 2:1 in Lancashire, the Hayes:Heyes ratio becomes 13:1 in Cheshire, 16:1 in Yorkshire, and 24:1 in Westmoreland.

A population distribution map for Heyes in 1881 shows that families mainly lived in an ellipse with an axis from Liverpool to Bolton, including St Helens and Wigan. The Blackburn-Burnley area formed a smaller concentration. Families were not evenly distributed throughout this area, but were clustered in some parishes more than others. The two main areas were Billinge and Aspull, with about 17 Heyes per 1000 of population. And taking Billinge Chapel End as a separate entity, the proportion rose to 25 Heyes per 1000 of population, living in 13 separate households, but with many family linkages. Billinge was indeed the heartland of the Heyes surname.

The Heyes Families

My great grandfather James Heyes was born in Ince in 1856, the son of James & Hannah (née Leatherbarrow) Heyes of Scholes. His father was a fireman, but soon left the pits to try his hand at farming near Shevington, and young James became a farm labourer. The family moved on, arriving in the 1870s in the Billinge area, where James met Lilian (Lilly) Heyes, whom he married in St Aidan's church in 1878. Though their surnames were the same, James' and Lilly's families were not obviously related. Lilly's grandparents, James (yet another!) and Jane (née Foster) Heyes lived at Billinge Rant for 40 years or more in the 1840s to 1880s period. The Rant was also known as Weavers Court, and in the 1830s and early 1840s, this James Heyes was one such cotton weaver who plied his trade there. He later abandoned weaving, no doubt in response to the factories of the industrial revolution making cottage craftwork increasingly unprofitable. After a period of general labouring, he became a carter, helped for a while by his grandson Thomas Littler. The 1881 Wigan Directory shows he carried goods between Billinge, Wigan and St Helens.

In 1833, James & Jane Heyes had a son Robert, who became a collier and in 1854 married Hannah Birchall, daughter of a clay tobacco pipe maker from Rainford. Robert and Hannah were Lilly Heyes' parents. Prior to 1881, after mining in the Ashton and Sutton pits, Robert brought his family to Chadwick Green and settled at a place then called Lime Vale. Between 1891 and 1901 Robert & Hannah moved to Brownheath Nook, and their youngest son, also called Robert, and his wife Jane took over the tenancy and ran the property as a market garden/orchard, now called Lime Grove. The cottage was long-known to Billingers as Bob Senny's, apparently in honour of the older Robert, my great-great grandfather. The memorial stone for Robert & Hannah Heyes, who died respectively in 1911 and 1918, is set into the paved area on the right-hand side of St Aidans church.

My great grandparents, James and Lilly Heyes moved around. Their first child John was born in Moss Bank in 1879 and in 1881 James & Lilly were living in Windle with James's father. The family moved north back to Lilly's home territory, and their next child, Hannah, was born in Billinge in 1883. In 1891 they were living at 9 Beacon Lane (now Beacon Road) in Billinge Chapel End with their 4 children; John (b.1879), Hannah (b.1883), Helen (b.1886), and Alice (b.1890). Unlike John, all the later children were born Billingers, and my grandmother Alice's birth certificate shows she was born in the house in Beacon Lane. It also shows that James was a farm labourer who did not read or write, and made his mark with an 'X'; illiteracy was still common among the older labouring classes in late-Victorian England.

A further shift north occurred between 1891 and 1901, for they were ensconced at 35 Greenslate Road, Billinge Higher End at the time of the 31 March 1901 census. The youngest child Jane (b.1893) was now with them, but 18 years old Hannah had left home and was working as a domestic servant for Ellen Laithwaite, a shopkeeper on Billinge Main Street. James had left the land and become a pitman, describing himself as a colliery labourer below ground. Lilly was a laundress, which probably means she took in washing to help make ends meet, and John was a colliery platelayer. When James Heyes first went down the pit I do not know, but my grandmother remembered he used to have a job carrying produce on a horse-drawn wagon, and that would have to be some time in the mid 1890s.

Lilly died in 1924, and James in 1926, moving to join his daughter Hannah Robinson at Tanyard House Farm during his last years. The photo of James Heyes in the Billinge History Society gallery looks like a man in his 60s at least, which would place the photo in the early 1920s.

Sydney & Alice Wood

It was hardly surprising that Alice Heyes, the coal miner's daughter from Billinge, would marry and live locally for the rest of her life, but what of the man she married - my grandfather Sydney Wood. He came to Billinge by a far more circuitous route. His mother was from Penistone in the West Riding, and she, as 'a woman deceived' (her words) gave birth in January 1891 to her illegitimate son in Bournemouth (suitably distant from Yorkshire). By April 1891 young Sydney and his mother were in lodgings in Wimbledon in Surrey, where they stayed till a private 'adoption' was arranged in June 1891, and Sydney passed into the hands of a Barnsley miner and his wife - Thomas and Fanny Latham.

At least that is how they signed my grandfather's change-of-ownership papers (adoption was not legal till 1927, and guardianship is a more appropriate term for the process), but in fact the census records tell a different story. Thomas Latham was a miner working in Yorkshire, but he was actually from Upholland, and though married, it was not to Fanny. She was Fanny Hays, a widowed Nottingham lace dresser, and they were living 'in tally'. As an interesting side issue, Fanny lived on her own in Nottinghamshire in 1881, and spelt her name Hays, but after joining with Thomas Latham, her surname changed to Heyes. Quite likely, Thomas filled out the later census returns, and spelt her name the way he knew - the good old Lancashire Heyes.

Within a year of taking Sydney under their wing, Thomas had brought the three of them back to his home territory and was living in 3 Lodge Road not far from Orrell Station. This is the address on the baptism certificate when they attempted to rebrand Sydney Wood as Thomas Sidney Latham - again purporting to be Mr & Mrs Latham. They moved around among the mining community living in Billinge Higher End. In the 1901 Census, when Thomas was a road mender in a coalmine, they were living in 18 Sandy Lane with Fanny Heyes as nominal Head of Household, and two Thomas Latham's as lodgers. The younger, 10 years old Thomas was, of course, none other than Sydney Wood.

When he was 14 or 15, Sydney started work at Bispham Hall Brick and Terra Cotta Ltd on Smethurst Road. His loyalty to this company was evident in a letter he wrote to me in 1970, the year before he died. He wrote 'as my next birthday will be my eightieth, I am letting business gradually run down, and shall (all being well) pack it in then. After 66 years service with one firm.' Sometime after starting work he parted company with the Lathams, and went to live with coal miner Joshua Owens and his wife Elizabeth (née Melling) on Moss Road.

Sydney and Alice (nee Heyes) Wood c 1960

I do not know exactly what my grandfather did at the brickworks, though he told me one of his earliest jobs was counting nails in boxes in the store. When he married Alice Heyes in late 1913 he was a clerk, and later in life, when I knew him, he was a sales representative, travelling by train (he never learned to drive) to various parts of the country. He was a non-smoker when I knew him, but told me in earlier days he would have two pipes ready loaded to last him out on the train journey to Manchester.

I believe Sydney and Alice must have lived with her parents on Greenslate Road for some while, for that is where my father was born in 1914. Later they moved to a council house in St James's Road, Orrell (or Far Moor to give the community its local name), and that is where my memories of the area are based.

My memories of the Orrell-Billinge area

Joe Taylor tried to explain to me where Billinge Higher End stopped and Orrell and Winstanley started, but to me the whole area around and about was Orrell, except when we went to visit the Robinsons at Tanyard House Farm, which I knew to be in Billinge. My memories dating from the 1940s and 1950s are necessarily sporadic, because I did not grow up in the area, but I always looked forward to the times when an Orrell weekend was on the cards. I loved racing up and down the long wooden ramp from the ticket office down to the platforms on Orrell Station, down in its cutting.

One of the most enduring passions my grandparents passed on to me was their love and respect for the natural world and its wild inhabitants. They were both keen bird watchers, members of the Wigan Field Naturalists Society, and I travelled with them on weekend expeditions to watch waders on the windswept mudflats of the Dee estuary, or spot migrant geese and ducks on the murky waters of the Wigan Flashes, or listen to chiffchaff and blackcap in the woodlands at Knowsley. They taught me to recognise a multitude of birds and flowers, and in later school years I turned my attention to rocks, a fascination which led to a life-long career as a geologist. As Aunty Joan once remarked, "It's great going for walks with you and Grandma - one with his head turned down to the ground looking for fossils, and the other with her head turned up to the sky looking for birds".

Long walks over the fields were an essential part of life for the Wood household. As my father explained, for some years they attended church or chapel on Sundays, but soon it was decided that a good walk in the fresh air was more conducive to a healthy body and mind than a boring sermon - another Wood philosophy that has stayed with me for life. I cannot remember all the tracks and lanes we followed, but some mental snapshots are still preserved. Shaley Brow and nearby lanes were favourite places, especially for wrens in the hedges and harebells in the laneside grass. From St James's Road we would follow the lineside track, along Greenslate Road, across past the reservoirs and over the fields towards Winstanley; here I learned from Grandma Wood that the migratory wheatears on the bare fields were so called because they had a white arse, so obvious when they scattered away across the furrows. And somewhere in the family archives there may still be that photo of me in short pants on a winter's day, starving cold despite a woollen balaclava, in the snow by the beacon on Billinge Hill. That was just a short distance from where Grandma was born in Beacon Lane - though I didn't know that then.

The most popular walks took us west along the lineside track towards the east end of the railway tunnel, past my father's old school, Upholland Grammar, and through the 'Double Hedges' onto the open fields that stretched north to Upholland and south past Bispham Hall. I know that most of this area is not in Billinge, but where does Higher End start (or finish)? On a modern ordnance survey map the words 'Higher End' appear a good half-mile north of the Bispham Hall brickworks, but on a glazed and stamped brick I found near the disused brick kilns in 1995 are the words 'Bispham Hall Orrell Wigan'. I lugged that brick all the way back to New Zealand with me - Wood family heirlooms are few and far between, and this is the only tangible reminder I have of the place where Sydney Wood spent all his long working life.

The pepper pots were fun. This was our name (or did everyone call them that?) for the three big brick ventilation towers, incongruously standing in the fields above the line of the railway tunnel west of Tontine. At the noise of a train chuffing towards the tunnel from Orrell, we would stop walking and focus on the towers as the progress of the steam engine hidden in the tunnel was marked by sequential outpourings of grimy smoke through the curved gratings on the pepper pots. Bispham Hall brickworks had its own locomotive, a small saddle tank, as I recall, named Hilda (famous in the family because that was also my mother's name). Hilda pulled and pushed wagonloads of bricks, pipes and coal up and down between the works and the mainline sidings at Tontine, crossing the road not far from Upholland Grammar School. I guess Hilda's line closed as a working railway many years ago, but the track bed is still clearly marked.

I have a distinct memory of Grandpa Wood showing me the mouth of a day-eye mine at the brickworks, where tubs of clay were being winched from the darkness up the steep incline. This was probably the old Gauntly No 2 coal pit, in which they now worked the thick, high quality fireclay that lay beneath the Middle Mountain Mine (mine is the Lancashire word for a coal seam, not just a colliery). The fire clay beneath the Roger Mine was also valuable for making firebricks and terra cotta, and being shallower in the stratigraphic sequence, was quarried from the surface.

One day out around the fields near Bispham Hall I found what I took to be a set of fossil teeth (I had hardly heard of geology then). On a baked disk some 6 inches across were three shiny, ivory coloured, 2-inch long fangs. I proudly showed them to Grandpa, who with a chuckle, explained that they were test pads that the kiln men at the brick works used to check firing temperature. Each fang originally stood proud, and had a different composition, causing them to melt and collapse in sequence as the temperature rose.

The occasional visit to see the Robinsons at Tanyard House Farm was a special treat. Where I lived at Atherton, there were some old farms in among the abandoned pits and ruckings just beyond our council houses near the edge of Squire Hulton's estates. We treated their fields and brooks as our rightful playground, but we were undoubtedly unwanted pests as far as the farm workers were concerned. The shouted word 'farmer' was like a blackbird's squawk on seeing a creeping cat - you ran like hell in what was hopefully the opposite direction. The farm at Chadwick Green was different. Aunty Hannah was Grandma Wood's sister, and on this old-time farm, I was an accepted family member, not a low life form to be chased away and given a wallop if caught.

Again, my memories of Tanyard House Farm are trivial snapshots spread over years, and with no chronological linkage. Being chased by irate geese in the orchard down the slope from the farmhouse - as a townie, I was not familiar with the concept that some farm fowls were prepared to fight back when pestered. Sitting on the old tractor that seemed to be a permanent fixture in the weeds outside the barn opposite the duck pond - my chance to make like I was a farm boy. And the pig pens, not all that far from the back door as I remember (though time shortens some distances and lengthens others) - and right along side was the outdoor privy with 'holes in a board' seating and a straight drop to an open pit. Were they still in use? I can't really remember, despite a fascination with the grubbier side of life. From the farm we could walk to the end of Car Mill Dam and point the field glasses at the ducks, swans, grebes and moorhens on the water and in the reeds. I was warned not to approach the swans at nesting time as one swipe from a swan's wing would break my arm. Oh really? But having been sorted out by the farm geese I was unwilling to put my disbelief to a practical test.

I learned at least one new dialect word - baggin. Aunty Hannah said one day it was time to take the baggin out to the men in the fields. Baggin, baggin? What's that then? I knew that colliers carried food in round-ended snap tins, but baggin was a new one on me - a word from the fields, redolent of chaff and cow pats. I'm sure I'd have learned more agricultural dialect if I'd listened carefully, but I still treasure the word baggin.

One day we arrived to be told that the men were going to kill a couple of pigs in the barn later. Their throats were to be slit. This I had to see - high drama down on the farm. All day I lobbied to be allowed in on this rural spectacular - the tales I could tell back at school. The Robinson men were hesitant, but being familiar with such things probably thought it would do me no long-term harm to know that eating bacon meant killing pigs. Dad however, let common sense get the better of him and I was banned from watching the slaughter. Probably as well, I'm sure I'd have been traumatised for life.

I have little more than a few vague memories to tie me to my undoubted family connections to the Billinge-Far Moor area. At dinner and teatime at St James's Road, I liked to sit on one particular chair. It was an old wooden ladder-back chair with a rush-bottomed seat. Grandma Wood told me it was a Billinge chair, and promised that it would be mine one day, but that never came to be. After she died in 1973, Aunty Joan lived on in the house till she had to go into a home in her last year or so during the 1990s. I had long emigrated to New Zealand by then, and my brother lived in Bolton. There was no one to guard the possessions, and the chair, among other things, disappeared. I now find that Billinge chairs are so sought after that there is an antique shop in Pasadena, California, selling replicas for well over a thousand dollars each.

Ah well, I still have my Bispham Hall brick by my fireplace.

Peter Wood

Rotorua New Zealand

September 2003

APPENDIX Z

TOM MELLING

His Own Story

I was born July 27 1912, one of ten: eight girls and two boys. My brother was dying; he was eleven years old, a deaf and dumb lad and a cripple from birth. All born in a little cottage which had two rooms upstairs, one made into two, which had been a shippan or cowshed: 2/6 per week rent. Poverty in those days through unemployment and low wages having its effect. Children, who could, earned what they could by working casually on the farms or wherever they could, to earn a little. My poor mother worked hard on the farm also and took in washing, washed ironed and took them back in a big basket to peg them out and even then we were threatened with eviction. The police came to put my poor father in jail. Oh the times of poverty! No proper clothes in which to dress, only begged ones off the rag cart. My father has followed my mother out at night to prevent her drowning herself. My poor brother she nursed until he was eleven when he died and never had a doctor; nothing but poverty, no social help. No proper bedclothes, we slept all together to keep warm. The 1914-1918 war raged in those years. Well, my poor brother was laid in the grave for a very small fee and my eldest sister found some domestic employment – a few shillings a week and her keep. The shopkeeper was good to us, letting us have food to pay when we could. I feel God constrained her to be so kind to us. Well the hearts of all men are under God’s control, turning them whichever way he will.

We never went to a Sunday school or church, because we had no suitable clothes to wear on a Sunday. But the lads with whom I played belonged to the Methodists and the Rechabites had lantern pictures in the old chapel. The man who conducted them taught us a chorus:

‘The Bible, yes, that’s the book for me,

I stand alone on the Word of God, the Bible’

From that time I got friendly with some of them and we went together to hear the lectures. How good that was compared to the present day. Well, I went on in poverty and sin, for the Sabbath days were desecrated with swearing, proving the seeds of evil grow as we get older in years – mighty seeds within us grow, germinate, take root and bear fruit to damn our souls eternally. But oh what a Saviour there is who came from Heaven to suffer, bleed and save us! ‘He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in.’ He only is the way, the truth and the life of his people. We are all born in sin and shapen in iniquity.

The time came for me to leave school on 14^thJuly 1926. Still a lot of unemployment. Did casual work following the thrashing machine, gardening, anything to earn a little to help at home. Well, to God’s honour and glory would I speak, and not to my own. I had been to several places seeking work (collieries, brickworks), yes, Pilkingtons, and was about to be taken on when it seemed as though God shut the door and said no.

‘God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform

He plants His footsteps in the sea,

And rides upon the storm.’

The man who interviewed me said to my father, who was with me, ‘Do you work here?’ When my father said ‘No’ he said ‘I am sorry, I can’t take you on.’ And that was where God closed the door. It was the custom for Pilkingtons only to take on relatives. Well it seemed strange, but God is his own interpreter and he did make it plain. Well I believe that providence, as sing in one of our beautiful hymns, (by Burnham), No 61. Oh I do feel I can sing with my heart – every word of it was my experience written. God uses his providential dealings to bring his purpose about, and guide us in his purposes of mercy and salvation for us.

With still no employment, one morning I sat on a wall watching a neighbour cutting the hay, when who should come down the lane but the farmer’s wife (a godly woman), driving the cows to pasture. She passed me on her way back and then returned and asked me if I wanted some work. I quickly said yes. Well, she said, go in the field where the potatoes are and weed the potatoes, supposedly for a few days. Well, those days turned out to be sixty-four years: and wrapped up in the 61^st hymn were those years of God’s dealings with me in providence, grace and mercy. Here was the beginning of God’s dealing, leading, teaching, when God begins a work of grace. I continued my Sabbath sport, card playing in the evenings and all other worldly things: but there was a secret work going on within which I felt telling me it was wrong, and two things worked together. The dear old godly farmer’s wife used to say on a Monday morning: ‘What were you doing yesterday, Sunday?’ Well I was honest and said, ‘ Doing the usual thing, cricket, football or some other Sabbath desecrating thing.’ ‘Don’t you know what Bunyan said about the Sabbath:

A Sabbath well spent brings a week of content

And peace with the gains of tomorrow.

But a Sabbath profaned, what e’er may be gained,

Is a certain forerunner of sorrow’

Well, feeling this desire in my heart to do as my employers did. (Oh how the Sabbath was well kept. When we have gone in on the Saturday evening for supper, I have seen the dear godly old lady collecting all secular books, magazines of worldly type and newspapers, putting them all away for the Sabbath).

Well, the first decent suit of clothes I got, I said to the other lads, ‘Instead of cricket Sunday night, shall we go to church?’ So they agreed, and we went off to the Parish Church. I remember an old lady finding us the places in the book, encouraging us. Well, during the week I said to the lads, ‘Shall we go again?’ but they declined. Well I thought I must go, my employers will be pleased. I continued to go to the same church, an Evangelical, and got all so taken up with things. Dropped off swearing, wanted to be a real Christian, engaged in all church activities, set about to turn people to Christ, used to kneel down and pray before going to bed. Oh, the things I did were admirable, honourable. Distributed tracts, prayed with the sick, tried to speak at meetings. Well the Word of God says, ‘Ye must be born again,’ and we must - no salvation apart from it. Well on and on I went, truly believing the work which I was doing was the genuine work of God the Spirit in my soul, when it was only of the flesh. It was all good, but reformation is not regeneration. If we are on the way to Heaven, our feet must be in the straight and narrow way, which leads to it or else we are lost forever. Being made to realise this I began to feel my righteousness was all my own, of the flesh, all my doings, good as they were. Now I was in trouble, felt I was lost, my so-called righteousness as filthy rags. ‘What must I do to be saved?’ was my cry. I could no longer do as I had been doing. I could no longer offer tracts asking people to accept Christ: that being only free will and only of the flesh. ‘As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God which were born, not of blood nor of the will off man, but of God.’

Well, everything seemed to be wrong. I had to leave the church and seek the truth as set forth in the Scripture. The Church of England being filled with error, my dear godly employer, who was also exercised when I was under solemn conviction of sin, had to tell the vicar he could no longer teach the children (for he was a Sunday School teacher) the catechism. He was told to resign at once, which he did; this caused a real upset. Where God is at work the Devil will be too, causing persecution, for the vicar preached at him from the pulpit. So we had to come out from among them and be separate. So the next Sabbath after, he said, ‘Let’s go and hear Mr Sylvester,’ who had formerly been at Haydock, St Helens: a good man and my employer knew him. A sound man in doctrine. So we went on our bicycles, but got lost; a policeman finally directed us right, to St Silas, Toxteth (Liverpool). After the service he took us to his home, and gave us a cup of tea: his wife playing the organ. ‘There are some good old Strict Baptist tunes,’ he said. Well, after telling him what had taken place, he was sympathetic. He said, ‘If you want to hear the truth, go to Shaw Street Strict Baptist’s.’ He himself in his young days when at college attended West Street, Croyden, with his brother, but went to the Church of England. But he was a good sound man compared to today.

So the week after, on the Sunday evening we went on our bicycles again, saw the deacon after service, who introduced us to the Pastor, Mr Caton, who said how glad he was to meet us and said we would be very welcome any time, but said there was a place of truth at Haydock where the things we desired to hear were preached, the same as in this place. Well to them we went next week (now sixty-four years ago), on the Sunday evening, it being a prayer meeting. I remember Mr Turton saying to the deacon, ‘Don’t question them too much, perhaps they will take some big grapes and pomegranates!’ In our hearts we did and said, we are true men, and have not come to spy out the land.

I believe from that moment my ears were nailed to the doorpost, because God so wrought in my soul, brought me on the way, helped me, enable me to continue, to persevere, and to follow him in his desired Ordinances. But oh, at what a cost when the Devil fought me as I sought to follow Him in the waters of baptism. I was accepted: all arranged for baptism, when I asked the deacons to put it off, because I felt I had deceived them. Oh the anguish, darkness, fierce temptation to give up all and go back. So severe was the darkness and trial, I did neither eat nor sleep, and could hardly work. I remember being on my knees by the bed begging God to help me, when my father came to bed, and said, ‘Aren’t you in bed yet?’ Well, I asked my godly employer (Mr H) if he would go and ask the deacons to postpone the baptism, which he did and they kindly consented. But now I got into greater darkness and trouble. ‘Think it not strange,’ says the Word, concerning the fiery trial which is to try you.’ Every man’s work shall be tried; a third part shall pass through the fire.

Well in the midst of this trial, one day, going into the field to spread lime, God spoke these words, which were as an arrow shot. No wonder the Word says it is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword. ‘No man, having put his hand to the plough, looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’ I fell down under the word, and went at night to tell the deacons, and we sang the doxology. It was prayer meeting night. So I was baptised, March 1937.

Many days have passed since then;

Many changes have I seen;

Yet have been upheld till now;

Who could hold me up but thou.

Here I am, so unworthy and undeserving.

Ah! But for free and sovereign grace,

I still had live estranged from God,

Till Hell had proved the destined place

Of my deserved but dread abode.

But O, amazed, I see the Hand

That stopped me in my wild career;

A miracle of grace I stand;

The Lord has taught my heart to fear.

To fear His name, to trust His grace,

To learn His will be my employ;

Till I shall see Him face to face,

Himself my Heaven, Himself my joy.

I do hope it will be so. May the Lord forgive me in this testimony to His eternal praise from an unworthy sinner.

Tom Melling, the deacon at Providence Strict and Particular Baptist Chapel, Clipsley Lane, Haydock died on September 16t^h1998 aged 86 years. The above item gives some details of his life, which he dictated shortly before he died.

ROBY NOTES

From West Derby hundreds for Upholland Parish

Baptisms

Christopher s. of Henry Roby born upon Sunday being the 25 Aug 1650 01 Sep 1650

Katherine d. of Henry Roby born 04 Sep 1652 12 Sep 1652

Henry s. of Henry Roby born 30 Dec 1655 08 Jan 1655

Jeffery s. of Henry Roby born 17 Mar 1657 21 Mar 1657

Margret d. of Henry Roby born 30 Mar 1658 06 Apr 1658

Elizabeth d. of Henry Roby born 01 Dec 1659 10 Dec 1659

Jeffery s. of Henry Roby born 07 Mar 1666 10 Mar 1666

Vrsula Robie d. of Christo: Robie of Upholl and born 02 May 1644 05 May 1644

Elizabeth d. of Christopher Robie born 17 Jan 1646 19 Jan 1646

Jeffery Robey eldest son of Christo: Robey born 29 Jan 1648 30 Jan 1648

Jane Robey d. of Christo: Robey born 22 May 1650 26 May 1650

Hannah Robie d. of Chris: Robey born 15 Jul 1652 17 Jul 1652

Sarah Robie d. of Christo: Robie born 09 Dec 1654 11 Dec 1654

Charles second s. of Christopher Robie born 11 Sep 1657 13 Sep 1657

Rachell Robie youngest d. of Christopher Robie born 29 Aug 1661 01 Sep 1661

Elizabeth d. of Henerey Roby of Holland borne 01 Dec 1657 04 Dec 1657

Margrat d. of Henerey Roby of Holland borne 13 Mar 1657 14 Mar 1657

Rachall d. of Cristofer Roby of Holland borne 29 Aug 1661 01 Sep 1661

Edmund s. of Richard Roby of Orrell borne 30 May 1664 05 Jun 1664

Grace d. of Richard Roby of Orrell 20 Jan 1666

Jeffrey s. of Henerey Roby of Holland born 07 Mar 1666 10 Mar 1666

Humfray s. of Lorance Roby of Holland 26 May 1668 31 May 1668

Mary d. of John Roby of Bilinge 13 Jun 1669

Humphrey s. of Henry Robie of Holland 14 Aug 1670

William s. of Lawrence Robie of Billing 07 Apr 1671

Margery Roby d. of Ri Roby of Orall 08 Jun 1673

Jane d. of Edmond Roby of Orrall 08 Dec 1689

Martha d. of Christopher Roby of Upholland 01 Jan 1691

Richard s. of Edmond Roby of Orrall 19 Jun 1692

John s. of Edmund Roby of Orrell 12 Nov 1693

Eline d. Christopher Roby of Upholl: 12 Aug 1694

Christo: s. of Christo: Roby of Upholl: 10 Sep 1696

Margret d. of Richd Roby de Orrell Weavr 30 Jan 1724

Jane d. of Richd Roby de Orrell Weavr 06 Jan 1730

Burials

Parnell the w. of Christopher Roby of Holl 10 Sep 1630

Jeffrey Roby s. of Hennery Roby of Holland 29 Mar 1657

Jefefrey Roby of Holland 10 Apr 1658

Sarey d. of Cristofar Roby of Holland 22 Feb 1666

Humphrey Roby of Biling 03 Dec 1669

Katrien d. of Robert Roby bast begoten 19 Oct 1670

Richard Roby of Orall 01 Apr 1676

Margrett Roby his daughter 04 Apr 1676

Robert Roby of Vpholland 18 Dec 1688

John s. of Edmund Roby of Orrell 11 Mar 1693

John s. of Edmond Roby of Orrall 21 Nov 1696

Grece w. of Henery Roby of Upholl yeoman 22 Jan 1699

Catherin Roby of Billing Widow 17 Sep 1700

Marriage

Robert Roby Margret Pickauanse 31 Jan 1612

Christopher Roby of Holland Katherin Sephton of Skerlmersdall 06 Mar 1642

Edmund Roby and Ellizabeth Bibby both of this Parish Apr 1655

C.T. Christopher Roby and Eline Heaton both of Upholland 24 Aug 1685

C.T. John Latham And Jane Roby both of this parish 05 Jan 1691

Lawrance Roby of Billinge and Jane Wilson of Winstanley 03 Feb 1699

From St Aidans Registries

Births & Burials

Catran Roby died 2/3/1702?

29/11/1705 James, son of John Roby, was born, fourteen that year.

1/1/1720 John* son of Michael, looks like married Ellen below 18/10 1748

4/2/1720 Ellen daughter of Francis Roby, two of seven for that year.

12/5/1723 Margaret daughter of Francis Roby ( nailer)

4/7/1725 Humphrey son of Francis and Mary. Buried 26/9/1727

23/7/1727 Humphrey son of Francis (nailer) and Mary.

29/1/1728 Ellen buried. Parents above.

10/2/1728 Francis nailer buried.

13/4/1733 Margaret buried. Parent John.

18/2/1738 Henry son of Jane

5/7/1740 Richard buried. Husband.

14/10/1748 Rachel daughter of John* and Ellen 14 that year.

5/9/1749 John buried. * Look for the birth

13/5/1750 Jane daughter of above.* look for death .

19/4/1752 Michael* son of above.

30/10/1757 John son of above

17/11/1754 James son of above.* check the name Jane?

12/2/1764 Betty daughter of above.

6/3/1768 Henry son of Henry and Elizabeth.

19/12/1769 Henry son of Henry buried.

10/11/1771 Henry son of Henry & Elizabeth

28/11/1777 Betty illegitimate daughter of Betty Roby.

16/3/1783 Peter son of Peter & Peggy

13/6/1783 Henry son of Michael & Ann. 29 that year.

21/9/1783 Ann Wilson by Edmund & Ann

6/3/1786 Betty by Michael & Ann Roby

12/4/1788 Ellen Roby buried.

27/12/1788 Ann by Michael & Ann

30/5/1790 Ellen by John & Ann

1/1/1792 Michael by above

2/2/1794 Ellen by above

16/12/1795 John by above

4/12/1796 William Roby married Nancy Mason.

26/11/1797 William by above

26/11/1798 William by above

14/3/1800 Abraham by above

27/7/1800 Charles Kenyon married Mary Roby. W Roby witness.

17/8/1801 Henry illegitimate by Betty

14/3/1802 Abraham son of John burried.

16/7/1809 John illegitimate by Betty.

6/1/1809 Betty buried *check this and above.

2/9/1810 John son of Betty buried.

18/12/1825 Michael by Michael & Mary.

9/9/1826 Mary Ann by Henry & Ann

15/1/1867 Elizabeth by John & Elizabeth collier

4/9/1867 Martha by James & Rachel collier

6/4/1868 William by Simon & Elizabeth collier

3/10/1868 John illegitimate by Ann

2/4/1869 Darius by Michael & Ann collier HE

13/11/1869 James by John & Sarah collier

19/12/1869 Susan by Simon & Elizabeth collier

3/2/1870 Joshua illegitimate by Maria HE

25/12/1870 Thomas by John & Mary labourer

8/8/1871 Joseph by Michael & Elizabeth mason HE* look for death.

14/9/1871 Alfred illegitimate by Maria HE

15/11/1871 Jane by Simon & Elizabeth collier

15/6/1873 Margaret by Thomas & Alice collier

11/12/1873 Ellen by ? & Betty collier

6/1/1874 William by Thomas & Elizabeth collier HE*

20/7/1874 James Thomas by Thomas & Alice collier

14/1/1875 Maria by Michael & Elizabeth labourer

6/9/1875 Rachel by Simon & Elizabeth collier

4/11/1875 James by Thomas & Alice collier

12/1/1876 Alfred by Thomas & Elizabeth collier HE*

26/9/1876 Ann by Joshua & Elizabeth collier

18/10/1876 William by John & Mary collier

25/11/1876 Elizabeth by Thomas & Alice collier

10/2/1877 Richard by James & Jane collier HE*

7/4/1878 Rachel illegitimate by Ann

24/4/1878 Joseph by Michael & Elizabeth collier HE

23/6/1878 Oswald by Thomas & Alice collier

15/3/1879 Hanna by Simon & Elizabeth collier

7/6/1879 Mary by James & Jane collier HE*

30/7/1879 Michael by Thomas & Alice collier

18/2/1880 William Bankes died. He was the last male of a line that reached back to Richard Bankes of Bank Newton, parish of Gargrave, Yorkshire, who settled in Wigan then bought Winstanley Manor in the reign of Henry V111

Note. HE means Higher End.

23/3/1881 Rachel by Thomas & Alice collier

5/7/1881 William by Michael & Elizabeth collier HE

27/11/1871 Joseph by Simon & Elizabeth collier

21/7/1882 Thomas by James & Jane collier HE*

15/2/1883 Thomas by Simon & Elizabeth collier

24/4/1884 Henry by Michael & Elizabeth collier HE

10/8/1884 Michael by Thomas & Alice collier

2/10/1885 William by James & Jane collier HE*

20/3/1886 James illegitimate Long Fold

30/10/1886 Caleb by Simon & Elizabeth collier

Ann by Michael & Elizabeth collier HE

24/5/1888 Rachel by Thomas & Alice collier

2/10/1888 Thomas illegitimate by Margaret Long Fold

11/9/1888 Elizabeth by James & Jane collier HE*

9/11/1888 George by Michael & Elizabeth collier 26Park Rd

26/6/1889 John by Simon & Elizabeth collier Main St

12/3/1890 Joseph by Edward & Sarah collier 30 Rainford Rd

15/8/1890 Ann by Michael & Elizabeth 4 Park Rd*

6/11/1890 Darius by Michael & Elizabeth 26 Park Rd

5/4/1891 Elizabeth by Thomas &b Alice collier 55 Main St

5/5/1891 Thomas by Michael & Ann collier 15 UpHolland Rd

10/7/1891 James by John & Mary Elizabeth collier 4 park Rd

22/11/1892 Mary by Michael & Elizabeth collier 1 Park Rd

25/10/1894 Michael by John & Elizabeth collier 4 Park Rd

9/11/1894 Richard by Henry & Sarah collier Main St

24/9/1895 William Francis by John & Mary collier Picadilly

4/1/1901 Elizabeth by Joseph & Rachel 28 Park Rd

2/12/1902 Francis by Edward & Sarah 22 LOR

2/12/1902 James by above * look for deaths

18/11/03 Thomas by Alfred & Eva Emily 18 Park Rd

25/5/1906 Jane by Edward & Sarah 22 LOR

20/7/1906 William by Richard & Martha Jane 124 UpHolland Rd

25/10 1906 Mary Alice by Joseph & Rachel LOR

31/8/1908 John by John & Mary Elizabeth 4 Park Rd

4/12 1909 Elizabeth by Richard & Martha Jane 124 UpHolland Rd

12/2/11 Amilia by Alfred & Eva Emily LOR

18/6/1912 Agnes by James & Beatrice May 10 LOR

8/6/1913 John by Thomas & Ellen 118 UpHolland Rd

11/5/1914 Doris by James & Beatrice May 28 Park Rd

19/10/1914 Rachel by John & Lily 13 UpHolland Rd

4/7/1915 Beatrice Anne by James & Beatrice May 28 Park Rd

28/9/1916 Emily by James & Beatrice May 28 Park Rd

16/5/1918 Jane by Richard & Martha Jane 86 UpHolland Rd

25/7/1918 Edna May by James & Beatrice May 28 Park Rd

19/9/1919 Alfred by Alfred & Emily 24 LOR

31/12/1919 Eric Richard by Richard & Alice Beatrice 33 Longshaw Common

28/4/1920 Frank Dillon by George & Ann Dillon nee Roby 10 LOR

14/5/1921 John Dillon?

5/11/1921 Ivy by James & Beatrice May 28 Park Rd

22/8/1922 Richard by Richard & Martha Jane 86 UpHolland Rd

27/11/1924 Edward Hartley by Richard & Alice Beatrice 32 Longs Common

1/4/1926 James by James & Annie 15 UpHolland Rd

30/5/1926 Betty by James & Beatrice May 28 Park Rd

8/3/1928 James by Richard & Alice Beatrice 33 Longshaw Common

22/11 1928 Keneth Rowland by James & Annie 15 UpHolland Rd

19/6/1929 James & John by James & Beatrice May 28 Park Rd

Michael, Son of Henry, married Elizabeth around 1850-51. Records missing 1849-1852.

Marriages

3/2 1698 Lawrence Roby Billinge x Jane Wilson Winstanley.

23/4/1888 Henry Roby 28 x Jane Ann Anderton. Darius Roby Thomas Anderton.

11/6/1894 Henry Roby x Sarah Rigby 6 Park Rd. Darius Roby.

15/8/1903. Richard Roby x Martha Jane Ashall. James Roby.

1920-24 (hard to read) James Lowe 19 Pemberton x Elizabeth Roby 21. 24 LOR. Albert Roby.

OTHER NOTES.

16/12/1924 Joseph Tinsley x Jane Ellen Atherton. Joe Tinsley. William Atherton Eagle & Child.

25/9/20Edward Abbot 34 x Sarah Ellen Tinsley 29. William Abbot Lime Vale Farm. Joe Tinsley Otterswift Farm.

24/7/1912 Tom Gaffney Startem(?) x Jane Kearsley. John Gaffney Tom Kearsley.

13/12/1905 Thomas Ashcroft x Annie Tinsley. Joe Tinsley.

26/4/1905 James Robinson v Hanna Hayes. William Robinson.

27/7/1904 James Ashton Tinsley x Margaret Robinson. Joe Tinsley William Robinson.

Hitchens. Thomas daugher Enid. Herman. Mary x Jack Holland. Marth. Baptists.

Lomax & Compsens Long Fold. John Nickleson Lomax. Richmond lived there. Farmed at Birchley Hall. Son Richard Richmond, knocked about a good while when dad was young. Annie Compson married Bert Rabbit. Bert catholic Annie not but both buried at Birchley. Helen Compson x Chris Martlew.

The girls at Chadwick Green. Lola Williams x Ernest Sudworth from Newton Rd. Lilian Robinson x George Morris used to work on the farm. Daisy Millington x Fred Atherton Fair View. Mary Foster x Bill Haynes from Wigan via Mary’s brother James killed 39-45. Haynes sergeant major. Ethel Tinsley x William Smith Longshaw farther Alf. Hanna Tinsley & dad used to take messages to Gladden-Hey Farm.

Lola Williams’ father wheelwright made a cart for dad to pick up horse muck. Cultivated plot behind Masons Arms where Plum Tree Croft was.

The Billinge boys who used to chase the Chadwick Green girls were Fred Roby son of Little Oswald Roby from opposite council office. Albert Roby relative by marriage not blood. Len Rigby from opposite school.

Wiswall Farm. James & Mrs Robinson. William, James, Elizabeth. James died she married a Melling he drank the farm away went to live in Longshaw Common. William worked at Tanyard House Fram. Married Lydia Melling from Hair & Hounds. Children were James x Hanna Hayes = Thomas Lilian. Mary Ann x John Pendlebury Bradburn from Gladden-Hey Farm = 0. Margaret x James Ashton Tinsley from Otterswift Farm = Mary Lydia, Ethel, John, Hanna. This family brought up at Brown Heath Nook Farm. William x Clarice Cunliffe in service at farm = Stela, William, Joan, John.

Hetty Lomax x Edger Compson = May Compson x Lawrence Richmond = Alfred Richmond x Jane Berry = Audrey, John, Lawrence. John Nickleson Lomax by May Compton.

Tom Melling 27/7/1912 – 16/9/1998 @ 86. Had 8 sisters 1 brother who died @ 11. Deacon Providence Strict & Particular Baptist Chapel Haydock.

Baybutts. Thomas, James, Robert, Charles, Grace, Mary, Kitty, Ellen & Margaret. Robert, the priest, Grace, Mary and Kitty did not marry. James’ children were Ellen, Gertrude, Florence and James. Thomas’ children were Mary and Charles.

Plum Tree Croft was leased in 1777 to John Farhurst, a weaver, for 3000 years, for a peppercorn rent, by John Rothwell of Windle. The two cottages that eventually became the Masons Arms were built by Henry Fairhurst in 1779. History, compiled by Margaret Whittle, granddaughter of a former owner, is displayed inside the pub.

Kearsley from Arch Lane = William, Tom, John. Tom was a builder. Bill had the farm.

Phythians at Barrows Farm.

Tom Kearsley x Alice Ellen Phythian = William, George, Jane. William Abbot x Kate Phythian

Jane x Tom Gaffney = Edna. George x ? = Tom, Jane, Alice.

William x Ann Birchall = Frederic, William, George, Jane, Alice & Tom (died young).

Frederic x E Hart (Shaley Brow Farm) = Fred, Thomas. William x Annie Parr = Allan. Jane x Tom Liptrot = Alan, Stuart, Ian, Karl. Alice x James Hampson then x James Arnold (?).

John Birchall was born c1831 in Winstanley, married an Ellen Fairclough and had five children, Robert, Thomas and Ann born 3rd December 1859 and two other's yet to be located. At the time of the twins birth John was a Butcher. Ellen died and John remarried Mary Ann ? from Billinge. In the 1881 census he lived in a farmhouse at Upholland and his employment was farmer of nine acres. He started another family of four girls, all born in Upholland. They were Mary born 1869, Elizabeth 1872, Susan 1875, and Sarah Lottie 1879.

Thomas, then an agricultural labourer, boarded with Michael Roby and his family in Fir Cottages, St. Helen's Road, Billinge. He married Ellen Pilling from Downall Green. Ellen was the daughter of John Pilling a Smithy in the mine, and Ellen, whose other siblings were: John Pilling born 1858, Alice born 1866, and Robert born 1873. Ellen (the daughter) lived as a domestic servant to Robert Birchall, a widower at Slack Equity Buildings, Main Road Billinge. It could be that this was John's brother and therefore Thomas' uncle.

Thomas Birchall and Ellen Pilling married at Billinge Church on January 17th, 1882. Howard St. George officiated. Ann, Thomas' twin moved to 29, Park House Golbourne, as a servant to William Caunce and family. Thomas and Ellen went on to have 11 children.

Edward 1883-1894, supposedly bitten by a dog and developed septicaemia

Robert 1886-1969 married Charlotte Rigby

Joseph 1887-1932 married Betty Patterson

Anne 1888-1950 married William Kearsley

Nellie 1893-1973 married. John Melling – parents of the famous Peggy Melling

Edward 1895-1980 married Ellen Light

Mary 1897-1983 married Walter Gaskell

Thomas 1900-1980 married Elizabeth Turner - parents of Billy's Birchall, grocer at the top of Carr Mill Road

Ruth 1903-1977 firstly married Laurie Gee then William Atherton

John and Maggie 1905 - Maggie died in October 1905 and John in 1982.

John married Emma Blackburn from Rainford.

John's became a policeman in 1925 in Ormskirk and in 1928 he married Emma Blackburn from Rainford.

His job moved his family all over Lancashire but he finally settled in Blackrod. John and Emma had six children: John Edward 1929, Margaret 1932, Joseph 1934-1966, James Derek 1939, Thomas 1940-1946 and

Sheila 1943 (information supplied by Ann Jackson, granddaughter of John Birchall).

Thomas Birchall 1859-1940

¹ Also Top & Bottom End Labour Clubs. Conservative Club, Bispham Club, Red Triangle Club & Winstanley Estate Clubs in Orrell Road and Winstanley Park Cricket Club.

² The Heatons are one of the oldest Billinge families. They seem to have appeared in Billinge in the 14th century when John de Heton (1332-1361) married a daughter of Robert de Huyton, Lord of Billinge. They were involved in a notorious dispute with the Andertons in the 1590’s which cost them Birchley and Billinge Halls. See http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~heaton/history/billinge.htm and http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~heaton/history/birchley.htm by Craig Smith.

³ See Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire & Cheshire volume 104.