Historical and descriptive notices of Droylsden, past and present

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HISTORY
DROYISDEN

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

X X ^)

HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE

NOTICES

DROYLSDEN,

i-Jast an&

BY JOHN HIGSON,

AUTHOR OP " THE GORTON HISTORICAL RECORDER," ETC.

MANCHESTER:

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY BERESFORD & SOUTHERN,
82, COBTOBATION STBKKT.

1859.

DA

JOSEPH HADWEN, ESQ.,

OF AUDSN8HAW,
PRESIDENT OF THE DBOYLSDEN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION,

AS A
TRIFLING ACKNOWLEDGMENT,

OF HIS
ATTENTION TO OUK PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS,

Cjiis small Xntnl tJnlnnu is insrrihrfi,

•WITH THE MOST
MVF.1.Y SEXTIMPNTS OF RESPECT AND ESTEEM,

BY THE AUTHOR.

578485

ENGLISH LOCAL

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Page.

Preface v

Introduction 9

Location 10

Boundaries 10

Topography and Localities . . 11

Orthography 13

Derivation of Name 13

Strata, Minerals, Soils, etc.... 15

Scenery 37

Means of Communication and

Traffic 18

Postal Arrangements 21

Streams & Inland Navigation SI
Area, Fxtent, Admeasure-
ment, ets 22

Population 23

Local Government and Paro-
chial Officers 24

Parochial Rates, Expenditure,

etc 26

Historical Notices 29

Clayton Hall 33

The Byrons 37

Chethams. of Clayton 89

Smaller Landed Proprietors,

and Descents ol Estates ... 45

Domestic Architecture 53

Social Condition, Habits,

Characteristics, etc 56

Recreation and Amusement . 60

The Rushbearing 63

Threedyvrheel 65

Superstition — Feeorin' and

Boggarts 66

Agriculture 7i

Natural Productions 76

Botany 73

Natural History, etc 79

Crofting, or Bleaching 81

The Hat Manufacture 86

Sketch of the Early Cotton

Trade . .. 86

Cotton "Weaving and Manu-
facturing ... 92

Silk and Worsted Plush

"Weaving 97

The Modern Cotton Trade ... 98

Miscellaneous Trades 101

Dialect, Soubriquets, etc. ... 101

Secular Education 103

Literary, Educational, and

Scientific Institutions ... 108
The Droylsden Institute ... 112
The Church of England ... 115
The First Sunday School ... 122

Church Sunday School 1-23

Clayton Chapel of Ease and

Church School 124

Fairneld 125

Fairneld Sunday School ... 127

Wesleyan Methodism 129

Primitive Methodism 131

Promiscuous 132

Independency 133

Edge - lane and East End

Chapel and Sunday School 136
New Connection Methodists 137

Latter-day Saints 137

Roman Catholicism 138

Religious and Educational

Statistics 138

Literature, Lectures, etc. ... 140
Inna and Public-houses ... 142

Teetotalism 143

Provident Institutions 145

Local "Worthies, Celebrities,

etc 147

Local Benefactors 150

Military andVolunteer Topics 151

Political Movements 154

The Moss 155

Sanitary Observations 160

Remedial Sanitary Measures 165
List of Subscribers 163

PREFACE.

IT has long been my earnest desire to publish an historical
and descriptive account of Droylsden, a place now endeared
to me by many pleasant associations, which have sprung up
during a residence of more than twelve years.

Unfortunately for this fancy, Droylsden has scarcely been
named at all by any of our local topographers or county
historians ; yet, though more than ordinary difficulties had
to be encountered, an attempt has been made to record, in
a popular and entertaining style, the past annals of the
township, and to illustrate the manners, customs, and super-
stitions of its inhabitants. "With this design in view, and
for the purpose of investing the locality with as much anti-
quarian and historical interest as possible, no opportunity
has been omitted of eliciting information from either books,
MSS., or aged inhabitants.

Pains have been taken, even at the risk of repetition,
to render each subject as complete and independent as
possible, and also to avoid the tedium consequent on dates
and matter-of-fact details. Still, in every case where a
likelihood seemed to exist of disputes arising hereafter,
the date has been given, though after collation and in-
quiry where conflicting statements existed.

After due allowance for limited time and means has
been made, everything available has been done, it is be-
lieved, necessary to render this a useful and trustworthy

VI PBEFACE.

book of reference on all matters of importance connected
•with Droylsden, past and present. Nevertheless, want of
space and acquaintance precludes full accounts of several
interesting subjects; and the incomplete notices, rather
than satisfy, will indicate to the future student and
literateur what remains to be done.

Obligations for kind assistance are due to John Har-
land, Esq., F.A.S. ; the Eev. Canon Raines, of Milnrow ;
and the Rev. P. Thompson, B.A., Messrs. F. C. Mallalieu,
Samuel Lees, Peter Etchells, James Birch (assistant over-
seer), and other Droylsden friends; and also to the
following venerable oral chroniclers : — Messrs. Samuel
Arrandale and John Barlow, especially ; Messrs. Benjamin
Bertenshaw, William Holland, Robert Grimshaw, and the
late John Schofield, James Baguley, and James Wild.

Sincere thanks are given to my numerous subscribers
for their encouragement to this endeavour to supply a
cheap and comprehensive history of the township.

And, in conclusion, I must express my gratitude to
Mr. J. B. Coughtrie, of Manchester, for enabling me to
present the truthful and spirited etching of Clayton
Hall, which forms the frontispiece to this work.

JOHN HIGSON.

St. Mary's View, Droylsden,
July, 1859,

THE

HISTORY OF DROYLSDEN.

THE township of Droylsden has been singularly neglected
by local topographists and county historians, who seem to
have considered the place as either too uninviting or too
insignificant to do more more than drop a hint or two of
its bare existence. It is not particularly described either
in Whitaker's "Manchester," or in BainesM "Lancashire" ;
Dr. Hibbert Ware gives no special notice ; and it is merely
enumerated in Gastrell's " Notitia Cestriensis." It does not
appear in any of the surveys ; nor in the " Extent of the
Manor of Manchester," in 1322; nor in the concise history
of the manor, written by Sir Oswald Mosley for Corry's
" Lancashire." Cony, however, does condescend a special
description, probably derived from some county map with-
out his ever having set a foot in its precincts ; for he thus
summarily disposes of it : — " The village of Droylsden con-
sists of a few irregularly built tenements." Certainly, he
also hazards a supplementary account of Fairfield, double
the length of that accorded to the township generally ;
but then that settlement has usually found grace in tho
sight of compilers of the local directories, &c.

Again, Droylsden can boast of no old ecclesiastical
foundation, no "time honoured fane," around which the
history of the place has silently, but surely entwined itself ;
for in by-gone days the place was never deemed of any
importance, arising partly from its seclusion, consequent on
its being untraversed by any direct road from Manchester,
and partly from the hungry, barren nature of its soil — so
stiff and unyielding that only laborious attention could
render it at all productive.

10 HISTORY OF

And, lastly, Time has -well nigh obliterated every vestige
of antiquity. Almost the only relic, and even that shorn of
primeval dignity, stands Clayton Hall, once stately in fabric
and sullen in isolation, being approachable only by a
drawbridge over the moat.

Droylsden is a village and township, pleasantly situated
on the southern bank of the Medlock, and about four miles
east from Manchester, of which parish, civilly, it constitutes
the eastern verge, and abuts on the parish of Ashton-under-
Lyne. It forms, also, a component part of the Poor Law
Union of Ashton-under-Lyne, the magisterial division of
the same name, the county division polling-district of Man-
chester, the representative and assize division of South
Lancashire, and? the hundred of Salford. For purposes
ecclesiastical Droylsden is situated within the l)eanery,
Archdeaconry, and Diocese of Manchester, the Archbishop-
rick of York, and, in accordance with the act known as
Sir Robert Peel's, has been constituted a new, separate, and
distinct parish.

BOUNDARIES.

Although the boundaries have never been officially per-
ambulated within memory, yet, by the late Ordnance
survey, they were ascertained with accuracy, and perma-
nently defined and recorded. Beginning at the south-west
verge, Droylsden is separated on the south from Openshaw
by Skerrat's Brook as far as Edge-lane, then obliquely by
that highway to its junction with Moor-lane, and thence
by hedgerows to Seventhorns' Brook, a little south of
Fairfield. From that point Droylsden is divided from
Audenshaw — first by ascending the brook to Ashton Hill-
lane ; then by that highway to Fletcher-lane, late William-
son-lane ; next by that lane, and afterwards by hedgerows
and dykes across the Moss to Moor-side Farm, or Far-end-
o'th'-world, where Droylsden juts into Ashton parish.
Formerly the boundary line across the Moss, before its
reclamation and allotment to adjoining estates, was indicated
by long oaken poles, fixed upright at distances of from

DKOYLMiF.N.

11

twenty to thirty yards apart. Traversing the northern
boundary, Droylsden is still divided from Audenshaw by
the Lum, or Lumb Brook, until it arrives at "Waterside.
Henco the river separates the township, first from Fails-
worth, and then from Newton Heath as far as Bankbridge,
where Droylsden crosses the river, and is separated from
the same township by the footpath leading towards Philip's
Park. Formerly, the only road to this semi-detached plot
lay through the river, through which the produce was
carted. Leaving the Medlock at the north-west verge of
the hamlet of Clayton, first hedgerows, then an arm of the
canal, and lastly hedgerows again, part Droylsden from
Bradford until the starting point is regained. Littlo
Droylsden, a small insulated portion of the township, onco
intersected by the old road from Manchester to Ashton,
adjoins Gorton, and is almost surrounded by Openshaw.

TOPOGRAPHY AND LOCALITIES.

The township comprises three separate divisions, each
having its reputed boundaries — viz., Droylsden Proper, or
" Big Droylsden" ; Clayton, which adjoins it on the west ;
and Little Droylsden, which is excised by the intervention
of Openshaw.

Droylsden Proper is nominally subdivided into four ham-
lets— Fail-field, Edge Lane, Greensido, and Castle. Clayton
is co-extensive with the ancient demesne, and contains the
inferior hamlets of East End and West End. Littlo
Droylsden is not quite two acres in extent, and is said to
have onco been extra-parochial, enjoying immunity from
rates and taxes ; but a reference to the town's books proves
its assessment to the burdens of the township generally for
a century past ; and its own title deeds, in 1663, consider it
without reservation as an integral portion of Droylsden.
Its depcndance on Droylsden, though detached from it, is
popularly accounted for by a tradition, whereof several
conflicting versions are extant, and of which the substance,
if there be any, is something like the following. Some
five centuries ago, Sir John Byron pensioned an aged
domestic with the gift of this small freehold, and she sub-

B 2

12 . HI6TOKY OF

sequently took up her residence in the cottage appurtenant.
One cold frosty morning, says the legend, the chances of
the chase leading Sir John Byron in that direction, the
grateful recipient of his bounty invited him to a warm
posset, a dainty of which he was immoderately fond. The
courteous knight alighted from his steed, and whilst par-
taking of the repast casually inquired in what township she
lived. The dame replying, "In none," he asked her in
which she should like to be located — in Gorton, Openshaw,
or Droylsden. Perhaps out of deference to her old master,
or anxious to while away the remainder of her life within
the precints of that township where her earlier years had
been passed, she promptly replied, " In Droylsden."
" Then you shall," says her powerful visitor, who forthwith
caused the incorporation of that outlying tenement with
Droylsden township. But apart from tradition, a suggestion
occurs, that as Gorton snatches from Openshaw one field on
the north side of the Corn Brook, or Gorton Brook, which,
with this exception, constitutes the boundaries of the town-
ships, so also Little Droylsden may have been wrung*
from Openshaw. These two excepted plots may have
formed portions of the Openshaw Moss, wherein, in 1322,
the tenants of the Lord of Gorton, Openshaw, and Ardwick,
and the Lord of Ancoats, had common of turbary, and
whereof Sir John Byron had appropriated to himself forty
acres of moor. Perhaps when the peat on some of his Ancoats
allotments became exhausted, the Byrons, then owning no
property either in Gorton or Openshaw, annexed the cleared
or residuary land to some Droylsden holding, and thereby
it became affiliated to the township. Still the title deed of
1663 mentions Marie Hunt, in conjunction with Sir John
Byron, both deceased, as having sometime defined the size
and locale of the moss room appertaining to that estate.
This connection of a female with the tenement seems to
afford some countenance to the old tradition.

* A locality named Wrung is mentioned, in 1505, in
connection with Droylsden Moor and Openshaw.

DKOYLSDKX. 13

O R T II O O E A P H Y.

In early times, as appears from ancient documents, the
orthography of the township was very irregular and un-
settled, every scribe, in a most arbitrary way, seeming to
spell it as it pleased him ; and it did not always please him to
spell it the same way. Hence, in the same document, there
are frequently found several variations, as many as five
occurring in a legal instrument of 1581. Nearly thirty*
changes, or derivations, have been registered ; nor do these
transmutations, it is believed, include every modification of
the word. Generally speaking, in the olden time there was
a large superabundance of letters employed ; with one ex-
ception, however, " Drylsden," as found in evidences temp.
James I., and which probably may satisfy the greatest
stickler for phonetic brevity. Till within a comparatively
recent period the authorised orthography was "Droylesden,"
when the elision of the second vowel (e) in the first syllable
left the mode of spelling as now fixed and current. But
even yet the popular spelling of non-residents is far from
settled, as witness the epistolary directions passing through
the post, where scores of anomalous excruciations have been
observed.

DERIVATION" OF NAME.

The designation of the township is of good old Saxon
extraction, and seemingly unique, Dresden being its nearest
known approach.

Apparently one Dreol, the first colonist, prefixed his own
cognomen to a word descriptive of a natural feature of the
site ; den being simply a territorial appellation for a narrow
valley, or wooded dingle, and not like ham, ton, and wiek,
which imply both settled occupation and inhabitance.
Den haa many variations — dean, dene, deyne, dane, don,

* Droysdale, Droylsdale, Droilsdale, Drilesdale, Striledale,
Stryledale, Strylesdale, Aroisdale, Droylsdon, Drillesdon,
Droylsdane, Drevelesden, Drulsden, Drilsden, Droidsden,
Droisden, Drisden, Draylesden, Droylesden, Drilesden,
Droilesden, Droilsden, Droyslden, Droylden, Drylisden,
Dry leaden, Drylsden, and Droylsden.

14 HISTORY OF

down, &c., some of which occur in the names of adjacent
localities. Aiden, in Bredbury ; _D««shawbank, in Dcnton. ;
Danes, in Gorton ; JDawchead, in Au&«shaw ; and Dane, in
Droylsden. Also, in the reign of Edward I., the boundaries
of Clayton are described as "beginning from Harrfew,
passing along the margin of Drulsden (Droylsden), edging
close to the ground of Sinderland, and terminating at the
demesne lands of Hardene again." From the meagre
enumeration of boundary marks, the situation of Hardene
is now untraceable, and cannot, specifically, be assigned as
within either Openshaw or Bradford, but most likely
appertained to the latter. There was also an estate named
Clayden, divided from Beswick by the river Medlock.

Den has very many etymologies. Kemble, in his
"Saxons in England," gives several meanings to the word.
"Den (A.S.)," says he, "signifies a forest, or outlying
pasture in the woods ; den (Celtic), a small valley, or
dingle. Names of places ending in den (neuter) always
denoted pasture, usually for swine" — that is, cubile
ferarum, or the den — lair — abode of wild beasts, animals ; or
pasture, &c. "Denu (fern.), a valley [a British, and not
a Saxon word], is very rarely, perhaps never, found in
composition."

Reilly, in his " History of Manchester," says the Saxon
dene comes from the Celtic dion or din, which signifies, in
Irish and Gaelic, any sheltered neighbourhood, whether
protected by the earth or capable of affording cover from
a storm — a valley, or whatever is sheltered from illegal
practices by any fence. The Anglo-Saxons adopted this
word from their Celtic neighbours in both acceptations.
The word dene also appears to have had a more limited
interpretation, and to have meant a particular kind of
valley, or dale, enclosed on both sides with hills, and often
exhibiting woods, and streams of water convenient for
cattle. This restricted meaning is exemplified in the dene
at Edinburgh ; Deansgate, in Manchester and Bolton ; St.
Mary's Dene, now called Dene, near Bolton; Healey
Dene, near Kochdale ; Northenden, in Cheshire, &c.

Arden, meaning great wood, is the name of a French

DROYLSDEN. 15

forest, and also of Whitaker's supposed Manchester forest.
Still the term dene, in its local accceptation, indicates a
narrow wooded valley, whose banks rise less abruptly than
those of a cleft, or clough, and, in addition to a stream at
the bottom, la furnished with a small strip of flat alluvial
land lying on its margin. In this sense den or dene (Anglo-
Saxon) is rendered by the late John Just, of Bury, a
competent etymological authority, and therefore, as before
stated, the most plausible deduction suggests "Dreol 's
woody vale," and there is a valley answering to this
description near Sunnybank, and another at Waterside.

Clayton apparently refers to the kind of soil around the
enclosed ton, tun (A.S.), space, hamlet, or settlement. Fair-
field is the pleasing or beautiful field ; Greenside the locale
beside the common or green, and in contradistinction to Moor-
side, in the vicinity of the Moss. Edge Lane, East End, and
West End refer to particular portions of Clayton demesne
Castle ; the present designation of a hamlet was once applied
distinctively to the house now occupied by John Lowe, and
built by Joseph Nicholson about sixty years ago. When
inebriated, he invariably proclaimed his intention of tra-
velling in the Netherlands, and some of his neighbours
jocularly dubbed his new house " Netherlands Castle,"
which in time was abbreviated to "Th" Castle," and in
that form has been perpetuated.

STRATA, MINERALS, SOILS, ETC.

The contour of the township varies but little. On the
south or south-east, it is nearly flat, whilst the soil under
cultivation, resting on a stiff clayey substratum, though
altered by successive agricultural operations, has doubtless
once formed part of, or been covered by, a peaty deposit.
On the north side the surface undulates, and the mould, a
graft deep, is lighter in colour, and rests on a cold stiff
clay, with underlaying beds of sand, rising sometimes to
within a few feet of the surface. The westerly portion,
except that it lies nearly on the level, exhibits the like
characteristics. The eastern division is chiefly flat, with
peut or blackmoor-earth resting on clay.

16 HISTORY OF

Geologically speaking, the township is principally located
on what technically is termed a fault, but, more properly
speaking, a dislocation in the Manchester coalfield. As
stated by Mr. Binney, in his interesting paper on the
" Geology of Manchester and its Vicinity," published in
the first volume of the "Transactions of the Manchester
Geological Society," the prevailing geological character of
the township is the upper new red sandstone, with beds
of diluvial clay and sand, or gravel near the river, super-
imposed. The western edge of an outlying strip, or band, of
the upper new red sandstone, which intervenes between the
coalfields of Manchester and Denton, Ashton, and Oldham,
enters the township from the south, near Openshaw Church,
passing through Clayton to' Bankbridge Dyeworks, a little
to the east of which it was penetrated ninety-eight yards.
The eastern edge is believed to range under Gorton Reser-
voir, by Fairfield, to a little west of Medlock Vale. At
Clayton-Bridge it was found fifty-nine yards thick, lying
upon the red marls. These marls, generally known as " red
raddle," intermixed with limestone, were found by the late
Mr. Bradbury in Jericho Clough, fifty-one yards four inches
thick, and resting on the lower new red sandstone ; and,
near Medlock Vale, the same gentlemen found the lower
new red sandstone sixteen yards thick, and resting on the
coal measures.

The coals of Clayton, Bradford, and Collyhurst form
what is called the Manchester coalfield, and. are probably
an elevated mass, entirely surrounded by the new red sand-
stone. Seven beds of the Bradford and Clayton mines have
been worked. They are named respectively Charlotte,
Three Quarters, Four Feet, Yard, New, Doctor, and Two
Feet Mines. In Clayton there are two shafts of an average
depth of 145 yards, and the produce is suitable only for
engine fuel. Their annual rateable value to the poor is
£145 16s. 8d., which realises £7 15s., out of which
Droylsden township has to refund £3 7s. 7d. to Bradford,
as most, if not all, of the coals are now obtained underneath
that township.

Clayton has formed the boundary of coals worked in

DBOY1SDEN. 17

Droylsden, and easterly thence the strata are greatly
disturbed, and the coal, if any exist, appear from various
trials to be depressed beneath the sandstone to an immense
depth.

This sandy deposit, so frequently referred to, is doubtless
of sedimentary or water origin, from whence and the
geological outlines of the district, Mr. Binney, in his
concluding remarks, conjectures that Clayton, Bradford,
&c., once formed an island, and that a strait, now the
site of Droylsden, Openshaw, Gorton, and other places,
intervened between the Manchester coalfield and that of
Denton and Oldham. In these waters the currents seem
to have flowed with very different velocities, as evinced
by the coarse-grained sand of the lower red sandstone,
the comminuted mud of the red mails with limestone, the
fine sand mixed with large pebbles of the upper red sand-
stone, and the fine-grained silt of the upper red marls.

The mineral earths are few. Alum slate has been pro-
cured from the Clayton collieries, potters' clay on the
Moss, marls everywhere, and indurated clay was formerly
obtainedat Clayton for the purpose of manufacturing into
firebricks.

SCENERY.

Although destitute of prospects which excite wonder and
admiration, yet the scenery on the northern side of the town-
ship, and especially in the vale of the Medlock, is pleasing
and attractive. The first impressions of a stranger will not
prove unfavourable to the district, if obtained, on a clear
day, from the summit of a cotton mill, from whence the
view is both extensive and diversified, exhibiting a succession
of fields and hamlets, farmsteads and manufactories, church
steeples and tall chimneys. No doubt the aspect of the
township has been much changed by progressive agricul-
tural developments, comprising the extinction of forests, the
enclosure of moors, and the cultivation of mosses, as also by
the formation of roads and the erection of dwellings ; yet
its general contour remains substantially unimpaired. The
river still winds through the vale ; but in the lapse of
ages, either the volume of water has diminished, or the

B 3

18 HISTORY OF

stream has sawn its channel deeper into the crust of the
earth. A want of picturesque beauty arises from the absence
of sheltering trees, and also from the lands being mown
or depastured to the exclusion of fields of waving corn ;
hence, in summer time, there is a sameness of landscape,
which detracts from the enjoyment of a sweet and refresh-
ing rural walk.

MEANS OF COMMUNICATION AND TRAFFIC.

Roads. — First instituted were footpaths, leading from one
village or hamlet to another, and to the market and parish
church. These by-paths yet form public conveniences for
business, and healthy outlets for invigorating strolls. Prob-
ably in Droylsden the earliest bridle lane, or public track-
way for horses, carts being then unknown or uncommon, was
a trunk line, or artery, circuitously connecting Droylsden
with Manchester, either through Newton or Openshaw.
The former road crossed the Medlock near Clayton-Bridge
and the latter near Philip's Park, by means of fords, which
in times of flood were both disagreeable and unsafe. The
ford first named was superseded by a narrow but picturesque
bridge, elevated in the centre, passengers having to ascend
on the one side and descend on tho other. In the lapse of
time the river undermined the foundations, when, about
seventy years ago, the present handsome and substantial
structure was erected at the expense of the hundred. The
small adjoining hamlet, long known as the Mill Houses,
has, since the removal of the corn-mill, been popularly
designated Clayton-Bridge, which name has likewise been
appropriated by the railway station hard by.

There was also a singular class of convenience roads,
by which the occupants of one farm possessed the right of
traversing the intervening lands of a neighbour whilst
carting fuel from the Moss.

Formerly, by means of the social pillion, farmers' horses
carried double, and a " horsing stock," or stone, for mounting
purposes, was considered essentially requisite to every farm-
yard. And thus picturesquely the farmer and his spouse,
chatting like Darby and Joan, trotted to fair, to market, or

DROYLSDEX. 19

chapel, or ovon to funerals ; a cortege of the latter de-
scription having once loft Droylsden with more than twenty
couples.

The little trade of the district was facilitated by pack-
horse carriers down to near the close of the last century,
when old James Harrison, the last of his class in Droylsden,
dwelt in Greenside-lane. A few years further on, and the
Nicholsons carried goods from Manchester, when, owing to
the badness of the roads, their cart was drawn by four
horses lengthwise, and frequently on Saturday night did not
arrive at Lane Head until eleven or twelve o'clock. Occa-
sionally one wheel of the vehicle was driven along the
ditch, being preferable to the highway from possessing a
firmer bottom.

In addition to the materials now in use for road repairing,
the town's book of a century ago reveals the following curious
items — viz., " Making cob-hills, and plattings, and felling,
leading, and setting up stumps," then deemed indispensable
in road affairs. The time is remembered when, in propor-
tion as material was required, two cottages were pulled
down piecemeal, in order to repair certain lengths of
highway. About that period a large portion of Edge-
Lane was in such "bad fettle" that, whilst passing through
the ruts, the cart wheels sunk up to the axletrees, and the
chest or bottom "hurred," i.e. grated, on the pathway
between. The Clayton folks used to repair their length
now and then by filling the ruts with brushwood, and then
pulling the sides on the top of it. In 1786 John Saxon
indicted a certain part of the lane from Clayton-Bridgo
to Greonside, the expense of which, £23 10s., was afterwards
refunded from the rates.

But Droylsdcn boasted a rule without exception ; its roads
were all in an execrable condition. A stranger one day
inquired at the White Hart which was the best way to
Little Moss. " Up the deitch" was the brief and truthful
reply. In fact so foul was the length intervening betwixt
that public-house and Square-fold, that some folk, choosing
"roundabout for th" nearest," trespassed through Round
Oak-meadow, whilst others of a more determined cast of

20 HISTORY OF

mind doffed their shoes and stockings and waded through
barefoot. So unequal was the surface in some places, that
pedestrians fifty yards in advance of their fellows, frequently
appeared to pop over head, and "become entirely invisible.
One well-known rut or cavity was locally famous as " Jack
Hollant Hole," and instead of filling up and rendering it
firm, it was customary, when a loaded cart had to pass,
to impress a bevy of hatters and weavers, in order as
best they could to pull and push it through this " slough of
despond."

Turnpike. — Owing principally to narrow, roundabout, and
unpaved lane-roads, Droylsden was formerly quite isolated
from Manchester. About 1824 the owners of the Clayton
estate formed a length of private road extending from the
East End to the "West End. Subsequently, with a view
of cutting a turnpike from Clayton to Ashton-under-Lyne,
the North-road was begun by the same parties. Owing to
contemplated opposition from the Earl of Stamford and
"VVarrington the design of extension was abandoned, and an
act procured, in 1825, whereby the first-named private road
was constituted a portion of a new diversion of the road
to Ashton, and in the following summer was continued
to the old turnpike, in Audenshaw. On an applica-
tion to Parliament for a renewal of the trust, in 1851,
the ratepayers of Droylsden succeeded in modifying the
act, by the introduction of a number of Droylsden gentle-
men in the reappointment of the trustees. The under-
taking has proved highly beneficial to the township by
supplying direct communication with Manchester. Com-
mencing in December, 1849, after several fluctuations, and
changes of route to the old road, an omnibus plies on the
new road, to and from the city, every alternate hour.

Railways. — In addition to the facilities for traffic afforded
by road and canal, two lines of railway compete for the
transit of passengers. The Ashton branch of the Lanca-
shire and Yorkshire Railway was opened April 23, 1846,
with a station in the township, designated from the locality,
" Lum," but which has since been more properly renamed
" Droylsden Station." The Manchester, Sheffield, and Lin-

DBOYLSDEN. 21

colnshire Railway, passing just without the southern boun-
dary of the township, was opened to Ashton-under-Lyne
November 17, 1841, with a temporary hut dignified as
" Fairfield Station," which has since been replaced with a
pleasing erection of stone.

POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS.

The inconvenience of Droylsden's subordination to Au-
denshaw and the primitive machinery of a foot messenger
having been felt keenly, early in 1847 petitions for an im-
provement were numerously and influentially signed. In
the following year, on the 6th of August, the office in
Market-street was opened, with one bag received and
another despatched every day. Additional advantages
since accorded now give three despatches, averaging 150,
and two deliveries, averaging 200, letters per day. Mone-
tary and business transactions have been facilitated by
the establishment of a Money Order Office on January 2,
1855, which in the first four years issued 2,178, and cashed
1,648 orders.

STREAMS AND INLAND NAVIGATION.

The head waters of the Medlock are gathered into three
main or parent streams, rising respectively at Dirtcar and
Besom Hill, near Oldham, and Scouthead in Saddleworth.

Meandering past Droylsden, through the pretty vale to
which it imparts its name, the river is impressed into ser-
vice by several extensive bleacheries. The Medlock,
usually a shallow stream, is periodically swollen to a
considerable magnitude by torrents of rain, which, rush-
ing from the hills, leave valuable gravelly deposits on its
margin. Although, within Droylsden, the banks nowhere
rise abruptly, yet the channel is sufficiently furrowed to
prevent any extensive inundation, the- mischief being
usually confined to slight floodings ; but at times con-
siderable damage has resulted to the dyeworks at Bank-
bridge.

Droylsden has excellent water communication, which
has chiefly contributed to its present flourishing condition.

22 HISTORY OP

The Manchester and Ashton-under-Lyno Canal, begun
about 1794, and opened some three years after, -with
branches to Heaton Norris, Fairbottom, and Hollinwood,
has its two main junctions in the township. Facilities
are thereby afforded for conveying coals and other com-
modities to the mills and workshops located on its arms
and banks ; and public convenience is promoted by several
private wharves for the landing or loading of goods.

AREA, EXTENT, ADMEASUREMENT, ETC.

The township is nearly two miles long, and about one
and a half broad. Its superficial area was measured by
Messrs. Johnson and Son as 1,593 acres ; Rickman's com-
putation, in the population retiirns of 1831, gives 1,400 ;
the Tithe Commissioners, in the last census returns, 1,611 ;
Messrs. Dunn and "Wilson's survey, in 1826, exclusive of
roads and river, embraces 1,570 acres 2 roods 12 perches;
and the Ordnance survey, the most accurate of all, yields
l,621a. Ir. 24p. This gives a surface of rather more than
2| square miles ; consequently Droylsden, in territorial
extent, is the seventh of the thirty townships comprising
the extensive parish of Manchester.

These discrepancies have been reconciled in a manner
similar to that facetiously adopted by a neighbouring agri-
culturist. Being in treaty for a farm, the owner repre-
sented it at a greatly exaggerated size ; but the farmer
naively remarked that he should not have thought it had
been so large, but knew that wet land would tread out !

Messrs. Dunn and Wilson surveyed Little Droylsden to
la. 3r. 37p. ; land on the north side of the river to 39p. ;
and that occupied by the Ashton Canal to 22a. The
lengths of the several branches of that navigation are —
Manchester and Ashton, 2 miles 140 yards ; Hollinwood
branch, 1 mile 140 yards ; and the Stockport branch, 375
yards. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway is 1,445
yards in length, and 11 a. 2r. 37p. in area. The river
Medlock occupies 6a. Or. 37p. ; the turnpike, 13a. Ir. 27p. ;
and woods and plantations, 28a.

DROYLSDEN.

23

POPULATION.

From the scanty memorials accessible, apparently during
several centuries the township made slight advances both
in prosperity and population. In those times, the rearing
of a new dwelling — for entire streets were not then built at
a single impulse — was an important era in the meagre
annals of the place ; and probably there were times when
even " the oldest inhabitant" could not recollect the erec-
tion of a domicile on a new foundation.

Prior to the rise of the cotton manufacture, the popula-
tion was very insignificant in number. In 1655 Droyjsden
contained 32 ratepayers, probably representing less than
200 inhabitants. The earliest authentic, but private, enu-
meration of the population dates in 1774, at which time the
township included within its limits 107 houses, all occupied,
and in the aggregate by 111 families, comprising 699 in-
dividuals, or little more than the number of workpeople
now employed at Droylsden Hills. The erections of tho
mills brought large accessions of inhabitants, the bulk of
whom reside in their vicinity. The following tabulated
statement of the several census taken by Government
shows the modern progressive increase of population : —

Date

Houses

Families

Males

Females

Total

1801

233

755

797

1552

1811

329

393

1070

1131

2201

1821

397

426

1469

1386

2855

1831

649

647

• 1476

1520

2996

1841

872

2398

2535

4933

1851

1183

3041

3239

6280

Although, in 1831, the rate of increase per cent of tho
two previous enumerations (41 -8 and 29 7) was not main-
tained, being only 4'9, yet tho progress (64'6) was ex-
tremely buoyant in tho next ten years, and remained
steady, 27'3, in tho last census, at which time tho density
of population was 3-87 persons per acre. In January,
1852, there were 9 inns and public-houses, 23 beer-shops,
62 provision and other shops, 1,023 cottages under £10
rental, and 55 private houses above £10 per year.

24 HISTORY OF

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PAROCHIAL OFFICERS.

For centuries the maintenance of the peace of the town-
ship "was vested in the constables, nominated at the annual
town's meetings, and confirmed by the magistrates, and
slightly aided by the wardens of Newton Chapel, one of the
latter being triennially furnished by Droylsden. Since the
erection of Droylsden Church, annually, on Easter Monday
forenoon, the rector, or incumbent, has always appointed one
warden and one sidesman, and the parishioners have elected
two corresponding officials. Their external duties embrace
perambulatory visits, on Sabbath forenoons, to inns and
taverns to guard against " filling " infractions, and also to
scour the fields and lanes from persons profaning the day
by following their worldly occupations. Droylsden has
also its representative sidesman, annually elected at the
Cathedral and parish church.

Within memory the only public fabric in the township
was the village stocks — the old-fashioned panacea for
reforming drunkards and desecraters of the Sabbath. This
crazy wooden machine stood on the green at Lane Head,
near the present King's Head, and was accidentally burned
down with the bonfire one 5th of November. Afterwards,
in 1793, at a cost of £3 10s. 9d., the town erected a new
pair in front of two thatched cottages, near the Yew Tree,
on the green adjacent to the terminus of Ashton Hill-lane.
The initials of the current constable, Samuel Bes wick, were
incised on the upright stone pillars, which were stayed
together with an iron bolt near the top. •The horizontal
boards were perforated for the legs of a couple of inebriates,
•with provision for a wrist of each person by means of a
slot, with hasp and lock appertaining to the inside of each
pillar. But no use is recollected to have been made of
either of these rude instruments of justice, the last of which
•was removed some years ago.

Droylsden was included within the jurisdiction of th
magisterial division of Ashton-under-Lyne March 1, 1839,

and subsequently the protective vigilance of the new
police force waa introduced, the township being divided into

DROYLSDEN*. 25

two districts. A sergeant and officer located in Droylsden
Proper also supervise Little Droylsden, and one officer is
placed at Clayton. Formerly prisoners were taken for
temporary confinement to the Openshaw Lock-up, pre-
paratory to conveyance to Ashton for examination before
the magistrates, two of whom, acting for the county, reside
within Droylsden. A county constabulary station was
erected in 1855, near Victoria Mills. It is a compact brick
edifice, containing separate lock-ups, or cells, for males and
females, with residences on each side for the sergeant and
officer and their families. In addition to the nocturnal
vigilance of the police, a private watchman has always been
maintained in Fairfield, and one each at most of the mills
and manufactories.

The municipal and parochial affairs of the township,
since time immemorial, probably from 1662, have always
been vested in the overseers of the poor, and constables or
surveyors of the highways, annually nominated at the
vestry meetings, and confirmed by the magistrates. When
the Poor-Law Union of Ashton-under-Lyne was formed,
in 1837, Droylsden was included, and annually elects its
representative guardian, and participates in the advantages,
real or presumed, of the new Union Workhouse, erected to
the north of Ashton in 1850, and also in other supposed
benefits of this local centralisation.

The roads, or highways of the township, are repaired by
ratione tenure, and for this purpose, by an arrangement
entered into in some one's days, they are divided by mere
stones into various lengths, which were allotted or attached
to the several farm holdings in the township. Owing,
however, to inexplicable transfers and sales of portions of
estates for building upon, these " statute lengths " are being
periodically divided and subdivided until the responsibility
becomes almost indeterminable. And various assignments
from time to time have been disclaimed, or thrown upon the
town, to the detriment of the ratepayers. The supervision
and control of the roads is vested by annual election in a
board, comprising several honorary surveyors, who appoint

26 HISTORY OF

one working or stipendiary assistant, in order to collect the
highway rate, and see to the repair of the respective lengths,
or summonses for the neglect.

Resembling Joseph's coat of many colours, every known
variety of road-making and cobbling seems to exist, but
the primitive methods carry the preponderance. The
town's apportionments are an exception, being in a tolerably
efficient state of repair, the expense being defrayed by a
small annual rate.* And Edmund Buckley, Esq., a few
years ago, expended a large sum in thoroughly paving his
several lengths ; but the remainder, generally, are either
badly paved or unpaved, and only now and then repaired
'with a well-nigh invisible coating of cinders or gravel. An
occasional or bi-annual sweeping is given to the Clayton-
road, and a little sometimes administered to portions of
Market-street and Droylsden-lane ; but there are other
parts not thoroughly cleansed once in twelvemonths.

Droylsden is comprised within the limits of that useful
branch of the judicature, the Ashton County Court, and its
privileges have been frequently made use of by the in-
habitants.

PAROCHIAL RATES, EXPENDITURE, ETC.

Notwithstanding that the town rented for its own use
one house in 1774, and two some six years later, at present
there exists neither building nor offices, whether rented or
otherwise, for parochial purposes, and a small monetary
allowance is made for the use of a room in the New
Institute for the weekly attendances of the relieving officer.

The manuscript and documentary property of the rate-
payers is principally deposited in a strong oaken chest with
three locks, of which the assistant overseer is custodian.

The excellent map and survey of the township, executed
by Messrs. Dunn and Wilson in 1826, became the property
of Mr. Tinker, when, on behalf of the township, some nine
or ten years ago, he furnished three tithe maps, one for
transmission to London, another to be deposited in the

* The length of highway in the township is about 8,000
yards, of which 1,032 appertain to the town.

DROYLSDEN. 27

Cathedral, and the third for the ratepayers' use, but which
now lies in private hands.

In 1655, when Droylsden, for poor-rate purposes, was
associated with Manchester, the township possessed 32
assessments, and the rate, for six months ending November
25, amounted to £7 19s. lid. in the aggregate. The con-
nection with the mother-town, so far as regarded general
parochial purposes, was incidentally repealed by the act of
Charles II. (16G2), under which Droylsden has since been
conventionally treated as a distinct and separate parish.

In the reign of William III. (1692), the annual value of
the township was £329 17s. Id., according to the land tax
assessment. The yearly value of real property in Droylsden
was assessed at £4,896 in 1814, and the subsequent assess-
ments to the county-rate have been as follow : — £4,955, in
1815; £6,811, in 1829; £12,900, in 1841; and £16,902, in
1853, the last undertaken.

The tithes of Droylsden and Clayton are enumerated, in
1556, 1578, and 1635, amongst the endowment sources in
the charters of the Collegiate Church. In 1701 the warden
and fellows leased the tithes of Droylsden for £11 15s. to
James Hall, and they received also £5 10s. for those of
Clayton demesne. In 1848, the tithes of the township
entire realised £97 for the Dean and Canons of Manchester.

The cost of repairing the township's highways was once
defrayed from the constable's lay, to which, in 1759, fifty-
four persons paid sums ranging from 3d. to £2, amounting
to £8 Os. Ojd. in the whole. Nineteen years later, four
lays of this description raised, within the twelvemonth,
£32 Os. 8d., which amount was increased to £33 Is. 2d. by
the collection from the cottages. The disbursements com-
prised £14 9s. 9Jd. for money warrants and incidental
expenses, £9 16s. 7d. for repairing the highways, and
£3 13s. 6d. arrears on that score, leaving the sum of
£5 Is. 3$d as a balance in hand. Eight years subsequently,
the assessments had increased to seventy, and the rate
deduciblo therefrom was £17 6s. 5jd., at sixpence in the
pound.

In 1732, tho Droylsden quarterly assessment realised

28 HISTORY OF

£8 4s. lljd. for the poor, at the "rate of '6d. in the pound.
In 1847, the gross 'estimated rental was £10,915, on which
£618 8s. 8d. was produced by a one shilling rate. In May,
1858, the gross estimated rental was £20,023 8s. 10d., the
rateable value £16,855 11s. 2d.; and the poor-rate, at Is. 6d.
in the pound, was £1,158 3s., of which £334 13s. 9d. was
paid by the owners" under the Small Tenements Act.

The entire parochial rates were returned in 1828-9 at
£333, and ten years later this amount was only exceeded
by £30.

Formerly there were several greens, or plots of unclaimed
land, in the township, and large strips of waste along the
lane sides ; latterly, these have been mostly enclosed, and in
some cases a monetary equivalent has been yielded to the
town. Instances are said to exist of cottages having been
erected on the waste, and their owners being destitute of
any original title deed or evidence.

Under the old local system the ratepayers are found
regaling themselves with drink at a town's meeting, and
paying for it out of the poor-rate ; bearing the expenses
of "askings," weddings, and christenings, purchasing
Godfrey's cordial, and physic, and paying for post mortem
examinations, coffins, and burials, from the same source;
paying the paupers by the " long," or calendar, month, in
contradistinction to the lunar one ; allowing 2s. per week
to a "nonwit," or idiot child; binding an apprentice for
life, at an expense of £3 4s. ; searching the town for rogues
and vagrants, at a charge of 2s. ; fetching back runaway
apprentices ; paying for loom hire, and numbering, writ-
ing, swearing-in, and bounty for, militia ; also subscribing
towards Brindle "Workhouse and the Manchester Infirmary ;
making allowances to passengers, tramps, or vagrants ;
losing by light gold and bad silver ; purchasing in two
years, 1817 and 1818, at a bonus of one halfpenny each,
more than two thousand sparrow's heads ; and buying
sundry articles of furniture and clothing for the paupers —
such as shifts, petticoats, rockets (frocks), and bed-
gowns for the females ; and shirts, waistcoats, breeches,
and jackets, for the males ; as, also, bedstocks, straw and

DHOYLSDEN. 29

chaff beds, with the usual clothing; chairs, tables, and
firegrates — the latter then provided by the tenant, and not,
as now, by the landlord.

In those " good old times" many a fracas occurred at the
town's meeting to break the monotony of the scene. A
refractory overseer has refused to deliver up his books and
accounts, and an appeal to the strong arm of the law having
proved unavailing, an enraged ratepayer, of indomitable
courage and strength, takes the matter in his own hands,
and, in the midst of the assembly, flies at the obstinate
official, downs him in real Lancashire style, and wrests the
coveted documents from his grasp !

Under the system of poor-law unions, the parochial
aflairs and expenditure are conducted uniformly on prin-
ciples both useful and economical. But the town's meetings,
from having less control over pecuniary matters, have be-
come sectional and exclusive, and especially since^the time
of holding them — two o'clock in the afternoon — is utterly
at variance with the convenience of the great bulk of rate-
payers, who are engaged in the staple employment of the
village. Added to which, through the application of the
Small Tenement Act, the majority of ratepayers are deprived
of the privilege of voting on parochial affairs. An attempt
to popularise town's meetings by holding them at six in the
evening partially succeeded a few years ago ; but, in
obedience to the powers that be, they have reverted to
the ancient rule, which, like the laws of the Medes and
Persians, altereth not.

HISTORICAL NOTICES.

The early history of the township is involved in impene-
trable obscurity. Whitaker conjectures that, five centuries
prior to the Christian era, the parish of Manchester was a
wild, unfrequented woodland, the domain of birds and
beasts. Many indications of this ancient forest are still
discernable, and especially in the names of fields and
localities. The finding in the moss of a stone celt—
i.e. a hammer or spear head — now unfortunately lost,

30 HISTORY OF

probably identifies the locality with tho temporary sojourn
of the ancient Britons, during the era known as the stone
period.

ifroylsden is connected with the Roman conquest, if not
by occupation, by means of three coins, now in the possession
of Miss Piccope, who resides on the Moss. They were ex-
humed about seventeen years ago, whilst making a deep
ditch or trench amongst some knolls, or undulations, in order
to reclaim a portion of the morass now attached to the farm at
the Castle, held by Mrs. Alice Howarth. They lay without
any protection on the natural mould or clay, and scattered
about were fragments of coarse earthenware, gone soft from
exposure to the damp soil. There was also an implement,
now lost, described as a " tommahawk," or small-sized
hatchet of bell metal (perhaps bronze), with a wooden haft,
or handle, preserved by the anti-septic properties of the peat.

The following description of the coins is supplied by a
numismatical friend: — No. 1. Trajan (A.D. 98-117), second
brass, obverse, laureated head to the right ; reverse, a figure
seated — legends on both sides defaced. No. 2. Antoninus
Pius (A.D. 138-161), second brass, obverse, much corroded,
head to the right ; reverse, a female figure standing with
something in each hand (perhaps Genius, with Hasta and
Cornucopia) ; S.C., in the field, for Senatus Consultum ; and
of the legend only the word " cos " can be read, that part
of the coin following this word being cut or broken away.
No. 3. Aurelius (A.D. 161-180), second brass, obverse,
defaced ; reverse, a priest sacrificing at an altar, with the
S.C. ; legend, TR . . . . COS II., showing the coin to be
struck when the Emperor was a second time consul.

Of the foundation of Droylsden no information exists
in either authentic record or the voice of tradition. On
the formation of tho Saxon parish of Manchester in tho
year 446, this then probably nameless district, as well as
the present parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, was included
therein. About a century after, the Saxon kingdom of Deira
was established, and comprehended tho extensive parish of
Manchester. The name of the township indisputably asso-

DROYLSDEN. 31

dates it with Saxon origin, and its connection with this
colonising, agricultural people is further strengthened by a
reference to the names of fields and enclosures, many of
them handed down intact from that period. Whitaker, on
presumptive evidence doubtless, conjectures Droylsden to
have been colonised about the year 610, when, he states, the
Saxon pioneers disencumbered the land of its ancient oaks.
At that period, it is not speculative to suppose the surface of
the district composed of woodland and marsh. First comes
the erection of wattled lath and plaster huts and homesteads
for the new comers ; then the surface drainage of the soil by
gutters and ditches, outlets into the brooks and river ,' the
fcncing-off and enclosure of meadow, arable, and pasture
land; and henco the recurrence of the appellative "heys,"
meaning, primarily, hedges or enclosures fenced off from
the forest.

Of the Danish irruptions about 870, there are dim tradi-
tions yet extant, as well as of the final overthrow of those
predatory incursionists in these parts some half century
later. [The substance of these lingering legends may bo
found in the " Gorton Historical Recorder," pp. 44-5.]

About 1070, Manchester was created a manor, and
Droylsden formed a component portion. The ravages of
the Northmen or Danes, and the desolating policy of the
Conqueror, may partly account for the omission of Droyls-
den and other neighbouring hamlets or townships in the
Doomsday survey of the kingdom, which was undertaken
(1080-6) at his command.

Droylsden first emerges from obscurity when the Claytons
resided at Clayton Hall. In the twelfth century they owned
the greater portion of the lands in the township, inclusive
of the villeins who cultivated the soil. Their successors,
the Byrons, possessed a sort of MS. chartulary, or book,
called " Tho Blacko Boko of Clayton," into which, from
time to time, were copied all the deeds and documents per-
taining to the various estates of the family. This interest-
ing register now lies amongst the " Townloy Collection" in
the British Museum. From the first authentic mention in
1199, further notice of tho township is not upon record,

32 HISTOKY OF

except in connection with the Byrons, for many generations
afterwards.

When the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne was carved or
parcelled out of the spacious parish of Manchester (anterior
to 1291), Droylsden became a frontier township in the
ancient parish, as it remains, civilly, to this day.

The annals of the place for a long period continue locked
up, incidentally, in the Byron muniments, and the evidences
and title deeds of more modern proprietors. Little apparent
alteration, it is presumed, took place in the general appear-
ance of the village, if the term be allowable, during the
lapse of many successive centuries.

Formerly Droylsden could not boast of any grouping or
concentration of dwellings worthy of the epithet of village or
hamlet. But scattered over an area of more than two and
a half square miles, and nestling amongst the hedgerow
trees bordering the lanes and thoroughfares, straggling here
and there, were isolated farmsteads, interspersed with a few,
very few, detached cottages, planted, like angels' visits, far
between.

The inhabitants were not prone to change. Empires and
states might rise and fall, influxions of settlers might
elsewhere occur, but here, in this secluded nook, the same
family stock inhabited the same dwelling, may be, for
generations. Occasionally, the off-shoots erected a new
dwelling, but more frequently migrated to Manchester, or
other places, where the means of livelihood were more
abundant. Hence, with scarcely the intrusion of a single
interloper, the same family names were permanently
transmitted, until the place became quite a nest of Booths,
Grimshaws, Halls, Hibberts, Nicholsons, Oldhams, Thorps,
Travises, &c.

The second colonisation was a manufacturing one, begun
with the erection of Fairfield, which, like Clayton Hall
aforetime, for a while constituted the metropolis of the
township, but which, in turn, through the new-born vigour
of Droylsden Proper, has again relapsed into a suburb.
The real manufacturing settlement, however, was effected
through the erection of the mills. Many of the earlier

DKOYLSDEX. 33

operatives migrated from Stockport ; others have followed
from surrounding villages and towns, many from Ireland,
some from Derbyshire, and others even from the button
manufacturing districts of Gloucestershire. These various
elemental grafts add vigour to the mass ; but, owing to their
comparatively recent location, are not yet thoroughly
amalgamated. And, as yet, there are few small capitalists,
the status of the entire population being nearly on a par.

In the present state of society the indigenous Droylsdenian
is submerged beneath the new blood, which represents the
progress of the place as exemplified in its social, intellectual,
and religious movements. The old aboriginals, tenaciously
clinging to their ancient habits, still adhere to farming
and the hand-loom, and a few to hatting. Generally
speaking, they stand proudly or sullenly aloof from the
mills, and few instances are known of their rising into
managers, bookkeepers, overlookers, and other superior
situations, all these being filled, well nigh without
exception, by those who are foreign to the soil. On tho
influx of operatives, the " old originals" were most active
in their antagonism, and, if persecution could have repelled
the new comers, then their efforts would have met with
success. Many of them still retain their former exclu-
siveness, and seldom intermix with the interlopers, just as
the " Castle bulldogs" and " Little Moss gawbies," though
inhabiting adjoining hamlets in Droylsden and Audenshaw,
yet remain distinct races, especially tho young folks, who
refuse to associate in their recreations, and seldom, if ever,
intermarry. There is a sort of clanship amongst them ;
they court tho friendship of few outsiders, and if you offend
one, you offend all.

CLAYTON HALL.

Clayton Hall, which imparted a name to a family seated

here in tho twelfth century, is located about three miles east
from Manchester, and confers appellation on a hamlet which
forms the western portion of tho township of Droylsden.
The mansion, situated on a slightly rising ground, near
the midst of an ample demesne, boasting as many broad

84 HISTORY OF

Lancashire "acres as there are days i'th' year," -was, in
accordance with the prudence or jealousy of past times,
encompassed with a broad and deep moat, once crossed
by means of a drawbridge, since replaced by an ele-
gant and permanent stone structure of two arches. This
ancient environment is fed by a running stream, and
encloses a quadrangular area of about two statute acres.
The original Hall, having been erected during a turbulent
period of English history, was doubtless castellated and
loop-holed, with tower, courtyard, &c. But the present
homely pile consists of two buildings in a line, of different
periods, the oldest being of timber and plaster, and of a
date, apparently, subsequent to the desertion of the Byrons.
Its southern end is surmounted with a wooden turret con-
taining the bell. Tradition represents that Humphrey
Cheetham removed a portion of the structure, with the
intention of rebuilding it on a more extensive scale, and,
afterwards abandoning the design, he merely erected the
the other insignificant portion, which is, apparently, a work
of the seventeeth century. The front aspect looks westerly.
On all other sides the Hall is environed with plantations,
excluding the prospect, but imparting a rural and seques-
tered seclusion, in strong contrast with the advancing
buildings of the adjacent neighbourhood.

Formerly, the approach from Manchester was through
Beswick and Bradford by a narrow and winding lane,
since superseded by New road. The fold was four acres in
extent, and contained three distinct piles of outhousing,
correspondingly large with the size of the farm. The
Wheat Barn has been converted into a farm-house, but
the steps are still traceable which led into the upper
chamber, used as the " garner," or granary. The Oat Barn
adjoins the present highway, and, though patched by the
insertion of bricks and mortar, was originally erected upon
crooks, the foundations being rough ashlar flags, and the
superstructure oak timber, covered in with grey slates.
The Great Barn, in addition to bays for hay and corn, was,
in part, adapted for a shippon. It was a very long and,
comparatively, low post and petrel erection, with a thatched

35

roof, remarkably acute in pitch, and extending in dripping
eaves considerably beyond the walls. A tradition, quoted
by Hollingworth two centuries ago,* and still current,
derives the materials of this picturesque structure from
the spoliation of Old Saint Mary's, Manchester. The
woodwork generally, and especially the oaken principals
were beautifully decorated. To use our informant's own
words, " Wi' cut un carv'd effigies i'th' Catholic style, o'th'
blessed Virgin, saints, angels, un o' mack o'flowers, un had
bin part o'th' church ot stoode wheere Saint Ann's-square
is neaw." The barn portion became ruinous, and fell down
many years ago, and the remainder was accidentally
destroyed by fire, September 23, 1852, but, fortunately, a
sketch had previously been taken by one of the brethren of
the Manchester Rosicrusian Society.

An old domestic chapel, or oratory, stood within the
m.oat, and, it is said, a few paces north-west of the Hall,
until its demolition in the early part of last century. The
materials, including " large, red rockstones, similar to those
in the Old Church steeple," were converted into piggeries
and conveniences. The old font is stated to have been
transferred to the Collegiate Church, and the four bells
(which tradition represents as having been brought from tho
old parish church on its rebuilding in tho fifteenth century)
are reputed to have been thus disposed of : one presented to
Gorton Chapel ; another to Newton Chapel ; the third sent
to tho chapel of Smedloy Hall, a seat of the Cheethams ;
and tho fourth retained at Clayton Hall.

However this might have been, the most venerable relic
now remaining at the hall is the ancient bell, measuring in
depth 12 inches, external circumference 2(5 inches near the
crown, and 51 inches at tho mouth, whore the internal
diameter is 16 J inches. Its general thickness is one inch,
except near the mouth, where it increases to If inches, and
it emits a clear sound. Around tho outer edge of the mouth,
in old English characters, and probably in Norman-French,

* " Chronicles of Manchester," p. 44.

o 2

86 HISTORY OF

divided by a rose and crown, favourite badges or cognizances,
is the motto, or inscription, "le [for Je] atende Meleor,"
meaning, "I expect [or wait for] better [things.]"

It has often been asserted by aged people that some four
score years ago, gravestones were remaining in the Chapel
yard-meadow, lying to the west of the moat, but no record
of interments there have been met with. Indeed from the
following abstract of a will, proved at Chester, it is probable
that in Queen Elizabeth's time, there were no graveyards
attached to either Gorton or Newton Chapel. James Smyth,
of Droylsden, servant to Sir John Byron, Knight, by will
dated July 19, 1587, directs his "bodie to be buried in ye
churchyard of Manchester, as neare to the plane tree as
can be."

Clayton Mill, probably once a soke mill for the Byron
tenantry of Droylsden, Failsworth, &c., stood locally in
Failsworth, being on the north side of the Medlock at
Clayton-Bridge. During the tenancy of Joseph Hawthorn,
on November 15th, 1757, the structure was destroyed by an
infuriated mob, consisting of a large body of men from
Ashton, Oldham, Saddleworth, and other places, armed with
implements of husbandry and other rustic weapons, who
met on Newton Heath, and, visiting the mill, found, as it
was alleged, human bones and other offensive matter ready
for grinding and admixture with the flour and meal. After
wreaking vengeance on the place, destroying both the
building and machinery, they proceeded to Manchester,
where, in the Market-place, occurred the celebrated "Shude-
hill fight " immortalised by " Tim Bobbin."

About a century earlier there seems to have been a rival
mill, the site of which is forgotten, for in April, 1648,
George Traves, nephew to Humphrey Chetham, headed
a large party in " endeavouring to pull up Captain
Whitworth's wear belonging to his mill." There had
been great throwing of stones, to the hazard of several
men's lives. Bulwarks and cabins having been made for
the defence of themselves, in the way or manner of war, Mr.
AVhitworth instituted legal proceedings, which, five years
afterwards, were still pending, and the result is yet unknown.

DROYL8DEN. 37

THE BY RON 8.

The Byrons, of Clayton and Rochdale, Lancashire, and
Newstead Abbey, Notts, are descended from Ralph de
Buron, who at the time of the Conquest and of the Dooms-
day survey, held divers manors in Notts and Derbyshire.
Hugo de Buron (living 1143-4), grandson of Ralph, and
feudal baron of Horestan, retiring, temp. Henry III., from
secular affairs, professed himself a monk, and held the
hermitage of Kirsale, or Kersall, near Manchester, under
the priory of Lenton. His sons were Sir Roger and Hugh
de Buron. Robert de Buron [Byron], son of Sir Roger de
Buron, in the first King John (1199-1200), married Cecilia,
daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Clayton, of Clayton,
and thereby obtained the manor and estates of Clayton.
Failsworth and the township of Droylsden were soon after
added to their Lancashire estates. Their son, Robert do
Byron, lord of Clayton, was witness to a grant of Pyling
Hay, in this county, to the monks of Cockersand, for tho
repose of the souls of Henry II. and Richard I. ; and his
son, John de Byron, who was seated at Clayton, twenty-
eighth Edward I. (1299), was governor of York, and had
all his lands in Rochdale with his wife Joan, by gift of her
father, Sir Baldwin Teutonicus, or Thies, or de Tyas, who
was Conservator of the Peace in Lancashire, tenth Edward
I. (1281-2). Her first husband was Sir Robert Holland,
secretary of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. Their son was Sir
John do Byron, Knight, lord of Clayton, who was one of
tho witnesses to the charter granted to tho burgesses of
Manchester by Thomas Grelle, lord of that manor, in 1301.
The two first witnesses to that document were " Sirs John
Byron, Richard Byron, Knight." These wore father and
son. Sir John married Alice, cousin and heir of Robert
Banastre, of Hindley, in this county. Their son, Sir
Richard, lord of Cadenay and Clifton, had grant of free
warren in his demesne lands in Clayton, Buttorworth, and
Royton, on the 28th of June, 1308 ; ho served in Parlia-
ment for Lincolnshire, and died before twenty-first Edward

38 HISTORY OF

III. (1347-8). His son was Sir James de Byron, who died
before twenty-fourth Edward III. (1350-1). His son and
heir was Sir John de Byron, who was knighted by Edward
III. at the siege of Calais (1346-7), and dying without
issue, was succeeded by his brother, Sir Richard, before
fourth Richard II. (1380-1). Sir Richard died in 1398, and
was succeeded by his son, Sir John U Byron, who received
knighthood before third Henry V. (1415-16), and was one
of the knights of the shire seventh Henry VI. (1428-9).
He married Margery, daughter of John Booth, of Barton.
His eldest son, Richard le Byron, dying in his father's life-
time, and Richard's son, James, dying without issue, the
estates passed to Richard's brother, Sir Nicholas, of Clay-
ton, who married Alice, daughter of Sir John Boteler, of
Beausy, or Bewsy, near "Warrington. Their son and heir
was Sir John, who was Constable of Nottingham Castle,
and Sheriff of Lancashire in 1441 and 1442. Sir John
fought in the battle of Bosworth Field, on the side of
Henry VII., and was knighted on the field. Dying with-
out issue in 1488, he was succeeded by his brother (then
thirty), Sir Nicholas, Sheriff of Lancashire in 1459, who
was made Knight of the Bath in 1501, and died in January,
1503-4. His son and heir, Sir John Byron, was steward
of the manors of Manchester and Rochdale; and on the
dissolution of the monasteries, he had a grant of the priory
of Newstead, May 28, 1540. From that time, the family
made Newstead their principal seat, instead of Clayton.
His three eldest sons, Nicholas and two others, dying with-
out issue, Sir John was succeeded by his youngest son, Sir
John, knighted in 1579. Sir John's eldest son, Sir
Nicholas, distinguished himself in the wars in the Low
Countries, and at the battle of Edgehill (October 23, 1642).
He was Colonel- General of Cheshire and Shropshire. His
younger brother, Sir John, was made K.B. at the corona-
tion of James I., and a baronet in 1603. Owing to the
failure of the elder line, this Sir John became ancestor of
the Lords Byron. Sir Nicholas was succeeded by his son,
Sir John, who was made K.B. at the coronation of Charles
I. He was appointed by that king Lieutenant of the

DBOYLSDEN. 39

Tower in 1642, contrary to the wish of Parliament; com-
manded the body of reserve at Edgehill ; and was created
Lord Byron of Rochdale, October 24, 1643. In conse-
quence of his devotion to the Royal cause (for he fought
against Oliver Cromwell at the battle of Preston, in
August, 1648), his manor of Rochdale was sequestered.
So great was his lordship's Royalist zeal, that he was one
of the seven specially exempted from the clemency of the
Government in the Act of Oblivion, passed by Parliament
on the execution of Charles I. Dyinsj at Paris, in 1652,
without issue, ho was succeeded by his cousin Richard (son
of Sir John, the baronet just mentioned), who became
second Lord Byron, and died October 4, 1679, aged seventy-
four. He was succeeded by his eldest son, William, who died
November 13. 1695, and was succeeded by his fourth son,
William, who died August 8, 1736, and was succeeded by
a younger son, William, fifth Lord Byron, who was born
in November, 1722, killed William Cha worth in a duel,
January, 1765, and died May 19, 1798. He was succeeded
by his great nephew, George Gordon, the poet, sixth Lord
Byron, who was born January 22, 1788, and died at Misso-
longhi, Greece, in April, 1824.

THE CHETHAMS, OF CLAYTON.

The reputed manor of Clayton, and Clayton Hall, which
had been the chief seat or residence of the Byrons for
about 420 years, were purchased by the Chethams from the
former family. Sir John Byron, the elder, of Newstead,
and Sir John Byron, the younger, Knights, by indenture
of February 20, 1620, in consideration of £4,700, convey
to George Chetham, of London, grocer, and Humphrey
Chetham, of Manchester, chapman, in fee, all that capital
messuage called Clayton Hall, together with the demesne
lands ; and all that park, or enclosed impaled ground, called
Clayton Park ; and all the moss-turbary and soil thereof
in Clayton, Failsworth, Manchester, Ashton, Woodhouses,
and Droylsden, not formerly sold by Sir John Byron, the
son; and all that water corn mill, called Clayton Mill,
with all dams, mills, pools, &c. ; and all the highways,

40 HISTORY OF

lanes, waste grounds, and other ways and passages, and the
ground or soil of the same in Clayton. All the messuages,
tenements, and cottages in Clayton, Failsworth, Droylsden,
Woodhouses, and Manchester, with all closes, fields, &c.,
thereto belonging, in the occupation of Kichard Heap, Kobert
Hibbert, Widow Hill, Nicholas Johnson, William Clough,
Thomas Taylor, Edmund Asheton, John Travers, and
William Scrimshaw [Grimshaw]. The deed was executed
only by Sir John Byron, jun., and his lady. It appears by
an endorsement, signed George Chetham, that no part of
the soil of the highways in Failsworth, extending from
Newton Heath northward towards Hollinwood, was to pass
the said feoffment.

Henry Chetham, of Crumpsall, had seven sons by his first
wife. James, his eldest surviving son, succeeded to the
Crumpsall estate. Three others, George, Humphrey (the
founder), and Ralph, embarked in the Manchester trade.
George, the second son of Henry, was baptised in May, 1576,
and was buried from Clayton, January 5, 1626-27. This
George was doubtless the joint purchaser of Clayton, with
his more eminent though younger brother, Humphrey,
when they were respectively forty-one and forty years of
age. George is said to have resided at Clayton from the
date of its purchase, when he retired from the business in
London, till his death in 1627, when his brother and
co-partner, Humphrey, the founder, succeeded him at
Clayton, and chiefly resided there till his own death in
1653, altogether about twenty-six years.

By an indenture of November 29, 1635, eight years after
first going thither, Humphrey Chetham leased Clayton
Hall, with the appurtenances, demesne lands, tenements,
gardens, orchards, &c., for ten years, at an annual rent of
£300, to James Jollie, or Jolly, of Droylsden, clothier, who,
as Major Jolly, was afterwards found in possession. But
notwithstanding this lease to another, Humphrey Chetham
did not give up either his entire occupation, tenancy, or
residence, in Clayton Hall, as the reservations in the lease
itself show. The first of these is — "Except and always
reserved, out of the present demise or lease, unto the said

DHOYLSDEX. 41

Humphrey Chetham, his heirs and assigns, ono little closet
in the dining parlour of and in the said capital messuage,
and the chamber standing or being over the gate-house
thereof." Other reservations are the new stable, the
paddock, part of the demesne, the moss-rooms, and all such
coal pits and mines of coals as are already found, made, and
dug in any part of the fields belonging to the demesne lands
of Clayton. The lessee is to pay all usual taxes, church-
rates, and poor-rates ; and the lessor all unaccustomed leys
and charges, amongst which are enumerated, — King's leys
and taxes ; the armour, weapons, light-horse, and pikemen
for war, with which the lessor is chargeable ; and the yearly
contributions or benevolence paid or given to the minister
for the time being, "as leynes or hyreds" at the chapel of
Gorton. Then come further covenants — " If James Jollia
plow or soweth corn more than fifty acres, he is to pay after
the rate of £5 per acre, over and above the annual rent."
Then — " James Jollie is to have and receive all the boons*
and services which yearly shall arise to be payable, per-
formed, or done by John Gilliam, Richard Heape, and
George Kenion, by force and virtue of the several leases
whereby they enjoy the messuages and lands in their several
occupations."

It is true that during this ten years' lease, no proof is
found of Humphrey's residence at Clayton ; but that he
occasionally came there is most probable ; and, indeed,
various facts indicate that Clayton Hall was his favourite
residence. He lived much there ; his favourite table-chair,
or chair-table, is still shown in one of the rooms, and he
died there September 20, 1653. He dates letters from
" Clayton," in March, 1635, and November, 1648 ; and one
of the last business letters he ever wrote (during the absence
of his usual amenuensis, who had gone to bury a child)

* Roby states that in a MS. of receipts and disbursements,
belonging to the Chethams, kept in the time of Charles II.,
there is an item for money paid for gloves to the boon
shearers at Clayton Hall. — Traditions of Lancashire, 1843.
vol. 1, p. 176.

'42 HISTORY OF

bears date — " Claito ye 4 of Maye, 1653." One of his wills,
dated September 13, 1631, began — " I, Humphrey Chetham,
of Clayton, in the county of Lancaster, Esq. ;" and his last
will, dated December 16, 1651, commences — "I, Humphrey
Chetham, of Clayton." This will sets forth the settlement
of Clayton, by indenture of December 8, 1651 (just eight
days before the execution of his last will), between himself
and William Langton, Robert Mawdsley, Oswald Mosley,
and John Lomax, by which he conveys to them the manor
house called Clayton Hall, &c., to the use of George
Chetham, son of his brother, James Chetham, and his heirs
male ; in default thereof to George Chetham, son of his
brother, Ralph Chetham, and his heirs male, and in default
to his right heirs. He charges Clayton estate with a clear
yearly rent charge of £138, which he devises to the feoffees
for the maintenance of his projected hospital, and he
appointed his nephews, George and Edward Chetham (sons
of his brother James by different mothers), his executors.

Humphrey died at, and was buried from, Clayton Hall,
his funeral being a most costly one, amongst the items
being £111 paid to Mr. Minshull, for "switte meats and
imbalming the body," and the aggregate cost being £1,161
19s. 6d. His senior nephew and heir, George, eldest son
of James (the founder's eldest brother), was the next owner
and occupant of Clayton Hall. It is stated that he was
born on July 1, 1594, and died December 13, 1664, aged
seventy years. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry
Johnson, of Manchester, mercer, and had several children.
He for some time resided in London, where he was sheriff
and alderman, and was high sheriff of Lancashire in
1659-60. In 1665, he was by far the largest ratepayer in
Droylsden. On the 1st of December, in the year preceding,
he had been nominated a feoffee of Manchester Free Gram-
mar School ; and on the 26th of February, 1661, he was
reappointed. He was entitled Lord of Turton, Clayton,
&c. One of his account books was entitled " A Cash Book
of George Chetham, Esq., of Turton and Clayton, from
1633 to 1637," and another is dated " from 1640 to 1670" ;
but this last year was six years after his decease. His

DROTLSDEN. 43

monument in St. Mary's Chantry, Manchester Cathedral,
is inscribed "Georgius Chetham, de Turton et Clayton,
armiger."

Connected with Clayton must briefly be noticed another
George Chetham, cousin of this George, the eldest son of
Ralph (youngest brother of the founder), who was born
May 1, 1623, and a legatee for £200 in his uncle Hum-
phrey's will. In Cooper's MSS., it is stated that he was
'• crazy, hippish, and much dejected." He lived at Clay-
ton Hall ; but being "sore afraid" [was this of Clayton
Hall boggart ?] he was brought to Leer (Lever), near Tur-
ton, and lived with Mr. Crompton, and died a bachelor.
He was commonly called " Mad Chetham" ; and it is said
that, once holding a glass of wine in his hand, and letting
it fall, he exclaimed, " Thus fell Turton and Clayton!"

To return to the Clayton estate as bequeathed and charged
by the founder's will. Although neither of his executors
was able to fulfil the requests of the founder in converting
gums of money and two rent charges into lands and tene-
ments for the maintenance of the hospital, this was done by
James (George's son) purchasing the Sutton estate in 1676 ;
and Samuel (the son of this last James, and grandson of
George the executor) in 1700 conveyed the manor and
lordship of Sutton, and other lands in Derbyshire, to the
feoffees for ever, and thus discharged the estates of Clayton
and Turton of their respective rent charges. This Samuel
died without issue on March 20, 1774-5, in his sixty-ninth
year ; and his monumental inscription in St. Mary's Chantry
describes him as of " Castleton, Turton, Clayton," &c. Hia
estates descended to his only surviving brother, Humphrey,
who married, but died without issue in July, 1749, and the
estates then descended to his second cousin, Edward
Chetham, barrister, who died unmarried in February, 1769,
in his eightieth year, when his estates were divided between
his sisters Alice (who had married Adam Bland) and Mary
(wife of Samuel Clowes) by a partition deed, dated October
31, 1770. By this deed the Broughton and Kersal pro-
perty went to Mrs. Clowes ; tho Clayton and Turton
property to Mrs. Bland. Mrs. Bland' s only child married at

44 HISTORY OP

the Collegiate Church a Spanish merchant, named Mordecai
Greene, who thus received the Clayton estates with his
wife. Their sole issue was James Greene, of Turton and
Clayton Hall, who married Miss Ann Brigstock, and having
served in Parliament for the borough of Arundel, and held
many diplomatic situations on the Continent, died in 1814,
leaving five daughters and co-heiresses — viz., Mary Ann,
wife of Edward Frere, Esq. ; Arabella Penelope Eliza, wife
of Peter Richard Hoare, Esq. ; Charlotte Alice, wife of
Edward William Seymour, Esq. ; Angelina Francis, wife
of George Matthew Hoare, Esq. ; and Anna Sophia. P. R.
Hoare, Esq., is now the owner of the ancient manor, manor
house, and estates of Clayton, the possession of which has
been traced from the first year of the reign of King John
to the present time, a period extending over six centuries
and a half.

John "Wallworth resided at Clayton Hall in the middle of
the seventeenth century, and the register of Gorton Chapel
records the baptism of two of his children in 1656 and in
1661 as taking place in " Cleeton Hoole." Richard Ent-
wistle, of Clayton, was buried at Gorton in April, 1671 ;
and John, son of James Neeld, of Clayton Hall, was bap-
tised in December, 1697, at the same place. Thomas Whit-
aker, of Clayton, in April, 1723, was a warden of Newton
Chapel, where, in October, 1728, was interred John Edge,
of " Cleton Hall." Mr. Edmund Newton, the next recorded
occupant, was an agent of the Chethams. His wife's name
was Esther; and in March, 1744, their son Richard was
baptised at Gorton. He buried a son, Joseph, at Newton,
in December, 1747, and continued to reside at the Hall until
the close of 1772, when he was followed by John Wood,
who farmed the estate about twelve years. At this period
the Hall was the only dwelling on the estate. Coming into
the possession of the Thornleys, of Audenshaw, Thomas
Roberts farmed it nine years — first for them on commission,
and afterwards on his own account. Samuel Howard
followed in 1803, and was succeeded by Benjamin Wors-
wick, about 1823, who farmed for the co-heirs. He built
the "Humphrey Chatham" public-house, and some coti

DIIOYLSDEX. 45

tages at West End, and, failing, afterwards emigrated to
America.

SMALLER LANDED PROPRIETORS, AND DESCENTS OF ESTATES.

Scanty information precludes a chapter devoted to
heraldry and genealogy. Crests and armorial bearings
have been borne or claimed by the families of Clayton,
Byron, Greene, Hoare, Christy, Ashworth, Hadwen, Lees,
Wood, Chadwick, &c. The pedigree of the Byrons, pre-
viously recorded, is the only detailed attempt at tracing
family lineage and descent.

From remote times Droylsden seems to have been divided
into separate tenements, or estates, comprising some thirty
to forty farms, and having in addition a few cottage dwell-
ings. In the reign of James I., after an uninterrupted
enjoyment of more than four centuries, the estates of the
township passed by sale and subdivision from the Byrons
into the possession of numerous small landed proprietors ;
thus, as a rule, each farm, after this period, constituted the
freehold of its resident, sturdy and substantial yeoman ; but
gradually most of these inheritances, either by sale, distaff,
or bequest, became alienated from the families of the
original owners.

Amongst the most ancient landed proprietors in the
township must be included Sir John de Asheton, of Ashton-
under-Lyne, although at present the representative of tho
family owns only two small closes at Moorside, about four
acres in extent, and acquired, it is said, by bequest from a
family steward about a century ago. It appears from the
celebrated " rent roll," compiled in 1422, by Sir John Ashe-
ton, that John the Byron, Knight, paid for Whitworth
lands, in Droylsden, the yearly rent of xxrf., during tho
lives of Richard Union, and Alys his wife, and also the
same "John Buron" paid xvij. annually for a parcel of
the Moss.

In tho twenty-first Henry VII. (1505-6), John Ellawra
(Ellor) appears as plaintiff, and Ralph Holland as defend-
ant, in a disputed title to lands in Openshaw, Drilesden,
Moor, Wrang, and Opensha.

46 HISTORY OF

John Booth, of Chetham, yeoman, in 1617, purchased
from the Byrons, for £240, the farm house and the two
further fields, barnfield, further and nearer moorfields,
yarncroft, and little moorcroft, the orchard at the back of
the barn, and the orchard at the new bay, which now con-
stitute the estate appertaining to Edge Lane Mills. In the
year following, Booth purchases from Ralph Buredsell, of
Droylesden, yeoman, for £4 15s., a certain moss doal in
Droylesden ; and a few weeks afterwards disposes of both,
at a profit of £20, to Edward Walklate, yeoman, of Lud-
•worth, in Derbyshire. "Walklate, some three years after-
wards, married Anne Bearde, and settled the estate on
their issue. In 1655, it was, apparently, in the possession
of Ralph and Thomas Walklate. In 1697, William Walk-
late, of Ludworth, yeoman, only son and heir of Ralph
Walklate, deceased, who was brother and heir of Edward
Walklate, of the same place, deceased, sells the estate and
a small one adjoining, for £460, to Ralph Pycroft, of Man-
chester, chapman, who by will, dated November, 1698,
leaves it to his grandson, Ralph Nicholson. In 1717,
Ralph Nicholson, of Bolton, linen draper, sold the original
estate of thirteen acres for £321 10s. to James Grimshaw,
chapman, in whose family it continued more than a
century.

Ann Wodd (Wood), in 1614, purchased from the Byrons,
for £10, the messuage and close called the Croft that the
house standeth in (now the site of the Recreation Grounds),
and two moss doals in Droylsden Moss, or Moor.

George Birch, Esq., of Birch, held lands and messuages
in Droylesden, as appears by Lis inquisition post mortem,
September 9, 1613, which lands, in 1655, were in the
tenancy of Ralph Hibbert, jun. Thomas Birch, Esq., of
Higher Ardwick, by will, dated January 3, 1746, leaves
his lands in Droylsden, then in the occupation of John
Redfern, to his brother, George Birch, and his heirs and
assigns for ever.

George Blomely, as is set forth in his inq. p. m., six-
teenth Charles I. (1640-1), died seized of land and mes-
suages in Droylsdale.

DROYLSDEN. 47

The Halls were a respectable yeomanry family, long
resident at the (South) Clockhouse, which was so named
early in the seventeenth century. James Hall, of Droylsden,
gentleman, on September 9, 1613, is found acting on the
inquisition post mortem of George Birch, Esq., of Birch
Hall. According to a note in the "Life of Adam Mar-
tindale," published by the Chetham Society, he seems to
have heen an agent of the Byrons, and was living September
18, twelfth James (1614), but died shortly afterwards.
Martindale, who married his second daughter, Elizabeth,
in December, 1646, describes his father-in-law as "a free-
holder of good ranke," and, by report, a most eminent
Christian, but dead long before. Certain freehold lands in
Droylsden, Droylesden, or Drylsden, and now a part of the
Clockhouse farm, were conveyed in 1614-16 by Sir John
Byron, of Newstead, and Sir John Byron, the younger, of
Koyton, near Oldham, to William Buerdsell ; and the same
gentleman, on October 22, 1617, in consideration of £180,
also conveyed another portion of the present estate, then in
the tenancy of John Hall and Cicely Hall, widow, to Richard
Holland, of Denton, and his assigns for ever. Cicely Hall
was relict of the above James Hall. She afterwards married
James Jollie, and survived to a very great age.

James Hall and John Hall, sons of James Hall, of
Drielsden, yeomen, are mentioned as " his beloved kinsmen"
in the will of Edward Shaddock, of Moston, dated October,
1618, and printed in Booker's "History of Blackley." John
Hall owned the estate, November 14, 1639, by purchase
from the Hollands. James Hall was a Droylsden ratepayer
in 1655. John Hall, of the Clockhouse, buried a son, John,
at Gorton Chapel in July, 1700; and in March, 1712,
disposed of the estate to Mr. Miles Nield, merchant and
chapman, of Manchester. This farm, and other property
in Droylsden, came into the possession of William Clowes,
merchant, of Manchester, in February, 1738, on his mar-
riage with Elizabeth, one of the two daughters and co-
heiresses of the above Miles Niold. John Peploo Birch,
Esq., only son and heir of the Rev. Samuel Peploo, Doctor
of Law, and Chancellor of tho diocese of Chester, became

48 HISTORY OF

possessed of the Droylsden property in 1764, by marriage
with Ann, only child of the above William and Elizabeth
Clowes, in whose possession the Clockhouse estate remained
until May 2, 1801, when they sold it to Messrs. Robert
Bagnall and "William Robinson, of Manchester. These
gentlemen pulled down the ancient mansion, a rather ex-
tensive post and petrel erection, with a westerly aspect, and
built two modern dwellings some forty yards west north-
west of the former site. By a diagonal line they divided
the estates into two portions, which, after passing through
several hands, are now jointly the property of Edmund
Buckley, Esq., of Higher Ardwick.

The Halls for a century and a half worshipped and
baptised at Gorton Chapel, and interred there for a century ;
and they had also a seat, or pew, in Newton Chapel. John
Hall, sen., of the Clockhouse, was buried at Gorton, in
February, 1740 ; and lastly, Mr. John Hall, of Droylsden,
whitster, in October, 1757. The family terminated in
females, one of whom, Ann, married William Hulton, Esq.,
of Hulton Park, whom she survived, dying in 1802.

The earliest memorials of the interesting family of Jolly
begin with 1635, when James Jollie, or Jolly, took a lease
of Clayton Hall. When the Lancashire Presbyterical
Classes were instituted, October 2, 1646, James Jolly, of
Droylsden, yeoman, was constituted a lay member of the
same. He married Cicely, widow of John Hall, who sur-
vived him, and was still living in 1688, aged ninety-one,
when Newcome records her as sending to him to pray a
deal for her.

Entering the service of the Parliament, Jollie became a
captain, then major, and lastly held the obnoxious office of
provost-marshal in the Parliamentary army in the county
of Lancaster. His name appears amongst the ratepayers in
1655, and he died eleven years afterwards, leaving three
sons, all of whom had been brought up in the university.
The most famous was Thomas, of Trinity College, Cam-
bridge, born in 1629, the Independent minister of Altham,
in Lancashire, in 1649, and from whence he was ejected by
the Act of Uniformity. Subsequently he built a place of

DROTLSDEJT. 49

worship on part of his own estate, at Wymondhouses, near
Clitheroc, where he continued to officiate till his death,
which took place April 16, 1703. Matthew Henry speaks
of him, says Calamy ("Nonconformists' Memorial"), as a
minister of the first rank for gifts and graces. Slate, in his
" Select Nonconformists' Remains," gives an interesting
biographical sketch of him. His son Timothy was minister
of the Nonconformists of Sheffield, where he was ordained
in 1G81, and died in 1714, leaving a son, Timothy, who died
in 1757, aged sixty-five, having been for thirty-one years a
pastor in London.

John, son of Major Jollie, of Trinity College, Dublin, an
admirer of Scotch Presbyterianism, was ejected from Nor-
bury, Cheshire, in 1662, and afterwards resided and preached
in Gorton, where he died suddenly, June 17, 1682. He
was little more than forty years of age, and left behind him
several children, one of whom succeeded him in the ministry.
Calamy describes him as a man of fertile genius and resolute
spirit, and remarkably spiritually minded. Of Nathan, the
third son, it is recorded that in after life he resided in
Chester.

It seems that the township did form the residence of one
gentleman in 1665, for on March 11 in that year, Mr. James
Wallwork, of Droylsden, was required to appear at Man-
chester, before Norroy, King of Arms, in order to register
his ancestry, coat of arms, &c.

Droylsden does not seem to have enjoyed the dignity of
conferring a family surname, — a circumstance somewhat
unusual for a Lancashire township, but probably arising
from the Clayton and Byron families having, in succession,
owned all the lands of the township to the exclusion of
other landowners and yeomen. Still, a John Drysdale is
alluded to in the " Shuttleworth Accounts," published by
the Chetham Society.

As showing the family nomenclature of the period, the
list of ratepayers in 1655 is not without interest. Arranged
alphabetically they were as follows : — Edward Ashton and
his son ; William Beardsall ; James Bexwicke ; Edward
Boardman ; John Brooke ; Thomas Byron ; Geo. Cheetham,

50 HISTORY OF

Esq.; Robert Glossop; Widow Gorton; Widow Gorton, the
younger; George Grimshaw; Widow Grimshaw and her
son ; George Hall ; James Hall ; Richard Heape ; Ralph
Hibbert, of the Fields ; Ralph Hibbert, of the Moss ; Ralph
Hibbert, the younger, of Birchlanda ; Robert Hilton ; Mr.
Samuel Jenkinson ; James Jollie ; Widow Kenion ; Widow
Kenion, the younger; Robert Leech; Joseph Ouldham;
Mary Parr ; James Tailor ; John Thorp ; Thomas Thorp ;
Ralph Walkelate; Thomas Walkelate ; and William Wood.

Robert Walker, of Smallshawe, gentleman, and William
Walker, his son and heir apparent, in consideration of £39,
convey to Nicholas Hodgkinson, of Droylesden, bricklayer,
all that messuage, tenement, and the great and little crofts
situate in Droylesden, Drylsden, or Droylsden, and now
known as Little Droylsden, and also freedom of turbary on
a moss room, which is part of Droylesden Moss or Moor, as
agreed upon by Sir John Byron, knight, deceased, and
Marie Hunt, deceased, to be the moss room belonging to
the above tenement, containing five yards in breadth, and
extending from the end or side of a close in Droylesden,
late in the tenure of Robert Graves, deceased, and in length
as far as the turbary extends southerly. The conveyance
is dated April 9, fifteenth Charles II. (i.e. 1663, as in legal
instruments his reign was reckoned to begin at the death of
his father), being signed by the Walkers and witnessed by
Thomas Strangways and James Hodgkinson. The estate
passed to Mary, only surviving child of Hodgkinson, and
wife of John Herron, of Droylsden, weaver ; then to her
eldest son and heir, John Herron, of the same place,
farmer, who died intestate ; next to hisonly child, Mary,
who married a Wilde, survived him, and in 1758, sold the
estate for £100 to James Walker, of Manchester, thread
throwster. Thence it descended to his son and heir,
William Walker, of Hollinwood, husbandman, who sold
the same in 1772, to John Pott, of Droyslden, whitster ; and
it is now vested in William Howarth, of Newton Heath.

The will of a Baguley, of Failsworth, about 1554, occurs in
the Lane. MSS., and from another document it appears that
on October 10, 1614, Sir John Byron, senior, and Sir John

DROYLSDEN. 51

Byron, junior, convey to Adam Bagguley, yeoman, all that
messuage and tenement in Failsworth and Droylsden, then
in his occupation, and all these closes, viz. the Yarn Croft,
the Summer Hey, with the green lane adjoining, the Suid
(Shude) Hill, the Middle Hey, the Highest Eye, the Pingot,
the Wheat Eye, the Greenfield Clough, the Barrickfield, the
Calf Croft, and part of the Barrackfield Clough : purchase
money, £180. A settlement of these lands was made Novem-
ber 14, 1640, upon the marriage of Adam Baguley, junior,
with Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Pyecroft, of Droylsden,
yeoman.

George and Humphrey Chetham, chapmen, lease to John
Hewett, May 21, 1625, a messuage and tenement in Droyls-
den, for three lives at an annual rent of £12 13s. 4d.

The first person of the name of Walker alluded to as
resident in Droylsden is Charles Walker, in 1580, men-
tioned in Booker's " History of Denton." After the lapse
of fifty years occurs Jane, daughter of Charles Walker de
Droylsden, who fell off a bridge, was drowned, and was
buried at Ashton Parish Church, in July, 1630. Appa-
rently towards the close of the seventeenth century, the
only person of opulence in the township was William
Walker, as his name alone from Droylsden occurs in the
MS. parchment roll of a " List of names of all persons in
the hundred of Salford chargeable to the subsidy of King
James II." In 1758, the Droylsden butcher was named
James Walker.

The antique farm house at Greenside, now occupied by
Mr. Gibson, was erected, as appears by an inscription (J. G.
and M. G., 1660), by John and Mary Guilliam, or Gilliam.
The following particulars are derived from "Notitia Ces-
triensis," ii. 91-2. John Gilliam, of Levenshulme, gent., was
son and heir of John Gilliam, of the same place, esq. (a cap-
tain in the Parliamentary army, and justice of the peace),
and his wife, Mary, daughter of James Halliwell, of Pike-
house, in the parish of Rochdale, gent. John Gilliam,
jun., was baptised at Littloborough, July 2, 1658, and
married Jane, daughter of Thomas Percival, of Royton,
gent. By will dated June 18, 1688, and proved at Chester,

52 HISTORY OF

October 26, in. the same year, he left many legacies for
charitable purposes, and settled his very large estates in
Droylsden, and many other places, on his only child, Jane
Gilliam, who subsequently married John Greaves, Esq., of
Manchester, high sheriff of Lancashire, in 1783, leaving a
son, Edward, who died in 1824. The property is now
vested in two nephews.

Several old families bore the name of Grimshaw, and in
order to distinguish them, one is said to have varied the
form to Grunshaw, or Grunsho. The Yew Tree farm has
been the inheritance of one of these families for nearly two
centuries and a half.

From Booker's " Blackley," it appears that John Diggles,
of Manchester, linen draper, and of Booth Hall, Blackley,
by will dated August 7, 1719, gives to his son James his
messuages and tenements situate in Droylsden, &c. John
Diggles, of Booth Hall, Blackley, but now of Brompton-
row, Middlesex, by will dated November 11, 1781, be-
queaths to Thomas Bayley all his messuages, farms, &c., in
Droylsden and other places.

Joseph Yates,'of Manchester, gent., died in 1705, leaving
a son, Joseph Yates, Esq., a Droylsden ratepayer in 1731-2.
His son, Sir Joseph Yates, Knight, was somo-time one of the
judges of the Court of King's Bench, and was transferred
thence to the Common Pleas, which event he survived little
more than a month, dying June 7, 1770, aged forty-eight.
His death is recorded in the " Gentleman's Magazine,"
without any further ostentation than the remark that he
was " One of the honestest of judges that ever filled the
bench."

Samuel Sandiford, of Droylsden, linen webster, in May,
1726, for £200, conveys to Thomas Higginbotham, of Mot-
tram-in-Longdendale, one dwelling house and the four
acres, two acres, and the meadow containing eight acres,
heretofore in the occupation of John Lees, of Droylsden,
husbandmen, deceased, and since of his relict, Martha Lees,
and now of the above Samuel Sandiford. A part of this
estate forms the site of Droylsden Mills. By will dated
August 5, 1775, Thomas Higinbotham, of Mottram, grocer,

DKOYLSDEX. 53

bequeaths his freehold estate in Droylsden, in the occupa-
tion of Thomas Herod, to his nephew, Thomas Middleton,
of Chapel-en-le-Frith, grocer, subject to an annuity of £5,
to his nephew William (brother to Thomas) Middleton, and
a like annuity to his cousin Arminal Middleton. Somo
eight years afterwards, Thomas Middleton mortgaged the
estate for £300 to a Miss Appleton, and within memory the
ownership fell into abeyance. It is now the property of
Edmund Buckley, Esq., of Higher Ardwick.

DOMESTIC AaCHITECTURE.

The early huts, cots, or domiciles of the peasantry were
slight structures of one storey, open to the rafters, and
divided into "house part" and dormitory. These primitive
erections consisted of a vertical framework of oaken crooks
inserted in the earth, and pegged well together. The lower
portion was crossed with transverse timbers, and the inter-
stices were filled in with laths, wattles, or wicker work,
and plastered with clay, in the style locally designated
"raddle and daub." The upper or roof part of the skeleton,
was hipped at both ends, thatched with straw, and usually
curved like a swine's back. If not adorned with an entrance
porch, perforated with an eyelet hole, there was generally,
in lieu thereof, a wooden speer to keep the draught from
the hearth. The door was kept closed, or shut, with the aid
of a sneck, or catch, and was opened or unlatched by means
of the finger-hole, cr else by the " sneck bant" and handle.
No preliminary "knocking at the door" was then needed.
Bells, knockers, and spring locks were undreamt of ; and
visitors, whether friends or foes, rich men or beggars, let
themselves in, and, if at meal time, were bade to make
themselves free, and assured that they wore welcome to
what the house could afford.

The floors were commonly at a lower level than the
surrounding soil, and were formed simply of earth or clay,
trodden firm by the feot-patterings of successive generations.
The light of heaven could only stealthily penetrate through
a casement window or two, glazed with small lozenge panes
of a greenish hue. If the house had two storeys, the

54 HISTORY OF

attic was honoured, also, with a little dormer window,
or solar gable, which, starting up in the middle, broke the
external uniformity of the roof, and imparted thereto quite
a picturesque appearance.

There were no attempts at ventilation, and it remains a
moot point whether a hole in the thatch, caused by the wear
and tear of the elements, did more evil, as a passage for the
wet, than good, as a channel for the ingress of fresh air.

Though fast disappearing before the rapid strides of
"modern improvement," a few dwellings, slightly altered,
yet linger by the borders of the lanes at Greenside and
Castle, constituting the only remaining links connecting the
Droylsden of the days of great Queen Bess, with that of the
days of good Queen Victoria.

Of the superior or yeomanry type of the style, the (South)
Clockhouse was a good example ; and the rear of a Green-
side farm house, now occupied by Mrs. Wood, exhibits some
fair specimens of quatrefoiling in post and petrel. These
granges, in addition to the dining room and the kitchen, or
" house place," as it was emphatically designated, boasted a
better room, dignified as "the parlour," and reserved for
the best furniture, and used only on festive occasions.

Owing to the increasing scarcity of native timber, that
class of buildings, which, with slight modifications, had been
current for long centuries, became gradually succeeded by
brick edifices about the period of the Restoration. The
farm house, at Greenside, occupied by Mr. Gibson, with
its spacious and partially wainscotted apartments, lozenge
chimney shafts, and other characteristics of the period, is a
tolerably good specimen of the semi-manorial dwelling of
the latter part of the seventeenth century, and the following
description of another is attempted.

Droylsden possesses two out of the five clockhouses met
with in Lancashire. The name was apparently derived
from possessing horologes,* when those articles were of

,* Clock is also Norman French for a bell, and the (North)
Clockhouse had formerly a bell to ring the farm servants to
dinner ; the (South) Clockhouse was destitute of a bell, but
boasted a large turret clock in the outbuildings.

bROTLSDEN. 65

great rarity and luxury ; and to these favoured places no
doubt the neighbouring farmers, destitute of accurate time-
keepers, would despatch their servants or children to inquire
" what o'clock it was." The clockhouse near Clayton-Bridge,
is an old house, of mixed stone and brick, erected on an
eminence, and approached by a steep path. In the present
rear is the old porch, which has been bricked up, and a
small window put out where the porch door formerly existed.
The porch, which is still open interiorly, contains two old
wooden side seats, where it was customary to sit in fine
weather. The "house part" differs from ordinary houses in
having been panelled in oak. The remains exist on one side
wall only. In this wall are two doors ; the space between
them, eight feet, is panelled to a height of six feet or more,
divided by a sort of finial every four feet. Painted upon a
plaster panel, midway between the doors, at a good height,
are the royal arms of England, as borne by Charles I. and
II., surrounded by the garter, but without supporters,
exactly as figured in Gwyllim's " Display of Heraldry," p.
439. Beneath are the motto and date, " DIEV ET MON DROIT.
1689." This year was the first of the reign of William and
Mary.

The dwelling houses in Fairfield, at the time of erection,
were a decided advance in the beauty, usefulness, and com-
fort of local domestic architecture.

A few modern mansions claim passing attention, and
most prominently so Alderdalo Lodge, the seat of Abel
Buckley, Esq., J.P., which is partly enclosed in gardens,
shrubberies, and thriving plantations. The situation is
delightful, on the verge of a green knolly meadow, over-
looking the vale of the Medlock. North-road, Clayton, is
tolerably secluded from the hum and bustle of manufactur-
ing life, and bids fair to become the ""West End" of
Droylsden, containing already several pleasing villas, in
the cottage orn6e style. The residence of Richard Christy,
Esq., with its gabled entrance porch, hip-knobs, clustered
chimneys, and bay windows (mullioned and transomed), is
worth notice. A number of pretty mansions have sprung
up near the south-east verge of the township, but they are

56 HISTORY OF

locally situated in Audenshaw. Notwithstanding the pre-
sence of sand and clay, which is cheaply and expeditiously
manufactured into bricks, there has been felt, till lately, a
want of an intermediate class of dwellings.

SOCIAL CONDITION, HABITS, CHARACTERISTICS, ETC.

At a time when Droylsden was an obscure village, and,
beyond its own borders, a terra incognito, the attachment of
the few indigenous families to their own kith and kin was
remarkably strong. Hence, when wiving, they seldom
passed over the claims of their neighbours' daughters in
favour of strangers; and consequently, from the intrica-
cies of intermarriage, some century ago, the inhabitants
had become a colony of relations, as Byron says —

" Marrying their cousins— nay, their aunts and nieces,
Which always spoils the breed, if it increases."

There must have been a reaction of late, as in May, 1851,
a Droylsdenian attempted to sell his wife in Stockport
market-place, — a fellow weaver at Droylsden Mills starting
the bidding at seven pence, which was soon advanced upon
up to ten shillings ; but the police dispersed the competitors
ere she was " knocked down."

As "little things are great to little men," and inferior
commodities are prizeable in a dearth, so, in the absence of
more weighty affairs, the gossip of last century chiefly con-
cerned marriages, christenings, and burials, with occasional
inquests; also the feats of renowned mowers and reapers —
the death of a cow by murrain or milk fever — the state of
the few trades struggling in the district — and, too fre-
quently, political and religious animosities — furnished
themes for a converse or motives for a fight.

Gipsies periodically bivouacked in the quiet green lanes
and " out-o'-way places," and often succeeded in wheedling
or purloining something from the villagers ; for when their
professional dips into futurity and persuasive eloquence
elicited scant remuneration, if opportunity presented itself,
they were not loth to seize anything which was not either
" too hot or too heavy" to remove. At length news of their

DROTLSDEN. 67

location reached the town's authorities, when forth marched,
stares in hand, the worthy constables and other village
officials, and peremptorily " warned them off." This usually
effected a strike of their camp, and consequently transferred
the attentions of these wandering vagrants to some other
and perhaps distant locality.

In the era when the hand loom reigned supreme, owing
to the scarcity of lime, cottages were only whitewashed
geptennially ; yet, says an octogenarian, the bedding was
not infested with anything worse than fleas. It was then
customary for the thrifty housewife, on Monday afternoon,
to discard the shuttle for the wash-tub ; and on Saturday at
noon she knocked off her loom, and then mopped and red
sanded the floor, which cleansing lasted till Saturday came
round again.

Of course the scale of cottage comforts, in substan-
tiality, if not luxury, of food, improved articles of dress,
neatness of dwelling house exteriors, as well as internal
conveniences, have increased proportionably with the pro-
gress of manufactures, and the number of schools and places
of public worship testifies that the social and intellectual
and the moral and religious status of the people has been
steadily advancing.

One phase of the improved condition of the working
classes is exemplified by the fact that, within recollection,
say nearly four score years ago, men, even on the Sabbath,
wore dressed up in fustian. Then arose the innovation of
black cloth breeches, which, with the rod "senglit," or
vest, and the stereotyped fustian jacket, once constituted the
tip top of fashion of the Droylsden dandy. Next the beaux
of the village introduced bluo cloth trousers, figured vests,
and blue cloth coats, with brass buttons ; and now suits of
good broad cloth are worn by every working man on the
Sabbath, and by many on the previous afternoon.

In consequence of the cheapness of cotton prints, no
Droylsdon belle would now think of enrobing herself, either
for lovo or labour, in the once universal and economical
" bedgown." Commercial competition and good wages
have wholly democratised dress ; and now, on the score of

D

80 HISTORY OF

finery, it is often difficult to distinguish the mistress from
her maid, or the female operative from the millowner's
wife.

Coarse kinds of food, of which oatmeal, either as cakes,
jannock, or porridge, formed the staple commodity, sufficed
the hardy and jocose Droylsdenians of the middle of the
last century. Then on« hutcher satisfied the requirements
of the villagers ; now it requires sixteen cow, and three calf
butchers, in addition to a manufactory for pie meat and
stuffing for sausages.

Passing on towards the close of the century, "butty
brews," or joining at the expense of manufacture and in the
consumption of ales, were notoriously common. Card
players were regaled with the contents of a barrel tapped
for the occasion; and, if only an odd house was erected, the
owner invited his neighbours to the "rearing," as did also
fresh tenants to their " house warmings," in order to partake
of what, as to quantity, was often miscalled " a sope of
drink*"

At that period the whole township, perhaps, could not
boast half a dozen iron ovens, but brick ones and backstones
were common, both in farm house and cottage. Brick ovens,
though seldom used, were always brought into requisition
for baking a family pie, or roasting a joint of meat in a
dripping tin, at the wakes, at Christmas, and other red-
letter days. A shop bake house was established on the
erection of Fail-field, and, being the only one in the country-
side, it was customary to carry out the bread with horse and
panniers, through Ashton to Oldham, and even as far as Lees
and Saddleworth. Three or four shops were amply sufficient
to supply the requirements of Droylsden and its vicinity. John
Slater, of Dukinfield, removed to Fairfield in 1786, and under
his management the drapery and provision store was for many
years the principal shop of its kind in the district. The
following also were considered extensive dealers in pro-
visions, viz. : — Eobert Booth, near the White Hart ; Betty
Nicholson, alias Pepper Betty, in Far-lane; and a little later
on, Hannah Etchells, near Lane End.

The dietetic economy of a Droylsden family of that period

DROYX6DEN. 59 •

is thus stated. The custom was for the good wife to bake
three pecks of oat cakes per week, the entire family being
restricted, except on Sundays, from loaf bread and tea ; the
matron, alone, might, if she chose, partake daily of the new
fangled infusion. The husband breakfasted on "thick
porridge and ale dip, with bread and cheese afterwards to
fill up the corners." The children had meal porridge and
milk, with a luncheon of oat cake and butter, or cheese.
Dinner was taken about eleven or twelve, and consisted of
dumplings, potato pie, or boiled meat and broth. " Bagging"
consisted of oat cake and cheese, or butter, sweet or churned
milk and bread, or cheese and bread. Supper was generally
much the same as breakfast, but varied occasionally with a
rasher of meat or a collop of bacon and potatoes. Other
variations or courses were : frumenty, made of wheat boiled
in milk ; brewis, or oat cake toasted, broken small, and soaked
in water wherein a " black pudding " had been boiled,
and then seasoned with butter, pepper, and salt, and lastly
eaten to the pudding aforesaid ; and crab verjuice was eaten
with zest by the hungry peasantry. Skim milk could be
obtained at 3d. per burn can full, and fresh butter was un-
commonly dear when raised to 7d. or 8d. per pound.
Although cans and mess pots were in general use, yet
ordinarily the whole family, in eating porridge, brewis, &c.,
dipped their spoons into the same dish.

It is handed down how a Greenside dame, receiving a
present of a pound of tea, by the advice of her neighbours,
proceeded to treat it like cabbage. After the usual boiling,
seasoning, and flavouring, she placed the leaves before her
husband, when he returned from labour at night. In vain
the good man tried to eat and to like it ; and at last, dis-
gusted at the epicurean taste of the day, ordered the new
fangled stuff to be pitched into the midden.

As a proof of the primitive simplicity of the inhabitants
some four score years ago, it used to be related how, one
dark winter's evening, the occupants of the straggling
dwellings dotting the margin of Droylsden - lane were
frightened out of their wits by the appearance of a " feighery
dragon flyin' op th' lone." At length, numbers giving

D 2

60 HISTORY OF

courage or curiosity, out to the battle rushed the farmers
and their servants with forks and pikels, hatters with their
"stricka pegs," and weavers with their heating irons.
After a long and arduous chase, one of the weavers, more
courageous, or swifter footed than the rest, with a blow of
his searing instrument, succeeded in extinguishing one of its
"two big sheignin' een," and shouted in ecstasy, "Aw've
blinkt it — Aw've blinkt it!" Judge of his chagrin when
requested to pay for one of the night lamps attached to a
gentleman's carriage !

Years afterwards, one evening, an itinerating musician,
from Manchester, entered the White Hart, and found some
hatters and weavers disputing relative to feats in hunting.
"Gentlemen, shall I give you a tune on the violin?"
" What does th' chap say, Turn ? " " Aw dun kneaw ; dost
theau, Bill ? " " Neaw, aw conno tell 03 aw do ; bur let's
have o tune ot ony rate." Brim full of intense curiosity,
they cluster round whilst the artist proceeds to untie the
strings of a green, oblong, and mysterious looking bag.
After a penetrative glance, one of the disappointed sons of
Nimrod roars out in a passion, " Whoy, dang it, it's nowt
bur un arrant fiddle !"

In another instance, two philosophical youths ripped open
a pair of bellows for the purpose of . discovering the source
of the wind. A well known farmer ascended a tree, seated
himself on a bough which he intended to lop off, and of
course both fell together in the ditch below. And, did
space allow, many mischievous but ingenious frolics, and
witty but frivolous diversions, could be enumerated, which
the introduction of Cotton Mills and the New Police, com-
bined with a spreading thirst for intellectual enjoyments,
have for ever put an end to.

HECREATION AND AMUSEMENT.

No account of the May pole has survived in Droylsden,
notwithstanding the past existence of several village greens.
The monotony of the hand loom or baisin was occasionally
relieved by the arrival of a travelling raree show, or a visit
from the mountebanks or other itinerating sons of Thespis.

DROYLSDEN. 61

Practical jokes were keenly relished, and many rural sports
engaged in, which have since grown extinct. As the year
wheeled round, each season or festival presented its appro-
pziate pastime. Winter brought its slides and football,
shinty and trapbad, pole jumping and craddies, hornyholes,
trust, hammer and block, foot and a half, prison bars, &c. ;
Shrove Tuesday its pancakes and " stanging" ; and Easter
was heralded by pace eggers, and mummers in masks and
grotesque attire, singing quaint ditties, reciting chivalrous
pieces, or acting the combat of St. George of England with
tho Turk, and the latter' s miraculous restoration by the
far travelled doctor. Then came the wake, with its exciting
bull baits and more harmless festivities, and gunpowder plot
with its toffy and tharcako. Bonfires were kindled under
tha llound Oak, near Graver-lane, on Lanehead Green, and
at Green-lane End. For this purpose the village youngsters
industriously scoured the fields for gate posts, decayed trees,
and the like, or visited the houses and importuned tho
inmates for fuel, with this whimsical, doggerel petition —

" Gunpowder plot shall never be forgot,
Whilst Old England stands on a rock :
Up a ladder and down a wall,
A cob of coal '11 serve us all."

And so Christmas and New Year's tide came apace, and
many were the rejoicings thereat. Amongst ancient custon.8
not quite extinct, having been twice or thrice celebrated in
the last half dozen years, is the ceremony of " riding stang,"
or effigy bearing, when persons have proved faithless to their
nuptial vows.

A reaction ensued, intellectual activity set in, and tea
meetings, soirees, concerts, lectures, and discussions well
nigh quenched athletic exercises and outdoor enjoyments.
Whitsuntide trips, and the bowling green at Green's Arms,
alone remained ; and many industrious youths truly alleged
that, after a hard day's toil, they felt little zest for spending
evening after evening in such sedentary recreation as in-
tellectual studies could only afford. To remedy the dis-
continuance of open air amusements, two steps in the right
direction were taken about tho same time. The Public

62 HE3TOBY Or

Eecreation Grounds, planned for a variety of interesting
and invigorating gymnastic exploits calculated to strengthen
the youthful frame, were opened with much tdat — a pro-
cession and tea party forming part of the proceedings— on
February 14, 1857. The site was leased for three years,
by ten trustees, each of tho five religious bodies in the
village having two representatives, and their lease will
expire in January next. It is lamentable to add that,
though much resorted to by the youth of the neighbour-
hood, this worthy institution languishes for want of pecu-
niary support.

The manly game of cricket has taken deep root in the
locality. The Droylsden Albert Cricket Club, formed 26th
August, 1857, leases a field, well adapted for the sport, and
furnished with flag poles, and a wooden cot, divided into
several compartments. This institution, in a moral point of
view, promises to prove beneficial to the neighbourhood,
from the intercourse and admixture of the various gradients
of the social scale in the persons of its members, who num-
ber about fifty. Of three other clubs started last year,
the Droylsden Alma has 22, the Fairfield Excelsior 16,
and the Castle Victoria 14 members.

The mill holidays, in addition to Good Friday and Christ-
mas Day, fluctuate considerably, yet generally consist of
one or two days at New Year's tide, half a day on Easter
Monday, about two days and a half at the close of Whit
week, and the first three days at the wakes, besides break
downs, &c.

Music must not be omitted. The Fairfield and Castle
Brass Bands were organized and in active operation many
years ago; but the former, like several successors, has ceased
to practise. Several persons of late, especially Gaylard Had-
wen, Esq., JosephHadwen, Esq., and Mr. Edward Chadwick,
have been at pains to induce and encourage young folks to
study the instrumental department of this delightful science,
with the hope that its cultivation may render their homes
more comfortable and happy. Two fife and drum bands have
been connected with the Church Sunday School, but now
lie dormant. A brass baud in semi-connection with the

DBOYL8DEN. 63

same institution, under the auspices of Mr. Hadwen, was
instituted July, 1857, and is now in a prosperous condition.
Also within the district many an amateur violinist, &c.,
contrives to enliven leisure hours, which otherwise might
hang heavy on his hands.

The vocal branch of the science has been studied, and its
beauties and usefulness disseminated by the choirs of the
several places of worship, by private amateurs, by various
singing classes and societies in connection with the Church,
Clayton Chapel of Ease, and the Independent Sunday-
Schools ; and especially by Mr. C. H. Wrigley, late
organist at the «hurch, and the teacher and propagator in
this district of the tonic sol-fa system of notation. The
School Rooms or Chapels of Clayton, Edge-lane, and the
New Connection possess harmoniums, which add to tho
solemnity of tho services. Singing, music (organs, pianos,
and violins), and dancing, form features of attraction at
several of the public-houses. The Droylsden Philharmonic
Society, established in November last for the purpose of
encouraging the study of vocal and instrumental music, is
under tho fostering care of a committee, comprising the lead-
ing gentlemen of the village, and the conductorship of Mr. GK
Eyles, of Fairfield, who intend creating an orchestra and
chorus, capable of performing the best music and of under-
taking concerts of a superior style. With this end in
view, the spirited committee, in March last, purchased tho
Independent School Room for the purposes of meeting and
practice.

THE HU8HBEARINO.

The townships comprising the reputed chapclry of New-
ton— viz., Newton, Moston, Failsworth, and Droylsden —
formerly, in a kind of quaternion, took their annual turn in
the order above enumerated in providing the^ rushbearing
to the chapel.

"The annual festivity of tho four township chapelry"
has been made the subject of a pleasing metrical sketch by
Elijah Ridings, under the titlo of the " Village Festival."
The rushbearing was held from time immemorial on the

64 HISTORY OF

Friday before the Sunday following the 18th of August.
This vestige of the olden time has virtually sunk into
desuetude ; but as Droylsden's turn occurs this year most
likely a rush cart will be built at some public-house, not
however for the purpose of adding to the comfort of any
place of worship.

Droylsden's rush cart was always fabricated at Green-
side, and in 1793 John Wood, of Clayton Hall farm, provided
rushes, waggon, and eight stumptailed horses to draw it
from that hamlet to Newton. Few complete brass bands
were then in existence ; but, by gleaning in Gorton, Man-
chester, and other places, an extemporised company of
instrumentalists was formed. Owing to dissensions in 1817,
a rush cart was made at the White Hart, in opposition to
the orthodox pageant at Greenside.

The last rush cart manufactured in Droylsden, in 1855,
perambulated the village, and patronised Manchester, but
did not visit Newton at all. In a waggon or cart was
constructed a coned and symmetrical pyramid, faced with
bolts of green rushes, and filled up with dried ones, and
was decorated with ribbons, flowers, and a glittering
display of silver plate. The procession was headed by the
chapel garland, borne by men proud of their office ; then
came the music and morris dancers : —

" All young fellows, blithe and hearty —
Thirty couples in the party —
Bedeck' d in gaudiest profusion,
With ribbons in a sweet confusion,
Of brilliant colours, richest dyes,
Like wings of moths and butterflies, —
Waving white kerchiefs in the air,
And crossing here, recrossing there ;
And up and down, and everywhere."

The dancers were gorgeously decorated, as the young women
emulated each other in procuring ribbons and other rustic
finery for trimming the hats and shirts of their brothers or
sweethearts. Then, amidst the cracking of whips and the
huzzaing of the populace, came the rush cart, drawn by
horses with " poseys," or garlands, affixed to their bridles ;
and then the instrumentalists —

DROYLSDEN. 65

" Now, strike up music, the old tune ;
And louder, quicker, old bassoon ;
Come bustle, lads, for once dance more ;
And then cross morris three times o'er."

Arriving at the chapel, willing hands dismantled the cart,
carried the rushes inside, and spread them beneath the forms
on the earthen floor, as sings the poet —

" Tho rushes on the chapel floor
Are spread in time for winter's cold
To warm the feet of young and old,
When simple hearts the sacred lays
Chaunt to our great Creator's praise."

Tho garland was placed in the interior of the chapel.
Four beams projected between the windows on the north
side, one of which appertained to each township for tho
purpose of displaying, for four years, the garland which had
preceded its rushbearing. The garland consisted of a wooden
framework, several yards in circumference, ornamented with
artificial flowerets, cut in divers coloured papers, and sur-
mounted either with a tinsel crown or the imitation of a
bird, conventionally treated. Each township, as its turn
came round, every fourth year, fetched out its old garland,
and, by dint of reconstruction and improvement, attempted
to surpass all previous efforts of the rival villages. On tho
following, or Wakes Sunday, the dancers, arrayed in their
ribbons and finely, attended the Chapel, where an appropriate
sermon was preached.

TIUIEEDYWIIEEL.

A singular wakes custom was introduced into Droylsden
about 1814, from Woodhouses, where it had been prevalent
for more than a third of a century. Chambers, in his
" Edinburgh Journal," of November 19, 1824, gives it a
notice, as does also 13cll, under tho title of tho " Grcensido
Wakes Song," in his annotated edition of tho "English
Poets," recently published.

Tho ceremonial issued from Grcenside, and consisted of
two male equestrians grotesquely habited. One, John, son
of Robert Hulme, of Grecnside, personified a man ; tho
other, James, son of Aaron Etchulls, of Edge-lane, a woman.

D 3

6G HISTORY OF

They were engaged with spinning wheels, spinning flax in
the olden style, and conducting a rustic dialogue in limping
Terse, and gathering contributions from spectators. Latterly
a cart was substituted for a saddle, as being a safer position
in case they grew tipsy. Both Bell and Chambers translate
the rhyme into "gradely English," and render Threedy-
wheel tread the ivheel ; but it is evidently thread the wheel, as
will be seen by a perusal of the original idiomatic and more
spirited version :—

"It's Dreighlsdin wakes, un wey're commin to teawn,
To tell yo o' somethin' o' great reneawn ;
Un iv this owd jade ull lemmi begin,
Aw'l show yo heaw hard un heaw fast aw con spin.

Uliorus.
So it's threedywheel, threedywheel, dan, don, dill, doe.

Theau brags o' thisel' ; bur aw dunno' think it true,
For aw will uphowd thi faurts arn't o few ;
For when theau hast done, un spun very hard,
O' this aw'm weel sure, thi work is ill marr'd.

Chorus. — So it's threedywheel, &c.

Theau saucy owd jade theaudst best howd thi tung,
Or else awst be thumpin' thi ere it be lung ;
Tin iv ot aw do, theaurt sure for to rue,
For aw con ha' monny o one as good as you.

Chorus. — So it's threedywheel, &c.

What is it to me whoe you can have ?
Aw shanno be lung ere aw'm laid i' my grave ;
Un when aw am deod yo may foind, iv yo con,
One of 11 spin os hard os aw've done.

Chorus — So it's threedywheel, &c.

Com, com, mi dear woife, here eendeth mi sung.
Aw hope it has pleost this numerous thrung ;
Bur iv it has mist, yo needn't to fear,
Wey'll do eawr endeavour to pleos um next year.

Chorus.
So it's threedywheel, threedywheel, dan, don, dill, doe."

SUPERSTITION — FEEORIN' AND BOGGARTS.

Prior to the influx of inhabitants caused by the develop-
ment of the cotton trade, the lives and actions of the rude
and unlettered, but social and hospitable villagers, were
considerably influenced by superstitious auguries drawn

BROTLSDEN. 67

from dreams and omens, as accidental variations from or-
dinary routine were considered, and from unshakable faith
in visions, spectres, and other supernatural agencies ; whilst
few sombre or out-o'th'-way places, retired nooks and
corners, or sequestered bypaths, escaped the reputation of
being haunted. Many domiciles, also, had their presiding
boggart, and feeorin' swarmed at every turn of the dark old
lanes, and arch boggarts held revel at every three road end.

After dusk each rustle of the leaves, or sigh of the night-
wind through the branches, to the timid wayfarer, heralded
the instant and unceremonious appearance of old wizards
and witches, Nut Nans and Clap Cans, or the terrific ex-
ploits of headless trunks, alias " men bout yeads," or other
traditionary " sperits," hobgoblins, and sprites, or the start-
ling semblances of black dogs, phantoms, and other in-
describable apparitions. Aqueous nymphs, or nixes, yclept
Grindylow and Jenny Greenteeth, lurked at the bottom of
pits, and with their long sinewy arms dragged in and
drowned children venturing too near. On autumnal even-
ings, the lambent flickering flame (carburetted hydrogen,
spontaneously ignited) of the " Corpse Candle," " Will o'
th' Wisp," or "Jack" or " Peg-a-Lantern" (for the sex was
not clearly ascertained), performed his or her fantastic and
impossible jumps, in the plashy meadows near Edge-lane,
to the terror of many a simple minded rustic. Fairies, also,
were believed to commit many depredations, such as eating
the children's porridge, nocturnally riding out the horses,
loosing the cows in the shippon, or churning the milk,
whilst "calving" by the fireside, and stealing the butter ; and
hence behind many a door, as yet observable in Clayton,
both of dwelling and shippon, was carefully nailed a worn
horse shoe, believed to be a potent countercharm or talis-
man to their freaks and fancies.

There were certain localities in the township notorious as
the rendezvous or favourite promenades of boggarts and
feeorin', which, after nightfall had set in, few persons could
muster pluck sufficient to linger in, or even pass by, for

" Grey Superstition's whisper dread
Debarr*d the spot to vulgar tread."

68 HISTORY OF

Manifestly pre-eminent was " th' owd Green Lone," which.
" Jem Hill, th' king o' Dreighlsdin," used to assert
" swaarmt wi fairees, witches, un boggarts, un which nob'dy
could mester l>ur hissel'." The boggart located at Thacker-
gate, near Alderdale, has well nigh scared many a sober
person out of his senses. Herds of four footed boggarts
used to issue from a pit at East End, and in form resembled
" great big dhogs, wi' great glearin' eenos big os tay cups."
The patron boggart at the croft tenter's lodge, (South) Clock-
house, as fancy dictated, stalked through the chamber and
stripped the bed clothes off the sleepers, or, assuming gigantic
proportions and snow white vestments, perched in the solemn
yew, a strong and fearful contrast. At last, being exorcised
by an array of divines, it was laid for a time, beneath its
favourite tree. A field path from Fairfield to Ashton Hill-
lane was nightly traversed by a being of another world,
usually representing a shadowy lady, draped according
to whim, either in a loose white robe or otherwise in black
rustling silk. For a certain distance she glided in advance
of the pedestrian, and then by suddenly vanishing or disap-
pearing from sight most likely left his hair standing on
end. At one of the Greenside farms, a murder was said to
have been committed in the shippon, and the exact spot was
supposed to be indicated by the impossibility of securely
fastening a cow in one particular boose ; for, however care-
fully its occupant was chained overnight, next morning she
was sure to be found at large, and one time was actually
discovered on the shippon balks. Thither, it was believed
the cow had been carried by supernatural agency ; but, be
that as it may, with the aid of blocks and ropes she was
cautiously lowered down. At a cottage adjoining, a boggart
Yaried its amusements by drumming on the old oaken chest,
still preserved, or, growing emboldened, shook the hangings
of the bed, or rustled amongst the clothes, the alarmed
occupants, sometimes, in despair, rolling up the coverlet,
and unavailingly whirling it at their invisible tormentor.
At a neighbouring farm house, amongst other vagaries, the
boggart would snatch up the infant, whilst asleep between
its parents, and, without awaking them, would harmlessly

DKOYLSDEN. 69

deposit it on the hearthstone downstairs. In days gone by,
few old halls and moated mansions were unconnected with
tho legendary lore

" Of lovers' slights, and ladies' charms,
Of witches' spells, of warriors' arms."

And of course " Clayton Ho " was honoured with a boggart,
which, at dead of night, diversified its pranks by snatching
the clothes from the beds, trailing heavy iron weights on
the floors, or rattling endless chains through the crazy
apartments. Becoming insufferable, the aid of a clergyman
from the parish church was obtained; and, fortunately, with
the aid of counterspells and incantations, he succeeded in
laying the spirit for ever, declaring that —

" Whilst ivy and holly are green,
Clayton Hall boggart shall be no more seen."

Even yet, one room in the mansion is named the " bloody
chamber," from some supposed stains of human gore on the
oaken floor planks, but which, in reality, are only natural
red tinges of the wood, denoting the presence of iron.
According to tho popular notions these tell tales silently
commemorated some barbarous and forgotten act of remoto
times, and were irremovoable either by the art of the house-
wife or carpenter. And, finally, even since the formation of
the new road, J. W., the last of the ancient race of boggart
seers in the township, used to combat with feeorin', between
East End and Droylsden tollgate ; but dying a few years
ago, without making a legacy of the gift, he, happily, carried
with him his mantle to the grave.

At a period just within memory, oft, after sunset, has tho
weary and tardy pedestrian quickened his speed on gaining
proximity to some lonely place by suddenly remembering
how, as suited a capricious taste, tlie tutelar " spirit" could
appear as a rabbit or dog, a bear, or some outlandish and
invincible animal which would fairly have puzzled the most
skilful zoologist to have named or classified. When an inter-
view, as was believed, did take place, the stoutest heart ever
quaked, the strongest nerve ever quailed, and tho boldest,
whether man or woman, sought safety in flight, and, what

70 HISTORY OP

with fear and exertion, often reached home entirely ex-
hausted. Next day, to be sure, a flaming account of the
adventure — a rich treat for the gossips, hothmale and female
— was extensively circulated through the thinly populated
locality, detailing at length, and gathering minuteness
and improvement with transmission, how " Owd Yethurt o'
Grunsho," or " Lung Turn woife th' neet ofore'r welly ta'en
bi o great big black boggart, wi' great lung hurms, .un
whiskin' tail, yuro as black as soote, un rowlin' een os big
os sausurs."

On those winter evenings when the bow and the shuttle
were at rest, whilst a youngster lolled on each hob, the sire,
in his massive elbow chair, sat at the head of a semi-circle,
by the blaze of a cheerful fire, formed jointly of billets of
wood, peat turves, and coal. For a moment peep at the sub-
stantial, well made furniture, all of British oak, and black
with the " elbow grease" of the mothers and grandmothers
of generations gone by: the "one fingered" eight day
clock ; the ancient chest, or wardrobe, preserving the bulk
of the family clothing, with initials and date of the seven-
teenth century carved in relief by the artisan, half joiner,
half carver, who made it ; the oaken couch chair ; the cup-
board opening in the wall and displaying its rows of pewter
plates and trenchers ; the bookshelf laden with tomes of old
divinity, herbal, and chap books ; and on the walls prints
and pictures commemorating events long past. And now
the drowsy company ruminates over the gossip of the day ;
then relates tales and legends of times past, and after the
interspersal of a song or two, finally concludes with the
supernatural. And now with open mouth and dilated eyes,
with strained ears and excited brain, they draw nearer to
the fire, whilst the aged parent retails many an ancient and
oft told tradition of ghosts and haunted places, or narrates
reminiscences of personal encounters with boggarts and
feeorin'. At length, when the hour is grown late, almost
scared out of their wits, they retire in a group upstairs, and
ugly dreams debar their usual placid repose.

In those days, as is well known, the generality of persons
were ignorant and unlettered ; and their corporeal employ-

DROYLSDEX. 71

ment not being counterbalanced by mental action, their
fallow imaginations consequently produced only crops of
superstition. The decadence of those old superstitions is to
be attributed to a variety of causes : straight, well paved
roads, increased intellectual activity in useful channels, rail-
ways frictionising the minds of one locality with the ideas
of another, the publication of scientific works, and, lastly,
as an aged recusant believer shrewdly remarked, a power-
ful agent in the explosion of those old notions was the
introduction of " Owd Ned un lung chimblies, fact'ry folk
havin' somat elze mind nur wandrin' ghosts un rollickin'
'sperits.'" And the same authority archly declared as a
clincher, " Ther* are no boggarts neaw, un iv ther' were,
folk un grown so wacken they'd catch um."

But it must not be imagined that superstition is lost ; its
form only has changed. For instance, the autumn of 1854
was remarkable, in Droylsden, for a prevalent mania for
mesmeric feats and delusions, which was engendered and
turned to good account by some artful charlatans. But
the deceptions practised became so alarming that a public
meeting was called, and, a warm discussion ensuing, the
village was shortly afterwards evacuated, and the event
was celebrated by " stangriding" the effigies of the chief
impostors.

AGRICULTURE.

The land of the township generally, excepting Clayton
Hall, is broken into small sized farm holdings, which,
consequently, are sub-divided into diminutive fields and
enclosures. The fields were once smaller than now, from
whence may be inferred that in times past there existed a
considerable agricultural population. Before the extension
of the cotton business the cottages were far outnumbered
by the farmsteads, and the inhabitants were engaged in an
admixture of trade and agriculture. The farming depart-
ment, which only supplied milk and butter for the dairy,
was considered least remunerative, and, therefore, neglected
in favour of the buckhouse, the plank, and the loom. The
land is let at nearly its highest value, and even that portion

72 HISTORY 0V

used exclusively for agricultural purposes commands several
times the rental of a century ago.

One tendency to a pernicious agricultural result has arisen
from the landowners anticipating that the progress of manu-
facturing enterprise might shortly render their farms the
nucleus of building speculations, and thereby productive of
high chief rents. They have preferred letting them on the
year to year system in lieu of the lease principle, which
alone can stimulate a tenant to thorough cultivation.
Again, a long prevalent, though mistaken, notion recognises
the necessity of a seven years' apprenticeship to almost
every calling except that of a farmer. Everybody has
been supposed to know, by some intuitive instinct, how to
purchase and attend to live stock, manage the multifarious
systems of drainage and irrigation, pursue the best rotation
of crops and culture of artificial grasses, with the right
changes of seed and applications of manure. Hence,
amongst other anomalies to deplore, hollow draining, whe-
ther by tiles or sod, has only partially succeeded guttering
by the spade or water furrowing with the plough. Bone,
guano, and other artificial manures are almost unknown,
and fields exhausted by grain crops have been laid down to
grass with " nothing in their belly," whence arises the con-
tinuance of land in a state of comparative infertility.

The soil is chiefly a strong, heavy loam, on a substratum of
stiif, ferruguinous clay, and much of it comparatively sterile,
with little energy expended on its cultivation. Corn grow-
ing and tillage husbandry, as a necessary result of the
influx of population, have been superseded by meadows and
grazing land for the dairy. It appears that sheep never
abounded in the township, the soil having been too damp
and marshy and the climate too humid to suit their consti-
tutions. And amongst black cattle, in Droylsden, as else-
where, for more than a century past, fatal diseases have
been periodically epidemic. Hence, a C ow Club was esta-
blished in 1805, at the Fairfield New Inn, from whence, in
1848, it was removed to the Openshaw New Inn. Formerly ?
cheese making, for home consumption, slightly prevailed,
and butter making was common ; and at present Mr. Grange,

DROYLSDEN. 73

of Greenside, calves and churns the entire milk of his dairy
of twenty-five cows, by means of a steam engine of four
horse power ! "With almost this exception, milk production
monopolises the farmers' attention, who retail it at 2£d. per
quart, and supply small quantities of fresh butter, churned
from overplus milk, at Is. 2d. per pound the year through.

Although grass, or hay, is the chief product of the fields,
yet plough cultivation raises, to a slight extent, wheat, oats,
potatoes, and turnips, as also mangel wurtzel, vetches,
clover, and other requisites for farm consumption. Summer
fallowing was superseded by potato planting, and for more
than four score years cotters have planted these tubers by
spade husbandry, providing the seed and manure, and pay-
ing at the rate of from 9d. to Is. per rod of forty-nine square
yards, for the use of the land, the cartage of the manure to
and the crop from the field. The entire surface of the
township now under tillage is computed at not more than
twenty customary Lancashire acres.

Formerly, lime was very expensive, having to be fetched
by pack horses from a distance, and, consequently, marl,
which .contains carbonate of lime, as a cheap substitute, had
for ages been applied as manure for tillage lands, pre-
paratory to wheat sowing, and proved useful when peaty
soils were much more abundant than now. Most of the old
pitsteads yet extant in the fields have been quarries whence
this mineral has been obtained. Within recollection of the
oldest inhabitants several marl pits have been formed in the
township, and from them the following particulars are
gleaned: — The "gaffer" of the pit, who controlled the falls
and excavations, was honoured, pro tern., with the distin-
guishing appellation of " My Lord." Passers by and
casual spectators were solicited to contribute to the " marl
shutting," or feast at the conclusion of their labours, and,
if an individual only gave a sixpence it was vauntingly pro-
claimed, accompanied by beating the drum, purposely kept
in the pit, that " Mr. George Green, Esquire, had given a
largess of silver," or otherwise it was acknowledged as " a
part of a thousand pounds." Notwithstanding skill and
precaution, fatal accidents were not uncommon. Joseph

74 HISTORY OF

Beswick, of Droylsden, who was killed in Mr. Edmundson's
marl pit, was buried at Ashton in July, 1684, and Ann
Taylor, who also was killed in a marl pit, in August, 1767,
is noticed incidentally in the poor rate books. Marl was
generally applied to land at the back end of the year, at the
rate of from five to eight cubic rods per acre, and was spread
by the unloader, commonly designated " Old Crow," or
" Lord Crow," who cast it in spadefuls from the cart. After
proper subjection to the "falling" processes of the united
agency of frost and rain, tho mineral was ploughed into the
earth. When the last spring corn had been sown, the
festival called " marl shutting," or " marl guising," was
annually celebrated. In addition to a profusion of meat
and drink, singing and dancing, and other concomitants of
merry making, there was a custom of " rustling," or shaking
in the hat for ribbons, which the fortunate winners arranged
round their hats, and wore on their heads, whilst resorting
to church on the Sunday following.

Notwithstanding the trouble and expense consequent on
marl getting, little attention seems to have been paid to the
collection and proper distribution of farmyard manure, as
the middens were allowed to stand undisturbed, except
by fresh accumulations, for years, until they were grassed
over in the folds, and appeared like meadows.

Amongst cereal products rye and barley were once slightly
raised, but the soil was too heavy and cold for their success-
ful cultivation. Oats were the principal crop, and hence
were emphatically designated " corn," and, though now
superseded in usefulness by wheat, they still retain this
distinction. Oat cakes were once the staple article of diet,
and were stored on wooden fleaks suspended from tho
ceiling, without which implements the furniture of cottages,
and even farm houses, was considered incomplete. Jannock,
a loaf made of coarse oatmeal and leavened, was held also in
general estimation. Oats were given to the horses, which,
though possessed by few of the small farmers, yet at
Clayton no less than twelve teams were kept all the year
round for the duties of the farm.

Although not a single sheaf of wheat is now grown in the

UKOYLSDEN. 75

hamlet of Clayton, yet there, as in the rest of the township,
it was once extensively raised. When John Wood removed
from the Hall, in 1793, there were 100 acres sown with this
cereal, of which, in the autumn following, he claimed ono
half the crop from the summer worked land. Amongst
the good ploughmen of those days were Lawrence Cash and
Elias Bethel, men who, contrary to modern custom, had
regularly " served their time to farming " at Clayton Hall.
Rejoicings when all the grain had been housed, elsewhere
called " Harvest Homes," were unknown to this locality ;
but similar frolics, termed " kurn shuttin's" — i.e., corn quit-
tings — followed the conclusion of reaping, or wheat shearing.
The " kurn shuttin' " earliest in season now recollected, was
celebrated at Clayton Hall, on the 30th July, 1826, which
was, also, the hottest summer remembered. Two other
designations for the feast were "churn getting" and "churn
supper," so named from the introduction of a churn con-
taining a good supply of cream, which was circulated by
dishfuls to each of the ' company, who ate it with bread.
After the custom of cream eating fell into desuetude, the
churn, with a sickle in it, still continued to be produced at
table. The leader of the reapers, who usually attained his
position through merit, was addressed by his associates as
" My Lord," and became an important personage at the
feast, being held responsible for the decorum of the guests.
A most momentous preliminary consisted in his heading a
procession of the band of reapers to that side of the fold, or
homestead, on which lay a farm where the corn was either
wholly or partially uncut, when, to attract attention, they
first swung round their hats, and shouted at the top of their
voices, " Whoo ! whoo ! whoop ! " Then the leader, or his
deputy, mounted on a tub, and exclaimed—

" O yes ! O yes ! O yes ! *
Daniel Ogden's get ten sick a churn ;
We'll turn out th' hare i* Joe Green's kurn."

Lastly, followed a right hearty shout, after which, aug-
mented by the family, friends, and domestics, of the farmer,

* A corruption of oycz, Norman French, meaning, hear ye.

76 HISTORY OF

they adjourned to partake of a substantial supper and un-
stinted supply of ale. If any man flagged in the " drinking
bout " that followed, which, at the fanner's expense, often
lasted through the night, the rest gathered round him,
exclaiming as well as able —

" Drink, boys, drink !
Mind and don't spill ;

For if you do,

You must drink two,
For that's your master's will."

If he still remained obdurate, the contents of the cup, or
jug, were generally poured down his jacket sleeves.

NATURAL PRODUCTIONS.

The site of Droylsden has been in past ages entirely a
woodland tract, for even the Moss constitutes but the grave
of a forest. Within memory, the dwellings nestled amongst
sheltering trees, the hedgerows were well shaded with
timber, and the several lane roads were arched over with
noble oaks, the growth of long centuries. Dingle Wood, in
Clayton, and the various cloughs and dells, brooksides and
slopes descending to the Medlock, abounded with under-
wood, among which were interspersed tufts of majestic
oaks, a few stately ash, and trees of other varieties. Many
of the oaks ranged from six to twelve feet in circumference ;
and one of the finest furnished both water wheel and the
other implements for the Corn Mill at Clayton.

The present local scarcity of timber.has arisen from the
necessities of the landlords, from its increased value, and
from once having been regarded as fuel, as well as used for
the purposes of building and carpentry. The indigenous
trees now extant are principally sproutlings from ancient
stocks, and, as well as those naturalised, are limited in kind,
and incompetent in size almost to perform the functions of
a gate stump. Chief are oaks, then ash, willow, alder,
sycamore, elm, birch, mountain ash, and some poplars,
unsightly in appearance, and almost valueless as timber.
Small but thriving plantations embower Alderdale Lodge
and Clayton Halt. Predominating amongst considerable

DROYLSDEX. 77

plantations on the Clayton estate are various kinds of firs,
which, being unadapted to soil or climate, add little by their
stunted growth to the perspective beauty of the locality.

Within memory hazel trees abounded on the Clayton
estate ; and, as in fruitful seasons a burn of nuts could be
gathered in " no time," a watch was sot to deter parties,
who came from Manchester early in the morning, and took
sackfuls away at a time.

Crab trees were protected and encouraged, if not actually
cultivated. Their yield was sometimes enormous, and tho
produce was taken to the Crushing Mill, in Audenshaw,
and converted into verjuice, which was accounted a sove-
reign specific for procuring an appetite, and used in all
families, both gentle and simple.

Formerly, attached to every dwelling, was an orchard
well stocked with fruit trees ; and two orchards are ex-
pressly stated in the time of James I. as being appurtenant
to the Edge-lane estate. Indeed, within memory, in addi-
tion to apple and pear trees, several varieties of plum — such
as sugar, winter, greengage, and damson — were abundant
in the orchards, and frequently lined the hedgerows bor-
dering the farmsteads.

It is to be regretted that cottage gardening has not been
carried out with the spirit it deserves. This, perhaps, arises
from the clayey nature of the soil, which unfits it also for
market gardens ; consequently, culinary vegetables are few
in variety and poor in quality. Greenhouse plants are
frequent in cottages, and nine out of a row of ten cottages
at East End recently exhibited potted plants on their win-
dow sills.

Competitive floral and horticultural exhibitions, and prize
shows, are annually devised at public-houses, and one has
recently been established to meet in tho Educational Insti-
tution ; but hitherto their tendency has been rather to
encourage the purchase and procurement of specimens than
tho growth and local cultivation of the fruits and flowers,
or plants and vegetables, themselves.

78 HISTORY OF

B O T A W Y.

The flora of the vicinity once boasted a considerable
variety of indigenous herbs and plants, some of which were
comparatively uncommon, but few of them rare. Several
causes have led to their extirpation — the felling of trees
and stubbing of the brushwood, the eradications of the
spade and the plough, the cultivation of the Moss, and,
lastly, the incursions of the Manchester herb doctors and
botanists ; for even the latter, in many cases, on discovering
a choice plant have borne it away, both branch and root, in
the proudest triumph.

Specimens of the following herbs and plants have been
met with in the localties indicated, but most of them are
now extinct. On the Moss were long leaved and round
leaved sundews, marsh rosemary, marsh andromeda, yellow
or Lancashire bog asphodel, small fumitory, water plain-
tain, wild carrot, common and cross leaved heaths, and the
two varieties of cotton grass, the many headed and the
single headed, or "moss crop." On Graver-lane farm were
St. John's, or the flowering fern, lady and sweet scented
ferns, brackens, &c. "Wood sage and wood betony were
exuberant on Bow Brow; corn campion, near the Straw-
berry Gardens ; adders' tongue and devil's bit, at "Water-
side ; figwort and wild raspberry, in Jericho Clough ; blue
hyacinth, soapwort, bistort, and perennial goosefoot, in
Clayton Vale ; arum, in Clayton "Wood ; bullrush, and
yellow flag iris, in a pit near Edge-lane ; water avens, in
another near Buxton-lane ; nipplewort, hartstongue, brook-
lime and Good King Henry (salads), and patience dock
(an edible), near "Waterhouses ; and in the same vicinity
flourish burdocks — the local " umbrellas " of children —
and gipsy wort, used by those wanderers to stain the com-
plexions of their children, as the old ditty inviteth —

" Come stain your cheek with nut and berry,
For the gipsies' life is merry."

A botanical society, as a sort of revival of one existing in
Gorton a few years previously, was begun about 1825, in a

DROYLSDEN. 79

chamber over a six loomed workshop, at Little Droylsden.
This association, numbering about a dozen members, believ-
ing itself the nucleus of an important institution, assumed
tho high sounding title of the Lancashire Linnsean Society ;
and, in addition to botany, intended their studies and
researches to embrace mineralogy, entomology, conchology,
ornithology, &c. Meetings were held monthly, and on the
Sunday. Each member in rotation was bound by the rules,
which existed in MS., to describe a plant, either verbally or
in writing, at every meeting. For a time prosperity awaited
them, and friendly visits were paid by Joshua Hobson and
other well known botanists. But after two or three years
had elapsed, the members gradually neglected both sub-
cription and attendance, and at last the society faded away.

NATURAL HISTORY, ETC.

Droylsden Mechanics' Institution was originated in 1842
as a Naturalists' Society. Mr. J. "W. Slater, one of the
founders, was an excellent naturalist, and delivered in-
structive lectures on that science and also upon botany,
geology, entomology, &c. George Hill, a mill warper at
Droylsden Mills, and brother of the llev. William Hill, once
sub-editor of the Northern Star, was curator to the institu-
tion for awhile. A limited exhibition of specimens in natural
history, entomology, fossils, antiquities, !&c., was held in
1843, and another in the spring of 1849 ; and both proved
very successful.

The hand loom weavers of Little Moss and Woodhouses,
hamlets adjoining to Droylsden, make entomology their
leisure study and favourite recreative pursuit, sallying
out at eventide for the procurement of moths, butterflies,
and beetles. Principally from these sources, an exhibition
chiefly of subjects in natural history, was organised by John
Birtenshaw, of Square Fold, Droylsden, and held at the
Railway Tavern (Mr. Howarth's) in the same township,
remaining open from April to August, 1856. The ex-
hibition contained, beside Russian trophies, ostrich eggs, &c.,
some beautiful and unique devices, worked in moths, butter-
flies, and beetles, the designs including peacocks, lizards,

SO HISTORY OF

&c. One of the chief attractions had for a centrepiece
a balloon, wrought in a mosaic of butterflies and moths, and
on each side was presented the representation of a tree,
artistically formed of the various varieties of beetles.

The Byrons, like other families of gentle blood, were
partial to the pleasures of the chase, and so early as June,
1308, Sir Richard de Byron is found obtaining a grant of
" free warren " in Clayton demesne. The term "warren"
included liberty to hunt and preserve game, and also the
place in which, by the grant, they were privileged to
keep beasts and fowls of warren. The Sir John Byron,
whose name is associated with the legend of Little
Droylsden, is traditionally reputed to have maintained
two packs of hunting dogs. In the conveyance of the
Clayton estate, in 1620, the " impaled ground called Clayton
Park" is distinctly enumerated. Almost within recollec-
tion, the Manchester Old Hounds, a full mouthed (i.e.,
noisy) variety, of which an engraving is inserted in
Whitaker's " History of Manchester," hunted the locality
embracing Droylsden. The Ashton Hunt, superintended by
Squire Astley, had once famous hunting days in the town-
ship. About thirty years ago a pack of hounds was kept in
Droylsden, the dogs being allotted for maintenance to the
several lovers of the sport. Mr. Samuel Brundret kept a
pack of beagles and a number of greyhounds for hunting
and coursing purposes.

Both Clayton demesne and "Waterside were once strictly
preserved. Two enclosures in Clayton are yet named
Coney Green and Coney Meadow; and, within memory,
hares and rabbits, as well as pheasants and partridges, were
anything but scarce in Clayton. In Dingle Wood a few
herons have been met with ; flocks of plovers and stock-
doves were visitors ; and lapwings, magpies, corncrakes,
woodcocks, and crows, built their nests there. Bitterns,
the local " bitterbump," and once an esteemed delicacy,
which frequented only marshy places, gradually disappeared
with the enclosure of the moss, the last being killed at Bow
Brow, about seven years since. In addition to many of the
foregoing birds, the moss was resorted to by land dottrels,

DROTLSDEJT. 81

water hens, coots, largo and jack snipes, grey and golden
plovers, wheatears, larks, wagtails, &c. The banks of
the Medlock and Sunny Bank brook, were, frequented by
kingfishers and bullfinches, sand snipes, sand martins, long-
wings, or swifts, and other varieties now extinct in the
locality. Barn owls were plentiful ; two varieties breeding
at Clayton Hall, and patronising the farm houses at Sunny
Bank, Yew Tree, and other places.

Blind worms were common ; vipers are alleged to have
lurked on the moss ; and scores of adders were generally
found on the removal of middens, which were often allowed
to accumulate in the folds for years together.

Both flat fish and eels were abundant. The waters of
the Medlock, then guiltless of refuse, dyes, and chemicals,
were clear as gin, and " snied " with eels, trout, and chub.
Many of the field pits, in addition to eels, contained English
carp, bream, perch, and dace, whilst pike were preserved in
Clayton Hall moat.

CROFTING, OR BLEACHING.

About the sixteenth century, trading enterprise began to
share with pastoral occupations the time of the inhabitants ;
and bleaching thenceforward formed one of the staple em-
ployments of the village.

As, under the primitive system, crofting could only be
effected in the summer months, during a third of the
year outdoor operations had to be suspended. The general
custom was to employ the men during winter in tho
yarnhouse, making-up; and in sending home what had
been done in the summer, and fetching more for the ensuing
season. The unmarried workmen usually lived altogether
at the place of employment. The foreman received half a
guinea a week and his maintenance. Work was customarily
begun in summer at four a.m. ; in winter, at daybreak ; and
ceased at six in the evening, supper being ready at seven,
except on Saturday afternoon, when they left off at four
o'clock.

The lin, or linen yarn, required nearly twelve months to
bring it to a marketable state, until, in 1788, Mr. Thomas

82 HISTORY OF

Henry introduced the art of bleaching "with oxymuriatic
gas, or chlorine, which reduced the time requisite for com-
pleting the entire process to one or two days at most.

The first Manchester Directory (Elizabeth Raffald's), in
1773, contains an alphabetical list of the "whitsters," or
bleachers, of the district, who numbered seventy-nine. A few
years later, chiefly through the improved mode of treatment,
and the consequent facilities for concentration, despatch,
and extension of business, linen bleaching rapidly declined,
the Directory of 1788, as compared with that of 1781, show-
ing a decrease of no less than thirty-eight local bleacheries.

A renewal of the duty on salt took place in 1732, and the
act remained unrepealed for ninety-one years. At a time
when salt, for domestic purposes, was retailed at 4d. per pound,
that commodity was allowed free of duty for manufacturing
purposes; and, consequently, bleachers' carts were despatched
to Northwich, where chemical agents were admixed with
the salt, in order to render it unfit for household use.

Under the old system, for the greater portion of the year,
many of the fields were whitened over with linen yarn in
the process of bleaching. It was a common practice for the
crofters not only to lay the materials on their own land, but
also on that of their neighbours, the privilege being accorded
in consideration of the fertilising properties of the soap,
ashes, and other ingredients with which the yarn had been
imbued. This exposure of so valuable a material proved a
strong temptation to the cupidity of many; and hence,
although watchmen were employed, croft breaking became
quite a common occurrence. At length the Legislature in-
terfered, and in 1731 passed an act specially "to prevent
the stealing of linen, fustian, and other wares from the
fields, where they are whitening, or drying." In 1786,
James Holland was hanged on Bolton Moor, for croft break-
ing; and on the 15th of September, 1798, George Russell
for a similar offence suffered a similar fate on Newton Heath,
and was afterwards buried at Blackley Church. Several
hundred pounds worth of yarn were stolen from Peter
Shawcrose, of Droylsden, who was instrumental in trans-
porting two persons for the same offence.

DfcOYLSDEN. 588

Great consternation was excited amongst tho dyers and
bleachers in 1781, by tho imposition of tho "Fustian Tax,"
or duty of one penny per yard " upon all bleached cotton
manufactures." But, owing to the pressure of public opinion,
this impolitic act was repealed in the year following.

The names of John Redford, Edward Thornely, and John
Grundy, occur about 1742, in Gorton Church registers, as
being whitsters resident in Droylsden ; but there is nothing
to determine whether they were masters or journeymen.

There appear to have been at least fifteen crofting concerns,
or bleaching establishments, in active operation in the town-
ship ; and, although in the course of gradual obliteration,
yet, in some shape or other, many of the bowk or buck-
houses, yarnhousea, ponds, holds, or reservoirs, are still
remaining.

The farm at Greenside, which John Gibson how holds,
was occupied for seventeen years by John Howarth, and,
after his death in 1792, by his son Benjamin, both of whom
were engaged in the bleaching business.

The farm a little lower down, and on the opposite side of
tho lane, now tenanted by Job Prestwich, was used as a
crofting place, just a century ago, by Richard Hulme, and
was continued, after his death, from 1784 to 1805 by his
son Robert Hulme.

Passing down Groonside-lane, the farmstead cresting the
knoll on the left is believed to have been a bleaching place.
A century ago, Jacob Booth was the tenant, and in 1788 he
was followed by Adam Bowker ; but neither of them are
remembered to have been engaged in bleaching.

The next farm over th« way was used for crofting.
William Blackshaw, son of Thomas Blackshaw, a bleacher
in Edge-lane, crofted here for fifteen years prior to 1784,
when he was followed by William Howarth, of Prestwich,
who purchased tho estate. He was the last bleacher here,
and operated on both linen and cotton yarns. Being a
careful thrifty man, ho built some cottages, dubbed " Leawsy
Bonk," in Greenside -lane, and left by will several thousand
pounds.

Onco more recrosaing tho lane, tho (North) Clockhouse is

E 2

84 HISTORY OF

thought to have "been a bleachery. However, in 1786, the
occupant, Philip Berry, -was attending to agriculture alone.

Bridge End farm was occupied "by James Heape prior
to 1761, when John Pott became tenant. Dying in 1795,
and leaving his eldest son non compos mentis, the charge of
the crofting concern devolved on his son George, who, at
death, bequeathed a pound per week to his elder brother.
During George's occupancy, the canal burst its banks near
the copperas works, and the water, rushing along the brook,
washed down the bowkhouse at Bridge End, after which
he declined bleaching in favour of manufacturing. Joshua
Barratt, who followed Pott, about 1808, resumed the
bleaching of linen yarn, and began, as he had previously
done at Abbey Hey, Gorton, to size cotton in the bundle.
He was the last crofter here, and discontinued business
about forty years since.

On the site of the mansion at Alderdale stood a farm house
of a superior description to any in the locality, which was
occupied, in 1745, by Abraham Beswick, who was followed
by his son, Samuel Beswick, who resided here in 1776 and
up to 1806. At one end of the building were kennels for a
number of dogs, kept for shooting purposes; and above,
ascended by an external flight of steps, was the bed chamber
for the workmen. Unlike any other work in the township,
the principal portion of the bleaching done here consisted of
candlewicking, made of the refuse in cloth making from
Hambro' yarn, so called from the name of the place whence
imported. This waste was cleansed from dirt by thrashing
it with a flail, then watered, trodden with the feet, and
beaten on large flags with mallets of wood, and afterwards
passed through the usual processes.

On the same side of Edge -lane, and where William Par-
kinson now farms, in 1746 lived Thomas Blackshaw, who
carried on crofting till his failure, thirty years afterwards.
Peter Shawcross succeeded him, and continued here till his
death, in December, 1811, following, as usual, both farming
and crofting. In addition to bleaching linen, Mr. Shawcross
had the honour of introducing cotton bleaching into the
township.

DKOYLSDEX. 85

A short occupation road, on the same side of the lane,
leads to the farm now held by John Wolfenden ; and here,
from 1759 to 1766, resided Widow Blackshaw; and thence
to 1771, John Blackshaw, probably her son, who followed
the occupation of whitster. Then succeeded Sampson
Ferrand, who, after struggling four or five years, failed in
the business, which was never carried on again at this
farm. Samuel Beswick then took the place, and carted
yarns from Alderdale, to spread on the fields. After Beswick
gave it up, Thomas Barlow, his son-in-law, farmed it till
his death, in August, 1826. During a part of the time (say
sixty years ago), Barlow was successfully engaged in dyeing
fancy hats, or rather females' bonnets, in Devonshire browns
and sky blue.

Sunny Bank was employed as a crofting place by John
Blackshaw, in 1741, and up to his death, about eighteen
years afterwards, when Margaret, his widow, continued the
farming, but relinquished the bleaching department.

The small estate, on part of which Edge-lane Mill is
erected, appears to have been used for bleaching operations
prior to 1617, when one of the fields was known as the
Yarncroft.

Yew Tree farm is said to have been used as a crofting
place by the family of Grimshaw. The registers at Gorton
notice James Grimshaw, whitster, in 1711; Thomas, in
1743-6; and Joshua, in 1748, all of Droylsden; but there
is nothing to indicate whether they were masters or work-
men, or whether resident at Yew Tree or not.

The (South) Clockhouse farm, as far back as the reign of
James I., was employed in bleaching operations by the
family of Hall, the last of whom, John Hall, continued
resident till about 1760, when Jervis Travis seems to have
succeeded him, and continued here for at least thirteen
years. In 1775 John Travis was apparently tenant, and
resided here up to about 1805 or 1806, when he left the
village. Travis did an extensive business, chiefly in bleach-
ing linen yarns, and was the last person who followed that
occupation at this farm.

Birch Fold was once a bleachery, tho bowkhouse having

86 HISTORY OF

only been removed a few years ago. However, in 1785, the
tenant, John Schofield, applied himself solely to farming.

Kound Oak farm, now Fairfield estate, was held in 1745,
by Thomas Bertenshaw, crofter, who was the last person
here so employed. The bowkhouse was converted into a
cottage, and as such is still in existence.

THE HAT MANUFACTURE.

Under the term "feltmaker" occurs the first allusion to
hat manufacture in tie township, when, in 1700, John Hall,
of Droylsden, feltmaker, was buried at Gorton Chapel.
About the close of last century, a description of hat was
made here from white Spanish wool, coney wool, and
camel's hair, and covered with beaver; the price for body
making, up to the dyeing process, running from thirty
shillings to thirty -two shillings per dozen. At that time a
well finished stuff hat was worth from a guinea to twenty-
three shillings, and nearly "lasted a man's life."

Although a considerable number of operatives or jour-
neymen have resided in Droylsden, yet few employers have
located themselves. James Turner, in 1814-25, farmed a
portion of the present Fairfield Mills estate, and also manu-
factured hats to a slight extent. Mr. John "Wood com-
menced the business in Fairfield, and a few years afterwards,
in 1820, took into co-partnership Mr. Charles Cordingley. At
the end of eleven years a dissolution took place, when Mr.
"Wood commenced the business, unsuccessfully, in Open-
shaw, and Mr. Cordingley erected the premises he still
otcupies as a hat warehouse at Spring Bank. About 1828,
this firm manufactured one hundred do/ens of plated hats
weekly. Mr. Simon Harker, previously of Audenshaw, in
1823-5, carried on the business at Green-lane, in Droylsden.

SKETCH OF THE EARLY COTTON TRADE.

Formerly the only trades struggling in the district were
linen hand loom weaving, crofting, or bleaching, and felt-
making, or hatting.

From time immemorial linen- weaving had been pursued
as an auxiliary employment to agriculture, and almost

DBOYMDBX. 87

every farmstead had its loom house attached. In the
middle of the seventeenth century, Humphrey Chetham, of
Clayton Hall, and in the reign of George I., George
Grimshaw, of Edge-lane, followed the business of chapmen
— i.e., merchants in a small way, or general dealers in
cotton linen fustians, made from linen warps and cotton
weft.

The first record of textile manufactures in connection
with Droylsden is in 1697, when John "Woosencroft, of
Edge-lane, earned a livelihood as "linen webster," in
addition to holding a small farm. The overseers used to
apprentice many parish lads to linen weavers ; and in the
corresponding year of last century, they paid premiums
amounting in the aggregate to nearly eleven pounds with
four youths so bound. As showing the proportion of work-
people of various trades, a list of poor and infirm for nearly
thirty years later, 1778, may be quoted. It includes seven-
teen weavers, nine hatters, two crofters, a bleacher, a
carrier, a shoemaker, and a blacksmith.

Reliable information respecting the cotton trade in
Droylsden extends back only to the year 1776, at which
period the handicraft, or manufacture, was in its domestic
stage, and confined to the fireside and cottage. The spin-
ning procedure was as follows : — First, the raw cotton was
washed through a lather of sweet soap, wrung out with a
screw press, and dried in a stove, or on a fleak exposed to
the sun or fire. Next, the cotton underwent an operation
technically termed "batting and picking." A woman, with
smooth flexible rods or switches in each hand, beat the
cotton on a square wooden frame, across which were tightly
stretched a number of small cords, with openings sufficient
to permit the expelled seed, leaves, and other adventitious
matter to drop through. In the process succeeding, by
holding a hand card firmly on her knee, with batted cotton
placed thereon, and, taking another card into her right
hand, she dexterously carded it into soft loose rolls of about
the thickness of a candle, and from eight to twelve inches
long. Next followed the " slabbing," which was performed
by means of the one spindle wheel. The operator twisted

88 HISTORY OF

one end of a carding round the point of the spindle, to
which revolutionary movement was imparted by the slub-
ber's right hand, through turning the band wheel, whose
rim was some five feet in diameter, whilst, at the same time,
holding the other end between the finger and thumb of the
left hand, she rapidly drew out the slubbing horizontally by
pacing back to the extent of her reach. After stopping
until the necessary spiral twist had been given to the
coarse, round, and soft thread (called a " slubbing," but
similar to that now denominated a "roving"), she wound
it on the spindle, and continued the process until the cop
was large enough to be taken off. Generally, this operation
of drawing and twisting was repeated, whereby the slubbing
was converted into a smaller, finer, and longer thread ; and
to this latter operation the term "spinning" was more
properly applied.

About four score years ago, James Stanley, a Droyls-
denian, married a woman from Glossop, who, as part of her
dowry, brought him a spinning jenny* of twenty spindles.
It remained inactive till her death, a year or two afterwards,
when it was brought into requisition by the wife of one
Abraham Taylor, who consequently became the first jenny
spinner in the township. Previously, on the one spindle
system, one good weaver could keep three active women
spinners at work ; but the case was reversed by the above
improved machine, which easily afforded a supply for three
weavers. Upon this frame, at the rate previously paid,
the spinner could comfortably have earned half a guinea per
day. For some time after the introduction of the jenny,
the old mode of slubbing, or roving, on the single spindle
continued in use. The joining of the rolls, or cardings,
though made longer than formerly, rendered manual dex-
terity absolutely necessary. Subsequently, many novel and
ingenious contrivances for accelerating labour were in-
vented ; but want of space forbids almost their bare enume-
ration. A gradual extension in the size of spinning and

* Gin — a very early word for an engine, or machine ;
it occurs in that sense in Psalm cxl. 5.

DBOYLSDEX. 89

preparatory machinery, as well as its concentration, and
that of the workpeople, rendered dwelling houses incon-
venient, and larger premises for spinning became requisite,
whilst weaving, as heretofore, was continued in small rooms
or apartments. About the year 1780, there were in the
township a number of families who, within their own
limits, prepared, carded, spun, warped, and wove fustians,
and goods of a similar type, each cottage thus forming an
independent miniature factory. The privileges of the spin-
ning jenny being wholly given up to the public in the year
1785, a few energetic and spirited persons in the township
turned their attention to spinning cotton on what was then
considered an extensive scale, and exhibited far more enter-
prise in the business than had previously been displayed
in the cultivation of the soil.

Robert Booth, in May, 1785, reared his premises adjoin-
ing the White Hart, which, besides being the first three
storeyed building, was also, properly speaking, the first
primitive factory in the township, possessing, as it did,
spacious rooms entirely devoted to the business. Entering
into partnership with one Swindells, Booth commenced spin-
ning; but after carrying on a short time, the partnership was
dissolved and the trade was relinquished, although Booth
survived until August, 1798, when he died in his sixtieth
year.

About 1786, or soon after, Mr. Joseph Mallalieu occupied
one end, and Mr. Radley the other, of the attic in a three
storeyed building in Fairfield, now the residence of Mr.
Anslow. This establishment, so far as moving power went,
was a joint concern, the machinery in both portions being
turned by a large wheel, or gin, placed in a low building
adjacent, and turned round by one bond fide HORSE power,
driven by a lad. In Mr. Mallalieu's concern, after the
necessary preparations, the cotton was passed through fluted
curds, and then transferred to the roving frame, or "cotton
billy," which was driven by hand, and through which the
cardings were drawn by means of a series of rollers and an
endless inclined plane composed of linen cloth. The work
of the piecer to the "billy" was v«ry arduous; he had to

E 3

90 HISTORY OF

watch, each carding attentively, and twist another to the end
of it ; and woe betide him if he permitted a carding to slip
through the rollers, for the rovers used their piecers with
great severity. These latter were children of seven, or even
six, years of age, and were employed from six a.m., or earlier,
to eight or nine p.m., or later, at wages varying from Is. 6d.
to 2s. 6d. per week. The rovings were passed through the
" slubbing jenny," and then spun by hand (piecers under
ten years of age receiving 4s. per week), and afterwards
converted into warps, which were sold for manufacturing
into fustians. Mr. Radley used his portion of the factory
for spinning only, and the operatives he employed wero
young women, natives of various parts of Yorkshire.

Mr. Henry Nalty afterwards erected the building now used
as the young gentlemen's boarding school, for the purpose
of spinning in, the rovings being obtained from Mr. Joseph
Mallalieu's concern. The mule here in use contained no
less than twelve dozen spindles ; and the novelty of so largo
a number of spindles being turned by hand brought many
curious persons to inspect it.

Mr. Frank Mallalieu, father to Mr. F. C. Mallalieu, of
Fairfield, in partnership with Mr. Henry Nalty, begun a
spinning establishment, about 1790, in the building since
used for a time as the Boys' Sunday School ; and subse-
quently, when Mr. Joseph. Mallalieu discontinued the
business, the concerns were united.

Sometime about the former period, the Sisters' House was
enlarged for the purpose of receiving four mules of one
hundred and forty-four spindles each.

There was yet another small establishment in Fairfield.
The chamber of a dwelling house contained a " doubling
jenny" ; and in the room beneath a large hand mule was
worked by an old man, who afterwards, being ill used by
Mr. Cresswell, discontinued the employment.

Eeturning to Droylsden village, four concerns are found
in operation about the year 1790. The largest was that of
Mr. John Hammond, father of Mr. Hammond, of the
New Inn, Openshaw, who built and resided at the three
storeyed premises, now the Bull's Head, in Ring-street.

•DBOYLSDEN. 91

The carding machine, turned by a horse and gin, was
located in the cottage adjoining, whilst the spinning was
carried on in the garret of the house. At first Mr. Ham-
mond employed spinning jennies ; but afterwards, about
1793-4, purchased the first machine termed "a mule" on
this side of Manchester.

John Blackshaw lived at the house up three steps opposite
the new Independent Chapel, and spun upon jennies on the
second floor.

Joseph Lowe and his brother erected a dwelling house,
now replaced by the shop held by Mrs. Parker, pawnbroker,
and commenced supplying twist and weft to Mr. Cresswell,
of Fairfield. The brother dying, Joseph Lowe, who had
married a daughter of Robert Booth, deserted his own place
in favour of his father-in-law's premises, near the White
Hart. Like Blackshaw, Lowe had his carding and slubbing
done by Ealph Wood, of Audenshaw.

William Hadfield spun upon jennies in his dwelling house,
which adjoins the building lately used as the Temperance
Room. Like the Lowes, ho was chiefly engaged in spinning
for Mr. Cresswell.

It is very remarkable that the whole of these concerns
were discontinued within a few years. Various reasons are
assigned. One was the bad trade and the requirement of
men for soldiers, consequent on the breaking out of the
French war : another, that some of the speculators were
not noted for economy and frugality. Improvements came
so fast upon them that they could not keep pace in pur-
chasing new machines, and were consequently left in the
rear of competition ; and so were compelled either to re-
linquish business or to fail. Be this as it may, some of them
became bankrupt and the rest voluntarily resigned, leaving
it for a few enterprising capitalists and practical men of
business, foreigners to the soil, in more favourable times,
to amass large fortunes by redeeming and perpetuating
the manufacturing industrialism of the place.

$2 HISTORY OF

COTTON 'WEAVING AND MANUFACTURING.

There were in Droylsden numerous weavers of cotton,
linen, fustians, and checks, prior to 1780, soon after which
an extraordinary impulse was imparted to cotton hand loom
weaving, though only common checks, crossovers, calicoes,
and a coarse and inferior land of fabric were made. After
much investigation, the following list of firms, and putters
out in the township has been carefully compiled.

Mr. "William Cresswell, fustian manufacturer, on the
erection of Fairfield, removed his warehouse from Lees,
near Oldham. After doing a very extensive business, owing
partly to family improvidence, he failed in business about
the year 1812, and removed to Devonport, where he died
some dozen years ago. Such was the confidence reposed in
Mr. Cresswell, partly on account of his ministerial office,
that most Droylsden persons who had saved a few pounds,
believing the investment " safe as the bank," placed them
in his hands, and consequently lost their all.

Mr. Ignatius Hindley, at the commencement of the settle-
ment, erected a warehouse on the north side of the Chapel
Square, and entered into partnership with a Mr. Locke,
under the firm of Locke, Hindley, and Co. Here they con-
tinued for many years to manufacture various descriptions
of cotton goods on a very large scale.

Betty Hammond, the wife of Mr. Hammond, of King-
street, was engaged about 1789, in part of those premises, in
putting out check on commission — i.e., furnishing warps and
weft to the weavers, and receiving back the manufactured
goods when finished.

John Travis, about 1794, and until his failure, subse-
quent to 1807, manufactured muslin, check, gingham, and
nankeen, in the building of four storeys, inclusive of base-
ment (lately used as the Temperance Room), and erected for
him as a warehouse by his father-in-law, Robert Booth.

William Howarth, of Greenside, manufactured checks to
a slight extent; and, afterwards purchasing the premises
in King-street from Mr. Hammond, his two sons, John and

DROTLSDEX. 93

Benjamin Howarth, began to manufacture goods there. The
former hung himself in the warehouse, and the latter
became insane.

Benjamin Howarth, of Greenside, in addition to bleaching,
manufactured check during the five closing years of last
century.

Peter Halley, in his younger days, manufactured nankeen
in the Brethren's House, afterwards at Seventhorns' Wells,
and lastly, about 1800, in the warehouse in Edge-lane.

The "Sisters" commenced putting out muslins for hand
loom weaving, very early after spinning was discontinued
in Fairfield, perhaps about 1796. The goods so made were
chiefly used by themselves in their fancy needlework ; and
the practice, it appears, was only continued until the material
was exhausted which had been left from their spinning.

Mr. William Hopwood, about 1797, erected a large house
in Edge-lane, with the intention of applying for a licence
to open it as a public-house; but he was drowned in the
canal lock close by. Subsequently, Mr. Lawrence Hall
finished and converted the building into a warehouse, and
commenced the manufacture of common check, and took in
as partner William Gillibrand, of Droylsden, who had
previously put out for John Travis. After their dissolution,
Hall removed into Openshaw, and Gillibrand engaged with
Haigh, Marshall, and Tidswell, of Manchester. Peter
Halley manufactured nankeen here, about 1800, for a short
time ; then, after standing empty awhile, the building waa
taken down.

Abel Tomlinson, in 1802, and several years later, on com-
mission, manufactured muslins, cambrics, &c., in Littlo
Droylsden. With the rest of the trade, he once made an
abatement of 42s. per warp, at one blow.

Mr. John Lees, jun., who learned the business with
Locke, Hindley, and Co., about 1813, put out weaving in
the premises now occupied by Mr. Hines, butcher. Mr.
Lees was engaged in the banking business ; and, in 1824,
erected at his own cost the Moravian Chapel and Schools
at Salem, near Oldham.

Mr. John Hindley, son of Mr. James Hindley, putter out

94 HISTORY OP

for the firm in •which his broth«r was a paitnsr, also, on
commission, put out hand loom weaving in part of the
premises occupied by the single men. Mr. Joshua "Warren
afterwards superintended a concern for hand loom weavers
in the same place.

Mr. William Linney came from Crossgate, Audenshaw, to
reside in King-street, Droylsden, about 1816, and com-
menced the manufacture of muslins and other goods in tho
premises previously occupied by John Travis, where he
continued till his death several years after.

Mr. William Rothwell, in the beginning of 1833, began
to manufacture, in Fairneld, on his own account, all descrip-
tions of trimmings for hats, lutestrings, and persians, besides
putting out cotton [weaving, such as handkerchiefs, checks,
and ginghams, for Mr. Thomas Johnson, of Manchester.
Together they employed about fifty weavers in Droylsden
and its vicinity ; and Rothwell, dying in 1835, his widow
continued putting out for several years.

Most of the early concerns failed at last. The father of
one of the parties remarked to his son that he could keep
him as a gentleman with £500 per annum, but he could not
maintain him as a manufacturer.

During the closing ten or fifteen years of last century,
there were engaged in hand loom weaving from thirty to
forty persons in Fairfield alone, and a still larger number in
the rest of the township, the majority of dwelling houses
having a loom shop attached. The number or scale of
employers was disproportioned, and consequently many of
the weavers sought work elsewhere. The principal masters
in the neighbourhood were — Slater, of Woodhouses ; Irwin,
of Newton Heath ; Philips and Jackson, and Rushforth, of
Manchester ; Thomas Knight, of Crowcroft, Kirkmanshulme ;
Richard Whitehead, William Ashton, Robert Grimshaw,
George Grimshaw, Thomas Sidebotham, and George Shaw-
cross', of Gorton ; George Taylor, of Openshaw ; John
Grimshaw, William Walkpr, William Linney, and Bentley
and Willdnson, of Audenshaw ; Chadwicks, of Currier Lane ;
Lewes, of Ryecroft ; John Orrell, John Gartside, and Red-
fern, of Ashton-under-Lyne.

DROYLSDEN. 95

About 1795, a considerable quantity of fancy goods was
made — spotted shawls and handkerchiefs, and also spotted
muslin — which after being woven was placed in a framo
something like the twisting-in frame used in cotton mills ;
the spotted surface was placed upwards and the lower ono
was then cut by a pair of scissors bent for the purpose. This
gave employment to many females ; but care was necessary
lest the cloth should be cut through. The patterns wero
various, and our grandmothers in these " fair white gowns
looked wondrous fine." This method of weaving fancy work
was superseded first by the " drawboy," which consisted of
a number of handles, perhaps thirty or forty, attached to
stout cards, and hanging by the side of the loom. A boy
(hence the name) first pulled one, and then another, thus
lifting up the shafts, or rather the hcalds, whilst the weaver
made use of the treadles to pull the ground down to make
room for the shuttle. Subsequently the handles were
removed, and strong cords, answering the same purpose,
were placed at the side of the loom. Some improvement was
made by the " dobbin," and also by tho " witch," and finally
by the " jacquard."

A few facts may not bo out of place relative to wages in
" the days of prosperity," about the commencement of tho
century, when hand loom weaving had attained its meridian.
Seventeen sliil lings a cut wero paid in 1804 for weaving
shirtings 24 yards long, 40 inches wide, made in a 72
reed, with 20 picks to tho quarter inch ; whilst cloth of a
similar texture, or nearly so, and 25 yards long, is now
•woven at tho mills for Is. per cut !

Although various kinds of goods were manufactured at
that time, yet tho principal was gingham, chiefly in a 90
reed, but ranging from 60 to 120, the weaving of which
was remunerated at one shuttle, Is.; two shuttles, Is. Id.;
and three shuttles, Is. 2d. per yard. Two or three years
later, Messrs. Bentloy and Wilkinson paid for weaving tho
same material, cuts 24 yards long, 9-8ths wide, 90 reed, 30
picks to tho quarter, 23a. for stripei, and ^23s. 6d. for
chequered; whilst Messrs. Locke, liindlcy, and Co., paid
2Gs. for a superior article.

96 HISTORY OF

Other sorts of work -were hair cords, cambric, muslin, and
jaconet. The late Mr. James Bowker wove, it is believed,
the finest muslin ever manufactured in this country. It
was intended for cambric hankerchiefs, was 38 inches wide,
in a 160 reed, 40 picks to the quarter inch, and the price
paid for weaving by Mr. Woodcroft, of New Cannon-street,
Manchester, was 2s. each. Mr. Lewis, of Ryecroft, also paid
2s. per yard for 54 inches wide, and 35 picks per quarter.

"Such was the demand for goods at that time, and up to
1812, or two or three years later, that no weaver, however
unskilful as a workmen, need be without employment, and
masters competed, not, as at present, which should get his
work done at the lowest rate, but which should give the
highest remuneration for labour. A strife arose , in this
respect between Mr. John Orrell, of Ashton, who after-
wards erected, and occupied till his death, the extensive
cotton mill in Openshaw, and the above mentioned Mr.
Lewis, each trying to exceed the other in high wages.
Eventually the contest was gained by Mr. Orrell, when
his weavers subscribed and presented him with a silver
cup to commemorate the event.

About that period the Droylsden weavers to Messrs.
Bentley and "Wilkinson, of Audenshaw, are said to have
played and amused themselves as best they could on Mon-
days and Tuesdays, joined in country dances on the wooden
turnbridge in Green-lane during Wednesday, and then on
the last three days "worked like mad," in order to get
in their work before Saturday at noon. Good hands even
in that space of time could earn from 20s. to 23s., though it
must be admitted that, after once starting, they knew little
intermission till the close of the week.

Those, says Mr. Bowker, were indeed halcyon days, when
workmen could stay at their homes, earn a good living, and
occasionally take a day's pleasure or two, without feeling
any embarrassing effects therefrom. Masters frequently
came to seek weavers, liberally treated them with liquor,
and concocted many ingenious plans, in order to induce
them to change employers. And it is a fact that weavers
took out work from as many as three or four masters at a

DBOYLSDEN. 97

time, weaving first a little for ono and then for another.
And it is a lamentable fact that few, very 'few, profited by
that prosperity, for many were poor, very poor, at that time.
Perhaps the mark will not be overshot in asserting that
about one out of every hundred made a good use of those
golden opportunities, which, after a few years, passed away,
alas ! never more to return.

In 1816, or the year after, came the downfall of gingham.
The price for weaving 90 reeds, 24 yard cuts, was reduced
from an average of £1 4s. to 5s. 6d. ; and in 1831, Parlia-
ment repealed the duties on printed goods, which completed
the ruin of gingham and fabrics of a like nature ; and the
hand loom weaver had to struggle with poverty for some
years, getting any kind of work that he could. The pursuit
is still slightly followed in Droylsden, but in the hamlet of
Fairneld not a loom has been going for many years.

SILK AND WORSTED PLUSH WEAVING.

Mr. Samuel Travis, son of the John Travis before named,
about 1812 or 181 3, introduced the weaving of silk plush for
hats, but so difficult was it found to be, that for some years
very few could be found to overcome it. Ultimately, how-
ever, the weavers got the upper hand, and drove briskly on ;
and when Mr. Travis could not furnish them with warps, he
allowed them 2s. a day for playing ! In the course of a few
years other masters be«?an, viz. Messrs. Todd and Ashworth,
of Newton Heath ; James Hyde, of Gorton ; Mrs. Bissett, and
Hoyle and Newbury, of Manchester ; the latter, about the
year 1835, putting out silk plush and worsted at Fairfield.

For some years at first, wages kept good ; but, alas ! there
shortly came a fall from about 4s. 6d. per yard, the highest
rate given by Mr. Travis, to about 2s. or Is. 6d. This
resulted from the French exporting so much silk plush to
this country.

The only persons at present engaged in this trade in
Droylsden are, Mr. Joseph Howarth, of Greenside, worsted
plush; Mr. William Baguley, of Market-street, and Mr.
Eichard Wharmby, of Castle, silk plush manufacturers.

98 HISTORY OF

THE MODERN COTTON" TRADE.

Before briefly noticing each concern, it may be as well to
give a few general observations. The mills and sheds are
destitute of architectural display, and may curtly be
described as huge, oblong, utilitarian erections of brick and
mortar, enclustered with numerous subsidiary buildings,
and distinguished by an elevated octagonal chimney. The
steam engines dispensing motion in these industrial hives
comprise, in the aggregate, as ascertained from an actual
return in April last, 665 nominal, or upwards of 2,000 indi-
cated horse power. There are also at work 39,114 throstle
spindles, 82,504 mule spindles, and 3,184 power looms. The
number of operatives employed is — males, 1,093 ; and
females, 1,559; making a total of 2,652.

Notwithstanding the state of comparative perfection at
which machinery has arrived, it is still in the course of
constant improvement. Invention with utility, and progres-
sion with economy, are the watchwords of the day ; hence —

" Amidst the dust, and speed, and clamour

Of the loom shed and the mill,
'Midst the clank of wheel and hammer,
Great results are growing still."

Edge-lane Mill. — Mr. John OUerenshaw, hat manufacturer,
of Ashton-under-Lyne, on the 1st of November, 1831, pur-
chased, for £1,625, the Edge-lane estate of twelve acres.
Afterwards, his sons, under the firm of Messrs. Samuel
Ollerenshaw and Brothers, commenced erecting thereon the
first factory in Droylsden, wherein the powerful agency of
steam was employed, and where spinning and weaving were
placed under systematic mechanical control. The bed of
an engine, of twenty-six horse power, was laid in 1833 ; and
they started the first steam loom in the township on the
26th of June, the year but one following. Mr. Samuel
Ollerenshaw died in August, 1844, after which the concern
was carried on by his executors, until about twelve months
ago, when the firm was altered to Messrs. Samuel Harrop
and Co.

DROYL8DEN. 99

Fairfield Mills. — The engines first turned round in August
or September, 1837 ; the mill got to work about the close of
the year, under the firm of Messrs. W. M. Christy and Sons.

Di-oylsden MiUs. — Messrs. Worthington, Benson, and Co.,
began to erect these mills about Midsummer, 1838 ; and in
January following the structure was damaged by the great
storm. Weaving was commenced on the 13th or 14th of
February, 1839 ; throstle spinning in the ensuing May ; and
mule spinning shortly afterwards. The firm was changed
in March, 1853, to M«ssrs. Ashworth, Hadwen, and Co.

Clayton Mill. — These small premises were originally built
as a flax mill, by Mr. Gore, jun., and worked by an engine
of eight horse power. The hands thus employed, in May,
1836, were twenty, and consisted of eight males and twelve
females. Subsequently the building was owned by Mr.
James Taylor, and, in 1847, as a cotton manufactory, by
Mr. Silas Leigh. On his declining business, a short time
since, the mill was adapted to other uses.

Clayton Weaving Shed. — This small establishment, situated
near the coalpits, was erected, about twenty years ago, by
Messrs. J. Leigh and Sons ; and worked by them until

1856, when it was taken by Messrs. Clarke and Co.
Victoria Mills — Erected by Edmund Buckley, Esq. ; the

first sod being cut on the 4th of July, 1845 ; and cotton
spinning and weaving commenced in March, 1847, by
Messrs. Henry Lees and Brothers.

Angola MUl, also built by Mr. Buckley, was reared on
the 14th of August, 1850, and put in full operation on the 1st
of January ensuing, by Messrs. Kay, Richardson, and Wroo.
In June, 1852, the latter gentlemam withdrew from the firm.

Victoria Mill (Clayton). — The erection of this weaving
shed was begun in the spring of 1853. The starting took
place in February following, by Mr. Edward Wroe, pre-
viously alluded to, who continued to work it until July,

1857, After standing empty, the place was taken in March,

1858, by Messrs. Marland and Whitcombo, the present
occupants.

Mill. — Foundations hare been excavated near

Droylsden Station for a now miH intended to contain en-

100 HISTORY OF

gines of 140 horse power; mule spindles to the number of
40,000 ; and to be worked by Messrs. J. C. and E. C. Side-
botham.

General Remarks, — The enjoyment of an abridged time
system at the mills affords extensive facilities for the culti-
vation of the intellect, as well as recreation of the physical
powers. In Droylsden, as elsewhere, agitation had been
long and freely at work, when, on May 1, 1848, under
authority of an act of Parliament, the hours of labour in
cotton mills and manufactories were reduced to a maximum
of ten per day. This benevolent measure was to some
extent nullified in the following March, and twelve hours
resumed by the introduction of relays of females ; but after
a trial of five months, the plan was abandoned. Frequent
had been the importunities on the part of the workpeople
for a return to shorter time, when, on August 12, 1850, the
employers commenced working their establishments sixty
hours per week, under a new act which disqualified relays
of females and young persons. A public meeting in favour
of a " genuiue Ten Hours Bill " was held at the Church
Inn, March 3, 1853, and a petition embodying those views
was despatched to Parliament by the Droylsden Short Time
Committee.

Although, in 1847, in consequence of the depressed state
of trade, considerable numbers emigrated to America, yet,
owing in some measure to the energy of the millowners,
Droylsden operatives have suffered little from " short time,"
but have enjoyed almost constant and tolerably well paid
employment. And though " turn outs " have been expe-
rienced, yet the village, especially of late, has suffered
comparatively little from strikes ; * and nowhere in the
cotton district does greater sympathy exist between em-
ployers and employed than is to bo met with in Droylsden.

* If the returns are reliable, the Droylsden operatives
contributed upwards of £700 to the "Great Strike" at
Preston.

DROYLSDEX. 101

MISCELLANEOUS TRADES.

Although Droylsden is essentially a cotton town, yet
various branches of trade and manufacture have located
themselves. Clayton Colliery was begun about 1790 ; Mr.
James Brundret erected a dye works prior to 1806 ; and a
few years previously Mr. Miller, of Fairfield, had established
a copperas works, which subsequently, as well as another
built adjacent by Mr. Cowley, was purchased by Edmund
Buckley, Esq., of Ardwick, and their present magnitude is
exemplified by the fact of their capacity to manufacture
from eighty to a hundred tons of copperas per week.

In addition to a ropery, chemical works, and a patent
leather manufactory, the following employ steam engines to
the number stated : — Calico printing, 2 ; silk and cotton
dyeing, 3 ; iron and brass founding, 1 ; forges, 2 ; copperas
works, 1 ; alkali works, 2 ; boiler and gasometer, 1 ; farm
purposes, 1 ; and building purposes, 1 ; making a total of
fourteen.

According to the census of 1801, the number of persons
engaged in trade, out of a population of 1,552, was 955 ; and
in that of 1821 the families were stated at 426, and whilst
423 were returned as connected, with trade, with singular
inaccuracy, two only were represented as employed in agri-
culture. In 1831, there were 51 families chiefly engaged in
agriculture ; 414 in trade, manufacturers, and handicraft ;
and 82 variously employed, making a total of 547 families.

DIALECT, SOUBRIQUETS, ETC.

Formerly in social conversation the Christian name, if at all
used, was invariably "nicked" or abbreviated. Soubriquets,
from which only one or two persons in the township wero
exempt, were considered more requisite to distinguish folks
by than either baptismal or surnames. The byname served
all ordinary purposes, whilst the proper name, like the best
garment, was reserved for special display in the registers of
the Church at baptisms, weddings, and interments. The
following are genuine specimens of the classic nomenclature
onco prevalent:— "Th' Owd King," "Th1 Young King,"

102 HISTORY OV

" Dolce o' York," " Stick i'th' Mud," « Owd Brush," " Owd
Yure," "Owd Seawnd," "Pepper Betty," "Boggart o'
Saxon," " I Fingered Thee My Gentleman," &c.

The prefix "Owd," or old, was attached to the names and
soubriquets of even young persons, and was in no wise
derogatory, but may be considered perhaps as a rural title of
respect. Sometimes, in order to render the patronymic
more euphonus to country ears, either " a," the vowel " o,"
contracted from "of," or "o'th'," abbreviated from "of
the," was inserted between the Christian name and sur-
name, as " Bob-a-Booth," "Betty-o-Ashton," and "Philip-
o'th'-Hill." Three cousins bearing exactly the same patro-
nymic, in order to distinguish them, were designated "Smo"
Ealph," " Black Ealph," and " Stumpin' Ealph."

Shut out from much intercourse with their neighbours,
the ancient vernacular of the inhabitants embraced many
quaint modes of speech, expressive idioms, and peculiarities
of dialect, which were anything but what is now considered
standard or "gradely" English. The following bonu fide
colloquy is a specimen of the mother tongue of " Big
Dreighlsdin," as the township was emphatically designated
in days gone by. A female espies her sister, and hastening to
the window, eagerly inquires, " Sally, wheeur ort gooink ? "
To which Sarah responds, " Whoy, aw*m gooink o seeink iv
t' buryink's commink." A few years ago Mr. H — , Lay-
assistant, taking an adult to task, or, as popularly expressed,
" coeink him o'er t' coals," for spiritual ignorance, met with
the expostulation, " Heaw should aw know? Ifs ow owin"
to mi breawtin's op ; aw kneaw no weeler." A local saying
runs, " 0' star ot top, loike owd pop Jonathan's bacon bo'
brawth." A jingling rhyme, or ramble, enumerating the
householders in Droylsden-lane was once in circulation;
but, like a modern doggrel of the same stamp, is irre-
trievably lost. Some years back the Droylsden innkeepers
were thus commemorated by the village poetaster : —

"Tummy Xick,
Charley Kick,
Billy Brew,
Sharp Shue,
TJn Cappel Dick."

DHOYLSDEN. 103

SECULAR EDWCAT10N.

According to the various MSS. and deeds on which the
documentary portion of this history is based, Droylsden has
not contributed more than the average number of " marks-
men," and many of the signatures are by no means indifferent
specimens of caligraphy. Some of the books deposited in
the town's chest also exhibit penmanship in many instances
tolerably well executed, and, in some cases, really good.
Occasionally the orthography betrays the Lancashire or
Droylsden origin of the scribe.

No account of internal efforts to promote the spread of
education in the township has survived of an earlier date
than the middle of last century, at which period tuition was
held as an auxiliary employment, or subordinate profession.
The first mention of a local preceptor occurs on February
3, 1758, when the burial of John Grundy, schoolmaster, of
Droylsden, is recorded in the register of Gorton Church.

After a blank interval, in 1774, appears Jonathan Grim-
shaw, who, on quarterly terms, principally of one shilling
and sixpence, but descending to half that amount, taught a
few scholars in addition to plying the hand loom. Ho
resided in the quaint and detached cottage in Far-lane, now
occupied by Sarah Bertenshaw ; and, some fifteen years
later on, it is remembered that, besides a small night school,
Grimshaw had about ten day pupils, some of whom sat on
a form and the others on his loom rail, busy conning their
tasks whilst the master was engaged weaving linen. Grini-
shaw, who died October 16, 1795, and was buried at Ashton
Parish Church, has the honour of being the first Sunday
school teacher in the township.

Sarah Hibbert, in 1776, resided near Square Fold, and
taught about half a dozen tiny scholars, who, in the spare
time from their few imposed lessons, picked out the seeds
from cotton, preparatory to the process of Blubbing, which
the mistress carried on in the school.

Joseph Bertenshaw began teaching school, June 3, 1776,
in Old Hill House, as appears from a memorandum in the
Grimaha.w obituary, or " Death. Book."

104 HISTORY Or

A seminary for young ladies, of which Miss M. A. Willet
is now governess, was commenced in Fairfield, in 1796 ;
and an acadamy for young gentlemen, of which the Rev.
"William Craig is now principal, was begun about seven
years afterwards.

Shortly before the close of last century, Mrs. Morris
resided not far from the present King's Head, and taught
about twenty small children ; and " old " John Mellor, of
Lane Head, in addition to his own trade, instructed families
of children, and eat out his remuneration in the shape of
one or two meals per week.

Early in 1802, steps were taken to erect a village school.
Thomas Jones, Esq., a property owner and resident, pre-
sented an eligible site, containing 32 1^ square yards, situated
at the south east angle of the " Little Field," and abutting
on both the Droylsden and the Green-lanes. A committee
was formed, and a house to house canvass instituted ; the
more opulent gave money, and the poorer classes labour, or
money and labour conjointly. Mr. John Travis acted as
treasurer, and an account of his receipts and disbursements
is deposited in the town's chest. There was no formality
•when the foundation was laid, nor any public demonstration
•when the premises were completed, nor is it exactly known
when they were brought into requisition. It is inferred
from Mr. Tra vis's pecuniary statement that the building
was begun on or about October 26, 1802, when, as in those
days teetotalism was unknown, no less than six and three
quarter gallons of gin were purchased to regale the villagers.
Bricksetting operations were proverbially slow at that time,
and it is not till the following November that Mr. Travis
records the purchase of forms at an expense of a guinea,
and the payment of six pounds to the schoolmaster, perhaps
for some personal superintendence. The final item occurs
on the closing day of the year, up to which period the ex-
penditure, independently of gratuitous labour, had been
£132 15s. 8d. During the next five or six years, no less
than £87 18s. 5d. was disbursed from the poor rates on
behalf of Droylsden school, for what purpose does not
appear. Mr. Jones also subscribed five pounds towards

DROYLSDEX. 105

the same object, in April, 1807, as appears by the town's
books.

The edifice was a plain oblong structure of the type then
current. The school measured internally 2.3 j feet long, by
21 J feet broad, and 13 J feet high ; and, like the cottage, was
built of brick, and roofed with grey .slate. A stone in-
serted in front of the cottage is inscribed "Droylsden School
was Erected by Subscription, 1802." Entrance was obtained
by a door on the southern gable, and the room was lighted
by two windows on the east, and two on the west side; each
window measuring 6.f feet broad, and 5 feet high.

Several years elapsed before the site was conveyed for
educational purposes. Thomas Jones, gentleman, by his
indenture, dated the 21st of September, 1807, and duly
enrolled in Chancery, vested it in nine trustees, and provided
that, when reduced by death or resignation to a minimum
of three, the survivors should fill up the vacancies by election.
It is remarkable that this school is not enumerated in the
Government returns of the charities in Lancashire.

Although the two first masters were successful in teaching
adults on three evenings per week, and for a few years there
was a tolerable attendance of day scholars, yet the institu-
tion never attained a very nourishing position. Several
reasons may bo assigned. No endowment was provided for
the sustenance of master or mistress, and the mere free
occupancy of the premises was not sufficient to induce any
first class teacher to carry on the school, when his income
was dependant entirely on the precarious sum to be derived
from the pence of the scholars. The population, also, was
too scanty and poor to furnish sufficient pupils to make it
remunerative, and competition existed in the schools at
Fail-field, Gorton, Audenshaw, and Crowthorn. And, in
addition, the masters, generally, wero not remarkable for
temperance or intellectual attainments. Some of them wero
severe disciplinarians, and many parents preferred the village
dame schools, which, assimilating to nurseries, afforded a
good deal of amusement and attempted but little instruction.

Richard Bradburn, of Manchester, the first master, was
appointed in 1803, and after a few months' struggle was dis-

p

106 HISTORY OF

charged. After a short vacancy, in the year following, John
Wilson, a resident shoemaker, was appointed to the master-
ship. Like that of his predecessor, his stay was short,
merely extending over a year or so. John Hewgill, a
Yorkshireman, hut acting as exciseman at Bristol, was the
next appointment. He commenced duty ahout May, 1805.
One stormy night, he was bewildered in the fields, near
Water-lane, and perished ; ho was interred at St. Peter's,
Ashton, where the date of decease is given as January
12, 1828, and his age recorded as sixty years. Hewgill
was succeeded by his son, and previous assistant, John
Hewgill, a native of Bristol, who died suddenly, January 24,
1848, aged forty-eight years. The next appointment was
Joseph Grimshaw, a descendant of an old Droylsden family,
who, after three months' unsuccessful effort, with the con-
sent of the trustees, obtained other employment, and re-
signed the tuition to his wife. The number of scholars had
diminished before the higher educational advantages offered
by the British School, until reduced to some half dozen.
Relinquishing instruction, the family left the village, 5th
August, 1857 ; and, on the 26th of April, in the following
year, the school was pulled down, in order to make way
for erecting the Droylsden Institute on its site.

A small private day school for boys was taught in Fair-
field, by John Highland, prior to 1809 when one of a
superior kind was begun by Mr. Henry Natty, and, with
the aid of his son, John Nalty, continued for twenty-four
years. At first Mr. Nalty used a large room, at the back of
his house (now inhabited by the Misses Lowton), but the
number of scholars became so great that ho had to resort,
also, to the top room of his dwelling. Mr. Natty survived
the discontinuance of the school for eleven years ; and died
in October, 1846, at the patriarchial ago of ninety- two. In
the meantime, the school had been continued, or rather re-
commenced, in the Boys' Old Sunday School, by Edward
Hollingworth ; and was afterwards continued by John
Jackson, until its final relinquishment.

A day school for girls was originated about 1809, by Miss
Southall, in the house now occupied by Mr, Stewart, and

DROYL8DEW. 107

was afterwards carried on by Miss Watson in the Sisters'
House, and then in the Girls' Sunday School by Miss Fox,
and successively by a great number of females, including
Mrs. Davics, who, since its association with the National
School in 1854, has continued a small dame school in Fair-
field. In June, 1854, the Moravians commenced the erection
of a neat brick structure, measuring fifty feet by thirty feet
internally, which was opened October 8, 1854, as a mixed
day school, under the system of the National Society.
And since that period, Mr. W. H. Patrick, certified master,
and Miss "Walker, aided by three pupil teachers, have
zealously done their duty.

Mr. Alfred Andrew for several years taught a day and
evening school for both sexes in premises at East End, and
also instructed the short timers from Edge-lane Mill. He
ceased about eight years ago, since which period Mr. Bowker
has continued to teach a small mixed day school.

Various spasmodic and detached efforts have been made
in the township, including those of Mr. and Miss Collins
and Mr. James Kothwell in the Temperance Room, and
Mr. John Ovens and others in the Independent School
Room.

The earliest portion of the Queen-street School was erected
by William Miller Christy, Esq., in 1838, and shortly after-
wards it was opened as a juvenile and infant day school,
under the superintendence of Mr. and Mrs. Bullor, from the
Home and Colonial Society's Training School. After their
removal from the village, Miss Athowe continued the tuition
on the same plan, until the close of 1843, when the mill
owners resolved to extend educational operations. Mr.
Christy enlarged the school at an expense of £50, and
Messrs. Worthington, Benson, and Co., Samuel Ollerenshaw
and Brothers, and W. M. Christy and Sons, took the pre-
mises for five years at an annual rent of £15, and agreed to
make necessary internal alterations, and to cover all excess
of expenditure over the children's pence by a rate, to be
assessed half on the spinning, and half on the weaving
(based on the number of looms and spindles) in each con-
cern. Accordingly, on January 16, 1844, tho school was

r 2

108 HISTORY OF

reopened by Mr. Samuel Dawson and Miss Athowo, the
former teaching the juveniles under the system of the
British and Foreign School Society, and the latter the
infants on the previous system. The school -was placed
under Government in August, 1848. After Miss Athowe's
vacation, the industrial superintendence over the female
department was undertaken first by Miss Collins, then by
her sister, and since by Mrs. Dawson. Mr. Christy erected,
at right angles with the original building, a handsome and
commodious school room of red and white brick, roofed with
slates of two colours, in alternate stripes. The interior,
which is open to the roof, and lighted by skylights, each
consisting of a single square, measures fifty-four feet long,
twenty-six feet broad, and twenty-four feet to the ridge.
The opening took place April 25, 1851, with the annual
public examination of the pupils. There are now in these
flourishing and well conducted schools nine pupil teachers
in the juvenile department under Mr. Dawson, and four in
the infants' school, which is presided over by Miss Annabella
Ferguson, from the Glasgow Training College, who was
appointed mistress in April, 1851.

Messrs. "Wood and Wright, of Bankbridge, since January
8, 1855, have provided an excellent teacher, Mr. James
Swallow, for the instruction of their young workpeople,
and others choosing to attend. Clayton Episcopal Day
School was opened March 9, 1857. Mr. Morris teaches in
the school room at Edge-lane; and the Roman Catholic
children generally attend their day school in Openshaw.

LITERARY, EDUCATIONAL, AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS.

The earliest association of this nature known to have been
instituted in the township was the Botanical Society, in
Jjittle Droylsden, which is noticed more fully elsewhere.

A Young Men's Mutual Improvement Society was begun
in the winter of 1839-40 by James Turner and half a dozen
associates, who met in the front room of a dwelling house in
Market-street, now occupied by Mr. Bullock. The range
of instruction included reading, writing, arithmetic, geo-
graphy, grammar, and debate, whilst a newspaper and

DBOYLSDEX. 109

several periodicals were provided. The highest number of
members attained was about forty, and three times tho
society removed to more eligible premises, until, after an
existence of three seasons, it became extinct.

A small Chemical Society was started, about 1841, in tho
cellar beneath the shop in Market-street now kept by Sir.
Shepherd. In this humble laboratory and meeting room,
the members studied the rudiments of chemistry, and manu-
factured blacking and furniture paste, which were sold to
defray expenses. After a brief career, the society was
dissolved.

The Fair-field and Droylsden Naturalists' Society was
founded in February, 1842, by Mr. J. W. Slater, in con-
junction with George Hill, of Durham-street. Its original
aim was limited to promoting the study of natural history.
Tho first place of meeting was an upper room in tho house
now occupied by Mr. James Bowker, in Fairfield, from
whence in about ten months' time, owing to the want of
accommodation, they removed to a loft in the house occupied
by William Entwistle, adjoining tho site of the present
Educational Institute. The objects of the society were at
first misunderstood. Many suspected they were political or
theological, and the owner of tho house wrote to his tenant,
who was also a member of the society, warning him to
" stop tho meetings" ; and, in consequence, another removal
took place to a house near the corner of Greenside-lane. At
this place, the first exhibition, chiefly of objects of natural
hi-story, was held in tho wakes week of the same year.
About this period, it was found that tho society required, in
a village like Droylsden, a broader basis than tho study of
tho natural sciences alono afforded, and some elementary
classes were commenced. At the first annual soiree, held in
tho Wosloyan Chapel, in 1843, amongst others, the late cele-
brated electrician, W. Sturgeon, was present. Tho members
increasing, tho society removed to Lano End, and on January
23, 1845, altered its designation to tho Fairfield and Droyls-
den Naturalists' Society and Mechanics' Institute, after-
wards to Fairfield and Droylsden Mechanics' Institute, and
lastly, on March 24, 1851, tho term was restricted to

110 HISTORY Or

Droylsden Mechanics' Institution. The society was flourish-
ing and useful from 1843 to 1847, and also had the honour
of being one of the first to join the Lancashire and Cheshire
Institutional Union ; and for two years Mr. J. W. Slater, as
its president, was elected a member of the central committee
of the union.

The Young Men's Society (or Association) in connection
with St. Mary's Church Sunday School, was founded in
January, 1848, for the acquirement of Christian knowledge
and the cultivation of general learning. Under the manage-
ment of a committee of seven, including president, vice-
president, treasurer, and secretary, and, with the exception
of the permanent president (Rev. P. Thompson, B.A.), all
annually elected, the society met four or five nights a week
during the season. The number of members fluctuated ; the
the highest was in November, 1852, when there were seven
honorary, thirty-eight general, and five females making a
total of fifty members. Information was imparted by means
of elementary classes, lectures, discussions, and the perusal
of newspapers and magazines. The association effected
considerable good in a quiet, unostentatious way ; and
acquired a useful collection of books, once designed as the
nucleus of a village library.

A Mutual Improvement Class was existing in con-
nection with the Independent Sunday School, in October,
1849 ; but it subsequently fell into desuetude. A successor,
bearing a similar title, was established January 1, 1854, and
held meetings in the school room for the discussion of
questions, the reading of essays, and delivery of lectures,
for the moral and intellectual improvement of members,
and to facilitate acquaintance and fellowship with indi-
viduals of similar views and character. During its exist-
ence, thirty-six members at different times belonged to the
society.

The Emulation Society, in connection with St. Ann's
Roman Catholic Chapel, Seventhorns' Wells — a step in the
right direction — was commenced August 4, 1850, but only
existed a short time.

The Droylsden Literary Society, for the reading of

DROYL8DEW. Ill

original compositions, &c., was begun on the 9th of April,
1855, but after a few bi-monthly meetings, commencing
on tho 7th of the following May, the society became de-
funct.

General Remarks. — Apparently during the last sixty or
seventy years the township has never been destitute of a
night school, of some sort or other, for the improvement of
young men. Special, but short lived, and not continuous,
efforts in this respect have been made for the benefit of
young women. Many years ago, tho managers of tho
Fail-field Sunday School attempted by week day evening
instruction to improve the intellectual attainments of
females whoso education had been neglected. Subse-
quently, the cause was embarked in by the Wesleyan
Sunday School, then by tho Church Sunday School, next
by Mrs. Benson in the Independent School Room, after-
wards by the Mechanics' Institution, and since by the
Educational Institution.

The Mechanics' Institution, tho Young Men's Asso-
ciation, and tho Mutual Improvement Class, for some
time simultaneously sustained the common object of im-
parting knowledge to all who desired partially to retrieve
the neglect of earlier years. At length, after several
conferences of delegates with a view to promote in-
creased usefulness and efficiency, on March 31, 1867, the
throe societies were amalgamated under the title of the
Droylsden Educational Institution. The premises lately
held by tho Mechanics' Institution proved totally inade-
quate to tho growing requirements of tho now society, and
four distinct suites of apartments htfd to be engaged for the
use of the classes.

After an application from tho directors, the trustees of
the old school united with them, and, in conjunction with a
few others, constituted a committee for collecting subscrip-
tions, and appointed an executive for procuring plans and
estimates, and for superintending the now building. Ulti-
mately, through tho liberality of friends and neighbours,
tho former unsightly school room was replaced by tho
present edifice, the foundation stono of which was unoston-

112 HISTORY OF

tatiously laid, Juno 5, 1858, by Richard Christy, Esq.,
chairman of the Building Committee.

THE DKOYLSDEN INSTITUTE.

This elegant and attractive building, which stands on
the site of the old Day School, at the bisection of Market-
street by the Ashton New-road, proves useful to the inha-
bitants, as well as a graceful ornament to the centre of the
village. It is built in the Gothic style, from the designs of
Mr. Alfred Waterhouse, architect, of Manchester, who also
superintended the erection, the contractors being Messrs.
Thomas Bates and Co., of Droylsden. The edifice is a
rectangular structure, faced externally with the local red
stock bricks, relieved with stone dressings and fire brick
bands, and stands on a basement of stone. The white brides
are also introduced alternately with the red ones in the
arches over the windows. Above the eastern entrance is in-
scribed " Droylsden Institute," and on worked stone labels in
the gable adjoining, " Erected by voluntary contributions,"
with the date, " 1858," in a monogram on an oval medallion
ia. the centre. There are two storeys to the building. On
the ground floor the window openings are four feet wide ; on
the upper floor they are smaller, and arranged in groups of
three. The roof is acute in pitch, covered with alternate
stripes of blue and green slates, and on the south receives a
broken and varied outline from the chimney stacks at the
ends, the octagonal ventilating turret in the centre of
the ridge, and a range of five dormer windows. The
interior is commodious and well adapted for educational
purposes. On the ground floor, to the left of the entrance
lobby from the south, or principal front, is the library, used
also as a committee room and a class room, lighted by a
triplet window, and occupied by the females. On the
opposite side is a convenient and well furnished news room,
measuring 28 feet by 18 feet, fitted up with tables, &c., of
pitch pine ; and beyond are two class rooms, supplied with
desks and other requisites for the male members.

The whole of the upper storey forms a spacious hall, 60
feet by 28 feet, and 31 feet 6 inches high; is used for

(?Durational £n»titutr.

DROYLSDEN. 113

lectures, concerts, and public assemblies ; and has a perma-
nent, raised, and graduated platform at one end, to which a
separate staircase from the library affords private access
from below. The roof, of five bays, is plastered, and
supported by stained deal principals ; and being of high
pitch, imparts a lofty appearance to the room. The hall is
heated by a store; ventilated in the roof, on Mim's four
point system ; and lighted by seven window groupings on
the south and east sides, by the dormer windows above, and,
at a corresponding height, by a sixfoil, or rose window, at
each end. The entrance to this room is from Market-street,
by a stone staircase, with closets beneath, and a small ante-
room on the top, level with the public hall, and furnished
with apparatus necessary for tea meetings, &c.

The old cottage dwelling was left standing, and is now
occupied by the warden or keeper of the premises. In the
Illustrated London News, of the 2nd of February last,
appeared a description of the building, together with a
wood cut, from which the accompanying illustration is
derived by an electrotype cast.

The original estimate for erecting the new edifice was
£750, but the contract was enhanced by extra excavations
on the eastern side, by widening the building four feet, and
other alterations. These, together with fixtures and furni-
ture, including fire ranges, gas fittings, platform, palisading,
and the architect's fee, raised the total cost to £1,199 6s. 2£d.
of which £674 5s. 9d. has been subscribed, leaving a debt
of £525 Os. 5Jd., for which the trustees are personally
responsible. At one period, hopes were entertained that an
educational grant from Government would have been avail-
able in assisting to reduce the debt, but a lengthy corre-
spondence resulted in disappointment. The mixed character
of the objects to which the building was intended to be
devoted removed it from within the scope of Government
allowances.

The ceremony of inauguration extended over two days.
Saturday, November 20, 1858, was devoted to a procession,
tea party, and concert ; and tho Monday following to a
public mooting. On the Saturday afternoon, tho village was

F 3

114 HISTORY OP

the scene of unwonted festivity and rejoicing ; banners and
flags being displayed from the mills, workshops, dwellings,
and across the streets. A large and well organised proces-
sion, consisting of several bands of music, the trustees,
Building Committee, directors, members, and friends of the
Educational Institution, and the members of various friendly
societies, in tLeir holiday paraphernalia, moved from the
Recreation Grounds, round by Edge-lane and Fair-field,
and terminated at the new building. Richard Christy, Esq.,
chairman of the Building Committee, and secretary to the
trustees, then declared the institute to be publicly opened,
after which 660 persons took tea in the large room, which
was tastefully decorated. The remainder of the evening
was devoted to a vocal and instrumental concert.

The meeting on Monday was presided over by the Right
Rev. the Lord Bishop of Manchester. The room was
crowded, not less than 700 persons being present ; and the
platform was well filled with ministers and gentlemen from
various places. After the report of the Building Committee
had been read by Joseph Hadwen, Esq., honorary secretary,
the right rev. chairman delivered a most excellent address,
and speeches were afterwards given by Thomas Bazley,
Esq., M.P. ; Ivie Mackie, Esq., mayor of Manchester ;
Malcolm Ross, Esq. ; Rev. James Bardsley, M.A. ; Edmund
Potter, Esq. ; Henry Ashworth, Esq. ; William Tipping,
Esq. (Kent) ; Rev. P. Thompson, B.A. ; and Richard
Christy, Esq.

The premises remain in the hands of trustees, and, in
fulfilment of the requirements of the original trust, a portion,
including the lecture hall and two class rooms, is used,
during the day time only, as an extension of the British
School. In the evening, the reserved part, together with
the news room, library, and female class room at all times,
is occupied entirely by the directors of the Educational
Institution for the purpose of instructing the members in the
various branches of a liberal and useful education. By an
arrangement made at a meeting of the members held on
the 7th of last December, the directors, on obtaining
possession of the building, were authorised to pay a rent

116

equivalent to tho interest on the money borrowed, the rent
to diminish proportionately with tho reduction of tho debt,
and to cease altogether with its liquidation.

From the second annual report of the directors in Feb-
ruary last, it appeared that the income of the year had been
£52 6s. 3Jd., and the expenditure £73 11s. 6d., which left
£8 14s. 9£d. as a balance in hand. The names on the books
comprised — Males, honorary members, 13; adults, 151 ; juve-
niles, 50 : and females, 40 : total, 254 : or, exclusive of Clay-
ton, which furnishes no members, about one in every 23 of
tho population of the township. The subjects studied in the
classes included arithmetic, geometry, and algebra, writing
and mechanical drawing, reading, dictation, and elocution,
English history, geography, and the French language. Tho
news room was supplied with one or more copies of ono
quarterly, five monthly, fifteen weekly, and two daily news-
papers, serials, and magazines.

This institution, under vigorous management, by adminis-
tering to the mental and intellectual requirements of such as
choose to avail themselves of its privileges, and by other-
wise advancing literary, scientific, and useful knowledge, is
capable of doing much in ameliorating the social condition
of tho village.

THE CHVRCH OF ENGLAND.

Droylsdon, no doubt, in its ecclesiastical relationship was
tributary to Manchester Parish Church from the time of its
foundation. Tho first authentic information respecting this
association occurs in the grant in 1422 of its tythes towards
the endowment of the Collegiate Church. The villagers
were dependent on tho clergy of that church for the little
spiritual supervision they obtained, and there they took
part in baptism, confirmation, marriage, and interment. For
tho latter purpose, a place called "Droylsdcn Hill" was
reserved on tho south side of the Collegiate Church, and
retained its appellation so lato as 1680. One of tho Cathe-
dral sidesmen, annually elected, is still chosen out of
Proyladcn. Probably, on tho erection at Ashton of a chapel
of ease, which was existing in tho thirteenth century,

116 HISTORY OF

some of the Droylsdenians, from its proximity, resorted
thither.

In connection with the township the first notice of the
Established Church, prior to the Reformation, is in 1400,
when the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry granted a
licence to Sir John Byron to have an oratory for one year
in his manors of Clayton and Butterworth ; and, eleven
years afterwards, the licence was renewed and extended
" throughout his manors in Lancashire." After this, both
history and tradition are silent for centuries. The oratory
being intended for the exclusive use of the Byron family,
their servants and tenantry, it did not require episcopal con-
secration. It seems questionable whether the service of the
Protestant Church of England was ever celebrated in its
precincts. The Byrons, on the spoliation of the abbeys and
monasteries, in 1540, obtained a grant of Newstead Abbey,
in Nottinghamshire, and deserted Clayton Hall. Probably
the tenant, unable to maintain a private chaplain, would
resort to the public ministry at Gorton, or Newton Heath,
and the oratory would be disused. Apparently the two
latter chapels were existing prior to the Eeformation ; and
the Byrons, and subsequently the Chethams, possessed lofts,
or galleries, in both ; and Humphrey Chetham, when at
Clayton, is traditionally affirmed to have worshipped in the
former. Towards the close of the Commonwealth era, but
never subsequent to the passing of the Act of Uniformity,
baptismal rites — Presbyterian of course — are recorded in
Gorton Church register as having been celebrated at Clay-
ton Hall, and most likely in the domestic chapel.

Doubtless, on the erection of a chapel of ease at Newton,
first mentioned in 1573, Droylsden, for ecclesiastical pur-
poses, was considered to be comprised within that reputed
chapelry. Probably no formal assignment to Newton ever
took place, any more than to Gorton or Ashton, the caprice
or convenience of the population constituting the only rule
recognised ; for some of the estates, as Clayton Hall and
the (South) Clockhouse, possessed forms or seats in the
chapels both at Newton and Gorton. The inhabitants of
Greenside, owing to proximity, habitually or occasionally

DllOYLSDEN. 117

resorted to Newton ; those on the southerly side frequented
Gorton ; and the easterly portion usually attended Ashton ;
consequently, the baptisms, marriages, and interments were
divided. The Parliamentary Commissioners, of June, 1650,
report that Droylsden is nearer to the chapel of Newton
than any other township, and that the inhabitants make uso
of the same. They also recommend that Droylsden, and
several hamlets adjacent to Newton, should be united, and
formed into a parish, and connected with Newton Chapel.
In the early part of the last century, about 1717, Bishop
Gaskell, in his notes respecting Newton Chapel, observes
that to that chapelry belong the township of Newton and
Fails worth, and part of Moston, Droylsden, and Bradford.
Although there only partiallyassigned to Newton, and reasons
exist for supposing the remainder prescriptively appertained
to Gorton ; yet, when these real or supposed ancient bends
of union were dissevered, and Droylsden was formed into
a "Peelite" parish, the incumbent of Newtpn, claiming tho
sole jurisdiction, obtained from the Ecclesiastical Commis-
sioners an annual grant for the supposed loss of liis fees.
In 1673, and doubtless long before, Newton annually elected
two chapelwardens. In the reign of George I., according
to Gaskell, that for Newton was chosen by tho minister,
and the other, for Failsworth, by tho chapelry, every third
year, out of Moston and Droylsden, according to canon.
For the uso of Droylsden's town officials, four mahogany
staves, silver capped, and inscribed, " Georgian IV. Britt.
Hex Fid. Def. 1821," were purchased by the ratepayers, and
lodged in Newton Church. These staves now grace tho
pew of the wardens in Droylsden Church.

Newton Episcopal Chapel fell down on tho 2nd of May,
1808, and remained in ruins for six years. The cost of
re-erection was defrayed by a rate, levied under authority
of two several acts of Parliament, 51 and 57 Goo. III.,
empowering tho wardens to levy rates on all rateable pro-
perty in the townships of Newton, Failsworth, Moston, and
Droylsden. This was a landlord's tax, amounting to some-
thing like four per cent, on the rental, and was collected for
many years, longer, perhaps, than was necessary.

118 HISTORY 0V

The spiritual destitution of the place continued to aug-
ment, so far as the Church was concerned, with the increase
of population, until January 19, 1840, when the Rev. Wil-
liam Hutchinson, incumbent of Newton Heath, having
obtained the sanction of the bishop of the diocese and tho
consent of the trustees, issued an address to the inhabitants
of Droylsden, and, in conjunction with the Rev. John
Whitloy, M.A., incumbent of Openshaw, commenced on tho
following Sabbath an afternoon service in the old school,
since replaced by the new Institute. These clergymen
preached alternately, and their ministry was attended by a
number of persons ; but no Sabbath school was established,
and the enterprise was shortly afterwards abondoned.

After a further interval of about four years, the Church-
men of the township began to bestir themselves. At a
meeting held on April 2, 1844, consisting of Robert Benson,
Esq., Samuel Ollerenshaw, Esq., and Mr. John Hewgill, the
names of twenty-six persons were announced, who, in the
aggregate, offered to subscribe £622 6s. in aid of funds for
the erection of a new church. On the 22nd of the following
October, Droylsden was severed from tho spiritual authority
of Newton ; and, under the judicious act of Sir Robert Pe«l
(6th and 7th Vic. c. 37), for the extension of church accom-
modation in populous places, was formed into a separate and
distinct parish for ecclesiastical purposes. In the ensuing
December, the Rev. Philip Thompson, B.A., of St. Catha-
rine's Hall, Cambridge, and curate of Christ Church, Mac-
clesfield, was nominated by the Crown to the incumbency of
the new district. Mr. Thompson commenced his residence
in January, 1845, and issued an address to his parishioners
on the 4th of the following month. Having obtained from
the Bishop of Chester a licence for the Queen-street School
Room, the use of which had been granted by Messrs. W. M.
Christy and Sons, Messrs. Worthington, Benson, and Co.,
and Messrs. Samuel Ollerenshaw and Brothers, on February
9, 1845, he commenced divine service therein, and opened a
Sunday school in the same premises exactly a month after-
wards. The congregation increasing, an agitation for tho
erection of a church was renewed ; and the object was finally

DBOYLSDEN. 119

accomplished by individual subscription, aided by grants of
£500 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Building
Churches, £500 from the Incorporated Society for Building
Churches and Chapels, £500 from the Chester Diocesan So-
ciety, and £1 50 from a fund placed by Sir R. Peel in the hands
of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for the purposes of church
extension. The site of the church is immediately contigu-
ous to the Ashton New-road, near the eastern extremity of
the township, and with the graveyard contains 4,225 super-
ficial square yards of land, presented by the late P. R. Hoare,
Esq., banker, of London, one of the co-heirs of the Clayton
estate. The foundation stone of the church was laid on the
wake Tuesday, August 25, 1846, by Robert Benson, Esq., of
Fairficld, amidst great public rejoicing, a procession, tea
meeting, and other demonstrations celebrating the event.

After an unavoidable delay, consequent on the creation of
the see of Manchester, the edifice was dedicated to Saint
Mary, on February 11, 1848, by Dr. Lee, the Right Rev.
Lord Bishop of Manchester, and this constituted his first
official act in the diocese. The sermon was preached from
Leviticus xix. 30, by the Very Rev. the Dean of Man-
chester. The structure, which is in the early English stylo
of Gothic architecture, was designed by Mr. E. II. Shellard,
architect, of Manchester; and Messrs. Haworth, of Todmor-
don, contracted for the masons' work, and Messrs. Coulthurst
and Froggat, of Chcetham Hill, for the carpenters' work and
the remainder of the building. The total cost was upwards
of £3,500, and a debt of £1,000, loft due to the Building
Committee, was paid off about four years afterwards by
those who were liable.

The edifice is built of Yorkshire stone, commonly desig-
nated " perepoints," in random courses, with dressed ash-
lar quoins to the windows, and intervening buttresses. The
nave is 76 feet 8 inches long by 22 foot 3 inches wide, the
north and south aisles each 74 feet by 10 feet 6 inches, and
the spacious chancel measures 37 feet 6 inches by 18 feet.
The vestry is placed in the angle formed by the chancel and
north aisle, and contains on tho basement storey a steam
boiler and apparatus requisite for heating tho church. Tho

120 HISTORY OF

western front of the church, which is striking and impressive,
is embellished with an enriched door in the central compart-
ment, surmounted by a window of two lights with trefoil
heads, and a quatrefoil above, enclosed in an arch, over
which is a small ventilating light corresponding with one in
the eastern gable. On the apex above, an ornamental bell cot
temporarily supplies the place of an appropriate tower and
spire to be placed in the south west angle. The roof, which
is of a very high pitch, is covered with green Westmoreland
slates, with ridge tiles on the summit. The eastern apices
of the nave and chancel, and also the apex of the porch, are
terminated with floriated crosses. There are two entrances
to the church, a door at the west end. and a handsome porch
abutting against the south side of the south aisle. The
entrance for the clergy to the chancel is closed externally,
but that to the vestry is open. The interior is chaste and
ecclesiastical, though devoid of decoration. The only at-
tempt yet made — at the expense of a lady, a member of the
congregation — is the sculpture of the north corbel of the
chancel arch to represent the head of Cranmer, the martyr,
and the corresponding one on the south that of Eidley.
Above the arch the invitation, " Oh ! come let us worship,"
is suitably inscribed. Within the chancel, pews ^have been
constructed, and the creed and decalogue appear in church
text ; but the sedilia remains in an unfinished state. On
the south side, a plain cenotaph, of black and statuary
marble, briefly commemorates " Elizabeth Midwood, of
Huddcrsfield, who died at Fairfield, June 5, 1856, aged
62 years." The whole of the roofs are framed in open
timber work after the ancient fashion, the boarded ceiling
stained in imitation of old English oak ; the tie beams, by
which the roof of the nave is supported, being themselves
supported by wall pieces and braces resting on unsculptured
corbels. The nave is separated from the aisles by two rows
of handsome, polished, and clustered shafts, forming on each
side a light arcade with carved capitals, and five moulded
and pointed arches, supporting a lofty clerestory, lighted by
trefoil windows, alternately lancet shaped and semi-circular.
Light is also admitted by means of six couplet windows

DEOT1SDEN. 121

in the north, and five in the south aialo, and another in its
gable, and two (both lancet shaped) at the west end. Tlio
chancel has three lanceolated windows, with trefoil heads,
on the south side, and two on the north, and an enriched
triplet at the east end. At present there is no stained glass.
All the openings are leaded, and glazed with lozcngo
quarrels, and, excepting the clerestory, are of a greenish
yellow tinted glass.

The west end is occupied by a small gallery, which
affords accommodation for a part of the school children and
also the choir, and a well toned organ, which was opened
May 12, 1855, and completed and gilded last year, at a
total cost of nearly £300. The pews are framed in the
olden style, with Jleur de Us finials, stained in imitation of
oak. Accommodation is afforded for 800 persons, including
511 free sittings by open seats. The pulpit, sculptured in
white Roche Abbey stone, was originally approached from
the vestry by means of a staircase in the wall, but has been
removed to the north side of the chancel arch, whilst the
reading desk, somewhat elaborate, is placed on the opposite
Bide. The font is of stone, and stands upon two steps,
adjacent to the south or principal entrance. It is an exact
copy of a very ancient font, dated 1400, in All Saints',
Leicester. The bowl is ornamented with foliage, flowers,
fruits, and heads, and corbels resting on shafts attached to
a round stem. The church was fitted up with gas on the
3rd of November, 1852, when service in the afternoon was
superseded by that in the evening.

The living is an incumbency and rectory, endowed by
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners with £150 per annum,
which, with seat rents, surplice fees, &c., enhance the value
to £250, as returned to the Pastoral Aid Society. Unfor-
tunately, as yet, it is destitute of a domus parochial. On the
erection of Droylsden Church, the Eov. J. Hutchinson,
incumbent of Newton Heath, received an annual grant of
£15 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for the suppose!
loss of fees. The parish registers commence as follows :—
Baptisms, March, 1845 ; burials, February, 1848 ; and mar-
riages in the Juno following. The rite of baptism is

122 HISTORY OF

administered only on the first Sabbath in the month, at a
special service, and immediately after the second lesson,
catechetical examination of the scholars supplying the
place of a sermon. The graveyard is enclosed by a neat
stone wall, with handsome entrance gates on the south
and west, and is planted with a line of thriving trees
on every side except the north. In addition to flat grave
stones, a few upright memorials have been erected, includ-
ing a chaste floriated cross to the memory of Thomas Henry,
son of the Rev. Philip Thompson, who died February 6,
1857, aged five years.

THE FIRST SUXDAY SCHOOL.

Sunday school instruction was introduced into Droylsden
by Jonathan Grimshaw, of Far-lane, and James Booth, of the
White Hart. For that purpose Mr. Booth liberally granted
the use of the second floor of the three storeyed building
adjacent to the public-house, which was erected by him as a
spinning room a year or two previously, and was then in
his own occupation as a provision shop. The room, which
still retains the appellation of the " school chamber," was
entered externally by means of a flight of steps abutting
on the gable. These were subsequently removed, and the
lower part of the doorway filled up with brickwork, whilst
in the upper portion a casemented window was inserted.

The duration of the school is ascertained, from a record
of the teacher, to have extended over 120 Sundays, from
the 28th of January, 1787, to the 17th of May, 1789, inclu-
sive. The teacher seems to have received from Booth a
remuneration of £9, or at the rate of Is. 6d. per Sabbath. A
Bible, still preserved, contains in his handwriting the
inscription — " Sunday School, Jonathan Grimshaw, July
10th day, 1788." The room on the Sabbath was used exclu-
sively for teaching the scholars, who numbered from twenty
to thirty ; the instruction was entirely of a secular nature,
and the reason of the school's discontinuance is no longer
remembered.

DROYLSDEN. 123

CHT7HCH SUNDAY SCHOOL.

Soon after the erection of the village day school, now
replaced by the Droylsden Institute, in or about 1803, John
Swindells, senior, of Green Lane, obtained permission from
the trustees to commence a Sabbath school therein. With
Swindells were associated Henry Holland, Thomas and
George Selby (brothers), and John and Jonathan Grimshaw,
sons of the first Sunday school teachers in Droylsden. A
collection was made in the neighbourhood wherewith to
purchase the first supply of copy books and other materials
requisite for reading and writing, then included in Sabbath
school instruction. The catechism of the Church of England
was also taught to the scholars. This undertaking continued
but a few years through Bradburn's short mastership of the
day school, and until his successor, Wilson, conceiving it
interfered with his interest and vocation, complained to
the trustees, at whose request the school was unwillingly
relinquished.

An interval of more than forty years elapsed ere the
Church resumed the Sabbath school instruction of the young.
The Rev. P. Thompson, B.A., on the 9th of March, 1845,
commenced a Church Sunday school in the Queen-street
School Room, then recently opened by him for divine
service. The teachers on the first Sabbath included James
Schofield, James Rothwell, Reuben Wood, Mary Wood, and
Betsy Gibson. At the opening, the number of scholars was
30, which had increased by the close of the year following
to 180, and twelvemonths later to 290. Both sexes were
taught in the same room until April 27, 1851, when the new
school adjoining was used for the boys, whilst the girls con-
tinued in the one previously occupied. The school was
supported by private subscription until October, 1852, since
which period annual collections for the purpose have been
made in the church. The popularity and success of the
school are chiefly to be ascribed to the constant and punc-
tual attendance of the rector, coupled with bis energy and
aptitude for imparting instruction.

HISTOBY OF

CLAYTON CHAPEL OF EASE AND CHURCH SCHOOL.

The nominal district of Clayton is co-extensive with, the
hamlet of that name, and contains an estimated population
of 1,600 persons. On the 26th of March, 1854, the Rev. P.
Thompson, B.A., opened a branch Sunday school under the
superintendance of Mr. James Barrington, assisted by eight
teachers, in a cottage house at West End, near Clayton
Hall, when forty-two scholars were admitted.

In order to secure a more efficient parochial supervision, the
Pastoral Aid Society made an annual grant of £100 towards
supplying the stipends for a curate; and on June 12, 1845,
the Rev. Joseph Renatus Walshaw, B.A., was licensed to
the curacy of Droylsden ; and he thenceforth resided in
tho district of Clayton, and assumed the superintend-
ence of the Sabbath school. Four days afterwards, the
foundation stone of a new day and Sunday school, a portion
to be used for divine service, was laid by Mr. S. C. Trapp,
agent to P. R. Hoare, Esq., at whose expense the edifice
was erected. The cottage above named was licensed for
divine service on the 1st of July, 1855, and there for twelve-
months Mr. Walshaw continued to officiate. On his removal
to Halifax, the congregation presented him with a parting
token of esteem. Owing to circumstances, which it is
unnecessary to explain, the curacy remained void until tho
10th of the following March, when the Rev. Frederick
Charles Woodhouse, M.A., of St. John's College, Cam-
bridge, was nominated to fill the vacancy. In the mean-
time, Mr. Barrington was again appointed to the office of
school superintendent.

The opening of the new school was delayed until March
9, 1857, when it was first brought into requisition as a day
school, and, the licence being transferred, divine worship
and Sabbath tuition quickly followed. The first baptism,
occurs on the 29th of the same month. The edifice, which
is a neat brick structure in the form of the letter T, was
erected at the expense of P. R. Hoare, Esq., whose plans
include master's residence, church, and parsonage house, for

DROYLSDEN. 125

which contiguous sites aro reserved. The interior is plain,
but agreeable ; the ceilings are timbered and open to the
roofs. The side walls of the chapel are adorned with
admonitory texts of Scripture, inscribed within ornamental
scrolls, and the eastern window, in imitation of stained glass,
is illuminated diaphonically, which well sustains the illusion.
Chapel accommodation is afforded for 100 adults and 100
children.

After the Rev. Mr. Woodhouse was appointed to the
rectory of St. Mary's, Hulme, Manchester, in November
last, he was followed at Clayton by the Rev. William
Walker Woollcombe, M.A., the present curate.

FAIRFIELD.

The United Brethren, usually called Moravians, had
founded a congregation at Dukinfield in 1755 ; but it was
deemed advisable to establish a settlement in the neigh-
bourhood— in other words, a village, inhabited almost ex-
clusively by members of their own community. After
considerable difficulty and delay, they took possession, in
October, 1783, of an eligible piece of land of about sixty
acres, which they purchased on chief for 999 years from
Edward Greaves, Esq., of Culcheth Hall.

The erection of Fairfleld was commenced on the 9th of
June, in the year following, with the laying of the founda-
tion stone of the chapel, accompanied with suitable religious
solemnities. So industriously was the work of building
prosecuted that the village was erected in little more than
a year, the chapel and contiguous square being first built,
and the other wings added shortly afterwards.

The chapel was solemnly opened for divine worship on
Sunday, July 17, 1785, with public and private services, a
sermon being preached by Brother Benjamin Latrobe. The
services were so numerously attended that many persons
could not gain admittance. For above quarter of a century
this chapel remained the only place of worship in tho
township.

Fairfiold is situated on a gentle slope, has a southern
aspcct,and fronts tho Ashton, Old-road, which lies at a field's

126 HISTORY OF

distance. The ground plot of the village is laid out with
taste, and forms a large and. commodious square. The front
consists of a block of brick buildings, with the chapel in the
centre. Rows of dwelling houses run on each side of the
chapel. Another row in the rear completes the square.
Broad paved streets, with nagged footpaths, pass between
piles of buildings, which encompass three sides of the
square. The whole, except on the north side, is encircled
with orchards, pleasure grounds, and gardens.

The chapel is a plain brick edifice, surmounted with a
cupola, terminating with a vane, and containing a public
clock, and a bell for striking the hours, and calling the
brethren to worship. The interior is commodious and
agreeable, though characterised by simplicity of arrange-
ment. The pulpit is fixed against the wall ; and in front,
slightly raised above the floor, stands the reading desk, used
for the frequent devotional exercises of the community.
Opposite to the pulpit, a gallery occupies the entire length
of the chapel, in the centre of which stands an organ of
excellent tone. Both the gallery and the body of the
structure are filled with plain seats, arranged for the separa-
tion of the sexes.

By a statute of 1749, the Church of the United Brethren
is recognised in this country as an " ancient Protestant
Episcopal Church." In their public worship, the Moravians
use a form of liturgy not unlike in its spirit that of the
Church of England. This small body of Christians, con-
sidering its limited number of members, and its disclaiming
proselytism abroad, is remarkable for its extraordinary
activity and success in missionary enterprise.

Opposite the chapel, but with playgrounds and gardens
intervening, is located the graveyard, appropriately orna-
mented with shrubs, evergreens, and a sun dial, inscribed
"Lat. 53, 30. I Die to-day and Live to-morrow. 1790."
In the graveyard the sexes are separated, even in death.
Each grave is six feet deep, and none are ever reopened ;
but space is economised by plots being reserved for the
separate interment of children and adults. A small square
stone is placed at the head of each grave ; and the only

DROYL8DEN. 127

memento of the virtues or history of its occupant consists
of a brief record of name, age, and time of departure.

Adjoining the chapel, on the one hand, is the residence
of the minister, and, on the other, the seminary for young
ladies. At the eastern extremity of the front is the Sisters'
House, an establishment where a number of female mem-
bers, employing themselves in needlework and embroidery,
voluntarily reside in single blessedness, as did formerly the
bachelor brethren, in the corresponding building in the west
end.

The private houses were first inhabited principally by
emigrants from the Moravian congregation at Dukinfield,
which was not, however, altogether abandoned, but still
exists in a flourishing state. In 1832, according to Holmes's
"History of the United Brethren," there were 339 members
in Fairfield ; but at present the number may be somewhat
less, as families belonging to other religious persuasions now
reside in the settlement. The number of inhabitants is
about 400 ; and everything about the village wears an air
of comfort and peace. The streets are broad and spacious,
sewered, and lighted with gas, and filtered water is supplied
to the inhabitants.

FAIllFIELD SUNDAY SCHOOL.

This was the first Moravian Sunday School ever esta-
blished, and the honour of its formation belongs to Mr.
Henry Nalty and Mr. Frank Mallulicu, the former of
whom lived to witness its jubilee. Schools for both sexes
•were opened on or about January 20, 1793, with some thirty
or forty children.

The Boys' School was begun in a wing of the Brethren's
House, in a room reached by an external flight of steps, and
was only removed from thence on October 8, 1854, when the
National School was opened.

The Girls' School was commenced at Lane Head, in the
room subsequently occupied by the Wesleyans. The first
teacher was Alice Hickson, who was afterwards despatched
from Fairfield to the Cape of Good Hope ; after labouring
there faithfully for a great many years, she at last died in

128 HISTORY OF

Germany. The school was some time after removed to the
premises previously used as a, warehouse by Mr. Cresswell,
and now occupied by Mr. Hines. Another removal took
place to some rooms in the Sisters' House; and lastly, in
1817, the present school room was erected.

The first collection on behalf of these schools was made
after a sermon preached by the Rev. John Swertner. Copies
of the programme of hymns used on that and three succeed-
ing anniversaries are now in the possession of Mr. Bowker,
of Fairfield. The earliest programme issued consists of two
small pages, containing the " Anthems and hymns to be sung
at the chapel at Fail-field, near Manchester, on Sunday,
November 3, 1793, in the afternoon at two o'clock, when a
sermon will be preached for the benefit of the Sunday schools
in Droylsdon township." The letterpress is surmounted
with a wood cut, representing a trumpet and lyre reposing on
an opened book, and the whole is enwreathed with a chaplet
of flowers. First on the list appears the anthem, " Comfort
ye my people "; then a hymn of six verses, the first four to
be sung by the children, and the two last by all present ;
and finally the musical performances close with another
anthem. The programme for the third year is comprised in
four pages with the same heading as the first, except that
the date is altered to August 9, 1795. Strangely enough,
the same error in the orthography of the township is per-
petuated. The only apparent novelty consists in the boys
and girls taking separate lines in a hymn of twelve verses.
The seventh anniversary was held October 27, 1799, and
the ninth on June 14, 1801, For some time after their
commencement, both writing and arithmetic were taught
in the schools ; but these were afterwards taught on
the week nights instead. At the outset the boys were
principally instructed by the boarding school teachers, for
which purpose three teachers in turn attended for three
Sundays in succession. Shortly afterwards a stipendiary
teacher, Joseph Wood, was appointed, and with him were
associated several voluntary assistants ; and the whole
arrangements were superintended by a staff of visitors,
consisting of a number of householders, who, in rotation,

DEOTL8DEN. 129

attended every Sabbath. In the morning, after the con-
clusion of public service in the chapel, the scholars were
conducted to the "children's meeting," when a short special
exhortation was delivered, and in the afternoon it was
customary to take them to the ordinary public service.

WESLEYAN METHODISM.

Only meagre recollections and notices, unfortunately, have
survived respecting the first introduction of Methodism into
the locality, and of its -progress during the incursionary
period, when local preachers from Manchester visited the
neighbouring villages and supplemented the efforts of zealous
converts, who, as in Droylsden, preached the gospel in one
another's houses.

The first Methodist sermon recorded to have been de-
livered in the township was preached, it is said, by John
Ashton, from an oak tree which stood near the entrance to
the present Recreation Grounds. Shortly afterwards, meet-
ings for prayer and preaching were established in a cottage,
now divided into two, adjoining the Bang's Head. The
earliest definite record of Methodism in Droylsden occurs in
connection with this domicile. The Grimshaws, in their
obituary register, have inserted the names of various
preachers at Lane Head, together with the texts and dates
of their sermons. Thus, in 1779, on the llth of July, and
the four following Sabbaths, the officiators were Mr. Gibson
(2 Cor. v. 20), Richard Emon, John Kenerly, William
Clayton, and John Boon. After a blank interval, it is noticed
that James Konyon preached on September 19, in the samo
year, Mr. Benson on the 19th of the following April, and,
lastly, Mr. Vaulton on April 17, 1781, after which the
authority is silent. It is recollected that a few years sub-
sequently, the Methodists of Droylsden and Openshaw met
for worship on some occasions at Henry Hallam's, in Little
Droylsdon, and on others at Robert Turner's, in Back Open-
shaw. In the barn adjoining, annual sermons wore de-
livered and lovo feasts held. A few years afterwards, as
is remembered, there was preaching on Sunday after-
noons at Thomas Selby's, in. Little Droylsden, and in the

a

130 HISTORY OF

evening at Joseph Lowe's, near Lane End, in Droylsdeu.
The first Wesleyan Society in the township was established
in or about 1806 ; and from that time permanent services
were commenced at Lane End in an upper room of a three
storeyed building, which, a few years ago, was replaced by
the shop now held by Mrs. Parker. The basement storey
was a cellar, and an external flight of nine or ten steps
afforded access to the intermediate floor, occupied by Thomas
Mather, a cobbler. From this floor ingress was obtained to
the meeting room above.

For many years no special effort was made for the young ;
but, at the conclusion of a class meeting, one Monday even-
ing, in January, 1819, a few young men and women, after
due consideration, resolved to commence a Sabbath school.
On the following Sunday, at its opening, the teachers out-
numbered the scholars. The teachers were John Grimshaw,
John Thornley, Jeremiah Etchells, John Etchells, Benjamin
Kenyon, Esther Schofleld, Ann Lowe, and Betty, Esther,
and Alice Hill, who, as well as the children, brought, to
begin with, what spare Bibles and spelling books they could
procure.

The first collection was made in July, 1819, at the close
of a sermon preached from Isaiah liv. 1 3, by Mr. William
Blackburn, in a barn which stood nearly opposite. In this
barn the several anniversaries were held till the opening of
the new chapel. The second yearly sermon was preached
by Mr. John Crawshaw, and the third by Mr. W. Pollard,
in June, 1821, when upwards of 200 children were receiving
gratuitous instruction.

Although the second storey had been brought into use,
yet, owing to the influx of scholars, the premises became
inconveniently small. An eligible plot of land having been
procured from Thomas Greene, Esq., on Friday, August 5,
1825, the foundation stone of a new chapel was laid by the
Rev. P. C. Turner, who delivered an appropriate address.
The same minister also preached on the wakes Tuesday,
from Matthew vii. 24, in the shell of the building, then
about shoulder height. The opening took place on or
about the third Sabbath in April, 1826, with three sermons

miOTLRlJEN. 131

preached by the Revs. Robert Newton (Mark xvi. 5), John
"Waterhouse (Luke x. 41-2), and Jabez Bunting (1 Tim. iv. 8).

The chapel, which is palisaded from Market-street, is a
plain but compact brick erection, and measures, internally,
thirty-seven feet square. A stone panel, inscribed "Wes-
leyan Chapel, 1825," is inserted in the entrance gable,
which is pierced by two lower and three upper window?.
There are, also, three windows on each side of the building.
Thus the interior is well lighted, and is airy and neatly
furnished. Including a small eastern gallery, there are 350
sittings, of which 100 are free. The cost of erection and
improvement, up to January, 1829, was £603, for £450 of
which the trustees are still responsible ; and, in addition,
the current debt amounts to above £40. The site contains
553 square yards, leased on an annual chief of £2 6s. 3d. ;
and the acting trustee is Mr. C. Beswick, of Manchester.
The trust deed, which is enrolled in Chancery, is similar in
purport to those by which Wesleyan chapels are generally
held.

A small Sunday school, capable of accommodating eighty
children, and restricted to the junior classes, was built in
1828 in the rear of the chapel, in which edifice the senior
scholars continued to be taught. At length, in order to
remedy the inconvenience, the present school of two storeys,
with four class rooms, was erected on the old site, at a cost
of £220, and opened for use on the 6th of October, 1850. A
bazaar in aid of the building fund was held in the premises
on the fifth and several succeeding days of the following
month, which, supplementing a public subscription, realised
a sufficient amount to defray the expense of erection.

PRIMITIVE METHODISM.

Several Primitive Methodists from Stockport, including
Mr. "William Stafford, of "Woodley, visited Droylsden aa
missionaries about August, 1836. One Sunday evening,
after preaching in a house near the Copperas "Works, Mr.
Stafford intimated that it was intended to form a society,
when five persons accepted the invitation, and enrolled
their namea on the class paper. The number increasing

o 2

132 HISTORY OF

shortly afterwards, they engaged the room at Lane End,
sometime held by the Wesleyans, and there commenced
assembling for worship, and opened a Sabbath school as
well.

Being obliged, after a brief period, to vacate the premises,
the school was relinquished, but the society continued to
meet, first at William Moor's, then at Peter Turner's, and
afterwards evening service was begun in the Temperance
Room, which was sublet to them by the Independents, who
used it themselves in the morning and afternoon.

After a time, subscriptions were obtained towards erecting
a new chapel ; and having secured a site at Lane Head, a
small but neat structure of brick was erected at an expense
of £150, of which £80 still remains as a debt. A stone
label in front is inscribed, " Primitive Methodist Chapel,
erected 1845." The opening took place February 23, 1845,
and the services extended over the succeeding Sunday, and
concluded on the following (Monday) evening. In 1856,
the entrance door was removed into Chapel-street, the edifice
enlarged to 10 yards by 7, and the seat accommodation in-
creased from 150 to 200 persons, at an expense of £50, borne
by subscription. Since the opening, it has been used for the
purpose of a Sabbath school.

PROMISCUOUS.

Besides those religious bodies which gained a footing in
the village, incursionary efforts were made by zealous
disciples of other sects.

About 1834, a Mr. Collins, who taught a small day
school in the premises subsequently occupied as the tem-
perance room, used the same place on Sundays for preach-
ing; The Warrenites afterwards held the room for a
time ; and they were followed by the admirers of the Rev.
Joseph R. Stevens. But as all these efforts were of a
temporary character, no appreciable result followed.

DBOYLSDBN. 133

INDEPENDENCY.

Tho principles of Congregationalism, or Independency,
were preached early in tho seventeenth century at Gorton
Chapel, when and where, probably, they were imbibed by
the Jollies, tho first known family in Droylsden belonging
to that persuasion. Later on, Oliver Heywood, the cele-
brated Nonconformist minister, as recorded in his diary,
preached on January 6, 1667, at night (for secresy), at the
house of James Hulton, of Droisden, an old Commonwealth
officer.

Modern Independency was introduced into Droylsden soon
after the starting of Fairneld Mills. Apparently, in Decem-
ber, 1837, Messrs. Lee Meaden, John Hartley, and George
Shaw commenced a Sabbath school in the premises after-
wards known as tho Temperance Room, and on the first
Sunday had about four teachers and twenty scholars. In
the course of a few months, public service and preaching
were also begun in the same place.

Mr. "W. M. Christy, having erected a new school room in
Queen-street early in 1838, granted its use to the conductors
of the above school, for tho purpose of instructing " children
of all denominations," free from sectarianism, and without
public preaching. However, after a year or two had elapsed,
on the understanding that the principle on which the school
was conducted would not be interfered with, permission was
obtained from Mr. Christy to use the room for preaching on
Sunday evenings. This was inaugurated by the Rev. Jona-
than Sutclifle, F.S.A., of Ashton-under-Lyne, who, some
years before, had preached occasionally in a dwelling house
at Lum, on tho confines of Droylsden. From that period,
although tho school remained unsoctarian, yet the pub-
lic worship was strictly congregational, all the officiating
ministers belonging to that persuasion. In tho week follow-
ing the first Sabbath in February, 1845, when tho scholars
had increased to between one and two hundred, the managers
of the building transferred tho use of the room to the recently
appointed incumbent of Droylsden.

After an intermission of one or two Sundays, a few of the

134 HISTORY OF

old teachers, having rented the Temperance Room, recom-
menced both the Sahhath school and evening service, though
the former was discontinued shortly afterwards.

Messrs. Charles Barker, Lee Meaden, and a few associates,
in the autumn of 1846, resolved on again reopening tho
Sunday school, and the former person consented to become
superintendent.

At first, the scholars were few in number, but gradually
increased, until the room became inconveniently small. Tho
service was afterwards changed from evening to morning
and afternoon. Under the impression that the building was
about to be taken down, subscriptions were begun for the
purpose of erecting a new school room or chapel. To pro-
mote this object a circular was issued, without date, but
apparently near the close of 1846, and signed by Mr. Charles
Barker, superintendent, and Messrs. Benjamin Halcrow,
Lee Meaden, Edward Warren, Andrew Robertson, and John
Ashburn, committee men.

A site was obtained in King-street, then an open field,
and on a portion of it they erected a rectangular edifice,
capable of seating nearly 200 persons. The memorial stone
in front is labelled, " Droylsden Independent Sunday School,
1847." The interior is lighted by two pointed windows in
front, and four square headed ones on each side. The
internal porch, pulpit, forms with backs, stove, and gas
apparatus, are neat, but of plain design. There is a class
room or vestry attached, and the premises are vested in
trustees, and registered according to law.

The school room was opened for divine worship on Feb.
20, 1848, the Rev. Dr. Massie, of Salford, preaching in the
afternoon and the Rev. J. Sutcliffe in the evening, and tho
Rev. W. W. Essex, of Fairfield, on the following (Monday)
evening. A small debt was left on the building, but happily
extinguished a few years afterwards.

For a time the students of the Lancashire Independent Col-
lege and others officiated at the chapel ; but at length a grant
was obtained from the Congregational Union, and promises of
other assistance were received, for the purpose of maintaining
a stated minister. Choice fell upon the Rev. David Wilson,

DROY18DEN. 135

who, on the 3rd of October, 1852, commenced his pastoral
duties in Droylsden. At the end of twelve months, he re~
moved to Ryton, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. His successor
was the Rev. Thomas Stiirges, who preached his first sermon
in Droylsden on the 16th of October, 1853, and his last on
the llth of January, 1857, when he removed to Upper Mill,
in Saddleworth, where he is still located. The Rev. Charles
Bingley, of Tockholes, near Blackburn, commenced preach-
ing at Droylsden August 9, 1857, and is the present respected
minister of the congregation. The church here assembling
was]afnliated to that at Albion -street Chapel, Ashton-under-
Lyno, until October 25, 1857, when it was rendered inde-
pendent.

Having long felt the inconvenience of meeting for worship
in a room devoted to Sabbath school purposes, strenuous
ciforts were made to realise funds for the erection of a new
chapel. A bazaar, for the sale of fancy articles, was held
in a largo marquee, near Seventhorns' Wells, on the seventh
and three following days of July, 1858 ; and three services
were held and collections made in the same place, on the
Sabbath ensuing.

A site was obtained opposite Droylsden Mills, with a
frontage to Market-street. The foundation stone was kid
on the 25th of April, 1859, by Abel Buckley, Esq., of
Alderdale Lodge, Droylsden, and the event was commemo-
rated with a tea meeting in the evening.

The chapel will be in the decorated Gothic style of
architecture, the exterior walls being faced with red and
white bricks, relieved with dressings of York stone. The
front to Market-street will be fifty-three feet wide, and,'
including the porches, divided into five •bmpartments,
the centre one containing a large four light window, with
flamboyant tracery in the head.

The school rooms are placed underneath the chapel ; but
the foundation being only seven feet below, and the
chapel floor six feet above, the level of Market-street, tho
school rooms will have many of tho advantages in light
and ventilation of an uppor room. The main school room
is thirtyjfivo feet square, with nine commodious class

136 HISTORY OF

rooms opening out of it, including an infant class room
twenty-two feet by thirteen feet. Most of the class room
doors are arranged to fold, so that all can be thrown open
for occasional large public meetings.

The chapel consists of the main room, which will be built
of sufficient loftiness to permit of the introduction of future
galleries. The entrances to the chapel will bo from the
before mentioned porches, which will be ample and well
provided with swing doors, with the upper panels glazed
with plate glass. At the back of the chapel is a projection
containing the vestry, back staircase, &c. The tower will
be surmounted with a graceful spire, and will contain
the staircase to future galleries. The whole is intended
to be surrounded by fence walls, with ornamental iron
gates and rails to the Market-street front. There will be
accommodation for 391 adults on the ground floor, and the
galleries which may be inserted at any future time will bo
constructed to contain 238 persons, making a total of 629
adults.

The architect is Mr. R. Moffat Smith, of Manchester, and
the builders, Messrs. Bates, Baguley, and Co., of Droylsden.
The cost of the whole is estimated not to exceed £1,900,
and, including the proceeds of the late bazaar, the sale
of the school room, the subscriptions, promises, &c., it is
hoped to open the chapel free from debt.

EDGE-LANE AND EAST END CHAPEL AND SUNDAY SCHOOL.

In the early part of 1850, Mr. Jabez Ashworth took a
house, or shop, at East End, at a shilling a week rent, and
opened it as a Sabbath school. Mr. Ashworth, on the first
Sunday, was the only teacher, and about half a dozen little
children came for instruction ; but gradually additional
teachers and scholars both fell in. After some three years
occupation, the room at East End was exchanged for larger
premises in Edge-lane, rented from Mr. Harrop at £4 per
annum. These were formerly an outhouse and granary,
and consist of two storeys, used for school purposes, and
the lower one used for evening service, being furnished
with seats, pulpit, and harmonium. In the earlier stages

DROTLSDEN. 137

of tho school, a local preacher, connected with the Wes-
luyan Association, came occasionally to officiate. After-
wards, it had some association with the Moravians, but is
not now considered as attached to any denomination.

Mr. Ash worth' s connection terminated with his removal
to Gorton Brook, and the teadhers and scholars, on Christmas
Day, 1857, presented him with a parting token of esteem.
Mr. Foulds Sutcliflfe was his successor in the office of super-
intendent.

NEW CONNECTION METHODISTS.

This body of Christians for some years has possessed a
small chapel at Moor-lane, in Openshaw, which, being close
to tho boundaries of Droylsden, has caused it to be resorted
to by some of the villagers.

A deputation from a similar society at Hooley Hill, having
taken a shop in Hallas's-buildings, Manchester-road, com-
menced Divine service on the 16th May, 1858, in one of the
rooms capable of accommodating some sixty persons, tho
opening sermons being preached by the Rev. Stanley Jack-
son, of Ashton-under-Lyne. Afterwards, on the llth of
July, under tho superintendence of Mr. James Mallalieu, of
Droylsdcn, a Sabbath school was begun, with only three
scholars. Tho scholars, on the Sabbath succeeding, in-
creased to thirty.

LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

The Mormons, some years ago, obtained a slight footing
in tho township, and opened a meeting room in Edward-
street ; but public indignation being aroused by their
breaking tho ice on the canal to immerse a convert, they
found it advisable to desist advocating their tenets. In
April, 1852, another attempt was made to establish Mor-
monism, in Edge-lane, but was relinquished. And, finally,
in October, 1857, they assailed tho township at Clayton, but
met with a vigorous repulse.

G 3

138 HISTORY OF

ROMAN CATHOLICISM.

Droylsden contains a considerable number of Roman
Catholics, almost without exception natives of the Sister
Isle. Their place of worship, St. Ann's Chapel, is locally
situated within Openshaw, but contiguous to Droylsden,
and frequently takes its designation therefrom. The build-
ing was originally erected as a warehouse, and consists of
three storeys, the lower one being used as the boys' Sunday
school, the upper one for the girls, and the intermediate
storey, which is fitted up for worship, was, on the 28th
October, 1849, opened as a temporary chapel. Funds are
now being collected to erect a new edifice.

RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL STATISTICS.

In 1845, the Rev. P. Thompson, B.A., made a house to
house visitation of 450 families in the village, with the
following results. The number of persons was 2,493, in-
cluding 1,352 children, chiefly under sixteen years of age.
In some houses he found two or three families, and in
several from two to four lodgers. Their religious views were
thus analysed : Families professing to belong to the Wesleyan
Methodists, 38 ; Church of England, 30 ; Primitive Metho-
dists, 7 ; Moravians, 6 ; Independents, 5 ; Roman Catholics,
3 ; Baptists, 2 ; New Connection Methodists, 2 ; Quakers,
1 ; Socinians, 1 ; making no religious profession and attend-
ing no religious ordinance, 355 ; total, 450. " What a
startling fact!" says the inquirer. "Within the parish of
Manchester, and but four miles from the centre of the town,
which for energy, wealth, and institutions is the admiration
of the civilised world, above 350 families out of 450, live
without God in the world. I doubt much if the statistics
of the chief town of Tahiti would furnish so melancholy a
result." Of the 1,352 childien above mentioned, the num-
ber attending day schools was : British School, 70 ; infant
department, 60 ; Old School and a small private one, 37 ;
total, 167. Attending Sunday schools: Wesleyan Metho-
dist, 260 ; Church of England, 180 ; Moravian, 68 ; New

(DROYLSDEN. 139

Connection (school not in township), 65 ; Primitive Metho-
dist, 50 ; Roman Catholic (school not in township), 10 ;
making a total of 633.

Secular Education. — Returns were solicited from the several
schools in the township, and the following exhibits the
numbers under tuition in April last. The only objection to
furnish particulars arose from Fail-field day and boarding
schools, which arc almost restricted to non-residents, and in
numbers, so far as Droylsden is concerned, do not more than
compensate for the Roman Catholic children who are sent
to the school in Openshaw : —

SCHOOL. | On Register.

In Attendance.

M .

Queen-st., British (Juvenile) 270
„ „ (Infant)... 110
Fairfield, Day School 110

F.

130
90
60
54
24

Total
400
200
170
123
144

M. | P.
190: 90
90 70
100 48
66 44

70 : 20

Total
280
160
148
110
90

Clayton, Church 69

Clayton Vale, National 120

Total 679

358

^

1037

516 272

788

There are likewise normal or dame schools kept in
Droylsden village, at Fairfield, East End, and Edge-lane,
possessing an aggregate of eighty pupils. If the children of
all ages and both sexes in the township bo estimated at
4,000, the number fit to attend school may bo computed at
1,400, or all those between three and nine years of age,
which are the respective limits at which children are
admitted into the infant schools and the factories.

The above statistics include seventy " short timers " from
the mills attending Queen-street School, and the like num-
ber from the printworks frequenting that at Clayton Vale.
Hence, it appears that nearly 900 are receiving education
under the voluntary system, and 140 under the Printworks
and Factory Acts, leaving nearly 500, and three fourths of
them females, as attending no school at all.

Religious Education. — The following authentic table is
compiled (with the exception of Fairfield Sunday school,
which has been obtained from private sources) from the

140

HISTORY OF

average of returns made on the two first Sabbath afternoons
in April last : —

Church

On Register.

In Attendance.

Teachers

Scholars.

Teachers.

Scholars.

M.

27
15
24
9
10
8
7
9

F.
24
13
17
16
9
4
4
15

M.

304
112
210
132
42
32
44
72

F.

318
117
233
155
50
34
87
90

Total
622
229
443
287
92
66
131
162

M.

13
12

194

8

5i
64

5*

6

F.

12
8
16*

O

44
31
4
6

62£

M. , F. Total
222^215^438
85$ 89U7-5
165 199£364i
89£ 89 178|
33$ 37£ 71"
28 j 30^ 58^
28J 55 83i
50 j 73 123

„ (Clayton)
Wesleyan
Independent...
Prim. Meth. ...
New Con
Edge-lane

Moravian

Total

109

104

948,1084

2032 76

702|789i 1492

Hence, it appears that more than one fourth of the popula-
tion are receiving religious instruction on the Sabbath ;
and, assuming 2,500 to be of an age fit to attend, it follows
that in the entire township there are only 467 children who
never resort to any Sunday school.

The teachers connected with the Independent, Wesleyan,
and Primitive Methodist schools on the 10th of May, 1855,
founded a Sunday School Teachers' Association, which at
present remains in abeyance.

LITERATURE, LECTURES, ELOCUTION, ETC.

Hitherto few persons, whether natives or residents, have
by their labours in the cause of literature, science, or art,
achieved even local fame.

Elias Hall, of Droylsden, left a curious MS. history of the
Oldham choir, in or about 1695, and also published some-
thing on the same subject. Amongst modern authors and
literateurs, Messrs. James Burgess, George "VVadlow, and
Edward and William Rayner have written various fugitive
and detached poetical effusions, and Mr. Samuel Lees divers
moral and political sketches, reviews, &c.

Lecturing in the present day forms an important ele-
ment in the diffusion of knowledge. Mr. J. W. Slater has
delivered interesting lectures on chemistry, natural history,

DBOYLSDEX. 141

&c. ; Rev. P. Thompson on the history of Turkey, Rev. T.
Sturges on the Crimean war, Messrs. J. Burgess and E.
Rayner on poetry and elocution, Messrs. S. Dawson and R.
Wood on physical geography, Messrs. "W. Chorlton and J.
J. Hulme on Sunday school economy, and Mr. D. Bolton on
the steam engine and electricity. The most singular subject
•was chosen by a non-resident lady, who, in November, 1852,
lectured at a public house on the " Bloomer Costume."

Apart from lecturing and preaching, up to the present the
science of oratory has been little studied in the locality.
With the exception of a few tea meeting speakers, and trade
and political declaimers, teetotaMsm has almost stood alone
in producing public speakers, generally notable more for
energetic than classical language, and including Messrs. J.
Dennis, J. Deaken, E. L. Jenkins, A. Barlow, P. Etchells,
J. Fitton, J. Holgate, and J. Withington. There are nu-
merous reciters ; and a few public readers sprang up in the
winter of 1857-8 on the adoption of free public readings,
held on Friday evenings, in the Educational Institution.

There are several circulating libraries in the township,
which contain an aggregate of 3,950 volumes, but have only
360 readers. These are the library of the Educational
Institution, originated by the Mechanics' Institution and
Young Men's Association in 1848 ; Droylsden Mills, 1811 ;
Angola Mill, 1856 ; Wesleyan Sudday School, 1828 ;
Church, 1846 ; Independent, 1851 ; Primitive, 1852; Edge-
lane, 1853; Clayton, February 7, 1859; and the Queen-
street British School, 1850. There are three or four news-
vendors and stationers, a depot of the Christian Knowledge
Society, and religious tracts are distributed by the Inde-
pendents and Moravians.

A spirited effort was made in May, 1854, to supply the
locality with a literary and advertising n^lium, under tho
title of The Droylsden Literary and Advertising Journal, a
miscellany of four pages, which was sold for one halfpenny.
After issuing nine monthly nximbors and obtaining a cir-
culation of 1,100 copies, tho undertaking was reluctantly
abandoned from a lack of local advertising patronage.

H2 HISTOEY OF

IXNS AND PUBLIC HOUSES.

At a period not very remote, Droylsden, owing to its
location "on the road to nowhere," or rather from its not
being situated on any public thoroughfare connecting
adjacent towns, could not boast of a single public house.
In the Commonwealth era, the tipplers apparently resoited
to Manchester, as Justice Hibbert, of Droylsden, was
drowned whilst inebriated, in November, 1657, on return-
ing from that town. Probably, the blacksmith's shop
supplied the place of the public house as a rendezvous for
gossips, Droylsden, apparently, having its smithy in the
sixteenth century, and its smith certainly in 1689 in the
person of Thomas Heape.

The Red Lion, in Little Droylsden, was an early wayside
hostelry, and is said to have been the first in the town-
ship. Its owner and occupant, John Thelwell, alias " Old
Maccaroni," on the diversion of the road, erected the new
Red Lion, now the Halfway House, Openshaw, got the
licence transferred, and died there in July, 1789.

A duplicate Red Lion, the first dwelling on the north side
of Far-lane, near the King's Head, was once kept by James
Hill, who, inflamed with jealousy, suddenly disappeared,
and, about a fortnight afterwards, was found hung or
strangled in a tree in Newton "Wood, near Hyde. A
coroner's inquest pronounced it an act of suicide, and, in
accordance with the verdict, the corpse was interred on the
21st of May, 1774, at three lane ends, near the brook, close
by the present Commercial Inn, Newton Moor. Much
sympathy was exhibited towards Hill in Droylsden, and a
band of resolute fellows about three o'clock on the morning
of the 5th of June disinterred his remains, and reburied
them in Ashton churchyard. A woman who casually met
them spread the information, and they were glad to convey
back the body on the 16th of the same month, when the
final interment took place at Newton Moor. A number of
Droylsdenians joined to defray the expense of a grave stone,

DROYLSDEJf. 143

on which the following epitaph, written by Joseph Willan,
of Openshaw, was neatly engraved : —

" Here was Deposited the Body of the unfortunate

Late of Droylsden, who ended his Life May 6th, 1774,

In the forty-second year of his age.
Unhappy Hill, with anxious Cares oppress'd,
Rashly presumed to find in Death his Rest.
With this vague Hope in Lonesome Wood did he
Strangle himself, as Jury did agree ;
For which a Christian burial he's denied,
And is consign'd to Lie at this wayside.

READER !

REFLECT WHAT MAY BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF A CRIME WHICH
EXCLUDES THE POSSIBILITY OF REPENTANCE."

The Red Lion was afterwards kept by "Old" John
Hulme, who, in May, 1782, established a club for women's
stays, then a rare article of dress. The White Hart has
been used as an ale house since November, 1781. An early
" hush shop" in Green-lane bore the unique sign of the
"Jack Ass Head," which was literally the skull of a
donkey. The township, in 1834, contained six public
houses, and, eighteen years later, when the shops of every
description only numbered fifty-two, there were thirty-two
inns and beer houses, being on an average one for every
203 inhabitants, inclusive of children !

TEETOTALISM.

Temperance, total abstinence, or teetotal societies — the
iast designation, from a Lancashire word, signifying entire
abstinence from intoxicating beverages, being the popular
one — hold a distinguished place amongst moral and bene-
volent associations.

Previous to 1836, there was a moderation movement at
work in Droylsden ; but what progress it made or what
benefit it conferred upon the inhabitants does not appear.
In March of that year, after six weeks' canvass, Mr. Joseph
Ellor had the honour of founding the first teetotal society in
the township. A committee of seven persons was appointed.

144 HISTORY OP

The society continued to assemble for four years in the
Wesleyan Chapel, when the further loan of the place was
declined. The society was then removed to the premises
opposite Durham-street end, now known as the Old Teetotal
Room, and there held stated public meetings, committee
meetings, &c., until its dissolution. After several subse-
quent ineffectual attempts, a juvenile society was established
in January, 1847. At one time, it had no less than seventy-
five members, with an attendance of sixty at a night school,
kept in a cottage in Edward-street, where spelling, reading,
writing, and arithmetic were gratuitously taught to the
members. Unfortunately, it became defunct in April, 1849.

The adult society attained its zenith of prosperity in
1849, during which year no less than 267 persons signed
the teetotal pledge. In the following year, tracts on total
abstinence were circulated in the village at the rate of four
hundred per week, and a first rate procession was got up
on the Monday of the wakes week. The members wore
white rosettes, and the juveniles were distinguished by a
strip of blue. A red herring, borne on a pole, was inscribed
" A Drunkard's Bullock," and an empty barrel was labelled
" To Let." A wooden legged personator of an inebriate,
riding on an ass, was abused in Fairfield by a real tippler,
as " drunk as a lord," and evidently averse to shams.

But the cause declined ; and, although a tolerable pro-
cession was mustered in May, 1850, the society ceased to
exist a few months afterwards.

Fairfield, for about sixty-three years, possessed a noted
inn ; but the synod which met in Germany, in October,
1848, recommending the closing of all places for the manu-
facture and sale of intoxicating drinks within its jurisdic-
tion, the Fairfield establishment has since been used as a
board and lodging house.

A Band of Hope was instituted in connection with the
Wesleyan Sabbath School, on the 26th of August, 1852,
when twenty of the teachers took the pledge. Shortly
afterwards, there were thirty-two of the teachers and sixty-
one of the scholars members of the society. The society,
in March, 1853, merged into the Droylsden Temperance

DROYLSDEN. 145

League, then originated under tho presidency of the Rev.
David Wilson, for the purpose of furthering the temperance
cause in the Sahhath schools and among the different Chris-
trian congregations. When the United Kingdom Alliance
was formed, in October, 1853, the committee of the Droyls-
dcn League agreed to co-operate with that movement, and
so continued until October, 1856, when they discontinued
operations, and on the 16th of April following finally dis-
solved the association.

A petition for closing public houses on the Sabbath was
despatched from Droylsden in Hay, 1854, with 535 signa-
tures attached. At present there is a Band of Hope in
connection with tho Independent Sabbath School ; and
also, under the auspices of a few teetotalers, lectures are
occasionally delivered in the Wesleyan School Room.

PROVIDENT INSTITUTIONS.

The industrial classes are able to alleviate much suffering
and distress by joining various secret orders, and other less
formal friendly societies and clubs, instituted, in most cases,
as *(vcll for relief of members when sick as for interment
when dead.

Tho most ancient association in tho village is the Old
Men's Club, a branch of a sick society begun in Openshaw
so far back as 1777, with eighty-one members. A division
of members and funds subsequently took place. One section
removed to Gorton, where it still exists ; and the other to
Fairfield New Inn ; thence to tho Bull's Head, Audonshaw ;
and finally settled down at tho White Hart, Droylsden. A
sick club, commenced in 1843, in connection with Fair-field
Mills, is now extinct.

Thoro are numerous lodges of tho Independent Order of
Odd Fellows (M.U.), Union Odd Fellows, Ancient Foresters,
United Free Gardeners, Female Gardeners, Shepherds, and
Druids. Tho Droylsden Charitable Burial Society, hold at
the King's Head, was established in 1841, and numbers now
more than 3,000 members. There are burial clubs also con-
nected with the Wesleyan and Church Sunday Schools ; and
in the village is a self-supporting Board of Health.

146 HISTORY OP

In addition to inviting relatives and friends from a dis-
tance, at funerals it was once customary to " lathe owth'
foak ut KVt op th' loane." By that means a large con-
course was collected, and, probably on the plea that "sorrow
will have drink," they were copiously regaled with malt
liquor. The average cost of several adult interments, as
returned to a burial society eighty years ago, was
£1 13s. 9Jd., disposed of in the following manner: —
Washing corpse, Is.; coffin, lls.; dues, 2s. 2d. ; bread,
5s. 3d.; ale, lls. 9d. ; rum, Is.; sugar, Is.; nutmeg, 2d. ;
tobacco, 3Jd. ; and rosemary, 2d. About a dozen years
afterwards, at another interment, the expense of which was
defrayed by the township, the coffin, dues, suit, asking to
the funeral, bread and cheese, only 'amounted to £1 la. O^d ;
whilst nearly as much, £1 Os. 4d., was lavished in rum, ale,
sugar, and tobacco.

Many of the operatives support strikes, trade unions, and
other societies, for the benefit or upholding of their respective
branches of employment. A co-operative store, for the sale
of groceries and provisions unadulterated and at a cheap
scale of prices was wound up, after an existence of several
years. A branch of the Manchester and Salford Savings
Bank, in May, 1852, was begun at Openshaw, just without
the boundaries of Droylsden, which furnishes a number of
depositors and several inspectors of accounts. A penny
preliminary savings bank was established, October, 1854, in
connection with Fairfield National School, and has now
seventy-four male and forty-six female depositors.

Clothing clubs, for the benefit of the scholars, are attached
to the Church and Wesleyan Sabbath Schools. The Fair-
field and Droylsden Bible Society was formed more than a
quarter of a century ago; and auxiliary missionary and
other similar societies are associated with most of the Sun-
day schools and places of worship.

Amongst the semi-provident societies existing are money
clubs, furniture clubs, drapers' clothing clubs, and the like.
A singular club, for procuring women's stays, was estab-
lished so long ago as May, 1782, at the house of John
Ilulme. Although there are no building societies, yet a

DROYLSDEN. 147

singular and somewhat notorious scheme, called the Droyls-
den Property Division Lottery, was vigorously progressing
in May, 1859, when the Attorney-General took the matter
in hand, and caused it to be relinquished.

Questionable benefits have been derived also from im-
provident institutions, such as a loan society, raffles, trust
shops, travelling Scotchmen, and a couple of pawnshops.

LOCAL WORTHIES, CELEBRITIES, ETC.

In this niche, up to the present time, a few brief bio-
graphies may suffice, — not so, it is hoped, in the " good
time coming."

Humphrey Chotham, whose name stands out in fore-
most relief, is briefly noticed in a previous chapter.

Charles Hindley, Esq., was born at Fail-field, June 25,
1 796, and died at Dartmouth House, Westminster, Decem-
ber 1, 1857, after representing Ashton-under-Lyne in
Parliament for more than twenty-three years. He was the
third son of Ignatius and Mary Hindley, and received the
rudiments of his education at the Moravian Academy, at
Fairfield, and afterwards at a similar establishment at Ful-
neck, near Leeds, and finally completed his studies with
the Rev. C. A. Pohlman, of Haverfordwest, South Wales.
After occupying, for several years, the position of classical
and mathematical tutor at the Moravian establishment,
Gracehill, Ireland, in February, 1819, on the death of his
brother, he undertook the management of a cotton mill, in
Dukinfield, in which he had previously been a sleeping
partner. Mr. Hindley was a steady friend and promoter of
the Short Time Bill, the Peace Society, mechanics' institu-
tions, Sunday schools, and other benevolent institutions.

John Frederic Foster, Esq., was born at Wyke, near
Halifax, in 1795. His early education was partly acquired
at Fairfield, under the Rev. John Rogers. Subsequently he
was placed in the Moravian Academy at Fulneck, and after-
wards completed his scholastic studies at Cambridge. Mr.
Foster was called to the bar in June, 1821, and subsequently
commenced practice as a barrister in Manchester, and for
some years resided in Fairfield. At that time, Mr. Foster

148 HISTORY OF

took an active interest in the parochial affairs of Droylsden,
and, in December, 1825, was nominated a trustee of the
Public Day School, an office which he retained till death.
In August, 1825, Mr. Foster was appointed stipendiary
magistrate for Manchester and Salford, and, in April, 1838,
to the chairmanship of the quarter sessions for the hundred
of Salford, in both of which spheres, successively, his con-
duct was exemplary, until suddenly cut off by death, on
the 9th April, 1858, at his residence at Alderley, Cheshire.

The Rev. Benjamin La Trobe, an eminent Moravian
minister, and a most excellent religious writer, esteemed by
all evangelical persuasions, took a warm interest in Fairfield.
The settlement was founded under his direction, and with
his active co-operation, as provincial or superintendent of
the congregations of the United Brethren in England. From
Fulneck he was called to London, where he died, 29th
November, 1786, aged fifty-eight years. An engraved
portrait and brief memoir are inserted in Aikin's " Man-
chester and Forty Miles Round."

The Rev. Christian Ignatius La Trobe, son of the above,
held the offices of secretary to the church and to the
missions of the brethren. In musical attainments, he was
second to none of his age in Great Britain, and, though an
amateur, maybe said to have done more than any other man
to promote the cause of sacred music in this country. His
own compositions, many of which were published, are of no
ordinary excellence. After a residence of several years, he
died at Fairfield, 6th May, 1836, aged seventy-eight, and
was buried in the graveyard adjoining. He left four sons.
Peter, the eldest, for three years had the superintendence of
the Single Brethren's House in Fairfield. He was afterwards
assistant to his father, and then succeede'd him in his offices.
John Antes is canon of Carlisle, and incumbent of St.
Thomas's, Kendal. He is the author of several excellent
works, including two volumes of poems, chiefly on sacred
subjects. Charles Joseph was educated at Fulneck, and
became a teacher in Fairfield School. Subsequently, he
travelled much on foot, and became known to the reading
public by his "Alpenstock Pedestrian and Rambler in North

DROYLSDEN. 149

America and Mexico." When Government made a grant
for educational purposes, on the emancipation of slaves in
the West "indies, he was nominated a commissioner, and
afterwards was appointed superintendent and then lieu-
tenant-governor of the colony of Victoria. Last year, for
energetic and meritorious conduct in that capacity, he was
created a Companion of the Bath. Frederick Benjamin,
the fourth son, was brought up to medicine, and practised
in the West Indies until 1841, when he died in Jamaica.

The Rev. William Wisdom Essex, bishop of the Church
of the United Brethren, was born January 6, 1795, in tho
town of Devizes. It appears from an excellent biographical
sketch (p. 33) that, in 1820, he became labourer of tho
Single Brethren at Fairneld, where, two years afterwards,
he was ordained deacon by tho late Bishop Moore, and in
1823 was called to be minister and director of the boys' and
girls' schools at Gracehill. In 1842, Mr. Essex accepted tho
office of congregational helper and director of the girls'
boarding school at Fairfleld, which position he retained
seven years. After various locations, hia death took place
May 31, 1850.

The Rev. John Rogers succeeded Mr. Essex at Fairneld.
He was subsequently advanced to the episcopate of tho
Brethren, preached his farewell address at Fairneld, Sep-
tember 19, 1858, retired from the ministry, and settled at
Bristol.

James Bowker was born at Fairneld, June 30, 1787, and
died on the estate October 14, 1854, after residing there tho
greater portion of his life. He was partly of Gorman
extraction, his mother, Benigna Ockershausen, being tho
daughter of a Lutheran minister. Mr. Bowker was long
employed in hand loom weaving, but during his latter years
followed chiefly twisting -in at Edge-lane Mill. He possessed
a sound judgment and powerful memory, and as a vocalist
had paid professional visits to York and other places. He
wrote an account of the early state of the cotton trade in tho
township, which appeared in tho Droyladen Literary and
Advertising Journal ; and, after considerable addition and
emendation, has been made use of in these pages.

100 HISTORY OF

Richard Oastler, Esq., the able advocate of " short time,"
resided for awhile in seclusion in Fairneld.

LOCAL BENEFACTORS.

Not a single charitable bequest is to be found in exclusive
connection with Droylsden, and, even in joint participation
with other places, Humphrey Chetham's benefactions have
hitherto stood alone, the admiration of all. By his last will,
dated at Clayton, December 16, 1651, Chetham bequeathed
£7,000, to be expended in purchasing estates of the clear
annual value of £420, to be employed in the founding and
endowing of a hospital for maintaining, clothing, educating,
bringing up, and apprenticing poor boys. Droylsden origin-
ally furnished three recipients, which, about 1700, were
increased to four, eighty years later to six, and some time
ago the number was further augmented to eight. After the
founder's death, two long centuries were suffered to elapse
without any monumental inscription being placed over his
remains, when a gentleman, once, as a lad, an inmate of the
hospital, who had been successful in business, erected a
chaste stone statue to his memory in the Cathedral. The
only memento of this truly local worthy to be found in
Droylsden is in the sign of a roadside public house at
Clayton.

The Byrons had previously been benefactors to Man-
chester Parish Church, and doubtless materially assisted in
founding the chapels at Gorton and Newton, all of which,
to some extent, proved beneficial to Droylsden. Humphrey
Chetham, also, in one of his early wills, bequeathed £500
for the maintenance of " university men" at the chapels
above named, and that will was only revoked in order to
make way for the foundation of his imperishable hospital
and library, which have rendered his name a venerated
"household word" throughout South Lancashire. The
mantle of benevolence and care for the moral and spiritual
welfare of the people appears to have descended through
successive owners of the Clayton estate ; and the present
proprietor, in addition to the erection of a pretty village
school, seems likely to realise the anticipation of the oratory's

DROYLSDEX. 151

simple bell, which, at least by its inscription, has long fore-
shadowed the time when that little house of prayer should
be followed by a substantial village church.

The late Samuel Oldham, Esq., of Oak View, Audenshaw,
left funds towards the endowment of an infirmary, when
erected in Ashton-under-Lyne, destined hereafter to benefit
the inhabitants of Droylsdeu, the whole of the township
being included within the sphere of its contemplated opera-
tions. The offertory money collected on sacramental Sun-
days in the Church, and also in the Licensed School Room
at Clayton, is dispensed in charity by the clergy. Mrs.
Benson, when resident in the neighbourhood, supported a
charity purposely for lending linen to poor married women
during their confinement. This is continued by the wife of
the rector. Robert Cuthbertson, in 1683, devised £100 to the
poor inhabitants of Salford, for which a reserved rent of £5
per annum was secured out of premises in Droylsden, to bo
distributed by the constables and churchwardens in blankets.

MTLITAKY AJTD VOLUNTEER TOPICS.

The Byrons probably led some of their Droylsden tenantry
and retainers to the early French wars, where they won last-
ing renown. Later on, a portion of the inhabitants seem to
have embraced the doctrines and policy of the Puritans, tho
township being slightly involved in the civil dissensions of
tho time of Charles I. At least, James Hulton and James
Jollie, two Commonwealth officers, resided within it. There
occurs also in tho Manchester constable's accounts of 1643,
a payment of " 8d. for fetching four horses from Fealsworth
and Drylsden, to carry a pack for Sir Thomas Ffarfax."

During the rebellion of 1745, the foraging parties of tho
Scotch rebels on their route towards Ashton, passed through
Little Droylsden, but did not penetrate into Droylsden
Major. Nevertheless, tho alarmed inhabitants expected
them, and Thomas Birtenshaw, of Round Oak farm, now
Fairfield, as a means of precaution, despatched his children
for safety to a friend's house in Green-lane ! He also con-
cealed a favourite pony in a sand pit, at a short distance
from his residence. The favourite, to hia horror, but happily

152 HISTORY OF

without any ill effect, neighed to the horses of the invaders
as they passed along the highway, at a distance of a field
or two.

Concerning the militia many incidental notices occur in
the ratebooks — the first in 1768, when John Barlow, and
John Brazier, acting as substitute for Abraham Beswick,
were the militia men, on whose behalf the constable expended
two shillings, one for a cockade, and the other for drink.
Aaron Blackshaw, the following year, received three guineas
from the rates whilst serving in a similar capacity. Again,
in " three sevens" (1777), sundry militia expenses are
recorded ; and two years later the town gave a shilling and
an old gun barrel in exchange for a new truncheon.

About the close of the century, when Bonaparte threatened
the island with invasion, the inhabitants of Droylsden,
simultaneously with their neighbours, fired with patriotism,
proclaimed in their songs, that

" England never did, nor never shall,
Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror."

Then it was that the township possessed four militia guns,
which are described as heavy, clumsy implements, with
barrels a quarter of an inch thick, and stocks apparently
sawn out of solid wood and guiltless of polish. These
muskets were stationed at frontier farms for the purpose of
protecting the village, and intended to do battle with the
French in case of invasion.

The militia system was revived, and clubs for providing
substitutes for those ballotted were instituted both at the
White Hart and the King's Head. The expenses of volun-
teering, recruiting, and the army of reserve fell heavily on
the ratepayers. The militia account in 1802-3 amounted
to over sixteen guineas ; and in the following year volun-
teering expenses were above fifteen pounds, whilst in addi-
tion the payments on behalf of the militia and army of
reserve were more than eighty-five pounds. In the year
ensuing, recruiting expenses amounted to above eleven
pounds.

But military enthusiasm had spread through the country,
and volunteering became the rage of the day. Considerable

DROTLSDKK. 168

emulation in raising men sprang up between Nehemiah
Heap, of Droylsden, and "William Shawcross, of Gorton.
The latter determined " to beard the lion in his den," and
accordingly with fife and drum entered Droylsden, and beat
up for recruits in opposition to his rival. Nehemiah Heap's,
or "Th" Whitewood Soldiers," as they were dignified, met
for exercise and drill in the village school, and, in lieu of
muskets, were armed with wooden staves and brush stails !
The Misses Robinson, of the Clockhouse, made rosettes of
orange and mazarine blue, as large as butter prints, which,
with their own fair hands they conspicuously placed on the
volunteers' hats.

A few villagers, thirsting for distinction, joined the Med-
lock Vale Rifle Corps, and others sought renown by enrol-
ling in the ranks of the Newton and Failsworth Volunteer
Infantry.

For a series of years the ratebooks are heavily burdened
with extraneous disbursements. In 1807-8, over thirty- three
pounds was paid for militia bounties ; three years later more
than twenty-five pounds to the old and ten pounds to the
local militia, which also caused an expenditure in the next
year, and again so late as 1814. On the 8th of April in the
latter year, peace was proclaimed, and the auspicious event
was celebrated with feasting and other joyous demonstra-
tions, particularly in Fairfield, where an imposing proces-
sion, headed by a splendid new banner, passed round the
settlement. But war was soon renewed, and in the year
following the ratebooks record eight shillings paid to the
account of the local militia at Failsworth, and a like amount
expended in the purchase of four truncheons for the use of
the constables.

Descending to modern times, the liberal subscriptions to
the Patriotic Fund, in January, 1855, evince the warm
sympathy of the people for the army when its efforts are
directed in a righteous cause. The contributions in Droyls-
den alone realised £111 17s. 4d., of which sum the public
raised £43 13s. 6d.; Edge-lane Mill, £16 12s. 7d.; Fairfield
Mills, £15 16s.; Angola, £14 Os. 4d.; Victoria, £11 2s.;
and Droylsden Mills, £10 12s. lid. The announcement of

H

154 HISTORY OF

the re-establishment of peace with Russia was received with
lively emotions of joy, and the event was celebrated, on the
last day of May, 1856, with a tea party, speeches, and other
rejoicings, under the presidency of the rector, in the Queen-
street School Room.

POLITICAL MOVEMENTS.

An intelligent loyalty seems long to have pervaded the
district. The Moravians, on the 21st of March, 1789, com-
memorated by an illumination the recovery of the King
(Geo. III.) from a mental aberration.

During the French war, work was scarce and provisions
dear, flour being sixpence a pound, and potatoes a guinea per
load. Though sedition stalked through the manufacturing
districts, yet within the bosoms of many of the starving
multitude the utmost loyalty and patriotism prevailed. For
instance, " Old Jammy Grimshaw," who had woven an
entire cut whilst subsisting on three roasted potatoes and
the prospect of another, which his wife had placed on the
end of the breast beam whilst he took off his work, could
still lighten his labour with singing " Britons never, never
shall be slaves !"

Nevertheless, Droylsden evinced its desire for parlia-
mentary and political reform by furnishing its quota of
representatives in April, 1794, to the celebrated Royton
meeting, which was ruthlessly dispersed by a loyalist mob.
Samuel Shawcross, of Droylsden, contrived to escape ; but
William, his elder and less fortunate brother, was taken
prisoner to Lancaster, and did not recover his liberty until
his father had expended a large sum of money.

Passing onward to 1812, the period of the Luddite riots,
the town's authorities are discovered taking ample precau-
tions to protect life and property. On the 4th of May, thirty-
eight special constables were sworn in, and the system of
watch and ward was also introduced, the township being
patrolled during the night.

During the Chartist agitation for political reform in 1848,
considerable excitement was manifested in the village, and
its advocates met in Edward-street, in a cottage taken for

DROYLSDEN. 155

the purpose. Branches of Feargus O'Connor's Land Society
and Land and Labour Bank were also established. A year
or two ago, formidable looking pike heads were, at intervals,
disinterred in the vacant land near Halcrow-street.

Several meetings in favour of the repeal of the corn laws
were held some in the open air and others in the Queen-
street School Boom. The revocation of that impost was
celebrated in Droylsden, on August 3, 1846, with a feast and
public procession of the workpeople employed at Fairfield
Mills.

Early in February of the present year, a political society
was instituted, under the appellation of "The Droylsden
and Audenshaw Auxiliary to the Lancashire Reformers'
Union."

For the purposes of county elections, Droylsden is com-
prised within the polling district of Manchester, qualifying,
in 1835, seventy-six, and at present one hundred and twenty-
six voters. On the 3rd of last May, Messrs. Cheetham and
Heywood (the hitter by his representative, J. Heywood,
Esq.), and on the following evening Messrs. Egerton and
Legh, addressed the electors and non-electors of this district
in the Droylsden Educational Institution, There is, never-
theless, an absence of virulent party feeling, and men, sepa-
rated by various diversities of political opinion, otherwise
freely mingle on the same platform and earnestly combine
for the benefit of the public at large.

THE MOSS.

The process of moss, bog, or peat formation, is thus ex-
plained. Extensive forests, covering valleys and hill sides,
are inundated, and the uprooted trees form a barrier which
prevents the entire egress of the water ; or trees, decayed with
age, or snapped asunder by the wind, fall across a sluggish
stream, and choke up the outlet. The excessive moisture kills
the surrounding timber, and either the roots loosen and the
trees sink and fall, or branch after branch drops down, the
bole ultimately yielding to the same fate. Gradually there
is formed a swamp, marsh, or morass — neither land nor
water — engendering, and particularly adapted for the

156 HISTORY OF

growth of, aquatic and semi-amphibious plants, which
flourish, decay, and, in turn, are succeeded "by others, until
a light spongy soil is produced. The flowers, T>erries, and
seeds of the plants, which include mosses, sedges, cotton,
and other grasses, are occasionally disinterred almost as
fresh as when newly fallen. Being of rapid growth, in a
generation or two, as the result has proved in old marl pits,
owing to the decay and subsidence of successive vegetation,
and the constantly increasing pressure from above, the
lower strata assumes the consistency of peat, or turf, fit for
fuel. As the vegetation accumulates and becomes more
compressed, the lower mass gradually becomes more dense
and black, constantly approximating nearer and nearer to
coal. The upper portion also gains firmness and solidity,
until it attains the characteristics of a heath, moor, or com-
mon, and affords sustenance to rushes, ferns, and heather.

Ashton Moss, recently consisting of upwards of 200 acres,
and once extending over probably three or four times that
surface, lies chiefly in Audenshaw, but partly in Droylsden.
Droylsden Moor is mentioned in 1505, and various title deeds
and evidences distinctly specify that, early in the seven-
teenth century, moss rooms, doals, or allotments on Droyls-
den Moss appertained to the several farm holdings, peat
being at that period the principal fuel in use. In fact, in-
disputable evidence remains of this boggy deposit having
once overspread a very considerable portion of the east and
south east sides of the township, doubtless joining the Open-
shaw Moss, which, though supplying fuel to the tenantry of
three or four hamlets, retained, so late as the fourteenth
century, a superficial area of one hundred Lancashire acres
in extent. This supposition is borne out by the present
appellations of fields and districts, such as Moorside, Moss-
side, Moorcroft, Madgefield (i.e. moor edge), &c. On the
premises at Fairfield Mills, whilst digging the foundations
for gas works, the workmen came upon several layers of
peat, enclosed in adventitious soil, in appearance not unlike
a dish of sandwiches.

The site of Fairfield, at the time of its purchase by the
Brethren} is said to have been wet and marshy. Lower

DROYLSDEN. 157

down, near the Copperas "Works, and also behind Annet-lane
Fold, traces of turf cutting have been distinctly found.
Bog meadows, a little further on, adjoined the Openshaw
Moss, whose confines are determined by the appellations
Moor-lane, Moorfields, &c. The ditch waters of that locality
deposit a yellowish red sediment, termed " car," a contrac-
tion of ochre. This deposit denotes the presence of carbonate
of iron, a mineral with which peat, from its vegetable
nature, is always largely imbued. The deeds of the Edge-
lane estate, in 1616, mention fields named Nearer and Fur-
ther Moorfield, and Little Moorcroft ; and also enumerates
" one roodland of ground as the same is now m eared, severed,
divided, or taken out of or from the south west end of a
certain moore within Openshaw, called Openshaw Moore."
At that period £4 15s. was the value of a moss room con-
taining an area of 2,000 square yards.

Through the subsidence of the water, the depth of tha
peat is gradually being reduced, yet, in the centre of tha
moss, where the bed remains intact, though diminished some
five feet by drainage, it still retains a thickness ranging from
twenty to twenty-four feet. Near the surface, the decayed
vegetable matter, locally designated "white turf," is lightish
brown in colour, and spongy in texture ; next comes " grey
turf," full of branches, bark, and leaves of trees, greatly
inflammable and speedily consumed ; then four feet of dense
black and shining peat earth; and lastly, resting on the
original surface, the remnants of stems and branches of
trees partially decomposed. This mould, or rather silt,
sometimes a coarse white sand, but usually a muddy ash-
coloured marl, tons of which have been sold to the potters,
has itself been deposited by an irruption of water. Beneath
this, at a depth of several feet, lies an unctuous, rich marl,
of much use in the reclamation of the moss. The surface
of the moss, prior to cultivation, was not more undulating
and unequal than the clayey surface below, which con-
tained frequent hollows and depressions several feet in
depth. Beneath the foreign crust lie large quantities of
diluvial trees, the growth of centuries, at a period when
the site was dry land. Trunks of oak, birch, and hazel,

158 HISTORY OP

indigenous to the spot, and fir, have been periodically ex-
humed, but neither willow, sycamore, alder, yew, nor even
ash, once abundant in the district, have been discovered, being
perhaps of a more perishable nature. Hazel nuts have been
found, but neither acorns nor fir cones. Generally, the buried
oaks are of an ebony jet colour, firm in texture, and destitute
of symptoms of decay ; but they crumble away after a few
years exposure to the atmosphere, and consequently are fit
only for fencing and fuel. The stock of an oak used for the
former purpose was discovered four or five years ago, at
" Far-end-o'th' -World" ; it measured nine feet in circum-
ference, which is the estimated growth of from two to three
centuries. Another specimen, thirty-two feet long, with end
diameters of eighteen and thirty-three inches, was found, a
few years ago, on the south side of Ashton New-road, a
little above Droylsden Church. The bark of the birch tree
etill retains its silvery whiteness, notwithstanding its long
burial. Formerly splints of red fir, full of resin, were used
by the poor, in lieu of candles.

The question arises, is the moss of local or foreign forma-
tion? Clay, in his "Geological Sketches," contends that
the bog has been formed on a more elevated site, probably
Alt Hill, and, becoming surcharged with moisture, has
vacated its original site, and travelled onwards, until the
forest here existing offered sufficient resistance to determine
its settlement. Travelling bogs are not very uncommon.
Irruptions and overflowings of Hough, Chat, and Filling
Mosses, in Lancashire, and Monteith and Solway Mosses,
in Scotland, have been recorded. Ashton Moss, lying higher
than the surrounding land, has frequently, at the " back
end" of the year, when swollen out with rains, overflowed
the fields adjacent. On one occasion, this discharge spread
half way across Joseph Howarth's meadow, and threatened
his dwelling house. As, with the increase of drainage, the
surface of the moss subsides, so objects, once concealed from
certain stand points, like Charlestown from the site of the
churchyard, are constantly becoming more and more visible.
Owing, however, to the absence of thorough drainage, the
peat in wet seasons swells out, like a sponge, diminishing

DROYLSDEN. 159

the prospect until the moisture gradually subsides. Hur-
ricane and flood, axe and fire, may be said to have aided
in the creation of the moss. Clay states that the trunks
of the decayed trees lie horizontally from north east to
south west ; but an old Droylsden peat getter maintains
they were blown down by a violent north west wind. The
trees in the White Moss appear to have been hurled down
by a west or north west gale of wind. In both instances,
the pressure seems to have operated in one direction, as the
timber is all driven down to one inclination. Another
theory affirms that Ashton Moss was produced by the
prostration of the primeval forest during an extraordinary
inundation; and that, subsequently, some great convulsion of
nature raised this marshy valley into upland, as it at present
appears. Popular belief assigns its origin to the action of
the groat deluge, or, as old folks express it, to " th' settlin's
o' Noah's flood."

Many of the tree boles are found snapped off, and lying
across their stumps. The roots remain firmly fixed in the
soil. Some of the trunks also exhibit unmistakable signs
of destruction by fire. A huge oak, disinterred near Jack-
lane end, was found to be considerably charred ; and at its
foot lay a mass of wood ashes. There can bo no doubt,
then, of the local formation of the moss.

And, lastly, concerning the origin of the moss, a vener-
able native, who has resided on its borders all his lifetime,
attributes it to the Romans during their subjugation of the
country. Three Roman coins of the second century and
some pottery, which rested on the natural surface, are the
only products of man's skill ever discovered in the moss ;
and the situation of these would seem to indicate that the
formation of the moss took place at a period subsequent to
the irruption of the Romans. Speaking of Chat Moss,
Baines (iii. p. 131) asserts that it was originally an immense
forest, but reduced to a bog by the Roman invaders, at a
period coeval with the first promulgation of the Christian
religion. It cannot be doubted that the Romans inter-
fered with the natural drainage, and burned the forests,
on account of the shelter and covert afforded by their

160 HISTORY OF

impenetrable recesses to the swarms of suffering Britons.
But this can scarcely have been the case with the forest
here existing, as the dates of the coins are posterior to the
Koman conquest.

The tenant of each estate, up to about sixty years ago,
possessed the right of getting fuel on a moss room, either
for his own use or for sale ; and he could, if he preferred,
sublet a portion of the doal to the cottagers of the neigh-
bourhood.

At some periods of the year, the moss resembled an
encampment, turf stacks being scattered over the surface
in every direction. But mobs carts and moss barrows, turf
cutters and turf fires, are now to be numbered among the
things of the past. By means of draining and marling,
fencing and manuring, this once wild and sullen desolation
has been converted into good grazing and arable land;
and at present, whilst under cereal and green crops, it
surpasses in fertility the more ancient reclaimed lands by
which it is surrounded.

SANITARY OBSERVATIONS.

The situation of Droylsden is open and elevated, a point
near "Waterside being 215 feet above the datum line of the
Ordnance survey, and a still more elevated level at Moor-
side is above 150 feet higher than the city of Manchester.
Owing to this circumstance the atmosphere has ample scope
for circulation, and diseases of the respiratory organs are
not so common as might be expected from the prevalence of
humid exhalations.

The fall of rain in the township has not been registered ;
but, during the year 1852, the register indicated 37'34
inches at the Gorton "Water Works, little more than a mile
distant from the southern boundary of Droylsden.

In consequence of the clayey subsoil resisting the perco-
lation of moisture, the fields after a shower often exhibit a
series of temporary pools, provincially termed "laches,"
from which unhealthy exhalations arise. This may partly
account for the "bouts" of sickness and colds which attack
strangers on their first arrival, and which are grown so

UKOYLSDEN. 161

customary as to fail in attracting notice from any but the
afflicted ; nevertheless, the undulatory contour of a consider-
able portion of the township yields a good fall for natural
drainage, which is absorbed by the Medlock and its affluents,
and conduces to the general health of the inhabitants. But
there is much needed a thorough system of drainage for the
agricultural, and another of artificial sewerage for the popu-
lated districts. Even the latter would prove comparatively
cheap and easy, as the few isolated attempts already made
evince ; and it would also contribute largely towards con-
trolling preventible disease. It is certain that, as the habited
space increases in extent, Droylsden will find many sanitary
evils to contend with, and great difficulties to overcome, in
order to replace it on a par, in health and salubrity, with ita
state when it contained but a rural and scattered population.

Of course, diseases arising from excessive moisture of soil
and climate have long preponderated ; fevers have been
anything but uncommon ; and a large mortality among
children has prevailed. One of these latter visitations,
which prevailed in the winter of 1821-2, led to the institu-
tion of a burial society in connection with the Wesleyan
Sunday School. About that period, too, typhus fever
virulently infested the township for nine years without
intermission. Yet fever is prevented in all well regulated
gaols, and the highest medical authorities declare that it
may be banished from houses. During the prevalence of
cholera in Britain, about ten or eleven years ago, the unani-
mous testimony of inspectors' and medical officers' reports
announced the startling fact that cholera prevailed where
fever w.as common.

Tradition represents that Manchester, and especially the
villages in its vicinity, were visited during the seventeenth
century with an epidemical or pestilential disease, which,
assuming the form of a "sweating sickness," was attended
with such fatal results that people could not be procured to
bury the dead. The Halls, of the Clockhouse, at that time
opulent bleachers, are said, in commiseration, to have de-
spatched their men and horses, vehicles and apprentices, in
order to inter those who died from the malady. A small

162 HISTORY OP

pox visitation, in 1777, carried off at least thirteen Tictims
in Droylsden, and thereby almost decimated the scanty
population,

In olden times, before the introduction of streets, fourteen
rows and dwellings ranged back to back, deficient alike in
air space and ventilation. Instances of longevity were not
uncommon. Five hoary headed brothers attained an aggre-
gate age of 361 years ; and Ann Grimshaw, who died in
September, 1719, arrived at the patriarchal age of one
hundred and one.

It has been found impracticable to obtain, separated from
Audenshaw, the rate of mortality, the increase, and the nup-
tial engagements of the population ; but the local registrar
has stated, on two different occasions, the Droylsden mor-
tality at 3 and 3J per cent. However that may be, there is
no doubt but that, by proper sanitary regulations, the yearly
number of deaths in proportion to the living might be
greatly reduced, and that diseases which now prevail might,
as a consequence, in a few years after the removal of the
predisposing causes, be entirely eradicated, and the general
health of the inhabitants otherwise improved.

A number of interments have taken place at the "Wesleyan
Chapel ; but at present the only graveyards in use are those
at the Church and Fairfield Chapel. The peculiar method
adopted at the latter place of single interments in graves
six feet deep, if generally followed, would produce much
sanitary benefit, and the extra outlay for land need scarcely
exceed the sum often uselessly spent in ale and tobacco.

The few remaining old style cottages, owing to case-
mented windows, are sadly deficient in light, and thft rooms
are mostly too low. The ground floor is generally sunk be-
neath the surface of the land, and, in consequence of the site
being either imperfectly drained or not drained at all, many
complaints are made of damp walls and floors, and their
moist and blackened appearance testifies to the justice of the
murmuring. Some of the cottages are rendered unhealthy
also from possessing no back door, or any outlet except the
front entrance, and from the impossibility of opening the
windows to admit fresh supplies of pure air. Unfortunately,

163

in modern erections the lower sash alone is made to open,
and hence, even in summer, little fresh air is admitted to
the dwelling.

Owing to limited superficial area, many cottages are over-
crowded with inmates. Health and strength cannot ordi-
narily be maintained in a breathing space of less than from 700
to 800 cubic feet ; and to live and sleep in a space of less than
from 400 to 500 cubic feet for each individual is incompatible
with safety to health and life. Some model back yard to
back yard cottages in the village, with two rooms above, and
as many below, possess an aggregate of less than 4,500
cubic feet. Now, a census of 28 mill cottages yielded a total
of 176 persons, or an average of 6'2 occupants to each
dwelling ; and of the number, 56 were heads of families and
children working, 78 children unemployed, and the remain-
ing 42, or nearly one fourth of the entire number, were
found to be lodgers. Therefore, as some of the above cramped
human cages would only contain a married couple, others of
necessity including lodgers must be occupied by four or five
adults, besides a swarm of children and young persons.
Happily, Droylsden has few cellar dwellings. The nearest
approach on a large scale to that objectionable description
of residence exists in Edge-lane ; but, judging from the
frequent recurrence of " To let," there seems little induce-
ment for further speculation in that type of dwelling.

One of the greatest promotants of health and comfort
is a constant and copious supply of pure water, and no
benevolent improvement is more needed than this to place
Droylsden in a position favourable to future development.
At present the means of supply, alike for general, domestic,
and culinary purposes, consists of three or four barrels,
which retail water, principally obtained from Openshaw,
some eight or nine pump springs, and three or four surface
wells, supplemented by rain tubs and leaden cisterns, stag-
nant pools, and the canal.

Wells are apt to get foul from the infiltration of impure
liquids from the surface. Bain water, especially during
summer, teems with animalcule ; and several cases of
poisonous effects have arisen from cisterns in Droylsden.

164 HISTORY or

Unaltered canal water is unfit for use on account of the
numerous deleterious influences at work on its banks. In
addition, the canal is the grand absorber of most of the
drainage and sewage of the locality ; and the impurity
is further augmented by the putrifying animal matter which
is constantly thrown therein. Lastly, the canal is the
substitute, pro tern., for public baths and washhouses.

Some cottages at West End are partially supplied by a
stand pipe in the street from the Beswick reservoir ; and
Fairfield is also an exception. More than thirty-five years
ago, the Moravians erected a filter, composed of stones,
river sand, and charcoal, and procured a supply of water
from the proprietors of the canal. Pipes, which are monthly
examined, are laid to most of the houses, and for the benefit
of the rest the establishment is open during certain hours
in the day.

Several attempts, dating from a public meeting held June
the 18th, 1849, have been made to introduce an ample
supply of water, but hitherto without effect, and the present
united supplies remain casual and intermittant, as well as
inadequate, expensive, and inconvenient.

Notwithstanding the imminent risk of fire in the cotton
mills and other manufactories, the only fire engine at
present stationed in the township is the property of the
Moravians, and is located in Fairfield.

The supply of gas, both for shops and dwelling houses,
was wholly derived from Fairfield Mills, excepting Fairfield,
which contained the only public lights and street lamps in
the village, and was supplied from Droylsden Mills. After
meetings respecting the price of gas had been held in
January, 1850, a joint stock company was instituted.
Having purchased a site adjacent to the canal in Greenside-
lane, the company erected ample retorts, gas holder, and
other apparatus, and in the following October offered gas
at 5s. per thousand cubic feet. Messrs. Christy reducing
their price to 4s., the company fell into difficulties, and their
property was finally transferred to a new company, under
the Limited Liability Act, which has also purchased the
public pipes and mains of Messrs. Christy.

DBOYL8DEX. 166

For sanitary purposes, in October, 1853, the township
was divided into four sections, and five amateur inspectors
were appointed to each district. This scheme proving
noperative, the sergeant of police was elected as paid
inspector. A public meeting was held in the Queen-street
School Koom, March 22, 1854, in order to consider the
propriety of introducing the Health of Towns Act into
Droylsden. At the adjourned meeting, on the 24th of the
month following, a motion for its adoption was defeated by
113 voting for, and only 20 against, an adjournment sine die.
Nevertheless the agitation produced salutary effects ; and
amongst other improvements expedited were the removal of
obstructions from the trotoirs and flagging them, paving
portions of the highways, and the construction of sewers.
Still, a cursory survey of the village reveals a large number
of open drains, sinks, ditches, cesspools, and sewers, gener-
ating large quantities of carbonic acid gas, which, besides
emitting a most disagreeable odour, is highly detrimental to
health and destructive to life.

Thunder storms have frequently visited the township.
Trees have been struck, and both men and cattle have
perished by the electric fluid. One Ogden, a farm servant,
and three cows, were killed by lightning, in August, 1851,
in a shippon at Clayton.

REMEDIAL SANITARY MEASURES.

As when cholera, influenza, fevers, or contagious disorders
break out in a place, more people die in the dark, damp, and
dirty streets, than in those parts which are light, clean, and
airy, so more cleanly habits, better food, good clothing, good
lodging, and other comforts, coupled with better cultivation
and drainage of the land as well as streets, would eradicate
many predominant causes of disease. At present, nuisances
exist even around isolated cottages and farmsteads, to say
nothing of new block? of dwellings which are constantly
being erected. These nuisances are occasionally temporarily
removed, or abated for a time ; but, as private individuals are
too apathetic or powerless for good, there is no provision
made for their, entire eradication, either by permanent

166 HISTORY OF

works or by the active attention of proper servants ; and,
consequently, they are continually recurring.

Most of the new streets and thoroughfares are impassable
for wheeled vehicles, for want of paving and sewering. In
. order to remedy this evil there ought to be a local governing
body, possessing summary power in case of refusal. Every
street and road should be swept, and the dust collected,
once or twice a week ; and no scavengers' heaps, or other
offensive matter, should be suffered to remain in the streets,
or near where human beings are congregated. Slaughter
houses, piggeries, and chemical works ought to be removed
from inhabited districts. Accumulations of decomposing
dead animal and vegetable matter, dung, manure, middens,
ashpits, open and covered cesspools, privies, and stagnant
ditches — reeking with the refuse from adjoining houses-
ought to be removed forthwith, as this state of things can
only grow worse, and must become more difficult, as well as
more expensive, to remedy, as the agricultural lands become
absorbed in the township. In addition to all back yards
being well nagged or paved, careful attention ought to be
paid to the sewerage of every habitation ; and where drains
are too large or expensive, tile pipe drains of small diameter
might be employed. Water closets separated from the
houses should supersede privies and cesspools, and should be
connected with the street drains, and discharge themselves
into sewers of transmission, and not of deposit. In dry sea-
sons these ought to be periodically flushed ; in wet weather
this is unnecessary, a copious shower of rain ever being a
great sanitary blessing. In case of a thorough system of
drainage, there are various falls and water sheddings which
would be available for the erection of tanks, as at Fairf eld,
but proportionably larger, and a depot for the collection
and condensation of the manure, which might be turned to
a profitable use by neighbouring agriculturalists.

Every street should be lighted ^rith gas during dark
nights ; and, *bove all, a copious supply of the best water
obtainable should be forthwith supplied at the lowest cost
to every house in the village. The water should be supplied
to the dwellings, and not by stand pipes in the street ; for

DKOTLSDEN. 16?

the former method, besides being more convenient, is found,
also, to be more economical.

All the canal bridges, with, perhaps, a single exception,
want widening ; the names of the streets should be placed
in conspicuous positions ; and the doors of dwelling houses
should be numbered forthwith.

Finally, some portion of the Recreation Ground should
be planted with shrubs and trees, and interspersed with
walks and promenades, as well for pleasure as exercise. It
is much cheaper to provide rational pastimes than to punish
crime ; and if people are encouraged in active and healthful
recreation, the disposition towards crime will be greatly
diminished.

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES.

TEN COPIES EACH.

Hadwen, Joseph, Esq., Au-

densliaw
Merrill, John, Esq.

six COPIES.
Buckley, Edmund, Esq.,

Ardwiek
Christy, Messrs. "W. M., &

Sons
Dawson, Mr. Samuel

FIVE COPIES.
Chorlton, Mr. William

FOUR COPIES.
Cowburn, Mr. Hugh
Higson, Mr. Daniel, Liver-
pool

Jardine, Jas., Esq., Alderley
Thompson, Rev. P., B.A.

THREE COPIES.

Beswick, Mr. Abraham,

Opemhaw
Foster, T. Barham, Esq.,

Manchester
Hadwen, Gaylard, Esq.,

Audenshaw
Harlow, John, Esq.
Heginbottom, George, Esq.,

Ashton-tinder-Lyne
Patrick, Mr. William H.

TWO COPIES.

Anonymous
Barlow, Mr. Thomas
Beswick, Mr. Charles, Man-
chester

Bradock, Mr. John
Chadwick, Mr. Edward
Collins, Mr. James, junior
EtchelLi, Mr. Peter

Fisher, Mr. Peter
Harrop, Samuel, Esq.
Heywood, Mr. Robert
Kay, Mr. John
La Trobe, Peter, Esq.,

London
Lee, Rt. Rev. J. P., Bishop

of Manchester
Lees, Mr. Samuel
Rothwell, Mr. Abraham
Swallow, Mr. James
Wardlow, Mr. George
Whalley, Mr. David
Woolley, Mr. John

ONE COPY.

Alker, Mr. Edward
Arrandale, Mr. Samuel
Ashburn, Mr. George
Ashworth, Henry, Esq.,

Solton
Aspinall, Mr. John, Ashton-

under-Lyne
Baguley, Mr. John
Baguley, Mr. Samuel
Baguley, Mr. Thomas
Barlow, Geo., Esq., Oldham
Bateman, I. W., Esq.
Bates, Mr. Edward
Battersby, Mr. John
Beard, Mr. Joseph
Beaumont, Mr. Thomas
Beech, Mr. Isaac
Beswick, Mr. Enoch
Bingley, Rev. Charles, Open-

shaw

Birch, Mr. John
Birch, Mr. Joseph, Clayton
Birch, Mr. Joseph
Black, James, Esq., M.D.,

Edinburgh

169

Bland, Mr. William

Bolton, Mr. David

Booker, Eev. John, M.A.,
F.A.S., Tunbridge Wells.

Booth, Miss Fanny

Bower, Mr. George

Bowers, Mr. Joseph

Bowlas, Mr. Jabez, Stockport

Bracegirdle, Mr William

Bromley, Mr. James

Brooke, Mr. James

Brown, Mr. Jamea

Buckley, Mr. John, warper

Buckley, Mr. John

Bullivant, Eev. Chas., Staf-
fordshire

Burgess, Mr. James

Cartwright, Mr. William,
Audemhaw

Chapman, Mr. Francis

Chorlton, Mr. John, Man-
chester

Chorlton, Mr. Thos., junior,
Manchester

Clarkson, Mr. John, Bradford

Clough, Mr. William

Cowley, Mr. W. H.

Corbishley, Mr. John

Coulthart, J. K., Esq.,
F.R.S.L., Ashton-under-
Lyne

Davies, Mr. Thomas

Dickens, Mr. William

Dobson, Mr. William, Pres-
ton

Duckworth, Mr. John

Ellis, Mr. John, junior

Ellis, Mr. John, senior

Etchells, Mr. Gervase, Car-
lisle

Etchells, Mr. William

Eyres, Mr. Samuel

Eyres, Mr. Thomas

Eyles, Mr. George

Fielding, Mr. Joseph, Mid-
dleton

Gee, Mr. Peter, Openthaw

Green, Miss Jano

Green, Mr. John

Green, Mrs. John

Green, Miss Martha B.

Greenwood, Mr. John

Grimshaw, Mr. Elias

Grimshaw, Mr. James,
Gorton

Grindon, Mr. Leo H., Man-
chester

Hadfield, Mr. James, senior

Hadfield, Mr. Jonathan

Hadfield, Mr.Samuel, J
ton

Hague, Miss Ellen, Open-
shaw

Hall, George, Esq., Man-
chester

Hamer, Mr. Richard

Hamilton, Mr. James

Harrison, Mr. Joseph

Harrison, Mr. Samuel,
Audemhaw

Harrison, Mr. Thomas

Hatton, Mr. James

Hayes, Mr. John, Manchester

Hibbert, Mr. John

Higson, Mrs. James, Chorl-
ton-on-Medlock

Higson, Mrs. Letitia, Chorl-
, ton-on-Medlock

Higson, Miss Susanna, Gor-
ton

Higson, Mr. Willam, B.,
Liverpool

Holland, Mr. Robert

Howarth, 3tr. John

Howarth, Mr. Richard, Sen-
ton

Hulton, Mrs. Arthur, Ashton~
under-Lyne

Hulton, Mr. David

Hume, Mr. John Job

Hunt, Mr. Joseph

Hurst, Mr. Henry, junior

Jenkins, Mr. Edward Lewis

Kelland, Mr. Thomas

Kelly, Mr. James

Kendrick, James, Esq., M.D.
Warringtoo

Kennerley, Mr. Edward

170

Mr. William,

OpensJutw

Knowles, Mr. John
Knowles, ]\Ir. William
Lawton, Mr. Dan
Linney, Mr. Edward
MacMillan, Mr. Duncan,

Ayrshire
MalMnson, Mr. William,

Blackburn
Markland, James Jones, Esq.,

Sale Moor

Massey, Mr. James
Mather, Mr. John
Meaden, Miss Francis
Mercer, Mr. James
Milliard, Mr. William
Mosley, Sir Oswald, Bart.,

Kolleston Hall
Moston, Mr. John, Newton

Heath
Nathan, Mrs. Elizabeth,

Manchester

Newms, Mr. Thomas
Newton, Mr. Franklin F.
Nicholson, Mr. James
Openshaw, Mr. Alfred
Ormerod, Geo., Esq., L.L.D.,

Sedbury Park
Orrell, Mr. John
Owen, Mr. John, Manchester
Park, Mr. James
Parkinson, Mr. William
Parks, Rev. W., Openshaw

Parsonage

Patterson, Mr. John
Peacock, Mr. Thomas
Pepper, Mr. James, Stockport
Pickles, Mr. Edmund
Pitchers, Mr. Samuel
Raines, Rev. F. C., M.A.,

Milnrow

Ramsden, Mr. John, Ardwick
Redfern, Mr. Ida

Renshaw, Mr. Luke

Richards, Mr. William

Roberts, Mr. John

Rothwell, Mr. Henry

Roylance, Mr. William

Rustige, Miss Jane

Satterthwaite, Samuel, Esq.

Saumarez, Jean de, Esq.,
Guernsey

Schofield, Mr. James, Slack-
ley

Shawcross, John, Esq., Long-
sight

Siddall, Mr. Samuel

Slater, Mr. Thomas

Smith, Mr. George

Smith, Mr. George, (Arnold-
lane)

Smith, Mr. Thomas

Smith, Mr. William

Stopford, Mr. Samuel

Stowel, Mr. James

Swindells, Mr. William

Torkington, Mr. Richard

Walker, Mr. William

Walmsley, Mr. James,
Taunton

Ware, T. Hibbert, Esq.,
Altrincham

Wellings, Mr. W. H.,
Riisholtne

Wheeler, Mr. John

Whitehead, Mr. Edward

Wilkinson, Mr. Abraham

Williams, Mr. John-

Winterbottom, Mr. William,
senior

Withington, Mr. William

Wood, Sir. John

Wood, Mr. William

Woodhouse, Rev. F.C., M.A.

Woollcombe, Rev. William
Walker, M.A. .

Worthington, Mr. James

BERESFOKH AND SOUTHERN, PRINTERS, MANCHESTER.

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