1901

 

  A HISTORY OF FEATHERSTONE 

 1901

EDUCATION IN 1901

  In March Robert Cowey told the School Board the teachers at his school would not collect for the Yorkshire Penny Bank because the bank would not pay them as it did at other schools. The board's attitude was thrift should be encouraged but thought it unfair the bank would not pay commission. Also the bank had agreed to pay 30s a year for use of rooms but had not paid for years. It was agreed to write to the bank and ask them to pay commission to the teachers, or pay the 30s which would be shared by Mr Cowey and Miss Roberts.

  In April the board decided to close the schools on the afternoon of a visit by Sanger's Circus as it was considered impossible to get the children to school. At the same meeting the board were told the gas company were laying a larger pipe to George Street School and it would be necessary to have larger pipes in the school in order to improve the lighting.
  It was decided to deduct superannuation charges each month from the salaries of teachers who wished to take advantage of the Superannuation Act. It was also agreed to have cookery lessons at Mr Cowey's school from the School of Cookery at Wakefield. A stove would have to be bought. The board would write to persons employing schoolchildren under age saying unless this was stopped proceedings would be taken. The clerk, Charles Lowden was given a £10 rise to £45. 
  In June the board had to consider regulations which said pupils should have attended 350 times (twice a day) for five years before they could leave. The Featherstone byelaws said a pupil could leave when reaching the age of 13 regardless of attendances.
  The inspector's report for 1901 was not as favourable as last time. It said all the school yards were in an unsatisfactory condition and would have to be put right. The board inquired from other boards the best method of dealing with them and the cost. The Government grant was 22s for the boys and 17s for the girls. 
  The inspector had welcomed the arrangements to teach cookery, but said the accommodation at the mixed school and infants must not be exceeded. This resulted in the cookery plan being abandoned because of overcrowding and the board agreed to look for a site for a new school. 
  The schools were not overcrowded on Mondays because it was reported a large number of parents were keeping children off school on washing days and thought they had a right to do so. The board were determined to put a stop to it.  
  Thomas Amison, a hairdresser in Station Lane, was reported to be employing under age boys on a Friday afternoon. He was to be warned he was liable to a fine of £2.
  A headcount at George Street School showed there were 100 more pupils than it was built for, so it was decided to seek land north of the railway station for a new school and compel all pupils north of the railway to attend it. Two weeks later it was decided to build a new school for 400 pupils adjacent to the present school off North Featherstone Lane. The architect would be told to allow as much space as possible for the playground.   

FEATHERSTONE CHURCH CLOCK

  The money for a clock in the tower of All Saints' Church, North Featherstone, was raised in about 18 months and it was ordered from J Potts and Sons of Leeds at a cost of £95.
  A large congregation gathered on New Year's Day to see Mrs Durnford (wife of the Ackton Hall Colliery manager) start the clock. A brass plate was placed in the church at the entrance to the vestry with the inscription "To the glory of God and the memory of the Rev T Hinde and his son, the Rev B Hinde, for 64 years vicars of Featherstone, 1823-1887, the clock in the tower of this church was placed by the efforts of the inhabitants and district, and was set going by Mrs H St J Durnford on behalf of the subscribers, January 1, 1901".  
  This photo of the clock in the tower is by Steve Norfolk.

 

       A NEW SEWER

  The main sewer down Wakefield Road was affected by subsidence and did not have a big enough fall to the sewage works. The council got a loan to replace it and a start was made in May on laying an 18 inch earthenware pipe. The size of the sewer problem was revealed when the 1901 Census showed in the past ten years the number of houses had increased by nearly a thousand and there were now 2,235.

  Even with a bigger sewer it was decided a pump would  be necessary, and a tender for a gas engine and pump was accepted from Tangye. An engine house would be built for it.

  The suppliers of the new sewer at 6s 9d a yard, Gates and Green, were late in delivering some of the order, and the contractor was left hanging about. The council were liable to the contractor for any delays so they asked Gates and Green to contribute to the cost and were offered £10.

  The council's sanitary committee recommended the owners in Wakefield Road (mainly Lord Masham) be asked to contribute 25% to the cost of the sewer. At the full council meeting Cr Walmsley proposed this recommendation be struck out. He said the owners had paid their rates the same as other owners and had thus contributed to the drainage of other parts of the township. Cr Booth said it was well known the owners in Wakefield Road had let the sewer down by taking the coal from underneath. The recommendation of the sanitary committee was passed by five votes to two, but the council later decided they couldn't do it.

  The delay over the purchase of land for the new sewage works continued and nothing was done in this year.

THE STREETS

At the year's first council meeting it was decided when a street was taken over by the council gas lamps would be installed. In April the specification for making up a street was finalised.
  All the soil had to be excavated and a rock bedding put down. This was to be topped by burnt shale or ashes and limestone chippings and rolled by a steam roller. There had to be footpaths six feet wide on each side made from two and a half inch thick flags and 12 inch wide curb stones, and drainage channels had to be installed. Some councillors objected to the owners being allowed to do the work themselves because they said it would be jerry-made.
  In December the council bought 50 street lamps and began installing them. It was also agreed to keep all the lamps lit all night because it would only cost an extra £10 for the four dark months, 

TRAMS IN FEATHERSTONE?

  In August the United Kingdom Tramway, Light Railway and Electric Syndicate Company obtained a tramway order with the title The West Riding Tramways Order 1901 and authorising a tramway to connect Normanton, Castleford, Pontefract and South Featherstone as far as Featherstone Station.

  The civil engineers for the scheme, Messrs Le Maitre and Parker, wrote to the council asking if they could fill up between the tracks with whinstone, which was the normal material for the roads in Featherstone at that time. The council didn't agree and they insisted in having paving sets between the tramlines and also asked for the electric cables to be under the footpaths.   

  Another scheme was published by the Wakefield and District Tramways Syndicate which included a line from Wakefield to the bottom of Station Lane.

  At the half-yearly meeting of the gas company John Waller said he was not worried about electric lights for he saw no prospect of trams or electric lights for 20 years to come. Nothing was done about either scheme in 1901.  

1901 NEWS ITEMS 

JANUARY  To commemorate the opening of the new century Mr Durnford entertained the council members and officials and their friends to dinner at the Junction Hotel

  Twelve locals returned from the Boer War in South Africa and Walter Hoyle, landlord of the Travellers' Hotel, held a function to celebrate. There was a supper and singing and dancing until 3am. Sergeant Harry Taylor of the First West Yorkshire Regiment did not come back with them. His father, Sam Taylor of Purston, was informed of his death.

  Arthur Clayton age nine of Purston was fined for climbing a lamppost and turning on the gas,

  The death occurred of William Jackson, late headmaster of North Featherstone National School. He was buried in Thirsk. Six months earlier his wife had taken over as head of the school.

  Francis Taylor and Abbe Walsh were fined for being drunk and disorderly in Herbert Dobson's lodging house in Phipps Street, and also for assaulting PC Anderson who attempted to restrain them.    

 Local property owners and landowners held a meeting at the Railway Hotel to form an association to take action for trespass and malicious damage to property. It was agreed to make James Booth the chairman and adopt the Hemsworth District Association rules. The subscription was fixed at 5s and 30 people joined.

FEBRUARY  Special services were held when Queen Victoria died. All the shops were closed for the day.

  George Hewitt, a Purston farmer, was fined £2 for selling milk containing 6% water. He claimed it was caused by rinsing his cans. The chairman remarked he must have rinsed them too well.

  Thomas Foy of Purston was hired as a farm servant by farmer William Brown of Wrangbrook at £33 10s for the year. Thomas went home for a day's holiday but didn't come back. The farmer took him to court for £10 compensation saying he had caused him great inconvenience. He was awarded £7.

  James Oakley and Harry Leyland, both Featherstone schoolboys, were ordered two strokes of the birch for stealing two boards belonging to Mr Umpleby.

MARCH  An inquest was held on Francis Adey of Pontefract who was killed at Featherstone Main Colliery. The jury's verdict was he was accidentally killed by a fall of roof. 

  Hubert St John Durnford and Frank Stebbing were both nominated to be Featherstone's first county councillor, but Mr Stebbing withdrew.

  At the council meeting there was a report from the sanitary inspector about ten vans on the fairground which had nine children among the residents. He said there was no water, drainage, closets or privies. Rubbish and slops were thrown onto the ground near the vans and it was saturated with filth. The inspector was ordered to have the nuisance removed. 

  At a vestry meeting held to appoint the overseers, Mr Maxwell said he owned the land on which the vans were parked. The land was drained and water was supplied by meter. Previous to the meter being installed the van owners paid 3d a week for water. Mr Gledhill agreed the action of the council was uncalled for.  

  Eleven houses in George Street were offered for sale. The total rent was £151 a year. The highest bid was £1,350 by Dr Buncle but the houses were withdrawn. 

  The Provincial Home Investment Company said a respectable number of miners and other workers in Featherstone had acquired their own homes by making payments to the company. 

  Only the North Ward was contested in the local council elections. William Johnson the retiring member polled 284 votes and Samuel Earnshaw 126.

  The Primitive Methodist Chapel in North Featherstone Lane was opened by John Walmsley. The building was originally his large workshop and he had converted it for a guaranteed price of £100 to seat 120. The actual cost was much more than that. The opening ceremony was followed by a tea in the North Featherstone Lane Board School for 350. Over £35 had already been raised towards the cost.

  At the Purston vestry meeting an extra £10 was granted to Joseph Watson who had been the collector of the poor rates for 25 years.
  The problem of the money from the sale of the land the blacksmith's shop was on in Pontefract Road had been going on for two years. It had been agreed the rent from the blacksmith would go to the poor and the council would have the money from the sale. The meeting expressed the hope because the money was originally a Purston charity it should be spent on the footpaths in Purston, and Girnhill Lane should have first claim.
  It was also said the three Purston councillors all lived outside Purston and did nothing for Purston Ward, whereas the other councillors could get anything for their wards.

APRIL  A deputation from the Purston ratepayers attended the council meeting. The council confirmed the blacksmith's shop would be transferred to the overseers. The clerk said the £150 in the bank from the sale had only been transferred to the council on March 23.

   Sam Goulding of Chapel Street age four was near the station waiting for his father coming from work when his cap blew off into the road. He ran after it and was kicked by a horse. He was badly bruised and lost some teeth. 

  The council re-elected Mr Durnford as chairman. The salary of clerk Charles Lowden was increased from £80 to £100 plus three yearly increases of £10. Dr Buncle said deaths in 1900 included two of scarlet fever, one of typhoid, 13 of measles, six of diarrhoea, nine of whooping cough and 5 of flu, pneumonia etc.

  Sanger's Circus paraded the town prior to their performance in a large tent on the recreation ground off Wakefield Road.

  Edith Green, a six years old girl living in Station Lane, did not return home from Regent Street School on a Monday afternoon. She had set off to North Featherstone with a schoolmate but they got separated and she became lost. She was eventually found crying near Pontefract Castle by Mr Lund of Tanshelf who informed the police and took her to his home. She was collected the next day by her father who complained the recognised bellman had refused to cry her loss even though it was a fine night. 

MAY  At the council meeting Cr Booth proposed revising the byelaws. He said they allowed closets to be built only six feet from the houses and it ought to be 16 feet. Some houses were being built with rooms no bigger than a good sized dog kennel. A committee was appointed to consider these matters.

JUNE  The Featherstone Main Colliery Accident Society reported funds were steadily increasing and there was now a total of £433 in hand. It was decided to give half a crown to all who did not go on the annual July trip. The voting for the destination was Liverpool 350, Blackpool 264, Scarborough 157, Southport 94, Morecambe 63 and Bridlington 29.
  Ackton Hall Colliery workers selected Lancaster, Morecambe and Blackpool for their excursion and Snydale Colliery had two trains to Blackpool.

  Arthur Littlewood, aerated water manufacturer, was summonsed for three breaches of the byelaws. He had built an extension without planning permission. The Bench ordered the extension to be demolished.
 

  At the council meeting there were complaints about the lack of footpaths alongside the roads. The chairman said the policy laid down in years past was only one side of a road would have a footpath, and the county council now refused to assist in the cost of providing one at the other side.

  An inquest was held on William Taylor aged 28 of Halton Street. He had worked at Ackton Hall Colliery for only two weeks taking the empty tubs off the cage in the Silkstone Seam. It was assumed he had gone back to the cage after shouting right to say it could be wound up, and he was struck as the cage rose. He died in the ambulance room. The jury decided it was accidental death.

  The 1901 census showed the population of the Featherstone district had risen from 7,528 in the 1891 census to 12,093.

 
JULY  The council decided the workmen's hours would be 7am to 5pm except for six weeks each side of Christmas when they would be reduced to 8am to 4pm.

  An inquest was held on George Lindsay of Low Ackworth who was fatally injured when caught between a tub and the side of the road in Ackton Hall Colliery. The verdict was accidental death.

  The Convalescent Fund Sunday was held on the football field. Pontefract Brass Band toured North Featherstone and Featherstone Brass Band toured South Featherstone. In all there were over 100 singers and instrumentalists. The half-yearly report showed 23 cases had been dealt with at a cost of £60.

AUGUST  Eleven houses in George Street that Dr Buncle had bid £1,350 for last March were put up for auction again. This time the mortgagees withdrew the reserve price but the highest bid was only £1,075 and they had to be sold for that price. 

 
SEPTEMBER  In order to provide a fund raising spectacle on Lifeboat Sunday a lifeboat was delivered to Featherstone Station and hauled to Pontefract by horses from Ackton Hall Colliery.

  At the half-yearly meeting of the gas company it was said the council now employed the street lamplighters at a cost of £30 instead of the company. Mr Maxwell again asked for penny in the slot meters to be installed in the working men's houses to convince people gas was cheaper than oil. Mr Watson said they now had 20 such meters in use and they would extend the system wherever possible, but many houses did not have a gas main or gas fittings. Mr Wilby said the directors would try to arrange every new block of houses had gas fittings laid on.

  It was years since the last case of smallpox so the council decided to give Edward Chambers notice to quit the smallpox hospital and a professional nurse would be engaged if it became necessary.

 
OCTOBER   Thomas Hopkinson, the postmaster at North Featherstone for about 46 years, retired. The business was taken over by Thomas Newsome and transferred to the other side of the road.

 
NOVEMBER  There was a large attendance at the football field for a race between J Cole and John Furry over 160 yards at £20 a side. The betting was two to one on Cole who won by two yards.

  At a Burial Board meeting the clerk, Mr Routlidge, asked for a rise saying his salary had been £18 since 1897. It was established Castleford paid £30 and Normanton £37 so he was given a rise to £25.

  Florence Roberts was prosecuted by the NSPCC for neglecting her three children age seven, ten and eleven. William Bauser, an inspector for the society, said the house and the children were in a filthy condition in spite of his visiting over a period of ten months. Mrs Roberts got only 15s a week from her husband who had gone away plus 13s a week from a lodger. All the children were too thin, poorly clothed and had sores and vermin. Another inspector and Dr Osmond of Pontefract confirmed this. PC Anderson said the mother was of drunken habits. The charges were denied and the cases was adjourned for a month.

  "Moving pictures" were shown at the Theatre Royal.

  Ackton Hall Colliery was brought to a standstill by a fire in the Haigh Moor winding house caused by a bricklayer upsetting a torchlight paraffin lamp. The fire was put out by the colliery's fire brigade but not before the roof of the winding house had caved in. The pit was idle for a few days.

   A Sunday afternoon funeral was held for Thomas Pointon who died after injuries received at Ackton Hall Colliery. He was a member of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment. A large number of soldiers attended the funeral led by their band, and the procession was a quarter of a mile long. Many thousands of residents turned out to see it go by. The regiment provided a firing party at the cemetery.

   The lamplighters, now employed by the council, wanted to be provided with mackintoshes but the council decided to give them a shilling a week rise instead. At the same meeting a letter was read out from the Tradesmen's Association complaining about smoke from Ackton Hall Colliery chimney. 

 DECEMBER  The Tradesmen's Association decided to close the shops on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. They also decided to complain to the police about children being allowed to play in the streets and loiter about the shops in Station Lane.