Sandhall and the Scholfields

 I seem to have missed February with my blog posts - well it is the shortest month!! As I sit here at the computer I can see a pair of blue tits trying out a nest box for size and the newly planted daffodils are flowering - but it is still quite cold so I am not so keen on going outside gardening.

It has been a busy few weeks. Recently I gave a talk at the Boothferry Family and Local History group in Goole about the history of Hook. The village has a long and interesting history and the church is celebrating 800 years this year, having been founded in 1225 when John de Huc was granted permission to have a chantry chapel. Other topics I covered were the Sotheron family, the Ouse Shipbuilding company, the Cleveland oil depot and the Milner family. It was difficult to squash it all in!!

But a couple of weeks before that I gave a talk in the aptly named Scholfield Memorial hall in Skelton about the Scholfield family of Sandhall. I enjoyed researching the family and also giving the talk to a  mix of long established residents and newcomers.

Sandhall in 1893

Here is a quick summary of the family and the part they played in our local history. The Scholfields came to Sandhall as tenants, probably from West Yorkshire.

I have a copy of the inventory of a John Scholfield who died in 1742. Although described as a husbandman he was living in a seeming gentleman's residence- He left possessions worth £900 [almost £170,000 today]- including 52 pewter plates and dishes, clocks, mirrors and tables as well as other furniture.

His son John was born in 1709 and in 1735  had married Deborah Wilberfoss at Skipwith. He bought much property in Skelton and died in 1770. There is a prominent gravestone on the floor of Howden Minster commemorating him and his family.

It was a third John who actually bought Sandhall in 1775. He paid around £13000. He built  himself a new house which still has the datestone 1777 over the front door and his initials JS. It is possible that some of the original house was incorporated. 

John had married Ellen Whitaker from Howden in 1771, a year after his father's death. They had three sons and a daughter. Their eldest son William inherited Sandhall. Their second son John became a banker and  alongside Messrs Clarkson and Clough went bankrupt, damaging a lot of local people who had money in their bank.

John died in 1808. William had married Ann Spofforth in 1797 and they eventually had 10 children. William played a large part in the local life of Howden.

1834 Last week, Wm. Scholfield, Esq., of Sand-hall, near Howden, according to annual custom, distributed amongst  his numerous labourers and the poor of Skelton, a large quantity of beef; some receiving from to 3 stone each, and others proportion to their respective families.

In 1851 he built a school/ chapel in Skelton which is still in use as a village hall and where I gave my talk.

When he died in 1854 there were many tributes paid to him in newspapers

August 25 1854 We  have to record one of the most distinguished marks of sincere regret and respect, which has ever been paid to the memory of any individual in this neighbourhood. The town of Howden has to deplore the loss of one of its worthiest and best of men. The name of the late Wm Scholfield of Sand Hall, has only to be mentioned, and the expression immediately follows, “There were few men like him,” but death, the common lot of all, has laid him low. In his own immediate circle the loss of a cheerful companion, a sincere friend, and honest upright and conscientious man, will be deeply lamented. Among the poor a sympathising reliever of their wants and sorrows will be deplored, and amongst his own tenantry and the inhabitants of the neighbourhood in which he resided, the affable, kind, and courteous demeanour of the departed gentleman, will not easily be forgotten. He has gone to his grave at a good age, having completed his 80th year

The funeral 

On Monday morning, August 14, the day appointed for the interment, the whole of the shops were closed, and everything seemed to wear the aspect of sorrow and of woe – even nature herself appeared to mourn the sad loss. The hearse was met on the road to Sandhall by the Rev. W. Hutchinson and the Rev. W. Sylvester, curates of Howden, and Mr. Gaggs and Mr. England, the surgeon and solicitor for the family-the tenantry following three abreast. Upon the arrival of the mournful procession at the Elm Tree, it was joined by the children of the Skelton School, wearing a black rosette on the left shoulder; then followed by a large number of clergymen, gentlemen, farmers, and tradesmen. The two clubs, of which the late Mr Scholfield was a life member, were represented by their officials, clad in long black cloaks, carrying their insignia. Such a spontaneous demonstration of respect and grief is not easily described; it required to be witnessed to be duly appreciated. 

The number of persons attending the funeral. is estimated at about 1,500. Well may the gentry of this and all other neighbourhoods take example from him, whose loss we deplore, since he was one of whom no one could speak but with respect and admiration. His death will be long and sincerely regretted.

After his death his surviving children had the magnificent west window in Howden Minster installed in memory of their parents.

Sandhall then passed into the hands of Robert Scholfield. He never married. But  he was well thought of too , like his father and in 1861 local people subscribed to a life sized portrait of him which is still in the hands of his family.  It cost £200 guineas then. - about £22000

After his death in 1868 another magnificent [although smaller!] window was placed in the west end of Howden Minster next to the one commemorating his parents.

Sandhall then passed to Robert Stanley Scholfield 1840-1913 who made many improvements to both the house at Sandhall and to his property at Skelton. He married Ada Elizabeth Paget of Welton in 1875 and they had six children.

The eldest Edward Paget Scholfield married Margaret Eleanor Heber Percy. 

Evelyn married Mordaunt Gore Booth,  

Helen Margaret married Bernard Henry Home Thomson youngest son of William Thomson late archbishop of York,  

Alwyn Faber was a well respected Classics scholar and the Cambridge university librarian

Ralph Beckett after a career in the City spent much of his life lecturing as a Christian Scientist travelling around the country and the US. Both his parents were Christian Scientists as were some of the Sandhall staff

Wilfred Stanley lived for a time in Canada and was a fruit farmer.

Edward Paget and Margaret Eleanor had two daughters, Mary and Helen.

Mary, who served at Bletchey Park during the war married her cousin Colum Gore Booth in 1947. They had three children but sadly Colum died in 1959.

After a second marriage to Michael Barker who died in 1982 Mary, now Mrs Barker, died in 2009 and the Sandhall estate was sold

Gribthorpe and weather

 A Happy New Year to everyone. I do not know where December went but now we are in January 2025 and  the weather is decidedly wintry. This weekend we had heavy snow but this morning it has all gone and we just have rain. Our pond level is very high and the birds are eating nuts and fat balls with great enthusiasm. Meanwhile our old cat, Poppy, is very reluctant to venture out and spends many an hour asleep on a bed.

But, as my mother, Joan Watson of Eastrington often quoted, every day it is 'a cockstride lighter' and the snowdrops and daffodils are well on their way.

I have watched some Christmas television - I enjoyed the latest Wallace and Gromit with all the witty humour -  but have also been researching on the computer.

I am engrossed at the moment in looking at the Eland family who had connections with Barnhill and Laxton but who spent many years farming at Gribthope.

For anyone who does not know where Gribthorpe it is not far from Bubwith. In 1892 it was described as

 'a small township situated about three miles east of Bubwith. It contains 875 acres of land, and present population is 29, The soil is strong clay; subsoil, clay. Wheat, oats, barley, and beans are the chief crops; a considerable quantity of land is in grass; and turnips and potatoes are sparsely grown. Lord Leconfield is lord of the manor and owner of the whole township, except 25 acres which belong to C. Blackburn, Esq., of Brighouse.'

It is still a small settlement situated on a dead end road

The Elands lived at Gribthorpe from around 1750 until the 1860s and were farm tenants of the Leconfield family's Wressle estate.

This was largely owned until a sale in 1957, by the descendants of the Percy family.  It is a slightly confusing story as to what these descendants were called!

The male Percy line died out and the vast Percy inheritance passed through the female line to the 6th Duke of Somerset of Petworth House who had married heiress Elizabeth Percy.

Their son Algernon, the 7th duke, died in 1750 with no legitimate male heirs.

So it was agreed that after his death the Percy lands should be split. Half should go to his daughter Elizabeth's husband, Hugh Smithson, who was given the title of Duke of Northumberland - this inheritance included Airmyn.

The other half should go to descendants of Algernon's sister who had married Sir William Wyndham, who was given the title of Earl of Egremont. This half included the Wressle estate.

Their grandson, the third Earl inherited in 1763. He was a noted patron of the arts, fathered around 40 illegimate children but left no legitimate heir. His eldest son inherited most of the property in 1837 but could not inherit the title and was known simply as Colonel George Wyndham.

Then in 1859, Queen Victoria bestowed a brand new title of Baron Leconfield on Colonel George, so the family continued to be known as Lords Leconfield. 

Researching  the Elands is therefore a bit of a challenge as most of the estate records are still held  in the Petworth House archives in Sussex.

Other families who lived at Gribthorpe after the Elands were the Hills who lived at  Gribthorpe Manor  and the Jenkinsons.

John Thomas Hill and his wife Ellen outside Gribthorpe manor c 1898

Edward Jenkinson of The Beeches died in 1915. The newspaper report reads as follows

 By the death of Mr Edward Jenkinson, farmer, of Gribthorpe, which took place somewhat suddenly  on Saturday morning at his residence, an esteemed and well-known Howdenshire agriculturist has been removed. Deceased, who was 72 years of age, and for half a century a regular attender at Howden market, was out on the land near his home and attending business upto Wednesday week. During the sixty years he had lived the farm he had never had a doctor, had spent but one day indoors through illness. and had never taken but one bottle of medicine. It was found necessary, however,  to summon medical aid  on Thursday morning, but  he never rallied, and passed peacefully away as stated. For many years he represented Gribthorpe on the Howden Board of Guardians, until advancing years prevented his leaving home early to attend the meeting. He resigned the some six years ago. He was a devout Wesleyan, and regular attender at the Spaldineton Wesleyan Chapel. He  leaves a widow, three sons, and two married daughters. 

Some changes have happened in Gribthope over the last few years!! - barn conversions etc and the threat of a  giant solar farm nearby but I am sure the Elands would still have recognised their village.

Here is an advert from 1990. 

Foxes, concerts and Goole Town football

 Now, in the last days of November, we have had a short spell of snow and frozen windscreens and today it's mild and windy. Since my last post we have lost three chickens to a fox - we haven't seen it or any evidence but that said I am still not surprised. It has over the years happened all too often. Our remaining 'mini flock' are now confined in their pen.

It has been a busy few weeks. I enjoyed giving a talk at Hook which although organised by the WI was open to all and it was interesting to hear all the village reminisences. Also the cakes afterwards were very good.

I have been researching various topics including whether Howden had any trading connections with the Hanseatic league - I could not find any - and the Anti mill movement which gives us the name of the name of the lane opposite Newport church.

In between I have attended two concerts in Howden Minster organised by Howdenshire Music and another in Hull City Hall by the Hull Philharmonic orchestra. The music was very varied ranging from classical in Howden and a programme entitle Heroes and Villains in Hull which included some very scary and loud music from the film Dracula. There is room for all.

The Goole Times has published two articles I wrote about  Eastrington where I grew up - the third will be coming next week. It has been great to share my memories of the village on facebook as a result of these. 

Christmas is coming - we have been seeing that in the shops since October -  and so I thought I would mention a few present ideas!

I have recently updated my small booklet on the history of Saltmarshe and hope to have them on sale in Chappelows in Howden very soon. At £3 a copy they are handy stocking fillers. Also available are my books on the history of Eastrington, Howden and Goole as well as the civic society book on the history of Howden pubs which I co-wrote with Geoff Taylor.

And for any football fans there is a new book out by Martin Jarred, originally from Skelton, about the history of Goole Town Football club.  I have helped by supplying some pictures and Martin is selling the book in aid of Alzheimers Research. It will be selling at £16.

He will be having a stall at the Goole Christmas Light switch on 6th December  or  you can contact him on jarreds@globalnet.co.uk to buy a copy direct.

East Parade and Hook Hall

 And suddenly it's autumn. It has been wet, the leaves on the fig tree are coming off and many of our apples -Yorkshire Cockpits have fallen. History classes  have started and last Wednesday I took a group of Ukrainian teenagers who were visiting Howden around the town. Not certain how much of the history they took in but the sun was shining and they took lots of photos.

Our chickens are still moulting and look a bit bedraggled but we are still getting a few eggs. I have just today bought them two bags of feed as they need a bit extra in cold weather.  I have always liked having a few chickens. My grandparents  in Eastrington [Robert and Elsie Nurse] had a poultry farm on Sandholme Road and supplied many families from Hull who came on the train to buy chickens. I can  just remember the smell of the paraffin incubators.

I have been busy looking at two topics recently. Our very active Thursday morning class looks mainly at Goole history and we normally have a project that we all try to contribute to. This term we have decided to look at Banks Terrace and East Parade. Banks Terrace and the Banks Arms Hotel [the Lowther after 1835] were named after the civil engineer Edward Banks.

http://www.howdenshirehistory.co.uk/goole/jolliffe-banks-engineers.html

Banks Terrace was at the side of the Lowther  and was demolished in the 1880s to make way for Victoria Dock. 

It was built around 1830 and one of the first occupants was Dr William Eden Cass, Goole's first doctor. He saw Goole through two severe outbreaks of cholera and his family lived there for 54 years. He wrote a fascinating account of his time aboard a Hull whaling ship while he was a student. He died in 1890.

William Eden Cass, Goole's first doctor

East Parade was demolished, apart from the Peacock on the end, in 1974. It faced the river and this romanticised lithograph of it from 1862 shows how the Aire and Calder Navigation Co designed their planned town to be impressive when viewed from a ship.

The other topic I am working on is the history of Hook. I am giving a talk to Hook WI in early November and although I have quite a lot of pictures I have been looking at the earlier days of Hook Hall, the people of the village and of course the Sotheron family. 

I attended a fascinating talk recently given by Rona Dickinson about Admiral Frank Sotheron who had a distinguished naval career, was something of a diplomat and who knew and associated with many prominent people of the time including his naval colleague Admiral Nelson.

Although born at Darrington Frank Sotheron owned Hook Hall and sold the land on which the new port of Goole was built to the Navigation Company.

Hook Hall in  June1911, celebrations for the coronation of GeorgeV

Local history is fascinating - but it is as well to remember the connections with wider events.

The Round House, Howden

Now we are in September and are eating and enjoying tomatoes, green beans and courgettes. The potatoes this year are not great but the fig tree has done well - although the riper ones are too high to reach. Pleased too to eat a few plums from my small Victoria tree which was newly planted last year.

I have been picking up windfalls this afternoon from one of our cooking apple trees. Not sure of the variety but like a Codlin - large, green and fluffy when cooked. Next step is to make pies!

On the history front lots happening. I am talking about Frances Hutchinson, local artist on Wednesday evening [4th September] and then this weekend I am helping set up a display of photos concentrating on  local communications in the Minster for heritage week eg roads, rail, airships etc. It will be on view all week and then on Saturday 14th we will be there to talk to visitors and take tours around the town. These will be at 11am and 2pm and you need to book. For further information and booking contact philipmepham7@btinternet.com.

 A couple of weeks ago I was intrigued by a discussion on a Howden facebook page about the house known as the Round House on Knedlington Road in Howden.

It now stands back behind a hedge but it is an intriguing structure.  It is listed grade 2 and many people believe that it was once a type of grandstand giving all round views of the countryside and perhaps horse races.

But although Howden did for a brief time have horse races this building was built many years earlier. It dates from probably the late 1700s and is substantially built of brick. It is octagonal and the listing describes it as having,

A hipped roof with central octagonal stack. On the first floor the room, now divided, retains its original Adamesque decoration. There are 2 round-arched windows, panelled with reeded round-arched alcoves with a radial pattern to the tympana  [a tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, door or window, which is bounded by a lintel and an arch] with the exception of the fireplace wall which has an eared panel. The room has an Anthemion and urn cornice. This type of cornice was popular in Georgian times.

It was a summer house but who built it? It is definitely an expensive structure and in censuses was part of Knedlington. There were plenty of well-off families in the area but it is difficult - without the deeds - to identify who built it and why.

I did find that in  the mid nineteenth century a family named Gray lived there. Mr Gray died suddenly in February 1882 as reported in the York Herald newspaper

SUDDEN DEATH. —On Saturday man named Richard Gray, residing at the Summer House, Knedlington-lane, near Howden, died very suddenly. He was at work on Friday, and died on Saturday morning.

He was a farm labourer originally from Bishop Wilton and was living there at the 'Summer House' with his family in 1851. His three year old son George was born there. George was later a wheelwright in Wressle.

Exactly when it became known as the Round House again is not known but it has long been the home of the Leetham family.

This picture, taken in the 1930s, shows Albert Henry Atkinson and his wife Alice [formerly Crow] outside the Round House. He worked on the railway and had kept poultry in Grimsby - which might explain the turkey! By 1939 they were living in Blackpool.

I have been also  looking at the history of Eastrington church as the churchwarden there is hoping to encourage more people to get involved with looking after it - as it is my home church I shall write more of its history here soon.

 Eastrington church

Other queries this week have been about the Ives family from Old Goole who emigrated to New Zealand in 1926 and about the history of Goole Town football club. 

There is always something new to find out - but now its time to peel apples

Frances Hutchinson of Howden

 After a busy few days including a lovely visit to Driffield show I am now trying to get ahead of myself and prepare a talk for Howden civic society in September.

I am going to talk about Frances Hutchinson who was the youngest daughter of the Rev William Hutchinson of Howden and who was a talented water colour artist.

She was born in 1862 and was studying at the Slade School of Fine Art in 1881 in London. She was living with three of her aunts, her mother's sisters and a cousin. 

But not present in the household as she was probably away undertaking a commission was her aunt Annie Dixon.

Annie Dixon was born at Horncastle in 1817 and began her professional career in 1840. For more than 50 years she exhibited beautiful miniature portraits annually in the Royal Academy.

She painted over a thousand miniatures, travelling about painting clients in country houses. She was patronised by Queen Victoria and the aristocracy. She painted Queen Victoria, the Prince Consort and all the Royal family. 

By special arrangement she painted the Princess Alexandra for a present to the Prince of Wales, for his first birthday after the marriage. She was sent away from Sandringham for the weekends that the Prince might not see her at church and discover the secret of the painting. 

By 1891 Frances was back at home in Howden, living at the Vicarage with her parents, sister and Aunt Frances. She was described as an artist in watercolours’.

Her sister Edith died in 1899. Her father died in 1902 and her mother in 1905. After her father's death the family had to leave the Vicarage but continued to live in Howden until after the death of Mrs Hutchinson.

Frances’ brother Arnold was a vicar and Frances and her three sisters then went to live with him, firstly at Overton near Blackpool and then at Caton with Littledale near Lancaster. 

 Their sister Caroline died in 1915 and Bertha in 1924. Arnold resigned the living and moved to York to  Penley Grove with Gertrude and Frances. Gertrude died in 1930 and Arnold in 1939.

 Frances, who had a live in companion and a housekeeper, lived through the war, dying in York in 1945 aged 83. She was buried at Howden. 

Frances painted many watercolours of Howden mostly around the 1890s and early 1900s. But she also painted views of other towns including Chester, Lincoln, Boston and Selby. Many of these were made into postcards printed by the Lincoln firm JW Ruddock in their Artist series.

Some of Frances' paintings are still in the possession of local people and four were made into prints by the civic society some years ago.

In the early 1980s there was an exhibition of some of Frances' work and also some paintings by her mother, sister and niece.  I am hoping that people may get in touch and allow me to copy them. I would love to particularly find a photo of Frances.

This was a view of Highbridge that Frances often painted, sometimes changing the figures shown

She painted several Market Place views including this one.

I have copies of some of her preliminary sketches - are there more?

Many people will have seen the work of Frances Hutchinson. It would be good in the town where she grew up and worked  to find out more of her.

Thomas Bristow - from Blacktoft via Reedness to Australia

The weather is slowly improving and I have managed to get the grass cut and planted some courgettes outside. I am also trying to catalogue my old photos properly - but keep buying new postcards so it is a never ending task. Although some are on my Howdenshirehistory.co.uk website I now have many more so do contact me if you are searching for a photo to show your house or illustrate your family history.

 And speaking of family history last Monday I met a lovely couple, Geoff and Wendy in Blacktoft. We sat and chatted in the friendly old schoolroom there which is always open for walkers, cyclists or in our case family historians.

The schoolroom when it was open for pupils

Geoff's ancestors were the Bristow family who originated in the Yokefleet/ Blacktoft area at least as early as 1769 when William Bristow married Joyce Johnson in Blacktoft church. They had several children [ I have not followed them but know some stayed in the local area].

The son from whom Geoff is descended was another William, born in 1773. He married Mary Mennett, daughter of Christopher, at Bridlington in 1796.

They had a large family but here we are following their son Thomas who was born at Blacktoft in 1798. He married Elizabeth Bullass in Whitgift church in 1823.  On his marriage he says he was living in Hook [which then encompassed most of modern day Goole] and was probably working on a farm in the area.

Thomas and Elizabeth settled in Reedness where her family lived. Their first child, William was born in 1823 but died aged 3 days.

 Their daughter Hannah was born in 1825 and Thomas was then a blacksmith. William Bullass was born  in 1827 and George Bullass in 1829.  Thomas was still a blacksmith,  but when baby Harriet was born in 1831 Thomas was described as a farmer. Sadly she died in June aged 14 weeks.

A son, John Thompson Bristow was born in 1832. Elizabeth's mother's maiden name was Thompson.

But then, in 1833 Thomas was accused of stealing corn from a neighbouring farmer.

The case was reported in the Leeds Mercury newspaper of 13th April 1833

The Court was occupied several hours on the trial of Thomas  Bristow, a small farmer at Reedness near Goole, who was charged  with robbing the barn of Mr Thomas Smith, a neighbouring farmer, of about ten loads of wheat. It appeared that in the early part of February, some persons entered the barn in the night-time, and carried off the wheat in question. There was no direct evidence to prove that the prisoner had stolen the wheat, 

The following circumstances were relied on as bringing the charge home against him. A considerable quantity of wheat, exactly resembling that stolen from the prosecutor, had been traced to the possession of the prisoner, which wheat had this peculiarity that it contained a number of small weeds called  cock rose seed. It was also proved that the wheat land occupied by the prisoner was incapable of growing nearly the quantity of wheat which he had disposed of, the inference from which was rendered more conclusive against the prisoner by his declaration, that he had never purchased any wheat, and that all he had sold or consumed had been grown upon his own land. 

Evidence was also given to prove that the weeds in the prosecutor's wheat had never been known to grow upon the land occupied by the prisoner. Samples of the wheat taken from prosecutor's barn, and that found in the possession of the prisoner, and also of some of which he had sent to the mill to grind, were produced and shown to the jury, who expressed themselves satisfied that they were taken from the same corn. The jury without hesitation, found the prisoner Guilty. 

The Court sentenced him to be transported for seven years. The chairman said, it appeared very probable from the evidence, that the prisoner had been in the habit of plundering his neighbours. There was another indictment against the prisoner for a similar offence, on which it was not thought necessary to proceed.

Thomas was transferred to the prison hulk Retribution at Woolwich and then transported to Australia on board the Neva. He arrived in New South Wales on 21st November 1833

Initially he was 'disposed of' to Henry Howey of Minchinbury which was a cattle area but is now a suburb of Sydney.

Meanwhile back in Reedness Elizabeth was left to cope with the loss of her husband. Confusingly she had a daughter Ann who was baptised in 1837 and described as the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth.  It is possible that she was probably born soon after her father was imprisoned but baptised later.

In 1841 Elizabeth was in the newly built Goole workhouse with her two youngest children. John was said to be 5 and Ann 4 -  ages are not exact in the 1841 census.

Goole workhouse is the red building on the left

By 1851 she is a labourer back in Reedness with her son John aged 18. Ann is elsewhere in the village and in service. 

She describes herself as a widow. This is accurate as in the probate index at York is the following entry for 1848 New South Wales - Thomas Bristow of Raintree Hill New South Wales [I cannot locate this place] but formerly of Reedness, parish of Whitgift. The figure given in the probate index is £20.

In 1850  son William Bullass Bristow married Ann Bateman [early sources give the name as  Batman] a local girl at Whitgift church. Their two eldest children [Hannah and Mary Ann] were born in Reedness but the family then emigrated to Ontario where their son George was born in 1854. They had five further children and lived in Osprey township. He died in 1894 and is buried in Rob Roy cemetery there. Ann died in 1903.

The interior of Whitgift church where many members of the family were married

Her brother Thornton Bateman also emigrated to the same area. He married Alice Kneeshaw who had recently emigrated with her parents from Crambe in North Yorks. They too are buried in the Rob Roy cemetery.

William's  younger brother, George Bullass Bristow [b 1829] was a little more adventurous!! Before eventually settling in Canada he joined the gold rush in California and then travelled to Australia. Here he met and married Susannah Pethick in Adelaide in 1859. She was born in Cornwall.

The couple then travelled to Ontario where their daughter Emeline was born in 1860. Thereafter they lived near the rest of the family and farmed. George became renowned as a cattle breeder.  Susannah died in 1900 and George in 1914. Both are buried in Rob Roy cemetery.

And what of those children of Thomas and Elizabeth left at home?

In 1851 eldest daughter Hannah was a servant at the Bowman's Inn in Howden. She married Charles Gray,  a coachman in 1861 in Newcastle. They moved with their children then back to Hull where Charles worked in a brewery, then later to Hedon where he was described as a  brewer. He died in 1890 and she moved to Gilberdyke where she lived with her brother John [Thompson] and his wife.

John Thompson Bristow was in the workhouse with his mother and sister Ann in 1841. From his 1904 obituary we learn that he went to live with an uncle when he was nine  and learned the trade of a shoemaker. 

This uncle was most probably David Bristow [born 1810 at Scalby near Gilberdyke]. His father, another David, was the son of William and Joyce Bristow. John married David's daughter Mary Ann in 1858.

They moved to Wressle where John commenced business as  a "cowkeeper and huckster". He obviously prospered and returned to Gilberdyke and "purchased a house, shop, and a quantity of land. He became popular and filled all public offices in the parish. He was a member of the late school Board from its formation, a Guardian for a considerable time, and for upwards of twenty years rarely missed attending the meetings at Howden". 

Clementhorpe Road, Gilberdyke

The youngest daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth was Ann.  By April 1861 Ann was running a lodging house in Albert Street in Goole.  Her mother was living with her. She gives her age as 27, giving her a birth date of 1834. She was already a widow having married Samuel Lucas from Swinefleet in 1857. Both he and his father Solomon were master mariners. They married at Whitgift in 1857 and had two sons, George Samuel born 1858 and James born1860.  But by 1861 Samuel had died [ drowned?] and  later that year Ann married again to James Davies. He too was a sailor.

I think Ann died before 1871 as in that year  her son James was in a sailor's children's home in Hull and later was a  merchant seaman. George was living with his uncle John in Wressle. He married Mary Ann Shipley from Scalby near Gilberdyke and worked in various Yorkshire towns as a  house carpenter but by 1911 was living locally in the Gilberdyke area.

Elizabeth herself remained in Reedness, at one point keeping a small shop. Sadly she died in 1890 aged 85, in the Goole workhouse where she had spent time so many years earlier. She was described as the widow of Thomas Bristow, farmer.

I have found this Bristow history interesting - the family spread all over the world and always kept their family Christian names. I  do however caution anyone researching the Bristows to beware of some of the trees on Ancestry as some are not quite accurate!

D Day in the Goole and Howden area

On  Thursday June 6th 2024 there will be several events both nationally and locally to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D Day landings. 

My father, Doug Watson of Eastrington, had been at Dunkirk but in 1944 was in North Africa. But my mother's cousin, Gunner Jack Nurse, a village joiner with his father, was involved while serving in the Royal Artillery.

Invasion practice had been going on for some time. Alan Swires who lived at Sleights between Eastrington and Spaldington remembered

One day I was biking home from Spaldington school when I had to get off my bike and get into the hedge bottom as there was a squadron of Centurion tanks coming. Their tracks were wider than the road and they parked them all in Spaldington village with one track on the road and one on the footpath squashing it  out of sight. The army later were sent to repair the damage the tanks had done.

We had swarms of soldiers, trucks and tanks practising for the invasion of France. There were soldiers everywhere and trucks and tanks in the fields. In Hall field one soldier slept under his tank which sank in the night squashing him.

We had three officers sleeping in the front room in sleeping bags. Their batman used to cook their breakfast in the coalhouse and bring it in at 6 o’ clock in the morning. There were soldiers sleeping in the barn, others sleeping outside and they had campfires in the yard.

Mum and dad had to put up signs where their potato and mangold clamps were so that the army did not over run them and squash them. My dad went down to the Royal Oak and said they were having to serve beer to the soldiers in jam jars as there were so many of them.

We did not go to school while the army was there as it was not safe to go on the roads. We went back to school when they had all gone. They were doing tank training on the Wolds where they had requisitioned 2000 acres and the army used to take fresh soldiers up there every day to the ‘front line’.

In Goole in preparation for D Day, there were Americans, some of whom were billeted in Christ Church with their cook house in the church grounds in Victoria Street, next to Beecrofts’ corner shop. Other preparations for D Day involved throwing a bridge over the river near Hook.

Michael Williams remembers how ‘we lived in what was then a new semi-detached house in Western Road. Life there became quite difficult during the war due to the road being used for storing large wooden crates containing military vehicles which were shipped in ‘kit’ form by Lep transport. The road was a security area with barriers and sentries at each end and we needed a pass to get to the house.

My father was away in the army from early 1940 until late 1945, serving in the Western desert with Montgomery. I would often go for long walks with my grandfather, Allan Wale, from Western Road to Airmyn and to Westfield Banks. I remember one day seeing a Bailey Bridge over the Ouse, quite close to the old isolation hospital. There were Sherman and Churchill tanks testing the pontoon bridge. My grandfather explained to the soldiers that my father was at that time a tank commander and so I was given a pretty scary ride over the bridge in a Churchill tank.’

Goole ships, including the Yokefleet were involved in the actual landings. 

This picture taken in June 1944 shows the Yokefleet discharging cargo near Corseulles sur Mer off the Juno landing beach.

It is not possible to mention all the local men who were involved and all those who lost their lives. So I include here some extracts from newspaper reports and some names mentioned in Mike Marsh's Goole at War volume 3. I hope this will give an idea of how everyone from our the local towns and villages was waiting for news in 1944.

From the news

Able Seaman Ernest Johnson of Howdendyke was one of first casualties, wounded on his leg while on a minesweeper. 

Charlie Dorsey and Edgar Bradshaw of Bubwith and signalman John Clayton of Staddlethorpe were early arrivals on  the beaches

Lance Corporal Cyril Arthur Goddard of Rawcliffe was killed on June 28th. He was the adopted son of Samuel and Florence Goddard, of Rawcliffe,  and  husband of Lorna Goddard, of Rawcliffe.  He was serving with the East Yorkshires and was 28 when he was killed. 

Cpl Harry Willingham of Hailgate  was killed 12th June six days after D day while serving with the Seaforth Highlanders. He was 26 and is buried in the Ranville war cemetery. He left a widow Elsie [nee Drury].

Jim Jackson originally of Howden but living aged 83 in 2005 in Holme on Spalding Moor  was serving with the Royal Engineers Inland Water Transport Co remembered

We landed at Luc sur Mer just after 6am. There was lot of stuff flying about shells and bullets  when we got onto the beach  so we ducked down for shelter behind some drums which we then realised were filled with petrol.  Because we'd been drafted in at the last minute we had little idea where we were until I saw a map in the Daily Mirror a few days later

1944 5th July Hull Daily Mail

WOUNDED IN NORMANDY Pte Rowland Mounsor, of Newport Road, North Cave, wounded at Normandy,  is now in hospital in England suffering from machine-gun and rifle wounds in the legs and arms. He is 19 years age. In his opinion many the German prisoners taken in Normandy are glad to out of it. 

Pte. Harold Shipley, aged 28, Duckels Buildings, Old Goole is now in hospital in Scotland, and is reported to be making good progress after an operation. His father, Mr Herbert Shipley, aged 63 is also taking part in the invasion. He is in the Merchant Navy, in which he has served for 35 years and he has been at least once to Normandy in these invasion operations. Pte. Shipley landed in France with the first wave on D-Day. He is a native of Goole, and as a boy attended the Old Goole Council School. He then worked for seven years on a farm at Swinefleet, and before joining the Forces four years ago, he was an engine driver for the River Ouse Catchment Board. 

July 11th 1944 Hull Daily Mail

Goole Officer Wounded 

Lt. Bruce Thompson, aged 20, youngest son of Mrs Thompson and the late Mr L. Thompson, Westbourne Grove, Goole, is in hospital in Lancashire with a bullet wound in his left thigh received while serving in Normandy. 

Lt. Thompson joined the Royal Armoured Corps about two years ago. trained at Sandhurst, and passd out as an officer, but later transferred to an infantry regiment. A native of Goole, he attended the Alexandra-st. school and the Grammar School, and at the time of joining the forces he was on the clerical staff of the County Welfare Institution at Goole. He has two brothers in the army, Lt. Allen Thompson, who is serving wth a heavy anti-aircraft unit in Italy, and Cpl. Douglas Thompson, who is with the R.A.M.C. in France. 

July 11th 1944

KILLED IN ACTION  Mrs Whitehead. of Richard Cooper St. Goole has received information that her husband Pte. Ernest Whitehead, aged 24 of the R.A.M.C.. has been killed in action in Normandy. Pte. Whitehead joined the Forces in March 1940 and went abroad in May1942. serving in North Africa and Sicily. He returned to this country in November last. As a boy he attended the Old Goole council school, and at the time of being called up he was employed by a Goole firm of fertiliser manufacturers. 

Aug 1944 Hull Daily Mail

Goole Corporal Killed in Action. Lce Cpl Arthur E. Mileham, aged 19, third son of Mr Mileham and the late Mrs Mileham, of Cheviot-ave., Goole, has been killed in Normandy. Lce Cpl. Mileham joined the Army in June, 1943. and went to France a few days after D-Day. Before being called up, he was a member of the Goole civil defence Messenger service. His eldest brother Staff Sgt. Frederick G. Mileham, who has lived in America for 17 years, is serving in France with the American Forces, and his father is a member of the civil defence ambulance service. 

Aug 10th 1944 Hull Daily Mail

Mrs Snarr, of Morley St. Goole has learned that her husband, Pte Newton Snarr, aged 30 has been killed in action. Pte Snarr had been in the Regular Army for 12 years, and had served in India, the Sudan. Palestine and Crete. He returned to this country in May, 1943, and was among the first troops to land in Normandy. 

[He had married Ada Forbes in Goole in 1943]

Sept 1944

Goole Soldiers Killed in Action

 L.-Cpl. Walter Salmon, aged 30, youngest son of Mrs Salmon and the late Mr W. Salmon, of Jackson St Goole, is reported to have died of wounds in France. L. Cpl. Salmon, who joined the Forces as a volunteer in May, 1940, went to Normandy a few weeks ago. As a boy he attended the Goole Boothferry Rd school, and at the time of joining up was employed in the grocery business at Bridlington, where his wife resides. 

Pte. Albert Roland Sherwood, aged 22, youngest son of Mrs Sherwood and the late Mr A. Sherwood, of Westfield ave, Goole. has been killed in action in France. Pte. Sherwood joined the Army in April, 1942. He attended the Goole Alexandra-st. school, after which he was employed by a Goole firm of house furnishers. His wife  is in the A.T.S. 

November 1944

WELL-KNOWN IN SHIPPING CIRCLES  OBE. Awarded to F. Atkinson, 

 Well known in Humber shipping circles, Mr Frank Atkinson, of Goole, assistant director of the Sea Transport Division of the Ministry of War Transport, has been awarded the OBE. for his services in the planning of the landings in Normandy. Mr Atkinson, who is the only son of Mr and Mrs A. W. Atkinson, of Ingleside, Airmyn-rd,  Goole. and is 43 years of age. took up his present position in London in August, 1941. He is a director of the Ouse Steamship Co., Ltd., of Goole, and a partner in the firm of E. P. Atkinson and Sons, steamship managers, which was founded by his grandfather. For some years he has been secretary of the Goole Chamber Commerce and Shipping; was Ministry representative Goole for the Hull Coasting and Short Sea Shipping Control Committee; a member of the Goole Port Emergency Committee; and honorary secretary of the British Coasting and Near Trades Shipowners' Association. He is also a member of Goole Rotary Club and was formerly in the Royal Observer Corps at Goole. 

Although not entirely about Normandy I have left this extract from the Hull Daily Mail 1960 complete as I think it is interesting.

 Arthur Thompson of 18 Lansdowne-Rd  comes from a seafaring family and is one of five brothers to make a career in shipping. One of his brothers is Goole’s harbour master, another is master of a passenger ship and another master of a tanker. The fourth brother is chief steward on board the mv Kirkham Abbey which trades between Goole and Copenhagen. Their father and grandfathers went to sea for a living.

Capt Thompson was born in Goole in 1894 and was educated at Boothferry Rd School. He became an errand boy at a local chemist’s shop when he was 13 and began his seafaring career after taking a medicine chest aboard the ss Hessle 

The mate asked he wanted a job and a would-be chemist became a 15-year-old able seaman.  In 1910 Capt Thompson joined the ss Argus as steward and two years later joined the old ss Dearne. Shortly before World War One began he left the Dearne which was interned four ears by Germans at Hamburg on its next voyage

When war broke out in 1914 Capt Thompson joined the minesweeping trawler section of the Royal Navy. He enrolled as a deckhand but became skipper before being demobilised. He gained his master’s certificate in 1918 and a year later rejoined the Merchant Navy as second mate on the ss Yokefleet which sailed regularly from Goole. 

He was master of the ss Yokefleet when it was blown up by a mine off Harwich in 1942. All of the crew escaped without injury in the starboard life-boat and were picked up within an hour.  The  bows of the ship were protruding out of the waves the following day and Capt Thompson went out to the wreck with a salvage crew and there was a roll-call of the rescued seamen when voices were heard coming from inside the partly submerged ship. Eventually the voices were traced to a battery wireless set which had survived the mine  and was still operating It had been left switched on when the crew abandoned ship

Capt Thompson spent the remainder of his career  working for the sea transport division of the Ministry of Shipping and was in charge of four concrete harbour units towed from Goole  for use in the Normandy landings 

In 1945 he returned to Goole as Assistant Dock Master has worked ashore since. He is a member of Trinity House at Hull. Capt Thompson is married and has a son and daughter. His son was in the Merchant Navy during World War II and is now engineer charge of a clothing factory in Goole. 

I intend to visit Howden Minster next Thursday where there will be a service and other displays about D Day. Do add comments either on the blog or on one of the local facebook pages to which this will be linked if you can add further names or information.

Goole's part in building Mulberry Harbour 1944

Late in 1943 workers began arriving in Goole to work on a project in numbers one and two dry docks.  Many were simply told to report for work in Goole and were accommodated in Mariners Street in huts.  [not certain where]. Some of the men were local and there were around 500 men in total.

No one knew what they were working on but the work was under the control of Henry Boot and Son.   Workers worked back to back twelve hour shifts. Timber was provided from the yard of E P Porter on Bridge Street. Work began in January 1944 and six concrete caissons were constructed and were completed by April 2nd.

 
This picture shows construction of caissons at Southampton in April 1944

We now know they were to be part of the Mulberry Harbours and that in total over 400 of these caissons [they were codenamed Phoenix]  in six sizes were constructed secretly all over the country.  They were designed to act as breakwaters to protect the harbour structures. Those constructed at Goole were categorised as type C. 

This photo [from the Imperial War Museum] of a caisson being towed by a tug gives some idea of the structure.

One of the local workers was plumber George Gunnill and working with him was 15 year old apprentice Frank Agar. He later remembered that when mixing the concrete a precise amount of chemical had to be added and that George came up with the idea of using a lavatory cistern. One pull of the chain and the exact amount was dispensed into the mix.

When complete the caissons were floated out of the docks and into the river. They were long and unwieldy and moved from Goole one at a time.  Harbourmaster then was Captain Charles E Tree who  described how difficult it was first getting the caissons out in to the river and then with two tugs ahead and two alongside down river. Each journey took two tides with a break at Blacktoft.

After leaving Goole the caissons were provided with Bofors guns and shelters for the gun crews. The first four went initially to Immingham and the other two to Hull. They were then floated to the South Coast where they were briefly sunk to conceal them until they were towed across the Channel

It was only later, much later, that it was realised what the structures built in Goole in spring 1944 were.  

And of course Goole's connection is recognised  today in the name of a pub and a housing development as well as an information board on the newly constructed Normandy Way which is positioned as near as possible to where the caissons were constructed.

 
This picture was taken by  Clifford Frank,  assistant docks engineer in Goole in the 60s and 70s and shows the dredger Goole Bight in one of Goole's dry docks.

Incidentally in 2022  there were three Goole built caissons still existing at Mulberry B  [port Winston Churchill]  visible between Tracy sur Mer and Asnelles

Much information about Goole - and the surrounding area -  during the war is available in the three books entitled Goole at War written by Mike Marsh. A former reporter at the Goole Times he borrowed the relevant volumes of the Goole Times and went through them extracting news from home and abroad during the war. This was added to  by stories from readers who read articles he wrote  in the paper as he worked.  I have used some of the information from volume three in this blog post.

It was the day after D day June 7th 1944 that the caissons were towed across the channel.  I am writing this blog post now in the hope that maybe local people may have further information or pictures [ unlikely I know] that I could add here.

Ringstonhurst, North Howden

 It's now three weeks after Easter - and it is still cold and wet. Local farmers cannot get on to the land and are desperate for some warm dry days. Here in the garden the raised beds are still wet and claggy and nowhere near in a fit state for planting. But I have got some plants going in the greenhouse and some potatoes chitting in a tray. We are so dependent on the weather despite all our modern technology.

Last week I went to an interesting talk by Gary Tavender of the Howdenshire Archaeology Society. He talked of the various projects the group was interested in and mentioned the site of Ringston[e]hurst near North Howden station. It is a place I have long been fascinated by and so I came home to see what I could find.

Aerial and drone surveys and old maps show what appears to be a square moat on the site which was originally just on the boundary of the Bishop of Durham's park - the origin of Park Farm - where he had deer and other game for sport.

This 1910 OS map shows Ringstonhurst not far from the station with
the inverted U shape to the left being the park boundary

                Below is an aerial view from the 1970s with Mulberry House/now Northgate House in the background

Early records suggest that between 1200 and 1208  the bishop of Durham was granted permission to construct a park north of Howden where he and his friends went hunting, mainly deer.  In medieval times the bishops had a hunting lodge at Ringstonhurst where a gamekeeper/ park keeper lived. Bishop Tunstall in 1548 mentioned the lodge as being occupied by the keeper of the park although by 1561 the lodge, described as being at the parke gate was reported to be in disrepair.

We know too that this one and a half acre/ two acre site also included a chapel dedicated to St Mary where a hermit lived. In 1332 Simon of Lynne, a chaplain, had a licence to collect donations for his maintenance.

In 1391 John de Hay of Spaldington left 3s 4d in his will to Robert of Shackerstone hermita de Ryngstanhyrste

Bishop Fox in 1495 issued an indulgence to those who undertook a pilgrimage to pray at the chapel or hermytage of St Mary Magdalene at Howden or went there to hear mass. 

In 1501 he granted a penny a day to John Richardson, a Franciscan friar and hermit who was to 'locate himself within the chapel of the manor of Howdenshire called Ringstonehurst'

Ringstonhurst was the site of the muster of Howdenshire people when they marched with Robert Aske in the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536. This probably referrred to the whole North Howden area.

But in 1564 with the Reformation the chapel was 'suppressed' and the site granted to non religious owners. By the seventeenth century it was owned by Sir Philip Monckton of Caville who bought it in 1610.

In the Howden parish records there are mentions of births marriage and deaths of families who lived in houses at Ringstonhurst.  For example  there were 10 burials of people between 1570 and 1590. The latest burial I can find is 1658 when Thomas Bell, son of John of Ringstone hurst, was buried.

Local people know where the site is [on private land] and recall that in 1947 when the area was flooded  the remains of the moat were flooded but an area inside it stood slightly higher above the water. Also it is said the large stones and pieces of glass have all been turned up when the field has been ploughed.

Incidentally on the OS map above and also on the aerial photo you can see Mulberry House, now renamed. I have had a quick look at its history.

The earliest occupant I found was a Robert Fields who died in 1880. 

But perhaps the most interesting was the Whitfield family. George Whitfield was living there in 1901. He was living with his elderly mother while on census night his wife and daughter were with her parents in Market Weighton. George was the retired chief constable of York while his wife was a talented photographer. 

He and his family later ran the Londesborough Arms in Selby. His mother continued to live at North Howden and died in 1913.

I found this from a newspaper of 1904

 Mrs Whitfield, Mulberry House, Howden, well known throughout the district as a successful photographer, has just received another appreciation of her ability, having been specially commanded by the Prince and Princess of Wales to proceed to Harewood House, the seat of the Earl and Countess of Harewood to take photographs of their Royal Highnesses and the distinguished house party. Not only did Mrs Whitfield take several photographs of the whole party, but their Royal Highnesses granted her other opportunities of photographing them, and the Prince conversed with Mrs Whitfield for some time, congratulating her upon the success of her work.