MAPS

Further to my post re Samuel Hinde yesterday. As I mentioned he owned many pieces of land and wooded areas in Whittington in mid 1700. I have now been joined by my friend and fellow researcher Elizabeth Pemberton in trying to plot on old maps (both working from our separate homes !) where these pieces of land actually were.

Names like Far Dam Close, Piper Hole, Hollow Meadow, Near Brown Holme and many more have disappeared from recent maps.

It is difficult to imagine that the whole area around Whittington had very few houses at this time. However, the good thing is that the two rivers appear on all of the maps and are a good starting point to work from.

CO-INCIDENCES

 I am currently researching a gentleman called Samuel Hinde who lived in Old Whittington mid 1700's until his death in 1809. He owned much of the area on Newbridge Lane down towards the canal, including the Foxley Oaks area, many other pieces of land in Whittington and it is not a name I was familiar with.

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I visited the churchyard at Old Whittington to look for the Hinde graves and bumped into two ladies who were looking for the same graves. They are descendants of Samuel Hinde and we were able to exchange information about him. It was a coincidence that we should all have chosen the same time to visit the churchyard.

We found the graves and I hope to be able to post more information about Samuel Hinde and Foxley Oaks in the next week or so.

MURDER AT WHITTINGTON

 I came across this piece in the Sheffield Independent 29 March 1845 reporting a murder that had taken place at old Whittington.  

The report covers the murder, the trial and the verdict and can be read at Old Whittington One Place Study – Old Whittington War Memorial people places trades Sydall Swanwick (oldwhittingtonops.com)

It is quite a long piece to read full of detail and a very sad event for all concerned.

HATCHETS AND KNIVES

This piece taken from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph 15 September 1925, sounds as though it was only luck that stopped the event turning into something more tragic.

What is amusing is that the author of the piece notes that the parties are Welsh, which he seems to think explains their behaviour!

BULLS HEAD PART 2

Further to my recent post on the rebuilding of the Bulls Head I have found this drawing of the original Bulls Head which was posted in Old Chesterfield Pics in 2017 by Alan Taylor

There was a newspaper entry in the Derbyshire Times Chesterfield Herald on 17th January 1903 in the 'Notes by the Way' section which gives interesting details regarding some James II coins and human bones which were found at the site when the new Bulls Head was built.

THE BULLS HEAD

The Sheffield Independent 23 September 1901 ran an article on the Bulls Head Old Whittington re plans passed to have it pulled down and re-erected further from the High Street.

The photo on the left from Picture the past is supposed to be circa 1900 as it looks very similar to the up to date photo of the Bulls Head then I assume it must be later than 1900. Has anyone any photos of the original Bulls Head in their family albums? It would be interesting to see what it looked like and if it was 'removed'.

THEFT OF A SHOVEL

 Taken from the Derbyshire Times Chesterfield Herald 23 November 1892. The punishment would seem severe for the theft of a shovel but I imagine the culprit thought twice before he did it again!

T P WOOD's PICTURE WHITTINGTON HILL

 

Posted on Old Chesterfield Pics, it shows Whittington Hill before some of the houses had been finished, Newbridge St is clearly visible as is the view to the Crooked Spire. Not sure of the year probably early 1900 as it featured in T P Woods Almanac 1904.

DESERTERS

 Taken from the Derby Mercury 4 December 1778. A guinea reward on top of any standard reward for informing on these two men must have seemed a great temptation to many people. Wonder if they were caught!

PARADISE SQUARE

Sounds like a good time was had by all in May 1935 at this party on Newbridge St, renamed 'Paradise Square' for the occasion.

Newbridge Street no longer looks the same but it still runs alongside Whittington Hill.

Many families lived on this street and the Loomes family was one of them. Robert Loomes fought in WW1 and came home injured and lived on Newbridge Street for many years whilst his brother Christopher , who was awarded the DCM, was killed later in the war but his widow continued to live on Newbridge Street.

GAMESTERS

 Found this piece in the Derbyshire Courier 18 May 1912. Sad thing is by 1918 two of these lads had died in WW1. Arthur Booth and George Barker (16 and 15 respectively in 1912). Really makes you think they were just 'boys'!

Remembrance Day 2020

With Remembrance Day nearly here I thought it would be a nice idea to repost all of the pictures I have of the men from Old Whittington and Brushes War memorials who died in WW1, also remembering the men of Whittington who gave their lives in WW2 and other conflicts.

Their stories can be read at https://oldwhittingtonops.com/the-fallen-of-old-whittington-1914-1918/

 

Sale of  the  White Horse Inn

I found this piece from Sheffield Daily Telegraph 4th June 1892, especially interesting as my great grandfather Harry Parker was landlord of the White Horse Inn in 1892, in fact my grandfather Percy Parker was born there just a couple of weeks after this advert was placed.

The blacksmith shop was run by great grandfathers brother in law Walter Herbert Booth.

Would be interesting to find out who bought the property.

The picture below is a few years after my great grandfather lived there.

I couldn't resist this piece from Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald 9 June 1877. I am not sure who "A Listener" was but they certainly did not like the musical offerings of some people at the Chapel!

WHITTINGTON WEDDING 1897

Found this in the Derbyshire Times Chesterfield Herald 24 April 1897, and was amazed at the amount of detail in the description of the wedding.

TREPANNING

Found this in the Sheffield Register, Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Universal Advertiser 8 July 1791

Trepanning was a procedure to relieve pressure on the skull (or as some people believed to give a trapped demon a hole to escape from) a hole was drilled into the skull. I haven't found any evidence yet whether the poor boy lived or died, but it must have been a horrific experience for the young boy.

The picture and information on trepanning was taken from https://www.historyextra.com/…/what-trepanning-ancient-sur…/

Derbyshire Courier 8 July 1848

This cutting was taken from Derbyshire Courier 8 July 1848.

It surprised me that the report about the stolen sheep appears to have been given more newspaper space, than the fact that Smallpox was virulent in Whittington, and children had died!

Derby Mercury 4 December 1778

A guinea (21s) would be quite a lot of money in 1778 , wonder if they caught up with them!

"THE POISONING CASE AT OLD WHITTINGTON "

Found this whilst scouring the newspapers. A very sad incident taken from Derbyshire Times 5 January 1887. 

John Meakin was buried in Old Whittington churchyard, by order of the Coroner, as you can see from the Parish register entry (supplied by Elizabeth Pemberton).  The parish register suffered fire damage but luckily the entry can still be read.

CHILDRENS FETE AT WHITTINGTON

I have heard from different sources how kind and charitable the Swanwick family were to local children, opening up their gardens for summer parties and events. One such event was recorded in the Derbyshire Courier 17 July 1847. It sounds a splendid occasion and I can imagine that the local children had a thoroughly enjoyable day.

WHITTINGTON PEOPLE

I am not sure who wrote this piece but they weren't too keen on 'Whittington' people!  Taken from the Derbyshire Courier 11 August 1877.

BOILER EXPLOSION

THE FOLLOWING EXCERPT IS TAKEN FROM THE DERBYSHIRE ADVERTISER 13 JUNE 1856

W CUMMING OLD WHITTINGTON BLACKING MILLS

When I was researching the men from Old Whittington remembered on the war memorials (https://oldwhittingtonops.com/the-fallen-of-old-whittingto…/) I noticed that a couple of them were employed at the Blacking Mills.

I had heard of flour mills, water mills even silk mills but I had never heard of a Blacking mill!
The Blacking mill was situated in what was Foxley Oaks, this is the area between Newbridge Lane and the River Whitting.

If you would like to find out more about Cummings Whittington Blacking Mills then please go to https://oldwhittingtonops.com/old-whittington-blacking-mil…/

ROBBERY ON TURNPIKE ROAD 1798

Came across this newspaper entry from the Derbyshire Mercury 22 March 1798.
The reward of £40 would be quite a large amount I would imagine in 1798 it would be interesting to find out if the three 'footpads' were caught. I love the reference to the Turnpike Road.
If you are interested in where the Turnpike roads were this website is helpful.
http://www.turnpikes.org.uk/The%20Turnpike%20Roads.htm

WHITTINGTON GAS CO = PRICE CUT

Wouldn't it be nice if things were so simple these days!

DIRECTORIES

When I was researching the War memorial I was intrigued by how many residents of Whittington in 1911 were not born there and had come to work there in the mines or at Sheepbridge Works.

I thought it would be interesting to research how the village developed in size and occupations over the years from 1828-1829, when the Pigots Directory was printed up to 1895-1905 when Sheepbridge was at full capacity.

Hope you find the information as interesting as I do!

Hopefully over the next few months I will post the information from the census and from trade directories, which will show how the village changed and how the population grew.

SHEEPBRIDGE IRON WORKS Laying the foundation stone of the blast furnace

Found this report in the Derbyshire Courier 7 November 1857. It gives details of the laying of the foundation stone for the blast furnaces at Sheepbridge Iron works.

John Buxton

The sad story of John Buxton of Newbridge Street Old Whittington, taken from Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald 8 September 1900

The Inquest report was published the following week in the Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald

"At the inquest of the Whittington lad, who was killed by a trap accident last week, the Coroner commented on the danger of children being allowed to play in the streets".

WHITTINGTON CHURCH

Been to the Local Studies library today and found this engraving of Whittington Church in Fords History of Chesterfield. It is not dated and doesn't mention any information about it but the book was published in 1839 so that gives a rough idea of the date.