WESLEYAN METHODISM AT OLD WHITTINGTON

I found this article about the opening of the new Wesleyan chapel at Old Whittington in the Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald 2nd November 1895.

At first I was unsure which chapel it referred to as it mentions it is situated near to the Revolution House, but after a visit to Whittington I realised it is the chapel on Church St. which is now the Seventh Day Adventist church. (There was another chapel just past the Revolution House on the main road).

The newspaper report is interesting for the information on the building of the chapel, but it is also interesting from a genealogical point of view as it contains plenty of names of people who lived in Whittington in the mid 1890’s.

Two of the commemoration stones mentioned in the above article

A SAD STORY

A sad story to start the New Year from the Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald 23rd July 1892.

I don't normally post sad events that I find in the newspapers but this young lady had a very tragic end to her life due to mismatched love!

Remembrance

Today we remember all men and women who died in the many wars. Here are some of the men who gave their lives in WW1 who came from Old Whittington.

In the words of Laurence Binyon - For the Fallen

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

WHITTINGTON GAS WORKS

I have been sent a photo by Elizabeth Pemberton of the gas works at the bottom of Whittington Hill clearly showing the managers house, it was taken around 1890 and it not one I have seen before. At this time the manager would have been William D Holford.

JOHN SMITHEMAN

When I was researching the soldiers of WW1 I came across John Smitheman https://oldwhittingtonops.com/smitheman-john/

John died in March 1916, but sadly his young daughter Ellen pre-deceased him in February 1916, she was just 4 years old. Whether he would know he had lost his daughter I have no idea, but I was contacted this week by Johns grandson and he sent me a picture of this memorial plaque for both his grandfather and his aunt. They were both obviously greatly missed.

JOSEPH SYDDALL

I was sorting through some papers and found these postcard copies of paintings by Joseph Syddall (b1864 d 1942). These two paintings were painted between 1890 and 1914, at this time Syddall was dividing his time between Whittington and London. The first called 'Ploughing' and the second 'Beach Scene'. The third image is my favourite. The lady looks deep in thought and she is wearing a lovely big hat, which indicates the drawing may have been done 1890-1910, when big hats were more in fashion.

Joseph Syddall was best known in Whittington for his designs of the war memorials at Old Whittington and Dronfield.

The last image is the original drawing Syddall did for Old Whittington war memorial. I was lucky enough to be able to photograph it, by kind permission of Chesterfield Museum.

Syddall was best known for his pencil drawings and it was pencil drawings that saw him elected to become a member of the Royal Academy.

1841 OCCUPATIONS

Having just transcribed the 1841 census for Whittington I thought I would check which occupations were most popular.

I imagined it would be more rural trades but was surprised when I checked that even in 1841 coal mining just came out on top !

The chart only shows the main employment categories the other occupations were the normal rural trades, miller, blacksmith etc.

There were several collieries in the area some coming later than 1841, but Marrs Whittington Colliery was already in existence at that time as the following newspaper report from 1842 would confirm.