RECENT EVENTS
26th MARCH. JO HERON: THE METCALFE SOCIETY: A YORKSHIRE CLAN
Jo Heron, the honorary membership secretary of the Metcalfe Society, explained that the Metcalfe family originated in the Swaledale area of Yorkshire in the early middle ages. From there the family has spread around the globe with particularly high concentrations of Metcalfes in North America, South Africa and Australia. During the medieval period the Yorkshire Metcalfes were among the county’s gentry and fought in the battles of Falkirk, Bannockburn and Agincourt. James Metcalfe, who was in Henry V’s army at Agincourt, later built Nappa Hall near Hawes. The hall still survives and is a site of pilgrimage for Metcalfes today. Later members of the clan included Theophilus, the inventor of a system of shorthand writing, and the famous road builder, ‘Blind Jack’ of Knaresborough. The Metcalfe Society, which was founded in 1980, keeps in touch with its world- wide membership through its website, its newsletter and its annual meeting or ‘muster’. In addition, members of the society undertake research into the clan including Metcalfes in India and in the First World War. If your family is from Yorkshire, it is highly likely that you will have Metcalfes in your family tree.
26th FEBRUARY. GARY BRANNAN: THE BLACK DEATH IN WEST YORKSHIRE
The mid 14th century was a time of political uncertainty with difficult living conditions due to wet weather and poor harvests across Europe. Following trade routes, the Great Pestilence which was spread by infected fleas, killed huge numbers of people as it travelled from east to west across the continent. Over the space of one summer, nearly 60% of the population of Europe died. The Black Death entered Yorkshire through the coastal ports in the early months of 1349. Gary tracked the effects of the plague through wills proved at the courts of the Archbishop of York. As many people made their will only just before they died, it is possible to infer from the spike in numbers and types of documents that many richer people and clergy were succumbing to the pestilence. In particular Gary looked at the will of William de Aberford, vicar of Batley, who left much of his wealth to members of his local community. It is thought that 50% of clergy died and that 96 parishes in the West Riding were left vacant as a result of the plague. For the survivors life improved because a shortage of workers led to better employment and higher wages.
29th JANUARY. RUTH NETTLETON: THE PICKARDS OF OSSETT
The talk looked in detail at the family background of Hannah Pickard (1838-1891) who left a number of bequests for the benefit of local people. Ruth traced the source of the family’s wealth from her father George who was a successful grocer, through her mother, Hannah, who carried on the family business after her husband’s death. She was able to provide financial security for her children and Hannah’s two brothers, David and George, did well in the textile trade. Neither married, but David had illegitimate children by a Leeds woman. Andrew’s death in 1890 left Hannah as the sole legitimate member of the family and a wealthy woman. Her will showed her to be generous as she remembered not only her friends, but also the poor of Ossett and local and national charities. In particular she left money for the Pickard fountain, an elaborate confection, which graced the Market Place until the 1960s. (see image above) Ruth’s talk was complemented by comments from a Society member, Alan Howe, who set Hannah in context as a dutiful Victorian daughter and sister who had firm ideas about what to do with her family’s fortune.
27th NOVEMBER: KEVIN TRICKET - A BRIEF HISTORY OF WAKEFIELD
Kevin first explained the origins and role of the Wakefield Civic Society, of which he is a leading member, before giving a richly illustrated talk on the city’s history. Wakefield originated in the early middle ages at a crossing point of the River Calder. At first the crossing was a ford, but later a bridge with a chantry chapel was built. The town’s main streets – Westgate, Northgate and Kirkgate – were laid out in the medieval period and the burgage plots which lined them later developed into the yards which are still a feature of central Wakefield. With the opening of the Aire and Calder and Calder and Hebble Navigations and the Barnsley Canal, the town became an inland port, encouraging its growth as an industrial and commercial centre. With the coming of the railways, Kirkgate and Westgate stations were built. The former has recently been renovated, while the latter has been renewed. The wool textile industry was a staple trade in the town during the Industrial Revolution and traces of it still survive in the shape of some of the warehouses built for wool and cloth merchants. Since the Second World War, manufacturing industry has declined, leading to the closure of textile mills. The city’s proximity to the M1 and the M62 has led to the growth of the logistics industry with its vast warehouses. Attempts are being made to revive the city’s waterfront, the Hepworth Gallery being the most conspicuous result. Apart from being a commercial centre, Wakefield has long been an administrative centre and the Town and County Halls in Wood Street together with Wakefield One are striking monuments to this aspect of the city’s life. Future plans for the development of city include the replacement of the Market Hall by a cinema and restaurants and the conversion of part of the Victorian Clayton Hospital for educational use.
23 OCTOBER. DAVID SCRIVEN: A WORLD WE HAVE LOST: OSSETT AND HORBURY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
Neither Ossett nor Horbury escaped the impact of the English Civil Wars. Not only was there fighting around both places, but local men fought for either the King or Parliament. The communities they came from were small, their populations numbered in the hundreds rather than the thousands. Periodically both suffered from epidemics and from harvest failures which caused a sharp increase in the number of deaths. 1623 was a particularly bad year, and not just in Ossett and Horbury but across the whole North of England. Farming was the principal occupation of the inhabitants: wills and inventories mention the crops, livestock and equipment such as ploughs and wains. Next to farming in importance was the making of woollen cloth. The key figures in the woollen industry were the clothiers who bought the wool, had it spun and woven and then sold their cloth to merchants at Wakefield’s weekly market. In both Ossett and Horbury there were deep divisions between the richest and the poorest inhabitants. Among the richest was Dame Sarah Monson, whose home was Horbury Old Hall. She left monetary bequests amounting to £500 in her will and set aside another £100 for the cost of her funeral in Wakefield. Among the poorest inhabitants was Mary Oxley of Ossett who was excused paying the 1672 hearth tax because of her poverty. There were also religious divisions in the two communities. After the restoration of Charles II some inhabitants refused to conform to the Church of England. One was John Issott of Horbury who was a member of William Marshall’s Independent congregation at Woodkirk. Another was John Bradford of Ossett who became a member of the Society of Friends. Like other Nonconformists, Bradford suffered for his faith. Arrested at a religious meeting in Wakefield, he was imprisoned in York Castle. Only with the Toleration Act of 1689 did the persecution of Nonconformists cease.
25 SEPTEMBER 2017 – ERIC JACKSON: THE BARNBOW LASSES
Mr Jackson’s interest in the Barnbow munitions works was aroused when he found the names of two women, Jane Few and Helena Beckett, on the war memorial at All Saints Church in Pontefract. They had been among 35 women killed in an explosion at the works on the night of 5 December 1916. Today there is little to see of the works, but during the First World War 16,000 people were employed there, 93% of them women. Barnbow was opened in 1915 as a shell filling factory in response to the British army’s massive demand for munitions. Working there was dangerous, not only because of the risks of explosions, but also because of the damage exposure to explosives did to the long term health of the women. However, wages at Barnbow were high – on average £3 a week – and free rail transport was provided to the works and this attracted women workers from York, Pontefract and Castleford as well as Leeds. Although the site was cleared after the First World War, the memory of the Barnbow lasses has been revived in recent years in a number of ways among them several memorials, streets named after some of the victims of the 1916 explosion and a play.
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Jo Heron, the honorary membership secretary of the Metcalfe Society, explained that the Metcalfe family originated in the Swaledale area of Yorkshire in the early middle ages. From there the family has spread around the globe with particularly high concentrations of Metcalfes in North America, South Africa and Australia. During the medieval period the Yorkshire Metcalfes were among the county’s gentry and fought in the battles of Falkirk, Bannockburn and Agincourt. James Metcalfe, who was in Henry V’s army at Agincourt, later built Nappa Hall near Hawes. The hall still survives and is a site of pilgrimage for Metcalfes today. Later members of the clan included Theophilus, the inventor of a system of shorthand writing, and the famous road builder, ‘Blind Jack’ of Knaresborough. The Metcalfe Society, which was founded in 1980, keeps in touch with its world- wide membership through its website, its newsletter and its annual meeting or ‘muster’. In addition, members of the society undertake research into the clan including Metcalfes in India and in the First World War. If your family is from Yorkshire, it is highly likely that you will have Metcalfes in your family tree.
26th FEBRUARY. GARY BRANNAN: THE BLACK DEATH IN WEST YORKSHIRE
The mid 14th century was a time of political uncertainty with difficult living conditions due to wet weather and poor harvests across Europe. Following trade routes, the Great Pestilence which was spread by infected fleas, killed huge numbers of people as it travelled from east to west across the continent. Over the space of one summer, nearly 60% of the population of Europe died. The Black Death entered Yorkshire through the coastal ports in the early months of 1349. Gary tracked the effects of the plague through wills proved at the courts of the Archbishop of York. As many people made their will only just before they died, it is possible to infer from the spike in numbers and types of documents that many richer people and clergy were succumbing to the pestilence. In particular Gary looked at the will of William de Aberford, vicar of Batley, who left much of his wealth to members of his local community. It is thought that 50% of clergy died and that 96 parishes in the West Riding were left vacant as a result of the plague. For the survivors life improved because a shortage of workers led to better employment and higher wages.
29th JANUARY. RUTH NETTLETON: THE PICKARDS OF OSSETT
The talk looked in detail at the family background of Hannah Pickard (1838-1891) who left a number of bequests for the benefit of local people. Ruth traced the source of the family’s wealth from her father George who was a successful grocer, through her mother, Hannah, who carried on the family business after her husband’s death. She was able to provide financial security for her children and Hannah’s two brothers, David and George, did well in the textile trade. Neither married, but David had illegitimate children by a Leeds woman. Andrew’s death in 1890 left Hannah as the sole legitimate member of the family and a wealthy woman. Her will showed her to be generous as she remembered not only her friends, but also the poor of Ossett and local and national charities. In particular she left money for the Pickard fountain, an elaborate confection, which graced the Market Place until the 1960s. (see image above) Ruth’s talk was complemented by comments from a Society member, Alan Howe, who set Hannah in context as a dutiful Victorian daughter and sister who had firm ideas about what to do with her family’s fortune.
27th NOVEMBER: KEVIN TRICKET - A BRIEF HISTORY OF WAKEFIELD
Kevin first explained the origins and role of the Wakefield Civic Society, of which he is a leading member, before giving a richly illustrated talk on the city’s history. Wakefield originated in the early middle ages at a crossing point of the River Calder. At first the crossing was a ford, but later a bridge with a chantry chapel was built. The town’s main streets – Westgate, Northgate and Kirkgate – were laid out in the medieval period and the burgage plots which lined them later developed into the yards which are still a feature of central Wakefield. With the opening of the Aire and Calder and Calder and Hebble Navigations and the Barnsley Canal, the town became an inland port, encouraging its growth as an industrial and commercial centre. With the coming of the railways, Kirkgate and Westgate stations were built. The former has recently been renovated, while the latter has been renewed. The wool textile industry was a staple trade in the town during the Industrial Revolution and traces of it still survive in the shape of some of the warehouses built for wool and cloth merchants. Since the Second World War, manufacturing industry has declined, leading to the closure of textile mills. The city’s proximity to the M1 and the M62 has led to the growth of the logistics industry with its vast warehouses. Attempts are being made to revive the city’s waterfront, the Hepworth Gallery being the most conspicuous result. Apart from being a commercial centre, Wakefield has long been an administrative centre and the Town and County Halls in Wood Street together with Wakefield One are striking monuments to this aspect of the city’s life. Future plans for the development of city include the replacement of the Market Hall by a cinema and restaurants and the conversion of part of the Victorian Clayton Hospital for educational use.
23 OCTOBER. DAVID SCRIVEN: A WORLD WE HAVE LOST: OSSETT AND HORBURY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
Neither Ossett nor Horbury escaped the impact of the English Civil Wars. Not only was there fighting around both places, but local men fought for either the King or Parliament. The communities they came from were small, their populations numbered in the hundreds rather than the thousands. Periodically both suffered from epidemics and from harvest failures which caused a sharp increase in the number of deaths. 1623 was a particularly bad year, and not just in Ossett and Horbury but across the whole North of England. Farming was the principal occupation of the inhabitants: wills and inventories mention the crops, livestock and equipment such as ploughs and wains. Next to farming in importance was the making of woollen cloth. The key figures in the woollen industry were the clothiers who bought the wool, had it spun and woven and then sold their cloth to merchants at Wakefield’s weekly market. In both Ossett and Horbury there were deep divisions between the richest and the poorest inhabitants. Among the richest was Dame Sarah Monson, whose home was Horbury Old Hall. She left monetary bequests amounting to £500 in her will and set aside another £100 for the cost of her funeral in Wakefield. Among the poorest inhabitants was Mary Oxley of Ossett who was excused paying the 1672 hearth tax because of her poverty. There were also religious divisions in the two communities. After the restoration of Charles II some inhabitants refused to conform to the Church of England. One was John Issott of Horbury who was a member of William Marshall’s Independent congregation at Woodkirk. Another was John Bradford of Ossett who became a member of the Society of Friends. Like other Nonconformists, Bradford suffered for his faith. Arrested at a religious meeting in Wakefield, he was imprisoned in York Castle. Only with the Toleration Act of 1689 did the persecution of Nonconformists cease.
25 SEPTEMBER 2017 – ERIC JACKSON: THE BARNBOW LASSES
Mr Jackson’s interest in the Barnbow munitions works was aroused when he found the names of two women, Jane Few and Helena Beckett, on the war memorial at All Saints Church in Pontefract. They had been among 35 women killed in an explosion at the works on the night of 5 December 1916. Today there is little to see of the works, but during the First World War 16,000 people were employed there, 93% of them women. Barnbow was opened in 1915 as a shell filling factory in response to the British army’s massive demand for munitions. Working there was dangerous, not only because of the risks of explosions, but also because of the damage exposure to explosives did to the long term health of the women. However, wages at Barnbow were high – on average £3 a week – and free rail transport was provided to the works and this attracted women workers from York, Pontefract and Castleford as well as Leeds. Although the site was cleared after the First World War, the memory of the Barnbow lasses has been revived in recent years in a number of ways among them several memorials, streets named after some of the victims of the 1916 explosion and a play.
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