Barrowford - Stephen Pickles, street musician

[rossylass]

Stephen Pickles died in Burnley Workhouse in 1901 at the age of 82. His death certificate describes him as a street musician of Barrowford. I know from other records that he played the fiddle; he may have played other instruments. The cause of death was senile decay, so he was probably in a bit of a state when admitted to the workhouse.

Has anyone ever heard of Stephen....maybe from stories old by parents or grandparents? He had been a showman and the proprietor of potable theatres, so I guess that he may have been a local "character" in Brrowford in his final days. He may have been nicknamed Sam.

[Whyperion]

While Pickles is a common name in the area , The transcription of old Barlick , by William Atkinson http://oneguyfrombarlick.co.uk/viewtopi ... =58&t=6868 Under the 1845 dates relating to Barnoldswick ....
" There were four back-to-back three storied cottages the first block on right-hand side going up Barlick Lane. These were known as the ‘blue slate’, (the only blue slated houses in Barlick Town at the time). Old Jammie Pickles lived in one of these houses and had a large family. The youngest boy Josiah, after his father's death, lived alone at Moorside where he composed the well known ‘Moorside Polka’ Josiah was a clever musician, the flute being his favourite instrument, and in after years he obtained appointments at some of the leading opera houses in London. "


I have had families in the wifes lineage whom ( when large families were more common and one had to make ones own entertainment ) were sent to learn an instrument each ( I think it started with the Piano and worked its way down to the youngest as funds diminished whom was taught the drum/s - he played for the movies and music hall entertainers in the 1920s ) I guess this was not uncommon as own family from Church Organists in Ireland moved to Liverpool and taught singing , musical items and generally ran a music academy in the middle of the C19th , it was either profitable or they bought cheap property then sold it for much more as they retired at an old age to North Wales to a goodly sized cottage. So similar could have run with relatives in the Pickles family.

[Stanley]

Rossy, the bloke to contact is John Clayton, 'Barrowfordjohn' on the site. PM him to alert him of your quest.

[rossylass]

Thank you. I will have a go.

[Wendyf]

I don't think Barrowfordjohn is registered on the new site. You should be able to contact him through his own website here.

[rossylass]

Thank you Wendy. I was glad to get your post. I wasn't able to find him on this site & thought that I was losing it!

[rossylass]

Barrowford John had not come across Stephen Pickles so I took a trip to the Lancashire Archives to have a look at the records from Burnley Workhouse.

I discovered that Stephen had been transferred to Burnley from the Chorley Union in 1899 (two years before his death in 1901). Initially Chorley had served a Notice to Petition for a Removal Order on the Skipton Union, as Barnoldswick was considered to be his parish of origin. The Skipton Guardians appealed on the ground that his father, Richard Pickles, had moved to Roughlee prior to Stephen's 16th birthday; this brought him under the jurisdiction of the Burnley Union.

This poses a question; why, on his death certificate, was Stephen's occupation recorded as a street musician of Barrowford?

His death was registered by J Swift, the Master of the Burnley Union Workhouse. Although Stephen had given an accurate date of birth to the Chorley Union and would have been 82 at the time of his death, the age on his death certificate is given as 77. My guess is that, as a pauper and a dead one too, the Workhouse Master did not bother to consult Stephen's records & gave a wrong age & place of origin.

Stephen's next of kin, his nephew, was recorded as Stephen Wood, a weaver of Barrowford. I found him in the 1901 census; he was born in Roughlee around 1847.

[rossylass]

Thank you for your reply Whyperion. I wonder if the Pickles' you have quoted were any relation to my lot.

I was interested to read that your musical family played for acts in the Music Halls. Stephen Pickles & his brothers James & Henry all married actresses. My great grandmother was an actress and she married an entertainer. They had seven children, all of whom were on the stage. My grandfather & his siblings had Music Hall acts from the begining of the 20th century until the Music Halls died. I wonder whether your relatives accompanied them.

[StephenPickles]

Rossylass, several of the names in your post ring bells with me.

It's possible that the Master of Burnley Union Workhouse was related to Stephen Pickles, the street musician. If I'm right, the master of Burnley Union Workhouse was James Swift. His elder sister, Ellen Swift, had married William Pickles, a farmer, in 1887. They married in Accrington, but lived, and probably met, in Barrowford. Now this William was the son of another William, who was born in Barnoldswick around 1810, and worked as labourer (Salterforth 1841), canal bank ranger, lock-keeper (Gargrave 1861), and later farmer (Barrowford, 1871). According to the marriage certificate (1842, St Bartholemews, Colne, to Mary Blackburn) of William the elder, his father was Richard Pickels [sic], a labourer [sic]. The marriage was witnessed by Henry Pickels (!) and Richard Ellis.

The big question is whether William the lock-keeper's father Richard Pickels is the same Richard Pickles that moved from Barnoldswick to Roughlee and became a hand-loom weaver. I didn't find a baptism for William around 1810 in the records of St Mary le Ghyll. But equally, I haven't found any baptism for a William Pickles son of Richard around 1810 anywhere near Barnoldswick. So I don't have a better candidate.

Anyway, if your Richard Pickles is the same as my ggg-grandfather Richard Pickles, then it's probable that your Stephen Pickles was James Swift's brother-in-law's uncle. And the Henry Pickels who witnessed my gg-grandfather's marriage was probably his brother and Stephen's.

I'd be grateful for any information on the family of Richard Pickles of Barnoldswick and Roughlee that might help determine whether he's William the lock-keeper's father.

I'd also be grateful for any information on James Swift the Master of Burnley Union Workhouse. I believe that he spend some time in Salford Union Workhouse himself as a child (in 1871). His father, I believe, was called Henry, but I haven't found his birth certificate either.

[Stanley]

PICKLES INDEX ENTRIES AS OF 13/09/09

1822 Baines directory
Records Michael Pickles as victualler at the Bay Horse Inn at Salterforth.

1851 census
Benjamin Pickles, Gillians. 55, HLW(wool). Margaret, wife, 54 ditto. John, 22, cotton spinner. Joseph, 12, cotton spinner. Margaret, 8 and William, 3 years. William Myers, 77, lodger on Parish Relief. (Margaret’s father?)

1851 census
James Pickles of Long Ing, 27, agricultural labourer. Rachel, wife, 28, HLW, wool. William Heaton, wife’s son, 5, scholar. Thomas Pickles, 9. Hannah, 3 years.

1851 census
James Pickles, Hey, 44, PLW cotton. Mary, daughter, 24, PLW C. Henry, 19, PLW C. William, 15, PLW C. James, 13, PLW C. Jane, 11, scholar. Josiah, 5, scholar. Rachel, 3 years.

1851 census
Stephen Pickles, Jepp Hill. 27, power loom overlooker. Sarah, wife, 27. James, 2 years.

1858
PICKLES. HARRY. LTP. 84/SP/0I. Page 9. Stephen Pickles talks about his father's brother Harry who was born in 1858. He went with the family when they migrated to America. When they came back they had four looms apiece in Clough Mill and Stephen (1856) was the Manchester man.

1859
Stephen Pickles noted as elector of Barnoldswick in 1859. 1890 Local Board elections gives Stephen Pickles, Town Head, manufacturer. Stephen Pickles junior, east View Terrace, manufacturer.

1861 census
Hartley Pickles, Railway Street, Lower Marsden, 37 years, Cotton manufacturer.

1861 census
Stephen Pickles, Newtown, Barnoldswick, 37, mill manager. Sarah, wife, 37. Mary, 9. Stephen, 5. Henry, 1 year.

1861 census
Thomas Pickles, Toll Collector at Blacko Toll Bar, 73 years. Born Salterforth.

1868
PICKLES. S and SONS. LTP. 84/SP/01. Page 9. Stephen Pickles talks about his father's account of living at Newtown. He said that it was a country lane then and there were green fields all the way down to Long Ing. In 1868 they were starving. Only Stephen (1856) had a job, picking potatoes. This was when Stephen (1824) decided to migrate on the promise of three acres and a cow in Fall River, Massachusetts. They stayed about two years, came back to Barlick in 1870/1872 and founded S Pickles and Sons in 1881.

1871 census
Henry Pickles, Aspen Lane, Earby, 61, grocer. Susannah, wife, 69. Ann Pickles, 25.

1871 census
Nancy Pickles, Wellhouse Square, 44, cotton operative.

1871 census
Thomas Pickles, Aspen Lane Earby, 42, shoe maker. Martha Ann, wife, 37. Henry, 7. Sarah Ann, 11. Mary, 5.

1871 census
Richard Pickles, Kelbrook Village, 37, cotton weaver. Sarah, wife, 28. Frank, 3 years. Margaret, 3 months.

1871 census
George Pickles, Kelbrook Village, 43, cordwainer (archaic term for cobbler). Jane Ann, wife, 42. William 14 years. (J A Pickles father). George is mentioned in the formation of the Kelbrook Mill Co in 1898 as one of the original purchasers of Bridge Mill.

1871 census
Henry Pickles, Hayfield, Salterforth, 30, poultry dealer. In 1896 Barrett he is noted as poultry dealer and farmer of Hayfield House. There is a Hayfield in Salterforth, now a housing development behind Salterforth Mill.

1871 census
Henry Pickles, Barnoldswick Hey (area round Hey Farm) 62, power loom weaver, cotton. Jane, wife, 62, PLW. Ann, 20, PLW. Jane Hartley, married daughter, 33, PLW. Stephen, grandson, 10, scholar. Chris Middleton, son in law, 24, shoemaker. Rachel Middleton, daughter (in law?), 25, PLW. William Middleton, grandson, 1 month.

1871 census
John Pickles, Aspen Lane, Earby, 36, stone mason. Hannah, wife, 30, drawer in at mill. Margaret, daughter, 6. Susannah, daughter, 4 years old.

1871 census
Joseph Pickles, Kelbrook Village, 40, cotton weaver. Alice, wife, 35. John, 18, weaver. William, 16, weaver. Thomas, 14 weaver. Dick, 13, scholar. James, 10, weaver. Benjamin, 8. Margaret, 5. Ridihough, son, 2. Joseph, 1 year. Hartley, 1 year.

1872
PICKLES. KELBROOK MILL CO. Sough Bridge Mill. Building commenced 1810 and seemed to complete in 1872. There is a BIW drawing, of an engine identical to that known to have been at SB which is endorsed ‘Tandem Engine for C. Bracewell Bros, Kelbrook’ , Detail of the flywheel and gear drive are the same as on records from 1926 at which time the engine was being ascribed to Roberts. Roberts either supplied a new and very similar engine or rebuilt the original around the turn of the century, possibly in 1905 when UMP Company were supplying new metallic packings for both cylinders I have no other record of Bracewell Bros at SB. Is it possible that C Bracewell Bros briefly owned SB mill? Nathan Smallpage and Son were tenants at SB in the 1880’s but I don’t know who owned the mill then. The mill had 500 looms up to c.1905 when it was extended by a further 500 looms.(fits with new or rebuilt engine as twice the power required) In early 1898 the Smallpages were approached to purchase the mill which they did but then left the area and sold it within months to The Kelbrook Mill Company which was established by former employees.(Directors: Atkinson, Horbury, Pickles, Wilkinson, Wright, Alderton, Fort) Half of the shed, 250 looms, was let to Messrs Pickles and the other 250 to Messrs Clough & Co. In 1905 East End Manfr. Co took space (Directors: Stockdale, Waterworth, Baldwin, Sephton, Petty). John Smallpage who ran most of the looms when they were tenants removed his looms to Foulridge

1881
PICKLES, STEPHEN. LTP. 84/SP/01. Page 5. Stephen Pickles talks about his father and Sir Amos Nelson starting manufacturing in the same year, 1881. They were
Friends and both teetotal. SP says that Sir Amos bought the Roundell Estate and Roundell, a prohibitionist, had closed the pubs down at both Martons and Elslack which suited Amos as he was a prohibitionist as well. Sir Amos sold Barn Cottage to Stephen (1856) for £130 in 1930. SP knew Harriet who was the daughter of the estate agent at West Marton, Hargreaves. He said she was engaged to a lad who worked at the bank at Barlick but he jilted her. She married Sir Amos later. [SG note. I think she was acting as his secretary.
1885
John Pickles wife Sarah Elizabeth Kirby was born at Carleton in 1885 and came to live in Earby as a young girl. Her parents were mill workers. Johnny married her on February 14th 1914. He died on February 19th 1963 aged 78. Johnny’s first job was in the office at Sough Bridge Mill but he kept running away and was apprenticed to Henry Brown in Earby 1903/1906. On finishing his time in 1906 he got a job at Victory ‘V’ at Nelson but only stayed a couple of days before moving to Burnley Ironworks 1906/1908. In 1908 Henry Brown asked him to go to Henry Brown and sons as foreman and he was there until they liquidated in 1929 when he started his own business helped by Teddy Wood and the CHSC. Eventually this business became Henry Brown Sons and Pickles.

1887
Barrett 1887 and 1896. Thomas Pickles clog and shoe maker, Earby.

1887
PICKLES. JOHN ALBERT. LTP. 78/AG/01 Page 2. Newton Pickles says that Browns started in Earby and it was William Brown who started the firm in about 1887. The workshop, was in Albion-Street. John Albert Pickles, Newton's father, was apprentice there from 1903 to 1906 and then left and got work at Victory 'V' in Nelson but finished after a day. Then he went to Burnley Ironworks and saw Mr Metcalfe, the manager and was set on as a machinist. In 1908 young William Brown, Henry's son, came to Kelbrook and asked him to come to Barlick as foreman at Henry Brown's shop at Wellhouse Mill.

1890
Henry Wilkinson Pickles, son of Henry Wilkinson (who was a partner with Henry Vandaleur Wilkinson at Booth Bridge bobbin mill Thornton in Craven) Described in a will of 1890 as a wood turner but in 1895 conveyance of Nook Croft he is a fish dealer. In 1896 Barrett he is noted as a fried fish dealer in Earby.

1895
Clara Pickles was a weaver who shared two looms with Billy Brooks when he was a learner in Long Ing Shed. LTP. 78/AB/01.

1896
Thomas Pickles, farmer and butcher, Glebe Land, Kelbrook.

1899
PICKLES FAMILY. LTP. 84/SP/01. Page 2ff. Stephen Pickles was born in Heather View on Colne Road on 15th March 1899. He talks about his father, Stephen, who was born in 1856 on Newtown. His grandfather, born 1824, was called Stephen and he was a hand loom weaver. Grandfather Steven was manufacturing in Old Coates Shed with about twenty looms until the Cotton Famine when he migrated with his family in 1868 to Fall River near Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They were promised good work, land and a cow but found that these were illusory incitements. In 1870/72 they came back and started manufacturing in Clough Mill. Stephen Pickles (b.1824) built Stopes House, the detached house next to Heather View on Colne Road, with his own hands and all the family lived there. Stephen (b.1856) and his wife, Sarah Emma Cowgill Riley born at Thornton in Craven, moved into Heather View in 1899. She died in 1923 and Stephen (1856) married her sister Lizzie and went to live in Barn Cottage at Thornton in Craven. Sir Amos Nelson was living at the Manor House in Thornton and owned the cottage. He sold it to Stephen (1856) for £130.

c.1900
PICKLES. GARIBALDI. WATER SUPPLY (HAND CARRIED) BARLICK
Before the advent of piped water, it was either collected from roofs and stored in tanks or carried from wells. AWOL p23 mentions GARIBALDI PICKLES as supplying water at three halfpence a bucket, THOMAS WHITTAKER carted water in from Gilbert Well, the trough at the side of the road opposite Wood End Bungalow on the Old Lane (SD88054365), and sold it for a penny a bucket.

c. 1900
Jim Pickles was uncle to Johnny Pickles and was engineer at Sough Bridge Mill when Johnny was a youth. Daniel Pickles was his uncle and still lived in Lothersdale. Johnny used to run away from home to him when he was apprenticed in the office at Sough Bridge Mill.

c.1900
PICKLES, CONNECTED WITH COATES NEW MILL? 78/AK/02. Side 1. Page 11. Emma talks about Coates Mill (new), Her sister Grace [born 1887] had a young man who worked in the office there. She says that. Nelson Duckworth was connected with the mill and he lived on Mitchell Terrace. His daughter Lillian died in 1977 a spinster. Emma also thinks she remembers someone called Pickles from Earby being connected with Coates.

1902
Barrett directory records Mr Stephen Pickles as living at Heather View.

1902
Pickles family of Long Ing Shed. Fay Oldland in History of Foulridge page 17 says that the Pickles family owned several houses in Foulridge including Reef Edge built 1902, Rock Cottage, Springfield and Reedymoor Farm.

1902
Barrett directory notes Henry Pickles of Mitchell Terrace and same entry 10 Mitchell Terrace in 1896 edition.

1902
Barrett’s directory notes Garibaldi Pickles of Barnoldswick as carrier to Burnley Monday and Friday and Colne on Thursday and Saturday.

1902
Barrett’s directory records Mrs Sarah Pickles as living at Stopes House, Barnoldswick.

1902
Barrett’s directory notes George Pickles and Son as cloggers, Main Street, Barnoldswick. 1896 edition notes them as Boot, shoe and clog makers.

c1910
In his book ‘This is My Life’, Griffiths records Garibaldi Pickles as being a carrier and delivering wholesale groceries to John Slater’s shop (known as Jack Tarty, shop was later Mrs Brown’s in 1950s) on Crow foot Row between 1910-1919. He also delivered to Patrick’s shop in Wellhouse Road and others. Known as Gara Pickles he previously delivered water in the town at 1 ½d a bucket.

1914
PICKLES. J A. LATHE MAKING 1914 WAR. LTP. 78/AG/01. Page 10. Newton Pickles talks about Stanley Fisher and Johnny Pickles making a break lathe with a four foot face plate, 3ft over the saddle and 18ft between centres during the 1914 war to turn gun bases for Yates and Thom's. They made the lathe because they couldn't buy one big enough. This lathe was in use until the firm closed in 1981.

1915
From Commonwealth War dead 1914-1918. Death recorded of Lance corporal George Pickles. 6th Bat. East Lancs Reg. On 9th of August 1915. Aged 22, son of James and Elizabeth Pickles of 80 Rainhall Road Barnoldswick. (Mention also of an Alice Pickles)

1915
William Pickles, John Albert’s father, died December 20th 1915 aged 59. Jane Ann Pickles, John Albert’s mother died 15 December 1916 aged 58.

c. 1915
Dr Phillip D. Pickles, HMS Russell. and formerly of Earby, died in hospital at Malta as a result of injuries received during the sinking of his ship in the Mediterranean. A son of Dr J.J. Pickles, Camp Road, Leeds, he was the eldest of six brothers all trained in the medical profession. Deceased was a member of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and was called up for duty on the "Russell" on August the 2nd 1914. As Surgeon in the R.N.V.R., he took part in the grand review at Spithead. and joined H.M.S. "Russell" on August 2nd 1914. Dr Pickles was one of five brothers who joined H.M. Forces — three in the Army and two in the Navy — four of them being medical officers. He was 33 years of age and unmarried. [CH report]

1916
Same source records death of Second lieutenant Harry Thornton 11th Bat. Attached to 9th Bat. Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Reg. On 26th August 1916. Age 26, son of Stephen and Sarah Pickles of Raygill, Barnoldswick.

1916
Newton Pickles born March 16th 1916. Died 2nd January 2001 at Dam Head cottages where he lived with his third wife, Beryl.

c.1920
PICKLES. GARIBALDI. LTP. 78/AK/02, side 1, page 5. Emma Clark talks about Gara Pickles living in the middle of the three cottages at the end of Park Avenue opposite the Dog. Says his father was a carrier with a horse and cart (Garibaldi Pickles) and used to go to Colne once a week and bring groceries back to Barlick from Bateman's at Colne. These were large orders and were cheaper prices. Talks about Dorothy Bateman dying in 1976 and leaving £90,000. Says she remembers that
the tea was either Mazawattee or Lipton's in large tins. Her mother's friend Mrs. Fort used to get tea from there.

c.1920
PICKLES. NEWTON. CLOGGER, KELBROOK
AWOL. P. 12. NEWTON PICKLES’ clogger’s shop was where the pottery is now in the main street. This Newton was J A Pickles brother and uncle to Newton Pickles, engineer.
1922
PICKLES. MANUFACTURERS. BROOK SHED 1922. LTP. 78/AH/07. Page 12. Fred Inman talks about starting work half time at Bracewell Hartley’s at Brook Shed, Earby. In first place were Greens, 200 loom. Joe Foulds, 200 loom. Pickles, about 400. Bracewell Hartley’s 400 and Thomas Henry Hartley’s 400. Says that the Pickles were related to S Pickles at Barlick. I asked about Nutter Brothers but Fred says that was much later when they were in Grove with over 1000 looms. Fred says the only contact between the school and his parents was when his dad and Mr. Lindley, the headmaster, met on their allotments.
1922
PICKLES. J A AND SON. In 1922 Henry Brown and Sons built a new foundry on land at Havre Park. In October 1929 they liquidated and paid out 19/6 in the pound. This was when Johnny Pickles took over at Wellhouse Machine Shop as J A Pickles and Son. Johnny borrowed £500 off an aunt at Kelbrook and with help from the shed company who let him rent the machinery in the shop which they bought off the Receiver he started again immediately trading as J. A. Pickles and Son.

1923
Calf Hall Shed company minutes report an accident at Butts Mill where the engineer Charles Watson had got water into the low pressure cylinder and smashed the piston. Henry Brown and Sons, under their foreman John Pickles, cast the new piston and it was turned by Dennis Pickles who was employed by Browns but no relation to the Kelbrook Pickles where John originated. Dennis was shop foreman at Henry Brown Sons and Pickles during WW2.

1927.
Dorothy Pickles was the sister of Newton Pickles born in 1927 and died aged 49 in 1976. LTP. 78/AG/02. Side 1. (Born 27 October 1927 at 35 Federation Street and died 2nd of August 1976)

1929
LTP. 82/HD/05, page 5. Harold Duxbury talks about the relationship between Teddy Wood of Proctor and Proctor and Johnny Pickles and how this led to Johnny taking over the Calf Hall Shed Company work after Henry Brown and Sons liquidated in 1929.

1930
PICKLES.J A. AND SON. LTP. 78/AG/01. Page10. Newton says that in 1930 when he was 14, Johnny-Pickles asked Willy Brown who lived in Horton in Craven to come in and look after the office. ‘Our Mr Willy’ as they called him was still there in 1938 when Johnny changed the name of the firm to Henry Brown Sons and Pickles. I have no information as to whether Browns had any money in the business. Johnny had always had a soft spot for his old master Henry Brown and this might be why he changed the name of the firm. See the Riley Street Chapel Clock.

c.1930
PICKLES. J A AND SON. MORE LOOMS PULLEYS. LTP. 79/AG/01. Page 11. Newton Pickles talks about the advent of the More Looms System and the demand for larger pulleys to slow the looms down. Says their first order was from Anthony Carr for 2,000 10" pulleys. They were cast by Ashby at Ouzledale and King's foundry at Skipton. Talks about Johnny getting Wimet tipped tools and in the end they did 13,000 pairs of pulleys (fast and loose for each loom). Some for Blackburn were 12". Says Johnny had £1,000 in bank after this.

c. 1930
LTP. 78/AA/02, page 15. Jim Pollard talks about a man called Pickles who was a director of Standroyd Shed in Colne. He was president of Colne Cricket Club.

1930
PICKLES. FRED
CH. 12/09/1930. Report of the fact that the New Road Manufacturing company are to move their business (400 looms) from Brook Shed at Earby into the premises at Long Ing Shed previously occupied by Brown and Bailey. They will use Brown and Bailey's old looms but bring their own tapes and preparation machinery from Earby. There was speculation that the move had been triggered by favourable terms at Long Ing but Mr Fred Pickles would only say that the new arrangement was 'more convenient'. (In truth, they were probably getting 6 months rent free which was quite common). The Council warned against optimism, no more looms were being run and no new labour would be needed.

c1930
John Pickles (of Brown and Pickles) wife was called Sarah. Son Newton says that her mother was always known as grandma Kirby so it looks as though Sarah’s maiden name was Kirby.

c.1930
Jack Pickles, son of Gara Pickles and a contemporary of Jack Platt. Jack Platt records him wearing long trousers at school in LTP 79/AO/04.

1931
PICKLES. J A AND SON. LOOMFITTER. Conversation with Walt Fisher. October 2nd 2003. Walt told me that Johnny Pickles had a man called Moses Pilkington working for him in 1931 who attended to all the loom repairs and castings that they did. When Walt started in 1931 for Johnny he used to push the barrow for Moses when they collected parts from Ouzledale. He said that in 1931 there was a gantry ran the full length of the mill, the cupola was in the same place as the early picture and the pattern shop, was upstairs. Cecil and George Ashby were running it then. Walt says that the furnace man was called Clifford Turner and he was down at Havre Park foundry when Browns were running but went to Ouzledale with James Cecil Ashby when he moved up there after the liquidation of Henry Brown and Sons.

1931
Pickles, Smith and Co reported as weaving at Union Shed in Skipton and not being members of the Skipton Manufacturer’s Association. [Craven Herald 30/01/1931]

1931
PICKLES. J A
CH. 18/09/1931. Report of a tower clock made by Johnny Pickles which was awarded Silver Medal at The Model Engineer's Exhibition in London. He said it had taken 14 months to make in his spare time and he had offered it to St Joseph's RC church.

1931
PICKLES; J A AND SON. LONG ING 1931. LTP. 78/AG/03. Page 14. Newton Pickles talks about Long Ing Engine. Yates and Thom, pair of tandems, 650/700ihp, gear drive, flywheel had a spongy boss. Browns never had any work at Long Ing as long as Rushworths were major shareholders but in September 1931 S Pickles and Son gained control and moved their looms from Calf Hall to Long Ing. Johnny Pickles moved all the machinery bar the looms. The engine kept stopping as they were working and Stephen Pickles stopped Rushworths and gave the maintenance to J A Pickles and Son. Engineer came from Foulridge and was called Jack Pickles (no relation to Johnny) Johnny made new air pump buckets, bored all the cylinders and brought the engine up to scratch which cured the stopping job.

1931
PICKLES. FRED (and Harry Pickles). CH. 01/05/1931. Article celebrating the 60th anniversary of Stephen Pickles starting manufacture in Coates Mill. In 1931 his firms, S Pickles and Sons has 416 looms in Calf Hall Shed-and the Craven Manufacturing Company has 814 looms at Butts Mill. His mother and father wove on hand looms at home and carried yarn from Colne and Clitheroe and cloth to east Lancashire buyers. His father died in 1896 after working for some years for W Bracewell in Butts and Wellhouse Mills. He was born in Rainhall Road [Newtown end] in premises now used as a dairy. He started work in 1864 at 8 years old as a weaver for 2/6 a week. Along with his father and younger brother the late Harry Pickles he set up in Coates Mill and in 1889 they moved to Calf Hall Shed. In 1900 Stephen and his brother set up the Craven Manufacturing Company at Butts Mill, Harry Pickles died in 1929. Stephen said­ he had no faith in the eight loom system and automatics were too expensive to install in a depressed industry. In the business now are his two sons Fred and Stephen and Ronald Pickles, son of Harry. Stephen used to live at Ray Gill, Brogden Lane but now resides at Barn Cottage, Thornton in Craven.

1932
PICKLES S AND SONS. CH. 11/11/1932. Memoir of J Broughton (69) of Beech Street who has completed 50 years with S Pickles and Sons of Calf Hall Shed. He learned to weave at Clough Mill and started working for S Pickles Senior when he started at Old Coates Mill with 70 looms. He moved to Clough with the same firm and worked at that mill when a fire occurred in the premises of James Nutter. He alerted -Slater Edmondson who then lived opposite Clough Mill. Pickles's moved into Calf Hall Shed when it opened in 1889 and he had been there ever since. He said that Old Coates Mill was out in the country and there was a plantation at the junction of Park Road and Rainhall Road.

1933
PICKLES. JOHNNY AND CLOUGH MILL ENGINE. LTP. 78/AG/01. Page 19. Newton talks about repairing Kelbrook church clock and the fact he had just got his driving license. (17 years?, 1933?) They rebuilt the clock, took the dials down, made new finger shafts and bushes, it took them about six weeks. Just after this job finished he went to Clough Mill to the engine with his father and when he was the only one that knew what was wrong with it Johnny said that he was finished with engines. This was the start of Newton's career as outside man on the engines.

1934
Stephen Pickles. JP. WRCC councilor for district. Barrett 1896 records him as manager, 5 East View, Barnoldswick. Died September 29th 1934.

1935
PICKLES. STEPHEN. TACKLER AT OLD SHED EARBY At the old Shed, John Green, who came from Gargrave, was in charge of the warehouse, and later, Joseph Cowgill. The engineer was Robert Bradley, who was succeeded by Richard Wilkinson (Dick o'Bowes). The tacklers were John Wilkinson and Robert Higson. At an earlier period, Stephen Pickles, who founded the famous Barnoldswick firm of that name, was a tackler at the Old Shed. Robert Bradley also removed to Barnoldswick, and his three sons, Watson, Christopher and Arthur, established the well-known firm of Bradley Bros. [CH. 19/05/1935]

1935
PICKLES. J S. CH. 24/05/1935. A new room and power company was formed to take over the Sough Bridge Mill, and the name adopted was “Kelbrook Bridge Mill Co. Ltd.” The style of business carried on by the Smallpage firm was continued by a new manufacturing company and the principal partners were Messrs. J. Longworth, J. S. Pickles. Jos. Roberts and James Smith, who had been in the employment of the old firm. Mr. Pickles is the only one now living, and children of the former partners are assisting in the present conduct of the business. The name of the firm is Kelbrook Bridge Manufacturing Co. Ltd.. The Sough Bridge Shed was extended 30 years ago by the new buildings company, and the enlarged section is now in the occupation of Messrs. R. Nutter and Co. (Kelbrook) Ltd., with Mr. H. G. Wilkinson as the managing director.
1937
Barnoldswick and Earby Times 24/12/1937. A report that William Newton Pickles was fined 10/- with costs for careless driving in that he drove out or Wellhouse Yard in front of another vehicle.
1938
PICKLES. J S AND PICKLES J. Worrall’s directory 1938. Kelbrook Bridge Manufacturing Co (1935) Ltd cited as manufacturers in Sough Bridge Mill with 224 looms. J S Pickles, J. S Roberts and J Pickles directors and salesmen. Same entry in 1939. Rover Car Company took over in 1940 as shadow factory.
1938
PICKLES. J A AND COMPANY. CHSCMB. 21st July 1938, J A Pickles and Co write to the Calf Hall Shed Company asking whether they can buy the plant let to them at Wellhouse. CHSC offer it for £500. J A Pickles and Co accept according to minutes dated 18 August 1938 and state that they are going to become a Limited Company. In minutes of 20th April 1939 the company is referred to as Henry Brown, Sons and Pickles Ltd. So this change must have occurred during 1938.

1940
Calf Hall Minute books record that the rent paid by Henry Brown sons and Pickles for the Wellhouse Shop was raised from £165 per annum to £181-10-0 from July 1st 1940.
c.1940
PICKLES. STEPHEN
Audrey, Stephen Pickles’ secretary told me that Stephen junior married one of Sir Amos Nelson’s daughters and lived at 'Woodland' at Foulridge..

1955
Newton Pickles and Wellhouse shaft breakage. The Victoria Mill shaft broke in 1954 and the Wellhouse shaft in 1955. There is no mention in the CHSC minute books of the Wellhouse breakage but by this time the Board were more concerned with property deals than day to day matters of running. Newton Pickles, when he was telling me about the Wellhouse Shaft did mention a recently installed alternator at the mill. In 2004 I had a conversation with Walter Fisher who told me that he remembered it well. He said that it was him and NP who were going to Penrith to look at the tower clock for Hindleys at Gisburn. Walt said that the B&P had done the engineering work installing a 400Kva alternator at Wellhouse and the electrical work had been done by Baileys of Barnoldswick. The alternator, driven by ‘V’ belts off the second motion shaft ran satisfactorily until the circuit connected to the mill was connected and the exciter was supplied with power. There was a dead short due to bus bars touching the girder frame because they were not properly supported. This short burned out the bus bars and the gross overload brought the engine to a halt. Walt says that it was shortly after this that the shaft broke and he thinks now that there was a connection between the two events.
1969
Newton Pickles marries his second wife, Olive. Olive died on December 22nd 1988.

1970
PICKLES. S AND SON. Article in Reed News. c1970. Potted history of S Pickles and Son. Mentions Stephen -the elder carrying cloth to the Cloth Hall at Colne in early days. Says that at peak they-had2,600 looms. Says if he was late for the train at Barlick it waited for him. First knitting machines installed 1949. They bought Bank Top Manufacturing Co in 1955 and Curzon Fabrics, Burnley about 1956 and Kirdrays shortly afterwards, 200 looms had to be taken out to make room for the knitting machines.

2003
Pickles car breakers operated in Salterforth Quarry. Originally the quarry was leased from the Gledstone Estate by the Sagars. The land below is used at present by Bradley’s as a garden center. I don’t know the antecedents of these Pickles.

2003
Johnny Pickles. Edith Elliot rang me in December 2003. She was the wife of Eric Hoggarth who was the son of Albert who hung himself at Dotcliffe. He used to do some sick driving at Bancroft for George Hogarth. Edith never heard him mention any relationship to Hogarth, blacksmith at West Marton. Eric was an engine room artificer later in his Navy career during the war and was killed when his ship was torpedoed in the Channel. Edith had a Myford lathe in her washhouse and Johnny Pickles taught her how to use it as she lived on Richmond Street near Federation Street. She used to go and watch Johnny in his workshop and thinks he persuaded her parents to buy her the lathe. She never worked with metal but did woodturning and had to give up eventually as the wood dust was bad for her lungs.

[klondykekid]

Hi Stanley,

Regarding Michael Pickles as victualler at the Bay Horse Inn, Salterforth; I presume you dont know where this Inn was located? it was sitauated at Park Close Cottages, which back in the early 19th century was formerly a working farm until the Quarry opened up on its land, the inn served passing trade and also trade from the quarrymen, from what I know it didnt last too long as a wayside Inn and a few years later the attached barn was also converted into quarrymans cottages, as the need for housing the quarrymen increased as the quarrying grew. The old nickname for Park Close is 'Old Biggins' and was once an important cross roads of the packhorse road from Colne to Barnoldswick and the drove road over Whitemoor to Salterforth before the top road (High Lane) was extended down to Wood End.

Hope the info helps...?
Nick

[elise]

Hi Nick,
I was always led to believe The Bay Horse was an earlier name for The Fanny Grey, where could I find the information that tells me it was Park Close Cottages.
Thanks.

[rossylass]

Hi Stephen,

All these Pickles's! I remember when I first started searching for mine it was difficult to sort out one from 't'other.

My Richard Pickles was born in Barnoldswick around 1786 and married Betty Aiken in 1804. Betty was from Colne and they were both weavers. They had a tribe of children, most of whom were christened at Bridge Chapel in Barnoldswick. Ellin was the oldest (22/10/1802) - born out of wedlock; my GGF James came next (27/02/1806), followed by Nancy (11/09/1810), Jinny (07/07/1813), Henry (02/11/15), Stephen (26/05/1818) and John (06/07/1822). A further daughter, Mary, was born in Roughlee around 1826, but I haven't really looked for any christening records for her. There may be some in between John & Mary. Nancy died and was buried in the Dissenters Graveyard in Barnoldswick on 06/08/1815.I guess that Mary married a man called Wood & ended up in Barrowford, as Stephen had a nephew who lived there called Stephen Wood.

I haven't come across a William, but if your William was born in 1810 it would be unlikely that there is a connection with my branch as Nancy was born in that year, although in family history I don't think anything is really conclusive.

I'm afraid that I don't know anything about Mr Swift the Workhouse Master, apart from his registering Stephen's death, but there is a workhouse website which may be helpful.

I would love to find some local descendants and I'm sure that there will be some around. James's branch is spread wide and there must be hundreds of us!

Hope that this helps even if it is just to eliminate my Richard from your enquiries!

[rossylass]

Thia is an amendment to my previous post about StephenPickles. It has only just dawned on me that the records from Bridge Chapel must have been the birth records; I couldn't understand why the Pickles children were baptised so soon after birth, but the answer is that they weren't.

[Stanley]

Stephen Pickles of S Pickles and Sons once told me that they had no connection with the Barnoldswick Pickles who originated in Lothersdale and came to Barlick via Kelbrook.



George Pickles, cobbler, outside 7 Main Street Kelbrook around 1890.

[rossylass]

Well George Pickles looks a merry chap.. I wonder if he's any relation. Pickles seems to be such a localised name I bet we are all related in some way. I heard somewhere that we are ALL descended from six African tribes...even racists!

Family history is a strange beast. I have only ever looked at the Pickles side because they interest me so much. I tracked these through my maternal grandfather's line - his mother was a Pickles. Her half sister (not a Pickles, but a Longmore) was a victorian actress of some note. She was mainly in burlesque and pantomime and travelled to the states in the early 1870's with Lydia Thompson's Troupe of Blondes, who caused a big stir there. They played to packed houses, but the press of the day turned on them because they cocked a snook at the male dominated society. Lydia horsewhipped the editor of the Chicago Times at gunpoint after being insulted by him.

I digress.

Stephen, Henry & my GG Grandfather James all, at various times, owned portable theatres. These were huge wooden and canvas structures trundled around by horse and cart. They were mainly seen at fairs, but sometimes they just set up independently. They sometimes hired theatres for the winter. They are very well documented in the press of the day (1850's - 1880's) through advertising,local reporting and the courts; for instance Henry was taken to court for moving the theatre from Rawtenstall to Newchurch on a Sunday - a heinous crime in those days! Henry always seemed to cop for it. He had a theatre in Burney (well, a wooden shed really), which burned down and his portable collapsed in Rawtenstall dispatching the audience on to the floor!

Stephen styled himself Pickuls...probably to distinguish himself from the others. He was researched by Ann Featherstone from Manchester University and she gave me quite a lot of information about him. She has written novels and one of her characters is called Mr Pickuls, which I am sure is a nod to Stephen. Her books are rather Dickensian in content....my favourite is "The Newgate Jig"

If you imagine life with the portables was glamorous ...don't. It was a hard life and they mostly lived in caravans (imagine that in weather like this).

My great grandparents also travelled with the portables. They had a total of seven children all born in different towns. They stayed in lodging houses and sometimes lived in caravans. I was told that my great grandfather had died of starvation in his caravan. This was not strictly true as he had died of cancer at my grandmother's home in 1918. It was a source of such shame to his children that I am pretty certain that my granny must have rescued him and that starvation had been a factor in his demise. I cried when I first heard this story and I'm sure it was not uncommon in those days.

The portable theatres were affordable working class entertainment, but regarded as very...well...common. They are little documented and if you mention them to more conventional theatre people they get quite sniffy. My plan is to remedy this by writing about the Pickles brothers and my GG grandfather's descendants. If anyone is interested in learning about life with the portables read "Owd Wild's", which is fascinating. Sam Wild was a mate of the Pickles brothers & mentions Stephen & Henry in his book. I think he often travelled with Henry (who for some reason, probably a writers error, he calls Sam).

Another matter of interest is that the portable people, due to their affiliations with the fairgrounds, spoke a dialect - the parliari, which was a conglomeration of Romany & Italian words. Chav is one. My mother told me that her grandparents would warn "Nanti palaver" when the subject of the conversation wasn't for the children's ears. I think it meant don't say anything.

Well, I've got that off my chest!

If anyone has heard about these theatres from stories handed down etc I should be really pleased to know.

[Tripps]

Great post for us word lovers. Bona!

Here's a link to some more such words. http://circus.bendall.de/parlari.html

Note that the word for water is 'pahni' . That's the same as in Hindi, and the gypsies came from India. Fascinating. (To me at least )

PS. First I wrote 'we' instead of us, but it didn't feel right so I changed it. Now 'u's doesn't sound right either.

[StephenPickles]

Thanks, Rossylass. My William didn't report his age consistently. 3 census records and his death certificate would imply a birth in 1809 or early 1810, and one census record (1851) would imply a birth in 1808 or 1809. So he could slot in before your Nancy. I can't prove he's part of the family of Richard Pickles and Betty, and I can't explain why there's no baptismal record. But I still don't have a better candidate.

[Wendyf]

How wonderful to have such interesting ancestors. Thanks for telling us about them.

[Stanley]

OG at its best, people talking to each other and helping. Lovely!

[rossylass]

I see what you're saying about your Richard, Stephen, but I'm not so sure that we share him. The birth records from Bridge Chapel consistently show his occupation as a weaver. I'm almost certain that he is on the Craven Muster Rolls (the criteria fit) and again, if it is him, his occupation is listed as a weaver and I can't see a reason why he would have been a labourer in between times.

I don't know whether you are in striking distance of Barlick, but have you looked at the Bridge St / Salterforth records? I went to Barnoldswick library on Friday to check the records again, but they were a nightmare. They are in polypockets & seem to have got jumbled. I was going to mention it to the librarians, but they seemed very busy. There's loads of interesting stuff in the local history section & I got quite carried away with myself. My favourite is the burial records of the Chapelry of Colne, which gives the causes of death. Medicine was not very sophisticated in the late 18 & early 19th century and there are some very rum entries. There is an analysis of the statistics which is very interesting and very sad. Childhood diseases such as whooping cough & measles were big killers and the childhood mortality rate was very high. Thank goodness for immunisation!

I'll keep a look out for your Pickles's &f I come across anything on my travels I'll let you know.

[Stanley]

Rossy, we do a good cup of coffee at East Hill Street.... Call 813527 anytime....

[elise]

Hi Nick,
I was always led to believe The Bay Horse was an earlier name for The Fanny Grey, where would I find the information that tells me it was Park Close Cottages.
Thanks.

[Stanley]

In the LTP a couple of informants talk about a portable theatre that regularly appeared on Post Office Corner. Ernie Roberts told me he remembered one play, i thing it was Maria and the Red Barn.

[Wendyf]

Maria Marten or The Murder in the Red Barn, a wonderful melodrama based on a murder committed in the 1820's. We performed it one Xmas in the village hall instead of a pantomime. One of my more memorable roles I think.....