On Friday 5th March, Dr. Philip Morgan of Keele University gave a much-anticipated talk on Architecture in Audley. He began by explaining that the evidence from maps shows that the Parish of Audley, in the 17th century, had a dispersed settlement pattern with only the village itself being of any size. This meant that very few buildings older than the 18th century survive and the vast majority of properties were built as a result of the mining prosperity of the 19th century.
As a result the parish has only a handful of listed buildings and two of those are the Wedgwood Monument, on Bignall Hill and a metal milestone. Dr. Morgan was therefore able to demonstrate that there are few old buildings in the parish and even fewer that can be considered sufficiently ‘interesting’ to warrant listing.
However, there are gems to be found and the following are Dr Morgan’s personal choice of his favourite buildings: -
The talk was extremely interesting, well presented and very well received by an audience of some 50 people.
REVIEW OF ‘Arnold Bennett Life & Works’
On Friday 7th May John Potter delivered a talk entitled Arnold Bennett Life & Works. John Potter is the chairman of the Arnold Bennett Society and the talk was well attended by an audience of some 46 members and guests. Mr. Potter began by exploring Arnold Bennett’s background. We learned that he was born in 1867, the eldest of nine children and the son of a lawyer. He attended the Orme School at Newcastle and played the piano as a hobby.
By 1889 Bennett was living in Chelsea, working as a lawyer’s clerk, in his leisure time mixing with the ‘artistic’ set of whom his landlord, Frederick Marriott was part.
In 1894/5 he became the assistant and then editor of ‘Woman’ magazine.
In 1898, his first novel: ‘A Man from the North’, was published and in 1902 his first five towns novel, ‘Anna of the Five Towns’ was in print.
Arnold Bennett then moved to and married in France where he wrote ‘The Old Wives’ Tale’ during 1910/11 Bennett was occupied by a promotional tour of North America. His books were exceptionally popular in America and it was at this time that he started to enjoy a wealthy lifestyle indulging another hobby, yachting.
Arnold Bennett died in 1931. Mr. Potter considered ‘Hannah of the High Hand’ to be an excellent introductory Bennett novel.
Not surprisingly, given his chairmanship of the Arnold Bennett Society, John Potter was infectiously enthusiastic about his subject and the audience found the speaker knowledgeable, interesting and eloquent.
ANGELA’S CORNER
Rentals, a Will and Some People Who Lived in Balterley.
My fifth great-grandfather Joseph Dean farmed at Knowlend from approximately 1770 until 1788 and in 1788, and he made a will just before he died. The beneficiaries of this will were Ellen his wife, his two sons Joseph and George and his daughter Mary. The witnesses were George Steele and John and Rachel Bloor.
Joseph had property in Balterley Green in the occupation of Randle Major and Ottwell Crosby. In Balterley he had a dwelling house and garden in the occupation of Joseph Lovatt. Joseph was buried in the churchyard of Barthomley Parish Church.
In 1824, a document was compiled showing the owners of property, their tenants and rentals paid for this property. From it, I learned the following:
Joseph Dean
George Dean
Joseph Dean my fourth great-grandfather died in 1827 at Cross Farm, Eardley End, Audley, Staffordshire and is buried in the churchyard of St James the Great Audley. His brother George died in Haslington, Cheshire in 1839. He is buried in the churchyard of Barthomley Parish Church Cheshire. His brother George died in Haslington, Cheshire in 1839. He is also buried in the churchyard of Barthomley Parish Church Cheshire.
Sources:
‘All Quiet on the Home Front’, by Richard Van Emden and Steve Humphries (Headline, 2003). My interest in the First World War was rekindled by the project to record something of the people on the war memorials of the old parish of Audley; this led to work on three sets of Great War letters, all of which will be published in due course.
This work required some background reading and I’ve read a number of good books on the period. Books on the fighting are easily available and plentiful, but the majority of soldiers would have had families at home in Britain. What was life like for them?
An excellent book on the subject has been published recently: ‘All Quiet on the Home Front’, by Richard Van Emden and Steve Humphries (Headline, 2003). The subtitle has it exactly: ‘An oral history of life in Britain during the First World War’.
The book is well researched by the authors without being academic and daunting. Best of all, it uses plenty of quotations from people who experienced the war and were still alive a couple of years ago when the book was researched. There are, of course, problems with remembering events so long ago, which is why the background research is important.
Everyone in the country, and their descendants, have been affected by the Great War. If you wish to gain some understanding of what their lives were like during those four years, you couldn’t do better than start with this book.
Ian Bailey.