Philip began by apologising, it should have been a talk with illustrations but he had forgotten them, however, Philip's unique style of presenting more than made up for this.
King John gave the land at Lawton to Adam of Lawton. Adam had rescued the King from a wolf and his reward was "as much land that he could walk round in a week"
There have been 3 halls on the site. The first was built in the 1400's, the second was burnt down in the 1600's and the third is the present one.
Philip made the point that it was difficult to keep track of the Lawtons, as there were too many Toms and Johns--- very confusing. One notable event was the visit made by Charles II in 1656, and an oak was planted to commemorate this. (The date is possibly wrong, as it is known that the king was in Europe at this time.) The king, however, became sponsor for the Lawton son.
In 1676 Lawton estate encompassed Land to Mow Cop, Butt Lane and Harding's Cop.
In 1743 Lawton stood for local government but amid rioting which involved 600 colliers he didn't stand a chance and failed to be elected. The number of miners involved indicates that there was considerable mining in the area.
By the end of 1700s Robert Lawton became bankrupt and everything was for sale. Robert died in 1777 and his son John took over. John was a drunkard and by 1796 had lost control of the business; he lived out the rest of his life in idleness and poverty.
By 1810 a Mrs. Ann Lawton had reinstated the fortunes of the family.
During the 1800's scandal and intrigue followed the fortunes of the Lawtons. There was Charles Bourne Lawton, a boorish, dissolute womaniser who broke his first wife's heart and went on to marry a woman who had a lesbian relationship for many years. By 1821 both women had been inflicted by an UNMENTIONABLE disease but outwardly everything was respectable in the family!
This relationship eventually ended and Charles died aged 89 in 1860 and his wife died aged 78 the year after.
During the 20t C the estate dwindled but a brochure pre 1915 described it, as being in ornate splendour and during WW1 it was host to Russian aristocracy. After the war, and during the Depression, the Lawtons left. The Civil Defence took it over, pre-fabs were built and the RAF moved in. During the 1950s the Hall became a private school this closed in 1986 when, inevitably, vandals did their worst. After a concerted effort by the Friends of Lawton Hall the land was sold off to developers and the Hall has now been turned into luxury apartments costing in the region of £300/400,000!!!
(The Editor wishes to thank Anne James for this review)
The brick is 9” X 4½” X 3” and is a reminder of the often-overlooked brick making industry that once existed in the parish. As the photograph shows, the brick is, by modern standards, poorly shaped indicating that it was hand made (manually pressed into a wooden mould) and poorly fired which has caused the chipping and cracking, indicating that in the firing process there was limited control of the heat.
The Tithe Award of 1837 identifies no less than 22 fields described as Brick Kiln Field, Brick Field, Brick Croft, Brick Meadow and Brick Bank. There are also three references to Brick Works. These references prompt us that in the 18th century and before, the brick kiln would be set up where the extraction of the clay was easiest. Once the clay was exhausted the workers would move elsewhere, but the name Brick Kiln Field would stick.
On the 29th Aug 1840 John Barlow of Talke of the Hill was described as a Brick Manufacturer in the Staffordshire Advertiser.
By 1841 William Warburton of Ravens Lane and Robert Rigby of Hougherwall described themselves as Brick Makers, while John Williams of the Quarry, John and Joseph Hamilton of Hougherwall and James Johnson of Park Lane were all described as bricklayers.
In Nov 1848, William Podmore was the manager of an Audley Brickworks, owned by John Harding.
As a follow up to the article about John Meredith Howell, in the May 2006 newsletter, further information about the family has come to light. It is quite a sad episode about John’s son Gwilliam who was killed in the First World War; it does however demonstrate how genealogy can be developed into family history and the variety of information that can be sourced from the society’s publications:
’Never to Return’ (Published 2000 and out of print), page 95 tells us the
following about Gwilliam:
War:
1
Date & place of death: 21.4.1918 F & F
(France and Flanders)
Date & place of birth: Abt 1898 Chesterton
Regiment etc:
64th Battery, 5th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
Number:
169468
Rank:
Driver
Local memorial:
Audley, Central Methodist Cemetery
Local gravestone: Central
Methodist Cemetery
Other gravestone: Pernes
British Cemetery, Pas de Calais
Other information:
Enlisted Newcastle-u-Lyme
Monumental Inscriptions: St John, Alsagers Bank/Central Methodist Cemetery, Bignall End/Independent Chapel, Halmerend (Published 1996), page 41,identifies Gwilliam’s memorial, as follows:
In loving memory of Catherine beloved wife of John M Howell of Bignall End
died 12.5.27 aged 62
Also their son Pte Gwilym Thomas Howell who died of wounds in France
21.4.1918 aged 20
Also John Meredith Howell husband of the above died 6.10.53 aged 91
Also Gwladys beloved daughter of the above died 22.4.54 aged 65
The value of newspapers is demonstrated by the entry below:
Weekly Sentinel 10.8.1918: Mr & Mrs J M Howell, 47 London Rd,
Chesterton, received news that their son died of wounds on 21st September,
having been wounded on the 18th. He enlisted on 6.9.1916, previous to which he
managed the branch business of saddler at 27 Waterloo Rd, Burslem. He was
well known as a reciter in the district. The chaplain wrote that ‘He was a most
noble boy, brave and heroic.’ Another son, Francis M, was in charge of
the Burslem business when called up on October 5th 1915.
The Society publishes an
Index to the Staffordshire
Advertiser, 1840-1919 (CD), which provides similar information to the
Sentinel entry.
Parish Magazines are an under utilised source of information:
The Audley Parish Magazine of September 1923 notes that he and his parents were now of Chesterton, ‘formerly of Audley’. The quote from the chaplain, Rev. R.A. Scarlett, mentioned in the previous paragraph, reads in full: ‘He was a most noble boy, brave, heroic, and had unbounded faith in his Saviour. Truly he did his duty for his God, his King and Country. Of your dear boy it can be said that – like his Master – he saved others, himself he could not save.’
2- Residence: whether home was inhabited and, if inhabited, number of
rooms
occupied
3- Occupant: name of each person who spent the night in the house and
each
person's relationship to head of family
4- Personal: sex, age, condition
(marital status), birthplace of each occupant, and
rank, profession, or occupation
5-
Health: whether blind, deaf, dumb, imbecile, idiot, or lunatic
The actual images (more than 40,000 total) of original handwritten census
records are now available including 16 million names in the earliest
standardised England and Wales census. 1841 was the first census in British
history to include more than just a statistical count.
The UK census collection includes fully indexed enumerations for 1841, 1851,
1861, 1871, 1891 and 1901, and covers all counties in England, Wales, the
Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man.
To view the images, you must be a paid subscriber.
(Thanks go to Edgar Farrington for this contribution)
The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act was designed to reduce the bill to ratepayers for support for the destitute. The aim of the act was to make the workhouse a deterrent, so that conditions there were worse than those the poorest person suffered who was surviving outside it. Instead of individual parishes like Audley having a workhouse, a number of parishes were grouped together to provide a big, central workhouse, or ‘bastille’ as it was admiringly called by the poor and destitute.
The Newcastle Union was formed in 1838.
It was central to the philosophy of that Act that all relief outside the workhouse should be stopped. The only place where aid was to be delivered was to paupers in the workhouse. This proved impossible from the start, as can be seen below, where the guardians grant a sum of money and bread.
One other important point is that people only had a right to aid from the parish where they had a settlement, which may be a long way from where they were living and they could be sent back to that place for ‘relief’ – and this can be seen in the first example below. In the second example, Hannah Lovatt, the applicant is living in Newcastle, but the amount would be charged to Audley where she had a settlement. The parishes making up Newcastle Union were Newcastle, Audley, Betley, Keele, Whitmore, Madeley, Balterley, Chorlton and Maer.
‘Messrs Harding Solicitor Burslem account against Audley Parish for defending the appeal of Hannah Joynson against an order of removal from Wolstanton to Audley and the order was […?] the Overseers of Audley were directed to pay the account.’
AUDLEY:
Lovatt Hannah 28, Lower Green, ill. Receiving 1/, 8lb bread. For revision. Allowance during illness. Her husband Joseph Lovatt has absconded. No relations that are able to assist. Ordered 1/, 4lb bread for 3 weeks.
Chadwick John, 36, But Lane, cancer in one arm; Ann 32; Mary 11; Henry 10; Charles 7 ½ ; Eliza 5 ½ ; John 3 ½ ; Thomas 1 ½ ; receiving 7/ from Talk Clubb. Applies for relief. 16 lb bread from workhouse stores was allowed. He receives 1/ p week for rent of a cottage & pays 4/ pr year rent. 24lb bread during illness.
Blackhurst Henry 56, Hanley, permanent illness. Mary wife 50 attends to the family. Mary 13 works on the Pots earns 2/6; Betsy 11 works at the Pots earns 2/6; Henry 4; Receiving 2/ p week from Sneyd Green Club for relief. They have 2 others sons & 2 daughters: Thomas 26 master shoemaker earns 5/, at home; William 21 labourer Wolverhampton; Ann 25 married no child; Jane 17 servant wages 52/. [per year] Rent £6.1.4. 8lb bread for 1 month.
Eardley John, 27, Audley, Collier, ill; Ann 28; Daniel 6; Harriet 2. Receiving 2/6 from Audley Club Apply on account of illness. His father and mother are unable to assist. 1/6 & 12 bread.
Lovatt, Samuel, 30, Stoke, ill. Ann wife 31 earns by washing 2/; Sarah 6 ½; Elizabeth 2. Apply through being ill. Rent £5.4. Relief at discretion of Relieving Officer for 1 week & report
B:
Whittaker Martha 61, Winterley nr Wheelock. Partially infirm by age. Application for relief. She has 2 sons and 2 daughters namely William 38 labourer single lives with his mother; Thomas 24 works at the […?] in Congleton; Hannah 20 works at silk earns 4/, at home; Mary married to John Cooper 3 children. Did not appear. Non-resident.
Gill, James 50 Hardings Wood labourer for the funeral expenses. Was found burned to death at Mr Kinnersleys limekiln Nov 19. 26/, which was allowed.
(The Editor wishes to thank Ian Bailey for providing these extracts)
A plaque commemorating the deaths of over 100 miners at Florence Colliery was unveiled recently at the Florence Sports and Social Club. The names were provided by Mark Casewell (our Publications Secretary) and we are delighted that his search for information about miners killed in the coalfield has had this result. He only came to the society to do his family history! His database will aid local and family historians for the next hundred years. The information was gathered from a variety of sources, so even if, say Mining Inspectors’ Reports were scanned and put onto the internet, Mark’s list will still be of more value to those searching out the names of those killed.
(The Editor wishes to thank Ian Bailey for providing this snippet)