Family Stories
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The History of the Warennes Section Two: William II de Warenne, Second Earl of Surrey and his wife Isabel de Vermandois
8 minutes read time William II de Warenne – Growing Power and Influence When Guillaume de Warenne, the first Earl of Surrey died, in 1088, his vast English estates in Sussex, Norfolk and Yorkshire, plus his Norman lands at Bellancombre and Mortemer, passed to his eldest son, William II de Warenne. He would hold the earldom for 50 years (apart from a 2-year break) until his death. Aged around 18-20 when his father died, William II inherited not only land and wealth but also the noble title of his father. William II had grown up in a world transformed by conquest. His father’s loyalty to the crown had secured the…
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Tracing the Archers of Earlsheaton, Chickenley and Ossett
Because Archer is an occupational surname…like Fletcher, Butcher, Smith and so on, it should have arisen in many different areas of the country, in men who were not actually related to each other but had the same occupation. It’s a little surprising, therefore, that, in the 1881 Census, by far the biggest concentration of families of the name “Archer” resided in the woollen towns of the West Riding, with the second largest group in London and the south east. My Archer family can be traced back to Dewsbury Parish records from 1581 and my branch of the family comes from Chickenley and Earlsheaton (known as Soothill and pronounced “soootil”) and the…
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Fishers of Briestfield – Coal Miners
In the 1870-72 Gazetteer of England, Briestfield was described as a hamlet in Lower Whitley, situated on the edge of Thornhill parish in West Yorkshire. Also known at various times as Briestwell and Briestwistle, records show that in 1150 it was known as Brerethuisel, meaning “common or waste overgrown with briars in the confluence of two rivers”. Flint stones found nearby hark back to a much earlier occupancy and cannon balls found in the vicinity were a legacy of the Civil War bombardment of nearby Thornhill Hall. The villagers were won over to Wesleyan Methodism and a chapel was built in 1875. It is a place with which I had…
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Earlsheaton History and Family Connections
A potted history of the village of Earlsheaton, my Hemingway ancestors' involvement in woollen blanket manufacture there and my own memories of growing up in the village in the mid-20th Century.
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Professor Tom Kilburn CBE FRS – a Personal View of a Remarkable Man
A Dewsbury born mathematician and computer scientist, who was involved in the development of five computers of great historical significance, including the first stored-memory computer, the “Baby”, over the course of a 30-year career. Includes interviews with his pre-war friend and fellow footballer, who happened to be the author’s father. Early years I grew up knowing about Tom Kilburn. He was born at 111 Town Street, Earlsheaton, Dewsbury, on 11th August 1921, just round the corner from where I was brought up. Tom’s father was a clerk at Mark Oldroyd’s woollen mill and later became Company Secretary. An intelligent boy, Tom was educated at the Wheelwright Boys Grammar School (WBGS),…
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Martha Arnold of Mirfield and the Kirklees Luddites
Searching for Martha Arnold, who married Mirfield-born Thomas Sheard, turned up echoes of the Luddite uprising in West Yorkshire and a possible family connection.
