Ossett’s place in the history of the North of England. Roman artefacts, such as Roman coins, were found at Streetside, which was on the Roman Road, the Via Vicinalis on its way from Manchester to Tadcaster and York, via Castleshaw, Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Wakefield. Streetside is thought to have been a hamlet on the Via Vicinalis.  Aside: the author now lives in Saddleworth and, in certain lights at certain times of the year, the outline of this same Roman Road from Manchester to York can be seen in Castleshaw valley in Saddleworth, approaching the remains of the Castleshaw Roman Fort. The name Ossett is older than Roman, however, and is…

Dewsbury ancestors:  Archer, Whitworth, Greenwood, Wright, Thompson, Sheard, Whitaker, Hemingway, Auty, Fox, Longley, Westerman.  Dewsbury is a Minster Town in West Yorkshire. For hundreds of years it was an important manufacturing town, due to its growth as a woollen mill town, and it stood on one of the richest sources of coal in Yorkshire. As part of the West Riding Heavy Woollen District, it was a major manufacturer of woollen blankets, carpets, shoddy and fine woollen cloth, until the decline of manufacturing in the later part of the 20th century. Origin of the Name Dewsbury is a settlement of great antiquity and alternative theories for the origin of is name…