The Stories from the Stones 25 - By Steve Lavender

'Stories from the Stones'
Please visit the Contents Page for this section where you will find other 'Stories from the Stones.' From the St John’s Church Burial Ground Project.

These same stories are also published on Penistone Archive Group's Facebook page, in their Journal and in 'The Bridge' magazine issued by St John's church, Penistone. Many thanks to their tireless author, Mr Steve Lavender, for his worthy contributions to local history and this website. - JB.

Story 25 - Joshua Moseley (1728 – 1758), Thomas Mitchell (1753 – 1819) and Ann Mitchell (1758 – 1831)

Part 3 of the Mitchell trilogy (Stories 23, 24 and 25). See also Part 1 and Part 2.

The more Stories of the Stones I am able to research, the more surprised I have become about what we have discovered. Story 25 started out following the story of Sarah Mosley who was born in Penistone in 1729 and ended up becoming the third part of a series of Mitchell family stories.

Sarah Mosley was married to the Penistone clockmaker Joshua and they had a child William in 1756. William married Hannah Dyson and they lived a long life – William 76 years and Hannah 83 years. One of their children Eliza, born in Penistone in 1805, married Thomas Mitchell (1790 – 1878), and if you have been following the other Mitchell stories you will be aware that this Thomas is one of the children of Thomas and Ann Mitchell who are discussed in Stories 23 and 24.

In March of 1842, Thomas and Ann had a daughter Jane Mitchell at the family home of Deanhead, Hunshelf. Whilst one of this family now made their decision to move to Australia, Jane marries Albert Bonner Clark on 26th June 1876 in York. Shortly after the marriage they are living in Gainsborough where they have a child also named Albert in 1877. What we find from reviewing their family history is that after Albert was born, the family moved to Penistone (around early 1878) where the rest of Albert’s siblings were born.

If you have been following my stories you will realise that there is usually an event which captures the reason behind selecting this tale to tell. With that in mind I want to turn our attention to probably the most important building in Penistone (after St John’s Church, of course), The Cloth Hall.

Before Penistone became the regional centre for the local area, Thurlstone was the more important place where its location alongside the Don meant that it was perfectly situated for the weaving industry. Alongside this growth the Cloth Hall was completed in 1768 after being planned and designed by John Platt of Rotherham.

As is often the case, the weaving industry of Thurlstone did not survive the Industrial Revolution, and gradually the centre of business activities moved to Penistone. Unfortunately, with the decline of the weaving trade the original reason for the Cloth Hall was also lost. A number of businesses tried their luck within the Hall, but these came and went until a family took it over in 1899.

The Cloth Hall was taken over by the Clark family in 1899 and has operated as a Chemist ever since – being declared a Grade II listed building and celebrating the Clark’s Centenary in 1999. The Clark family business is well-loved in Penistone and still run today by members of the Clark family. Many know it a simply Clark’s the Chemist but you will see that it is 'A.M. Clark' above the door – maybe you never wondered about A.M. – which is Albert Mitchell Clark (1877 – 1951) and brings my final Mitchell story (for now) to a close.

My thanks to:
Penistone Burial Ground Project,
Jack Briggs Penistone Pictorial,
Ancestry.com
Penistone Archives

Steve Lavender former Chair, Friends of Penistone Church, January 2025