'Stories from the Stones'
Please visit the Contents Page for this section, where you will find other 'Stories from the Stones.'
These same stories are also published on Penistone Archive Group's Facebook page, 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 6 - George (1793-1865) and Alice Biltcliff (1798-1868)
We are all photographers now aren't we? We take hundreds of photos each week sending them via email or some digital wizardry to family and friends, posting on social media for all to see; keeping them in digital albums probably never to be looked at again and deleting all those which for one reason or another did not turn out quite right.
It wasn't always that way of course, as many of you will remember – first we had to buy the film; then make sure we got that into the camera so that the sprockets caught and no light was allowed in; then after we had used up our 36 shots we would pop it in an envelope (well I did anyway) and send it off to the developer waiting hopefully that when they were returned a week or so later we had a few that we were proud of.
This story commemorates the Biltcliff family and the remarkable photographic record which was created by their work during the early years of the 20th century. Please bear with me with the family name as the records on the graves differ from Bilcliff to Biltcliff to Billcliff and Biltcliffe. Even one of the censuses names the family Bertcliff! So, for now we will stick with what is on the gravestone as that is the reason for this story.
By the 1840s George and Alice lived in Penistone and George was a watch and clockmaker, his son John married Jemima and he became a shoemaker (or 'cordwainer' as described in one census) living in Market Place Penistone. It was however their son, Joshua, born in 1853 who, although started out at the local steelworks, was by the 1891 census – a photographer. Of the family described above only Joshua’s grandparents George and Alice are buried at St John’s but, such is the importance of the family to the area, let's look at their photographic business.
Joshua set up his business at number 6 Bridge Street, Penistone, with his shop and studio behind. Joshua’s son - John Thomas Biltcliffe (known as 'JT') was born in 1878 and married Martha in 1915 and was eventually to run the business with one of his brothers – Fred.
The business prospered, here is an advert from one of the popular Penistone Almanac series, and produced many photographs not just of studio based family portraits but also a wide variety of postcards depicting life in Penistone and the surrounding area.
Many of their photographs appear in local history articles and also can be found on old history and archive sites. I have been lucky enough to see part of a family collection owned by my friend Richard Galliford and it is clear that almost every photograph could be the subject of a new story. To illustrate my point, here is just one photograph which I have seen before in a number of locations – books; articles and even on pub walls (such as Cubley Hall) – but never appreciated its significance.
Now after much research it is important to note that although Samuel Cody (original name Cowdery) did indeed start off as a wild west showman he is not to be confused with Buffalo Bill Cody whose name he took.
Samuel Cody became famous for his kites and in 1906 was appointed Chief Instructor for Kiting. In 1907 he was working on the power-kite and this gradually led to the development of the powered aeroplane. Samuel Cody’s flight of 16th October 1908 is recognised as the first official flight of a piloted heavier-than-air machine in Great Britain. He carried passengers for the first time on 14th August 1909.
So why was the aeroplane here in Penistone? All I can find is that in December of 1909 he attempted to fly from Liverpool to Manchester (unsuccessfully!) but maybe he was on his way there to put things in place for the attempt. Samuel Cody sadly died in 1913 during one of his flights when the plane broke up and he did not survive the fall.
How lucky we are that one of the Biltcliffe family was there and felt inspired to record what was history in the making as they were at many local incidents and events. There are many memorials to Samuel Cody especially in the Farnborough area. How sad to discover that the Bilcliff business closed in the 1960s following the death of JT. In an obituary from the South Yorkshire Times it records ‘Penistone’s history is stacked in boxes, indexed and filed. Mr Biltcliffe has left behind a comprehensive record of 19-20th Century Penistone’. I hope one of my readers maybe able to shine a light on what happened to this archive.
For now we shall remember George and Alice Biltcliff and their family for their contribution to Penistone’s rich heritage. The 1918 photograph above shows Biltcliffe's shop behind a group of people celebrating the end of the Great War.
My research has been achieved through Ancestry.com; Articles from the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust; Penistone Almanac and the collection of photos owned by Richard Galliford. My thanks to them all. S.J.Lavender, Chair Friends of St John’s Church, Penistone. March 2021.
Further Reading
Please also visit the 20th Century History Timeline for the Biltcliffe Brothers by Richard Wright, as part of his 'People of Penistone' series.
See also the biographies of John Thomas Biltcliffe and Joshua Biltcliffe.
William Wordsworth - "There's something in a flying horse, there's something in a huge balloon."