Timeline of 19th Century History in the Penistone Area

Index of Topics
Sections below the 19th century Timeline Tables. Each section links back here via the symbol.

• Water Supply and Sanitation
• The 19th Century
• Penistone and Thurlstone in 1841
• The Royalty
• Longevity in the 19th Century
• John Marsh and Association Football
• Masters of the Penistone Hounds
• A Channel Tunnel?
• Atmospheric Pollution
• Sources Used in the Table

The 19th Century - AD 1800 - AD 1900
Year	Date	Event
Quick Links:		Timelines: 1000 - 1600 - 1700 - 1800 (1850, 1870) - 1900 - 2000 - Refs - Generate English calendar for year: Time & Date. Find Easter Dates 1801 to 1899.
1800		Ingbirchworth Inclosure Act passed. The Award was dated 15th December 1813.
1801	1st Jan.	A New Century? As with the end of the twentieth century, there was much debate about exactly when one century ended and the next one began. The Times and other newspapers took the point of view that the new century started on 1st January 1801, not 1800. Ref 7.
		The Census Begins. Although various attempts had previously been made to assess the population of the country, and with variable results, this was the year that the Census started, under Mr William Pitt's administration. It would be repeated each decade on the year ending with a '1'. The population of England and Wales was ascertained to be 8,892,536 (and would become an estimated 20 million by 1861). The population of the United States at this time was 5,308,000. Penistone was very rural and its population was 493 in 1801 but this would increase rapidly over the century, with populations of 703 for Penistone and 1599 for Thurlstone in 1831. Until the steelworks and the Penistone to Barnsley railway (1856) came to Penistone this century, Thulstone was a more populous and industrious place than Penistone. The main Thurlstone industry had been to do with textiles.
		Population of the extensive Penistone Parish was 3,681 and most of them lived in Thurlstone. The Penistone population was only 493, to become 703 by 1831. The only house beween Oxspring and Penistone church in 1859 would be Kirkwood farmhouse and there would be nothing at Spring Vale. The arrival of the steelworks and railway later this century would lead to a great influx into Penistone.
1803	27th June	New organ at Penistone Church - Erected in a gallery at the west end. Ref 16. See also the Church History page.
	Aug	The Staincross Volunteers Formed - With the great fear of a French invasion, able-bodied men were chosen from throughout the Staincross Wapentake were ready to fight off the French 'banditti' should the need arise. JND's History goes into great detail of the groups involved from our district. The general rendezvous place was at Pontefract but meeting places for our local men had been at Monk Bretton and Hemsworth. See 1805 below. JND's History Ref 7 p55.
		Influenza Epidemic. This followed the coaching routes from London but particularly affected the Quaker schools of Yorkshire.
1804		Penistone Agricultural Society established. Ref 7. Wortley had ploughing matches around this time but Penistone Show did not arrive until 1854.
1805	15th Aug	Local Soldiers Answer the Call of Duty - With an invasion by the French expected at any moment, local volunteers responded to the call signalled by beacons and marched to Hemsworth on this day, ready to fight. JND's book (Ref 7 p57.) refers to 'A handsome Vase, now in the drawing-room at Cannon Hall, presented by the Staincross Volunteers to Mr. Stanhope, their commanding officer' with an inscription for this notable day. 'In the night of the 15th of August, 1805, Tlie Beacon on WooUey Edge was fired, And the order issued soon after midnight For calling out the Staincross Volunteers. Dispersed and remote as they lay, Covering the whole Wapentake and Dwelling in every Town and Village in it, So promptly did they answer to the call. That in about 14 hours they not only were all assembled to the complement of 600, except only 9 who were absent from their homes, But had actually marched in that time upwards of 12 miles upon an average. To record this event And to testify their regard and attachment to their Commandant The Non-commissioned Officers and Privates of the Staincross Corps of Volunteers Present this Vase to Walter Spencer Stanhope, Esq. Lieut. -Col. Comt. Staincross Volunteer Infantry. 1805.' The numbers were: 20 volunteers from Thurlstone, 14 from Thurgoland and six from Penistone. They were supporting the standing army in preparing to do battle against the French. Ref 31 p21.
1806		Denby occupations. According to records there were 63 weavers, 12 clothiers, a dyer, a dresser, a slubber, and a cotton spinner in the village of Denby. A quote from Denby CC's history (pdf).
	27th Mar	Dissolution of Partnership - For a few years around this time there seemed to be a spate of partnerships being dissolved, probably because of some change in company law. A dissolution notice in the London Gazette of 22nd April 1806 was notable for including John Hawkesworth, an influential person at the time: 'Notice is hereby given, that the Partnership subsisting between us John Hawksworth and William Taylor, of Thurlstone, in the Parish of Peniston, in the County of York, carrying on the Trade or Business of Corn-Dealers and Millers, at Middop-Mill, in the said County, is dissolved by mutual Consent; and that all Debts owing to and by the said Partnership will be received and paid respectively by the said John Hawksworth. As witness our Hands this 27th Day of March 1806, William Taylor, John Hawksworth.' Notice the old spelling of 'Penistone' with no 'e' at the end.
1807		Bells of Penistone Church appear to have been re-hung this year, as an expenditure of £62 18s 5d is included in the Accounts for the bells in that year. Ref 26.
		Shepherds' Society Formed - This was at the Miller's Arms, which was on the Saltway pack-horse route near the Lady Cross on the Yorkshire side of Saltersbrook Bridge, and then the original turnpike road to Sheffield. The Miller's Arms could be fairly rowdy, with cock fights and illegal bare knuckle prize fights, with the ease of evading the police as it was on the border between the counties of Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Cheshire. The Shepherds' Society was formed here in 1807, about thirty years before the modern A628 over the border hill (Boardhill or Bordhill) to Woodhead and Manchester was built. At one time, the toll road had been so busy that £1800 had been raised through tolls. Some ruins of the Miller's Arms can still be seen. See the Old Inns page for more background to the public house.
		Hans Winthrop Mortimer died, Lord of the Manor of Bamford. It was he who turnpiked 'Mortimer's Road' in the mid 1770s, a road which failed as a commercial venture in its day but which continues to be in everyday use. It was a carrier's route from Penistone Bridge to Grindleford.
		Bethel Chapel built in Hoylandswaine. Believed to be the oldest remaining New Connexion Methodist Chapel in the country and still used for worship and music concerts. The stone inscription calls it 'Beathel Chapel'. Now known as Hoylandswaine Methodist Church, it held its last Carol Service in 2013.
1808		First Wesleyan Chapel built in Penistone, costing £150 to build. It was later found to be too small for the increasing congregation after the iron and steelworks opened and the new St Paul's chapel would be built on High Street and opened in 1873. The old chapel was converted into dwellings and became numbers 22, 24 High Street opposite the current 'Adore' gift shop. The founder and trustee, John Hardy, surgeon, died in 1817 aged 67. In keeping with biblical tradition, he gave a tithe of one tenth of his income to acts of charity and religious institutions, telling his children that "The more he gave the more he got." See 1872. Ref 5. See also the Chapels page.
		Local Notes - From the Topographical Dictionary of the United Kingdom 1808 (OCR corrected): Penistone, a parish in Staincliffe wapentake, West Riding of York, 8½ miles from Bamsley. and 13½ from Sheffield; containing 101 houses and 495 inhabitants. The church is a very handsome structure, and in the town is a well endowed grammar-school. Fairs, Thursday before 25th February, last Thursday in March, Thursday before Old May Day, and after Old Michalmas Day. Thurlestone, a township in the parish of Penistone, wapentake of Staincross, West Riding of York. 9 miles from Barnsley, and 170 from London; containing 222* houses and 1096 inhabitants. Notice the spelling of Thurlstone with an extra 'e' but there were another three other Thurlstones listed in the same section, spelled in the modern way. * some numerals indistict.
1809	April	Grand State Lottery - Announced in the London Gazette of 7th February 1809: 'One Thousand Five Hundred Tickets will be given on the First and Second Day of Drawing the GRAND STATE LOTTERY, which begins on the 12th of April next, besodes the under-mentioned Prizes.' (List of prizes from four at £20,000 down to 4,820 at £15). Also an item on the same page about James Bower, presumably bankrupt, regarding a 'valuable scribbling-mill and other property in Thurlstone.'
1810s		Luddites - These were active during this decade. They destroyed factory textile machinery in an effort to protect their home employment in textiles. Welsh Regiment soldiers were stationed for a time in Penistone (most likely on standby).
1810		POW - John Spencer-Stanhope of Cannon Hall, Cawthorne was a Prisoner of War of the French between 1810 and 1813. Held at Barcelona, Verdun and Paris. Ref 31 p22.
		Hunshelf Inclosure Act passed. The Award was dated 15th December 1813.
	10th Jun	John Hague of Penistone commits suicide by blowing up his house. Ref 26.
		Sunday School started at Netherfield Chapel. Ref 5.
1811		St Leonard's Church at Wortley was re-roofed and possibly had it raised. See 1753.
		The Census. The population of England and Wales was ascertained to be 10,164,256, an increase of 1,271,720 over the 1801 result.
		Langsett Inclosure Act passed. The Award was dated 24th March 1814.
		'National Schools' started to be established this year in England, to work within the principles of the established Church.
		Population of Penistone Parish was 4.321. Ref 11.
1812	26th Mar	Meeting of creditors under a Commission of Bankrupt awarded and issued forth against George and Thomas Roebuck, clothiers, dealers, chapmen and co-partners, of Hunshelf. This took place at 3pm 'at the house of William Dagley, the Rose and Crown Inn, Penistone.' This was to effect an agreement with George Brown, stonemason of Penistone, for the sale of a parcel of land in Hunshelf, part of the bankrupts' real estate. Notice the date is the day after Lady Day. See 1751 and notes about quarter days on the Timeline page.
		Thurlstone Inclosure Act - Awarded 17th Dec 1816. Common lands in Thurlstone could now be enclosed through Act of Parliament (52 George iii). Ref 30.
		Midhope Corn Mill burnt out. (Ref 7)
		Thurlstone Commons Enclosed, 1812 to 1816. - With the Act in place, the inclosures commenced. The commons had often been used to graze individual farm animals, such as a few chickens or pigs to help the poorest survive. Inclosures helped to make farming more efficient but the main winners were not the poor. Peasant farmers would often lose out and become factory fodder for the larger towns and cities. Ref 1 and Ref 5. See S Yorks Timescapes to read about the effects of enclosing the commons.
1813		Thurgoland Inclosure Act passed. The Award was dated 29th August 1815.
	10th Dec	Colonel William Bosville of Gunthwaite. Died this year, aged 69, buried in Camden, London. He was born in 1745 as eldest son of Godfrey Bosville (1717 to 1784) and did not marry. William was quite a character and described as 'society host and radical.' He was also an 'ardent Whig' and much involved in politics. Being punctual, his favourite saying was "Some say better late than never; I say better never than late". He was the last known male descendant of Richard Bosville on whom the manor of Gunthwaite had been settled in the reign of King Henry VI. The Bosvilles had been very important and influential in the local area. See Wiki. For most of the 20th century, 'Bosville' had been one of four PGS 'houses' with the others being Armitage, Clarel and Dransfield. For further reading on the Bosvilles, download 'The Fortunes of a Family (Bosville of New Hall, Gunthwaite and Thorpe) through Nine Centuries' by Lady MacDonald of the Isles, from Archive.org.
		Sunday School - Penistone's first Sunday School started. Ref 5.
1814		Hoylandswaine Village Hall Built. Its original purpose was for a Sunday School with pupils of all ages. The Methodist Church took it over in 1893. With a dwindling congregation and few children, it was bought in 1982 by the people of Hoylandswaine for use as the Village Hall. The hall was completely refurbished following the acquisition of a National Lottery grant in AD 2003. H V Hall.
1815		Second Denby Dale Pie - To celebrate the Duke of Wellington’s Victory at the Battle of Waterloo and the peace between England and France after being at war for twenty-three years. The pie contained half a sheep, twenty fowls and 'half a pack of flour.' The Corn Law Act was also introduced this year, sowing the seeds of the third DD Pie in 1846. See 1788 for the first DD Pie and Denby Dale Pie History.
		Bear Baiting in Penistone (and/or Thurlstone). Penistone Church Warden Accounts had reserved 4s 10d towards preventing the practise. Notes from 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood 1890, passed on by Cllr Brenda Hinchliffe, for which my thanks are given.
1816		Thomasson's Cloth Mill founded in Plumpton, Thurlstone. It was renowned for its livery cloth enjoyed by European royalty. The mill closed in 1931, following the slump which followed the Wall Street Crash in the USA.
1817	10th April	Penistone Church - New clock fitted to the church tower on Easter Sunday, at a cost of £87. There is reference to an earlier clock being repaired in 1698. In 1924, a second clock face would be fitted. See 1698, 1924 and the Penistone Church History page.
1818		Oxspring Inclosure Act passed. According to an entry in JN Dransfield's history (p283), the Award was never executed. A private Act of Parliament authorised the enclosure of the 250 or so acres of common land. Oxspring had been mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086 but the location of the original Oxspring settlement is not known. The most likely site is that of the former Manor House, in a commanding position on an outcrop of shale above the river. Oxspring Parish Council possesses a copy of the enclosure award and map, which were completed eight years later in 1826. Before this it had been possible to walk all the way from Oxspring to Thurlstone over common moorland. See 'A Background History of Oxspring' on the Oxspring parish website, written by local historian, Prof. David Hey and abridged from his work of the same name.
		Midhope Inclosure Act passed. The Award was thereunder dated.
1819	30th Mar	Boat Race Excusion Accident - One killed, 14 injured, Penistone. No details but this was before the railway had started. From 1953 Almanack.
		Penistone Inclosure Act passed. Enclosure of Penistone Common and the Race Common (above Cubley) began. Ref 5. Referred to in S Yorks Timescapes and again in S Yorks Timescapes about the effects of enclosing the commons. Also in Ref 30.
		Denby Chapel - Some unspecified alterations were made as it had been falling into disrepair. The chapel had opened in 1627.
1820s		John Hawley starts his timber business in Penistone.
		Snake Pass - The A57 Sheffield to manchester road was started some time this decade. It has always been subject to land slips due to the geology below the surface, which is grit stone on top of shale. This acts like a lubricant and can facilitate land slips in extremely cold and wet conditions.
1820	3rd Feb	Policing Efforts - In these times, most convictions were through private prosecutions, typically by landowners for poaching. Ordinary people had their own ways to punish wrong-doers. There was no established police force throughout the land. With the help of PGS schoolmaster Francis Haigh, the 'Association for the Prosecution of Felons and Misdoers' was formed. It continued until the last few years of this century. According to JN Dransfield, 'the chief and principal occupation of its annual meetings was eating a good dinner.' (Ref 7 p.138)
	Nov	Insolvency - Petition of insolvency debtors, includes Eli Swallow, late of Thurlston, in the Parish of Penistone in the County of York, Carpenter. From the London Gazette, 15th November 1820.
1821	1st Mar	Death of William Dagley, former landlord of the Rose and Crown, aged 68 years. From his gravestone outside Penistone Church.
		Girls' Free School built on Church Street with a house for the Schoolmistress, part-funded by the National School Society and money subscribed by the parishioners. It was 'conducted as a National School and attended by about eighty girls, who paying 1d per week, except twenty belonging to Penistone Township, are instructed as free scholars'. The children were to be instructed in Reading, Sewing, Knitting and other Proper and Useful learning. It required a new or re-elected schoolmistress every two years. Around 120 girls attended the school. Josias Wordsworth's will of 1732 had provided for the education of ten or twelve girls. This was passed on to the school, which allowed for a further twenty girls to be taught there. Details from Ref 19 p. 312. Also Ref 4, pp. 321, 322.
		The Census. The population of England and Wales was ascertained to be 12,000,236. Penistone Parish had 5,042 inhabitants, with 645 in the township of Penistone. The Parish of Penistone comprised also the townships of Denby, Gunthwaite, Hunshelf, Ingbirchworth, Langsett, Oxspring, and Thurlstone. Thurlstone had 1,599 inhabitants at this time and Ingbirchworth 371 inhabitants. Thurlstone had more than double the population of Penistone in those days.
		Road constructed from Hazlehead Bar to The Flouch. Ref 1.
	21st Sept	The 'first' Holmfirth Flood.
1822		The Star - Public house opens in Upper Denby.
		Victuallers - Listed in the 1822 Directory: Mary Jackson at the White Hart, Joseph Beford at the Old Crown, George Brown at Horns Coffee House and Tavern, Marmaduke Clark at the Spread Eagle, Ann Green at the Black Swan, Edmund Smith at the Rose and Crown, William Bagshaw at the Plough and Harrow, William Earnshaw at the Black Bull, Benjamin Harrap at the Dog and Partridge, J Sanderson at the Waggon and Horses (could be either Oxspring or Langsett), Thomas Taylor at Saltersbrook and J Whitaker at the Blacksmith's Arms. These were listed in a Penistone Almanack of around 1877. See the Old Inns page.
		Local Notes - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Yorkshire 1822' (OCR corrected): Penistone, a market and parish-town, in the wapentake of Staincross, liberty of Pontefract; 8 miles from Barnsley, 12¾ from Huddersfield, 13¾ from Sheffield, 14 from Wakefield, 15 from Rotherham, 26 from Stockport, (Chesh.) 45 from York, 176 from London. Market, Thursday. Fairs, last Thursday in February; last Thursday in March; first Thursday in May; and Thursday after old Michaelmas-day, for horses and horned cattle. Principal Inn, Rose and Crown. Pop. 645. The Church is a vicarage, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, in the deanry of Doncaster, value, £16. 14s. 2d. p. r. £46 18s. 4d. Patron, the Right Hon. Major General Godfrey Bosville. This is a small market-town, little superior to a village, as the population will evince. It is chiefly noted lor the number of moor sheep sold at its markets and fairs. Here, is a Free Grammar-School, endowed with £l00 per annum, and also the interest of £200 for the education of eight poor girls. Denby, Upper, in the township of Whitley (*), and parish of Kirkheaton, Agbrigg-division of Agbrigg and Morley; 7 miles from Huddersfield and Wakefield (* 'township of Whitley' is an error in the text). In the same township is: Denby, Lower, 2 f.h. Denby, High, in the parish of Penistone, wapentake of Staincross, liberty of Pontefract; 3 miles from Penistone, 6½ from Barnsley; 11 from Huddersfield. Pop. 1,412. It is a perpetual curacy, in the deanary of Doncaster, value, p. r. £50. Patron, the Vicar of Penistone. Denby, Low, in the township of High-Denby, and parish of Penistone; 4 miles from Penistone. Thurlstone in (he parish of Penistone, wapentake of Staincross, liberty of Pontefract; 1 mile from Penistone, 8½ from Barnsley, 13 from Huddersfield. Pop. 1,524. Here was born in 1682, the celebrated Nicholas Saunderson, Professor of Mathematics in the Uniiversity of Cambridge, and Fellow of the Royal Society. When only a year old he was, by the small-pox, deprived of his sight; so that he retained no more ideas of light and colour than if he had been born blind. He was sent early in life to the Grammar-School at Penistone, where he laid the foundation of that knowledge of the Greek and Roman languages, which he afterwards improved so far, by his own application to the classical authors, as to have the works of Euclid, Archimedes, and Diophantus read to him in their original Greek. He died in April, 1739. After his death, appeared his “Elements of Algebra,” 2 vols. 4to.; which was followed, in 1756, by his “ Treatise on Fluxions,” 8vo. Chalmer’s Biog. Dict. Oxspring, in the parish of Penistone, wapentake of Staincross, liberty of Pontefract; 2 miles from Penistone, 6 from Barnsley, 12 from Sheffield. Pop. 247. Barnsley, a market-town, in the parish of Silkston, wapentake of Staincross, liberty of Pontefract; 8 miles from Penistone, 10 from Wakefield, 12 from Rotherham, 14 from Sheffield and Pontefract. 15 from Doncaster, 18 from Huddersfield, 38 from York, 176 from London. Market, Wednesday. Fairs, the Wednesday before February 28, May 13, and October 11, for horses, horned cattle, pigs. &c. Bankers, Messrs. Heckett, Hirks, and Co. draw on Messrs. Messrs. Wentworth and Co. 25, Threadneedle-Street. Principal Inns, White Hear and King's Head. Pop. 8,281. The Church, rebuilding, is a perpetual curacy under Silkstone.
	Aug	Robert Bramall - A nasty accident happened at a bell-ringing event in Penistone church tower. The Tenor bell overturned and raised Robert Bramall five or six yards from the floor as he struggled to hold on to the bell-rope. He fell with such force that he lived for only a few days more. He died on 31st August 1822, aged 73, after serving twenty years as Sexton for the church. He was buried in the churchyard. See the tenth of Steve Lavender's Stories of the Stones for more on Robert Bramall.
1823	January	Penistone Girls' National School opened on Church Street. Ref 1 (p165), Ref 16 and Ref 30.
		Bad Accident - A regular coach service called 'The Fleece' overturned on Shelley Bank killing two of the passengers.
1824		Thurlstone Wesleyan Sunday School - A souvenir mug was produced in 1924 to commemorate the centenary of 1824 - 1924 for the Sunday School. The mug is about 3½ inches tall by around 3" diameter. A diamond-shaped logo at the base has a 'P' at the top, 'Diamond' in the middle, a 'B' on the left, 'Co.' on the right and 'China Ltd.' below, with England below the diamond. Thanks to R White.
1825		A new canal was being considered from Sheffield to Manchester, passing through Penistone, Woodhead and Longdendale Valley. The eminent engineer, Thomas Telford, considered this to be the best route. Ref 7
		The Wordsworth Estates in Penistone, Hoylandswaine and Denby sold. These included the Cloth Hall (Mr Wordsworth called it 'the Market House') consisting of a dwelling house (John Hawksworth), Carpenter's shop (Richard Scholefield), Chamber (John Charlesworth), Another chamber (Joseph Hellewell) and several butchers' stalls (J Beaumont and others). Ref 13 p.73
		Bullhouse Chapel - Sunday School started.
1826		Enclosure, by Act of Parliament, of around 250 acres of common land in Oxspring completed (awarded in 1818) and other parts of the locality. According to Oxspring wiki, the Parish Council possesses a copy of the award and map. See S Yorks Timescapes to read about the effects of enclosing the commons.
		Leigh's Pocket Road Book 1826 - Gives a passing mention to our town (thank you Leigh!): 'Penistone, in the W. Riding of Yorkshire, is a small market-town, where a great number of moor sheep are sold. The vicinity is particularly dreary. Pop.645. Inn; the Rose and Crown.' From Samuel Leigh's New Pocket Road Book 1826, p. 319, in the London to Ripon section which included visits to Sheffield and Wakefield. Before the railways, these would have been horse-drawn routes over mainly rough roads and lanes. A trip from London to Kendal took in Rotherham, Barnsley, Huddersfield and Halifax: 'Barnsley, in the W. Riding of Yorkshire, contains numerous forges for making wire, nails, hardware, &c, and extensive manufactories of linen cloth, and bottles. It has a Church and a Free School. Pop. 8284. Inns ; the White Bear, the King's Head. Huddersfield, in the W. Riding of Yorkshire, is a large and populous town, carrying on a very extensive manufacture of serges, kerseymeres, and broad and narrow cloths. It has an ancient but handsome Church, several Meeting-houses, and a Cloth-hall. Two miles S. of the town, on Castle Hill, are the remains of the ancient city of Cambodnnum. Pop. 13,284. Inns; the George, the Swan.'
		A Remarkably Dry Year - No rain fell between 21st March and 23rd September. Ref 16 and 1878 Pen Almanack.
1827	29th Jan	Primitive Methodist Chapel - Opened in Penistone. According to the 1953 Almanack ('Opening new PM Chapel, Penistone'). Where was it?
		The Flouch - Originally intended to be called the 'New Inn', the Flouch Inn was opened around this time after standing in a partly-finished state for some years. Landlord George Heward had a deformity called 'slouch lip' which by the usual process of corruption led to the pub's name, to become the official name. Before the roundabout was built a little further away in the next century, the Flouch crossroads had been a very dangerous road junction. Ref 5. See the Inns History page.
		Grouse were not game in 1827.
		Denby Workhouse founded. It continued until it closed around 1849. The Penistone Poor Law Union Workhouse, built in 1859, took in the poor from Denby workhouse (and other places) until after the Second World War. Ref 20.
		Doles: William Turton gave one quarter of rye to the poor of Penistone, to be distributed yearly on Good Friday. The rye is rendered by the persons in the occupation of an estate at Hexley Gate in the township of Denby (in 1898 occupied by Mr Walter Popplewell). Also donations to the poor of the parish from Edward Booth out of lands at Dean Head, Hunshelf, £1 6s 8d to be paid at Easter. William Rich, by Will, (1673) charged certain lands in Hornthwaite with the payment of 1/- a year to the poor of the parish. The above Doles are duly distributed among poor persons of the parish not receiving parochial relief. In recent times, this led to the distribution of flour from the Town Hall steps on Good Friday. This was later modified to the flour being distributed from the garden area of the church yard, by the mayor of Penistone at Easter. Doles from the 'Charity Report of 1827' (West Riding and Sheffield, p. 312), viewable in Huddersfield Local History library. To view other old charitable sources, see the Charity Commission website and follow the trustees' links. Start with William Rich, Reg Ch. 241891. See my Customs page.
1828		Oxspring New Corn Mill opened with the holding of a ball. It belonged to Mr Henry Rolling. It lasted only 28 years, having burnt out on 8th February 1856. Corn mills had a high fire risk. (Ref 7)
1829		Wesleyan Methodist chapel built in Ingbirchworth. Closed in 2014.
1830s		Cholera Epidemic - This was a national problem and the government of the day did not know how to deal with it or what it was really.
1830		The 'Beerhouse Act' passed in parliament allowed licenced 'Beer Houses' to proliferate without the need for a magistrate to endorse the application. The existing 'Ale Houses' could sell other liquors as well. See also the Old Inns page.
		Carlecotes School built. Now a guesthouse, the old schoolhouse was purchased with money raised in the community. A door lintel is inscribed with: 'School built by Subscription 1830'.
		Around this time, give or take a few years, the Huddersfield road by Netherfield Chapel (now a dwelling) was altered. Formerly level, the road was lowered by the chapel and the spoil used to raise the level 'by the house'. It is not clear what the road was like before. The milestone in the chapel wall used to be at the top of the hill, by the chapel. It reads: London 177 miles, Huddersfield 12, Penistone ½. Ref 7
1831		The Census. The population of England and Wales was ascertained to be 13,896,797. Penistone Parish had 5,201 inhabitants, with 703 in the township of Penistone. This was an increase over the previous decade of 159 in the parish and 58 in the township. The Parish of Penistone comprised also the townships of Denby, Gunthwaite, Hunshelf, Ingbirchworth, Langsett, Oxspring, and Thurlstone. The population of Denby Parish was given as 1,295, possibly including Cumberworth and the hamlet of Denby Dale.
1834		Population of Denby given as 1,766. See Genuki. In October 1834, the Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire. Among the items lost were the objects that defined the imperial standards of length and mass.
		Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834 - Poor Law Unions were already in existence through the Gilbert Act of 1782 but this new Act increased their number. By 1868, every parish in the country would be incorporated into Poor Law Unions. Over time, workhouses would be set up typically about 20 miles from each other, with around 554 new workhouses having sprouted up across the land by 1884. See 1849 below for the Penistone Poor Law Union.
1835		The Halifax to Sheffield Coach - This would be a busy time for the horse-drawn coaches before the days of railway began a decade later and many inns and toll-bars would depend upon their trade. A typical coach trip from Halifax was 7/- for an outside seat (with the driver?) and it would start and finish with six horses. The horses would be changed along the way, employing 25 in total. By New Mill, there would be five horses but another would be added there to help with a steep hill. Between Halifax and Huddersfield, there were five toll-bars. Another nine in the 13miles between Huddersfield and Penistone and five more between Penistone to Sheffield.
		Coaches from Huddersfield - Around this time, there was a regular service of coaches from Huddersfield to Manchester, Halifax, Leeds, Holmfirth and Wakefield. Around 21 coaches would leave each day from several of Huddersfield's inns. From 'Pennine Journey' a small book by Wm B Stocks, Penistone Library, which lists all of the departure points and the names and departure times of each coach service.
1836	27th Dec.	Great Snowstorm - Causes disruption throughout the land. Only one coach road in the kingdom was left open, from London to Portsmouth. Wagons from Oxspring corn mills to Saltersbrook were stuck in Boardhill snow drifts for several weeks. From Ref 7 and the same text appears on this Sheffield History page.
1837	Jan. - Feb.	Influenza Epidemic - Afflicts 'nearly every house in Sheffield' and closes shops in Glasgow. Penistone and Thurlstone also had their share. It was a killer. Some of the remedies appeared to have been somewhat experimental, with such as: sweet nitre, paregoric, ipecacuana wine or 'theriaca et butyrum' (treacle and butter). Ref 7
	20th June	Queen Victoria Crowned. The Queen was born on 24th May 1819 and would marry Albert on 10th February 1840. Her 50th Jubilee in 1887 and Diamond Jubilee in 1897 would be occasions for grand events (see below). She would be the first Queen to reign 50 years (and 60 years in 1897) but would be easily surpassed by the 70-year reign by Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
		Registration Act for Births, Marriages and Deaths. Although the 1833 Factory Act had restricted working hours for young people, there were sparse official records listing ages of occupants. Anglican churches had long recorded baptisms, marriages, and burials but non-Anglicans had fewer records. This legislation led to the compulsory registration of all births, marriages and deaths at a Registry Office. Certificates were issued for each event, with a copy at Somerset House in London. The Poor Law Commission administered this Act. There had been Parish Registers of the poor from 1552, as an official record of those who fell into the category of 'poor' but this new act improved the quality of records. See the Victorian Web about the Poor Law.
		Bishop Longley visited the old chapel of Denby and found it to be in a 'filthy and ruinous state'. This led to a Building Committee to be formed to consider the chapel's future, under the guidance of Revd Brice Bronwin. They decided to rebuild the chapel on the same site, with the £1170 contract going to builder John Ellis, of High Flatts. The new chapel with the original 1627 tower was completed in 1845.
1838	End of Jan	Bitter Cold Weather - The River Don was frozen in several places. In Sheffield, a sheep was roasted on the ice.
	1st Oct	First Sod Cut of the Woodhead Railway Tunnel - From the Life of Joseph Locke, p.119 at Archive,org: 'Lord Wharncliflfe turned up the first spadeful of earth 1st October, 1838, but the tunnel was not completed for six years afterwards, though eight hundred men were, upon an average, employed upon it. (etc.)' Mr Locke was the Civil Engineer who took over the Manchester to Sheffield railway project from Charles B Vignoles who had been bankrupted by it. The tunnel opened in July 1845, as described in that year below. See also the Joseph Locke story as told by Rev Roger Farnworth and a transcript of 'The First Railway Between Manchester and Sheffield' by George Dow, on Moss Valley.
1839		The New Inn public house - Opens in Upper Denby.
	12th Jan	The 'Old Blue Club' formed. Officially called 'Penistone and Midhope Operative Conservative Benefit Association', it is hardly surprising that it had acquired a much simpler nickname. Its declared principles were: 'The continuance of social order, the security of property, the maintenance of religion and the real liberties of the people'. It also provided for a sick fund, with a large membership and ample funds. However, in a well-attended 1889 anniversary meeting in Midhope, there were some concerns that it might dissolve into becoming just another 'sick club' and they hoped to encourage more leading Conservatives to become involved. Ref 7
1840s		Standardised Time and Trying Times - Greenwich standard time was established for all of England, Scotland, and Wales. Before this period, it was common for places to keep their own local time but the arrival of the railways required more standardisation, although some places had objections. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) became the official time reference for the world too but in 1972 it was (predictably) re-named in French as UTC, whilst keeping Greenwich Observatory as the Prime Meridian. Never mind the French, it is still GMT in England. From around 1845 to 1847, there were a series of very bad harvests, first with potatoes and then with grain. This led to price rises, unemployment, bankrupcies and more. Farming was in a gradual change from a feudal to commercial or industrial style. Many tried their luck in the cities, which became overcrowded and unsanitary. The Industrial Revolution gave the hope of employment but working conditions would be dire.
1840	10th Jan	Penny Post Established
		Penistone Association for the Prosecution of Felons - Penistone Members: Jonathan Brown, Wm Lockwood, Wm Moorhouse, John Armitage, Wm Greaves, John Mitchell, Thos. Worsley, Jane Mitchell. Thurlstone Members: Joseph Greaves, Gamaliel Milner, John Crosland Milner, Edward Eyre, Thos. Smith, Wm Moorhouse, John Wainwright, Thos. Askam, Isaac Smith, Daniel Wainwright, Thomas Tomasson, Wm Wainwright, Geo Shaw, Wm Charlesworth, Benjamin Hudson. Rough Birchworth Member: Wm Beckett. Hunshelf Members: Jonathan Hawkesworth, Joseph Coldwell, Thos. Coldwell. Treasurer: Vincent Smith. From a poster dated 7th July 1840 (Penistone Archive Group).
	4th July	Shipping - The first Cunard Steamer left Liverpool for New York.
		Local Industry - The 1914 Penistone Almanack refers back to information about local industry in an un-named 1841 Directory. There were five woollen cloth manufacturers: Messrs Hy. and Wm. Bray; John Crosland Milner; George Moorhouse; Wm Moorhouse & Son, and Thomas Tomasson. Messrs Brown and Rusby owned a stone quarry which provided superior quality stone to all parts of the kingdom (Brown was the same who had the Rose and Crown). Of the five stonemasons listed, four were named Marsh. There were four blacksmiths, eight boot and show makers, four butchers, six cattle dealers, two coopers (both in Thurlstone), 16 grocers, five millers, eight tailors, and four wheelwrights. The three doctors all lived in Penistone: John Booth, Richard Savile Jackson and John Shackleton. Postmaster was John Hawksworth. The local joiners included: John Hawley, Richard Lawton, Uriah Tinker, and Mellin Wilkinson. Joseph Milner of Ingbirchworth did cotton twining and silk winding. Mr John Wainwright of Thurlstone was a hair cloth manufacturer. Mr Wm Wainwright was a rope and twine maker.
1841		Life Expectancy. In 1841 the average newborn girl was not expected to see her 43rd birthday (average 42.6 years) and just over 40 for a newborn boy. These figures would include those lost in childbirth and childhood, so those who survived into adulthood could expect to live longer.
		Thurgoland Church built on land given by Lord Wharncliffe. It cost £1400 and Lord W contributed £100 to it. The living was in the gift of the Vicar of Silkstone.
		Population of Penistone Parish now 5,907. Ref 11. Penistone had a large population of 'navvies' building the railway during this decade, sometimes leading to fighting in the streets. The population fell within the Penistone Poor Law Union which was formed in 1849. It included surrounding villages and reached 12,803, with parishes ranging from Gunthwaite (66) to Thurlstone (1,872). Ref 27. This was a result of the Poor Law Amendment Act (PLAA - 1839) following on from the 1832 Reform Act. The PLAA was intended to reduce the poor rates; not to assist the poor who suffered as a result of the legislation. The PLAA replaced the existing poor laws and was responsible for workhouses being set up throughout the country. Penistone's Poor Law Union led to a workhouse being built at Netherfield, now the site of the latest incarnation of Penistone Grammar School. The poor were regarded as feckless criminals and people would rather starve than apply for poor relief because it would mean that they would become inmates of the dreaded "poor law bastilles". See the Victorian Web about the Poor Law.
	7th July	West Riding General Election - This had been a close-run thing. The Hon John Stewart-Wortley (later to become the 2nd Baron Wharncliffe) received 13,165 votes and Mr Edmund Becket-Denison with 12,780 votes narrowly beat their opponents Viscount Milton (Charles Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, with 12,080 votes) and Viscount Morpeth (George William Frederick Howard, with 12,031 votes). Viscount Morpeth had been Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1835 to 1841. The 1841 election resulted in a swing to the Conservatives from the Whigs. See George Howard's Wiki and the 1841 Election wiki. More on this as a footnote on the Parliamentary Elections page of this website.
1842		Bad Accident - Rev Samuel Sunderland BA, Vicar of Penistone from 1841, was very accident-prone. He had a severe accident this year while travelling in the Lake District with his sister. He had no fewer than three accidents in conveyances before meeting his death in 1855 through another accident (see below). See also the Vicars page.
1843		JT Smith's - Penistone's oldest business started this year. Closed some time in the 2010s, the family business had been on its fourth generation.
		Cawthorne Cricket Club - Founded this year.
		Skelmanthorpe Band formed this year. Shat Band (Facebook)
		Application to Parliament for an Act to authorise 'the making and maintaining of a railway, with all proper works and conveniences therewith, commencing by a junction with the line of the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway, in the township of Oxspring'. The line was to pass through ' ... parts of Penistone, Silkstone, Darton, Roystone, Oxspring, Thurgoland, Dodworth, Barugh, Gawber, Barnsley, Monk Bretton otherwise Burton, and some of them, and terminating by a junction with the North Midland Railway, in the said township of Carlton (etc.)'. In effect, it was an Act to instigate purchase of the appropriate land, by compulsion or agreement. This entry was published in the London Gazette, 22nd November 1843. The London Gazette website has a free, searchable database. The Railway Act of 1842 was the first piece of railway legislation, mainly to maintain railway safety. New lines had to be inspected by the Board of Trade, which could demand traffic returns and set up official inquiries into accidents. Another Railway Act (the Parliamentary Train Act) came into force in 1844, after Gladstone's Committee of Inquiry into railway policy. By this law, the government assumed the absolute right to take control of railways in times of national emergency and to fix fares and freight charges. See the Victorian Web about various Acts.
1844		Coaches Before Railways - There were two regular coach services through Penistone. The weekly 'Royal Hope' connected Halifax with London, via Huddersfield, Honley, New Mill, Penistone, Sheffield, Chesterfield, Nottingham and Leicester. To London, it called 9.30am at the Rose & Crown (day not given) and at 5.30pm on the return journey (day not given), Also a daily coach from Manchester to Barnsley calling every afternoon, 4.30pm at the White Hart and on the return journey, 10am to Manchester, calling at Ashton.
		Football Match - Possibly on land which would later be Mr Bailey's Field, off the High Street (through the ginnel). This was organised by William Marsh, son of the Horns Inn keeper Abel Marsh. The Horns Inn would later became the Balti House take-away, changed to 'Kurdistan Pizza' in late 2024.
		William Crawshaw killed - The workman died whilst building Romticle Viaduct at Thurgoland when a stone fell on him. His workmates engraved a commemorative stone which was built into the viaduct. See this photo of the stone.
1845		New Denby Church opened, started in 1842. Built in 1627, the previous Chapel of Ease had fallen into a perilous state which led to the re-build while retaining the tower from the earlier chapel. It had been condemned by the Bishop of Longley in 1839 as being in a ‘filthy and ruinous state’. John Ellis of High Flatts built the new church at a cost of £1,170. Heritage Inspired.
	15th July.	Railway Line Opens - From Sheffield via Penistone to Dunford Bridge, by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway (SA & MR). This was only 20 years after the first public Stockton to Darlington Railway had opened, in 1825. The SA & MR company opened both the Woodhead Line and the Huddersfield Line with Penistone as a major junction. The SA & MR later amalgamated into the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS & L Railway) company (see 1847). This was a major event for travel and would kill off the coach trade which would take several hours to travel between places only a few tens of miles apart. Inns and toll-bars would feel the pinch but the public would otherwise benefit greatly. Day trips to the seaside and large towns would gradually become available. See also the Joseph Locke story as told by Rev Roger Farnworth and a transcript of 'The First Railway Between Manchester and Sheffield' by George Dow, on Moss Valley.
		Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway (GC&SJ) founded this year. This ran from Gainsborough to the coast.
	29th Aug	Start of Railway to Huddersfield - The first sod was cut by Lord Wharncliffe at the Wellhouse cutting. This would be a huge undertaking and would take several years, requiring four viaducts, six tunnels and 57 bridges to be built, along with all of the cuttings. The 36-arch viaduct at Lockwood would use stone removed from the Berry Brow cutting. Trains from Penistone to Huddersield would start in February 1854 and be extended to Sheffield five years later.
	6th Oct.	Train hits a cow - After departing Dunford Bridge station for Sheffield, causing derailment of locomotive and carriages. The guard was injured but passengers suffered only minor bruising. The cow was cut almost in half.
	22nd Dec.	First Woodhead Tunnel - Officially opened (3 miles, 22 yards), having been started in 1839. 1,500 men worked on it but 32 died in its construction, with a further 28 dying of cholera. Ref 15. Note that Ref 18 gives different figures: 26 died and 140 injured. The Miller's Arms at Saltersbrook was used to pay the navvies. It was a rough pub with bare-knuckle and cock fights. A bullock was roasted there when the first tunnel was bored through in 1845. The original cost was projected as £60,000 but in fact cost £200,000. It was quickly found to be a bottleneck and that a second tunnel would be needed, which was started in 1847. Ref 7 p140. See 1852 and 1953. Joseph Locke was involved in the construction of the tunnels and Locke Park in Barnsley was named after him (opened 1862). See also the Woodhead website.
1846		Railway Timetable - Download (pdf) the timetable for Penistone from Stocksbridge Archives.
		Repeal of the Corn Laws - Originally passed in 1815, which had led to artificially high prices of wheat as a protection of British producers against foreign competition. The law-makers had little concern for poor people at this time and this act directly led to high bread prices and great starvation. A concerted campaign for the repeal had been going since 1838. The occasion of its repeal was marked by a Denby Dale Pie, see below 19th August.
		Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway (S&LJ) company founded.
		Crystal Palace, Thurlstone - From a sign inside the pub (seen in 2022), a list of landlords and landladies was drawn up by Mr Frank Spence (26/08/1920 - 12/01/2017). The Crystal opened in 1846. Landlords and Landladies: 1900 - Marsh; 1904 - Gregg; 1911 - Woffinden; 1913 - Glover; 1915 - Barret; 1916 - C Beaumont; 1942 - A Beaumont; 1957 - D Beaumont; 1962 - Pashley; 1962 - Pickering; 1977 - Haigh; 1981 - Williams; 1985 - Sanders; 1988 - Morfitts; 1991 - Coldwell; 1994 - Des and jane; 2000 - Tina and Elaine; 2003 - Kath and Bob; 2003 - Brearly; 2005 - Taylors; 2006 - Birch; 2010 - Keith and Julie Riggett. See the Old Inns page.
		Denby Dale's Timber Viaduct started being built, to be completed for the grand opening of the line in 1850. This was after it had been partly blown down in 1847 gales. It was to be 400 yards long and 112 feet high with 40 perpendicular supports. A 21-arch stone viaduct replaced it in 1880, started in 1877.
	19th Aug	Third Denby Dale Pie - With an estimated 60,000 visitors. This was the 'Repeal Pie' celebrating the Repeal of the Corn Laws and marking the end of thirty one years of hardship. With the advent of peace between England and France in 1814, corn prices had fallen. Lord Liverpool's Tory government passed the 1815 Corn Law (55 Geo. 3 c. 26) to keep bread prices high. It was a protectionist move to keep out cheap grain imports but bread had been a staple food and became too expensive for ordinary people to buy, in already difficult times. In those days, ordinary people had little power to influence government policy. There was rioting in London. The Anti-Corn Laws League helped overturn the law this year, ending the 'Hungry Forties.' The DD Pie took 10½ hours to cook in a brick oven on the premises of Mr G Wilby. It was seven to eight feet in diameter (seven yards circumference) and 1ft 10inches deep. It contained 40 stones of flour, five sheep, one calf, 140lbs of beef, 12 dozen pigeons, five hares, 8 couples of rabbits, 10 brace of poultry, 6 couples of ducks, five brace of pheasants, 12 brace of grouse, 6 geese, 9 brace of partridges, four turkeys, six guinea fowls, 133 brace of small birds, 91lbs of beef suet, 32lbs of lard and 26lbs of butter. The pie was put on a dray and drawn through the village with 31 horses, headed by three bands. It was estimated that the crowd was not less than 60,000 people. The procession went from Cuckstool to Norman Park. A temporary stage had been erected and the pie put upon it. Unfortunately, with a surging and boisterous crowd, the stage collapsed and Mr James Peace of Inkerman Hall, who had been designated to cut it, was trapped inside the crust. The pie was partly trampled on by the surging crowd. Accusations flew that agitators had been sent to cause trouble, either because of local politics or from the rival neighbourhood of Clayton West. Mr Pierce kept the special knife and fork, which was handed down to his grandson Mr JW Dewhurst. This Denby Dale Pie was not as large as a Cornwall Pie, also baked to commemorate the Repeal of the Corn Laws. Theirs had been nearly three times larger, at 21 ft and 6 inches diameter, and contained: 560lbs of flour, four sheep, one calf, 71lbs of beef suet, 21lbs of butter, 23lbs of lard, 21 couples of rabbits, 14 hares, 144 pigeons, six couples of ducks, six brace of partridges, 14 brace of grouse, two turkeys, four guinea fowls, 16 couples of poultry, 68 small birds and 41lbs of venison. The Cornwall Pie was drawn by 30 horses. This Wiki gives a good description of the Corn Law. See also the second Pie in 1815 and the fourth in 1887, which went off, followed by the Resurrection Pie the same year, all on this page. From Ref 20, some wiki and various almanacks. Check out Chris Heath's books in the Yorkshire shop, Denby Dale. Also see Denby Dale Pie History.
	9th Oct	Huddersfield Railway Station - The occasion was a ceremony for laying the foundation stone for the Railway Station to be built on what had been called 'Tumbling Field,' a location previously used by entertainers, acrobats and clowns. This was a big day for Huddersfield and declared a public holiday. The parish church bells rang all day from very early. An impressive parade through town was led by a band, followed by the Police, dignitaries, freemasons, magistrates, Huddersfield vicar and clergy, architects and railway officials. Part of the pride in having a new railway station might have been because, when transpennine travel was being considered a decade or so earlier, there had been objections to Huddersfield having a railway at all. Some had thought the town 'not worth visiting.' The stone-laying ceremony was performed by the Earl Fitzwilliam and a luncheon followed on. The station was designed by James Pigot Pritchett of York. A chapel on the site had to be demolished but a new one was erected nearby on Northumberland Street by the railway company.
1847		Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MSLR) formed from an amalgamation of Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway (S & LJ), Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway (SA & MR) and Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway (GG&SJR). To save costs, stations at Oxspring, Dog Lane, Dukinfield, Hazlehead and Thurgoland were all closed after only two years. See 1845 above. The MS&LR became the 'Great Central Railway' (GCR) in 1897. Hazlehead station re-opened in August 1850 and was in operation 100 years. From Mick Walpole (referring to photos on Facebook): 'Hazlehead Railway Hotel. The Sheffield, Ashton-under- Lyne and Manchester Railway opened in July 1845, but there was no station at Hazlehead. After petitions from locals a station was built on 1st May 1846 named ‘Hazlehead’. The Huddersfield Omnibus stopped here for travellers going to Huddersfield. The station was closed on 1st November 1847 as a cost-cuttting exercise. The station re-opened in August 1850 and was re-named Hazlehead Bridge. It closed in March 1950 for passengers and then for freight in May 1964.'
		Penistone Green - According to the 1933 Penistone Almanack, in what might be an anomalous entry, none of the Penistone Green houses had been built before this time, with the site being used as a rope walk by William Shaw. Yet, it also reads that up to the death of Mr John Hawley in 1847, there was only one house with shops and mistles adjoining and a sawpit in front at Penistone Green. There was a clayworks somewhere off Green Lane which made use of the clay-rich soil to make bricks.
	27th Jan.	Denby Dale's First Wooden Viaduct - Collapsed in gales, having been started the year before. Ref 6, p9. This was three years before the line would open in 1850. A second wooden viaduct was completed ready for the line opening and would last thirty years. The structure suffered from great vibrations as the train crossed it and passengers would be nervous about safety. It was said that fire buckets at intervals along the viaduct were only half-filled, as the vibration of passing trains tended to empty them anyway. The wood was becoming rotten by 1870 and the viaduct replaced by the stone version opened in May 1880. See 1846 and 1880.
		Contract for a second Woodhead Railway Tunnel. It was soon realised that the single tunnel opened in 1845 was a bottleneck and a second tunnel was desirable. More attention was to be given to the welfare of navvies, including a school at Woodhead for their children. The tunnel was completed in 1852. See also 1849.
1848		Hoylandswaine School built on land donated this year, by GW Smith of Ecclesfield.
		Cubley Brook Brewery founded as a beer brewery by Joseph Brooke and sited on each side of Mortimer Road at its lowest point, in Cubley Bottom, which at this time had a notable 'dog leg' in the road and a horse trough. Prior to the brewery being built, the area was described as pretty. The horse trough was tarmacked over in 2009. Mild and Bitter Beers were brewed to supply to local pubs. It is possible that beer/porter was brewed here earlier, possibly by one of the Marsh family who lived at Penistone Green. See my PPMV Co page and 1923.
1849	12th Jan	William Bagshaw - Death of the landlord of the Plough and Harrow, Fiddler Green, aged 59 years.
	May	Cholera at Woodhead resulting in 28 dead workmen. (Ref 26). Work came to a complete stop. Four days after the onset of the disease, only 100 out of 750 workmen remained on-site. Many of them fled in panic after seeing the arrival of a supply of extra coffins. The dead were buried in unmarked graves at a small chapel in Crowden and a communal plot in Tintwistle churchyard.
	27th July	Penistone Poor Law Union Formed - Comprising eight parishes or townships formerly in the Wortley Union, and seven others not previously part of any union: Cawthorne (two guardians), West Clayton, Upper Denby, Gunthwaite, High Hoyland, Hoyland Swaine, Hunshelf, Ingbirchworth, Kexborough, Langsett, Oxspring, Penistone, Silkstone, Thurgoland and Thurlstone. The first meeting was held 30th October at the Rose and Crown, Penistone. The new union operated without a workhouse until 1859. A fine wooden chair bearing the Clarel/Penistone coat of arms can be found inside Penistone parish church, with an identical one in the Council Chamber. Inscribed below the coat of arms is 'Penistone Union' and '1915' above (a date that makes little sense). See also 1841 and its 1869 successor body, Penistone Local Board. Also 1969. Penistone Workhouse.
		The Rag and Louse (Fountains Inn, Ingbirchworth) - According to their website, the public house was built this year and called the 'Rag and Louse' from the start. It changed to the Fountains Inn, possibly in the 1970s and the car park pub sign had the line 'Formerly the Rag and Louse.' Its fortunes were mixed in the latter days and after closing in 2017, its future was in the balance until plans were submitted to BMBC 2020/0474) to demolish it and add more houses to the recently-devoloped site nearby. However, and very unusually, Barnsley planners rejected the plan and insisted that the building would be kept as a community pub. The revised plans (2021/035) still included new houses on part of the site (Feb 2021 Planning Statement ). After extensive refurbishment, the venue re-opened under the name of 'The Fountain' in October 2021. The Fountain, 33 Welthorne Lane, Ingbirchworth, Penistone, Sheffield, S36 7GJ. It continues to be called 'The Rag' by many local people. Old Inns page.
		Florins coined for the first time in the UK, equivalent to two shillings. They continued to be called Florins right up to the UK changeover to decimal currency, when they were accepted as 10p coins.
		Penistone Railway Viaduct - The spectacular, 29-arch viaduct was built by Messrs Ingham and Bower. With a gentle curve, it is 900 feet long and 80 feet high. The radius of the curve is half a mile or 40 chains (880 yards = 804 metres). Chains were much-used as a measure on the railways, equal to 22 yards (20.1168 metres) and the official distance between wickets in a cricket match. There are 10 Chains to the Furlong and eight Furlongs in a Mile, so half a mile is 40 Chains. The stone was quarried from Walk Mill bank, Oxspring, and conveyed by a specially erected tramway by the side of the River Don. Walk Mill later housed Winterbottom's Wire Mill. See 1850 below, when the line opened.
		MS & LR, Huddersfield and Manchester branches opened. Huddersfield Railway Station (built 1846 - 1850) is a Grade 1 listed building. It was built by Joseph Kaye and designed by James Pigott Pritchett ('Pritchett of York'). Its imposing facade dominates George Square, which is the centrepiece of the Victorian 'new town'. The George Hotel (1850 to 2012) in the square was the birthplace of Rugby League in 1895.

The 1850s

Quick Links:		Timelines: 1000 - 1600 - 1700 - 1800 (1800, 1870) - 1900 - 2000 - Refs - Generate English calendar for year: Time & Date
Year	Date	Event
1850		The first Cawthorne Show. It was abandoned in 1952 when opencast coal working had started on the show site. Presumably the last Cawthorne Show would have been 1951. Ref 6.
	Sunday 30th June	Penistone Feast. From 'Huddersfield Exposed' (slightly edited): Penistone Feast was traditionally held on the weekend following 24th June - being the Nativity Day of St. John the Baptist, the saint of which Penistone Church is dedicated. It often included athletics and musical events. A local custom was that farmers would begin haymaking on the first day of the Feast before attending in the evening. The page has some remarks about the various years' feasts: 'A heavily loaded train from Holmfirth to Penistone ground to a halt in Stocksmoor tunnel and the carriages had to be split into two sections, leaving the rear section stranded for a while in the tunnel until the engine returned to retrieve them.'
	1st July	Penistone to Huddersfield Railway Line - First trains run on the MS & L Railway through its five tunnels and over four viaducts; a lovely scenic journey. Also a branch line from Brockholes to Holmfirth. Ref 6. Started in 1846, Denby Dale's wooden viaduct also opened on this day but many passengers were nervous about crossing it. Apparently, it was intended to be stone but the wooden viaduct was hastily constructed due to a stone-masons strike. It was 400 yards long and 112 feet high with 40 perpendicular supports. Full fire buckets along its length would soon become only half-filled with the great vibration of passing trains, so they were only filled halfway anyway. There was also a two-mile branch line to Holmfirth fro Brockholes station. As a result of the spread of railways and standardised Railway Time, the use of 'Local Time' was soon abandoned throughout the land. The Holmfirth station clock had been fifteen minutes ahead of Holmfirth parish church (using 'local time') and people would miss the trains. Complaints were made to the railway company about the timetable. A branch line to Clayton West would be opened in 1879. See also 1849 above.
1851		Populations - As listed in the (first) 'Post Office Directory of Yorkshire' published in 1857 (Penistone Library): England 16,926,573 , Wales 1,001,036 , Scotland 2888,742 , Ireland 6,552,385 , Penistone 802 (1,050 acres), Thurlstone 2,018 (7,740 acres, largely uncultivated), Stocks Bridge 729 (3,120 acres). Langsett 296 (4,370 acres, largely uncultivated with borders up to Cheshire), Oxspring 278 (530 acres), Thurgoland 1,548 (2,080 acres), Barnsley 14,915 (2,200 acres). 118 (Upper) Denby villagers were employed in the textile industry. See allso 1857 below.
		Maps show Hawley's Sawmill site as having a shop, house and saw pit. This was on the former, mediaeval Penistone Green. The business had started in the 1820s. See S Yorks Timescapes.
	6th Sept	Huddersfield & Holmfirth Examiner - Founding of the regional newspaper to be issued on a weekly basis. The 'Holmfirth' was dropped from the title only two years later. From 28th January 1971 it became a daily, to forestall a rival paper from dominating Huddersfield's readership. The paper lays claim to having the first woman journalist in regional British journalism in 1888. The Examiner joined the Trinity Mirror Group (which publishes the Daily Mirror) in 1999. The paper continues to the present day as the Huddersfield Examiner and has occasional Penistone news.
	15th Sept	Sheffield Victoria Railway Station opened on the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MSLR). See the Victorian Web for an overview of GB railways, with illustrations of carriages and more. John Spiller has railway drawings and photographs and Disused Railway Stations has pictures and maps. The National Railway Museum at York has a list of archives. Wikipedia has a page on the MS&LR.
		The year of the f irst Great Exhibition in London. A third-class return train fare from Leeds to London was half a crown (2s 6d).
1852	Feb.	Second Woodhead Tunnel completed for the 'Up' line, to accommodate the increasing railway traffic, having started in 1847. The belching chimneys of expanding Lancashire factories needed more coal than their county could supply, whilst Yorkshire could and did supply the necessary coal from Wath, near Barnsley, via the Woodhead Line. Joseph Locke was involved in the construction of the tunnels and Locke Park in Barnsley was named after him (opened 1862). See also 1849 (cholera) 1953 and Ref 16.
	5th Feb.	Holmfirth Flood. A fifteen-foot wall of water rushed down the valley into Holmfirth when the embankment of Bilberry Reservoir collapsed. Men, women and children were washed away along with a four-storey mill and houses. 78 people lost their lives and property worth £300,000 destroyed. The reservoir had been built in 1840 with a surface area of about 20 acres and depth of 105 feet, to supply water for the extensive woollen industry in the locality. The public raised a noble £70,000 towards a relief fund for survivors, of which Huddersfield contributed £14,000. An excursion train from Manchester to Holmfirth on the recently-opened railway brought 300 unwelcome spectators to take in the scene of the flooding in a spirit of morbid curiosity.
		South Yorkshire Railway & River Dun Navigation extended its Worsborough Colliery branch railway through to Moor End pit at Silkstone. The company was taken over in 1874 by the Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway, which started connecting it to the company's main line at West Silkstone Junction. See the 'Forgotten Relics' site and 1880.
		Big railway trip to Penistone. A cheap Sunday evening special departed from Holmfirth railway station, carrying 3,000 passengers to Penistone. This caused the Penistone pubs to run dry. Railways were having a boom time.
		Four shops built on the East side of Market Street by Mr JF Moorhouse for Mrs Calvert who lived in the first shop (rhs). From the picture in this reference, the row starts with the current Yorkshire Building Society and ends with GT News which took over two shops (Raymond Smith's radio shop and another Smith's sweet shop). The Sportsman's Arms stood just up the road from here, now a dental surgery. (Ref 17 p15). A modern picture of the four shops.
	13th Dec	Raid on a house in Thurgoland. The house of farmer Mr John Couldwell of Cheesebottom, Thurgoland, was attacked by six ruffians at 7pm. A servant girl raised the alarm and the intruders ran off. Two of them were apprehended the same night.
1853		Queen Victoria - Signs an order making Denby into a parish separate from Penistone. This would also include Gunthwaite, Ingbirchworth, High Flatts and Birds Edge.
		Penistone Agricultural, Horticultural and Floral Society - Founded this year, later to be known as Penistone Agricultural Society. It had followed on from Wortley Farmers' Club and organise the famous one-day annual event, Penistone Agricultural Show. A special newspaper issued to commemorate the 150th Show in 2023 claims that local farmers had established the Wortley Farmer's Club but which had lapsed at some point. Mr John R Dransfield helped re-launch Wortley Farmer's Club as Penistone Agricultural Society in 1853. See further down this year, 1863 and Show History.
	14th June	A Life Lost - At a railway station. From a gravestone in the Penistone churchyard, Charles Fretwell of Penistone Green lost his life while on duty at Oxspring Station, aged 27 years. This was in the earliest years of the railway, which opened in 1846. The grave is in the lower part of the churchyard. 'Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come' - Matthew XXIV, Ch 42V.
	25th Aug	Two Men Buried Alive - Accident at Hartcliff Stone Quarry. Ref 26.
	21st Sept	First Penistone Show held. (Ref 6) (but also see 1854 below). This was called an Exhibition at the time but would morph into Penistone Agricultural Show as the biggest one-day event of its kind in Yorkshire.A special newspaper issued to commemorate the 150th Show in 2023 claims that local farmers had established the Wortley Farmer's Club but which had lapsed at some point. Mr John R Dransfield helped re-launch Wortley Farmer's Club as Penistone Agricultural Society in 1853. Sir Walter Spencer-Stanhope of Cannon Hall, Cawthorne, acted as President. It seems that the Show alternated between Penistone Wortley in its earliest times. The first Exhibition was held on fields behind the later Town Hall on the Thursday Market Day. In 1883 it moved to Brickfield, Unwin Street and changed to Saturday but rain and the change of venue killed it off. It returned in 1889, moved back to Thursday and held in Bailey's Park, an area which is now under the Park Avenue estate and was owned by a local farmer. In 1895 it returned to the first location where it stayed until 1948. The following year it moved again to land near Water Hall but which tended to become water-logged, ultimately to move to the current Showground. Ref 17 p80. The Stock Catalogue dated 20th August 1863 referred to that year's event as: The 'Tenth Annual Exhibition' of Penistone Agricultural, Horticultural and Floral Society, 'Established in 1853' (see further up this year 1863 below). Some Penistone Almanacks give the year as 1854. The 1991 Penistone Guide (Ref 16) says that the 'Show' had been given its name by local historian John Ness Dransfield. See Show History.
	29th Dec	Denby Church - St John the Evangelist church of Upper Denby was built between 1842 and 1845 by local builder John Ellis of High Flatts at a cost of £1,170 and on the site of an earlier 'Chapel of Easement' which could hold services but was limited in what else it could legally do. In the old days when everyone who could do went to church (either by compulsion or habit) every Sunday but Denby people had to walk to Penistone church in all weathers and on rough lanes. Some had even died in the process, which led to pressure to have their own chapel. An application to Queen Victoria led to an expansion of its powers, having first gaining the consent of the Right Reverend Charles Thomas, Bishop of the diocese of Ripon. From the London Gazette of 10th January 1854, we can discover the following: In accordance with the 'Act to amend and render more effectual an Act passed in the last session of Parliament for building and promoting the building of additional churches in populous parishes' (under Geo III), an application was received by Queen Victoria from the church commissioners. From the very long-winded application, it goes on to say: 'Your Majesty's said Commissioners beg leave further to represent that it also appears to them to be expedient that banns of marriage should, be published, and that marriages, baptisms, churchings, and burials should be solemnised or performed in the said church of Saint John, at Denby aforesaid, and that the fees to arise therefrom should be paid or belong to the minister or incumbent of such church for the time being.' See the Vicars page for more on Denby church.
1854	4th May	Henry Bower - Of Lady Cross, keeper to William Bailey Esq. Killed on the railway at Dunford Bridge station. He had accompanied Howard Bower to the station and afterwards while talking with Mr Briggs of Sheffield, lessee of the old inn at Fiddler Green, was hit by a train in the opposite direction which cut him to pieces.
		Penistone Show - Some sources give this as the first year of the Show (see 1853 above) and this is found in 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood 1890, of which notes were kindly passed on by Cllr Brenda Hinchliffe. That book has it that the Penistone Agricultural Society held its first show in 1854, its thirtieth in 1883, and its thirty-first in 1889. Given that 1883 minus thirty years = 1853, that year might be preferable and 1854 would be the second year. I found other errors in that book too. We sometimes find this error when referring to Penistone Almanacks, as they might refer to events occurring in the year they were written, ie. the year before publication rather than the Almanack year.
	12th Aug.	Thurlstone Brass Band - Now established as an entirely brass band. Previous to this, it had been mostly a string band. It had been in existence in 1830 in its earlier form. Ref 6 and Ref 7
1855	13th Apr	William Fenton Esq., of Underbank, 'Barbarously murdered by robbers in Ageciras, Spain', Aged 35. William was the only son of Samuel and Jessey Fenton and was interred in Gibraltar. This is from a tablet in Penistone Church, placed there 'by his four sisters, the youngest of whom was with him at the time of his cruel death.' See Steve Lavender's ninth of the 'Stories from the Stones' for more about this interesting character.
	18th July	Rev'd Samuel Sunderland, vicar of Penistone Parish, accidentally killed. A coach carrying Rev Sunderland and others overturned at the sharp turn of Rowsley Bridge while on the return journey of a trip from Chatsworth to Eckington railway station. The coach would have been the last of several to return to the station and might have been in a hurry to meet the required train time. The Rev was taken to the Peacock Inn at Rowsley but died there, aged 48. Rowsley is on the Bakewell to Matlock Road. According to the plaque in Penistone Church, his ministerial life had lasted nearly 26 years and he was much appreciated by the parishioners. Ref 30 and 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood 1890. Rev S Sunderland is listed on the Vicars page.
		Canon W S Turnbull, begins his long reign as vicar of Penistone Church this year until his death in 1913. The church lychgate was built in 1959 as a memorial to this well-regarded vicar. See the Church History page.
		Thurlstone Handbell Ringers Formed. The Minute Book of the old School Board contains a clause that they should always be allowed the use of the Thurlstone School room for rehearsals. The Handbell Ringers changed their name around 1970 to Thurlstone Bell Orchestra for reasons unknown. The 1984 Penistone Almanack refers to there being 136 balls weighing between 2oz and 12lb. Their bells are still in storage at the school, in perpetuity.
1856	8th Feb	Oxspring New Corn Mill, belonging to Mr Henry Rolling, burnt out. It had opened in 1828 with the holding of a ball. (Ref 7). The 1882 Penistone Almanack gives the year as 1855.
	Thurs 14th Feb.	A heartwarming story in the Manchester Guardian (Tues 19th February): 'Love Laughs at the Locksmith's': Thursday last being the day appointed for a wedding at Penistone between a young man and servant girl (banns having been published), the bridegroom went to the house where the bride was still in service, a few miles from Penistone, to conduct her to church, where the bridal party was assembling. To his great astonishment he found her master, opposed to the marriage, had actually locked up the girl, to prevent her nuptials; and the bridegroom, finding all remonstrance vain, was obliged to return to the church alone, and announce the mortifying tidings to clergyman and guests. However, "Love laughs at the locksmiths;" and the damsel, having served her master faithfully for six years, resented her imprisonment so strongly as to make her escape through a window, during the same night, and Friday morning saw the "happy couple" duly united in the bonds of matrimony. (Presumably this was an era of long sentences, one way or another. - JB)
	Sunday 28th June	Penistone Feast. See 1857 below and 'Huddersfield Exposed' for something about typical Penistone Feast days. Penistone parish church is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist whose 'Feast of St John' day is celebrated on or around the 24th June each year. In later years it was the occasion of 'Penistone Sing' and around the time of Marshall's visiting funfair and later Tuby's funfair, which over time became called the Penistone Feast.
		Hartcliff Tower (folly) and nearby Hartcliff Summer House built by Henry Richardson Esq., a linen merchant who became the first Mayor of Barnsley. Both buildings were prominent landmarks for miles around. The Summer House was blown down by high winds in 1964, with the tower remaining standing. Over time, the Tower had become unsafe with steps missing. Local rumour was that the tower had some sort of wartime function, such as a lookout or possible anti-aircraft gun. There were metal mounting points of some sort at the top. It was renovated in recent times by landowner Mr Pears of Bella Vista Farm, Hartcliff Road and once had an open day. Ref 17 p81.
		School Terrace built, top of Church Street. This was for Penistone Grammar School but followed on from an earlier school at or near the same location. Stone cobbles were discovered from a medieval church ale-house on the same site. Ref 10.
	Sept	'Matrimonial Disappointment' - (From the Barnsley Independent, 20th September 1856). 'On Tuesday a loving pair met at the parish church, Penistone, for the purpose of tying the gordian knot, to bind and make them into one, when, as neither the aspiring bridegroom nor his intended bride had taken the necessary precaution to obtain a licence, the parties were reluctantly compelled to return as they came.'
	Dec.	Burial Ground at Penistone Church closed by order of the Council. Ref 7
1857		Population of Yorkshire 1,797,995 as listed in the 'Post Office Directory of Yorkshire' published in 1857 (Penistone Library). It is likely that '1857' in the Directory had been a misprint for '1851' as census figures are collected each decade on the year dated as xxx1.
	12th Jan.	Penistone and Barnsley Railway. A single line was opened to run from Penistone to Summer Lane, Barnsley. Ref 18 and see 1845.
	Sun 28th June	Penistone Feast. (Date might not be exact) Penistone Feast was traditionally held on the weekend following 24th June as being the Nativity Day of St. John the Baptist, the saint of which Penistone Church is dedicated. It often included athletics and musical events. We can gain a lot of information from 'Huddersfield Exposed' which shows just how large an event it was. We have: An overloaded train in 1850, an overcrowded booking hall in 1856, cheap excursions, people riding on train carriage roofs, Shelley Brass Band, 2,000 visitors by train in 1875.
	,,   ,,	Carlecotes Church opened. Ref 5 and 1882 Penistone Almanack.
	July	Big Trip to Liverpool. A railway train of thirty four-wheeled carriages took passengers on a return trip to Liverpool from Thongs Bridge station on the Holmfirth Line.
	30th July	Benj Milnes RiP, Penistone Church Sexton - Gravestone inscription, Penistone churchyard: Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. In Affectionate Remembrance of Benjamin Milnes (Sexton of Peniston Church for the last twenty two years) who died July 30th 1857.' (also other family members).
		Influenza Epidemic. This one was world-wide.
		Rev'd John Wesley Aldom MA - Listed as Headmaster of Penistone Free Grammar School in the 1857 West Riding Post Office Diectory.
	Oct	Local Debtor in York Jail - This appeared to been a busy time for debtors. In the London Gazette, 6th October 1857: 'COURT FOR RELIEF OF INSOLVENT DEBTORS. Saturday the 3rd day of October, 1857. ORDERS have been made, vesting in the Provisional Assignee the Estates and Effects of the following Persons: (long list of names). On their own Petitions.' Included was - 'James Durrans, late of Thurlstone, near Penistone, Yorkshire, Commission Agent. In the Gaol of York. Mr Durrans' name would reappear in the London Gazette, regarding a Patent application, 1867.
		The George Inn - Opens in Upper Denby. As of 2019, this pub is still going strong and the only pub left in Denby.
		Hepworth Iron Co. begins manufacturing clay products around this time at Crow Edge. Originally set up to mine iron ore, the company soon abandoned the low-quality ore in favour of high-quality, heavy clay deposits associated with it. It produced a range of clay products, including bricks.
1858		Oxspring Railway Viaduct built, connecting Penistone with Barnsley.
		Hepworth Iron Works Formed - Very soon after, a branch line was added to connect with the Woodhead line near the Hazlehead station. The works initially used a staionary steam engine and cables but soon had two locomotives built, named 'Polly' and 'Ebor'. They would eventually be replaced by tow new locomotives as they became worn out, named 'Hepworth' and another 'Ebor' (using the old Ebor nameplate). From 'Pennine Journey' a small book by Wm B Stocks, Penistone Library, which gives more detail about the locomotives.
	May	New local newspaper - The Penistone Journal, Commercial Advertiser and Monthly Miscellany. Published on eight pages by and printed for Thomas Dale of Pitt Street, Barnsley by George Moxon at 22 Market Hill, Barnsley. John Ness Dransfield supposed in Ref 7 that it never continued beyond its first issue, of which he had a copy. JND attempted to publish his own weekly 'Penistone Herald' newspaper in 1891 but 'Did not issue many of them', citing 'various causes' preventing him from proceeding further. However, see the Barnsley Chronicle item below for this year and the Penistone Express item in 1898.
	28th May	Act of Parliament - To allow the supply and lighting with Gas the several townships of Peniston, Thurlston, and Oxspring, and other places adjacent, all in the parish of Peniston, in the West Riding of the county of York. Edinburgh Gazette, 28th May 1958.
	28th June	Penistone Feast. This was on a Sunday. See 1857 and 'Huddersfield Exposed' for activities on typical Penistone Feast days.
		Barnsley Chronicle Founded. The Chronicle stood the test of time as a weekly newspaper and is still published on Thursdays for Friday sales. Mr JN Dransfield's 'History of Penistone' takes a great deal of information from newspaper cuttings from a Sheffield newspaper. In 1898, Penistone would gain its own newspaper Penistone Express in 1898, published in Mexborough. It would mutate over time into The South Yorkshire Times, a popular local paper from Mexborough. It was only in the late 20th century that the Barnsley Chronicle would be regarded as the newspaper for our district and the South Yorkshire Times disappeared from local shops. A speculation perhaps, but the change in Penistone's readership from the South Yorkshire Times to the Barnsley Chronicle might have coincided with a change in the direct railway route from Penistone to Sheffield Victoria becoming Penistone to Sheffield via Barnsley.
		Quaker's Chapel - This was sited at Lumb Royd off Chapel Lane, where there is a small Quaker graveyard surrounded by trees. The chapel was sold to the Hawleys (of Hawley's sawmill) about this time and demolished this year, although a tablet on the wall claims the year after: 'Lumbroyd Quaker Meeting House and Burial Ground. Built 1763. Last Meeting held 1847. Demolished 1859.' See Quakers History.
		Death of James Harrop of Silkstone - He had been a packhorse driver between Manchester via Saltersbrook to Pontefract at the age of 16 in 1788. He drove the first waggon with merchandise over the Saltersbrook to Manchester turnpike road, at a time when road surfaces could be precarious. He lived from around 1772 to 1858 and died aged 86, a ripe old age for the time. This story is from the Penistone Archive Journal No.11, and in 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood 1890 (Penistone Library).
		Local Gas Supply. An Act of Parliament 'Penistone, Thurlstone and Oxspring Gas Act, 1858' allowed for the supply of gas with the foundation of 'Penistone, Thurlstone and Oxspring Gas Company.' They opened their gasworks on Talbot Road and there is still the whiff of gas there. Mr Edwin Unwin, a shareholder of the Manchester Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MSLR) company, became the first Managing Director of the gas company after arranging the purchase of land from MSLR for that purpose (1882 Penistone Almanack gives the MD as Mr Herbert Unwin Esq., not Edwin, either a mistake or possibly a relative). This was whom Unwin Street was named after. The National Archives has some background detail. The company changed to 'Penistone Gas Company' in 1913 as it extended its supply (N Archives). This 1858 date has appeared in various Penistone Almanacks (Eg. 1878, 1882 and 1900) but F Wilson gives the date as 1869, which more likely referred to gas street lighting coming into use on Penistone's streets, on 24th December 1869. (Ref 8). Also Ref 1 p165 and Ref 30. See also 1913 and 1948 for more.
	18th Nov	Auction of Bullhouse Mill. An auction of 'Mills and Lands in the Parish of Penistone' by Mr Lancaster, at the Rose and Crown in Penistone. For sale were The Bullhouse Water Corn Mill, fulling and scribbling mill, farmhouse, closes and mills, in eleven lots. According to Ref. UDM (Page 18), the property was not sold. Major elements shown here: Lot 1. - Bullhouse Water Corn Mill with two powerful water wheels and machinery also the mill dam and goit from the River Don, Far Second Boyd, Near Second Boyd, Holme, Lower Holme (etc.); 24 A, 2R, 20 P. Lot 2. - The Bullhouse Fulling and Scribbling Mill with water wheel, Steam Engine, and machinery, also the mill dam and goit from the River Don, and the House near this dam, Laith Croft, East side of Turton Field and Part of Lee Lane adjoining (etc.); 7 A, 1R, 1P. Lot 3. - Holme, Island in the River Don, Holme over the River, Half River adjoining. 4A, 2,R 32P. With Right of Way 20 feet wide from the Turnpike Road at the North-East corner of Lot 4 to the North-West corner of Lot 3. ; Lot 4. - Holme Head and Bridge Close, Half River adjoining. 2A, 2R, 2P. Sold subject to Right of Way in Lot 3; Lot 5. - West side of Turton Field and Part of Lee Lane adjoining. 3A, 3R, 5P; Lot 6. - Acre, Half River adjoining. 2A, 2R, 35P. Sold subject to Right of Way 20 feet wide over the East end of it to Lot 7.; Lot 7. - Part Lee Field Ing. 3A, 0R, 30P. With Right of Way last mentioned over Lot 6. Lot 8. - Part of Lee Field Ing and part of Lee Lane adjoining. 4A, 3R, 37P; Lot 9. - Part of High Field or Lee Field and part of Lee Lane adjoining, Rein adjoining, Half the River adjoining. 6A, 1R, 11P; Lot 10. - Ox Close and Part of Lee Lane adjoining, Half the River adjoining. 5A, 0R, 35P; Lot 11. - Green Top or Nook. 2A, 2R, 2P.
1859		A Sparse Population - Up to around this time, the only dwelling house between Penistone church and Oxspring had been Kirkwood farmhouse. The later arrival of the steelworks and railway would lead to many more houses being built in Spring Vale.
		Penistone Poor Law Workhouse started being built at Netherfield, to be completed in 1860 and opened 25th July 1861. This was ten years after the Penistone Poor Law Union had been formed, 27th July 1849. The architects were William Mawson and Henry F Lockwood, who designed workhouses in Barnsley and Bradford. There was piggery, an isolation hospital and a mortuary on-site. The workhouse was used during the Great War for convalescing soldiers. It became an old people's home in 1948, until 1974, when it was taken over by the education authority. The site is now occupied by the latest incarnation of Penistone Grammar School. See Ref 27. There is a lot of detail on Penistone Workhouse, including a list of staff and inmates at Penistone Workhouse.
Late 1850s		Cricket Match, Barrel Inn - According to the Mustard Pot History Page (2004, removed from current website), the first Cricket Match between Penistone and Stocksbridge Cricket Clubs took place in Midhopestones at some date in the late 1850s, followed by a substantial meal at the Barrel Inn. Now called 'Ye Olde Mustard Pot' see Old Inns for The Barrel Inn, although another nearby building would have been the original Barrel Inn.
1860	January	Penistone Choral Society formed. Date inferred from a line in Ref 17 p200, which refers to an 1870 celebratory meal in the new Rose and Crown, to mark the Society's tenth anniversary.
		'Curfew Bell' - Rung for the last time at Penistone church. Until this year, the bell was rung daily to this schedule: Weekdays - 5am (summer) - 6am (winter), Noon and 8pm, except Saturday nights. On Sundays - 7am, 8am and 1pm. One explanation of the Curfew Bell (at Amusing Places) is that it reminded people to damp down the fire before going to bed to reduce the risk of house fires, but that does not explain the morning bell. The word 'Curfew' appears to derive from the French 'Couvre le feu' meaning 'Cover the flame.'
	April	Insolvent Debtor - From the London Gazette of 30th March 1860: 'COURT FOR RELIEF OF INSOLVENT DEBTORS. The following PRISONERS, whose Estates and Effects have been vested in the Provisional Assignee by Order of the Court for Relief of Insolvent Debtors, and whose Petitions and Schedules, duly filed, have been severally referred and transmitted to the County Court, hereinafter mentioned, pursuant to the Statute in that behalf, are ordered to be brought up before the Judges of the said Courts respectively, as herein set forth, to be dealt with according to Law. (Lists of names for each named court). Before the Judge of the County Court of Yorkshire, holden at York, on Monday the 16th day of April, 1860. (Several names followed). Joseph Hinchliffe, late of the Flouch Inn, Thurlstone, near Penistone, Yorkshire, Licensed Victualler and Dealer in Tobacco, Farmer, Cattle, and Pig Jobber, Dealer in Milk, Butter, Eggs and Poultry, Hay and Straw, also Carter and Dealer in Sand and Coals.
		The Youdan Football Cup - The Youdan Cup was won by John Charles Shaw of Penistone in 1860. He was the founder and first captain of Hallam Football Club. He was also the first captain of Sheffield Football Club. The Youdan Cup is the oldest adult knock-out football cup in the world and was exhibited at PCFC's Family Fun Day, 15th June 2024, to help promote our town and its amazing place in football history. (This entry is based on text which originated from Richard Galliford). See Mr Lavender's Story from the Stones 18 ('Penistone Church Football Club 1906) and PCFC History.
		Flax and Thread Mill, Spring Vale - Built by G and W Waites this year and used as a Flax Mill until it closed in 1869. Some years later it would become a Mineral Water Box Factory (aka 'the Box Works') and employed many hands. It was demolished 1925. Ref 26 and Ref 30.
		The Plough and Harrow at Fiddler's Green closed around this time. It was kept by William Bagshaw (1822 directory) and later by J Clarke. See the Old Inns page.
		The David Brown company was founded in 1860 as a general manufacturing company in the Huddersfield area. It focussed on gear-cutting from 1873. The original Mr David Brown, Patternmaker and gear cutter, passed away in 1901 at the age of 59. The company continued under the name of David Brown and Sons. It did not come to Penistone until it purchased the old Cammel-Laird site in 1934. See the David Brown history page. Also Grace's Guide: David Brown and Sons and Wikipedia.
		Spring Vale's 'Tin Chapel' built. Replaced in 1927.
1861		Populations as listed in the (first) 'Post Office Directory of Yorkshire' published in 1857 (Penistone Library): England 18,949,930 (increased 2,023,357 from 1851), Wales 1,111,795 (increased 110,759 from 1851), Scotland 3,062,294 (increased 173,552 from 1851), Ireland 5,764,543 (decreased 787,842 from 1851). Population of Thurlstone: 2,251 listed in Ref 16.
		St John the Evangelist Church, Hoylandswaine. Application made to Ripon Diocesan Church Building Society to build a church at Hoylandswaine. There had been a Quaker burial ground on the site in 1724. William Wordsworth the Younger, a wealthy landowner from Water Hall Farm in Penistone, was buried in there. The site for the church, churchyard and parsonage (about two acres in all) was given by Francis Thomas Vernon Wentworth of Wentworth Castle. The church and parsonage were mostly paid for by the Stanhope family of Cannon Hall and Banks Hall, both in Cawthorne. These details come from this document, St John's (small pdf). See also 1868. 1869.
		Silkstone Band was formed this year, now known as The Old Silkstone Band. It continues to perform in the area and beyond and especially at the annual 'Silkstone Sing' in July.
	25th July	Penistone Union Workhouse opened, having been started in 1849. The architects were Henry F Lockwood and William Mawson, who also designed workhouses at Barnsley, Bradford, Dewsbury and North Brierley. Ref 27. Penistone Urban District Council also used it for meetings. Extensions were added in 1895 (infirmary) and around 1917 (isolation hospital and mortuary extensions). Two buildings were added around the turn of the 19th century, which were probably used as Day Rooms. Much of the garden was used to grow food for the workhouse. At the end of the 19th century, the grounds were extended to include room for stone-breaking by the male inmates. It clearly was not called a 'workhouse' without good reason. In 1930, it was taken over by the West Riding County Council (WRCC) and continued as a 'Public Assistance Institution'. The buildings became an Aged Resident's Home in 1948, when infirmary patients were transferred to NHS hospitals. With Local Government Reorganisation in 1974, the buildings were taken over by Barnsley MB Council's education department. The workhouse buildings were then taken over as the PGS Sixth Form College, demolished 2013 to make way for new PGS buildings on the same site. See 1930 and 1948. Penistone Workhouse.
	4th Oct	Death of John Gaunt - Window etching in Penistone church. 'This window replaces one erected in memory of John Gaunt who died October 4th 1861. A generous benefactor to this church.'
		The White Bear opened. Its entrance was in the ginnel next to Clark's Chemist and Benjamin White was the landlord. It had a fair run until 1925, when it became the Penistone British Legion Club, before that moved to its current location. Ref 6 and see the Old Inns page.
1862	February	Runaway horse. A horse and gig belonging to Mr Samuel Fox of Stocksbridge steel works was parked outside the Old Crown, Penistone, when the horse took fright. The boy who was watching over the horse lost control and It took off down the hill at great speed until it crashed into a wall in Oxspring. The valuable gig was smashed to pieces. Ref 21 p136., also the Old Inns page.
	13th Mar	Barnsley British Co-operative Society opens its first store at 16 Market Street, Barnsley. The BBCS was formed in Aug. 1861 by nine men: William Morley, George Adcroft, John Corless, William Hildred, James Kaye, Benjamin Pinder, James Wray, Robert Steel, and William Tinker. The business moved into a larger store at the junction of Wellington Street and New Street, Barnsley, in the same year.
	1st May	'The Great London Exposition' - This was the second Great Exhibition in London, the first one being in 1851, and showed off the latest advances made in the Industrial Revolution with a telegraph, machine tools, precision instruments, looms and the first plastic material, 'Parkesine' (see Wiki). It was an 'International Exhibition of Industry and Science' held in South Kensington. A third class return fare from Manchester to London was 2s. 6d.
	May	Fund-raising Bazaar - This was held Weds 28th, Thurs 29th and Thurs 30th May in aid of 'The Fund for the Restoration of Penistone Church' and held in Mr Unwin's Large Room, close to the (then) Railway Station, under the patronage of: The Lady Augusta Wentworth; The Lady Elizabeth Spencer Stanhope; The Lady Wharncliffe; The Honourable Mrs Monkton Milnes; Mrs Spencer Stanhope, Cannon hall; Mrs De Wend, Underbank Hall; and Mrs Chapman, Hill End, Mottram. A message from 'HGW' lamented about all of the seats being appropriated (by the nobs and most probably by the families of those listed above). This was leading the general public to lose both the power and the will to attend church, resulting a loss of the church's influence in the community. Implicit in this is that the church was losing income and needed an emergency boost to its funds. The bazaar was something like a big, three-day jumble sale and special trains were laid on for people to come to it.
	9th Jun Whit Monday	Queens Hotel - Opened in Spring Vale. It was built by Joseph Clarke. This was on the corner with Queen Street, the lane down to the Cricket Club. It was converted from a public house into a dwelling in 1974 (following a football pools win) and Tommy and Shauna Booth lived there. It later became a children's centre. See Old Inns, 1878 Almanack.
		Penistone's Steel and Iron Works Begins - Foundation stone laid on the Green Road site. The factory was built by Daniel Adamson and opened 1863 as Yorkshire Steel and Iron Works, Penistone. The 'first blow' of the hammer took place on 1st May 1863. A year later, in 1864, Charles Cammell and Co. purchased the new Penistone works from Messrs. Bensons, Adamson and Garnetts. See the David Brown page.
	10th Jun	'People's Park' opened in Barnsley, to be renamed 'Locke Park' in 1877. Joseph Locke's widow, Phoebe, had gifted High Stile Field (17 acres of land) to the town on 24 April 1861 for a park in memory of her husband. Joseph Locke was involved in the construction of the Woodhead railway tunnels. When Phoebe Locke died in 1866, an Observation Tower was erected in a high position in the park in her memory and opened on 20th October 1877, giving visitors 360 degree panoramic views from two platforms. The park’s bandstand was added in 1908, manufactured by the Loan Foundry Company, Kirkintiloch. See Locke Park and Friends of Locke Park.
		Ingbirchworth Reservoir - Started this year and completed in 1869. Designed by Thomas Hawkesley, described as 'the greatest water engineer who ever lived' (from Mr JN Dransfield's cuttings). The Water Board Act of 1862 was obtained authorising the construction of the reservoir to supply 1,080,000 gallons of water per day to the Barnsley area and Ingbirchworth, Gunthwaite, Hoylandswaine, Silkstone and Dodworth, along with a few hamlets near to Barnsley. An old packhorse bridge can be seen if the water level is very low, as in 1901 and other times. Called 'Summerford Bridge' suggests that it was less functional in other seasons. The highway had to be diverted when the reservoir was made and its direction is easily discerned on the map. The Barnsley population in 1862 was about 25,000. Ref 29. See 1868 and the great drought of 1893.
		Corunna Terrace built in Penistone in 1862 by John Halstead.  It was built on the site of the 'poor houses' which go back to the 1500s. The lane outside Corunna Terrace was called 'Poor House Lane'. It ended at Castle lane. Green Road was not there then (from Michael Horn of Penistone Archive Group on Facebook). Dr Richard Thorne's 1879 Report on sanitary conditions in Penistone mentions Corunna Terrace for its particularly poor sanitation. On Page 4: 'Cesspool drainage in this locality is still a source of grave nuisance, and soakage of sewage into the cellars was still complained of.' See also 'Picture Sheffield' for a small picture of Corruna Terrace in 1910.
		The Queen Hotel was built by Joseph Clarke in Spring Vale this year.
	October	Penistone Church - Re-opened following extensive renovations, costing £1,300. Canon Turnbull removed the old high-sided pews (mostly named, numbered and appropriated) and replaced them with open, unappropriated seats for all to use. Removal of the 'Gallery with organ loft and singing seat by which the fine old arch of the tower and west window were entirely concealed.' Partly Ref 17 p5. Church History.
	Nov	Inquest at Thurlstone - (From Leeds Mercury - 25th Nov 1862): 'On Saturday afternoon last, an inquest was held at the Black Bull Inn, Thurlstone, before Mr T Taylor on the body of Mr Hugh Coldwell, late brewer in the employ of Mr B Brook & Co of the Cubly Brook Brewery, Penistone. The deceased was thirty eight years of age and was scalded on Tuesday evening last when he was so much injured that death ensued. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.' See the Vinegar Brewery history page.
1863		'Old Silkstone Brass Band' founded. Still in operation in 2013. (As recorded in an EPIP document)
		James Durrans' blacking works opened in the The Phoenix Works, Thurlstone. Mr James B Durrans proved to be a leading citizen of the era and became Master of the Penistone Hunt. See also 2013.
	1st May	First 'blow' at Yorkshire Steel and Iron Works, Penistone. The works was started in Penistone by Benson, Adamson and Garnet but was then sold to Charles Cammell & Co., (later to become Cammell Laird's) in 1864. Yorkshire Steel and Iron Works. Its main product was railway lines. Ref 16. See 1862 above and 1930, when Cammel Laird closed. David Brown.
	30th May	First meeting of Denby Local Board, in the schoolroom. Herbert Camm-Dickenson (elected chairman), John Wood, Edward Shaw, William Priest, Joseph Haigh, James Peace, Edward Hirst and Thomas Moxon signed the 'Declaration of Qualification' required by the Local Government Act, 1858.
	20th Aug	The 'Tenth Annual Exhibition' ... of Penistone Agricultural, Horticultural and Floral Society, 'Established in 1853'. The list of Patrons: The Right Honourable The Earl of Scarborough, The Right Honourable The Lord Wharncliffe, The Right Honourable James Stuart Wortley, Sir Lionel M S Pilkington, Bart., F W T V Wentworth, Esq., J S Stanhope, Esq., MP, R M Milnes, Esq., MP, W B Beaumont, Esq., MP, John Chapman, Esq., MP, W S Stanhope, Esq., C D Charlesworth, Esq., G W B Bosville, Esq., Samuel Coward, Esq., Penistone, W F Dixon, Esq., Page Hall, Wilson Overend, Esq., Sheffield, R G Ramsden, Esq., London, W P Milner, Esq., Dykes Hall, W Smith, Esq., Barnes Hall, R J Bentley, Esq., Rotherham, Bentley Shaw, Esq., Lockwood, R C Clarke, Esq., Noblethorpe Hall, Thomas Vickers, Esq., Manchester. President: John Spencer Stanhope, Esq., Cannon Hall, Vice Presidents: John Dransfield, Esq., Penistone and Thomas Tomasson, Esq., Thurlstone. Treasurer: Mr John Greaves, Penistone. Secretary: Mr John Haigh, Penistone. Also a committee of 24 men, which included John Ness Dransfield. Details from the 1863 Stock Catalogue, viewable in Penistone Library. See 1853 above and Show History.
1864		The Railway Tavern, No1 Stottercliffe Road, closed. Kept successively by: Benjamin Armitage, C. Shore and Joe Wainwright. Ref 5.
	11th March	The Great Sheffield Flood. Just before midnight, 700 million gallons of water surged down River Loxley towards Sheffield from the newly-built Dale Dyke reservoir near Bradfield, as it was being filled for the first time. On the day before, the water level was just 2 feet 4 inches (0.7 m) below the crest. Water levels had been high but were being reduced as a precaution. A crack had appeared on the dam wall. High winds finished the job and the wall was breached. The huge rush of water washed away houses and industrial sites down the valley on its way via Hillsborough and the River Don to Sheffield about eight miles away. 415 houses were destroyed and most of the River Don bridges upstream of Lady's Bridge were destroyed or damaged. 4,000 homes were flooded with a reported death toll of 240. The reservoir was rebuilt in 1875 and brought back into use in 1887 with a 446 million gallon capacity. Former Dunford Parish Councillor Mick Drewry wrote 'Inundation', about the flood, book available from Amazon, eBay or by calling 01226 76 2477. Another source gave the estimate of destroyed houses as 800.
		Charles Cammell & Co., (later to become Cammell Laird's) bought the Yorkshire Iron & Steel Works at Penistone, area 25 acres, 1 rood, 25 perches. Closed 1930.
	Sunday 26th June	Penistone Feast. See 1857 and 'Huddersfield Exposed' for something about the activities in typical Penistone Feast days.
		Denby 'First School' (Church of England) built. It was originally called Denby National School. An earlier school at Lower Denby coexisted for a while before being converted into a house. That school was funded by Francis Burdett of nearby Denby Hall.
	9th Oct	Henry Bray - Death of the woollen cloth manufacturer of Thurlstone and Kirkwood Mill.
		Plans for two reservoirs in the township of Thurlstone, parish of Penistone, announced in the London Gazette, published 15th November 1864. They were both to be situated on a stream known as Windleden Clough Beck. The London Gazette website has a free, searchable database.
1865		Rinderpest - In England, July and October. Noted in 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood 1890 (Dransfield Cabinet, Penistone Library).
1866		The Black Swan Inn kept by Nanny Green (Ann Green) closed when the adjacent Bridge Inn opened, kept by Mr Amos Green (with Ann Green). The Bridge Inn (or Hotel) was originally described as the 'New Black Swan' when the licence was applied for in 1865, having been built next door to the old Black Swan. Ann Green was listed in 1822 as victualler. Ref 5 and Ref 21. See the Old Inns page.
		Penistone Bridge Rebuilt - This is the bridge at Bridge End which crosses the River Don, by the garage, and would have been well-known in the coaching days. It would be widened nearly fifty years later in 1915. The Bridge is Listed Grade II, Historic England (Photo). Bridge Street is thus named after Penistone Bridge rather than the later railway bridge at the top.
		The Junction public house opens, now called the Dunkirk. This is between Denby and Denby Dale.
	October	Accident at Penistone Railway Station. Foreman Porter Edward Laycock was standing too close to the edge of the platform when a crank on the Huddersfield train caught him. He was pulled between the plates and the platform and his left arm was mutilated by the wheels in a shocking manner. Dr Ward of Penistone arrived and amputated the limb. Hopes of his recovery were dashed and he died within three days. At 37, he left a wife and family. An inquest at the Bridge Hotel pronounced him 'Accidentally killed'. Penistone Station at this time was located in the tall building to the right of the current St Mary's Street roundabout, the current station having opened in 1874. Ref 21 p25.
	5th Nov.	Pigeon Shooting Leger, at 'the Bridge-End Hotel'. Some 400 - 500 'patrons of the gun' met to enjoy their sport. Eight entries shot for a new gun valued at £5. The conditions were: five birds each, 1½ oz of shot, 21 yards rise and 60 boundary. The shooters and results were: William Mitchell, Thurlstone killed five birds, J Marsh, Thurlstone killed four, J Swift, Penistone killed three, G Mitchell, Thurlstone killed three, Benjamin Strutt, Dodworth, killed three, C Gill, Cawthorne, killed three, John Hinchcliffe, Thurlstone, killed three and G Wood, Thurlstone, killed two birds. See the Old Inns page.
1867		Penistone Cricket Club. Founded this year and celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2017. Penistone CC.
	24th June	Providence Chapel, Thurlstone. Foundation stone laid by Mr E Fawcett. Ref 16. The sign outside the chapel (2016) has the title: 'Thurlstone Providence Particular Baptist Chapel' which appears to mostly have worshippers from outside the local area. The Particular Baptists operate a 'Restricted communion,' offered salvation only to those baptised by immersion as believers. As a Calvinist principle, 'Particular' referred to the belief in 'Particular redemption', that Christ died for the salvation of a defined number of believers. A good picture of the chapel and a description of the faith can be found on Woodtyke's Flikr page. The text is accredited to Mr Frank A Wilson, of the 'Around Town' website (Woodtyke's supplied link was broken): 'The Baptists first met in a workshop behind some cottages at the ‘Top o’ the Town’ in 1828 moving to the present chapel nearby in 1867. The Providence Particular Baptists, who once baptised new members in the River Don, still advertise outside the chapel that they have Sunday Services – God Willing.'
	30th Nov	Penistone and Thurlstone Building Society Formed - The Penistone Building Society 95th Annual Report, of 7th November 1962, had 'Established 1867, Incorporated 1874' and a masonic symbol on its cover. The address was 12 St Mary's Street, Penistone and Telephone 2120 (which would now be 76 2120). However, a Paid-up Share Book containing 1961 entries had a sticker over the Penistone Building Society logo giving the name as 'Leek Westbourne and Eastern Counties Building Society' and that 'Cheques, Money Orders and Postal Orders can be made payable to LWECBS.' Another passbook had 'Leek and Westbourne Building Society, incorporating Penistone Building Society' and the address was 20 Market Street, Penistone, S30 6BZ (Penistone postcodes later changed to S36), with the same 2120 phone number and 'Manager D Peace.' Another line had 'Chief Office - Bank Chambers' and referred to the Midland Bank as its bankers. Penistone Urban District Council's 1969 centenary booklet noted that the building society was 'recently' taken over by Leek and Westbourne Building Society. According to 'Building Society' Leek and Westbourne Building Society and Oldbury Britannia Building Society merged together in 1975 to form the Britannia Building Society. From the same website, the Britannia Building Society was acquired (officially 'merged') in 2009 by the latterly disasterous Co-operative Bank, a bank which started closing its branches in 2013. The PUDC centenary booklet (1869 to 1969) can be found in the Dransfield Cabinet, Penistone Library. From Barnsley Archive: Description: Bundle of deeds and documents. Admin_History: The 'Penistone and Thurlstone Permanent Benefit Building Society' was established in 1867. It was later registered and incorporated in 1877 under 'The Building Societies Act 1874.' The first meeting of the Society was held on 30th November 1867 at the Girls' National School in Penistone. Solicitors acting for the Society were Messrs. Dransfield and Sons. The object of the Society was to establish a fund by subscription, from which members could borrow a sum in order to build or purchase property. Repayment would then be secured by way of Mortgage to the Society. The Society was taken over in 1965 by the Leek and Moorlands Building Society, which later became part of Britannia Building Society, and ultimately part of the Co-operative Banking Group.
		Whitsuntide Walks in our area started from this time. They were joint parades of the various denominations in the area and always well supported. People would wear their newest or 'Sunday best' clothes. Children often had new clothes bought for the Parade. The Whitsun Walks petered out in the 1950s and finally came to an end in 1987 when a new Bank Holiday replaced the traditional Whitsuntide. They were replaced by a 'Pentecost Praise' service in Penistone Church. Ref 1 p 97 and Ref 17 p90.
	16th Aug.	Bankruptcy of The Fleece Inn Innkeeper - Adam Aspinall adjudged bankrupt. William Spooner Mitchell took over. But see 1872-3. The given location of the inn was No. 24, Market Street, Penistone where 'Images' hairdresser and 'Barista Cucina' bar and cafe (former Cherry tree Chinese take-away) are now in 2023. Ref 21. See the Old Inns page.
	13th Nov.	Foundation Stone of Hoylandswaine Church - Laid by the Bishop of Ripon. The church is dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist. From Heritage Inspired (History of the Church - pdf) we discover that The Society of Friends had a graveyard there in 1724 and that William Wordsworth the Younger, a wealthy landowner from Water Hall Farm in Penistone, was buried in this graveyard. From Hoylandswaine History: The land was donated by Mr Walter Thomas William Spencer Stanhope of Cannon Hall, and his wife, Elizabeth Julia Stanhope. The Church was consecrated on the 30th July 1869 by Robert Bickersteth, the Bishop of Ripon. The Reverend W.C. Barwis was instituted as the first incumbent. See also 1869.
	Dec	Patent Application - Ten years after being in York jail for debt, James Durrans of Thurlstone applied for a Patent for casting molten metal, as in the London Gazette, 27th December 1867: 'On their several petitions, recorded in the Office of the Commissioners on the 5th day of December, 1867. (several names listed). Then: '3473. To James Durrans, of Thurlstone, near Penistone, in the county of York, for the invention of "an improved material or composition to be employed for covering or coating the interior surfaces of moulds, crucibles, or ducts, previous to their receiving the molten metal in the process of casting, and for other purposes".' However, this application was voided through his failure to pay stamp duty. In the London Gazette of 18th December 1874, we find the voided application: 'LIST of the Letters Patent for Inventions which have become void by reason of the non-payment of .the additional Stamp Duty of £50, before the expiration of the third year from the date of such Patents, pursuant to the Act of the 16th Vic., c. 5, see. 2, for the week ending the 12th day of December, 1874.'
1868	14th Feb.	Ingbirchworth Reservoir and Waterworks - Opened to supply Barnsley, having started in 1862. The map shows how the lane would have continued through what would be the centre of the dam, from the Rag and Louse location (Fountain Inn) up to meet the Royd Moor road. The Ingbirchworth water treatment plant was renovated in the 1970s. See 1862 and the great drought of 1893.
	20th Mar	Mr and Mrs William Holmes - Presented with a Tea and Coffee Service upon leaving the old Rose and Crown Hotel. A 'Tea Service' would typically comprise a set of cups and saucers (perhaps three to five of each), a milk jug, sugar bowl and teapot. Possibly also the teaspoons, a tray and more. We might expect a coffee jug to be included in a 'Tea and Coffee Service.' Ref 5.
	30th Jly	Hoylandswaine Church - Consecrated.
	7th Oct	Cop Shop - Site purchased for Penistone Police Station, for £800. At its peak, there could be eight or more policemen stationed there to cover our local district. Ref 26.
	24th Nov.	Polling Day, for the Southern Division of the West Riding of the County of York. Candidates: Lord Viscount Milton - 8111 Votes, Henry F Beaumont - 1943 Votes, Walter S Stanhope - 1935 Votes, Lewis R Starkey - 1621 Votes.
		Take a look at the 'National Gazetteer: A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands' of this year, from Archive.org. The entry for Penistone resides in Volume 3, p. 182. The pdf is a very large download of more than 100Mb, which might crash your browser.
		(The old) Rose and Crown demolished (built around 1750). This had been a popular coaching inn built of red brick in 18th century. JN Dransfield notes that, as the R & C and Old Crown were both built of red brick, they were probably from around the same time some time after a contested watercourse plan appeared, dated 1749. The old R & C had an archway leading into the large inn yard with farm buildings for stabling the coach horses. It was well-known throughout the kingdom in the coaching days, especially when George 'Old Rumbo' Brown was proprietor 'affording capital accommodation for man and beast.' According to JND would have made 'a very comfortable house' if it had been re-floored and re-roofed, which is a clue about why it was pulled down in 1868. A new R & C would be built in 1869 (see below). Ref 21 p199 and Ref 7. See also Old Inns and the Rose and Crown page for more details.
		Rockwood Harriers established this year by Walter Norton of Denby Dale. They are still known for their Boxing Day meet which continues to this day as they assemble 11am at The George Inn, Upper Denby, to set off at noon in their 'hunting green' outfits. This is a very old local tradition, well-supported by on-lookers. From a Penistone Show paper, they presently trail hunt the West Yorks area with some country on the Eastern side on loan from the Badsworth Hunt, and they are bounded by Huddersfield, |Mirfield, Horbury, Barnsley, Stocksbridge, Holmfirth and Bretton. The Harriers were led by Joe Carby (Huntsman) and Peter Downs (Whipper) at the 2019 Penistone Show and the Masters were Alex Rue, Roz Parker and Richard Hampshire. The hunting season is September to March but they exercise the hounds throughout the year. The Harriers also have social events, such as quizzes, auctions and their famous Hunt Ball each year. Rockwood Harriers.
		Thurlstone Local Board formed. This was the fore-runner to Thurlstone Urban District Council which was formed towards the end of this century (date not established) 'pursuant to the Local Government Act 1894'.
1869		Rose and Crown Built - As a replacement for and adjacent to the old Rose and Crown (see 1868 above) and built by Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury. With the old R&C demolished, a new road was built on hospital land (Proctor land) and named after the Earl of Shrewsbury as Shrewsbury Road. Ref 21 p199. The new R&C would continue as before as a coaching inn, although the new railway was diminishing that trade. See the Old Inns page and the Rose and Crown page for more details.
	9th April	William Wainwright - Died of his injuries received in Crowedge Branch Line Tunnel, 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood, 1890.
	Easter	Bullhouse Chapel - Mr Joseph Bardsley appointed as Pastor to Bullhouse Chapel and as a day school and Sunday school master. The day school was held in a cottage at Moor Royd, about a mile away (probably a typo for 'Royd Moor'). The cottage was too small for this purpose and permission was granted by Lord Houghton (upon whose estate stood the Chapel) for teaching to take place at the Chapel. When a school opened in Millhouse Green, the school work moved there. The Millhouse Board School opened in 1879 with Mr Joseph Ensor as headmaster. Mr J Bardsley had been a teacher at Gate Head School near Holmfirth for more than five years before coming to Bullhouse. From Penistone Bygones.
	29th July	Hoylandswaine Church - Consecrated by the Bishop of Ripon, Robert Bickersteth, following an application to Ripon Diocesian Church Building Society in 1861. The church was dedicated to St John the Evangelist and built at a cost of £3,000, mostly from the Stanhope family of Cannon Hall. The new parish of Hoylandswaine was created on 13th November 1869 by the the Queen in Council. The church was constructed to accommodate 250 worshippers. At that time, the population of Hoylandswaine was 960 of which 730 lived more than two miles away from existing churches at Silkstone and Cawthorne. They were mainly weavers, coal-miners, nail makers, farmers and agricultural labourers. Until the church was built, services had been held in the school (Ref 16) and often had congregations of around 130 people. About two acres of land for the church, churchyard and parsonage was donated by Francis Thomas Vernon Wentworth. The Reverend WC Barwis was instituted as the first incumbent. Ref 5 and a booklet 'The Parish Church of St John the Evangelist' - 'A Brief History of the Years 1869 to 1994' in the local history section of Penistone Library. See 1867 above.
		Adoption by the township of Penistone of the Local Government Act 1858 approved and signed by HA Bruce of the Home Office, Whitehall, London. Recorded in the London Gazette of 8th July 1869. It referred to Penistone township having a population of less than 3,000 by the census of 1861. The Local Board was required to have nine members. The London Gazette website has a free, searchable database. See Penistone Local Board below.
		Spring Vale Flax Mill - Closed this year. Ref 30.
	21st Aug.	Penistone Local Board founded. They held their ordinary meetings at 7pm on the second Monday of each month in the National School-room, Church Street. The first appointed members were: Thomas Hawley, Joseph Hawley, John Rayner, Joseph Brook, Thomas Marsden, John Ward, WS Turnbull, Thomas Wood and Luke P White. Chairman was Rev WS Turnbull. This Board followed on from the Penistone Poor Law Union (see 1849) and was fore-runner to Penistone Urban and Rural District Councils (formed 1894 and abolished 1974), which, in turn, were fore-runners to Penistone Town Council.
	13th Nov.	Parish of Hoylandswaine - Formerly part of the Penistone parish, this was newly created by the the Queen in Council.
	21st Dec	Steelworks Accident - Joseph Priggs, aged 13, died from his injuries when a two-wheeled bogey was flipped by a forge while working with his father Thomas. From a detailed account by Steve Lavender (on Facebook) titled 'A sad tale in memory of Joseph Prigg, 1856 - 1869.' This story featured as the first of the 'Stories from the Stones' series, written by Steve Lavender from the Penistone Burial Ground Project at Penistone St John’s Church.
	24th Dec	Gas Street Lights - Illuminating Penistone streets for the first time, ready for Christmas. Gas was provided by Penistone Gas Company (see 1858). These early ones would have needed a lamp-lighter to come around twice a day with a ladder to light and extinguish the mantle. Later ones had a pilot light and operated by an eight-day clockwork mechanism, to be wound up by someone every week. It is likely that the last remaining clockwork-operated gas lamp in Penistone was under Green Road railway bridge, and certainly still in operation in the 1960s. Someone would still have had to wind up its clock once a week and reset the time. Electric street lighting did not come to Penistone until the early 1930s and much later in outlying areas.

The 1870s

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Year	Date	Event
1870s		Improvements. During this decade, an engine from James Butterworth was fitted to Walk Mill, Oxspring, which was a 'Fulling Mill' where woollen cloth was washed. Winterbottom took it over in 1888 as a wire mill. See Gracesguide - Butterworth (which erroneously says that it was delivered to Winterbottom's). And see Winterbottom page. Weirfield house built around the middle of this decade, by Dr. Alfred Marchment Watson of Jamaica. He was a physician and surgeon and married to Dr. Fanny E Watson (1881 Census). See Ref 28 and PGS Archive.
		Thurlstone - A township, with a village and five hamlets, in Penistone parish, WR Yorkshire: 1 mile W of Penistone, and including Hazlehead and Dunford Bridge railway stations, 2 and 5 miles W. Acres, 7,740. Real property, £8,463; of which £800 are in mines, and £30 in quarries. Pop. in 1851, 2,018; in 1861, 2,251. Houses, 450. The manor belongs to the Earl of Scarborough, Woollen cloth manufacture is carried on. There are a Church school used as a chapel of ease, Independent and Wesleyan chapels, and an Independent school. From Volume 6, S-Z, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales Published 1870-2.
		Photographs - Also during this decade, photographs would become more common.
1870	5th Jan.	Gas Explosion at the (new) Rose and Crown. This was a new building only the year before. A servant girl carrying a lit candle went into the commercial room in the morning, trying to find a dog, when the explosion took out a large window which landed in the street. The girl's hair was burnt off and a door and some furniture badly damaged. The innkeeper Joseph Byrom had accidentally left a gas tap on the night before and closed the door. Ref 21 p200.
	24th Feb.	The Rock Inn, Rockside, Thurlstone. Sold by auction at the new Rose and Crown, Penistone. Ref 17 p200.
	17th Apr	Forty acres of Wharncliffe Wood destroyed by fire. Ref 26.
	May	Abolition of Tolls on Huddersfield Road. Houses and toll-houses on the Huddersfield to Penistone turnpike road were put up for sale on the expiry of the Turnpike Trust for that road, in June. With the abolition of tolls on Penistone's turnpike roads, an auction of toll-gates, houses, etc. on the Huddersfield - Penistone turnpike roads was held May 1870 in the Old Crown (described as 'the house of Mr Holmes'), on consequence of the trust expiring in June 1872. It was expected that the bar-house at Penistone Bridge and at High Flatts would also be removed. Ref 21 p137.
	12th May	The Burial Board of the Ecclesiastic Parish of Penistone formed, according to the Penistone Almanack of 1889. In Ref 5 it is given as being formed in February. Chairman was Rev WS Turnbull. See 1880 for the opening of Stottercliffe Cemetery. The seal of the Burial Board was the Horned Penistone Ram. See Stottercliffe Cemetery.
	Sunday 26th June	Penistone Feast. See 1857 and 'Huddersfield Exposed' for something about the activities in typical Penistone Feast days.
		Emley Brass Band founded. Still in operation in 2013. (As recorded in an EPIP document)
	10th Aug	An organ for Hoylandswaine church opened on this day. The order for it had been given to Peter Conacher & Co Ltd. on 3rd June the same year.
		Penistone Line - Denby Dale's wooden viaduct was deteriorating through rot.
		Holy Trinity Church built at Thurgoland, by George Edmund Street.
		Hoylandswaine Local Board formed. Ref 16 and Ref 30.
1871		Population - Penistone Parish was 8,110, Ref 11, but notes in 1877 below tell a different story. It is likely that the distinction is due to differences in scope between 'Penistone Parish' and the 'Penistone Board Area' and the 'Thurlstone Board Area.' The population of England and Wales was counted in the census as 22,712,266. (A Vision of Britain)
		Penistone Co-operative Store - This was the eighth store to be opened by the Barnsley British Co-operative Society (BBCS), in what later became the Theatre Group HQ on Bridge Street. It would move into its much larger store on the corner of Park Avenue on 1st November 1956.
		Penistone Workhouse population is 95, including 41 males and 29 females over 16, 17 boys and 8 girls. Ref 27. Penistone Workhouse.
	26th Feb	Minor Railway Accident - A first class carriage of the 8.30pm Huddersfield to Penistone train overturned immediately after crossing the viaduct. Fortunately the carriage was empty. Snippet from Roger Waddington (Facebook).
	Sun 25th June	Penistone Feast. See 1857 and 'Huddersfield Exposed' for something about the activities in typical Penistone Feast days.
	August	Removal of Telegraph Posts, Bord Hill. The posts were between Penistone and Stalybridge but their wires were said to present a great danger to birds flying into them. It was said that as many as 300 brace of grouse had met their end in this manner and much money had been made by people scooping them up and selling them. Representations were made to the authorities and the telegraph wires were re-routed via Carlecotes. A large flag was flown at the Dog and Partridge to celebrate the occasion. Ref 21
	20th Oct	Nether Mill burnt down. This was a corn mill belonging to Mr Stanhope. (Ref 7)
	26th Oct	Sale of Toll Houses - On the Doncaster and Saltersbrook Turnpike Road. In 24 Lots, the toll houses, toll gates, posts and huts were auctioned at the Royal Hotel, Barnsley by Mr EG Lancaster. From a long list, the following lots are in our area on the western end of the turnpike road: Lot 10: All that Dwelling-House with the fixtures and conveniences, large Garden, piggery, smith's shop, and two zinc circular water cisterns; the premises having a frontage to the turnpike-road of upwards of 120 feet, situate near the market town of Penistone, and known as the "Well House-lane Bar House." Lot 11: All that Dwelling-House with the fixtures, situate at Millhouse, in Thurlstone, and known as the "Millhouse-green Toll Bar House." Lot 12: All that Dwelling-House with the fixtures and two Gardens, and having a frontage to the road of about 90 feet, situate near Thurlstone, in the parish of Penistone and known as the "Border Hill Toll Bar House." Lot 13: All those two parcels of LAND, near the last-mentioned lot, containing about two roods, with the well therein. Lot 22: The GATE at Wellhouse Lane, and two stone posts, horse gate and turnstile, lamp and lettered toll board, chain and lettered toll board at Heeley Inn. Lot 23: The GATE at Milnhouse House Green (= Millhouse Green), two stone posts, and two pieces of walling. Lot 24: The GATE at Border Hill Bar, and two wood posts, horse gate, wood paling and gate, and lettered toll board. 'Further particulars may be obtained on application to George Harrison, Clerk to the Trustee of the said Turnpike Road. ' From an auction notice in 'The Barnsley Times and South Yorkshire Gazette', Saturday 14th October 1871, kindly submitted to this website by Peter Lawford of Canada, for which my thanks are due. Lot 22 refers to the 'Heeley Inn' at Hoylandswaine (Old Inns page).
	11th Dec	Railway collision at Wortley. A woman was killed and several persons injured.
1872	10th Jan	Mr George Hawksworth - Presented with a 'Purse of Gold' on his retirement with pension. Between 1840 and 1872, he had been a Rural Post Messenger, first between Barnsley and Penistone (until 1842), then Penistone to Thurlstone. He had travelled on foot more than 145,000 miles; had only five holidays and had never been absent through illness. Ref 5.
	28th Feb	Waterloo Veteran Dies - Mr Joseph Taylor was probably the last Waterloo veteran in the area. He was 87 years old. Ref 30.
	11th May	Penistone Wesleyan Chapel - Foundation stone laid. The new chapel would be dedicated to Saint Paul and would cost £1,600. This was the second Wesleyan chapel in Penistone and it replaced one which had become over-subscribed as local industry and the railway increased the population. The first chapel was converted to a pair of dwellings, 22 and 24 High Street (opposite the current Adore shop). See 1873 for the openeing. Ref 26 and Ref 30.
	23rd May	Public Meeting about the Water Supply - Penistone and Thurlstone residents met to consider a piped water supply to replace the often insanitary water supply arrangements. See 1880 below.
		Denby Dale Brass Band was founded this year, to disband 1966. Contest results and information about its conductors can be found in Ref 32, (p. 80).
		First bell installed at Hoylandswaine church. The church had been consecrated in 1869 and provision was made for this tenor bell and other bells to follow, which they did in 1892. The first vicar of Hoylandswaine, Rev W Barwis composed a few lines for the occasion of the tenor bell's arrival: 'Lift it gently to the steeple, Let our bell be set on high, there to fulfil its daily mission, Midway 'twixt earth and sky.'
		First annual Penistone Almanack published by the Wood family, to continue until 1958. See also 1984, when a spurious issue was published.
1872 - 3		The Fleece Inn (24 Market Street, Penistone) closed around this time. After complaints and an unsympathetic Brewsters' Licencing session during the tenure of William Spooner Mitchell, the licence had been suspended. Furniture and public house fittings were sold by auction in 29th August 1872 but according to Ref 21 p72, John Dransfield said that it closed in 1873. This might have been down to a fine legal point. The location was where 'Images' hairdresser and the 'Cherry Tree' Chinese take-away is now. Ref 21. See the Old Inns page.
1873		JT Smith's founds a grocer/draper's shop in Thurlstone. Ref 17, p60. An advert in the 1953 Almanack gives the address as 111 - 115 Manchester Road. The Penistone shop was not around at this time.
	22nd Mar	Accidental Death of Thomas Hawley. 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood, 1890.
		Prince of Wales - Change of use of the public house. This had belonged to Rawsons Brewery (Sheffield) and/or Gilmore's (another Sheffield brewery). It is not clear when it had opened as a public house. It was bought this year by Lancelot 'Lance' Gibson Burdett who changed its use from public house to a shop for general provisions. In 1879, he then applied for a licence to sell beer for consumption off the premises (an off-licence). Around 1895, Lance's wife Catherine Burdett took over the off-licence (Lance was a carpenter). Although ownership stayed with Catherine, management of the shop passed down to her son Herbert Burdett around 1905. At some point in time, Joseph Brown and family rented the building as an off-licence but that business failed. In 1918 Alice Burdett, Herbert's daughter (Catherine's grand daughter) married Robert Hodgson Wiseman. Robert Burdett was born the same year as the marriage. In 1922 Robert Hodgson Wiseman (Robert and Sheila's father) took over the shop and turned it into Wiseman's Off-licence and grocers. The grocery shop was Wiseman's for many decades and it still trades under that name but is no longer connected with the Wiseman family. Many thanks to Mr Robert Wiseman for supplying details. See the Inns History page.
		Cawthorne Brass Band founded. Still in operation in 2014. Cawthorne Brass Band.
		New vicarage built in Denby opposite the church.
		Langsett Reservoir. Details of a new 'compensation reservoir' to be built at Langsett, set out in the London Gazette, published 21st November. The London Gazette website has a free, searchable database.
	31st May	Serious Waggonette Accident - Eleven members of Yorkshire Steel and Iron Works Cricket Club, Penistone had played at Oughtibridge and were returning in a waggonette drawn by two horses. The brake failed to act while descending the steep hill leading to Thurgoland Bottom. The carriage overturned and threw most of them with great violence against a stone wall, which was knocked down. They were all injured to some degree and some seriously so, although the horses escaped unhurt. They were removed to a nearby public-house, where they received medical attention (probably the Waggon and Horses, Oxspring). The driver's thigh was fractured and one of the cricket players, Benjamin Revel, died as a result of the accident.
	9th Sept	St Paul's Chapel - Started in 1872, the new Wesleyan chapel opened and dedicated to St Paul. It cost £1,600 to build. An earlier chapel (1808) on Penistone High Street had become too crowded for its congregation after the steelworks opened. St Paul's was lit by gas, heated by hot air and could seat 400. By the 1960s it had become riddled with woodworm and had to be demolished, to be replaced by the modern St Andrew's on the same site. Ref 5 and Ref 9. See also the Chapels page.
	20th Sept	Railway Accident. A runaway train from Penistone had the accident at Wortley. Several people injured.
	10th Nov	Penistone Local Board - First meeting of Penistone Local Board, the forerunner to Penistone Urban District and Penistone Rural District councils.
	1st Dec	Eliza Wimbush - Sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for 'uttering a forged cheque' at Penistone.
1874	1st Feb	New (current) Penistone Railway Station opened. The previous station now became a goods depot, now abandoned but accessible from St Mary's Street roundabout ('Tracking Lives History Group' 2000, 11). The old station building is the tall one near to the St Mary's Street roundabout. In 2023, plans would be afoot to do something with the building and nearby Coal Drops.
	3rd Jan	Pengeston Masonic Lodge, 6933, established. It removed in 1914 into a new Masonic Hall built adjacent to Penistone Town Hall (Paramount), Council Rooms and Carnegie Free Library. It lies above the Council Rooms. See 1914.
	Oct	Crystal Palace - John Marsh became landlord of the Crystal Palace in Thurlstone this year upon the retirement of his mother Elizabeth and he started their football club in October this year. He was born 1842 in Thurlstone. See the John Marsh section below this table Old Inns
	Oct - Dec	Smallpox Epidemic in Penistone. Thirteen people died in Ref 30 (Remarkable Occurrences ...) but Dr Thorne Thorne's Report of 1879 lists only six deaths for this disease out of a total of 50 deaths for the Urban Sanitary District of Penistone in this year.
1875	16th Jan.	St Mary's Church opened in Langsett at the sole cost of Lord of the Manor, Sir Lionel Milborne Swinnerton Pilkington, Bart., of Chevet Park near Wakefield. He was a large landowner in Langsett. Sheffield Corporation bought it and other land from Sir Lionel in 1897 for their Langsett Reservoir. Mostly Ref 7.
	9th April	Stolen Goods Recovered - A large quantity found at Hoylandswaine. Valued upwards of £100, the goods belonged to MS & L Railway Co and included a sealskin jacket worht 27Guineas, a large quantity of cloth, 108 yards of wincey, 100 reels of machine silk, 400 cotton reels, 37 toilet covers, 47 brass locks and more. The Guinea = £1, 1s (£1.05 decimal equivalent) and was often seen in adverts up to the decimalisation of UK currency for expensive items, such as furniture, carpets and television sets, even though there was no Guinea note or coin.
		Hoping for a Thurlstone railway station - A deputation waited upon the directors of the Great Central Railway Co., but to no avail. Referring to the item in 1853, it appears that the village of Oxspring had a station, yet Thurlstone had a more significant population. See also 1899. Ref 12.
	13th May	Ecclesiastic Commissioners for England. In consideration of a benefaction of £883 5/-, 'set their common seal' to provide for a new vicarage in Penistone. This was published in the London Gazette, 21st May 1875. Its website has a free, searchable database.
	Sunday 27th June	Penistone Feast. See 1857 and 'Huddersfield Exposed' for something about the activities in typical Penistone Feast days.
	27th Sept.	Railway collision at Penistone Railway Station. Several injured.
	2nd Dec	Penistone's Surgeon, RiP - From a Penistone churchyard grave: 'In Memory of George Frederick Leigh (Surgeon of this Town) died March 23rd 1875 Aged 34 years.'
1876	25th Mar	Property Auction 3pm to 6pm, at the Rose and Crown, Penistone, of buildings and land in Lower Denby. 'All that Freehold Messuage or Tenement, with good and convenient Outhousing, situate and being at Lower Denby, in the Parish of Penistone in said Riding, with about Thirty Acres of Land, lying altogether and contiguous to the said Messuage ; the estate of Mr John Burdett, deceased, and now in the Possession of Thomas Heaton, at the clear yearly rent of Thirty Pounds. The Housing is in good Repair ; and there is Outbuilding convenient for Shops : The Land is well fenced and watered, and Tythe Free : The Situation is Pleasant and Healthful, and suitable for either Gentleman or Tradesman : Is about Five Miles from Barnsley; and Two from Penistone.' Notice the date was 'Lady Day', which was an important date for legal matters. See 1751 and notes about quarter days on the Timeline page.
	8th May	Proposed Inn at Spring Vale - Plans submitted by Mr Asa Silverwood to PUDC. Architect: Joe Crossley.
	25th May	Rose and Crown Inn, Sheephouse Hill, Midhope closed. This had flourished in the coaching era. See the Old Inns page.
	12th June	Proposed Six Cottages on Church Hill - Plans submitted by Mr Samuel Crowther to PUDC. Architect: Wade & Turner.
	17th Jun	Penistone Market Place (outside the church) - Widened at a cost of £500 by removing a portion of the Grammar School house at Kirk Flatts (Ref 26). The market had been centred on Market Place for a long time. It had prospered and grown so much that it had become overcrowded, even after the area was widened, such that it spilled over from High Street to St Mary's Street into Market Street, obstructing traffic and making a general mess. A new market in 1882 would attempt to clear the streets of traders but the traders preferred the open streets and would not use it. The new market would fail. 1912 Almanack and JND's cuttings. From Ref 30 and 1878 Almanack. See also 1882 below and 1951.
	Mid June	Rare Birdsong. A nightingale sang in Warkbank Wood, Thurlstone for several nights, between 10th and 17th June.
	22nd June	Proposed Three Houses, Cottages and Shops on St Mary's Street - Plans submitted by Misses Crowther to PUDC. Architect Taylor & Senior.
		JC Milner of Thurlstone visited the Italian Patriot Garibaldi in Rome. Ref 30.
		St John's National School (Church Street) opened
	4pm 24th Aug	Cubley Farm Auction. This large site accommodated the new estate centred on Hackings Avenue, which was built in the next century, and what became Cubley hall public house. Abridged details: Auctioned by Mr AE Wilby at the Rose and Crown Hotel. Cubley Farm containing with the site of the buildings, 63 Acres, 2 Roods and 28 Perches. Freehold except for a field, 7a, 3r, 13p, which was Freehold and Copyhold. The homes and buildings were 'commodious' with the land 'in a high state of cultivation', with Mr Michael Marsden as tenant. The Auction sign, its full text and a plan of the farm area are on display in Cubley Hall. Most of the land being auctioned was on the other side of Mortimer Road from the Hall. See 1921-22
	9th Oct	Proposed 18 Houses at Spring Vale - Plans submitted by Cammel and Co. (Steel and Ironworks) to PUDC.
	11th Dec	Proposed Two Cottages at Penistone Green - Plans submitted by Mr Joseph Wadsworth to PUDC. Architect: George Hawley.
1877	17th Jan	Fire at Mr White's Chemist shop in Penistone. (1882 Penistone Almanack).
		Penistone (Local Board District) Area - 1133 Acres. Population at Census of 1871 - 1,557. Estimated Population at middle of 1877 - 2,000. Registered Deaths in 1877 - 32. Registered Births in 1877 - 107. Excess of Births over Deaths - 75. Occupied Houses - 420. Children between ages of 3 and 13 years - 700. Thurlstone (Local Board District) Area - 8,117 Acres. Population at Census of l871 - 2,639. Estimated Population at middle of 1877 - 3,000. Registered Deaths (including Union Workhouse) - 45. Registered Births - 112. Excess of Births over Deaths - 67. Occupied Houses - 430. Children between ages of 3 and 13 years - 905. Meteorological The Townships of Penistone and Thurlstone extend over an area of 9250 acres, the greater part of which is wild moorland. The elevation above the sea level varies from 600 to 1600 feet, the higher ground being to the westward. The Rainfall varies considerably, increasing with the elevation. Daily observations at Weirfield House, 700 feet above the sea: Total Rainfall in 1876 - 36 inches; Total Rainfall in 1877 - 42 inches; Total Rainfall in 1878 to the end of October - 30 inches. "One inch of rain means a gallon of water spread over a surface of nearly two square feet, or a fall of about 100 tons upon an acre." Vital statistics for 1877 and meteorological notes by AM Wilson, MD, Medical Officer of Health. Note the differences between numbers given here and those from the census in 1871, which are most likely due to different zones being included.
	14th Feb	Proceedings for Liquidation against grocer and shopkeeper, Nathaniel Littlewood of Thurlstone, with a 'First General Meeting' of creditors at Noon at Dransfield's Offices, Penistone. At 3pm the same day, similar proceedings for William Stead Woodhouse of Midhopestones. William M Dransfield was solicitor for these debtors. From the London Gazette of 2nd February 1877.
	22nd Feb	Thurlstone School Board. First meeting of the new Thurlstone School Board on this day. Members were: John Beever, JH Goddard, John Hinchliffe, William Smith and John Wainwright. Ref 30. Admin_History: School boards were established following the Education Act of 1870. The Act was intended to improve schooling in areas of inadequate provision by empowering boards to raise a local rate to build new schools where needed. Boards could also raise funds from a rate, subsidise church schools where appropriate, and pay the fees of the poorest children. They were not required to impose any religious education, other than simple Bible reading. The first meeting of the Thurlstone School Board occurred with the election of officers taking place. Local authorities took over the responsibilities when the boards were abolished by the 1902 Education Act. The Thurlstone District Sub-Committee was created, and the first meeting was held on 6th May 1904. The Minutes of School Board and Sub-Committee Meetings are mainly concerned with finance and buildings, although they may contain references to staff, pupil numbers and general educational matters. From the Barnsley Archive.
		Houses built at the top of Church Street. From a plan kindly photographed by Frances Barkworth (former proprietor of the Art House Cafe): 'Plan of Two Houses and a Shop to be erected in Penistone for ZW Tinker - 1877'. The plan is stamped by J Greaves, Estate Agents and Surveyor, Thurlstone and Penistone. These were commissioned by Zachariah Tinker who the Barkworths understood to had lived at No 11 and to have run a joinery business from the workshops at the rear. They also made coffins. No 11 is the unusual building on Church Street with a castellated roof section. When renovating 3a Church Street to make it suitable for a cafe, they found a floorboard signed on the back by: Joseph Hodgson, Mary Stephenson, Zachariah Tinker and another name which they could not make out. It was dated 13th May 1865. Many thanks to Frances for the information and photographs.
		Netherfield Chapel - Additional burial ground purchased, but the burial board, which had been in existence since 1870, is 'as mute as if the happy despatch had been performed on its own body'. Ref 9. See also the Chapels page.
	13th June	A Drowning - Penistone huntsman, Henry (Harry) Mitchell, drowned at Spring Vale, presumably in the River Don.
		New Houses Built - Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway builds fourteen houses near the passenger Railway Station in Penistone. This might have been 'Station Row' on Church View Road.
		Umbrella Frame Factory - William Hoyland starts the factory at Millhouse Green. Ref 1 p150.
	July	South Yorkshire Times founded. For many years it reported on and had readership in the Penistone area. In recent times, it concentrated principally on the Dearne area and no longer became available in Penistone. It predates its biggest rival, the Barnsley Chronicle, by twelve years.
	October	Denby Dale's 21-arch Stone Viaduct started being built by Naylor Brothers, with a tender of £27,650. It was opened on Whit Sunday, 1880. This was to replace the earlier (and rickety) timber viaduct, which had been completed in time for the line opening 1st July 1850.
		After the Old Wesleyan Chapel was outgrown by the congregation (see 1872), it was purchased by Mr LP White and converted into two houses, now 22 and 24 High Street. Ref 9.
1878-79	Jun 1878 to Mar 1879	Diphtheria Epidemic - This was between June 1888 and March 1889. Dr Thorne Thorne's Report of 1879 describes the epidemic (edited here). At Penistone and Thurlstone, 57 households were invaded; and of 327 persons living in the infected households 103 were attacked. Although several mild cases occurred the disease was, on the whole, of a severe tvpe. Nearly 26% of cases proved fatal, and amongst convalescents, symptoms of local paralysis were occasionally observed. It seems that basic precautions were not taken: 'Two cases came about where several children were allowed to enter houses to take a last look at companions who had died of the disease. Two small shops, at least, one for the sale of provisions and the other for the sale of milk, remained open, while sufferers from diphtheria were lying in rooms adjacent and communicating, the persons in attendance passing to and fro.' Some cases were suspected to have come via contamination to an Oxspring water supply. A smaller outbreak (of 'Croup') occurred at Hunshelf, which at that time had little connection with Penistone and Thurlstone. See also Jan, April 1879 below and the remarks about sanitation and water supply below this table.
1878	25 Feb	Third Annual Dramatic Entertainment - By the Members of Penistone Grammar School Institute in the Assembly Room (near the current St Mary's Street Roundabout). See the Town Hall History page for full details.
	6th May	Millhouse School - Foundation stone laid by JH Goddard, to be opened 1879. Ref 30.
		Penistone Local Board - This was a fore-runner to Penistone Council. The membership in 1878 was: Chairman Rev WS Turnbull. Members: P Hedges, Joseph Brook, Rev WS Turnbull, JE Dickinson, ACJ Wilson, Francis Robinson, George Stanley, William Fieldsend, John Armitage. Medical Officer AM Watson MD, Cler:John N Dransfield, Esq. Treasurer: W Smith, Esq. Surveyor: George Peace. Collector and Sanitary Inspector: W Marsh. Population of 1557 in 1871. Ordinary monthly meetings were held 7pm on the second Monday of every month. From 1878 Penistone Almanack.
		Whooping Cough - A great epidemic of this disease in England
	5th Aug	Quadruplets - John. Thomas. George, and Hannah, children of Harrison and Mary Tomlinson, of Penistone Green, at one birth. Two of the boys were stillborn, the others died shortly after. A donation of £2 was received from the Queen. Ref 30.
1879	NY Day	Weights and Measures Act 1878 came into force on 1st January 1879. This regularised the usual imperial measures and made any irregular measures illegal with a maximum 40 shillings fine (£2 in modern money). Heaped measures were forbidden. Perhaps surprisingly, trade could also be legally conducted using Metric weights and measures. Not all of the measures would be familiar in the present day. One line in the 1880 Almanack reads: 'The quart shall be a fourth of a gallon, the pint an eighth part; two gallons shall be a peck, eight a bushel, eight such bushels a quarter, and thirty-six such bushels a chaldron.' Archaic British measures such as the Chaldron and the Rod were abolished by Parliament in 1963.
	16th Jan	Man Dies of Enteric Fever - Having been to Oldham, the un-named man had an attack of the fever 12 days later in September 1878. He partly recovered but suffered a relapse on 3rd January 1879, with increased symptoms. Five others suffered from the disease in January. The un-named man died of the disease on 16th January 1879. Altogether, 42 cases of Enteric Fever were found in the Penistone sanitation district, resulting in five deaths in total. From Dr Thorne Thorne's Report of 1879
	Feb	Distress among Penistone's working classes, presumably referring to increased unemployment and possible starvation. Relief upwards of £80 was distributed by a committee of local people.
	April	Scarlet Fever - It was said to be prevalent in the districts neighbouring Penistone, particularly in the Silkstone area. Having started in early December 1878, the disease spread. By the second week of April between 50 and 60 local cases were known, leading to 10 deaths. From Dr Thorne Thorne's Report of 1879
		Millhouse Boarding School opened, at an estimated cost of £2,000. Mr Joseph Ensor was headmaster. See also 1869 for teaching before the school opened. Ref 1 and Ref 16. Another source (Ref 30) is titled 'Millhouse Schools Opened.'
	22nd April	Penistone's Water Supply - Some of Penistone's water was being supplied from Hornthwaite Waterworks but the local water supply was a big problem, leading to disease and death. See also the notes below this table. This was a hot topic in the 1879 Penistone Almanack: 'The Wogden, The Scout, The Long Grain, and The Racecommon Schemes, have each had their day. Great credit is due to the author of each separate scheme, the time and trouble involved in bringing anyone of them before the public must have been considerable, and although each proposal had its own adherents before, no one of them seem to have derived sufficient support after the election to bring it to a successful issue. Micawber like, we are now waiting for something to turn up.'
		Penistone Line - A branch railway line to bring coal from Skelmanthorpe pits was opened to Clayton West from near the Shepley station. It would close in 1983 and part of it would become the Kirklees Light Railway, off Wakefield Road, Clayton West.
		Stottercliffe Cemetery - (See 1870 above and Stottercliffe Cemetery). An important topic in the 1879 Penistone Almanack: 'The works necessary for the formation of the Stottercliffe Cemetery have been begun during the summer. The site, which is about equidistant from Penistone and Thurlstone, has been paid for some time. The contracts are as follows: For the Chapels Messrs. C Marsh and Richard Beever for the masonwork, Messrs. Hawley for the woodwork and painting, and Mr Taylor for the plumber's work; for the road making and the drainage Mr. George Wainwright is the contractor. The Architects are Messrs. Flockton and Gibbs, of Sheffield, and Mr. John Greaves is Surveyor for the Board. Considerable progress has already been made with the various works. May we hope that the Board will make an effort by planting trees, etc., to change the otherwise very bleak appearance of Stottercliffe -many cemeteries, even in small places are models of neat and tasteful arrangements; even in the churchyard further planting of trees at the east end would be a great improvement. Ground has also been provided by the Board for a burying place in Hunshelf, but nothing further has been done at present.'
	15th July	Fatal Accident at Bullhouse Colliery, Thurlstone. James Haigh, 56, of Middlecliff, officiating as banksman in the absence of the usual banksman, fell sixty feet into the bottom of the pit. He was putting some corves in the cage, ready to go down, when he missed his footing. He was removed alive but died soon after, being in a fearful state. An inquest was held in The Blacksmith's Arms, Millhouse, two days later. The pit works of John Hinchcliff produced gannister and coal. Ref 21 p8.
	1st Sept.	MS & LR, Clayton West branch railway line opened.
1880	1st Jan	Thurlstone Old School - Re-opened by Thurlstone Board. Ref 30.
	Feb	February, 1880 - Contained five separate Sundays; this would not occur again until the year 1920.
		G Booth Wagon Works - Established around this time in Spring Vale near the railway line, for which he made the wagons. William Gittus would buy the business in 1884 and continue it as a wagon works.
		Winterbottom's Wire Mill was founded this year by George Winterbottom in Oxspring. Walk Mill had been used for many years as a fulling mill, to wash woollen cloths. It was set low down in the valley and near to the River Don quite close to the spring referred to in the name of Oxspring. It used water power to start with. In 1849, Messrs Ingham and Bower conveyed stone from Walk Mill bank by a tramway on the side of the River Don to build Penistone Viaduct. In 1988 George Winterbottom took Walk Mill over and converted it into a wire mill. See the Winterbottom page.
	22nd April	Local Water Supply - First piped water supplied to Penistone, from Thurlstone Pumping Station, to replace the Town Pump and public wells (such as Penistone Green, Corruna Terrace and St. Mary's Well near Penistone Bridge) which would closed by the Local Board 1st October this year. Ref 5, &c. From Dr Thorne's 1881 Report (Archive.org), we discover that Penistone's water supplies had been in very poor condition and had led to the spread of Enteric Fever. The same report describes the midden-privies that were in common use. 'Of the three principal public supplies, one, a spring at Bridge End, appears to be a wholesome water, and I could not hear of any cases of enteric fever in that part of Penistone where it is used. The two others are in the main street of Penistone, down which pass drains which must admit of the soakage of their contents into the surrounding soil. One is a dipping-well, the supply from which is known to pass through land, the surface of which is ploughed and manured, and it is conveyed to the roadside in a glazed pipe drain which passes within about 10 feet of a midden-privy containing sloppy contents. The other, a deeper well fitted with a pump, is in very near proximity to some square stone drains, and to an open ditch which receives sewage ; the springs supplying it are also, in all probability, liable to receive soakage from a large sloppy midden-privy in higher lying ground. In addition to the above supplies, there are: '(1) one or two springs and certain private wells, which do not appear to be contaminated; '(2) a number of wells, the pumps over which are chained up because the contents are known to be fouled by soakage from midden-privies and leaky drains, but which are resorted to during the summer months; '(3) other wells, which though in constant use are either fouled, or liable to be fouled, or which must, from the nature of their surroundings, be looked upon with suspicion. With but few exceptions, however, even these supplies are scanty, and many inhabitants are obliged to resort to sewage-tainted brook known as the Cubley Brook for so-called “cleaning purposes,” if not at times for drinking and cooking purposes.' See also Historical Pictures page. Penistone Almanack 1925 gives the date as 23rd April 1880.
	16th May	Denby Dale Stone Viaduct - Opened on this day, Whit Sunday, having been started in 1877. Ref 6, p17. Of the stone viaduct's 21 arches, the 'skew' arch across Barnsley Road is regarded as an engineering achievement. This viaduct replaced an earlier timber one which had become rotten. It also frightened the passengers. Fire buckets were placed at regular intervals on the timber viaduct but were never filled no more than halfway, as any more water would have been lost by the vibration of trains. Very rickety but the stone viaduct cured that problem. See 1847.
	3rd June	Death of James Bolton, late foreman mason at Penistone new station, aged 47 years.
	5th July	Oxspring School opened in the same year that it was built. Oxspring School Board was formed in 1877, Chairman Mr AJ Siddons. Ref 12.
	1st Aug.	Stottercliffe Cemetery - Opened as the parish burial ground, to replace the full churchyard of Penistone St John's Church.  Previous to 1840, Stottercliffe was a wood through which ran the bridle stile from Penistone to Thurlstone. It was diverted when the railway was made and the wood cleared. The ground was subsequently purchased for use as the cemetery, requiring a loan of £3,800. The area of ground was nine Acres and two Roods. From its opening to 30th September 1887, 420 interments had taken place, with 364 in consecrated and 56 in unconsecrated sections of the ground. The seal of the Burial Board was a design of the Horned Penistone Ram. Cremation would not be legal in the UK until 1884. See 1870 for the formation of The Burial Board of the Ecclesiastic Parish of Penistone. The 1945 Almanack gives the date as 2nd August. See Stottercliffe Cemetery.
	2nd Aug.	Worsborough Colliery branch line to Moor End pit at Silkstone was connected to Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway's main line at West Silkstone Junction. This link required two tunnels, with Silkstone No.1 being the longer at 289 yards. To its east, Silkstone No.2 was just 74 yards. The notorious Worsborough incline involved coal trains labouring up a 1:40 gradient for 3½ miles. This would demand up to four locos including one or two bankers. In 1925, a specially-built 2-8-0+0-8-2 Beyer-Garratt locomotive was put to work on this line. It was the most powerful steam engine ever to run in Britain. See the 'Forgotten Relics' site for a full description.
	1st Oct	Water Pumps and Wells Closed - With tPenistone's new water supply in place, the earlier water sources were closed down by Penistone Local Board (see 22nd April above). They were not always of good quality water and could include run-offs from fields which had grazing livestock.
	20th Oct	Great Snowstorm. Oak trees damaged. Ref 7
1881	18th Feb	Penistone and District Conservative Association formed. Ref 26.
	Feb	Footpath Moved - The footpath from Dobbin Gaps to Spring Vale under the Railway Bridge, and between the Steel Works and the brook, was diverted having been formally inspected by two JPs. The diverted path would now pass on the south side of the railway on Green Road near Corunna Terrace, about where the road near the bridge levels out. Corruna Terrace is long gone in the modern age and was probably located near Bosville Street. Nowadays, 'Corruna View' is a street on the modern estate near the bridge. From Ref 30.
		Population of Penistone was given as 2,254 in the 1889 Almanack. The population of the extensive Penistone Parish was 9,094. The population of England and Wales was counted in the census as 25,974,439, up by more than 3 million from the previous decade. (A Vision of Britain)
		Population of Penistone Union Workhouse was 97, plus 14 vagrants and five staff (1881 census). The staff were: Master - James Walton, Matron - Mary Walton, School Teacher - Emma D Temperley, Infirmary Nurse - Margaret Horsefield and Porter - William Hayes. Ref 27. Penistone Workhouse.
		Friendly Societies - Listed in the 1881 Penistone Almanac. Friendly Societies were mutual assistance groups set up as lifelines to fund illness or hard times. It was a kind of insurance system requiring a regular subscription from members. There was no welfare or NHS in those days. Independent Order of Oddfellows - Loyal Hope Lodge No 864, Mutual Union. Meetings at the White Hart Inn, Penistone Bridge. Number of Members - 231, Capital, £1819 16s 3½d. Secretary: Mr Allen Crossley, Spring Vale. Royal Foresters - Court Hopeful, No 173. Meeting 7.30pm on the third Saturday of each month in the Spread Eagle Hotel, Penistone. Number of Members - 222, Capital, £1221 14s 6½d. Secretary: Mr Jas. Shaw, The Observatory, Cubley. Druids - Freedom Lodge, No 571. Meetings every fourth Saturday at Mr William Lake's, Blue Ball Inn, Thurlstone. Number of Members - 194, Capital £995 5s 6d. Secretary: Mr J H Goddard. United Order of Free Gardeners - Vernon Wentworth Lodge, Hoyland Swaine. Number of Members - 150, Sick Fund, £700, Funeral Funds, £150. Secretary: Mr Elijah Chappell. Ancient Order of Foresters - Court Flower of the Forest. Meetings every fourth Saturday, Spread Eagle Hotel, Penistone. Number of Members - 94, Capital £210. Secretary: Mr Fred Andrew. Order of Shepherds, Ashton Unity - William Tell. Monthly meetings at the Blacksmith's Arms, Thurlstone. Number of Members - 76, Capital £212. Secretary: Mr George Hinchliff. Penistone and Midhope Operative Conservative Benefit Association. Quarterly meetings on the first Saturday in March, June September and December, alternately at the White Hart and Bridge Hotel, Penistone Bridge, and Club Inn, Midhope. Number of Members - 50, Capital £350. Secretary: Mr T Reyner, Thurlstone. Maid of the Glen. Quarterly meetings at the Black Bull Inn, Thurlstone. Number of Members - 31, Capital £92. Secretary: Mr George Hinchliff. Independent Order of Oddfellows - Off-shoot of Hope Lodge, above. Unspecified meetings at the Blacksmith's Arms, Millhouse. Number of Members - 22, Capital £140. Secretary: Mr N Crosland. Penistone Branch of the Society of Amalgamated Engineers. Meetings at the Spread Eagle Inn, Penistone. Number of Members - , Capital £ . Secretary: Mr Thomas Pashley.
	Nov	Penistone's Streets Named and Numbered - For the first time. Ref 1. On an older plan, dated 1749, High Street was marked as 'Town Street' and called 'The Street' or 'Penistone Street'. Out of interest, the point where Market Street becomes High Street is at Gregg's the Bakery, which is Number 1 High Street. This makes most of High Street 'residential,' although High Street and Market Street are frequently mixed up in normal conversation. In the UK, the most common name (or generic name) for the main shopping street is 'High Street,' equivalent to the USA's 'Main Street.'
	Nov	Deep Snow - From Dr Arthur CJ Wilson's reminiscences given to the Yorkshire branch of the BMA. This was in a newspaper cutting submitted to Penistone Archive Group (Facebook) by Karl Morfitt. 'It was a beautiful morning at the end of November, but the snow began about noon and by 2 o'clock the roads were getting blocked. I had to go to Manchester, and my wife and I started back at 10 o'clock; we got to Penistone at 10 o'clock next morning, being all night in the train, and a wretched night it was. When I got home I started off on horseback to see patients. Except in Penistone, where paths had been cut, nobody had been on the roads. I rode three miles and then turned up a lane where I had three farms to call at. The lane was full of snow level with the top of the walls. With great difficulty I got to the first two farms, but when I tried to get to the next the snow was so deep that the horse could not get through it. I got off and tried to lead him, but he put his head in the snow quite exhausted. I managed to walk through the snow to the farm, and the farmer helped me to get the horse back. There were some patients I could not get to see for over a week owing to the depth of snow. There have been many deep snows since, but never one to compare with this.'
1882		Netherfield Chapel - A Sunday School and classrooms were added. At that time, Netherfield on Huddersfield Road was regarded as part of Thurlsone. See 1788, 1902, 1972, 1981. Ref 17 p39.
		Deep Snow - Blocked trains from Penistone for 18 hours.
		Penistone's Debt - The town owed £8,090, with £550 having been borrowed for street improvements, £7,500 for water works but with a further £2,500 required making a total of £10,550 for which the town would be liable. This was a time when water supply and sewage was a priority.
		Water Supply - The Hornthwaite Well pumping station was able to yield between 190,000 and 200,000 Gallons of water per day but the demand at this time did not exceed 72,000 G per day, being 37,000 G (15 G per head) for domestic use and 35,000 G for the railway company. It was estimated that 100,000 G per day would eventually be required from Hornthwaite.
	1st June	New Cattle Market - Opened behind the Old Crown Inn. The existing market was centred on Market Place outside the church but it prospered and grew so much that became overcrowded, even after a portion of the school was removed in 1876, such that it spilled over from High Street to St Mary's Street into Market Street and obstructed the traffic. Messrs Seth Senior and Sons built this new cattle market behind the Old Crown (costing more than £1,000) which might clear the open streets of livestock and provide better facilities for trading. It was opened 1st June 1882 by cattle-dealer Mr Joseph Ogden. Unfortunately, it would prove to be a failure in spite of the commodious space and animal pens, as the traders preferred to trade in the open streets. A later new market would open in 1910, see also 1876, 1951. Ref 6.
1883		Penistone Show - Moved to Brickfield, Unwin Street and the day changed from Thursday to Saturday to avoid Market Day. The changes and the rain killed it off until its return in 1889. See 1853.
1884		Explosion at Yorkshire Steel and Iron Works, Penistone (which later became David Brown's). Seven men injured, one of whom died shortly afterwards.
	15th April	Meeting of Penistone parishioners - Called to consider the reorganisation of Penistone Grammar School. This was much advertised and was to organise a 'new scheme' in the running of the school; to raise the teaching standards from what had gradually come to be little more than elementary standard under an aging schoolmaster. Prior to this, an experimental period of fee-paying students (Four Guineas a year = £4.20), tutored by an Oxford Fellow, proved a failure and standards had returned to that of an elementary school upon his departure. The public meeting came up with proposals to appoint trustees, that the standard of knowledge needed for entry be raised and that no free instruction be given except by scholarships carrying total exemption from tuition fees. This was put to the Charity Commissioners. Ref 19 p316. See also The PGS Archive and S Yorks Timescape. Sheffield Archives has Historic Records of PGS.
		Wm Gittus Wagon Works - Started around 1880 by G Booth, the railway wagon works business was taken over by William Gittus (aged 33). The works was conveniently near the railway line in Spring Vale. A railway siding south of the works was connected to the Manchester to Sheffield line close to 'Barnsley Junction' which went to Barnsley over the Oxspring viaduct. Gittus would expand his business in 1905 and it would become known as 'Messrs Gittus and Son, Wagon Buidlers, Penistone.' He died 6th September 1915, aged 64 but the works continued under the same name for many years. The letterhead had: 'Telegraphic Address: Gittus, Penistone. National Telephone No. 2 Penistone. William Gittus. Railway Wagon Builder and Repairer. Barnsley Junction Wagon & Wheel Works, Near Penistone' (and a long list of repair depots). The works would expand again in the 1920s, although most of the work would be in wagon repairs. It would eventually close in the 1960s. Notes from 'Big Business in Our Area' published by Penistone Archive Group.
		Principal Town - Penistone becomes the principal town of the Holmfirth Parliamentary Constituency. Ref 2. See also April 1885 below.
		Cawthorne Museum Society - Founded by Rev Charles Tiplady Pratt to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. An old cottage would be used for the small museum. It officially opened in 1889 with an admission fee of One Penny (1d). The collection grew over the years to include a few oddities such as a two-headed lamb, a cobra fighting with a mongoose, a mantrap, a 9 lb intestinal stone from a horse and more. The museum currently opens on weekends and Bank Holiday Mondays. See 1887 and 1889.
		First record of a match held by The Ploughing Association. Ref 17 p3.
	16th July	The Bullhouse Bridge Railway Accident. The 12.30pm Manchester London Road to London King's Cross express derailed after a driving wheel axle broke on the locomotive. Carriages became uncoupled, derailed and went down the banking resulting in 24 deaths and 16 injuries. 19 people died on the spot. Most were women. See the sketch Picture at GracesGuide. An information board has been fitted to what is now the Trans-Pennine Trail, the former Woodhead Line, to commemorate the accident. See also the Hansard of 7th September 1886, where Mr Channing discusses the use of vacuum brakes on this line.
	9th Sept	Elliot Hawkyard killed by a fall from Huddersfield Viaduct.
1885	1st Jan.	Barnsley Junction Railway Accident at 8.29am on a very cold winter's day, resulted in four dead and more than forty people injured. A broken axle on an empty goods train coal wagon going the opposite way caused it to hit a carriage on an excursion train going from Sheffield to Liverpool. The carriage was "Smashed to matchwood."
	11th April	'The Penistone Division Liberal Association' formed by the 'Liberal 200', at a meeting held at PGS (in Market Place). This followed alterations to Parliamentary Divisions in the West Riding the same year, which proposed that Penistone have its own Parliamentary Division (see 16th April). Ref 7 p68
	Thurs 23rd April	Annual Soiree - Held in the Assembly Rooms, near St Mary's Street. Held by Penistone Working Men's Conservative Association. At which Lieutenant-Colonel Neville JP of Manchester has kindly consented to preside, when addresses will be delivered by Thomas Fielding Esq. of Manchester, WC Long Esq., of Sheffield, A Muir Wilkinson Esq., of Sheffield and thoers. Also a Grand Selection of National and Patriotic Songs will be given. Also a Meat Tea at O'Clock, Admission one shilling each. Tickets from Mr John Wood, Post Office, Penistone. Notice printed by Charles Ellis, Penistone.
	16th April	Mr WH Leatham proposed to Parliament that the new Parliamentary Division be called 'Holmfirth Division' instead of Penistone. He stated that the population of Holmfirth was 17,000, while that of Penistone was only 10,000, and the size and importance of Holmfirth were very much greater than those of Penistone. Mr Stuart-Wortley, the Member for Sheffield, defended the name proposed by the Boundary Commissioners: "The Gentleman in charge of the Bill appeared to be disposed to throw over the recommendations of the Boundary Commissioners on every conceivable opportunity. Holmfirth might have the advantage in population over Penistone; but it was deficient in the essential element of position. He would ask any hon. Member who was acquainted with the locality whether Peniston or Holmfirth occupied the best known position, and he had no hesitation in saying that everybody would know exactly where Penistone was; whereas there would be a difficulty in finding out the position of Holmfirth without searching the map. (etc.)" The amendment was accepted and Holmfirth chosen for the Division, 125 against 63. (Full text in 11th April Hansard, about 20% down the page).
	8th May	Penistone Parliamentary Division regained its right and proper title from Holmfirth. Mr Stuart-Wortley returned to the Commons with a strengthened argument and moved to substitute Penistone instead of Holmfirth as the name of the Southern Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Mr S-W explained that, although a ruling had been made, Penistone had been the name selected by the Boundary Commissioners, and that: "The town was the only railway centre in the district, and 69 passenger trains stopped there every day. Holmfirth, on the other hand, was a kind of cul-de-sac, to which very few trains went." After some further debate, the question was put and the motion carried. The House divided: Ayes 57; Noes 44: Majority 13. Other Amendments were made. (Full discussion in 8th May Hansard, about a quarter-way down the page).
	6th June	Penistone Wesleyan Chapel - New organ opened at a cost of £80. See also the Chapels page.
	June	The first Penistone Sing. This annual event took place (indoors if wet, outdoors if dry) on the first Sunday after St John's Day (24th June), in deference to the saint that Penistone Church was dedicated to. The Sing came to an end around the late 1960s or early 1970s. A supposedly annual Folk Festival, which debuted in 2011, continued the 'Sing' tradition by being scheduled around the time of St John's Day but was short-lived because of bureaucratic deficiencies. From 'An Explorer's Guide to Penistone & District', 2006, which does not quite agree on the same year as a newspaper cutting in Mrs Marsh's collection (Ref 29, see 1886 below).
1885/86	Dec - Mar	Remarkably severe winter with snow laying on the ground from 29th December to 22nd March. A fearful snowfall with strong East winds on 1st March, led to deep snowdrifts in the North, 'obliterating the usual landmarks' in Penistone.
1886	25th Jan	Depression in trade. A relief committee was formed in Penistone.
	April	High Flatts Sanatorium established. Address given as Denby Dale. This was for the 'Restoration of inebriate women of the working or middle class'. President: Mrs Morell of York; Vice-Presidents, Mrs Bardsley of the Vicarage, Huddersfield; Mrs Butterworth of Broom Hall, Sheffield and Mrs Dransfield, Penistone; Treasurer: Mrs D Doncaster, Sheffield; Secretary: Mrs Wood of 5 York Place, Huddersfield; Financial Secretary: Mrs WH Wood of Newhouse, Denby Dale; Matron: Mrs Peake. Details from Ref 12 and other almanacks. In another version, the details were all the same except: Secretary, Miss Wood, 30 Fitzwilliam Street, West Huddersfield.
		Penistone Sing founded with Penistone Musical Society, based upon Kirkburton Sing which had started three years earlier. The idea of holding a 'sing' in Penistone was discussed by Messrs E Biltcliffe, John Stones, Charles Crossley, John Hawley, Charles Ellis and George Stones, while returning to Penistone after attending the Kirkburton Sing this same year. A small delegation was sent the next day to Kirkburton to glean information and a meeting was help upon their return. Local tradespeople pledged £20 to set one up and it was agreed to set up a Penistone Sing on Feast Sunday. Given that it would be only a month later, they used the Kirkburton Sing as their template. It was to run from 1886 to 1966 and held for most of that time near the Town Hall. In the last few years it moved to the Park Avenue Recreation Ground (approximately where the current Tesco is now). This was from a newspaper cutting in Mrs Marsh's collection (Ref 29) but also see 1885 above.
	Sept	Horse Thief - 'Twoccing' is not a new offence (Taking WithOut Consent in Police-speak). This story surfaced online (forgotten where) and comes from the Aberystwyth Observer of 18th September 1886. Barnsley magistrates investigated a case of horse stealing by 10-year-old Frank Marsh whose parents lived near Penistone. A bay mare worth £30 was saddled and stolen from the Wentworth Arms stable. The boy rode her to Huddersfield where he took her to the Victoria Hotel stable and washed her legs, then rode on. he had wanted 30 guineas for the horse but presumably found no sale. Being suspicious, the Victoria landlord arranged for the mare to be detained. The young prisoner was summarily dealt with and well-birched.
	18th Dec.	Penistone Conservative Club formed.
1887		'A Study in Scarlet' - This was the year that the author Arthur Conan Doyle published the first of many popular Sherlock Holmes stories. They would later be serialised in 'The Strand' magazine.
	29th Jan	H Morley accidentally shot in Thurlstone. 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood, 1890.
	5th Feb	Fatal Railway Accident - Edgar Wadsworth of Moldgreen, Huddersfield met his end in Wellhouse Tunnel. 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood, 1890.
	15th Feb	Mr William Vernon - Station Master of Penistone Railway Station. Presented with a gold watch, presumably upon his retirement. Ref 5.
		Building work starts on the Cawthorne Victoria Jubilee Museum, on the same site as the former museum in an old cottage. Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee was the same year. Cawthorne Museum. (From museum leaflet). See 1884 and 1889.
		Railway foot-bridge opened at Penistone Station. This would have led from the central platform (Sheffield to Manchester) to what is now the station end of Church View Road. It was close to semaphore signals and a water spout.
	Sunday 26th June	Penistone Feast. See 1857 and 'Huddersfield Exposed' for something about the activities in typical Penistone Feast days. George Stones, landlord of the Rose and Crown Inn, was charged with serving liquor outside of prohibited hours during the Feast.
	27th, 28th June	Queen Victoria's Royal Jubilee - Great celebrations in Thurlstone (27th) and Penistone (28th) marking 50 years of her reign. "Them that honour Me I will honour." - 7 Sam. it. 30. Here was a Portrait of the Queen, VICTORIA, Queen of Great Britain and Empress of India, Born May 24th, 1819, Succeeded to the Throne June 20th, 1837, Married February loth, 1840, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburgh-Gotha, who died December 14th, 1861, Proclaimed Empress of India May ist, 1876. Her Jubilee celebrated at the ancient Town of Penistone, Yorkshire, June 28th, 1887, in splendid weather, by a Free Tea to all the Inhabitants, Distribution of Jubilee Medals to all the Children, a Grand Procession, Ringing of the Church Bells, Games, Sports, and such expressions of loyalty and general rejoicings as never recollected in Penistone before by its oldest inhabitant, Mr. John Reyner, born June 19th, 1803, who was present in the Procession and also took part in the Celebration at Penistone of King George III.'s Jubilee in 1810' From JND's History Ref 7 p65, Ref 16 and 1878 Almanack.
	Saturday 27th Aug.	Fourth Denby Dale 'Jubilee Pie', to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, marking 50 years from the Queen's accession to the throne on 20th June 1837. Plates went on sale with a portrait of the Queen and a suitable inscription. The ingredients were listed as: 1850lbs of beef, 180lbs of mutton, 160lbs of veal, 180lbs of lamb, 250lbs of lean pork, 32 couples of rabbits, three hares, 42 fowls, 40 pigeons, a dozen grouse, 21 ducks, four plovers, one turkey, five geese, 100 small birds, two wild ducks and 40 stones of potatoes. So this was really a meat and potato pie. For the crust: 64 stones of flour, 100lb of lard, 50lb of butter, 40lb of beef suet, 40lb of dripping and 30 eggs. The pie was 8ft diameter and 2ft deep. The total weight was 2 tons and 4 or 5 cwt. The iron dish of sheet and angle-iron weighed about 15 cwt and the total cost was estimated at £250. The pie waggon was drawn by ten horses from the White Hart Inn to Norman Park, where a tent had been erected on the higher ground. Again the crowd was boisterous and attempted to pull of pieces off the crust before the speeches were finished. It was almost a riot. Mr Henry J Brierley Esq. made the first cut with a knife and fork which had been made in Sheffield for the occasion and he was to keep them afterwards. Unfortunately, it had been a hot summer's day and the Pie had stood too long. The hygiene standards had also not very high. When it was cut the smell was described as 'gamey'. In fact, the Pie stank badly and very few managed to make a meal of it. It was mostly blamed on a brace of game birds that were off but other carcases had not been properly prepared. It was decided to bury the inedible pie in quicklime. Funeral cards for the Pie were quickly printed. One of them read: Strong, strong was the smell that compelled us to part, From a treat to our stomach and a salve to our heart; But a Jubilee Pie with so mongrel a tale, Was ne'er a success, hence it quickly turned stale. Tho' lost to sight, yet still to memory dear, We smell it yet, as though it is still here; Though short its life, and quick was its decay, 'Twas best to bury it without the least delay. Another card read: 'In Affectionate Remembrance of the Denby Dale Pie, Which Died August 27th, 1887, Aged Three Days.' : A ceremonial procession took place on Sunday 28th August and the pie was taken to Toby Wood to be interred in quicklime, with much rejoicing. Most of the fine detail above was from 'Remarkable Occurrences', in the Dransfield Cabinet of Penistone Library, which was published within a few years of the event (a supposition from other articles in the book). The next Pie was 3rd September the same year. See also the third Pie in 1846 higher up this page and Ref 20. Also see Denby Dale Pie History.
	3rd Sept.	Fifth Denby Dale 'Resurrection Pie' baked by the women of the village and the event was kept fairly quiet, after the unruly behaviour of August and the one before. No game birds were included, either this time or in future. The contents were one beast of 47 stones, one calf, one sheep, 104 stones of potatoes and 48 stones of dough. The dish was the same as the August Pie. This one was a complete success. The Pie was drawn by two horses to Inkerman Mill, where upwards of 2,000 people dined off it. Enough had been left over to feed another thousand so it was distributed among the poor people of the neighbourhood. Commemorate plates were again issued with portraits of the Queen. See Ref 20.
	6th Oct.	Jubilee Reading Rooms at Hoylandswaine opened by Col. Spencer Stanhope. The foundation had been laid 23rd June by Miss Stanhope.
	28th Nov.	PGS 'New Scheme' Approved - This scheme for the renewed management of Penistone Grammar School received Royal assent. It had been instigated to address the problem of declining educational standards at the school, with the view that a change of trustees might instill greater educational rigour. Earlier Masters had been 'Properly qualified to offer boys in the rudiments of a classical education', with English and Latin. An understanding had apparently been reached between the current Master (appointed 1786) and trustees that boys would be taught only the 'Inferior branches of learning', viz., reading, writing and accounts. Assistant Commissioner Mr JG Fitch of the Schools Inquiry Commissions visited the school around 1855-6, the previous Charity Commission Report being in 1827. Mr Fitch's report said that there seemed to be no reason to suppose that it had ever regained during that period its former position as a Grammar School or that the level of education had consistently been any higher than elementary. Part of the report said that: '.. nothing can be more melancholy than the state of stagnation and ignorance to which the school has been allowed to fall of late'. Ref 7 p315. See also the excellent The PGS Archive and S Yorks Timescape. Sheffield Archives has Historic Records of PGS.
	17th Dec.	Penistone Liberal Club formed.
1888		Winterbottom's Wire Mill - Founded in 'Walk Mill', Oxspring, which had for many years been a Fulling Mill where woollen cloth was washed. George Winterbottom had brought his family with him from Dodworth to Oxspring this year, including sons and grandsons. George is buried at Netherfield cemetery. The Oxspring premises were taken on a lease and rented. The two sons carried on the business until the late 1920s, when it passed to his three grandsons in 1950, at which stage, with no sons to follow, control was extended to nephews and in-laws. After tense negotiations in 1970, the company was finally administered by Eadie Brothers of Paisley. See Winterbottom page.
	6th May	Netherfield Chapel - Celebration of Centenary of the founding of Netherfield Chapel, Penistone. From Ref 30.
	31st May	Rare Birdsong - A nightingale was noticed in woods between Hoylandswaine and Silkstone. From Ref 30.
	23rd June	Hoylandswaine - Foundation Stone of Hoylandswaine Jubilee Reading Room, laid by Miss Stanhope. From Ref 30.
	June to Mar '89	Diphtheria Outbreaks - Peak infections were between September '88 and November '88. From the Health Report 1889: 'At Penistone and Thurlstone, between Jnne 1888 and March 1889, 57 households were invaded; and of 327 persons living in the infected households 103 were attacked. Although several mild cases occurred the disease was, on the whole, of a severe tvpe. Nearly 26 per cent, of the cases proved fatal, and amongst convalescents symptoms of local paralysis were occasionally observed.' Half a dozen cases were also found in Hunshelf but the health report could find no causal link with the above. As generally a child's disease, peak age range of sufferers was from 4 to 6 years old. The report goes on: 'Of the 57 such initial cases 21 were amongst individuals not attending any day school, and 18 amongst those attending neither day nor Sunday school. Of several schools, no single one was specially implicated. Except for the usual holidays the schools remained open.' and 'Of the 107 houses in Spring Yale, Penistone, 14 were invaded; a small grouping of cases occurred likewise in the same sanitary district,’ at the Green, in High Street, Church Hill, and Railway Terrace. Most of the cases at Thurlstone occurred in what is known as cs top of the town.” In several cases in both districts next-door neighbours suffered.' We should remember how poor was sanitation and the water supply at this time. See the Water Supply and Sanitation section below.
	Sun 1st Jly	Penistone Feast. See 1857 and 'Huddersfield Exposed' for something about the activities in typical Penistone Feast days.
	4th July	John Wood - Death of Postmaster of Penistone for 30 years and publisher of the Penistone Alamanack and 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood, 1890. Wood's Printers (aka 'The Don Press') continues to this day on Church Street albeit under different ownership. Its main products include prize cards and rosettes for agricultural shows.
	25th Aug	Memorial Stone-laying - Thurlstone New Wesleyan Chapel laid by Mr J Dyson Esq., JP of Thurgoland.
	4th Sept.	Murder at the Blacksmith's Arms, Millhouse Green. - While suffering from delirium tremens (DTs - an effect of withdrawing from alcohol), Landlord of two years, Harry Hey, shot dead his domestic servant Margaret Hill. He had been treated for the DTs before. He was found guilty at Leeds Assizes of 'wilful murder while in a state of unsound mind'. After treatment, upon his recovery he moved to Stocksbridge. Ref 1 p152. See also the Old Inns page.
	6th Oct	Hoylandswaine Jubilee Reading Room - The room was opened by Col. Spencer Stanhope. From Ref 30.
1889	January	WRCC Election - West Riding County Council Election, Penistone Division: 1065 Votes - J Dyson Esq., JP, 987 Votes - J Kaye Esq., 216 Votes - JP TH Thorp.
	22nd Jan.	Penistone Grammar School - Opened under the 'New Scheme' explained in the 1887 item above. This was to improve teaching standards which had slipped.
	30th Mar.	The Huddersfield Junction Railway Accident, on the day of the Cup Final at The Oval in London and the Boat Race on the Thames. A MS & LR excursion with portions from Liverpool, Southport and Wigan, was heading via Penistone to King's Cross, London. The train jumped the tracks at points near Huddersfield Junction signal box. A King's Cross to Manchester mail train from the opposite direction ran into the crash but only damaged the tender. One person was killed and many injured, with some of them taken to the Wentworth Arms for treatment. See a report on the Victorian Web regarding railway accident statistics from 1884 to 1891.
	16th April	New Overseer for Penistone - Poll for Election of Assistant Overseer for the Township of Penistone. H Hanwell, 230; TH Thorpe, 216. From Ref 30.
	20th April	First Saturday Market held in Penistone on this day. It flourished well on Saturday evenings as a general market until it was killed off by a severe winter and not revived. The Market place is amongst the highest in Yorkshire, at 747 ft above sea level and more subject than most to the weather conditions. Ref 30. Also noted in the 1878 Almanack.
	30th May	Barnsley Chronicle Limited was incorporated in England & Wales.
	22nd Jun	Accident at Penistone Steelworks, one killed and several injured.
	24th July	Wesleyan Chapel opened in Thurlstone, by W Child Esq. of Huddersfield. Its date-stone reads 1888. Ref 6 agrees with Ref 17 p42, but both Ref 16 and Ref 30 give the date as 27th July. See my Thurlstone Views page.
		End of Toll Roads - The railway system made travel and transport of goods much easier and toll roads were increasingly unsustainable. Relegating the remaining turnpiked GB roads to history, the toll charges would be superseded by the rates sytem. Ireland and Scotland had already done this some time earlier.
		Penistone Agricultural Show returns. See 1853. It returned in 1889, moved back to Thursday and held in Bailey's Park, an area which is now the Park Avenue estate. In 1895 it returned to land behind the Town Hall, where it stayed until 1948. The following year it moved again to land near Water Hall, to eventually move to the current Showground.
		Staff at Penistone Union Workhouse were: Master - James Campbell Maillard, Matron - Mrs Beatrice Maillard, Medical Officer - Benjamin Chaston Gowing and School Mistress - Miss Annie Vaughan. Ref 27.
	October	Cawthorne Victoria Jubilee Museum was completed and opened this month, having been started in the year of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, 1887, on the instruction of local squire, Sir Walter Stanhope and his brother, the pre-Raphaelite painter, Roddam Stanhope. Philosopher and socialist John Ruskin was also involved. It was built by local craftsmen and used materials from the Stanhope estate, including a '13th century crook'. Cawthorne Museum. (From museum leaflet). See this Daily Mail article from 2010 about a WWII exhibition at the museum (still viewable in 2014).
		Staff at Penistone Union Workhouse were: Master - George Broadbent (37), Matron - Mrs Ann Broadbent (37), School Mistress - Emma Crossland (20), Medical Officer - (Not listed but likely to have been Benjamin Chaston Gowing), Infirmary Nurse - Annie Bunting, Porter - Charles Booth (41) and Domestic Servant - Ann Hartop. Ref 27. Penistone Workhouse.
1890	11th Feb	Ben Lockwood - Accidental death of Thurlstone resident Ben Lockwood in the yard adjoining Penistone Steel Works. 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood, 1890.
	Sunday 29th June	Penistone Feast. See 1857 and 'Huddersfield Exposed' for something about the activities on typical Penistone Feast days. The annual fairs and feasts were important events in these days. We still hear of it as 'Penistone Feast' when the funfair comes to visit.
	7th Aug	George Peaker - Accidental death on the railway near Oxspring Tunnel. 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood, 1890.
	7th Aug	Amos Birchill - Lower Denby resident Amos Birchill acidentally killed on the L & Y Railway at Penistone Station. 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood, 1890.
	10th Oct	First wedding solemnised at Bullhouse Chapel (erected 1692) between Mr John Hinchliffe Jr, of Bullhouse Hall and Miss Ada Smith of Bullace Grange. From 1891 Penistone Almanack.
	13th Oct	Mr Thomas Edward Taylor, JP, of Dodworth Hall, Lord of the Manor of Oxspring, died this day. From 1891 Penistone Almanack.
1891		Population of the Penistone Parish was 9,568. Made up as follows: Penistone - 2,553 (to become 3,073 by 1901); Thurlstone - 2,735; Gunthwaite - 68; Denby - 1,747; Ingbirchworth - 321; Oxspring - 322; Langsett - 263 and Hunshelf 1,559. In this year, there were 1,735 inhabited houses within the Rural (1,243) and Urban (492) District areas. Ref 19 p315. The 'Penistone Union' population (including surrounding villages - see 1849) was 17,266 across 30,882 acres, with a ratable value of £95,991. Ref 27. The population of England and Wales was counted in the census as 29,002,525, up by more than 3 million in the previous decade. (A Vision of Britain)
	24th Sept	Great Sale of Moorland Sheep - At Softley Farm. Ref 26.
	23rd Oct	Electrical Lighting - Tomasson’s Mill lighted by electricity. Ref 26.
1892		Mr Joseph William Fulford, M.A. appointed as headmaster at Penistone Grammar School, having previously been second master of the East Retford Grammar School. He continued until 1921. See Ref 19 p324.
		Clark's Chemist opened at No1 Market Place in the old Cloth Hall. They marked their centenary in 1992 with special window displays. (Example)
		The Bells of St John the Evangelist. Hoylandswaine. The church had which had been consecrated in 1869. Five bells were added in 1892 to the existing Tenor bell (1872), at a cost of £229 9s 2d. The original frame had been designed and constructed to accommodate all six bells. Details of the bells: Tenor - B Flat - dia 37½", 9 cwt, 2 qrs, 0 lbs 5 - C - dia 34", 7 cwt, 2 qrs, 23 lbs 4 - D - dia 32", 7 cwt, 0 qrs, 19 lbs 3 - E Flat - dia 30", 6 cwt, 0 qrs, 25 lbs 2 - F - dia 28½", 5 cwt, 2 qrs, 14 lbs 1 - G - dia 27", 5 cwt, 0 qrs, 6 lbs The Tenor has a Royal Coat of Arms with 'Patent' beneath and 'St John and Glory to the Father', 'Cast by John Warner and Sons', 'London 1872'. Details from the booklet 'The Parish Church of St John the Evangelist' - 'A Brief History of the Years 1869 to 1994' to be found in the Local History section of Penistone Library. There might be some references to the bells from these campanologists' publications but their pdfs are not word-searchable.
		Weirfield House (PGS) - Built this year. In the early days of Penistone Grammar School on this site, the house had been used for teaching but became the headmaster's house. Later still it became staff offices. PGS-Archive has photographs from around the old school before demolition, including 360-degree, pannable views. Weirfield house was preserved after the PGS demolitions but the Fulford Building (former 'A-Block') which had been the main part of the school was reduced to rubble. See Heritage Gateway.
	23rd July	The Bells - Dedication of bells at Hoylandswaine Church.
	24th Aug	Army Billeted at Penistone. This was the 11th Battery Royal Artillery. Ref 31 p.35.
		Smallpox outbreak - Towards the end of the year. Caused much alarm but had died out by the time of the New Year.
1893	25th Mar.	New Chapel for Ingbirchworth - The first sod was cut by Mr GW Moxon for the Wesleyan Chapel which was built this year in Ingbirchworth. An irrelevant factoid is that this fell on 'Lady Day', which before 1751 was the first day of the legal year. In the modern age, the chapel was converted into a dwelling.
	20th May	Last day at the old Penistone Grammar School - From the 1894 Penistone and Thurlstone Almanack (referring to its old Kirk Flatt location near Penistone church): The last day it was open as a school was on Saturday 20th May 1893. Work on its demolition would start on 31st July 1893 (see below). It was a well-built and substantial erection, and with its old associations many regretted its destruction. The school was erected during the time of Mr John Ramsden as master, namely between 1702 and 1726, in place of the previous school built in 1397. The site was sold to the Sheffield United Banking Company, Ltd. Mr JW Fulford MA succeeded Mr LE Adams BA as Headmaster of this school at Christmas 1892. The only Public Schools of England of more ancient date than Penistone Grammar School are: St Peter's School, York, AD 730; St Albans, about AD 1100; Derby Free School, about AD 1162; St Edmundbury Free School, AD 1198; and Winchester, 1382.
		Methodist Chapel built in Penistone near the Sheffield Road railway bridge (now used for the Trans-Pennine Trail). This was still marked on maps as a church in 1948 but was later to become Penistone Clinic. The building's former ecclesiastic nature can be easily deduced from the shape of its windows. See S Yorks Timescapes.
	31st July	End of the Old Penistone Grammar School - This was the old PGS school at the top of Church street, opposite the church. Demolition started at Kirk Flatt and the migration of the school to Weirfield House started (the Fulford building would be built in the next century). The existing school building was deemed inadequate to the needs of a school and this was not helped by its proximity to the livestock market being operated in Market Place, close to the school. In 1892 Sheffield Union Banking Company offered to buy the school and a shop for £2,300. At the same time Weirfield House with three or four acres adjoining came up for sale for £1,500. See 1911 and Ref 19 p316. Built in the 1870s, Weirfield House was first depicted on the Ordnance Survey map of this year. The house is set within an irregular plot of land that extends from Huddersfield Road to Scout Dam and the mill race. See 1911 for the opening of the Fulford Building on the Weirfield site. Ref 28, The PGS Archive and S Yorks Timescape. Sheffield Archives has Historic Records of PGS.
		A Blazing Hot Summer - Local temperatures in April had reached 27 °C (80.4 °F) in the shade, described as astonishing in the 1894 Penistone Alamack, ' ... remembering so many other Aprils when snow and sleet were noticeable features.' For one day in June it reached 33 °C (91 °F) and July's highest record was just over 32 °C (89.9 °F). The Almanack continues: 'In August the heat was terrific, a continual run of tropical heat, on the 18th Aug it was over 95 °F (35 °C). During the last fifty years there have only been three August days when the temperature reached 90 degrees (just over 32 °C), and those days were in different years.' The old Summer Moor bridge in Ingbirchworth reservoir was seen again in August, previous occasions being in 1874, 1884 and 1887. The country's hay crop was very poor this year. Wheat and grain crops fared better. Fruit crops of all kinds flourished in the heat leading to the markets being glutted and prices fell accordingly. Growers had trouble in disposing of their crops. Some local farmers fed their livestock on apples and pears. In Kent, some apples were being produced over a pound in weight. The south had plaques of wasps. Sheep were being stung to death. In Cheltenham, farm workers were ploghing up as many as 40 wasps nests in a single field. Although temperatures dropped in September, the much-needed rain still did not return and many places in the country suffered a scarcity of water. Daventry reservoirs were dried out completely.
		A Great Drought - During this season of high temperatures, Ingbirchworth Reservoir (completed in 1868) was emptied. Only by the aid of the Dewsbury and Heckmondwyke Waterworks Board and the Sheffield mill-owners was a drought in the Barnsley area averted, and at great cost. This was before Midhope Reservoir had been opened to supply Barnsley. The Water Committee brought forward a plan to purchase Penistone pump works and add it to the Ingbirchworth supply but Penistone Rural Sanitary Authority already had an agreement to supply Darton and other districts, leaving little or no spare capacity to supply Barnsley. This led to the scheme being dropped. Barnsley had plans to take water from Hagg Brook and its tributaries and a Water Bill went through the Lords. A General Election delayed matters and Sheffield Corporation, with similar ambitions, pushed forwards its own plans. A compromise was reached with Barnsley giving up Thickwood Brook to Sheffield and Sheffield giving up Knoll Brook and agreeing to send compensation water to Barnsley.
		The first Emley Show. The 100th show being in 2017. Emley Brass Band (broken site) Facebook.
	18th Aug	Hottest Day for the past fifty years. Ref 26.
1894		Thurlstone Urban District Council created. See Barnsley Archive on Penistone UDC.
1895		Penistone Urban and Rural District Councils created. The urban district of Penistone was created as a result of the 1894 Local Government Act. The area had previously been under the control of Penistone Local Board. The council was responsible for providing services such as housing, planning, parks and highways.
	23rd April	Horse-Drawn Van Accident in Hoylandswaine. An accident on the junction of Haigh Lane and Barnsley Road in Hoylandswaine resulted in four horses killed and two or three men injured. That accident had involved a 5-ton van as part of a Sanger's Circus convoy of around 60 horse-drawn vans and it caused considerable damage to a house occupied by PC Richard Oldacre. During this century, Sanger's Circus was of international renown. Its flamboyant owner, 'Lord' George Sanger had married Madame Pauline De Vere, a famous Lion Tamer, in Sheffield. Sheffield University hold further information on fairgrounds and circuses. From Hoylandswaine Parish Magazine (Winter 2019).
		Infirmary Building built on to Penistone Union Workhouse at Netherfield, which had opened in 1861. The infirmary was designed by GA Wilde. A two-storey extension and mortuary were added around 1917. Wounded soldiers used the workhouse infirmary during the Great War of 1914 - 1918. See 1861, Ref 27 and Pen Workhouse.
	Sunday 30th June	Penistone Feast. See 1857 and 'Huddersfield Exposed' for something about the activities in typical Penistone Feast days.
		Founding of Clayton and Co. Works - A 2020 advertisement describes the Fog Signal Works as manufacturing Railway track Warning devices, which contain a quantity of black powder. Westhorpe Works, Halifax Road, Penistone, S36 7EY. It is located not far from Scout Dyke.
		The Prince of Wales public house, later Wiseman's shop. Catherine Burdett (wife of Lance, a carpenter) takes over The Prince of Wales. See 1873.
		Measles Outbreak - Schools were closed from 7th August until 16th September to limit the spread.
	6th Aug	New Midland Bank opened in Penistone. Ref 26.
	Sept.	Sighting of a steel-blue meteor towards the W.S.W. See Penistone History Rainfall page.
	28th Sept	The Church of St. Aidan, Oxspring. Consecrated. Vicar, Rev. R A. Browning; Assistant Priest. Rev. E. T. Spencer; Church Officers of the District and Chapely of St. Aidan's, Messrs. Henry Senior, Leonard Wilkinson, V. Eastwood, G. Hinchliff, E. H. Jenkin and Dr. Townend ; Organist, Mr. George Ellis ; Verger, Mr. Wilkinson, West End. Sunday services-8 a.m. Holy Communion. 10-00a.m, Matins and Litany 6-30p.m. Evensong; 1st Sunday, Mid-day Celebration of Holy Communion. From Ref 23
1896	27th Jun	Allan Crossley drowned in castle Dam.
	Feb	Penistone 1895 UDC Report - Issued for the previous year We can view this very sparse leaflet at Archive.org.
		Several brilliant exhibitions of the Aurora Borealis in the early part of the year. See Penistone History Rainfall.
		Hoylandswaine Urban District Council created. The area had previously been administered by Hoylandswaine Local Board. It was responsible for similar services although in 1938, as a result of legislation to reduce the number of rural and urban districts in England and Wales, Hoylandswaine U.D.C. was abolished and the area transferred to an enlarged Penistone Urban District Council. See Barnsley Archive on Penistone UDC.
	1st Aug.	Sixth Denby Dale Pie baked, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Repeal of the Corn Laws. It used the same pie dish as 1887 and contained 300lbs of beef and veal and more than 100lbs of mutton. Around 2,000 portions were sold. Also see Denby Dale Pie History.
	3rd Oct.	Spring Vale Primitive Methodist Chapel - Foundation stone laid. Ref 3. See also the Chapels page. This would have been the 'Tin Chapel' with itr roof of corrugated iron. The chapel would be rebuilt by a more conventional building. Note that Spring Vale was always two words until the recent fashion to blend two words into one, which appeared to originate from BMBC.
	8th Oct	Wentworth Arms Hotel and six dwelling-houses sold for £11,600. Ref 26.
1897		Sheffield Corporation bought Langsett Church and other land from Lord of the Manor, Sir Lionel Milborne Swinnerton Pilkington, of Chevet Park near Wakefield, who was a large landowner in Langsett, for Langsett Reservoir. Mostly Ref 7. See 1875.
		Penistone Isolation Hospital, Penistone. Under the Public Health Act, 1875, the Local Government Board could authorise two or more local authorities to act jointly in the provision of hospital accommodation for epidemic diseases. 'Penistone District Isolation Hospital Committee' was set up in 1897 and comprised twenty members taken from the Urban District Councils of Penistone, Thurlstone, Denby & Cumberworth, Clayton West, Hoylandswaine, and Gunthwaite & Ingbirchworth, and all the Rural District Councils in Penistone Union. It had a resident Medical Officer. History of the hospital: 1897 to 1929 'Penistone and Thurlstone Joint Smallpox Isolation Hospital'; 1929 to 1948 'Penistone Infectious Diseases Hospital'; 1948 to c.1962 'Penistone Hospital' and finally to be called the 'Stanhope Hospital' until it closed in 1977. The hospital would have deal with many infectious diseases over the years but especially Tuberculosis which was quite common until antibiotics became available. At the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, the hospital was managed by Barnsley Hospital Management Committee (HMC) of Sheffield Regional Hospital Board (SRHB). Its hospitals were grouped under two House Committees: No. 1 included 'Penistone Public Assistance Hospital'; No. 2 included Stanhope Infectious Diseases Hospital and the County TB Dispensary at Penistone. Matters concerning Penistone Isolation Hospital were raised at No. 1 House Committee. Barnsley HMC applied to Sheffield Regional Hospital Board in August 1948 with a request to use Penistone Isolation Hospital as an annexe to the Beckett Hospital. At that time there were no patients at the Isolation Hospital and any future patients could be accommodated at the Kendray Isolation Hospital. SRHB recommended the immediate closure of Penistone Isolation Hospital and that the premises be used as an annexe to the Beckett Hospital as from October 1948. An adult chest clinic was retained in Penistone until c.1962. HMCs were abolished following reorganisation of the NHS in 1974, and hospital management fell to Barnsley Area Health Authority, within Trent Regional Health Authority. From the National Archives.
	17th June	Midhope Reservoir started. The first sod was cut by the Mayor of Barnsley. The eminent water engineer, Mr Charles Hawkesley presented a silver spade with an ebony handle to the Mayor for the purpose. An inscription on the handle read: 'Presented to the Worshipful the Mayor of Barnsley, Mr Ald. Wray, by Charles Hawkesley, C.E. on the occasion of the cutting of the first sod of the Midhope Reservoir, 17th June, 1897.'
	20th June	Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee - The 60th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne on 20th June 1837. This was happily celebrated throughout the land. A family Thanksgiving service was held at Windsor Castle. The British Empire was at its peak with more than a quarter of the world population being under Victoria's dominion, and with much of the world atlas coloured pink accordingly.
	Aug	Thurlstone Suicide - Reported in the Cardigan Observer of 7th August. Last seen alive by Mrs Cartwright, a neighbouring widow in Thurlstone, George Brook's body was discovered hanging near to the door about two weeks later by Mr Horner. Mr Brook had been a labourer who lived alone.
		The MS&LR railway became the Great Central Railway. Ref 18. The Great Central Railway started as the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, itself formed of the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester, the Grimsby and Sheffield Junction, the Sheffield and Lincolnshire, and the Manchester and Lincolnshire Union railways. See the Victorian Web to read about railway amalgamations in this era.
1898	11th Feb.	New Local Newspaper - This was the Penistone, Stocksbridge, Hoyland, Ecclesfield, and Chapeltown Express, and Wadsley, Oughtibridge, Deepcar, and Thurlstone Advertiser. It had eight broadsheet pages and was published in Mexborough from the same printers as the South Yorkshire Times. It was renamed the Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express around 1904, colloquially the 'Penistone Express.' The 'Find my Past' site has the date of the last issue as 26th October 1940. In Ref 7, it is referred to as the Penistone Express. See also the South Yorkshire Times history.
	27th Aug	'Calamity at the Steelworks' - A serious accident at Cammel-Laird's Yorkshire Steel and Iron Works. A rapidly spinning flywheel of 30 feet diameter and 40 tons in weight shattered and caused great destruction. A piece of the flywheel passed through the roof and embedded itself in a garden around 160-170 yards away. Another piece weighing about 2 tons flew in the opposite direction and passed through the roof of an adjoining railway shed from which 30 to 40 men had left only moments before. Furnaceman Benjamin Taylor was killed as fragments punctured steam pipes. He was found lying on his face in a pool of hot water that had escaped from the pipes. Boiler Inspector Fred Clarkson was also killed by fragments which mutilated his body. One of his feet and a hand were found a distance away from his body. Others were also injured and three of the most badly injured were taken to Sheffield Infirmary. These were: Job George Bamford, Thurlstone; Marmaduke Taylor, Denby; and Harold Coldbridge and they made favourable progress in hospital. The Inquest returned the verdict of 'Death by misadventure.' Most of the detail here from the 1898 Penistone parish church magazine. Also Grace's Guide. Ref 26.
		Lodge 509 of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffalos (RAOB or 'The Buffs') founded in Penistone, within the Sheffield Provincial Grand Lodge. It held its meetings in the Spread Eagle, Penistone right up until recent times. The Rev Canon Turnbull was an early member. The Lodge moved into the Huddersfield and District Province at the end of September 2011. Ref 12.
	10th Nov	Annual Ploughing Matches - at Water Hall, Penistone, in connection with the Penistone District Association. Ref 23.
	13th Nov	The Methodist New Connexion in Penistone - The first services were held in the Assembly Room, led by Rev. WH Lockley, preacher. Other New Connexion preachers around this time would have been: Revs TM Rees, J Capes Storey and FG Stopard. This branch of Methodism would move into a new chapel (next to the later Green Kllens), which they opened in February 1901. It did not last. The chapel is now the Penistone Clinic. The Assembly Room had been a gas showroom and would later be converted into the Assembly Room Cinema, before the Town hall was built. This would be the red brick building just off the current St Mary's Street roundabout, on the left towards Julie's Cafe. Ref 23.
	31st Dec	The Messiah, performed by Shepley New Connexion Choir in the Assembly Room, Penistone. Ref 23.
1899		The Grammar School, Penistone. founded 1392. 'Disce aut Discede.' (From Ref 23). Head Master: Joseph W Fulford, Second Master: H Hardy, Professor of French of the University of Cambridge, Science Master: C H Widdows, Certificated by Science & Art Dept., Drawing Master: Edwin Haigh, Certificated Art Master. This School is replete with every convenience for giving an advanced education, and is highly successful in all branches. Chemical and Physical Laboratories of the newest design. Lecture Hall and Manual Workshop in course of erection. Gymnasium, football and cricket fields adjoining the School. Two Exhibitions giving free education are annually offered for competition amongst boys attending the Elementary Schools of the district. Boarders received at reasonable charges. Prospectus, &c., giving full particulars on application to the Head Master.
		Penistone, Thurlstone and Oxspring Gas Company - Management listed in the 1900 Almanack (presumably the most recent line-up from 1899): Managing Director, Herbert Unwin, Esq.; Resident Manager, Mr. John Dempster. Gas Works, Talbot Road, Penistone. Formed under the Penistone Gas Act in 1858; Capital £10,000. The company now supplies the Penny-in-the-Slot meter. As a matter of interest, the penny meter was still in use throughout most of the 20th century and would be the normal way to pay for domestic gas. In our Airey council house, the gas meter accepted penny or shilling coins right up to decimalisation of British money in 1971 (Direct Debit had not been invented).
		Hazlehead Hall Estate For Sale - Described as 'Nearly midway between Sheffield and Manchester on the Great Central Railway Company's main line'. The Woodhead line to Manchester would not be far away, with railway stations at Penistone and Dunford Bridge. Hazlehead Hall was to be sold along with 187 acres of land and Copperas House (Mr J Goldthorpe as tenant), Catshaw.
	29th Mar	Grand 'At Home' - held by the Methodist New Connexion in the Assembly Room, Penistone. Ref 23.
	3rd May	Earl of Wharncliffe dies, aged 71 years. Ref 23.
	15th May	Fatal Accident - To Heaton Torr at Messrs. Cammell's Works. Ref 23.
	20th June	Sudden Death - of Mrs. Elizabeth DunhiIl, at Penistone Station. Ref 23.
	25th June	14th Annual Musical Festival on Feast Sunday. £48 collected. Ref 23.
	17th Aug	Penistone Agricultural Show - 1,235 entries. Following on from this, a dinner connected with the Show was held on 18th September at the Wentworth Arms. Ref 23.
		The Great Central Railway Co. petitioned to open a railway station in Thurlstone (to no avail). Ref 12.
Quick Links:		Timelines: 1000 - 1600 - 1700 - (1850s, 1870s) - 1900 - 2000 - Refs - Generate English calendar for year: Time & Date

Index of Topics
In the sections below.

• Water Supply and Sanitation
• The 19th Century
• Penistone and Thurlstone in 1841
• The Royalty
• Longevity in the 19th Century
• Masters of the Penistone Hounds
• A Channel Tunnel?
• Atmospheric Pollution
• Sources Used in the Table

Timeline Periods, other pages on this website:

•  Intro - The History Timeline starts here,
• 1000 - 500 BC to 1595,
• 1600 - 1600 to 1699, 17th Century,
• 1700 - 1700 to 1799, 18th Century,
• 1800 - This page, 1800 to 1899, 19th Century,
• 1900 - 1900 to 1999, 20th Century,
• 2000 - 2000 onward, 21st Century.

Penistone District Water Supply and Sanitation
Fresh water would be drawn from wells or springs and privies would disgorge their contents into pits or tanks, to be collected later. It was not uncommon for the contents of privies to seep into water supplies, leading to disease. Sanitation was also very crude until the end of the century. With increasing demand from an increasing population, proper sewers had to be planned. In 1878, the water supply was in a very poor state and was leading to disease and death, particularly from Enteric Fever and Typhoid. Urgent action was needed and by the following year the first piped water was being supplied from the Thurlstone pumping station, a location above the Prospect.

Dr Thorne Thorne's Report of 1879 listed the diseases, their causes and their spread. here are some extracts from the report:

IV. Water Supply:
'The water supply for Penistone is so admittedly bad, both in point of quantity and quality, that it will only be necessary to refer to it here, in relation to the recent spread of enteric fever in the district. Of the three principal public supplies, one, a spring at Bridge End, appears to be a wholesome water, and I could not hear of any cases of enteric fever in that part of Penistone where it is used. The two others are in the main street of Penistone, down which pass drains which must admit of the soakage of their contents into the surrounding soil. One is a dipping-well, the supply from which is known to pass through land, the surface of which is ploughed and manured, and it is conveyed to the roadside in a glazed pipe drain which passes within about 10 feet of a midden-privy containing sloppy contents. The other, a deeper well fitted with a pump, is in very near proximity to some square stone drains, and to an open ditch which receives sewage; the springs supplying it are also, in all probability, liable to receive soakage from a large sloppy midden-privy in higher lying ground.

'In addition to the above supplies, there are one or two springs and certain private wells, which do not appear to be contaminated; a number of wells, the pumps over which are chained up because the contents are known to be fouled by soakage from midden-privies and leaky drains, but which are resorted to during the summer months; other wells, which though in constant use are either fouled, or liable to be fouled, or which must, from the nature of their surroundings, be looked upon with suspicion.

'With but few exceptions, however, even these supplies are scanty, and many inhabitants are obliged to resort to sewage-tainted brook known as the Cubley Brook for so-called “ cleaning purposes,” if not at times for drinking and cooking purposes.'

V. Means of Sewerage and Drainage
'There is nothing which can be called a system of sewerage and drainage in Penistone. Certain old square stone drains, originally constructed to carry rain-water off the highways, have been converted into sewers, and in some parts of the town glazed pipe drains have been put in. There is, however, no plan of the various drains, and in certain instances, where it would have facilitated my inquiry to have known their course and construction, no trustworthy information concerning them could be procured.

'Up to within the past two months it has been a general custom to have a direct communication between the interior of the drains and the interior of the houses. The outfalls for the sewage are numerous. In several places it trickles over grass land close to the town, and soaks away where it can ; in others, it finds its way into the Cubley Brook, and so on to the Don ; in others, again, it flows into ditches or cesspools. From one of the latter, which often overflows, the contents are pumped into a field close to a row of houses, some of the inhabitants of which made complaint as to the great nuisance to which they are thus subjected.'

VI. Means of Excrement and Refuse Disposal
'There are a few waterclosets in Penistone communicating with the faulty sewers above referred to, but the midden-privy is the usual means for the disposal of excrement and refuse. By far the majority of the midden-privies are so constructed that they must necessarily cause grave nuisance and injury to health. The privy is almost invariably so placed with regard to the midden that no proper mingling of the ashes with the excreta is possible ; the middens are sunk below the level of the surface, and so facilitate the soakage of surface-water into them ; they are as a rule, uncovered, and the privy roofs drain towards them, so that they receive a large amount of rainfall - in some instances between 2,000 and 3,000 gallons per annum - and thus decomposition of their contents and saturation of the surrounding soil is ensured.

'Some of the middens are roofed, but as they are partly excavated into the soil their contents are, as a rule, as wet as the open ones. The capacity of the middens is also such as to favour the accumulation of large quantities of excrement and refuse in the immediate vicinity of the dwellings. Indeed, nearly throughout Penistone the midden-privies are a source of the greatest nuisance, and they are often so placed that the dwellings are surrounded by an atmosphere and by a soil which is thoroughly fouled. There are no public arrangements for scavenging. In short the town privies only need to be infected by the introduction of a case of enteric fever to give the readiest opportunity for the disease to spread, both directly from the privies and indirectly by the agency of water derived from the soil in which the privies are sunk.'

The Report Concluded:
'As the result of this inquiry I have arrived at the following conclusions:

1. 'That 5 deaths and nearly 40 non-fatal cases of enteric fever, and ten deaths and some 50 non-fatal cases of scarlet fever have occurred in Penistone since the present year began.
2. 'That the Sanitary Authority has been in existence ten years.
3. 'That the conditions so well known to be associated with the prevalence of enteric fever, namely, conditions favouring the excremental poisoning of air breathed or of water drunk, are very widely prevalent in Penistone.
4. 'That efficient means of isolation and of disinfection, which are the only effectual means for staying the spread of scarlet-fever, are not available in Penistone.'

Local Government Board, R. Thorne Thorne. 12th May 1879.

The 1878 Penistone Almanack also lamented the state of affairs in 'Local Notes' - which began with:
'The vital questions affecting the future of Penistone still remain unsolved. Plans are proposed, discussions ensue, but the difficulty of providing a supply of water and an efficient drainage scheme, with limited funds, still remain. Of real progress there is little to record, except in the making of streets.'

A lot of new houses were being built at the time. Regarding house occupancy, it seems that there were more than five people per house locally:
'Taking the Registrar General's average of five individuals to each house, this will give a population of 1990 as compared with 1557 at the census six years ago; but there can be little doubt in the mind of anyone having a knowledge of the locality that both the average in a house and the total population in the township is considerably higher than the number given.'

Back to health matters. From the sparsely-worded Penistone UDC 1895 Report:
'The essential thing - an efficient sewerage system - is still wanting, and until such a system is carried out, a satisfactory sanitary condition is an impossibility.'

It wouldn't have been much better in the larger towns and cities. Before the days of extensive street lighting, we can glean from certain Victorian stories (not printable here) that it was not uncommon for people to relieve themselves wherever and whenever they could, perhaps in a dark corner, among the bushes or behind a wall.

We can get an idea about the rate of progress from a health report in the next century, Penistone UDC 1902 Report:
'Among the numerous nuisances, one of the most widely complained of has been the emanation of sewer-gas from the man-holes in the centre of the roadways.' At least the sewers were in place by then, but rather smelly. It goes on: 'The cleansing of ashpits, closets, &c., was let by contract, and certainly there were some improvements, but the condition of a large proportion of these is still disgraceful.'

The 19th Century
An interesting century which started with land inclosures (also called enclosures) which divided up common land (the commons) for use by agriculture. This caused hardship for some of the poorest people who had kept a few animals and planted a few crops on the commons but it made farming more efficient for others. Peasant farmers would often lose out from inclosures and become factory fodder in the larger towns as a survival strategy. In many cases, several families together would be crammed into insanitary city slums.

The war with Napoleonic France resulted in another win on our side, with the sea battle of Trafalgar (1805) led by Admiral Horatio Nelson and the battle of Waterloo (1815) led by the Duke of Wellington. Two-nil to the Brits. By the way, history revisionists would wrongly like to 'cancel' Lord Nelson as a supposed supporter of slavery. He wasn't. Britain ruled the waves in those days and the sun didn't set on the British Empire, that is, the pink bits on the atlas.

Public mobility improved greatly during this century, starting from better road-building and then taking off during the rapid expansion of the railways from the middle of the century. Now people could easily travel between towns and even take day trips to the seaside. British roads had started the century in a generally poor condition, often little more than mud tracks as we can determine from the maps of the time, although some toll roads were an improvement. Mortimer's road was one of the main ones in our area, having been built in the century before but Mr Mortimer chose it to go in the little-used direction from Penistone Bridge to Grindleford. The main method of travelling any distance on land had been by horse or horse-drawn coaches until the railways arrived, when they and some coaching houses went into decline. Where canals were available, they were used the most by freight traffic.

The railways also connected Penistone with Huddersfield, Sheffield and Manchester but not directly to Barnsley at the time. Penistone had been culturally closer to Huddersfield than Barnsley, with the opening ceremony of Penistone's new Town Hall (Paramount) in the next century being performed by Alderman E Woodhead JP of Huddersfield. The line from Penistone via Oxspring viaduct to Wath was for the steelworks and did not carry passengers.

The River Don was a particular advantage to water-powered textile and other mills. Penistone's own breed of sheep would produce strong wool to make warm winter clothing. Woollen cloth-making had been particularly prevalent in the Thurlstone area from the late mediaeval period. Sheep-farming was an essential part of this. We can still find weaver's cottages in Thurlstone. The River Don powered the water wheels for various textile processes, such as fulling mills, scribbling mills and a dye mill. With the expansion of railways and factories, the iron and steel-making industry became more prominent in our area during this century, as the cottage textile industry went into decline into the early part of the 20th century. Although power looms had started in parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire in the 1820s, they were not very evident in our area. Other industries would bloom, such as Gittus coachworks and the Cubley brewery. Agriculture declined sharply between 1860 and 1880, (V of B Graph).

People did not usually remove far from their roots in those days as it would fall upon the village or town to give subsistence support to anyone without the means to live. Pauperism was rife but the authorities took a stern view of the poor, as though they had brought it upon themselves. Workhouses popped up to accommodate the poor in return for hard work. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1839 allowed Poor Law Unions to become established. The Penistone Poor Law Union was formed in 1849 and the Penistone Workhouse was started in 1859 at Netherfields to be opened in 1861.

Although Penistone had been an important trading centre since its market received the 1699 Royal Charter (and before) its important grew with the railways and the iron and steelworks. Before those days, Thurlstone had been more populous but Penistone would soon overtake it. Between 1850 and 1900, the population density (Graph) for the Barnsley area rose from about 1.5% to about 4.5% of persons per hectare. It was less than 1% in 1800.

Local administration became more formalised and better-organised, with an increasing requirement for public services, better sanitation and water supply, control of offenders, workhouse support, street lighting, refuse disposal, burial requirements and so on. Local Boards were succeeded by the Urban or Rural District Councils, such as Penistone UDC, Penistone RDC, Thurlstone UDC and Hoylandswaine UDC. Penistone's churchyard was being overwhelmed and the Burial Board of the Ecclesiastic Parish of Penistone was formed in 1870, with the new Stottercliff cemtery opened in 1880. See Stottercliffe Cemetery.

Schooling and education in general became increasingly important through this century, with people becoming more literate and numerate. Of course, the Grammar School had been in existence for centuries near the church and would continue there until the end of the century but with a few bumps on the way, as its teaching standards bounced up and down like a yoyo. At one point the Charity Commission had to intervene with an inquiry. A Girls' Free School was built on Church Street with a house for the Schoolmistress and opened in 1823. This was part-funded by the National School Society and charitable donation and it became known as the National School. The building became part of St John's School in later times. It is now used as a children's nursery. Sunday schools also popped up in Thurlstone, at Netherfield chapel (officially 'in Thurlstone') and in Penistone. Upper Denby's First School was opened in 1864 but had started as Denby National School. Spring Vale School would have to wait until 1909.

With better schooling becoming available for more children, public literacy was steadily improving during this century and its importance was generally acknowledged. Good education needed a supply of books and the library movement was gaining pace towards the end of the century with public meetings to establish a library. Penistone's turn would not come until the Carnegie Free Library opened in 1913 in what is now part of the Town Hall building.

Water and Sanitation was moving from the primitive towards the functional in this century but had a long way to go before it would be safe, even into the next century. Poor water quality and leakage from privies and middens was leading to outbreaks of deadly diseases and death. Various health reports from Penistone Urban District Council were issued from towards the end of the century up to the 1960s and can be found at Archive.org. See the section on Water Supply and Sanitation above this one.

Among the technical advantages, street and home lighting would have been some of the best. At the start of the century, houses would be lit by oil lamp or candle. In 1858, a gas company was started in Penistone by Mr Unwin. In 1869, Gas lights would illuminate Penistone streets for the first time, ready in time for Christmas. There would be a gas explosion the year after in the (old) Rose and Crown, caused by a servant girl carrying a candle. St Paul's chapel would be lit by gas in 1873. So we would have had gas lighting is some homes while they were also still using candles. In living memory, there were still some gas-lit houses: a Thurlstone house on Matthew Gap until 1964 when its tenant died and, on the outskirts of Sheffield, a shop run by two old ladies was gas-lit until around 1972. The 'Penistone, Thurlstone and Oxspring Gas Company' (Managing Director, Herbert Unwin) supplied gas using the Penny-in-the-Slot meter by 1899. Of course, better indoor lighting would allow for more activity in the evenings, such as reading; in effect extending the day. Electricity would come a lot later.

Penistone's streets would have had local names for a long time but they were not officially named and numbered for postal purposes until 1888. Some names would change, such as Green Lane becoming Green Road. What we now call the High Street was 'Penistone street' or 'Town street' before the change. Incidentally, whilst the generic term 'High Street' would be expected to span all of our town centre shops, in Penistone the High Street only reaches to Gregg's shop (opposite Park Avenue) with the remainder to St Mary's Street being 'Market Street' - a confusing point to any new businesses there.

Graphs from 'Vision of Britain'. Textile story influenced by SY Timescapes.

Penistone and Thurlstone in 1841
An article in the 1914 Penistone Almanack, referring to earlier Directories (Search Archive.org):

'Some interesting facts relating to Penistone are to be found in old Directories and, from one published in 1841 by a John Pigott, we find that at that time, woollen cloth was manufactured in the neighbourhood but not to a great extent and that the general trade of the place was of a very confined nature. It appears that there five woollen cloth manufacturers, viz., Messrs. Hy. and Wm. Bray, John Crosland Milner, Geo. Moorhouse, Wm. Moorhouse and Son, and Thomas Tomasson. A stone quarry near the town, the property of Messrs. Brown and Rusby, produced stone of a very superior quality, which was sent to London and other parts of the kingdom. There is a list of stonemasons given, and of the five, four are called Marsh.

'The Rev. Thos. King, B.A., was the then incumbent of Penistone, and the Rev. Samuel Sunderland, B.A., his curate. Mr King had a wooden leg and, living at Wakefield, rarely visited Penistone, and Mr. Sunderland was Master of the Free School (Boys). The Rev. Jas. Buckley was at Netherfield, and amongst the gentry was Mr. Samuel Hadfield, and it is interesting to remember that one scholar at the Grammar School at the present time has his fees paid by the Trustees of Samuel Hadfield's Foundation.

'Of tradesmen there was a large proportion, and we find we had four blacksmiths, eight boot and shoe makers, four butchers, six cattle dealers, two coopers (both at Thurlstone), 16 grocers, five millers, eight tailors, and four wheelwrights. In addition, the doctors numbered three, all resident in Penistone, viz., John Booth, Richard Savile Jackson, and John Shackleton. Mr. John Hawksworth was postmaster. The railways had not reached Penistone but coaches ran to Huddersfield and to Nottingham, calling at the Rose and Crown, then kept by Jonathan Brown, son of "Old Rumbo."

'There were the "Black Bull," "Black Swan," "Blue Ball," "Blacksmith's Arms," the "Fleece," the "Horns," " Dog and Partridge," "Millers' Arms," "New Inn," "Old Crown," "Plough and Harrow," "Spread- Eagle," "Travellers' Inn," and the "White Hart." Among the joiners we find Josh. Downing, John Hawley, Richard Lawton, Uriah Tinker, and Mell in Wilkinson. Cotton twining and silk winding were carried on by Joseph Milner at Ingbirchworth, and Mr John Wainwright, of Thurlstone, was a hair cloth manufacturer, and Mr. Wm. Wainwright was a rope and twine maker.

'The letters arrived from Barnsley every morning at 10.30am and were dispatched at 12.30pm. The parish of Penistone contained at the then last census (1831) 5200 inhabitants, of which number 700 were returned, for the township. Thurlstone's population was 1600, and Ingbirchworth's 400. There were places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, and the Society of Friends, and two endowed schools. Miss Blount was mistress of the Girls' Free School.'

John Marsh and Association Football
John Marsh had become Landlord of the Crystal Palace in Thurlstone upon the retirement of his mother in 1974. He also started the pub's football club in October the same year. He had been born in Thurlstone in 1842 and learnt his football skills as a pupil of Penistone Grammar School under the guidance of PGS Headmaster Rev'd Samuel Sunderland (see Vicars), who was also the vicar of Penistone church. Sunderland had studied at Cambridge University and played football there. He brought their football rules back to Penistone.

As a keen footballer, John Marsh became founder and Captain of Sheffield Wednesday FC in 1867 and he would serve many years as Secretary of the Sheffield Football Association. He won the Cromwell Cup in 1868 with the Sheffield Wednesday Club. From 1871 to 1874, he established the Crystal Palace Football Club was Captain of the Sheffield Association representative side. We could say that John laid down the foundation of Association Football in the district and beyond, and became the catalyst for other football clubs to be created. Details from Kevin Neill.

There is more about this in the Penistone Church FC Book available from Penistone Church Football Club, Cafe Creme and Penistone Royal British Legion. Also see Steve Lavender's Story from the Stones 18 titled: 'Penistone Church Football Club 1906' for more about local football history. The Crystal Palace background can be found on the Old Inns page.

Royalty During This Period
The Hanoverians came to power in difficult circumstances that looked set to undermine the stability of British society. The first of their Kings, George I, was only 52nd in line to the throne, but the nearest Protestant according to the Act of Settlement. Two descendants of James II, the deposed Stuart king, threatened to take the throne, and were supported by a number of 'Jacobites' throughout the realm. See The British Monarchy.

The Hanoverians, from 1714 to 1901:

• 1714 - 1727, George I
• 1727 - 1760, George II
• 1760 - 1820, George III
• 1820 - 1830, George IV
• 1830 - 1837, William IV
• 1837 - 1901, Victoria

Longevity and Population in the 19th Century
This little chart from Penistone Almanack 1900 gives some idea of Birth and Death Rates in Thurlstone from 1894 to 1898. It is not clear why the death rate increased so much in four years. A smallpox outbreak had visited two years previously. The population chart below that is from 'A History of the Parish of Penistone' (1906), by John Ness Dransfield.

Masters of the Penistone Hounds
From the 1891 Penistone Almanack:

• Sir Elias de Midhope, 1260, et seq.
• The Wilsons of Broomhead Hall.
• The Wortleys of Wortley Hall.
• Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury.
• The Riches of Bullhouse Hall.
• The Wilsons of Broomhead Hall.
• The Fentons of Underbank Hall.
• Captain William Ellis, Midhope Hall, died 1807.
• Mr. John Greaves, Ranah, 1807 to 1829.
• A Committee, Messrs. Joseph Sanderson, John Beaumont, John Brownhill, Joseph Walshaw, and others for a short time, and then,
• Mr Joseph Parkin Hague, of Blackmoor, 1829 to 1843.
• Mr Joseph Sanderson, Thurgoland, 1843 to 1847.
• Mr Charles Greaves, Ranah, 1847 to 1857.'
• Mr Hugh Tomasson, Thurlstone, 1857 to 1875.
• Mr John Windle Taylor, Wortley, 1875 to 1876.
• Mr William Dransfield, Oxspring, 1876 to 1887.
• Mr Charles Chapman, Carlecotes Hall, 1887.

Treasurer, Mr TW Stones; Secretary, Mr JN Dransfield; Huntsman, Mr James Mitchell; Whip, Mr Henry Kaye.

The Hounds
In order of age, oldest to youngest:
9: Dimple,
8: Cryer,
7: Thunder,
6: Bilberry, Wonder,
5: Buxom, Welcome, Bernard, Myrtle, Sampsom, Trimmer, Banker, Bannister,
3: Dauntless, Nelson, Vestna, Dusty, Lily, Railywood, Glenville,
2: Waterford, Singer, Songster, Solomon, Simon, Salmon, Ringlet, Riot, Reckless,
1: Bismark, Bouncer, Dainty, Ranger and Major.

The Channel Tunnel
We assume this to be a phenomenon of the 20th Century, but here it is in the 1879 Penistone Almanack:

Operations connected with the submarine tunnel have already begun on the other side of the Channel, several pits having been sunk to the depth of 110 yards. At the same time the French and English committees have definitely drawn up the conditions of working for the route. The property of the tunnel is to be divided in half by the length - that is to say, each company will possess half of the line, reckoning the distance from coast to coast at low tide. Each company will cover the expenses of its portion. The general work of excavation will be done, on the one hand by the Great Northern of France, and on the other by the Chatham and South-Eastern Companies, the two latter having each a direct route from London to Dover. All the materials of the French and English lines will pass through the tunnel in order to prevent unnecessary expenses and delay of transhipment, as in England and in France railway companies use each other's lines, and goods can pass from one line to another without changing vans. It is understood that an arrangement will be established for a similar exchange of lines between all the English and continental railway companies when the tunnel is completed. The tunnel will belong to its founders. At the expiration of thirty years the two Governments will be able to take possession of the tunnel upon certain conditions.

Oddly enough, any customs considerations did not appear in the text. Presumably it was not a serious issue at the time.

Atmospheric Polution
Another one that we associate with modern times, but an article in the 1880 Penistone Almanack took it seriously. This was at a time when every home and factory billowed out sulphurous smoke from coal fires and boilers. The article came from 'Engineer':

The Atmosphere of Large Towns
'In speaking of the sulphuric impurities in the air breathed in towns, Mr. J Mactear has stated in a paper read before the Society of Arts, that in well-constructed furnaces, where there is consequentIy no leakage of air into the flues, there is nearly 400 cubic feet of air passing for 1lb. of coal consumed; and taking an average of 1.5 per cent of sulphur in the coal, there is, therefore, equal to 0.665 grains of sulphuric acid per cubic foot of escaping gases, as compared to 0.2 grains of hydrochloric acid from condensers. He takes the coal consumed annually in Great Britain at 114,043,940 tons, and which at I per cent sulphur will give 3,500,000 tons of oil of vitriol escaping into the atmosphere, as compared to 44.716 tons from sulpuric acid works. It must, however, be admitted that it is difficult to lay down exact data from the percentage of sulphur in coal, for the estimation of sulphurous acid generated combustion, owing to some kinds of coal containing more lime than others, which necessarily retains part of the sulphur in the ash. The only reliable or satisfactory plan would appear to be the testing of the atmosphere in different localities.'

Sources Used in the Timeline
The Books:

• Ref 1. From 'A History of Penistone and District' by Prof. David Hey. ISBN 978-1-903425-21-3.
• Ref 2. From Penistone Almanack 1984, published by The Penistone and District Society with assistance from Mr H Gordon Wood, grandson of the original Almanack's Founder, Mr John Wood.
• Ref 3. From 'Images of England - Penistone', by Matthew Young and David Hambleton. (still current), ISBN: 1-84588-169-9.
• Ref 4. From 'West Riding Directory 1937.'
• Ref 5. From 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' 1890, by John Wood (posthumously), Penistone Postmaster who died 4th July 1888 (Dransfield Cabinet).
• Ref 6. From Penistone Almanack, 1953.
• Ref 7. From 'A History of the Parish of Penistone', 1906, John Ness Dransfield (Dransfield Cabinet). From an early copy with the author's margin notes. Page numbers might differ on later versions. Some versions were named 'A History of Penistone'
• Ref 8. From a website: 'The Town of Penistone' notes by Frank A Wilson.
• Ref 9. From Penistone Almanack, 1877 (Dransfield Cabinet).
• Ref 10. From 'Colours of Penistone' by Michael Fitton (Dransfield Cabinet).
• Ref 11. The 'Wainwrights of Penistone Parish' Personal genealogy site.
• Ref 12. From Penistone Almanack, 1901.
• Ref 13. From Penistone Almanack, 1904.
• Ref 14. From 'The Making of South Yorkshire' by Prof. David Hey. Moorland Publishing, ISBN 0-903485-44-3.
• Ref 15. From IEEE Journal, April 1955.
• Ref 16. From 'The Penistone Guide', issued by Penistone Town Council, 1991.
• Ref 17. From 'The Penistone Scene' by local historian RN Brownhill assisted by J Smethurst, published 1987. ISBN 0-947934-16-2 (p'back), also -15-4 (h'back)
• Ref 18. From 'This was the Woodhead Route' by SR Batty, published 1981 (just after the line closed) by Ian Allen Ltd. ISBN 0-9110-1140-0
• Ref 19. From the Charity Commissioner's Report (West Riding and Sheffield) pub. 1898, in its own right which refers to 'the Report of 1827', viewable in Huddersfield Local History library.
• Ref 20. From The Denby Dale Pies - 'Ten Giants', ISBN 978-1-84563-153-6, pub 2012 by Denby author Chris Heath.
  Obtainable from the Yorkshire Shop, Wakefield Road, Denby Dale,
• Ref 21. 'It Happened in t' Pub' by local historian, the late Neville Roebuck. This typewritten book is available in the Local History section of Penistone Library to borrow or read.
• Ref 22. From Penistone Almanack, 1915. Information from Penistone History Group archives.
• Ref 23. From Penistone Almanack, 1900.
• Ref 24. From 'Penistone Reflections', subtitled 'Penistone Market Charter 1699 - 1999'. A metal-comb bound book with loose pages and no ISBN, published by WEA.
• Ref 25. 'The Stories Behind the Names - Penistone War Memorial 1914-1919' (no ISBN). Based upon work by the late Rev. Richard Weller, continued by Penistone History Group/Archive Group and Janet and Rex Dyson. Available locally, £10. Published 2014
• Ref 26. From Penistone Almanack, 1925.
• Ref 27. Details from Archeological Archive on the Demolition of Netherfield in preparation ready for the latest incarnation of Penistone Grammar School.
• Ref 28. Details from PGS, an Archaeological Building Record (pdf), on the Archealogical Data Service site.
• Ref 29. From the writings of local historian Mrs Margaret Marsh (nee Winterbottom). See also the Winterbottom Wire Drawer's page.
• Ref 30. Printed notes from 'Remarkable Occurrences and Interesting Dates' J Wood 1890, passed on by Cllr Brenda Hinchliffe, for which many thanks.
• Ref 31. 'Penistone and the Peak District in Wartime' by John N Ownsworth, published 2018 (no ISBN). Available from Penistone Archive Group, £25.
• Ref UDM. From 'Upper Don Watermills' by Vera Nicholson. ISBN 1874718-63-6, The Hallamshire Press Ltd.

Some small details were added from 'An Explorer's Guide to Penistone & District', 2006, a few leaflets describing local walks and some anecdotal remarks from Penistone people. Where information is anecdotal, it has been marked as such.