Burnley Historical Society
Newsletter
G.B.Rawcliffe and family
“What do you know of G.B, Rawcliffe?” I was asked recently. Well, the basic facts are that he was born at Bridge End in Burnley in March 1846, one of nine children of Mr, and Mrs. Hindle Rawcliffe. He became an architect, left Burnley and married at Shrewsbury, returning here in about 1881. He died in February 1919, leaving a son and four daughters.
I can add some details that may not be found in Ancestry or such sources, useful though these are. They come to me via my mother and her sisters, who often spoke of the Rawcliffe girls, particularly Lilian, Marion and Mabel. ‘Lil’ printed a tiny self portrait in mother’s Thumb-o-Graph book in 1907. A talented artist she married Tom Rutter, who became a teacher at the Northampton School of Art and is mentioned with great credit by ‘BB’ (D.J. Watkins Pitchford) in his autobiography “A Child Alone” .BB also wrote “Brendon Chase”, superbly illustrated and described by Richard Madeley of the Richard and Judy Book Club on TV as being in his all-time top five. “I read it when I was 13 and still love it. A beautifully written book”.
We had a family holiday at Bournemouth in 1937, when I was 9. From there we went out to New Milton to see one of the Rawcliffe daughters who was living there. Outside her house was a buddleia bush in bloom and full of butterflies. I had never seen one before. Buddleias were rare in the north then.
Whenever we children went to a winter pantomime at the Victoria [Theatre] we would be reminded “Lil’s father designed this theatre!” He also designed his own home ‘The Sycamores’, just below where I live on Manchester Road and Ighten Grange on Padiham Road, where I believe the Probus Club meets.
From quite ordinary beginnings he achieved a lot and by all accounts was a popular and likeable man. I have compiled some notes about him and have donated the to the Community History Library.
Ken Spencer
[A Thumb-o-Graph book seems to be a kind of autograph book with a space besides the signature for a thumb print. How this was achieved without the help of the local constabulary we do not know! Ed.]
Libraries under threat – 7
The umpteenth reorganisation of the Lancashire county Library has resulted, amongst other things, in Community History being transferred from the care of the County Library Manager (formerly known as the County Librarian) to that of the County Heritage Manager who is now responsible for Archives (Record Office), Museums and Community History Libraries.
There is a Senior Community History Manager (Julie Creer) who, we are told, has no library experience or qualifications. Under her there are six Community History Managers for the twelve library districts in Lancashire, of which Burnley is one. We now have to share two of these managers with the Pendle and Ribble Valley Districts so we have, in effect, two thirds of a manager! Our new managers are Sue Holden and Fiona McIntyre who, fortunately for us, are both experienced librarians and have worked in many departments including Community History. They are also both very pleasant and approachable. The downside is that we do not know yet at what times they will be available on a regular basis at our Central Library. The other downside, and this is a sizable one, is that they are not permitted to do duty on the front desk and deal with queries there. Oh! Come back Jean and Janice!
Your Committee is very unhappy at these and other developments and has written a long letter outlining its concern to the County Library Manager (since we know her better than the Community Heritage Manager). We will let you know if this has any effect but do not hold your breath!
DON’T’T FORGET
If you are dissatisfied with level of service you receive in any of Lancashire’s libraries write to:
County Councillor Geoff Driver, 19 Hoylake Close,Fulwood, Preston. PR2 7EB.
Tel: 01772 - 865029 Email: geoffdriver@lancashire.gov.uk
Ken Spencer's writings
Unsurprisingly there are 198 entries in Ken's name in the catalogue and many of these items have already proved of value to other local authors and researchers and to the public in general.
Library Lectures
Stephen Child writes that the next two Library Lectures (travel talks put on at the Mechanics by the library service) may be of interest to members of the Society. The are:
Monday 23 January 2012 “Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Scotland” by Derry Brabbs
Monday 20 February 2012 “Pateley Bridge to Sedbergh: John Henry’s journey in 1879” by Alan Plowright.
Both lectures are at the Mechanics and start at 7.30pm. Tickets at the door cost £2.00.
Society Visit
All members of the group were delighted to have had the opportunity not only to view the reredos but to have been given a very informative tour of the church by Canon Peter Hapgood-Strickland.
Lancashire Record Office
To use the archive, take along proof of identity showing name, address and signature. More information is available from www.archives.lancashire.gov.uk or on 01772 - 533039.
(Information courtesy of The Burnley Express)
Local History Fair
Our Society's Local History Fair was held at St. Peter's Church, Burnley on Saturday,29th October 2011.
Over 20 groups and organisations were represented from Burnley and the surrounding area. The event was opened by the Mayor of Burnley, Councillor David Heginbotham and was a great success as the many visitors were able to wander through the various stalls and displays, reading the information, looking at the illustrations, studying the objects and even buying the occasional book. A tasty lunch was provided by volunteers from St. Peters.
Condolence
It is with sadness that we report the death of Harry Bartram on November 3rd. 2011 aged 92 years. Harry had been a member of Burnley and District Historical Society for over twenty years and held a position on the committee from 1983 up to the time of his death. His last attendance was at the September meeting.
His working life was spent in engineering as a skilled machinist. He also served his union the A.E.U. in many capacities.
He was actively involved in the community as a member of local dramatic societies and The Towneley Hall Society. When the North West sound archives were asking for volunteers Harry made a recording of his experiences for them.
Following the death of his wife Annie, he continued to live in the house in Fairview Road which they had shared for fifty-six years, then in recent years moved into sheltered accommodation. He retained his independence maintaining an active involvement in his many and varied interests and regularly dining out with friends from his various luncheon clubs.
Harry was always modest about his achievements though extremely proud of his family and their achievements and it is to them that we offer our sincere condolences.
Photograph Feature
Our web master has now set up a new service on the web site. This called GALLERY and if you click on this you might see yourself. The first collection of photographs features ones taken at the recent Local History Fair by our Chairman and John Jordan. More will be added covering other activities of the Society.
The first part of our lecture programme has concluded satisfactorily.
Thursday, 8 September, 2011
Dr. John Hargreaves gave a talk entitled "General Scarlett. Radical Burnley and the General revisited”.
After giving a brief outline of General Scarlett's early life in Burnley and his subsequent military career, culminating in the famous charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaklava, Dr. Hargreaves went on to describe in detail the political scene in the Burnley of 1868 when General Scarlett, as the Conservative candidate in Burnley's first general election, clashed with his Liberal opponent local solicitor Richard Shaw. He narrowly lost a bitterly fought contest. This interesting and lively talk was well received.
Dr. Hargreaves is a Burnley man by birth, leaving here in his late teens after an education at Heasandford School and Burnley Grammar School. He is included in one of Ken Spencer's papers. This is "Burnley men of note" and it may be found in the Community History Library. It is in the Reserve Stack at Oversize G2. Ask the staff for it.
The Walter Bennett Memorial Lecture
The Walter Bennett Memorial Lecture was held on October 13th 2011 and was well attended. The lecture was entitled "Burnley in 1861" commemorating the 150th. anniversary of the granting of the Charter of Incorporation of the Borough of Burnley. As President of the Historical Society during his term of office The Worshipful the Mayor of Burnley, Councillor David Neil Heginbotham, was invited to chair the meeting. The Mayor made a short speech and introduced the two speakers.
The speakers were two of Burnley's most well known historians, Councillor Roger Frost M.B.E. and Brian Hall M.B.E. Brian delivered the first half of the lecture by describing what happened in 1861 both nationally and locally and what Burnley was like at this period of time. Roger delivered the second half of the lecture by describing how Burnley was governed before the Charter of Incorporation and the story of local government since then.
The Mayor thanked the speakers afterwards and distributed commemorative badges which he had commissioned in celebration of 150 years of local government to every member of the audience. Copies of Retrospect commemorating the anniversary of the Incorporation were also available for distribution earlier than usual thanks to some hard work by Brian. It was a very enjoyable evening and thanks must go to everyone who contributed to its success.
Thursday, 10 November Peter Iles
Mr. Peter Iles of the Lancashire County Council's Archaeological Department gave an informative PowerPoint presentation on the work of his department. He explained both the remit of the department and how the staff carried out their duties on a day to day basis, illustrating this with many interesting diagrams and photographs of sites and digs throughout the county but concentrating on our own district
Thursday 8th December 2011
Our A.G.M. was held as usual and after the business meeting there was a quiz. This was a Power Point presentation devised by Stephen Child and Brian Hall based on photographs of Lancashire villages. This was received with enthusiasm by the audience which was surprisingly large given the weather.