A Letter from 1932
and a Note from 1942
This is a transcription of a
hand-written
letter written by Alice Southworth (née Shaw, later Shaw-Herling) to her brother, the first
William Herlingshaw and his wife Sarah Ann:
Oak Dene
15 Addison Road
Preston
Lancs
Sept. 20th 1932
I have had two letters
returned but I have found the right address now
When are some of you coming
to race us?
Please write very soon and
let us know about policy
My Dear Will and Sarah and all,
I sincerely hope this letter finds you and yours in
good health and good work too.
I do not know if it is my turn or yours to write but
if it is mine I must apologise for not writing before but anyhow
here I am now.
We have been on our holidays to Annie’s in Yorkshire
and I could not get to know how far off we were from Grangetown but
I thought we could not be all that far because we went to York races
one of the days and we saw a Chara load of women and it had on the
back Grangetown
You remember Annie don’t you from Shirland, she was
asking about you, she lives at Goldthorpe Nr – Rotherham. Aunt
Lizzie and Uncle Jim from Shirland have been at Mother’s a week but
have gone back now.
Ah! By the way Mother wants to know if you would
like to have your policy which she has paid so long for you it is
3½d per week and is a good policy with bonus but Mother thought you
might like to have it, but Will if work is not so good or anything
like that I will take it over from her, don’t mistake my meaning
now, but
Mother has not as much coming in now and is economising I think.
She says I am to give you each one her love and hopes you are all
well. I daresay your boys are growing up by now also your little
girl. Tell Sarah to drop me a line sometime but I think she is like
me (very neglectful of writing letters) but you know how busy I am
kept with my housework and cooking and the Club as well don’t you?
I have got that thin lately that I hardly dare stand sideways for
fear of being marked absent, but never mind. I am here yet so
that’s not so bad Eh? All the millworkers are out on strike in
Lancashire here and things are very bad here, it makes a mess of
everything doesn’t it, they have been out five weeks now. All our
children send their love to you all, have you any photographs for me
of any of you?
Well now I shall really have to close hoping you will
forgive scribble. Now please accept my best love to all from your
affect sister Alice also Alf
"Mother" was Mary Jane Shaw, by then Mary
Jane Hargreaves after her second marriage in 1927 to Robert. "Aunt
Lizzie" was Elizabeth Ann, an older sister of Mary Jane who married
coal miner James Smedley ("Uncle
Jim") and lived in Shirland. James was born about 1855 and died in
1934.
"Oak Dene'",15 Addison Road was a seven
room house not far from the location of the Butchers & Commercial
Hotel in Brook Street. In 1911 it was occupied by Lavinia Ellen
Seed, a widowed yeast dealer with her three children and her retired
sister Mary who provided domestic services. In 1941/42 Alice and Alf
had moved across the street to 22 Addison Road.
The "More Looms Strike" started in
Burnley at the end of August 1932 and became a national strike. It
was resolved on the 28th September, just over a week after this
letter was written. The workers were mostly women who started at 6am
and finished at 6pm and the owners wanted to reduce their pay.
One of the largest Preston mills was Tulketh, just along from
Alice's house in what is today called Blackpool Road from Alice's house. Now it is a Carphone
Warehouse call centre.
The "club" would have been the
Conservative Club in nearby Moor Park. Both Alice and Alf worked at
a club in
1939. However, in 1936 Alf was listed as the licensee at the
Butchers and Commercial.
Here is Alice. This
photo was taken in Bolton by Arthur Shaw (a relative ?) who had a photography
studio at 160 St Georges Road, at some time between 1911 and 1923.
Below is a transcription of a handwritten note sent to William and
Sarah Herlingshaw, author uncertain but might also
have been Alice. It was obviously
written in 1941 or 1942:
This is your Mother's adress
Mrs & Mr R. Hargreaves
Oaker Side (named
after Mary Jane's birthplace in Derbyshire, actually the street number
was
11)
Sharoe Green Lane
Broughton
Preston
Lancashire
Off course you will see
by her adress that she has married again nearly fifteen years ago.
These are Uncle Jims
boys addresses
Mr & Mrs John Shaw
45 Racecourse Road
Newbold
Chesterfield
Derbyshire
& Alfred & Charles
live with Jack
This is Lizzie's
adress, she lives in London now
Mrs T Woodhouse
111, Howard Road
Upminster
Essex
Alices is
Mr & Mrs A. Southworth
22 Addison Road
Preston
Lancashire
It is clear that the William Herlingshaw
family did not stay in close contact with their relatives in Preston
or Derbyshire. Uncle Jim here was James Shaw (1857-1935), a brother
of Mary Jane's who married Charlotte Slater and had three sons, John
(aka Jack), Alfred and Charles. It is not clear who "Lizzie" is in
this context, it is unlikely to be the same Lizzie that married
James Smedley as she would then have been about 86. 111 Howard Road
in Upminster still exists, it is a 1930s bungalow. The original
William Herlingshaw and his son Louis Raymond visited Lizzie (or
perhaps a daughter?) at this
address in Upminster in about 1950 and according to Louis Raymond she was about 55
at the time. He also said they did not get a very warm welcome from
Lizzie's husband.
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