Hello List, It's all a bit quiet at the moment on the list so has anyone any interesting family or local history related stories that they could share with others or any recent successes in their research to share that may be of interest?.............also, how about any interesting articles you might have that may be of use to others? How about posting your research names again just to see if anyone can make a connection? Here's a short article taken from a booklet I have called "Where t'watter runs o'er weir" (A look back at Sheffield's Watermills) by the late Roy Davey. This article gives a good insight into the conditions that the Sheffield Grinders worked in, hope that someone finds it useful. ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG? The grinding fraternity, on the whole, were a jovial devil may care lot, working hard and playing hard, with scant thought of the morrow, yet in retrospect one wonders how this frame of mind could be maintained in an occupation so fraught with the hazards to life and limb as was the grinding trade. Working in the cold wet conditions which were common to all the Grinding Hulls, by itself must have had the effect of lowering the resistance of the hardiest of men, making them subject to rheumatism and pneumonia and bronchitis, etc. Then there was the ever present danger from bursting stones, which could easily kill or maim the unfortunate grinder who happened to be sitting over it at the time. Also the primitive equipment used in the manipulation of the heavy stones in such confined spaces contributed to the possibility of accidents. But easily outweighing all these delitescent menaces by far in the lifestyle of the grinder was the insidious "Grinders Complaint." For many years it had been noticed that the grinders were subject to an ailment that affected their breathing, an ailment which was often referred to as "Grinder's Asthmas" and about which little was understood, and about which little was done. Perhaps in the early years, the effect was not so pronounced, for the reason that grinding in most cases was only part of the work undertaken by the operator, be he scythe maker or cutler, and hence the worker was not bent over the Wheel all day and every day, inhaling the deadly dust, as became the case later, when trade had developed and the divisions of labour became more general. When manufacturing became organised on the lines of factory working, and the various processes were broken up and undertaken by a specialist in one operation, then the grinder was condemned to spend all his working day at the wheel and as a consequence, he was exposed to the dangerous dust for longer periods. It is true that some of the grinding operations were less dangerous than others. In the ones where the wheel was running in water in order to keep the work piece from becoming overheated by the removal of excess metal, the water helped to keep the dust down. Even the wheels that were worked wet, were not completely free from menace, the natural consistency of the sandstone is not always uniform throughout the body of the stone disc, and in the course of its use it was often found that the wheel had worn out of true, a condition which not only made it difficult to work upon but also made it hazardous with the increased possibility that the wheel could jump from it's bearing with a devastating effect. To guard against this possibility, the grinder would find it necessary to periodically "Dress" the wheel in order to restore it to the condition in which it would run true and safely. This truing up of the stone wheel was achieved by a sort of adze, called a "pecker," which was used to chip or hack away the sandstone, and it was also used when required to roughen the face of the stone after it had worn smooth. This wheel dressing was the cause of much of the stone dust that found its way into the lungs of the poor grinders. This was what caused "Grinder's Asthma." This caused the "Grinder's Complaint," the inhalation of stone and metal dust. It was this that caused what we know of today as "Silicosis" which was responsible for the early death of hundreds of Sheffield grinders, dying at the age when they should have been in the prime of their lives. Early attempts were made to overcome this menace to the health of the grinders, but nothing very effective was done and they continued to die young, and indeed the increase in specialisation brought an increase in the rate of mortality. Mr. G.H. Lloyd in his classic work on "The Cutlery Trade" (London 1913) gives us some very eloquent figures relating to the mortality of the workers in the grinding trade. He states that in 1830 to 1840 four out of five Fork Grinders died between the ages of 20 and 39 years. In 1865 the average age at death of Scissor Grinders was 32 years, Edge Tool Grinders was 32 years and Table Knife Grinders was 35 years. And he went on to say that of 290 Razor Grinders working at that time, only 21 had achieved the age of 50. Dr. J.C. Hall reported that out of 40 grinders who were working in one Wheel in the year 1895, only 10 were still alive in the year 1907. The increasing mortality rate of the grinders was only finally checked by the introduction of efficient dust extraction equipment and then by the development of synthetic stones and mechanical methods of grinding. Those poor victims of our industrial past, dying around the age of thirty to thirty-five, gasping for breath, with their lungs lined with stone dust, possibly contributed as much to the glory of their motherland as did the hundreds of Red Coated Soldiers whose lives were expended on the Battle Fields of The Empire - but they died unsung. Best Wishes Jeremy Crawshaw (Temp. List Admin) Crookes SHEFFIELD RESEARCHING Paternal Line CRAWSHAW (Dungworth / Storrs / Hilltop / Stannington / Bradfield / Hillsborough, Sheffield) HORSFIELD (Bradfield / Wadsley / Loxley, Sheffield) IBBOTSON (Bradfield) BARBER (Stannington, Bradfield) DRABBLE (Stannington, Bradfield) BRAMALL (Storrs / Hilltop / Stannington, Bradfield) MORTON (Stannington / Bradfield, Sheffield) SHARP(E) (Dronfield, Dbys / Roscoe Wheel, Rivelin / Stannington, Bradfield) BRADWELL (Bradwell & Hope, Derbyshire / Stannington, Bradfield & Hillsborough, Sheffield) GOODISON (Stannington, Bradfield) OATES (Stannington, Bradfield) JENKINSON (Stannington & Wadsley, Sheffield) MARSHALL (Stannington, Hunshelf, Deepcar) LOY (Stannington, Bradfield) WOOD (Hillsborough / Heeley, Sheffield) THOMAS (Boston, Lincolnshire & Hillsborough, Sheffield) CHAMBERS (Butterwick, Lincolnshire) Maternal Line HARTLEY (Morley/Holbeck, Leeds & Sheffield ) HOLLOWAY (Sheffield) FELL (Sheffield) FELL-HOLLOWAY (Sheffield) SHAW (Addy St, Upperthorpe, Sheffield & Ulley, Aston Parish) DRAKE (St. Philip's Rd, Sheffield) BEHR & BOTCHER (Liban, Russia) ---------------------------------------------------- Outgoing Mail protected by: NORTON Internet Security 2004 Updated: 21st May 2005 ----------------------------------------------------

I have just finished scanning and transcribing Reminiscences of Rotherham, (Published in 1927 ) by Alderman Geo. Gummer, J.P. It contains names of some Rotherham families of the time. There is a Search on site http://www.rotherhamweb.co.uk/h/gummer/index.htm Sue ----- Original Message ----- From: Jeremy Crawshaw To: ENG-SHEFFIELD-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 4:15 PM Subject: [SHEFF] Family/Local History Stories & Surname Interests etc. Hello List, It's all a bit quiet at the moment on the list so has anyone any interesting family or local history related stories that they could share with others or any recent successes in their research to share that may be of interest?.............also, how about any interesting articles you might have that may be of use to others?