Hello again Andrea, I am still on the trail of the parents of James FIELDEN who in 1881(aged 39) was living at No.4 Dobroyd with his wife Elizabeth. Thanks to some co-operative effort with Linda and having had access to Brian Law's "Fieldens of Todmorden" and Linda Croft's "John Fielden's Todmorden" I am a little clearer about the immediate ancestry of James. It was in Ramshaw's "Concerning Todmorden Parish" that I discovered that James was living at 2 Sanworth Street since his name and address in 1911 was written in the book which is clearly a family heirloom. The book records that "...the old church is fortunate,too, in her devoted veteran choirmaster Mr. James Fielding, of Sanworth Street who has played so honorable a part in the musical life of Todmorden....well known as a successful teacher of sight reading by means of the Lancashire sol-fa system". (I am no musician but what is the Lancashire sol-fa system as against any other sol-fa system?). He was appointed choirmaster on 9th June 1895 and he came to st. Mary's from Harley Wood church where he had served as organist and choirmaster in succession to the late Mr. Thomas Law (a possible ancestor of Linda). He was married at the "Church at Cross Stone 18th May 1963 to Elizabeth BARKER, dau. of William (a Carter). James's father was William (a Sadler (sic)). The lowly background of James and his father indicates that although part of the FIELDEN tribe they were, as were Linda's CROSSLEY ancestors, not too well endowed with brass! Their respective addresses were "Crescent" and "Back Brook Street". For what it is worth the witnesses at the marriage were Stephen HIRST, Samuel N. FIELDEN, Sarah ORMEROD, and Mary FIELDEN. As a final footnote inside the book (CTP) was a small envelope posted in 1885 from New York addressed in a "copper plate" hand to Miss Ruth FIELDEN, Harley House Mill,Blind Lane, Todmorden, England. James and Elizabeth had a dau. Ruth. Does this address have any modern meaning? I am still preparing the index of names mentioned in CTP. Sorry for the length of this message. Kind regards, Ernest (Southport, Lancs.) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrea Calman" <ahc@ivysystems.freeserve.co.uk> To: <ENG-TODMORDEN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 10:30 PM Subject: RE: [ENG-TOD] William Fielden / Harley Wood > Dear Ernest/Linda, and of course everyone else, > > My 'ear's pricked up when I read something about Harley Wood - this is > where my house is, and therefore where many of the people I have > investigated have lived. Harley Wood is in Lineholme near Lydgate, which is > now just called Lydgate, is situated 1.5 miles along the Burnley Valley > from the centre of town. I can't open my database to check on names just at > the moment, but I will soon and see if I can find anything on William > Fielden. Have you already posted a message about him, or do you have any > other information about him that could indicate a match? Out of interest, > the Ramsbotham family owned a large proportion of land and property at > Harley Wood (among other parts of town including Centre Vale). A lot of the > people living in this area were either farmers or mill workers (or both). > There were many mills up this part of the valley including the rather large > Robinwood Mill (owned by the Rambothams, but later sold to the Fieldens). > > And what's this about story's of bell ropes? Am I missing out?! I would > also love to collect stories about Todmorden if any one would like to send > me some, as I am a bit of an oddball in that I am not actually researching > my own family - just the social and geneological history of the people of > Todmorden in anyway linked to the original owners of my house, their > workplace, their friends & relatives. And it's surprising where it has led > me - the most interesting find was a link to Constance Brocklehurst, who > ended up as mother of the 9th Earl Fitwilliam of Wentworth Woodhouse (the > largest stately home in the country at the time). Constance was the neice > of John Fielden (of Dobroyd Castle); it was John who bought up Constance > and her younger brother when they were orphaned. > > Regards > Andrea > > > ---------- > From: Linda[SMTP:Linda.Briggs1@btinternet.com] > Sent: 02 June 2002 14:48 > To: ENG-TODMORDEN-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [ENG-TOD] William Fielden / Harley Wood > > Ernest, > Thankyou for the attachment. It makes very interesting reading. I love the > story of the bell rope with a mind of its own. I am gaining quite a > collection of stories about events in Todmorden. > I have looked through my data for your William Fielden. Most of my data is > of Walsden, a little from the Stansfield side of Todmorden, but not much. > Harley Wood is Stansfield which is in Yorkshire in Halifax Parish. I'm > pleased to say that most of my crew were from the Rochdale and Lancashire > side!! (Only joking - to those of you Yorkshire folk). The only William I > found was aged 20 to 24 in 1841, living with wife Martha (same age) and > daughter Ruth aged 6 months. The family was living with my family at > Ramsden > Wood in Walsden. William was a grocer. The shop was owned by Betty Law (nee > Crossley). Could this be the family? I know you have a Ruth somewhere. If > you think they may still have been in Stansfield in 1841 you need someone > with the Yorkshire 1841 CD to help you. > Thanks again, > Linda > > > > ==== ENG-TODMORDEN Mailing List ==== > Interested in Modern Newspaper Indexes? > http://www.dreamwater.net/genealogy/Newspapers.htm > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, > go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > > > ==== ENG-TODMORDEN Mailing List ==== > Have you used Tree Tops? > The Free FAMILY TREE & WE'LL MEET AGAIN SERVICE > http://freespace.virgin.net/tree.tops > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >