A Spot on the Map: - Poulton le Fylde, Lancashire: 52 Ancestors Week 35

The small town of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire is at the heart of my Danson family history, with St. Chad’s Church at its focal point where Dansons were baptised, married and buried down the centuries, traced back to the baptism of my GGGG Grandfather John Danson. in 1736. 

St. Chad's Church in a photograph
taken by my uncle Harry Rawcliffe Danson

Poulton is a much older settlement than its more famous neighbour the seaside resort of BlackpooL, four miles to the west.  The Doomsday Book of 1086 recorded three unmade churches in the Fylde, one thought to be St. Chad’s and the first documentary evidence comes from a deed of 1094.  Registers date from 1591 and the oldest part of the present church the Tower dates from before 1638. 

Reminders of the past are visible in the  Market Square, with its market cross, stone slab for selling fish, whipping post, and stocks

 

 

 

 

   The only photograph I have of my great grandfather James Danson,  (1852-1906), the bearded figure  sitting merrily in the stocks. According to my aunt he was a bit of a "ne'er do well). 

 

 The War Memorial War in xthe Square  includes  the names of my two great uncles John and George Danson  who died in the First World War. 

 

 

 

 

St. Chad’s parish at one time encompassed the neighbouring villages of Bispham, Carleton, Clevelys, Hardhorn, Thornton and Staining.

The ancestral trail found the Danson family in Trap Farm, Carleton in the 1841 and 1851 census returns, with great grandfather James Danson born there in 1852.  How did a family of 13 including an uncle, son –in-law  and two servants, all fit into what looked like quite a small farmhouse? 

 

 

Trap Farm,  Carleton

 In 1881 James Danson, his wife Maria Rawcliffe  and two young sons were living in Potts Alley, Poulton, running alongside the church and just off the  Market Square.  Thirty years earlier, Pott’s Alley came in for some condemnation, described in a local history as “the town’s slum quarter…contained some of Poulton’s most squalid overcrowded properties….the subject of severe criticism in a public health report of 1852”.

 

By 1901 the growing Danson family were in a terraced house in Bull Street, just off the Square (since replaced by a small shopping centre).  It must have been cramped living with a family made up of James, Maria, eight surviving sons and one daughter,  and later orphaned granddaughter Annie Maria.  My grandfather William Danson was the first of the brothers to marry in 1907, making his home close by also on Bull Street.

 

 

Bull Street, Poulton.  

 

 

In 1924 the young Danson family  bought a semi-etached house at 146 Blackpool Old Road – with three bedrooms.  I still have the receipt for the deposit of £67.  It looks quite big, but, with only three small bedrooms, it must have still been a squash for parents William Danson and Alice English, 3 daughters (Edith, Kathleen and Peggy) and two sons (Harry and Billy) who all lived at home until they married.  The house had no electricity until the late 1950’s and this remained the family home until the death of my uncle Harry Danson in 2001.

 

It was in this house that I first saw the shoebox of old family photographs, the embroidered cards sent by my grandfather from the battlefields of the First World War, plus other family memorabilia.   This discovery set me at an early age on this fascinating family history journey. 

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Happy Family Twosomes - Sepia Saturday

 A little  boy and girl feature in this week's Sepia Saturday prompt photograph.  Cue for me to show  some of the family photos in my collection.  

 

 

 I  know - a threesome not a twosome, but the two little children seated match the prompt so well .  Here are Florence Annie (born 1894),  Lily (born 1886) & William (born 1891)  - children of Henry Bailey & Annie McAffray of Blackpool, Lancashire,  

my great  grandfather James Danson, who was the youngest in the family of nine. Henry, a stone mason, died at the age of 41 in 1903, leaving his young family fatherless.  

 

This photograph is so sweet, but I know next to nothing about it.   It was in the collection of my great aunt Jennie Danson. At least Jennie had written the names of the children  on the reverse as Jesse and Bernard Penington.  I like the seascape background, and is that a spade that Bernard has in his left hand?    

Here are Janie and Jack Riley, c.1912 - great niece and  nephew of my great grandmother Maria Danson née Rawcliffe.    Jack later served in the navy on HMS Chester in the Battle of Jutland in 1916.  

I have  a postcard sent by Jaxck's mother to my great grandmother to say " Jack went out to sea today.  He went in good spirits".  The postmark is difficult to make out but could be 7.?? 16. 

 

  

Sitting on a regal looking chair, is Elsie Oldham,  my mother's second cousin.  Elsie was a member of the Oldham  family business  of carters and coal merchants in  Blackpool, Lancashire.  Here Elsie is with her cousin Joseph Butler standing behind her - presumably in clean boots!

 

 

 

Stuart and Gloria Smith, children of Elsie above -  looking very angelic with their distinctive fair hair.   

 

 

 More Oldham relations  in their knitted outfits.  

 Another  happy picture from my cousin's collection.  The two girls in their knitted dresses  are Dorothy Lilla Oldham (1915-1989) and Edith Nancy Oldham  (1920-2012),  daughters of James William Oldham. and Edith Keymer.  James' parents had  emigrated to New Zealand in 1906 where they ran a wholesale tobacconists and stationery business on Karangahape Road,  Auckland.  

 

 

 

 

 Happy Sisters - Ella and Edith Smith, daughters of Edward Ingram Smith,.  His was a sad story   of  a handsome youth who showed such promise ,but whose service in the First world War resulted in injury, depression and the breakdown of his marriage.

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 I could not feature a post on children, without showing again photographs of my mother's Danson family  who are at the heart of my family history.   

Below is one of the oldest photographs in my collection, taken c.1908 with my mother Kathleen Danson the baby on the right and her older sister Edith on the left.  Just one year and one week separated them in birth and they remained very close sisters all their lives, with Edith becoming my godmother. 

 

   

Edith and Kathleen at the front of a parade in Poulton le Fylde, Lancashire c. 1911.  

 

 Two  solemn little girls  in this photo taken 1916,  as their father William set out for war.  

 

  

Playing in the garden - Edith (seated) & Kathleen, c.1914

 

And finally  - my brother and I  c.1948 

 

And some 67 years later...... 

 

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Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity to share their family history through photographs.

  

  

Click HERE to wse favourite family photos from other Sepia Saturday bloggers/  

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Flat Caps for Work & Play - Sepia Saturday

Two men in flat caps enjoying a game of darts feature on this week's Sepia Saturday prompt photograph.  I have never thrown a dart in my life, but have thrown many a dice as a child, as parent and grandparent, playing such games as Snakes & Ladders, Ludo , Beetle and Monopoly and hoping to win so me points by throwiNg the elusive Six.  

                        

                    

     

       Photographs courtesy of pixabay.com 

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Likewise I have never worn a flat cap  but,  for many  men,  a flat cap was the popular style - as below.  *

 In Britain flat caps were generally associated with workers in the north of England.   Think of old photographs and newsreels  of men streaming from the mills, or cheering from the football terraces or enlisting for the First World War. 

I think of them too as worn by coster-mongers in London - think of Eliza Doolittle's father in the film of "My Fair Lady";  or Del Boy in the TV comedy  "Only Fools  and Horses". 

     

Photographs courtesy of pixabay.com 

My first family photograph on the theme has a poignancy about it.  For here  c.1903 in the group of schoolboys is my great uncle George Danson  - on the left sporting a flat cap.   George was killed in the  First World War at the Battle of the Somme in 1916,  a week after his 22nd birthday.  I wonder how many of the other  boys and their master survived that carnage.

 

 A photograph of my grandfather William Danson, a labourer,  seated with a group of workers at the ICI factory at Thornton, near Fleetwood, Lancashire.  Was this some special occasion with Grandad given the pride of place, seated  at the front?  It is difficult to assess the date - 1930's?   

 

My husband is aged about one, here with his  maternal grandparents Matthew Iley White (a boilermaker)  and Alice Armitage of South Shields, County Durham.  c. 1938.

 

 

Stepping out oblivious of the camera is Grandfather Donaldson, a signwriter and painter, again in South Shields, County Durham.  His  son and one of his grandsons followed him in his trade

 From my cousin's collection are photographs of the Oldham family business of carters and coalmen in Blackpool. Lancashire, overseen by three generations - Joseph Prince Oldham (1855-1921), his son John William Oldham (1880-1939) and his daughter Elsie Smith, nee Oldham (1906-1989)

  

The business was founded around 1890, steadily became prosperous and in 1905 moved to near North Station, Blackpool in a house with a large yard, hay loft, tack room. and stabling for seven horses.  

 

Below young Gloria (Elsie's daughter) atop one of the carthorses, under the careful eye of a worker - in a flat cap.

 

 

Time moved on and the first Oldham road vehicle was bought in 1921 to replace the horses  - but the flat caps remained the fashion. 

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At the other end of the social scale,  the Duke of Windsor as Edward Prince of Wales, in the 1920s and 30s  was photographed wearing a flat cap as part of a golfing outfit.  Nowadays finer versions are still popular rural wear at farming events, countryside fairs, horse race meetings etc. 

And if you have the youth  and looks to get away with it, flat caps are  being worn  as fashion statements by "celebrities" - men and women. 

 

My own father would not be seen dead in a flat cap - 

He much preferred a trilby as headgear.

Now the baseball cap has become the headgear for all ages.  

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Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity to share their family history through photographs

 

 

  

Click HERE To find out how other bloggers have viewed this week's prompt image. 

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Cows Across Europe - Sepia Saturday

A replica of Noah's Ark with its animals  features in this week's Sepia Saturday  prompt post.  

 An old memory quickly came to my mind - of us out walking with our young daughter and,  to encourage her uphill, we would sing: 

                                       Who built the ark?

                                        Noah, Noah 

                                        Who built the ark?

                                        Brother Noah built the ark!  

 

Another ditty was          The animals went in two by two,                                          The elephant and the kangaroo;  

 No elephant or kangaroo here, but I spotted a cow in the prompt photograph  - and that is my theme for today with memories from visits to the Austrian Tyrol, Warsaw and the West Highlands of Scotland. 

  ave fond memories of holidays in the west of Scotland and seeing that icon of Scottish tourism  (along with tartan,  heather, bagpipes. and whisky)  -  "The "Hielan' Coo"   -  aka the Highland Cow.  So take a look at these photogenic friendly natives, with their long horns and flowing coats, designed to withstand the worst of the Scottish weather.

"I'm Trying to be Friendly"

My husband meets Hamish and Dougal  - 

the "pets" at the hotel where we were staying near Oban.

"I'm Showing off my  Horns!"

 

"I'm Hungry" 

We were staying in a cottage at Fionnphort on the far west  of the Isle of Mull, just across from  the island Iona, and the highland cattle roamed freely  around the small village - one shop, one pub, one seafood cabin and the ferry office.  Here one hungry  cow decided to take a nibble from the garden of our self catering cottage.

"I've walked far enough, I'm taking a rest"

"I'm little and lonely"

This young cow  stood motionless at the side of the road, very happy to pose for the visitors walking down to the ferry across to Iona.  

If you don't come across the  real thing, look out for a shop sign. 

 

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Austrian Cows are a very different breed - sleek   and photographed here on a mountain meadow.  Bringing the cows down from the mountains in September ahead of winter is a popular local festival with the cows wearing garlanded head dresses and of course their cowbell.

 

 

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Artistic Cows in Warsaw,

 

 

 

 

 

Cow Parades are the world's biggest public art event with cities  hosting the fibre glass sculptures,decorated by local artists and often displayed designs reflecting local culture and history.  After their season on display, the cows are auctioned with the proceeds going to charity.  

 

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Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity to share 
their family history and memories through photographs.

 

 Click HERE to see more posts from Sepia Saturday bloggers

 

An Up & End Boat, plus More Happy Couples - Sepia Saturday .

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt image  show a happy couple  in a leafy setting,   sitting in front of an "up on end" boat - an ideal match from me with memories of my father’s childhood, plus some more happy couples. 

Among my uncle Fred Weston's collection was this photograph of Tommy Rogers of Ironbridge, Shropshire, the place often cited  as the birthplace of England's Industrial Revolution, and Tommy was a coracle maker.

                                    

 The world's first iron bridge, with  its 100 feet span  was built in 1779-1781 across the gorge of the River Severn.  However many local people  objected to paying the tolls, so they used coracles to cross the river instead.  

You might be wondering, where is the boat ? Well, it is on Tommy's back,  a loosely woven frame traditionally covered in animal hide, but in more recent times calico, canvas,  and coated with a substance such as bitumen.    

Tommy was a well known local character,  known as a poacher and the local newspaper regularly reported his appearance in court on poaching charges. He also helped to build the new police cells and court room in Ironbridge  - only to be one of the first people to appear there.  

My father, John Weston, grew up in Broseley  the other side of the river from Ironbridge.  He had very fond memories of his childhood there with his parents, Albert Ernest Weston and Mary Barbara Matthews, brothers Fred and Charles, and sister Madge.  My grandfather had a 35minute walk (one way), crossing the bridge to Coalbrookdale where he worked in the Power House.  

 

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More Happy Couples

                                      

A leafy background for this photograph of me with my father, taken in August 1965, shortly before I left home to work in the USA for a year. 

 

                   

                       My parents on their wedding day, 1938 

 

 

                                           

 

My parents a photograph taken 1965 on the day of my graduation from university.  I was the first member of the family to go to university, followed later by my brother - and they were so proud of us.  

 

 

                          

 Mum and Dad  with the telegram from the late Queen to mark their 60th wedding anniversary in  1998.  Sadly my mother died shortly afterwards.

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Sepia Saturday gives an opportunity for genealogy bloggers  

to share their family history and memories through photographs

 

                                                                                       

Click  HERE  to see  posts from other Sepia Saturday bloggers.

 

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