Every week Ancestry.com sends me ‘hints’ because I’m a subscriber. This week’s hint was for a man named Brighton Clark the brother-in-law of my 2nd cousin 3x removed! Now I’d researched my Clark ancestors during lockdown and written a blog about going up on t’ tops to find their residence at Stephenson house overlooking Mytholmroyd. One of my main goals in research is to find out something about the actual lives of my ancestors – not just names and dates, and to do this I refer to mentions of them in newspaper archives. As you can imagine the name James or William brings up hundreds of people in Heptonstall and Hebden Bridge. So when Brighton Clark, son of William Clark, popped up as a hint, I thought his first name might be uncommon enough to find newspaper references to him without too much fuss. I was certainly not expecting two untimely deaths, that of a father and his son, one of which resulted in the permanent closure of a pub in Heptonstall, the other an accident at Old Cragg Hall, plus a bastardy court case. And if that wasn’t enough there was a ‘serious accident with a pistol.’
Born in 1841 in Erringden Grange, a remote large farm on the side of the moor just below Stoodley Pike which has always struck me a being quite spooky, William was the son of James Clark, a farm labourer from Gargrave.
Old Chamber
By the time William was ten the growing family had moved to Old Chamber, a tiny, idyllic looking settlement overlooking Hebden Bridge and whose glittering house lights high above me I can see from my house on the valley floor.
Erringden Grange, the birthplace of William Clark
10 years later the family were living at Laneside and William was listed as an agricultural labourer in the census of 1861. On the 8th of February 1865 William married Sarah Mercy at Halifax minster. As Calderdale recovers from a cataclysmic storm last weekend when snow, black ice and flooding made travel through the valley impossible I can’t help but wonder what the weather was like as William made the 8 mile journey through Calderdale to St John’s for his wedding. Very unusually for my family Sarah was not from Calderdale. She had been born in Preston, Lancashire. Four years later find William and Sarah and their two children, Henry and William, living 5 houses away from William’s parents at Park and now William lists his occupation at mason.
Although I cannot be certain that the following article pertains to ‘my’ William Clarke I have my suspicions. July 18, 1879:
Soon after the family move to Stephenson House on Burlees Lane where William is a farmer of 10 1/2 acres. It seems a large building today with its attached laithe barn but in 1881 it was divided into just two homes – that of William and Sarah and their 6 children, and a retired clog manufacturer by the name of James Wade.
Stephenson House
Stephenson House is on the left, on Burlees Lane.
Stephenson House sits on the hillside above Mytholmroyd, a small town which is home to several clog manufacturing companies, one of which is still in operation and recently I took a peek into their building where I found a wonderful cobwebby display of clogs both ancient and modern.
In May of 1889 William and his two brothers John and Thomas sought to recover £9.4s from John Edward Greenwood of Cragg for boring for water in one of Greenwood’s fields at Stubbins. Initially Greenwood had employed a water diver named Mullens Mullens. I’d come across that name before in my research: https://blog.hmcreativelady.com/2023/09/17/a-day-with-mortimer-moss/ I’d read an account of this matter in Paul Weatherhead’s book ‘Weird Calderdale: Strange and horrible local history’ but he hadn’t named the contractors and at the time I’d read the account the name Brighton Clark was unknown to me. Apparently the Clarke brothers, William, John and Thomas made an agreement to bore for up to 100 ft if necessary to find water. They commenced digging and discovered water at 35 ft. William made a journey to Greenwood’s house where he was told to dig further.The resulting argument spanned three newspaper columns – the Clarkes wanted paying for a day when they had remained at the bore from ‘7 in the morning til 6 o’clock at night (the usual working hours) but the defendant did not come.‘ The Clark brothers were claiming 5s each for their day of lost wages but eventually Greenwood was not required to pay them.
The next time I read of William was in 1889 when, at the age of 48, he was found lying in Towngate, Heptonstall, outside the Dog and Partridge, suffering from mortal injuries. ‘His piteous moaning at midnight attracted the attentions of people living on Northgate and Towngate’‘ and a cart was obtained and William was taken to Thomas, his brother’s house, Green Syke on King Street, Hebden Bridge.
The former Dog and Partridge – now Furley House
A doctor was called who pronounced William to have sustained several broken ribs, a dislocated thigh and many internal injuries. Though he remained conscious he was not able to explain what had happened to him. He died there the following day. It transpired that he had been drinking heavily in the Dog and Partridge and the landlady, Mrs Hollinrake, had put him to bed in the attic and it was suggested that he had fallen from the attic window in a drunken stupor. But rumours of foul play soon gained currency, especially since the sash window was too small to have fallen from it accidentally. It was suggested that he had been robbed and pushed from the window. He had spoken of someone trying to get into his pocket as he dosed in the attic and that he’d been ‘knocked gaumless.’ It was later learned that a few days before the tragic incident William had got into the company of two strange women along with the landlady and another serving lady and they had all been invited by the landlady to an upstairs room where the drinking of whisky continued at a shocking rate until 8:30 when William had fallen asleep on a bed in the room. Earlier in the day he’d told his brother that he had 5 shillings upon him but when he was found in the street there was no money on him, so robbery was suggested as a motif for his murder. His hat and his watch were found in the upstairs room and scuffing on the window sill could have been made by his shoes. The inquest took place at the Bull Inn in Hebden Bridge (an inn that was kept by my ancestor Joshua Gibson who took his own life in the slaughter house behind his pub in 1858). So much interest in the case had been generated that hundreds of people lined the street outside the Bull Inn and inside the corridors were packed as people tried to gain access to the room where the inquest into his death was to be held. The account of the inquest covered 5 columns in the Todmorden District News. There was much insinuation of debauchery but nothing more than a ‘nice jollification’ was admitted by one of the ladies present, Elizabeth Fearby of Todmorden. The jury reached a verdict that there was no evidence as to how the fall came about.
The landlord, Elijah Hollinrake was subsequently charged with permitting drunkenness on his premises that day. One of the witnesses, Emily Clarke gave evidence that gill after gill of whisky was supplied to William Clarke in the garret resulting in that by the end of the carouse William, the landlady and herself were drunk. The landlord had already been previously summoned for permitting drunkenness in his premises at the Dog and Partridge. The opposition to the license being endorsed came mainly from The Band of Hope Union in Hebden Bridge. Besides the death of William Clarke they put forward other reasons – within a stone’s throw of the Dog and Partridge there were 4 other drinking establishments and considering the adult population of Heptonstall that only gave each pub around 190 patrons. ‘We do not look upon the refusal to grant a license as likely to increase the sobriety of the village but we regard it as an indication that the magistrates are beginning to recognise the demands of the temperance party.‘ The pub subsequently became Furley House Tea Rooms in the 1970s and then Furley House, a private dwelling.It was a late 17th century/early 18th century building at 35 Towngate.
Brighton, William’s third son was born in 1873 when the family were living at Park. He was baptised at St Michael’s church, Mytholmroyd. By 1881 the family had moved to Stevenson House on Burlees Lane where the family lived for at least the next 40 years. In 1895 at the age of 22 he married 20 year old Betsy Ambler of Bethel Terrace, Brearley, the daughter of John Ambler, a woolsorter at Halifax minster and the following year the first of 4 sons, Granville, was born.
Bethel Terrace, home of Betsy Ambler
But a shadow lingered over their marriage for in May 1893 Brighton was charged with the paternity of the illegitimate child of 17 year old Mary Hannah Parkin of Foster Lane, Hebden Bridge. She had met Brighton at Fallingroyd Bridge and he had told her to go to Milton Law’s house at Sunny Brink, Mytholmroyd behind the old Huntsman’s pub. (I think the newspaper has misspelled Sunny Bank). She had been going out with Brighton for 2 1/2 years: since she was just over 15 years old. She went there and stayed with Brighton until 4 a.m. the following morning. In November she told Brighton of her pregnancy and he replied ‘there was many a worse job than that.’
Other men were called to give evidence that they had seen Mary ‘walking out’ with several other men but the eventual verdict in this bastardy case was that Brighton should pay 3 shillings a week for the upkeep of Mary’s baby girl.
By 1901 Brighton and Betsy had set up home at Souter House, just two houses along Burlees Lane from Stephenson House. The building was shared between the Clarks and Joseph Thomas, a farmer and his family. Brighton lists his occupation as ‘cotton velvet weaver’ more commonly known as fustian in this area. Indeed, such was its prominence that Hebden Bridge was known as Cottonopolis and a sculpture of a fustian knife stands in the town square. By the 1911 census the family have moved back to Stephenson House. Brighton now lists his occupation as farmer but two of his children, Granville and Agnes are employed in the fustian manufacturing business – Granville, 15, as a presser and Agnes, 13, as a sewing machinist in ready made fustian clothing business. At this time Brighton was renting the Stephenson House building from William Sutcliffe of Stocks Hall, Mytholmroyd, and 10 acres of land from J. E. Greenwood of Glen House, Mytholmroyd.
Ha! The very man with whom his father had had the altercation about the sinking of the water holes in 1889. 1931 find the family settled in the valley now, in fact, they have made their way from th’tops down onto the valley floor and are living at Broadbottom, directly beneath Stephenson House. Granville is still living with them. Two years later an entire newspaper column is given to ‘Fatality at Cragg Hall’ in which the inquest into the death of Brighton is told. It mentions that at the age of 61 Brighton was engaged as a tar sprayer, an occupation that I hadn’t come across before but it’s connection to the making and maintenance of roads. He had been employed by Sutcliffe’s, tar painting contractors, Mytholmroyd, for 13 years. Could this possibly have been the same Sutcliffe’s who owned Stephenson House? Brighton is now living at 5 Hobart Buildings right on the canal at Hawksclough.
Luckily the snow and ice of the previous week had passed and on a chilly but dry day I walked along the canal to find Brighton’s final home. It was well sign posted. A 12ft carriageway was to be constructed around Old Cragg Hall. The work involved ‘clearing the hillside, felling the trees and removing the stumps.’ The work had been in progress for several months, Brighton being used as a general workman. 6 men were employed digging out the large tree stump and two were employed in carting away the soil from the excavations. Brighton had begun to undermine the root from the front with a pick ax when the stump became dislodged and started to fall. One man jumped clear, sustaining a fractured leg but Brighton, who was on his knees had no change of escaping the root as it fell on him It was estimated to weigh a ton.
Old Cragg Hall. Was this the carriageway that Brighton was working on when he was killed by the falling tree stump?
William’s first born son, Henry, known as Harry, was seriously injured as a teenager in 1883.
Another accident was to follow in 1904:
The resting place of some of the Clark family is in the graveyard of St Michael’s church, Mytholmroyd:
Area C Row H.34
In loving memory of AGNES, beloved daughter of JOHN & SUSANNAH AMBLER, who died April 19th 1928, aged 65 yrs
Also BRIGHTON, beloved husband of BETSY CLARK, who died Oct.6th 1933, aged 61yrs.
Also of the above, BETSY CLARK, who died November 9th 1944, aged 70 years, “Be ye also ready for in such an hour an ye think not, the son of man cometh”
Also of GRANVILLE, son of BRIGHTON CLARK, died May 25th 1935, aged 39 yrs, ‘at rest”
Also of EMMA AMBLER, who died December 24th 1947, aged 70 yrs ‘remembrance’
The grave, barely visible, at St Michael’s, Mytholmroyd.
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