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RASTRICK LOCAL HISTORY GROUP
THE RASTRICK LOCAL HISTORY GROUP would like to invite people to become members of the society which meets on a monthly basis at Rastrick Library on every second Tuesday at 5-00pm.
Most of the meetings are informal affairs where the group discuss an array of historical subjects that are relevant to the Rastrick area or exchange information on current research that is being carried out by some members. There are also occasional guest speakers or local history walks.
The group owns many articles such as photographs, maps and other documents and is in the process of digitising and cataloguing them. It is hoped that these will eventually be made available to the public in a searchable format but help is required in carrying out this work.
If you feel that you would like to join the group or volunteer an hour or so each week with the cataloguing, come along to our next meeting at Rastrick Library, where you will be made most welcome. Remember, the meetings are every 2nd Tuesday in the month at 5.00pm.
For more information phone Andy on 0781 252 1037
or email rastrick.history@gmail.com
NEWSLETTER
AUTUMN 2024
The Rastrick Local History Group have embarked upon a project to produce a quarterly newsletter. It will contain interesting research articles completed by some of the members. Viewers of this website are invited to send in stories of their own, that could be included in forthcoming editions. This may be a historical story about your own family in Rastrick, memories of your life in Rastrick from when you were a child or anecdotes of your working life in the area. Photographs to go with your stories are most welcome as readers love to see old pictures.
Please email your articles to Andy at rastrick.history@gmail.com
Meanwhile, here is the first of our newsletters.
LATEST PROJECTS
Some of the most interesting historical documents relating to Rastrick have recently come to light. Mr. Paul Thompson, a director of the former wire drawing firm, Thompson & Munroe Ltd of Atlas Mill Road, Brighouse has re-discovered some old papers that have laid in his cellar since he moved into his current home around 32 years ago. He believes that his late father found them on the council tip at Atlas Mill Road around the year 1974 and suspects that the items may have been thrown away when Brighouse Council was dissolved and the Town Hall in Brighouse was closed.
The papers are dated between the years 1707 and the mid 1800’s and relate to various happenings in Rastrick in those times. There are several papers concerning the Poor Laws which from the late 1600’s necessitated people having to carry a document with them if they decided to live in another area other than where they were born or last settled. The document proved that should the bearer fall upon hard times and become dependant upon relief from the local Poor Law Relief Fund, which was funded by the landowners and tenants of Rastrick, the Overseers and Churchwardens from his former town would foot the bill and he would not become a burden on the ratepayers of Rastrick.
The above document is dated the 15th April 1707 ‘in the sixth year of the reign of Our Sovereign Lady Ann, now Queen over England.’ It concerns Joshua Bentley of Sowerby. It states that ‘he and his wife and children are desirous for their better subsistence and stay of living to inhabit and dwell at Rastrick in the said county (West Riding) therefore we, the churchwardens and overseers of the poor of Sowerby who have hereunto set our hands and seales do hereby certify unto the churchwardens and overseers of the poor of Rastrick aforesaid that the said Joshua Bentley is an inhabitant and haith his last legall settlement in our said town of Sowerby. And we doo hereby promise for us, our successors and other inhabitants of our said town that we will receive and provide for the said Joshua Bentley and his wife and children according to law whenever he, she or they or any of them shall become chargeable to or enforced to ask relief of all or any of the inhabitants of Rastrick, aforesaid, unless they gain a settlement there according to a late Act of Parliament’ etc.
There are other interesting documents that relate to work carried out at Badger Hill and Toothill Bank in 1826. At that time, many local people were unemployed as the improvements in machinery took away many men’s jobs. The surplus of workers led to a decrease in wages and it has been well documented that many families in Rastrick were on the verge of starvation around that time. Local able-bodied paupers were set to work on projects such as the decreasing of the gradients in the road at the two above mentioned places. There is mention in a local history book written by Reg Mitchell in 1953 of the work being carried out but nothing else is known about it, however, these documents give the names of people involved in the work and the costs involved.
There are a couple of other certificates relating to the Poor Law Acts, which prove that the local relief fund made every effort to protect the ratepayers and make every effort to avoid paying for the poor, if at all possible. These are Bastardy Certificates and show that the Overseers and Churchwardens tried to find the father of children who were born to single women. If you do not like the word used at the time for illegitimate children, don’t read the documents because it is used time and time again but in those days, it wasn’t considered to be a profanity but was a word used in everyday language.
There is still a lot of work to do with scanning, photographing and transcribing the documents but the end result will form another very interesting chapter for this website.
The above shows some of the specifications for the work that was carried out at Badger Hill in 1826 whilst the Bastardy Certificate below relates to Ann Farrar of Rastrick who became pregnant to William Earnshaw in 1783, out of wedlock.
Look out for more updates soon.
SINCE STARTING THIS WEBSITE IN OCTOBER 2019
IT HAS AVERAGED
4,000
HITS PER MONTH
Thanks for looking in and especially to those who have donated.
Every small donation helps towards hosting costs, ancestry subscriptions etc. which are invaluable research tools and help to make this website so much more informative.
This website is designed to give information about different subjects from Rastrick’s past.
Under the heading ‘MY RASTRICK FAMILY’, there are details regarding my own family. This is the result of research into my maternal family who have resided in Rastrick for over 300 years. The webpage includes details of births, baptisms, weddings, deaths and burials and has photographs of some church records and old family members.
Click on ‘PROJECTS’ and you will find several topic headings about local subjects that I have researched. Hold your cursor over some of the headings and you will find other material contained in sub-headings.
The Rastrick Local History Group has joined forces with the website. Subjects that have been researched by their members, or other external contributors, can be found under this heading.
In addition, I have included some church records from St. Matthew’s and Bridge End chapel that family tree researchers can search, free of charge.
The latest additions are five virtual walks around the Rastrick area and along the Calder & Hebble Navigation between Brighouse & Elland. This came as an idea during the Covid-19 lockdown and gives people the chance to either complete the walks themselves or do it from their own armchair at home. The latter is ideal for elderly people who can’t get out and about nowadays or for ex-pat Rastrickians who are living in other parts of the country or even the world.
I hope you enjoy the website and if you have any comments, please leave them in the space provided on the CONTACT page or email me, Andy Eccles via the link below.
ON THIS WEBSITE YOU ARE ABLE TO SEARCH EVERY ONE OF THE 8,453 BURIALS AT ST. MATTHEW’S CHURCH, RASTRICK BETWEEN 1798 & 2019
FREE OF CHARGE
CONTRIBUTIONS
IF YOU HAVE ANY OLD PHOTOGRAPHS, POSTERS OR PROGRAMMES THAT YOU THINK WOULD BE OF INTEREST TO OTHER READERS, OR YOU WOULD LIKE TO WRITE ABOUT YOUR EARLY CHILDHOOD YEARS IN RASTRICK, PLEASE DROP ME A LINE VIA THE CONTACTS PAGE AND I WILL GLADLY GET BACK TO YOU.
