Olive Dale to George Beardmore, 13 July 1967
The first of Olive’s letters of 1967, written on her birthday. With it she sent George the typed copies of the 1905 letters and Jeremiah’s family tree that are now on William’s page. The long sheet has been joined from two scans.
Transcription
92 Hassam Parade, Newcastle, Staffs. 13th July, 1967.
Dear Mr. Beardmore,
As it is my birthday (alas, another year added on to the total!) and as usual, I have nothing to do, as you stated in one of your old letters, I thought I would get a letter off to you to show you that I shall endeavour to send you some particulars concerning the Beardmore family as soon as I can find the time.
As a matter of fact, I have been to Stafford this morning with my husband who had an Education Committee meeting (I am on the County Education Committee, as one elected by the County Council of “two women with special knowledge of education”, the other being a lady from Birmingham University) but having none myself, I spent the morning in the Record Office; we had lunch in the County Buildings, then visited a Special School of which my husband is the Chairman (and I am one of the Committee) to select a Secretary-Clerk, came home to tea and then Evening School. Yesterday we spent all day at Madeley College of Education with a meeting all morning, interviewing in the afternoon, Evening School at night, and that is how my life goes on.
Now, concerning the enclosed papers – these are copies of letters etc. which my cousin Olive, the daughter of George Beardmore, the Registrar of Births and Deaths, gave me when I had been working on the family for some time. She well remembers the old gentlemen, Jeremiah and John, visiting them, and she and her mother are the “ladies” referred to in one of the letters.
It is very amusing to me to read that Jeremiah thought they might search the registers at Kingsley in about two hours with three of them doing it. When I tell you that I have typed for a distant relative in America no less than fifteen long foolscap pages, single lines, of Beardmores in Kingsley registers alone, from 1561 to about 1840 or so, literally hundreds of them, you will see what an error they made. The trouble is, Kingsley is only one register, of course; many others are involved. I have visited Alton some years ago, and the then parson was very kind and produced the registers for my inspection, but I could not then – or since – find the baptismal entry of William, your “oldest” certain ancestor. I have got Jeremiah’s ancestry clearly back to 1568, although a little difficulty occurs mid-17th century, as one or two wills are missing. I feel that he is related to your William, but where the relationship between my little lot and the other two comes in, I cannot swear to. It took me many years to even find William’s marriage to Mary Critchley, but at last I know that the banns of marriage are contained in the Leigh register, the actual registers now being cared for in the County Record Office. The three dates are given as shown, but the marriage is not filled in. As Mary is stated at the time to be of “Draycott” perhaps they were married there. Anyway, I will get in touch with the Draycott Rector when time permits, but I do not suppose the entry will give their parentage, which is the necessary thing. Probably both William and Mary were working away from home at the time of their marriage. The “Squire Gilbert” referred to by John (Brass founder) who “took an interest” in the young William and his family was the brother of Thomas Gilbert the philanthropist, and it was John who acted as Steward or “middleman” for the Duke of Bridgewater and Brindley when the canals were built. Actually, there was a TV programme about them not long ago, although I already knew of this. John built Clough Hall, Kidsgrove, which is now a Golf Club, I think. We have the Bill of Sale of the contents in the Record Office (about 1812, I think). [In the margin: (Cotton)]
I have spent some fifteen years of my “leisure” time searching round wills, old documents, registers, etc., improving my knowledge of history all the time. I am very conversant now with where information may be obtained, families of many names and can almost tell you where they come from on hearing a name of any importance, and some of no importance.
Some of the information given by Jeremiah is quite wrong, but I will correct it when I write again. No Bishop of Llandaff, I am sorry to say, but Wm. was Rector of Leek, or rather Vicar, which used to be quite different. Am now off for a week to stay with my sister.
Sincerely, O. A. Dale
What the letter tells us
The 1905 papers. The copies of John and Jeremiah Beardmore’s letters had come to Olive from her cousin, also called Olive, the daughter of George Beardmore the registrar. She remembered the two “old gentlemen” visiting, and she and her mother were “the Ladies” to whom John sent his regards in August 1905.
Squire Gilbert. The “Squire Gilbert” of John’s story of the walk from Cotton was John Gilbert (1724–1795) of Cotton, brother of Thomas Gilbert the philanthropist and land agent to the Duke of Bridgewater, who worked with James Brindley on the Bridgewater and Trent and Mersey canals. He built Clough Hall, near Kidsgrove.
The size of the task. Olive had typed fifteen foolscap pages of Beardmore entries from the Kingsley registers alone – which shows how optimistic Jeremiah’s two-hour search had been.