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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Creary on Saturday 17 June 17 22:04 BST (UK)
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Hi Folks:
I had a relative who lived in Roahdale and I believe buried there.
In 1841-51 it says he was a "Timber Merchant and Clog and Boot Dealer" on Oldham Road, Rochdale, Lancaster, Manchester., England.
His name was Fletcher Bolton and married to Phoebe Robinson at St. Chad's Church, Rochdale in 1829.
My question is how well did a "clogger" do during this period and is there any history on this gentleman still around?
Many thanks,
Creary
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Hello & welcome.
Well your clog maker appeared to be doing well.
Like many businessmen he had more than one iron in the fire.
In 1861 he's making & selling clogs from his shop as well as timber.
Clogs were very cheap & he would have had to make a lot to make any money which he seems to be doing as he's employing 10 men.
You may find him in trade directories.
Forgot to mention he left over £15,000 in his will which was a huge amount.
They're still in business today as a timber merchants pretty much in the same place.
That's history.
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Clogs were standard footwear in mill towns, cheap to make and they lasted a long time.
They needed little attention apart from renewing the irons which kept the wooden sole from touching the floor .The leather uppers also needed to be kept supple and if not boot polish then lard was sometimes used but you could not get a nice shine on them with that.
The sound of clogs in the early morning streets as people wended their way to work is something I`d love to hear again . Someone wrote about that.
What I can`t understand is why the address is:- Rochdale, Lancaster. Manchester.
Rochdale was a town in its own right and quite a few miles from Manchester.
As is Lancaster but many more miles away, so perhaps it was an error and ought to have been Lancashire, even so it is all in the wrong order.
Viktoria.
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When I was young, I lived with my parents on Whitworth Road in Rochdale, and attended Greenbank Primary School on Cronkeyshaw Common.
Most of the kids at school wore clogs. The lads used to run along the playground, then slide for the last few yards. This made the “irons” of their clogs very hot. They would then pick on one of the girls and try to press their clogs onto their legs.
It didn’t half hurt. It was liked being burnt with a hot poker.
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My "clogger" friends:
I want to thank you for your replies to my inquiry to my relative who lived in Rochdale.
I find he lived at 45 Oldham Road, Rochdale in a 1841-51 Census.
On the Census it mentioned he was a Timber Merchant and Clog and Boot Dealer.
At that time he has 5 workers two apprentices.
Hi name was Fletcher Bolton. Born in Of Warrington, Lancashire, 1807 and died 1884. He is buried in Rochdale. I believe at St. Chad's.
Again, Thank You for your relies.
Creary
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What I can`t understand is why the address is:- Rochdale, Lancaster. Manchester.
Rochdale was a town in its own right and quite a few miles from Manchester.
As is Lancaster but many more miles away, so perhaps it was an error and ought to have been Lancashire, even so it is all in the wrong order.
Viktoria.
Rochdale is still officially a town and is still in the old County of Lancashire but it's now one of ten districts in a Metropolitan Borough area named "Greater Manchester". What surprises me is that the City of Salford (where you'll find Salford Quays) is also in the same Metropolitan Borough of Greater Manchester.
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Yes now Rena, but not then .Greater Manchester was the result of someone`s disordered thinking.!
Many small towns were attached to larger ones as with Ramsbottom and Bury but then they were in turn swallowed up by Manchester.
Ramsbottom residents often tell of how much better things were prior to the amalgamation with Bury.
.Roads in good order, grids cleaned regularly,a bus service which ran to time.
Public buildings and schools in good order.
When we started living there sadly it was in Greater M/C. Not now but still in with Bury but we seem to be the end of the line and residents feel Ramsbottom is very neglected.
Still then a mystery why the address is as shown.
Viktoria.
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I've actually worn clogs (clugs! rubber soled boots never lasted five minutes,) when working in an iron-foundry, are they still made one wonders?
Skoosh.
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Rochdale was a County Borough, that is to say that it had its own police force and a council with the responsibilities and status of a county. This lasted until the hideous conglomeration called Greater Manchester was created in 1974.
TinaRoyal
I wonder if our paths crossed once upon a time? I lived on Clarkes Lane and often walked across Cronkeyshaw Common to my aunt's near the pond in Syke .
Viktoria
I, too, remember the clatter of the millworkers' clogs on the pavement as they passed our house in the early mornings. it used to drive our dog mad!
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I, too, remember the clatter of the millworkers' clogs on the pavement as they passed our house in the early mornings.
There was a street in Whitehaven that was paved with wooden setts so that the nobs weren't disturbed by the miners on their way to work.
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Not quite the same thing but on Piccadilly M/C there were in former times some good hotels and there were so many horse drawn carts laden with beams of cloth from the big mills in Ancoats which passed on their way to S&J.Watts lovely warehouse on Portland St.
The noise from the iron rimmed cart wheels was disturbing , they would be delivering early morning and through the day so oak setts -rather like outdoor parquet- was laid along the stretch
facing Piccadilly gardens. Perhaps as that was the site of the old Manchester Infirmary that had something to do with it too.
I can remember them as late as the 1950`s, tram lines ran through them .
Viktoria.
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I've actually worn clogs (clugs! rubber soled boots never lasted five minutes,) when working in an iron-foundry, are they still made one wonders?
Skoosh.
Yes they are. There are a few craftsmen making them. One I know is Walkley's at Mytholmroyd, who make them for everything from safety wear to dancing.
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What I can`t understand is why the address is:- Rochdale, Lancaster. Manchester.
Rochdale was a town in its own right and quite a few miles from Manchester.
As is Lancaster but many more miles away, so perhaps it was an error and ought to have been Lancashire, even so it is all in the wrong order.
I think you must read it as (county of) Lancaster, not a reference to that town.
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I got used to them Andrew, they had a leather apron which prevented a splash of molten iron getting in & a quick release pin to get them off if any did. This operation was usually accompanied by a Highland jig & bad language! ;D
Skoosh.
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Hi,
Yesterday I was listening to David Olusoga presenting the BBC programme Black and British and he reveals a plaque commemorating the millworkers of Rochdale supporting the anti-slave trade. I was born in Rochdale and grew up there until I left home in 1975 and my father Harold Davies worked at Fletcher Bolton until he died in 1977.
Because of the connection between my father and Fletcher Bolton I became curious about whether Fletcher Bolton was around at the time of the building of "The Famine Road" which was a public works initiative to provide work for the millworkers who were undergoing huge hardship due to the lack of cotton coming into the mills because of the American Civil war.
I "googled" Fletcher Bolton and it came up with your discussion about Fletcher Bolton the clogger. I had thought it was a company partnership between two guys "Fletcher" and "Bolton" but I was very surprised to learn of a connection to Warrington. My mother and father had moved to Rochdale from Warrington after the Second World War, my father having previously worked at a Timber Merchants in Warrington called "R A Naylor" before the war.
I am just intrigued and want to learn more about this connection between Fletcher, Bolton, Timber, Naylor, Warrington and Rochdale....