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This photograph was taken I think about 1897.  It is of Members of a Bowls Club in Rochdale.  I found the photograph amongst some old possessions of my late father, who said that his father, John Thomas Taylor, my Grandfather, was on the photograph, but I don’t know who it is.

Has anyone got a copy of the photograph and knows who anyone might be?  Also is anyone able to identify the Bowls Club, my Grandfather lived on Whitworth Road.

I have dated the photograph around 1897, based on other information I have.  Is this period correct, or should it be earlier or later?

If not that, just any info people have on Lancashire towns or cities that a lot of Irish went to.

John Bright of Rochdale brought over Irish immigrants to staff his mills.  They settled in the Wardleworth area of Rochdale, which quickly became the Irish Quarter.

Bright provided houses for his Irish workers, but the standard of housing was so poor that by 1860 “Mount Pleasant”, which he had built, had become one of the worst slums in Rochdale.  It was here in 1877 that John McKenna “clogged” his wife to death.

“Clogging” was a Lancashire “sport” in which two opponents, stripped to the waist, and wearing clogs, would try to kick each other unconscious.  The one who remained conscious longest, was the winner.

Ruskie, the reason why there are so many positive comments about the course is because anything that is not liked is moderated out.

I posted a comment regarding week 4, within half-an-hour it had disappeared.

Thank you both for your help.

Rosie, I think you have identified where Henry Crossley’s Grandfather was.  In 1861 Mary Spencer was living with Henry Wood.  In the 1881 census Mary Spencer is identified as being the 58-year-old Aunt of Henry Crossley, who was living with him at 45 Jackson Street in Castleton.

Giggsy, I think that your assumption could be more than a “maybe”.  Henry Crossley may well have been visiting John Raymont’s home on the night of the census.  Living at John's home was Hannah Spencer, his 70-year-old Mother-in-Law.  Hannah was possibly related to Mary Spencer who was Henry Crossley’s Aunt, living with Henry Crossley’s Grandfather in 1861, (see above).

I have just one reservation.  In the 1851, 1871 and 1881 census, Henry Crossley is recorded as being born in Elland Yorkshire.  Yet in the 1861 census, it says he was born in Yeldon, Yorkshire.  There is no Yeldon in Yorkshire.  By going through the GRO Birth Index it is hoped to confirm Henry’s birthplace.

Thank you both again.

A number of ancestors of mine were inmates of Dearnley Workhouse in Rochdale in between 1890 and 1915.

I am experiencing extreme difficulty in locating records regarding the Workhouse for this period.

Does anyone know if any documentation exists covering these years, and if so where this might be.