The exact location of Mount Pleasant and the Fleece Inn in the late 1800s in Greetland has been a puzzle for me for quite a while. I could not find it on the OS 6-inch map of 1888-1913. However, the more detailed 1:2500 OS plans of 1893 and 1907 in fact do show Mount Pleasant, a collection of terraces and cottages on the south side of Rochdale Road, east of St Thomas’s church, between what is now Haigh Street and Cross Hills Methodist Church. “Greetland Edge” is clearly marked to the north of Rochdale Road, and “Mount Pleasant” to the south. “Fleece Inn” is also marked, but on the north side of Rochdale Road (in the position of the first house on the left in Springfields View, 193 Rochdale Rd, HX4 8EN). In the 1861 census for Greetland, the Fleece Inn seems to be run by George and Martha Taylor. However, White’s Directory for Halifax in 1866 and 1870 records a Thomas Parr running “The Fleece” or “Golden Fleece”, so I assume there were two inns of a similar name in the district. The one in question is clearly differentiated as Fleece Inn, Mount Pleasant. There are two versions of the 1871 census, both recording James and Hannah Thwaite, with their 7 children (John, Eli, Ben, Alice, Mary Hannah, Jessica and Ernest). In the second version Jessica is recorded as Celina (and in the 1891 census she appears curiously as Sabrina). So, Jessica aka Celina aka Sabrina? In 1881 Fleece Inn is being run by John and Margaret Radcliffe. I have not found Fleece Inn in the 1891 census, but the Thwaite family (James, Hannah, John, Ben, Ernest, Mary and Sabrina) are still living in the village, at Cross Hill.
My particular interest in this area has been to locate William and Mary Shaw, who ran a successful grocery business at Mount Pleasant for at least 30 years (1840-1870). They were, like most of the village I imagine, committed Methodists; Methodism was well established in the village with Wesleyan, Primitive and Connexion Methodist chapels, and also Independents and Unitarians. The 1871 census records 22 households in the properties comprising “Mount Pleasant”. Occupants included farmers, a nail-maker, clog maker, milliner, the innkeeper (James Thwaite), labourers, a weaver, coal merchant, stonemason, spinner and a schoolmaster. The list of properties making up Mount Pleasant included the Chapel House, the Fleece Inn and (in 1881) “Shaw’s Buildings”. I would be interested to hear from any Rootschat members who might have any information on the Shaw family.