Sometimes we wonder how many tradesmen in Todmorden weren’t tailors; sometimes we wonder if any of them were native to Todmorden, or if they really were all from “north of the north”. This story will not vary from those seemingly universal conditions!
James Tyson Postlethwaite was born in Kirkby Ireleth in 1808, although he would later say he came from Ambleside. His father William was a tailor and so, of course, James followed suit (no pun intended). James became a master tailor and decided to make a move southwards in order to find work, and like so many young men of the time, found himself in Todmorden. There James met a girl from a very different background than him – Sarah Crabtree.
Sarah was a Tod lass, five years younger than James, and the daughter of Sally and – maybe – James Crabtree. We say “maybe” because pinning down her father’s first name was harder than we’d hoped it would be. He might have been alive when Sarah and James got married in Halifax in 1835, but he was definitely gone by 1841. He might have been John Crabtree of Stansfield, in which case, Sarah was baptised at Patmos Chapel as an adult in 1832. Why do we think this is the most likely answer? Because by 1841 Sally Crabtree was living at Toad Carr with lodgers, and James and Sarah were living at the “New Chapel” nearby. The “New Chapel” was otherwise known as the Inghamite Chapel at the bottom of Ferney Lee Road, and so the Postlethwaites and probably the Crabtrees would have been more than just near neighbours to the Aspdens – they’d have worshipped together too.
It seems reasonable to assume the Crabtrees were the particular link with the chapel that meant the family started off there, but by 1851 the Postlethwaites had moved to the Oddfellows Hall area of town, where James set up shop. By 1851 the couple’s full number of children had been born, seven in total: Elizabeth, William, John, Sarah Ann, Eleanor (or Ellen as she would be known by most), Mary, and…er, Sarah. They liked this name so much they used it twice. And no, not to honour a lost child – both Sarah’s, and mother Sarah, and grandmother Sally were living at the same home in 1851. Presumably they had nicknames that helped them all avoid confusion. James by this time was employing four men, including William, who was looking to follow in his father’s footsteps. By 1861 John had also become a tailor working for his father, and things were looking up. The nature of a graveyard is that things don’t look up forever though so you can guess what’s coming can’t you…
In 1861 William died from liver failure at the young age of 23, young for that sort of thing anyway. He had been ill for a while and so it seems to have been expected enough for no inquest to be held. James had no choice but to keep on going, and his name continues to appear in the newspapers – mostly advertisements, and a surprising number of cases brought before the magistrates to chase unpaid debts. Not that much of a surprise maybe as he did have a large family and a business to try and continue to grow. 1863 includes a lawsuit (shhh) against W. T. Butterworth for money owed for clothing – go read that story and tell us whether you think Butterworth paid up in the end or if his wife had to.
John stepped up and between the two of them they kept things going. 1871 was a strange year on the census – many of the children seem now to have moved out. Sarah was visiting her sister on Sowerby Bridge, James had the two daughter Sarahs keeping him company at home, John had married and moved out (and fathered one of the future Todmorden Hand Bell Ringers who would play alongside Fred Dennett 20 years later – it’s all connected!), Elizabeth had married and moved out, and Ellen was lodging at a house in Manchester and working in the city as a milliner. Interestingly at least one “Miss Postlethwaite”, and occasionally the “Misses Postlethwaite”, became regular contributors to various fundraisers benefitting St. Mary’s and Christ Church during the 1870s – a small break from religious tradition that John and their parents don’t seem to have had themselves.
We’re guessing that the “Misses” were Sarah and Ellen because the two opened their millinery shop on North Street in 1878 and were living there together in 1881. This didn’t last long though because in 1885 Sarah got married, and Ellen ended up back with her parents. In 1891 it was just the three of them, and Ellen’s presence was probably very gratefully received by her parents. By this time James was 83 and Sarah was 78, and while James was still working as a tailor the couple must both have been extremely tired. Ellen wasn’t working, just keeping things going in the house. Age caught up with her parents and James eventually relinquished the business to his grandson, cricketer and hand bell ringer Henry F. Postlethwaite, and retired. Within a few months of this, in January 1894, Sarah died at the age of 81. The following year James died aged 87. Sarah got only a brief mention in the death announcements, but James received a slightly longer obituary.
Ellen, the only sister left unmarried, was already something of an independent spirit – remember her sojourn to Manchester? – and when her caring responsibilities ended she clearly felt there was no need to continue living in Todmorden. We wouldn’t say that Rochdale was terribly exotic but different strokes etc. etc., and by 1901 she was living there as the housekeeper for the thrillingly named Lomax Pilling, a retired picture framer and tax collector. After he died in 1906 Ellen was again adrift, and we suspect that she went to go live in Wakefield with sister Sarah Ann and her husband, John William Jessop. She was described as a housekeeper when she was visiting her friend Ann Lawrenson in Rochdale in 1911, and as having “household duties” when logged as living at the Jessop’s home in 1921. Household duties at age 78? Well, her parents kept on working nearly until the end, so why wouldn’t she?
Sarah Ann died in 1923 and rather than stay on with her brother in law, Ellen went back to Rochdale. She was beginning to feel the effects of old age and ended up at Birch Hill Hospital in early 1926 due to “senile decay”, where in December she broke her ankle and then swiftly declined.
In the end poor William here was the youngest Postlethwaite to die – all his siblings lived at least into their forties (John) if not their late 70s or 80s.