Although this chapter deals with the Richards and Harvey family connection, its main purpose is to show the research carried out into the life of Agnes Harvey from her birth to the time of her marriage to Mark Richards in 1871. The “Harveys” were originally a Derbyshire family.  Agnes Harvey was the youngest daughter of Thomas and Sarah Ann Maria Harvey formerly Steward, and was born in October 1846 in Staffordshire. In 1871 at the age of 26 years, Agnes became the second wife of Mark Richards, a collier.  It was her third marriage, having twice previously been widowed. Agnes and Mark Richards lived happily together for 44 years and had a large family.  Being employed in the coal industry meant they had to be prepared to travel.  They lived in several English counties throughout their married life – Notts., Derbys., Staffs. and Lancashire, switching back and forth from one area to another, spending the last fourteen years together in the delightful village of Palterton in the county of Derbyshire. A great amount of information has been discovered about their life together but how they came to meet remains a secret.  To enable us to get to know Agnes prior to her marriage to Mark Richards, I have researched her immediate family.  By so doing, I have gained access into her early life and I had hoped to discover the circumstances in which she met Mark Richards. So let me begin Agnes' story with the marriage in Stapenhill, Derbyshire of her parents in 1829, seventeen years prior to the birth of Agnes Harvey in Staffordshire and diary the events of the Harveys' as they occurred, to reveal the fascinating and true story of Agnes Harvey. 1829 15th. February.  Stapenhill Parish Church, Derbyshire. Thomas Harvey, a bachelor married Sarah Ann Maria Steward, a spinster at Stapenhill parish church – both of this parish, after Banns with consent, by Joseph Clay.  They were both from the village of Newhall.  Both made their marks.  The witnesses were Jane Harvey and Thomas Harvey, both of whom allegedly signed their names.  The name of a third witness, Joseph Harvey is crossed out.  All the writing of this entry in the p.r. is in the same handwriting. Source:  Derbys. County Record Office, Matlock ref. D.1282. A/PI. 3 / 3.) 1830 21st. March.  Stapenhill Parish Church, Derbyshire. Thomas Harvey was baptised at Stapenhall parish Church, son of Thomas and Sarah Ann Maria Harvey of Newhall.  Thomas was a Collier. (Source:  Derbys. Co. Record Office, Matlock ref. D.1282. A/PI. 2 / 1.) 1832 26 August.   Church Gresley Parish Church, Derbyshire. Caroline Harvey was baptised at Church Gresley parish church, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Ann Maria Harvey of Church Gresley.  Thomas was a Collier. (Source:  Derbys. Co. Record Office, Matlock ref. D.2112. A/PI. 2 / 1.) 1834 3 August.  Church Gresley Parish Church, Derbyshire. 03.08.1834.  Harriott Harvey was baptised at Church Gresley parish church, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Ann Maria Harvey of Church Gresley.  Thomas was a Collier. (Source:  Derbys. Co. Record Office, Matlock ref. D.2112. A/PI. 2 / 1.) 1841 6 June.  Lane Head, Willenhall, Wolverhampton., Staffordshire. The census for 1841 reveals the Harvey family were living at Lane Head, Willenhall, Wolverhampton. Reg. District Wolverhampton and Seisdon, sub-district of Willenhall. Source:  Ref: RG.HO.107. Piece 985, Book 9/27 page 13. Name M or F Age Occupn. Born Staffs. Y of N. Thos. Harvey M 30 Miner N Maria Harvey F 30 -- N Thos. Harvey M 11 -- N Caroline Harvey F 9 -- N Harriott Harvey F 7 -- N Luezar Harvey F 12 mths. -- N Jas. Harvey M 20 Miner N Eliza Price F 15 F.S. N I believe the name Luezar (sic) Harvey recorded on this census above was in fact Louisa, but I have not yet established this fact. 1845   1834 to 1845 More research required – no Harvey bapts.  Church Gresley 1834 to 1840). 1846 12 October.  Poole Hayes,Willenhall, Wolverhampton., Staffordshire Agnes Harvey was born at Poole Hayes, Willenhall, Staffs. the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Ann Maria Harvey of Poole Hayes.  Thomas was a Collier. 1851 30 March (8 April.)  Elmor Green, Darlaston., Staffordshire. The census for 1851 reveals the Harvey family were living here, village of Bloxwich.  Reg. District Walsall Foreign, sub-district of Darlaston.  Borough of Walsall. Source:  Ref: RG.HO.107. Piece 2002, Folio 493. page 28. Name Status M or S Age Occupn. Where born Thos. Harvey Head Marr. 44 Coal miner Derbyshire Mariah Harvey Wife Marr. 40 - Leicestershire Thos. Harvey Son Unmarr. 21 Coal miner Derbyshire Caroline Harvey Dau. Unmarr. 19 Dressmaker Derbyshire Harriott Harvey Dau. Unmarr. 17 Dressmaker Derbyshire Loisia (?) Harvey Dau. Unmarr. 12 Scholar Leicestershire Agness Harvey Dau. Unmarr. 4 Scholar Staffordshire Cis. Harvey Dau. Unmarr. 2 - Staffordshire Jos. H. Richards Visitor Unmarr. 21 Coal miner Leicestershire 1851 9 December.  Bloxwich, Staffordshire Emmanuel Harvey was born at Bloxwich, Staffs.  the son of Thomas & Sarah Ann Maria Harvey. He lived a long life and died at the age of 89 years, which even by todays (2012) lifetimes is exceptional. Date Address Name Age Occupn. Cause of death Person present Date Born Staffs. Y of N. Date Address Name Age Occupn. Cause of death Person present Date Born Staffs. Y of N. 1855 date not yet known.  Bloxwich, Staffordshire circa 1855.  Jacob Harvey was born in Bloxwich, Staffs. the son of Thomas & Sarah Ann Maria Harvey. 1861 7 April.  Short Heath Lane, Willenhall,, Staffordshire 07.04.1861. The census for Short Heath Lane, Willenhall, Staffs (Ecc. parish of Holy Trinity) reveals Thomas Harvey, aged 53 yrs, a coal miner born Swadlincote, Derbys. and Sarah Ann (Maria) Harvey, aged 50 yrs, lived here with their children - Agnes, aged 15, Emmanuel aged 9 and Jacob aged 6.   His wife's birthplace was unreadable but Leicestershire.  His three children were all born at Bloxwich, Staffs. There was a Joseph Baker, aged 24 visiting on the night of the census.  He was an agricultural labourer born in Bloxwich.  He was the brother in law of Caroline Baker formerly Harvey – sister of Agnes Harvey. Source:  Ref: RG.09. Piece 2002. folio 3 page 1. Reg. District Wolverhampton. The census also reveals that next door lived Thomas & Sarah Ann Maria Harvey's married son, Thomas Harvey (jnr) and his wife Elizabeth.  It states that Thomas (jnr) was born in Newell.  We have evidence from the parish record of Stapenhill that he was born in Newhall .  The enumerator recorded that Thomas (jnr.) was born in Newell, Derbyshire.  This will have been what Thomas (jnr) told him.  However, clearly he misunderstood the accent and should have recorded Newhall.  Thomas & Elizabeth had two sons Silas aged 4 and Thomas aged 1year, both born at Short Heath, which reveals that they have lived in Short Heath together since 1855. Note:  Interesting to note that Thomas' mother, Sarah Ann Maria Harvey, gave birth to her youngest child Jacob, the same year as Thomas made his parents grandparents! My use of the word (jnr) is my journalistic licence to differentiate father and son but this word does not appear in any of the documentation that I have researched concerning them. Living next door to Thomas Harvey (jnr.) was his married sister Caroline Baker with her husband and young family.  The name of their daughter is difficult to read.   It looks like 'Tajnid' but is in fact 'Tamar'. Name Status M or F M or S Age Occupn. Where born Thomas Harvey Head M Marr. 53 Coal miner Swadlincote Derbyshire Sarah A. Harvey Wife F Marr. 50 -- ?, Leicestershire Emmanuel Harvey Son M Unm. 9 -- Bloxwich, Staffs. Jacob Harvey Son M Unm. 6 -- Bloxwich, Staffs. Agnes Harvey Dau. F Unm. 15 -- Bloxwich, Staffs. Joseph Baker Visitor M Unm. 24 Ag. Lab. Bloxwich, Staffs. Name Status M or F M or S Age Occupn. Where born Thomas Harvey Head M Marr. 31 Coal miner Newell, Derbys. Elizabeth Harvey Wife F Marr. 27 -- Short Heath, Staffs. Silas Harvey Son M Unm. 4 -- Short Haeth, Staffs. Thomas Harvey Son M Unm. 1 -- Short Heath, Staffs. Name Status M or F M or S Age Occupn. Where born James Baker Head M Marr. 30 Machine owner Bloxwich. Caroline Baker Wife F Marr. 28 -- Gresley, Derbyshire. Tamar Baker Dau. F Unm. 6 -- Bloxwich, Staffs. Joseph Baker Son M Unm. 2 -- Short Heath. 1862 Date not known.  Shireoaks, Nottinghamshire Around 1862 Thomas and Sarah Ann Maria Harvey, accompanied by their children - Agnes Harvey, Emmanuel, Jacob, their married son Thomas and his wife Elizabeth and their two sons leave Staffordshire for Nottinghamshire and reside in Shireoaks.  Thomas senior like his son Thomas, were Colliers.  It would seem likely that they both moved to Shireoaks, near Worksop, with the opening of a new pit there.  (But this is only conjecture). The original pit shaft was sunk at Shireoaks Colliery 1860 to 1861.   This colliery closed in 1991. See my note at the end of this chapter. 1863 25 February.  Worksop parish church. Nottinghamshire 25.02.1863. At the age of 18 years, Agnes married William Jones, aged 20, a collier at the parish church of Worksop.  They were both single at the time and lived at Shireoaks.  Agnes' brother Thomas and his wife Elizabeth witnessed their marriage. 1863 August.  Shireoaks. Nottinghamshire Sarah Maria Harvey, Agnes mother dies at the age of 52.  She was buried 27 August at Worksop Parish church. no. 459 in the parish register. Jacob Harvey would only be 7 years old when his mother died at Shireoaks in 1863.  It is safe to conject that he would be 'brought up' by his married brother Thomas and his wife, also his now widowed father and the rest of the family.  They would all live together at 17, The Row, Shireoaks. 1864 Date nyk.  Shireoaks. Nottinghamshire 1864.   Agnes and William Jones' daughter Tamar was born at Shireoaks. (Tamar is a name handed down through the Harveys). 1865 June 1865.  Shireoaks. Nottinghamshire Apl./May/June.  William Jones tragically dies at the age of 21 at Shireoaks.  June 1865. 1866 13 February.  Worksop. Nottinghamshire Agnes Jones formerly Harvey at the age of 20, a widow, marries for the second time to John North at the Worksop Registry Office.  John was aged 20, single and a tailor by trade.   They were both “of Shireoaks”. 1867 24 January.  Bawtry Nottinghamshire Agnes and John North are in Bawtry.  Their son Emmanuel North was born there.  Many years later, my father, his brothers and sisters referred to him as 'uncle Manny'. 1868 15 June.  Brighouse. West Yorkshire When Emmanuel was only 17 months old, his young father, aged only 21, tragically, died from Exposure and Bronchitis.  We assume he was on business at the time of his death in Brighouse, Yorkshire, because the death insertion in the Halifax Guardian refers to John North as a 'stranger'. The death of John North makes Agnes a widow for the second time in three years.  Poor Agnes must have been devastated.  Where Agnes was actually living at the time of John North's death is unknown but we conject that probably she was still living at Bawtry. After John North's death Agnes was still very young, only 22 years in fact.  She had two very young children to bring up. Tamar aged 4 years and Emmanuel 17 months old.  She would be in need of tender loving care and surely would go back to Shireoaks for shelter, to the old family home at 17, The Row, where her brother Thomas and his family and their widowed father lived. 1869 February.  possibly Shireoaks. Nottinghamshire Eight months after the death of her second husband John North, Agnes finds happiness when she meets Mark Richards, aged 24 years, a collier.  We are pretty certain now that Agnes met her third husband to be in Shireoaks.  Of course, she could have known Mark Richards before February 1869.  This date was the time when Agnes conceived her third child.  See below. 1869 29 March.  St. Lukes Church, Shireoaks. Worksop Nottinghamshire Emmanuel Harvey, son of Thomas and Sarah Ann Maria Harvey married Mary Ann Holland.  Emmanuel was only 18 years old. Mary Ann Holland was the Niece of Hannah Ankers formerly Holland.  After their marriage they lived with the Ankers at the Colliery Office (1871 Census) then moved to 16 Shireoaks Row. I am struggling to find his death anywhere as I know he was a Publican in Worksop 1893 and was living in Hanley Stoke on Trent by 1901.  He was alive when his wife died in 1916. 1869 25 November.  Shireoaks. Nottinghamshire It was at 17 The Row, Shireoaks, where Agnes gave birth to her third child [illegitimately] - presumably at the home of her devoted family. On the 18 December1869, Agnes registers her son's birth and names him William North, but we have evidence that this was not her late husband's child because she didn't become pregnant until eight months after his decease. 1870 12 January.  Shireoaks. Nottinghamshire 12.01.1870.   Thomas Harvey buried at Shireoaks aged 62 years.  This is the father of Agnes. No. 112 in Worksop St. Lukes parish church register. 1870.  Soon after William's birth is registered by Agnes she moves to Beighton, Derbyshire.  Exactly when is not known but we have evidence of Agnes and Mark Richards in Beighton by the 20th February 1870. 1870 20 February.  Beighton. Nottinghamshire On the 20 February 1870, baby William was baptised at Beighton parish church 'privately'.  His parents were named as Mark and Agnes Richards (although Mark & Agnes were "unmarried" at this time). Sadly, baby William died and on the 7 March 1870, he was buried in Beighton churchyard as William Richards. We now have proof from documentary evidence obtained that William's father was Mark Richards - they both admitted it to the vicar when they baptised William at Beighton.  Although his birth certificate names him William North (no father's name mentioned), his burial confirms that he was a Richards. 1871 2 April.  Shireoaks. Nottinghamshire The 1871 census for Shireoaks reveals 17 The Row, Shireoaks to be the home of Thomas & Elizabeth Harvey (son of Thomas and Sarah Ann Maria Harvey).  They had five children by 1871, namely Silas, Thomas, James, Enoch and Sarah A. Harvey. The census tells us that around 1862 their third child was born in Shireoaks, this gives us a clue to when the Harvey Family left Short Heath, Staffs.  They must have all left Short Heath at the same time - they lived next door to each other in 1861. In 1871 Thomas & Elizabeth have a lodger - her name is Sarah Hughes born in Shropshire around 1836.   Could she be relative of the Harveys?  Thomas' sister?  We are unaware in 1836 where the Harveys were living - could it have been Salop? Next door in 1871 in Shireoaks lived Emmanuel and Mary A. Harvey the son of Thomas & Sarah Ann Maria Harvey, and brother of course to Thomas next door. Around about the time Thomas Harvey (snr.) died in 1870, his son Emmanuel married - did he decide to carry on living in the same house where his father had lived? Did the Harveys all live at 17 The Row, Shireoaks from 1863 – 1870.  (or, were there TWO houses in The Row occupied by the Harveys?) We have evidence that Agnes lived at 17 The Row when William was born in 1869 and when she registered his birth too, all this happened just prior to Agnes' father dying. The death certificates of Thomas and Sarah Ann Maria Harvey would probably solve this question.  The burial record for Sarah Maria Harvey, number 459 in the Woksop Parish church register records the abode as Shireoaks, buried August 27th. 1863 aged 52 years, the ceremony performed by W. S. Salman The 1871 census also reveals that Caroline Baker formerly Harvey and sister to Agnes is living with her husband James at Sneyd, Essington in the parish of Bushbury, Staffs. Source: RG10. piece 2925. page 16. Name Status M or F M or S Age Occupn. Where born James Baker Head M Marr. 41 Farmer Lane Head, Staffs. Caroline Baker Wife F Marr. 38 -- Church Gresley, Derbys. Tamar Baker Dau. F Unm. 15 -- Bloxwich Joseph Baker Son M Unm. 11 -- Lane Head, Staffs. Harriet Baker Dau. F Unm. 9 -- Lane Head, Staffs. Sarah A. Baker Dau. F Unm. 5 -- Essington. Jacob Harvey Bother in law M Unm. 16 Engine Fitter Bloxwich Thomas Butler Boarder M Unm. 48 Ag. Lab. Bangley, Derbys. William Griffiths Lodger M Unm. 48 Ag. Lab. Dawley, Salop. 1871. 2 April.  Wednesfield, Staffs. At the time of the 1871 Census the family were living at 29, Bloxwich Road, Wednesfield, Staffs. Name Status M or F M or S Age Occupn. Where born Mark Richards Head M Marr. 27 Coal miner Shire Oaks, Notts. Agnes Richards Wife F Marr. 25 - Lane Head, Staffs. Tamar Jane Richards Dau. F S 7 - Shire Oak, Notts. Emmanuel North Richards Son M S 4 - Shire Oak, Notts. So Mark Richards told the Enumerator he was aged 27 years, whereas he was 26 years.  Also that he was born in Shireoaks, Notts., when in fact he knew that he was born at Brinsley, Notts.  The two children have been given the surname Richards and so has Agnes, who stated she was the wife of Mark Richards. This family were living at 29, Bloxwich Road, Wednesfield, Staffs. (number 67 on schedule)..  Regn. District Wolverhampton, sub-district Willenhall, civil parish of Wednesfield.  Ecclesiastical parish of St. Thomas.  Source: Ref: RG10.  Piece 2948, folio 9. 1871. 12 June.  Bushbury parish church, Staffordshire. On the 12 June 1871, AgnesNorth formerly Jones formerly Harvey and Mark Richards, both widowed, marry at Bushbury parish church, Staffs.  Jacob Harvey aged 15, Agnes youngest brother was one of the witnesses.  What were Mark & Agnes doing getting married in Bushbury? Note: We now have evidence that Thomas Harvey (snr.), father of Thomas, Caroline, Harriott, Emmanuel, Jacob and Agnes, died and was buried at Worksop in early January 1870 - Jacob would only be 14 - Who looked after him?  The 1871 census reveals he is staying with his married sister Caroline Baker on that day.  Although at present I can neither prove nor disprove it, I believe he may have lived with this family for some long time. We now know that the Harveys all left Short Heath, Staffs. together after the 1861 census was taken.  We have proof of them in the Worksop R.D. - Shireoaks we believe is the place, with the death in 1863 of Sarah Ann Maria Harvey formerly Steward and in 1870 Thomas Harvey.  These two deaths have opened up 'The Harvey' trail tremendously and have helped to illuminate Agnes' life prior to her marriage to Mark Richards - Shireoaks seems to be the place where they met. Shireoaks Colliery was a coal mine situated on the edge of the village of Shireoaks, near Worksop in North Nottinghamshire, close by the Yorkshire border. The Duke of Newcastle owned mineral rights in much of North Nottinghamshire and the original shaft was sunk in 1861. Although the colliery was situated adjacent to the main line of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, an agreement was reached with the railway company, as owners of the Chesterfield Canal, for a short link to serve the colliery and to ship coal to the River Trent at West Stockwith. The Shireoaks Colliery Company was formed in 1867 and, in due course, had mining interests throughout the area, including those at Steetley, Whitwell and Clowne. This Facts File is incomplete but having put all the evidence together for the various known families we have created a new picture. It is not my intention to publish my further research about Mark Richards and his wife Agnes in this chapter because quite simply it can be found under the four chapters Mark Richards - the Travelling man. Parish of Stapenhill, Derbyshire.  selected HARVEY Baptisms.  Matlock R.O. Ref: D.1282. A/PI. 2 / 1. Year Date First name Son / Dau. Parents Abode Occupation 1801 22 February Richard son Richard and Elizabeth Harvey Newhall Collier 1801 13 July Joseph son James and Ann Harvey Newhall Collier 1803 17 July William son William and Elizabeth Harvey Newhall Collier 1805 27 October Joseph son Joseph and Rosanna Harvey Newhall Collier 1806 26 May Circeaner daughter James and Ann Harvey Newhall Collier 1807 23 August Thomas son Robert and Mary Harvey Newhall Collier 1807 25 October Mary daughter Thomas and Sarah Harvey Newhall Collier 1808 24 January Thomas son James and Ann Harvey Newhall Collier 1808 31 January William son Joseph and Rosanna Harvey Newhall Collier 1809 29 January Mary daughter Robert and Mary Harvey Newhall Collier 1809 17 December Elizabeth daughter Thomas and Sarah Harvey Newhall Collier 1810 5 August William son James and Ann Harvey Church Gresley ? Collier 1813 28 February Rebacker daughter Robert and Mary Harvey Newhall Collier 1813 12 December Sarah daughter Joseph and Rosanna Harvey Newhall Collier 1814 2 January William son William and Elizabeth Harvey Newhall Collier 1815 12 February Richard son Thomas and Sarah Harvey Newhall Collier 1815 14 March James son Robert and Mary Harvey Newhall Collier 1816 25 February William son William and Elizabeth Harvey Newhall Collier 1816 2 June Elizabeth dau. spurious dau. of Mary Harvey Newhall No Occupn. 1816 8 September Thomas son Joseph and Rose Honour Harvey Newhall Collier 1817 27 April Joseph son Robert and Mary Harvey Newhall Collier 1817 16 November William son Thomas and Sarah Harvey Newhall Collier 1819 10 January Joseph son William and Elizabeth Harvey Newhall Collier 1819 4 July Robert son spurious son of Elizabeth Harvey Newhall Collier? 1819 19 September Sarah daughter Robert and Mary Harvey Newhall Collier 1819 25 December James son Joseph and Rosanna Harvey Newhall Collier 1820 21 May Robert son Thomas and Sarah Harvey Newhall Collier 1822 24 February Hannah son Joseph and Rosanna Harvey Newhall Collier 1823 12 January Richard son William and Elizabeth Harvey Newhall Collier 1824 9 November or 21 November Hannah daughter Robert and Mary Harvey Newhall Collier -- -- -- -- -- Harvey Newhall Collier In the belief the Harveys left this area around 1862, it may be of interest of readers to learn a liitle about the village of Newhall in the times when the Harvey family lived there.  I have extracted information from three Trade Directories published during this time. Pigot & Co's 1835 Trade Directory Stanton and Newhall is a joint township, in the parish of Stapenhill, between 2 and 3 miles from Burton-upon-Trent. In that part of the township called Newhall, has been erected a handsome church and parsonage house, at the sole expense of the Rev. Joseph Clay, of Stapenhill; this munificent act, which has been effected at the cost of £7,000, has been the means of producing a reformation in the habits and morals of many of the inhabitants, which must be eminently gratifying to the benevolent pastor. The joint township contained in the last census, 1,182 inhabitants, but it is estimated the number since that period has much augmented, from the increasing importance of the potteries and collieries in this part of the parish. Post Office Directory of Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire. 1855 STANTON and NEWHALL are townships in the parish of Stapenhill, and in the hundred of Repton and Gresley, Burton-on-Trent Union, South Derbyshire; the former lies about 2 miles, and the latter 3 south-east from Burton-upon-Trent station, 125 1/2 from London, about 15 south of Derby, and about 6 north-west from Ashby-de-la-Zouch. A handsome district church has been erected at Newhall, at a cost of £7,000, including a parsonage house and school-rooms; it is a Gothis builfing, of brick, with square tower and pinnacles, and is dedicated to St. John. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the trustees; the Rev. Roger Taylor Burton, M.A., is the present incumbent. Here is also a chapel for Wesleyans. The area is 1,1613 acres, and the population, according to the census of 1851, was 1,812. Here are coal pits, an earthenware manufactory, and brick fields. White's 1857 Directory of Derbyshire STANTON and NEWHALL form a joint township and chapelry, which together contain 1,700A. 3R 8r. of land, and in 1851 had 382 houses and 1,812 inhabitants, of whom 925 were males and 887 females; rateable value L5,153 4s. Stanton, a small hamlet forming the western side of the township, in which the Earl of Chesterfield and Wm. Blake, Esq. are the principal owners. Newhall, a large and populous village, 3 miles S. by E. from Burton-upon-Trent, Earl Chesterfield, Wm. Blake Esq., and Jph. and Nathaniel Nadin, Esqrs., are joint lords of the manors and owners. Here are also several smaller owners. The Church, dedicated to St. John, is a handsome Gothic structure, with pinnacled tower, built of brick. It was erected at the sole expense of the Rev. John Clay, the vicar of Stapenhill, at a cost of £7,000, including a neat parsonage house, and commodious National schools, for boys and girls, and infants, which will hold about 400, and 150 attend. The Church was opened for Divine service 9th July, 1832, and will seat 600 persons. The living is a perpetual curacy, valued at £100, and is endowed with £2,000, in the patronage of trustees, in incumbency of the Rev. Roger Taylor Burton, M. A. The Wesleyans and Wesleyan Reformers have each chapels here, the former built in 1816, and enlarged in 1844, and the latter in 1855. A Literary Institute was established here in 1854, for the surrounding neighbourhood. It is held in a large club room adjoining the George Inn, lent by Mr. Wm. Brunt. The library contains 350 vols. and the news room is furnished with several daily and weekly papers; the Rev. R. T. Burton, treasurer and honorary secretary, Wm Brunt, president, and Hy. Staley, librarian. An Horticultural society in connection with the above was also established the same year, and the exhibition is held about the middle of July. Here is a bed of coal of superior quality, extending over 2,000 acres, and 24 feet thick, which generally fetches the highest price in the market. Messrs. Joseph and Nathaniel Nadin work the collieries. A superior clay is found in the coal mines, from which a neat straw or cane-coloured earthenware is manufactured, of which great qualities are exported to America and other ports. The manors of Newhall, Stanton-Ward, and Heathcote Ward, belonged, in the reign of Edward I., to the family of Ward, from whom they passed to the Meynells, Dethicks, Darcys, Phillips, and others, by marriage. The Earl of Chesterfield purchased two shares, and the remainder having passed into the Stanhope family, Earl Stanhope and his son sold their portion in parcels. There was formally a chapel at Newhall, which was given by William the Conqueror to Burton Abbey. CHARITIES. - Daniel Robinson, by will, gave to the poor of this parish land in 1786, vested in Mrs. Henshaw, producing £1 per annum. Mrs. Ayre, lately deceased, daughter of Mrs. Henshaw, paid the £1 to the parish officers, but now it is paid by Mr. Clay to the churchwardens, by whom it is distributed at Easter. - Cox, by will gave to the poor, land in 1786, vested in Thomas Sellick Brome, producing £1 10s. per annum. Lady Horton is now the owner of lands sold with this charge; and the yearly sum of 30s. is paid half-yearly by her tenant to the parish officers, and distributed at Easter and Christmas. Francis Jackson, by will gave to the poor, land and a house, in 1786, vested to Jph. Watson and J. Wakelin, and producing the annual sum of £1 5s. The annual sum of £1 1s. 8d. is now paid by Thomas Wright; and Joseph Warren pays 3s. 4d. to the overseers, which is, with the others, distributed at Easter and Christmas. Elizabeth Rhodes, as stated on a tablet in the Church, gave £15 to the poor, the interest to be distributed yearly. This sum is now in the hands of the freeholders, and 12s. is paid annually by the overseers for the time being, and distributed at Easter with several others. Joyce Cox, sister of the said Elizabeth Rhodes, it is stated on a tablet in the Church, also gave £15 to the poor. We could obtain no further information as to this charity. Agnes Harvey (1846 to 1915) "Wife of Mark Richards" Email: ronstan@richardsbygonetimes.co.uk Home Page: http://www.richardsbygonetimes.co.uk/ Created 30 April 2009 Last updated: 18 January 2012