Sandyford and Goldenhill

The last item we posted was 1870, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.

The population explosion has settled down, it has only increased from 3000 to 3183.

The Reverend Granville Rowe Bailey is the vicar at St John’s, Stanley Punshon Morris is his curate.

The Catholic chapel built in 1882 was dedicated to St Joseph and the priest was Reverend William J. Hopkins

The Baptist chapel at Latebrook was built in 1871 and remained open until 1956, my family on my dad’s side worshipped there.

My mum’s family were Methodists at the  Dale Street chapel, so you can imagine that there was a little friction sometimes.

I was christened as a Baptist but went to the Methodist Sunday school every Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon until I was fifteen.

The principal landowners were, Sir Smith Child, J. H. Williamson and Sir Thomas Fletcher Boughey.

John H. Williamson is still manufacturing colour and chemicals for the pottery industry.

Ralph Sneyd of Keele Hall is still the Lord of the Manor.

Board School, or the Secondary Modern as it was called when I went there was built in 1884 with places for 400 boys and girls and 200 infants.

William Horrocks was the headmaster and Miss Sherwin was the mistress in charge at the infants.

Henry Gilbert was the master at the National School and Martha Wooliscroft the mistress at the National infants.

A Catholic school was built in 1872 to accommodate up to 200 boys and girls, Miss Jane Derbyshire was the mistress in charge.

Prominent people in the village are, Thomas Clare, Henry Gilbert, George Higginson, Frederick J. Jones, George Redfern, James Wearing and Miss Annie Williams.

This chap is definitely a first for Goldenhill, he is William Partington, M.D. and he’s a Surgeon.

I believe he graduated from Glasgow University in 1878 and practised at Goldenhilluntil his death in 1912 aged 62.

The Loopline railway had reached Goldenhill in 1874 and the station master was William Ledger.

According to records, horse drawn trams were in use from 1860 onwards and steam trams were introduced around 1881, this must have made life a lot easier, this is very good if you can afford the fares.

Electric trams didn’t arrive until 1899.

A quick rundown of current businesses for 1896 is as follows.

To read more on what it was like in Goldenhill in 1896, click the Forum Tab at the top of the page and click the Local Memories Page to read the rest of the article by David Wood.

Goodness me, is it 1870 already?

How time flies when you are reminiscing.

19 years on from our last story, there have been a lot of changes since then.

The population is now 3000, that is more than double what it was in 1851.

There has been a large influx of people from the surrounding areas mainly Cheshire, Shropshire and Lancashire.

Wales and Ireland have also been major contributors to the population explosion.

Stoke on Trent was becoming a major industrial centre for coal mining, iron ore mining, the railway and the pottery industry.

The number of farmers has risen to 8, that too was a good source of employment, particularly for the people who came from Cheshire.

Things are definitely looking up, we have a Lord of the Manor now, Ralph Sneyd Esquire, I don’t know if he existed before 1870 but this is the first time I have come across him.

The name Sneyd brings to mind the Sneyd Arms, Sneyd Hotel, Sneyd Green, Sneyd Hill and Sneyd colliery.

The area of the village was 800 acres and the principle landowners were, Miss Sparrow, J.H.Williamson and Sir Smith Child, Baronet.

The Clock tower in Tunstall Tower Square was erected by local public subscription to honour Sir Smith Child, a Tunstall street was named after him and there is a stained glass window in St John’s church in his memory.

The village elders are, Reverend Frederick Elmer (vicar), Reverend William Warburton (curate), Henry Hargreaves, John Williamson (colour manufacturer), Mrs Mainwaring, Obediah Booth and Robert Shufflebotham the builder.

St John’s church also has a rector, the Reverend Grace.

The Reverend Elmer has 3 young children buried in the churchyard.

The weekly collections must have been very good to support 3 clergymen.

The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists still have their own chapels.

J.H. Williamson had a disagreement with the Bishop and provided the funds for Christ church in Rodgers Street in 1874, it was originally made of corrugated steel, I always knew it as the Tin Church.

Rodgers street was originally called, wait for it,,, Williamson street.

The church was rebuilt in 1944.

The Williamson brothers are still dealing in coal and ironstone.

To read more on what it was like in Goldenhill, click the Forum Tab at the top of the page and then click the Local Memmories Page to read the rest of the article by David Wood.