Carole Mcentee-Taylor - A History of Womens Lives in Scunthorpe

First published in Great Britain in 2019 by

Pen & Sword HISTORY

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Limited

Yorkshire - Philadelphia

Copyright Carole McEntee-Taylor, 2019

ISBN 978 1 52671 7 177

eISBN 978 1 5267 17 191

mobi ISBN 978 1 5267 17 184

The right of Carole McEntee-Taylor to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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I would first like to thank the Helen Marris Collection very much for the use of the Co-operative Society and the Scunthorpe Church of England School (later known as Gurnell Street School) material and Bryan Longbone for all his help. I would also like to thank Eddie Baker who provided many of the photos and to say how sorry I am that he didnt live to see the book. Last, but not least, I would like to thank Maureen and Kevin Hempsall for the information and photos relating to Rose Peake.

In January 1907, Florence Booth, the daughter-in-law of William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army asked if she could start a womens organisation within the Salvation Army. On 28 January the Home League was formed to promote the redemption of family life. I would like to thank the Salvation Army in Ashby for allowing me to speak to women during their coffee mornings and also to Ruth Boswell for telling me about the Home League and for introducing me to so many ladies from the Ashby Home League.

Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank all the ladies who kindly spared me a few moments of their time and shared their memories with me.

A History of Womens Lives in Scunthorpe shines a brief spotlight on the lives of over 150 women who lived in Scunthorpe between 1842 and 1950 and mentions a similar number by name. It is not an in-depth social study of inequality or suffrage, or a feminist manifesto. It does not concentrate on the lives of women with money, although they are mentioned, nor are there pages of social history and explanations as to why society viewed women in certain ways. Instead the book sets out to offer a snapshot of different aspects of the lives of ordinary women and to show, through personal memories and examples taken from the time, that although in some ways things have changed dramatically, in others society has not really progressed at all.

Although the women come from Scunthorpe, the morals and norms of society that can be seen through court decisions and other aspects of their lives could probably be taken from anywhere in the country.

Scunthorpe began life as one of five villages overlooking the Trent Valley, its name originating from an old Danish word Escumetorp. Ashby, Brumby, Crosby, Frodingham and Scunthorpe had less than a mile between them. In 1824, the first edition of the Ordnance Survey for the area describes Scunthorpe as little more than a country lane with a few white-washed cottages and farm houses.

However, the area was not entirely crime free. On Sunday, 1 May 1842, someone broke into the drapers and grocer shop of Elizabeth Borman and stole a number of silk handkerchiefs, some green with red sprigs and others chocolate coloured. They also stole three pieces of fancy gauze ribbon, some bonnet ribbon, a ham, some pocket knives and various other items. The Ashby Association for the Prosecution of Felons offered a ten guinea reward for information leading to the capture of the burglar. The notice also stated that if the theft had been carried out by two people and one of them reported their accomplice to the authorities, that person would also receive the reward money.

Four years later, on 3 August, Elizabeths shop was broken into again. Several shawls, silk handkerchiefs, pieces of habit cloth, ribbons and muslin were stolen. But this time the perpetrator was arrested. On 14 August 1846, James Drayton was charged with burglary at Elizabeth Bormans shop in Scunthorpe. Some of the goods were recovered and James Drayton was remanded.

Scunthorpe did not change very much over the next few years and by 1851 the population was just 303 with 113 people living in Frodingham, 46 in Brumby, 214 in Crosby and 456 in Ashby. This would change after the discovery of iron ore by Roland Winn on his fathers land near Scunthorpe. In July 1860, the first ore was mined and two years later an iron works was built. Enoch Markham, a fitter at the Trent Iron Works, came to Scunthorpe from Mexborough. He helped to fit up the first furnace at the works and the cottages there were built for him and the other workers to live in. At this time Scunthorpe still had only two shops with a few scattered houses in between.

Eleven years later the population of Scunthorpe had risen to 616 and that of Frodingham to 577. The number of people living in the other three villages had also changed. While Ashby now had a population of 669 and Crosby 288, Frodingham and Brumbys population had actually declined from 204 to 178. Scunthorpe had a chemist, a surgeon, a resident police sergeant, an ironmonger, a mining engineer and mining agent. Of the 616 people on the census, 94 had been born outside Lincolnshire.

Mary Frances Skinner was born in 1854 in Scunthorpe to William and Ann Skinner. William was a wheelwright and carpenter. Mary was the oldest of three children and had a younger brother, Alfred (b.1856) and two sisters, Ann (b.1858) and Rose (b.1860). Robert Lees (b.1843) was a foreman of the furnace labourers. He lived in Park Street, Scunthorpe but came from Dukinfield in Cheshire. Mary married Robert in 1869. They had one daughter Ann (b.1871) and four sons, James (b.1873), Robert (b.1880), Albert (b.1884) and Charles (b.1889). On 22 July 1890, Robert was working in Ashton-under-Lyne as a miner in Nook, Rowley for Broad Oak Colliery Company when he was killed in an accident. According to the colliery records he was suffocated by gas and coal dust. Mary had just discovered that she was pregnant again and gave birth to her fifth son, Frederick Ellis on 7 April 1891. Ann was living with her uncle William and Aunt Alice in Dukinfield, Cheshire, James was a farm labourer, Robert and Albert were at school and Mary had taken in a lodger, Charles Crackles, a farm labourer aged 43. A few years later Mary moved to 57 South Street and was working as a charwoman. James continued to live at home and was still a farm labourer. By the time Mary Lees was 60 years of age she was working as a farm labourer in Scotter. James, now 40, and Fred, aged 20, were both single and living with Mary, their occupations also listed as farm labourers.