RAMBLING REMINISCENCES.
MANY YEARS AGO....FAR TOO MANY TO ADMIT...WHEN THE LIKES OF MR D. HAY, THE BOROUGH LIBRARIAN , INSPIRED ME TO GET INVOLVED IN LOCAL HISTORY I CAME ACROSS MANY ARTICLES THAT GUARANTEED MY INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT AND AS A RESULT I HAVE ENJOYED IT EVER SINCE. AT THAT TIME THE LIKES OF DANNY HAY AND RON BELL AND FRANK CARRUTHERS, WROTE LENGTHY, FASCINATING ARTICLES IN THE LOCAL PRESS CONSTANTLY REVEALING WONDERFUL STORY OF OUR TOWN AND THE MANY PEOPLE WHO HAD ONCE HELPED TO MAKE IT SO IMPORTANT. IT WAS HARDLY SURPRISING THAT THE SUBJECT BECAME A FASCINATION FOR A LOCAL LAD LIKE MYSELF. OLD NEWSPAPERS OPENED UP A WHOLE NEW VISTA AND I DISCOVERED THE WRITINGS OF THE LIKES OF MESSRS JACKSON, WEAR, WATSON AND PEARS..... I ALSO UNEARTHED SEVERAL TO WHICH NO ONE COULD ATTRIBUTE AN AUTHOR'S NAME WHICH TENDED TO MAKE THE SEARCH EVEN MORE EXCITING AND WORTHWHILE. FOR EXAMPLE AN ANONYMOUSLY COMPILED CENSUS DATED 1762 REVEALED NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF RESIDENTS IN MANY STREETS AS WELL AS THE NAMES OF THEIR LANDLORDS WHILE OTHERS GAVE DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF THE TOWN. THE BEST KNOWN ONE IS THAT ENTITLED "JOHN AND I " .......
YET ANOTHER BEARS THE ABOVE MAIN TITLE AND APPARENTLY WAS WRITTEN C. 1890 AND REFERS TO THE TOWN ABOUT 50 YEARS BEFORE THAT. BE ADVISED IT IS A LENGTHY ARTICLE BUT ONE WHICH I BELIEVE YOU MAY ENJOY READING SO HERE WE GO WITH AN INITIAL INSTALMENT. TIME PERMITTING, OTHERS WILL FOLLOW!!!!!
" UNEQUAL SIDED TIMBER WAS STORED IN LARGE, PONDS IN MR JACKSON'S TIMBER YARD, ON THE GROUND NOW THE SAW MILLS, WHERE WERE ALSO COKE OVENS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF FUEL FOR THE MALT KILNS. AS A MASTER MR HARRISON HAD FEW EQUAL. BEING KIND AND STUDIOUS OF THE WELFARE OF HIS NUMEROUS WORKMEN , HE MADE HIMSELF BELOVED OF ALL. THEREFORE IT IS A FACT THAT THERE ALWAYS EXISTED GOOD FEELINGS BETWIXT THEM , AND CONSEQUENTLY THE MEN WERE GENERALLY VERY MANY YEARS IN HIS SERVICE. AT THE DEATH OF ANY OF HIS OLD SERVANTS HE MADE AN ALLOWANCE OF 8/- A WEEK TO THEIR WIDOWS, WHICH WAS PAID REGULARLY UP TO THE TIME OF MR HARRISON'S DEATH. SUCH WAS THIS EMPLOYER OF 60 YEARS AGO."
THE BREWERY REFERRED TO IS THAT WHICH WAS ONCE ON IRISH STREET SEEN IN THIS O/SURVEY MAP AND MR HARRISON HIMSELF LIVED OPPOSITE AT NUMBER 20 .
"IT MAY INTEREST SOME OF YOUR READERS TO KNOW THAT AT THE TIME THAT I WRITE ABOUT, THERE WAS A LOT OF SMUGGLING CARRIED ON , ESPECIALLY IN TOBACCO FROM ABROAD AND FROM THEN ISLE OF MAN, AS WELL AS BRANDY FROM THAT ISLAND AND WHISKEY FROM THE EMERALD ISLE. "
SMUGGLING WAS RIFE ALONG THE ISOLATED WEST CUMBRIAN COAST AND AT LEAST ONE AUTHOR WRITES ABOUT ILLICIT STILLS ALL OVER WHITEHAVEN .TODAY THE ONLY VISIBLE REFERENCE TO THE TRADE LIES IN THE SIGN OF THE SMUGGLERS PUB ON BRANSTY. UNTIL 1927 A MORE NOTICEABLE MEMENTO STOOD IN THE FORM OF THE TOBACCO PIPES WHICH WERE ALSO SITUATED ON BRANSTY BUT WERE DEMOLISHED IN 1923.
"THE TOBACCO PIPES ON BRANSTY WERE BUILT BY THE CUSTOMS AND EXCISE FOR THE PURPOSE OF DESTROYING CONTRABAND TOBACCO. AT THAT TIME IT WAS BURNED NOT SOLD AS NOW; BUT AS THESE PIPES ON WELL KNOWN BUILDINGS , WITH THEIR TWO TALL CHIMNEYS WERE CONVERTED INTO A POWDER MAGAZINE, WITH MR VICKERS THE RESIDENT KEEPER FOR YEARS, THE ACCUMULATED STOCK OF SMUGGLED TOBACCO USED TO BE CONVEYED TO IRISH STREET BREWERY BY THE CUSTOMS OFFICERS AT NIGHT, TAKEN IN BY THE QUEEN STREET GATE AND CONSUMED UNDER THE BOILER. I HAVE SEEN PACKAGES OF CAKE, ROLLS SEWN IN CANVASS, AND LEAF, A WHOLE CARTLOAD DESTROYED IN THIS WAY. THIS HAD BEEN TAKEN FROM THE SAILORS, OR IN OTHER WAYS CONFISCATED . IT DID LOOK A NEEDLESS AND FOOLISH THING TO DO, AND IT IS NOW OVER 40 YEARS SINCE THE COUNTRY ADOPTED THE SYSTEM OF SELLING INSTEAD OF WASTING THE MUCH USED WEED."
THE CUSTOMS HOUSE STILL STANDS TODAY ON THE STRAND BUT NOW SERVES A DIFFERENT PURPOSE. IT WAS HERE THAT THE TOBACCO WAS FIRST DESTROYED BY FIRE. HOWEVER, THE SMELL WAS SO BAD THAT COMPLAINTS LED TO THE REMOVAL OF THE FURNACE TO THE REMOTER AREA OF BRANSTY.
" MR HARRISON WAS A THOROUGH TORY IN POLITICS , AND ONE OF THE BACKBONE OF THE PARTY IN WHITEHAVEN. AT ALL ELECTIONS HE WORKED WITH VIGOUR , AND I WILL REMEMBER THE GREAT CONTEST " TWIXT ATTWOOD AND LITTLEDALE" FOR THE COUNTY DIVISION , WHEN THE SERVANTS AND CARRIAGES OF THE MANY OLD FAMILIES WERE BROUGHT INTO REQUISITION AS THE MEANS OF CONVEYING THE VOTERS, BEDECKED WITH BLUE AND YELLOW FLAGS. IT WAS THEN THAT RIBBONS WERE GIVEN AWAY BY THE MILE. THE WIVES OF THE COLLIERS COVERED WITH YELLOW SILK RIBBON PARADED THE STREETS; WHILE THOSE OF THE OPPOSITE PARTY, THE BROCKLEBANKS AND OTHERS WERE ADORNED WITH YARDS OF BLUE.
MR ATTWOOD. MR LITTLEDALE
"IT MUST HAVE BEEN A GOOD TIME FOR THE DRAPERS IN THOSE DAYS. I REMEMBER ON THE OCCASION OF THAT ELECTION MR HARRISON PUTTING ME, A BOY, ON THE END OF ONE OF HIS BREWERS DRAYS AND DECORATING ME WITH SASH, BAND AND SHOULDER KNOTS OF BROAD YELLOW RIBBON. THOSE WERE THE DAYS OF STRAW BONNETS AND OF COURSE AFTER THE ELECTIONS DYER BROWN HAD A FINE TIME OF IT DYING THE RIBBONS IN COLOURS TO SUIT THE TASTES OF THE LADIES./"
DYER BROWN'S ESTABLISHMENT WAS ONCE SITUATED ON TANGIER STREET WHERE THE DERELICT BUS STATION NOW STANDS FORLORN AND ON OCCASIONS LIKE THE ELECTIONS THE BECK IS SAID TO HAVE FLOWN WITH COLOURS AS HE EMPTIED HIS VATS.
"AT THE TIME OF WHICH I WRITE THE EXTENSIVE TIMBER YARD OF MESSRS JACKSON WAS CARRIED ON BY THEIR WORTHY FATHER, A GENUINE BUSINESS MAN LIKE HIS PRESENT SONS, AND A GENTLEMAN IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD WHOSE RESIDENCE WAS IN ROPER STREET OPPOSITE THE THEATRE.
MR JACKSON LIVED AT NUMBER 22 TO THE LEFT OF THE TWO RECESSED BUILDINGS ...VERY HANDY FOR THE THEATRE DIRECTLY OPPOSITE. SADLY THIS VENUE CLOSED DOWN IN THE 1930'S AND WAS EVENTUALLY DEMOLISHED.
"CLOSE TO HIS HOUSE IN THE YARD NEXT TO THE PASSAGE IN HOWGILL STREET, RESIDED MANY YEARS A FAMILY OF THE NAME OF MIDDLETON, THE HEAD OF WHICH WAS A MEMBER OF THE WELL KNOWN SHIPBUILDERS OF THAT NAME OF MARYPORT . BEHIND THE HOUSE WAS A LARGE YARD AND IT WAS IN THIS YARD THAT HE ALONE WITH HIS SONS, WHO WERE NEARLY ALL SHIPS CARPENTERS APPRENTICES BUILT IN HIS LEISURE TIME AND PUT INTO FRAME THE HULL OF A SCHOONER WHICH WAS AFTER WARDS TAKEN DOWN TO THE PATENT SLIP, PUT TOGETHER AND FINISHED. SHE WAS NAMED THE LOWTHER CASTLE AND MR MIDDLETON SAILED HER HIMSELF AS CAPTAIN . IT WAS ON THE LAST OCCASION, WHEN LEAVING HERE THAT HE LEFT HIS SON ISAAC HOME ILL. ISAAC HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN HIS COMPANION. AFTER THAT NEITHER MR MIDDLETON NOR THE VESSEL WERE HEARD OF MORE, HAVING BEEN LOST IN A GALE ON HIS VOYAGE TO IRELAND. THE CIRCUMSTANCE OF HIS SON'S ILLNESS UNDOUBTEDLY SAVED HIM, AND HE WAS AFTERWARDS KNOWN BY MANY AS STILL LIVING AS THE JOLLY GENIAL CAPTAIN OF THE "DUMBARTON YOUTH " AND THE STEAMER "CLEATOR " WHICH VESSEL HE COMMANDED TO THE BLACK SEA DURING THE WHOLE OF THE RUSSIAN WAR, CHARTERED UNDER THE TURKISH FLAG, AND AFTERWARDS UP TO HIS DEATH WHICH OCCURRED AT SEA ON A VOYAGE FROM CHINA HE HELD THE PROUD COMMISSION OF COMMODORE OF ALFRED HOLT AND WILLIAM , ANOTHER SON OF OLD CAPTAIN MIDDLETON'S, WAS ALSO A CAPTAIN IN THE SAME LINE; AND TOM HARRISON ONE OF MY OLD PLAYMATES, WHO WAS BROUGHT UP BY THE MIDDLETON FAMILY, AND EDUCATED BY THAT GRAND OLD CAPTAIN TEACHER , MR STOCKDALE, WAS THE CHIEF OFFICER OF THE UNFORTUNATE STEAMER "LONDON " WHICH WAS LOST WITH ALL HANDS MANY YEARS AGO. IT WAS ON THIS SHIP THAT THE THEN GREAT TRAGEDIAN G.V.BROOKE MET WITH A WATERY GRAVE."
MR STOCKDALE. MR.G.V.BROOKE
WIKIPEDIA TELLS US THAT MR BROOKE
"He left Plymouth for Australia on 1 January 1866 in the S.S. London which went down in a storm ten days later. Brooke toiled bravely at the pumps of the sinking vessel, and when all hope was gone was seen standing composedly by the companion way. As the last overcrowded lifeboat pulled away he called "Give my last farewell to the people of Melbourne". He was 47 years old. His widow died from consumption in the following October."
"THE GROUND ON WHICH STANDS WHAT WAS CALLED SELBY'S YARD , NEXT TO THE INFIRMARY IN HOWGILL STREET, AS ALSO THE WHOLE OF PRESTON STREET GOODS YARD AS FAR AS THE COACH ROAD , WAS GRASS FIELDS BELONGING TOM MR HARRISON'S BREWERY AND IT WAS QUITE A TREAT TO SEE THE FAMILIES OF HIS WORKMEN MAKING HAY IN HAYTIME, AND AS WELL MAY BE SURMISED THEY GOT WELL PAID AND HAD LOTS OF ALLOWANCE. BEFORE MR HARRISON'S DEATH HE MADE AMPLE PROVISION FOR ALL HIS OLD SERVANTS, ESPECIALLY HIS OLD HOUSEKEEPER, MISS STEPHENSON, WHO LIVED MANY YEARS IN COMFORT IN THE LITTLE HOUSE OPPOSITE TO WHERE SHE HAD SO FAITHFULLY SERVED AND WAITED ON HER KIND AND GENEROUS MASTER....SUCH WAS MR JOHN HARRISON, ONE OF WHITEHAVEN'S WORTHIES OF 50 YEARS AGO."
THE MESSRS BROCLEBANK.
THE BROCKLEBANKS HAVE RESIDED IN MANY CUMBRIAN HOMES AT LEAST TWO OF WHICH WERE HERE IN WHITEHAVEN . THE MOST EVIDENT IS THAT IN ROPER STREET WHICH BEARS THE PLAQUE RELATED TO DANIEL ,THE FOUNDER OF THE LOCAL BROCKLEBANK YARD WHICH WENT ON TO BUILD OVER 150 SHIPS BEFORE CLOSING AND RELOCATING TO LIVERPOOL.
.
"THERE WILL, NO DOUBT, BE SOME OF THE OLD INHABITANTS OF OUR NATIVE TOWN WHO WILL REMEMBER, ESPECIALLY MR JOHN BROCKLEBANK, OR SHIPBUILDER JOHN , AS HE WAS USUALLY CALLED; AND IN ORDER TO INTRODUCE THIS WORTHY GENTLEMAN TO THE NOTICE OF OUR YOUNGER READERS, I MAY STATE THAT HE RESIDED A HAZEL HOLME , AND HAD THE SOLE SUPERVISION OF THE SHIPYARD AND THE ROPERY AT BRANSTY, WHILST HIS BROTHER THOMAS,WHO WAS TRULY THE FOUNDER OF THAT COLOSSAL MERCANTILE HOUSE OF TODAY , RESIDED IN LIVERPOOL , AND IT IS NO EXAGGERATION TO SAY THAT THE NAME OF THAT GENTLEMAN, ALTHOUGH MANY YEARS DEAD IS HELD IN THAT CITY IN THE GREATEST VENERATION AND RESPECT. I HAVE HEARD MANY A WORKING MAN TELLING HOW REGULARLY HE USED TO SEE MR BROCKLEBANK WALKING DOWN AT HIS USUAL TIME TO THE OFFICE IN RUMFORD STREET.
IN THE HISTORY OF OUR IMMEDIATE NEIGHBOURHOOD THERE IS NOT AN INSTANCE MORE WORTHY OF NOTICE, WHERE INDOMITABLE COURAGE AND PERSEVERANCE, INDUSTRY, AND A KIND CONSIDERATION OF ALL EITHER IN BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS OR IN THEIR EMPLOY, HAS BEEN MORE SIGNALLY SUCCESSFUL, THAN IN THIS WORLD WIDE HONOURED WEST CUMBRIAN FAMILY. "
IRTON CHURCH
"THE FAMILY OF BROCKLEBANK IS A VERY ANCIENT ONE , AND BELONGS TO IRTON , WHERE THE HEAD OF THAT HOUSE STILL LOVES TO RESIDE WHENEVER OPPORTUNITY AFFORDS, AMIDST THE BEAUTIFUL SCENERY OF HIS VAST DOMAIN. FOR IN THE GRAND OLD CHURCH WHICH HAS BEEN SO MAGNIFICENTLY REMODELLED AT HIS EXPENSE ARE MANY MEMORIES OF DEPARTED FRIENDS AND WORTHY NEIGHBOURS ITS GRAVEYARDS WILL WELL REPAY THE VISITOR WHO HAS ANY LOVE FOR ANTIQUITY, WITH ITS WELL KEPT GRAVES AND TOMBSTONES. HE WILL NOTE THE SMITHS OF WHITE AIN HOUSE, THE BIRKETTS, THE COOKS, BRAITHWAITES, SIMMS , ARMSTRONGS , LUTWIDGES AND A HOST OF NAMES IN CLOSE RELATIONSHIP TO THE FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO STILL REMAIN AT THE PRESENT DAY, WHOSE CARE FOR THEIR DEPARTED FRIENDS , OF IN SOME CASES 2 CENTURIES AGO, IS MOST REMARKABLE
NEAR TO THE PARISH OF IRTON AND THE PARISH OF MUNCASTER IS THE WELL KNOWN SEA PORT VILLAGE OR SMALL TOWN OF RAVENGLASS, A MOST PICTURESQUE HAMLET. IT WAS AT THE LATTER END OF THE 13TH CENTURY A NOTED FISHERY, IN FACT A PEARL AND OYSTER FISHERY. NO DOUBT THE YOUNG BROCKLEBANKS , OF IRTON , IMBIBED THEIR LOVE FOR SHIPS BY THEIR CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THIS PLACE , AND A CRACK NOW AND AGAIN WITH CAPTAIN Mc KNIGHT, CAPTAIN BIRD OR OTHER OWNERS OF THE WEST CUMBERLAND FISHING FLEET OF THOSE DAYS. IT IS SUFFICIENT TO KNOW THAT DANIEL AND JOHN , LIKE THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, DID ACTUALLY SERVE AN APPRENTICESHIP TO THE ART OF SHIPBUILDING, AFTER WHICH THEY EMIGRATED TO ST JOHN'S IN NEWFOUNDLAND AND COMMENCED BUSINESS CHIEFLY IN BUILDING THE HARDY STAUNCH CRAFT OF THAT WORLD WIDE KNOWN FISHERY. THERE , BY STRICT ECONOMY AND PERSEVERANCE THEY BECAME POSSESSED OF VAST ACRES OF FOREST PROPERTY. WITH A LONGING FOR HOME AND A DESIRE TO THROW THEIR ENERGIES INTO PRACTICE FOR THE WELFARE OF THEIR NEIGHBOURS, THEY RETURNED AND HAVING NEGOTIATED WITH SIR JAMES LOWTHER, THEY STARTED SHIPBUILDING IN WHITEHAVEN WHICH GRADUALLY INCREASED YEAR BY YEAR AND THEN THE ROPERY, NOW ALMOST ANNIHILATED. THESE PROPERTIES WERE LEASEHOLD 99 YEARS SOME SAY. BUT THOSE OF US WHO REMEMBER THE FIRM IN FULL SWING, THE RING OF THE HAMMERS AND AXES , THE NUMEROUS OLD EMPLOYED OF THAT WELL BELOVED FIRM CANNOT HELP BUT REGRET THAT EVER A WAGON LOAD OF RUBBISH SHOULD HAVE BEEN TIPPED INTO THEIR YARD TO THE FUTURE LUCK AND PROSPERITY OF OUR TOWN. TIS TRUE THE MINING INDUSTRY HAS OPENED OUT THE TOWN OF CLEATOR MOOR NEAR TO WHICH IS THE NATIVE PLACE OF SIR THOMAS AND EGREMONT AND FRIZINGTON; BUT FOR THESE WHAT IS THE TRADE OF THE TOWN COMPARED TO WHAT IT WAS 60 YEARS AGO. MR DANIEL BIRD WAS THEIR HEAD MAN AFTER MR JOHN , THE FATHER,S DEATH, WITH MR J ROBINSON CLERK WHO AFTER WARDS BECAME THEIR MANAGER AT THE SHIPYARD, WHILST MR E. S. JONES THE SON OF MR PAUL JONES , OF HIGH STREET ,WAS THE MANAGER OF THE ROPERY DEPARTMENT AT BRANSTY AND ALSO AFTER ITS REMOVAL TO HARTLEYS AT CORKICKLE, UP TO THE CLOSE OF ALL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS WITH THE WORTHY FIRM OF T AND J BROCKLEBANK A FEW YEARS AGO, A CALAMITY TRULY. WE HAVE PROOF OF HOW THE FIRM , WHICH BY THE WAY, EMBRACED TWO VERY PHILANTHROPIC AND DEARLY LOVED LADIES , THE MISS BROCKLEBANK AND MISS MARGARET WHO USED TO RESIDE CHIEFLY IN THEIR OWN TOWN HOUSE IN LOWTHER STREET, BENEFITTED THE TOWN OF WHITEHAVEN. "
83 LOWTHER STREET
"MISS MARGARET WAS AN INVALID FOR MANY YEARS AND LET ME NOTE HERE THAT MR JOHN HAD THE MISFORTUNE TO BE THROW FROM HIS GIG , WHICH SAD EVENT NEARLY COST HIM HIS LIFE, BUT GOD IN HIS MERCY PRESERVED HIM., FOR MANY YEARS AFTER WARDS HE STILL HAD A STIFF NECK. NEVERTHELESS, HE WAS A TRUE GENTLEMAN , ONE OF THE SORT THEY USED TO MAKE IN THOSE DAYS, NO OUTSIDE SHOW BUT GENUINE.. SUCH WAS THE FATHER OF THAT VENERABLE GENTLEMAN WHOM LIVERPOOL DELIGHTED TO HONOUR , MR RALPH BROCKLEBANK"
WHILST THE FIRM WAS IN FULL VIGOUR, BUILDING THEIR STRONG AND NOTED SHIPS, IT WAS NO UNCOMMON THING, WHICH I CAB PROVE, FOR THEM TO SPEND AMONG THE VARIOUS TRADESMEN SUCH AS MR HIND, THE SAIL MAKER ; MR WEBSTER DITTO; MR CRICHTON THE ANCHORSMITH; MR GORDON THE BRASS MOULDER AND IRONMONGER; MR McCORMICK THE BLOCK ; MR DIXON THE PLUMBER; MESSRS JAMES AND ANDREW McGOWAN THE COOPERS , AND OTHERS SOME HUNDREDS OF POUNDS A MONTH, FORBYE THE WAGE PAYMENT, WHICH FOUND ITS WAY INTO THE TOWN THROUGH A THOUSAND DIFFERENT CHANNELS. THE OLD SERVANTS WERE RESPECTED. UP TO THE LAST THEY WERE EMPLOYED, AND NOW THAT IT IS MAY DAY, REMINDS ME OF THE DAYS WHEN THE STRAPPING YOUTHS OF MY YOUTHFULL DAYS USED TO DECK THE SHIPS WITH MAYFLOWERS; HAVE A GRAND PROCESSION IN THE EVENING IN THEIR WHITE TOP SHIRTS, CHEERING LUSTILY AS THEY WELCOMED IN THE GLAD MAY DAY , AND STILLNESS PREVAILETH ION THE PLACE WHEREIN ONCE THE SOUND OF HAPPINESS AND MIRTH RESOUNDED. LET US HOPEFULLY LOOK FORWARD TO A RETURN OF THE HAPPY DAYS OF 50/60 YEARS AGO. SOME GENTLEMEN OF THE FLAGS, WHOSE HEART IS NOT ALTOGETHER IRON AND IRON ORE. BUT WHOM IS WILLING TO TAKE UP THE PAST PROSPERITY OF OUR TOWN, MIGHT LAY HIS SHOULDER TO THE WHEEL AND EMULATE THE EXAMPLE OF OF THIS WORTH FAMILY, OF WHOM I WRITE; FORE THERE IS NOT A SPOT UPON THE FACE OF THE CIVILISED WORLD IN WHICH THEIR NAME IS NOT KNOWN, AND THE WIND NEVER BLOWETH UNFAVOURABLE TO THEIR WELL MANNED, WELL FOUND FLEET. MAY SUCCESS AND PROSPERITY, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS ATTEND THEM IN THE FUTURE AS I THE PAST, IS THE WISH OF EVERY OLD NATIVE OF WHITEHAVEN.
BEFORE CLOSING THIS ARTICLE I MAY MENTION THAT THERE IS A MONUMENT TO SOME OF THE OLD FAMILY AFFIXED TO THE CHANCEL OF TRINITY CHURCH IN THIS TOWN. MR THOMAS WAS AFFLICTED BY BLINDNESS FOR A FEW YEARS PREVIOUS TO HIS DEATH AT GREENLANDS IN IRTON, IN WHICH PARISH CHURCH HE LIES AT PEACE AND REST AFTER A VIRTUOUS AND USEFUL LIFE. SUCH WAS THE END OF THIS WORTHY FAMILY."
