Halsall Scholars in 1851

Halsall School 1591-1861
Halsall School 1861-1906

According to the 1851 census for Halsall, there were 105 scholars in the village. Of these, 44 were girls and 61 were boys. The school in Halsall at that time was located in St. Cuthbert’s church in what is now the choir vestry. The boys were taught downstairs and the girls had their lessons upstairs. It wasn’t until 1861 that the school was moved to the old tithe building on Summerwood Lane. (See the history of St. Cuthbert’s Hall on the ‘Landmarks’ page of this website for more information about the schools).

However, 3 of the 105 scholars were educated at home; Richard, James and Rose Leigh were the children of Reverend Richard Leigh and lived at the village Rectory.  They were educated by their governess, Louisa Davies who was originally from Somerset and lived at the Rectory in 1851.  The rest of the scholars from the village lived in various areas of Halsall; only one child from Shirdley Hill attended school in 1851 – James Seddon.

In addition there were two Pupil Teachers;  Elizabeth Norris GVHF-QM3, aged 14 of New Street, whose father Richard was a wheelwright and William Knowles MHCK-4BQ, aged 16 whose father Richard was a miller on New Street. 

Pupil teachers were apprentices who learnt on the job and also took examinations to become qualified teachers. They were often bright children from working class backgrounds. Both Elizabeth and William progressed to be National teachers.

Death Certificate Elizabeth Norris

In 1861, Elizabeth was 24 years old and boarding with a land surveyor and his wife in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. She had passed her examinations and was a National school mistress. Sadly, Elizabeth’s career was cruelly cut short as she died at Rose Cottage in 1867 of tuberculosis when she was only 30 years old. She is buried at St. Cuthbert’s church in Halsall. 

National School, Tattenhall, Cheshire (credit Tattenhall Histroy Group)

William was also successful and in 1861, aged 26, he was living in the School House, High Street, Tattenhall in Cheshire. He was a National school master and his widowed mother, Mary, was living with him and working as a housekeeper.

William left Cheshire and lived with his brother Henry in Liverpool for a time and was still teaching in Liverpool until his death in 1905 when he suffered a brain haemorrhage. 

Death Certificate of Willam Knowles

Schoolmaster & Schoolmistress

Eliza Evered GVZS-N47 is listed as living in the ‘Village’, her occupation being a schoolmistress.. She hailed from Shepton Mallet in Somerset so perhaps she was acquainted with Louisa Davies, the Leigh children’s governess who also came from Somerset.

John Eccleston GV93-2MB, a  schoolmaster, was boarding at Halsall Hall with Emily and William Rigby, a retired farmer in 1851. John originally came from Coniston in Cumberland and was listed in the Mannex Directory of 1854 as still being in Halsall at that time. However, by 1861 he had returned to his native Cumberland and was living and working in Carlisle. He was a married man by 1866 and still taught up in Cumberland until his death in 1894. 

Notes on some scholars and their families

  • Ellen KJGZ-NLL and Sarah Fairhurst GZJC-PBL  were 2 of the daughters of Ellen Fairhurst (nee Sephton) of New Street. Ellen had been widowed in 1850 as her husband, William, a shoemaker had died at the age of 33. In 1851, Ellen had six young daughters altogether and was in receipt of parish relief. In later life she worked as a charwoman (cleaner). 
  • Margaret  MHCV-5MJ and Henry Guy  GV6W-Q7F  of Boundary Lane were living with their grandmother Margaret Woodcock, 76 years – a widow and a farmer of 55 acres. Also living under the same roof were her 4 single sons: John (49), Thomas (47), Charles (37), and Henry (35). Margaret and Henry’s mother, Jane Woodcock, had died in 1847. Another sibling, Ann, aged 9 years, was living with their other grandmother Ann Guy at Bangor’s Green. She was also widowed and a farmer. 
  • Alice Moorcroft  K8KK-MVY was living with her grandparents who were shoemakers. Her mother was Elizabeth Moorcroft. By 1861 Alice was 20 years old, still living with her grandparents in the village and had an 11 month old baby, Peter Moorcroft. 
  • The Gill sisters of Gregory Lane, Ellen LK1J-2L5 , Ann and Alice attended school in 1851 although their brother Thomas, aged 7 was ‘at home’. Their mother had died in 1846 leaving their father (another shoemaker) with 6 children including Elizabeth and Mary, 26 and 16 years respectively in 1851; the two older girls earned a living as dressmakers.
  • Mary GJ3C-LC5 and Richard Hesketh were the children of farmer Henry Hesketh, a widower from Northmoor Lane. Henry’s other children were at home and/or working on the farm with him. As an adult, Mary Hesketh ran the Scarisbrick Arms public house, also known as the Sumner Arms Ale House in Mary’s day. 
  •  Esther and James Porter (a farm labourer) of Ormskirk Road (now Asmall Lane) had six children altogether, five of whom attended school in 1851. Their youngest was Mary Porter LZXZ-CB4, aged 3. One of their sons, Valentine Porter, despite going to school, could not write his own name on the occasion of his marriage in 1874; as many people did at that time, he signed his name with a mark, ‘X’. 
  • Margaret Shaw GVDJ-RC7 of Northmoor Lane was 13 years old when she attended school in 1851. Her mother was a boatwoman and widow of Henry Shaw.
  • Elizabeth Eaves GJY3-G92 , 13 years old,  was also from a boat family and lived with her siblings on Plex Lane. She married James Cheetham in 1878, however as we have seen before, she could not write her own name to sign the Marriage Register. 
  • There were two lots of twins from Halsall who went to school in 1851 – Ellen 9JMN-R4T and Margaret Kenyon of Moss Lane (now Carr Moss Lane) and Joshua GSJG-4KM and James Mawdsley of Boundary Lane. 

 

  • One of the youngest scholars was John Kirby KJGJ-ZCG who was 4 years old in 1851 and the son of Ellen and Thomas Kirby, a labourer of New Street. He later progressed to being a pupil teacher and had a very successful teaching career. See the Bibliography section of this website for John Kirby’s story. 

 

Can you find any of your ancestors in the tables below?

Extensive research has been done in relation to the girls and boys who attended school in 1851; their details are recorded in the following tables with links to the ‘Family Search’ website for further information. 

First nameFamily nameBirthDeathAddressGuardian's Occupation
John?1842Halsall VillageGrandparents
Charles Ambrose 18351917Halsall MossFarmerG6KC-L1S
WilliamAmbrose 18371875Halsall MossFarmerLWYN-C5S
HenryAmbrose 18401917Halsall MossFarmerKJLJ-DFM
JamesAmbrose 18431878Halsall MossFarmerGXD4-T52
JohnBlundell18381907Cross LaneMalster/FarmerGCGB-6PY
Charles Blundell1839Moss LaneWheelwrightKJ2G-CN9
RichardBlundell1840Cross LaneMalster/Farmer9JN9-FL2
WilliamBlundell1842Cross LaneMalster/FarmerKJGX-7CY
RichardBlundell18421913Moss LaneWheelwright9JN9-26B
JamesBlundell18441916Cross LaneMalster/FarmerM584-2J2
RichardCooper 18381891Halsall MossFarmerLWCD-TJ1
JohnCooper 1840Halsall MossFarmerLWCC-KD7
EdwardDalton1837Plex LaneFarmerKL51-C4S
WilliamDalton18391903Plex LaneFarmerKJGJ-ZWG
ThomasDalton1842Plex LaneFarm labourerKJGV-PDY
JohnDalton1845Plex LaneFarm labourerKJG9-M8W
HenryEaves1841Plex LaneBoat familyKJGD-D81
JohnEaves1843Plex LaneBoat familyKJLJ-DJ4
HenryGuy1844Boundary LaneFarmerGV6W-Q7F
JohnHarrison18401914Moss LaneFarmerKJL5-55X
ThomasHaslam18431897New StreetCow KeeperM6J9-6SY
RichardHesketh18411909Northmoor LaneFarmerGJ3C-RNP
HenryHeyes18451878New StreetGamekeeperM6JQ-LVG
RichardHoward18441909Cross LaneLabourerKJ2G-CVJ
GeorgeHuyton1845Northmoor LaneFarmerKJLJ-DVV
WilliamKenyon18401904Moss LaneFarmerG7VK-4XK
HenryKirby1843Cross LaneSawyerL8W1-2T1
JohnKirby18471905New StreetFarm labourerKJGJ-ZCG
ThomasLeatherbarrow18441927Small Lane SthFarm labourerMG4J-F2V
Richard Leigh18421916RectoryRectorG2YN-RHP
JamesLeigh18451921RectoryRectorGL7N-RTM
JohnMarshall1837Halsall MossFarmerGFNB-XF4
RobertMarshall1843Halsall MossFarmerKJ2D-8W3
JohnMawdsley 1840Boundary LaneFarmerMHKN-7L6
JoshuaMawdsley 18421911Boundary LaneFarmer GSJG-4KM
JamesMawdsley 1842Boundary LaneFarmer GSJL-27M
RichardMawdsley 18441913Moss LaneShoemakerM6F4-C1V
ThomasParker1842Northmoor LaneFarmerG4C9-J3Q
HenryPorter1843Ormskirk RoadFarm labourerLZXZ-HND
WilliamPorter1845Ormskirk RoadFarm labourerLZXZ-HGJ
ValentinePorter18461920Ormskirk RoadFarm labourerLZXZ-C4R
PeterRimmer1839Northmoor LaneLabourerKJGF-5X2
John Rimmer 1845Plex LaneFarmerGVWX-6MV
WilliamRoberts1841Halsall VillageGardenerGVZS-TXN
EdwardRoberts1843Halsall VillageGardenerL6SZ-593
JamesSeddon1842Shirdley HillFarmerGV86-53D
WilliamSeddon1847Ormskirk RoadGrandparentsL8M6-34S
JohnSephton18431922Plex LaneFarmerMHD1-FRD
ThomasSephton1843Moss LaneFarm labourerL5DP-KWW
William Shakelady18401894Dicconsons LnFarmer9JN9-8K3
JohnShakelady18421895Dicconsons LnFarmerKJLJ-DVV
ThomasShakelady18441914Dicconsons LnFarmer KJL5-5TW
James Snape18391917Moss LaneFarm labourerL51C-MWZ
ThomasStopforth18391905New StreetFarmer KJGZ-JSC
RichardStopforth18421903New StreetFarmer MC3H-B63
JohnThrelfall1842Small LaneParish reliefKGJ7-J3T
EdwardThrelfall18461907Dicconsons LnFarmer KJGX-78M
WilliamWinstanley1841New StreetDressmaker GV44-DJ2
Edward Woodcock18431892Boundary LaneFarmerKJ2D-87S
RichardWoodcock18451911Boundary LaneFarmerL55H-DM9
First nameFamily nameBirthDeathAddressGuardian's Occupation
MargaretBarlow1839Ormskirk RoadLabourerGV6Y-YW1
EllenBlundell18361922Moss LaneWheelwrightGXT4-3S1
JaneBlundell18391929Moss LaneWheelwrightMH6S-224
MaryClare 1838Cross LaneFarmer LDYR-MXS
JaneDalton18411909Plex LaneFarmerGVWF-KD5
Elizabeth Eaves18391921Plex LaneBoat familyGJY3-G92
EllenFairhurst 18411925New StreetParish ReliefKJGZ-NLL
SarahFairhurst 18451910New StreetParish ReliefGZJC-PBL
EllenGill18381888Gregory LaneShoe makerLK1J-2L5
Ann Gill18401894Gregory LaneShoe makerLK1J-LZ9
AliceGill18431917Gregory LaneShoe makerLK1J-GK1
MargaretGuy18391865Boundary LaneCarterMHCV-5MJ
MargaretHarrison 18371915Moss LaneFarmerK6MG-JP9
MaryHesketh18431924Northmoor LaneFarmer GJ3C-LC5
Ann Howard1845Cross LaneFarm labourer9JN3-2FY
Elizabeth Kenyon18361906Moss LaneFarmer G358-YC8
MargaretKenyon18391855Moss LaneFarmer9JNM-5KW
EllenKenyon18391916Moss LaneFarmer9JNM-R4T
EllenKenyon18421920Moss LaneFarm labourerGGNH-BMG
MaryKenyon18431885Moss LaneFarmer9JN3-J1G
Ann Kenyon18471852Moss LaneFarm labourerGPW4-23X
Ann Kirby1845New StreetFarm labourer9JN3-216
MaryLeatherbarrow1840Cross LaneCharwoman9JNM-PWY
Rose Leigh18461907VillageRectorGVZ2-DXT
EllenMarshall1840Halsall Moss Farmer9JNS-NLF
JaneMawdsley18421929Moss LaneShoe makerM6J1-K1Z
AliceMoorcroft 18411892Boundary LaneShoe makerK8KK-MVY
AliceMoorcroft 1843Plex LanePaver9JN3-NJM
Elizabeth Porter1837Ormskirk RoadFarm labourerLZXZ-ZPZ
MargaretPorter1841Ormskirk RoadFarm labourerLZXZ-H8P
EstherPye18361881Halsall Hall FarmerMHC2-PWV
Elizabeth Pye18381918Halsall Hall FarmerGVM6-MM2
Ann Rimmer 18391899Plex LaneParochial Relief9JN9-4VX
MarySelsby18381904Small LaneMother - widow9JN3-FML
MarySephton1839Plex LaneFarmerMHCJ-8FP
NancySephton18441889Moss LaneFarm labourer9JN3-2KV
MargaretShaw18381895Northmoor LaneBoatwomanGVDJ-RC7
SarahShaw18441870Northmoor LaneBoatmanLJR2-ZXQ
Elizabeth Snape18391921Northmoor LaneBoatmanLJR2-ZQ2
Ann Spencer18351857Northmoor LaneBoatmanGVDJ-VNR
MaryThrelfall 18481894Dicconsons LnFarmer G2DK-C1H
EllenWilson18391927Halsall BridgeSaddlerMNJ3-515
Elizabeth Wilson18411919Halsall BridgeSaddlerMNJQ-35P