Rose Cottage
Rose Cottage is situated on New Street, Halsall and was built circa 1790-1800 in the Georgian style. In Mannex’s History and Directory of Mid-Lancashire, 1854 we can see that one of its former occupants was Mr. John Riding.
John Riding was born in Liverpool on 15th November 1782 to Margaret Thompson and Edward Riding. He was baptised at Huyton on 1st December 1782. John’s wife, Eliza Higson M4HZ-H6M was born in Wigan on 18th December 1779 to Elizabeth Alker (Betty) and Thomas Higson , a fustian* manufacturer. Eliza was baptised on 12th January 1780 at All Saints Church, Wigan.
*Fustian is a strong, twilled cloth with a linen warp and a cotton weft. It was a coarse and cheap cloth which was often used in menswear. Find out more here:
John and Eliza were married at the church of St. Thomas in Melling on 14th January 1799. They lived in Old Hall Street, Liverpool and John was a grocer. As time goes by, we can see that John’s occupation was given as that of merchant in the baptism records of two of his children, John in 1810 at St. James church, Liverpool and the other Maria in 1819 at Holy Trinity church, Liverpool. Also, by 1819 the family were living at 2 Soho Square in the city and were still there in 1825 according to Gore’s Directory of Liverpool.
In the first UK national Census in 1841 John, Eliza, and their youngest daughter, Maria are living in Renacres Lane, Shirdley Hill with Eliza’s youngest sister, Ellen Higson , another sister Margaret Crompton , probably a widow, and her daughters, Harriet , Eliza, and Louisa Crompton. No occupation is given for John Riding but he is 60 years of age at this point so he could have retired from his Liverpool business to the peace and quiet of Halsall. This can be better explained if we look at what happened to Eliza Higson’s parents in the years before the 1841 Census.
Eliza Higson’s mother, Elizabeth Alker, passed away in Wigan in 1793. Her father, Thomas Higson took out a lease for Ranacres Hall (as it was then called) from Henry Blundell of Ince Blundell, dated 18th October 1796. Briefly, the arrangement was a lease for the lives of 3 members of his family at £200 rent.
We can also see Thomas Higson in Baine’s Directory for Halsall (#2).
Thomas Higson is mentioned as being a gentleman both in the Lease Agreement concerning Ranacres Hall and in his Probate Records. He passed away in August 1840 and was buried at Halsall church on 24th August 1840, aged 90 years old. So the 1841 Census for John & Eliza Riding on Renacres Lane may have been her father’s property Ranacres Hall.
By the time the 1851 census was taken, John, Betty (aka Eliza) and their daughter Maria were living on New Street, Halsall. John’s occupation is given as a retired Commission Agent (a salesman who derived his income solely from the commission on sales) John died in 1853 and Eliza passed away in 1859.
Richard Norris and his family also lived at Rose Cottage. He was born in Burscough in 1796 to Jane Martlew and John Norris, a wheelwright and farmer. Baines Directory (above) lists Richard Norris as living in Halsall and running the Loggerheads Inn.
Richard married Ann Hughes at Halsall church on 19th September 1822 and their first child, Ellis was born in April 1823. The baby was baptised on 24th April of the same year at St. Cuthbert’s, Halsall. At the time, Richard’s occupation is described as a wheelwright. That was his occupation all his working life and he lived with his wife and children in Rose Cottage, New Street, Halsall from where the business was run.
Richard and Ann went on to have seven more children: Jane, Ellen, William, Alice, Ann, Elizabeth and Richard (Norris Family Chart). Various documents show that Richard senior also held the lease for the Scarisbrick Arms for the duration of his own life and that of two of his daughters, Jane and Ellen. More information on Richard and Scarisbrick Arms is here.
Ann Norris died in 1863 and was buried at St. Cuthbert’s, Halsall on 16th September of that year – the date happened to be their wedding anniversary. Richard Norris died in December 1877 and was buried on the 12th December at Halsall.
His eldest son, William took over the wheelwright business at Rose Cottage until 1884 when he passed away.
Then younger son, Richard took over until he died in 1892.
Daughter Ann continued to run the business from New Street, with the help of her nephew, William Brown (daughter of Ellen Norris). Ann Norris died in 1912 aged 78, she never married or had children. She had lived at Rose Cottage all her life.
William Brown was born in Liverpool in 1859 to Ellen Norris of Halsall and Frederick Ovander Brown, a Master Mariner originally from the Isle of White. The Browns had two other sons, Frederick who became a marine engineer and Richard Robinson who died at the young age of 19 and was buried at Halsall in 1870.
William Brown lived in Rose Cottage for most of his life – firstly with his grandparents, Richard and Ann Norris, and then with the Rockliffe family. He was involved, along with Peter Rockliffe, in collecting information for the census records. In 1891, he was the enumerator for District 2 of the Halsall census. Initially, he helped in the family’s wheelwright business but by the 1901 census, his profession was that of the registrar of births and deaths. It is unclear why he did not live with his mother in Liverpool, especially when he was young. She had been widowed at a young age and her other two sons lived with her but not William – maybe it was to help her out and William preferred to live at Rose Cottage with his extended family.
After the Norrises came Peter Rockliffe and his family. He was the son of Ann Rockliffe from Aughton and seems to have lived with his grandparents, William Rockliffe and Margaret Rigby of Turnpike Road, Aughton in his early years. He was then an apprentice wheelwright for his aunt Ellen Gardner and by 1891 he was living with his uncle, Albert Rockliffe in Bold Lane, Aughton, and working as a wheelwright.
Peter met Ellen Snape of Halsall and they were married on 14th May 1900 at Halsall Church. Ellen was one of six daughters of Ann (possibly Hamson/Hampson) and John Snape , an agricultural labourer. Both of Ellen’s parents had died by the time she married Peter Rockliffe so the couple continued to live in the Snape family home on Carr Moss Lane, once they were married. Gwendoline, their only daughter, was born later that year. Whilst living here, in 1901, Peter was the enumerator for District 2 of the 1901 census taken at Halsall.
By 1921, the Rockliffes were living in Rose Cottage and continued to run the wheelwright business from there. Nurse Bond and William Brown are listed as boarders in the 1921 census records.
Ellen Rockliffe died on 29th August 1925 and Peter passed away a year later on 20th February 1926. They are buried in the graveyard at Halsall.
Gwendoline Rockliffe was born on 8th September 1900 and was baptised at Halsall on 28th October, a few weeks later. She attended Halsall School, which fortunately for her was literally now across the road (the new school having recently opened its doors to its eager pupils in 1907).
She lived at home all her life and continued to live at Rose Cottage after her parents’ deaths.
She was still there when the 1939 Register for England and Wales was taken, just after WW2 began and was running the wheelwright business. Also still living with her at that time was Mary Bond, a nurse and midwife. Working for her was John Rimmer and Billy Martindale.
Miss Rockliffe was a well-known and popular person in Halsall village, still fondly remembered today.
She was the Superintendent of the Sunday School and apparently what she said went! She would choose the Rose Queen for Halsall every year – there was no voting involved – it was her decision alone.
In 1953 she had the opportunity to purchase Rose Cottage which she did, unbeknownst to her only a few years before her death.
She passed away on 20th January 1956, aged 55 and was buried with her parents at Halsall church.
Mary Alice Bond was born in Barton in 1885 to Alice Sephton and James Bond, a farmer at Downholland Hall and Gerrard Farm, Barton. In 1901 Mary was a domestic servant for Richard Wright, a farmer from Downholland.
When she was old enough however, she trained as a nurse and by 1911, aged 26, she was working at Crumpsall Workhouse in Manchester as a probationer nurse. According to Brian Abel-Smith in ‘A History of the Nursing Profession’ 1960, in 1901 there were 3170 paid nurses employed in workhouses with approximately 2000 probationers. They would normally work a 70 hour week and have 2 weeks paid holiday a year. In 1911 there were more than 100,000 sick in workhouses.
Nurse Bond returned to the Halsall area and was living at Rose Cottage in 1921, she was a ‘sick nurse’, being in the employment of the District Nurse.
In 1939, she was still living at Rose Cottage with Gwen Rockliffe. Mary was listed as a vested nurse and midwife by that time.
She is still remembered by some of the Halsall residents, both past and present.
Mary Alice Bond died on 28th February 1958 and is buried at St. Cuthbert’s church with 3 of her sisters and 1 of her brothers.
John Rimmer and his wife Doris Sutton lived in Rose Cottage after Gwen Rockliffe and Nurse Bond.
John Rimmer was born in Halsall on 19th November 1913 to Elsie Mary Griffiths and Henry Rimmer who lived at Bangor’s Green. Henry was a saddler and worked for John Wilson . John had two sisters: Gladys born in 1915 and Muriel born in 1918.
In 1918, the world was in the grip of a flu pandemic, ‘Spanish flu’ as it was referred to. Over 50 million people died worldwide – the death toll in Britain was 228,000. Young people between the ages of 20 and 30 years were particularly affected.
Tragically, Henry caught the flu and passed away on 14th December 1918 when John was 5 years old, Gladys only 3 and baby Muriel was just a few weeks old. Henry’s funeral was held on 18th December 1918, the same day as Muriel’s baptism at St. Cuthbert’s church. Henry is remembered in the Halsall Parish Church Magazine at the time:
‘It is with feelings of the deepest regret that we refer to the death of Harry Rimmer, for many years one of our most faithful and regular members of the choir. Sunday by Sunday, and week by week, he was always in his place. He had the great gift of a very good bass voice which he used in the worship of His Master. Our deepest sympathy go out to his widow and family. He was laid to rest on December 18th, the choir and organist being present as a sign of the respect in which he was held. It was a very wet afternoon indeed and we thought of the old saying ‘Blessed are the dead on whom the rain drops’.
Elsie Rimmer was supported by Henry’s family after his death. In particular, his sister and her husband, Elizabeth Rimmer and James Houghton who helped to look after the 3 children.
John Rimmer especially enjoyed staying with his aunt and uncle on Summerwood Lane.
John, or Johnny as he was known, became a wheelwright and worked for the Rockliffe family of Rose Cottage, New Street.
Unfortunately, on 29th March 1935, John’s mother, Elsie died aged 45 of a heart condition. John would have been 21 at this time.
Happily, in 1941, John married Doris Sutton and they continued to live in Halsall after their marriage – the cottage on Carr Moss Lane where the Rockliffe’s had lived was where they set up home. They were blessed with a daughter in 1943. The family eventually moved into Rose Cottage and John continued to work not only as a wheelwright but also as a joiner and undertaker; he made coffins and would also refurbish farm trailers and other vehicles.
During the 1950s, a small room at Rose Cottage continued to be used by a Registrar from time to time – Edward was his name and he lived in Aughton. The room he used was called ‘the coffin room’, as that was where the coffins were varnished and finished, away from the dust in the workshop. This room was later treated to a makeover and used as a cosy snug.
Like his predecessors before him, John was involved in taking the local census in 1961, his daughter remembers helping him with all the paperwork. Johnny Rimmer was a well-known and popular character in the village. He was one of the oldest serving members of the Halsall Parish Council, a bell ringer, a committee member of the Halsall St. Cuthbert’s School Managers and an active officer for the Independent Order of Oddfellows.
Full of fun, he enjoyed performing with the Halsall Players Dramatic Group and was an excellent footballer – having played for Marine Football Club in Crosby and more locally for Halsall FC. He was also on the Executive Committee of the Southport and District Amateur Football League for many years. John Rimmer passed away in 1975 and Canon Bullough, in the Halsall News magazine, remembered him thus:
‘…what great sadness filled all our hearts when the news reached Halsall of the sad passing of our dear friend and villager, John Rimmer. We assure Doris of our love and sympathy. John has so ingrained himself into the whole structure of our lovely village life that it is difficult to imagine Halsall without him….. We shall be ever grateful for all that he has done for Halsall in so many different ways, and there will be ever bright and happy memories of his lovely character throughout the years which lie ahead’.
Doris Sutton was born on 29th March 1917 in Adlington near Chorley to Jane Edwards and William Sutton , a farm labourer. The Sutton family lived at Weaver House Bridge (Morris Lane, Halsall). Doris’ grandfather, also called William Sutton was the canal bank ranger in the early 1900s and lived at the same address. Co-incidentally, Doris’ grandparents lived next door but two to John’s grandparents – had they known each other from a very young age?
The Suttons had moved into the new council houses on Carr Moss Lane (over the bridge on the right) and in 1939 William is listed as being a produce merchant and salesman. Doris trained to be a confectioner and cake maker. As mentioned previously, Doris married John Rimmer in 1941 and the couple continued to live in Halsall eventually moving into Rose Cottage. Doris enjoyed performing in the concert parties with John as well as many of their lifelong friends including Dick & Nancy Ainscough and Bob & Sally Heaton.
Doris was a lovely, kind, cheerful lady. She moved to live in Southport but kept in touch with all of her Halsall friends on a regular basis. She sadly passed away in 1998.
John and Doris Rimmer are still remembered with great affection by many of Halsall’s residents to this day.
