Page 8 - Moravian Messenger October 2019

History
of Fulneck Museum - Part 1
1841 Census:
53, Lamb's Hill - Charles Thornton, shoemaker, & family & James Ellis, apprentice.
55, Lamb's Hill - Thomas Mann, gardener, & family.
[57 was the workshop of Charles Thornton.] 59, Lamb's Hill - William Mann, gardener, & family.
59 (on the hill up the side of the cottages) was known as Garden House.
1851 Census:
55 - Thomas Mann, gardener.
[57 Charles Thornton]
59 - William Mann, gardener.
West Terrace - Charles Thornton & family. 61 - 'Tollgate House' Ann Dufton, son-in- law, James Ellis & family.
1861 Census:
55 - Charles Thornton & family [& 57]. 59 - James Ellis, journeyman cordwainer, & family.
1871 census:
55 - Charles Thornton & family [& 57]. 59 - Richard Riley (gardener) & family.
61 - James Ellis & family.
'Tollgate House' - Ann Dufton & grandson, John Ellis, cordwainer.
1881 census;
55 - James Ellis, wife, 1 son, 1 apprentice & 1 lodger (a journeyman shoemaker). [& 57]
Mill Hill - John Ellis & wife Sarah. (They may have lived at 55 between 1871 & 1881.) 59 - Richard Riley & family.
1891 Census:
55 - John Hargreaves, shoemaker, & family. (Son Frederick was assistant
shoemaker. [& 57]
59 - Richard Riley & family.
Hull - John James Ellis & family.
1901 Census:
55 - Fred. Emsley, school valet, 5 children & Agnes Knowles, widow.
57 - Boot shop - Jo Winn.
59 - Richard Riley & family.
1906 Commercial section of Pudsey Trades Directory:
57 - John Hargreaves, boot & shoemaker.
1911 Census:
55, North Terrace - Minnie Mcgregor & Sarah Hetherington, school laundresses. [57 - John Hargreaves?]
59 - 'Ivy Cottage' Randolf Riley, school gardener, & family.
The history of the cottage and workshop which eventually became Fulneck Moravian Museum began sometime after 1768 when they were built as part of the Moravian Settlement. They were attached to an older row of houses known locally as 'the cottages on the hill'. The workshop was intended for a tradesman with his family living in the cottage (now number 55). It is interesting to note that this idea was used again in the 1820s for Christopher Nelson, a joiner, and his family when a house with a workshop was built for them. It is known now as 'Nelson's House'. The census records from 1841 to 1911 show that the workshop attached to number 55 was used by a succession of boot and shoemakers (occasionally called by the old name of cordwainers). These shoemakers will probably have done cobbling work which was repairing footwear. ‘These shoemakers who lived in number 55 or not far away will probably have done cobbling work which was repairing footwear.
After 1911 until the early 1930s the records are not clear as to who lived in the cottage or used the workshop. Sam Raistrick was born next door at 53 in 1930 and lived there until his marriage in 1951. He remembers that William and Sally Lawson lived in the museum cottage for those same years. William was a carter and kept a horse whip just inside the front door. If Sally thought that the children playing outside were making too much noise she would stand on the top of the steps with the whip in her hand and shout at them to make them stop. There are people who remember Sally with the horse whip and, as children, were afraid of or upset by it. In the early 1950s Sally was still the occupant of number 55.
Fulneck was known of as an interesting place to visit as far back as 1917 when a party from the Shipley branch of the Workers' Educational Association visited
Tong and Fulneck. From the account of the visit they seemed to enjoy their day and were mindful of the importance of education in that difficult time.
There is a memory that the workshop was used at one time as a butcher's shop and in the museum kitchen there is a large stone with a tethering ring set in it. Its presence may or may not give credence to this memory. However, it is known that in the 1950s the shop was used by Fulneck Boys' School for storing the boys' bicycles. The cottage itself was used as a 6th Form Common Room.
By the 1960s the buildings were out of use and neglected. It was at this time that the idea of turning them into a museum was mooted to safeguard Moravian artefacts and to tell the story of the settlement and the Moravian way of life. Sisters Eunice Harrison and Kathleen Mitchell took on the task with a lot of help from the rest of the congregation. Much cleaning, repairing and decorating had
to be done before Fulneck Moravian Museum was opened to the public on July 9th 1969.
Br David Ingham
Fulneck
116
Jo Winn pictured with John Stott, the school farmer, outside number 57 in the early 20th century.
Fulneck from the west end
© Sr Maureen Ingham
© Sr Maureen Ingham