Our June talk was delivered by Jane Roberts.
She started her talk by showing us an image of the first Catholic procession in Batley and told us about her website where we could find more information pasttopresentgeneology.co.uk
She told us about her One Place Study on Batley St Mary of the Angels and how these studies provide context; they can be centred on locations, buildings or even cemeteries. They give a broader understanding of our communities and we were advised to find out whether our particular areas of interest had already had a One Place Study completed about them. info@one-place-studies.org
Jane has been interested in the parish as long as she can remember and her family appear in parish records going back to around 1860. She started by researching the stories of the men who appear on the war memorial and then moved onto the men who fought during the First World War; in the interests of gender balance, Jane then started to research the May Queens and dramatic societies in the area.
We were then told about the growth of Batley’s Irish population and Jane gave us some context about how the Irish famine affected the lives of so many and proved to be a driver for people leaving Ireland but how Batley was also a pull with jobs and later, family networks. Jane informed us that Batley’s Irish population grew from 9.5% of the whole population in 1841 to 20% during the following ten years. She used the 1871 census to illustrate that the Batley Irish population came from all areas of Ireland but mainly from Mayo. They were originally brought to Batley in 1832 to replace striking workers and were viewed as cheap labour and were employed in the lowliest jobs in the textile mills. Coal mines were another employer.
The Irish people tended to live in certain areas of Batley and Jane reported that initial relations between them and the Batley residents were not good; they were viewed as dirty in their habits and a simmering resentment developed. The Irish population suffered most during outbreaks of typhus and cholera. In addition to health problems, they were also blamed for social problems too and Jane told us of violent attacks and riots and it took until around 1860 for the community to be partly reconciled.
Jane went on to tell us about how Father James Wells arrived in 1853 when a Catholic mission was established; prior to this, Catholics had been travelling to Leeds or Wakefield to worship. She compared the congregation of 600 – 700 in 1859 to 3000 – 4000 by 1870. In 1853 appeals were made for money countrywide and in Ireland for money to build a church, presbytery and school.Father Patrick Lynch was the driver for this but unfortunately did not live to see the church being built. We were shown the plans for the church and it finally opened its doors to parishioners on 15th December 1870.
Two striking funerals were conducted at the Church attended by many people. The first was Father Thomas Rigby who was killed in an accident in 1872; we were given details of how he fell from the platform of Lancaster Railway Station after trying to board the train. There were large numbers at his funeral with thousands lining the route and the church was full. The second funeral of note was that of Private William Doogan of the 13th Light Dragoons who had enlisted in 1831 and was involved in the Charge of the Light Brigade and gave twenty four years service. He was a Dublin born power loom weaver who had settled in Batley and on his death in 1878 his funeral was attended by 70 members of the Batley Rifle Corps who fired volleys over his grave. It was a very large funeral with not less than fifteen to twenty thousand people there.
Jane brought her talk to a close by reminding us how much information can be gained by completing a One Place Study.
Lorraine Simpson
