Absent Voters Records – 1919

Roll back 18 months to our Remembrance Exhibition in November 2018 we had spent months, not only researching the back stories of those from Antrobus who gave their lives, but also the other members of the parish who were part of the great war effort.

Unlike neighbouring Whitley, there was no official “Roll of Honour” for the First World War. Unaware of these records, the only way to discover who had enlisted was to trace forward from the last census carried out in 1911 to find those men who would have been eligible, and then to search for individual military records. For a start, this was incredibly time consuming.

Missing Servicemen
So, it was with great interest to learn that hours of volunteer time had come to fruition in the transcribing, indexing and uploading of the handwritten Spring 1919 Absent Voters. As the name suggests, this is an invaluable list of those away serving in the First World War. What it doesn’t suggest, is that the register also includes the names of women who were also serving.

What has been useful?
Whilst both fascinating and poignant to read, one of the most useful aspects has been that we now have a much better idea of the number of men who fought in the war. Our initial numbers for Antrobus have more than doubled from 16 to over 40. This is a huge increase, and really brings home the proportion of the male population who were called up to fight.

Other than discovering who was called up, the most useful aspect has been to link the men and their address with a military service number. On the face of it, it is not particularly exciting, but this has opened the door to use other historical military information knowing that it relates to the correct soldier. And in turn, means we can start to tell their stories.

For example we now know that at least five families in the parish had more than one son serving in the war, and one ‘Thankful Family’, the Painters from Reed House View in Hollins Lane had five out of their six sons enlist. And remarkably all returned safely.

The record pictured above for Service Number 34780 relates to Joseph Rowlinson of Laurel Farm. We had no idea he had fought in the War. The 1911 census shows him as an 18 year old farmer’s son working the land. It makes sense that he would have either volunteered or been called up, but with over 500 possible records to search through for “our” Joseph Rowlinson on Ancestry, there was no way of knowing if these referred to him or another Joseph Rowlinson whose father was also called Joseph, and who fought in the Cheshire Regiment. The probability was that this was the same person, but the information in Servicemen’s Index  showed that they were two very different people. The good news is that Joseph Rowlinson from Antrobus, did survive the war having fought as a private in 1/12th North Lancashire Regiment (Pioneers), and returned to the village where he lived for the remainder of his life until he passed away in 1987 aged 94.

What for Antrobus? The Scores on the Doors
From the database it has been possible to say with certainty that at least 41 men, who had connections with Antrobus, fought in the First World War. This doesn’t include the eight men who died – in which case, the total is nearly 50. Nor does it include the women. The Absent Voters Register lists two women, however from the Red Cross Archives for Antrobus, it is clear that most of the women in the parish were involved in some way – either as nurses, or volunteers, or supporting from their homes.

As a result our Roll of Honour for Antrobus has been updated and more information on those who fought and came back is here.

What next?
The impact of the war on a sparsely populated rural Cheshire parish now seems very real. With a bit more work, it should be possible to work out and map exactly how many families were affected – not just their immediate households, but their relations – many of whom lived within the tightly knit community of Antrobus. And too on the impact of those left behind trying to bring in the harvest without today’s mechanism.

But that’s for another day.

A big thank you to all the volunteers who must have spent many hours transcribing, and to Cheshire Archives. If you want to find out more – please see here.

A Country Parish – Village History Group Exhibition 2019

Plans are well advanced on our natural history study of Antrobus today and how it
has changed since Arnold Boyd documented his book “A Country Parish” in 1950.

All our displays will be in St. Mark’s Church, Antrobus, CW9 6JW from Friday 20th September to Monday 23rd September and the church will be open from 10-4pm each day.

The programme of events will be:

Friday 20th September

11am: Official opening by Reverend Alec Brown

Everyone is very welcome to this first opportunity to look round and there will be coffee and refreshments served.

2pm: “Medicines from the Antrobus hedgerow”. Talk by Helen Phillips Dip.Phyt., MSc., MNIMH, MCPP.

Talk will be followed by tea and cake. If visitors for the talk need to go to collect children from school at 3pm they are very welcome to bring children back for refreshments too.

Saturday 21st September

Exhibition open all day 10-4pm so come and have a look around after dropping off your entries at this year’s Village Show in the Village Hall.

2pm Talk on AW Boyd and his life by Dr. Clemency Fisher 

Sunday 22nd September

Exhibition open 10-4pm

10.30am – 11.30 : Special country service with Reverend Christina Westwell

All very welcome. Village tea room is open afterwards for refreshments.

2pm in Antrobus Methodist School Room: Talk by Dan Fox on  “The pleasures of keeping bees in Antrobus!”

Followed by tea and cake and  the opportunity to look round the chapel all decorated for the Harvest Festival service at 6.30 pm.

Monday 23rd September

Exhibition open from 10-4pm

The Eatons of Cheshire

A couple of years ago, completely out of the blue I received an email from a chap in Florida who had spent many years researching the ancestors of his family name, only to take a genealogical DNA test and discover he’d been barking up the wrong tree. And the family he should have been researching was the Eaton family from Cheshire. He discovered that around 1720 a Thomas Eaton from Stretton left the village and sailed across the Atlantic with his wife and young family.  They arrived in Talbot County, Maryland where Thomas died in 1748.  The family gradually spread out a bit further.

Back to Cheshire, work is on- going to find the parents of this Thomas Eaton from Stretton and a little more about him. From the DNA results we know he was connected to the wealthy Eaton family from the Pole in Antrobus, but with over 606 baptism entries just for Eatons in Great Budworth parish registers, not to mention the Quaker records, this is taking some time.

But the story doesn’t end there – that one e-mail opened up a whole new area of research and the discovery that folk all across the world have been undertaking really detailed and high quality research about the Eaton families in our own back yard. One of the reasons for that interest is a (yet to be discovered) relation of Thomas Eaton called Theophilus Eaton, son of the vicar of Great Budworth, who crossed the Atlantic some 17 years later and founded the New Haven Colony in what is now Connecticut.

Whether we can be absolutely certain we will find the parents of Thomas and how he fits into the yeoman family from Antrobus, only further research will tell but the journey we’re on is absolutely fascinating. So, it’s a real pleasure to be part of the Eaton Families Association, founded in 1882 Boston, Massachusetts and to connect with researchers around the globe who are interesting in finding bonds that join us together.

For those closer to home, the Eaton families stretched across Cheshire and beyond, and certainly not all of them closely related to those of the Pole. As part of this journey, it has opened up information about the other farms and settlements that the Eatons owned or farmed, right across the parish: from the  Eatons of Seven Oaks and Daisy Bank  Cottages to Shawbrook and Crowley.

If you have any questions or would like to get in touch about any of the Eatons, please do drop me a line – I don’t have all the answers, but it’s fun to travel in hope.

New Exhibition – The Natural History of Antrobus

Spurred on by our exhibition to commemorate the life of John Wilkinson last May, the Antrobus History Group are planning to look at the natural history of Antrobus in 2019.

We shall be using the wonderful book “A Country Parish” written by A W Boyd as our starting point. Major Boyd lived at Frandley House in Antrobus, and was a celebrated ornithologist and naturalist. He was a long time contributor to the Guardian’s “Country Diary.” We will compare the natural life of our village as he recorded it in 1951 with what we see around us today.

It will be a huge task and we would be very grateful for any help villagers are able to offer. We would particularly like to record the changes to :

• bird life
• wild flower
• land use

And we are also trying to discover the oldest tree as part of a village tree survey.

Not only are we looking at natural history, but we are also interested in local customs, such as Soulcaking.

Please save the weekend of 21 and 22 September. It will be the Antrobus Village Weekend with an exhibition of our findings in St. Marks Church, together with the wonderful Village Show organised by our WI, in the village hall on the Saturday.

Thanks for all your support so far, and if you are interested please do get in touch directly or put your name down on the list in the shop.

Four Lane Ends, Antrobus

Whilst browsing the Cheshire Image Bank this previously unseen photograph of Antrobus appeared. So after a few e-mails and a request to acknowledge Weaver Hall Museum as the source, we now the chance to see the centre of Antrobus as it was over a hundred years ago. Quite when the picture was taken is still unclear, so if you can help to date it, please do get in touch.

History Repeating itself?

Pole House

Cogshall Hall

Just before Christmas, The Pole in Antrobus came onto the market. At the same time, Cogshall Hall is also for sale. For many years the rivalry between the two estates played out in village life.

The now-named Old Pole in Knutsford Road was the original house of the Eaton family who lived there for generations, however in 1792 a new house was completed with exacting specifications from the late George Eaton. Meanwhile Cogshall Hall just over the border was also going through a make-over and in the 1790s Peter Jackson moved from Frandley Farm, Seven Oaks into a renovated Cogshall Hall where he died in 1803.

Not to be outdone by his neighbour at the Pole, the heir of Peter Jackson also had a change of birth name approved by the King. Three years after the death of Peter Jackson, Peter Shakerley his supposedly illegitimate son took his father’s surname after approval by the King:

The King has been graciously pleased to grant unto Peter Shackerly, of Cogshall-hall, in this county, Esq. His Royal Licence and Authority, that he and his Issue may take and use the surname and bear the arms of Jackson only, out of grateful and affectionate respect to the memory of Peter Jackson, late of Cogshall-hall aforesaid, Esq. deceased; such arms being first duly exemplified according to the laws of arms, and recorded in the Herald’s office.

Things got no better between the two estates when in December 1846 a public meeting was held to discuss where to build a new church in Antrobus. There were two proposals, one from Peter Jackson to build it on his land, and the other from George Eaton who wished it built on his land along Knutsford Road. According to reports the meeting became very heated and in the end the vote went against Peter Jackson, and construction of St Marks started the following year. Peter Jackson took his revenge by building a lodge on one of the sites of his proposed church, the plan of the lodge symbolically forming a cross.

Fast forward nearly 175 and the two estates are once again in competition – this time for a new owner…

Remembrance Exhibition

It was an honour and pleasure to share our research in commemoration of those in Antrobus who gave their lives as a result of the First World War. The exhibition in the church told the story of the soldiers and their families, as well as those left behind who supported through their voluntary activities. Around the village you may have seen the large poppies which represented the lives of the eight men who died during the Great War. A huge thanks to everyone who supported the event behind the scenes and who came along over the weekend.

If you missed the exhibition or would like to know more, please see here. If you have stories or memories still to be told, please do get in touch.

Remembrance Events November 2018

In this, the centenary year of Remembrance Sunday, members of the village will be organising several special events.

As part of this there will be a history exhibition displaying our research on those men who served in the forces, the women of the village who worked for the Red Cross and those who farmed here at that time to keep the country fed.

The exhibition in St. Mark’s Church will be open at the following times:
Friday 9th November 2-4pm
Saturday 10th November 2-4pm
Sunday 11th November 12-4pm
Monday 12th November 8.30-10.30am.
Refreshments available on each day.

Remembrance Sunday Services will be held at St. Mark’s 10.30 to 11.30am, and at Antrobus Methodist Service 6.30 to 7.30pm

To bring all the Remembrance Day events to a close a beacon will be lit at the
Village Hall. Refreshments will be available.

It is hoped that everyone in the village can take the opportunity to join in and commemorate all those who gave their lives and service for us.

The History of Antrobus in 10 Objects

Many of you will have visited the exhibition of the objects and the displays explaining their significance in the development of Antrobus last October. The 2017 Village History Project group very much enjoyed their research and the exhibition. We were delighted to welcome so many visitors, many of whom expressed an interest in learning more than their time at the exhibition permitted.

The Project Group have produced items on certain of the objects. Our approaches to the research were many and varied – and so are our contributions. Over the next few weeks we will be sharing the story behind each of the objects. We hope that this means that there will be something for everyone  and that you enjoy reading it as much as we have enjoyed producing it.

 

Antrobus Lad – Dambuster John Wilkinson

This weekend saw the village of Antrobus come together to commemorate the life of John Wilkinson who lost his life during the Dambusters Raid of 1943. A small group of volunteers came together, ably co-ordinated by Susan Sinagola, to put together a small exhibition that would not only celebrate John Wilkinson’s life but reflect the spirit of the time in a small Cheshire village. Research into the family life of John with recollections from his niece, together with family photographs brought the reality of war home. This was accompanied by details of the raids, a fantastic home corner complete with a weekly ration allowance and a summary of the Farm Survey of 1941.

Across the road in the church was a beautiful memorial in the Church for our Dambuster and all those who fell in WW2.  A copy of The Roll of Honour was displayed with the original in safe keeping at the Cheshire Record Office in Chester.

The weekend culminated on Sunday with a lunch catered by the village hall committee for 120 people, all prepared and cooked by a team of volunteers, with a fundraising raffle for the RAF Benevolent Fund.  Perhaps for many the most moving part of the weekend was the fly past of a Dakota from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The weather was perfect and the cheers from the crowd announced its arrival long before it appeared low  over the village hall. After circling the village three times as low as 500 ft, and with a cheery wave from the navigator, it fly off across the fields.

For once the Bank Holiday weather was perfect and the exhibition saw a steady stream of visitors on Monday afternoon for the family picnic and superb display of model aircraft. After a visit by Year 6 of Antrobus school on Tuesday the exhibition was dismantled, however the emotions and memories of the weekend will remain for a long time to come.

At the last count £1000 was raised towards the RAF Benevolent Fund.

See below for a slideshow of photos of the weekend – and  a big thank you to everyone who took part.

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