Fancy A Trip On The Crieff Canal ??

 

Mayall Family Story

                                                    October 2022

Introduction

I have  been  digging  and delving  into   my family  roots for  some  considerable  time . My  dear  wife Liz  passed  away  on the  4 April 2020 leaving a  dreadful void in my life . One  blessing has  been the closeness of  our  family – God bless them all . I gave son Nic a copy of  my Sharp Family History and he  enjoyed it  so much  asked if  I  would  do a  similar one  for  our  Mayall side of the family . Well- here goes !

The name is   clouded in mists  from the past but I have here  utilised the opinions of  previous  researchers as published on the net – the truth behind  these  facts  cannot be guaranteed ! It  came from France “ in the wake of the Norman Conquest of 1066 “ . One theory is that it is  derived from the Middle English personal name of  “ Mihel “a vernacular  form of Michael  meaning  “ who is the Lord ?” Variants of Mayall that have turned up over the generations include Mayell, Mayhall, Miall  and Myall in my  research  the variant occurred  with my three times great grand father  who was generally referred  to as Edward Meal !  

The earliest recording  of the name occurs in Norfolk although it  appeared in the Subsidy Rolls of  Suffolk in  1524   as John Mihell . An interesting observation is that “ the family has a long history in Oldham Lancashire . “ This is comparatively  close   to where our own Mayalls were  domiciled in the West Riding of Yorkshire and in particular Marsden in Almondbury south and west of Huddersfield . Areas of Mayall emigration Include in particular Australia and USA . As  will  be revealed later in this  tale  my grandfather , Lewis Mayall’s brother Jack ( John Edward ) moved   with family  to Australia and is buried in Cumberland New South Wales as are his family .

In family history it is the general procedure to start  with  say  yourself  and  work back in  time . For this  saga I will start  with  the furthest back ancestor ( as at July  2020) and  work my way  to the present age !

Generation One

Labourer and wadman – Edward Meal

My comparatively  recent research turned up an  interesting  revelation  pertaining  to my 3 x great grandfather  Edward Mayall . Early  documentation{Baptismal Cert /opposite } told  us  he  lived in Marsden   a town to the  west of Huddersfield in the  district known as Almondbury . His  wife as shown  on the baptismal  record of  son David was  referred  to as “ Mary “ with no maiden  name or indeed   surname  stated .Edward’s occupation was given as “ wadman “ or  wood man . This  was in 1815 . This  blank in  my genealogical trail  was  not  sorted out until the last  few  months  .

The baptismal record obtained from the archives service of West Yorkshire gives Edward’s surname “Mayale” Later my research turned  up the name spelt “ meal”. The Parish of /Almondbury has /numerous possible  ancestors with the  surname “ Meal “ ! Lingards Wood was the birth place  of Edward (also recorded as "Lingarths") is a former township and formed part of the chapelry of Slaithwaite in the Parish of Almondbury. It mostly comprised moorland and included Deer Hill Reservoir. ( see pics below )

 

 

 

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                                                                       Lingards Wood        

Edward Mayall or Meal was born there in 1791. At the  time of writing , his  baptismal certificate  could  not  be traced and his  parents are  not  known . What was interesting was locating  his entry in the 1851 National Census . The Census  started in detail in 1841 for the whole of the UK . Prior  to then census  information  was  statistical and  did  not  give  details on individual households . 1841  was limited in detail . Town or  village of birth  was  not  given merely the county of birth Relationships  were  not stated nor  was the  actual age of the  individual . Ages  were  rounded  up or  down ! Ten  years  later things  had  changed This  was  the first detailed Census . This is the transcription  copied  from the original . Kitchen was  the village adjoining Slaithwaite .Somewhat  appropriate the Meals were in Kitchen !

Census  for 1851

Slaithwaite Almondbury West Riding Yorkshire

 Entry no 16

Kitchen

Edward Meal head married age  60 ( born 1791 ) labourer born Lingards Yorkshire

Mary Ann Meal wife married age 57 ( born 1794 ) born Halifax

John Tomkins ( visitor )plate layer

Edward Meal grandson ** unmarried  age unknown ( was in fact 7 born in 1844  ) born Bradford   

Martin Barlow ( visitor )plate layer

John Kelfit ( visitor ) plate layer !

William Sykes ( lodger )

I assume that the plate layers recorded in the household were  working on the railway being  constructed at this  time . Slaithwaite Railway Station opened in 1849 so this seems to tie in historically. What the census tells us is that Edward “Meal” had his grandson was staying  with him . He had been born in Bradford and his age   is stated as “ unknown “. He was in fact my great grandfather and was seven year old. His father David was a dyer working in the in the woollen mills in Keighley a busy town to the north

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and close to Bradford. Name confusion abounds! He and his family were down as May not Meal or Mayall! David Mayall/ May / Meal appears to have been the only child of Edward and Mary Ann and was born in Marsden in February 1815.

Edward Meal died in Huddersfield in January 1857 His wife Mary Ann died three years later in January 1860 and was buried in the Church yard of St Bartholomew’s, the Parish Church of Marsden , on the 29^th January 1860 . She was 67 years old.

A number of years ago ,when we  were staying  near Skipton with brother in law Nigel, I enjoyed visiting  the various places where our Mayall family had lived . Marsden  was indeed  one  and I recall how  surprised I was  to  see numerous  sheep  grazing  amidst  the  grave  stones . Little  did  I know Mayalls had  been  baptised and  buried in this hallowed  spot !

 

                   

  

St Bartholomew’s Marsden West Yorkshire

 

 Marsden

 

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Generation Two

David Mayall or Meal or May ( 1815- 1861 )

David was born in Marsden in 1815 , he  must have  realised that  with the  growth of the woollen industry in and around  the Colne Valley , his  future  would in all probability lie in  one  of the many large  mills  that were  sprouting  up  all around the area . This fact sheet paints the picture of why woollen mills became the life blood of this part of the West Riding of Yorkshire :

The West Yorkshire Archaeological Advisory Service have compiled a fact sheet on early Huddersfield

The textile industries

Due to the poverty of the hilly land, local people found it difficult to produce sufficient food to support the growing population, and from early days the conversion of wool to cloth supplemented their incomes.  This was helped by a plentiful supply of wool and fast-running streams of soft water necessary for cloth production.

For centuries the industry was based in people’s homes or in small mills on upland streams.  During the industrial revolution of the late 18th and 19th centuries, the industry increasingly moved to larger mills in the valley bottoms – especially the Colne Valley.  Alongside the growth of textiles – which included cotton and linen as well as the dominant woollen industry – strong engineering and chemical industries developed to provide the necessary machinery and dyestuffs.

David became a dyer and found work in Keighley near Bradford . I am  not sure in which actual Mill he  worked in but it  could well have been the Dalton Mill .

The historic Dalton Mills in Keighley was once the largest textile mill in Yorkshire, employing over 2000 workers. It was built by Joseph Craven in 1869, replacing the original mill from the 1780’s. In its heyday between 1869 and 1877 the mill provided jobs for workers all over Keighley and Worth Valley.

What transpired  from my early search was that David appears as David May and not Meal or Mayall in the  early records traced ( the 1851 Census  and his marriage  certificate ) Why is not clear and may have  to do   with accent but that is  conjecture .

On the 30^th October  1843 David married Mary Greenwood in Keighley Parish Church . The marriage certificate is  not as informative as  one might have hoped . Formal registration in England and Wales had  only  started in 1837 ( in Scotland  we had  to wait until 1855 before it happened  here ) Ages  were  not given it  merely  said “ of age “ . It  confirmed  that neither had been married before and that David  was a dyer ( Rank or Profession ) . Both were  living in Sun Street Keighley but no numbers given so  we  do not know if they  were living  together or not ! David’s father is given as Edward May – occupation “  dyer “ . Inconsistency prevails! Age is not given it merely states “of age “. The other deduction is that David could read and write whilst his spouse Mary Greenwood and  both witnesses could  not . It shows a cross and the remark “his/her mark “beside their entries.

What then of his spouse Mary? All we actually deduce from the marriage certificate  is that  her  father  was  called Daniel Greenwood and  he was a “  comber “-  yet another  occupation  with in the woollen industry of the time ! Prior to 1837 in England and Wales there were no “ statutory certificates “ – official documents for  birth marriage and death issued  through a Government Department . Indeed the National Census – a detailed head count listing details of all the household  occupants was  not introduced  to the four nations ( England  Scotland Ireland and Wales ) until 1841 . When I am in doubt about the authenticity of   and individual that I may  be  researching . I would often check on sites  such as Ancestry to look at 

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Family Trees  that have  been lodged  for  Public examination .A number of the submissions for Mary Greenwood and Edward Mayall are wrong in detail according  to my research  .

In the 1861 Census Edward Mayall is head of the family and is  found living at Walker’s Square in Rastrick West Riding of Yorkshire .We know it  to be  the right person as  he was  born in Marsden although his  age is  stated as 42 showing  him to have been born in 1819 not 1815 . Mary his  wife had been born in Wadsworth and her  age is stated as  34 giving her a  birth date of 1827.

I  visited Wadsworth and the adjoining village of Heptonstall when in  Yorkshire some  10  years  or  so ago ( c 2010 ) It is a most attractive  small place lying within the civil borough of Calderdale . A visit  the old burial ground  beside the  Heponstall  Parish church  revealed that the Greenwood name abounds ! The village is on the route of the Calderdale Way, a 50-mile (80 km) circular walk around the hills and valleys of Calderdale. Whilst the Yorkshire of my ancestors  seems  to be one of smoking stacks and woollen mills , places like Heptonstall retain a rural tranquillity . Situated right on the boundary  between Lancashire and Yorkshire it featured unsurprisingly in the English Civil Wars . Heptonstall was the site of a battle during the early part of the English Civil War in 1643.

Historically a centre for hand-loom weaving, Heptonstall's cottages and terraced houses are characterised by large first-floor windows to maximise the light for weaving.

The older churchyard claims "King" David Hartley amongst notable graves there.Hartley was founder of the Cragg Coiners and lived as a rogue in the Calderdale area until he was hanged at Tyburn near York in 1770.

The foundation stone of its octagonal Methodist chapel, the oldest still in continued use,was laid following the visit of John Wesley in 1764.

Heptonstall's original church was dedicated to St Thomas a Becket. It was founded c.1260, and was altered and added to over several centuries. The church was damaged by a gale in 1847, and is now only a shell. A new church, St Thomas the Apostle, was built in the same churchyard. This suffered a lightning strike in 1875

Mary Greenwood was the great great grand mother of Colin Mayall and  the 3 x great gran of  Nic Elise and Jasmine .

The  village lies some  12 miles from Keighley but light  years away in reality .Mary in all probability found  employment there and in  doing  so met her husband   to be David.As noted  above they married in 1843. It would appear that although  working in Keighley  they lived  close  by in Greater Horton – now a  suburb of Bradford. The  marriage saw the arrival of seven children :

1.         Edward Mayall in  1844 ( Bradford)-the  direct line and great grandfather of Colin Mayall

2.         John Mayall in 1847 ( Bradford )

3.         Mary Ann Alice Mayall in 1849 ( Bradford )

4.         Samuel ( Sam ) Mayall in 1852 (Keighley )

5.         Greenwood Mayall in 1853 ( Keighley )

6.         Martha Mayall in 1857 ( Keighley )

7.         James William Mayall in 1863 ( Halifax but probably Rastrick which lies  with the Halifax Borough bounds )

 

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You will recall that I  mentioned  earlier in this  chronicle that in the 1851 Census we  found  Edward staying in with his grandfather Edward Meal in Slaithwaite .  Things  were  obviously tough in  supporting the growing family . Nic and I investigated a  note that James above  was a professional cricketer . Nic brilliantly unearthed some  newspaper  cuttings via the Internet and  show him as a pro player and groundsman Played  for Leigh CC and  seemed  to have been  more  than a modest player . This  club  employed 3 pro/groundsmen at the time .Let us  not  digress somewhat and look at Mary’s  father Daniel and his Irish wife Mary Abbot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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                   Heptonstall Yorkshire

The Irish Connection

The Abbotts

In compiling this story of our Yorkshire family it came as  something of a  surprise   to  find out that we had , unbeknown , to one and all some Irish ancestry . Mary Abbott was born  circa 1810 in Ireland . Wherebouts we did  not know. The name “ Abbott “ was according  to historical records likely to have arrived in the Emerald Isle around the mid  17^th century. Examination of the 1821 Census of Ireland revealed  the probable  family living in Seirkeran County Offally in the Province of Leinster .

Details are  somewhat limited but the following  are listed :

Benjeman ( sic) Abbott  age 36

Jane Abbott ( no maiden name  given ) age 40

Mary Ann Abbott daughter age 13

Elizabeth Abbott  daughter  age 10

John Abbott   son age 7

Phiby Abbott daughter age 4

Sarah Abbott daughter age 1

Samuel Abbott ( brother of Benjeman ) age 37

Thomas Macklin  head  age 20

No further details  are  available but one  wonders  why Mary Ann Abbott  found her way across the seas  to the comparatively  remote part of Yorkshire .When one has a  look at Irish history the reasoning she left  for  another life  becomes  clear. In 1921 on the 3rd of May, Northern Ireland was established. On the 6^th December, the Irish War of Independence flaired up .  The War of Independence ends when negotiations between the British government and representatives of the de facto Irish Republic conclude with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the creation of the Irish Free State on the 28^th  June1922.

Mary met Daniel Greenwood, a  wool comber , and  they were  married in Bradford and  lived  there raising four offspring – Mary , Joseph , William and Daniel . Mary died comparatively  young in 1866 in Bradford aged 58 .

The Irish Connection (two)

Seir Kieran

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The name Seir Kieran derives from Saighir Chiaráin, meaning ‘the fountain of Ciarán’. The ancient church at Seir Kieran is associated with St Ciarán the elder, who is supposed to have spent 30 years in Rome studying the scriptures. In ancient times the church was a burial place of the kings of the ancient kingdom of Ossory.

 

Today pilgrims continue to carry out stations at St Kieran’s Well and St. Kieran’s Bush & Stone on his feastday (March 5th). Within the graveyard is the base of a 9th century high cross which features carvings of biblical scenes, such as ‘Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden’.

Sometime before 1170 Seirkieran became a house of Augustinian canons and shortly after this date the priory church of St. Ciarán was built. The walls of this church form the northern boundary of the graveyard. The foundations of an earlier round tower can be seen on the external northwest angle of the priory ruins. The priory was dissolved in 1552 and sometime later the church was fortified when a small circular gun-tower was added on to the southeast angle. In 1844 the Church of Ireland built the present church, in which are housed a stone cross and some early cross slabs that were found in the graveyard.

                

               

Generation Three

Edward Mayall and Sarah Chadwick

The Rastrick Mayalls

We have  followed the  family  from their Marsden and Slaithwaite days through to  my grand father in Rastrick . Rastrick  is a place I first  recall hearing a bout when the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band used  to play regularly on the radio / wireless in  the pre TV  era !  Edward my great grandfather  followed  tradition  by entering  the  woollen  mill and  working as a slubber – someone  who feeds the wool into the spinning machine .

Edward  the oldest  sibling in the family of David and Mary was only 16 years  old  when his father  died in 1861 in Rastrick aged  46 leaving Mary  his widow just  34. The family were living in a  property  adjoining the cricket  ground in Walker Square and the Census   gives us  some idea  of  what  they were all doing .Both Edward and his younger  brother John were in the mill . Their younger  siblings – Mary age 12– Sam age  9 – Greenwood age 7 and Martha aged 5 were all at school . As I  write this I realise one is  not accounted for ! I checked  my records and  discover that the youngest sibling John William  was  not born until 1863  - 2  years  after his father’s death ! It must have been a real struggle  to  bring up  the family in the years  before social benefits were there  to help things out .

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When the  next Census  came around in 1871 we  discover that the  three oldest  -  Edward ,John and Mary Ann Alice had  all married and departed the nest  . The census  tells  us Sam  aged 19 was  employed as a slubber , Greenwood as a woollen operative ,Martha as a  woollen feeder and James William  aged  7  still at school .

Life  could  not have been easy and perhaps it  is  not surprising  that the  young widow married  local boy Joe Rayner who surprise, surprise was  a also working  in  the  mill His occupation is stated as a woollen over looker . The 1881 census  tells  us that the family  had  moved  to Bradford , Interesting  side  note is that the late arrival John William  went to be a professional cricketer in Lancashire thus avoiding the mill !

At this stage , let  us return  to Edward Mayall . He had  married a  Mary Hartley on July1869 at St John the Baptist Church in Halifax .Mary was  21 years old and Edward  25 years old . Sadly  she  died   some  4  years later leaving Edward a  widow .The  young  guy however  did  not hang  around and within a  year had remarried .This was to 21 year old Sarah Chadwick a woollen weaver who in all probability worked in the same mil as he did, Sarah was not from Rastrick  but from Elland Her father  was a “ stone delver “ a  sort of quarryman .

The  new family settled  down in New Road Rastrick just across   from where Edward had  been brought up in Walker Square and  virtually adjacent  to the Cricket Ground at Round Hill .

The family grew up – four  boys and four girls . Eliza  was the  oldest . Born in 1876 she married gamekeeper George Denham had  3  children and  moved  to Devon . Next came Jack or  John Edward  to be precise who was born in 1878 . He went  to work in the mill , soon had  enough  and enlisted in the Duke of Wellingtons ( West Riding Regiment ) on short term . Left in 1906 to work as an engine fitter , married that year  to Edith Rushton in Rastrick .In 1906  was best man in Glasgow  to my grand father Lewis . In 1907 he  left on his own  to go to US ( Philadelphia ) but returned  to Rastrick shortly after and his son George Edward was born in 1910 .In the 1911 Census  was  listed as a steam crane driver in a stone quarry . On his  mother’s  side , the Chadwicks were quarrymen might well have  worked   with them in nearby Elland. In 1912 Jack and family emigrated  to Sydney New South Wales  Australia . He died in 1969 and  was buried in Rookwood Cemetery Cumberland New South Wales .His  son George died in Sydney in 2002. Lewis, my grand father was  next in line  born in 1880. The  following  Chapter is  devoted  to him  so will pass on to Mary Alice born in 1883.She married Wifred Dixon whose occupation was that of a  wire drawer, on the 9^th June 1908 in Halifax Parish . There  did  not appear   to be any children in this marriage Next in order was Lillian or Lilly Mayall born in Rastrick in 1880 and  married Albert Walker , a  stone merchant , in Rastrick in 1905. They had  four children , Albert , George, Frank and Lillian May .

Next in line  was Leonard . His  story was hidden in the mists of  time and not  sure whether the rest of the family  including my own father knew about . Leonard  was born in 1888 and at the age of 13  was  working as a woollen piecer in the local mill. Some 5 years  later aged  18  was  working as a labourer in a laundry . Once again  military service  came  to the rescue and Leonard  signed on  in the 4^th West Yorks ( ie the 4^th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment ). Shortly after  he transferred  to the 1^st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers and in 1911the National census  return  shows  him as a Private in the Regiment in Rawalpindi .

The 1^st Battalion  was a regular army Battalion Division stationed in Portsmouth at the outbreak of World War 1  . It was assigned to the 9^th Brigade  , 3^rd Infantry Division and remained with it throughout the War . It landed at Le Havre on 14^th August 1914  and remained on the Western Front until the Armistice  with Germany .

 

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It  fought in the following major battles : Battle of Mons , First Battle of the  Aisne , First Battle of Ypres, Battle of the Somme ( 1916 ) , Battle of Arras ( 1917 ) Third Battle of Ypres , First Battle of Somme ( 1918 ) ,Battle of Lys ( 1918 )  ,Second Battle of the Somme ( 1918 )  , Battles of the Hindenburg Line .

Leonard rose  to the rank of Lance Corporal and  was  discharged  from service on the 4  August 1917 due  to “ sickness” . He obtained  the Victory, British and Star Medals . His Service Number was 1970: 77763. Sadly the bulk of Army WW1 Service Records  were  destroyed in WW2  when their storage  warehouse  was  destroyed by a German bomb !

It would  appear that Leonard’s discharge  from “ sickness “ was one of mental illness . The nature of his service shows his  involvement in numerous  battles   resulting in a horrendous  loss of  life  and permanent injury . More than 1 million serving personnel lost their life. After  discharge , Leonard  married in April 1919  to Mary Margaret Beswick . She was 36 years old  and he was 30 years old . they married  not in Rastrick but in Chorlton Lancashire . In the 1936 Electoral Register Leonard is  residing at 18 Slade Lane Elland ( near Rastrick )

Leonard  was  committed to Storthes Hall Mental Hospital ( later in 1939 to be known as West Riding Mental Hospital ) It was mentioned in  a book by Barbara Robb called  “ Sans Everything “ . Accusations covered   a 32 week period of serious violent assaults  with fists or  weapons  against male patient of all ages – “it was a  hell hole “.

 No  evidence that these  occurred whilst Leonard was a  patient . He worked in a mill whilst in residence  He died in December 1939 and was buried on 20 December 1939 . Blessings on you Leonard.

The seventh sibling was Louisa Mayall born in Rastrick in 1891 .She married John Albert Hall on the 19 June 1915. They had one  child Marie Hall born 1917 and  died in 1987 . Louisa herself  died 1954 at Upper Aggbrigg Yorkshire .Aggbrigg is a suburb of Wakefield .

The  youngest of the family was Brook William Mayall born in Rastrick in 1894 . He  signed  up for a Short Service ( 2 years and  10 years in the  Reserve ) as a driver with the Army Service Corps on the 1^st September 1913. When War broke out Brooke signed on as a Private in the Duke of Wellington’s ( West Riding ) Regiment serving as a  driver in France and Belgium . He was a warded  the 1914-15 Star . I remember  my Aunt Margaret ( my father’s sister )  telling  me  he had  served under McIntosh of Toffee fame and had saved  him from an accident ( details  am  afraid lost in time ) Checked out and McIntosh’ s  did  work out of nearby Halifax  so may be  something in that ! Brook  married  a Lillian Happey in Halifax in 1919. They had  two children Brian and Bessie . Brook died in 1981 a year after Lillian .

I visited Rastrick armed   with  some pics  given  to me  by my cousin Alan Buchanan .

                                     Rastrick

 

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Round Hill Rastrick – the Cricket Ground

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Mayall Family pictured outside their house at Round Hill Rastrick about 1898/1899

Back Row : John ( Jack ) Mayall B.1878 : Mary Louise Alice Mayall  B 1884: Lillian ( Lilly ) Mayall ( B. 1886 Lewis Mayall  B. 1880

Middle Row : Sarah (Chadwick ) Mayall B. 1852 Leonard Mayall B. 1889 Edward Mayall B.1845

Front Row : Louisa Mayall B. 1892   Brook W Mayall B . 1875

 

 

 

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The Chadwick Connection , Elland and stone quarrying

 

My great grandmother  who appears in that great family pic  with her husband Edward and their 8 children was Sarah Chadwick . Sarah  was  born in Rastrick in 1852 She was one of eight children ( as  she was  to have  with Edward Mayall and  coincidently  with 4 boys and 4  girls ! ). Her parents  were William Chadwick , a stone  delver , and Lydia Carter . The family roots  were in the little  town  of Elland some  3  miles south west of Rastrick and many of  her male  ancestors were stone quarriers or delvers . Sarah’s  sister Hannah  worked  in the mills as  did so many of her forebearers . Sarah  was registered  as  Blind  and lived with sister Sarah and husband Edward in Rastrick . Sarah  worked as  one  might expect  in the mill .

 

William Chadwick was born on the 6 November 1818 in Elland West Yorkshire. He was my 2 x great grand father and was a stone delver and a stone quarry man. William married Lydia Carter (  my 2 x4 great grand mother }who was born in Elland to George Carter and Hannah Quarmby . George was a spinner by trade.

 

 

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                                                Disused Quarry Elland West Yorks

 

 

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My Grandfather Lewis Mayall born Rastrick West Riding of Yorkshire

On the 4^th April 1880 and died in Glasgow on the 12^th November 1941.

Aged 61 years .

 

 

The above picture of my grandfather was taken  from the group picture in the  previous  chapter showing all the  siblings together in front of their  home at Round Hill Rastrick . When was it taken ? Can only be supposition  but he  signed up  for the military in October 1899 prior  to leaving  for South Africa to participate  with the Lancers in the Boer War ,so  I think it would  have been early 1899 . I never knew  my grandfather as  he  died some 5  months after I was born . Likewise he  would  not know either of  my two cousins. Alan Buchanan son of Nancy Mayall , Lewis’s daughter , was born in January of that year and Ann Moffat ( maiden name Miller) daughter of Margaret Mayall , Lewis’s  younger daughter ) was born in February 1941 .

We know  from the 1891 census  that Lewis  was  working in the Woollen Mill aged 11 ! Life indeed  was not easy in those  far off days !

Private Lewis Mayall , 4985 , 17th ( Duke of Cambridge's Own) Lancers

Lewis served in the Boer War having joined the 17th Lancers in 1899 serving in the Boer War in South Africa until 1902 .He was  19 years old and six months  when he enlisted

Boer War

The 17th were to miss the big battles of the Boer War. They arrived just in time to see the Boers be technically defeated on the battlefield and yet failing to surrender to the British. The Boers dispersed their mounted commandos throughout the imposing African landscape in what was to become a precursor of twentieth century guerrilla warfare. In this campaign, mounted troops were to become essential in combing the vast distances and empty spaces. The 17th were quickly employed to track down one of the most notorious of the Boer commandos; De Wet. One lancer, Trooper Hayman, was to win the Victoria Cross when he and another trooper were surprised by a dozen Boers. The other trooper's horse was killed sending the rider to the ground with a dislocated shoulder. Hayman, scooped up his comrade on to his own horse and used both men's carbines to shoot his way to freedom. In many ways, this action is indicative of

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the entirely new kind of warfare that was facing all of the British regiments in South Africa. The Boerswould hide until they decided to strike and fight on their own terms. The British were continually reactingto the initiative of the Boers. Another less auspicious example of the new style of warfare facing the 17th is provided at the battle of Modderfontein. Here, a small group of Boers were forced to find new mounts, food and ammunition or face certain capture. They came across a small outpost of the 17th Lancers who were resting in the grounds of a farm house. The British mistook the Khaki clad Boers for British until they started a withering fire on the unprepared Lancers. The Boers were then joined by another troop of Commandos who had heard the commotion from afar. These joined in from the rear of the Lancers and helped to inflict serious casualties on the troop of Lancers. In total, 36 Lancers were killed and many more were wounded. The worst aspect of this loss is that they themselves provided the Boers with further mounts and ammunition to continue fighting against the British for an even longer period of time. There was no room for complacency in fighting such a dedicated foe as the Boer. For the rest of the war, the 17th was involved in continuous small scale actions and sweeping operations against the ever elusive commandoes. As thankless a task as it was the Boer War did help to prepare the regiment, and

indeed the whole British action, for a much more auspicious performance during the First World War.

Between Wars

Lewis’s military career  has been  one of surprise and mystery . I do believe I have at last sussed out what he  actually did and reveals a  somewhat complex  tale ! He had  signed  on for a short  service in the Lancers and  when he  had  completed this at the end of the Boer War he was on a  ten year Reserve in which he  would be liable for  a recall when  deemed  necessary .

Lewis  left the Lancers  in 1902 . He had  been  awarded The Queens South Africa Medal( QSA) with three clasps ( Cape Colony , Orange Free State and  Transvaal ). He was in receipt of an Army Pension  and  had  been sent  first   to Edinburgh and the  to Maryhill Barracks in Glasgow where he was  discharged . He  obtained a job as a  “ commissionaire “ an  employee of the Corps of Commissionaires . In 1906   he married Maggie Craig Plowman and lived in 439 St George’s Road Glasgow .

My father Edward Mayall was born in 1907 and his  sister Annie ( Nancy ) the  following year. 

The family story is that he was at the cinema in Glasgow  when a message  was flashed on the screen saying  that all reservists had  to report  to their  regimental barracks immediately . This must have proven a practical problem  for Lewis as his Regiment at that date  were  based in India ! War was imminent and Lewis  whatever  he  did was  back in uniform and posted to the Curragh Co Kildare  near Dublin in Ireland . How  do I know this ? My cousin Alan sent me a copy of Lewis’s Army Pay Book ( below ) . It tells  us he had arrived there on the 8^th August 1914  some  3 days after war had been declared !

                        

 

 

                   

 

 

 

 

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The Curragh Mutiny

His pay after deductions  was  8 pence old or 3.5 p in modern currency !!

The complexity of Irish history is  such that this posting to the Curragh  may not appear  to have been unusual . The  truth is that the Emerald Isle  was in a total  state of confusion and veritable anarchy as the Home Rule  movement gathered  momentum  and the split between the Protestant North or Ulster  and the predominantly Catholic  South was areal political “ hot potato “ . Asquith the British Prime Minister had proposed an all Ireland Parliament in Dublin  which had been violently opposed  by Dublin born Edward Carson . Carson rallied the Orangemen and Protestant opposition  and went further  by importing weapons  to defend the Province . Churchill had been given a hard time  when he went  to Belfast to mediate and responded  by sending in March 1914 , the Royal Navy’s Third Battle Squadron to “ exercise “ off the Ulster coast . In the South , one Erskine Robert Childers , an  ex Clerk to the House of Commons  smuggled arms in his private yacht  and these were  distributed  by the Irish volunteers  on the cross bars of bicycles !

 

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The spotlight turns  now on the Curragh. The majority of the Officers based there in in July 1914 rendered their resignations  to the British Government  rather than be  forced   to take  action  against Carson  and the Protestants of Ulster . This has  become known as the “ Curragh Incident “ or the “ Curragh Mutiny “ . The Curragh  was now  a political and  military  time bomb  in a steadily deteriorating situation .

Did Lewis Mayall enlist prior  to the 8^th August  shown on his pay book ? It merely say “ Date and Station – 8.8.14- Curragh “ .Was he in Ireland when the mutiny occurred ? It is  now unlikely  we  will  ever  know . When  he left  the army  after  the Boer War  he  was on 10 year Reservist status liable   to be  called  up whenever  deemmed  necessary . Things  were changing  rapdly . Brirtin was declared  to be at War on the 5^th August 1914 . The Home Rule Bill was  frozen for its  execution , until th end of th War . Churchill made the classic  statement “ This unpleasant problem has been erased in the sound of guns  of the large war , in which the whole World are participating “.

The Great War

At the outbreak  of World War One  , the 17^th  Lancers were to find themselves stationed in India. They had been there sine  1905  and initially they thought that they might miss  the entire  War . However in November 1914  , they were sent to Marseiiles  as part of the Indian Cavalry Corps . We know from Lewis Mayall’s  Pay Book that he returned home  for a week in late August 1914 and then is listed as “ being on active  service “ whereabouts  not listed “ By the 27^th May 1915  he is in France  being paid in Francs . to some that the  time By this stage of the War , the mobile opening moves of thre armies had  come to an end . The cavalry had played a  vital role in this stage of the War, but would  find its role severely limited from this point  on by machine guns , barbed  wire and mud . In the next three years , the cavalry  barely

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moved 20 miles  in any  direction from its  strating point in Amiens . They sat in the reserves forever hopinthat a breakthrough  might  be made  that would require their assistance . They were  generally  used more  to plug gaps and relieve infantry battalions  that had  taken beatings  on the front line .tHe one opporunity  that the regiment  gad  to braek thriugh  the German lines  was  actually a  sign of things  to come for the Regiment .The 17^th Lancers  were present at Cambrai  when tanks  were  employed  en masse  for the first time .

A break through was  so nearly achieved  but for the weight of  a British tank that destroyed  a  vital bridge  at a critical point  in the campaign , However, despite this  set back , it was obvious  to some that the time  for horses on the battlefied  were becoming  numbered . The fate of cavalry regiments was not  completely sewn up at this  time  and the 17^th  soon had the opportunity to demomstrate their  value . In 1918, the Germans  made one last  desperate attempt  to win the War with their most success push since 1914. The Allied lines  were in disarray  and falling back as quickly as they could .The 17^th were used as a mobile infantry unit  being sentto plug gaps wherever they appeared . At one instance , the 17^th Lancers charged  600 yards under fire  to rescue  units  of the 9^th Australian Infantry Brigade . Their mobility  could still have uses even on the nodern battlefield.. When the 17^th got to join the bRitish counter attack  they were once agin to find  themselves  accompanying tanks . And they were to find  find that it ws safer  for them  to be away behin  the tanks  rther than have thei  horses  exposed  to machind gun  fire .

Final Part of the saga

The Haig Connectionaig Connection                                               

As I mentioned  earlier , the individual military records  for the First World War  were  destroyed  When  the warehouse containing them was bombed and  destroyed by the Luftwaffe in WW2 !

My story was  struggling as I  did  not know what or where he was . I contacted  my cousin Alan Buchanan living at the  tine  near  Cockburnspath in the south east of Scotland . Alan sent  me a  copy of a post card sent  by Lewis  to his  wife , our grand mother .It was Forges les Eaux during the Battle of the Somme  on the 2 July 1916. It merely said : “ Dear Meg-Here is another card . They are very handy  to drop a line . Remember  me  to all . Hoping you are still keeping in the  best of health . Miss you . L. Mayall  “

I was  somewhat confused  by the receipt of this  card . Why  was  he  sending it  from a I jkewith Alan . He had  been  brought up  by his mother Nancy Buchanan ( Mayall ) and father George . The  house  was  shared  with my grand parents Lewis and Meg Mayall . When  they died many  of their artifacts  were retained . Alan informed me this gem of information:

“ My understanding  was that our grand father  never actually fought  in WW 1 . He was on the staff  at Allied HQ at Forges Les Eaux  which I visited in the 90’s It is a small town north of   Rouen and south of the battlefields .The last time I met Aunt Margaret   was at St Andrews about 15 years  ago. ( Aunt  Margaret was  my father’s younger sister – daughter of Lewis and Meg )  ) . She told me , he played golf  when it was not usual  for the working man  and that he was an artisan member  of Cathcart Castle GC ( south of Glasgow ) . These  members  were on lower fees and helped on the course or clubhouse  for his membership . She  also said that the reason  he would have taken up golf was caddying  for  Haig  who was a past Captain of the Royal and Ancient GC . He was Haig’s batman which explained   more than a little ! “

The jig saw was at last  nearing completion . I recalled that my father  had  told  me that Lewis  had  been  more than an accomplished player having won the Cameron Corbett Trophy at the Club . It must be  genetic but Lewis grand daughter Ann Moffat ( Miller ) was captain of Glasgow Universities  Ladies Golf team when a student and her daughter Elaine Moffat won the Scottish Ladies Golf Championship

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When the War ended Lewis worked  with a Glasgow Auctioneers  for  a number of years . Sadly he died the year I was born .Meg his wife  died some  2 years later . I rust this contribution to  the Mayall  saga is  duly appreciated .

Lewis and Meg were  only sixty one  years of age when they died .

 

 

 

           

                                                                

 

 

 

 

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                                      Lewis Mayall at Lochearnhead Station circa      

                                                                                late 1930s

 

 

 

Lewis Mayall ( 3rd from left) Daughter Nancy Buchanan and husband George , extreme  right .

 

 

 

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Meg Mayall ( Maggie Craig Plowman ) B. 6 May 1882 and D. 2 Dec. 1943

 

                                          

 

Family picture taken c 1890: Meg on left aged 8 , her mum Margaret Elizabeth Plowman ( ms Orr ) aged 38 ( she died aged 48 ) and Aunt Nan ( Annie Plowman ) aged 3 . Sister of Meg . She never married had a  distinguished nursing career and is  buried in Arlington Military Cemetery near  to John F Kennedy .

 

Lewis Mayall’ s Brothers and Sisters

The large  family of Edward and Sarah is  shown in a splendid family group circa 1898.

 

 

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