Help sought with Spen family tree
A FORMER Spen man who is researching his family tree is appealing to Guardian readers for help.
Alan Jackson was born just off The Flush in Heckmondwike in 1949, lived in Windy Bank Lane, and moved to Manchester around 1958.
In 1978 he went to live in London and has been here ever since. However, many of his relatives still live in the Spen Valley.
"I've been researching my family background, and in 1910 three of my great uncles (Archer, Norman and Fred Townend) emigrated to the USA," said Alan.
"In their emigration documents they list their nearest relative as living in Firth's Buildings in Roberttown. I was trying to find anything I can about Firth's Buildings.
"I researched the name Firth, but there were so many of them in the area around this time it was a bit of a wild goose chase.
"At Easter I even visited Roberttown but couldn't find Firth's Buildings. When I got back to London I came across a map, which has Firth's Buildings at the junction of Commonside and Far Common Road in Roberttown. The buildings have long since gone, the most recent mention of them I could find was in 1930.
"I've come across some fascinating stuff about Spen Valley when looking into my family tree. For example, I found a Pathe News item from 1915 showing the visit of Queen Mary and King George V to the Spen Valley area, including Heckmondwike. Maybe some of my relatives were even among the crowd in the market square!"
Alan has sent some photographs from his family archives, including one of his great uncle Archer Townend and his wife Ada, looking very prosperous, taken in Long Beach, California, in 1953.
Archer was born in Roberttown in 1888. They had three children, all born in the USA. His son, John J Townend, was a good amateur boxer and joined the USA army in 1942. He died in action in 1943, probably in North Africa.
"Archer is the one who, in 1914, put on his immigration record Firth's Buildings in Roberttown as the address of his nearest relative, his father John William Townend, who by 1920 ended up in the USA as well, living with Archer," said Alan.
The second pitcure is a works photo taken in the late 1940s.
"My grandfather John Alfred (Jack) Clarkson is in the back row, second from the left. The group were workers at Rendon's Wire Works in Heckmondwike," Alan explained.
"The third photo is of my Auntie Shirley Clarkson (with the white handbag). She's pictured, aged 17, with her husband Bryan Dickerson. Within three months of this photo and her marriage in 1950 she was dead from peritonitis. The story is the doctor either refused to come out or misdiagnosed her illness. The NHS had only just come into existence, in 1949."
The final wedding photo includes Alan's mother, Barbara Clarkson, who is the bridesmaid seated on the far right aged around 15. She went on to marry Sydney Jackson. The photo, taken around 1940, is the wedding of Muriel Clarkson – Barbara's cousin – and Arnold Cockin.
* Anyone who can help Alan into the research of his family tree can contact him at 54 Kiver Road, Upper Holloway, London N19 NPD, tel 020 7272 4530 or email Alanvanjackson@aol.com.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Cleckheaton
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North west
