Betty and Thomas Firth were buried with 2 of their grandchildren at the Square Chapel, Halifax. Thomas Firth was born in 1749, his father Joseph was a clothier/Yeoman of Southowram and lived at Little Norcliffe (Josephs parents were George and Mary of Northowram). Joseph married Ann in 1745 and together they had several children, including Thomas Firth in 1749. In 1777, Ann died and in 1793 Joseph died.
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Thomas Firth grew up and married Betty Hemingway in 1784, his occupation at the time was given as Weaver. Betty’s first child with Thomas was born in 1786, also called Thomas.
Marriage of Betty Hemmingway and Thomas Firth, Halifax St John the Baptist, 11 Apr 1784. With permission from WYAS Wakefield, WDP53/1/3/7. Accessed via www.Ancestry.co.uk [15/10/2024]
In 1788 John Firth was born to Thomas and Betty but he sadly died 2 years later. He was buried at the Square Chapel in Halifax. In 1791 they had another son, Joseph Firth.Betty Firth died in 1813, followed by Thomas Firth in 1819, both were buried with their child John at the Square Chapel.
Betty and Thomas’ child Joseph grew up and in 1820 married the daughter of a wealthy family, Monimia Dyson, at Elland Parish Church. They lived in several places including Rostherne in Cheshire, Macclesfield and lastly Market Drayton. He went on to be a successful surveyor, Land Agent and briefly a Silk Mill owner. Their first child, Thomas Dyson Firth was born in 1821, of High Leigh, Rostherne. Josephs occupation was ‘Gent’. They went on to have two more children, a Scipio Dyson Firth, and a John Hoyle Firth; their fourth was Edward Firth born 1826, still while living in Cheshire, but sadly
Edward died in 1827 and was buried with his grandparents Betty and Thomas at the Square Chapel in Halifax. In 1829 they had another child, Elizabeth Ann, who unfortunately died 8 months later who was also buried with her grandparents. They continued to have children and the next are Sarah Elizabeth (Betty) Firth (on the baptism record the father Joseph Firth is named as a “Silk Manufacturer”), and Hemingway Firth, Monimia Firth, Mary Thomasina Firth, Elizabeth Ann Firth, Caroline Firth, and finally the youngest and last, Horatio Nelson Firth, born in 1842.
From 1841 the Firths appear on Census records as living in Stafford Street, Market Drayton with 7 children and Joseph's occupation is Land Agent. In 1846 it seems Joseph and Monimia’s two eldest sons had gone into business together under the name Scipio Dyson Firth and Co. however, this partnership was dissolved in 1846. Just a year later, Scipio Dyson Firth died.
In the 1851 census, Joseph is still employed as a Land Agent, living with Monimia in Market Drayton. Living with them are 6 children, one, Hemingway Firth, is an Apprentice Ironmonger. He would later in 1858, as a full Ironmonger, marry a Sarah Gardner in Ludlow 4 July 1858.Joseph Firth died in September 1856 at the age of 63. Monimia and three of her daughters (plus a servant) carry on living at the same address, and in the 1861 census we can see Mary T Firth, aged 24, worked as an assistant post mistress, and Caroline Firth, aged 22, worked as a governess.
In 1871 census shows that Monimia still lives at the same address with her unmarried daughters, including her daughter Monimia who had moved back in with them.In 1873 Monimia Firth dies aged 72. Her daughters go on to become quite well known as philanthropists and charity supporters. In 1924, Monimia Firth (who now lived with her 3 sisters in Bath) died at aged 80, leaving her property and valuables to her sisters Sarah Elizabeth, Elizabeth Ann Morris, and Caroline Firth.
In 1925 Elizabeth Ann Morris (widow of James Mark Morris) died aged 86 and left her property and valuables to her brother Horatio Nelson Firth, and his son Oliver; her brother Hemingway Firth, and his two children, and the residue of her estate to her sisters Monimia Firth, Mary Thomazia Firth, Caroline Firth, and Sarah Elizabeth Firth. In 1926, Sarah Elizabeth Firth died aged 95.
Researched by Anna Roe