John Hargreaves was most likely born in Ovenden Wood in 1797. He married Betty Priestley, who was also from Ovenden in 1822 at St Johns Parish Church, when he was already working as a Delver (quarryman).
Marriage of John Hargreaves and Elizabeth Priestley, Halifax St John the Baptist, 29 Aug 1822. With permission from WYAS Wakefield, WDP53/1/3/19. Accessed via www.Ancestry.co.uk [15/10/2024]
They lived at Wheatley Edge and had their first child James in 1823, then twins Harriet and Mary in 1826. Their daughter, Mary, died in 1827 at age 1 year and 3 months (she was buried at Square Chapel).
In 1828 Mary Ann was born, followed by Betsy in 1830, Sarah Jane in 1831, Deborah 1834, Susannah 1836, John Joseph 1838, and Priestley in 1840.
Baptism of Mary and Harriet Hargreaves, Illingworth St Mary, 3 Sep 1826. With permission from WYAS Wakefield, WDP73/1/2/1. Accessed via www.Ancestry.co.uk [15/10/2024]
John Died in 1843 at the age of just 45 and was buried with his daughter Ann at the Square Chapel in Halifax.
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John and Betty's last child, Ann was born in April 1843, less than 3 months after her father had died.
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Their youngest child Priestley died in 1859 at the age of just 19, he was also buried with his father and sister at the Square Chapel.
Betty, John’s widow, lived on until she was 72, and died in 1871. She had continued to live at Wheatley Edge with many of her unmarried daughters who worked in the local mills. Other family members were buried at Lister Lane Cemetery. I can find little trace of Mary Ann, Susannah and Ann after 1861, they were not buried with the Hargreaves family. Did they marry and move on?
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Fascinatingly, West Yorkshire Archive Service have a 1872 plan of 6 Goux Closets at Wheatley Edge. This shows that our Hargreaves family were living with Halifax’s most modern sewerage system at the time! Read more about Goux here!
Photograph of gravestone made for exhibition
Messrs Ramsden and Hemingway – plan of six goux closets in Wheatley Edge, Halifax, Dec 1872. West Yorkshire Archive Service Calderdale, CMT1/HBI/A:993
Their two sons moved away from Halifax. James Hargreaves, their eldest child, moved to Cheadle Hulme and worked as a Stone and Lime Merchant. For a while, his brother John Joseph lived with him before he too married and moved on to Manchester where he had a family and worked as a Land Surveyor.
In their later years, John Joseph's sisters Harriett and Betsy moved in with him and his family in Manchester.
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John and Betty's daughter Harriet died in 1900, Sarah Jane in 1902 and Deborah in 1914.
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Researched by Anna Roe
Photograph of gravestone made for exhibition