Beaumont Crosland -great grandfather

The 1911 census places Percy Crosland living at 224 New Hey Rd ,Huddersfield (the white door down from the blue door in the modern picture above-the other picture is New Hey rd in the 1930's)at this time Percy is described as a commercial chemist aged 25 and single ,and his brother Herbert,23, is described as a cloth designers assistant.Their parents and our great grandparents Beaumont Crosland and Ellen Crosland are both aged 49 and Beaumont is described as a "shoddy manufacurer "(I have put a long explanation of what that is at the bottom of this post!

In the 1901 census Beaumont is described as a "shoddy manufacturer " living at 7, Oakes rd (just round the corner from New Hey rd and interestingly 2 doors down from Oakes Baptist Church! -I remember dad saying his grandfather had been a Baptist! picture of church above )and in the 1891 census as a rag puller (someone who sorted garments by fabric and who removed buttons etc etc for resale )In 1871 census Beaumont is living in Luck Lane Marsh, Huddersfield with his dad Alfred Crosland(born 1834) and his mum Sarah Crosland.

In the 1861 census Alfred is living in Westgate Huddersfield and is a glass and china dealer.Interestingly his father is also called Beaumont, heres his entry in 1841 census

Name Beaumont Crosland
Age 35
Estimated Year of Birth 1806
Relationship to Head of Household
Occupation
Address Westgate
District Huddersfield Union, Golcar
Parish Huddersfield
Administrative County Yorkshire
Birth Place Yorkshire
Birth County Yorkshire




So the Crosland's were associated for generations with Huddersfield and given the fact Huddersfield was associated with textiles its not surpising that Alfred apart generations worked in the "rag trade"
Interestingly there is no record of Beaumont in the 1881 census when he was 19 and I wonder what he was doing then?

PS Long Explanation shoddy manufacturer
Shoddy Manufacturer
Recycled or remanufactured wool which is of inferior quality compared to the original wool. Historically generated from loosely woven materials. Benjamin Law invented shoddy and mungo, as such, in 1813. He was the first to organise, on a larger scale, the activity of taking old clothes and grinding them down into a fibrous state that could be re-spun into yarn. The shoddy industry was centred on the towns of Batley, Morley, Dewsbury and Ossett in West Yorkshire, and concentrated on the recovery of wool from rags. The importance of the industry can be gauged by the fact that even in 1860 the town of Batley was producing over 7000 tonnes of shoddy. At the time there were 80 firms employing a total of 550 people sorting the rags. These were then sold to shoddy manufacturers of which there were about 130 in the West Riding.

Percy Crosland

Percy was my dad's dad.
The above picture is at The Lea, Walmersley Bury ,Lancashire and was taken in 1956.
The Lea had been a large country farmhouse, but was now on the outskirts of Walmersley I remember it had a very large kitchen and seemed a very exotic place to a young boy. There was an old disused indoor pool at the bottom of the garden which I guess had been used upto the outbreak of World War 2.
Grandad employed both a handyman "old George"(In fact old George was the first person I ever remember dying!) and a gardener,there was also help in the house from a lady called Lily .
Percy Crosland was from Yorkshire, and lived as a child at 7 Oakes Rd, Lindley, and at 214 New hey rd, Lindley,Huddersfield. (a picture of how it looks today above- the white door is 214) with his Dad; Beaumont Crosland and his mum Ellen Crosland (born 1862)and brother Herbert Crosland. I have established his ancestors had been involved in various parts of the textile industry since at least the 1840's.
Percy went to university and trained as a chemist & he together with Herbert Crosland his brother, founded Crosland and Pickstone. Percy had the brains and ,if you google Percy Field Crosland you will see links to articles he wrote in the Chemistry Society Journal- Though you have to pay to read them so I haven't bothered!

Percy was the first Crosland for generations to leave the Huddersfield area and go to university and he made good ! He became very wealthy and could afford to buy fine art and send his children to private schools and holiday in Europe,
His first wife Muriel died young and dad heard the news of this while on active service in the war. Percy later married Eunice.
This marriage was strongly disaproved of by my father but they stayed together until Percy's death

Percy died(I think in Bournemouth) in the 1960's following a heart attack and Crosland and Pickstone only survived him by some twenty years
Eunice survived much longer and died near Wrexham in February 2001

3 Children on holiday in France possibly

Since this blog is for our children and our children's children, I thought I should include pictures of us as we grew up.This is of Edwina,Charles and Victoria taken on holiday, but I am not sure where!.
If I had to guess I would say its in the south of France.
The final holiday before our parents separated and then divorced was a camping holiday there ( and I certainly look dishevelled enough to be living in a tent!)I rememeber dad driving by lightening in an almost tropical storm.Dwee was pretty ill on that holiday too
We also had a mini tornado and looked outside the tent one day to see our clothes dancing by themselves!

Baby book

When I was born Mum kept a baby book that was written in until I was at least 5 (though much less frequently as time went on.) Above is a picture of the cover of the book. Mum gave this book to me many years ago and its a miracle I didnt lose it!

Above is a photo of a typical page from the book where the photos include a picture of a party at Summertrees, the family home of The Crosland's before the move to Beech House,Wem Shropshire. The middle picture from the book is me as a baby in the arms of Edith Nicoll ,our granny.I am not sure, but this may have been taken at Summertrees

I have revisited the outside of Summertrees about 10 years ago in 1999 or 2000 it seemed nice enough and had a well in the garden but not nearly as impressive as Beech House!
It was pretty close to the Crosland and Pickstone Factory and Edwina went to school nearby at Greenmount. I can remember going to pick her up there at the end of one term.

Charles Crosland christening

Charles Christening St Marylebone Parish Church London May 1st 1954

LEFT TO RIGHT
back row Jimmy Cronshaw godfather,Peter Crosland ,Percy Crosland,Edith Nicoll,Tom Watson
middle row, Aggie(peter crosland's nanny)Robert Nicoll,Sheila Crosland,Charles Crosland,Gladys holding Malcolm,Josefa,(spanish maid) Presume Malcom's Godfather
front row
Niall Watson,Edwina Crosland,Iain Watson

Peter L Crosland A self portrait

Dad's other passion was art. His best friend was an Armenian called Aram or Mouradian who was an art dealer (and who had originally been a friend of Percy Crosland my grandfather)
Aram's nickname was "man"!
Aram not only sold dad pictures but shaped a lot of his views; to the end of his days dad would distinguish between painters (people with real talent) and mere decorators
Dad had been friends at Gresham's school with a distinguished cartoonist called Cummings (who went onto work in Fleet St for many years) and always felt a little jealous of his talent, but I think dad was talented and Dad always thought Edwina had great talent too.
Dad accompanied Aram on a visit to Picasso's studios (I imagine at 7 rue des Grands-Augustins on the Left Bank of Paris and met him though dad told me the great artist (who my most accounts was not a kind man ) ignored him
Aram possibly meant more to dad than any other human being and when he died dad rushed to Paris and was at his orthodox funeral.
In his fantasy "An invitation to Dinner" he finishes the book with these words"We (Mouradian and dad)aspired to the shining temple of the spirit, but the vision is too faint and the pull of the earth too strong"

Post script
In her book "Merchants in exile: the Armenians in Manchester, England, 1835-1935 "
Joan George briefly mentions Aram
"Aram Mouradian, a good friend of my parents, became a fine art dealer in Paris"

Neil McGowan Ltd

One day I will write the story of Crosland and Pickstone Ltd .
For now here ia a copy photo of dad's business card when he lived in London midweek and ran the London office from Holland St W8
Neil Mcgowan was a wholly owned subsiduary of Crosland and Pickstone Ltd and made up children's garments for Littlewoods among others.It was based in High Blantyre Lanarkshire on an industrial estate and at its height employed about 35 people, mainly women, as machinists.
it was run for most of its life by 2 Scottish women who were nice enough but lacked drive and determination. It went bust with the rest of the company in the 1980's