Tales of "Old Cleckheaton" by Henry Harrison

Henry Harrison was born 17 Nov 1832 at Stanningley. He was the first child of George and Ann (nee Strickland), who had married in January of that year.

At some stage during the early 1840s, Henry and his family had moved to Cleckheaton and in 1851 were residing at Water Lane (now Balme Road). In 1854 at the Red Chapel (Providence Place), Henry married Mary Haley, a local girl and who was daughter of Samuel, who would later die from injuries received in a train accident.

Henry and Mary had 11 children, 3 of them sadly dying in infancy. He was a woolsorter by trade and later in life turned to the leather business. He remained living and working in the Moor End area until his death at the advanced age of 97 in 1930.

In 1910, when he was fast approaching the age of 80, he decided to write a number of articles for the Cleckheaton Guardian. These articles give an excellent insight into the people, places and life of old Cleckheaton during the mid 1800s. These articles are reproduced below:

Part 1: Time of the Plug Riots in 1842
Part 2: Spen Corn Mill & the Manns
Part 3: Lower Spen
Part 4: More on Spen & the Manns
Part 5: More on Lower Spen
Part 6: The Plug Riots - Witness account
Part 7: Landmarks
Part 8: St. Peg Lane
Part 9: Syke Fold - The Brook & Yates families
Part 10: More on Syke Fold
Part 11: Greenside