Meadowcroft of Smethurst, Huntley and Woolfold

The purpose of this post was to see if a link could be found between the Meadowcroft family from Smethurst and my branch from Woolfold in Tottington, via the branch from Huntley.

Smethurst Hall, Bury
by James Shaw (1836–1915)
Bury Art Museum

James Holt of Tottington - Alleged Mistreatment of Apprentice 1744

The two documents transcribed below were found in the DDX1423 collection at Lancashire Archives (Box 19)

Survey of Tottington 1794

A detailed survey of the Township of Tottington was taken in 1794, and printed into book form.  There is a copy at Lancashire Archives (Ref. DDX/118/139/29), and a photocopy at Bury Archives.  This post is an extract of all the entries for the surnames Holt, Meadowcroft and Taylor.

Meadowcroft Family in Bury Parish Registers (1595 - 1698)

Baptisms, burials and marriages for the name Meadowcroft, extracted from the Bury Parish Register as published by Lancashire Parish Register Society, volumes 1, 2 and 3.

Holt of Tottington - Probate Records

John Holt of Greenhalgh Moss d. 1723

Firstly, lets have a look at the 1723 letters of administration for the probate of John Holt of Greenhalgh Moss.  He died on the 18th June 1723, and was buried at Bury Parish Church on the 21st 'John Holte of Greenmoss'.  The admon and inventory contain the following information:

Holt of Greenhalgh Moss - Pedigrees at Bury Archives

At Bury Archives is a hand written manuscript, bound into a book, titled 'Pedigrees of Families who formed The Congregation at The Bury Presbyterian Chapel, Silver Street, Built A.D. 1719'.  It was compiled by John Lord around the year 1900, from the baptismal register, grave-stone records and other family sources.

The History of William Holt and Sons (Walshaw) Limited

This article appeared in the Bury Times on the 24th June 1896

Holt of Tottington - Family Bible

Family Bible of James Holt of Greenhalgh Moss

The information below was published in the Journal of Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society, vol. 10 (1989) pp28-29.  It was contributed by Constance Burrows of Burnley.  Comments in red have been added me and did not appear in the original article.

I enclose a detailed copy of the HOLT tree which I have taken from the James HOLT family bible which was handed down to me.  The Bible in very fragile now but complete.  It is three books in one - Prayer Book, Bible and the book of Psalms with music.  The Frontispiece says 'Imprinted at London by the deputies of Christopher BARKER, printer to the Queen's most excellent Majesty 1599'

Shuttleworth Family of Whitefield and Prestwich

At Bury Archives is a collection of correspondence about the Shuttleworth family of Prestwich, Unsworth and North Cheshire, including a pedigree chart tracking the family tree back to the late sixteenth century.  The letters, dated between 1979 and 1984, and the correspondents were Mr Frank Shuttleworth, who was researching his family tree, and the reference librarian at the time, Rita Hirst.

Historical Jottings on some Smithills Farms

Just a few notes about six farms on the Smithills Estate: Green Nook, Cunliffes, Gilligants, Chadwicks and Higher and Lower Tongs.  If you are interested in the history of the farms and people in this area you may also be interested in the book Lives & Times of the Smithills Estate.

1850 OS Map - Some Smithills Farms