The diaries of William Baker 1907 to 1919 – Part 3. Local people and events

Related blog posts

The diaries of William Baker 1907 to 1919 – Part 1. Introduction
The diaries of William Baker 1907 to 1919 – Part 2. The family entries
The diaries of William Baker 1907 to 1919 – Part 4. National people and events
The diaries of William Baker 1907 to 1919 – Part 5. Woodside Iron works

Introduction

The local entries in the diaries are very heterogeneous, but for the sake of convenience we divide them into three categories – Pensnett People, The Earl of Dudley’s Railway, and Accidents and Disasters.

Pensnett People

Most of the entries in this category are simple records of marriages and deaths, and I suspect many of them are simply those whom William knew as neighbours and friends However there are some entries whose names I recognize from elsewhere.  From September 1^st 1906

The Rev C H Cole-Webb died at Holyhead in his 70th year. He came to Pensnett in the year 1875 and left in1883 to go to Penn.

Cole-Webb was the incumbent who followed Rev Charles Atherton. I have written extensively about the events of his incumbency, and the events that shook the village at that time. Cole-Webbs role would thus have been to bring some stability – and to continue the efforts to stop St. Mark’s church falling down old mine workings.

On January 24^th 1907 we read of William Barlow, formerly of the Tiled House, a stalwart of St. James New Connexion chapel on Chapel Street, and, in his role as a liberal member of the National School board, was often a vociferous opponent to the tory views of Cole-Webb.

Mr. W Barlow celebrated his 93 birthday and he’s quite well considering his great age.

And two weeks later, on February 12^th.

Mr. W Barlow, late of Pensnett, died at Stourbridge Aged 93.

On 20^th November of the same year we read of the death of another old Pensnett worthy, Cornelius Chambers.

Mr C Chambers died at Moss Grove Kingswinford aged 69 years.

Chambers was one of the chief characters in the Atherton saga noted above, and I would consider him the chief villain, although that may be unjust. He was an Iron Works Manager and a liberal councilor.

Another to get a mention was David Clark (Figure 1), a pioneering teacher in the area, whom I have written about here. From October 10^th 1914

Mr David Clarke of Kingswinford died at the age of 83 years. Late Headmaster of Bromley School

Figure 1 David Clark at the age of 80 in 1911

The deaths of the owners of local engineering firms is also noted – David Parsons of Shut End and the Parsons Engineering Works at the Hollies on May 19^th 1909; John Glaze of Glazes Tin Works who lived at Asquith House on Commonside on March 5^th 1915; H S Pitt of Shut End Colliery on the 5^th April of that year; and George Hingley of N. Hingley and Sons, and Harts Hill Iron Co.

On October 30th 1906 the marriage of a relative of William’s employer, Walter Cochrane, is also noted.

The marriage of Mr J B Cochrane’s oldest daughter Alice Beatrice to Mr R H Boyd Parnall, Solicitor (Christ Church, Monmouth). Married at Pedmore

The  later entries from 1915 onwards report those who have enlisted in the army and, more somberly, those who were killed in action. Just one example, from Christmas Day 1917.

Fred Higgins died from being gassed, in base hospital in France. His brother James was wired for as he was in France when he passed away but he did not see him die.

Not all the personal entries related to deaths however, and there are a few that relate to St. James Chapel, which suggest that William and his family were part of that congregation. From August 18^th 1907

Mr Jones of Dudley approved organist of St James, Pensnett

It would seem he didn’t last long and from 24^th January 1909.

Mr Tart appointed organist at St James Pensnett ….. house costs £255

Earl of Dudley’s Railway

A significant number of entries relate to accidents on the Earl of Dudley’s railway (or the Pensnett Railway) . I have written about accidents on this system here, but did not include those below. Details of some of them however can be found in the British Newspaper Archive if the correct search terms are used, and I will probably put these into a blog sometime in the future.

5/4/1909  Richard Salters while working on a Lord Dudley Engine slipped and had his two legs cut off and died while going to the hospital.
28/1/1911 A Runaway from Baggeridge New Colliery,  which a collision with the Countess Engine. A youth injured and taken to the General hospital.
6/1/1913 Hiram Plant, son of G Plant Church St, Pensnett,  was killed on the ED railway Sunday.
27/1/1913 Runaway at Himley with the Countess Engine. ED Driver W Mase
17/11/1913 Ada Granger had her left leg cut off with the wagon on the ED railway by the Sampson Bridge.
3/4/1914 Railway accident. Near Sampson Bridge. 4 wagons smashed and one damaged. E.D.
20/11/1914 Robinson Albert of Pensnett had his leg cut on the ED railway coming back from taking his father’s dinner.
17/10/1915 Harry Southall aged 12 had one of his legs crushed very bad.  He had it amputated at the Guest Hospital and the other foot was ….. on the EDR……
29/3/1917 Railway Accident on Barrow Incline with No 13 Engine and 26 wagons. The engine crashed into the Goods shed and was badly damaged. Some wagons damaged.

ED of course refers to the Earl of Dudley’s Railway. The railway was clearly a dangerous place for both those who worked on it and those who crossed it, and safety considerations were not taken as seriously as today.  It was also an organization where there was sporadic industrial unrest. From the 9^th of January 1918.

The ED loco drivers and stokers went on strike for the 12½% they were informed of by a man from London that they should either have the 12½% wages advanced so they agreed to go on from day to day.

The exact sense is not clear, but there was clearly some national level involvement in the decision to strike.

Other accidents

William seemed to have a particular fondness for noting accidents of different types, as well as those on the Earl of Dudley’s railway, the more spectacular the better. Firstly there were industrial accidents.

7/7/1906 Cradley Heath Boiler Explosion (More details can be found here.)
3/4/1913 Two sinkers killed in Himley Colliery.
17/9/1913 Samuel Elgeton died from his accident at the Oak Brickyard.
2/12/1913 No 17 pit fired and 4 horses ……. had to be left in the pits.
26/1/1914 Thomas Jones had his hand crushed and was taken to the Guest Hospital.
24/4/1914 Accident at Shut End colliery overwinding.
10/10/1914 Accident at Harts Hill Ironworks. Engine man fell off boiler side and died in the Guest hospital.
3/12/1914 George Burton Engine Driver at No 6 pit Himley  Colliery was scalded when the hooks ….. the roofs lid off at the pump. He lived at 41 High St Pensnett and died in the Guest Hospital. He was 51 years of age.
22/10/1915 A mine explosion at Pennant Hill Colliery Rowley. 5 victims. (More details here.)

Then there were drownings in the canal or the feeder pools.

15/7/1906 Mrs Plovey, the wife of J Plovey,  was found drowned in the canal at 5 o’clock am, the right side of Hadley’s Bridge. She was pulled out by J Harries and S Young.
12/12/1906 A son of Mr Oliver of Pensnett aged … was drowned in Brockmoor Canal.
17/2/1909 John Oakley was found drowned in the canal by No 5 bridge Woodside.
8/8/1911 Man the name of Cooper was drowned in the Middle Pool and got out.
31/1/1913 Two girls Sally Hill and Elizabeth Jevons were dragged out of canal….Brettell.
7/2/1913 Woman found in canal at …. Lane bridge.
27/6/1913 Sarah Ann Green from New Chapel St was drowned in Middle Pool

Suicides were also noted.

2/3/1911 Joseph Whise of Church St Pensnett committed suicide by cutting his throat and was buried at Pensnett Church on March 8.
26/5/1913 The wife of G Dean of Kingswinford hung herself and son cut her down

Finally a couple of tram accidents are reported.

16/1/1916 Tram smash at Dudley near to the Guest Hospital. One died at Guest Hospital and one at Wolverhampton hospital
2/2/1917 Dudley. Tram accident at Scotts Green with J Thompson going to Dudley  ….. One coming from Kingswinford. The driver of the Kingswinford was killed . John Morgan aged 53 from Kingswinford. The driver of the…. was Joseph Wright of Round Oak

A number of the above incidents can again be found in the British Newspaper Archive, and may well be the subject of future blog posts.