August 5th – First marriage in the new church, which had been rebuilt. August 18th – Public meeting held to raise funds to finish the Blue Coat School. August 27th – The first full peal rung on eight of the twelve bells at Oldham Church. September 2nd The first full peal rung on the whole twelve bells at Oldham Church. September 7th – Mr. William Rowbottom, local analyst, died. September 15th – Liverpool and Manchester Railway commenced October 1826, opened. In October 1830 the “stately new fabric” of Oldham Church was completed October 10th – Edge-lane Wesleyan Sunday School opened. October 11th – The “New Beer Act” authorising two guinea licenses for the sale of beer on the premises came into force. October 15th – Hon. Lady Horton, relict of Sir ------ Horton, Bart., died. November 19th – James Mellor, of New Bank, found dead in a coalpit near Glodwick. December 12th – Oldham New Church, dedicated to St. Mary, opened. It is a handsome stone edifice, designed by Richard Lane, Esq., architect, in the later style of English architecture, with an embattled tower surrounded by angular turrets and pinnacles, and containing a peal of twelve bells and an illuminated clock. The east end is adorned with a beautiful painted window. Length of nave, 88ft. 8in.; breadth 64ft.; length of chancel, 18ft. 4in. Height of tower, said to be the strongest in the country, 130ft.; square of it, 23ft.; thickest part ground floor, 5ft. (church); thickest part of tower, 7ft. 9in.; number of seats, about 1,500. December 15th – Kinder Wood, Esq., who sometime lived at Chamber Hall, author of “Prospect of Manchester,” died. December 20th – The body of Joseph or James Ogden stolen out of Hollinwood Chapel yard. |
December 21st or 23rd – Sarah McClennan found murdered at “Street” Roman road, Failsworth, Hollinwood. This concludes these annals extending over nearly 43 years, from 1787 to 1830. The immense growth of the town in this period may be estimated from the fact that Oldham had more cotton mills in 1831 than there were in the whole of Lancashire in 1787, while the population during that period had increased about five-fold. Cotton spinning as a domestic industry, though on the wane in 1787, was extinct in 1830, while the factory system during that time, although suffering many trials and drawbacks, became firmly established in Oldham. The factory system has since then continued to grow sometimes by leaps and bounds, and sometimes with but slow progress. Periods of depression have intervened and individual firms have vanished, yet as a trade the cotton industry has survived in Oldham, sometimes as a private undertaking and sometimes by more extended methods, until Oldham has become the cotton spinning centre of the world for medium counts, and if it be asked why cotton spinning has made a home in Oldham despite many natural disadvantages, it may be answered in six words, namely, “by adapting the means to the end.” THE END ENFRANCHISE (Tom) – The first public meeting held to enfranchise Oldham took place on February 9th, 1831. ANNALS OF OLDHAM [I give amended note on Ben Consterdine. I shall be glad to receive such amended notes if I publish. My friends say that I am to put the matter into some shape, and so I am asking what it will cost to print a book. If I find I get as many folks to take a copy as it takes pounds to defray the cost, I shall print. And to get to know this I shall shortly send out a letter asking if people will subscribe.] Old greybeards still remember this Ben Consterdine who as a corn dealer &c., kept open shop at “The Roundabout,” near the site of the George Inn. The Consterdines came from Blackley, and were according to Booker’s history of the ancient chapel of Blackley “amongst the earliest known residents in the township,” one of them having about 1540 to 1560 married Sir John Byron, of Newstead Priory and Royton. From this family they bought in 1610 “one water corn mylne,” known as Blackley Old Mill, with other properties, here, and for over a century the Consterdine family followed the trade of corn milling. |
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Ben Consterdine, during the family’s sojourn in Oldham, had acquired some little property, a portion of which was by his successor sold to the town as the site for our first Town Hall. He had a large family, some of whom died abroad, and others with himself and wife are buried in St. Peter’s chapelyard. James, one of his sons, became a prominent figure in the commercial world of Manchester, and, as chairman of its Royal Exchange, he laid the foundation stone of the extension of that building. He was a magistrate and chairman of several of the most important companies of the day. At the election of 1847 he was selected as candidate by the Conservatives in his native town, but declining the honour, John Duncuft, Esq., was next asked, and returned, along with W. J. Fox, Esq. He commenced life in Oldham as a hand-loom weaver of fustians, when the price paid for weaving and winding of 24’s weft was 2s. 6d. per piece. Like many others he found his way to the modern El Dorado, London, and on the opening out of the continent for British trade towards the close of the Napoleonic wars he succeeded in building up, first for his employer and then for himself, a large continental business, which he transferred to and for many years carried on at Cannon-street, Manchester, being connected both in business and by marriage with the Schofields, of Rochdale. In March, 1813, Louis the 18th, on the approach of Napoleon, fled from the throne of France, taking refuge for a time in Bruges, where Mr. Consterdine, at the instance of the British residents, and in a suitable speech, had the honour of conveying their sympathy to the fallen monarch. This graceful act was acknowledged by Louis on his return to power, when he conferred upon Mr. Consterdine the Decoration du Lis, which is still regarded in France as a high honour. |
Edward, a younger son, whose name appears on the list of those appointed to give speeches on the occasion of :”the public day” at the Oldham Grammar School on June 3rd, 1816, for a time followed the fortunes of his brother, and then branched off to the cotton business, which he carried on at Littleborough, where he built a mill. This business was continued by his family after his death, and some members thereof have returned to the old home and settled in Oldham. Two of his grandchildren, (sons of Mr. Pullinger) have recently brought honour to Oldham by the distinguished positions they have gained at the University of Oxford.
Copy of gravestone at St. Peter’s, Here ------------- |
Page 179
William Rowbottom's Diary as published in the Oldham Standard |
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