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The Park House Collection by Charles Soderlund & Jayne Child
Introduction by Jayne Child.
My family and I had the pleasure of living at Park House between 1992 and 2007. When we purchased the house from Mary Ward, our solicitor gave us a box of old documents which we’ve kept hold of for the last 32 years. It seems a shame to have this documentary portal into the house’s past stored away in our loft, so we’re sharing it with you.
It’s a house steeped in history and we discovered several of its secrets whilst there, such as a hidden cellar, an artesian well, the remains of an old fruit wall and a ha-ha. The loft space ran the full span of the house even though, when we lived there, it was split into three dwellings: 98, 100 and 100a Finkle Lane. There was evidence that the loft had previously been living space as there were two fireplaces and the remains of partitions and old doorways. I wonder if the current owners know that there is a cast iron range which we left intact behind the false chimney breast?
Our three children spent their formative years at Park House and we have happy memories of our time there. I hope the pirate-ship treehouse, built by my dad, has been used by many children since we left.
After posting on the Gildersome Past, Present and Future Facebook group about the Park House documents, I made contact with Chuck Soderlund in the USA. Chuck has painstakingly made sense of photos of the documents and has diligently put together this website so the information he’s discovered can be recorded and shared. I am very grateful to have found someone with the skill and knowledge to make sense of the legalese in the old deeds. I hope you enjoy the information Chuck has uncovered.
My family and I had the pleasure of living at Park House between 1992 and 2007. When we purchased the house from Mary Ward, our solicitor gave us a box of old documents which we’ve kept hold of for the last 32 years. It seems a shame to have this documentary portal into the house’s past stored away in our loft, so we’re sharing it with you.
It’s a house steeped in history and we discovered several of its secrets whilst there, such as a hidden cellar, an artesian well, the remains of an old fruit wall and a ha-ha. The loft space ran the full span of the house even though, when we lived there, it was split into three dwellings: 98, 100 and 100a Finkle Lane. There was evidence that the loft had previously been living space as there were two fireplaces and the remains of partitions and old doorways. I wonder if the current owners know that there is a cast iron range which we left intact behind the false chimney breast?
Our three children spent their formative years at Park House and we have happy memories of our time there. I hope the pirate-ship treehouse, built by my dad, has been used by many children since we left.
After posting on the Gildersome Past, Present and Future Facebook group about the Park House documents, I made contact with Chuck Soderlund in the USA. Chuck has painstakingly made sense of photos of the documents and has diligently put together this website so the information he’s discovered can be recorded and shared. I am very grateful to have found someone with the skill and knowledge to make sense of the legalese in the old deeds. I hope you enjoy the information Chuck has uncovered.
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Above: the aerial view, left, and the photo on the right, show the original portion of Park House as it was constructed circa 1742.
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Chuck Soderlund writing.......As a member of the Bilbrough family on my mother's side, it has been a pleasure and privilege to read through the collection and provide this summary. The papers have opened a window in time, providing a look back at the inhabitants of Park House from 1740 to the 1970s. Many thanks to Jayne Child for making this possible.
For more on the characters who lived at Park House see: Park House
For more on the characters who lived at Park House see: Park House
If you've ever lived in Gildersome, it's almost impossible to have not glimpsed Park House next door to the Co-Op on Finkle Lane. Today, Park House is divided into two connected dwellings, on scarcely an acre of combined land. Yet in the year 1829, the Park House estate totaled at least forty acres and was the grandest in Gildersome. The original house began its life as a perfect square (see above) but each successive owner has added or detracted according to their own whims, making it impossible today to receive a historic building designation. The history of Park House begins in 1740 when a Mr. William Hudson and his wife Mary, née Booth, purchased from John Appleby: A messuage with a barn, garth and cottage with an adjoining garden. The property was a farmstead, probably Elizabethan in age. Some of the buildings may have been demolished to make way for the new dwelling that later became known as Park House. In a 1743 mortgage bond, between John Booth (Mary Hudson's brother) and William Hudson, Booth advanced money to help fund the following: All that new Messuage with shop, kitchen and barn, lately built by W Hudson. Also (3) new messuages built by W Hudson. also all that Garth or Croft of 1½ acres all lately purchased by Hudson from John Appleby in 1740. (Both quotes above are from deed abstracts found at the Wakefield Registry of Deeds)
William and Mary's son, William II, married (1754) Sarah Brooks of the extremely wealthy Brooks family of Liverpool, builders and ship owners. She used her wealth to enlarge Park House, its surrounding grounds and created The Park. All the while her husband, Hudson II, had his own "cloth hall" and warehouse in the Nook where he purchased finished woollen products from local clothiers. These were transported to his in-laws in Liverpool where they were shipped and sold in the Americas. The second William Hudson died unexpectedly in 1779 and his son, yet another William (III), carried on his father's enterprises. He was a bachelor when he died in 1829 and left his entire estate to his cousin Ellen Brooks Priestley. By then she had married James Bilbrough of Harthill House (found today at the end of Graham Walk).
William and Mary's son, William II, married (1754) Sarah Brooks of the extremely wealthy Brooks family of Liverpool, builders and ship owners. She used her wealth to enlarge Park House, its surrounding grounds and created The Park. All the while her husband, Hudson II, had his own "cloth hall" and warehouse in the Nook where he purchased finished woollen products from local clothiers. These were transported to his in-laws in Liverpool where they were shipped and sold in the Americas. The second William Hudson died unexpectedly in 1779 and his son, yet another William (III), carried on his father's enterprises. He was a bachelor when he died in 1829 and left his entire estate to his cousin Ellen Brooks Priestley. By then she had married James Bilbrough of Harthill House (found today at the end of Graham Walk).
Before proceeding to the Park House collection of papers, it's appropriate to begin with a little history and a quick familiarisation with most of the properties mentioned within.
Below is a map depicting the core of the Park House estate which endured until 1890 when it was split up. The area known as The Park was comprised of a lawn surrounded by trees, and to the west of the Park were leased fields. The numbers below represent features found within the core and appear at various times within the collection, they are as follows:
Below is a map depicting the core of the Park House estate which endured until 1890 when it was split up. The area known as The Park was comprised of a lawn surrounded by trees, and to the west of the Park were leased fields. The numbers below represent features found within the core and appear at various times within the collection, they are as follows:
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1. Park House
2. The Nook an area of mixed commercial and residential buildings. 3. A shop, the same building as today's pharmacy. It can be seen on an 1800's map. 4. Belmont, built by the Holidays in the early 1900s. 5. The Pond, with a central island containing trees. 6. Finkle Farm also called Park Farm. 7. A Town Council equipment yard and four dwellings along Street Lane. 8. The Vicarage, now a retirement home. 9, Garden House, now gone. 10. Parkfield House. |
Click on map for a larger version.
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Click on map for a larger version.
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From the 1800 map, above.
Before William Hudson I built Park House in about 1742, as evidenced by the two maps above, the Nook was more or less a cul-de-sac entered from the Green with only an occupation road leading southwest to Finkle Farm. The 1739 map (above left) was drawn to detail a proposed highroad into Gildersome, to be called Street Lane (not seen in the above portion). Shown on the map is Appleby's Farm circled in red, soon to be purchased by Mr Hudson. The lane from the Nook to the blue circled building was called Butts Lane and the structure was the Old Quaker Meeting House abutting the land of the newly built "New Hall," called Turton Hall today. In the early 1700s the Quakers in Gildersome were numerous and wealthy; I believe that it was they who gave the cul-de-sac the name "Nook." Somewhere in the area, perhaps in the Nook itself, was rumoured to be a Quaker Burial ground.
The 1800 Enclosure map (above right) portrays Park House in its heyday. The area around it has become more cluttered, and the name Nook has shifted to the jumble of buildings to the right of Park House (where the Co-Op stands today). Yet the general area is still a cul-de-sac. Finkle Lane, leading to Finkle Farm, can be seen as a 90º occupation road from Street Lane. In 1808, by an act of Parliament and nudged along by William Hudson III, Finkle Lane was diverted to the course it takes today.
The 1800 map above contains a few items of interest, #1, The Park House Pond. #2, An enormous Thorn Tree on the Green. #3, Turton Hall and pond. #4, The Quaker Meeting House (where it stands today). In 1756, James Maude then owner of Turton Hall, annoyed by the Quaker's hustle and bustle, canceled their lease. They removed to Street Lane and built their meeting house upon the spot where it exists today. On the 1800 map, their meeting house was the only building on Street Lane.
The 1800 Enclosure map (above right) portrays Park House in its heyday. The area around it has become more cluttered, and the name Nook has shifted to the jumble of buildings to the right of Park House (where the Co-Op stands today). Yet the general area is still a cul-de-sac. Finkle Lane, leading to Finkle Farm, can be seen as a 90º occupation road from Street Lane. In 1808, by an act of Parliament and nudged along by William Hudson III, Finkle Lane was diverted to the course it takes today.
The 1800 map above contains a few items of interest, #1, The Park House Pond. #2, An enormous Thorn Tree on the Green. #3, Turton Hall and pond. #4, The Quaker Meeting House (where it stands today). In 1756, James Maude then owner of Turton Hall, annoyed by the Quaker's hustle and bustle, canceled their lease. They removed to Street Lane and built their meeting house upon the spot where it exists today. On the 1800 map, their meeting house was the only building on Street Lane.
Click on map to se an expanded version.
As near as I can tell, the accretion of properties into the original Park House estate was gradual and mostly complete by the 1780s. These are depicted on the map below and include the core properties, approximately detailed within the red lines, and the peripheral properties indicated by numbers.
At the turn of the 18th century, the Lepton Family of Hunslett owned many properties in Gildersome. At Lepton Place (today's Manor Farm) there was an old working farm which was the seat of their family in the 17th century. From them, in the 1750s, the Hudsons purchased the farm, and the following properties:
(1) Called the Carrs, above Carr Hall.
(2 & 3) Nursery Bottom and east of Town End
to Harthill Lane where there were several
tenements.
(4) Land called the Harthill, Delft, and the
Stylass Closes and a portion of the Long
Ing, primarily agricultural land.
The following came into the Hudsons possession by 1780 from the Booth family either through purchase or bequest:
(5) A cluster of tenement housing.
(6) The West Field, agricultural land.
(7) The Street Lane Close. agricultural land.
The Nook, Finkle Farm and all the other peripheral properties were leased to tenants. Park House and the Park were kept for use by the Hudsons.
Sometime in the 1780s, William Hudson II, whose money was seriously invested in trade with the Americas and the thirteen English colonies in particular, suffered bankruptcy as a result of the colonist's war for independence. Fearful of losing his estate, Hudson II prevailed upon his wealthy brother-in-law, Joseph Brooks, to lend him over £4,000. In return Hudson signed over to Brooks his entire estate (as seen above) as collateral. When Hudson II died, his son William Hudson III inherited the estate and also its indebtedness. By the time of his death, 1829, Hudson III wished to leave the estate to Ellen Brooks Bilnrough, but the transfer was complicated by several claims from the Brooks Trustees. It's at this point that the Park House Papers Collection becomes relevant.
At the turn of the 18th century, the Lepton Family of Hunslett owned many properties in Gildersome. At Lepton Place (today's Manor Farm) there was an old working farm which was the seat of their family in the 17th century. From them, in the 1750s, the Hudsons purchased the farm, and the following properties:
(1) Called the Carrs, above Carr Hall.
(2 & 3) Nursery Bottom and east of Town End
to Harthill Lane where there were several
tenements.
(4) Land called the Harthill, Delft, and the
Stylass Closes and a portion of the Long
Ing, primarily agricultural land.
The following came into the Hudsons possession by 1780 from the Booth family either through purchase or bequest:
(5) A cluster of tenement housing.
(6) The West Field, agricultural land.
(7) The Street Lane Close. agricultural land.
The Nook, Finkle Farm and all the other peripheral properties were leased to tenants. Park House and the Park were kept for use by the Hudsons.
Sometime in the 1780s, William Hudson II, whose money was seriously invested in trade with the Americas and the thirteen English colonies in particular, suffered bankruptcy as a result of the colonist's war for independence. Fearful of losing his estate, Hudson II prevailed upon his wealthy brother-in-law, Joseph Brooks, to lend him over £4,000. In return Hudson signed over to Brooks his entire estate (as seen above) as collateral. When Hudson II died, his son William Hudson III inherited the estate and also its indebtedness. By the time of his death, 1829, Hudson III wished to leave the estate to Ellen Brooks Bilnrough, but the transfer was complicated by several claims from the Brooks Trustees. It's at this point that the Park House Papers Collection becomes relevant.
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CONTENTS OF THE PARK HOUSE COLLECTION 1829 Will of William Hudson III appoints Elizabeth Bilbrough sole heir and Executrix, and John Darnton, Richard Vaughan Yates and Seacome Ellison Co-Executors and Trustees. 1830 Agreement between John Darnton, Richard Vaughan Yates and Seacome Ellison, in which John Darnton and Richard Vaughan resign as Hudson trustees. 1830 Conveyance, Lease and Release, Nicholas Ashton to James Bilbrough regarding the discharge of a mortgage of Park House and property. 1830 Administration Inquiry, Henry Brown and the Archbishop of York regarding inherited mortgage of Park House property. 1832 Conveyance, Lease and Release, between Spearman Johnstone and James Bilbrough. Concerning a new mortgage of the Park House property. 1833 Title search between Thomas Stephenson and William Ward. Inquiry into past mortgages and title holders of the Park House estate. |
Below is a sampling of the deed collection titles: 
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1867 Conveyance, Lease and Release, between William Lee Johnstone and Bilbrough Trustees. Concerning the discharge of a mortgage of Park House and property.
1867 Agreement between Thomas Bedford and Bilbrough Trustees. Lease for one year, canceled when Hollidays took over. 1868 Indenture between Roland and Robert Holliday and Bilbrough Trustees. Sale of Park House and other Bilbrough properties. 1870 Indenture between Roland Holliday's Trustees and Robert Holliday. Probate of Roland Holliday deceased. |
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1875 Articles of an Agreement of Partnership between Robert and Cyrus Holliday.
1890 Will of Robert Holliday. 1891 Inland Revenue Assessment of Holliday Property. 1933 Probate Assessment of Cyrus Holliday's (deceased) Estate. 1948 Will of Walter Dixon Holliday. Holliday Family Tree. Misc. Hudson Family Papers. |
As was said earlier, The Jayne Child Park House Collection begins with the earliest document: The Last Will and Testament of William Hudson of Park House, Gildersome. Most of the deeds and other legal documents are of considerable size, hand written and couched in confusing legalese, full of redundancies. To save the reader an unavoidable meltdown of the brain, they have been summarized and historical facts have been occasionally added, either gratuitously or when necessary.
 William Hudson III
THE WILL OF WILLIAM HUDSON III: William Hudson, being the third successive William to own Park House, was a bachelor and having no children to whom he'd leave his property, he chose Ellen the daughter of his cousin Brooks Priestley to be his heir. On 10 September 1812, Ellen married Hudson's secretary (or valet, as stories differ) James Bilbrough of Harthill House, Gildersome. After their marriage the newly wed couple moved into Park House and James became Hudson's business partner. From then until his death in 1829, William Hudson witnessed ten Bilbrough children born in Park House. They called him grandfather. Hudson had a great affection for the Bilbrough family which is why he left everything to Ellen. That is except for some generous gifts to faithful servants and other family members.
The terms of Hudson's will were a bit complicated as the property was mortgaged to his Uncle, Joseph Brooks whose will contained a few conditions as to the conveyance of the Park House estate (more on that later). In accordance with his Uncle's wishes, Hudson had the property placed in trust to secure Ellen's ownership and not lose it through some mishandling, ill-fortune or misadventure. The trust consisted of three trustees who were responsible for initially paying off Hudson's outstanding debts including a mortgage to Brooks. Once that was accomplished, the residue of any remaining capital had to be invested in government securities. The trustees, or their agents, would then oversee the collection of all rents, interest and dividends and through them they were paid to Ellen on a yearly basis. If Ellen died before her husband James, the trust would remain in effect and he would become the beneficiary of the yearly payment. When he died, the estate's entire property was to be sold and the proceeds divided equally between any surviving children or grandchildren, or, if none survived then to the closest relative or relatives of Hudson's Brooks family. If James died first, as did happen, the trust would dissolve and Ellen was free to leave the property to whomever she chose.  Seacome Ellison
In 1830 two of the three trustees resigned leaving only Seacome Ellison of Liverpool as the sole trustee, which was acceptable according to the laws at that time. Seacome Ellison was Ellen's brother-in-law, having married her sister, Jane Priestley. By this time he had become somewhat of a national hero. As a merchant captain during the wars with France, he was captured by the French in 1803 and spent almost six years in captivity before making a daring escape. He wrote of his adventures in an interesting book entitled: Prison Scenes: And Narrative of Escape From France, During the Late War. He also authored six or seven works on Baptist doctrine.
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Sarah Hudson nee Brooks
Ellen Priestley Bilbrough
James Bilbrough
Joseph Brooks
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Nicholas Ashton
ASHTON TO BILBROUGH 1830 (Lease and Release): William Hudson lll was legally bound by his uncle Joseph Brooks' will of 1788, in which he was named the fifth part in a mortgage bond. His father, William Hudson II had borrowed from Brooks four thousand four hundred pounds, and it and regular interest payments remained in force until Hudson III died. The other four parts were trustees of Joseph Brooks's will. It was stipulated in Brooks' will that if the mortgage hadn't been paid by the time of Hudson III's death and if he was childless, the estate was to be sold and the proceeds passed to Brooks' trustees. However, if Hudson had a child or if he left the estate to a Brooks relation, the estate and the mortgage would remain in effect. Perhaps this was the reason Hudson passed on his estate to his cousin Ellen Brooks Bilbrough. By the time of William Hudson III's will in 1829, the only surviving trustee of Brooks was his nephew Nicholas Ashton of Woolton Hall near Merseyside, Liverpool. Nicholas had at one time been the High Sheriff of Lancashire. In 1830, as stipulated in Hudson III's will, James Bilbrough, with the blessing of Seacome Ellison trustee, paid off the inherited debt to Nicholas Ashford, the property bond was lifted and the estate turned over to the Bilbroughs.
BILBROUGH TO JOHNSTONE 1832 (Lease and Release): James Bilbrough, with the approval of Seacome Ellison trustee, and in accordance with Hudson III's will, was required to pay off all of Hudson's debts including the £4,400 mortgage held by Nicholas Ashton. In today's money the value of the mortgage was equivalent to approximately £300,000. To find that kind of money the Bilbroughs had little choice, either sell most of the Park House estate or to be bound again to someone willing to put up the cash in return for a mortgage bond. One such a person was found by the name of Spearman Johnstone. He lived in Dringhouses, city of York and was probably an attorney. Since Johnstone grew up in Leeds, he and Bilbrough must have known one another, as James operated a drysaltery on Mill Hill. Johnstone did make the investment but since the mutually signed bond document is not available, the terms are unknown. James signed a deed of release and the Park House estate was once again under an obligation.
Above, Appleby to Hudson 1740 (click to expand).
1830 and 1833. PROBATE INQUIRY FOR HENRY BROWN and STEPHENSON to WARD (Bilbrough's Attorney): Henry Brown was one of the trustees named in Joseph Brooks' 1778 will and was one part of four parts named in overseeing the mortgage bond of William Hudson II, as said in Ashton to Bilbrough, above. By the time of William Hudson III's death in 1829, Brown was also deceased. His heirs appealed to the Archbishop of York to conduct an inquiry into their status as a hereditary Brooks trustee with rights over the Park House estate title. In those days matters of Wills and Probate were the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastic courts. In 1833 the Archbishop chose a leading Gildersome citizen, Thomas Stephenson of Springfield House, to conduct an investigation into the actual holder of the Park House title, i.e. a title search. In so doing, Stephenson must have perused the same deed abstracts in the same books that can be found extant at the Wakefield Registry of Deeds. I myself have been to the Registry on numerous occasions and have photographed many of the deed abstracts mentioned in the Stephenson to Ward probe, an example of one is shown above. The investigation revealed a deed of sale in 1734, Lepton to Wentworth, which carried a mortgage. The mortgage was then mentioned in a series of unproved (probate) wills for four generations. Because the wills never went through probate the claim of the mortgage holder proved invalid. After that, the focus shifted to the more legally binding path of the Hudson's ownership through three generations. The paper then acknowledged the same title trail mentioned in the indentures above, from Hudson to Brooks to Ashton to Bilbrough, finally to the 1833 mortgage bond to Spearman Johnston. This ruling clearly quashed any inheritance claim to Park House by the heirs of Henry Brown.
Circa 1865. ParkHouse from the Park side. Drawn by Alfred Bilbrough
JOHNSTONE TO BILBROUGH 1867 (Lease and Release): This conveyance was between William Lee Johnstone, heir of Spearman Johnstone and holder of the Mortgage bond to the Park House Estate of the one part, and the Bilbrough Trustees of the other. The Bilbrough trustees were William Hudson Bilbrough, Brooks Priestley Bilbrough, Seacome Ellison Bilbrough and all the rest of the eight surviving Bilbrough children. James, their father, died in 1847 and Ellen, their mother, passed away in 1865. The object of this indenture was to acknowledge that James Bilbrough had settled the mortgage debt in full, making three payments before his death in 1847. Why over twenty years had lapsed before this title change was finally enacted is a mystery. According to Ellen's will, all her landed property was to be sold and the proceeds equally shared with her surviving children. There's no doubt that the Bilbroughs needed this instrument before any sale could proceed.
Park House from the end of the 18th century until about 1900 was, without a doubt, Gildersome's finest property. It's lucky that so much material about it has survived. The Bilbrough's sale to the Hollidays in 1868 produced a fine map with a description of the lots into which it was divided, both of which are presented below. The Hollidays only purchased Park House's core while the remaining peripheral properties were sold piecemeal to others.
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Click on the image below to see the original map drawn on the back of the last page of the Bilbrough to Holliday conveyance (deed). Lots 1,2 and 3, found on the map, are transcribed from the deed (right).
Click on Map
BILBROUGH to HOLLIDAY 1868 (release): The map immediately above shows the eight lots the Hollidays purchased from the Bilbroughs for £5,627. Lots 1 to 3, described on the right, contain buildings and improvements, while the remaining five lots are described merely as "suitable for building." The Hollidays bought the core of the Park House estate. The Bilbroughs had more property for sale on Harthill, the Bottoms, adjacent to Farnley Beck and along Street Lane, which were eventually sold to others.
Representing the Bilbroughs in the Park House sale were trustees William Hudson Bilbrough, John Knott Esq. (Bilbrough's brother-in-law) and Matthew Scholefield their attorney. The purchasers were brothers Robert and Rowland Holliday, both living in Gildersome, and were described in the conveyance as "Coal Proprietors and trading there in copartnership under the firm of John Holiday and Brothers." John Holiday had died six years previously. |
LOT 1: All that commodious MESSUAGE or Dwelling-house called PARK HOUSE situate in Gildersome, with out-kitchen, mangle room, brewhouse, granary, barn, two coach houses, two stables, mistal, and other outbuildings, fruit walls, gardens, lawn, shrubberies, yard, and stack garth¹ thereto belonging, as now occupied by Miss Bilbrough and others.
Also the PARK in front of the said messuage or dwelling-house, and the two Closes of land called the Five-rood Top and the Five-rood bottom, and part of the Plantation, as shown on the sale plan adjoining thereto. Also a Plot of BUILDING LAND lying to the south-east of the said messuage of dwelling-house, as shown on the said plan. Also the LODGE and GARDEN at the south-eastern corner of the said park......and the six Cottages near to the said dwelling house. The lot comprises an area of 12A. 2 R. or thereabouts. Park House contains on the ground floor an entrance hall, dining room, drawing room, breakfast room, library, two kitchens, two larders and coal house; on the first floor six bedrooms and a water closet; with attics, and wine, meat, and beer cellars. The kitchen and out-kitchen have pumps, which communicate with a never falling spring, and there are three cisterns for storing rain water. The house contains numerous fixed cupboards, mantlepieces, stoves, gas fittings, and other fixtures, all of which will be sold with the property. LOT 2. All those two COTTAGES or Dwelling-houses, and Barn situate in Finkle-lane, in Gildersome aforesaid.... Also, all those three closes of land, situate in or near to Finkle-lane, called the Four-door close, the Finkle and the Finkle Close.......This lot comprises an area of 5A. 2R. 24 P. LOT 3. All those Three Closes of Land, called the Finkle, the Shoemaker's Close, and the Garden Close, and the Garden Close, with the Cottage and other buildings thereon..... This lot comprises an area of 4A. 3R. 10P, or thereabouts, and possesses a valuable and extensive frontage to Street-lane and Finkle-lane. The whole lot is very eligible building land. |
Philip Henry Booth, author of A History of Gildersome and the Booth Family (1920), wrote this about the Holliday brothers: Messrs. John Holliday Bros. were at one time the largest colliery proprietors. They sunk the Quarry pit in Street Lane (now called the Old Pit and dismantled) in 1844, and Gildersome Colliery, near the Railway Station, G.N.R. in 1855. The sole remaining partner Mr. Robert Holliday, in 1872 started the East Ardsley Collieries, in association with his sons, Mr. Cyrus Holliday and Mr. Henry Holliday, under the title of Robert Holliday & Sons. Philip Henry Booth married Robert Holliday's daughter in 1851.
In the 1861 census for Gildersome, Robert Holliday was living on The Street near the Kings Arms and was recorded as being a colliery proprietor employing one hundred ninety men and boys. In the same census Roland was also living on The Street, and called himself a colliery inspector and also a farmer of seventy acres. Roland died in Gildersome in April of 1869.
It's doubtful whether either Robert or Roland ever lived at Park House since Roland died soon after its purchase and according to the 1871 census Robert was still living near to the King's Arms. Instead, George Webster, cloth manufacturer, was ensconced at Park House. He was there again in the 1881 census, his business was described as Cloth Manufacturing 50 Firm - JosephWebster & Son Who Employs 451 Hands. In 1883 Webster built the Woodlands into which he moved shortly thereafter.
In the 1861 census for Gildersome, Robert Holliday was living on The Street near the Kings Arms and was recorded as being a colliery proprietor employing one hundred ninety men and boys. In the same census Roland was also living on The Street, and called himself a colliery inspector and also a farmer of seventy acres. Roland died in Gildersome in April of 1869.
It's doubtful whether either Robert or Roland ever lived at Park House since Roland died soon after its purchase and according to the 1871 census Robert was still living near to the King's Arms. Instead, George Webster, cloth manufacturer, was ensconced at Park House. He was there again in the 1881 census, his business was described as Cloth Manufacturing 50 Firm - JosephWebster & Son Who Employs 451 Hands. In 1883 Webster built the Woodlands into which he moved shortly thereafter.
ROLAND HOLLIDAY (deceased) to ROBERT HOLLIDAY 1870 (conveyance). As mentioned above, Roland Holliday died in 1869. This conveyance was between Roland's trustees, named in his will, and his brother Robert. The trustees were: 1) Cyrus Holliday, Robert's son. 2) Thomas Ogden, a shopkeeper who kept his shop on the Bradford and Wakefield road near to Nipshaw Lane. 3) Thomas Holliday, Roland's eldest son who was married to Ogden's daughter. The document specified the terms of Roland's will as they applied to the Park House estate, of which half was purchased by Roland. The main specification stated that his share of the estate be sold as soon as possible. Rather than have it go to auction, Robert declared his desire to buy the property at a negotiated price, one which would be agreeable to the trustees. Robert bought his brother's half for two thousand eight hundred and thirteen pounds, eighteen shillings and six pence. It's no surprise that the selling price was exactly half of what the two brothers paid originally for the entire estate in 1868.
Courtesy of the Morley Community Archives.
ROBERT HOLLIDAY AND SONS: ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT 1875: This document is not related to Park House, but rather is an agreement between Robert Holliday and his sons Cyrus and Henry as co-partners in the business of Colliers and Miners to be carried on in such new Colliers and works at East Ardsley. The new company was to trade under the name of Robert Holliday and Sons but the business became known as the East Ardsley Collieries. The focus of this endeavour was the Griffe Farm which Robert had previously purchased. The terms and conditions of the agreement were not much different from today's standard business contracts and contained thirteen clauses ranging from division of profits, death of a partner, arbitration of differences, etc. The two most interesting facts in the agreement were that one, as startup capital, Robert put in forty thousand pounds of his own money. Second, for the privilege of using the money, the firm would pay him five percent interest annually. As specified by the currency converter on the National Archives' website, £40,000 at that time is the equivalent of £2,500,000.00 in today's money.
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According to the census of 1891, Robert Holliday and his wife Alice (née Oates) were living at Croft House situated on The Street south of Gildersome station and north of Bleak House. His son Henry and family lived at Plantation House on the other side of The Street (both places marked with an X on the map to the right). For the first time, Park House itself became divided into two dwellings, with Cyrus and family probably living in the largest portion. Their tenants were Joseph Henry Towler, also a colliery owner, and his wife.
THE WILL OF ROBERT HOLLIDAY 1890: Robert passed away on 11 Dec. 1889 at the age of 70, his will was dated 22nd May 1890. Because Robert's will is quite lengthy, the following shall be a summary limited to the Park House core and a few other Gildersome properties. To his wife Alice he left a whole lot of money and the guarantee that she could remain at Croft House, rent free, for the rest of her life. Unfortunately, with the passing of Robert came the breakup of the properties that comprised the core of the Park House estate. He left to his son Cyrus, Park House and its Park. On the map to the right his property is encompassed by the red lines. To son Henry he left the property immediately adjacent to the Park, shown within the yellow. In 1870 Robert made available to St Peter's Church a lot for the construction of a Vicarage on Street Lane. The Holidays still owned this property in the 1930s. Robert had also, within the red circle above the Vicarage, built four "cottages" along Street Lane. The Vicarage property and the Cottages were also left to Henry. The four dwelling houses are still there today, see right. To son Ezra went the property surrounded by green on the map and also nine cottages in the Little Green. The properties within the blue lines were previously sold to others. Robert left to his son John, Croft House and its grounds, along with several other fields north of The Street on both sides of Street Lane. Most of this property became the recreation grounds still in use today. And of course, Robert left money in the form of investments to all his children. |
Above: Croft House and Plantation House along the Street; each marked with an X.
Above: The Park House core showing its division.
The four cottages at the intersection of Street Lane and Finkle Lane.
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Plantation House with its main entrance facing south
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In November of 1895 Alice, Robert's wife died. And come the 1901 Census we find Sarah Jane Bates, Robert's oldest daughter, living at Croft House along with her husband William and children. Henry and family dwelt at Plantation House and Ezra had removed to Morley. Over at Park House, Cyrus and family still occupied half the building with Mr. and Mrs. Towler in the other.
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Cyrus introduced two new additions to his remaining Park House property sometime between 1891 and 1911. The first was situated in the southeast corner of the Park. There the Old Lodge was removed to make way for Parkfield House. In 1901 it was owned and occupied by Cyrus' son, Robert Arthur Holiday. Along with Parkfield House, Robert Arthur was given two or three acres in the bottom of The Park (see the map below). The other new construction appeared on the Park House estate between 1901 and 1911. Called Belmont, it became the long term residence of William Henry Holliday, physician, surgeon and Cyrus' son.
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Parkfield House, found today at No. 4 Field Park Grange.
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Belmont, with the main entrance opposite Finkle Lane.
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In 1933, Cyrus died. Dr. William Henry Holliday of Belmont, his son, became his principle heir and heir to what was left of The Park House estate, which included the red, yellow and blue shaded properties seen on the map to the left. The east wing of Park House (blue shade) had been leased out for over 50 years. In 1935 the doctor sold the east portion to the Philips sisters, both spinsters.
Doctor Holliday died in 1948 leaving the west wing of ParkHouse (yellow shade), Belmont, and the Park (red shade) to his son Walter Dixon Holliday. He died in 1953 and the property passed to his daughter Mary Sabina Ward, wife of Harry Ward.
In 1975 Mary Ward sold her land between Belmont and Park House to the Secretary of State for Social Services for the construction of the Gildersome Health Centre.
That's as far as the Park House Papers can take us. Mary Sabina Ward was the last Holliday to own and live at Park House, she sold the west portion in 1992.
Eventually, like Vicarage Avenue next door, The Park succumbed to development, apparently by purchase of the Leeds Council in order to provide more rental housing. Two interesting facts about the former Park remain like an artifact of the past. First, all the streets have Park in their name. And second, the north end of Park Crescent was the site of Park House's pond, which contained a moat and an island with a small stand of trees. When the development was completed, that stand of trees remained within the top arc of the crescent. Perhaps the trees there now are the originals or their descendants.
Doctor Holliday died in 1948 leaving the west wing of ParkHouse (yellow shade), Belmont, and the Park (red shade) to his son Walter Dixon Holliday. He died in 1953 and the property passed to his daughter Mary Sabina Ward, wife of Harry Ward.
In 1975 Mary Ward sold her land between Belmont and Park House to the Secretary of State for Social Services for the construction of the Gildersome Health Centre.
That's as far as the Park House Papers can take us. Mary Sabina Ward was the last Holliday to own and live at Park House, she sold the west portion in 1992.
Eventually, like Vicarage Avenue next door, The Park succumbed to development, apparently by purchase of the Leeds Council in order to provide more rental housing. Two interesting facts about the former Park remain like an artifact of the past. First, all the streets have Park in their name. And second, the north end of Park Crescent was the site of Park House's pond, which contained a moat and an island with a small stand of trees. When the development was completed, that stand of trees remained within the top arc of the crescent. Perhaps the trees there now are the originals or their descendants.
The west wing of Park House taken by Jayne Child.
PARK HOUSE: WEST WING INTERIOR, TAKEN 2010............by Chuck Soderlund
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