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Pictures sent to me by my visitors
I have just come across your
web site in the course of researching my family tree. I
have several carte vistes taken by my great great grandfather,
Joseph Buckley Joseph was a photographer from Daisy
Nook,Ashton-under-Lyne Lancashire from around 1874 till his death
in 1903 - Neill Buckley
Joseph Buckley Photographer of Ashton-under-Lyne,
Lancashire, UK. - working as a photographer (1874-1903)
Between 1861 and 1871, whilst at 53 Hillgate Street, Joseph
established himself as a Stationer and began his career as a
photographer around 1874. I have one of his earliest photographs
taken of a young man printed on card measuring 2�" x
4". On the reverse is inscribed the name "J Buckley,
Hurst, Photographic Studios, Photographer, Artist,
Picture Framer and Stationer &r". The premises are
"51.53 Hillgate Street".
In 1879 the family eventually left Hillgate Street and moved
to the small hamlet of Waterhouses in Ashton to begin what was to
be a very busy and fruitful venture. The 1888 Slaters Royal
National Directory of Ashton-under-Lyne, Dukinfield, Hyde and
Stalybridge makes reference to Joseph Buckley "Photographer
and Dining Rooms Daisy Nook". The
same Slaters Directory has their old house at 53 Hillgate
Street as a "Post receiving house", home of
Samuel Shirt, Stationer.
Waterhouses
The small hamlet of Waterhouses, standing on the banks of the
River Medlock in Ashton had been "popularised" through
the writings of the Failsworth poet Ben Brierley. Some 30
years before Joseph and his family moved to Daisy Nook, Brierley
had written a short story called "A Day Out".
The tale was set in a fictitious village that Brierley named
"Daisy Nook". It concerned the visit of a
gentleman from Manchester out for a walk on 8.9.1855 in
celebration of the fall of Sebastopol during the Russian Crimean
War. On approaching the area he was told by a village maiden
("and no bad specimen neither") "cannot
you see the smoke amongst the trees there?... Daisy Nook is
just beyond". A well-known local artist,
Charles Potter, is credited with guessing that Brierley's
"Daisy Nook" was the hamlet of Waterhouses.
Daisy Nook
Daisy Nook remains a local beauty spot to this day and still
plays host to the traditional Easter fun fair. The fairground
owners, Sillcocks have attended since 1920. The area has featured
extensively on early postcards. One of Josephs own views is
shown here.
Joseph clearly saw the commercial possibilities of the area
and he set about converting three cottages in Daisy Nook
into refreshment rooms and a photography business. According to
his son Walter Buckley, writing some years later in the
Ashton Reporter, Joseph rented the cottages at
5s 6d a week converting them into one, naming them "Owd Abs Cottage"
after Brierley's pen name "Ab-o'th'-Yate". The
row of houses became known locally as Ben Brierley Terrace and
such was the success of the business that Joseph became known as
"Owd Ab".
Owd Abs Cottage
Joseph was a very practical man and set about transforming the
three storey cottages and adjacent land into a popular tourist
attraction. He whitewashed the cottages and erected a sign "J Buckley Photographer"
to advertise his studios. Members of his family and customers had
their portraits taken sitting in a small rowing boat in front of
backcloths depicting scenes from the Isle of Man. One such
photograph features my great grandfather, Wilfred Schofield
Buckley taken when he was a small boy. The
photography business was also advertised on the gable end of the
cottages with the splendid slogan "Secure Your Shadow Ere
The Substance Fades".
Joseph sold his postcard views of the locality and some of
these photographs survive to this day. The photographs in my
possession are backed on to stiff card with the name "J Buckley & Sons,
photographic artist of Daisy Nook" on the reverse.
The Owd Abs Cottage in Daisy Nook is shown here. The
wooden sign at the right of the photograph advertises BUCKLEY
PHOTOGRAPHER.
Winifred M Bowman, in her 1948 book "Five Thousand
Acres of Old Ashton", refers to Waterhouses and Daisy
Nook with some affection. At the time she is friends with
surviving Buckleys through her role on the local councils and
adds "you can tell a Buckley anywhere by the fair hair
and apple-blossom complexion".
One particular photograph was reproduced in an Ashton Reporter
of 1953 depicting Joseph's sons and the Taunton football team.
The reverse of the picture apparently carried an advertisement
for Daisy Nook and "Owd Abs Cottage":
Owd Abs Cottage, Daisy Nook. A most
Interesting and Pleasant Place of Resort for
Pic-Nics and Private Parties. Miles of lovely
walks with Rustic and Romantic Scenery. Visitors
will meet with every accommodation at Owd Abs.
Tea, Hot Water &c., provided. Schools,
&c., liberally treated on application to the
proprietor Joseph Buckley, Photographic
Artist. A complete gymnasium is provided for
visitors, Swings, See-Saws,
Several more of these family group photographs have survived.
Wife Mary features on one such family gathering stood third from
the left with her son Walter on her right. Walter's wife Annis is
seated at the right of the middle row.
To attract visitors Joseph constructed an aviary, monkey
house, shooting gallery and seven swings in the gardens behind
the cottages. People came from miles around to visit "Owd Abs Cottage"
and to sample breakfast of Lancashire cheese and muffins. In 1887
Joseph and several local subscribers contributed towards the cost
of �175 for the building of the first cart bridge over the
Medlock. Other subscribers included Jeffrey Andrew licensee of
Red Bills and John Andrew of the Hen Cote, a neighbouring
refreshment room. The original footbridge had been washed away by
floods on Wakes Sunday in 1886. A local Woodhouses wheelwright
and blacksmith Benjamin Ashworth completed the ironwork on the
bridge. In later years one of Benjamin's grandchildren,
Alice Ashworth, was to marry a grandchild of Joseph's,
Wilfred Schofield Buckley (my grandfather).
The Animals
Joseph kept three monkeys, Sally, Jenny and Frank. Frank was
the children's favourite, sitting on their shoulders, whilst a
donkey, also called Jenny, gave rides along the riverbank up to
the bridge near Medlock Hall Farm. The donkey is photographed
along with one of Joseph's sons. The Ashton
Reporter of 26.2.1898 carried an article about the death of Sally
whose burial was attended by the local children:
We have in the past noticed the demise of more
than one of the monkeys belonging to Mr. Joseph
Buckley, of Daisy Nook, a place celebrated for
one particular stuffed of the simian family that
will go down to posterity in the literature of
Lancashire. Another of Mr Buckleys monkeys
died on Friday last, and was honoured with a
decent burial on Saturday. As usual all the young
children of the hamlet, good staunch friends of
poor "Sally" came out and walked in
procession from its last abode to the little
meadow adjoining Mr. Buckleys place. There
a nice new grave had been made alongside others
of her kin. Owd Abs bell was toiled whilst
the mournful cortege proceeded to the graveside.
A solemn ceremony was gone through, the sad
children placing flowers on the coffin lid, which
bore the following:-"Sally. Died February
19th, 1898: age not known; interred February
19th. May she rest in peace." All the
children were afterwards regaled with monkey
nuts, &c., and were evidently very sorry to
lose such a merry little friend.
The article reveals that Joseph had a stuffed monkey on
display that must have been referred to in some literature
preserving its memory! Also that the cottage had a bell known as
"Owd Abs bell". Mrs Jessie Ratcliffe, the
daughter of John Arthur Buckley told me in 1994 that the children
that cried the most were rewarded with more sweets, or perhaps
more monkey nuts. The unmarked grave of one of the monkeys could
still be seen in 1994 on the hillside immediately behind the site
where "Owd Abs" cottages once stood, marked by a
rough rectangle of large stones.
The Dancing Board
Opposite the cottages, across the River Medlock, was the
"Dancing Board" where visitors danced for 3d.
Joseph's grandchildren were apparently not allowed on the Dancing
Board but were encouraged by Auntie Polly Andrew to look under
the boards for any money or hairgrips that may have fallen
through from above!
The 1881 Census
Joseph and his family are recorded in the 1881 census
(RG11/4042 53/55 Page 6) in Waterhouses though no specific
addresses are given.
Age last birthday Occupation
Birthplace
Joseph Buckley 44 Photographer Ashton-under-Lyne
Mary - wife 44 Photographer Ashton-under-Lyne
Samuel - son 22 Photographer Ashton-under-Lyne
John Arthur - son 11 Scholar Ashton-under-Lyne
Walter - son 9 Scholar Ashton-under-Lyne
During the time Joseph and Mary lived in Daisy Nook they made
two trips to the United States, which must have been quite a feat
in those days. A reminder of one of their visits remains in the
form of a Bible given to Mary and inscribed with the name of a
Mr Dennison, Mission Chapel,
New Bedford, Massachusetts 1884. In 1987 I wrote to
"The Local Newspaper" in New Bedford asking
for any information of a Mr Dennison and his Chapel but
without reply.
The 1891 Census
The family, minus Samuel who had married Hannah Schofield, is
recorded in the 1891 census. Held on 13.4.1891 (RG12/3281 146
Line 163), the census lists the family in houses numbered
22, 24 and 26 Waterhouses, the first reference in the census of
house numbering. Joseph's wife was now a "housewife"
from being a "photographer" in 1881. Son John Arthur
was recorded as aged 19 instead of 21 and had an indecipherable
occupation. Youngest son Walter was now employed as a Carter.
Both were still "single".
Age Occupation Birthplace
Joseph Buckley 54 Photographer Ashton-under-Lyne
Mary - wife 54 Housekeeper Ashton-under-Lyne
John Arthur - son 19 ?? Ashton-under-Lyne
Walter - son 19 Carter Ashton-under-Lyne
Joseph's Letter of
1896
The most remarkable surviving artefact is a letter written by
Joseph to one of his sons from the Isle of Man on his
60th birthday. The letter, given to me by his grand
daughter Annis Thompson in 1988, reads:
Sweet Mona the Isle of the Sea September 10th
1896
Dear Son and Daughter
This is from your Pa and dear old Grandad (word
unknown) and as the above is my Birthday of 60
years I do myself the honour of addressing you a
few lines from a far off Country. I am pleased
indeed I am hearty and strong and at the age of 3
score years am stronger than when I made my first
appearance on this stage of
so varied and so changeable scenes. Oh what ups
and downs in the past some of which I don't want
even to recall. Others I should very much like to
see over again. As I write these lines memories
of the sweet and bitter past are flitting through
my minds eye. Oh sweet and happy moments of the
sweet days gone by. Days fraught and full to the
brim with pleasures I have had in this most
beautiful Island and the oftener I come the more
I seem to treasure its beauty. My first visit to
Sweet Mona was in the year 1860 36 years ago.
What great changes since that time. I think I am
the only one left of a party
of young men who came out with me in that year so
you see how most fortunate I have been. What
sailings too and fro on this big globe of ours
crossing the mighty main for the far off shores
of Australia and after many years of great
hardship and incessant toil braving the dangers
of so varied a life as the bushmans yet through
all these changeable and varied scenes some of
which were fraught with very great danger - But
thankful indeed I am that through them all
brought home to other scenes of another kind.
Thus it is through them all I am getting to be an
old man and every year feel myself some little
worse. You know all kinds of machines wear out.
Well now this I feel is my lot and what little
time I have left I hope to make the very best of
it. What I have herein written you is very simple
but true nevertheless and as this is my natal
day please do me the honour
of drinking me a good bumper
(?) to my jolly good health for which I most
cordially enclose you a sixpenny piece. You can
if you like drink either English, Irish, Scotch,
Dutch, Welch or Manx Whisky but don't get blind
drunk now mind that.Ever your Pa and
Grandad
Early in 1996 I wrote to the Isle of Man Examiner asking for
help in tracing two of the photographs. One photograph showed
Joseph along with members of his family on the Isle in front of
an impressive waterfall. The paper printed my letter and the
pictures on 5.3.1996 under the title "Have you any of Owd
Abs photographs?". One reader,
Mrs Freda Cain replied the same day and identified the
waterfall as Rhenass Falls and the area as Glen Helen. She
enclosed a photograph of her family taken in 1986 at the exact
same location!
I visited Freda in December of 1997, travelling on a Friday by
train to Heysham and ferry to Douglas. I hired a Ford Fiesta for
the weekend and stayed with Freda at her bungalow in Port Erin.
Before returning by ferry to Liverpool on the Sunday, we visited
the Laxey Wheel, the Groundle Glen Hotel and walked to the very
spot at Rhenass Falls where Joseph had visited, nearly one
hundred years earlier. Unfortunately I was not able to sit on the
actual rocks shown in the photograph as the torrent of water from
the swollen river prevented me from clambering over the rocks.
Overseer of
Littlemoss
Joseph was clearly a well-respected member of the small Daisy
Nook community and was appointed an Overseer for the district of
Littlemoss. It was carrying out these duties that saw him
assaulted by a neighbour, James Hitchens. The court case was
covered in the Ashton Reporter of 14.8.1897
under the heading:
Assaulting an Overseer at Daisy NookOn Wednesday, at
the Ashton County Police Court, James Hitchens was
charged with assaulting Joseph Buckley. Mr Eaton
Solicitor appeared for the complainant. He stated that Mr
Buckley was appointed an Overseer for the district of
Littlemoss and the defendant resided in the same row at
Daisy Nook and was therefore in the district of
Littlemoss over which Buckley had jurisdiction. The
defendant for some time past had kept a quantity of
poultry in the house, and Buckley had to write to the
Sanitary Inspector, who came down and ordered their
removal and the house stoved. The defendant had
nevertheless continued to keep the poultry. On Bank
Holiday the defendant got drunk, and having the letters
rankling in his breast, he came down to the complainant
and threatened violence. The complainant quietly and
respectively asked him to go away, but the defendant spat
in his face and struck him a violent blow, causing his
spectacles to fall off - the defendant was asked to plead
and he said he was guilty. The complainant then gave
evidence. He said he was seated outside his house and the
defendant came up towards him. He was in a drunken state
and used bad and disgusting language. He quietly asked
the defendant to go away, and the defendant then spat in
his face and struck him with his fist. He was only just
recovering from a black eye and a bruised nose. The
defendant had among other things alleged that the
complainant had threatened to shoot his hens if he did
not keep them up. He also said that he put his hands on
Buckley's palings and Buckley knocked them off. The
complainant said he did not give the slightest
provocation. Mr Ralph Bates the presiding magistrate told
the defendant he had committed a foolish and dastardly
assault on a respectable member of Society. He might
possibly have some grievance but this was altogether
wrong. He would be fined 10s with costs, or in default 14
days. Mr Eaton applied that the defendant might be called
upon to pay the advocate's fee, but the magistrate
declined to make an order on the ground that Mr Buckley
could have proved the case thoroughly himself without an
advocate.
Joseph's Death
Josephs rather sombre prophecy in his letter of 1896...
"this I feel is my lot and what little time I have
left...." was a little premature because he lived a
further 7 years until aged 66. His obituary in the Ashton
Reporter of 13.6.1903 recorded that Joseph fell
ill shortly before Easter and gradually grew worse until the end
came somewhat suddenly on Whit Friday morning. The report said
that on 5.6.1903 "he had just asked for his breakfast and
in a few minutes afterwards he expired".
Joseph Buckley was buried on 8.6.1903 in the graveyard
attached to the Methodist New Connexion Church, Queen Street,
Hurst that is no longer standing. The funeral was attended by
Mary and their three sons and 19 grandchildren, the youngest at
the time being son Walter's fourth child, Lena who was born only
6 weeks earlier on 22.4.1903. Lena Simpson was the last
surviving grandchild of Owd Ab. Before she moved to a
Nursing Home in Millbrook, Stalybridge, Lena and her husband
Harold lived at no1 Garden Walk in the same
Hillgate area of Ashton where Joseph and his family had lived
over a hundred and ten years before.
Josephs obituary also appeared in the Ashton Herald
dated 18.6.1903 reporting that he succumbed to heart failure at
seven oclock. His remains were enclosed in an oak coffin
with brass mountings, the engraved plate bearing the inscription
"Joseph Buckley, died 5th June, in his 67th year".
The Herald reported that there were five mourners
coaches which were occupied as follows - First coach, Mrs Joseph
Buckley, Mr and Mrs Samuel Buckley, Mr and Mrs John Buckley, Miss
Edith Buckley, Mr John Arthur Buckley. In the second coach were
Mr and Mrs Walter Buckley and Masters Arthur, Albert, Stanley,
Wilfred and Willie Buckley.
The third coach carried Miss L?? Buckley, Miss Jane Buckley,
Miss Annie Buckley, Masters Samuel, Sydney and Harold Buckley,
M?? Herbert and J Schofield. The fourth coach had Mrs Wm. Garth,
Mr and Mrs H Taylor, Mrs Simpson, Mr J Cropper. The final coach
had Mr and Miss Greaves, Mr H McCluskey, Mrs Walker, Mrs
Cheetham, Mr Wm. Greenwood, Mr John Turner.
The route taken was down Newmarket Road, Oldham Road,
Wellington Road, Katherine Street and Whiteacre Road to the
chapel on Queens Street, Hurst. Several wreaths were received
including an anchor "With greatest love" from his dear
doves. Another anchor was sent from Mary, his widow. Mrs Andrew
and Family from the Hen Cote also sent a wreath.
Joseph's Will
Joseph had made his will seven years earlier on 2.3.1896
appointing his three sons to be his Executors. Mary and the three
sons were bequeathed all the Estate and effects, real and
personal, which were to be divided equally amongst them. The will
was signed in the presence of James Garth of Evans Street, Hurst
(Mineral Water Manufacturer) and Joseph Cropper,
44 Bridge Street, Hooley Hill (Railway clerk).
James Garth was most likely Joseph's
brother in law. Both men were clearly family friends as
they attended Joseph's funeral and were guests at son Walter's
marriage.
The Greater Manchester Records Office has details of the will
of BUCKLEY Joseph, Photographer of Waterhouses
Ashton-under-Lyne where the effects were �265.10s. Probate was
granted on 2.10.1903 at Manchester to:
Samuel Buckley Gas rate collector
John Arthur Buckley Cashier
Walter Buckley Herb-beer manufacturer
Photo of Joseph's grandsons, Harold (born 20.9.1894) and Herbert (born 25.4.1896)
After Joseph's death the cottages passed out of the family's
hands. I have discovered in the Reporter of 14.12.1907 a short
notice announcing the death of Mary Buckley on 10.12.1907, aged
71, widow of Joseph Buckley; Union Road, Hurst. This fits her age
so appears to be Josephs wife. There were no traces of
Buckleys in Hurst in the 1891 census, the most recent
available.
Email Contributor: Neill Buckley: [email protected]
Abridged by R.F.Vaughan using notes from Neill Buckley April 2002
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