Abraham
Crossley had his own home at Knowlwood Bottom, so he sublet Gauxholme
Stones to his brother Ely who moved in with his wife Susan and their
children. (Samuel and Betty Law were still there, but presumably
in a small cottage or the barn.)
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Ely came to a sorry and wet
end in October 1798 when he was fished out of the newly constructed
canal near Copperas House Bridge. He had been in the pub at
Gauxholme this particular evening when he was involved in
an argument with a man by the name of Eastwood when bargaining
about a cow. They were both small farmers, and one cow could
make or break either of them. |
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Whether
the cow was over priced, or whether it was not up to scratch will
never be known, but there was a lot of rancour and bad feeling between
the two men that evening. Ely left the pub and began to walk home
along a new stretch of un-lit road by the side of the canal. He
was never seen alive again. It is reported that Eastwood followed
him. Nothing else is known, but many years later a Mr. Eastwood
was on his deathbed and he sent for Ely's widow, Susan, and made
some sort of confession of guilt. He apparently pushed Ely off the
bridge at Copperas House. When Ely managed to struggle to the side
and climb out, he pushed him back in. It later transpired that he
denied any guilt. Whatever the truth, Ely drowned before his 40th
birthday, leaving a pregnant widow and 7 children.
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The widow Susan continued at
Gauxholme Stones with her children for many years. In 1804
her name appears in the accounts at the grocery store at Smithyholme,
when on 19th October that year she purchased 1 stone of treacle
at 4s.10d., 1 stone of turnips at 6d. and 25lbs of cheese
at 13s.6d. |
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Susan's
sons Abraham and Ned were both married from the farm in 1814 and
1824 respectively, although it was left to her nephew Abraham, the
son of Abraham of Knowlwood Mill, to take over the running of the
farm.
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Abraham
Crossley junior and his wife Ellen lived at Gauxholme Stones
many years. He was an immensely successful businessman, taking
over the running of his late father's chemical works at Copperas
House and running Knowlwood Bottom Mill with his brother William.
He was still at Gauxholme Stones in 1838 although by this
time his younger brother William had joined him with his second
wife Jane (Wilkinson) and children. |
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Although
Knowlwood Mill traded as Crossley Brothers, William was by now the
main man at the mill whilst his brother Abraham concentrated on
the chemical side of things at Copperas House Mill. It seems that
Crossley Brothers now owned Gauxholme Stones Farm outright, and
in 1838 the assets of Knowlwood Mill were examined for the purpose
of a Poor Rate Assessment. The assessment, issued to Crossley Brothers
of Knowlwood Mill, included a rate for Gauxholme Stones Farm of
£1.4s.8d.
William
Crossley was now a man of substance, a member of the township's
Select Vestry and an Overseer of the Poor. However, a period of
bad trade combined with overstretching in the expansion of the business
left him in a financial mess. He became bankrupt and the mill ended
up being sold, presumably along with the farm. The full story of
the mill and this family can be read from the link below. Suffice
it to say here, William and his wife took their younger children
and fled Gauxholme Stones and the town shortly after 1839.
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In 1841 William, Jane
and four of their children were in Manchester on Hanover Street
where William was running a beer shop. On 16th August 1842
they arrived in New York on the ship “Sheridan”. They settled
in Ohio where William set up a new business as a shingle manufacturer.
He died there in 1876 aged 79. |
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His brother Abraham moved to 6 Bridge End in Knowlwood and continued
to be a successful copperas manufacturer until his death in 1857.
Since
1841, the farm has housed up to 4 families at a time, suggesting
there were 4 separate dwellings on the site. It appears to have
been used as a butcher's residence when John Shackleton was an occupier
in 1861, and was still used as such in 1891. There would probably
have been facilities for the slaughtering of animals on the land,
and there is still evidence of a small farm as late as 1891, with
an increased acreage. In 1901, there was a tin plate works on the
site. It still stands today, and is a private residence.
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