Village history: Denby’s link to Scotland’s king

Nov 4 2009 By Chris Heath

WITH the publication of the fourth volume of research by author Chris Heath, Denby Dale’s history must now be one of the best-documented of all British villages.

In Denby and District IV, Chris has made little attempt at a chronology or narrative, presenting instead a ‘dipping’ book bursting with newly-discovered information.

For instance, he assiduously tracks down – with the help of Tasmanian archivists – the life and times of transported Cumberworth convict Elijah Hinchliffe, from a bungled burglary in Dukinfield, Manchester, through a Judge Jeffreys-style trial, to a new life in Tasmania, then known as Van Diemen’s Land.

He extracts a fascinating wealth of detail about the clergy of Upper Denby and sniffs out virtually every detail of the Green family of the Dale, a dynasty of corn millers who had their fair share of rogues and saints.

Then there are the travelling Kelso brothers, music hall artistes, of the late 19th and early 20th century, comedians and showmen.

Their family names were Blake and George. Though travellers, they were based in Denby Dale and are still remembered with a smile by the oldest of the village’s residents.