Marsden History Group group Marsden Children book published April 2010

THE latest publication from the Marden History Group serves up a fascinating insight into the working lives of the village children and a history of the village schools.

The book tells the story of children who, in the later 18th century, were transported from the slums of London to work in John Haigh’s cotton mill on Warehouse Hill.

It charts the struggles of local philanthropist Richard Oastler to get the working days of factory children to 10 hours a day and the difficulties that poor families experienced in finding the money to pay for their children to go to school.

The history of each of the four village schools illustrates the rivalry between the Anglicans and the Nonconformists and the struggles both groups had to raise the money to maintain their schools.

The first purpose-built school was erected in 1820 and the managers appointed Joseph Webster as master.

The advertisement in the Leeds Mercury stated that the successful applicant would be required to have a wife who could teach needlework. Joseph was a bachelor, so he brought his mother along. He must have enjoyed living in Marsden because he stayed in the post until his death 56 years later.

Many more stories, both amusing and sad are told.

The book has been written by Judi Thorpe, herself a trained primary schoolteacher, who has lived in Marsden for 40 years. She is a founder member of the Marsden History Group.

The research for the book, by Judi, Wendy Jones and Vivien Roworth, which relied wherever possible on first hand material, was originally undertaken for an exhibition held in Marsden in 2006.

Inevitably the amount of information that could be displayed in the exhibition was only a small part of what had been amassed and continued to be collected.

The Colne Valley Society, which sadly folded last year, generously funded the publication of this latest book.

Marsden Children – Their Work in the Mills and the History of Their Schools is on sale in Marsden Information Point, Peel Street, Marsden. Printed by Enterprise Print, of Honley, it is priced £5.75.