Earlestown – Newton-le-Willows

George & Robert Stephenson

19 April 201819 April 2018 Steven Dowd

THE LIFE OF George Stephenson and his son Robert Stephenson Comprising also a history of the invention and introduction of the railway locomotive. By Samual Smiles With Portraits and Numerous Illustrations. [iii] PREFACE. The present is a revised edition of the Life of George Stephenson and of his son Robert Stephenson, to which is prefixed a history of the Railway and the Locomotive in its earlier stages, uniform with the early history of the Steam-engine given in vol. iv. of “Lives of the Engineers” containing the memoirs of Boulton and…

Steam-Boiler Explosion at Newton

28 December 20134 July 2020 Steven Dowd

There was a Great Loss of Life by a Steam-Boiler Explosion at Newton.. 22nd Sept 1838 We regret to inform that the Viaduct Foundry on the Manchester & Liverpool Line of Railway at Newton in the Willows, the property of Messrs, Jones, Turner, and Evens, was on MOnday morning last the scene of a dreadful and fatal steam-boiler explosion, by which eight persons are already dead, and two others are lying without much hope of recovery. It appears that Messrs Jones & Co. employ about 200 men, and in the…

Earlestown War memorial – unveiled by Lord Newton.

28 December 201328 December 2013 Steven Dowd

On Saturday afternoon, at Earlestown, Lord Newton unveiled a memorial of the South African war, which has been erected outside the Town Hall in honour of fifty men of Newton-in-Makerfield who volunteered for service in that historic struggle. The cost of the monument, about £360, is defrayed out of the local fund started in 1899 for the relief of necessitous cases arising out of such service. Much of the money was contributed by working men, and happily out of £991 raised it was found necessary to distribute only £215 in…

Autobiography of Garret Ronayne

6 September 201322 December 2013 Steven Dowd

An old Indian Mutiny Veteran, who served diligently and faithfully throughout the mutiny of 1857-1858. Having been asked by several, of my friends to give a short sketch of my eventful career, I have pleasure in dedicating to them my autobiography in the hope that they will at last confirm a statement I have often made, that I am a most singular man. As it is about fifty-eight years ago since my enlisting in the army, I must respectfully request that my readers will forgive me for any mistakes I…

Everton V Earlestown

1 January 201322 December 2013 Steven Dowd

Here are a few more facts about Earlestown FC 1899-00 Joined Lancashire League 1903 Lancashire League closed down 1903-04 Joined Lancashire Combination as founder members of new Division 2 Lancashire Combination Division Two runner-up Promoted to Division One 1906 Relegated to Division Two 1906-07 Lancashire Combination Division Two runner-up Promoted to Division One SEASON LEAGUE P W D L F A P POS 1899-00 LANCS 28 7 5 16 40 64 19 11/15 1900-01 LANCS 20 8 3 9 31 45 19 8/11 1901-02 LANCS 24 12 5 7 54…

Some Earlestown Sporting History

21 August 201222 December 2013 Steven Dowd

My father, a supporter in the 1880s often spoke to me about the team in those early days. The playing field was at the back of the Swan Hotel, on Newton Common. He was present on this ground when the famous Preston North End Invincibles played Earlestown and beat the local team 19-0. I understand the record score for the Noah End was beating Hyde 26-0.! Earlestown also played Everton in the 1880s can you imagine it? A team from Earlestown playing against Everton in a cup final. Well, that…

Newton & Earlestown in 1895

15 August 201222 December 2013 Steven Dowd

I do not guarantee that my transcription doesn’t include some pretty basic mistakes, apart from my poor typing ability and bad spelling, some pages were very marked making them hard to read. I hope this transcribed text will be well received, its easily searched with the find on page facility included with most any web browsers from the browsers edit menu. There are two sections to this article, Newton-le-Willows is the top one, and Earlestown is the lower one, Hope you find them useful. NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS (SEE ALSO EARLESTOWN), INCLUDING ASHTON-IN-MAKERFIELD…

Earlestown & Newton in 1890

10 August 201222 December 2013 Steven Dowd

Bridge Street Earlestown

And now let us take a walk round Earlestown and Newton and see what it was like about 1890. Immediately to the left of Earlestown Station was a large open space where the shops now stand and which was a common playground for the youth of the neighbourhood. That side of the street has changed very little, except that the shops at the top have all been altered and had new fronts put in to meet changed conditions. On the other side, starting at the bottom, there was Mr. Attfields…

Earlestown Market 1938

11 January 201122 December 2013 Steven Dowd

Market successful despite removal Trading centre provided for new town. Prosperous council undertaking at Earlestown Having commenced the story in the middle and glanced at the finish to see the happy ending it would now be appropriate to look at the opening chapter of the story and see how it began. From very remote times Newton-in-Makerfield has held a very important position. It stands on the northern road between Warrington and Wigan and about the same distance from both. In the days when Saxon kings ruled over the island it…

The Story of Vicars

31 October 201022 December 2013 Steven Dowd

Around a year ago, I compiled from different sources a history on one of Earlestowns oldest firms, T & T Vicars, somehow, the article has been lost from the database, probably when the website changed Servers some months ago, for those interested, here again is the missing history article The year 1849 has been generally accepted as the foundation year of the firm of T & T Vicars, but it is possible that the partnership was formed even earlier than this. The story began when Thomas Vicars, son of an…

The Viaduct Foundry

22 January 201019 April 2018 Steven Dowd

As the Vulcan and Viaduct Foundries swung into production skilled workers were attracted from other parts of Lancashire as well as further afield. To house their workers Stephenson and Tayleur built a model village beside their factory, Vulcan Village. Originally only of three rows it was developed as the factorys business increased. Seeing the advantages to be gained from setting up a factory in Newton where skilled labour was becoming available, two other business partners founded the firm of Jones and Potts and built a factory known as the Viaduct…

Sir Hardman Earle (1792 – 1877)

23 October 200922 December 2013 Steven Dowd

Sir Hardman EarleHardman Earle was born 11 JUL 1792, and died 25 JAN 1877, for Earlestown one of the most important days of his life was the 1st March 1853, This was the day that the London and North Western Railway, under the direction of Sir Hardman Earle, leased from Messrs. Jones & Potts a small works known as the Viaduct FoundryIn 1853 there were only around 30 houses available for the viaduct workers but as the foundry became busier, it expanded and the houses and town that was built…

Earlestown Wagon Works: the Viaduct Foundry

2 September 200919 April 2018 Steven Dowd

One hundred and fifty one years ago, on March 1, 1853, the London & North Western Railway leased from Jones & Potts a small engineering works known as the Viaduct Foundry, so named from its proximity to Stephensons Sankey Viaduct over the St. Helens Canal on the original Liverpool & Manchester Railway. Seven years later, on May 11, 1860, the L.N.W.R. purchased the property outright for the sum of 15,000. The Viaduct Works was founded by Jones, Turner & Evans in 1833, and among other products, including pumping machinery for…

Earlestown: A History

18 August 20084 July 2020 Steven Dowd

Newton le Willows had for years had a glass works, making bottles and flat glass, this flat glass was at the time made by spinning out a large blob of glass into a large circular plate, and then cutting from this large flat plate, the largest square or rectangles possible from the centre to the edge, because the flat glass was taken from this spinning out of a single blob, it meant it was pretty impossible to make a very large single sheet of glass, the max size available, no…

Anti-German Riot In Earlestown

18 February 200819 April 2018 Steven Dowd

14th May 1915: EXTRA ORDINARY SCENES. Earlestown on Monday night was the centre of a scene absolutely unprecedented in its history. The primary cause was of course; the bitter feeling that has been gradually growing stronger against German aliens throughout the country a feeling which reached fever heat on the day following the sinking of the “Lusitania,” gathered in intensity on the Sunday, and then, when Mondays papers told the tale of how Liverpool, had set the example on Sunday evening, it rose to such a height here that there…