Abraham French of Bury and Gargrave

  Abraham French was born in Suffolk and christened in Aethelington Parish, Suffolk on 15 October 1826, the fourth son of James French and Elizabeth Pettett [1] . He joined his five-year-old brother Charles, three-year-old Samuel and two-year-old David [2] . His mother Elizabeth must have felt that her work had been cut out for her with four children under five. This may have been the reason for the seven-year gap before the fifth son George arrived, or Elizabeth may have had at least two miscarriages [3] .

Life in Suffolk

     By 1831 Abraham may have attended the local school in Aethelington or the free charity school in Worlingworth [4] . However, it is possible that by 1831 the French family had moved back to Horham, as George, Abraham's youngest brother, was born there [5] .This may have been a really bad time for the French family, and they may have been forced to seek Parish Relief at this time. As Abraham's father, James French, was born in Horham, this may have resulted in a removal of the family back to their parish of origin, to be a burden on the Horham Parish Relief, rather than Aethelington's.

     Life cannot have been easy for the young family in Suffolk in the early 1830s. Aethelington or Allington was the smallest Parish in the Hundred of Hoxne, near the Norfolk/Suffolk border. Aethelington was a predominantly agrarian area and most of the freehold of the 487 acres in the parish was predominantly held by one man, Thomas Greene. In 1851 Aethelington only had a population of only 117.

     The Vale of Waveney, in which Aethelington lay, was an area on the borders of Norfolk in which flax and hemp had been traditionally grown. Suffolk hempen-cloth had been the key trade of these parts, and there were a few flax mills and linen weavers in this area. James and Elizabeth could have been workers in the domestic industry, being paid paltry sums for piece-work, or perhaps taking their produce to the local markets in Stradlington, or the larger town of Eye four miles to the north-west.

     However, if James and Elizabeth had been employed in the textile industries there would have been few opportunities to make a living. These spinning and weaving trades, spinning fine worsted yarns to make Norwich crepes and worsteds were in a terminal decline in Suffolk in the early nineteenth century. The introduction of machine spinning in Yorkshire and Lancashire in the late eighteenth century made this trade obsolete in Suffolk, and there were few alternatives.

     The key industry in Aethelington in the early nineteenth century was agriculture [6] . The soil was very fertile, and in the 1820s the 'six course shift' of cropping was being practiced in that area; a method of rotating different crops, so that one crop would fertilise as another exhausts the soil. In the first year wheat would be planted in a field, followed by barley and clover in the second year, turnips in the third year, barley or oats in the fourth year, clover in the fifth year,and finally in the sixth year mown for hay and grazed before being ploughed up again for wheat. This was quite labour intensive and it is highly probable that Abraham's father James French was employed as an agricultural labourer in the 1820s and 1830s.

     James French would probably have been employed as a driller planting wheat and barley with a 'barrow drill', or alternatively Abraham's mother Elizabeth and her children could have been employed in 'dibbling' , planting the wheat or barley seed by hand. He may only have earned 10 shillings and four pence a week in 1837 [7] . However, if he had been employed by the Parish as a pauper labourer, he would only have made seven shillings a week [8] . This may have been highly likely given that Suffolk was one of the counties that had the highest levels of pauperism in the early nineteenth century [9] . He may have supplemented his income by collecting dung from the roads and selling it as faggots, thereby earning an extra two shillings a week.

     Elizabeth French probably also helped to eke out the family income with bone-lace making which she could sell in Eye. This may have brought in an extra one shilling and six pence a week [10] . Abraham and his brothers would have also worked from eleven, either at home with their mother, or perhaps as a labourer with their father. In either case their earnings may not have been more than one to two shillings in harvest time each [11] . However, with five young boys to feed, a total income of ten to twelve shillings would not have gone far. The French family may have inhabited a thatched and dilapidated hovel, without a fireplace and an earthen floor, for which they would have paid one shilling a week [12] .They would have spent four shillings a week on eight quartern loaves, one shilling and nine pence for bacon and fifteen pence on soap, candles, sugar, tea, thread, and worsted [13] . The remaining two to four shillings would have gone some way to paying for shoes which would have cost at least fifteen shillings.

On Parish Relief

     However the French family appear to have found themselves in straitened circumstances by at least 1834, when they were dependent on relief from the Poor Law Commissioners. They may even have been dependent on the Parish of Horham from 1831 when George was born. They may have been given out-relief, but it is possible that they may have been placed in a workhouse. If so, the boys may have been employed in paper mills cutting rags and being paid ten shillings a month, or two and a half shillings a week, aged sixteen [14] . This was very dirty work. The rags, or shoddy, would have been ground into fibres by 'shoddy devils', which were coarse willows [15] . This would have caused a choking cloud of pungent dirt and fibres in the air. As shoddy workers the boys might have drunk Mint Tea to stave off the effects of their work. Shoddy fever was common amongst rag sorters. This could range from sore throats to asthma and bronchitis. Sometimes the clouds of shoddy could also affect the eyes. At present there is no evidence that the French boys worked in the shoddy industry or suffered from these effects, but it is a possibility. If indeed they had been placed in a workhouse, food would have been very meagre, with a breakfast of bread, cheese and butter, or bread and gruel. Dinner would have been meat, potatoes, and a suet pudding, followed by a supper of bread, cheese and perhaps a broth [16] .

     Aethelington was in Hoxne Hundred, which adjoined Blything Hundred on the west. Blything Hundred's Poor Law relief system was rife with corruption and inefficiency. Bulcamp Workhouse in Blything Hundred was surrounded by a farm and kept ten milk cows, as well as having a shop for inmates. This was considered to be very lax [17] . ! Men and women were not separated and were allowed to raise their families as couples in Suffolk Workhouses. The children were often apprenticed to the corporation and when the children married they brought their wives and children to the workhouse and raised their own children there. In Blything Workhouse there were three generations of one family! The Commissioners of the Poor law Amendment Act even suggest that early marriages were rife in Suffolk and it was a general habit for young couples to move into the workhouses when they married.

The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act

     The introduction of the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834 sought to eliminate excesses in the system such as these and prevent 'overseers' of the poor profiting from corrupt practices. Paupers were to be moved into strict workhouses which would separate the sexes and conditions were meant to be a deterrent to idle pauperism. Aethelington was in the Hoxne Hundred administrative district in Suffolk. The Hoxne Poor Law Union's Workhouse was built at Stradbrook, a few miles from Aethelington, during 1834-5, and could house up to 300 inmates [18] . It opened in January 1836 but had only 120 able-bodied inmates in 1841.The cost of building the Workhouse at £10,000 seems to have been well spent as it reduced costs dramatically by over £7,000 a year immediately [19] . This was 'including the great expense of migrating many pauper families to the manufacturing districts [20] .' Previous to the Act , during the winter months there had been 800 labourers seeking relief. In the first three months of 1836 only fifty-two able-bodied poor sought relief in the Workhouse. By April 1836 the Hoxne Workhouse at Stradbrook had ceased paying out-door relief [21] . As James and Elizabeth and their family were in receipt of this relief they would have found life extremely difficult had they stayed in Suffolk, and would have been forced to enter the new workhouse.

     As part of their reports the Poor Law commissioners noted that there were many new factories being built in Yorkshire and Lancashire, a need for labour, and a surplus of labour in the south of England, many on poor-relief. They determined a plan to move 'well-disposed, honest and industrious labourers' from the south of England to employers in the North of England [22] . As Edwin Chadwick remarked in October 1835 'There are now frequent demands for the labour of families, comprehending children of the proper age and strength for employment [23] .' An agent was set up in Manchester to whom factory owners could apply 'for hands of the requisite ages' [24] .' In his circular Chadwick stressed the importance of sending migrants with good behaviour who were currently chargeable on the Parish Poor Relief, and suggested that Poor Law Guardians interview candidates themselves. As Abraham and his family were moved to Yorkshire by April 1836 they would have definitely been in receipt of relief for a substantial period of time, perhaps since 1831.

     The families that were most in demand in the North of England were those with the largest number of children, at least four aged between 10-16, preferably with a widow as the head of the household. Abraham and his three elder brothers would have been able to immediately start work in the textile factories. As recipients of the Poor Relief the French family would have been ideal candidates for migration. The Poor Law Guardians would probably have interviewed the French boys, Charles, Samuel and David, looking for evidence of 'docility or by having been engaged in any occupation which might render them more particularly suited for factory employment' [25] . As Suffolk workhouses were renowned for making hemp rope, the boys may have had some knowledge of this trade which would have stood them in good stead.

The Move to Cragg Vale

     By April 1836, James and his family had moved over two hundred miles from Aethelington in Suffolk to Cragg Vale, Erringden near Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire [26] . They would have taken their own clothes and been 'decently clad, and with a Sunday change' [27] . They were also advised to be equipped with flannel undergarments, as 'The young persons are usually employed in manufactories (which are warm and comfortable) for several hours in the day; but in going to or returning from their labour or their meals they are exposed to out-door air' [28] .They would have been required to take their bedding with them, and were restricted to one cwt of baggage.

     It is difficult to be precise about which route James and his family would have taken from Suffolk to Yorkshire. Travel by canal and river navigations would have cost about 1 penny a mile per person, whereas travel by stage wagon would have been three times more expensive, at three pennies per mile per person [29] . The transport costs would have been paid by Aethelington Parish to move the pauper French family to the North of England in the search of employment [30] . The Parish would have chosen the cheapest form of transport to keep costs down. Therefore the French family would certainly have traveled along the navigable canal and river networks.

     Eye was the nearest market town to Aethelington, only four miles away, and there were frequent stage coaches and stage wagons from Eye to London. The ninety mile journey was relatively quick in the 1830s, taking about eight hours. The French family may have been sent by carrier to London and traveled through Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and Brentwood before finally arriving at the Bull Inn in Aldgate or Leadenhall Street in London [31] .At London they would have been met by the Mr. Marshall, the Poor Law Commissioners Agent, who would have transferred them immediately to canal boats in Paddington Basin, which left every evening except Sunday [32] . Tired after a full days journey they would have taken their places in a cramped cabin, and opened the provisions they had brought with them for the five day journey [33] .

     Once on the canal boats at Paddington Basin, their journey would have taken them along Hertford Union Canal or Duckett's Canal in Tower Hamlets for a mile before joining Regent's Canal at Victoria Park, passing through London Zoo, before meeting the Old Grand Union Canal at Little Venice. From here it was only twelve miles to the Grand Union Canal at Bulls Bridge. Once on the Grand Union Canal they would have traveled North along the Birmingham and Fazeley, Coventry, Trent and Mersey and Bridgewater Canals. After four or five days journey they would have finally arrived in Manchester. Once in Manchester James and his family would have had to have made themselves known to the commissioners agent in Lever Street in Manchester, who would then organise their transport to Mytholmroyd. Once again they would have joined the canals and traveled the final leg of their water-borne journey along the Rochdale Canal.

     The first stage of the journey by stage wagon or carrier would have cost at least 3 pence per mile per adult, which would have been at least 12 pence a mile for the French family of five sons and two adults; a cost of 90 shillings or £4 10 shillings for the total ninety miles [34] .The second leg of the journey from London to Manchester would have cost 14 shillings for James, Elizabeth and their son Charles who was over fourteen, and seven shillings each for Samuel, David, Abraham and George [35] .This was a total of 70 shillings, or £3 10 shillings. This would have made the total journey cost £8, not counting the last leg to Mytholmroyd. The total cost would have the more than half of French family's yearly wages at £16, 16 shillings. The total cost of the journey north and of outfitting the fifty families with suitable clothing etc. from Hoxne Union was calculated at £908, 2 shillings and 11 pence. This would have been an average of £18 being spent on each family to cover transport, clothing and furnishing costs. Therefore the £8 spent on transporting the French family would have fallen within the expected costs of moving migrants north.

     At Mytholmroyd they would have traveled another two miles south through Hawkscliffe to Cragg Bottom. This hamlet was named after the wild rocks on either side of the steep narrow valley which was so narrow that people on either side of the valley could converse with each other [36] . They may have made this journey by foot, or they may have been collected by a cart sent by their new employer.

Life in Cragg Vale

     Not soon after their week long journey they were interviewed by Mr. Murgatroyd, the agent for the Poor Law Commissioners at Manchester. In the Poor Law Annual Report of 1836 there is an extract from a letter written by Abraham's parents James and Elizabeth French, who migrated from Hoxne Union, Suffolk, to the employ of Messrs. Greenwood & Brothers of Mytholmroyd Bridge, near Halifax: addressed to Mr. John Pettet, grocer and draper, Altrington, (sic) near Eye, Suffolk. 20th April, 1836. " We are all well, thank God for it. We have all according to the agreement. We have met with no disappointments. There is no fear of work here if it be contracted for, and by reason of contracts you will be sure of work ; but if you come of your own heads perhaps you will not happen of a master. Men's wages run from 10s. to 25s. per week, and such as shoemakers, carpenters and tailors are scarce in the country. We have a house quite as large as yours; and, dear father, we are not disappointed. Here is a good living for the working hands, and the work agrees very well with all our families" [37] . This letter may have been written by James and Elizabeth, or it is possible that they dictated the letter to a third person. Mr. Murgatroyd's intention would have been to show the benefits of the migration scheme in his report to the Poor Law Commissioners in 1836. Therefore the letter may have been solicited from the French family with this purpose in mind.

     James and Elizabeth's four eldest children would have been welcomed as workers in the early textile factories. Mill owners in the North of England were eager to employ cheap labour and James and his family would have provided just that. Their movement from Suffolk to Yorkshire would have been dependent on their agreeing to a contract with their new employer which accepted reduced wages for the first two or three years of their employment. James was promised a weekly family wage of 36 shillings in year one, 25 shillings in year 2, and fifty-one shillings and six pence in year three [38] . . This would have seemed a small price to pay for the French family, as their initial wages would have seen a better standard of living than the lifestyle they had been used to in Suffolk. The family now brought home at least three times the wages, even in year one of the contract.

     Cragg Bottom, just above modern Cragg Vale, was an area in which there were many factories in the early nineteenth century. In the Erringdon district alone in 1823 there were eight cotton spinners and manufacturers [39] . However, in 1824 there was only one recorded mill at Cragg Mill, owned by G and J Hinchcliffe [40] . By 1839 there were six cotton spinners and manufacturers in Cragg Vale, Erringden running four mills. Castle Mill, Sowerby, was run by John and William Greenwood, Rudclough Mill and Cragg Mill run by George, Henry and Joseph Hinchcliffe, and Marshaw Bridge Mill, run by Arthur, Richard and Joseph Ingham [41] .

     The French family were issued a contract of employment by the Greenwood brothers of Mytholmroyd Mill [42] . The Greenwood and Hinchcliffe families were renowned for the harsh treatment of their workers before the 1833 Factory Act. It is on record that children died at their work in the mills of Cragg. A local minister of the time wrote about Cragg Mills and their owners use of child 'sweated' labour: "If there is one place in England that needed legislative interference it is this place; for they work 15 and 16 hours a day frequently, and sometimes all night. Oh! it is a murderous system and the mill owners are the pest and disgrace of society.!" [43] .

    It is to be hoped that by the time the French family moved to Cragg that conditions had improved. There is no evidence that working in the mills in Cragg Vale adversely affected the health of this family [44] . They may have had to buy their food from their employers truck shop, but even so, they would have been far better off than living below the poverty line in Suffolk.

   With three children and Elizabeth working in the cotton mill in 1836 the weekly income would have been more than enough to feed a family. The four mill workers would have earned at least £3 a fortnight [45] . In their first year in Yorkshire Charles, aged 16 would have earned six shillings and six pence, Samuel, aged fourteen would have earned five shillings and six pence, David, aged thirteen, would have earned three shillings, Abraham, aged eleven would have earned two shillings and six pence and George, aged six would probably been a scholar [46] . Their earnings may have increased by six pence each year over three years, and by 1840 they would have earned twenty-three shillings. This was certainly enough to have a relatively comfortable life, compared to Suffolk. Abraham's only sister Harriet French was born in Todmorden Registration district in Cragg in 1837 [47] .

    As a labourer James would have earned at least £1 four shilling a fortnight [48] . There would have been plenty of work available in a factory town in the late 1830s, erecting mills, building cottages, making embankments, digging foundations and improving roads. He would not have been employed in the factories as it was believed that an adult man 'could not acquire the requisite skill for the superior processes of the factories' [49] . With a weekly income of at least eighteen to twenty-three shillings from the four boys and twelve shillings shillings from James, a weekly income of thirty-five shillings a week would have been a substantial amount. This would have left them fairly comfortably off. They would have spent at least three shillings a week on rent, one shilling two pence on a quarter of a pound of tea, ten pence for half a pound of coffee, three shillings on bread, coal and candles one shilling, butter, salt, soap and cheese, two shillings, potatoes, one shilling, sugar, one shilling and six pence, and milk 3 pence, making a total grocery and rent bill of twenty shillings a week [50] . The French family may even have been able to afford perhaps roast beef and potatoes on a Sunday, which would have cost about 3 shillings for a family of eight [51] . This would have left a surplus of fifteen shillings a week, which would have been enough to buy a pair of shoes for the children. As one migrant to the North of England from Suffolk said 'It is families they want; if they can bring three fit for work they may obtain a decent living here' [52] .

    On arrival in Cragg they would have moved into a tied house which would have been 'fully furnished' or they would have been advanced money by their employer to buy furniture. The Agent in Manchester, Richard Muggeridge, advised that the Poor Law Guardians advanced between £3-£5 to the new employers so that the new arrivals could buy furniture [53] . As the houses were built near to the factories they had the advantage of allowing the workers to go home for their meals! The rents may have been higher than in Suffolk, cottage rents being 3 shillings and 6 pence a week, but they had a large kitchen and a back kitchen with 'water let in by a tap', and perhaps 'an oven,grate, slop-stones, and boiler' [54] . Alternatively as workers in the Greenwood's Castle Mill they may have found themselves in less salubrious conditions."Some of the masters, whose greed or niggardliness did not allow for better conditions in the interior of the factory and its surroundings, would allow the cottages, which they owned, to run to the same neglect. There was no consideration in regard to drains or any other sanitary regulation, and frequently the ash-pit and cesspool would abut on the main road" [55] . The first winter of 1836-7 was an extremely harsh winter and there were outbreaks of Smallpox, which the French family luckily survived. There was also a slump in the textile trade and the French family may have found this a difficult period.

Todmorden Poor Law Riots

    The French family had arrived in Cragg by 1836, as a direct result of the Poor Law Amendment Act in Suffolk. The same Act also set up the Todmorden Union of which Erringden was a a part [56] .  However, some local landowners regarded the Act as government interference, and local people saw the new Union workhouses as prisons and the treatment of the poor as harsh and degrading. No doubt the French family may have agreed. On 15 February 1837 the representatives from Todmorden, Walsden and Langfield refused elect members to the Board of Guardians and were determined to continue to administer their own "out relief" raised through taxation rather than place poor in workhouses [57] . Another group opposed to the Poor Law formed the Todmorden Working Men's Association and declared its intention to fight for a repeal of the Act. They held public meetings and organised demonstrations and boycotts of shops and businesses belonging to those known to support the law. The French family may have been aware of the events of 1838.

   Tensions came to a head in July 1838 when John Fielden threatened to close his mills, placing his 3000 employees and their dependants into the position of having to claim relief, thereby severely clogging up the system ^[58] . The Commissioners called his bluff, and John Fielden was obliged to re-open his mills 10 days later. Local Magistrates drafted in Cavalry and Special Constables to restore order. Resistance to the law continued throughout the year and a troop of Infantry was stationed permanently in the town to restrict the intimidation and boycotts. So, the Overseers of Todmorden & Walsden were supported by a vast number of people of the township in their decision not to hand over £50 to the Union and to continue to care for their own poor as they had done successfully for centuries. Likewise, Mr. William Ingham, the Overseer of Langfield, was similarly supported. He refused to hand over the £20 supposedly due from the township of Langfield. He was summonsed to appear before the Magistrates for this, and was personally fined £5. He refused to pay the fine.

    Tensions continued into 1838 and on Wednesday 21 November 1838 'the hitherto peaceful town of Todmorden was plunged into a scene of riot and disturbance' [59] . Bailiffs were sent to the house of Mr. William Ingham, at Mankinhiles near Lambutts. He was the overseer of the township of Langfield near Todmorden, to convey away goods to the value of the fines required. A crowd gathered outside Mr. Ingham's house and threatened to burn down the house unless the bailiffs were sent out to them. This mob was apparently mainly comprised of factory hands, with about one hundred boys leading the mischief [60] . The bailiffs cart was 'broken to atoms, piled in a heap, and set fire to, and the harness cut to ribands'. Mr. Ingham begged the mob to spare the men's lives, which, they eventually consented to.

    The local authorities sent for the army, and on 21 November the mobs massed again. They moved to the premises of Samuel and Royston Oliver at Wood Mills, the latter being a Guardian for the township of Langfield [61] . They sacked the houses breaking all the windows and doors, and wrecking furniture. The mob then proceeded rapidly through Todmorden and up to Dules, or Devil s Gate (as the pass to Bacup is called), to Friths Mill, where they ransacked the house of Mr. William Helliwell, another of the Guardians, and broke his windows, doors and furniture. The mob then sacked and pillaged the shop of one Ann Holt, a provisions dealer, who had supported the new Poor Lawe house and shop of Mr. Oliver, surgeon, brother to Mr. Royston Oliver. His bottles and vials were smashed, and his medicines thrown into the street. The rioters then surrounded Todmorden Hall the residence of Mr. James Taylor. They smashed the windows , hewed the door with shovels found in the garden house, and cut up furniture and portraits. The fragments of furniture were piled in a heap and set fire to. The servants quickly extinguished the fire without serious damage. The crowd went to Hare Hill, the residence of Mr. James Greenwood, where they broke every thing, wrecking furniture, throwing silver plate into the brook, and finished by setting fire to the house. Neighbours applied water to the flames, but the principal staircase was destroyed. Henry Atkinson, a shoemaker in the village of Todmorden, was also attacked. Here a Mr. Robinson of The Stones, managed to disperse the crowd. The 5th Light Dragoons from Burnley arrived at 7.30pm, but the mob had dispersed. The Dragoons were followed by two companies of the 86th Foot, also from Burnley. A company of the 3rd Dragoon Guards from Manchester occupied Littleborough and additional cavalry, with two pieces of artillery, marched into Rochdale [62] .

    On Saturday about 150 special constables, surrounded the High Mill of Messrs. Fielden and Brothers at Lamb Butts [63] . They took 40 men and boys prisoners for the riots on 16th and 21st November and escorted them back to Todmorden. Two of the men were identified as having attacked Todmorden Hall, and sent to the New Bailey at Manchester. Fourteen were in the riot at Mankinholes on the Friday previous and dispatched to York for trial at the next assizes. Mr. John Fielden, offered bail for the whole of his workmen, they declined, and the men were committed. Following the riots, the government investigated whether John Fielden had incited, encouraged or supported the rioters. They failed to find anyone willing to testify against him. The Board of Guardians could not operate successfully without representation from Todmorden & Walsden and Langfield. This fact, together with the fear aroused by the violence of the riots and the intimidation of the supporters of the law, led them to go along with the rebels. They agreed to continue with the old system of poor relief and abandon any idea of building a Union Workhouse.

    Whilst the decision to abandon the Union Workhouse may have been a relief to the Todmorden area, the mob riots would have been frightening, for local people. An Eli Crossley was a witness at the trials in 1839 and he reported that he was bringing his children home from school, when he heard the mob and hastened to get his children inside the house [64] . This may have been the situation for a few families. It is hoped that the French family were not involved as innocent bystanders in these riots.

Cragg Bottom in 1841

    Cragg Bottom had a population of 2,000 in 1831 and would have been a very busy place in 1841 [65] . The mills were built on the steep sides of the hills of the valley and it would have been a steep climb to work. In 1841 the family were living in Castle Lane, Erringdon [66] . This is probably Castle Gate in modern Cragg which crosses the stream Elphin and then rises on the moor to Lumb Butts. James was aged 45 and a labourer, his wife Elizabeth was 45 and working as a reeler in the local factory [67] . As a reeler Elizabeth would have reeled the thread off the bobbins into skeins and hanks [68] . Their son Charles, aged 20, was a twister, Samuel, aged 15, was a weaver and David, aged 15, was a piecer. Abraham was thirteen years old and working as a reeler . The youngest children George, aged 10 and Harriet, aged three, were both scholars, although George may have worked part-time, and Harriet may have accompanied her mother to the mills.

    A piecer usually worked on a mule, which had about 1,000 spindles [69] .The thread on these spindles was stretched and twisted as the machine moved forward on three wheels following an iron rail in the floor. Once the threads had been twisted, the mule then moved back to it's original position. During the twisting process threads could break which a piecer would 'piece back together'. In the illustration above the mule's spindle threads could only be pieced, when the machine was in its original position. The noise from the belts that came from the line shafting which drove the machinery from the water wheel was deafening and the air was full of cotton fluff. The children's jobs would be as piecers in mills using spinning mules, who had to lean over the machinery to tie broken threads together and scavengers who had to crawl underneath the machinery – all this whilst the machinery was still working.

    In 1841 Abraham was thirteen years old and working as a reeler in the Castle Mill on the edge of Crag Bottom, today situated where the weir meets Crag Vale. He would have worked from 6am to 7.30pm each day with two hours off for meals, the children only working twelve hours a day for five days a week and nine on a Sunday [70] .This was in direct contravention of the 1833 Factory Act in which children aged 13-18 were only supposed to work a maximum of ten and a half hours a day. It would take until the 1847 Factory Act to introduce a 10 hour working day, or a 60 hour working week.

    The French family had been contracted to work for their new master for three years on their removal from Suffolk to Cragg. They may have found life hard in the Cragg factories. It is puzzling that they were still in Cragg in 1841, at least five years after their move. However, to move to the better paid factories in Manchester or Bolton may have been expensive. They would have had to save up for their own fares to these towns. They may have decided to move employer after the terms of their initial contract were completed with the Greenwoods, in 1839. They may then have worked in Marshaw Bridge Cotton Mill, a couple of miles down the valley, below Cragg Vale, which was run by the Inghams. If the French family had remained working for the Greenwoods they would probably have stayed in the area. However, if they had worked for the Ingham family they may have found it necessary to move when the Marshaw Bridge Mill burnt down in 1843. This is a distinct possibility, as in 1841 the French family were living very close to Marshaw Bridge. It would seem that the French family had moved from their original employers in Cragg to work for the Inghams by 1841.

The Move to Bury, Lancashire

    Whatever the reason by at least 1844 Abraham and his family moved fifty miles from Cragg Bottom to Brooksbottom, north of Bury [71] . They would have taken a carrier to Luddenden Foot and then a barge on the Rochdale Canal, westwards. They may have been reminded of their earlier move from Suffolk only six years before. They would have traveled thirty miles through Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, Littleborough, Oldham to join the Manchester and Salford Canal. This Canal had just opened in 1839. A mile later they would have joined the Mersey and Irwell navigation, and then taken the fifteen mile Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal to Bury. This journey would have taken the family at least a day. Once in Bury they would have had to have traveled a few miles by carrier or walked to Brooks Bottom.

    Once again they would probably have moved to a tied cottage in Brooks Bottom. Brooksbottom was part of the village of Summerseat in the sub-district of Elton near Bury [72] . The village of Summerseat had four distinct areas. It included Higher Summerseat, to the west with grand residences such as Summerseat House, built by Richard Hamer in 1836 and Peel Hall and Lower Summerseat to the north-east on the River Irwell, as well as the hamlet of Rowlands. Brooksbottoms lies on the River Irwell by the mouth of Gollinrod Gorge.

    Summerseat lay near the River Irwell and had had cotton mills since 1773. Cottages were built by mill owners for their workers with power and water being supplied through the mill companies. Most of the Mills in the Summerseat area were owned by Robert Peel and his partner Yates. They were successful calico printers at Bury and Ramsbottom. By 1803 Peel had five mills in the area, and a large number of the workers were young children from the ages of 10 to 12 years old. The day to day running of the Mills in Summerseat was entrusted to Richard Hamer, who acted as supervisor. In 1812 Peel & Yates sold the Mills to a consortium, namely - Edward Hamer Howarth, Richard Hamer, Thomas Norris and William Hardman. In 1824 Richard Hamer bought out his partners interest in the Summerseat estate, for himself and his son Daniel [73] . His Mill at Robin Road, Summerseat had been the attacked by rioters against the adoption of power looms in April 1826. The rioters destroyed 38 Power looms worth about £300.

    Brooksbottom Mill was also originally owned by Richard Hamer, but was bought in 1829 by Thomas Kay for his twenty-year old son John Robinson Kay. John Robinson Kay had married Richard Hamer's daughter Mary Hamer and in 1850 inherited Wood Road Mill in Summerseat [74] . Although attracted by wages the French family may have found life at Brooksbottom Mill to be the same as that at Cragg Mill. The workers were fined a penny for each bobbin found on the floor, and another penny for a dirty bobbin [75] . For waste on the floor they were fined two pennies, and neglecting to oil the machines, two pennies. If they were found to be away from their place of work, they were also fined two pennies for each offence. The Kays obviously were very keen on hygiene as they recommended that all work people wash themselves every morning, but if that was difficult, they shall wash themselves at least twice a week. This rule was enforced and if on a Monday and Thursday mornings, anyone found not washed was fined 3 pennies.

Life in Brooksbottoms

    Abraham's sister Harriet, would have been at least six years old when they moved. Harriet would have been too young to work and would have attended the Brooksbottom Mixed School in Hill Street [76] .This would have cost her parents at least two and a half pennies a week [77] .  Abraham and his brothers would have been too old for school and would have worked with their parents in Brooksbottom Mill.

    Abraham's brother David was the first to marry in 1845 and set up home with his wife Nancy [78] . By 1846 David and Nancy had their first son James [79] . Two years later in 1848, Abraham married Mary Howarth, daughter of James Haworth and Mary Grimshaw in Bury, on 6 February 1848, at St. Mary's Church [80] . Mary was living at Summerseats, Bury, Lancashire. Mary Haworth had been living in Elton in 1841 with her widowed mother Mary and her siblings John, Nancy, and James [81] . Abraham is recorded as living at Brooksbottoms. Both Mary and Abraham signed the marriage certificate with a cross which indicates that they could not read or write.

    Abraham is recorded as a spinner on his marriage. As a spinner Abraham would have worked in extremely warm conditions. The temperature would have been about 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit and this would have been very onerous work [82] .

    Abraham and Mary had their first child John French in Brooksbottom in June 1848, which indicates that Mary was at least four months pregnant when they married [83] .Abraham, Mary and their three month old baby John would have attended the wedding of Abraham's older brother Samuel to Mary Eastwood in September 1848 [84] . Life may have been a little confusing for the French family with two Mary French's!

    The autumn of 1849 would have been a difficult time for the Abraham's brother David whose wife Nancy passed away in September, leaving her three year old son James [85] . Abraham's parents James and Elizabeth may have taken their grandson into their household ease the pressure on David. On a happier note, in December 1849 Abraham and Mary had their second son George French in Brooksbottom [86] . Baby George may only have been a few weeks old when Abraham and Mary's eldest son John French was christened in Bury on 29 December 1849 [87] .

    In 1850 Abraham's first niece Sarah was born to his brother Samuel [88] . Abraham and his family would also have attended his brother David's marriage to his second wife Sarah in March 1850 [89] .

    Abraham's father James, and his brothers David and Samuel all lived in Brooksbottoms in 1851. James and Elizabeth lived with their youngest son George, a cotton spinner, and their only daughter, Harriet, a Back-Tenter [90] . James was fifty-four years old and a cotton labourer, and he and Elizabeth had taken in a lodger, Robert Denner to help eke out their wages. Interestingly there is a reference to an Eliza, wife of a James French in the Lancashire Quarter sessions who may be the same family [91] . A couple of doors down the street lived Abraham's brother David French, with his second wife Sarah and his five year old son, James [92] . Samuel French also lived a few doors away with his wife Mary and their daughter, Sarah, aged one [93] . Samuel's wife Mary worked as a cotton weaver, so it is highly probable that their young daughter Sarah was cared for by Elizabeth French.

Abraham's First Marriage in Elton, Bury

    By 1851 Abraham, Mary and their two sons had moved to Elton, in Bury, two miles south of Brooksbottom perhaps to be nearer Mary's family. In 1851 James's sons Abraham and Charles were living at 22, Bolton Road, Elton, Bury in the Parish of Walmersley [94] . Abraham was living with his wife Mary, their two young sons, John and George, his brother Charles,aged 28 and his mother-in-law Mary Howarth. Abraham worked as a cotton spinner and his wife Mary was a Power Loom Weaver, and their young boys were probably cared for by Mary's mother Mary Howarth.

    It is possible that Abraham may have moved to take up a new job at one of the cotton spinners in Elton. This may have been with Calrow and Brancker, cotton spinners, at Albion Mills, Tho. Calrow and sons, cotton spinners and dye wood grinders, at Wood Hill Mills and Hind Mills, or Hutcheson and Openshaw, at Daisyfield Mills [95] . Daisyfield Mills lie on Bolton Road, and it is probable that Abraham worked there. A few other Suffolk migrant families lived in Elton. These families had migrated to Elton at the same time the French family had moved to Cragg Vale in 1835-6. A Jonathan Smith lived at Daisyfield Mill in Elton in Bury in 1841 [96] . Jonathan Smith was born in Wantisden, in Plomesgate Hundred, in Suffolk, seven miles north of Woodbridge, and it is difficult to see any connection between the Smith and French families. It is also difficult to see any connection with Samuel Ling and his family who also lived at Daisyfield Mill in Elton in Bury in 1841 [97] .

    March 1854 would have been a very difficult time for Abraham and his young family. In March 1854 Abraham's wife Mary, and his brother Samuel's wife Mary both died [98] .Samuel was left with two young girls, Sarah, aged four, and Alice aged one [99] . Abraham was left with two young sons, John, aged six, and George aged five. He may also have lost a young unnamed child. Abraham may have moved home to live with his parents at this time, with his two young sons.

The French Family in Bury

    Abraham's brother David French had moved to Bury by 1861. In 1861 he was living at 8, Pallace Street, Bury with his second wife Sarah [100] . David and Sarah had three sons James, Thomas, and George, and three daughters, Sarah, Mary and Janet, by 1861 [101] . At the time of the census Sarah would have been heavily pregnant with their youngest son David, who was born in June 1861.In 1871 David and Sarah were living at 2 Garden Street, Bury, with their children [102] . In 1881 David and Sarah were living at 11 Oxford St, Bury, with their children five children. David was a Cotton Finisher Minder, aged fifty-six. Their eldest daughter Sarah was a Cotton Rover, their eldest son Thomas was a Cotton Stripper and Grinder, and their sons George and David were Cotton Scutcher Feeders and their youngest daughter Janet a Cotton Slubber [103] . David French died in September 1881 [104] .

    By 1861 James and Elizabeth were still living in Brooksbottom, all their children having left home [105] . They may have shopped at the Summerseat and Brooksbottoms Industrial Co-Operative Society of Railway Street which was inaugurated in 1861 [106] . They lived next door to Abraham's youngest sister Harriet Mellody nee French and her husband [107] . Harriet and her husband Thomas later had three sons born in Walmersley. This village is near Summerseat railway Station, and it would seem that Harriet had not moved far from her parents [108] . In 1871 Harriet was settled in Mount Pleasant, Walmersley in Brooksbottom, with her husband Thomas and two daughters Elizabeth and Margaret, and two sons, James and George [109] . In 1881, Harriet was living at 1, Thorn Street, Tottingden Lower End with her husband Thomas and their family [110] . By 1891, her husband Thomas Mellowdew was recorded as a widower living at 5 East View, Tottingden Lower End with his three sons, James, George and Samuel [111] . This was probably still a part of Brooksbottom, as Tottingden Lower End Parish also covered Brooksbottom and Lammy Bank [112] . 

    In 1861 Abraham's brother Samuel French, a widower, and his two daughters eleven-year-old Sarah and eight-year-old Alice, still lived in Brooksbottoms, probably very dependent on James and Elizabeth's help [113] . In 1871 Samuel was living at Cobden at Hareholme in New Church with his second wife Eliza and his youngest daughter Alice. In 1881 Samuel was living in New church with his wife Eliza, working as a cotton weaver [114] . In 1891 Samuel was settled in Cloughfold, in Newchurch in Rawtenstall and Rossendale [115] .    He was living at 2 Union Street and was an herbalist. It appears that he and his wife had a small shop in the village. Samuel French died in March 1890 [116] .

   By 1861 Abraham's brother George French had also set up home as a cotton spinner in Brooksbottom with his wife Margaret [117] . In 1871 George and Margaret appear to have moved to Snape Hill, Walmersley, near Summerseat Railway Station [118] . They moved to Higher Summerseat, the Old Mill by 1881. George had now changed from being a cotton spinner to a railway platelayer for Lancashire and Yorkshire railways [119] . In 1891 George was living at 15 Hill Street, Bury with his wife Margaret and was once again a Cotton Spinner [120] . Margaret died in June 1901 [121] . George French outlived his wife by over ten years and he died in March 1911 [122] .

Robert French of Horham Moves to Bury

   In 1861 Abraham's uncle Robert French finally moved North to Bury from Horham in Sussex. In 1851 Robert is still recorded as living in Horham in Suffolk with his wife Sarah and their children. They had a had a large family of six sons, Ephraim, Esau, Charles, William, George and Nehemiah and one daughter Mary Ann [123] . All the sons were recorded working as farm labourers. It may have been the promise of full employment and higher wages which pulled Robert and his family North. Abraham's parents James and Elizabeth may have kept in contact with Robert, with the occasional letter, or perhaps Robert and his family had visited Abraham's family for a holiday. At present it is not clear, but in 1861 Robert French, aged 60, was living in Rowlands, a hamlet in Summerseat, with his wife Sarah and their children, George, Mary Ann, and Nehemiah [124] . In 1871 Robert was still living in Rowlands [125] . In 1881, Robert and his wife Sarah were living in 9 Old Bridge Street, Tottingden Lower End [126] . Robert died in 1887 aged eighty-four, just four years after his wife Sarah passed away [127] . 

      Robert's third son, Abraham's cousin Charles French, had moved to Bury with his father and was an agricultural labourer and boarder in Wood Road, Elton in 1861 [128] . By 1871 Charles was at 196 Bitham Road, Tottington Lower End, probably Brooksbottom, working as a labourer. By 1881 Charles was settled as a confirmed bachelor at Old Mill Street in Higher Summer Seat, with a housekeeper [129] . In 1891 Charles was living at 76 Back Melrose Street, Elton, with a boarder [130] . Charles died in June 1897, aged sixty [131] .

      Abraham's cousins Ephraim and Esau remained in Suffolk in 1861 with their families [132] . They had already married and set up their own married households in Suffolk in 1861. By 1869, both Ephraim and Esau had followed the example of their father and moved to Bury [133] . By 1867 Abraham's cousin Esau had moved from Suffolk to Bury and was living Rowlands in 1871 and 1881 with his wife Maria and their children [134] . By 1869, Abraham's cousin Ephraim moved to Pigslee in Walmersley cum Shuttleworth with his wife Maria and family [135] . It is possible that Ephraim and Esau may have moved together. In 1881 Ephraim was living with his family in Bury [136] . By 1891 Ephraim was living at 8, Brown Street, Bury [137] . Of Abraham's cousin William little is further known.

      Abraham had lost his wife Mary in March 1855. He may have found it difficult, working full-time with two young sons, John aged seven and George, aged five, and they may have gone to live with his parents in Brooksbottom for a while. He may have found it very difficult working in Brooksbottoms and Elton area after her death, and may have wanted to make a clean break with the past. This may explain his move to Embsay in 1855.

Abraham Moves to Embsay near Skipton

      Between March and November 1854 Abraham French and his two young sons moved from Elton, Bury to Embsay near Skipton, in Yorkshire. This would probably have been a journey by rail as the Summerseat rail station had opened in 1846 [138] . They would have traveled along the East Lancashire Railway, north through Accrington to Burnley, and then to Colne [139] . At Colne they would have joined the Leeds Bradford Extension section of the Midland Railway to Skipton [140] . At Skipton they would have had to take a carrier two miles to Embsay [141] .The cost of the journey would have been about a penny a mile per person, which would have been a total of about three shillings per person. This would not have been a journey lightly made. Abraham and his boys would have avoided by only one year the fatal accident on the East Lancashire Railway which took place in 1855. Twenty-eight wagons loaded with stone had stopped at the south end of Brooksbottom tunnel to shunt two of the wagons to the works of John Robinson Kay. Whilst they were uncoupling and coupling the wagons, a passenger train from Accrington to Bury suddenly came out of the tunnel and hit the goods train. Forty people were injured and only one fatality from the guard on the passenger train. This incident could so easily have happened whilst Abraham and his children were traveling, and it was a very lucky miss.

      Abraham would certainly have had the offer of a job to move at this time to Embsay, although how he made the connection is as yet unknown. There were plenty of mills in Brooksbottom, Elton and surrounding areas where Abraham could have been employed, and it is difficult to understand the break with his family. Abraham is the only one of his family to move such a distance. There may have been family links with his in-laws, the Howarths, that encouraged the move. It is also difficult to envisage Abraham taking his two young boys with him initially, and he may have traveled alone in search of work, his boys staying with their grandparents until they were called.

      Abraham married for the second time to Agnes Hyde in November 1854 [142] . Abraham may have met Agnes working in the mills in Brooksbottoms area. This may explain his move to Embsay and the relatively quick marriage for a widower. If this were the case he may have traveled to Embsay with the intention of marrying her, or with the promise of a job from her father. Agnes was the daughter of an Overlooker, William Hyde, in Eastby and this may be the connection Abraham needed to move [143] . However they met Abraham was probably trying to find a mother for his two young sons John and George. Whether his sons moved to Embsay before or after his marriage to Agnes Hyde is unknown, but Abraham would have found it very difficult to care for them, and work full-time, without extended family support. It is highly likely that his sons joined him later.

      Abraham could have worked in one of five cotton factories in Embsay and Eastby in 1855. If he joined his father-in-law in Eastby he may have worked at George Chamberlain and Co. at Eastby Cotton Mills [144] . However, this firm may not have survived many years [145] . It is doubtful that he worked in Sandbanks Mill in Embsay run by Richard Shackleton and Sons, as that business was mainly involved in making spindles for other factories rather than spinning cotton [146] . There were three other cotton spinners in Embsay in 1857; William Bland at Millholme, Chambers and Leach, and Robinson and Wilkinson at Primrose Mills [147] . Good Intent Mill in Embsay had been run by Thomas Bramley and Sons, calico manufacturers in the 1840s. This was still spinning cotton until 1857. The collapse of this mill may have led to Abraham's move to Gargrave, but the matter is not yet clear. Whitfield Syke Mill in Embsay mainly span weft on mules [148] . The Calder Valley had also been heavily dependent on mule spinning this may have been the factory that Abraham worked at in the 1850s.

      In 1861 Abraham was living in Embsay, North Yorkshire with his second wife Agnes. Abraham was a cotton factory operative and worked with his two two sons, by his first marriage, John and George, who were also cotton factory operatives [149] . Abraham and Agnes also had three more children, Caleb, aged six, William, aged five, and Ann Elizabeth, who was only fourteen days old when the census was taken in 1861 [150] . Whilst Abraham was in Embsay his mother Elizabeth and father James died in 1866, within six months of each other [151] . It is not known whether Abraham made the journey back to Brooksbottom for their funerals.

The Move to Gargrave near Skipton

      Within four years Abraham and his family had moved from Embsay to Gargrave. The reasons for the move are not clear, but he may have found that there were better prospects in Gargrave. In 1857 there were three Cotton Factories in Gargrave, High Mill run by the Mason brothers, Low Mill or Goffa Mill, and Airebank Mill run by Christopher Bracewell and Brothers [152] . As the French's lived in River Place in Gargrave Abraham could have worked any of the mills, as they were all within walking distance.

      In 1871 Abraham lived at 9, River Place, Gargrave and was a Roller Coverer in a cotton factory [153] . His eldest son John was now a spinner, Caleb and William, the younger sons were both Pickers in the local cotton factory. Ann Elizabeth was still a scholar at age ten, indicating that the family had enough to feed and clothe their offspring. In 1871 Abraham and Agnes had a daughter Margaret Jane born in Gargrave in 1871 [154] . She was the first child born to Abraham and Agnes in ten years and it may be that there were other children that had been buried in the ten year interval. Interestingly Abraham is recorded as a Barber in 1871 on the christening of his youngest daughter. This may indicate that Abraham was slowly building a side business in addition to working in the cotton mills in Gargrave.

      Abraham's twenty-one year old son George French was not in Gargrave in 1871. He was boarding with his aunt Harriet Mellowdew in Mount Pleasant, Walmersley, near Bury [155] . Perhaps he had wanted to return to the place where he had fond memories of his mother Mary, or simply because there were better employment prospects. It is difficult to be certain. However, later that year George married Mary Ann Hall in December 187136. George may have met Mary Ann on a visit to his aunt Harriet, and this may have been the occasion when George and Mary Ann had first met. They set up home in Bury and by 1873 had their first daughter Mary Alice [156] .

      During 1873 Abraham's eldest son John had probably met and started to court Sarah Ann Abbott, daughter of Richard and Jane Abbott [157] . Sarah Ann Abbott was living at 12, River Place in 1871, just a few doors down from John French's family [158] . John and Sarah Ann's first daughter, Mary Jane Abbott, was born out of wedlock on 14 December 1874 [159] . Two months later on 13 February 1875 John married Sarah Ann Abbott in Gargrave [160] .John and Sarah Ann settled in 41 River Place, Gargrave with their young daughter, just a few doors down the road from his father Abraham French. A year later in July 1876 their second daughter Harriet arrived [161] .

      On 31 August 1878 Abraham's son Caleb French married Elizabeth Whittaker [162] . They set up home in Gargrave at 17 East Street in Gargrave [163] . Soon after the wedding on 19 October 1878 Abraham's, grandson, George, John's eldest son arrived [164] . Caleb and Elizabeth French's first son, John's nephew, William, arrived in August 1879 [165] .

      In 1881 Abraham and Agnes were still living in 9, River Place, with their daughters Ann Elizabeth and Margaret Jane [166] . Their grandson William, aged one also lived with them. William was Caleb's son, and it is highly probable that he was staying with his grandparents to give his parents a rest for at least one evening! Caleb's wife Elizabeth was heavily pregnant with their second son James who was born on 26 April 1881 [167] .

      Abraham's second son George had moved back to Brooksbottom and was a mule spinner in a cotton mill in 1881. George and his wife Mary Ann had set up home at 5, Irwell Street in Brooksbottom. They had two daughters Mary Alice aged eight and Sarah Ellen aged six [168] . In 1881 Abraham's son William French was absent from Gargrave, but had not moved as far as his brother George. He was working as a farm labourer in Snaygill [169] .

      On 4 March 1881 John and Sarah Ann were still living at 41, River Place when their youngest son David was born [170] .He was recorded aged only one month in the 1881 census. In 1881 John French, aged thirty-three, was a cotton spinner, probably working in the Cotton Mill owned by Bracewell Brothers [171] . However, the summer of 1881 cannot have been a very happy time for John and Sarah Ann as their two year old son George died in July 1881 [172] . This would have been a very difficult time for John and his family.

Second Widowhood and a Third Wife

      Abraham's wife Agnes French nee Hyde died and was buried in Gargrave on 14 August 1882 [173] . Agnes appears to have had a heart attack. This must have hit Abraham very hard. His children John, Caleb, William, Margaret Jane and Anne Elizabeth, must also have found this very difficult to cope with. However, December 1882 was a much happier time for the French family. Caleb's' third child, Agnes, was born on 3 December 1882 [174] . Then on 25 December 1882 Abraham's eldest daughter Anne Elizabeth French married John Thomas Ayrton [175] .

      June 1883 would have been a time of celebration as John's father Abraham French married his third wife Rebecca Hartley nee Edmondson [176] . Rebecca had married Henry Hartley, widower in Skipton in 1874 [177] . This Henry Slater Hartley had previously married Jane Tillotson in 1847 and died in March 1882 [178] . Both Abraham and Rebecca had not been widowed long before they remarried. They may have known each other before their respective widowhoods.

      Seven years later Abraham's youngest daughter Margaret Jane, married Thomas William Brown in Burnley in December 1889 [179] .This would have been a difficult time for Abraham's eldest son John who lost his wife Sarah Ann in December 1889, and was left to bring up his son eight-year-old David and his daughters fifteen-year-old Mary Jane and thirteen-year-old Harriet on his own [180] . Sarah Ann French was buried on Christmas day 1889. This must have made the bereavement doubly difficult, as each Christmas John would be reminded of her death. By 1891, John still lived at 41 River Place and was still working as a cotton spinner at the age of forty-three [181] . Mary Jane aged sixteen, Harriet aged fourteen and David, aged ten all worked as cotton spinners.

      Abraham's son Caleb and his eldest daughter Annie Elizabeth also remained in Gargrave in 1891.Annie Elizabeth Ayrton nee French was living at 15 River Place, Gargrave, with her husband John with their two-year-old daughter Agnes [182] . In 1891 Caleb and Elizabeth lived at Wray Bridge in Gargrave and had a house with four rooms. Caleb was a labourer and five children, but only one, William worked as a doffer in a cotton mill [183] .

      Of Abraham's children, only John, Caleb and Annie Elizabeth remained in Gargrave, the others had moved to Colne, Bury and Oldham. In 1891 Abraham's youngest daughter Margaret Jane French nee Brown was living in 2 Green Street Colne, with her husband, Thomas and two lodgers, Elizabeth Ann Horner, and Lily Horner [184] . His son William had moved to Bury and was living at 6, North Street, Bury, a couple of miles North of Brooksbottom, with his wife Mary Jane and their three children [185] . Abraham's second son George had meanwhile moved from Bury to Crompton near Oldham. In 1891 George was living at 20 Cheetham Street, Crompton, Oldham, with his wife, their two daughters and his father-in-law [186] .

      Abraham had also decided to move back to Bury. By 1891 Abraham French lived at 73, Spring Street, Bury with his third wife Rebecca Edmondson, daughter of Christopher and Jane Edmondson. Abraham had set himself up as a Barber, probably supported by the work of his wife Rebecca as a cotton spinner [187] . It is not certain when Abraham moved back to Bury, but he did not enjoy his new career for long. Abraham French died in Bury, Lancashire in March 1892 aged sixty-three¹⁸⁸.