James French of Horham, Suffolk

      James French was born in Horham in in Suffolk in 1797 [1] . He may have been the son or nephew of John French of Horham, who was still living there in 1841 [2] . This John French was buried on 18 October, 1846, aged eighty five [3] . A Sarah French was buried in St. Mary's Horham in on 2 February 1822 aged 62, who may have been his wife [4] . Therefore James French may have been the son of John and Sarah French. John French was born in 1761 and was probably the son of Robert and Sarah French [5] .

The French's of Horham, Suffolk

      A Robert French, who was living in Horham with his family in 1841 was probably James French's brother [6] . Robert was living next door to John French, above, which may imply a close relationship, perhaps his father. Robert later moved to Brooksbottoms in Lancashire and settled near James and his family, so this is highly probable. It is also possible that Mons French and Foster French, who later appear in Heap, near Heywood, Lancashire in 1841 were also related to James and Robert French [7] .

      There were many French families living in Horham in 1841 [8] . It is possible that another Robert French, an agricultural labourer, aged fifty in 1841 was also closely related to James, perhaps his cousin [9] . Robert French was buried in Horham on 31 August 1851 aged seventy [10] . Robert French was probably the son of Henry and Elizabeth French of Eye [11] . Interestingly Robert also had a sister Harriet French, also christened in Eye [12] . Given the popularity of the name Harriet in the French family down the ages, it is highly probable that Robert, and Harriet were James's cousins. This would be a plausible theory, however, Robert French is recorded in 1851 as being born in Topcroft, Norfolk [13] . Whatever, the case, Robert French had at least two sons, John, who had set up his own home in Horham, in 1841, and William, who still lived with his father Robert [14] . A George French is recorded in Henham, in 1851 aged sixty-six, but born in Horham, who may also have been connected with James French [15] . At present it is difficult to be clear, but the French family certainly had a large presence in Horham in the early nineteenth century.

      There were close connections between Horham and Eye for the French family in the early nineteenth century. It is interesting to note that a Frederick French was a curate at Worlingworth, a few miles from Horham, in 1853 [16] . Frederick came from an old established family in Eye, and he followed his brother Thomas Lee French into holy orders who later became Rector of Thrandeston [17] . Their father Thomas French was a wealthy banker and solicitor in Eye, and apparently his parents, Thomas and Mary French, held Grove Farm in Monk Soham, a few miles south of Eye [18] . Thomas French was wealthy enough to vote in the 1837 parliamentary elections and bought Oswold Hall in Thrandeston in 1840 [19] . Another William French was Master of Jesus College, Rector of Moor Monkton and a Canon of Eye when he died, aged 63, in 1849 [20] . He was 'the son of an opulent yeoman at Eye' [21] . The connections are not at present clear, but James French may ultimately be related to these French's of Eye.

James French's Life in Suffolk

      There was no Sunday school, but there was certainly an unendowed day school in Horham in 1815, and it is possible that James was taught at the local school as a youth [22] . However, this would have been dependent on his father having sufficient funds to pay for his education. In 1819 there was 'an agitation' to raise a subscription for a Sunday school as there were a few pauper families in Horham who were unable to find the means to educate their children. A few children were sent free to a Charity School in Worlingworth, an adjacent parish and James may have been one of these children.

      In 1811 Horham had 426 inhabitants in 53 houses, an average of eight people living in each house [23] . There were seventy-six families living in these 53 houses which implies that many households were extended families, perhaps living with relations. Perhaps James and his wife lived with their in-laws in their early married life. Only fourteen of the families living in Horham were involved in industry, the rest were dependent on agriculture for a living. By 1815 there were 42 paupers in Horham, this was about ten percent of the population. In the early nineteenth century this area of the south would be hit by an agricultural depression, and it is hoped that eighteen-year-old James was able to find a job.

James French Marries Elizabeth Pettett

      James married Elizabeth Pettett and they had a family of five sons in Suffolk [24] . In 1836 in a letter addressed to John Pettett, grocer, of Aethelington, Elizabeth makes a reference to 'my dear father'. It is therefore certain that her surname was Pettett. There is a John Pettett recorded as a Taylor in Aethelington in 1841, and in 1851 as a Taylor and Grocer who may be the same man [25] . However, this John Pettett was only ten years older than Elizabeth, and was probably her brother, rather than her father. In 1861 John Pettett was still living in Aethelington with his married sister Kezia Chapman nee Pettett, and her son George [26] . Kezia Chapman was the daughter of Mark and Susannah Pettett and in 1841 and 1851 she was living in their household in Aethelington with her young son George [27] . It is highly probable that John, Keziah and Elizabeth were siblings and the children of Mark and Susannah Pettett. Although Elizabeth's letter to John Pettett appears to address him as her father, the only snippet available is a fragment recorded in the 1836 Poor law Commissioners Report. Her letter may have been addressed to John Pettett, her brother, but the reference to 'my dear father' may have indicated a message to be given to her father, who may have been Mark Pettett. This is made more probable by the fact that the only John Pettett in Aethelington in 1841 is too young to have been her father, and there is no record of another John Pettett being buried between 1836 and 1841 in Aethelington or Horham [28] . John Pettett was living in the house of his nephew George Chapman in 1871 in Bedingfield [29] . There is a David Pettett in Southholt Hall in 1841 who may also have been Elizabeth's brother [30] . The Parish David was a carpenter, and is noted in the 1844 Aethelington Directory as a carpenter [31] . It is interesting to note that in James and Elizabeth's letter to her father John Pettett in 1836 she specifically mentions 'a lack of carpenters, shoemakers and tailors' to her father [32] . It is possible that her brothers David and John Pettett were also considering moving North for work. By 1851, however, David had passed away and his family were farming thirty-three acres, which indicates that his family had survived the economic hardships in Suffolk [33] .

Early Married Life

      Initially James and Elizabeth seem to have settled in Horham Parish. Their first son Charles was born in 1820 in Horham, and within two years their second son Samuel was born [34] . James and Elizabeth moved one mile south to Aethelington by 1824 where their third son David was born [35] . This may have been a move to be nearer Elizabeth's family. The move to Aethelington may, however, have been to move nearer to French relatives. In 1841 a Mary Ann French is recorded living in Aethelington in the household of Charles Witten, widow, who had settled in Horham from Denham by Eye with his wife Mary Ann in 1836 [36] . His mother in law Mary Ann French was probably helping with childcare after the death of his wife. Mary Ann French was buried on 21 December 1849 in St. Mary's Horham, aged sixty-eight [37] .

      In 1811 Aethelington was similarly dependent on agriculture, but had a much smaller population than Horham in 1811 with only 83 inhabitants in total [38] . Seventeen families lived in thirteen houses, with only four houses having extremely cramped conditions. Again only five families were involved in trade, manufactures or industry, the other twelve being involved in agriculture. However, Aethelington had a higher rate of pauperism than Horham in 1815 with 24 out of the 83 inhabitants being defined as paupers [39] . This represented twenty-five percent of the population of the tiny hamlet.

      Two years later James's fourth son Abraham was christened in Aethelington Parish, Suffolk on 15 October 1826 [40] . 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 their fifth son George arrived, in 1831, or Elizabeth may have had at least two miscarriages [41] . By 1831 James and Elizabeth's children may have attended the local school in Aethelington or attended the free charity school in Worlingworth [42] . However, it is possible that by 1831 the French family had moved back to Horham, as George, their youngest son, was born there [43] . 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 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.

Work in Aethelington, Suffolk

      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 1841 Aethelington only had a population of only 111, by 1851 this had only increased by 6 to 117 [44] .

      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 [45] . 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 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 Elizabeth and her children could have been employed in 'dibbling' , planting the wheat or barley seed by hand. James may only have earned 10 shillings and four pence a week in 1835 [46] . However, if he had been employed by the Parish as a pauper labourer, he would only have made seven shillings a week [47] . 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 [48] . 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 [49] .

      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 [50] . The boys would have also worked from an early age, either at home with their mother, or perhaps as labourer with their father. In either case their earnings may not have been more than one to two shillings in harvest time each [51] . 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 [52] . 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 [53] The remaining two to four shillings would have gone some way to paying for shoes which would have cost at least fifteen shillings. On such wages the French family would have had little to spare for clothing, let alone any simple luxuries.

The Poor Law and the French Family

      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 [54] . This was very dirty work. The rags, or shoddy, would have been ground into fibres by 'shoddy devils', which were coarse willows [55] . 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 [56] . 

      Aethelington was in Hoxne Hundred, which adjoined Blything Hundred Blything Hundred's Poor Law relief system was rife with corruption and inefficiency in the early 1830s. 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 [57] . ! 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 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 ^[58] . 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 [59] . This was 'including the great expense of migrating many pauper families to the manufacturing districts [60] .' 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 [61] . 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 [62] . 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.' [63] . An agent was set up in Manchester to whom factory owners could apply 'for hands of the requisite ages' [64] . 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 James 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. By the 1833 Factories Act those under nine were prohibited from working in wool, cotton and flax manufactories, but children between 9 and 12 were permitted to work nine hours a day or a 48 hour week. Therefore 'Most manufacturers prefer engaging persons aged above twelve years of age, as not interrupting the continuous course of daily employment in the mills, which is usually twelve hours' [65] . With three sons aged between fifteen and eleven, and another, Abraham, just ten, the French family had at least four sons who could immediately start work in the textile factories and another, George, who within five years would also be available for work. As recipients of the Poor Relief they 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' [66] .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.

      Guardians were also directed to pay particular attention to the moral character of the mother for 'industry and good conduct' as 'her character is found to exercise the most permanent influence on the characters of the children' [67] .. The Guardians were to obtain a certificate of character from the clergyman or another respectable person who had known the migrants or employed them. These character references with detailed lists of the paupers available to migrate were then sent to the Poor Law Commission for a prospective employer to choose from. The details of travel were also communicated through the Commissioners such as the times of departure and arrival. The cost of the migration was to be paid by the parish for now, but if future migrants were to go the monies would be treated as a loan to be repaid.

      The French family seem to have passed all the tests, interviews and character references proving that they were conscientious workers, who had fallen into poverty, rather than the undeserving poor who used the Workhouses as cheap housing. However, this may not have been the case. The agent in Manchester, Mr. Richard Muggeridge submitted in July 1836 that 'the selection of families for migration was not guided either by their eligibility or legal qualifications for the peculiar labour of these districts, or the general character of the parties themselves for industry and good conduct.... A sturdy and importunate pauper, a pauper or idle family, or the largest recipient of parish funds was deemed the most desirable family to get rid of......extravagant and unfounded promises, or where these failed, threats, ...had been used' [68] . At the moment it is not clear whether the French family were diligent workers or were just too great a burden on the parish with five sons. It is possible that they were both. By July 1836 a total of 329 families, 2,673 people, had been moved as part of this migration project. From Suffolk, 184 families with 1,416 members had been moved. Only 164 had been placed in Yorkshire, most, 1,223 people had been relocated to Lancashire. Hoxne Union alone provided 50 migrant families by 1836, with 416 people moved [69] . Out of these 50 families, thirteen had been in receipt of Poor Relief for over twelve years, one family for as long as thirty years [70] . It is not at present certain how long the French family had been in receipt of relief, but it is highly probable that it would have been for a substantial length of time, at least four or five years.

The Move the Cragg Vale, Yorkshire

      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 [71] . They would have taken their own clothes and been 'decently clad, and with a Sunday change' [72] . 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' [73] . 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 [74] . 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 [75] .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 [76] . 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 [77] . 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 [78] .

      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 [79] . 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 [80] . 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 [81] . They may have made this journey by foot, or they may have been collected by a cart sent by their new employer.

James and Elizabeth French's Letter Home

      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 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 Pettett, 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" [82] . 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. However, it would appear that Elizabeth is also sending a coded message to her brothers who may have been considering moving North for work, not to travel without a contract for employment in the North of England, as work would be hard to find without a contract. Statistics compiled for the 1836 Poor Law Commissioners Report bear this out. Out of 416 individuals moved from Hoxne Union with contracts in 1835-6, only 5 returned to Suffolk, but out of 26 individuals who migrated without contracts from the same Union, 17 returned home. Elizabeth's warning was extremely accurate.

      The letter James and Elizabeth sent to John Pettett of Aethelington in 1836 refers to 'all our families' which appears to indicate that a few families from Suffolk were moved to the Cragg area at the same time. Out of the one hundred families removed by March 1836, fifty-eight were moved from Suffolk. Of these fifty-eight families, the majority, forty-three, were moved to Lancashire, four families to Cheshire, five to Derbyshire, and six to Yorkshire [83] . Of these six families, three, were moved to the Todmorden/Halifax area, including the French family. Richard Driver, his wife and their eight children had settled in Soyland, near Ripponden [84] . This was only five miles from Cragg Bottoms. Another family, that of John Balaam, settled in Hebble End, near Hebden Bridge railway station [85] . Again this was only a couple of miles from Cragg Bottom. A fourth family had been placed in Halifax itself, the family of Charles Honeyball [86] . Both the Driver and Hunneyball families originated from Finningham, about ten miles west of Horham in Hartismere Hundred in Suffolk. Though the families may not have known each other in Suffolk it is possible that they had traveled together and formed an acquaintance. Although scattered, the families were close enough to visit each other, perhaps on a Sunday, and they may have kept in contact through the early years of the move.

Working in Cragg Vale

     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 [87] . 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 [88] . However, in 1824 there was only one recorded mill at Cragg Mill, owned by G and J Hinchcliffe [89] . 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 [90] .

      The French family were issued a contract of employment by the Greenwood brothers of Mytholmroyd Mill [91] . These Greenwood's also ran Land Mill in the Upper Colden Valley [92] . 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..!" [93] .

      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 [94] . 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 [95] . 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 [96] . 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. James and Elizabeth's only daughter Harriet French was born in Todmorden Registration district in Cragg in 1837 [97] .

      As a labourer James would have earned at least £1 four shilling a fortnight [98] . 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' [99] . 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 [100] .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 [101] . 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' [102] .

      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 [103] . 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' [104] .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." [105] . 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 Riots 1838

      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 [106] . 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 [107] . 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 [108] .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' [109] . Bailiffs were sent to the house of Mr. William Ingham, at Mankinholes 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 [110] . 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 [111] . 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, the French's employer, 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 [112] . 

      On Saturday about 150 special constables, surrounded the High Mill of Messrs. Fielden and Brothers at Lamb Butts [113] .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 [114] .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 Vale in 1841

      Cragg Bottom had a population of 2,000 in 1831 and would have been a very busy place in 1841 [115] . 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 [116] . 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 [117] . As a reeler Elizabeth would have reeled the thread off the bobbins into skeins and hanks [118] . 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 [119] . 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.

The Move to Bury, Lancashire

      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.

     There were, however, plenty of opportunities in Cragg and the move to Brooksbottoms near Bury perhaps indicates that conditions were not ideal in the Cragg Bottom Factories. Wages may have been deliberately suppressed compared to those that they could earn in Bury, Bolton or Manchester. It is also possible that James or Elizabeth may have had family connections in the Bury Area.. A Charles Pyatt, and his family had been moved from Suffolk to Greenside, Farnworth, near the present Farnworth Park, at the same time the family moved to Cragg [120] . Charles Pyett had married a Maria Pettett in 1818 in Framlingham, Suffolk, and this may have been a family connection of Elizabeth French, nee Pettett's [121] . However, Farnworth, south of Bolton, was at least ten miles from Brooksbottom, near Bury, where James French and his family ultimately settled. Therefore this may not have been the reason for the move.

     Alternatively, there may have been French family connections in the Bury area. In 1841 a Mons French, gentleman, was recorded in Silver Street, Bury [122] . Silver Street was in the centre of Bury, near Bolton Street railway station and the Museum and Art Gallery. However, the connection with Mons French, if any, is not clear. A Foster French is recorded in Heyward and Heap in 1841 with his family [123] . This was only five miles from Brooksbottom, and may have been the connection that moved James French and his family from Cragg Bottom to Brooksbottoms by 1843. Foster French had also migrated from Suffolk to Lancashire at the same time as James French's family, and was probably working at Vales Mill Heywood, in 1841, perhaps with his sister-in-law Susan Markham [124] . Foster French and his family were still in Heyward in 1851 and 1861 [125] . This may have been the connection pulling James French to Brooksbottoms, but there is no obvious familial relationship between James and Foster French. James French was born in Horham, in Hoxne Hundred, in the North of Suffolk, a few miles from the Norfolk border, Foster French was born in Sutton, in Wilford Hundred, on the south coast of Suffolk, about thirty miles away. As each Poor Law Union in Suffolk would have moved their own paupers to the north, it is uncertain whether these French families would have known each other before the move. It is possible that there may be a connection, but it is, at present, improbable.

     However, it may simply have been a case of moving to be with friends rather than relations. A Nathaniel Scott had migrated at the same time as James French, and by 1841 was living in Cross Edge, Higham Booths, North of Padiham [126] .Nathaniel Scott hailed from Dennington, in Suffolk, just six miles south of Horham. However, Higham Booths in Lancashire was at least fifty miles north of Brooksbottom, where the French family settled, and it is unlikely that this local connection played any part in the decision to move. A popular destination for the 1836 Suffolk migrants was Newchurch in Rossendale. John Brett had moved to Lancashire as part of the same cohort as the French family in 1836. In 1841 he and his family lived at Botton Row, Newchurch [127] .  George Taylor and his family were settled in Tunstead in Newchurch in Rossendale, near Rawtenstall in 1841 [128] . George Taylor was born in Otley in Carlford Hundred, about fifteen miles South of Horham, and it is unlikely that this connection brought the French family to Lancashire. Another Suffolk migrant, Francis Daniels and his family, were living in Newchurch in 1851 [129] . Francis Daniels was born in Fressingfield a mere four miles from Horham, and in the same Hoxne Hundred in Suffolk. Yet another Suffolk migrant, John Larter was also living in Wales in Newchurch in Rossendale in 1851 [130] . John Larter was born in Stradbrook, just a couple of miles east of Horham, in the same Hundred, and he and his family may have been moved with James French and his family in 1836. As paupers, the Daniels and Larter families would have been placed in the same workhouse as the French family, or if all three families were on Out-relief, it is highly possible that they may have been moved together from Hoxne Hundred to the North of England. They may even have shared the week long barge journey to their destinations in Yorkshire and Lancashire. However, if this were the case, James French would have probably settled nearer to Newchurch, just west of Rawtenstall, than he did. In fact James French settled at least thirty miles away.

     Many of the fifty-nine Suffolk migrant families moved in 1835-6 were settled in the Bury area. Heap, near Heyward was a very popular destination [131] . In 1841, one of those migrants, a David Walker and his family lived next door to Foster French and also worked in Vales Mills [132] . David and his family seem to have originated from Cransford in Plomesgate Hundred, which adjoined Hoxne Hundred, and under ten miles from Horham. However, David Walker would probably have not known James French in Suffolk. A James Miles had also migrated from Suffolk to Heap at the same time. In 1841 he was living in Gas Street, Heap with his family [133] . By 1851 David Walker was lodging in James Miles' house in Heap [134] . These two men may have struck up an acquaintance on moving North, but it is debatable whether either of these men influenced James French's move to Brooksbottom. Another Suffolk migrant, Samuel Halls, was living at Chadwick Square, Heap in 1841 [135] . Samuel Halls hailed from Woodbridge, near Sutton, in Suffolk, and it is possible that he may have known Foster French and his family, but a connection with James French is elusive. The same is true of Robert Jay, another Suffolk migrant to Heap, who was living in Diggles, near Bamford, south of Rochdale, in 1841 [136] .

     A few Suffolk migrant families lived in Elton in Bury, only a two miles south of Brooksbottom. Jonathan Smith lived at Daisyfield Mill in Elton in Bury in 1841 [137] . 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 [138] . However, these families very near Brooksbottom, and there may ultimately be a connection.

     Whatever the reason, by at least 1844 James and his family had moved fifty miles from Cragg Bottom to Brooksbottom, north of Bury [139] . 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 eight 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 Brooksbottom.

     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 [140] . 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 and Brooksbottom

     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 in Bury and Ramsbottom. By 1803 Peel had five mills in the area, and a large number of the workers were young children aged between 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 [141] . 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 [142] .

     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 [143] . 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 workpeople 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 Brooksbottom

     James's daughter 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 [144] . This would have cost James and Elizabeth at least two and a half pennies a week [145] . James's sons would have been too old for school and would have worked with their parents in Brooksbottom Mill.

     James's son David was the first to marry in 1845 and set up home with his wife Nancy [146] . By 1846 David and Nancy had presented James with his first grandson and namesake James [147] . In 1848 James and Elizabeth prepared for the weddings of their two sons Abraham and Samuel and the birth of their second grandchild. On 6 February 1848 James's fourth son Abraham married Mary Howarth, at St. Mary's Church [148] . Then in the autumn James's second son Samuel married Mary Eastwood [149] . Life may have been a little confusing for the family with two Mary French's! The third happy occasion occurred in June 1848 when Abraham and Mary produced James's second grandson, John French [150] .

     The autumn of 1849 would have been a difficult time for the family, as David's wife Nancy passed away in September, leaving her three year old son James [151] . James and Elizabeth may have taken their grandson into their household to care for whilst their son David continued to work for a living. On a happier note, in December Abraham provided James's third grandson, George French who was born in December 1849 [152] . Then in 1850 James and Elizabeth's first granddaughter Sarah was born to Samuel and Mary [153] . James and Elizabeth would also have attended the happy occasion of their son David's marriage to his second wife Sarah in March 1850 [154] .

     James, and his sons 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 [155] . 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 [156] . A couple of doors down the street lived James's son David French, with his second wife Sarah and his five year old son, James [157] . Samuel French also lived a few doors away with his wife Mary and their daughter, Sarah, aged one [158] .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.

     In 1851 James's sons Abraham and Charles were living at 22, Bolton Road, Elton, Bury in the Parish of Walmersley [159] . 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.

     James and Elizabeth would have been very distressed by the events of 1854 in which they lost two daughters-in-law and a granddaughter. In March 1854 Abraham's wife Mary, and Samuel's wife Mary both died [160] . Samuel was left with two young girls, Sarah, aged four, and Alice aged one [161] .Abraham was left with two young sons, John, aged six, and George aged five. He may also have lost a young unnamed child. James and Elizabeth would have been a necessary part of the support network to help their two sons cope with the great distress. In fact they may have found themselves caring for all four of their grandchildren whilst their sons Abraham and Samuel tried to pull their lives together.

     Abraham appears to have found it very difficult, coping with working in the Brooksbottoms and Elton area after her death, and may have wanted to make a clean break with the past. Certainly between March and November 1854 Abraham French and his two young sons moved from Elton, Bury to Embsay near Skipton, in Yorkshire. They would probably have journeyed by rail as the Summerseat rail station had opened in 1846 [162] .  They would have traveled along the East Lancashire Railway, north through Accrington to Burnley, and then to Colne [163] . At Colne they would have joined the Leeds Bradford Extension section of the Midland Railway to Skipton [164] . At Skipton they would have had to take a carrier two miles to Embsay [165] . 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, but there was only one fatality; 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. James and Elizabeth may have keenly felt the separation, after keeping the family together through the movements from Suffolk, to Cragg and finally to Brooksbottoms.

     Abraham married for the second time to Agnes Hyde in November 1854 [166] . It is not clear at present if James and Elizabeth attended the wedding. James is described as a groom, perhaps working on a farm or in an inn in Brooksbottoms. However James and Elizabeth felt about their son moving from Brooksbottoms, they would have approved of Abraham 's attempt to find a mother for his two young sons John and George. Abraham and Agnes produced three more grandsons and a granddaughter within the next six years. 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 sons, by his first marriage, John and George, who were also cotton factory operatives [167] . 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 [168] .

     James and Elizabeth's son David French had moved to Bury by 1861. In 1861 he was living at 8, Pallace Street, Bury with his second wife Sarah [169] . David and Sarah had three sons James, Thomas, and George, and three daughters, Sarah, Mary and Janet, by 1861 [170] . At the time of the census Sarah would have been heavily pregnant with their youngest son David, who was born in June 1861.

     By 1861 James and Elizabeth were still living in Brooksbottom, all their children having left home [171] . They may have shopped at the Summerseat and Brooksbottoms Industrial Co-Operative Society of Railway Street which was inaugurated in 1861 [172] . They lived next door to their youngest daughter Harriet Mellody nee French and her husband [173] . 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 [174] . James's son 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 [175] . James and Elizabeth's youngest son George French had also set up home as a cotton spinner in Brooksbottom with his wife Margaret [176] .

     In 1861 James's French's brother Robert French finally moved North to Bury from Horham in Suffolk. 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 [177] . 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. James and Elizabeth may have kept in contact with Robert, with the occasional letter, or perhaps Robert and his family had visited James and Elizabeth for a holiday and decided to stay. 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 [178] . Robert's third son, James's nephew Charles French , had moved with his father and was an agricultural labourer and boarder in Wood Road, Elton in 1861 [179] . Robert appears to have moved to Brooksbottom without his two eldest sons, James's nephews Ephraim and Esau. 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 [180] .

     James's eldest son Charles does not appear to marry and he may have moved to Rochdale by 1861, but it is difficult to be clear [181] . However Charles appears to have passed away in 1863 [182] . This must have been a difficult year for James and Elizabeth, as not only did their eldest son die, their eldest grandson, David's son, James, also passed away in June 1863 [183] .

    James French died in Bury, three years later in June 1866, and within six months Elizabeth French followed [184]