Tagged With: Gomersal Mills
The value of feedback
Now that I have an almost complete draft of my family history I have begun seeking feedback on it. I have re-hashed it too many times to see it objectively and while it is not destined for a very large public I hope that a few people outside the family will find it worth reading. … Continue reading
Who is going to read this?
There may be many reasons why we begin to research our family history but what we all do with our findings is a big unknown. Some of us may be content simply to learn facts? Many of us will want to record what we have discovered for others to read. But who are these others? … Continue reading
Gomersal Mills and the outbreak of World War One
The outbreak of the First World War would prove profitable for some textile businesses in the West Riding, as wars had in earlier centuries. They had supplied uniforms and other items for military use to this country, most of Europe, the Middle East and overseas territories for several hundred years previously. I think they clothed … Continue reading
First World War ancestors
One hundred years ago, early in 1914 my grandfather and his two cousins, young men only 20 years old were beginning their working lives in wool textile manufacturing, as at least four generations of their forebears had done. Frank Oswald Burnley, my paternal grandfather, had been an apprentice dryer in worsted yarn and was preparing … Continue reading
Happily ever after …?
It may be a long way off but how and where to end a story can be a dilemma. For me, recently, it has often been the least satisfactory part of otherwise excellent books I have read, fact or fiction. Now, Dickens knew how to end a story that left the reader feeling satisfied, giving … Continue reading
The Master Worsted Spinners
The master worsted spinners – An occupational category from the Census denoting employer viz mill owner (not a skilled operative) and his product – fine yarn. My story is about five generations of a Yorkshire mill owning family – their rise from cottage industry to wealthy manufacturers and property owners. Their surname was Burnley and they lived in Gomersal, … Continue reading