The linley family
Sue Child
What I’d like to say is that when we were researching the Linleys in Seacroft family history, we realised that our earliest ancestor that we can prove, was born in 1630-40 at Hill Top in Seacroft near the Windmill Hotel. My mother was Elsie Linley, born in 1923, was named after my grandad’s sister.
James Linley was our second great grandfather. James was born in 1820 to his father Thomas who was 32 and his mum Sarah who was also 32. They both came from Seacroft. James became the Game Keeper for Darcy Wilson who was a squire. He lived in Foundry at one time which was a Hamlet where Foundry Mill was that we call South Parkway now. He was the Game Keeper for the Foxwoods which was The East Leeds Learning Centre. Although he had many children, 6 sons and 2 daughters between 1844 and 1862 he will have at least had a bit more food because Game Keepers would have access to spare food and they would use their wits like anybody else who had a family. He passed away at the age of 88. All that hard work and all those children and the noise and living in cramped conditions may be attributed to his old age because I think hard work does sometimes.
One of his sons, Edward Linley who is one of our direct ancestors was born in 1857. We think Edward was probably born in Taylors Yard but we are not sure. Unlike his father, Edward was a miner. Edward married Elizabeth Daccus who was from Oldbury in Worcester. Her father was a miner.
They came up from Oldbury when the mines were declining in the Midlands. They had 8 children in 15 years! He died in December 1914 in Seacroft at the age of 57.
I am descended from Edward’s son Frank, my cousin Cynthia is descended from one of Edward’s daughters Elsie.
I know that when his son,William Linley went away to the Great War and his other two sons went away I know it really upset him. They said he was quite a small man because apparently Lizzy Daccus was nearly six feet in height and Edward was 5.6 or something like that. As a miner he was also a very sensitive person and kind. They said that when his sons went to war he declined. William went missing in 1917. Edward actually died before then but I know that his sons going to war upset him. I’m not sure what coal mine he worked in but there was several near here. It was probably Temple Newsam
Cynthia
Edward lived in Castleford at 7 Temple Street, just after he was married, in the 1881 Census, because his eldest daughter Annie had been born in 1880 in Halton but she’s on the Census in 7 Temple Street in Castleford then the next birth I believe was recorded back in Seacroft.
Sue
For the mines, they’d move around and Edward probably worked with Lizzie’s father because I believe in that census they were living with their in-laws and they would go where the work was. They seemed to be like pigeons, Edward and Liz, they flew back home.
Cynthia
Going back to the Castleford link, Samuel, Edward’s brother was a miner and he lived at Allerton Bywater and I do know there is still a Linley in Allerton Bywater. I don’t know them but there is still a big connection there. So there are two brothers that possibly worked at Allerton Bywater, as miners with the Daccuses. We have no proof though.
Sue
Edward and Lizzie lived in Backhouse Yard when the two of them were growing up and their sons all went into the Army from Backhouse Yard because on one of the Census they were missing from them and they were recorded as being soldiers.
Backhouse Yard: when Cynthia and I were growing up, we used to visit there and when Edward and Lizzie died and were buried in the Seacroft Overspill in St James’ graveyard, we used to go because Uncle Tom, who I never met, he died before I was born, but Auntie Lizzie still lived there. So I used to go up with my mum and dad and my granddad would be there. We’d go to watch the Cricket at Seacroft Green. I remember tippling over because there was a ditch around the Seacroft Green and getting absolutely filthy but not being in too much trouble!
BackHouse Yard was sort of a rectangle and lots of family members lived there. Where the Methodist Church is, it was there. Between there and St James’ Approach. There was also a little shop on the corner which belonged to at one time, Caleb Johnson who was my relative on my grandma’s side. They were travellers who had the feast in Seacroft because my grandma who was originally Helen Johnson, her cousins were the Feast people. Kit Johnson owned the feast. Apparently he was a great big fat man who used to have a flower in his button hole.
Frank Linley who is my granddad who is descended from Edward who is his son, he was born in Taylors Yard and then they moved over to BackHouse Yard and he went to the school in Seacroft. I think it was the Seacroft Grange School.
My granddad married Helen Richmond; her mother was Helen Johnson originally. And she, my great grandmother, delivered babies and laid out people. She wasn’t a parish nurse. She literally worked with very poor people. She was born in 1861 and died in 1929. She was paid in rabbits and cabbages and things like that. She knew a lot about herbs and healing remedies. The family legend is that she had Type two Diabetes when she was older. She had 13 children all together and she had a few miscarriages and still births, she had 8 living children in total. When she was 67 she went to bed one night and grazed her ankle on a stone hot water bottle and it turned gangrenous and she died. They lived on Village Green at one time in the white cottages in Seacroft. My mum would frequently visit her grandma.
Cynthia
My grandma was Frank’s sister Elsie. Elsie was born in 1885 and died in 1927. She died of diabetes. We were always told that there was no insulin but I believe there was insulin but they probably couldn’t afford it. She married John Simpson who lived at Bardsey. My granddad was a large as life character, a lovely man, very strict, very kind, very helpful. He was a really big, thick set man.
When you look at the photo you can see that Elsie’s hands are all swollen possibly because of the diabetes. This photo was taken in 1926 probably. She was in St Thomas’s Hospital which was on the sea front in Scarborough and she was with one of the nurses and her friend Mrs Terry who I knew went to see her. My Uncle Jim was lifted up by my mother so that he could see his Mum through the window. My granddad used to go every Saturday and take two of the children. If he had a good win on the horses he’d take more. My uncle Jim who is still alive said that when he was a little boy he can remember that he wasn’t allowed to go in and see his mother and he said he can remember my mother lifting him up so he could see. My mother was only eight when she died.
Cynthia
My grandma was Frank’s sister Elsie. Elsie was born in 1885 and died in 1927. She died of diabetes. We were always told that there was no insulin but I believe there was insulin but they probably couldn’t afford it. She married John Simpson who lived at Bardsey. My granddad was a large as life character, a lovely man, very strict, very kind, very helpful. He was a really big, thick set man.
When you look at the photo you can see that Elsie’s hands are all swollen possibly because of the diabetes. This photo was taken in 1926 probably. She was in St Thomas’s Hospital which was on the sea front in Scarborough and she was with one of the nurses and her friend Mrs Terry who I knew went to see her. My Uncle Jim was lifted up by my mother so that he could see his Mum through the window. My granddad used to go every Saturday and take two of the children. If he had a good win on the horses he’d take more. My uncle Jim who is still alive said that when he was a little boy he can remember that he wasn’t allowed to go in and see his mother and he said he can remember my mother lifting him up so he could see. My mother was only eight when she died.
lOn Elsie’s death in 1927 he was left with 9 children. The youngest, John, I was told by my uncle John, who is no longer with us that this photo was taken, he was born in 1925 this photo was taken in 1926 because she knew she was going to die The photo was taken so John would know who his Mother was as she was very ill with diabetes after his birth.. Out of all her children, she wanted him to know who she was. Elsie and John were married at Whitkirk and they lived here and there. Elsie at the time of her marriage lived at Chapel Street in Halton which I had the pleasure of visiting a few years ago because I knew the people that lived there by another friend,
But there was no recollection of it being a little cottage. It was a very, very nice house. At the time of the marriage Elsie like most of the women of her generation, the census said she was a domestic servant. And as Sue was saying, on her marriage certificate she had beautiful handwriting, all the letters were beautifully formed. All the same height and depth and it was very pleasurable to read.
But there was no recollection of it being a little cottage. It was a very, very nice house. At the time of the marriage Elsie like most of the women of her generation, the census said she was a domestic servant. And as Sue was saying, on her marriage certificate she had beautiful handwriting, all the letters were beautifully formed. All the same height and depth and it was very pleasurable to read.
They lived round and about this area and in 1916, John and Elsie and their then 6 children and number 7 would either be a baby or on the way. My auntie Elsie was the first one to be born in Tadcaster and then after that there was another 3 and the family remain, the vast majority living in Tadcaster.
My mother Lena Mary married Jack Watson and had 5 children. I’m the youngest of their family. Two of my brothers still live in Tadcaster; another brother lives in a village near tadcaster. I have a brother whose middle name is Linley. My sister lived in Tadcaster till 13 years ago. I was the one who left in 1972. We have a tremendous amount of nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, great great nieces and nephews all still living in the Tadcaster area. I think when I go, I think the Linley flag will probably stop flying.
We were all brought up to know about the Linleys and Elsie obviously spoke about them to her family. Elsie had a daughter called Elsie and her eldest daughter Bertha had a son who was called Peter Linley, My little brother. During my childhood I used to come to BackHouse Yard with my Auntie Elsie and we used to watch the cricket on the Green and we used to go to BackHouse Yard to Lizzie’s and I always remember some talk about someone keeping caged birds which I think was uncle Tom, who we don’t know. He used to keep birds in BackHouse Yard and we also used to see Aunt Amy who was Edward's and Elizabeth's youngest daughter born in 1889.
My mother Lena Mary married Jack Watson and had 5 children. I’m the youngest of their family. Two of my brothers still live in Tadcaster; another brother lives in a village near tadcaster. I have a brother whose middle name is Linley. My sister lived in Tadcaster till 13 years ago. I was the one who left in 1972. We have a tremendous amount of nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, great great nieces and nephews all still living in the Tadcaster area. I think when I go, I think the Linley flag will probably stop flying.
We were all brought up to know about the Linleys and Elsie obviously spoke about them to her family. Elsie had a daughter called Elsie and her eldest daughter Bertha had a son who was called Peter Linley, My little brother. During my childhood I used to come to BackHouse Yard with my Auntie Elsie and we used to watch the cricket on the Green and we used to go to BackHouse Yard to Lizzie’s and I always remember some talk about someone keeping caged birds which I think was uncle Tom, who we don’t know. He used to keep birds in BackHouse Yard and we also used to see Aunt Amy who was Edward's and Elizabeth's youngest daughter born in 1889.
She was a bit of a character she was always in Seacroft but she lived in Swillington Common for years, because her husband was a groom and she married him and had 4 daughters. When he died, she had another two husbands. One I think she probably married in the 1960s and thirdly she married very late in life when she was in the old people’s home.
She was a bit of a character she was always in Seacroft but she lived in Swillington Common for years, because her husband was a groom and she married him and had 4 daughters. When he died, she had another two husbands. One I think she probably married in the 1960s and thirdly she married very late in life when she was in the old people’s home.
Anna Linley, who was born in 1880 and died in childbirth. Elizabeth is the oldest. Their daughter Alice died of some skin complaint. She always suffered from Eczema and Psoriasis
I can remember going to Aunt Ruth’s Golden Wedding in Bardsey with my mother, her neice. In my first job I worked as a hair dresser in Collingham, Ruth lived in Bardsey and this lady came in the shop and she sat down so I could wash her hair and she said “Oh hello. Are you new? Where do you live? Are you local?” I said “I live in Tadcaster”. She said “oh! I’ve got relatives in Tadcaster” it turned out she knew my mother. I remember saying to her “I used to come to your house when I was little, when she lived at Wothersome”. She wasn’t exactly houseproud. I can remember this amazing cottage garden. It was absolutely superb.
I can remember going to Aunt Ruth’s Golden Wedding in Bardsey with my mother, her neice. In my first job I worked as a hair dresser in Collingham, Ruth lived in Bardsey and this lady came in the shop and she sat down so I could wash her hair and she said “Oh hello. Are you new? Where do you live? Are you local?” I said “I live in Tadcaster”. She said “oh! I’ve got relatives in Tadcaster” it turned out she knew my mother. I remember saying to her “I used to come to your house when I was little, when she lived at Wothersome”. She wasn’t exactly houseproud. I can remember this amazing cottage garden. It was absolutely superb.