Denby Dale Conservative Club
The Denby Dale Conservative Club is cited in connection with
a large Conservative demonstration in Kirkburton in 1881. This meeting was described as “a great and
enthusiastic” demonstration and started with a procession of all the clubs
present from outside the Kirkburton Conservative Club led by the Kirkburton
Victoria Brass band to Oakland’s Park which had been opened to them for the day
by Mr George Hey. The aim of meeting was
to strengthen the “ranks of Conservatism” in the Kirkburton area and was held
in a large tent which had been erected in the grounds of Oatlands Park
especially for the event.
It was
attended by large numbers of people from all around the district, Huddersfield on
one side and Denby Dale on the other. J. A. Brooke, J.P. presided over the
event and was supported by
“numerous members of the party”.
 |
| Ellis Ashmead Bartlett |
Ellis
Ashmead Bartlett, MP for Eye,
addressed the crowd which included members of Kirkburton Conservative
Association and the conservative clubs of Scissett, Shelley, Shepley and Denby
Dale. He said that
“the spectacle of that great meeting, enthusiastic in the
cause of right and patriotism” showed the feelings of Yorkshiremen.
Leeds
Mercury, Sheffield Daily Telegraph &
Manchester Courier 17 October 1881.
Later that year
Complimentary dinner was given at the George Inn for Mr W. W. Potter, as he had left the district, by members of Kirkburton Conservative Club and a few friends
from Shelley, Shepley and Denby Dale Clubs in total 40 people attended. Mr John
Haigh in the chair. Huddersfield
Chronicle 26 November 1881
At their annual
meeting in 1887 the club had expressed confidence in the government and they received
a letter from the Prime Minister acknowledging their support. Sheffield Daily Telegraph 8 December 1887
The club held a meeting in at the Prospect Hotel 1888 to
discuss plans for a new Conservative Club building in Denby Dale. Mr Moses
Wesley was in the chair and they looked at the proposed plans and
specifications for the new building. Mr Atkinson the architect explained the
plans to them and a building committee was formed. The cost of the building
exclusive of the site was estimated at around £500. No exact location for the
building was recorded and the entry in Kelly’s Directory of 1893 simply reads
Denby Dale. Sheffield Evening Telegraph 20 March 1888; Kelly’s Directory 1893.
In 1890 they held a public tea and meeting in Denby village
in connection for which there was a large attendance and Mr Thomas Norton (he
was a chief landowner in the area – Bagden Hall) presided. A resolution proposed success to Denby
Conservative Club. Huddersfield Daily
Chronicle 29 April 1890; Huddersfield Chronicle 3 May 1890.
Denby Conservative Club met at the club rooms in December
1891 to make a presentation to Mr C Hargreaves of a “handsome marble timepiece”
as a token of 14 years’ service as secretary to the club. He was described as being the “heart and soul
“of the Denby Club. Mr Alfred Taylor
said that
“there would not have been a Conservative Club in Denby”
if it were
not for Mr Hargreaves and that he remembered the flag being raised on the
building. Huddersfield
Chronicle 10 December 1891
The Church Schools in Upper Denby in 1925 saw about 170
members and friends gathered for a whist drive and dance in April. This was organised by the newly formed Men’s
Conservative and Unionist Association assisted by Mrs. Dr. Armitage and members of the Ladies Committee. Colonel
Hodginson, JP, presented the prizes to winners and congratulated the
organisers on the successful event and the size of the attendance. Sheffield
Daily Telegraph 23 April 1925.
The location of the Conservative Club in Denby Dale is still
unclear and appears to be no longer in existence.
