Golcar Central Liberal Club
Golcar Central Liberal
Club
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| Golcar Liberal Club |
Golcar is a
village on a hillside above the Colne Valley a few miles west of Huddersfield,
just north of the River Colne and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. The
township of Golcar consisted of Bolster Moor, Golcar, Leymoor, Pole Moor, and
Scapegoat Hill.
The Golcar
Central Liberal Club was formed in 1873 using two newly built houses at Carr
Top. The houses were arranged so that there were reading rooms, smoking rooms,
bagatelle room and a recreation room. The
houses would have commanded a rent of around £30 per annum but the owner had
agreed to lease them to the newly formed club for a much lower rent. The houses were centrally situated in the
village and thus very convenient for people to attend and 80 people had
enrolled on the day of its opening. The
fees were 1s, 2d and 3d per week. Its greatest supporter at that time was
William Shaw of Longwood. One of the
consequences of the opening of the Liberal Club and its reading room was the
closure of the reading room in the Mechanic Institute in 1876. This was caused through falling membership in
their reading room as most of their members had joined the Liberal Club and no
longer visited the Mechanics Institute.
In
February 1875 there had been 114 members by the time of the second report there
were 124 members on the club records. Attendance at meetings and lectures was
reported in the report as being good and there was a well-used reading room in
which the committee had recommended that
“in the future interesting and
instructive periodicals”
be provided for members use. In addition to the reading room there was a
popular billiard room and quieter rooms for “conversation” and quieter games
such as “cards, dominoes and draughts.”
The club provided refreshments for members and had added beer to those
on offer since 14th May 1875, however beer was not served on a
Sunday. In 1877 the sale of beer would
be the catalyst for a libel case brought by two club members William Hirst and
John Gledhill against Benjamin Brown of the Huddersfield Weekly News who had
published a letter which criticised their management of the Liberal Club and in
particular the sale of beer. Hirst was a
local businessman, a prominent member of the Baptist Church and lay preacher,
as well as former president and founding member of the club. Gledhill was a church deacon and the club president
at that time. The letter had implied that the two men had encouraged drinking
and gambling in the club on a Sunday.
The courts found in favour of Gledhill and Hirst.
They
had formed a cricket club in the summer of 1876 and it had proved to be very
successful. A report of a game played in July that year between Parkwood,
Second Eleven and the Golcar Central Liberal suggests that the Liberal Club had
its own cricket ground.
A number of other social entertainments for members
had been held including an excursion to Longwood Feast. This was an annual event held over two days,
Sunday and Monday in August in the various villages of Longwood, Lindley,
Golcar and Milnsbridge. The feast included people travelling on day excursions
and the Golcar Liberal Club travelled to Blackpool. Those people who chose to remain at home were
entertained in the villages with
“toy and trifle”
stalls plus fairground rides
for people to enjoy plus the attraction of the Golcar Show and Sports.
In October
1876 the club held a “festival” on a Saturday evening in the Old Baptist Chapel
starting with a “knife and fork” tea held in the schoolroom where 100 people sat
down to eat.
Alfred Ainley, a local
solicitor, was the club president and he addressed the gathering and gave
apologies for those unable to attend the festivities. The club secretary, J. Hirst, gave the report for the club,
this being only the second one since its opening as each report had covered a
year and a half of the clubs activities. It was intended that from 1876 the
report would be given annually during the first week in October. The objectives of the club were given and
had a twofold intention. The first was
the
“political education”
of the members and the organisation of the Liberal
Party. Indeed Joseph Whiteley Shaw went
on to say to club members that
“the great political object of political clubs
was that people should learn to think.”
The
second objective being the provision of a place where members could enjoy
“innocent recreation.”
The committee
were of the belief that these objectives had been achieved by the club to that
date.
The
clubrooms were however at that point were perceived as being “inconvenient” and
so they were buying a property which had recently gone on the market which
would provide a more convenient space. This property had formerly belonged to John
Dyson, who had died and his estate had put it up for sale for £600. The club had borrowed £500 in order to
purchase the building which would be repaid when they were in a position to do
so. They had been promised £228 0s 6d by
the day of the festival and of that £122 8s 6d had been paid. The treasurer went through the club accounts
which showed a balance of £1 9s 4 ½ d but there were outstanding invoices of
£20 show they effectively were in debt to £18.
Despite this the committee felt that the club was in a “healthy state” and
the hope was that by the next annual meeting they would be in the new club
house. There were many speeches during
the evening and these were interspersed with entertainments including songs,
glees and a quartet.
A
more unusual entertainment, with an almost party feel to it, was given in the
December 1876. It was held in the
Baptist Sunday School with John Gledhill as chairman to what was described as
“an entertainment of a very interesting character”.
This unusual entertainment being given by the
Shelley All England Handbell Ringers plus songs and recitations by Willie Bray,
a comic from Leeds, accompanied by Benjamin Taylor; a couple of dialogues by
club members, a recitation by Robert Bates and a drum solo by a young James
Baxter. There was a very large audience and the club expected to make a good
profit from the event for club funds. Huddersfield
Chronicle 24 February, 13 July, 19 August, 14 October, 30 December 1876 &
10 March 1877
In
line with their objective of providing political education and debate the club
held lecture with visiting political speakers.
Fred Richardson gave a
lecture in club in February 1876 entitled
“Why am I a Liberal.”
After the
speech there ensued a lively discussion in which several members joined in.
A
week later another essay was delivered to a crowded room by John Arthur
entitled
“Struggles for Liberty in the Light of History.”
It was reported that
this essay was “highly interesting” and was “enthusiastically received” by the
audience. The usual discussion took
place after the speech and was thoroughly enjoyed by those present.
Another
lecture in the assembly room of the Baptist Sunday School in January 1877
proved to be more controversial . The guest was J. H. Gordon of
Darlington, the lecturer of the “Liberation Society.” He spoke on
“Church
property or who are the spoliators?”
When
he finished his lecture the floor was opened for questions as was usual and Robinson Ainley asked the lecturer
about the income of bishops from the state, referring to a point in the
lecture. The speaker refused to discuss
the matter saying it was not relevant to what he was saying, an answer which
was not
“deemed satisfactory”
by the meeting. Huddersfield Chronicle 19 & 26 February 1876 & 13 January 1877
Although
the new building had been occupied by the club for thirteen months, it was not inaugurated until November 1878. It was
reported as being the fourth political club to have opened in the district.
Membership stood at 165, which had been an increase of 41 on the previous
year.
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| William Henry Leatham |
John Barran, MP for Leeds and William Henry Leatham (older brother of Edward Aldam Leatham who became MP for Huddersfield), who would become the Liberal candidate for the
South Western division of the county, were present at the opening. After the formalities a meeting was held in
the Baptist Schoolroom, a large room beneath the chapel, where both men
addressed the audience. Bradford Daily
Telegraph & Leeds Mercury 11 November 1878
William Henry Leatham
and H. W. Fitzwilliam, parliamentary candidates, visited Golcar to address a
Liberal meeting in April 1880. They were
met by a large body of men led by The Scapegoat Brass Band at the Junction Inn
and marched in procession to an open space in front of the Liberal Club in the
village. They were accompanied by other
prominent local Liberals including Henry Frederick Beaumont, Wright Mellor, and
others. The club had erected a temporary platform where they were greeted by John Hirst the club president and hundreds of people surrounding the platform to
hear them speak. When the candidates and their supporters mounted the platform
they were greeted with
“great cheering mingled with hooting.”
After their speeches a show of hands from the
large audience showed a large majority in favour of their candidature. Leeds
Mercury 30 March 1880; Leeds Times
& Sheffield Independent 3 April
1880
About 80
members of the Liberal Club sat down to a
“substantial supper”
served in the
club to celebrate the marriage of one of its members Edward Whitwam. Huddersfield
Chronicle 6 November 1886
Christmas
Eve 1886 saw 31 members of the club having supper together in the club
rooms. The meal had been prepared by the
manager of the club and afterwards the “company” indulged in singing and
“conviviality until a late hour!”
It
sounds as though a good time was had by all!
Huddersfield Chronicle 1 January
1887
The club
held the annual meeting in 1890 in the large club room with a good number of
members in attendance. John Hirst the president was retiring and a new
president had to be elected. William Lockwood was elected to the office. Joe Atkinson, one of the club secretaries,
read out the club report for the year. There had been some fluctuation in the
membership that year with 62 members leaving but 63 new members, thus the total
membership of the club had increased by one making 173 in total. The 1892
annual meeting saw a decrease in membership when the secretary reported that
although there had been 37 new members 55 had left which left the membership
that year at 158. Due to this fall receipts at the club had also fallen but
despite this the club had managed to reduce its debt from £300 to £260. Huddersfield
Chronicle 5 November 1890; 3 November 1892
The Golcar
Liberal Club took part in a whist and billiard match held at the Reform Club in
Delph in January 1892 but were defeated. However 1892 saw victory for the club
Billiard team when they were presented with eleven gold medals on winning the
Huddersfield and District Cup. Huddersfield
Chronicle 22 January 1892 & Yorkshire Evening Post 19 March 1892
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| Sir James Kitson |
The club
celebrated its 21st anniversary in November 1894 with Sir James
Kitson re-opening the club building.
William Lockwood was still the president and chaired the
proceedings. Joe Atkinson gave the
annual report which showed that the club had recovered its membership numbers
and they now stood at 180. The total
cost of the Liberal Club building they were now in had been £1286 5s 8d and the
club still had a liability of £397 5s 7d.
Tea was served to between 400 and 500 people in the large vestry of the
Baptist Chapel where a public meeting was held during the evening. Sir James
Kitson and T. P. O’Connor, MP both spoke at the meeting. Huddersfield Chronicle 17 November 1894
The Golcar
Liberal were still holding fundraisers in 1900 when they had a
“Garden Party”
on the cricket field. The morning saw a poor attendance but by afternoon this
had improved and had increased even more by the evening. A cricket match was
set up on the theme
“married versus single”
and the singletons won the match by
59 runs. The Women’s Liberal Federation
served tea to around 250 people and the Scapegoat Hill Brass Band played
several selections during the afternoon and into the evening. Later the Golcar
Baptist Prize Choir conducted entertained the crowds. It was expected that the event would raise a
good amount towards club finances. Huddersfield
Chronicle 21 July 1900
1911 saw
another fundraiser with a bazaar being held over several days. There had been a
“crowded attendance”
when the opening ceremony had been performed by C. H.
Crowther of Huddersfield. The event was
hailed as a great success with receipts over the three days totalling
£911. These proceeds were to go towards
the building of new club premises for which they already had a sum of £600 in
the bank. So it looks as though things
must have been improving all the while for the club with rising membership
causing the need for larger premises.
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| Charles Leach, MP. |
The new club
building became a reality when the foundation stones for the new club were laid
in August 1913 by Lord Airedale and
Charles Leach MP for Colne valley.
The estimated cost of the building was £3000. The
club put its old premises up for sale by auction in July 1915 with the auctioneers advertising it as
“Golcar Central Liberal Club and
adjoining caretakers’ house”
value expected was £375. The auction took place at the Rose and Crown
Inn, Golcar where the property was sold for the expected price.
The opening ceremony
of the new building took place in the same month as the auction on a
“brilliantly
fine day."
It had been due to open the previous autumn but had been postponed
due to the outbreak of war. Oliver
Taylor was chairman and alongside him was Alderman Frederick William Mallalieu, prospective
Liberal candidate for the Colne Valley, and his wife plus many more prominent,
local Liberals. W. Crowther, President of the Colne Valley Liberal Association
was to do the honours of opening the new club.
The new premises were far superior than those previously, having a bowling green and a garden, plus an additional plot of land below the site. A lot of work had been
done by the members and their friends to make the new premises a reality. Their
ambition had been to be free of all debt by the time they took possession of
the building. The cost of the new club
had been around £3000 and they required £1000 to free them from debt. On the opening day it was hoped to raise
money to go some way towards reducing this amount. Oliver Taylor stated that
the workmen had presented them
“with a building on a good site, of capacious
and almost splendid proportions, which they doubted not would be the pride of
the Liberals of Golcar.”
Due to the war the decision had been made to keep the
ceremony formal as it was felt inappropriate to make it a party in light of the
conflict and therefore the pledge was that the building was dedicated to the
principles of liberty and freedom. Mr
Crowther was presented with a silver, gilt key as a memento of the
occasion.
Although the
formal opening had been delayed the members had moved into the new building in
August 1914 but they stated that
“they felt a little bit as though they were
trespassing!”
William Henry Walker, a member of the club, had been appointed as
caretaker and had taken up residence in the house provided on the club
premises.
On leaving
the old building they had held a social evening to celebrate the move where it
was deemed appropriate to conclude the evening with a rendition of the national
Anthem. It was after midnight and the
song was delivered in such
“a hearty manner”,
in other words loudly, that it
awoke a nearby elderly women. She was so startled to hear the National Anthem
that she thought that it must have meant good news. After gathering herself together she threw
open the window and asked the crowd below
“is the war over?!”
Naturally she was disappointed when she found
that this was not the case but just the
“healthy lunged Liberals of Golcar.”
Apparently
the club had allocated space for women in the club as Crowther spoke of his
pleasure that
“they had made accommodation for the ladies, who could come in
and see what they were doing.”
The
promotion of Liberal principles as well as social enjoyment continued to be
quoted as the clubs prime objective. A
collection was taken at the end of the ceremony on behalf of the building fund
but there was no report about how much this amounted to. After the formalities tea was served to a
large crowd and a gala was held in a tent erected in a nearby field. The Scapegoat Brass Band played a selection
of pieces and also played for dancing later in the evening. Leeds
Mercury 9 October 1911; 15 & 18 July 1915; Yorkshire Post 25 August 1913;
Huddersfield Daily Examiner 15 & 23 July 1915, 25 August 1914, 19 July 1915
Colne Valley Feast
There was a
tradition of workplaces closing down to allow a summer break for their workers
and in the Colne Valley this was certainly the case during what was known as
“the feast holidays.”
Clubs around the
area had begun to run holiday clubs to enable their members to save for the annual
break. It is difficult to know exactly
how much money was saved or distributed at the break as mills and factories as
well as the political clubs ran the savings schemes but testament to the
success of the scheme were the crowded stations of the Colne Valley during
Feast week in 1913. Golcar Liberal Club was said to have paid out £640 to its
members that year and when the many mills in the area shut down for the week
people headed for the railways stations. Those who chose to remain at home went
on “trips” with attractions being “fancy fairs” and cricket matches as well as
local musical festivals in aid of local charities. Whatever they decided to use
the time for the holiday savings enabled them to enjoy their precious time off.
In 1916 despite
World War 1, the mills closed for the Colne Valley break as usual and the railway companies put extra trains on to
cope with the holiday rush. Five extra trains were put on for Blackpool and
bookings were taken for trips to Morecambe and to the North Wales Coast. The
Golcar Liberal had paid out what was regarded as a record sum of £650 to its
members! By 1919 the amount saved and paid out by the club had risen to £3000!!
Advanced bookings for trains in 1919 totalled over 12,000 and queues were seen
at the booking offices all week. Yorkshire
Evening Post 6 September 1913 & 6 September 1919; Leeds Mercury 2 September
1916; Leeds Mercury 12 August 1910.
Retirement
and Tragedy.
Fred
Cheetham who was vice president of the club in 1914, was retiring from his role
to take up a business in Blackpool due to poor health. William Lockwood made a
presentation to Fred on his retirement on behalf of the club of a
“handsome
French timepiece in green onyx stone.”
It was inscribed
“Presented to Fred
Cheetham, Vice President Golcar Central Liberal Club by the members in
appreciation of his services to the Liberal cause.”
He had served the club for
over twenty years. After the
presentation the members enjoyed a social evening of songs, duets and glees. Huddersfield Daily Examiner 26 February
1914
Tragedy
struck the club in 1915 when one of its members was found to have committed
suicide. John Thorpe had been a lifelong member of the club and had met with an
accident in the February before his death.
He had fallen from a tramcar and injured his shoulder which had rendered
him unable to work and he had become depressed.
He went to the Liberal Club on the Tuesday lunch time and not long after
he left he was found in the canal near Scorah Bridge. The inquest gave a verdict of suicide whilst
of unsound mind. Leeds Mercury 3 June
1915
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| Golcar War Memorial, Town End, Golcar |
Golcar Central Liberal Club and World
War 1
The club
building has timber memorial boards for members killed in both conflicts.
One of the
club members wounded in the conflict was Private Walter Shaw who lived at New
York, Golcar. His parents had left the district to live in Stockport a few
years before. Walter had joined the
Northumberland Fusiliers a week after Easter in 1916 and had been posted to
France at the end of July. He was seriously wounded in the back and spleen but
it is unknown whether he survived these injuries.
A member who
did not make it home was Rifleman Harry Whitwam, eldest son of Fred and Martha Whitwam
of 9 Church Street, Golcar. He had joined the army on 5th November
1915 serving with the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. He died after being wounded on 4th
December 1916 aged 19 and is buried at the Dickebusch New Military Cemetery,
West Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Another
member killed in the conflict was Lance Corporal Dan Pearson of 7 Brook Lane,
Golcar aged 22, son of Fred and Louisa Pearson of “Brooklyn,” Bamton Avenue,
South Shore, Blackpool. . He had joined
the 1/5 Battalion West Riding Regiment, Huddersfield Territorials. He was killed in action whilst raising his
rifle to fire when a sniper shot him through the head. Despite being so young he had been an active
member of the club being assistant secretary.
He had served for four years in the 7th Battalion West Riding
Regiment, Colne Valley Territorials where he had attained the rank of sergeant
and enlisted in the Huddersfield Battalion early in the previous September
before his death. By a cruel quirk of fate his parents had received a letter
from him a few days before they were notified of his death in which he said
that he was expecting to come home soon on leave. He had been in the trenches for eighteen days
at a stretch. Buried at Ypres Menin gate
Memorial. Huddersfield Daily Examiner 19 August 1915; 24 November & 14
December 1916
The club is
still in existence in the property opened in 1915 at 10 Church Street, Golcar,
HD7 4AH
