Dore and District Rifle Club and the Wilson Family

Dore and District Rifle Club

The rifle range at Totley Bents, constructed for military use, opened on 15th September 1900. Shortly afterwards, some Dore residents decided to form a rifle club; this would be affiliated with the National Rifle Association and would have the use of the Totley range (Sheffield Evening Telegraph, 18th January 1901). By 30th March 1901, the Sheffield Daily Telegraph could state that Dore and Totley Rifle Club was:

....making capital progress. It has now seventy members, with Mr. William Wilson, of Beauchief Hall, as president, with an influential body of patrons and vice-presidents… Practice with the Morris tube takes place every Tuesday and Thursday in the Dore schoolroom. It is hoped to get on the Totley Range in four or five weeks.

The Club, now known as Dore and District Rifle Club, held its opening shoot on 27th June 1901; its president was still William Wilson of Beauchief Hall, and its patrons included Ebenezer Hall and William Aldam Milner of Totley Hall. The Sheffield Daily Telegraph for 28th June 1901 reported William Wilson as saying, at the opening shoot, that:

Every Englishman ought to know how to handle a rifle.…Twenty-five years ago he was a good shot with the military rifle, but he found now that he could not begin where he left off. He fancied there was too much lying down about the shooting of to-day. If fifty Boers appeared on Strawberry Lee — and personally he wished they would — the Dore riflemen would have to take cover and not sprawl full length on a flat bit of ground. In conclusion, Mr. Wilson expressed a strong wish that every man would become a good marksman, and then Boers and "Bonies" would not be likely to interfere with us.

The report added that subscription to the Rifle Club had been fixed at a low price as the committee wished to encourage working class membership.

Courtesy of Picture Sheffield, reference s04021

Too much lying down…

Civilian shooters at Totley Rifle Range, early 1900s; the standing figure in uniform presumably had some overall responsibility for the site.

Wilsons & Co — Snuff Manufacturers

Joseph Wilson was the first to manufacture snuff at Sharrow Mills; he was doing so as long ago as 1746. The finely ground tobacco, to be sniffed, was sold in small tins such as that shown here. Joseph's son and grandson, both named William Wilson, continued the family business.

Joseph's grandson, William Wilson II, moved to Dore at some time between the 1851 and 1861 censuses, living in a house on Limb Lane known variously as Abbey View, Moss House, and The Moss. Joseph’s great grandson, William Wilson III, was born on 11th July 1850, when his parents were living at Whiteley Wood, but he was living in Dore at the latest by the time he was 10.

William Wilson III

In 1868, aged 18, William Wilson III joined the family firm, Wilsons and Company, snuff manufacturers, of Sharrow Mills; he became a partner in the firm in 1878. In addition to his role in the family business, he held a commission in the 4th West Yorks Artillery Volunteers from 1871 to 1876, and was a JP for Derbyshire from 1899 until shortly before his death in 1927. He was a keen proponent of blood sports: Master of the Barlow hounds for 16 seasons between 1878 and 1900, he was also said to be a grouse shot of considerable skill. His favourite shooting locations were thought to be the Hallam and Stanedge Moors which, according to the Sheffield Daily Telegraph for 3rd August 1927, he owned until a month before his death.

At the time of the 1881 census, William III was living with his wife, Fanny, and infant son William, in Clarkehouse Road in Sheffield, but by 1891 they had moved to Beauchief Abbey (also known as Beauchief Hall), near Dore. The family now included William IV's younger siblings - Winifred, May, and Violet.

William Wilson Junior

The Skilled Shot Certificate pictured here was awarded to William Wilson junior at an event held by the Dore Rifle Club at Totley Rifle Range on 25th July 1906: he had made a score of 87 points (HPS 105 points), at 200, 500, and 600 yards with a Service Rifle. William Wilson junior (William Wilson IV) was the son of Club President William Wilson III. Three years later, on 1st July 1909, at Christ Church, Dore, he married Marjorie Milner, the daughter of William Aldam Milner of Totley Hall, one of the patrons of the Dore and District Rifle Club. The Sheffield Daily Telegraph for 2nd July 1909 noted that this was the first wedding at which the new church bells were rung.

The Chatsworth Rifles

William and Marjorie Wilson set up home at Horsleygate, in Holmesfield. The website for Horsleygate Hall, now home to the Moore family, suggests that William Wilson IV’s shooting prowess was put to good use in the First World War. It states that, in 1915, he joined the Chatsworth Rifles — the 16th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters — which was raised at Derby by the Duke of Devonshire and the Derbyshire Territorial Force Association on 16th April 1915. He fought on the Western Front, and was taken prisoner on 27th March 1918 at Lagnicourt. He was then held at Karlsruhe prisoner of war camp, and repatriated on 29th November 1918.

Lightning Strikes!

In the News: Stormy Weather in Dore

Over the years it appears that Dore could be a dangerous place in a thunderstorm - particularly in July and August.

Lightning strikes brought down chimney stacks and set fire to haystacks. The storm of 1900 occurred after intense heat of 77° Fahrenheit (25°C) and caused widespread disruption in Sheffield.

Here are extracts from the newspapers of four reports concerning Dore, some of which ended in tragedy.

Derby Mercury: 23rd August 1871

On Friday evening, about 5 o’clock, a terrific thunderstorm burst over the village of Dore causing great damage to property, and in one instance at least, the loss of life. When the storm commenced a young man named George William Shepherdson, was assisting his master, Mr Edward Reeves, Farmer, Dore, to thatch a stack. In order to escape the threatened storm the two took shelter under the lee side of the stack, but had hardly done so when a flash of lightning of unusual brilliance lighted up the neighbourhood, and apparently enveloped the stack in a sheet of flame. Mr Reeves exclaimed to his companion ’George, that stack is on fire’. Receiving no reply he turned to Shepherdson, but found him quite dead. Mr Reeves himself, who was seriously injured, will, it is hoped, recover.

Derbyshire Times: 10th August 1878

The tower of Abbeydale House, formerly the residence of Joseph Rodgers Esq. was struck and the weather-cock bent. The Vicarage at Dore was struck by lightning. The electric fluid made a hole in the roof of the servants’ wing and after following the course of the bell-wires finally buried itself in the ground. A servant in the kitchen was slightly injured and all the bells were rendered useless.

Derby Mercury: 5th July 1893

Sheffield and the neighbourhood was on Monday visited by another thunderstorm, accompanied by rain, and although it was not of a very violent character, one death was reported. Mr Joseph Mossley, farmer of Ryecroft Farm, Dore, while at work in the Hayfield was struck by lightning and instantly killed. It is stated that the deceased was trying to protect himself from the rain by holding over his head a bunch of hay with the hayfork. A terrific flash of lightning occurred, and he fell.

Sheffield Daily Telegraph: Saturday 21 July 1900

In the Sheffield district the storm was of the utmost severity, and numerous accidents - fortunately most of them of a minor character - are reported. The telephone arrangements were seriously interfered with, and nearly all over the city the call bells were kept continuously ringing. The telegraph also suffered as a result of the storm, and the electric tramways were affected to such an extent that on some of the routes there was considerable delay.

The article includes an account of the damage caused to three houses on Cricket Inn Road by one lightning strike when the telephone wire attached to the house of police-sergeant Shearman was struck.

The wire was cut in two, and the electric current dividing itself, one part proceeded along the wire towards Darnall, and the other went through the roof into Shearman's house, tearing away part of the roofs of both a bedroom and the floor below.

The report continues:

It is somewhat singular that the electric fluid which passed along the wire in the opposite direction entered the house P.C. James Dye. First the chimney stack was demolished, and then two fireplaces, one in the bedroom and one in the sitting room, were torn out, the bricks being hurled across the floor. The current also entered the adjoining house of Robert Langwell.

Despite three houses being damaged nobody was injured. It was a different story in Dore however.

A farm labourer named Thomas Hallan, aged 16, employed at Whitelow Farm, Dore, was last evening struck by lightning whilst writing a letter near a window in a hayloft. He was killed on the spot, and the lightning, going through the floor to a stable beneath, killed a horse. Dr. Thorne, of Dore, was called to see Hallan, and he pronounced life to be extinct. Two men were in the stable when the horse was killed, but they escaped uninjured.

An inquest into the death of Thomas Hallam was held the following week. The coroner returned a verdict of Accidental Death.

Quack Medicine

Dr Cassell’s Flesh Forming & Strengthening Tablets.

After a recent event at the Woodland Discovery Centre an extraordinary tablet bottle from 1900 came to light. Found on the edge of Ran Wood in Ecclesall woods it must have washed out in the recent heavy rain from the Victorian midden or rubbish dump nearby.

The amber coloured bottle in the photograph is specifically marketed as the cure required for ‘Flesh Forming and Strengthening.’ It dates from approximately 1900.

Dr Cassell’s products seem to have been widely available from the 1890s into the 20th Century with a focus on Nerve and Kidney Tablets. The products are now perceived as an example of Quack medicine. The manufacture of Dr Cassell products was at King Street in Manchester with various product examples appearing from the late 1890s onwards. This advert was in the Derby Daily Telegraph in 1906.

You would be amazed what you can find in Ecclesall woods!

Stories from Dore Churchyard - The Tragedy of the LOWE Family

Sometimes when walking around a churchyard your eye is caught by an ornate gravestone or an unusual name or a very young child but sometimes the monumental inscription makes you wonder what had happened to a family. This was the case when I spotted the gravestone for the LOWE family whose three sons had all died young, with two of them dying on the same day.

In Affectionate Remembrance of HENRY LOWE who died July 22^nd 1879 aged 17 years also of SAMUEL LOWE who died Oct^r 6^th 1882 aged 28 years also of EDWARD LOWE who died Oct^r 6^th 1882 aged 16 years sons of HENRY & MARY LOWE also of HENRY the beloved husband of MARY LOWE who died Dec^r 5^th 1903, aged 71 years also of MARY the beloved wife of the above HENRY LOWE who died Sep^r 14^th 1912 aged 79 years

This gravestone remembers Henry and Mary Lowe and three of their five sons. Henry and Mary and their family lived on Townhead in Dore. Henry was a saw handle maker and also worked as a labourer at Dore Moor Brickyard. They had eight children the youngest of whom, Mary Alice, died at just three weeks old. Their eldest daughter, Maria, married George Parker in 1877 and in 1881 they were living on Brick Houses, Dore. Henry and Mary's second son, Leonard, moved to County Durham to work as a coal miner and in 1880 married Rose Hannah Partridge.

Fatal Accident at Dore

In 1879 both Henry and his eldest son, Samuel, were working at Mr Sykes' brickyard. On the 22nd July 1879 Henry's son, also called Henry, who was seventeen years old, took his father's and Samuel's dinner to the brickyard. He was in the engine shed where Samuel was working when the driving band came off the wheels. While Samuel was putting the strap on one wheel young Henry tried to put it onto the other. It is not clear how, but Henry was caught and dragged into "the race" which was partly under the floor. The engine was stopped and Henry taken out, his chest having been crushed. He died later that night in hospital.

The Inquest

The inquest, which was held at the hospital on West Street in Sheffield, was reported in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph on the 26th July. At the inquest, Mr Sykes stated that the band was 2½ inches wide and was nearly new and that he had not examined the place or the band since the accident. He told the inquest that there was a Government Inspector of Factories approved rail around the driving wheel to prevent someone inadvertently walking into it but there was no requirement to fence it off. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Samuel and Edward Lowe and Henry Broomhead

Samuel had married Catherine REANEY in Dore Church on the 6th of July 1879 just two weeks before the death of young Henry. Their son, John Henry, was born the following year and baptised on 24th of March 1880 and early in 1882 Catherine gave birth to another son named Arnold who died in 1883.

In 1881 Edward LOWE, aged 15, was still living at home with Henry and Mary together with their two younger children - Ketura who was ten years old and William who was five.

The census of 1881 shows Henry BROOMHEAD was living in Dore with his widowed mother Amelia together with his two older brothers. All three were colliers. Henry had been born in Attercliffe. His mother died in July 1881 and was buried in Dore. It appears that, after her death, Henry stayed in Dore lodging with a file cutter. His brothers, John and Robert returned to their wives in Sheffield.

Shocking Accident at Mickley Colliery

In October 1882 Samuel and Edward LOWE and Henry BROOMHEAD went to work at the newly opened Mickley Colliery near Dronfield. The colliery consisted of an engine house, weigh-house, an office and one shaft. The shaft was about 150 feet deep with about 25 feet of sump water in the bottom which had been boarded over. There was a 'lurry' on rails that was pushed by a banksman over the top of the shaft so that men could step out safely once the tub had been brought up to the surface.

Coal had been dug for the first time on the evening of the 5th of October which provided just enough room for three men to work. On Friday 6th October 1882 Samuel, Edward and Henry were working the afternoon shift from 2pm and 10pm. At 6pm they were due to return to the surface for a meal break. During the afternoon the manager, Mr Maskery, had been up and down the shaft and since the men had driven a short distance underneath he suggested they stayed below to eat but Henry said he was wet and they decided to come to the surface and signalled to be brought up.

Their ascent was being made in the sinking bucket. The banksman who had come on duty at 6 o'clock was ready to push the lurry but, just a few feet from the top, the tub became detached from the pit rope. The heavy tub fell down the shaft and broke through the boarding into the water taking Samuel, Edward and Henry to their deaths.

Their bodies were recovered later that evening and taken to the Heart of Oak in Dronfield where identification took place.

The Inquest

The inquest was opened on the following Monday and Henry LOWE confirmed the identities of the bodies of his two sons. Henry BROOMHEAD was identified by the man in whose house he lodged in Dore. It was thought that the three men failed to check that clivey hook was properly secured. The clivey was a means of connecting the sinking bucket with the winding rope and was provided with a lock to prevent inadvertent detachment of the bucket. Certificates for burial were issued by the deputy coroner who adjourned the inquest until the government inspector could visit the colliery to inspect the gearing.

Reports of the accident appeared in many national newspapers. The Derbyshire Courier of October 18th provided a comprehensive report.

The Village Mourns

Samuel, Edward and Henry were buried at Dore on 10th of October 1882. The following appeared in the Sheffield Independent on 14th October.

...The deceased men were much respected and their remains were followed to the grave by a large number of mourners. A procession was formed in centre of the village, and on its arrival at the entrance to the churchyard, it was met by the Vicar, the Rev J T F Aldred. As the mourners were entering the church, the Dead March from Saul was played by Mr Christian Aldred. The service in the church was read by the vicar. After the internment a sister of Samuel Lowe fainted, and was taken home in an unconscious state. The mournful ceremony was witnessed by a large number of spectators, and the utmost sympathy was expressed for the relatives.

Incident at Dore Moor

In the News: Prize Fighting and a Dastardly Deed

Dore has not always been the tranquil place we know today. An article from the Sheffield Independent newspaper of Saturday 8th January 1842 reveals a dark side.

Daring and Impudent Outrage

On Tuesday forenoon week a respectable young female while on her road to Dore, was stopped by seven ruffians, who demanded her money.

The girl was greatly terrified, and notwithstanding she was near several houses, the fellows had the audacity to turn up her outer garments and take away her pocket, but fortunately it only contained some copper coin. She had 20 shillings in silver, wrapped up in a handkerchief, twisted round her hand, which escaped the notice of the villains.

The men are supposed to be connected with a party of blackguards who had been witnessing a brutal prize fight, on Dore Moor, early in the morning, where several thousand were present.