Rachel Almond

Rachel Almond, my great-great grandmother, (mother of Laura Ann Ashman, maternal great-grandmother) was born on the 10th May 1864 at 10 Valley Street, Leeds. Her mother Rachel (born Rushby) died on the same day, aged 39. This seems to suggest that she died in childbirth. Rachel Rushby married at the age of nineteen and Rachel was the ninth living child when she died.

They lived in Leeds, Yorkshire, which was the centre of the woollen trade. Her father Thomas Almond was born in Morley, Yorkshire in 1824. He married again in 1869 when Rachel was about five years old to Ann Hawkhead from Hunslet, Leeds who was aged 40 at the time of the marriage.

In the 1871 census Rachel is living with her father, a cloth presser, at 2 Delamare Street, Leeds along with his new wife and some of the older siblings. Thomas Almond is a cloth presser, his wife Ann, who is 42 years old, has no listed occupation. Mary Elizabeth, 35 years old and Eunice Ann, 32, are still living with the family and both working as cloth weavers. William is 19 years old and working as a plumber, Hannah is 15 and a dressmaker. Elliott is 9, Walter is 7 and Rachel is 6, all listed as scholars.

In the 1881 census Rachel is 15 years old, working as a cloth weaver, and boarding at Bank Street, Morley, Yorkshire. She is listed as niece of the household head, William Lightowler, aged 44, a quarry labourer from Wyke, near Bradford and his wife Ann, aged 50 from, Hunslet, Leeds along with their children, Martha, 17, a woollen cloth weaver, Tom, 13, an errand boy and William’s mother, Elizabeth Lightowler aged 73 born in Wyke, Bradford and listed as assistant.

Morley was a thriving mill town at this time, there is a lovely website here;

Morley

Rachel married James Richard Ashman on the 28^th October 1882 at St. Peter’s Church, Morley. James, who appeared to have called himself Richard was born in 1863.

In 1891 she is 26 years old and married to James Richard Ashman, aged 28. James is a worsted weaver and they are living at 30, Raynor Square, Morley. They have Laura Ann (born 1883) aged seven (my great-grandmother), Thomas W. aged four, James aged three and George H. aged one.

In 1901 they are living at 7 Turner Street, Salford.

Laura Ann is at home aged seventeen and three more children have been born. Ben, who is 10, Mary Elizabeth is seven. Mary was born in Morley in1894 and Rachel (Aunty Cissy) aged four, who was born in Manchester in 1897. They must have moved to Salford between 1894 and 1897. Richard is working as a camel hair worker, Laura Ann as a tailor (Mantle(?) maker) and James aged 13 is a (illegible) boy on the railway.

In 1911 they are living at 2 Myrtle Street, Cross Lane, Salford with James, Benjamin, Mary Elizabeth and Rachel. On this census we can see that they had one child who died so that explains why Thomas disappears from all further censuses after 1891 when he was four years old. Laura Ann is married now and living nearby in Trafford Road with her three young children. Laura, my grandmother is three years old.

My mother remembers visiting her great grandparents when they were living in Summerseat, near Ramsbottom. They must have moved there later in life. Aunty Cissy who was the youngest daughter took my mother on a bus and train to visit her great grandparents. Mum was born in 1934 but she doesn’t remember how old she was at the time, she was quite small but old enough to remember. She remembers going across a field to see some other family and the outside privy that they shared with other families. Her great grandfather, Richard, had whiskers that stung her face when he kissed her and Rachel was crying, Cissy said this was because she was so pleased to see her. Apparently Rachel had a bakery in Summerseat.

There is a nice website about Summerseat; Summerseat

This needs to be researched more. Mum says she drove through there a few years ago and all the land has been built on now.

Old map of Summerseat