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In a far flung corner of my family tree are brothers from Trawden:

Cicero Bannister (named after the roman?)
Steeprock Bannister (named after an native American runner who toured over here in the 1860s)
Thomas Craven Humfrey Bannister (named after the vicar of Trawden Thomas Craven Humfrey)

Their other siblings were Granville and Ivy, no idea who they were named after!

I think Cicero Bannister's name is probably linked to the idea that Colne had Roman origins. The myth of Colunio was common in the 19th century (see, for example, p. 7 in Wilfred Spencer's 'Another Look at Colne), persisted into the 1950s (when the Colunio Cafe in Albert Road served a memorable sausage and chips) and persists to the present day (see the entry on Colne at http://www.aboutbritain.com › Towns › Towns in Lancashire).

When I first saw the reference to Cicero Bannister (born in Trawden, c. 1877), I wondered whether he was also on the outer edges of my family tree as I had a vague memory of seeing a Cicero. I do have Bannister ancestors with Trawden and Great Marsden connections, but I haven't found a link to this Cicero.

On checking my records today, I find that 'my' Cicero was Cicero Robinson, born c. 1868, also in Trawden. His parents were William and Jane (nee Pickles) Robinson. Jane was a sister of my great grandfather Henry Pickles (1835-1917).

Perhaps the two families came up with the name Cicero independently, or perhaps Cicero Bannister was named after Cicero Robinson, who was about 11 years older. The families lived near each other in Trawden (Hollin Hall and Naze End). The Pickles and the Hartleys were inter-related, and the name Hartley Bannister suggests that a Bannister had married a Hartley.

Ruth

Ruth.
Just by coincidence I was passing the "Carr Road Wesleyan Peace Memorial Institute" on Cross St; Nelson and noticed that some of the memorial stones had the "Pickles" & "Hartley" names on them.
W Percy Hartley.
Mrs Hartley Pickles.
Starkie Pickles

Any use to you?

Hello Plaques

Many thanks for telling me about your Hartley/Pickles finds. Being a bit of an obsessive, I have tried chasing all three of them on Ancestry. I have found a link - though a fairly distant one - to only one of them.

It seems that Starkie Pickles was the son of John Pickles, who was born in Trawden c. 1857. This John Pickles was I think the son of Robert Pickles, born in Trawden c. 1833. Robert Pickles, son of James Pickles, was a brother of Henry Pickles (my great grandfather on my father's mother's side).

So Starkie was a great nephew of my great grandfather! (By chance we had two of our great nephews staying with us this weekend - so perhaps the link isn't as distant as all that!)

Ruth