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Hi, my great grandfather was Richard Halstead whose family owned Meadow Bank Mills in Brierfield. I have 2 business cards for the factory in my possession.
I know the mill burnt down, but wonder if any of your members have a link to this family?
Kind Regards,

Hi Lindysim
I don't know if this connects to yours BUT I have a Lawrence Halstead born 1882, from Briercliffe (not Brierfield) who married Maggie Brierley in 1906. He was the son of Robert Halstead born 1838, again of Briercliffe.
Maggie Brierley was the sister of my 4xgt grandmother Martha Ann Brierley. I haven't gone any further in the Halstead line as it is a bit sideways and haven't bothered going into it much.
If you look at my family tree under "family trees" on the home page, under Brierley you will find Halstead and find where they fit in.

Hope this is of some help.
Gloria

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

Thanks Gloria. I will check it out.
My Gt, Gt grandfather was john Halstead and records show they were based in Nelson. He was born in 1853. I believe his father was Thomas Halstead b , 1817 and another generation back another Richard Halstead.b1788.. There are so many strands to follow!,
Kind Regards

If you also go into church records on the front page, put in Halstead, there a few more to get your head around.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

I've given Sue a nudge, she has a lot of Halsteads.

Welcome to the forum

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Mel

Searching for lost relatives? Win the Lottery!

There are Halstead's mentioned in the "Annals and Stories of Barrowford". They may have nothing to do with your family. But a lot of the early mill owners were originally farmers.
http://archive.org/stream/LccExLibraryB ... s_djvu.txt

All your replies are much appreciated, I'll check them all out. Thank you

We are currently working on the site of the old Meadow Bank Mill, Brierfield. Does anyone have any pictures or know anything about the mill? We can't find anything except an old map and would love to know what it looks like. We would also welcome suggestionsnabout where we could find more.

Hi. I have in my possession the original newspaper cuttings of the remains and ' skeleton of the mill after fire damage. Seems to be March 24 1930. They belonged to my Mother who was Marian Halstead and is still alive. My grandfather was Joseph Maurice Halstead. He used to travel to the Manchester ship canal every. week to pick up the raw cotton.

My technology. Knowledge is poor, I only have an iPad. I can send you a photo but don't have a scanner? I have tried to send as an attachment.
Kind regards,

There is much on the mill in the Burnley papers, see the online British Newspapers site. It seems to have been built in 1907. The fire in 1930 gutted the warehouse, but spared the weaving shed. However the owners sold up their looms later in the year.

Rex

LindySim, thank you- our first picture! Rex, we have trawled the newspaper files as you recommended but found little that we didn't know. The mill was built in 1896, rather late to be successful one suspects, and finally collapsed in 1935. Loom space was let out for much of the time once Grenfells moved out- the Halstead family link. Most of the newspaper mentions are for squabbles between weavers and/or employers.

The mill yard was used to store ex-war vehicles after 1945- there is a historical map showing this. It has also been used for grazing and allotments.

We hope to visit the archives in Preston but that is easier said than done.

It is a fascinating story and we are still looking for more information: in particular we would like pictures or information about the functional areas of the mill.