Totley History Group
Totley History Group

Totley Police Station

Totley Police Station, 331 Baslow Road Totley Police Station, 331 Baslow Road

The old Totley Police Station stands at number 331 Baslow Road in the row of properties known as Grange Terrace. The top building, the old Post Office, at number 337, carries the datestone of 1882 and the lower terrace, from 313 to 329, a plaque bearing the initials of Thomas Earnshaw (the owner of Totley Grange) and the date 1889. We think that number 331 was built around 1882 as the keystones and continuous banding above the doorway  and windows are similar to number 337 and it would appear that the two buildings bookended a much older, lower structure, now designated numbers 333-335. This used to be a farmhouse and is said to have been built around 1773 and the Police House was actually built in the farm's courtyard. It is unlikely to have been purpose built as the lock-up cells appear to have been added in 1890. Before the new Police Station was built, a Constable was stationed at Lemont Road, Henry Topley being there from around 1881 until 1886.

 

Police Constable Burford was probably the first policeman at number 331 as he was stationed at Totley Police Station from 1886 to 1890. John Burford was born in 1858 in Whiteladies Aston, Worcestershire. When John married Martha Heath at Norbury, Derbyshire on 29 August 1876, he gave his occupation as police officer. A first child Mary was born when they were living at nearby Roston. By 1878 John had been had moved to Parwich where three more children were born, Deliah Harriett, John William and Ellinor Maria. A fifth child, Adelaide Hannah, was born in 1885 when he was stationed at Grassmoor. 

 

When he arrived in Totley John would have had at least ten years experience which was just as well because this period was perhaps the most difficult for policing. The construction of the Totley Tunnel had brought many navvies into the district and crime increased with this huge rise in the population. He was involved in many, often violent, incidents which won him praise from the townsfolk. A son, James Alfred Heath Burford was born in Totley, presumably at the Police Station, in spring 1888 and baptised at Dore Christ Church on 10 April. 

 

In 1889, frequent disturbances amongst the navvies - there were rarely any issues between the navvies and the townsfolk - required additional police resources and Constable Smith was transferred from Ashbourne to be responsible for policing the operations on the Dore and Chinley Railway. Constables Walker and Maltby were transferred from Chesterfield to be based at Totley. 

Police Constable, later Detective Inspector, John Burford Police Constable, later Detective Inspector, John Burford (1858-1913)

On the night of 17 January 1890 a burglar was spotted in bushes in the garden of George Slater at Wood Lea, Dore Road and was tackled by Constable Burford who received two crashing blows to the head after his helmet had been knocked off. Despite being stunned, he fought vigorously and Mr. Slater, hearing the commotion, threw open the window, at which the burglar pulled out a gun and fired two shots at John. Fortunately both the bullets narrowly missed their target but he became faint from the loss of blood and his assailant escaped. John Burford was off work afterwards with his injuries. The time was approaching for him to leave Totley. A group of prominent citizens petitioned the Chief Constable of Derbyshire for his retention but it was to no avail; he was transferred to Quarndon, near Derby as soon as he was fit to return to work. As a mark of their appreciation, Dore and Totley residents presented him with a testimonial comprising an illuminated address, silver watch and chain and a "purse of gold".

 

An intriguing advertisement appeared in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph on three successive days during June 1890. It read: WANTED, LABOURERS (used to Excavating) at New Police Station, Totley. - C. Grayson, Builder. We believe that the purpose was to excavate two lock-up cells that were built just below ground floor level and had an iron grill and door. 

                                     

In the 1891 Census there was a Police Constable William Jones, aged 26, from Powick, Worcestershire living at what was described as the County Police Office, Totley.  William was with his wife Charlotte Badham, aged 30, from Shrawley, Worcestershire and their son William Spencer, aged 3, born in Brampton, Derbyshire and daughter Amelia Ann, aged 1, born in Old Normanton. There were police stations in Brampton and Normanton and like Constable Burford, Constable Jones would have been moved between stations every few years. A third child, Sydney James Jones, was born in Totley in 1893. The Jones Family left Totley in September 1896 when William was transferred to Chunal Police Station, near Glossop.

 

Constable Jones was replaced by Constable Miles from Heage Police Station, near Ambergate. Charles Miles was born in St. Cross, South Elmham, Suffolk in 1861. His younger brother Robert was also in the Derbyshire Constabulary. Charles married Mary Rodgers at the Parish Church, Milford near Belper on 24 September 1890. They came to Totley with three children: Samuel John born in Milford in 1891, Isabel Sarah born in Heage in 1893 and Alfred born in Heage in 1896. Another daughter Emily had been born in 1894 but she died aged just 14 months. From newspaper reports we know that Constable Miles was still in Totley in April 1898 but was transferred to North Wingfield, near Chesterfield shortly afterwards. 

 

He was succeeded by Constable Hallam from Shardlow Police Station. John William Hallam was born in Sandiacre, Derbyshire in 1853. He arrived in Totley with his second wife, Elizabeth Kirby. They had married at Ashover Parish Church on 5 February 1896. Their first child, Elizabeth, had died in infancy. Another daughter, Eleanor Mary, was born in Totley in the summer of 1898 and baptised at Dore Christ Church on 2 October. Their third child, Elsie, was also baptised at Dore on 15 December 1901. 

 

The next occupant of the Police House was Sergeant Cutts. Francis Cutts was born in Danesmoor, North Wingfield, Derbyshire in 1873. He married Edith Barnes in 1896 at Derby Register Office. Although born in Castrop-Rauxel, Germany Edith was a British national. They had one son, Leslie, who was born in Whittington, Derbyshire in 1897. In October 1907 Sergeant Cutts was sued at Sheffield County Court for unlawful arrest and false imprisonment by Thomas Marshall, a labourer from Sheffield. Sergeant Cutts, accompanied by two police constables from Dore, had watched the man loitering in the hayloft behind Thornfield House in Totley Brook Road and believed him to be responsible for, or connected with, a spate of burglaries in the area. The householder, Charles Haywood Hoyland, had no complaint to make and fully encouraged Mr. Marshall to pursue his claim in court. After due deliberation His Honour Judge Benson decided he must support Sergeant Cutts' version of events. Sergeant Cutts was transferred to Halfway Police Station in August 1908.

Grange Terrace, Totley, circa 1915 Grange Terrace, Totley, circa 1915

His successor at Totley Police Station was Sergeant Burchby. Arthur Burchby was born in Letwell, near Maltby in 1870. He married Mary Alice Lumby at St. John the Evangelist, Carlton in Lindrick, Nottinghamshire on 7 December 1898. They had two children, Marjorie Alice born in 1890 in Radbourne and George Rollitt born in 1905 in Spondon, both on the outskirts of Derby. Sergeant Burchby was still at Totley Police Station in the 1911 Census. On 13 February 1913 it was announced that he had been promoted to Inspector but would remain at Totley for the time being. 

 

On 20 October 1913 it was reported that Sergeant Hall would transfer to Totley from Stoney Middleton. Frederick Hall was born in Billingborough, Lincolnshire in 1875. He had married Jane Oliver on 4 August 1902 at Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire. They arrived in Totley with five children born in Burbage, Derbyshire: Ernest in 1903, Leonard in 1904, Arthur Henry in 1906, Mabel in 1908 and Nellie in 1911. Their sixth child, Stanley, had been born in Stoney Middleton earlier in 1913. The Halls stayed at Totley Police Station until about 1923 and had three more children in Totley, all girls: Elsie in 1914, Ethel in 1916 and finally Florence in 1917. 

 

The next and we think last incumbent at the Police Station was Sergeant Wood. George Thomas Wood was born on 30 July 1889 in Dunton Bassett, Leicestershire. He joined the Derbyshire Constabulary in May 1911 and was stationed at Matlock Bath before being transferred to the Acting Chief Constable's Office in Chesterfield in October 1914. He joined the army in May the following year as a Private in the North Staffordshire Regiment and rose to the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant before receiving his commission on 27 June 1917 as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Leicestershire Regiment. Like so many, his military service record has not survived but we know that he saw a good deal of action with the enemy. 

 

After the war George returned to his civilian occupation and was stationed at Bakewell. It was there at the Mill Street Congregational Chapel that he married Harriet Ann Newton on 16 June 1920. On 1 August 1921 he was promoted to Sergeant and stationed at Chesterfield. He was transferred to Totley Police Station in late 1922 or early 1923 and remained there for there for the next ten years. During their time in Totley, George and Harriet had two daughters, Mona born on 12 January 1926 and Betty on 7 August 1930. 

 

By 1933 the complement at Totley police station had risen to one Police Sergeant and four Police Constables, two of whom Constables Bagshaw and Brindley lived in houses in lower Grange Terrace. Constables William Paskin and Sydney Andrew made up the quartet. Sergeant Wood was now responsible not just for the police station at Totley but also for those at Holmesfield and Dore. It was a common sight to see him on his motor cycle and sidecar driving between the three villages. He left it to his Constables to walk the beat, Paskin around the old village and Andrews around the Laverdene and New Totley estates. Both men were popular and highly regarded; the beat policeman was still a respected figure in the community.

 

There was hardly any serious crime in Totley but enough petty theft, illegal drinking and gambling, assaults and traffic accidents to keep the men busy, especially being located adjacent to the Cross Scythes and Fleur de Lys pubs which attracted many visitors from the city at weekends. Perhaps the most serious crime was poaching. The policemen knew to distinguish between those who poached for the family pot and those who poached to make a living and who could be armed and dangerous when approached. The police station closed in 1934 when Totley was absorbed, against the will of the parish council, into Sheffield and Yorkshire.

 

The first family to move into the newly privatised number 331 were the Wortleys. John William Wortley was born in Sheffield in 1888. He had married Mary Ann Burgess at Dore Christ Church on 27 January 1912. They had moved to Grange Terrace from Chapel Walk together with their three children all of whom were born in Totley: Clifford Stanley (known as Stanley) in 1912, Leslie in 1914, and Winifred in 1916. They were all still at number 331 in 1936 but Stanley left the following year when he got married. In the National Register compiled on 29 September 1939, John Willie, Mary Ann, Leslie and Winnie were still at the old Police House. John Willie was working as a labourer for the city Cleansing Department, Leslie was a plumber and Winnie a paid domestic help. In a letter to the Totley Independent in September 2009, Joseph W. Abson said he remembered Mrs. Wortley showing children the cells accompanied by cautionary words that they could end up there if they misbehaved. The Wortley family were still at number 331 at the time of John Willie's death in 1943. He was buried at Dore Christ Church on 9 October.

 

Mr. Abson said that after the Wortleys left number 331, the next occupant was a gentleman called Percy Crossland. Under the floor of one of the cells was a well supplied by springs situated in what were the farm fields behind the Fleur de Lys, now the Stocks Green Estate. Mr. Crossland had a small generator to work a pump to drain the water when the well overflowed and flooded the cells.

 

June 2020

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Unless stated otherwise our meetings are held in Totley Library on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm.

Pauline Burnett's book The Rise of Totley Rise has been revised and updated. It tells the story of this small piece of land from 1875 when there was only a rolling mill and chemical yard alongside the river a mile from Totley, through Victorian and Edwardian times, two world wars and up to the present day. It has 94 pages including a useful index and many illustrations from private collections. The book is available now from Totley Rise Post Office priced at £5, or through our website when an additional charge will be made to cover packing and postage.

A few copies are still available of Sally Goldsmith's book Thirteen Acres: John Ruskin and the Totley Communists. Totley was the site of a utopian scheme funded by art critic and social reformer John Ruskin. In 1877 he bought 13-acre St. George’s Farm so that nine Sheffield working men and their families could work the land and, to keep themselves busy, make boots and shoes. Sally tells an engaging story from our history with a quirky cast of characters including Ruskin himself, the poet and gay rights activist Edward Carpenter and Henry Swan, a cycling, vegetarian artist and Quaker. The book is available to order online from the The Guild of St. George by following this link.

A recently discovered box of WWII correspondence reveals the story of how a small group of ladies from Dore and Totley recruited knitters from the west of Sheffield and how their efforts made them the country's greatest provider of Comforts for the Minesweeping crews of the Royal Navy. The story is told in Knit For Victory, a new book from Totley History Group. Written by Pauline Burnett, it has 82 pages and many illustrations. It is on sale in local shops and via our website.  Further information about the correspondence is in this inside page of our website: Dore & Totley Minesweeping Trawlers Comforts Fund

The story is told in Totley War Memorial WW1 of the ten men from our village who gave their lives in the Great War. Written by Pauline Burnett, Jim Martin and Dorothy Prosser, a chapter is devoted to each of the soldiers with a family tree followed by as much information as could be discovered about the men and their families. There is also information about their military careers and the actions in which they lost their lives. The book has 64 pages and is illustrated throughout with photographs of the men, their families and the houses where they lived.

Totley All Saints' Church Parish Magazines for the years 1985-2006 with notices of baptisms, marriages and funerals and accounts of spiritual, educational, charitable and social matters in the village. Scanned in full, including advertisements from local traders.

In 1893 during the building of the Totley Tunnel there was an outbreak of smallpox amongst the navvies which spread to some of the local population. 17 people were buried in communal graves in Dore Churchyard, 6 from "Green Oak" (Lemont Road). The severity of the outbreak was principally caused by overcrowding and insanitary conditions in lodging houses .

Kathleen Grayson was a 39 year old housewife when WW2 broke out. She volunteered for the ARP and became an ambulance driver. During an air raid on Sheffield in July 1941, and despite her own injuries, she managed to get a seriously injured casualty to hospital. For this she was awarded a commendation from King George VI. Together with her friend Hilda Duffy, Kathleen also assembled a team of knitters to provide essential warm clothing for the men serving on the minesweepers patrolling the North Sea.

We have recently bought at auction the WW2 memorabilia of Douglas Platts whose family home was at Hillside, 98 Queen Victoria Road. After the war Douglas returned to his civilian occupation working in the family scissors manufacturing business. He lived in our area for the rest of his life.

We are very grateful to Mrs Valerie Taylor of Dore for lending us the title deeds to Lower Bents Farmhouse which is reputed to be the oldest surviving building in the area with a proven history back to 1621. We have now scanned and transcribed the deeds which could be particularly interesting to anyone with a connection to the local Fisher, Dalton and Marshall Families. 

Until 1844, when Dore Christ Church parish was created, Totley township was part of Dronfield parish. We have now transcribed the burial records for former Totley residents at St. John the Baptist, Dronfield for the period 1678-1870 and at St. Swithin, Holmesfield for the period 1766-1901.

Whilst researching the history of the Dalton Family we found it useful to transcribe a number of early Wills and Inventories. These and those of many other Totley, Dore and Holmesfield people dating from between 1594 and 1856 have now been added to our website.

St. Swithin's Church, Holmesfield pre-dates Dore Christ Church and was the place where many of the people from Totley worshipped and were baptised, married and buried. Read the inscriptions on more than 750 gravestones in the churchyard including those of Mr. and Mrs. William Aldam Milner of Totley Hall, Jessie Matilda Tyzack (nee Fisher) of Avenue Farm, and Rev. J. A. Kerfoot of St. John's, Abbeydale.

Thomas Youdan was a music hall proprietor and benefactor who was living at Grove House, Totley in 1867 when he sponsored the first football knockout competition in the world for The Youdan Cup.

The words Millhouses Cricket Club can be seen in the background of team photos which are likely to date from between 1905 and the early 1920s, very probably pre-war. They were lent to us by Garth Inman who can identify his great uncle, Cecil Inman, in some of the photos and would like to know when they were taken and, if possible, the names of others present. Please take a look to see whether you can put names to any of the faces. 

Josiah Hibberd was seriously injured whilst working on the construction of the Totley Tunnel in 1892. He died on 9 May 1897 at the age of 38 having apparently spent most of previous five years in hospital.

Bradway House was built around 1832 by Henry Greaves, a farmer, together with two adjacent cottages. We have traced most of the occupants of the property from these early days up to the start of World War Two.

We have transcribed the baptisms records at St. John the Evangelist, Abbeydale from when the church was consecrated in 1876 until just after the start of World War 1. The records are arranged in alphabetical order based upon the child's name and show the date of baptism, the names of the parents, their home location and occupation.

Nick Kuhn bought an original 1920s poster which had this owners' blind stamp in one corner. The stamp almost certainly refers to a house named Wigmore that was built in the late 1920s or early 1930s. The first occupiers that we can trace are John Howarth Caine, a district mineral agent for the LNER, his wife Florence Jane (nee Prince) and daughter Doris Mary. The Caine family lived at Wigmore until 1936 by which time the house would have been known simply as 12 The Quandrant.

George Griffiths died on 13 December 1888 following an explosion during the sinking of number 3 airshaft at Totley Bents. His widow Florence died shortly afterwards and his two daughters Maud and Annie were adopted separately. Whilst Annie lived the rest of her life in Yorkshire, Maud emigrated to Australia in 1923 with her husband, John Burrows, daughter Margaret and son Jack, pictured above.

George Wainwright was said to have been born in Bamford, Derbyshire in 1714. He learned the trade of linen weaving and moved to Totley after his marriage on 1744. He became an ardent follower of John Wesley who paid many visits to Sheffield and who would have passed through or close to Totley. Preaching was at first conducted out of doors and when Wesley's preachers became harassed by a mob of Totley ruffians in 1760, George offered them safety of his own home. He remained a Methodist for all of his long life, dying in Dore in 1821 at the reputed age of 107.

Oakwood School was started by Mrs Phoebe Holroyd in 1925 initially as the Firth Park Kindergarten and, by 1927, as the Firth Park Preparatory School. Phoebe was still working at the school almost fifty years later when she was well into her seventies. We would like to hear from anyone with memories of the school. 

James Curtis was born at sea aboard HMS Chichester in 1790. He enlisted as a Private in the 1st Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards in Sheffield in 1812 and served in Spain and Portugal during the Peninsular War. He later fought in France and Belgium taking part in the Battle of Waterloo. In later life James lived at the Cricket Inn where his son-in-law William Anthony was the licensed victualler. He died in Heeley in 1882 aged about 91. 

Charles Paul lived in Totley in later life. He was a local historian and archaeologist who was an authority on the history of Sheffield, especially the two areas he knew best: Attercliffe and Ecclesall. His books and letters to local newspapers were published under the Latin form of his name Carolus Paulus.

Towards the end of the 19th century Totley Hall gardens became a well known beauty spot that attracted many hundreds of visitors from Sheffield on open days and the rock gardens became one of its most popular features. Mrs Annie Charlesworth sent us six glass transparencies of the rock gardens taken, we believe, in the early years following the Great War.

Anton Rodgers send us photographs of three water-colours that had been bought by his grandfather at a sale of the contents of Abbeydale Hall in 1919. One was of a scene said to be in York by A. Wilson. A second was of a seated child with a dog believed to be pianted by Juliana Russell (1841-1898). The third was of Lake Como, by Ainslie Hodson Bean (1851-1918) who lived for much of his life on the Riviera and in North Italy.

A Canadian correspondent sent us photographs of a set of silver spoons that were bought in a small town in British Columbia. The case contained a note signed by Ebenezer Hall indicating that they were a wedding gift to Maurice and Fanny Housley. We think we may have traced how they got to Canada and where they might have been since.

Green Oak Park was opened on 23 March 1929 on land that had been bought by Norton District Council from John Thomas Carr, a farmer and smallholder of Mona Villas. In later years, the buildings were used by the Bowling Club (the green having been built in 1956) and by the park keeper. However, the buildings appear to have been constructed in several phases, the oldest of which predates the park to the time when the land was used for pasture.

We believe the old Totley Police Station at 331 Baslow Road was built around 1882. Two lock-up cells were excavated just below floor level in the summer of 1890. We have traced the Derbyshire Constabulary police officers who lived there from John Burford in 1886 to George Thomas Wood who was there when Totley was absorbed into Sheffield in 1934.

David Stanley lived in Totley Rise in the later years of his life. Born in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire, he joined the 17th Lancers when he was 19 and rode in the Charge of The Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava where he was seriously wounded. For the first reunion of veterans in 1875, he told his story to a reporter from the Buxton Herald.

This picture postcard was addressed to Miss Abell, Holly Dene, Totley Brook Road and posted in Rotherham on 10 December 1907. Edith Annie Abell was born on 4 February 1887 in Sheffield and her family came to live in our area in the 1900s, staying for the rest of their lives.

Charles Herbert Nunn enlisted in the British Army on 23 August 1915 and was sent to France on 18 December 1915 to served with the British Expeditionary Force. In March 1916 it was discovered that he was underage and he was returned home. Shortly after his 18th birthday he re-enlisted and was again posted abroad where, in addition to this trio of medals, he was awarded the Military Medal. 

This certificate was awarded jointly by the Red Cross and St. John's Ambulance to Isaac Henry Williams, of Lemont Road, for his services during WW1 as a stretcher bearer. We are seeking anyone who can help us pass it on to a living relative.

In 1832 Samuel Dean pleaded guilty to stealing a quantity of lead from the Totley Rolling Mill and was sentenced to seven years transportation to Australia. He sailed on the Mangles and upon arrival in New South Wales he was sent to work for William Cox, the famous English explorer and pioneer. After receiving his Certificate of Freedom in 1840, Samuel became a farmer and went on to have a very large family. Samuel was born in Whitechapel around 1811 to parents Samuel Dean Snr. and Susannah Duck. His descendant Sarah Dean would like help in tracing his ancestry.

Ellen Topham was born in 1889 in Nottingham. Her parents had been living together since 1862 but had never married so it was most unusual that, after their deaths, Ellen was accepted into Cherrytree Orphanage. Even more so since her father, Snowden Topham, had been acquitted somewhat unexpectedly in a widely reported manslaughter trial. Ellen remained at Cherrytree until her death from pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 15.

Mabel Wilkes was a resident in Cherrytree Orphanage between 1897 and 1905. Her granddaughter Sally Knights sent us these images of a book presented to Mabel as a prize for her writing. Sally also sent us some personal memories of her grandmother and a photograph of a locket which contains portraits of Mabel and her husband Septimus Gale.

John Henry Manby Keighley was living at Avenue Farm when he enlisted in 1916. He fought in France with the Cheshire Regiment but after home leave in early 1918 he went missing. The Army were unable to determine whether he had deserted or returned to the front and been either killed or captured by the enemy. In August 1919 he was formally presumed killed in action but it appears he did not die but returned home to his family.

Horace Ford was admitted to Cherrytree Orphanage on 26 October 1888 at the age of six. He left at the age of 14 to become an apprentice blacksmith and farrier. Soon after his 18th birthday Horace enlisted in the Imperial Yeomanry to serve his country in the war in South Africa. His letter home to his Orphanage mentor tells of the lucky escape he had in battle.

Pat Skidmore (née Sampy) lived on Totley Brook Road from 1932 to 1948 before her family moved to Main Avenue. In this short article she remembers her time at Totley All Saints School where she was a contemporary of Eric Renshaw and Bob Carr.

As we have nowhere to exhibit memorabilia and artifacts, we have created a Virtual Museum instead. The latest addition to our collection is this double-sided Totley Rise Post Office oval illuminated sign which was on the wall of 67 Baslow Road before the Post Office business transferred to number 71. Please contact us by email if you have things that you own and would like to see added to the virtual museum.

Conway Plumbe was a man of many talents who came to live in Totley Rise around 1912. As a young man he had poems published by Punch magazine and is remembered in modern collections of WW1 poetry. A number of his paintings were accepted by the Royal Academy. An engineering graduate of London University, he joined the Civil Service where he rose to a high level as a factory inspector, publishing two books on the subject and giving a series of talks on workplace health and safety on BBC radio during WW2. In retirement he wrote a philosophical-spiritual work called Release From Time.

Inside Totley Rise Methodist Church there is a Roll of Honour commemorating the soldiers from its congregation who served their king and country during the Great War. For all but one of the 28 names the soldier's regiment is recorded in the next column. The exception is David Cockshott for whom 'killed in action' is written alongside yet he appears on no war memorial in our area and no record of a mortally wounded soldier of that name is to be found. We think we have solved the mystery.

Mrs. Kate Plumbe moved from Mansfield to Totley Rise with a number of her family in 1913 and became closely involved with the Totley Union Church. Her daughter Winifred became a missionary and headmistress in Calcutta for over 38 years following which she returned home to live with her sister Hilda on Furniss Avenue. Hilda had also been a teacher, missionary and, like her mother, a volunteer at St. John's VAD during WW1.

Thomas Glossop was a cutler and razor manufacturer who was well known amongst cricketing and gardening circles. Despite going blind, he was able to continue his hobbies with remarkable success

The Totley Union Cycling Society Prize Giving and Fete was held on the fields near Abbeydale Hall on 18 July 1914. Anne Rafferty and Gordon Wainwright have named some of the people in two wonderful photographs of the event. Can you identify any more for us? 

The Tyzack family are well known in our area for owning iron and steel trades at Walk Mill, Abbeydale Works, Totley Rolling Mill and Totley Forge. This article covers the history of the family from the late 18th century when William Tyzack the founder of the company was born until the early 20th century when Joshua Tyzack farmed at Avenue Farm, Dore.  

Walter Waller Marrison moved to Totley around 1897 with his wife and their two young sons. He was a house builder who constructed properties around Totley Brook and Greenoak before ill health forced him to take up less physically demanding work. In 1904 he took over the tenancy of the grocers and off licence at number 71 Baslow Road. After his death in 1908, his widow Kate and later their eldest son Jack continued to run the business until it was sold in 1934.   

Ron Wijk of Nieuw-Vennep in the Netherlands has sent us two scanned images of drawings of old cottages made by the celebrated Dutch painter, Anton Pieck (1895-1987) simply annotated "Totley", and wondered whether we could identify their locations.

We would like to thank Christopher Rodgers for bringing to our attention this fascinating log of the 85th Sheffield (St. John's and Totley Orphanage) Wolf Cub Pack for 1927-45. The log is published jointly by Sheffield Scout Archives and Totley History Group as a free PDF download. It is illustrated by no fewer than 92 photographs and is supported by a comprehensive index and biographies of some of the main participants.

Following our Open Meeting event on School Days, Roger Hart, Howard Adams and John Timperley have each written to us with their memories of Norwood School, which was located in the rooms attached to the Dore & Totley United Reformed Church on Totley Brook Road. 

On 22nd July 1909 the children of Dore and Totley Schools celebrated by a pageant the union of England under King Ecgbert which took place at Dore in AD 827. The pageant was devised and written by Mrs Sarah Milner and her daughter Marjorie and performed in a field close to Avenue Farm in front of a large audience. Photographs of the event survive together with a fragment of the script.

John Edward Greenwood Pinder had lived all 46 years of his life in Totley but on census night, Sunday 2 April 1911, he was not at home; he was in Derby Gaol serving a sentence of three months hard labour. From the age of 20, John had been in and out of local courts for a series of minor offences including drunkenness, assault, wilful damage and night poaching. Finally he was sent to gaol for cutting down and stealing 86 small trees which he sold in Sheffield market for Christmas.

We have already transcribed the census returns for Totley, Totley Rise and Dore. Now we have transcribed Census Strays. These are people who were born in Totley but are missing from our earlier transcriptions. They may have been living, working or studying elsewhere or just away from home on the night the census was taken. Two people were in prison. Others were in Union Workhouses, hospitals and asylums. Fully indexed strays from the 1851, 1861, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses are available now. 

We wish to thank Gillian Walker for allowing us to digitize an archive of material about the 1st Totley Scout Group. Most of the material was collected by Arthur Percival Birley in the period 1949-51 and there are many interesting documents pertaining to the building of the scout hut on Totley Hall Lane. In addition four Newsletters survive, two from the 1940s and two from 1971.

We are grateful to Angela Waite and All Saints' Parish Church for giving us access to baptismal and kindergarten birthday rolls dating from 1926 to 1941. We have transcribed the names, addresses, birthdates and baptismal dates and created an alphabetical index of entries for you to search. 

Edmund Sanderson, a Sheffield estate agent, aquired the land on either side of the old drive to Totley Grove in 1874 and divided it into plots for development. He called it the Totley Brook Estate. But before many houses were built, the estate road was severed in two by the building of the Dore & Chinley Railway line. The eastern end of the road became the cul-de-sac we now call Grove Road

John Roberts was born in Sheffield in 1798. He became a partner in one of the leading silversmiths firms in the city before moving to Abbeydale Park in 1851 and extending the house in Victorian gothic style. He paid for the building of St. John's Church and was believed to dispense more in charity than any other person in the neighbourhood including his protege Ebenezer Hall.

The Coke Family owned the Totley Hall Estate from 1791 to 1881. With the aid of a family tree to guide us, Josie Dunsmore takes us through the story of their tenure. 

When the Rev. D'Ewes Coke inherited the Totley Hall Estate in 1791 it had two farms. Josie Dunsmore tells the story of how the two farms were combined under the tenancy of Peter Flint with the aid of field maps drawn by Flint himself and later by the Fairbanks family.

Do you think you recognize this face? More than sixty photographs of the girls and teachers at Hurlfield Grammar School for Girls in the 1940s were given to Totley History Group by Avril Critchley, who was herself a student at the school. The collection includes fifteen form photographs from June 1949. There would have been a number of girls from the Totley area attending the school in those days.

Christine Weaving tells the story of her 2 x great uncle George Edward Hukin, a Totley razor-grinder, and his life-long friendship with the academic, poet, writer, and free-thinker Edward Carpenter.

Eric Renshaw (pictured here on the right with Bob Carr) grew up and lived in Totley from 1932 to 1960. Many of his memories are of a sporting nature.

We are very grateful to Gordon Grayson for giving us this splendid sale document for the Norton Hall Estates, following the death in 1850 of Samuel Shore. The estates included a large part of Totley and the document has maps and illustrations, plus schedules of land and property with the names of tenants. We have also added a transcription of the entries for Totley and Dore. 

Watch this Youtube video of the talk given by Dr. Mark Frost and Sally Goldsmith on Ruskin, Totley and St. George's Farm. The talk was hosted by Totley History Group on 20th May 2015 as part of the Ruskin in Sheffield programme. Also enjoy a video of the outdoor performance Boots, Fresh Air & Ginger Beer written by Sally.

When Jacqueline A. Gibbons became interested in what made her father tick, it began a journey through WW1 archive records and led to her flying from Toronto to visit the house and village where he lived and the countryside that he so much enjoyed. Jacqueline reminds us that in the early 20th century Sheffield was a driving force of industry and that Totley was the place where many of its remarkable people lived and where they formulated their ideas.

Edgar Wood was the designer of The Dingle, 172 Prospect Road, built in 1904 for Rev. William Blackshaw, the founder of the Croft House Settlement. The house, together with its western terrace and boundary walls, has now been awarded Grade II listed building status. 

What was probably "the most perfect little garden railway in existence" in 1910 was to be found in the grounds of Brook House, Grove Road, the home of its designer and constructor, Guy Mitchell. Look at some wonderful photographs and read reports in newspapers and a full appreciation in Model Railways magazine. 

We have now completed our transcription of Totley School's Admission Records for the period from 1877 to 1914. There is also a useful index to the names of the scholars and to their parents or guardians. We are very grateful to Sheffield Archives and Local Studies Library for allowing us to transcribe and publish these records and for permission to reproduce the photograph of a specimen page of the register.

On 8, 9 and 11 November 2014 Totley History Group held an exhibition at Dore & Totley United Reformed Church to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. Below are additional links to some of the photographs we were lent and stories we researched especially for the exhibition.

 

Oscar Creswick was a local farmer who served with the Army Service Corps in Salonika and who after the war returned to Totley to become the innkeeper of the Cricket Inn and a member of the village's successful tug of war team.

 

Walter Evans was a market gardener who also ran a small grocery shop on Hillfoot Road when war broke out. He fought with the Machine Gun Corps at the fourth battle of Ypres. After the war, Walter ran a grocers shop at the top of Main Avenue.

 

Fred Cartwright was another Totley soldier who survived the Great War. He fought in France and Belgium and although he wasn't wounded he was gassed and was home on sick leave when his daughter was delivered by Nurse Jessop during a snowstorm in January 1917.

 

Maurice Johnson joined the Yorkshire Dragoons, a territorial unit, on 1 Jan 1914 and so was called up at the very start of the war. He fought throughout the war on the Somme, at Ypres and at Cambrai. After demobilization in 1919 Maurice returned to his old occupation in the steel industry.

 

Bill Glossop lent us a letter written by his father, William Walton Glossop to his wife describing life in the army during training in the north east of England and asking her to keep him in mind with the children.

 

The photo above provides a link to an album of photographs taken of WW1 Hospitals at St. John's, Abbeydale and the Longshaw Estate.

 

Nora Green, of Chapel Lane, was only 14 when war broke out. In 1914 she was ill with diphtheria and was sent to the isolation hospital at Holmley Lane, Dronfield. Nora recovered and wrote a letter of thanks to one of the hospital staff and the reply she received survives. 

 

We have collected together on this page the names of local men who appear on various War Memorials and Rolls of Honour in Totley, Dore, Abbeydale, Norton, Holmesfield and Dronfield.

 

Unfortunately we were unable to identify all the photographs we were lent of Totley Soldiers. Please take a look at this album to see if you recognize any of the missing names.

This walk visits locations that have strong associations with Totley during the First World War. It includes the homes of the ten soldiers from the village who lost their lives, the auxiliary hospitals, war memorials, and even the rifle range on which the soldiers trained. Take a look at the first draft of a new walk by the authors of "Totley War Memorial WW1 1914-1918"

We wish to thank the Trustees of Cherrytree for giving us permission to publish transcriptions of the Cherrytree Orphanage Admissions Book entries for the years 1866-1929. There is also an alphabetical index for you to look at.

With more people having access to faster broadband and mobile networks, we have uploaded seven full and unedited oral history recordings and also added more short excerpts for you to listen to.

Our transcriptions of local trade directories have been expanded to cover the 95 years from 1837-1932 and have also been indexed. From the days when there were a handful of farmers, stone masons, saw handle makers & scythe grinders to the wonders of the Totley Bridge Garage Company, Betty's Boudoir and The Heatherfield Shopping Centre.

We continue to add to our Totley Newspaper Archive. Recent entries have included several about The Plumbe Family, Thomas Glossop and accidents during the construction of Totley Tunnel.

Totley Church of England Parish Magazines for the years 1922-1939 and 1948-1967 with notices of births, marriages and deaths and accounts of spiritual, educational, charitable and social matters in the village. 

Around 90 photographs taken by Stuart Greenhoff for his thesis A Geographical Study of Dore and Totley including several of Totley Moor Brickworks. Superb!  

Chronologically ordered snippets of information recorded by Brian Edwards during his many years of research into our local history.

Read the inscriptions on more than 700 gravestones in  the churchyard.

 

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