South Yorkshire Times – Saturday 26 December 1942
Reminiscences of Old Bolton
Glimpses of Bolton in former days revealed the reminiscences of a member of an old Bolton family, Mr Arthur George Law, of Beech House, Bolton.
We reproduce a picture of Mr Law and his three brothers. They are (left to right), Mr Fred Law (81), Mr Frank Law (77), Mr Harry Law (75), and Mr Arthur George Law (89). Their average age is 81, and the average age of three sisters of this long-lived family, Miss Matilda Law (79), Mrs Mary Elizabeth at King (74), and Mrs Harriet Ellen Hill (71), is 76.
They are the remaining children of five sons and four daughters of the late Mr and Mrs A Law. One of the children, a boy, died in infancy, and the other, Mrs Annie Oades, when she died three years ago was over 80. With one exception then, each member of this remarkable family has outlived the allotted span.
Mr A.G.Law is the oldest resident of Bolton, and worked all his life as a builder and stonemason. For 23 years he was a member of Bolton Council, was twice chairman. In 1919 he was appointed Clerk of Work to the Council, and played a great part in the planning and execution of the housing schemes which were then being undertaken. Mr Fred and Mr Harry Law worked at Wath Main Colliery, and Mr Frank Law at Barnburgh Main. All live in the Bolton district except Frank, who after he retired, went to live in Sheffield, and Mrs Atkin, who lives in Barlborough, Derbyshire.
When a “Times” reporter called on Mr A.G. Law he recounted some of his impressions of the great changes he had witnessed in his 90 years as a resident of Bolton.
Mr Law attended a dame’s school in Bolton, but his education there was short, and at an early age he left to help shepherd, James White, in charge of one of the large flocks of sheep which formed a large part of farming responsibilities in those days. The shepherd received 30 shillings a week, and the boy one shilling a day. During spells of bad weather or temporary unemployment Mr Law would return to school and continue his education. This, it seems, was a common practice in the days before compulsory education.
Bolton itself presented a far different view from its present-day appearance. There were no street lamps, and the only road, Chapel Lane, by modern standards little more than a cart track was devoid of houses, containing only one old Methodist Chapel (not the present one) and the Collingwood Hotel. The name since been changed, and is now Furlong Road.
Mr Law well remembers the building of the Collingwood Hotel (1876 – seven) by the late Mr John Dickinson, for he was the first man on the site and the last to leave. He also helped to build as a workman, and later, on his own behalf, many of the houses in Furlong Road.
During his membership of the Council he recalls the advent of street lighting in Bolton, and previously, the time when everyone carried is owned lantern on going out after dark. There was a time when Mr Law knew every person in Bolton and Goldthorpe.
The district was still then mainly agricultural. Rotherham was a market town, and the farmers had to walk to Wath to board a train on market days with butter, meat and wall, to return with empty baskets and full purses.
Social amenities had not then reached the state of efficiency they have today. In 1874 local postman resided at Mexborough. He distributed letters first at Adwick on Dearne, proceeding to Bolton, Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe, and returning to each in reverse order to collect the males. Letters were delivered each day with the exception of Sunday. Mr Law said “One wonders at what how the postman finally arrived at Mexborough, especially on a dark, wintry, foggy or snowy day.”
Bolton was administered by the Parish Council which met in the Station Road School until 1889, when an urban council was formed. Mr Law is of the opinion that those responsible for the vast improvements made since those early days to feel proud of their efforts. Many of these improvements Mr Law attributes to the foresight, industry, and years of faithful service given to the village by Mr J Ledger Hawksworth, former clerk of the local authority.