OBITUARY OF JAMES ALFRED OPENSHAW ( 1836 - 1893 )
Extracted from the Bury "Times" of 21 January 1893.

"THE OPENSHAW FAMILY.
 The death of Mr. James Alfred Openshaw (as reported on page 6) removes from
our midst a member of one of the oldest of the many old families of which Bury
can boast ; the Peels, the Yateses, The Walkers, the Openshaws, the
Hardmans, the Kays, the Orams, the Unsworths, the Kenyons, the Hutchinsons,
the Grundys, the Wrigleys, the Whiteheads, the Pilkingtons, and the Ashworths,
are, among many others, families to detail whose history would be to tell a
great deal of the history of the town itself.   Few families, however, can
boast a longer or more intimate connection with the spinning or manufacturing
of cotton in the district than the Openshaw family, or of more numerous
members of the family settled in one district.   Up to recently there have
been six large spinning and manufacturing concerns run by branches of the
family for a considerable number of years, that of the late Mr. James Alfred
Openshaw having been in existence for 30 years, whilst it is said that for
many generations before the adoption of the power-loom and
the present system of spinning, when the spinning and manufacturing processes
were in their infancy, the Openshaw family were largely interested in the
spinning and weaving of cotton by the primitive distaff or spinning wheel and
the hand-loom.   Indeed there are records of the Opynscha family as far back
as 1360.

In what are called the "Chetham Miscellanies", from documents unearthed and
printed by the Chetham Society, it is reported that John Radclyff, lord of
Radclyff, gave licence unto one Old Ryc. Opynscha that was heir to the
Schae, to take an encroachment on Cockey Moor and there to set up his hives.
Old Ryc., as he was familiarly called, occupied the encroachment for 20 years,
and on his death his son John occupied the place for 15 years, dying without
issue.   There was a second son of Old Ryc, whose name is unknown, and who, it
is supposed, pre-deceased his brother and his nephew.   His son John was, at
the time of his cousin's death, away at the wars.   On his return he found
that his uncle James (a third son of Old Ryc.) had taken possession of the
encroachment, and John had perforce to buy him out.   John was, in 1509,
living at Starling, a small hamlet in the parish of Radclyff, of which it is
said :-   "At ye cornell of the hegge harde beyde the house of John Opynshaw
metys iii pichez yt is to wit, Medulton pch, Bury pch, and Radclyff pch, so yt
all ma may sett a iii fortyd stole in eury pch a fote" - which, in modern
English, would be rendered :- "At the corner of the hedge, hard by the house
of John Openshaw, meets three parishes; to wit Middleton parish, Bury parish,
and Radcliffe parish, so that a man may set a three-footed stool, in every
parish a foot."

All the Openshaws of Bury descend from John Openshaw, of Pimhole, who was
born in 1704, and who founded the firm of woollen manufacturers known as John
Openshaw and Son and Co. , at Pimhole.  The mill, which contained 6,720
spindles and 200 looms, came to a standstill a short time ago.   He married at
Bury, on 28 October 1725, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Oliver Ormerod, of
this town.   As issue of the marriage he had four sons and two daughters, viz.
John, of Starkies; Thomas, of Stanley Street; George, of Pimhole; and James,
of Redvales.   John died without male issue, but left three daughters.
Thomas, the second son, was born in 1730 and was twice married, on the first
occasion to Miss Walker, and on the second to Miss Powell.   By the first
union he had one son, known as John Openshaw of the Bell, Bury (presumably the
part of the town where Bell Lane is now situate).

John of the Bell was married to his cousin Alice Openshaw, daughter of George
Openshaw, of Pimhole; and he left an only son, Thomas, who was father of Anna
Openshaw.   The last-named eventually became the wife of the late John Lomax,
J.P., of Springfield, Bury, and of Bodfach, Llanfyllin, high sheriff of
Montgomeryshire in 1862.   That branch of the family is now extinct.

By the second marriage, Thomas Openshaw of Stanley-street had no fewer that 20
children, one of whom, Charles Openshaw, married Alice, daughter of James
Elton, of Bury, and founded the firm of Charles Openshaw and Sons, cotton
spinners and manufacturers, Earl-street, Bury.   It was with his father-in-law
that Charles learnt spinning, and some years afterwards he is recorded as
having several hundred hand-loom weavers, and being chiefly instrumental in
bringing the town into some repute for the manufacture of velveteen, cords,
&c.   His kindness to his work-people found expression in a great variety of
ways, one being his habit of giving a quart of ale and a good dinner to each
when they brought home their work.   He was one of the last to substitute the
power-loom for the hand-loom.  There are at present something like 35,000
spindles and 800 looms in the mills.   The eldest son, Richard, was survived
by two of his own sons - John, who married a Miss Bennett of Manchester, and
died without issue, and Thomas (of Hulme), of whose marriage with Elizabeth,
daughter of Jonathan Kenyon, of Bury, there was an only son Jonathan Openshaw,
of Bank House, Manchester Road.  Jonathan took as a wife Eliza, daughter of
Joseph Holt, of Heaton Grove, Bury, and he was, for several years, one of the
Improvement Commissioners of Bury.  Surviving him was one son, the late Thomas
Lomax Openshaw, J.P., D.L., of Heaton Grove, Manchester Road, whose wife was
Adelaide, daughter and co-heiress of William Turner of Flaxmoss, Helmshore.
Jonathan also left two daughters, Sarah Ann, who became the wife of the late
William Openshaw, of Southport, and Eliza, who was the first wife of Mr.
Thomas Aitken, J.P., of Holcombe Hall.   Thomas Lomax Openshaw took a
prominent part in the political life of the town, and particularly in the
General Election of 1865, when he not only acted as Chairman of Mr. R. N.
Phillips's committee, but seconded the nomination of Mr. Philips in an able
speech in which he advocated the adoption of the ballot and the abolition of
Church rates, saying that although a Churchman himself, he felt ashamed when he found
the Church taxing others who were opposed to it.   He concluded with an appeal
to the electors to "rid themselves from the dominion of the Tories of the
borough."   There is at present a picture of him at the Philips' Liberal
Unionist Club.   He left three sons and four daughters, all of whom are
living, except Adelaide, who married Mr. Freeland, Her Majesty's
Inspector of Schools.   The eldest is now Mrs. Haslam, of Burnley, the third
is Mrs. Bromilow, widow residing at Ambleside; Mary Elizabeth was married to
Frank Ernest Pilling Openshaw, of The Starkies; Oliver Openshaw, who resides
near Barnstaple; and Joseph Thomas Openshaw, of Irwell Mount, Ramsbottom, who
married May Sainte Clare, daughter of the Rev. Thomas  Openshaw, B. A., of Hey
Mount, Holcombe, and Rector of Kentisbury, North Devon.   Joseph Thomas now
practices in Bury as a solicitor; he served some time with the Volunteers and
when he retired he had attained the rank of Captain.   We now come to the
third branch of the Family, to the descendants of George
Openshaw, of Pimhole, who was born in 1734.   Where he resided prior to 1775
it would be difficult to say, but his place of abode in that year is placed
beyond doubt by an ornamented stone in an unpretentious brick building near
Pimhole  Bridge,  Pimhole-fold,  which  bears the inscription: "G: E:
Openshaw, anno 1775," the initials being those of George Openshaw and his
wife.   George Openshaw's first wife (a Miss Heywood, of Bury) bore him two
sons and six daughters.   The eldest son, John, born in 1761, married Mary,
daughter of John Topping, of Topping-fold, the issue of the union being five
sons and five daughters.   John, the eldest, took unto himself a Miss Lord,
but died without issue.   George, the second son, born 1785, took up his
residence at Stonyhill, Blackpool.   He married Margaret Ramsbottom, of
Birtle, and left a son and a daughter, the former being John Openshaw, of
Hughenden House, South Shore, who is married but has no family.   The
daughter, Mary Ann, was married to a Goolden.   The third son of John
Openshaw (of 1761) was Thomas Openshaw, of whose work in the Pimhole district
of Bury the beautiful church of St. Thomas stands a fitting monument, and it
is not too much to say that so long as Bury has a history will Thomas
Openshaw's works be remembered as among the brightest features of the past.
He became travelling partner in the firm of John Openshaw, Son & Co., and much
of his time was taken up with business affairs.  It was his efforts to educate
the working classes in the town that first brought Mr. Openshaw into
prominence among his fellows.   After a time he confined his attention to the
Pimhole district, and assuming the role of schoolmaster
he taught so successfully that it was found necessary to erect St. Thomas's
Schools, which were built mainly at Mr. Openshaw's expense.   Twice each
Sunday he gave an address to the scholars; he established a Dorcas Society
and a night school, and did his utmost, during a period of about fifty years,
to improve the status of the working class residents in Pimhole.  This
crowning achievement was the erection of St. Thomas's Church, at a cost of
upward of £8,000.   It is worthy of record in this brief review that Thomas
Openshaw, whose Will was proved at under £30,000, in 1869, left £100 to the
Bury National School, £25 each to the six district Sunday Schools, £500 to the
Bury Dispensary, £200 for the poor of Bury, £1,000 to the district of St.
Thomas's for  the poor, and  £600  to each  of  the districts  of  All
Saints', St. Paul's, Holy Trinity, St. Johns', and
Redvales, to be called "Openshaw's Charity," - or a total of £4,500.   The
fourth son of George Openshaw was James, of Beech-hill, who was twice married.
By his first wife, Mary Bolland, of Heap Brow, Bury, he had John
Ormerod, of Rhiwlas, Bury, who married Alice, daughter of Joshua Knowles.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Openshaw married Dr. Davies, who has since
died, and she has taken up her residence at Rhiwlas.   James, who was the only
son born to them, died before attaining his majority.   The late Rev. Thomas
Openshaw, of Hey Mount, Holcombe, and Rector of Kentisbury, North Devon, was
the second son of James Openshaw of Beech-hill.   He married Jane, daughter of
James Pilling, of Bridge Fold, Rochdale, and had seventeen children as issue.
The eldest, Frank Ernest Pilling Openshaw, now resides at Starkies.   He has
served a number of years with the Volunteers, retiring with the rank of Major.
The second son, Arthur Percival, was thrown from his horse in 1877, and died
from the effects of his injuries.   He had been on a visit to his father, who
was then lying dangerously ill, and was returning home when the accident
happened.   The father and son (who had not attained his majority) were
interred at the same time in the Church at Kentisbury.   Another son, the Rev.
John Ormerod Openshaw, B.A., of Clare College, Cambridge, was recently
ordained by the Bishop of Exeter, and licensed to the Curacy of Dolton, near
Barnstaple.   Another, James de Radcliffe Openshaw, who resides at Southport,
married Mary Alice, daughter
of Major J. H. Serman, late of the Bengal Lancers.    May Sainte Clare was
united to Mr. J. T. Openshaw, Irwell House, Ramsbottom, and Anne became the
wife of her second cousin, Oliver Ormerod Openshaw, of Park Crescent,
Blackpool [? or Southport ?].   Sarah, a daughter of James Openshaw (Beech-
hill) was married to John Bradbury, M.D., of Cambridge.   By the [? second ?]
marriage James Openshaw (Beech-hill) had James Alfred Openshaw, of
Parkside, Kendal, who died on Monday last, and Arthur Albert, of Beech-hill,
Bury, who was twice married but left no issue.   James Alfred married Miss
Durant, who is now left with two sons and two daughters.   It was these two
brothers who in 1861 founded the firm of James Alfred Openshaw and Bro., and
which has continued in existence up to date.   The youngest daughter by this
second marriage was Mary Ann, who became the wife of Mr. W. O. Walker, J.P.,
of Summerville, Bury.   The fifth and youngest son of John Openshaw (1761)
took up his abode in Tenterden-street, Bury.   He married Dorothy, daughter
of Mr. Greenhow, of Kendal, and had five children, the eldest being John
Greenhow Openshaw, who died young.   The second son was William, of Park
Crescent, Southport [? or Blackpool ?], who married Sarah Ann, eldest
daughter of Jonathan Openshaw, of Bank House, Bury, by whom he had three sons
and a daughter.   The only son who survived him was Oliver Ormerod Openshaw,
who married his second cousin Anne, and lives at Park Crescent.  George was
the third son, and he is now living at Belgrave Place, Manchester-road, Bury.
He married Mary Ann Lomax, daughter of John Lomax.  It was the brothers,
William and George, who founded the firm William and
George Openshaw, Pimhole Cotton Mills, in which there are 15,000 spindles and
530 looms.    The youngest son was Thomas Ormerod Openshaw, who will long be
remembered in the town on account of his munificent gifts towards
the Rochdale-road Recreation Grounds.  The fourth branch of the family is that
of James Openshaw, of Redvales, who
was born in 1737.   He had a son, James, and a daughter, Esther, the latter
marrying Thomas Ramsbottom, of centre Vale, Todmorden.   James married a Miss
Harrison, and there were several children, two of whom, William and
Jonathan, founded the firm of William and Jonathan Openshaw, High-street,
Manchester.   William was the elder, and he died leaving among other children
Frederick Openshaw, J.P., of Hothersall Hall, Ribchester, who
married Miss Hardman, of Chamber Hall, by whom he had several children.
Jonathan, also of Hothersall Hall, and Waterloo House, Bury, died a bachelor.
Another brother of Frederick was James [? or John ?] Hamilton Openshaw,
formerly of Stand.

Among the other branches of the Openshaw family may be mentioned Mr. James
Henry  Openshaw, of the  Albion  and  Albert   Mills,  Elton ; Dr. Thomas
Williams Openshaw , of London ; Mr. Joshua Openshaw, J.P., Heywood-street ;
Mr. John George Openshaw, Solicitor, Bury ; and Mr. C. H.
[? Charles Herbert ?] Openshaw, Architect and Surveyor."

descendent chart:-


                           Oliver Ormerod = 
                              of Bury     |
                                          |
                                          |
                            m. at Bury    |
            John Openshaw ===============Elizabeth
              of Pimhole    28 Oct 1725
              born 1704
                                 |
                                 |
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   |                    |                              |                            |                 |
 John          Miss Walker = Thomas = Miss Powell   George === Miss HEYWOOD       James        + 2 daughters
of Starkies       |    of Stanley Street           of Pimhole                  of Redvales
 no sons          |         born 1730
3 daughters       |
                  |
            John Openshaw ==================== Alice Opensahw
          of the Bell, Bury         |
                                    |
                                 Thomas = 
                                        |
                                        |
                                  Anna Openshaw = John Lomax, J.P., 
                                                of Springfield, Bury,
                                             and of Bodfach, Llanfyllin,
                                        high sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1862.  
                                        This branch of the family is now extinct



                                    *
                             Thomas = Miss Powell
                                    |
                                    | 20 children
                                    |
                     ----------------------------------------------------
                     |
                     |
                     |       James Elton = 
                     |        of Bury    |
                     |                   |
               Charles Openshaw = Alice Elton