1900-1909 | bolton-encyclopedia

1900s In the 1900s Ormrod and Hardcastle became one of fourteen businesses to become part of the Fine Cotton Spinners and Doublers Association Ltd Ltd (FCSDA Ltd). However, the mills continued to trade under the name Ormrod, Hardcastle and Co Ltd until closure. The mills had grown to consist of 364 looms, 115,664 mule and ring spindles and 32,438 doubling spindles

1900 (1 Jan) First electric tram service in Bolton, run by Bolton Corporation (1 January).

1900 (2 Jan) Last horse tram runs in Bolton (2 January).

1900 (2 Jan) On 2 January 1900 electric services started on routes to Halliwell, Dunscar, Moses Gate, Daubhill, Deane, Lostock and Doffcocker.

1900 (9 Jan) James Billington carried out the first hanging of the 20th century when he executed 33 year old Louise Masset at Newgate on the 9th of January 1900 for the murder of her illegitimate son.

1900 (10 Jan) Philip Ingress Bell, TD, QC, British barrister and judge, born. His father Geoffrey Vincent Bell was a sculptor.

Member of Parliament for Bolton East 1951-1960

Died 12 Sept 1986

1900 (17 Feb) The statue of Sir Benjamin Alfred Dobson (Mayor of Bolton 1894-1898) by John Cassidy of Manchester was unveiled by Dobson’s successor as Mayor. William Nicholson.

Dobson was Chairman of Dobson & Barlow – one of the world’s leading manufacturers of textile machinery – and died suddenly during his fourth year as Mayor. He is depicted wearing his Mayoral robes and chain and holding a monocle in his right hand.

1900 (14 Mar) Victoria Hall Methodist Mission was opened on 14 March 1900

1900 (27 Mar) William (Billy) Butler was born in Atherton.

He became a coalminer and played football for Howe Bridge and Atherton Colliery before joining Bolton Wanderers in April 1920.

1900 (13 Apr) Bolton Corporation opens Shiffnall Street electric tram depot (13 April).

1900 (27 Jun) Harry Woodgate Greenhalgh (1900 – 1982), English footballer, born. He played as a right back in The Football League with Bolton Wanderers in the 1920s. He was a member of the Bolton Wanderers team which won the 1926 FA Cup Final.

1900 Westhoughton was brought into the Bolton Borough

1900 Thomas Cross & Co was the third largest of fifty-three concerns which merged to form Bleachers Association Limited, one of Britain’s largest industrial companies

1900 Trams electrified

1900 Victoria Hall opened

1900 Sharman’s rebuilt - and renamed - the Sunnyside in 1900

1900 Bolton Corporation introduces its route letter system where the letters take the destination into account such as D for Dunscar – the first in the north west to attempt route identification.

1900 Merton Mill, Oriel Street/Adelaide Street: Bolton built.

1900 William Hesketh Lever (later Lord Leverhulme) gave Hall I’ th’ Wood to the Corporation of Bolton

1900 In 1900 Joseph William Foster (1881 – 1933) established his business at 57 Deane Road, Bolton, where he handmade running shoes.

By 1900 Bolton was Lancashire's third largest engineering centre after Manchester and Oldham. About 9,000 men were employed in the industry, half of them working for Dobson and Barlow in Kay Street. The firm made textile machinery. Another engineering company was Hick, Hargreaves & Co, based at the Soho Foundry. This firm made Lancashire Boilers and heavy machinery.

1900-1930 Rev. Percy Stott who was a Vicar of St Peter’s from 1900 to 1930.

1901 (27 Apr) Col George Hesketh (1852-1930) opened Astley Bridge Recreation Ground 27 April 1901.

1901 (27 Apr) In the FA Cup replay, Tottenham Hotspur became the last non-league side to win the FA Cup when they beat Sheffield United 3–1 before an attendance of 20,470 at Burnden Park, Bolton. John Cameron opened the scoring before centre forward Sandy Brown became the first player to score in every round. He netted both goals in the final as well as one in the replay for a total of 15 in the season's competition.

1901 (28 Jul) Sun- Among the visiting speakers for whom public meetings were organised was James Connolly, who addressed audiences in the Town Hall Square.

In the afternoon, his theme was “Labour and Revolution”, and in the evening “The Economic Causes of Irish Misery”.

1901 (Oct) Sir Nigel Gresley's marriage to Ethel Frances Fullagar at St Annes Parish Church in October 1901.

1901 (3 Dec?) James Billington’s last execution, he hung Patrick M’Kenna at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, for the murder of his wife.

Billington's final victim was a man he knew well. The pair knew each other because McKenna was a regular at the Derby Arms public house in Bolton, at that time Billington's home. McKenna killed his wife after she refused to give him money to buy beer, and Billington was one of a number of men who happened to be near the scene of the crime and succeeded in detaining McKenna until the arrival of the police. McKenna was sentenced to be hanged at Strangeways Prison on 13 November 1901?. Although Billington was suffering badly from bronchitis he managed to carry out the execution, but as soon as it was over, he returned home to his sick bed and died a month later at the age of 54.

1901 (13 Dec) James Billington (born 1847), hangman, died of bronchitis at his home, the Derby Arms, Churchgate, Bolton aged 54.

1901 Francis Searchlights Limited have designed and manufactured innovative, high quality and competitive lighting products since 1901.

The company was started in 1901 in Bolton. They had a shop in Bolton called T Francis & Sons selling electrical components.

1901 The population of Lostock was 852.

1901 Burnden Park hosted the replay of the FA Cup Final, in which Tottenham Hotspur beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1.

1901 Burnden Park was to stage a historic FA Cup final replay, when Tottenham Hotspur overcame Sheffield United 3-1. The match holds the record for the lowest attendance at an FA Cup final (surprising after the first match attracted 110,000 at Crystal Palace). The day that the match was held became known as "Pie Saturday", stemming from the over-estimation by the caterers at the club of the number of meat pies required, leaving them with many surplus, which had to be handed out free after the match. To this day, Tottenham Hotspur still send a case-load of meat pies to the poor and needy in the town to celebrate the great day in their history.

1901 Doffcocker Inn, Bolton built 1901.

1901 Charles Henry Lucas (1901–1987), local Labour politician and art collector, born.

1902 (10 Jan) Thomas Billington, assistant hangman, died aged 29 years of age of pneumonia at the Derby Arms, Churchgate, Bolton, which was kept by his mother.

He was the son of the late hangman James Billington.

1902 (8 Feb) Edgar Rouse Sutcliffe founded Sutcliffe Speakman & Co Ltd., on the 8th February 1902.

1902 (13 Mar) Alexander (Alex) Finney, footballer, born in St Helens

Bolton Wanderers.

1902 (1 Jun) Co-op building at corner of Bridge Street St George’s Road destroyed by fire

1902 (25 Jun) Accident at Ladyshore colliery

At 2.30pm, a collier by the name of W. Scott was killed. Scott was pulling down the roof with his Under-Manager, a man by the name of Brown when a six-inch-thick layer fell, bringing down the next layer and crushing Scott

At the inquest at Bolton on 1 July, his death was recorded as accidental

Marriage: 19 Jul 1902 Claremont Baptist Chapel, Bolton, Lancashire, England

Thomas Relph - 19 Cab Driver Bachelor of 2 Orme Street Bolton

Lillian Mayor - 19 Cotton Card Tenter Spinster of 7 Lyon Street Bolton

Groom's Father: Robert Relph, Cab Proprietor

Bride's Father: William Mayor, Painter

Witness: Emmanuel Hughes; Mary Ellen Holt

Married by Certificate by: Charles Cole Authorised Person for 'Claremont' Bolton

1902 (23 Jul) Hall i th Wood Museum opened by W. H. Lever.

1902 (9 Aug) Some buildings in Bolton decorated for coronation of Edward VII

1902 (25 Aug) A private school known as Mount St Joseph High School was opened in a cottage on Avery Terrace, now Willows Lane. The school began with five pupils.

The first pupil was Frances (Fanny) Gibbins

1902 (10 Sep) John Miller Andrews (1871-1956) married Jessie (d. 1950) eldest daughter of Bolton stockbroker Joseph Ormrod at Rivington Unitarian Chapel, Rivington

They had one son and two daughters

Andrews became the second Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

His brother Thomas died in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912

His younger brother James married Jessie’s sister

1902 William Hesketh Lever gave the people of Bolton Lever Park in Rivington

1902 Blackrod had thirty farms.

1902 White Horse on corner of Mealhouse Lane and Shipgates, closed

1902 Mount St Joseph School was established in 1902 by the Sisters of the Cross and Passion.

1902 At the time of the coronation of Edward VII with the streets of the town illuminated and decorated, members of the Bolton Socialist Party, led by Sarah Reddish, protested at a Town Hall meeting that the money lavished on the celebrations should have been spent on food for the poor.

1902 Employment in the area was boosted by the newly-built Swan Lane Mills. Number 1 mill was built in 1902 with Number 2 mill following three years later. This double-mill was the largest in the world at that time.

1902-03 Bolton Wanderers finished bottom and were once again relegated.

1902-1905 At the time of construction No 1 and No 2 Swan Lane Mills were reputed to be the largest mills in the world under a single roof.

1903 (19 Feb) Thomas William Bannerman Dealey, of 78 Gilnow Road, Bolton, Lancashire - solicitor - died at Bromley Cross, Bolton.

A railway fatality.

1903 (23 May) William "Bill" Farrimond (1903 – 1979) , Lancashire and England cricketer, born in Daisy Hill, Westhoughton, Lancashire. He played in four Tests from 1931 to 1935. Died 15 Nov 1979.

1903 (1 Jul) Thomas Henry Rushton died suddenly of a perforated appendix at Garstang

1903 (30 Sep) Bolton Art School was held in the Pupil Teachers' Centre, Hilden Street; it opened on 30th Sept 1903.

1903 (Oct) Turton Tower was bought by Sir Lees Knowles, Baronet, for £3,875, who was MP for Salford West and made his fortune in the Lancashire coalfields.

1903 (21 Nov) Jack Bruton, professional footballer and manager, born in Westhoughton

Scored 42 goals in 167 appearances or Burnley

Scored 108 goals in 324 appearances for Blackburn Rovers

Died 13 Mar 1986

1903 Bury’s 6-0 victory over Derby County in the FA Cup Final.

Edgworth-born Charlie Sagar scored the second goal

1903 Harry Pilling born in Bolton, an only child

Started his own import/export business The Astley Dye & Chemical Company in 1919.

1903 High Street Swimming Baths opened (closed 1985).

1904 (Mar) Oxford Grove Council School, in the Halliwell area of Bolton, Lancashire, opened in March 1904 with places for 1,031 pupils.

Marriage: 9 Apr 1904 Claremont Baptist Chapel, Bolton, Lancashire, England

Robert Relph - 23 Cab Driver Bachelor of 2 Orm Street Bolton

Fanny Taylor - 21 Cotton Weaver Spinster of 28 Hopkin Street Bolton

Groom's Father: Robert Relph, Cab Proprietor

Bride's Father: James Taylor, Carter

Witness: Frederick Taylor; Margaret Ann Barlow

Married by Certificate by: Charles Cole Authorised Person for 'Claremont' Bolton

1904 (23 Apr) Bolton Wanderers F.C. reached the final of the FA Cup for a second time, they lost 1-0 to local rivals Manchester City at Crystal Palace

1904 (13 May) Harold Blackmore was born in Silverton on 13th May 1904. Died 1989.

1904 (16 May) John Pennington Thomasson (1841-1904) died at Heaton, Greater Manchester aged 62

1904 (26 May) George Formby, OBE (1904 – 1961), English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian, born George Hoy Booth in Wigan, Lancashire. He was the son of George Formby Sr, from whom he later took his stage name. He became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he sang light, comical songs, usually playing the ukulele or banjolele, and became the UK's highest-paid entertainer. Died 6 Mar 1961.

1904 (3 Sep) John Heywood opened a recreation ground for Halliwell, which had been presented to the town by George Harwood MP.

1904 (5 Sep) Bolton Corporation experiments with its first motor buses (5 September), but they are soon withdrawn.

1904 (Sep) Sterling steam omnibus introduced by Bolton Corporation (September).

1904 (7 Dec) Westhoughton Town Hall (now the Area Office) was opened, after a procession from the old offices led by a joint band of Wingates and Westhoughton bands. Luncheon in the assembly rooms followed, rounded off with 'Council Pudding' and a programme of entertainment featuring artistes, including Masters Tony and Terry Wilson, humorous duettists.

1904 Trinity Street station opened

1904 John Robert Tognarelli arrived in Britain from Italy in 1904

1904 Lancashire won the County Cricket Championship

1904 James Hallows (Lancashire) achieved the all-rounders double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets

1904 Henry Albert Hoy resigned at Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to become general manager of Beyer, Peacock and Company in Manchester.

He was replaced by George Hughes.

1904 In 1904 William Thomas Taylor (1853–1925) founded a textile firm in Horwich.

1904-05 Bolton Wanderers finished second to Liverpool and was promoted back to the First Division.

1905 (4 Feb) Hylda Baker [married name Pearson), British comedienne, actress and music hall star, born at 23 Ashworth Street, Farnworth, Bolton, Lancashire, the eldest of the seven children (three boys, four girls) of Harold (Chukky) Baker (1884–1966), painter and signwriter, who also worked the music halls as a part-time comedian, and Margaret Halliwell, seamstress, both of Farnworth.

Educated at Plodder Lane Council School.

Died 1 May 1986

1905 (20 Feb) Robert Crompton Tonge, the landlord of the Arrowsmiths Arms pub on Mill Street, Bolton,died of his injuries, at Bolton infirmary, the day after falling downstairs. His widow, Edith Annie, continued to run the pub after his death.

1905 (28 Jul) All Saints' Church, Barnacre was dedicated to the memory of Thomas Henry Rushton by the Bishop of Manchester, The Rt Rev E A Knox.

Designed by Austin & Paley of Lancaster, it was the generous gift of the wife and children of Thomas Henry Rushton and cost £2,000.

1905 (17 Aug) Moses Whittle of Kay Street and Sarah Garlick, of Durham Street, both Bolton married at the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Higher Bridge Street. Both were 22 years of age

The couple later had a son Sir Frank Whittle, the world famous aviation pioneer who was the father of the jet age

The couple are believed to have met at a local mill where Sarah worked as a card room hand and Moses was a mill mechanic. They stayed in Bolton just a short time before moving to Coventry where Frank was born

1905 (23 Sep) Mount St Joseph Secondary School was formally opened by the Bishop.

1905 (Oct) On reading of the arrest of the militant suffragettes Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney for assault, Jennie Baines joined their organization, the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), as a voluntary worker.

1905 (Oct) Bolton Socialist Party moved into 16 Wood Street

1905 (14 Nov) Robert Whitehead, English engineer, died

Whitehead left his fortune to his granddaughter Agathe Whitehead.

1905 (21 Nov) (Esther) Georgina Battiscombe (nee Harwood), biographer, was born at 68 South Audley Street, Mayfair, London, the elder daughter of George Harwood (1845–1912), a master cotton spinner and Liberal MP for Bolton from 1895 to his death, and his second wife, Ellen, née Hopkinson.

Died 26 Feb 2006.

1905 (23 Dec) The Hulton Baronetcy, of Hulton Park in the parish of Deane and County Palatine of Durham, was created in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom on 23 December 1905 for the colliery owner and politician William Hulton, in honour of his services to local affairs in Lancashire. The title became extinct on the death of the fourth Baronet in 1993.

1905 Swan Lane Mills Number 1 mill was built in 1902. With Number 2 mill following in 1905. This double-mill was the largest in the world at that time.

1905 Preston’s acquire the site on the West corner of Deansgate / Bank Street

1905 16 Wood Street becomes the home of Bolton Socialist Club

1905 Bolton Socialist Club opened in 1905 and is the oldest remaining independent socialist club in the UK.

1905 Brookfield Mill burnt down

1905 Brownlow Fold No.2 Mill was built in 1905.

1905 James Preston died of apoplexy

The business passed to his niece, Gertrude Duckworth

1905 The British Oak closed in 1905

1905 Rivington Hall barn: Originally used for Agriculture, the Barn was extended in 1905 by Lord Leverhulme and used as a tea room.

1905 16 Wood Street, Bolton became the home of Bolton Socialist Club.

It was the birthplace of William Hesketh Lever, generous benefactor of his hometown and founder of Lever Brothers and Sunlight Soap – later to become the vast Unilever business empire. As Lord Leverhulme, he became Bolton’s Victory Mayor in 1918

1905 John James Bentley (born 1860) became the first league official to become a vice-president of the FA.

1905 The Bolton Guild of Help founded. Sir James Scott, one of the founders made many donations to the charity over the years until his death in 1914.

1905-1906 Col George Hesketh (1852-1930) - Mayor of Bolton: 1905-06 (Conservative)

1905-1906 Bolton-born Albert Shepherd was top scorer in the First Division in the 1905–1906

1905-1906 Bolton Wanderers finished sixth in the First Division

1906 (8 Mar) John Heywood unveiled the Thomasson Memorial in Mere Hall, Bolton

1906 (24 Mar) George Grundy (born 1849), as Chairman of Westhoughton UDC, opened Westhoughton's Carnegie Library on 24 March 1906. He was presented with a golden key, which is on display in the Westhoughton Library Exhibition Space.

1906 (7 Apr) Bolton –born Albert Shepherd scored on his England debut v Scotland, aged 20 years, 208 days

1906 (11 Jun) Edna Morris, British actress, born in Bolton, Lancashire, England

Died 11 Aug 1972

Interred at Overdale Crematorium

1906 (11 Jun) Edna Morris, British actress, born in Bolton, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Film and television credits include "Z Cars," "Cluff," "Public Eye," "Crossroads," "Thorndyke," "Dixon of Dock Green," "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning," "Sons and Lovers," and "The Flying Doctor." Died 11 Aug 1972 (aged 66) London, City of London, Greater London, England

1906 (4 Aug) Joseph Whiteside, swimmer, born in Bolton

Died Oct 1990

1906 (Aug) Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst invited to speak at the Bolton Socialist Club.

1906 (9 Nov) The Bolton Evening News of 9 November 1906 reported that a "breezy discussion" took place in the Council chamber with regard to the election of a new Mayor. Strong opposition was made to the fact that Thomas Barlow Tong (1850-1917) made his living as a brewer, but eventually he was elected.

1906 (Nov) The Works at Moor Lane was taken over by Sir Henry Bessemer and the name Bolton Iron and Steel Company disappeared forever. Under its title of Bessemers, further expansion was envisaged prior to the First World War, but was shelved in the depressed post-war years.

1906 (Dec) Bolton Corporation opens its tramway offices on Bradshawgate (December).

1906 Kearsley Mill built – Kearsley Spinning Mill Company

1906 The Sun was demolished in 1906 to make way for a row of shops.

1906 Lord’s commercial college founded

1906 A weaving mill was built in Blackrod

1906 Wingates Band achieved the double by winning the British Open brass band championships and the British National championships (the latter staged at the Crystal Palace in London)

1906 Thomas Gardner Horridge (1857-1938) was elected as Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester East, spectacularly unseating the former Conservative prime minister, Arthur Balfour.

He particularly campaigned on the "Chinese Slavery" issue: the Conservative government's policy of using indentured Chinese labourers, housed in primitive enclosures, to operate South African gold mines.

1906 James Lomax (1857-1934) :From 1906 his business was rather more formally constituted as the Lomax Palaeobotanical Company Limited, and received sponsorship from a group of academic palaeobotanists for whom Lomax collected and prepared fossil plant sections.

Late 1906 Bolton Hebrew Congregation: The Synagogue was at 43 Spa Road, Bolton, from late 1906.

1906-1907 Bolton Wanderers finished sixth in the First Division

1906-1908 Thomas Barlow Tong Mayor of Bolton (Conservative)

1906-1908 Thomas Barlow Tong - Mayor of Bolton: 1906-08 (Conservative)

1906-1911 John Owen, who appeared between 1906 and 1911 played 98 times for Bolton Wanderers.

1906-1914 Alfred Henry Gill- MP for Bolton (Labour)

General Secretary of the Operative Cotton Spinners Provincial Association of Bolton and Surrounding Districts.

First Labour MP for Bolton. One of the first intake of Labour MPs ever to be elected.

Belmont Reservoir treaty

By section 13 of the Bolton Corporation Act 1905 it was enacted as follows:

Section 13. As from the date when the Corporation shall become entitled under the provisions of this Act to appropriate and use for the purpose of their Water undertaking the Water of the Belmont Reservoir they shall cause to flow out of that Reservoir into the Eagley brook as Compensation Water in respect of the Water so appropriated a supply of Water at the rate of 1758,600 gallons during twelve hours of every day (Sundays, Good Fridays and Christmas Days only excepted) in a regular and continuous flow between fine o'clock in the morning and five o'clock in the afternoon.

This protection for Belmont was only obtained after a strenuous fight in both Houses of Parliament and after the Select Committee of the House of Lords through their Chairman the Duke of Northumberland has intimated that the interests of Belmont must be secured by a discharge of Compensation Water from the Belmont Reservoir for the protection of the industry of Belmont and the people dependent on that industry.

To whom it may concern. See to the above patrimony being preserved in its entirety and in perpetuity. Edward Deakin. March 1907

1907 (1 Jun) Frank Whittle born in a terraced house in Newcombe Road, Earlsdon, Coventry into a working-class background, the eldest son of Moses and Sara Alice Whittle

Invented the jet engine

Died 9 Aug 1996

1907 (13 Jun) William Nicholson (then aged 82) - Mayor of Bolton: 1891-94, 1898*, 1898-99, 1901* - was struck with a hammer by a madman near Dobson's statue in front of Bolton Town Hall. He was knocked to the ground and struck again several times.

His assailant, a quarryman called John W Anderson, was later judged to be insane and sent to an asylum.

1907 (28 Jun) Thomas Barlow Tong (1850-1917) cut the first sod of the new mill on Deane Road, later called the Croal Mill.

1907 (4 Oct) Ten men were killed in a cage collision at Foggs Colliery Darcy Lever, Bolton.

1907 King’s Hall, Bradshawgate opened

1907 Brownlow Fold No.3 Mill was built in 1907.

1907 Whitaker’s opened on corner of Deansgate and Old Hall Street North, then Lion’s Paw on opposite corner was rebuilt in imitation and opened as Silver Vat

1907 Wingates Band repeated its success of 1906 and retained both titles, completing the first double double in British banding world. The feat was not matched for over 70 years.

1907 Maurice Edwards, manager of the Bolton Mutual Garage, Bradshawgate (now 'World of Leather'), designed, and Patented in 1910, an aero engine machined by W H Cowley of Daubhill and sold as 'Avro' in two and four-cylinder patterns by Messrs A V Roe of Manchester. One powered the first engine-driven biplane in Ireland (The Mayfly), and survives in the Brooklands Aviation Museum, Surrey.

1907 Sarah Reddish (born 1850) was the first woman to stand for Bolton City Council

1907 Falcon Mill Ltd built in Handel Street off Halliwell Road, on the site of Brookfield mill that burnt down in 1905.

Architects George Temperley and Son.

The first to be fitted with concrete filler joist floors

1907 Great Lever Old Hall demolished

1907 Hippodrome, Deansgate opened

1907-1908 Bolton Wanderers were relegated from the First Division

1908 (8 Mar) The foundation stone for Farnworth Town Hall laid by Mr. Thomas Ivers JP, a former Chairman of the Council

1908 (30 Apr) Professor Sir George Grenfell-Baines OBE DL , English architect and town planner, born, as George Grenfell Baines at 11 Cecilia Street, Preston, the elder son (there were no daughters) of Ernest Charles Baines (1882–1950), railway clerk, and his wife, Sarah Elizabeth, née Grenfell (1885–1979), from a family of Methodist lay preachers.

His family’s humble circumstances forced him to start work at the age of fourteen. Both George and his younger brother, Richard (Dick), were prodigiously gifted mathematicians and draughtsmen. George left a secure, but limiting, job in the Lancashire County Architect’s Office to work for the prestigious private firm of Bradshaw Gass & Hope in Bolton in 1930.

Died 9 May 2003

1908 (4 Jun) Thomas Barlow Tong (1850-1917) cut the first sod at Delph Reservoir on 4 June 1908.

1908 (Jun) Joseph Tyas Cooper cut the first sod at Delph Reservoir.

1908 (18 Aug) 76 died in a mining disaster as a result of an underground explosion at Maypole Colliery, Abram.

1908 (8 Oct) Ethel Johnson, English athlete, born in Westhoughton, Lancashire

She was a member of Bolton United Harriers and competed for Great Britain in the 1932 Summer Olympics. Died 30 Mar 1964.

1908 (Nov) Jennie Baines was the first WSPU member to be tried by jury.

Convicted of unlawful assembly outside the Coliseum in Leeds, she was sentenced to six weeks' imprisonment on refusing to be bound over because she did ‘not recognise the laws of this Court administered by men’

1908 (Nov) Baby Clinics were started by Sarah Reddish in November 1908 Hundreds of Bolton infants died each year through insanitary housing, poor and unhealthy surroundings and bad feeding in early life. Sarah started the first Bolton "Babies Welcome" in the Thomasson Co-op Reading Rooms – which encouraged Bolton Corporation Health Department to open three more centres at which doctors worked half a day a week. Babies were weighed, records kept and mothers advised on breast feeding, clothing and looking after their babies.

By 1918 there were eight centres and in 1932 the Children and Young

Persons Act was introduced and the clinics came under full municipal control.

1908 (21-26 Dec) Harry Houdini appeared at the Grand Theatre, Bolton.

1908 Bolton United Harriers & Athletic Club is the town’s oldest running club and one of the North West’s longest established sporting organisations. As we like to say, we’ve been “Running, jumping and throwing since 1908”, when the Club was founded.

1908 In 1908 J. W. Foster founded the Bolton United Harriers and Athletic Club which was located in Burn Street. By the 1920s and 1930s it be-came the epicentre of local wrestling, and from that, Bolton Olympic Wrestling Club was established. Most wrestlers who later turned professional developed their skills at local wrestling clubs, where the classical Greco-Roman, and Olympic style of wrestling was taught.

1908 The New Empire Theatre later the Hippodrome opened

1908 The Junction Inn, which was owned by William Tong’s, closed in 1908

1908 The African Chief in Moss Street closed in 1908.

1908 Joe Smith joined Bolton Wanderers

1908 John James Bentley (born 1860) became chairman of Manchester United.

1908 Joseph M Bromilow Jr was on a relay team which set a world record in the 400 metres relay

1908 Bolton Golf Club’s course measured 2841 yards

1908 Bolton man Timothy Cowing died.

He had been a Sergeant in the Royal Fusiliers in the Crimean war, fighting at the Battles of the Alma and Inkerman and taking part in the attacks on the Redan. Cowing retired from the army with the rank of Sergeant Major and wrote a memoir of his military service entitled A Voice From the Ranks. He used to travel round Lancashire selling copies of his books at mill and factory gates to supplement his army pension of a shilling (5p) a day.

1908 Croal Mill built – Croal Spinning Co Ltd.

1908 Bolton United Harriers were formed at the Three Tuns.

1908 Dart Mill Ltd., Union Road, built.

1908 Another little known zoo was established at Lever Park, Rivington, by Lord Lever in 1908. It was principally for the health and education of the people of Bolton and housed animals in large paddocks. Kangaroos, zebras and lions are recorded as being present, but the only surviving remnant of the former inhabitants is a stuffed flamingo in Bolton Museum. Although it closed in 1925, the site plan is unknown - only a few fence posts indicate where some of the paddock fences ran, and a few rough patches of ground may indicate the site of the animal enclosures. Essentially, although less than 80 years have passed since it closed it has become an archaeological rather than an historical investigation.

1908-1909 Newcastle United won the Football League championship. Bolton-born Albert Shepherd ended the season as Newcastle's top scorer with 15 league and cup goals

1908-1909 Bolton Wanderers won the Second Division championship

1909 (30 Mar) Farnworth Town Hall was opened by Mr. Thomas Stanley, then Chairman of the Council.

1909 (7 Apr) Bolton Corporation lays the corner stone of the new Bridgeman Street tram depot (7 April).

1909 (Apr) Joe Smith made his Bolton Wanderers league debut against West Bromwich Albion.

1909 (14 Jun) Bolton Corporation and SLT introduce through running of electric tram services (14 June).

1909 (24 Aug) John Charles Wright accepted the archbishopric of Sydney and was consecrated at St Paul’s Cathedral, London.

1909 (25 Sep) The Olympia roller skating rink was erected on the site in 1909 and opened on Saturday Sept 25

1909 (9 Nov) Henry Goslin MC, (1909 – 1943), better known as Harry Goslin, English footballer, born in Willington, Cheshire. He played for Bolton Wanderers for the whole of his professional career. He played in defence. Died Dec 1943.

1909 Roof collapse at Spindle Point

Samuel Harrison killed

1909 New market cross erected

1909 Whiteheads buy the block west of “Prestons” as far as Crown Street and renovate to the form known thro C20. Closed 2000

1909 Olympia skating rink opened, becoming the Regal Cinema, then Nevada skating rink, burned down by an arson attack in 1985. Now Bolton Lads and Girls Club Bolton Lads Club having changed its name and moved into a new purpose-built building here in 2002

1909 The Barlow Institute built

1909 Samuel Chatwood died

1909 The cross at the crossroads of Churchgate, Bradshawgate, Deansgate and Bank Street was built. It was paid for by George Harwood MP

An earlier cross had been removed in 1786

1909 Established in 1909, the Sir James & Lady Scott Trust is able to award grants to charities based in Bolton. Trustees give priority to projects which support disadvantaged individuals and communities.

The Trust makes up to 20 charitable donations a year with grant awards ranging from £250 to £3,000. The Borough of Bolton is its beneficial area in recognition of the Scott family’s previous residence in Bolton and their strong interest in the town’s charitable work.

1909-1910 Bolton-born Albert Shepherd became the first Newcastle player to score more than 30 goals in a season (1909/10, 31 league and cup goals) and repeated the feat the following season (1910/11, 33 league and cup goals)

A horizontally opposed two cylinder, two stroke petrol engine in this case each inward movement of the pistons being a firing (working) stroke.

The design, Patent No: 21710 dated 1909 and sealed May 19th, 1910 was the work of two Bolton brothers, Maurice and William Edwards, described on the patent as motor engineers.

The main feature of this design was the transfer of fuel between crankcase and combustion chambers by internal transfer passages. Prior designs had external piping to transfer fuel. Another advance was that instead of one transfer pipe to each cylinder this design had six equi-spaced ports around the cylinder. This allowed the petrol/air

mixture to enter the cylinder combustion chamber in an efficient manner. Modern two stroke engines today employ this system of porting for its efficiency.

This patent specifically refers to two cylinder designs it could have been utilized for four or more. A number of these engines were made in the Bolton garage of Edward Brothers and installed in early aeroplanes such as Farman and A.V. Roe. Lillian Bland one of the first lady aviators flew with one powering her biplane in Ireland circa 1910.

Maurice Edwards was himself a pioneer aviator and installed his engine in a Farman biplane circa 1910 which he flew in competitions around Lancashire.

1909-1910 Joseph Tyas Cooper Mayor of Bolton (Liberal)

He was the first Liberal Mayor since 1868 and a 'Coronation' Mayor - George V being crowned on 22 June 1911.