CHAPTER 4
JOSEPH TEAL –1786 – 1853
Joseph Teal was
George Teal’s third son, born on
"Extract from apprentice's indenture, in the
possession of Peter Robinson of Rawdon & given to
him by his grandfather, the late Joseph Teal of Yeadon.
The printing and writing is rather faint in parts.
In the 39th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord,
George III etc. -, 1799, between Roger Hardaker of Rawdon in the Parish of Guiseley,
& Joseph Teal of Timel (Timble,
near Otley) of the County of York, who of his own
free will + consent of his father George Teal is to work as apprentice for 5
years 4 months & seven days. The said Roger Hardaker
or his executors shall teach, learn & inform the said Joseph Teal in the
art of a clothier.
{Other clauses unknown are listed re duties of the apprentice}
Witnessed by three witnesses & signed Roger Hardaker (rather shaky), Joseph Teal (a well formed
signature) & George Teal
A clothier is a person who either makes or sells cloth or clothes.
Joseph must have completed his training because the next we hear of him is in 1821 in Yeadon the village adjacent to Rawdon listed as a Woollen Manufacturer. The link of the Teal family with Yeadon was to last over 100 years and see some members become part of the ruling class of the town. Yeadon in the 1820s was a rapidly growing small town, its population had increased from 1,954 to 2,455 between 1801 and 1821. Its main trade was cloth manufacturing. Built on the south facing slopes of the valley of the river Aire it was ideally placed for this trade having an abundant supply of soft water in its many becks and streams.
Joseph’s
manufacturing business appears to have prospered and expanded. In a directory published by
‘Baines’ in 1822 he is listed as selling his cloth in the ‘Cock and Bottle’ inn
in the centre of
The ‘Cock & Bottle’ From the 18th
Century it stood on the south side of the Headrow,
just opposite its junction with
In 1838, William White produced a Directory of the West Riding of Yorkshire in which he describes 'Yeadon, on a lofty moorland hill, on the north side of Airedale,... is a large clothing village, in three divisions, called Upper and Lower Yeadon, and Henshaw, the first of which is the largest. The township contains 2761 inhabitants, and 1730 acres of land, mostly the property of W. R. C. Stansfield, Esq., the Lord of the Manor... Most of the inhabitants are small clothiers, not remarkable for the politeness of their manners!...' He then gives quite a detailed list of the more important members of the community with their occupations, and, roughly where they were situated:-
Woollen Mfrs
Teale, Joseph
1851 Census Return for
Swine Carr, Yeadon showing Joseph and Betty Teal
with children John, Stephen and Naylor Public Record Office,
1851 Ordnance Survey Map
for Yeadon centred on the Swinecar
Area. The triangle of land to
the right of Swinecar House was owned by Joseph
and is listed as a garden, wood or orchard in the 1838 Tithe Award
In the 1851 census he is listed as living in the Swinecar area as a cloth manufacturer employing four men in the business.
On
There was a character of great interest to me, Betty Naylor of Hawksworth a farmer’s daughter who lived at a Jacobean house in the village since made into the Post Office or I believe now a cafe or cottages. She was a brilliant horse woman + used to ride in a scarlet cloak & was very dark with red cheeks, like my sister was so father used to say. She was I think my father's Grandmother, so presume she married Joseph 1.
Letter dated
My father…… used to tell a very sad story his grandmother used to tell him - that when money had all gone in the mill + she couldn't pay the bills + being a big believer in prayer she got the family down on their knees to pray for help - They lived in Walker Row area - which his father + mother lived in so no doubt it was Joseph Teal - all open fields then + when they got up across the fields came her sister who had walked from Hawksworth - she was married to a farmer there so it all ties up with Betty Naylor , she had heard that her sister was in distress about money + had brought a big bag full of it!!! to tide then over until they got organised again.
Joseph and Betty had five sons, William in 1821, Joseph in 1824, John in 1829 and twins Stephen and Naylor in 1831
Around 1808
Joseph had joined the
Here there were some stirring incidents which gave the township quite a notoriety in the West Riding, and brought people in large numbers from surrounding districts to witness what was locally termed the “Backing-up”, by which was meant the physical support given by the rival partisans to their respective leaders.
What took place in Yeadon was of course, only part of a general movement. Messrs Everett, Dunn, and Griffiths, the principal advocated of Reform, were charged in the Methodist Conference (governing body) with being the authors of certain “Fly sheets” which had been published and circulated amongst Methodists, demanding alteration in Church government. Refusing to acknowledge or deny the authorship of these “sheets”, the three ministers were expelled from the Wesleyan body. This was the beginning of a revolt which brought about the cessation of over 80,000 members.
In Yeadon, the agitation for Reform seems, as far as we can trace it, to owe its inception to the introduction of a “Fly sheet,” possession of which had been obtained by Mr. William Kenion, who was then a leader of a Methodist class. This “sheet” he read and enlarged upon to the members of his class, with the significant result that out of a number of fifty all but two supported the attitude taken by their leader. This action evoked the displeasure of the superintendent and his officers and then followed what happened in many other places – expulsion.
Other class leaders and almost all their members, acted similarly. Amongst these were John Johnson, John Abbott, Joseph Teal (father of the late John Teal), James Lee, William Winterburn, Benjamin Grimshaw, Benjamin Yeadon, Joseph Marshall, William Ibbitson, William Hobson, John Marshall, Joseph Smith, and John Dobson.
We may state that after a series of disturbances between the contending parties as to which should control the services in the Chapel building an understanding was arrived at by which the Reformers took possession of the chapel, whilst the Conference supporters retained a house adjoining. Further disturbances culminated in the claims of the rival parties been made the subject of a Court case in which the Reformers were removed from the Chapel buildings.
What the ‘official’ booklet of the Reformed Methodist Church fails to tell us is the extent of the disturbances. In 1853 there was fighting and disorder in the town, violence in the Chapel itself culminating in a shooting incident which brought prison sentences to the two men involved.
Joseph as stated was on the reformers side and was expelled from the Church. He would have continued to worship but now using people’s homes instead of the Chapel.
Joseph died
suddenly and tragically on
Strangely enough the "sudden death + coroner rings a bell. My father used to say that his grandfather died tragically. He had put all his money into starting a mill (but I always though it was in Yeadon, in the Whack House Lane District, you know those doors they had on second or even third storey buildings for craning bales of wool up from the ground. Inside there was a rope operated by a handle (turned by hand - I know because my father had one) The rope had grappling hooks on the end which of course was outside. When the bale got opposite the door it had to be pulled in + released + great grandfather fell out whilst doing this - hit ground below + was killed instantly
The second and possibly more accurate account comes from the contemporary newspaper the Halifax Guardian:
Page 4
6th column 1/2 way down
FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT AT YEADON. - On Thursday last, a
frightful accident happened at Earnshaw's mill, Yeadon, to a
man named Joseph Teale, who was employed at the establish-
ment. Having become sick, after taking breakfast, Teale was
endeavouring to descend a flight of
stairs for some purpose or
other. Whilst doing so, he fell to the bottom, and
alighting
upon his head was so severely
injured that he survived only a
few moments. Yesterday an inquest was held on the body
at the Commercial Inn, Yeadon, before George Dyson, Esq.,
and a verdict of accidental
death was returned.
Joseph was
interred in the Methodists Chapel Hill Burial Ground in the centre of Yeadon in grave number A9.
On
His Will proved
on
Betty died of
dropsy on
Newspaper - The
References:
Letter from
Esther Gertrude Robinson dated 8th October &
Yeadon,
Baines ‘
The
Jubilee Souvenir – Yeadon United Methodist Free Church 1855 - 1905