Haworth YHA HostelTim and I are leaving for England in 13 days. Our first overnight will be in Haworth where Tim's mother grew up. Her family, the Merralls, owned the Ebor Mills and their enormous house called Longlands has now become a youth hostel.
I will get a chance to dig around Haworth. The Brontes also grew up there. Bramwell Bronte drank and partied with one of the relatives. The Merralls left a family reputation that is a combination of "Upstairs Downstairs" and "Remains of the Day".
Ebor Mills is an example of the enormity of the textile trade in the Industrial North. They had 15,000 spindles and 1400 looms and produced the finest worsted in all of England. Haworth was reputed to be one of the most polluted areas in the north. The Merralls loomed over the area and lived with a strong sense of entitlement.
Tim's mother, Mary Merrall, was a woman with a strong social responsibility. She was also incredibly cheap. She walked around with little scissors and clipped cuttings from botanical gardens whenever she could. She recycled and remade everything long before it became stylish. She could mend anything and do every possible needleart. She had been given a lady's education which she described as useless to the world. She knew every possible English social grace and did tasks with exactness. She had been the child of divorce and shame and rarely referred to her life in Haworth. The war came and changed everyone's life and opportunities. Mary married a plumber and left England for Rhodesia and moved to Canada.
Longlands left the Merrall family possession in the mid-sixties and the Merrall family dynasty no longer exists in Northern England. The government, developers and remaining family divided what was left and no one knew who Mary was in Canada.
Tim and I own an alabaster creamer and a Falconer that came from Longlands. There is an old shawl that is made from silk and painted with butterflys. My little house in Vancouver came from an inheretance when Mary died.
6 comments:
I am intrigued by your details of last years trip to Haworth re Tim's (your husband I assume) mother Mary Merrall. I too am from the Merrall family and in recent years have had cause to visit Haworth Churchyard due to family deaths etc.I was there to lay some flowers in rememberance last week. Did you know there are 2 family graves? I was puzzled by the stone engraving which I first saw regarding Mary Merrall 5 years ago, on a subsequent trip I noticed the engraving had gone, however, during a trip last week I find it is laying proped up within the boundary of the grave so it must have fallen off at some point. I thought I knew almost all there is to know about the Merrall family,it's history has fascinated me since I was a child however your 'Mary' was a surprise, no one ever mentioned her and my own mother, who died in 2004, had no knowledge of her. I stumbled upon your blog quite by accident after trying to start a family tree and dig a bit deeper within the Merrall family.
Well how do you do?
Mary indeed lived an amazing life. She was a tiny but attractive woman who was a force to contend with. She discovered she was ill when she was swimming across a cold Canadian lake (in her 70's), climbed a tree with my son (in her 70's) and was competent at everything she tried.
Self reliant and intelligent and clear about whether she liked you or not. A wonderful mother and grandmother. She never lost her beautiful Northern accent. My husband gave a photograph to the old house in Haworth called Longlands that is a WHA. The house is complete in the photo. She had a brother named John. We had paid for the engraving and were so saddened by the vandalism that took place. We paid to have it restored as well and communicated with the church and understood it would be done. Trust is all we have as we are so far away. Mary's father was definately a Merrall. All of her offspring are now Canadian.
Much like the last person I too have been researching our family tree and it has led me back to the merrall of Haworth and the milling business there ..
It's most interesting.. My father used to tell us of 5 brothers from Yorkshire that started the business , but as yet I can find no reference to this fact something that was passed on from his father Ernest and his sister Mary ..
It appears there is an awful lot about the family history I've yet to find out and it appears I am embarking on a true voyage of discovery .. Do any of you know of any sites that actually go into the heritage of the merrall's in Haworth ?
My paternal grandmother was a Merrall. My father often took us to Haworth and we saw the mills. I remember the signage on one of the mills "MERRALLS MILLS", most impressive. My father spent a lot of time in the village as a child. Grandmother's maiden name was Norah Irene Merrall. I would be pleased to hear of any connection. Email sidjempo@gmail.com
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