Category Dudley

19th Century Working Lives, Barnsley Nock, Dudley, Quarry Bank, Rowley Regis

The Barnsley Nocks

My great grandfather was born with the name Samuel Barnsley Nock but over time used Barnsley as his surname. Where did the name Barnsley Nock come from? It transpired that Barnsley Nock was a name peculiar to certain areas of the Black Country during the 19th and 20th centuries that could be traced back to one marriage in 1801.

Brierley Hill, Crime & Punishment, Dudley, Old Hill, Quarry Bank

The Castle Around Our Necks

Charged and imprisoned for one month for ‘riot and tumult’, William Haney was a minor player in a huge undocumented event. The election riots of 1874 occurred across the borough of Dudley and Haney's prison sentence revealed an intriguing story of violence, intimidation and hostility as well as contemporary attitudes to the Earl of Dudley and his influence.

Australia, Blog, Crime & Punishment, Dudley, Jeavons

Farewell to Old England Forever

Thomas Jeavons of Dudley was convicted of the crime of stealing stockings at Stafford Assizes in 1821 when he was 20 years old. Sentenced to 7 years' transportation, he arrived in Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land in May 1822.

19th Century Working Lives, Coal Mining, Crime & Punishment, Dudley, Jeavons

An Explosive Event

The story of Francis Jeavons, a coal miner in Dudley in the 19th century and his involvement in an act of intimidation during a miners' strike in 1864.

19th Century Working Lives, Coal Mining, Crime & Punishment, Dudley

The Miners’ Strike of 1864

The timeline of a long and bitter strike in Dudley and South Staffordshire in 1864. A reduction in wages resulted in a fight between miners and colliery owners with strong resistance against attempts to break the strike or against those who returned or tried to return to work.