Fryston West Yorkshire

This movement occurred around 1905 and it is assumed that the reason for the move was that coal in Pelsall was running out or getting increasingly difficult to mine. My Mother’s family , the Astbury’s were very much involved in arranging the trek to Yorkshire and much of the credit is attributed to my Grandfather John Astbury.

After a visit to Fryston Colliery by John , he was probably accompanied by other miners, and and after receiving assurances about jobs and accommodation from the Colliery authorites he set about organising the move. John and his 12 siblings were children of Tertullus Astbury (1849-1896) and Eliza nee Hinton (1850-1925). Tertullus was the son of John Shaw Astbury(1818-1885) and Elizabeth Beech (b 1812). Tertullus was a younger brother of Charles Astbury who lost his life in the Pelsall Pit Disaster. The Astbury contingent included Eliza, John’s widowed mother together with two sons Asher and Harry and a daughter Sarah Jane who were unmarried. John the eldest son and married to Eliza had six children including my mother Mary Jane who would have been 8 years old. Sam the second son and his family also Susannah a daughter and a widow of Benjamin Perry with her family. Tertullas and family, Alice Elizabeth married to Richard Foulkes and family. Then there were Joseph, Charles and Frederick with their families. One son William Charles did not make the journey and is described in the 1911 Census as a General dealer so he probably did not need to move.

I estimate that the Astbury’s consisted of 20 Adults and 18 Children and one wonders how they managed. Presumably they travelled by rail for the major part of the journey but my mother told us that she remembered walking alongside the carts carrying their belongings and that she and her sisters wore straw boaters. This remains one of the interesting aspects of the story how they made the long journey with all their belongings. If there were other families perhaps a special train was provided and horse drawn vehicles for the journey too and from the stations. By the time of the 1911 Census 13 more children had been born to the families. Fryston appears to have been a happy village and no doubt the Pelsall people injected a boost to the life of the village. I believe the locals called the village Little Staffordshire .Fryston Colliery Football teams were filled with Pelsall players including a number of the Astbury family and did very well against the local clubs.The gentleman in the bowler hat and showing his watchchain is John Astbury my grandfather. See photos of the football teams

Life must have been harsh, Fryston Pit was very hot and the coal hard. Pit head baths were years in the future so the wives had plenty to do looking after their menfolk. My grandmother had a large family and even then took in three miners as lodgers. Where they all slept is a mystery.

My cousin Richard Foulkes who is a retired Police Office living near Halifax was a good athlete and his grandchildren are currently competing sat a high level in athletics. He is convinced that the athleticism was inherited from the Astbury, his grandmother was born Alice Elizabeth Astbury my grandfather’s younger sister. John Astbury my grandfather, nicknamed Sprattie was a sprinter in his younger days. However three of the Foulkes made their way as professional footballers Jabe (Richard’s father ) Richard and Charles his uncles. Their professional careers are covered in the story of Fryston attached.

You will have noticed the Christian name Tertullus in the Astbury family although with regards to my great grandfather he is named Tertius , I think on his wedding certificate. Now Tertius would make sense since Tertius was one of St Paul’s acolytes whilst Tertullus was a Greek who opposed and attacked St Paul.

Pelsall History Centre would like to say a special thank you to Terry Morgan of Hampshire for taking the time and trouble to provide us with the above information.

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