• Blog - My Family - Places - Social History

    Mason Street, Bolton

    24 December 2023

    In the late 19th century, my 3 x great grandfather William Higginson owned four houses on Mason Street in Bolton, numbers 78, 80, 82 & 84. He lived at number 82 with his family and rented out the other three houses. William was a sawyer in a wood mill, so I’m curious as to how he ended up owning four houses and what happened to them. This post is to try and help me get my own thoughts and research down. Location Mason Street ran off Mayor Street, parallel with Wellington Street, between Deane Road and Queens Park. Today the…

  • Blog - Social History

    Winter Hill Mass Trespass

    6 September 2021

    My grandad told me many times that his father and uncle where at the mass trespass at Winter Hill near Bolton in 1896. As this is the 125th anniversary, it seems like a good time to write a brief post about the event. Today Winter Hill is probably best known as the home of a television and radio transmitter, but in the 19th century its open moorland was a place for the residents of Bolton to escape the overcrowding, noise and grime of the town. The land was owned by Colonel Richard Henry Ainsworth of Smithills Hall, and used by…

  • Blog - Places - Social History

    Vanished Streets Of Bolton

    1 May 2017

    While researching my family history, I found that some of the streets people had lived on in Bolton no longer existed. I compiled a list and then used census searches to locate surrounding streets that still exist, along with the National Library of Scotland‘s side by side map viewer to pinpoint their locations. This is by no means a complete list of all Bolton’s lost streets, and if you would like me to add any others, let me know. I will be adding to the list as I come across more ancestors’ addresses. Map of Bolton in 1931 from the…