Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Hello friends,

My great grandparents lived in Old Lane Moss' Cottage as early as 1878. in the 1842 Tithe Awards, there is an Isaac Moss who was the tenant of Hammer and Pincers' Inn (pub, smithy, orchard and land). 12 acres. Also, the Hammer and Pincers Publicans between 1817 - 1901 were from the Moss family. Since the maps refer to the cottages as the possessive Moss' Cottages, I am inclined to think the cottages were owned by Isaac Moss. What do you think?

Your American cousin, Bets Radley.

Hi Bets, I would think you are right in your thinking, they would certainly be named after the owner, or the family but think it would need some delving in the Archives to discover the truth. Why not write to the Record Office giving precise address details and ask if there are any documents relating to the properties.

Where are we talking about please? Which village we are talking about will guide which Record Office or local history library you need to send your enquiry too.

If you go here, for the area.
1881,
John Carter, Old Lane, Moss Cottages
RG11; Piece: 3723; Folio: 52; Page: 19; GSU

go forward to about page 22, also the Hammer and Pincers.

My mistake I think it will need to be St Helens you should make enquiries, hadn't realised it was Ditton (Farnworth) where the location was.

I was interested to read the Enumeration District:

The whole of the township of Ditton including Hough Green to Hough Green Station thence to Mr Parkers including Moss Cottages, thence to Hammer & Pincers taking cottage and vicarage thereabout, the Ball Inn, Ditton Hall, Ditton Lodge, Mill Inn, over the Railway to Blackburn Arms, Banks Farm, Lower Bank Farm, Ditchfield Hall and Three Ashes Farm.

Sounds almost as if there were more pubs than houses!

Ditton is now within the Borough of Halton so I would think their local history library may be able to help.

Thanks Hilary.

There are a number of hits for Isaac Moss on the Lancashire Archives catalogue.

I would also bear in mind that Moss Cottage/s is a common name for cottages built on the Moss ie land drained or on the edge of some drained land. So it could be coincidental that there is an Isaac Moss in the area.

If you can identify the cottages on the Tithe map they will have a number. If you then look in the Schedule for that number it will tell you who owned or occupied the land.

Will do. I have made notes of all the comments and will get on it. You all sure know your way around these things. Thanks again.

Really off to work now.

Bets

Hilary likes her maps

An Ordnance Survey map dated 1893 shows a row of nine terraced houses in Old Lane named Banks Buildings while in the 1901 and 1911 census they appear to be called Moss’ Cottages (I believe this originally came from Chris Leigh)

My cousin in Widnes says that Moss' Cottages were called that after the person who owned them.

From the Tithe Awards (Martindales History of Ditton):
‘Hammer and Pincers' Inn. Pub, smithy, orchard and land. 12 acres. Tenant Isaac Moss. (the family had ties to this pub).

Cottage with garden, off Old Lane (Netherley Road) Under one acre. Tenant Reginald Collard.

Old Lane. House, orchard, garden, water and land. 41 acres. Owned by Sarah Row, tenant George Houghton. (This interests me because the daughter with unknown father of my gr grandmother lived with the Hougtons after her birth.)

Old Lane. House with orchard. Owned by James Hunt, tenant James Hunt, Jun.

Old Lane. Brewery cottage and orchard. 6 acres. Owned by George Fleetwood.

Notes: the Farnworth tithe map cannot be downloaded at the Nat'l Archives although negotiating the Nat'l Archives is daunting and I may have gotten it wrong. Went to the Lancashire Archives, Old Maps of Lancashire, and did not find any maps for Ditton. Two hours later and I just feel stupid.

I am happy to end this madness and will say that the cottages are named after a person/family. I will follow up on the connection with George Houghton, eventually.

Thanks for your help.

Weary in Brooklyn, Bets

I think you have done marvellously Bets, no need to feel bad at all, negotiating the National Archives site is no mean feat and I wonder if the area of Ditton might be hiding behind a more general name of Halton or even St Helens, maps are not easy to get to grips with.

I think you well deserve to claim these cottages as your familys.

The tithe maps for Lancashire are not available for download at either the National Archives or Lancashire Archives. In fact no tithe maps are available for download from the National Archives or Lancashire Archives at the present time.

The only way to do this is by using the numbers on the schedule in conjunction with the tithe map. This has to be done either at the National Archives or Lancashire Archives unless there is a copy held at Halton Library. The map needed to compare them with is the 1st edition 6 inch to the mile OS map this is around the late 1840s and the 1st edition 25 inch to the mile map. This from around 1890s. These are not available on line as far as I am aware.

For people not able to visit these Archives the only way is to pay someone to do it for you.

I did write an article about tithe maps in the Journal last year which you may find helpful.

Hi
Hammer and Pincers pub at the end of Ditchfield Rd/ Liverpool Rd. behind St.Michael's C.of E. Church down a footpath. Its across the road from Hough Green railway station. The pub was renovated a few years ago, the small rooms were cleared and a more open plan was created.Netherley Rd. which is the continuation of Liverpool Rd. comes under Knowsley. Widnes and Runcorn come under Halton.
seeker 8041

Thank you, Mary. I remembered that Hilary had an article in the latest journal about maps and that gave me a few ideas to pursue.

And Seeker, too, for more information to use and squirrel away.

Your American Cousin, Bets