Handsworth, South Yorkshire

Coordinates: 53°22′N 1°24′W / 53.37°N 1.40°W / 53.37; -1.40
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Handsworth
South Yorkshire
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UK
England
Yorkshire
53°22′N 1°24′W / 53.37°N 1.40°W / 53.37; -1.40

Handsworth is a suburb of south eastern Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. It covers an area of approximately 5 square miles (13 km2), and has a population of approximately 9,957. It has five schools, four churches, a variety of small shops, a large supermarket, and a range of commercial and light industrial businesses. Until 1974 it was in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Politically, Handsworth is part of the Woodhouse ward in the Sheffield South East parliamentary constituency.

History

In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 17,472.[2] On 1 April 1938 the parish was abolished and merged with Sheffield and Orgreave.[3] It is now in the unparished area of Sheffield.

Domesday Book

In the

Lord of the Manor, but following the Conquest lordship was transferred to Robert, Count of Mortain, who was the half-brother of William the Conqueror. Richard de Sourdeval held it for Count Robert. The Manor then passed, through marriage, to the Paynel and Lovetot families. It was a member of the Lovetot family who built the parish church in Handsworth.[6]

St Mary's Church

Main article: St Mary's Church, Handsworth, Sheffield

St Mary's was built in about 1170. It was founded by the Norman lord William de Lovetot, or his father Richard, and the foundations were planned by William Paynel. (The church is not to be confused with St Mary's Church, Handsworth, in Birmingham.)

Handsworth, looking west

Little of the Tudor rectory remains today. Handsworth's

Elizabeth I ascended the throne.[7]

St Mary's Parish Centre holds displays of artefacts, documents, records, photographs and maps relating to Handsworth and its history.

Handsworth sword dancers

One aspect of Handsworth history which remains very much alive is the traditional sword dancing. The origins of this ancient ritual are unknown, but written records held by the team go back to the middle of the 19th century.

Using long steel swords, a team of eight men perform a dance which lasts about nine minutes and ends with all the swords being interlocked and held aloft by one man. Traditional music is played and the dancers wear a military style uniform similar to the

Dragoons
.

Formerly there were two clowns who performed for the crowd and collected money. At

Second World War
because the sword dancers had priority occupations in the coal mines and in the steel works, so they were not conscripted.

The traditional dancing on Boxing Day in Handsworth and Woodhouse was revived in 1963, and in 1976 the clowns were reintroduced, though they later lapsed. The historic sight of Handsworth sword dancing can still be seen on Boxing Day (or the day after if it falls on a Sunday). They dance at Woodhouse Cross at 11.15 and in front of St Mary's Church, Handsworth, at noon. The dancers and their audience then adjourn to the pub for well-earned refreshment and communal carol singing.

Sport

Handsworth has been represented by three teams notable teams in senior football:

Notable people

Stayce family

The Handsworth parish registers reveal that on 1 July 1638, Mahlon Stayce was baptised in St Mary's Church. The Stayce family had lived at Ballifield Hall in Handsworth for centuries but it was in Trenton, New Jersey, in America, that Mahlon made his name and his fortune.[8]

The Stayce family were

restoration of Charles II
, as they still refused to conform, even outwardly, to the Church of England. Their refusal to take off their hats or speak respectfully when in the presence of "nobles" made them a particular object of mistrust.

Some members of the Stayce family are buried in a private Quaker graveyard at Cinder Hill, now in the back garden of a house. There are eight gravestones with plain inscriptions.

Benjamin Huntsman

Another Quaker buried near Handsworth is Benjamin Huntsman. Although he was born in Lincolnshire, he lived for some years at Handsworth in the 1740s. Huntsman made a highly significant scientific discovery which enabled Sheffield to develop from small township into one of the leading northern industrial cities that shaped the destiny of Victorian Britain.[9]

Huntsman revolutionised the technology of steel making through his invention of "cast" or "

blister steel" and produce cast ingots of steel. This required an extremely high temperature of 1,600 degrees Celsius, something which had never been achieved before in the steel industry. In order to produce and sustain such a high temperature in his furnace, Huntsman used coke instead of charcoal. To contain the steel he designed a clay crucible which could withstand the severe temperature and possible attack of the metal. It seems probable that Huntsman moved to Handsworth because he was aware of the nearby glassworks in Catcliffe
where vessels were used in which the materials were melted at very high temperatures. Huntsman found that he could benefit in Handsworth not only from the experience of the glass makers but also from the ready access to refractory materials and fireclays in the Sheffield district.

Huntsman's techniques were initially given scant recognition in Sheffield. The local cutlers thought the new steel was too hard and difficult to handle. But rival Europeans nations, especially France, quickly took advantage of the superior quality of crucible steel. Eventually, this competition from overseas encouraged the Sheffield cutlers to adopt Huntsman's methods, thereby laying the foundations of Sheffield's industrial heritage. In 1740, Sheffield produced only 200 tons of steel per year; by 1860, this total had risen, because of the application of Huntsman's techniques, to over 80,000 tons per year—almost half of Europe's total tonnage.

William Jeffcock

1845 bust in the Cutlers' Hall

William Jeffcock, who became the first Mayor of Sheffield in 1843, was born in April 1800 in Handsworth.[10] His baptism is recorded in the parish registers; and, although he died in Ireland, he is buried in a family vault in Handsworth.

The Jeffcock family settled in Handsworth in the 17th century, having moved from

Justice of the Peace for the West Riding of Yorkshire
in 1846 and he held a Commission in the West Yorkshire Yeomanry Cavalry for some time.

For many years, the Jeffcocks lived in nearby High Hazels. John Jeffcock was the first to live there, but it was his son William who built a new mansion on the site in 1850. The closeness of the Jeffcock connection to Handsworth can be seen in St Mary's churchyard. Two box tombs in memory of the family bear inscriptions to over a dozen Jeffcocks. There are other memorials to members of the Jeffcock family in St Mary's Church, and there is a (disused) fountain and water trough bearing inscriptions to the family on a curve of Handsworth Road.

Thomas Dunn

William Jeffcock was succeeded as Sheffield's Mayor in 1844 by his first cousin, Thomas Dunn, who was also a Handsworth resident. Dunn was elected to the first town council in 1843 and served on it for 16 years. He was an Alderman and became a distinguished figure in mid-Victorian Sheffield. Dunn had a considered Liberal point of view and he took an active and prominent role in Sheffield politics. His intellect and popularity made many national Liberals, as well as local ones, seek to persuade him to stand for parliament. His funeral in 1871 was attended by many local dignitaries.

Percy "Pick" Pickard

Group Captain Percy Charles "Pick" Pickard (1915–1944) was a Royal Air Force bomber pilot and commander during the Second World War. He was born in Handsworth and educated at Framlingham College. He is remembered for his role in the 1941 wartime propaganda film Target for Tonight, in which he featured as the pilot of "F-Freddie". He was killed on Operation Jericho in 1944. His sister, also born in Handsworth, was actress Helena Pickard, who married actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke and was the mother of actor Edward Hardwicke.

Sean Bean

Actor Sean Bean, born 1959, grew up in Handsworth and attended Brook School (now a housing estate). Bean appeared in the films The Lord of the Rings, Patriot Games, GoldenEye and more. He also starred in the historical TV series, Sharpe, and worldwide phenomenon Game of Thrones.

References

  1. ^ Sheffield City Council - Handsworth[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Population statistics Handsworth AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Sheffield Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  4. ^ Folio 308r, Great Domesday Book
  5. ^ Treeton Web:Handsworth Archived 9 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Hallamshire: The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York, Joseph Hunter, Published by Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, and Jones. London 1819. see Wikisource s:Hallamshire. The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York - in preparation (February 2007)
  7. ^ "GENUKI: Handsworth parish registers: Dates and current locations etc". Archived from the original on 5 November 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  8. ^ Trenton Historical Society, New Jersey
  9. doi:10.1093/nq/cxcv.mar04.99b
    .
  10. ^ CommuniGate | Jeffcock Connections Archived 3 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine

External links

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