Nostalgia with Margaret Watson: The Fletcher family were highly respected in Dewsbury and donated generously to many needy causes

Margaret Watson writes: This week I continue the story by writing about this particular family who were highly respected in the town and donated generously to many needy causes.

The head of the family was Robert Fletcher, who in 1831 opened a wholesale grocery business near the site where the present market now stands.

The business rapidly prospered as the population of Dewsbury grew, and it was not long before Robert built larger premises near to what was then the Great Northern Railway Station.

Robert, who lived at Healds House in Healds Road, Dewsbury Moor, where earlier Charlotte Bronte had been a teacher, was a Quaker and belonged to the Society of Friends.

Their Meeting House, which closed as a place of worship in the 1960s, was situated in Bradford Road, now the home of Dewsbury Arts Group.

Robert, born in 1803 was a highly respected figure throughout the borough, a generous benefactor who also served on the town council.

He died in 1860 at the age of 66 and was buried in the grounds of the Friends’ Meeting House where his gravestone can still be seen, alongside those commemorating his wife, Elizabeth, son, Alfred, and daughter, Sarah Jane.

Although not a native of Dewsbury (she was born in Lincroft near York), his widow Elizabeth continued the charity work of her husband and made many generous benefactions to her adopted town of Dewsbury, notably the Fletcher Homes.

Like their parents, Alfred and Sarah Jane, also took a great interest in any good work which would advance the interest of their native town.

Sadly, Alfred’s career was cut short by his untimely death in 1893 aged 49, but during his brief lifetime, he too had made munificent gifts towards the building of a Free Library in Dewsbury.

He was also a Justice of the Peace and president of Dewsbury Technical School, to which he made many financial donations.

After his death, his mother and sister donated £2,000 to the school in his memory.

Sarah Jane, who had been educated at Quaker schools in Ackworth and Darlington, was a woman of independent means and gave generously to good causes.

She was deeply interested in the suffragette movement, which was not surprising because Quakers have always believed strongly in equality for all.

Sarah Jane, like her brother, never married, and her death in 1922 at the age of 81, ended the Fletcher line in Dewsbury.

She died at her home, Thornholm, Springfield Terrace, a large house which still stands, and was interred in the Quaker burial ground alongside her parents and brother.

The grave headstones of the whole family can be seen alongside each other in the graveyard of the Religious Society of Friends.

In 1898, along with her mother, Sarah Jane presented Dewsbury Corporation with a gift of £8,000 (more than £800,000 in today’s money) for the erection and endowment of six cottages to be known as Fletcher Homes.

The homes, built in memory of Alfred, were to be occupied by couples or singles persons who had reached the age of 60 years and had been ratepayers in the borough for a period of no less than 20 years.

The Mayor and Corporation provided the land at Crow Nest Park, and it was suggested that £2,000 be used for the building of the cottages and the remaining £6,000 be invested for the maintenance of the cottages.

They were opened in 1900 and the opening ceremony was attended by the Mayor, Alderman Haley, and many well-known Dewsbury ladies and local worthies.

The Fletcher Homes were but one of the many benefactions made by the Fletcher family to the people of Dewsbury.

Elizabeth Fletcher died in 1908 at her residence in Springfield Terrace, aged 95.

She was described at her funeral as a Quakeress of the old school.

In 1910, her daughter, Sarah Jane, made another gift to the town of a handsome conservatory/glasshouse in Crow Nest Park in memory of her mother.

The Fletcher Homes were stone built and single storey, consisting of a kitchenette, one room which acted as a living room and a bedroom and outside toilet.

One couple from Ravensthorpe, who moved into the cottages in the 1930s, was Harriet and Dan Oldroyd, whose name had been put forward as citizens of good character by their family doctor, Doctor Walker.

But before they were accepted as tenants they had to visit Dewsbury Town Hall and be presented to a committee for approval.

This was the first time Harriet had been out of the house for months due to ill health after suffering a stroke.

After answering all the appropriate questions, they were notified that they had been accepted and put on a waiting list.

Eventually, they moved into number 4 Fletcher Homes in the early 1930s while in their seventies.

In 1936, the couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, and a special party was held in their honour in St John’s Parochial Hall just across the road.

Members of Dewsbury Town Council and members of the Parks Department attended and presented the couple with a Westminster Chimes clock which is still in the family today.

Sadly, not many years after their wedding anniversary, Harriet died aged 78, and her husband, Dan, died eight years later in 1946 aged 83.

I would like to thank Alan Thomas for researching most of the material used in this article and Pamela Hartley, great granddaughter of Mr and Mrs Oldroyd, for other relevant details and kindly supplying the photograph used above.

Pictured are Dan and Harriet Oldroyd (far right) at their home, 4 Fletcher Homes, with their presentation from members of Dewsbury Council and Parks Department in 1936 to mark their golden wedding anniversary.