Grandage, William (1804-1890)

William Grandage was born on the 1^st or 14^th Jan 1804 at Washer or Washerhouse Lane, Skircoat in the parish of Halifax, West Riding Yorkshire to William Grandage, dyer and his wife Mary, formerly Appleyard, their youngest child. Mary must have died in childbirth or before William reached 9 months of age as she was deceased by 19 Aug 1804 when he and his siblings were baptised at Sowerby Bridge chapel in the parish of Halifax.

Nothing is known of his early life. No doubt he would have followed a period of apprenticeship which usually commenced aged 14 and lasted for 7 years. However when he married in 1824 when he was 20 his occupation was labourer.

William married Rachel Kenyon of Skircoat  on 1 Apr 1824 at Halifax Parish Church. Her family were members of the Methodist New Connexion, and the memoir of William’s life printed in the Methodist New Connexion Magazine in 1890 (attached to this page) tells us that “The prudence, piety and persuasion of the wife soon told upon the husband, for thereby was he induced to accompany her to the class meeting”. This began his formal connection with the Methodist Church.

Soon after William joined the Methodist Church [attending Salem Methodist New Connexion chapel in Halifax] a chapel was about to be built at Kings Cross, Halifax. “One thing Mr Grandage saw required doing in order to economize was to dig the foundation, so he turned amateur excavator and likewise helped in laying some of the stones of the new structure. He became ill after this and a protracted sickness ensured.” [see Memoir] This must have been ca 1831-1832 as evidenced from an old document relating to the sale of land at Kings Cross for the erection of a Methodist Chapel (New Connexion) dated 19 Oct 1830 and signed by John Kenyon (dyer), Thomas Kenyon (presser), Thomas Kenyon (dyer), William Grandage (dyer), James Bedford (dyer), Joshua Bedford (dyer) and George Mitchell (miner) – trustees of the Chapel. William’s address was Scarr Bottom in Skircoat. [ A transcription may be seen here  ]

In 1834 the family moved to West Bowling, Bradford and William became foreman dyer  (blue dyer) for Messrs Edward Ripley & Son. He continued to work for this firm for 50 years (until circa 1884 by which time he would have been 80!)

In September 1836 a new society was formed in West Bowling with William appointed as leader of the class. First met in home of William Ackroyd, Manchester Road. In Sep 1836 a meeting was called to form a church. It was decided to form a church and supply it for a time with preachers from Halifax, Dewbury and Leeds circuits. They met in the Roebuck Inn, Market Street for six months, then in a spacious room found in Hall Ings. On 3 Sep 1837 a Sunday School was established and Mr Grandage and Joshua Pollard were the first superintendents. On 19 May 1839 the Ebenezer Chapel opened. William remained true and steadfast to the young church during the troubled times of 1840-1841. He helped to form three separate trusts – the 1^st and 2^nd Ebenezers and Mannville.

In 1853 a very serious illness threatened to terminate William’s life but he overcame it and lived another 37 years.

On 26 Sep 1886 William was presented with an illuminated address by the members of the church and congregation of Ebenezer Chapel to mark the church’s 50th jubilee, and on 27 Sep 1886 an Old Friends’ Gathering was presided over by William Grandage founder of the chapel.

Rachel died aged 80 at 22 Brownroyd Street, Bradford on 16 March 1884. William died aged 86 at his son’s home at Girlington on 9 May 1890 of paralysis of the bladder. Both are buried at Undercliffe Cemetery.

William’s funeral service was held at the Mannville Chapel, Horton Road conducted by Revs M Bantram, G Packer, E Hall. After his death an account of his life within the church was published in the Methodist New Connexion Magazine for 1890. A copy is attached as a pdf. It includes a comment by his son-in-law Jonathan Hodgson “steadfastness was the key to William’s character, the most prominent features of which were a strict integrity of purpose, a firm, well-balanced will, a clear judgment, formed by much reading of the Word, and withal a spirit of humility and deference to the wills of others.”

William and Rachel had twelve children:

1. Mary (1824-1903) married George Emsley
2. Isaac (1826-1885) married Fanny Mann
3. Alice (1828-1916) married Dan Ripley
4. Jacob (1831-1903) married Harriet Bland
5. Martha (born 1833 died young)
6. Abraham (1837-1919) married Ruth Briggs, daughter of William Emsley Briggs.
7. Rachel (1838-1887) married Samuel Harrison
8. William (1841-1917) married Hannah Briggs, daughter of William Emsley Briggs.
9. Jane (1841-1913)  married Jonathan Hodgson
10. Elizabeth (1844-1933) married stephen Darlow
11. Emma (1845-1929) married Robert Potts and remarried Joseph Brown
12. Ellen (1845-1847)

William’s sons Abraham and William founded the firm William Grandage & Co. Dyeworks, in Bradford.