Yorkshire CD books
Old and rare Yorkshire books on CDrom or as pdf file downloads
"Morley, Ancient and Modern"
by William Smith
CD ROM and
download version
produced by Yorkshire CD books ©
Note that a download will be set up manually and therefore will not be instant.
The Price for the CDrom is post paid to your door only if in the U.K.
We no longer post CDroms abroad due to the high cost (over £4)
Please request a download if you are outside the U.K.
For sample pages, please see the links to the Acrobat (pdf) files given below.
The data
on this CD rom/
downloadable pdf is computer searchable.
Morley Ancient and Modern, contains a quite detailed history of
Morley (situated between Leeds and Dewsbury). Starting with a short history
of Yorkshire it progresses through the Roman period, the Domesday book,
Poll Tax List etc. It gives social conditions and village life of the early
times, giving information on the Farnely Wood plot and the Morley Wapentake
with its courts. There is detailed information both on living conditions
and individual people, giving information on their amusements, religion,
churches and chapels and working conditions for the 19th century.
In order to give you a better idea of the information in the book the following items are available on line:
The above Acrobat file was extracted from the CDrom and shows the quality of the images. You will need at least version 5 of Acrobat to open this file. If you do not have an up to date version please go to the Adobe web-site to obtain a free version of Acrobat Reader.
I asked Don Asquith (who I knew had an interest in Morley) if he would be kind
enough to do a review of the book on this CDrom for me (as opposed to a review
of the CDrom). The following is what he came up with, which I hope you find
helpful:
A review of the book on this CDrom:
William Smith was the second of the two local historians of Morley in the 19th
Century, and "Morley, Ancient and Modern" was the last of his three
histories of the early days of the town. As such, his work builds on the earlier
insights of Norrison Scatchard, and carries the documentation of the evolution
of the village to it's emergence as the Borough of Morley in 1886.
If Morley has a special place in the history of West Yorkshire, it is it's
early involvement in the growth of non-conformism during the period
following the Restoration. And, if there was a defining event in that
involvement, it was the "insurrection" -- the Farnley Wood Plot of
1663.
While the uprising itself was a total fiasco, the authorities of that time
used it as a means of making their point. Twenty-two were executed,
primarily at York but also at Leeds, and many more were jailed for various
periods of time. On a personal note, one of those executed, and four of
those jailed and later released, were Asquiths. Understanding the traumas
of the events, and that they were staunch non-conformists, has helped in
unraveling the genealogical histories of the subsequent families. Smith's
is not the only interpretation of the events of that night in October of
1663, and of the repercussions that followed. However, if you have
non-conformists among your ancestors, or if you simply want to know more
about the early years of Congregationalism in Yorkshire, it is a good place
to start.
Otherwise, the majority of Smith's book is devoted to typical life in
Morley, and events on which I am not qualified to comment. However, in the
final third of his book, Smith returns to the history of the non-conformist
churches of Morley, recapitulating in detail the history of the Old Chapel,
the churches before it on the site, and St. Mary-in-the-Wood that followed
in 1878. He also provides substantial discussion of the New Chapel
Independent, and of Rehoboth Chapel that replaced it in 1835.
If you are researching your ancestors in Morley, this book will provide you
with a range of background information, and more importantly, probably help
you to understand the relationships between the several non-conformist
churches that may have recorded the births and burials of your ancestors.
Or, if you just have a general interest in the early years of
Congregationalism in Yorkshire, you should find the history of the people of
Morley and their churches of great interest.
If you would prefer the real book(s), please contact The Idle Booksellers through their website.
Page last updated at 11.25 on Wednesday, 03 February 2021, ©2010
(This page will not be updated again unless the information on it is found to be incorrect).
For the latest update date for the site, please see our Home Page.
