Most of the Tattersfields, who lived in Heckmondwike from the 1780s, worshipped at Upper Chapel (Independent), Heckmondwike. Many of their records have been taken directly from the Chapel Registers. In the Family Trees which follow, such records carry the abbreviation HI (Heckmondwike Independent). Many were buried in the Chapel graveyard. Information from their tomb stones is labelled HIGS (Heckmondwike Independent Grave Stone)
The earliest TATTERSFIELD mentioned in the Registers of Upper Chapel, Heckmondwike, was called JOSEPH. He was recorded as the father of AMOS at his baptism. JOSEPH himself had been baptised in Dewsbury Parish Church on 30th August 1747, and he married Sarah Carr in Dewsbury on 7th October 1768.
Their first child, also SARAH, was baptised in Dewsbury Parish Church on 16th May, 1769. As mentioned above, they then disappeared from the Dewsbury record.
However, a child called AMOS was baptised in Upper Chapel (Independent) in Heckmondwike on 22nd September, 1789, with parents JOSEPH TATTERSFIELD and Sarah. The baptism of MOSES followed in 1791. Though more direct information would be welcome, it is evident that these were the last two of ten children of the JOSEPH and Sarah who married in Dewsbury. JOSEPH and Sarah themselves died in Heckmondwike and were buried in the Upper Chapel graveyard in 1795 and 1819 respectively. Until a few years ago, their gravestone and its inscription were in place.
The two existing Upper Chapel buildings date from about 1858 (left above) and 1890 (right above). Descendants of JOSEPH and Sarah were directly involved in the construction of these chapels and in worshipping in them.
The 1890 Chapel was converted into flats some years ago. Sadly, the older part of the Upper Chapel graveyard was exhumed to make the area into a car park in front of the flats. The graves of JOSEPH and Sarah and many of their direct descendants were exhumed, the remains taken to the crematorium, and the gravestones taken away. Fortunately, before this destruction occurred, all of the monumental inscriptions (MIs) had been recorded in 1980 by Dr Louis W. Ackroyd, one of whose ancestors was a TATTERSFIELD. His comprehensive list is lodged at the Society of Genealogists and possibly elsewhere. His full record can be seen by visiting the Society, who intend to make it available on line in due course.
Quite independently, and not knowing of Dr Ackroyd’s work, I copied the MIs of all the Tattersfield burials from March 1980, some 140 in all. I have not made these available in full, but have put HIGS (Heckmondwike Independent Grave Stone) against all relevant individual records in the family trees.
The photograph to the right shows three typical TATTERSFIELD tombstones in the newer part of the graveyard, which has not been disturbed.
I initially plotted the descendants of JOSEPH and Sarah manually on to separate family trees for convenience of size as follows:
| CHART | CONTENTS |
|---|---|
| CHART 1 | Sons of JOSEPH and Sarah called JOHN (1784-1856), WILLIAM (1785-1856) and MOSES (1791-1857) and their descendants. |
| CHART 2 | Eldest son of JOSEPH and Sarah, called JOSEPH (1779-1851) and his descendants. |
| CHART 3 | Youngest son of the JOSEPH in CHART 2, called GEORGE (1816-1887 – my great great grandfather) and his descendants. |
| CHART 4 | The daughters of JOSEPH and Sarah, whose married names were Sarah Carr, Hannah Scatcherd, Patience Oddy, Nancy Taylor and Betty Day, and some of their descendants. |
CHART 2 and CHART 3 were later amalgamated into CHART 2,3.
JOSEPH (1747-95) was a clothier. Most of his descendants were clothiers, blanket or cloth manufacturers or similar for many generations. Many branches of the TATTERSFIELD family remained in the woollen industry down to recent times.
JOSEPH’s was the first recorded will of a TATTERSFIELD. His assets were certified not to exceed £300.00. This suggests his trade as a clothier brought him a reasonable degree of affluence. He lived at The Heights, at the top of Kilpin Hill, Heckmondwike.
The next generation lived at a time when woollen weaving was transformed from a cottage to a factory industry. The sons of JOSEPH were employers of men and women, typically 30 to 40 in number, as shown in the 1851 census. They were clearly very wealthy, in some cases lived in very large houses, and were pillars of Upper Chapel, where some 150 of their descendants, husbands or wives have been buried.
As an example, JEREMIAH TATTERSFIELD, whose photograph is shown to the left, and who was a grandson of JOSEPH (1747-95), lived at a large stone house called ‘The Hollins’, off Kilpin Hill. The house is now sub-divided as residences, but was in use for many years as a working mens’ club. This may give some idea of the size of the establishment. The photograph was kindly loaned by Mrs Ann Irwin, a great granddaughter of JEREMIAH.
Most of the descendants on Chart 1 remained in England.
At various times some members of the Chart 2,3 families emigrated. The brothers JAMES WALKER TATTERSFIELD (1877-1970) and CLIFFORD TATTERSFIELD (born 1879), shown on CHART 2,3 went to New Zealand in 1899 and 1905 respectively. JAMES WALKER established a mattress factory in Auckland. The TATTERSFIELD brand name is still in use.
ROBERT TATTERSFIELD (1854-1905), shown on CHART 2,3, took his family to Canada in about 1903. He died soon afterwards, whereupon his widow shortened her surname to FIELD. Family tradition suggests that she had “married above her station” and had not been well received by some of the TATTERSFIELD family! The descendants are still living in the Calgary area.
ROBERT’s older brother JEREMIAH (born 1844), shown on CHART 2,3, married Alma Monthan, who was from Stockholm, Sweden. They had five sons, born in the Dewsbury area, all of whom had Monthan as their middle name. They emigrated to Canada in 1898, then to the United States, and eventually to Arizona. During the first World War the sons all registered for military service under the surname Monthan, which the family use to this day.The Davis Monthan Air Base in Arizona is named after one of the sons, OSCAR, who was an aviator in World War I. He died in a bomber crash in Honolulu in 1924.
On CHART 2,3 two brothers JAMES WALKER TATTERSFIELD (born 1851, not to be confused with the JAMES WALKER who went to New Zealand) and PERCIVAL (1860-1925) founded Tattersfield & Company in Philadelphia about the 1880s. They were later joined in the business by their nephews JOSEPH STANLEY (1876-1944) in 1916 and GEORGE ARTHUR (1873-1936) in 1924. Many descendants still live in the Philadelphia area, including the large West family. Also, a son of JAMES WALKER went to Mexico, where there is a large family of descendants.
A word of caution! The widely-used International Genealogical Index (IGI) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints contains many inaccuracies concerning the early Heckmondwike family. Some entries are clearly duplicates and even triplicates and show dates that are incorrect by anything from a few days to a few years, with no discernible pattern.
Header Image: The Italianate architecture and portico of the Heckmondwike-Upper Chapel Congregational Church. It was in this church that a large number of the Tattersfields worshiped, and from the records thereof we have learned a great deal about the Heckmondwike Branch of the family.