Ormskirk Market Day

Ada Rothwell Autograph Book

This collection comprised pages from an autograph book owned by Ada May Rothwell (1915-2000) of Aughton. Ada was raised at Gaw Hill Farm, Aughton, and in 1937 she married Joseph Hurst (1903-1985) from Haskayne. They farmed at Hollin House Green Farm, Aughton, until their retirement, and spent their later years living in Evesham, Worcestershire.

1. Front cover of Ada Rothwell’s Autograph Book

2. Inside cover with marbled paper. Annotated “I Wish I was this page that everybody looks first”; signed by A. Hesketh.

3. Explanatory note about the book being lost in 1929 and returned to its owner in 1988.

4. Ada Rothwell’s address at Moss Delph Lane, Aughton; the first line was crossed out and corrected to Gaw Hill Farm.

5. “First in your album”; a poem, signed by “M.G”.; dated 29 Oct 1925

6. “Do the work that’s worst”; a poem, signed by B. Hesketh; dated 23 Oct 1925

7. Coded poem, signed by Ada Williams.

8. “I stood on a bridge at midnight”; a poem signed by “U.S”, dated 1927.

9. “Don’t look at me! I’m lost too”. Drawing of a badger signed by Paul, dated 1988.

10. “A stitch in time Saves nine Amen”. Drawing of a patched pair of trousers, signed by “U.S”, dated 23/1/1927.

 11. “He met her in the darkened hall”; a poem, signed by E Beresford, dated 22 March 1929

12. “Fall from a house top”; a poem, signed by W. Bold, dated 8 Sept 1925

13. “Notwithstanding”. Drawing of a stitched item, signed “Unknown”.

14. “Ada now, Ada ever”; poem dated 30 Oct 1925; signed with unclear initials.

15. “Make new friends but keep the old”; poem dated 1925; signed “L.R.B.”

16. “If shoes are shoes”; a joke, signed by C. Haskayne, dated 13 December 1925

 17. “You ask me to write”; poem, signed by Bill Hesketh, dated 23 Oct 1925

 18. “All good boys should love their sisters”; poem, signed by W. Brookfield, dated 1925.

 19. Drawing of parrots in coloured pencil, signed “Unknown”, dated 30 Dec 1927

 20. “I’m not a good dancer, but here are a few steps”; drawing of a ladder, signed by E. Johnson, dated 8 Sept 1927.

21. Drawing of a bridge signed by Paul, dated 1988.

22. “By Gum it’s Stuck”, with George V stamp attached to the page. Signed “Flying Fox 23/25”.

23. Two-part joke. Part A shows a corner of the page folded down, annotated with the word “Onions”. Part B shows the corner lifted to reveal the punchline: “The cause of many a silent tear.”

24. “I wish you health”; poem dated 9 March 1927, signed by A. Hesketh.

25. “In your long chain of friendship”; quote, signed by Eira Rimmer, dated 3 November.

26. “Put me amongst the girls”. Drawing of a brown rat, signed “F.R.”, dated Nov 16 1925.

27. “I walked a mile with Pleasure”; poem signed “Unknown”, dated 19 March 1925.

28. “Remember dear Ada”; poem signed “Chil Bon Bon, dated March 8 1927.

29. An upside down poem, signed “Unknown”, dated April 17 1927.

30. “Always remember to forget”; poem signed by Freda Magee, dated November 1988.

31. “In the parlour”; poem signed by A. Bradshaw.

32. Jumbled poem, signed “F.R.”, dated Oct 28 1925.

33. “Some men are made for great things”; poem signed by C. Haskayne, dated 13 December 1925.

34. “Some go to church”; poem signed by E. Beresford, dated 22 March 1929.

35. “Are you inquisitive”; joke, signed “L.R.B.”, dated 1925.

36. “Noncecenc” [sic]; signed “Dixy”.

37. “Little puffs of powder”; poem signed by E. Rothwell, dated 7 November 1925.

38. “When the kitchen boiler burst”; poem signed by June Slaughter, Evesham; dated 13 July 1988.

39. “The Spectacles”; poem, signed by “Flying Fox”, dated 30 December 1927

40. “A few lines by an unknown author”. Anonymous, undated drawing.

41. “The thunder rolled”; poem signed by M. Rothwell, dated 7 November 1925.

42. “The butcher has the chicken pox”; poem signed by Emmie Beresford, dated 25 March 1929.

43. “There was an old man called Nantucket”; poem signed by E. Beresford, dated 25 March 1929.

44. “Your album is green garden plot”; poem signed by “A.H.”, dated 23 October 1925

45. “A Brides first thoughts on her wedding morn”; undated, signed by “Kitty H.”

46. “I’m feeling blue, And so would you”; poem and ink drawing of a small child, dated 4 November 1925, signed “Uncle Joe”.

47. Watercolour and ink drawing of an exotic girl with gold earrings, a green hat and a sunflower, dated 1927, signed “U.S.”

48. “A little more smile, a little less frown”; poem signed by Mary, dated 1927.

49. “Love many, trust few”; poem signed by Hilda Bond, dated 1928.

50. “A stitch in time saves nine”; signed “W.H.B.”, 15 July 1988

51. “Write in this book where boys will look”; poem dated 1927, signed “U.S.”

52. “True friends are like diamonds”; poem signed by Lilian Rose Bond, dated 1925.

53. “Blessed is he that sitteth on this”; undated, signed by Eira Rimmer. Small holes suggest that a pin or a needle had been attached to the page.

54. “As you climb the ladder of success may you never meet a friend coming down”. Drawing of a ladder signed by A. Rothwell, dated 3 May 1927.

55. “They all like me fat at Xmas”; drawing of a white goose in ink and coloured pencil, dated 1927, signed “U.S.”.

56. A two-part joke, dated 30 Oct, signed “H.B.” Part a) shows a folded-down corner marked “Private”; Part b) reveals the punchline: “Billie killed the goat”.

57. “Roses are red”; poem by Harry B., dated July 1988. On the same page, part a) of a folded-down corner joke marked “Private”, signed by B. Hesketh, dated 23 October 1925. Part b) reveals the punchline: “Curiosity killed the cat”.

58. “Take the air, leave every blessed care”; poem, signed by A. Dolan, dated 4 November 1988.

59. “My porker”; drawing of a pig in pencil and yellow pencil crayon, signed “A.R.”, dated 18 June 1988.

60. “Why must I leave this every morning?”; pencil drawing of a person asleep in bed, signed “Unknown”.

61. “Little rays of moonbeams”; poem, signed by “Ghilly”, dated 9 November 1928.

62. “I turn these pages ore and ore”; poem, signed by Lilian Rose Bond, dated 27 October 1925.

63. “It pays to wear a smiling face”; poem signed by “A.H.”, dated 1927.

64. “Cheer up, things could be worse”; signed “P & E Dolan”, dated 2 November 1988.

65. “The North is cold - it nips one’s claws”; anonymous drawing of a bird on a weather vane, undated.

66. “Notwithstanding”; drawing of a pair of trousers, signed by E. Johnson, dated 8 September 1927.

67. “This is the eye that never sheds a tear”; signed by E. Rothwell, dated 25 October 1925. Small holes and slight rust marks suggest that a pin or a needle had been attached to the page.

68. A two-part joke, signed “Unknown”. Part a) shows a folded-down corner marked “Private”; Part b) reveals the punchline: “Aint girls nosey. Ditto for boys.”

69. “This is the head that never aches”; signed by A. Hesketh, dated 9 March 1927. Small holes, slight rust marks and the choice of phrase suggest that a pin had been attached to the page.

70. “Last in your Album”; poem, signed by B. Hesketh, dated 24 October 1925.

71. “By Hook or by Crook I’l be last in this book”; signed by A. Hesketh, dated 9 March 1927. Underneath, a pencil note reads, “By Pen or by quill I’ll be Bound if you will”; signed “Unknown”, dated February 29.

The book features poems, drawings, jokes and sketches by people named BERESFORD, BOLD, BOND, BRADSHAW, BROOKFIELD, DOLAN, HASKAYNE, HESKETH, JOHNSON, MAGEE, RIMMER, WILLIAMS.

Identified Contributors

A. Dolan - Likely to be Ada Rothwell and Joseph Hurst’s grandson.

“E. Rothwell” - Likely to be Ada May’s younger brother Edward Silverson Rothwell (1918-2000)

Eira Rimmer - Thought to be Eira Mary Rimmer (b.1914), whose birth was registered in Aughton subdistrict.

“Emmie Beresford” - Thought to be Emma Beresford (b.1915), whose birth was registered in Aughton subdistrict.

“F.R.” - Likely to be Ada May’s father Fred Rothwell (b.1891 Aughton; d.1943); he married Alice Worsley in 1915.

Freda Magee - The married name of Ada Rothwell and Joseph Hurst’s youngest daughter.

Hilda Bond (or “H.B.”) and Lilian Rose Bond (or “L.R.B.”) - Believed to be Lilian Rose Bond (b.1912) and Hilda May Bond (b.1914), daughters of Charles Bond and Rose Brady, whose wedding took place at Christ Church, Aughton, in 1910. The 1911 census shows that Charles and Rose Bond lived on Moss Delph Lane, Aughton.

P. and E. Dolan - The married name of Ada Rothwell and Joseph Hurst’s eldest daughter, and her husband.

Paul - Likely to be Ada Rothwell and Joseph Hurst’s grandson.

“U.S.” - Ursula Ellen Sherman (1910-2000). Known as Ursey, she was the youngest daughter of Ada Willday (1867-1944) and her second husband Edward Sherman (1864-1942), who lived at Stand Houses, and later at The Hollies, Butchers Lane, Aughton.

Ada Willday’s first marriage to John Worsley produced one child, Alice Ada May Worsley (b.1893 Bootle, Liverpool; d.1931); Alice was the mother of Ada May Rothwell (1915-2000), the owner of the autograph book.

“Uncle Joe” - Believed to be Joseph Snelson Colley (1893-1971); his wife Clara Florence Willday was raised as a younger sister to Ada Rothwell’s grandmother Ada Willday (1867-1944), but the exact date and circumstances of Clara’s birth are unknown.

Unidentified Contributors

A.H.; A.R.; “Chil Bon Bon”; “Dixy”; “Flying Fox”; “Ghilly”; “Harry B.”; H.B.; “Kitty H.”; Mary; M.G.

W Bold; A Bradshaw; W Brookfield; C Haskayne; A Hesketh (the same individual as “A.H.”?); B Hesketh (the same individual as Bill Hesketh?); E Johnson; M Rothwell

 

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