In June 1837 William Hoodless (1776-1855), the eldest son of William Hoodless and Isabella Atkinson, advertises the sale of the Parkhead property and we can glean quite a lot of information from this small newspaper item. As background information we know that his father William had died in 1817 and his mother Isabella had died three years earlier in 1837. The Parkhead property was inherited freehold and tithe-free by William. It would seem that the farm had for sometime been occupied by his cousin Joseph Nicholson. Joseph was the son of the senior William’s sister, Betty Hoodless, who had married Jonathan Nicholson.
We also discover from this advert that the property was 50 acres and comprised of good arable and pasture land as well as a thriving wood, which we see hugging the river on the maps from my earlier post. The quarry, which I mentioned was still operating as a business today, belonged to the Hoodless property and there was also a kiln operation which was probably used for burning lime. Limestone was common to the area and the practice of burning lime had been going on for centuries in Cumbria. Farmers improved the fertility of the soil by reducing the acidity by adding burnt lime to increase its pH.
William would have become wealthy from the proceeds of this sale, no doubt, and in 1841 we find him living in Portland Street, Workington as a gentleman of independent means with his wife and two of his daughters.
As a Workington native, I am familiar with this landmark square and its large comfortable Georgian houses. It is in one of the older parts of town. Portland Street and the square developed from 1780 onwards as the town began to thrive.
The Henry Hoodless mentioned in the sale of Parkhead is WIlliam’s son, who at this time ran a book and stationery business in Wigton where he also printed and bound books and employed three apprentices.
William Hoodless (1776-1855), the Parkhead heir, seems to have been given the means to move up in life. leaving behind the rigours of farming life for the more comfortable town existence of an educated gentleman. His legacy and the lives of his progeny make for some interesting revelations and these are the people I’m looking at in more detail next. Read about him here….