It’s always frustrating when a recipient isn’t at the address around the time of a census or another landmark that’s officially recorded. However, as this is such a gorgeous card, I decided to research the family who were at the address a few months earlier.
Because the handwriting isn’t too clear, here’s the address:
53 Featherstall Road North, Oldham.
James Procter was a blacksmith. He was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire in 1857. He married Elizabeth Hooton in 1888. The couple had several children, including two sons.
After serving in the First World War, Charles became an engineer, working with ‘electrical refrigerators’. James would become a grocer.
I was hoping that Elizabeth’s maiden name might match that
on the card and that perhaps it was sent to her mother. Alas, that wasn’t to
be. However, as I have a friend from the Oldham area whose maiden name was
Hooton, I decided to follow that branch of the family to see where it took me.
Elizabeth had at least two brothers who were clog-makers. When you review a
census return page it’s interesting to see the jobs. Unsurprisingly, many were
mill workers. I don’t know if this Hooton family connects to my friend – it was
a common name in the area, at least the census and other records suggest this
to be the case.
The card is signed 'AH' – so could that be a member of the Hooton family?
