Died
12 December 1888
Born
c1801
Sources
Ancestry
Cumbria County History website
Place
Themes
Walks
Joseph Jackson
Master Sickle Maker
What a glorious monument! A beautifully carved urn with drapes, and tiny lettering, saying on the left-hand side “Life so short”, under a rose bud, and on the right-hand side “Eternity how long”, under an eye held by a wreath.
IN
MEMORY OF
AGNES The beloved
WIFE OF JOSEPH JACKSON OF
SICKLE MILL of this PARISH
Who departed this Life on the 6th
Day of December 1849 aged 45
Years.
Also of the above
JOSEPH JACKSON, who died
at HIGH PARK, TORVER
on the 12th day of December, 1888,
aged 87 years
The carving of Joseph’s name is by no means of the same quality as Agnes’s.
According to the Cumbria County History website, there was a Sickle Smithy at Grizebeck in the nineteenth century. Was this where Agnes & Joseph lived?
Ancestry tells us:
Joseph Jackson, Sicklesmith, of Kirkby, Lancashire, married Agnes Wilson on 2 October 1828.
1841 Census
The 1841 Census was very brief: name, age & occupation only. At Grizebeck were living Joseph Jackson (39) Sickle M(aker); Agness (sic) Jackson (36); William Jackson (12) and James Butterfeild (sic) (55) F(armer?) and John Crayston (16) Ap(prentice?).
1851 Census
In the 1851 Census living at Bellmount, Kirkby Ireleth, were Joseph Jackson (49) Widower, Master Sickle Maker, born Irton, Cumberland; William W. Jackson (21) Son, Sickle Maker Journeyman, born Kirkby Ireleth; John Jackson (18) Nephew, Apprentice Sickle Maker, born Colton, Lancs; Hannah Sawrey (50) Housekeeper, born Dunnerdale.
1861 Census
By the 1861 Census Joseph had changed his career. At Lowick Green were Joseph Jackson (59) Widower, Beerhouse Keeper, born Irton, Cumberland, and Margret (sic) Machell (45) General Servant, born Stavely (sic), Lancs. His son, William W. Wilson (32) had moved from Bell Mount, and was living next door in Sickle Smithy, with his wife Sarah Jackson (31), born Coniston, four children of 4yrs and under, the eldest born in Liverpool; William Preston (16), Apprentice Sickle Maker, born Dalton, and Margret (sic) Gaskell (11) Nurse, born Kirkby Ireleth.
1871 Census
The 1871 Census has Joseph Jackson (69) Widower, Landowner, born Irton, Cumberland living at High Torver Park, Torver, with his General Servant Margaret Machell (55), born Staveley, Lancs.
1881 Census
They are both still there in the 1881 Census, though Joseph is now a Slate Merchant.
The National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1889 has:
JACKSON Joseph 3 January. The Will of Joseph Jackson late of High Torver Park Torver in the Parish of Ulverston in the County of Lancaster who died 12 December 1888 at High Torver Park was proved at Lancaster by William Wilson Jackson of High Torver Park Slate Merchant the Son the sole Executor. Effects £3886 18s 3d.
The location of Sickle Mill
There is some debate about the exact location, but a correspondent suggested Kirkby Fragments Volume 15 issued by the History of Kirkby Group (2018, no ISBN) states, "Dostholme or Sickle Mill was probably the house now called Ginny Ring Cottage which used to be the old smithy opposite the Greyhound.....". There is no evidence on the ground.
An alternative from the same source was: “Belmont House on the main road next to the Malt Kiln - now cottages. Belmont Cottage adjoins Belmont House but doesn't look as old. My guess would be that Sickle Smithy was re-built and became Belmont Cottage.”
