Percival Senior

Photo from centenary poster 1934-courtesy David Senior

Percival Senior was born at Dewsbury in 1813 but later moved to Kirkheaton where he married Elizabeth Jessop at Kirkheaton St John the Baptist by banns on 27^th October 1831. It is possible that he may have been involved with the fledgling Kirkheaton Field head co-op ( see separate article) however the first reference [1] states that he had been manager from 1839 when he received a silver lever watch at his 21 year service award in 1860. Percival retired from Fieldhead co-op in 1865 [2] after 26 years service and was presented with the sum of £20 by Thomas Schofield (butcher) in slight recognition of his 26 years of faithful service at the co-op. He also presented Percival’s daughter Mary with £10 as assistant to her father. Percival, Elizabeth and their 8 children (son David and 7 daughters) lived at Fieldhead until his retirement. His wife Elizabeth died in 1853 and no doubt the younger girls were then brought up by their elder sisters. After retirement they moved to live on Knowle road, off Shop lane. Percival and his daughter Mary opened a grocers shop pictured below-

Shop lane premises-photo taken by author in 2024.

Between the shop entrance and wheelie bin on the left is the footprint of the former entrance to the shoemaking shop of Percival’s only son David (1831-1905) . The business at Shop lane now expanded and he bought a gas engine to power a chopper for black oats. At a meeting of the Horse Provender sub-committee of Huddersfield corporation in 18?? they accepted the tender of Percival Senior, Kirkheaton for supply of black oats. He also obtained a licence for the sale of wines and spirits for consumption off the premises. On 26^th August 1879 he transferred the licence to his daughter Mary and grandson Alfred (son of David) in preparation for later retirement. Percival passed away 31 May 1889 and was buried in the family vault at Kirkheaton St John alongside his wife. Probate was granted to his son David. By then the business had been transferred to his daughter Mary, later joined by her nephew Alfred [3]. Mary with Alfred as assistant ran the business until her death in 1897. Alfred who had earlier married Agnes Fawcett of Northallerton at Huddersfield Parish Church then took over the business. Alfred was involved with St Johns church as the Rectors warden and also gave occasional talks in the village. Alfred’s father David passed away in 1905 which may have been a factor in Alfred choosing to retire. At the licensing committee in 1908 he declared he was not renewing his licence for out-sales of wines and spirits and must have closed the business shortly afterwards. At the 1911 census he is shown as a retired grocer at Knowle road. The gas engine used to power the chopper of black oats was sold to the co-op

JBT Apr 2024

Footnotes

[1] Huddersfield Chronicle 12th Jan 1860

[2] Huddersfield Chronicle 1865

[3] Alfred Seniors son Leonard (1900-1992) became a master plumber and along with his son David was well known in Kirkheaton and with his other son Richard at Crosland Moor