JOHN Buckley is a name which to many in Tyldesley is known only through the inscription on the drinking fountain in the Market Square.

In his will Buckley demonstrated his deep affection for the town by leaving £200 for the construction of “a water drinking fountain for Man, Beasts and Dogs”.

The fountain was also to serve as a “public lamp pillar” and so was topped with a gas light when in its original Elliott Street position. It was later moved to Tyldesley Park then reinstated in the town centre although on the opposite side of the road to its original site.

However, Buckley left something else of lasting value—a history of Tyldesley, published in 1878. For many years this book has been hard to find, with few copies surviving even in libraries. A new edition has now been announced by Peter J Tyldesley, an academic at the University of Manchester, and will be available later this year.

Born in Tyldesley in 1812, Buckley spent much of his life working locally as a hand-loom weaver. After moving to Wales to work as a clogger, he returned to spend his retirement in Tyldesley. He died on August 21, 1892 while on holiday in the Isle of Man and is buried in Tyldesley Cemetery.

Buckley’s History of Tyldesley is a fascinating ragbag of information—descriptions of old customs, a record of key events in the life of the town and insights into how national issues were viewed locally. The book states that the first Tyldesley Wakes, for example, occurred in 1802, with a Mr Dawson being badly gored during the bull-baiting. Modern readers may have more sympathy with another Tyldesley man, George Partington, who is reported to have been injured in the Peterloo Massacre of 1819.

For much of the book Buckley writes from personal experience. When the bells were delivered for St George’s Church in 1825, the largest was filled with liquor from the local public houses. Buckley recounts that as a child he was held upside down over the bell by a bystander, so that he could drink from its contents. He also recalls the end of the Crimean War in 1856 being celebrated in the typical local manner with an illumination of Top Chapel.

The explosions at the Yew Tree Colliery in 1858 and Great Boy’s Colliery in 1877 are, of course, recorded, with Buckley lamenting the heavy loss of life at the former: “mothers weeping for their children, wives for their husbands, and children for their fathers; but nothing could be done—they were all dead”. Many other matters of interest are discussed within the 94 pages of the book.

To be notified when the new edition of Buckley’s History of Tyldesley becomes available email peter.tyldesley@manchester.ac.uk or call 07973 210210.