Thomas Earnshaw and Totley Grange
by Richard Maw
The first Thomas Earnshaw was born in 1816 in Dronfield, Derbyshire. An indenture dated 22 June 1829 between his father John Earnshaw and James Green, pen-knife grinder of Sheffield, witnessed his apprenticeship as a pen-knife grinder for a period of seven years. By 1840 he was living in Club Gardens, Sheffield and in that year his third child also called Thomas (the second) was born. In 1861 the family was living at the Ball Tavern, Carver Street, Sheffield and ten years later was at the Crown Inn, London Road, Sheffield. The second Thomas married Hannah Copley in 1861 and by 1871 the couple were living at 69 Broomhall Street. Thomas was then listed as a Fish and Game dealer.
Land at Totley
An indenture dated 2 April 1875 confirmed absolute sale by Thomas Andrews to Thomas Earnshaw of land and hereditaments at Totley measuring 2 acres, three roods (1 rood = quarter of an acre) and 14 1/2 perches (1 perch = approximately 30 and a quarter square yards) bounded to the north and east by land of Ebenezer Hall and to the south by the Baslow to Sheffield turnpike road (heretofore the land had been two pieces, Cawston Croft and Yew Croft); and on 31 December 1875 the freehold was conveyed to Thomas Earnshaw at a cost of £946 17 shillings and sixpence. There is another conveyance between Ebenezer Hall to Thomas Earnshaw of the freehold ground, buildings and hereditaments at Totley, dated 27 March 1878, of 3 acres and nine perches which included Moorview House and six cottages of Shrewsbury Terrace at a cost of £2,428. The land abutted Thomas Earnshaw’s previous purchase to the south. To the north and east was the land of Mr Ebenezer Hall.
On 26 March 1879, from Helen and Charles Beckett, Thomas Earnshaw purchased land of 1 acre together with a dwelling house and the terrace of houses facing the turnpike road and the Cross Scythes public house for £600, marked 174 on a plan referred to by Fowler and sons, Sheffield on September 21, 1879 (see picture below). Additionally from John Howard, Thomas purchased the land to the east of the one acre (marked 176 on the same plan) also facing the turnpike road, of 4 acres, 2 roods and 35 perches for £1500. Subsequently the house on the one-acre plot was demolished.
Totley Grange
Between 1883 and 1888 Thomas Earnshaw built Totley Grange and its Lodge on the land he had purchased north of the Baslow to Sheffield turnpike road. He also built stables, a stable yard and a coach house accessed via Butts Hill past Cannon Hall Farm, together with a range of glasshouses within the walled garden. Later he built Grange Terrace; which was a row of eight houses, to the east of the existing Terrace on the one-acre plot, facing the turnpike road.
On 1 June 1885 the Sheffield Telegraph quoted “prize hothouse grapes grown by Mr Earnshaw of Totley Grange are now ready for cutting”. On 31 July 1890 the Telegraph quoted “Totley Grange gives its name to a variety of tomato”.
By 1881 Thomas and Hannah Earnshaw had moved to 89-91 Broomhall Street, Sheffield. Their children were Thomas (the third) born in 1865, Arthur in 1871, Hannah in 1875 and Bertha in 1881. Finally, Anne was born in 1884. In the 1891 census they were still living in Sheffield, But Thomas’s father (the first), aged 75 was living in Totley Grange Lodge. Thomas (the second) and Hannah’s eldest daughter, also Hannah, aged 16 was living with her aunt, Sarah Copley in their newly built Totley Grange, pictured below.
1892 saw many purchases by Thomas of different varieties of orchids, lilies and camellias for the glasshouses. Also in 1892 Thomas Earnshaw purchased three cottages in Butts Hill, Totley from George Boot for £260. One of these was known as Greens cottage (later, in 1989 a new house also called Greens Cottage was built on the site).
Thomas Earnshaw made very regular visits to the Grange from Sheffield; and on one of these, when checking the gardens, he was caught in the rain and developed a cold which progressed to pneumonia. He died on 3 May 1893 aged 58. The Evening Telegraph and Star of 5 May reported his funeral cortege leaving Broomhall Street for interment in Ecclesall churchyard. His obituary was recorded in the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent of 4 May 1893. It quotes “in 1875 such had been his success that he built an handsome residence in Totley, known as Totley Grange. Strange to say he only slept there once…”.
In addition to his freehold land and buildings in Totley he also owned freehold land and 59 houses or cottages in Sheffield with 28 other leasehold houses or shops.
The family continued to live in Totley Grange. Hannah Earnshaw, now widowed, with her children and their maternal aunt Sarah Copley. Their elder son Thomas (the third) took over the family fish and game business in Broomhall Street, Sheffield. The second son, Arthur, qualified as a Doctor of Medicine at Guys Hospital, London. The elder daughter, Hannah, married and moved to live in Vienna. Bertha continued to live in the Grange, was married and later moved to Baslow. Anne married and lived in Sheffield before moving to live in Moorview House, Totley. Their mother Hannah died in 1937.
In 1943 Totley Grange was used for essential war work by J.G. Graves, assembling wire bundles for a range of World War Two aircraft, and in 1948 the trustees of the Thomas Earnshaw (senior) trust converted Totley Grange into five flats.
On 6th of March 1953 the trustees signed a deed of exchange with the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and citizens of Sheffield for the compulsory purchase of the land in Totley to the south of the turnpike road for £444.10 shillings. This was the land purchased by Thomas Earnshaw in 1879 for £1500. It is now the site of Totley Primary School.
In 1965, Totley Grange, the Lodge, all of the outbuildings and gardens and approximately 6 acres were purchased by George Wimpey. The buildings were demolished and it now comprises 65 houses as the Totley Grange estate. Subsequently the houses in Grange and Shrewsbury Terraces and Moorview House have been sold, and finally the remaining one-acre plot behind Grange Terrace was sold.
Richard Maw
(Great-grandson of the second Thomas Earnshaw)
December 2019