The Tyzack Family

William Tyzack, the founder of the Tyzack Company, was born on October 3rd 1781. He was the second son of John Tyzack (2) and his second wife Sarah Binney who were married on March 20th 1775. 

John Tyzack (2) was a farmer and part time scythe maker who was baptized at St John’s church Norton on November 21st 1747 the son of John (1)and Margaret Tyzack. John Tyzack (1) was a scythemaker and by 1746 he had taken a 42 year lease on the Walk Mill (which now lies under Dore and Totley Station) and that is where John (2) grew up. John Tyzack (1) died in 1755/56 at the young age of 36. He left a Will and there is also an Inventory which makes interesting reading. As an aside, in later years (1845) we find Walk Mill being leased by Thomas Tyzack the great grandson of John(1).

On June 1st 1772 at the age of 25 John (2) married Rebecca Binney who was not quite 16 years old! She was the daughter of Thomas Binney a wealthy man. He seems to have set up John (2) as a farmer and scythemaker on Trap Lane in Bents Green. On March 20th 1774 Rebecca gave birth to a son John (3). Sadly she died giving birth and was buried on March 25th1774 at Ecclesall All Saints. A year later on March 20th 1775 John (2) married Rebecca’s step-sister Sarah Binney probably with an eye to keeping his farm and inheriting some of Thomas Binney’s wealth in due course! Unfortunately marrying your dead wife’s sister was not permissable in Canon Law at that time but John got round this by obtaining a Licence to avoid having the Banns read and going to Handsworth to get married.

John and Sarah went on to have seven children, four sons - Thomas 1779, William 1781, Philip 1784 and Samuel 1790 - and three daughters - Elizabeth 1786, Ann 1792 and Lydia 1794. Two years after Lydia’s birth on July 17th 1796 John (2) died, he was buried at Ecclesall on July 19th. His wife Sarah died two years later and was buried at Ecclesall on August 9th 1798. The children seem to have stayed on at the farm, Rebecca’s son John (3) taking over the farming and Thomas and William becoming apprenticed as saw makers probably to men working at Thomas Boulsover’s rolling mill at Whiteley Wood which was a short distance from their home on Trap Lane.

On April 18th 1803 William Tyzack (1) married his cousin Sarah Osborne at the Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul in Sheffield. By the time William’s name appeared in the Sheffield Directory in 1817 the couple had two sons, Ebenezer and William (2) and three daughters, Elizabeth, Mary and Ann. When William (2) was baptized at Ecclesall church on June 9th 1816 his father’s occupation was given as Fendersmith - apparently this was someone who was employed to clean and repair the fenders in mansions, castles etc. In 1818 another son Joshua was born and in 1820 a daughter Sarah completed the family.

William and his older brother Thomas had set up as sawmakers in premises on South Street (which is now The Moor) by 1817. In 1821 they were also making patent scythes, busks and calico webs. (Busks were thin strips of steel used in ladies’ corsets and calico webs were thin strips of steel shaped into a narrow blade and used for cleaning calico). Around 1824/25 the brothers went their separate ways and William moved to other premises on Rockingham Street which was to be the headquarters of his firm for more than 50 years. He set up the firm of W. Tyzack at the Button Lane end of Rockingham Street and this later became W. Tyzack & Sons.

The business expanded rapidly and the premises were greatly enlarged. The range of products that they made expanded also. In 1831 a cast steel furnace with four pots was added. The Rockingham Street premises didn’t have enough facilities for all the output so William (1) started renting nearby mills and in 1831 he was a tenant of Whirlow Wheel on the Limb Brook. By 1843 William’s sons Ebenezer, William (2) and Joshua had joined the firm. In 1847 he left Whirlow Wheel and took the tenancy of Whiteley Wood works near the Porter. That William (1) was a keen fisherman is shown by his landlord John Fowler’s constant complaints about him fishing in the mill pond even though he had no rights to do so! Finally in 1849 William (1) took over the tenancy of Abbeydale Works from John Dyson.

On May 30th 1839 William (2) married Fanny Howard at the Cathedral church of St Peter & St Paul in Sheffield. Fanny was the daughter of Thomas Howard a gardener and lived on Garden St,Sheffield. On January 20th 1840 a son Arthur was born and in the1841 Census the baby was with his grandparents William (1) and Sarah at Bents Green. Sadly a few months later he died and was buried in Ecclesall churchyard on July 11th 1841. A year later a daughter Ann was born and she was followed by Fanny in 1845, William (3) in 1847, Frederick in 1848 and Stuart in 1851.

By the time of the 1851 Census William (1) and Sarah were living at Plumpton House in Bents Green with their unmarried daughter Mary aged 39, grandson Frederick aged 2 and a servant, Sarah Bower, who came from Totley. William (1) was described as a saw and file manufacturer employing 50 men. William (2) was by now living in the Manager’s House at Abbeydale Works along with his wife Fanny, four of his children including a 6 month old baby and his younger brother Joshua. No wonder that young Frederick was staying and possibly living with his grandparents!

On Sunday November 7th 1852 tragedy struck the family. Fanny Tyzack was nearing the time for the birth of her seventh child when she collapsed and died. The inquest gave ‘syncope, produced by natural causes’ as the cause of death. ‘Syncope’ seems to mean fainting as a result of low blood pressure but there was presumably more to it than that - possibly it was actually high blood pressure which caused preeclampsia? Certainly the newspaper reports imply that she had been unwell. Poor William (2) was in Glasgow on business at the time and the news was sent to him by telegraph. Fanny and presumably her unborn baby were buried at Ecclesall on November 14th.

William (2) must have managed with the help of family and servants over the next few years as it would seem that he was still travelling on behalf of the firm. However on August 14th 1857 he was married again to Maria Drabble and children arrived in quick succession - Walter on November 27th 1857! He was baptized at the Cathedral on April 2nd 1858. Helen (Ellen) arrived in October 1858, Percy in April 1860 and finally Jessie in 1862.

Joshua Tyzack the youngest of the brothers had also married on September 26th 1854 at Holy Trinity,Skipton. His bride Jane was the daughter of John Manby an old established customer of Abbeydale Works. He had been a customer of John Dyson and obviously continued the association with the Works after the Tyzacks took over and Joshua had met his daughter while on his sales trips.

In 1855 a steam engine was installed at Abbeydale to add to the considerable water power that was already available. In 1858 William Tyzack(1) died at the age of 77 and he was buried at Ecclesall All Saints on October 1st. His Will was proved on February 23rd 1859 by Ebenezer, William and Joshua Tyzack and Benjamin Turner. William (1)’s sons Ebenezer, William (2) and Joshua continued to run the company very successfully. 

An ‘Eligible Country Residence’ had become available To Let in June 1858. This was Abbeydale House just across the road from Abbeydale Works. The property was to be shown by ‘Messrs Tyzack of the Abbey Dale Works’. William (2) obviously decided this would be ideal for his new wife and growing family and by early 1861 they were living there with the five children from his first marriage, the three from his marriage to Maria and two servants - Elizabeth Hammond a nurse maid and Sarah Clayton a house maid. Just around the corner at Wood Lodge on Abbey Lane was his sister-in-law Jane wife of Joshua who was away on Census night. He was staying at the Feathers Inn in Pocklington and his occupation was ‘Commercial Traveller in Ironmongery’. Sarah, aged 81 and widow of William (1) was still at Plumpton House with her unmarried daughter Mary. Sarah died at Wood Lodge on July 17th 1864 at the age of 84 and was buried at Ecclesall on July 20th.

Three years later in 1867 there was another death in the family, Ebenezer the eldest of the three brothers died and was buried at Ecclesall on April 29th. This resulted in the business being split up between the remaining two sons and their nephews. In 1837 William and Joshua’s sister Ann had married Benjamin Turner and in 1870 he was taken into partnership and their company became known as W. Tyzack, Sons and Turner.

After his marriage to Jane Manby in 1854 Joshua Tyzack either moved into or had built Wood Lodge on Abbey Lane. He had a chapel built in the grounds of his house which was opened for services on October 27th 1861. By 1875 three services on Sunday and an evening service on alternate Tuesday nights were being held. The evening services on Sunday and Tuesday were Anglican and the Sunday morning and afternoon services were conducted by preachers of the Methodist Reform Union.In 1874 Joshua was presented with a solid silver inkstand in recognition of his benevolence. 

In 1871 William (2) and Maria Tyzack’s daughters Helen aged 12 and Jessie aged 8 were at a Ladies Boarding School in Bubnell near Baslow in Derbyshire. William (2) and Maria were still living at Abbeydale House with Ann, William (3), Frederick, Stuart and Walter and Sarah Wolstenholme a general servant from Totley. 

Jane Tyzack was visiting her sister Eliza Paget in Skipton at the time of the 1871 Census. Joshua Tyzack was still travelling for the company and was staying at the Railway Hotel in York. Their daughters Adeline and Lucy were at boarding school on Wilkinson St in Broomhall, Sheffield and Joshua and Florence aged 8 and 10 were at ‘Abbeydale’ in the care of a 17 year old servant Ann Cowley! Their Aunt Mary was next door and these two households must have been Wood Lodge and Rockingham House. 

In 1875 there was a wedding in the family when Joshua and Jane’s daughter Lucy married Douglas Parbury a wine merchant and they set up home in Norwood near Croyden. Sadly there was another family funeral in 1877 when Lucy’s 16 year old sister Florence died. She was buried at Ecclesall on August 14th. 

The 1881 Census shows William and Maria still at Abbeydale House with their sons Stuart and Frederick and two servants. Joshua and Jane were still at Wood Lodge with their daughter Adeline and son Joshua and a servant. The next few years brought two family weddings. On August 31st 1881 Stuart Tyzack married Mary Ellen Meggitt at St Mary’s Church Barton -on-Humber in Lincolnshire and on February 28th 1883 his brother Frederick married Emily Delaney at St Andrew's Church in Sharrow.

By the late 1880s Joshua Tyzack’s health had been failing and he died at Wood Lodge on March 14th 1887 of congestion of the lungs. This was the day before what would have been his 69th birthday. He was buried at Ecclesall on March 17th and the funeral was a large one. As well as friends and family who followed the hearse in a dozen or so carriages the funeral was attended by about 300 employees of W. Tyzack, Sons & Turner. They walked at the head of the funeral procession as it passed up Abbey Lane to Parkhead and down to the church. They then lined the path to church as the coffin was borne past. It must have been rather a magnificent sight. He died a wealthy man and his bequests included £50 each to Jessop Hospital, Sheffield Public Hospital and Dispensary and Cherrytree Orphanage in Totley. In today’s money £50 would be about £5,000.

1889 was not a good year for the Tyzack family, On February 24th William,the last of the three Tyzack brothers, died at 7.30 in the morning. His funeral took place on February 28th and, as with his brother Joshua, the funeral procession was led by between 200 and 300 employees as it passed along the same route to Ecclesall Church. The wreaths included one from the men of Abbeydale Works. This was closely followed by the funeral of William Alexander Tyzack, son of Ebenezer and nephew of William (2) and Joshua, on December 26th 1889. Not a very cheerful Christmas for the Tyzack family.

Jessie, the younger of Joshua and Maria Tyzack’s daughters had married Charles Augustus Thorne in 1888 and they set up home at The Glen on Abbeydale Road South. Charles Thorne was a doctor and became well known locally. During WW1 he was the surgeon at the VAD Hospital in what is now the GPO Sorting Office next to St John’s Church.

In 1891 Maria Tyzack was at Abbeydale House with her children Walter, Helen and Percy and four servants. Her sister-in-law Jane was at Wood Lodge with her son Joshua and daughter Adeline and two servants. Also staying there on Census night were her daughter Lucy Parbury and three grandchildren who must have been on a visit from their home in Surrey.
Later that year on November 4th Adeline Tyzack married Alfred Hudd at St Mary Abbots,Kennington in London. 

In 1898 came an event which must have caused something of a scandal when Lucy Parbury and her husband Douglas were divorced. At that period divorce was very unusual.

On December 1st 1899 Joshua’s widow Jane died at the age of 78 and she was buried at Ecclesall on December 5th. 

Maria Tyzack was living at The Glen with her daughter Jessie and her family by 1901. Both Ann and Benjamin Turner had died by this time - they too were buried at Ecclesall - so Maria was the only survivor of her generation. She was still living with Charles and Jessie Thorne in 1911 and she lived on until 1923 dying at the grand age of 95. She was buried at Ecclesall on January 3rd.

By 1906 W. Tyzack, Sons & Turner was registered as a limited company and Frederick Tyzack, son of William (2) and grandson of the founder William (1) was Chairman. He had moved away from the local area and was living at 127 Psalter Lane in 1911 with his wife Emily , son Eric and daughter Vera Emily plus three servants. His daughter Ethel had married William Hyde Dixon in 1907 and was living in Grimsby and Frederick’s other daughter Dorothy was staying with her sister on Census night. Dorothy married Wilfred Middleton at St Andrew’s Sharrow on June 10th 1914 shortly before the outbreak of WW1. There is a lovely piece in the Sheffield Independent of July 27th 1914 describing the outfits worn by several ladies at the Hallamshire Tennis Tournament including Mrs Frederick Tyzack and her daughter Mrs Middleton. The weather was apparently rather less than summery!

On the outbreak of war in August 1914 it was reported that Mr Joshua Tyzack of Wood Lodge had offered the use of Avenue Farm Totley for a nursing home though it would seem that this offer wasn’t taken up. This Joshua was the son of Joshua and Jane Tyzack who was born in 1863. On the death of his mother he remained at Wood Lodge. Also on the outbreak of war Frederick Tyzack’s son Eric enlisted in the A.S.C. (Motor Transport).

In October 1915 Eric gained a commission in the Royal Engineers eventually transferring to the Royal Flying Corps. Frederick must have been devastated when he received the dreaded telegram informing him that his only son had been killed in action in September 1917. This news would have been made even worse by the fact that his wife Emily had died in February 1916. Eric Tyzack is buried in France at Pont-du-Hem Military Cemetery, La Gorgue.

Frederick Tyzack died on October 14th 1923 at Psalter House on Psalter Lane, Brincliffe. He was 74 years old. His funeral service was held at St Andrew’s church in Sharrow at 2pm on October 19th but he was brought back to Ecclesall All Saints for burial, joining the many other members of his family who are buried there. His former home at Psalter Lane is now a synagogue.

Finally we come to Joshua Tyzack the son of Joshua and Jane Tyzack who was born in 1863 and lived at Wood Lodge for his whole life. He was more interested in farming than in business and he owned several farms including Avenue Farm in Dore. The Tyzacks had bought Totley Forge in 1879 though they had been using it to forge scythes since at least 1875. It was used as a forge until 1891 when Joshua had the forge and work buildings rebuilt as barns for Avenue Farm. He had been a County Coucillor since 1909 representing Norton on the Derbyshire County Council and he was re-elected in 1919. In 1921 he was appointed a Justice of the Peace sitting at the Court in Dronfield and he appeared to be living the quiet and blameless life of an elderly bachelor. On April 17th 1930 he died at Wood Lodge aged 67. It then became apparent that his life had not been as quiet as people had thought! 

Apparently when the family turned up at Avenue Farm to take over as they thought, Jessie Fisher, who had been Joshua’s farm manager for many years, produced a marriage certificate showing that she and Joshua had been married in Scarborough ten years previously on March 31st 1920! Joshua was 57 at the time and Jessie was 25. Absolutely no-one, neither friends nor family, knew of this marriage. They had travelled back to Sheffield the following day and continued to live their separate lives. The family must have shown up at the farm pretty smartly because when Joshua was buried at Ecclesall on April 21st his widow was represented by Alderman Ernest Wilson solicitor. Joshua had left no Will and so Jessie inherited everything - everything being £15,885. 9s 7d.

On November 30th 1930 Avenue Farm, Smithy Wood Forge, Wood Lodge, Rockingham House and 24 Rutland Place were offered for sale. Various other properties appear to have already been sold at auction. In 1934 Smithy Wood Forge and Wood Lodge were still being offered for sale at ‘Low Upset Prices’.

The surprises about Joshua Tyzack’s life hadn’t finished. In December 1931 a Mrs Ellen Hall of Hull sued Jessie for £112 due under a covenant signed by Joshua on May 27th 1909 agreeing to pay her £2 a week for life. Apparently Ellen was married to a mariner who was away at sea for long periods of time. She was living on Abbeydale Road at the time and became unable to pay her rent though it isn’t clear whether Joshua Tyzack owned the property that she lived in. Joshua was apparently ‘very kind’ to her and they became ‘very friendly and intimate’ and she agreed to go to Avenue Farm to act as housekeeper. In 1910 she adopted a child to whom Joshua stood as godfather though she says that Joshua wasn’t the child’s father. In the 1901 Census there was a Nellie Hall living at Old Forge Farm which may well be the name that Avenue Farm was once known by. With her was her 4 year old daughter Dorothy who was born in America. This presumably is the adopted child. William and Martha Higgins also lived at Old Forge Farm as a separate household and there were certainly a couple of cottages there so Ellen may have been either in the farmhouse or one of the cottages. There is no way of knowing when she returned to her husband and moved to Hull. Ellen won her case anyway and was awarded £112 and costs.

So there was rather more to Mr Joshua Tyzack than met the eye, one wonders what other adventures he had along the way!

Postscript - Jessie Fisher

Jessie Matilda Fisher was born on July 19th 1896 on Moorwoods Lane near Totley and was the illegitimate daughter of Emma Hill. Jessie was baptized at Holmesfield on March 31st 1897. In 1901 she was a visitor at The Manor House in Hope along with another visitor 30 year old Sarah Laycock. The Manor family were obviously away as other than the visitors there were only two servants in residence one of whom was Ruth Pinder from Holmesfield.

By 1911 Jessie was back in Totley living with her mother Emma, her sister and brother-in-law, two brothers and a cousin. She would have been 17 when WW1 started and it seems very likely that she joined the Land Army, probably working at Avenue Farm, and that after the War she stayed on as Farm Manager. It also seems quite possible that she knew Ellen Hall! 

On her marriage certificate she gave her father’s name as Francis Fisher who was Emma’s husband but since he was buried in Dore on May 26th 1895 this is clearly impossible. Of course Jessie may well not have known that she was illegitimate. After Joshua’s death she went to live in Holmesfield and she died there in 1969 and was buried at St Swithin’s Church in Holmesfield.

Dorothy Prosser

February 2017