Charles Lawton (1839-1921) & Elizabeth Griffiths (1834-1906)
The families of Charles Lawton and Elizabeth Griffiths were from the area around Newcastle under Lyme in Staffordshire.
Charles Lawton was born in 1839, the son of Hannah Lawton. There is no father listed on his baptism record at Tunstall Christ Church, and on his marriage certificate his father is written as “unknown”. At the time of his baptism on 12 May 1839 Hannah lived at Ranscliff; aged 2 (at the time of the 1841 census) Charles was living there with his grandmother Salome and her second husband, Peter Chadwick (aged 67) a collier, along with William (a collier) and Mary Harris and their children, also of Ranscliff, whose daughter Jane had been baptised at the same date and place as Charles.
In 1843, Hannah Lawton married Thomas Cotton, a collier aged 47, of Talke. Following Thomas’s death in early 1846, Hannah Cotton, a widow aged 37, married William Cotton, aged 24 and a collier. William and Hannah Cotton had a son, John, baptised in August 1848. In the 1851 census, William Cotton’s occupation was forgeman living with Hannah, his wife, their son John aged 2, and Charles Lawton who was listed as his stepson.
Elizabeth Griffiths was baptised on 13 April 1834 at Ashley, Staffordshire. She was the daughter of Thomas Griffiths (an agricultural labourer) and Elizabeth Martin.
In addition to Elizabeth, Thomas and Elizabeth’s family were Frances (born in 1820), John (born in 1822), Samuel (born in 1824), George (born in 1828, who was also a labourer), Thomas (born in 1832), James (born in 1838).
On 1 June 1857 Charles Lawton, a collier aged 18, married Elizabeth Griffiths aged 22 at Audley; both lived at Talke at the time of their marriage. Elizabeth’s elder sister, Fanny (Frances) (née Griffiths) Lawton, was a neighbour of the Cotton family (Charles’s step-family) in the 1861 census.
Charles and Elizabeth’s children were born while they were living at Talke: Matilda in 1858, Frank in 1859, Luther in 1862, Lilla in 1864, and Hannah Elizabeth in 1872.
Charles’s early working life was as a miner and in 1861 he and Elizabeth were living at Cuckoo lane in Talke, and in 1871 at Coal Pit Hill.
Charles became an assistant or deputy manager at the colliery. Much later in his life, in his retirement speech, he described this role as: “on them rested a great responsibility for the safety and for the finances of a mine. He had always felt that such men on whom rested so much responsibility were very much underpaid. A good deputy was an expert in the mining profession, and certainly ought to be worth more than an ordinary road man [a miner working along haulage or airway roads] or a stallman [a collier working at the seam]. He had the care of men’s lives as well as his own, and his judgement depended upon his experience in critical tasks.”
He was the underviewer (assistant to the underground manager) at Talke in February 1873 when there was an underground explosion which killed 18 miners (the youngest victim was only 13 years old). The jury returned a verdict of accidental death and recommended more efficient firemen be employed by the company. At the inquest, Charles Lawton was one of those who gave evidence, saying “he had been in the habit of examining the pit three of four times a week, and was in the eight-feet seem the day before the explosion. On every occasion, except twice, he found the pit free of gas.” (Sheffield Daily Telegraph 1873).
In 1875/6 he was the manager of the High Carr Company colliery and resident in Talke o’the Hill (Keate’s Gazeteer and Directory of the Potteries and Newcastle).
In 1882, their daughter Matilda married Thomas Scragg at Talke. Shortly after this, the rest of the family moved to Ripley in Derbyshire, where Charles took up the post of manager at the Marehay Collieries owned by the Ford family. The family lived in Ivy Grove, Ripley.
During the time Charles was manager, the colliery was expanded and the announcement of a new shaft opening described: “Mr C Lawton is the certificated manager…and the engine wright (for the old and new plant) Mr F Lawton”. (Ripley and Heanor News 23 June 1893).
When he retired as manager after almost 25 years at Marehay, his work was described thus: “Under his wise management these collieries have been considerably developed and modernised, and although no one appreciated more the value of theoretical knowledge, Mr Lawton’s thorough practical experience was his good point. His rare tact stood him in good stead managing the employees, and serious accidents have been rare at the pits under his charge.” In his retirement speech, Charles commented that “as a manager he had tried to convince the men that they were wrong sometimes, and then go into the offices and try to convince the employers that they were wrong”.
Charles was active in local affairs. In 1903 he was elected to the Ripley Urban Council, and in the same year was elected a Guardian. He had also served a span on the School Board, and as a Voluntary School Manager, and for some time was a member of the Burial Board.
Charles and Elizabeth’s other four children all lived and married in the Ripley area.
- Lilla Lawton married Daniel Rhead, a coal miner in 1885.
- Frank Lawton married Mary Ann Allsop, the daughter of a farmer of Marehay Farm, Ripley, on 27 October 1886. He was the engine wright at Marehay colliery until the pit closed; he then lived at Marehay farm until his death in 1928, aged 69, from pneumonia. He is described as “always of a jovial and generous disposition…for several years was a very useful member of the Urban Council. He was also a sidesman at the Parish Church for some years.” (Ripley and Heanor News, 27 July 1928). Their son, Charles (who was organist at the United Methodist church), emigrated to the USA in 1910. They also had two other sons (James and Frank) and two daughters (Maggie and Doris).
- Luther Lawton married Eliza Ann Attwell at Belper in 1886, and they lived in Ivy Grove in Ripley next door to his parents. Luther was a colliery locomotive driver at the colliery until it closed. He was organist and choirmaster of Nottingham Road Church for many years and also ran a Juvenile Choir, which “was in great demand for charitable objects”. He also “interested himself in Ripley United Silver Prize Band, and was amongst the first governors of the Cottage Hospital”. (Ripley and Heanor News). He died in 1943.
- Hannah Elizabeth Lawton married Robert Armstrong Irving, a potter (who later became chief modeller at the Denby Potteries) at Ripley All Saints on 22 April 1899. They lived at Bepler and had three daughters.
In his retirement speech in 1907, Charles said: “he had two sons left in the concern [the Marehay mines]. When a man had two sons it often happens that one was a prodigal, but in this case they had remained with him and were doing very useful work for the colliery…He had tried to set them a good example and kept clear of all bad habits”.
Elizabeth died in 1906.
Her death and funeral were described: “General sympathy has this week gone out to Councillor Lawton and family in the bereavement they have sustained by the death of Mrs Elizabeth Lawton, which took place on Sunday at her residence at Ivy Grove, at the age of 72 years. Mrs Lawton, who came to the town from Talke, Staffs, with her husband some 24 years ago, had been an invalid for three or four years, having been assiduously cared for by the family. The internment took place at the General Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon and along the route to the Cemetery numerous evidences of respect and sympathy were shown by the townspeople. The mourners were Mr Chas Lawton, Mr and Mrs Luther Lawton, Mr and Mrs Frank Lawton, Mr and Mrs A M Henshaw, Mr and Mrs D Rhead, Mr R Irvine…The beautiful floral tributes included:… ‘In deepest sympathy to the best of mothers from Albert and Till, Crown Bank House, Talke’; ‘In fond remembrance of dear Grandma, from Bessie, Sallie, Jennie, and Jack, Crown Bank House, Talke’…” (Ripley and Heanor News, Friday 2 November 1906).
Shortly afterwards Charles retired due to ill-health and went to live at Matlock.
Charles returned to Ripley, and was living with his son, Luther, when he died aged 82 in 1921.
His obituary in the local paper: “Death of Former Ripley Colliery manager: Mr. Charles Lawton of Ivy Grove. Yet another of Ripley’s well-respected and oldest residents has passed over to the Great Beyond this week in Mr Charles Lawton, who early yesterday (Thursday) morning breathed his last at the residence of his son, Mr Luther Lawton of Ivy Grove. Deceased, who was 82 years of age, had been medically attended at intervals for the past few years, but was wonderfully active and energetic, and right up to a little over a week before his death was about the town and interesting himself in securing for the local Gas Co., of which he was a director, a supply of coal sufficient to tide them over the coal dispute. As a colliery manager, first in Staffordshire, the county of his birth, and later at Messrs Fords Marehay Main Pits, where he was for about 25 years, retiring a little over thirteen years ago, Mr Lawton was highly esteemed and in his day was an authority on mining matters. As a lecturer he was most interesting and instructive, and at one time was in great request at the then Mutual Improvement Societies which abounded in the district. Perhaps no man knew and appreciated more the value of education, and he interested himself so much in the rising generation that for six years he undertook the secretaryship of the local Science and Art Classes and of the County Council Classes. In 1907 he went into retirement at Matlock, but later returned to the town in which he had spent the most useful part of his life, and although he had not taken any active part in the management of the town’s affairs for a many years he always kept up a lively interest in the fortunes of Ripley.” (Ripley and Heanor News, 8 July 1921)
The Late Mr Charles Lawton – Funeral at Ripley (Ripley and Heanor News, 15 July 1921) “The remains of the late Mr Charles Lawton, of Ivy Grove, who died on Thursday morning last, and whose death was fully reported in last week’s “News”, was laid to rest in Ripley Cemetery last Saturday amidst many manifestations of respect.”