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Car boot buy leads to two-year search

Alice McKeegan
22/ 3/2008

A BARGAIN car boot sale buy sparked a two-year search to unravel its mysterious contents.

Kenneth Hall, of Fairway, Milnrow, purchased a handwritten Victorian letter at a Town Hall boot sale in summer 2006.

He was intrigued by the document, dated 1889, which listed a series of scenic walks in Rochdale and he vowed to find out more about the sender George Craven.

His research involved numerous visits to browse Rochdale Cemetery’s archives and now he’s hoping that the letter could even be displayed at Touchstones.

He said: "I came across an old letter addressed to a George Craven, of Summerlease House in Rochdale.

"Curiosity got the better of me and liking local history, I decided to do some research into the letter. It’s quite fascinating because some of the areas and buildings mentioned are still in existence today.

"It would be useful to do the walks and see what there is today. Hopefully I’ll be able to do this in the future."

Using the 1881, 1891 and 1901 census, he found the names and details of Summerlease residents. He discovered that Mr Craven lived with his three daughters Alice, Edith and Sarah and he died in 1900 at the age of 92.

Despite success, Mr Hall still couldn’t find out the location of Summerlease.

He said: "I looked at old maps of Rochdale but could not locate where Summerlease was because the location was not noted on any maps of the period.

"The census noted 170 Milkstone Road as an address and I went to look at it. I found a large building which was a residential home and the staff informed me that at one time it was called Summerlease.

"With the help of the staff at Rochdale Cemetery, I located Mr Craven’s grave and discovered he was quite wealthy, with some connections to South Street.

"I would like to thank the staff at the local studies at Touchstones and the records office at Rochdale Cemetery."

Anyone with information about the Craven family can contact Touchstones.