{"id":5060,"date":"2017-08-28T09:08:10","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T09:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/?page_id=5060"},"modified":"2024-12-09T19:18:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T19:18:49","slug":"chatterton-james-shepley","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/?page_id=5060","title":{"rendered":"James Shepley Chatterton"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Milestone King, Carter, Man of Letters
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Poem: White Nancy<\/a> | Poem: Another Milestone<\/a> | White Nancy<\/a> | Wallpaper pics<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"\"
James and Eliza Chatterton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

James Shepley Chatterton<\/strong> was born on 12th March 1839 at 4.20am in the cottage attached to Adshead Barn Farm House<\/a> (referred to in the poem below, and pictured below left), at the top of Lord Street<\/a>, Kerridge<\/a> (these top two houses are in Kerridge, the rest of Lord Street is in Bollington). James also had a brother, John (b.1841 Bollington), and a sister, Frances (b.1848 Bollington). John married Phoebe Ann Barnes in 1862 and Frances married Wood Deane Snape in 1866.<\/p>\n

James married for the first time to Mary Bowyer on 27th January 1861 at St James, Newchapel, Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire. James’s brother John and future sister-in-law Phoebe Ann were the witnesses. In the 1861 census they were lodging at The Pickel<\/em>, 2 Chapel Lane, Wedgwood, Wolstanton, Staffordshire.<\/p>\n

After his father, Joseph Chatterton a cotton carder, died in 1848 his wife, Hannah Cheadle Chatterton (n\u00e9e Shepley) moved to a cottage in the village. James went to Bury and found work as a carrier or carter with a horse and cart between Bury and Manchester.<\/p>\n

After his first wife died James Chatterton married Eliza Hayes (pictured) in Prestbury in 1868. They had eleven children of whom three died in infancy. My grandfather was his youngest son, Harold. Two of his sons, John and Ernest, emigrated to Providence, Rhode Island, USA and James visited them there in 1906.<\/p>\n

\"\"
James Chatterton, born in the cottage on the left.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

James became known as the ‘Milestone King<\/strong>‘. He was so called because each year on his birthday a poem appeared in the Bury Times marking a milestone in his life. He submitted his last poem (below) at the age of almost 90 as he lay on his deathbed. He gave instructions that if he lived until his birthday it was to be published. If not it was to be destroyed. He died on his ninetieth birthday and I believe that it was printed.<\/p>\n

Although living in Bury, James made regular visits to Bollington and climbed Kerridge Hill to White Nancy. He wrote a lovely poem about Nancy (below)<\/a> for one of his birthday milestones.<\/p>\n

He retired to Greenmount, Bury, at the age of 60. Both he and Eliza are buried in the United Reform Church graveyard in Bury.<\/p>\n

The poems below are transcribed from an old typewritten copy of my great grandfather’s words that may have been his original. Some words may be wrongly spelt, others may be contemporary or dialect words that don’t mean anything to us today, but the meaning is clear in the context.<\/p>\n

Sue Williams<\/strong>
\nGreat granddaughter<\/p>\n

\n

\"Foundation<\/a>A James Chatterton is noted on one of the foundation stones of the Methodist chapel at Whiteley Green. These were laid on 25th June 1904. I believe it to be the same James Chatterton, the subject of this page, because he laid the stone ‘on behalf of <\/em>Mrs Davies of Bury<\/em>.’ James then lived in retirement in Bury but remained a regular visitor to Bollington and district.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

WHITE<\/a> NANCY<\/h3>\n

J S Chatterton, Greenmount, Bury<\/p>\n

Once a year I have climbed this hill for years past. I climbed it again on July 8th 1919 when the following lines were suggested.<\/p>\n

Once again I have called on Miss Nancy
\nOnce again I have climbed up this hill
\nAnd although my age is oe’r eighty
\nI have the strength to climb it still.
\nIt’s years since I left this dear village 
\nYet sometimes I visit it still
\nAnd climb up this hill to see Nancy
\nDear Nancy on top of the hill<\/p>\n

As I sit on Miss Nancy’s doorstep
\nI can hear the church bells chime
\nAnd looking across the valley
\nThere’s a scene that’s almost sublime.
\nBefore me is the Vale of Ingle
\nOn my right are the Rainow Hills
\nAnd along the beautiful valley
\nAre meadows and murmuring rills.<\/p>\n

On my left is the dear little cottage 
\nWhere my eyes first saw the light
\nAnd the mill where I went top labour
\nFrom early morning ’til late at night.
\nI can see the place where a battle
\nI fought with a village lad
\nAnd the fields where happy hours
\nWere spent with my mother and dad<\/p>\n

I can see the hill called Beston
\nHigher up the hill called Nab
\nAnd away in the distance Pot Shrigley
\nWhere the bluebells are to be had.
\nThen again I see Billinge and Harrop
\nWith their rustic and rural life
\nFar away from the noise of the village
\nWith its struggles and daily strife<\/p>\n

It’s a pretty stiff climb up to Nancy
\nBut you’re amply repaid when you’re there
\nFor I think a more beautiful picture
\nThere cannot be found anywhere.
\nAs I look on the scene before me
\nWhat memories each scene revives
\nScenes where the dramas of life were acted
\nBut of the actors but few survives.<\/p>\n

Now as I sit upon Nancy’s doorstep
\nAnd thing that this visit may be
\nThe last I may pay to Nancy
\nAnd the last of these views I shall see
\nAnd I feel just a tinge of sorrow
\nAnd imagine I hear the refrain
\nThat some day this dear old Nancy
\nWill be only remembered by name<\/p>\n

For she in the course of nature
\nWill one day just crumble and fall
\nFor the signs of decay are upon her
\nAnd she’s going the way of us all
\nBut I’m sorry she’s so much neglected
\nWhile standing up here in the cold
\nI think she deserves better treatment
\nIf only because she is old.<\/p>\n

J S Chatterton, Greenmount, Bury<\/p>\n

Look at the picture of Nancy taken in 1925<\/a> and you will see why James Chatterton was so concerned about her condition!<\/p>\n

\n

ANOTHER<\/a> MILESTONE<\/h3>\n

J S Chatterton, Greenmount, Bury<\/p>\n

Ninety miles I have come on my journey
\nAnother mile to the past has now gone
\nAnd the next \u2013 ah the next \u2013 if I reach it
\nWill be the milestone of life ninety-one<\/p>\n

The last mile it has been rather trying
\nAnd has put all my strength to the test
\nBut I’ll stay here awhile by the milestone
\nAnd take some refreshment and rest<\/p>\n

I wonder sometimes how much further
\nOn life’s journey I still have to go
\nBut I can’t lift the veil of the future
\nFor that is God’s secret you know<\/p>\n

I know I can’t trip it so lightly
\nAs I could at my three score and ten
\nFor I’ve had to bear some heavy trials
\nAnd I’ve been to the furnace since then<\/p>\n

But I’ve weathered the storms and survived them
\nFor there’s always been one by my side
\nWho has promised He never will leave me
\nAnd strength for each day will provide<\/p>\n

Yea! I’ve braved many storms on my journey
\nBut old oak is beginning to bend
\nAnd I look for the light in the window
\nAnd I ling for the rest in the end<\/p>\n

For when my life’s journey is ended
\nA new life to me will be given
\nA life not measured in milestones
\nFor there are no milestones in heaven.<\/p>\n

J S Chatterton
\nWritten for his 90th birthday milestone, 12th March 1929, the day he passed away.<\/p>\n

\n

We very much appreciate Sue Williams submitting her research and James Chatterton’s poems and thank her for permitting us to publish them on this page.<\/p>\n

Your historic documents<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Milestone King, Carter, Man of Letters Poem: White Nancy | Poem: Another Milestone | White Nancy | Wallpaper pics  James Shepley Chatterton was born on 12th March 1839 at 4.20am in the cottage attached to Adshead Barn Farm House (referred to in the poem below, and pictured below left), at the top of Lord Street, Kerridge (these top two houses are in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4168,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5060","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5060"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19894,"href":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5060\/revisions\/19894"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyvalley.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}