Low Moor Local History Group

Many thanks are due to Bill and Laura Truin, formerly of Wyke , for their extensive research on the late Doctor and reproduced here, with their permission, is a small part of that work.

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John Whitteron was born on 25th June 1820 in Acomb near York and trained in the medical profession at Edinburgh.

By 1851 he was living in Carr Lane with his two brothers, a housekeeper and a maid. His nephew Henry Whitteron aged 4 was also staying with him.

In 1861 he was living alone and unmarried at Carr Lane, employing a housekeeper, a maid and a groom, his next-door neighbour is now Dr William Fell Rawson also a General Practitioner.

In May 1866 John Whitteron (representing the South Ward) was appointed as one of the twelve members of the first North Bierley Local Board, following the Local Government Act of 1858 that was adopted in 1865. Dr Rawson was the Medical Officer.

His father, also called John Whitteron, died on 4th January 1865.

In the 1860's he purchased land in Lower Wyke.

The 1868 account books of Mark Brayshaw, works supervisor, show the building of Dr Whitteron's cottages at Wyke near Halifax. The total cost being £1,363 14s 2 ½,d, and the commission for Mark Brayshaw being 2 ½ % £34 1s 0d.

In 1870 he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Wyke Waterworks Company Limited, having subscribed for 200 shares. He continued to be a shareholder and Director until the undertaking of the Company was sold to North Bierley Urban Sanitary Authority in 1877, and the Company itself wound up.

In 1871 the census shows him still at Carr Lane, his next-door neighbour is still Dr Rawson. However he was listed in Kelly's Post Office Directory as being a surgeon and farmer of Lower Wyke. Rawson is not in the directory.

He also owned land in Storr Hill, as William North, a gardener, was his tenant. William North was living in Storr Hill in 1871, but died in 1881.

In 1872 Mark Brayshaw supervised building work on two cottages and a house and shop in Storr Hill for Dr Whitteron which cost £630 10s 0d, the commission being 2½% £15 0s 0d.

John Whitteron's name was on the title deeds of a house opposite to the British Queen, along with the Low Moor Company and Dr Rawson.

In 1874 Mark Brayshaw supervised building work on cottages at Lower Wyke for Dr Whitteron, which cost £650..00..00. In July of the same year the alterations of shops in School Street Low Moor cost £1,370 16s 0d, the commission being £34 5s 0d. In the following year there was building work on a farm house in Lower Wyke (£500 0s 0d), repairs to spouts and palings of cottages and cattle sheds (£18 16s 0d) and the building of a cattle shed (£40 0s 0d). There was also house alterations in Carr Lane by James Kellett & Son. (£20 14s 0d).

In May 1874 the minutes of the North Bierley Local Board note in a summary of the last 25 meetings John Whitteron had attended only 3, fewer than any other member.

In June 1875 the Local Board of Health for the District of North Bierley ordered the clerk to write to Dr Whitteron calling his attention to the complaints made by the Public Scavenger as to the quantities of straw, paper and other substances found in the ash pits of his property at Hill Top and requesting that he give directions to the tenants which will prevent further complaints.

In August 1875 John Whitteron was one of the signatories to a petition by ratepayers to the Churchwardens of the Township of Wyke, that Wyke should be constituted a Local Government District following the Public Health Act of 1875. As a result of this petition and the subsequent meeting Wyke became annexed to North Bierley on 29th September 1876.

The 1875 Slater's Commercial Directory under surgeons lists Whitteron & Rawson, Carr Lane, Low Moor and also John Whitteron (Whitteron & Rawson), Lower Wyke. The 1875 White's Directory lists both William Fell Rawson and John Whitteron as surgeons at Carr House, Carr Lane and in addition Whitteron is listed as farmer.

By 1877 John Whitteron is shown, in Kelly's Directory, as the Medical officer for the North Bierley Union and for the Rural Sanitary Authority whereas Dr Rawson is the Medical Officer for the Urban Sanitary Authority. Both are listed as living in Carr Lane, JW as surgeon and WFR as assistant surgeon.

The account books for 1877 of Mark Brayshaw, works supervisor, show an account for Dr Whitteron for surveying land at Wetherby and making plans and tracing of same and putting plan on a deed. Cost £3 3s 0d.

On 29th January 1881 his mother Mary died aged 84 years and was buried with his father at St Oswald's Church, Collingham with Harewood.

In 1881 John Whitteron still lives in Carr Lane but Dr Rawson is no longer living next-door. John Whitteron has a "Surgeon's assistant", John W Deardon, aged 21, living with him. Still employs a housekeeper, housemaid and a groom.

The account books of Mark Brayshaw, works supervisor, for February 1882, show an account for making plans and a bill of particulars for a bath closet warming apparatus and costs for the job say £63 0s 0d.

Between 1883 and 1884 he had Blankney Grange built, plans being drawn up by M Brayshaw and Fox, the work being supervised by M Brayshaw.

In 1887 the North Bierley Local Board minutes record expenditure authorisation which includes John Whitteron's quarters salary of £17 10s. In September 1887 the minutes record that Dr Whitteron was re-appointed as Medical Officer of Health for the district of the Local Board for one year from the 29th September at a salary of £70 per annum on the same terms as he currently held the post

In 1887 he suffered severely from lead poisoning.

In September 1888 the minutes of the Local Board record that Dr Whitteron was re-appointed as Medical Officer of Health for the district of the Local Board for one year from the 29th September at a salary of £70 per annum.

In May 1889 at a special meeting of the Local Board it was resolved that the Medical Officer of Health be requested to inspect the midden or muck heap on his own land at Wyke adjoining the public road and report to the next meeting of the Board whether the same was offensive or not.

In September 1889 the minutes of the Local Board record that Dr Whitteron was re-appointed as Medical Officer of Health for the district of the Local Board for one year from the 29th September at a salary of £70 per annum.

He died of heart disease at his home in Carr Lane 25th March 1891.His funeral was held at St Marks on 28th March at 10 am with both the Vicar of St Marks and St Mary's officiated. He was interred at 3pm at St Oswald's Church Collingham, Wetherby in a grave next to that of his parents.

There is a stained glass window depicting St Luke in St Mary's church with the inscription "To the glory of God and in memory of John Whitteron MD of Low Moor who died March 25th 1891 aged 70"

His will was proved 20th June 1891 and his personal estate amounted to £30,646 16s 5d.

By his will he left £125 to each of the Parishes of St Mary the Virgin Wyke and St Marks Low Moor, the interest on each amount to be distributed to the poor of the parishes. The income in 1902 amounted to £5 per annum in each charity.

The church of St Mary's received a new clock, a gift of John Whitteron and his sister-in-law. The clock placed in the tower strikes the hours and chimes quarters and half hours and could be illuminated with gas at night if desired. The plaque in the belfry indicates that the bells were first used on 17th July 1891.

In 1891 his sister-in-law Jane Whitteron is living at 30 Carr Lane, living on her own means, employing a housekeeper, a housemaid and a groom.

A meeting of the Highways, Buildings, Sewerage and Sanitary Committee on 23rd June 1891 approved plans for Dr Whitteron's executors for conveniences Carr Lane Low Moor. There was also correspondence with the Trustees of Dr Whitteron regarding the need to abate a nuisance in respect of property at Acomb Terrace, Wyke.

A meeting of the Highways, Buildings, Sewerage and Sanitary Committee on 11th August 1891 approved plans for Dr Whitteron's executors for alterations to the stables Carr Lane.

On 8th December 1891 plans were disapproved for two WCs and an ashpit to be erected in Dale Street, Hill Top which had been submitted by the executors of Dr Whitteron. It was felt that the ashpit was too small and that the situation of the WCs would cause a nuisance.

In May 1892 the account books of Mark Brayshaw, works supervisor, show an account for the Trustees of Dr Whitteron for plans, details etc. and repairs and improvements to a residence in Carr Lane Low Moor, costing £1,122 8s 10d, the 5% commission being £56 2s 4d.

A Dr Abraham Hepworth Robinson who had married John Whitteron's niece, Mrs Mary Ellen Abercrombie, after she was widowed with two daughters subsequently occupied Whitteron House, 30 Carr Lane. The 1899 - 1900 Ward Rolls show Dr Robinson living at Whitteron House and Jane Whitteron living at Blankney Grange. The 1901 census shows Dr Robinson and his wife, Mary Ellen and his son Harry aged 8, living with a stable lad and two maids at Whitteron House.

Jane Whitteron died 23rd December 1903 at Blankney Grange.

In August 1914 William Whitteron Milnes (paper merchant) and Arthur Holmes Field (physician and surgeon) sold property to Abraham Hepworth Robinson (physician and surgeon).

Mary Ellen died in 1920 and is buried in St Mark's Church yard.

In October 1923 Whitteron House was sold by Abraham Hepworth Robinson to his son Henry Whitteron Robinson for £800.

On 20th September 1929 Henry Whitteron Robinson sold Whitteron House to William Henry Ginn for £475 and on 11th October of the same year William Henry Ginn sold the property for £750 to Stephen Charles Ferguson and Edgar Inman Thornton.

Dr Robinson died in 1937, and is buried in St Mark's Church yard.

Dr Robinson's son, Dr Henry Whitteron Robinson lived at Whitteron House with his father before building the house opposite the Harold Club. Harry Whitteron Robinson died in 1954 and is buried at St Mark's Church with a commemorative stone in the floor near the altar rails.