Mrs John Holdsworth
(1831-1884)
4 July 1862

[Identified as ‘Mrs J. Holdsworth’ in the Silvy daybooks and as ‘Mrs John Holdsworth’ on the National Portrait Gallery’s database, this is probably the wife of the manufacturer and merchant John Holdsworth of Skircoat, Yorkshire.]

Born on 8 May 1831 at Broadley Wood near Rochdale, Mary Ann Haigh was the daughter of manufacturer Charles Haigh and Ellen née Whitehead. She was baptised on 22 May 1837 at a Presbyterian chapel in Spotland, a district of Rochdale in Lancashire.

On 5 September 1855 she married John Holdsworth of Halifax, who was described as a ‘manufacturer and merchant’ on the 1871 census. His father, John Holdsworth of Shaw Lodge in Skircoat, was described as a ‘worsted manufacturer’ on the 1851 census.

When the census was taken in 1871 John Holdsworth was at home in Skircoat with three servants. His wife was visiting Mrs Elizabeth Ellen Woolfe, a widowed wine merchant, at Grappenhall in Cheshire.

John Holdsworth died, aged 49, on 18 August 1879 at Willow Field near Halifax, Yorkshire.

‘Late on Monday evening Mr John Holdsworth, J.P., died suddenly at his residence, Willow Field, Halifax. He had been at Bradford market during the day, and some time after arriving home he was seized with a fit, which ended in his decease. Mr Holdsworth was the junior partner in the well-known firm of Messrs. John Holdsworth and Co., Shaw Lodge Mills, Halifax’ (Leeds Times, 23 August 1879).

‘His death was the theme of general conversation in the town yesterday, as he was well known in business, though not prominent in public affairs. He was on the list of borough justices, and he has also been connected with the local rifle volunteer corps. He was a thorough-going Churchman and Conservative, and to both causes he has contributed generously’ (Bradford Observer, 20 August 1879).

His estate was originally valued at £45,000 but was subsequently resworn at £35,000.

Mrs Mary Ann Holdsworth appears on the 1881 census, a widow living with four servants at Willow Field, Skircoat.

On 6 February 1883 at St John’s, Warley, she married solicitor George Edward Mumford of Bradford.

She died the following year on 4 March 1884 at Bournemouth, leaving an estate valued at £2330.