Kelly's Directory of Hurst 1918

Hurst is a populous village and was formed into a Civil Parish from Ashton Under Lyne by order of the Local Government Board under the Local Government Act 1894 (56 and 57 Vic c73). It is about a mile north of the borough of Ashton and from 1861 was governed by a Local Board of 12 members but is now controlled by an Urban District Council; it is in the Prestwich Division of the County, Ashton Under Lyne Union and County Court District, the rural deanery of Ashton Under Lyne and archdeaconry of Rochdale and diocese of Manchester. The ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1846, the chuch of St John, erected in 1847,and consecrated in 1849 is a building of stone in the Gothic style, consisting of a chancel nave, aisles, transepts, north vestry, south porch and a tower at the south west angle with spire and containing 8 steel bells: there are several stained windows: the south east angle is a private chapel erected by the late Oldham Whittaker esq. The church was enlarged in 1862 and in 1880 the vestry was rebuilt and other alterations made at a cost of £ 698: there are 700 sittings, 495 being free, in the churchyard is buried O. Whittaker esq. mentioned above, d 31 Dec 1871 and William Quarmby a local poet, d. 11 Oct 1872. The register dates from the year 1849. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £; 300 with residence in the gift of the Crown and Bishop of Manchester alternately,and held since 1914 by the Rev.William Thomas Cummings There are United Methodist Chapels in Queen Street, Curzon Road and Winter Street. The cemetery of 7½ acres in Higher King Street and formed in 1894 is controlled by the Urban District Council. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the extensive cotton mills in the neighbourhood also in the adjacent collieries. The area of Hurst civil parish and Urban District Council is 626 acres of land and 12 of water; rateable value £; 29,387; the population in 1911 was 7,858 viz: East ward 4,140; West ward, 3,718; the population of the ecclesiastical parish in 1911 was 7,061 which extends into Ashton Under Lyne Municipal Borough

Parish Clerk and Sexton, William.

Hurst Brook, adjoining Ashton is given with that town.

Town Sub Post & M.O. Office, 169 Lower King Street, Higher Hurst. Mrs. Mary Ellen Mellor, sub-postmistress. Letters arrive from Ashton Under Lyne.

Town Sub Post & M.O. Office, 105 Whiteacre Road. George Armitage, sub-postmaster. Telegrams can be handed in only at this office & telegraph money orders are issued but not paid.

Town Sub Post & M.O. Office, 202 Curzon Road. Miss Sarah Jane Schofield, sub-postmistress.

Urban District Council Offices, Lower King Street

Meeting Day, 3rd Thursday in month at 7 p.m.

Members,

Chairman, John Whittaker Kenworthy

Vice Chairman, Thomas Dean

Officers:

Clerk, Reg. Whitworth, 17 Booth Street, Ashton Under Lyne Treasurer, Fred H. Shaw, Parr's Bank Limited, Ashton Under Lyne Medical Officer of Health, Richard Price, Stamford Street, Ashton Under Lyne Surveyor & Inspector of Nuisances, Samuel Shirt, 336 Higher King Street Collector, Charles Brooke, 136 Lower King Street

PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS

Cemetery, John J Green, superintendent Police Station, William Carson, superintendent, 3 sergeants & 8 constables Weights & Measures Office, William Clarke, inspector

PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

St.John's Higher Hurst, built in 1848, at a cost of £ 1,500 & enlarged in 1880-1 for 470 children; John Henry Storey, master; Miss Clara Hulley, infants' mist. Hurst, Queen Street, built in 1857 by John Whittaker esq. at a cost of £ 2,000 and enlarged in 1885 for 460 children; John William Spencer, master. Union Road, Hurst Brook. Erected in 1873 at a cost of £ 950; enlarged in 1890 and again in 1904 for 610 children at a cost of £ 560. James L Wood master. Miss Rovina Cheetham, infants' mistress. Queen Street Council School (Infants). Built in 1911 for 150 children; Miss Martha Bishop; infants' mistress.

HURST PRIVATE RESIDENTS

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©Antony Lambert