Madeley: Time Line 
History & Dates.

By Chris Machin

The Early 1900’s

1901 - The Census puts the population at 2909.

1903 - Lady Annabel Crewe-Milnes married Hon Arthur Edward Bruce O’Neill (1876-1914), who became Unionist MP for Mid Antrim from 1910. They had three sons (Shane (1907-1944), Brian (died 1940) and Terence (1914-1990), Terence goes on to become Prime Minister of Northern Ireland 1963-69, and receives the title Lord O’Neill of the Maine in 1970) and two daughters. In 1944, he married Katherine Jean Whittaker, & they had one son & one daughter. He was in the Irish Guards 1939-45. He was Unionist MP for Bannside 1946-70. He is a member of the Irish nobility. The ancestral home of the Lords O’Neill is Shane Castle, County Antrim and the O’Neill’s stem from the oldest traceable family in Europe.

1905 - Madeley All Saints Football Club is founded. It was started through the members of a bible class and soon became Madeley White Star F.C. Madeley had a cricket club before the First World War but this had closed down by World War Two. It’s ground was between Middle Madeley and the current Eternit Factory.

1905 - Charles Woodhouse James is Vicar of Madeley

1905 - Ownership of Fair Lady and Bang Up pits passes to Madeley Coke and Brick Company (1905) Limited, and the manager is Mr. W G Peasegood. It employs 897 underground workers and 245 surface workers.

Sometime in the early years of the 20th Century, The Harrison and Woodburn Pit at Leycett was owned by the Madeley Coal and Iron Company, and was manager by Mr. G P Hyslop, who went on to manage Shelton Iron and Steel Co. at Shelton Bar in the Potteries in the 1920’s. They employed 300 underground and 160 surface workers. Coal was taken down to the A531 to a wharf at woodlands now called The Gladings. The course of the tramway is where the M6 now runs, but remnants of the track can still be seen in parts of the woodland. Other coal was taken by a private railway to Madeley Station and then loaded onto goods trains.

1911 - Eliza Ann Twemlow of Betley Court dies, aged 83. For many years she had been the Ruling Councillor of the Betley and Madeley Habitation of the Primrose League. A Conservative Party group that commemorates Benjamin Disreali (1804-1881).

1913 - Sutton Paterson is Vicar of Madeley

1914 - Arthur O’Neill was second in command of the Life Guards and posted to France, and, almost immediately, posted missing, believed killed in action.

1921 - Increasing social costs, super taxes and falling rental income and agricultural values causes the Madeley Estate to be largely sold off. The auction is at The Crewe Arms, Crewe and many of the estate farms are sold off, mainly to the tenants. The Manor House failed to attract a buyer and is occupied by Lady Annabel. Madeley Pool Mill is advertised as a commodious corn mill with good fishing in the mill pool, and the tenant at the time was Thomas Hulse.

1921 (approx.) - Knightley is built.

1922 - Lady Annabel marries Major James Hugh Hamilton Dodds (1880-1956). (He had fought in the Boer Wars, and been decorated with The Queens Medal and Africa General Star. From 1911 until his retirement in 1941, he was a British Consul in: Abyssinia, Tripoli, Palermo, Nice and finally, Marseilles.). They have two sons, Colin and Quentin.

1923 - North Staffordshire Railways amalgamates with London Midland and Scottish Railways.

1924 - Madeley Working Men's Club had been built by this time.

1928 - Shane O’Neill becomes third Baron O’Neill on the death of his grandfather, Edward O’Neill, second Baron O’Neill (1839-1928). Their first son, Raymond Arthur Clanaboy O'Neill is born in 1933. He is the current 4th Baron. In 1963, he marries Georgina Mary Scott, daughter of Lord George Montagu Douglas Scott & they have 3 sons. The eldest is Hon. Shane Sebastian Clanaboy O'Neill, born in 1965. In 1997, he married Celia Hickman, and they have one son.

1929 - Charles Alfred Griffin is Vicar of Madeley

Early 1930’s - The houses in Newcastle Road have been built. The alleyway from Newcastle Road to Crewe Road, opposite the entrance to The Old Swan, is called ‘The Clappy Hatch’. There used to be a wooden swinging gate there, and when it was opened, it made a clapping noise when it swung to.

1931 - Passenger traffic stops on The Audley Branch Line.

1931 - Madeley Road Station closes.

1932 - Shane O’Neill marries Anne Geraldine Charteris. They have one son and one daughter, the son is Raymond Arthur Clannaboy O’Neill (b 1933), the current fourth Baron O’Neill.

1932 - Madeley Mill stopped corn milling about this time and became a cheese factory.

1934 - The Pit-head Baths are opened at Leycett Colliery.

1934 - The new Cemetery at Manor Road is consecrated. It is further extended in 1996.

1935 - ‘Madeley, Staffordshire’, A Booklet on Madeley published.

1935 - Rev. William Garner becomes vicar of Madeley. He holds the post until his retirement in 1965.

1937 - Three quarters of a ton of lead are stolen from the South Porch of Madeley Church.

1937 - Madeley Mill’s water wheel is replaced by a turbine from Sneyd Colliery, whose directors had purchased the mill.