Rescued from destruction: Some of the Shaw family papers
A family history society has won Heritage Lottery funding to carry out a preservation project, after being donated a 75-year-old manuscript and family papers found in a skip.
Huddersfield and District Family History Society has received £4,500 for its project, ‘Sharing the History of Hepworth’ – a small, rural village in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire. The project focuses on an old typescript entitled ‘A History of Hepworth’, believed to have been written by local historian Herbert Shaw some 75 years ago and recently found in a skip, along with the Shaw family papers. Both have been donated to the society, which aims to publish the history as a book with the inclusion of local photographs.
Parts of the valuable collection of historical documents previously owned by the Shaw family relating to the village of Hepworth will also be preserved in booklet form. This will be shared with the local community at a number of local events during 2018, including Hepworth Feast Day on 25 June when society volunteers will be inviting people to share their memories, photographs and anecdotes of the village, and Hepworth History Day on 18 August. Members will also be participating in the Heritage Open Days nationwide festival at Holmfirth Parish Church in September and holding a Family and Local History Fair at Cathedral House, Huddersfield on 10 November 2018.