This Mini Museum exhibition was made up of objects that were left to Wakefield’s museum service in 1971 by Mrs Edith Horbury (nee Harrop), who lived her final years in Cow Lane in Havercroft.

The silverware was given to Edith’s father by the Marriott family, local worsted and woollen merchants who owned Sandal Grange near Wakefield. The Marriotts employed Edith’s father as head gardener when she was a child.

There are a number of Royal commemorative objects, including a plate celebrating Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee in 1897 and a mug from Edward VII’s coronation in 1902.

Edith was a member of the National Spinsters’ Pension Association in the 1930s. This group campaigned for spinsters to have the same rights as widows, and Edith took part in at least one of their protests in London in the 1930s and 1940s.

In 1948 Edith married Mr Nathan Horbury, a Pit Deputy from Havercroft. She moved to the village and lived here till her death in 1971 aged 78.

Activities

People came to the library to learn how to trace their family histories with a WEA tutor.

Children at Havercroft J&I School worked with a community artist to think about how people will remember them and their village in the future. They made creative maps and masks reflecting their personal and shared heritage.