Projects

This section outlines our current projects relating to the history of Blackburn and Darwen.

The Diary of Charles Tiplady The diary of Blackburn printer and Alderman Charles Tiplady (b.1808, d.1873) has recently been purchased with joint funding from our Society, Blackburn Library, the Museum & Art Gallery and the Victoria & Albert museum. The return of the diary to Blackburn is remarkable, as it had long been thought lost. Nick Harling from the Museum attended the auction and the diary was secured with a joint bid of £750, finally beating off a number of private bidders.  The rediscovery of the diary, which covers the years 1839-1873, is almost miraculous, as it was retrieved from a dustbin by Nottingham auctioneers Mellors & Kirk during a house clearance. Parts of the manuscript were transcribed in the 19th century by Abram, who was working on his 'History of Blackburn Town and Parish', but it then disappeared for almost a century: where it was during this time remains a mystery.  The diary is a fascinating document of life in Blackburn during the most important period of it's growth as an industrial town. Amongst the many events chronicled by Tiplady are the opening of the railway, the incorporation of the Borough, the building of the Town Hall and Cotton Exchange and the riots of the 1840s. Interspersed throughout the manuscript are various newspaper cuttings, notices and flyers from the period. The Diary has been examined by conservation experts at Lancashire Record Office and appears to be in remarkable condition for it’s age. Conservation work has been undertaken to ensure the diary does not deteriorate and it is now housed in a specially created archival box. The Diary has been microfilmed and a copy is now available in the Library for public use. Members of our organisation who are extremely knowledgeable in the life of Charles Tiplady are now busy working with a copy of the Diary to create a transcript. It is hoped that extracts from the transcript will appear here in the near future. An exhibition based around Tiplady has already taken place in the Museum and there is a large section on Tiplady on Cotton Town.  VISIT OF A TIPLADY by Barbara Riding  I have read about Charles Tiplady, I’ve written about him, I’ve talked about him for 16 years and now in February 2004 I’ve met his great-great-grandson, Richard Tiplady from Brazil.  Having discovered the existence of his ancestor’s Diary on the Cotton Town Website he decided to come to Blackburn with his son Jason to see it for himself.   On the Tuesday Andy Kirman and Diana Rushton took him round Blackburn to see what was left of the sites Charles Tiplady would have known – Church Street, Fleming Square, the Parish Church (now the Cathedral), Mount Street (gone), the Market Hall (gone), the Cotton Exchange (now the Apollo Cinema), the Town Hall and Thunder Alley (Town Hall Street).  On Wednesday he spent most of the day at the Library looking at the Diary, being photographed, being interviewed for BBC North West Tonight and showing us the information on the cover of his family Bible, his old photographs and his Family Tree.  On the Thursday I had the privilege of driving him to the Cemetery on Whalley New Road to see Charles Tiplady’s grave.  The headstone is clear to see (the grave having been hastily tidied up beforehand) with Charles Tiplady’s name, his wife Mary and his son Henry.  As we were photographing it Jason found 3 more graves – that of Charles’ son Charles Lomax who was killed at the railway station in 1881, his brother James and the grave of his three sisters. It was Richard’s birthday on the Thursday.  What better gifts could he receive than a card with photographs of pages from the Diary and a copy of the Diary on a disk?  He’ll probably have read it before we have!! Check out extracts from the diary on Cotton Town - click here.

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