Historic Bolton

Photography by Yelena Overchenko

Research and Text by Laura Kovalyova

It can be said without doubt that almost every historical building has a story to tell. If it could talk we would be able to hear a lot of amazing stories about the people who lived or worked there. So many lives of past generations have passed unnoticed but there are a lot of people worth remembering. The traces of their lives lie hidden around us. It takes just a bit of curiosity and attention to detail to notice them.
The world has dramatically changed in the last 100 years. Nowadays people have a lot of opportunities to learn and study, there is a wide choice of places such as libraries, museums and art galleries. Most people who lived long ago didn’t have such a privilege. Our story is about the Thomasson family of Bolton who really cared about other people and did a lot to provide an educational opportunity for all irrespective of their gender, class or religion.

As a part of our project, we visited a few places in Bolton related to the Thomasson family. We have tried to bring history to life by creating black-and-white photographs featuring a lady from the late 19th century. In our imagination, she could be Mrs J P Thomasson, the central character of our project.

Our story starts with a building on Kensington St., off St Georges Road, currently a home to Frances
Bleasdale School of Dancing. Our attention was brought to the corner stone inscription ‘This corner
stone was laid on June 7 th 1902 for Mrs J P Thomasson’. The Internet search did not give any answers
regarding the purpose of building this house. Fortunately, the answers were found in the article
‘Girls New Recreation Club for Bolton Foundation Stonelaying’ published in Bolton Evening News on
9 th June 1902. This club for working girls was going to be moved here from the old premises on
Hulton St. As said in one of the ceremony speeches ‘ the old idea that women should stop at home
was a wrong and narrow idea’ and that ‘every woman and every girl would make a better daughter
and a more interesting wife when they were associated with some other influence than that of
home life merely’. Mrs Thomasson had been the president of the club from the very beginning and, as mentioned in the article, the opening of the club was her idea.

Woodside, Heaton.

According to the 1891 census, the Thomasson family lived at 'Woodside' in Heaton. They had three children - Lucas (born 1868), Beatrice (1870) and Franklin Thomasson (1873). Woodside was built for J. Mellor in about 1865 and sold in 1879 to his cousin, J.P. Thomasson. The house is an example of high Victorian gothic with many towers and gables, decorative ironwork to the roof and an impressive entrance porch.

Thomasson park

In 1890 Mr J P Thomasson bought Mere Hall, a Georgian-style mansion in the Halliwell area of Bolton, and the reins of the estate, and gave it to the town as a public park, together with £5,000 towards alterations. Thomasson was a generous benefactor to Bolton and, in addition to Mere Hall, provided many other facilities, including the Thomasson Reading Room in Charles Street, which he gave to Bolton Co-operative Society, and the Thomasson Gymnasium on Folds Road. He also gave £1,000 to the borough to allow the completion of the Chadwick Museum in Queen’s Park . In addition, Thomasson founded the scheme of exhibitions and scholarships in 1876 which enabled children of all religious denominations to pass from any elementary school in the borough to the best secondary schools available.

Bank Street chapel

Mr Thomasson was a Unitarian, and a keen supporter of Bank Street Chapel, and his enlightened outlook is proved by the fact that he was an early supporter of the Women's suffrage movement, of which his wife Katherine was a prominent member.