They are courtesy of Bill Horsfall, who was a member of the Horsfall family and a keen Halifax Antiquarian. He wrote a number of transactions for the society on the Horsfall business and Clarence Mill.
Joseph Horsfall & Sons Ltd were a worsted spinners founded by Joseph Horsfall around the mid 1800s.
In 1894 the company moved to Clarence Mill on the corner of Miall Street and Pellon Lane.
There have been five generations of the Horsfall family involved with the company with Joseph being followed by his three eldest sons James, Fred and Willie.
This partnership was dissolved when Willie retired in 1901. James and Fred continued the business and then in 1903, the two dissolved the business by mutual consent with just James carrying on. James was followed by his eldest son Harry.
Harry’s son predeceased him and the business passed to his nephews Jack and Jim Butler, the sons of Florence Caroline Horsfall and John Butler.
Their sons Brian and Michael Butler were next to carry on the family run business.
In the 21st century, the company was the sole surviving worsted spinning mill in the district but Joseph Horsfall and Sons Ltd eventually closed in March 2008.
Two years later, in June 2010 a large section of the mill was destroyed by fire.
These photos provide glimpses of what life was like in Halifax back in the 1960s and 1970s as well as showing how much the town has changed since then.
