Hello Bob
Thanks for getting back to me. I have little knowledge of the geography of Smallbridge and environs, and as you say local knowledge can yield vital clues in research such as this. I remember being told that the Bull's Head was demolished when the main road was widened - would that have been comparatively recently?.
Your reference to 'Miss Kershaw' is interesting. I would imagine that this was Ann, whom I mentioned in my last post, and who I strongly suspect was the sister of Thomas (senior), I know nothing of the family of Thomas (senior, born circa 1784), but I wouldn't mind betting that his father, too, in his time had been an innkeeper / victualler. In Pigot's 1828/9 there is yet another Kershaw (John) listed as keeper of the Mount Pleasant Tavern, Whitehall St Rochdale. This could be coincidence, or it could be that the publican Kershaws formed something of a dynasty. The Kershaws certainly seem to have been a well respected local family, given the wording of Thomas's gravestone, and given the fact that Sarah's Buckley grandchildren were each given Kershaw as a middle name - this in the 1890s. The later generation must have been proud of their Kershaw connections!
I would be most interested to read your write up in due course. Best of luck with it IAN
