James Kay and family of Westwood Hall
(A follow-up to the article on Westwood Hall dated May 2022)
James Solomon Kay (1819-1899) was born 19th March 1819 and baptised at All Saints, Wigan on the 10th April 1819. He was the second son of Henry and Ellen Kay (nee Green) of the ‘Woodhouses’ with Henry being a farmer.
The ‘Woodhouses’ were separated in to higher and lower Woodhouse and today this general area is covered by Beech Hill Lane joining on to Woodhouse Lane at the bottom (Farmfoods, Lidl areas). It is said that the name stemmed from the building of temporary wooden houses to house victims of the Great Plague (1665-1666) which killed around 100,000 people across the land with a quarter in London alone. Woodhouse Farm still exists today albeit all of its associated land has been developed with the farmhouse now a residential children’s home.
UPPER AND LOWER WOODHOUSE MAP (1849)
Henry Kay passed away in 1834 in Millgate at the age of 50 and buried at St. John R.C church in Standishgate. In 1841 the family are living at Little Westwood headed by the mother Ellen who is described as a farmer. Children Mary, James and Elizabeth were helping their mother with farming duties whilst Abraham was a boat builder aged 15.
In 1851 James (coal proprietor aged 28) was living at Westwood Cottage with his elder sister and head Mary Ann (farmer), younger sister Elizabeth (landed proprietor), and younger brother Abraham (carpenter).
Not far from the house it was James Kay who worked a drift mine since 1841 in the nearby field (Kays field) however the seams were worked out by 1856 and later the area was used as a brick works. James Kay married Elizabeth Richardson of Manchester in March of this year at Manchester Cathedral leaving behind his two sisters and brother to remain at Westwood.
WESTWOOD KAYS FIELD
29TH MARCH 1856 ARTICLE DESCRIBING MARRIAGE
On the 15th December 1860 a Wigan Observer & District Advertisor article advertised the sale of steam engines, coal & cannel, farm stock, and three brick kilns belonging to James Kay of Welch Whittle Colliery. On the 1861 census James is living at Mawdesley’s Farm, Welch Whittle with his wife and two young children Henry Richardson & Elizabeth Ellen however his two sisters Mary Ann (still farming), Elizabeth (farming) and his brother Abraham (who is now a boat builder) continue to live at Westwood namely Little Westwood.
MAWDESLEYS FARM 1894 MAP
In 1871 James is living at Coppull Moor Lane (probably Rose Cottage) with his wife and two daughters Elizabeth Ellen and Sarah. He is described as farming 36 acres. Son Henry Richardson passed away back in 1862 at four years of age. Siblings Elizabeth (landowner) and Abraham (boat builder) continued to live at Westwood Hall.
The eldest sibling Mary Ann passed away in January 1867 and buried at All Saints, Hindley. Her abode was listed as Little Westwood. The 1871 census return shows the first appearance of Kays Houses under the ownership of siblings Elizabeth & Abraham. Meanwhile at the Chorley petty sessions of this year James Kay described as “a late colliery proprietor” was summoned for the non-payment of £5 wages to engineman George Green and also £1 15s to William Bolton.
The defendant did not attend and by default was granted a one-month imprisonment. I highly doubt this was carried through. James Kay was a managing partner in the Worthington Coal & Cannel Co (described as a new company) and in October 1877 held a dinner for their employees at the Crown Inn, Worthington.
1874 RAILWAY PLAN COLLECTION
In 1881 James and Elizabeth are living at Rose Mount/Cottage, Coppull, occupation colliery proprietor. Also in residence are the two daughters, Elizabeth and Sarah, alongside his sister-in-law Sarah Richardson.
The new company at Worthington was just four years old when one of their employees at the saw mill James Wilson met his demise as “the deceased was pushing a board too far in to the saw when it returned and hit him in the face tearing out one of his eyes”. James Kay responded “it was not a very unusual kind of accident. There had been many accidents like it but he never knew of any that had terminally fatally before”. The Jury returned a verdict of accidental death.
In 1889 James passed away aged 70 and was buried at Adlington Cemetery. His estate was valued at £5,119 13s. 9d (£558,000 in 2025). His wife Elizabeth would pass away February 1912 and buried in the same plot. The memorial reads “she did her best”. The above sister-in-law Sarah Richardson passed away March 1919 and joined the former in the same plot at Adlington. The surviving siblings of James, Elizabeth and Abraham, continued to live at Westwood Hall.
WILL OF JAMES SOLOMON KAY
HEADSTONE ADLINGTON CEMETERY
What became of the two daughters? Sarah married a Doctor of Medicine Alfred Whitham on the 5th September 1883 at the parish church in Coppull. Alfred was born in Haworth, Yorkshire and after the marriage they settled in Adlington and produced five children. In the first quarter of 1893 Alfred passed away at the age of 40 and in the meantime his widow and five surviving children uprooted to Stockport with the first son named James Kay Whitham who became a furniture designer & draughtsman. Sarah passed away in 1918 and is buried with Alfred at Adlington in the next grave to her parents.
18TH SEPTEMBER 1883 ARTICLE REGARDING MARRIAGE
HEADSTONE OF ALFRED WHITHAM AND SARAH KAY
Elizabeth married a chemist from Shelton in Staffordshire Thomas Charles on the 6th February 1884 at the parish church of Coppull. They settled at 38 Queen Street Burslem /Wolstanton and produced a handful of children first son Edward Kay Charles. Elizabeth Charles lived until the age of 84 and passed away in Stoke.
On the 1891 census siblings Elizabeth and Abraham continuing to live at Little Westwood. Elizabeth passed away later this year leaving Abraham in sole charge of the hall and Kay’s Houses. On the 6th February 1899 Abraham at the age of 70 (I find his birth in 1823 which should make him 75) married a young Annie Kearsley of Owen’s farm (now a housing estate), Hindley aged 22 at All Saints, Hindley.
On the 1901 census Abraham and wife Annie were living at Westwood Hall with their young daughter Elizabeth who was born on the 16th January 1900. Abraham passed away in May 1904 leaving behind a young wife and daughter. On the 1911 census, Annie and her daughter Elizabeth were still at Westwood Hall.
In 1921 the situation remained the same however a 21-year-old Elizabeth is a bookkeeper for Dr. C. L. Graham of 23 Market Square in Wigan. On the 1939 register once again the two ladies are still living at Westwood Hall with an interesting entry on the register noting that a William Byers was living in a caravan adjacent to Kay’s houses. Two years later Annie Kay passed away in April 1941 leaving her only daughter Elizabeth at Westwood Hall for at least the next five years.
KAYS HOUSES AND CARAVAN BY MICK SMALLEY
On the 21st January 1946 a 46-year-old Elizabeth married local butcher William McAvoy aged 56 at St. Mary’s church, Ince. The McAvoy’s hailed from 91, Scholes where the business was very much established. The marriage would survive 12 years before William passed away in February 1958 leaving Mrs. McAvoy a widow who continued to live at Westwood Hall. In 1988 this line of the Kay family would come to an end with the death of Mrs. McAvoy at the age of 88. This ended a tenure at Westwood Hall of at least 147 years.
WILLIAM AND ELIZABETH MCAVOY HEADSTONE
The McAvoy's
E. MCAVOY BUTCHERS 91 SCHOLES C.1910 BY WIGAN AND LEIGH ARCHIVES (YOUNG BOY POSSIBLY ERNEST PATRICK MCAVOY)*
Edward McAvoy (1861-1933) had registered a stall at Wigan market on the 3rd April 1920 showing an expansion from the humbleness and success at 91 Scholes and 123 Scholes. According to the 1921 census Edward had settled in Blackpool with his wife Mary Jane (1860-1947) and continued his occupation as a wholesale butcher until his death in 1933. The census also shows Edward’s son and daughter William (as above) and Margaret were managing the market stall whilst residing at 91 Scholes with their brother Edward Gregson McAvoy the slaughterman amongst other siblings. The eldest daughter Elizabeth was head of the household and managed the home duties. Edward Gregson married Rose Bates in the same year.
REGISTER OF WIGAN MARKET STALLHOLDERS
According to the 1939 register Edward and Rose were living at 99 Victoria Street, Wigan with their five children. After the death of William (as above) in 1958, the business had whittled down to the younger brother Ernest Patrick McAvoy (1900-1965) and then his daughter Sheila who married in to the Peet family. The stall continued to trade as E. McAvoy & Sons Ltd until the 28th March 2023 when the company was dissolved.
MCAVOY PEDIGREE
Whatever came of Westwood Hall/Little Westwood? The housekeeper of Mrs. McAvoy lived in the cottage connected to the main hall and her son Carl took on the property upon her death. There is more information on Westwood Hall and Carl Lillis at the following link…
https://www.wiganlocalhistory.org/articles/westwood-hall
Mr H Hotpot collaboration on Westwood & the Kays.
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Andy Lomax
Sources & Appreciations
Wigan Observer 29th March 1856
Wigan Observer 15th December 1860
Wigan Observer 22nd July 1871
Wigan Observer 13th October 1877
Wigan Observer 9th July 1881
Wigan Observer 18th September 1883
Wigan & Leigh Archives
Ancestry websiteFindmypast website
Mr. H Hotpot youtuber & local researcher
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