It always surprises me how far and wide happenings in and around Whaley were reported in the newspapers, you can find many reports in newspapers in areas such as London, Liverpool, Derby, Sheffield, Rotherham, Manchester & York
Here is a sad tale from The Derby Mercury Wednesday February 25th 1824
Just shows that in 1824 it was black and white no safety net of Social Services that many people have today.
As this is a Newspaper report I will use RSS formula of Blue for the Text if thats OK
A Most Distressing Case -
The Rev. John Drinkwater late curate of Taxal Cheshire, has been suffering under mental derangement for upwards of two years.
Immediately after he was seized by this afflicting malady, he was placed in a lunatic asylum, but pecuniary resources failing, Mrs D was under the necessity of removing him and he is entirely now under her own supervision, tendence and supervision at Ashford, without any hope of restoration.
His Curacy and School, which afforded the sole means of supporting himself, his wife and three helpless children, were of course relinquished and the whole family is now reduced from a state of comparitive comfort and happiness to the threshold of want and misery. It has been thought advisable by a few friends, thus to make an appeal to the charitable and benevolent, not doubting but they will readily contribute to the relief of this now indignent and distressed family.
Donations will be thankfully recieved and properly advised by the Rev F. Hodges, of Bakewell, the Rev G. Mounsey of Fairfield, the Rev S. Grundy of Chapel-en-le-frith, the Rev C. Forshaw of Taxal, and by the printers of The Manchester Chronicle and The Derby Mercury.
He must have been well respected throughout the surrounding parishes for them to appeal in this way. I also wonder what sort of school was he running and where from.
