Ann Husler
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Ann Husler (1803–1874), née Procter, was a quarry owner and stone merchant from Calverley in West Yorkshire. She ran a quarry business after the death of her husband, John Husler. She ran the business until her death at the age of 71, after which she left her share of the business to one of her sons.
Early life
Ann Husler, née Procter, was born sometime in February 1803 in Leeds, England to James and Mary Procter, and was baptized on 20 February 1803.[1] Her father was a clothier from Claverley.
She married John Husler (1802–1853) at the age of 19 on 15 April 1822 at St Peter's Church in Leeds. She had her first child, a daughter named Mary, on that same year on 4 November 1822.[2] They proceeded to have eleven more children over the course of twenty years, although three died in childhood.
Career
John Husler came from a family of quarrymen and stone masons. Quarrying quickly became a major industry as a result of the population boom brought on by the Industrial Revolution; as the need for materials to build new buildings for home and work grew in urban and rural areas. Husler saw this demand, and leased a sandstone quarry at Weetwood in 1840 with his business partner, John Cliff.[3]
John Cliff left the business in 1846, and John Husler expanded it by securing key contracts for his stone, such as Armley Gaol (now known as HM Prison Leeds), which was completed in 1847.[4]
In 1851, he won the contract to build the Kilkenny to Waterford railway in Ireland.[5] While he was in Ireland working on this project with his local business partner, William Ellis, Ann ran the quarry businesses in Leeds in his stead.
When John died suddenly in 1853 in Waterford, leaving Ann widowed with eight children, she continued to manage the Leeds business, and also handled the disputes over his estate due to litigation over the debts he took on for the railway project.[6]
From 1853 to 1874, Ann Husler expanded the quarry business, and by 1860 she employed 75 men and 18 boys in the quarries.[7] That same year, she renewed her lease 93 acres at Weetwood for 21 years.[8]
The stone from Weetwood quarry was in high demand during this period, and it was used build Westminster Bridge, which took 8 years to build from 1854 to 1862.[9]
She brought two of her sons, Joseph and Alfred, into the family business, but Joseph moved to Australia in 1870. She left her share of the business to her son, Alfred.[10]
The quarry at Weetwood was closed in the 1880s and is now the site of gardens and residential properties.[10]
References
- ^ St Bartholomew's Church Records. Armley. 1803.
- ^ St. Peter's Church Marriage Records. Leeds. 1822.
- ^ "New leasehold at Weetwood Quarry". Leeds Times. September 14, 1841.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Local quarry contract for Armley Gaol". Leeds Intelligencer. March 30, 1844.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Ireland railway contract secured by local quarryman". Leeds Intelligencer. January 18, 1851.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Notice of John Husler's Death at Waterford". Leeds Times. July 7, 1853.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "United Kingdom 1861 Census Return for Headingley cum Burley". National Archives. 3353: 32. 1861.
- ^ "Sale of freehold land Weetwood". Leeds Intelligencer. August 11, 1860.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Westminster Bridge". Survey of London, Lambeth: South Bank and Vauxhall. 23: 66–68. 1951.
- ^ a b Eveleigh, Bradford (October 24, 2017). "They Lived in Leeds".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)