Peel Family

The Peel family lived at Crag Cottage in Windhill. The father, William Peel was born on 14 June 1788 near Laycock, an ancient village west of Keighley.

His brother John, eight years older, established some kind of woollen manufacturing business in Windhill and William may have been involved in it. The brothers were listed at Windhill as Woollen Cloth Manufacturers in Baines’1822 Trade Directory.

They married sisters Elizabeth and Rebecca Bateson and William and Rebecca’s only child, Henrietta Maria, was born in 1820. Rebecca died in 1830. Henrietta was educated at the Moravian school at Fulneck and then by a governess. She looked after her father’s house. Henrietta Peel died in 1863. Her father continued to live at Crag Cottage but was bankrupted when, due to fraud, the Leeds Banking Company collapsed.

William owned partly paid shares. He had to surrender all his assets and was ruined. He went to live at Kildwick and died in late 1866, aged 78. He was buried in the family vault at St Paul’s Church, Shipley.