Read all about Carr Lodge in Horbury and the families who lived there in this fascinating new book

Eric and Christine Cudworth have written a book about the Carr family of Horbury

Painstaking research conducted over more than 20 years has unearthed the details of the lives of the Carr family, who once owned a third of the land in Horbury as well as numerous properties.

In 1848 it was recorded that John Francis Carr owned 183 acres in the town and estate papers show that rents received in 1850 from his properties in Horbury alone amounted to £860 a year (equivalent to approximately £85,000 today).

Christine Cudworth said: "The book records the history of Carr Lodge as well as the story of the Carr/Parker family who lived there. It was the end of the direct line of John Carr of York who was born in Horbury."

The title of the book, The Fruits of a Runaway Marriage is a reference to the family feud between Mary and John Francis Carr and their first-born twin daughter Mary Ann.

When Mary Ann left home to marry Thomas Goulbourne Parker of Browsholme Hall she started a process that led to the collapse of the estate.

"Twenty years later, she was so unhappy that she left her husband and seven children, accusing him of cruelty and infidelity.

Back in Horbury after the acrimonious separation, she threatened to write a book entitled “The Fruits of a Runaway Marriage”. No record has every been found of the book's existence.

Mr and Mrs Cudworth spent many hours in Lancashire records' office researching the family history. They also transcribed Mary Carr's surviving diaries from 1824, the year the family moved into Carr House, through to 1868. The diaries are still on loan to Wakefield Archives and detail the day to day running of the household and of those who lived in it and visited.

There is a limited run of 400 copies of which 50 are hardback, priced £8.99 and £12.99.

The book is available from the authors, tel. 01924 272619; Rickaro Books, 07831 218624, email [email protected]; and Darling Reads, High Street, Horbury.

Pay by credit card/paypal/cheque. Free local delivery (three-mile radius) or collect.