1 - The Shaw Family at the Craven Heifer Public House

John Shaw (1835-1875) was born in Armley, Leeds. He was married in 1855 to Mary Astle (1834-1904) from Aldford, Cheshire. They wed at Norbury church.

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John worked as a coachman in the early years of their marriage and the couple lived in Cheadle Heath with Mary's brother William, a 24 year old gardener in the 1861 census.

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Around 1870 the pair took over the running of the Craven Heifer pub, which had been owned by the Greaves family, who along with the Gregory family owned land and property including the butchery business. The previous landlord was Mr Gee and before that James Greaves Junior had run the pub. It was situated near to the canal, which meant there was a lot of passing trade, although by 1871 the canals were already a lot less busy due to the coming of the railways. A sales advert from 1914 tells us that the pub contained a parlour, tap room, snug, bar, living room, four bedrooms, a bathroom and two attics. It also had a large cellar. 

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When John and Mary took over the pub they began a new annual tradition of inviting ladies to the pub at New Year to enjoy a tea party, music and dancing. It wasn't all pleasant though as the pub was the focal point of a court case in 1872 when John had fought with a known offender named Robert Robinson, one of the Robinson hatters. 

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Perhaps the most shocking event to occur at the pub involved William Woodall, who had lived with the Shaws at the pub for a number of years. 69 year old William had been working on the railways and had never managed to settle down. He had mentioned ending his life on a number of occasions so he was ignored on the day in 1874 when he saw through his plans. He was found in his room by Mary, hanging by a leather strap around his neck that was connected to the wall by a nail.