Story
The Reverend George Henry Armitage was born in Rothwell on 1st October 1864. His parents were an engine smith, George Armitage (1834-1897) and Harriet Hardaker (1835-1910) who married in Rothwell on 29th September 1860. In 1881, George Henry Armitage was working as a stationer, and still living with his parents in Rothwell, before he moved away to become a Wesleyan Minister. In 1891, he was a minister in Barnsley, before moving to Crossgates. On the day of the Peckfield Colliery Disaster, he was referenced in the Press as having been in attendance, and helping the survivors. He expanded upon this on 20th March 1897, when he described the quiet heroism shown by one of the survivors, George Hicks:
In 1898, Rev. Armitage married Lucy Millicent Houfton (1855-1929), who was the daughter of the Peckfield Colliery Manager, Charles Houfton. The couple moved away to Devon, and had a daughter, Jeannie Hardaker Armitage in 1901, before moving to Newton-Le-Willows, Lancashire. Rev Armitage retired and passed away in Oakworth, Keighley on 14th July 1936.
<< Rescuers present at the disaster
30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield 