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Jessica Lofthouse Biography
Jessica Lofthouse
English
1906–1988
Biography
Jessica Lofthouse was born on November 18, 1906 in Clitherow, Lancashire, England. She was an English author, artist, teacher, and lecturer based in Lancashire. She's most noted as a local historian, writing over twenty books about the folklore, history, and countryside of her hometown. She pursued art casually and worked in watercolor and pan-and-ink, and her drawings, including maps and legends, were used to illustrate her books. Lofthouse died in Clitherow on March 31, 1988.
She describes herself in her diary:
I am nearly 5ft 4 inches from the ground and weigh 7 stones 10lbs. My hair, my only beauty is a gold - red - brown, sometimes one and sometimes all at once - otherwise copper or auburn, my eyes are dark brown and far apart (memory), my forehead is broad (brains), my nose is straight (like daddy's), my mouth is large, top lip short and curved, chin sensitive etc etc"
Her birth certificate records that Jessica was born on the 8th of November 1906 at 12 Wilson St, Clitheroe. Jessica notes in her diary however that there is some uncertainty as to the date: she was born so close to midnight on the 8th that the real date might be the 9th. This is something she refers to more than once in diary entries on her birthday.
Her father John was a grocer. He had been born in Appletreewick in Yorkshire in 1868. His own father, also John had been born in Bolton-By-Bowland, where he had been the village policeman. Jessica's mother had been born Jemima Read in Clitheroe in 1869. Her father Richard had also been born in Clitheroe where he was a farrier John had previously been married to Jemima's sister Isabella who died in 1902. He had a daughter Annie by that marriage, Jessica's stepsister.
On September 24th 1925 Jessica went to London to train to be a teacher at Whitelands College in Chelsea. She had won the Henry Lewis Training College Scholarship, which was worth £30 a year. She expected to be homesick, but was far too busy for that. As well as her studies, she took full advantage of being in London, visiting the Tate and National galleries, walking along the Embankment and the Mall, shopping in Oxford St and Knightsbridge. On September 24th 1925 Jessica went to London to train to be a teacher at Whitelands College in Chelsea. She had won the Henry Lewis Training College Scholarship, which was worth £30 a year. She expected to be homesick, but was far too busy for that. As well as her studies, she took full advantage of being in London, visiting the Tate and National galleries, walking along the Embankment and the Mall, shopping in Oxford St and Knightsbridge. When the Second World War broke out Jessica was still working in Liverpool and coming home to Blackburn at the weekend. On a Sunday at the end of January 1940 blizzards brought the country to a standstill. Drifts up to ten feet high made it impossible for her to even get to the station. It wasn't until Thursday of that week that a train got through to Liverpool.
On March 27th 1951 her father died at the age of 83. He had been captain of Clitheroe Cycle Club and bell ringer at the cathedral. In many ways Jessica never kept a diary again in quite the same way. She records walks and weather and practical matters, but we don't get the same insights into her feelings and thoughts. In 1956 she moved to Low Hollins in York Lane Langho, nearer her beloved Clitheroe. Over the next few years Jessica grew into the figure that many people in Lancashire and beyond will remember: larger than life, slightly flamboyant, slightly eccentric. Her books continued to be published and reprinted. Her articles continued to appear and she was in great demand to give talks and lead walks. Anne died on 13th Feb. 1980.
In addition to her holidays and excursions in the UK, Jessica travelled abroad extensively, visiting Austria, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Yugoslavia, the United States, Israel and within a few weeks of her death, Australia. Jessica herself visited America in 1983. She flew to Los Angeles on 30th April and then took a flight to Salt Lake City, impressed by 'wild, tormented cloud formations.' She visited the Latter Day Saints Library to research the Lofthouse family. She travelled to Brigham City and followed the Mormon Trail to Sweetwater and the Continental Divide. She stayed in Honeyville a guest of Fred Bingham, where she was interviewed by the local paper and described herself as ' the only fully paid-up British spinster, Church of England member, loyal Royalist and member of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers' at large. There was a family reunion and a barbecue. It was now hot and the evenings were warm
Whit Sunday, Pentecost, arrived. Jessica noted in her diary that the Mormon Church didn’t recognise it. She returned to the Mormon Trail, visited Ruby Welsh who as a child had often stayed with Butch Cassidy’s sister. She travelled by Greyhound Coach through a South Utah plagued with floods to Cedar City. It was hot and the sun turned Cedar Canyon and the mountains into ‘red fire.'
Jessica died on Thursday 31st March 1988 after a short illness in Clitheroe hospital. She had over 20 books published, hundreds of articles and must have communicated her love of nature and the beauty on the North of England to many thousands.
The entry is based on research by historian Alan Duckworth.