Frances Healey – Miles Ashworth, Descendant

I have been researching Miles Ashworth from Rochdale.  He was the first President of the Rochdale Pioneers and is a direct ancestor – his daughter Elizabeth married John Healey.  Over the years I have researched him and thought with his background he would probably have been at Peterloo, but as he was not on the list of injured, I thought this would be a lost cause as he would have just been one of thousands.  In Professor Robert Poole’s book “Peterloo: The English Uprising” published in 2019, it mentions Miles Ashworth, former marine, drilling at Bagslate Moor. Following this, I have found a letter from him in the Rochdale Observer dated 1865 where he gives a full account of his background and says he was at Peterloo.  A great find!

Read the Rochdale Observer transcript