South Yorkshire Times, February 9th, 1934
Golden Wedding Day
A Happy Houghton Group
The photograph shows Mr. and Mrs. John Henry Oddy , 18, Thurnscoe Lane, Great Houghton, in a happy family group of two sons, five daughters and several grandchildren., on the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding, which they celebrated recently. They received numerous golden wedding greetings.
Mr. Oddy is 73 and the couple were married at Halifax on Jan. 26th, 1894. Mr. Oddy had just returned from a day’s work at Dearne Valley Colliery, where he is still doing “his bit” at the coal face. He has worked in coal mines for 65 years, commencing at the age of eight. During the thirty years he has lived at Great Houghton he has set up at least two records. Once he worked at Dearne Valley Colliery without even a Sunday off – 2755 days without a rest, and last year at the age of 72 he won the Walker Cup for the best kept cottage garden. He is out to retain the trophy and his three plots surrounding the house are packed with seed which, Mr. Oddy says “are only biding their time before they transform the plots into little paradises.”
As a youth, Mr. Oddy said he would never grow old, and a talk with him suggests he has kept his word.
Mrs. Oddy is 69 and also commenced work at the age of eight as a spinner in a mill at Buttershaw. She received 1/6d per week and was very proud several years later when she got a “rise” to 5s. She walked three miles each morning to her work. She thinks life is far pleasanter for women to-day. “Everything tends to ease their work and brighten their outlook, and that is as it should be,” she said. She is seldom seen now without some member of her family. All are married except one son, but they still seek her advice and company whenever possible.
In the back row of the picture are : Mr. Herbert Oddy (26), Mrs. Ivy Ellis (42), 10, Ebenezer Street, Great Houghton; Mrs. C. Ellis (37), 5, Melton Avenue, Goldthorpe, with Brian Oddy a grandson: Jack Ellis, the eldest grandson, and Mr. Linford Oddy (35) who still resides with his parents. In the front row are Mrs. W. Roger (30), Great Houghton; Mrs. and Mr. Oddy , and Mrs. Maggie Greaves, another daughter, who resides at Great Houghton, with her baby, Tony.