Washing

[RichardB]

The Doncasters came to Sheffield from Maplebeck, in Notts., between

Ollerton and Southwell, the little churchyard being full of " Doncaster" graves,

and the old family home a large cottage abutting on to the village green, its

oak beams in the ceilings black with age.

A Thomas Doncaster was Abbot of Rufford Abbey when the monasteries were dissolved in 1536. The great great

grandfather of Mr. Samuel Doncaster was William of Maplebeck. He was the

village blacksmith, his shoeing forge was on the village green, and he was a

Quaker married at Burton-on-Trent in 1718. "His son Samuel (1721-1792), after

whom I am named," wrote Mr. Samuel Doncaster, "was my grandfather, coming to

Sheffield about 1750, when "Sheffield was a big village of 11,000 inhabitants."

He settled in West Bar, keeping a grocer's shop at the foot of Furnace Hill, and

also started soap works in the Park, perhaps, as Mr. Samuel Doncaster declared,

because he thought it would be better if Sheffielders "weshed theirsens a bit

more."