Mrs Syddall

Richard Wright Proctor identifies an Esther Syddall, who died aged 74 in 1778, as Thomas Syddall's widow (Memorials of Bygone Manchester, p. 114), although there are other possible candidates. According to tradition, Thomas Syddall's head, mounted at the Manchester Exchange, was visible from Mrs Syddall's bedroom window, on account of which the window was "boarded up" (Harland, Collectanea Relating to Manchester, p. 217). A contemporary account from the Chester Courant (quoted in Harland, p. 223), describes an attack on the Syddall house by "a party of soldiers, along with some townsmen," occasioned by Mrs Syddall's failure to illuminate the windows in celebration of the government's victory at Culloden--Mrs Syddall took cover with her children at a neighbour's house.