Edward Fletcher Cass (12 February 1937 – 17 September 2014) was a British
miner,
banker
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Becaus ...
and authority on Lancashire folklore, industrial archaeology and the arts who was President of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, Folklore Society, Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society and Society for Folk Life Studies.
Career
Mining and banking
Cass was born in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
in 1937. He attended the Central High School (later Sheena Simon College) before starting work in a pharmacy and then as a coal miner at
Bradford Colliery
Bradford Colliery was a coal mine in Bradford, Manchester, England. Although part of the Manchester Coalfield, the seams of the Bradford Coalfield correspond more closely to those of the Oldham Coalfield. The Bradford Coalfield is crossed by ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, where he formed an attachment to the
National Union of Mineworkers (though not always its leadership) and became friends with
Jim Allen. From there he moved to
William Deacon's Bank (later
Royal Bank of Scotland), where he became a bank manager and studied part-time at the
Manchester College of Commerce. He was later elected an
Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.
Academia
Cass continued his studies with an
MA (1992) at
Manchester Polytechnic (later Manchester Metropolitan University) with a thesis on ‘A Local Newspaper and Its Community: Literature and The
Cotton Factory Times, 1885–1937’ and then studied his
PhD (1996) at
Edge Hill University
Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, which opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male stu ...
(awarded by
Lancaster University) on "The
Cotton Factory Times, 1885–1937: A Family Newspaper and the Lancashire Cotton Community".
He was a Research Fellow of the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition at the
University of Sheffield
, mottoeng = To discover the causes of things
, established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions:
– Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield
, type = Pu ...
(1997–2004) and then a Research Fellow in The Elphinstone Institute at the
University of Aberdeen
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
(2004–14). Cass was involved with
The Folklore Society
The Folklore Society (FLS) is a national association in the United Kingdom for the study of folklore.
It was founded in London in 1878 to study traditional vernacular culture, including traditional music, song, dance and drama, narrative, arts an ...
as a Council Member (from 2001) then President (2008–11) and vice-president (2011–14) and was also involved in
The Society for Folk Life Studies first as Council Member (2002–03) then Honorary Secretary (2003–08), vice-president (2008–11) and President (2011–14) and was awarded their Coote Lake Medal for ‘outstanding research in folklore’.
Other activities
Cass was Chairman of
The Portico Library
The Portico Library, The Portico or Portico Library and Gallery on Mosley Street, Manchester, is an independent subscription library designed in the Greek Revival style by Thomas Harrison of Chester and built between 1802 and 1806. It is record ...
(1988–90) where he was also a curator of exhibitions, Secretary and Trustee of the
National Museum of Labour History
The People's History Museum (the National Museum of Labour History until 2001) in Manchester, England, is the UK's national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of working people ...
later the
People's History Museum
The People's History Museum (the National Museum of Labour History until 2001) in Manchester, England, is the UK's national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of working people ...
(1989–2002), President of the
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, popularly known as the Lit. & Phil., is one of the oldest learned societies in the United Kingdom and second oldest provincial learned society (after the Spalding Gentlemen's Society).
Promine ...
(1993–95) and
Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society
The Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society is a historical society and registered charity founded, on 21 March 1883, for the study of any aspects of the area covered by the Palatine Counties of Lancashire and Cheshire (and succeeding local ...
(2009–12) and was also involved with Manchester's
Cornerhouse
Cornerhouse was a centre for cinema and the contemporary visual arts, located next to Oxford Road Station on Oxford Street, Manchester, England, which was active from 1985–2015. It had three floors of art galleries, three cinemas, a booksho ...
and
Museum of Science and Industry.
Select bibliography
*
The Lancashire Pace-Egg Play: A Social History' (FLS Books, 2001).
*
The Pace-Egg Plays of the Calder Valley' (FLS Books, 2004)
* (with M. J. Preston and Paul Smith), eds,
The English Mumming Play: An Introductory Bibliography' (FLS Books, 2000).
* with M. J. Preston and Paul Smith), "The Peace Egg Book: An Anglo-Irish Chapbook Connection Discovered" in ''Folklore'' (2003).
*
Room, Room, Ladies and Gentlemen...: An Introduction to the English Mummers’ Play' (English Folk Dance and Song Society in association with The Folklore Society, 2002).
*
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cass, Edward Fletcher
1937 births
2014 deaths
People from Manchester
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University
Alumni of Edge Hill University
20th-century British historians
20th-century English historians
21st-century British historians
21st-century English historians
British folklorists
English folklorists
Presidents of the Folklore Society
Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society