Bell House was home to William Hartley, a widower, who had rented the house since 1752 and had three sons. The youngest, also William, was born in 1735. The middle brother, Isaac, born in 1732 lived with his wife Bessy at nearby Elphaborough Hall in Mytholmroyd. The eldest brother David, born in 1730 was to be the ringleader of the gang.

David had served his apprenticeship as an ironworker in Birmingham, and it was from there that he returned to his fathers home around 1765 with his wife Grace, who bore their first son in 1766. A daughter, Mary, was born a year later and a second son Isaac followed in 1769.

It was not only the ironworkers trade that David had learnt in Birmingham though, and the reason for his return to Yorkshire was to avoid arrest by the authorities. Birmingham was well known for clipping coins and production in the 17th and 18th centuries, and David Hartley’s trade provided him with the tools  to carry out the more profitable art of coining.

Skilled hands would take golden guineas and return them to circulation slightly lighter by clipping gold from the edges and replacing the milled edge of the coin with a file. The gold collected would be melted down and cast into new coin blanks before being stamped with a head and tail using home-made dies. The picture below shows a set of coiners dies on display at Heptonstall Museum.

The ironwork also gave the perfect cover should there be any unwelcome attention from the authorities. The remote location gave sufficient early warning to give time for the coining tools and any gold to be hidden away, to be replaced by a part worked piece of iron.

It would not have been long for the practice to spread beyond the Hartley family. Many locals would have already tried their hand at clipping a coin and the fact that the Hartley’s lived more comfortably than most would not have gone unnoticed. Discreet enquiries by the Hartleys would establish those interested and the gang began to grow. First to be recruited would be those in the neighbouring farms, John Wilcock, from Keelham Farm, and David Greenwood of Hill top Farm

Such a leader was David that from the early stages of the gangs existence, he became known locally as ‘King’ David Hartley, and his younger brothers Isaac and William gained the titles ‘Duke of York’ and ‘Duke of Edinburgh’ respectively.