The rise and fall of the local dynasty was the subject of his detailed research, which he shared with a meeting of the Hebden Bridge Local History Society.
The Yorkshire Akroyds and the Lancashire Ecroyds shared a common root, and both families left their mark on the towns where they lived. The name, referring to a place where oak had been cleared, referred to a house near Pecket Well in the late 13th century, and was established as the surname of a family in Ovenden a hundred years later, Mr Nortcliffe explained.
The Akroyds made their money as clothiers, entrepreneurs who oversaw the spinning, weaving and selling of woollen cloth. Then in the 1540s one branch of the family moved to Lancashire, and in time were converted to the Quaker faith, symbolically changing the spelling of their name to Ecroyd, to mark their new lives. It was from this branch of the family that adventurous emigrants set out to establish themselves in North America at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
However, Mr Nortcliffe pointed out, the lives of the two English branches of the family show some remarkable parallels. Both were at the cutting edge of developments in the textile industry, even indulging in some industrial espionage in order to stay ahead of the competition. At their base near Nelson in Lancashire, the Ecroyds built their mills, just as the Akroyd cousins built the mills at Old Lane and Bowling Dyke near Boothtown. Both branches of the family were innovators and grew to be the biggest employers in the area.
These hard-nosed industrialists also had a philanthropic side, engaging in the planning and building of model villages, on a small scale in Nelson, but with more grandiose schemes at Copley and Akroyden. Both Akroyds and Ecroyds took a prominent role in civic life, serving as councillors, JPs and MPs, as well as supporting education and religion.
Mr Nortcliffe said it was difficult to explain why such illustrious businesses just faded away in the early twentieth century. It seems that the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of earlier generations simply declined, and they were no longer able to stay ahead of the game.
However, buildings such as All Souls Church, Bankfield and Edge End House in Nelson, as well as the mills that employed so many, and the model villages that showed their vision, remain to give us a glimpse into the lives of these Akroyds and Ecroyds.
Paul Weatherhead will reveal more about weird Calderdale: from Robin Hood and the Kirklees Vampire to the Grim Reaper at Square Chapel to the next meeting of the Society on Wednesday February 10 at the Methodist Hall, starting at 7.30 pm.
More details on the society's website.