Now that’s what I call a Parish Register!

Lamb Street, St Augustine’s, Bristol

I thought I had reached another, all too frequent, brick wall in my research concerning my Gibbs/Street ancestors when I got back to Charles and Mary Gillard, the grandparents of Martha Ann Gillard who married George Street in 1863. The Gillard family lived in Lamb Street, close to Bristol Cathedral and Charles was a wheelwright. I could find no marriage for them in Bristol and judging by the registers of St Augustine the Less, the first child who was baptised there was Mary Ann (1808) followed by John (1810 – Martha Ann’s father) and five further children. So it was safe to assume they had married c1805-7.

Charles died in February 1851, maddeningly just a few weeks prior to the Census of that year which was the first to record places of birth. Mary however lived for another four years and the Census tells us that she was born in Oakhill in Somerset around 1783. Searching for a marriage of a Charles Gillard to a Mary I found one at St Peter and St Pauls, Shepton Mallet dated October 29 1805; “Mary Tapscot of this parish, spinster to Charles Gillard of the parish of Ashwick, sojourner”. Now this looked a real possibility as Oakhill is a village, indeed the main settlement, in the parish of Ashwick and it could be that Mary had moved to Shepton to work, or briefly stayed there to gain residency, and Charles was working and living in Ashwick, but came from elsewhere. Further researches found the baptism of “Mary dafter of Jacob and Martha Tapcut” on December 22nd 1781 at the church of St. James in Ashwick. I later found that Jacob and Martha became members of the Presbyterian congregation in the village, so perhaps that was why Mary married in a different parish, to avoid parental displeasure or embarrassment.

 

St Peter and St Paul, Shepton Mallet

All of this was speculation and I could find no further trace of Charles in surrounding parishes, nor any baptism in the whole of Somerset or Bristol that fitted. But the marriage suited the dates of the baptisms in Bristol, even if the gap between it and the baptism of Mary Ann at St Augustines was greater than normal. The problem of Charles and his origins was put aside for some time until I tried to research the Tapscotts further, and carrying out a search for Jacob Tapscott on a genealogical website, I was directed to an entry in the parish register of Henstridge in the south of the county. I was doubtful at first as Henstridge lies so far to the south that is is almost completely surrounded by Dorset parishes. Here however was the record of the baptism of James and Elizabeth, twins born July 26th and baptised September 14th 1806. There are two registers recording the same details for this period – one with rather better spelling than the other, but there is no clue as to which is the original and which the copy; in one each baptismal entry is separate and the other combines both children. The more legible entry reads:

James/Elizabeth twins son & daughter of Charles Gillard (who was son of Thomas Gillard Flaxdresser of this parish & Mary his wife) & Mary his wife (who was daughter of Jacob Tapscott Worsted Comber of Oakhill, Somerset & Martha his wife) born July 26th baptised September 14th 1806.

What we wouldn’t give to have more Parish Registers as full as this one. Not only the grandparents of the children, but the parish and occupation of the grandfathers too. For some reason the clerk or vicar only made this type of entry between 1802 and 1812. Before that there is the formulaic “John son of John and Mary Surname” and after the regular printed forms that commenced in 1813. In some cases he plainly didn’t know the details and left the space blank, but obviously tried to record all the information he could glean.

So this entry makes clear that we have the correct marriage for Charles and Mary and Mary’s parentage; in the Ashwick records Jacob is described as a Woolcomber (worsted is one of the two main techniques of wool combing) and Mary’s place of birth in the 1851 Census confirms we have the correct person.

So what of Charles and his family?

The parish register at Henstridge records just one baptism for Thomas and Mary Gillard, a son William who was christened there on October 11, 1789. Yet we know that Charles was their son, as too was a John whose eldest son, George was baptised at Henstridge in 1804 where the details of John’s parents are given in the same detail as Charles’. All of John Gillard’s other children were born in the village of Horsington, just to the north of Henstridge but baptised at Nether Compton. This village lies to the west of Henstridge, close to Yeovil,  and so much does the county boundary meander in this area that Melbourne Port in Somerset and Sherborne in Dorset lie between them.

In the register of St Nicholas, Nether Compton can be found the baptism of Charles, son of Thomas and Mary Gillard, on July 15, 1781. Also baptised there are a daughter, Christian (1780) and another son, Thomas (1783). It is worth noting that both John and William are recorded as flax dressers in later documents, although William eventually enlisted in the 8th (Kings) Regiment of Foot and served from 1809 to 1827.

So we have Charles birthplace established, but there is no baptism for the eldest son, John. I cannot find one in the immediate area in either Somerset or Dorset or indeed a marriage for Thomas and Mary. However there is a marriage between a Thomas Gillard of Broadwindsor and Mary Guppey of Beaminster, which took place at St Marys, Beaminster on February 22nd 1775. A son, John was baptised at Broadwindsor on August 14th, 1776 and no further children of this marriage appear in any local registers. This date ties in exactly with John’s age in the Census of 1851 (74). The town of Beaminster which is only a little distance from Broadwindsor was a notable centre of flax growing and linen manufacture, so it is quite feasible that this is the same family who arrived in Nether Compton around 1778/9. So far, no definite trace of either Thomas or Mary’s baptism can be verified. Thomas and Mary remained in Henstridge until their deaths – Thomas in 1821 and Mary in 1836. Their ages as recorded in the burial register gives approximate birthdates of 1733 and 1752 respectively, so Thomas was about twenty years Mary’s senior. It may be that he was a widower at the time of their marriage – the register doesn’t say, only recording that Mary was a spinster. More research required!

Register entry courtesy of Somerset Heritage Centre

My great grandfather Stephen Bumstead 1844-1903


On 26th February 1843, Stephen Bumstead married Phoebe Ann Gait at St Mary’s Whitechapel in the east end of London. Stephen described himself as a plumber & glazier, and a widower, the son of another Stephen Bumstead, also a plumber & glazier. They both signed their names (Phoebe signed Phebe Ann Gaitt) and the witnesses were Mary Ann Bumstead and Henry Chapman. As we have seen (here) Stephen moved to London from Ipswich, where he was a Freeman and where his family had practiced the same trade for several generations. Mary Ann was his sister-in-law, wife of his brother William Wase Bumstead and a Henry Chapman appears in the 1841 census with the same occupation as Stephen, so he may be a colleague.

Prior to his marriage to Phoebe Stephen had been married to Elizabeth Kennedy who had died in 1838 and he seems to appear in the Census three years later where there is a Steven Bumstead, living at 57 Chiswell Street, Finsbury, sharing accomodation with Hannah Maguire. This Steven gave his occupation as “painter” and Hannah was a servant. The ages in that Census, unlike later ones were rounded down for adults to the nearest 5 years. Steven is shown as being 30, so he could have been 34, but he was in fact 39, if this is our Stephen. Hannah was 20. The next property listed on the Census is 95 Milton Street and interestingly our Stephen Bumstead gives his address as 96 Milton Street on the marriage certificate of 1843.

The first child of Stephen and Phoebe, a son also named Stephen was born on 14th January 1844 at 41 Betts Street, near St George’s Church in Stepney. Stephen’s occupation on the birth certificate is given as a painter.

Old Montague Street, Spitalfields

Stephen senior died on 31st May 1846 of Typhus Fever. His age is given as 46 and the family had moved north to Old Montague Street in Spitalfields. On the death certificate Stephen was given as a painter and glazier. He was buried in the churchyard of Christ Church, Spitalfields on June 3rd. Phoebe was by then expecting a second child; a daughter was born on September 28th and she was given the name Georgina Ellen Gait Bumstead at the registration of the birth the following month. Poor Phoebe was to suffer further grief as baby Georgina died at the age of 8 months on 22nd June 1847, and she too was buried at Christ Church. By then Phoebe appears to have remarried for she signed her daughter’s death certificate Pheby Ann Rogers.

Christ Church, Spitalfields

Although Phoebe still gave her Spitalfields address on Georgina’s death certificate, the baby actually died in Tranquil Vale, Blackheath. There is no obvious family connection to the area, but it is interesting that there was, at the time a family named Bumstead living in Blackheath Vale. The 1841 census shows a Mary Ann Bumstead and a daughter, Eliza and son Edward. Further searches have revealed that a Stephen Bumstead married Mary Ann Swain at St Margarets, Lee on 9th December 1811. Their children were baptised at St Alpheges in Greenwich in the succeeding years. This Stephen died in 1838.

Phoebe had not in fact remarried but had moved in with a George Rogers, who was almost certainly a cousin. He too had been in London for some time, although coming originally from Somerset, like Phoebe. His first wife had recently died, leaving him with a young son, another George. Although living together since 1847 and having several children, they did not finally marry until 1856. The story of Phoebe’s ancestors is told here and her personal story here.

George and Phoebe Rogers stayed in London for a short time, a daughter whom they also named Georgina Ellen Gait Rogers being born in the first half of 1848. By 1850 though, they had returned to Somerset, a second daughter, Lydia Ann being born in the village of Stanton Drew where the family was to stay for over forty years.

Stanton Drew Census 1851

As can be seen Stephen now appears as Stephen Rogers, son of George and Phoebe. Besides the two girls there is George’s son, from his first marriage. By 1861 however a major development had taken place. The 1861 Census for Stanton Drew shows that the Rogers family had moved to the neighbouring village of Stowey (they were back in Stanton Drew by 1871) and grown with the addition of a son and two more daughters. Stephen was no longer with the family and had moved to Chew Magna, into the household of Samuel Gover, a blacksmith, whose apprentice he was. He had also reverted to the surname Bumstead (it appears as Bomsted in the 1861 Census).

We cannot know what happened to provoke this change – did Stephen fall out with his step-father or mother, or was he just asserting his independence. Interestingly he was baptised at Chew Magna (at the age of 16) on 18th March 1860, presumably whilst living there with the Gover family. He gives his father’s name as Stephen Bumstead, upholsterer. Was he only getting part of the story or perhaps guessing his father’s occupation? Later, on his marriage, he gave his father’s name as George Bumstead, Cabinet Maker – an interesting combination of the names of his biological & step fathers, although George Rogers was a carpenter rather than a cabinet maker.

By 1868 Stephen had moved to Bedminster and the next record we have of his life is the marriage to Louisa Peters who had also been living in Chew Magna. Louisa was a little older than Stephen (having been born on the 25th June 1842) and she was the mother of an illegitimate child. Her daughter had been born in Chew Magna in 1864 and registered under the name Rosina Fear Peters. It was common practice when a father would not (or could not) “do the decent thing” to give an illegitimate child the father’s surname as a middle name, and we can see that the father of Rosina was Samuel Fear (see here).

On the marriage certificate Stephen gave his address as North Street, Bedminster and Louisa was at West Street. Addresses at marriages are not always permanent residences – people used convenience addresses to be able for the Banns to be read – three weeks in a parish was enought for one to be considered a parish “member”. On the marriage certificate Stephen describes himself as a smith and on the Census of 1871, when the family were living at 29 Richmond Terrace, Bedminster he was still using the term Blacksmith. Rosina was given the surname Bumstead (or Bumpstead in the record).

A son, Frederick Walter, was born in 1879, and by the 1881 Census the family had moved to Canon’s Marsh. The address is difficult to read but appears to be “Offices, Heaven, John”. Stephen’s profession is now Engineer Driver for Saw Mills. A neighbour also worked in the timber trade and there were certainly timber yards on Canon’s Marsh in the nineteenth century, so it seems likely that the family lived “above the shop” in the company accomodation of John Heaven & Co. an established timber merchant in Canons Marsh. The progression to engineer was a natural one – many of the early journeyman engineers started their lives as blacksmiths, and Stephen seems to have stayed in the industry for the rest of his life, working on the stationary engines that powered the saws. On the census both Louisa and Rosina are recorded as Shirt Makers.

One of the many timber yards on Canon’s Marsh

Not many records survive of Stephen’s life, but one that does concerns the drowning in Bristol Harbour, of a quay labourer, Peri Ryan who fell into the water between the mission ship Bethel and the quayside in December 1886. The newspaper report of the inquest tells how Stephen, the only witness, heard moans and saw the deceased wedged between the ship and the quay and tried to help him, but could not hold on. The coroner expressed his opinion that there should be some sort of protection between the quay and the ship. This was carried out afterwards as the photograph of the site of the accident below clearly shows.

Bethel Mission Ship, St Augustine’s Reach

Stephen’s step-sister Phoebe Isabella had drowned in a boating accident at Bath on July 6th 1888 (see here) and just twelve days later, her father George Rogers travelled to Bristol to make his will in the offices of the solicitor William Watts. His estate, which totalled £220 was left to his wife Phoebe and thereafter to his surviving children. However there is a special bequest of £2.10s to his stepson, “Steven Bumstead”.
On the 1891 Census the family are still living in Canon’s Marsh and another son, Albert (actually George Albert, born July 3rd 1888, although he always seems to have been known as Bert) is present. Rosina had left however, having recently married John Roberts. Stephen is a Stationary Engine Driver and no occupations are recorded for Louisa or Frederick.

George Albert Bumstead c1898

Next to Bristol Cathedral stood the Church of St Augustine the Less (the Cathedral was St Augustine the Greater) and family tradition records young Albert as a chorister there. This was presumably before 1900 when the family moved back to Bedminster. Kelly’s Bristol Directory for 1900 has Stephen Bumstead at 2 Sheene Road, Bedminster, and from 1902 onwards shows the family at 176 York Road. In between, the 1901 Census has them at 1 Diamond Street (just off West Street). Although Stephen’s occupation remains the same, both Louisa and Frederick are recorded as Machinists (Wood Cutting). They now have a much fuller household; as well as Stephen, Louisa and the two boys, Louisa’s widowed mother, Elizabeth Peters, a niece, Lilian Chapman and three other boarders are recorded. Lilian and the other girl boarder, Rose Kruse work as cigarette packers (no doubt at Wills factory, just a few hundred yards away), whilst one of the male boarders, George Chapman, who worked as a railway stoker on the GWR was born in Bermuda in the West Indies, where his father was stationed in the army.

1 Diamond Street, Bedminster

The move to York Street, on the New Cut, facing the suburb of Redcliffe, was to be Stephen’s final one. He died on Christmas Day 1903 aged 59 of gastritis and was buried in a family plot in Arno’s Vale Cemetery. Louisa was to live on until 1923, when she too was buried in the grave. Their eldest son, Frederick was also buried there on his death in 1947.

Bumstead grave marker in Arnos Vale Cemetery

 

The Bumsteads of Ipswich

The surname Bumstead originates in the Essex villages of Steeple Bumpstead and Helions Bumpstead and was rarely found outside Suffolk or London, where it first appears in the thirteenth century.

The furthest we can go back with certainty in our line is the baptism of Stephen Bumstead on 15th September 1751; he was the son of another Stephen and his wife Mary and the ceremony took place at St Clement’s Church, Ipswich.

St Clement’s Church, Ipswich

Stephen was apprenticed in 1765 to Christopher Skidmore who was a painter/plumber/glazier. The next two generations were to follow in this occupation, although variously describing themselves on documents. The trades were all linked and imply one who works primarily with lead (Latin: plumbum); this would include water supply and sanitation plumbing (not the major part of the job as it is nowadays); glazing, where leaded windows were often the norm as large panes of sheet glass were very expensive; lead work on roofs and guttering, as well as painting, where white paint was lead-based.

Christoper Skidmore belonged to a family that had been established in Ipswich since the early seventeenth century and he was a Freeman of the town. This was an important privilege – it gave the right to be self-employed in the town, exemption from tolls, business protection and a share in the borough administration influencing the price and quality of goods. It also gave the right to vote in municipal and parliamentary elections. The latter was especially valuable at election time as bribery was rife in “free” boroughs, where the open ballot ensured electors voted for whom they had committed to.

Before the Municipal Reform Act of 1835, there were four methods by which Freemen could be admitted:

By Patrimony – male claimants had to be at least 21 years of age, born in wedlock and with their father a Freeman
By Servitude – claimants (male or female) had to be indentured to a Freeman for seven years, born in wedlock and at least 21 years of age
By Purchase
By Presentation

In 1772 Stephen (b1751) was admitted as a Freeman by servitude. It seems he took his responsibilities seriously as in 1784 he was elected a Chamberlain of the borough. This position (two Chamberlains were elected each year) involved the collection of income (mostly rents from properties owned by the borough and market stalls) and the payment of outgoings. At the end of the year the Chamberlains had to present a summary of their accounts which were then audited and passed by the senior members of the town administration.

On 10th June 1777, just three months after his father’s death, Stephen had married Elizabeth Naunton at St Margarets Church in Ipswich. Elizabeth was probably the daughter of John and Mary Naunton (one of the witnesses at the wedding was a John Naunton); she had been baptised at St Margarets on 3rd December 1745 and so she was six years older than her husband.

St Margarets, Ipswich in the 19th century

The marriage produced two children, Stephen born in March 1778 and Elizabeth, who was born in 1779 but only lived a few weeks. Their mother herself died the following year, her burial at St Clements being recorded in June 1780.

Widowers with small children did not normally stay long unmarried in those days and Stephen wedded Sarah Daniels at St Clements on 4th February 1781. They had a further three children, Sarah (born & died 1782) Charlotte (born 1783) and James (born 1785).
We can assume that the eldest surviving child, Stephen was apprenticed to his father in the early 1790s if not before. He was certainly admitted as a Freeman of Ipswich in 1799 (by patrimony), his occupation given as a painter. In 1801 he married Betsy Wase at St Clements Church – among the witnesses are Stephen’s father and a C. Bumstead – possibly sister Charlotte who was 18 and may have been a bridesmaid. Another witness and possible bridesmaid was a B. Wase, almost certainly Betsy’s elder sister Barbara, who, unlike Betsy was able to sign her name.

Later that year Stephen (b1778) applied to the Lending Cash Charity that had been established as far back as 1566 to help poorer tradesmen with an interest-free loan of £25 for ten years. The person requesting the loan (the Obligor) had to find two sureties to guarantee the repayment – the three individuals were liable for double the amount lent (£50) if the loan was not repaid. Stephen had as his sureties John Gray, draper and John Gostling, whitesmith. One of the conditions of the loan was that the obligor did not leave the town and continued in his trade (here Stephen is described as Plumber and Glazier). He is also described as “Stephen Bumpstead the younger” but signs himself “Stephen Bumstead Junor”

At some time during the next year Stephen (b1778) moved to the Parish of St Matthews on the north west edge of the town, for his three eldest children were baptised there: Stephen (baptised 10th July 1802), Matilda (26th January 1804) and William Wase, named for his maternal grandfather (9th March 1806).

Two more sons were baptised at St Margarets; George in 1808 and John in 1809 but by 1814 Stephen and Betsy had returned to St Clements where their last three children were baptised: Samuel in 1814, Mary Ann in 1817 and finally Robert in 1823. The family were living in Rope Walk at this time; baby Samuel’s death is recorded there in 1816 and an advertisement in the Suffolk Chronicle records Stephen as a tenant of a property.

Rope Walk, Ipswich

It is sometimes difficult to identify which Stephen Bumstead is being referred to in the records although “senior” and “junior” are occasionally used. In the Quarter Sessions records for the borough there are often lists of bills authorised to be paid – in 1800 for instance we find:
Stephen Bumstead: for work at the Old Gaol £3.11.10
Stephen Bumstead: for work at the Bridewell £2.17.1
This is almost certainly the Stephen born 1751, who was a well connected figure in the town, rather than his son who would have been only 29, although it is possible that they worked together. The Poll Books for the municipal elections regularly list both Stephens in the early 1800s, sometimes using senior or junior to differentiate them.

The four eldest sons of Stephen (b1778) were all duly admitted as Freemen of the borough on reaching their twenty-first birthday: Stephen in 1823, William Wase in 1826, George in 1828 and John in 1831. At the time of their admissions the address of Stephen, William and John was given as London; Stephen’s occupation was given as painter. Although not listed in the admissions book, we know from elsewhere that William was a baker – the occupations of the other two I have not yet discovered.

The document registering the admission of Stephen (b1802) is shown below. He is described as “Stephen Bumpstead son of Stephen the younger”. There were now three Stephen Bumsteads all Freemen of Ipswich and all practising the trade of plumber/glazier/painter.

 

We are lucky to find them all listed together in the Parliamentary Poll Books for the general election held in June 1826. Although voting on different days (polling continued for four days altogether), all four members of the family eligible to vote were recorded as follows:
Stephen Bumpstead Ipswich Plumber
William Wase Bumpstead London Baker
Stephen Bumpstead London Glazier
Stephen Bumpstead snr Ipswich Painter

The printed copy (below) gives a summary:


Ballots were not secret in pre-Reform Act days and we can see that all four voted for Robert Dundas and Charles Mackinnon, who were, in fact, both elected as Members of Parliament for Ipswich (the borough elected two members and there were four candidates in all). Both of the new MPs were Tories and it is perhaps not surprising that the family voted thus as a newspaper advertisement shows the allegiance of one Stephen :


Suffolk  Journal 1823

No record has been found of the death of Sarah Bumstead, the second wife of Stephen senior, but he married for the third time on 7th November 1818 at the age of 67. The wedding took place at St Clements and his bride was Sarah Wright. Stephen senior died in March 1831 at the age of 80 and was buried at St Clements, the last of the family to be so. He had lived in Fore Street and in July of 1832 the house was put up for sale. There are no signs of a will for Stephen, but one must suppose the third Mrs Bumstead inherited the quite grand freehold property – “five rooms on the ground floor, a cellar, three chambers and two attics with two staircases from top to bottom” with entrances from a passage from Fore Street or from the St Clements churchyard at the rear. In 1834 his son was still in the parish at New Street:

I take this to read that Stephen was himself a tenant and sub-let part of the property, rather than being himself a freeholder. New Street has now been swept away, but Fore Street remains much as it was with many seventeenth and eighteenth buildings still standing.

Fore Street, Ipswich

The map below shows the St Clements area and was published in 1778 – the year of one of our Stephen’s birth. You can see quite clearly the church in the centre and its proximity to the docks (roughly above the words “THE RIVER”). Fore Street sweeps around the church from the north-west to the south-east (shown as St Clements Fore Street). New Street is due east of the church. The main part of the town is to the west and north-west of St Clements. The Bumstead house in Fore Street would have been immediately to the south of the church.


Within a few years the family were dispersing: Three sons at least had moved to London, the fifth one Samuel had died in 1816 aged two, so only Matilda and youngest son, Robert remained at home (the youngest daughter, Mary Ann married John Sheppard at St Matthews in 1840). By 1841 they had returned to St Matthews. The family lived in Globe Lane at the time of Stephen’s death, which occurred on the 18th April 1841, just a few weeks before the Census was taken. In the Census return, which is too illegible to be reproduced, Betsy is shown as a Laundress and a widow. With her are Matilda and Robert, both of whom were to die in the following year. I have never been able to trace Betsy’s death.

Stephen (b1802), as we have seen, was in London by 1823. On the 7th April 1828 he married Elizabeth Kennedy, a widow, at St Clement Danes church in the Strand. By 1837 they were living at Vine Place in Hoxton. There was a great deal of building taking place in this area of east London and Stephen may have moved to be close to opportunities for work. The couple do not seem to have had any children and Elizabeth died at Vine Place and was buried at St John Hoxton on 5th March 1837. Stephen was to marry again in 1843 and we will return to his family in a future article.
William Wase Bumstead married Mary Ann Fairburn in London around 1835/6. He continued in his occupation as a baker, appearing on the 1851 Census in Tower Hamlets. His descendants stayed in the London area for several generations., but I have not yet found any certain trace of John Bumstead, his brother.


The font in St Clements Church, Ipswich where generations of Bumsteads were baptized.

The Flexney Merchants

 

Simplified tree of the Flexney family

 

All my previous articles have concerned my direct ancestors or very closely related forebears. This one is different. In tracking down my Flexney family in Oxfordshire it was necessary to identify as many of the bearers of the name as possible in order to add or eliminate them from my line. In doing so I came across one branch of the Flexneys who prospered in the wooden trade, moved to London and whose story ended in a mixture of wealth and tragedy. I have decided to publish my findings here as a matter of interest and also to record part of the history of the wider Flexney clan.

Quaker Meeting House, Wood Green, Witney

There were many branches of the Flexney family in West Oxfordshire in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but one was pre-eminent in status. This was the line starting with Justinian Flexney, a fuller of Witney who died in 1675. His christian name indicates that his family may have originated in Stanton Harcourt, where there were at least three Justinian Flexneys in the late sixteenth/early seventeenth century, but a gap in the parish registers there makes it impossible to be sure. He married Ann Collier around 1640 (although I can’t find where) and had children baptised at St Marys, Witney in the 1640s. Strangely there is no mention of him in the Protestation Roll of 1641/2, although there are two Justinian Hicks listed. Now one branch of the Flexney family was known by the alias Hicks/Hix so it quite possible that Justinian belonged to one of these. A certain Justinian Flexney alias Hix was a party to two law suits in Chancery in the early 1600s and this may be his father; another identification may be the Justinian the younger, whose father died in 1634 in Stanton and who left a strange bequest to his son in his will (see here).

 

A Fulling Mill

Fulling (or in the south and west, tucking) is a process in the manufacture of cloth whereby the woven material was repeatedly hammered in a fulling mill, using a combination of chemicals (fuller’s earth) and soap in order to clean it and wash out any impurities, at the same time binding the fibres tighter. No doubt, with the importance of the cloth trade, especially the manufacture of blankets, fulling was a major industry in the area. Justinian died in 1675 and in his will (see here) he left his son John, three racks and three pairs of fullers shears as well as his house in Corn Street after the death of his widow, who had the use of it for life. An inventory lists all his possession including the shears, racks and furniture “att the mill”, which implies he must have leased it. There are small bequests for two sons-in-law, but no mention of his younger son, Daniel, then aged about 13.The burial register for St Marys, Witney is missing for the relevant period, but we can assume that Justinian was buried there, as in his will he states that to be his wish.

A document dated 1678, just three years after Justinian’s death names John Flexney as a fuller, and involved in the acquisition of a plot of land near Wood Green in Witney, which was to become the site of a Quaker Meeting House.This is the first indication that any of the family had joined the Society of Friends. By the start of the eighteenth century John and his brother Daniel were prosperous clothiers (cloth merchants) as well as being in the forefront of the Quaker community in Witney. Their names often appear at the head of any list in the minutes of the Monthly Meeting which organised the business of the Society. Their mother, Ann died in 1706 at the advanced age of 92 and in her will (see here) she left her son, Daniel the sum of £20 as well as her household goods which are “in his possession”; the will was drawn up in 1699 and shows that Ann was living with Daniel at that time. There is a proviso that the household goods should go to whichever of her children she was residing with at the time of her death. There are cash bequests for her daughters and a son-in-law and also to her sister, but the remainder of her estate is left to her eldest son, John. Ann was buried in the grounds of the Quaker Meeting House on Wood Green.

Around 1686 John Flexney married Ann although no record has been found. They were to have seven children of whom four, three girls and a boy, John survived to adulthood. Their youngest daughter, Hannah often appears on online trees as having emigrated to Pennsylvania and married one Thomas Rossiter; this is wholly incorrect for in fact she married Samuel Whittington and was named as Hannah Whittington in her father’s will of 1728. John and Ann’s final child was John who was born in 1698 and whose marriage to Anne May is recorded in the Quaker registers in 1724. John was described as a fuller, following the family trade, but his father was designated as a clothier in documents around this time. Anne May was the daughter of Edward May of Drayton in Berkshire (now part of Oxfordshire) who was a prominent Quaker also, and whose son, Edward had already moved to Witney and was a successful clockmaker.

John Flexney senior made his will in 1728 and died late in 1730. Thereafter nothing more is heard of this branch of the family in Quaker or other records, with the exception of his daughter Elizabeth, (who was unmarried in 1735, aged around 45, and was still receiving money for her rent from Quaker charity funds into the 1760s) and an unnamed daughter of his son John, who were both mentioned in the will of their uncle.

Elizabeth Flexney’s rent paid by the Witney Quakers 1764

The family of John’s younger brother Daniel is rather better documented. Daniel was baptised at Cogges church in 1662, the youngest of the children of Justinian and Ann, who must have been around 47 years old when he was born. Quaker registers show him marrying Mary Fitchett on 4th July 1691 and he was already described as a clothier. The couple had six children of which two sons, at least, survived into adulthood: Daniel born in 1694 and Joseph in 1698. It appears that at some stage Daniel senior moved first to Widford, near Swinbrook and then to Burford where he leased a property in 1717 (The Swan) and, judging from the text of his will, carried on his business. He retained a freehold property in Witney which encompassed a messuage, yard and garden and a piece of “Meadow Grounds”.

Daniel made his will on October 18th, 1735 and was by this time, blind (for transcription see here). It was drawn up and witnessed by Joseph Besse, the noted Quaker writer who was later to compose “A Collection of the Sufferings of the people called Quakers”. Besse noted in an appended declaration that he had known Daniel for several years and that he also drawn up a private schedule which was to be kept by Besse until delivered up to the Court for probate. Besse notes in the will and declaration that Daniel had dictated both documents to him and approved of both on having them repeated to him. Together with a codicil made three weeks later (and to which Joseph Besse does not seem to be a party) these documents give an interesting insight into the Flexney family and Daniel’s religious convictions. Apart from the normal family bequests of cash, ranging from £5 to a niece up to £250 each to the two daughters of his son, Daniel, he left his freehold property in Witney and all the remainder of his estate to Daniel, appointing him his executor. The younger son, Joseph recieved the leasehold house in Burford and the “giving and forgiving” of a debt of £1000 which was outstanding. This gives some indication of the wealth of the family.

One section of the will and the “secret” appendix relates to the desire of Daniel to establish the survival of a charity bequest as well as to arrange the printing of some papers which he had written on religious matters. The latter are described as a manuscript containing “a paper…..against Plays, another against Games and Whitsun sports so called and also a paper of mine containing advice to Magistrates to suppress Vice and Immorality”. These were to be printed and distributed “among my Neighbours acquaintance and such as have heretofore been my servants or employ’d by me in and about Burford and the adjacent places”. The charity bequest was in the form of £100 put out at interest, and for the interest thereon to be distributed by Trustees nominated by the Witney Quaker Monthly Meeting.

The codicil to Daniel’s will arranged that in the absence abroad of his son Daniel, the younger son Joseph was to be his executor and bound him to carry out the terms of the will. It would appear that Daniel senior was fast approaching death and was concerned that probate might be delayed if his eldest son did not return in the near future. The codicil was dated November 11th 1735 and the will was proved, naming Joseph as the executor on December 4th, so we must assume Daniel senior died soon after the date of the codicil. There is no record of his burial. Was he aware that his son Joseph had married in an anglican church six months earlier one wonders? Joseph’s bride was Constant Hart and in the register of St James, Newbottle, Northamptonshire the couple are both described as “of Burford in….Oxfordshire”; the marriage was by licence. Constant was baptised in 1708 in the church at Burford, so may have remained an Anglican. Only one child of this marriage is recorded – another Joseph born in 1737. Following the terms of his father’s will, Joseph took on the property in Burford and extended the lease in 1735, for a further 21 years, agreeing to spend £100 in repairs. Joseph continued his father’s business as a clothier but also invested elsewhere. In 1737 he was a partner in providing capital for a paper mill at Upton, just upstream of Burford. It may well be that Joseph expanded his business into London as did his elder brother, Daniel (see below) for in an Old Bailey trial of 1737 the accused is indicted for stealing 5 yards of cloth belonging to Joseph Flexney in the parish of St Leonard, Shoreditch.

The younger Joseph married Martha Taylor of Shutford in a ceremony recorded by the Monthly Meeting of Burford on July 11th 1759. Both father and son are described as “Clothers” and both sign the certificate. There is no mention of Constant so it may be assumed she had died by then. A year later, Joseph junior was a witness at the marriage of his cousin, Hannah (see below), but records of the two Josephs are sparse after that. Joseph senior died at Burford on January 3rd, 1783 and was buried, alongside his family no doubt, in the Burial Yard of the Meeting House in Witney. The instruction to the gravedigger bears the remark that Joseph “stood disowned” so had presumably broken with the Quaker community.

Joseph junior and his wife Martha moved to London at some stage, for the Land Tax records shows Joseph living in Kensington from 1797 onwards and when Martha was buried at Hammersmith in 1807, her address was Kensington Gravel Pits. This was just north of Kensington Palace, and was a far more prestigious residence than it sounds. The same address is given on Joseph’s burial five years later, with the added comment “not a Member”. So it seems both Josephs had cut ties with the Society of Friends.

Location of Kensington Gravel Pits

In contrast, Daniel Flexney the younger, who was born in 1694, maintained his Quaker faith throughout his life, as far as the records show. As we have seen above, he was not in England in 1735 when his father made his will. It is most likely that he was in Pennsylvania where he had many trading connections. The first mention of him comes upon his arrival at Philadelphia in 1718. A certificate from the Witney Monthly Meeting, dated August 11th 1718 was presented there on September 26th and describes him as unmarried and the son of Daniel Flexney of Burford. It was signed by his father, uncle and cousin, John. It would seem that Daniel spent some time in America, making trading contacts and buying land. He certainly struck up a relationship with the Phildelphia merchant John Reynall, who for many years acted as a factor for Daniel and was involved in numerous transactions with him. One concerned the commissioning and building of a ship “The Mary” which was constructed in Philadelphia on behalf of Daniel (for details see here). There are many references to Daniel, his trading connections and law suits on the internet should anyone wish to delve deeper into his career.

Daniel was certainly back in London, living in Lime Street, in 1722 when he married Elizabeth Mayleigh, the daughter of an apothecary, on June 4th at Devonshire House. His father and brother were present at the Quaker ceremony and signed as witnesses. Daniel junior is already described as a merchant. The couple were to have six children, all born in London, but sadly only two survived childhood, their daughters Mary and Hannah. Looking at the records of the childrens’ births we can see that Daniel and Elizabeth lived at first in Camberwell, but later moved to Bishopsgate Street in the city. Daniel is sometimes referred to as an apothecary like his father-in-law, so presumably he carried on this profession whilst maintaining his trading contacts. Certainly one document of 1737 complaining of his business actions refers to him as an apothecary, at the same time mentioning that he owned a ship called “The Elizabeth” (see here); It also refers to him living for some years in Jamaica for the sake of his health.

Daniels’s burial in the Quaker register for Devonshire House

Daniel’s wife Elizabeth died in 1735 and was buried at the Long Lane Burial Ground in Southwark; Daniel died on January 4th 1748 (1747 Old Style) and was buried in the same place. The burial record notes that he died “of a Consumption”. His will dated December of the previous year leaves all his estate, including his property in Witney, equally to his two daughters, making them joint executrices; he makes it plain that Hannah the youngest was to act as such even though she was under the age of twenty-one. He must have been a wealthy man, his address at the time of his death was New Broad Street which consisted at the time of substantial brick-built houses constructed in the 1730s, and so his death left his daughters (with their already generous legacies from their grandfather) rich heiresses. Mary the elder of the two married William Hyde, a Corn Factor at the Devonshire House Meeting on September 1st 1748, and twelve years later her sister Hannah married William’s brother, Starkey Hyde, a Stockbroker in the same place. Both couples went on to have several children and I had intended to finish my account at this point, but in researching details of when the two Flexney sisters died, I discovered the tragic story of the Hyde family.

William and Mary Hyde appear to have had only two children, Richard (born 1749) and Elizabeth (born 1751) before Mary’s early death (of a “Consumption” like her father) in 1754. Elizabeth is probably the child whose burial is recorded, aged 12 in 1764; she too died of consumption. Starkey and Hannah had four children, but the three eldest (all boys) died in infancy, leaving a daughter, Mary who was born in 1768.

Dissolution of the partnership

William Hyde and his son Richard had gone into partnership, presumably as brokers, but this partnership was dissolved by William in October 1772 and an advertisment placed in the Middlesex Journal warning others not to advance any money against bills or notes drawn on the partnership. It is noted that the two month delay in placing the advertisment (it is dated December 15th) was caused by the sickness of William Hyde. Further evidence of the falling out between father and son is given in the will which William drew up in 1775; now retired from the Corn Exchange, living in Kingston upon Thames and styling himself a Gentleman, William left his only surviving child “one Shilling and no more”. The bulk and remainder of his estate (after some cash bequests to sister and cousins) he left to his brother, Starkey.

On June 28th 1780 Richard Hyde was indicted at the Old Bailey on a charge of breaking the peace and riot and was tried before a jury (for a transcription of the trial see here). The crime in question took place on June 6th and involved the breaking into and ransacking of the house of one Richard Akerman, which was later set fire to and destroyed. This action, carried out by a mob of several hundred, was part of the Gordon Riots which saw many government properties attacked, as well as much private property. Several witnesses confirmed that Richard Hyde had been one of the first to enter Ackerman’s house. The evidence and statements taken at this trial give an insight into the troubled world of the Hyde family. One medical witness, Dr Munro states that he knew the family and had attended William Hyde in October 1772 (the date of the ending of the partnership) when he was “in a state of insanity”, and although his son Richard was perfectly sane. Yet the following year Munro attested that he had found Richard too in a state of insanity. Another witness stated that he believes William was, at the time of the trial, in a state of confinement, and many others provide evidence that Richard was at times clearly insane and at others, quite normal and sensible. It further emerges that his uncle Starkey, although not insane was “extremely low and melancholy”. It seems as if William gave his son an allowance of a guinea a week although at one point Richard (whose comments pepper the trial) claimed that this had been reduced to half a guinea as “I kept two women instead of one”.

The counsel for the crown finally moved that Richard be found not guilty as long as he could be held in confinement, and the Judge agreed and released him into the custody of Richard Kirby of the Wood Street Comptor, a small debtors prison (Newgate, the Clink and other prisons had been badly damaged by the Gordon rioters). His illness and that of his father would probably be diagnosed as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia today, but in the eighteenth century it was merely classed as insanity and confinement was the only recourse. If William was also confined, it was presumably in comfortable circumstances, owing to his wealth, and overseen by his brother, Starkey. However, in 1781 Starkey died and we may assume Hannah his widow continued his role in the family’s trials. It is a fact that William did not make a new will following his brother’s death, so perhaps was incapable of doing so. In August 1780 Richard had been transferred to the Bethlem Hospital (Bedlam) which was the main destination in London for anyone suffering from mental health problems. It has a fearsome reputation, but some good work was also carried out there into restorative therapy. However in Richard’s case an annotation in the margin of his admission record states “Nov 3rd 1781, Not Cur’d but recommended to the care of his Relation”. This must be Hannah his aunt.

Admission register for Bethlem Hospital 1780

William Hyde died in 1785 and administration of his estate was, quite amazingly, granted to Richard “his natural and lawful son”. Apart from Starkey there were two other executors named in the will but they renounced their position. Possibly this was a period of remission for Richard, or more likely, his aunt was somehow controlling his actions. In any case, Richard did not live long to enjoy his new-found wealth; he died on 25th February 1787 “of a Decline” being just under the age of 37. He was buried where most of his family had been interred, at Long Lane Burial Ground, the record noting that he was not a member of any Meeting, but the burial was “granted at the request of Hannah Hyde”.

His will makes interesting reading; there is an affadavit attached, being the statement of Robert Gramond, Gentleman who knew Richard and had seen him sign his name. He confirms that the document is in Richard’s hand and the signature is his. The will itself is a more personal document than the formulaic type usually encountered. Following the normal form of confirming that he was sound of mind, Richard starts by saying “I resign my life to him who gave it with as little regrett as a young man naturally fond of this World can be expected to do”. He then continues with a request that he be buried as near his father in Long Lane Ground as is possible. He requests that a couple of specific debts are paid using remarkably modern language by saying that one loan was made “at a time I really wanted it”. The main beneficiary of the will is a Betty Eaton, wife of Wall Eaton, “now living at Dr. James Shattens at Bethnal Green”. From what little I can discover, I think this was another place of confinement for lunatics. Richard makes it explicit that Betty’s husband is to have no benefit from this legacy. He adds that he should perhaps have left his money to his aunt Anna (the sister of William and Starkey) but concludes she is old and infirm and that his aunt, “the widow”, namely Hannah, will look after her “as long as she lives as her Daughter will immediately come into possession of so good a fortune”. So little love lost there I think. Richard names as his sole executor “my dear and worthy friend Dr Henry Saffory Surgeon of Devonshire Street”, who in due course obtained probate. It may be worth noting that Henry Saffory was a leading expert in the treatment of venereal disease.

Richard’s will is a sad document, perhaps written by someone who had no direct control over his assets, but was, nevertheless determined to see that they went where he desired. For a will it is a very personal document and is moving, in a way not often encountered.

There is very little to add to the story of the Hyde family. Richard’s spinster aunt Anna Hyde died in 1789 and was also buried at Long Lane, and his other aunt, Hannah died in 1813, her residence given as Lower Grosvenor Street (or Place in one document), Pimlico. She too was buried with all her family at Long Lane. There appears to be no will for her and I can find no further trace of her daughter Mary.

Three Clerks and a Lime Burner

St James, Ashwick

Some thoughts on the Emerys of Ashwick

My ancestral line back to the Emery family of Ashwick is straightforward. My great great grandmother, Phoebe Ann Gait was the daughter of Zachariah Gait and Lydia Horler Emery, who had married in Midsomer Norton in 1820. Lydia’s father James had been born in Ashwick in 1764 and moved to Norton where he married Abigail Rogers in 1787. The connection is easy to see as Lydia was named after James’ mother, whose maiden name was Lydia Horler. James’ father was another James Emery who was the parish clerk of Ashwick and who died in 1806, the parish register recording “James Emery. Clark”.

Ashwick which lies to the south-west of Midsomer Norton is a strange parish in that the church stands in the small hamlet of Ashwick, merely a manor house and a few other buildings, whilst it contains several townships larger than the village itself. The largest of these is Oakhill to the south, straddling the Bath to Shepton Mallet road, and in the north of the parish lies Gurney Slade. The present church at Ashwick is a Victorian Gothic building of the 1870/80s, although the tower is medieval and the one the Emerys would have known.

The parish register of Ashwick is sadly deficient in the early years of the eighteenth century and only commences in 1702, so much of the history of the Emery family is hidden from us. This is, in part, owing to another James Emery who was the parish clerk in the 1730s and was twice publically admonished in the register itself by the vicar of the parish, Thomas Jenkins. That of 1732 reads:

1732  N.B.By ye Exissive Negligence of James Emery ye Clerk notwithstanding frequent admonition to ye Contrary in several months before and after this, I believe several Christnings are omitted wh ought to have been Registered, And that yt are Registered are much confusd.

And in 1735 Rev. Jenkins wrote:

28th September 1735 The same complaint which I have made already concerning James Emery, Clerk of Ashwick, I must here again repeat, tho’ this will be but poor satisfaction to those yt may suffer by ys deficiency of ye Register from March 7th 1733 to the date underwritten. I shall for ye future take ye names of those I bury and baptize myself, and if any fault happens I shall give ye Parishioners leave to charge it on their Vicar. Tho Jenkins

The 1732 admonition

The father of the James who was the parish clerk from c1784 until his death in 1806 was yet another James and I had assumed he might be the person named in these complaints. However, on reflection it would seem that he was too young for this to be the case. He died in 1789, aged 80 years, as the register states, giving him a birthdate of 1709. He married in 1732, the year of the first entry in the register and that refers to “frequent admonition” so it would appear that he would have been clerk in his very early 20s, which seems unlikely. However, there is yet another James Emery, buried in 1744 who the register names as “James Emery snr.” I now believe (without any further evidence) that this might be the clerk whom the vicar names in his complaints. We would thus have four generations of James Emerys, at least two of which were parish clerks:

James Emery (? – 1744) his wife was Mary was buried 1744 also. Possibly the clerk of the complaints and possibly the father of..
James Emery (1709-1789) who married Mary Perkins in 1732 and father of..
James Emery (1738-1806) Parish clerk, who married Lydia Horler in 1763 and father of..
James Emery (1764-1839) the father of Lydia Horler Emery (1802 – 1876)

Images of the parish registers of Somerset are now available online so it has been possible to examine the detail in the Ashwick register itself and a couple of interesting points arise. In his second complaint Thomas Jenkins the vicar states “I shall for ye future take ye names of those I bury and baptize myself”. This implies that the clerk made notes rather than write up the register at once. This was common practice in the eighteenth century and led to many entries being lost. In many cases the register would only be written up once a year at the time of the annual visitation. On inspection it is clear that the register which was started anew in 1728 after a gap of eighteen years is in the hand of Thomas Jenkins, and continues until September 1742; in fact many of the pages carry Jenkins signature. Over the next few pages at least three different hands can be identified, possibly a curate, new vicar or most likely churchwardens, until in March 1745 when a further new hand takes over and continues until May 1752 when an entry records that Charles Huish was “put in to be the Clark of Ashwick”. Thereafter the register continues in (Huish’s?) hand for many years.

The layout of the pages in the register is a standard double column style with baptisms on the left and burials on the right (marriages were listed in a separate part of the register) but on the first page in the new hand of 1745 there are no burials on the right; instead, under a heading of “James Emery” is a listing of the birthdates of what one assumes are the children of this particular James Emery. Some, but by no means all of these children appear in the register of baptisms. It would appear that this James Emery was parish clerk from 1745 until 1752 and he used a convenient space to record his own childrens’ births as well as later on, their baptisms. In one of the entries specific details are recorded which surely only a family member might know – that of Sarah where it is written “Sarah Emery was born March the 12 a bout one a clock in the after noon in 1751”. The list is not in chronological order and was presumably written about the time of Sarah’s birth, rather than added to over the years after 1745. Interestingly, when James’ son became parish clerk in 1784, he too listed on a spare page, the dates of his childrens’ births.

Birth records of the children of James Emery (1709-89)

Apart from the registers there are often other useful sources of information which enable us to find family relationships. One of these is a lease where several members of a family were named. Leases were often granted for a term of a number of years (often 99) and on certain lives, normally three. It was in the interests of the lessee to name younger members of his own family where possible in order to obtain the greatest benefit, but it was quite common too to include a wife and one child to protect the wife’s interest should one die. The manor of Ashwick (until about 1810) was held by the Fortescue family of Castle Hill, near Barnstaple in Devon. The papers are now in the hands of the Devon Record Office and several surveys of the manor are recorded in documents held there. I recently viewed those of 1763, 1779 and 1791 and these give us further knowledge of the Emery family.

The most interesting entry is in the Survey of 1763 which shows James Emery holding a lease on a property called Lime Kiln Cottage, which is in the hamlet of Gurney Slade (and still exists). The “Messuage or Tenement” includes “A Dwelling House, Two Gardens, Lime-Kiln and little Plot of Lime Rock Ground, for Burning lime on”. In addition there are a further five acres of land around the house. The charge was £3.10.00 a year and a faint note at the bottom of the document reads “This is well worth £3.10s.0d Pr Annum”. Unfortunately there is no date on this lease as there is on some, so we don’t know how long the family had held this property. The lessee in this case must be the James who lived 1709-89 as another document records that the lease was on the three lives of James himself, his wife, Mary and James their son. Also recorded there and in the Survey of 1779 are the ages of the three parties, which are not entirely accurate. In 1763 the family’s ages are shown as being 45, 45 and 21 and sixteen years later they are 59, 59 and 35. We don’t know Mary’s age but the father and son are about 10 and 5 years out respectively. This is not neccessarily a problem – ages were often estimated and we do not know for certain the elder James’ birthdate in any case. It is quite likely that he was in fact born c1713/4 and the age at the time of his burial is wrong. This is certainly the right family however.

Details of Emery’s lease in the 1763 Survey

The Survey of 1791 shows that the lease had been renewed in 1772 and the new lessee is Joseph, the younger son of James the elder. So we can be sure that James Emery (1709-89) was a lime burner – the provider of a very useful service in the predominately agricultural area of Ashwick. Lime, for fertilising the fields as well as its use in making mortar for building, was obtained by burning limestone in a kiln, fired by either wood or coal; the latter was easily obtained from local mines. There is further evidence of the Emerys’ trades in two entries in the Churchwarden’s Accounts for Ashwick in 1773:

May 28 Sack of lime. To Jim Emery to repair the window that fell down
July 21 To Joseph Emery for setting up a New Stone over the Window in the Church

Joseph, the son who was the lessee of Lime Kiln Cottage in the 1791 Survey was a mason, as other records confirm. At present this leaves us with no knowledge of the occupation of his brother James who was to be the parish clerk from 1784-1806. He may also have been an occupant of the cottage, but we don’t know. Joseph later bought the freehold of the property from the Fortescues. As far as we tell, James’s son, the James who moved to Midsomer Norton was an agricultural labourer.

Map of late 19th century showing the position of Lime Kiln Cottage (above white star)

The Surveys also enable us to glean a little more information as another lease was granted to Joseph Perkins in 1763, and the three lives on which it was held were Richard and Joanna, the children of Joseph Perkins and George Emery, the son of James Emery aged 14. This would be the brother of James and Joseph, whose birth was recorded by his father in the parish register as having taken place on Candlemas Day 1745 – February 2nd 1746 in modern terms. So one would assume that the original lease was granted to the father of Joseph Perkins, who was almost certainly the father of Mary Perkins, the wife of James Emery. He was probably the Richard Perkins who died in 1751.

Documents courtesy of South West Heritage Centre

Finding the connection

St Marys, Cogges

 

I have made mention in an earlier article (Oxfordshire Cousins) of Thomas Harwood, the husband of Jane Hanks and the the father of Hannah who married Richard Flexney in 1778. He has been a shadowy figure so far – just a name in the Witney parish registers, recording his marriage, the baptisms of his children and his burial. I had not been able to pinpoint his baptism. The Licence for his marriage simply refers to him as “of Witney”, whereas his bride Jane is from the neighbouring parish of Cogges.

I searched the Oxfordshire registers for a suitable baptism which probably occurred between 1700 and 1710, but the only one I could find was that of “Thomas the sonn of John Harewood” at St Marys, Cogges on January 19th 1707 (which would be 1708 in modern usage). This seemed a likely identification as it might appear that Thomas moved the few hundred yards from Cogges to Witney for employment reasons but knew Jane from childhood. There was one problem however. What I taken to be Thomas’ burial is recorded in Witney in 1775, but there is also a Thomas Harwood buried in Cogges in 1766. It would seem more of a possibility that the person who was baptised at Cogges might be the one buried there 59 years later. At this time the registers did not record ages, and usually not relationships either, so it seemed impossible to reach any firm conclusions and I had reached a dead end.

Baptism of Thomas Harwood 1707/8

Looking through the index of the holdings at the Oxfordshire Heritage Centre (the new name for the Record Office) I found a record of the apprenticeship indenture of Stephen Harwood, the son of Thomas and Jane in 1766. He was bound apprentice to Edward Pruce of Witney, a saddler and harness maker for the term of seven years. It states that Stephen’s father was Thomas Harwood of Witney, blanket weaver. So now we know Thomas’ occupation; the same as that of many of the Flexney family into which Thomas’ daughter Hannah was to marry. The next move was to find if there was any record of Thomas’ apprenticeship. Any such indenture would probably be at the OHC if it existed, but none was listed. I then checked the Apprenticeship Tax records. Between 1710 and 1811 a tax was raised on the indentures of apprentices and the register of payments is available online. Sure enough, on January 3rd 1723 (1724 in modern terms) the following was listed:
“Thos. son of Jno Horrod of Coggs, Oxon” to “Wm Tortman of Whittney, …Weaver”.

This is almost certainly the connection between our Thomas and the Cogges family. The differences in the spelling of the surname is not a concern – Harwood often appears in the same registers as Harewood or Horrod (often Harrod) and simply reflects the pronunciation at the time. In this case, the master’s name was Trotman not Tortman. The burial at Cogges in 1766 remains a problem, but it may just be another member of the family whose baptism is not recorded in the register. There was another Harwood family in Cogges during the 18th century – probably that of an uncle of Thomas, using the same range of names for their children, and it must be mentioned that at least two of Thomas’ brothers are not recorded as baptisms in the register, though they are named in their father’s will, so other baptisms may have missed.

19th century map showing Cogges, Newland and Hill Houses (top right)

Turning to Thomas’ father John, he died in 1740 having left a will dated May 17th 1736. In it he states that he is a brickmaker, living at the Hill Houses, Cogges. This presumably was a hamlet, now the site of Hill Farm just to the east of Cogges. Nineteenth century maps show a collection of cottages as well as the farm itself. In his will John left five shillings each to his sons, John and Richard; one shilling to a son-in-law and forty shillings apiece to his sons Thomas, William and James. The remainder of his estate, including property, implements and stock in trade he left to his son Joseph. Several of these sons seem to have remained in Cogges judging by entries in the registers and one, James, a labourer, died in 1768 leaving a will in which he left Thomas £6, his clothing to brother John and the remainder of his estate to Joseph Harwood.

Detail of map showing dwellings at Hill Houses

At the time of his will, John Harwood senior was a widower, his wife Mary (nee Thomas) having died in 1730. John is probably the individual who was baptised at Cogges in 1671, the son of Richard Harwood; a brother Richard was baptised three years later. As the registers for Cogges only commence in 1653 it is not be possible to take this line back any further.

One odd coincidence with the tracing of this family is that there are two individuals, almost contemporaries in my ancestry with identical names and both involved in the construction industry – John Harwood the brickmaker of Cogges (1671?-1740) and John Harwood the house carpenter of Bristol (1663-1745 – for more on him see here). Could some of the bricks made by the former have found their way into the houses constructed by the latter? Highly unlikely but a tantalising idea.
The wills of John and James Harwood will, in time appear on the OFHS wills website:

wills.oxfordshirefhs.org.uk

Document images courtesy of the Oxfordshire Heritage Centre

Three Generations in Service

St John the Baptist, Midsomer Norton

Lydia Horler Emery was baptised at the parish church in Midsomer Norton on 10th January 1802, and was the third child of James and Abigail Emery. Following a brother and sister who had been named for their parents. Lydia was named after her paternal grandmother, Lydia Horler. James and Abigail (nee Rogers) had themselves been married at the same church on 31st May 1787, and although both are given as being “of this parish” in the banns, only Abigail seems to have been born and baptised in the town – in 1768.

James’ family had been settled in the parish of Ashwick, just north of Shepton Mallet for several generations. They were a literate family, James’ father and grandfather (both named James) had served as Parish Clerk. The grandfather had not been as assiduous a clerk as his son was to turn out to be. On two occasions the vicar wrote admonitions in the register blaming James for missing entries. Lydia later described her father as a farmer, but in later years her brother James appears as an agricultural labourer in the Census returns, and on his death certificate (1839) James senior was described as “Labourer”.

 

Just after her eighteenth birthday, on 20th March 1820 Lydia married Zachariah Gait of Chewton Mendip, again at Midsomer Norton parish church. Although heir to a prosperous yeoman family in his home village, Zachariah moved to Norton sometime between the baptisms of their first child, John (October 1820 at Chewton) and daughter Phoebe (January 18th 1824 at Norton). His occupation was recorded in both Parish Registers as butcher. Possibly there was parental displeasure on the Gait side at the marriage, although they had previous connections: at the marriage of Zachariah’s parents in 1783, Lydia’s grandfather, James Emery was a witness. We do not know the reasons why the family remained in Norton – there was a Charles Gait, also a butcher, there in 1841, possibly Zachariah worked with a cousin. In any case, they did not seem to have stayed for long. Zachariah’s death is recorded on his parent’s gravestone (in Chewton churchyard) the date being given as being 8th April 1829. The parish register lists his abode as Chewton once more.

In 1836 John and Phoebe were left £10 each in the will of their great-aunt, Sarah Pearce, although neither had been mentioned in the will of their grandfather, Jeremiah Gait the year before. The 1841 Census finds Lydia and possibly Phoebe in service in London. Lydia was at 22 Upper Brook Street in Mayfair, the eldest female servant (possibly the housekeeper?) in the household of William Wrightson, MP for Retford & Northallerton. In the Census return, William is not in residence, although his wife, Georgiana was.

The family that Lydia served were long established landowners from Yorkshire. William Battie Wrightson was born in 1789, the eldest son of another William Wrightson (1752-1827) who had been High Sheriff of Yorkshire and MP for Aylesbury. The family seat was the impressive Cusworth Hall near Doncaster, which had been built by an earlier William Wrightson in 1742. The Upper Brook Street residence was the family’s town house, and William and Georgina are found there in later Census records.

The 1851 Census for Gilmerton House in East Lothian, just to the east of Edinburgh clearly shows Lydia Gaitt as the Housekeeper, born around 1806 in “Midsummer Norton, Somersetshire”. She is given as unmarried, but this may assume she was “single” or possibly female servants were expected to have no ties, so no searching questions were asked of them for Census purposes. The House was built in the mid eighteenth century by the Kinloch family, who live there to this day. It was the largest establishment that Lydia is known to have worked in.

Gilmerton House

In 1851 the head of the family was Sir David Kinloch, the ninth baronet, who appears at the head of the return along with his two daughters, Isabella and Elenor. His wife, Eleanor, Lady Kinloch had died in 1849. Gilmerton House had a much larger staff than the Wrightsons’ at Upper Brook Street (six servants in 1841, nine in 1851). As well as three members of the family (the son & heir was away at University) and two visitors, there were thirteen members of staff living in, and certainly others living around the estate.

Ten years later the 1861 Census was to find Lydia in another interesting household, again with a Scots family, but with a very different background. We can, at present, only “see” Lydia in Census years. There is no evidence how long she stayed with each employer, or if indeed she had many more in between Censuses. It can be assumed that no respectable family would employ a servant without a good “Character” (reference), so we can only wonder why she moved regularly, presumably having no trouble finding new employment.

Lydia’s new employer was Robert Dalglish Grant of Bury in Lancashire, the son of John Grant, a prosperous cotton and calico manufacturer, and her new position (again as Housekeeper) was at Nuttall Hall at Ramsbottom, just outside Bury. The photograph below shows her new place of work as it was in the early twentieth century. It has since been demolished.

The Grant family had come down from Scotland and settled in the Bury area earlier in the century, working in the cotton mills that were expanding rapidly in Lancashire. They later went into the retail side of the business and also purchased land and factories from Sir Robert Peel’s family. By the 1840s the four Grant brothers – William, John, Daniel and Charles were cotton magnates, each with their own grand establishment. John had rebuilt Nuttall Hall around 1817 and lived there with his family until his death in 1855. His two brothers, William and Daniel were well-known philanthropists in the area and were immortalized by Charles Dickens in his novel Nicholas Nickleby as the “Cheeryble brothers”. Again, it is not possible to know how long Lydia stayed at Nuttall Hall. Her new master, Robert was to die in four years time and the house came into the possession of his aunt, Isabella.

As a Housekeeper in such important households, Lydia would have had many and various duties, as well as some freedoms not available to other servants. The Housekeeper was one of the trio of senior servants who ran the establishment: the Butler was in charge of all the male servants, as well as the day to day attendance on the master of the house in person, and the other members of the family at meals and other gatherings; the Lady’s maid was responsible to the Lady of the household, being responsible for all her wardrobe, including personal laundry, and the comfort and appearance of her mistress; the Housekeeper’s duties included responsibility for all the other female servants and the general good running of the household. She would interview any prospective female members of the staff (excluding Lady’s Maid and Cook, when the Lady would have the decision) and ensure they carried out their duties to the letter. She would liaise with her mistress, possibly on a daily basis, regarding the household accounts, which concerned the supplies of food, linen and cleaning materials. She was responsible for all the purchasing of those requirements and the storage and economical use of them. In return Lydia would probably have more freedom in her life (constrained as it was by the demands of the household). She would be allowed a certain amount of free time, even brief “holidays”, denied to the lower servants. She would have had her own bedroom and a parlour, where she may have carried out her paperwork if a separate office was not available. She would have been waited on, in her turn, by the lesser servants and not required to do any dirty or menial work. According to Mrs Beeton in the 1861 edition of her Book of Household Management, she could have expected an annual salary of between £15-£25 with all found.

Glenusk Villa now LLanwysg

On October 20th 1869, Lydia married Joseph Richard Battey at St Cattwgs Parish Church in the village of Llangattock, just outside Crickhowell in Breconshire. She gives her profession as “Housekeeper” and her address as Lanysk. Joseph was a Carrier, living in Crickhowell; both were widowed.

 

We can place Lydia’s last place of employment as Glanusk Villa (now Llanwysg) near Llangattock, and part of the Glanusk Park Estate, home of the Legge- Bourke family who are descended from Sir Joseph Bailey, a South Wales Ironmaster. The Villa was the residence of the Hotchkiss family, in 1871 headed by Ann Hochkiss, the widow of John Hochkiss, a retired Commander in the Royal Navy. John was a Scot from Edinburgh and in previous years several of their servants had been Scots too, including Lydia’s predecessor, Mary Ingliss (or Ingles) who hailed from Berwickshire. The marriage certificate of Lydia and Joseph has, as witnesses, Edwin Barnett and Mary Pritchard. In the Glanusk Villa Census of 1871, there is an Edmund Barnett (Butler) and Mary Pritchard (Lady’s Maid).

Joseph Battey’s profession in previous Censuses was given as Fishmonger or Fishmonger & Carrier. It can probably be assumed he was the supplier of fish to the household and dealt with Lydia in her position as Housekeeper. Following the death of his wife earlier in the decade, no doubt the two of them discussed their widowhoods – Joseph’s children were all adults and the companionship of another was no doubt an attraction. Interestingly, Joseph was originally from London – could it be they had known each other from the 1840s?

The Marriage certificate of Joseph Battey and Lydia Gait 1869

They were living in High Street, Crickhowell on the 1871 Census, Joseph still given as a Carrier, with Lydia finally in retirement. They were given seven years together – Lydia dying, possibly of cancer, on 17th May 1876. Joseph followed in 1880, aged 79. He was buried with his first wife, but had provided Lydia with an impressive headstone dedicated to “my beloved wife”.

Phoebe Ann Gait was baptised in Midsummer Norton in January 1824 and four years later her father, Zachariah died at the early age of 29. At some stage she appears to have moved to London, presumably with her mother, Lydia. The 1841 Census shows a Phoebe Gote living in lodgings in Stafford Place, St Margarets, Westminster. She is sharing lodgings with Robert Sistorn, both are described as servants, and her age is about right (shown as 15, but ages over 10 were normally rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5 in 1841).

It is possible, of course she was just a servant to the householder, Thomas Cornwall, but the single mark between the Cornwalls and Phoebe & Robert Sistorn indicate a separate “household”, so Robert and Phoebe could be servants in other houses. Stafford Place is literally “round the corner” from Buckingham Palace and several inhabitants are in Royal service. Their neighbour next door is described as “Queens Footman”. Perhaps research in the Royal household records might prove interesting!

Marriage certificate of Stephen Bumstead and Phoebe Ann Gait

Just two years later, on 26th February 1823 Phoeba married Stephen Bumstead, a painter, plumber and glazier (all three trades were linked by the use of lead) at St Mary’s Whitechapel. The first child of Stephen and Phoebe, a son also named Stephen (my great grandfather) was born on 14th January 1844 at 41 Betts Street, near St George’s Church in Stepney. Stephen senior died on 31st May 1846 of Typhus Fever. His age is given as 46 and the family had moved north to Montague Street in Spitalfields. On the death certificate Stephen was a painter and glazier. Phoebe was by then expecting a second child, who was given the name Georgina Ellen Gait Bumstead at the registration of the birth in October 1846. Poor Phoebe was to suffer further grief as baby Georgina died at the age of 8 months on 22nd June 1847, but by then she appears to have remarried as her name on the death certificate was given as “Pheby Ann Rogers”.

 

The man whose name Phoebe had taken was George Rogers, a fellow immigrant to London from Somerset, who was almost certainly her first cousin. George was a carpenter who had come to the capital to find work (as Stephen Bumstead had moved from Ipswich). The city was rapidly expanding in the early nineteenth century and vast areas were under construction. George had married a local girl, Hannah Coles who died in March 1847, leaving George with a young son (also George). Perhaps it was a little unseemly to move in together so soon, but Victorians were practical people and two widows with young children no doubt saw the advantages of the relationship. George and Phoebe stayed in London for a short time, a daughter whom they also named Georgina Ellen Gait (Rogers) being born in the first half of 1848. By 1850 though, they had returned to Somerset, a second daughter, Lydia Ann being born in the village of Stanton Drew where the family was to stay for over forty years.

Only five years old when her father died and married and widowed by 22, Phoebe’s path through life had many twists and turns yet to come. After her return to Somerset with George Rogers, they were to have several more children. As well as Georgina Ellen and Lydia Ann there were Jemima Emily (1852), John Gait (1857), Alice Maud (1859), Hannah Selina (1862) Mary Jane (1864) and finally Phoebe Isabella in 1869. But, despite the change of surname, Phoebe and George did not marry until 1856. It seems they attempted to wed on two previous occasions. The banns for their marriage were called at St Saviours, Southwark in 1847 and 1852, but no marriage took place. Did one of Phoebe’s pregnancies or an illness interfere with the wedding plans? And why did they continue to go to Southwark after their return to Somerset? Perhaps they thought as the original banns had been called there, they had to marry in the same parish.

Marriage certificate of George Rogers and Phoebe Ann Bumstead 1856

 

George’s business properered, and by the 1881 Census he was described as a “Builder and Contractor”. John Gait Rogers had moved to Bath and was employed as a Grocer’s assistant, but tragedy was to strike the family in 1888/9. As well as their son John, the youngest daughter, Phoebe Isabella (always known in the family as Bella) had obtained employment in nearby Bath in 1883. She was employed as a shop assistant, living-in as was the norm in Victorian times, at Gardiner’s drapery shop in Stall Street. On the evening of Friday 6th July Bella and a newly arrived colleague, Annie Watts joined three young men in a boating trip up the river Avon to Bathampton. After refreshments at the George Inn, the party embarked for the return journey back to Bath. It was past ten o’clock and dark by the time they arrived and William Isaacs, who had been kneeling in the stern, complained of getting wet; as he stood up the boat capsized and each of the girls let out a scream as all five pitched into the water. Despite brave efforts from the males in the party, both girls as well as Willie Isaacs were drowned. Bella’s body was recovered the next day and her brother John had to identify her at the city morgue.

Just nine months later, John, who had recently taken on his employer’s grocery business, died of peritonitis after a short illness; he was 33. Two months later, in May 1889, no doubt crushed by events, George Rogers was buried alongside his parents and three of his children (an infant daughter had died twenty years earlier) in Stanton Drew churchyard.

The 1891 Census finds Phoebe, now a widow staying at the home of Ann Bush in Stanton Drew. She is given as a visitor, so we have no idea where her domicile was. Under occupation she is described as “living on own means”, so we must assume George left her comfortably off, even though his residual estate was only valued at £221. By 1901 however, another of those dramatic changes that mark her life had occurred. No doubt Stanton Drew held painful memories for her; her surviving daughters had married and moved away, so it may seem natural that she went to live near the one who was furthest from Somerset.

61Victoria Street, Horwich

1901 finds Phoebe Ann Rogers living at 61 Victoria Road, Horwich a town near Bolton in Lancashire. She is the head of the household, which includes a granddaughter, Mabel Maud Smith, aged 21 who was born in Gloucestershire and who gives her occupation as Milliner; and three boarders who are all engineers. Victoria Road had been built in 1880/1890s by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Co. to house its employees – one of whom, Thomas Clayton had married Phoebe’s daughter, Alice Maud in 1890.

The 1901 Census finds them living across the road from Phoebe at No 73, with their growing family, including their eldest son, John Gait Clayton. Mabel Maud Smith was the eldest daughter of Jemima Emily Rogers, who married Samuel Smith in 1877. The family lived in Cam in Gloucestershire and Samuel was a gardener and taxidermist.

Another of Phoebe’s daughters, Lydia Ann had married a Thomas Branfield and they had initially moved to Wales, like others of the family, seeking work in the collieries. Lydia and Thomas did not have any children and 1901 finds them in Horwich too, where he is a general labourer and Lydia a Monthly Nurse. By 1911 however, Lydia had followed her grandmother into service, being a housekeeper at the country retreat of William Lever (later Lord Leverhulme) and living at the Bungalow, Rivington which lies just to the north of Horwich. Thomas is described as a caretaker and a groom is also in residence. As it was only used for weekend and occasional entertaining purposes, their duties cannot have been too heavy, but Thomas failed in his when Edith Rigby, a noted Suffragette, carried out an arson attack on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.

South Lodge, Rivington

 

Phoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.
{"cc_re__cc_re__cc_by_2_0": ["numbers\" href=\"https://bumsteadhistory.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/page/2/\">Next page</a></div>\n\t</nav>\n\t\t</main><!-- .site-main -->\n\t</section><!-- .content-area -->\n\n\n\t</div><!-- .site-content -->\n\n\t<footer id=\"colophon\" class=\"site-footer\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t<div class=\"site-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https://wordpress.com/?ref=footer_blog\">Blog at WordPress.com.</a> <a href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/25022128@N03/13817734815/\" rel=\"generator\">Featured image by Kiama.Library</a>. 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(<a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/\" rel=\"generator\">available under CC-BY-2.0</a>) \t\t\t\t</div>\n\t\t\t</div>\n\t\t</div><!-- #infinite-footer -->\n\t\t\n\t<div id=\"carousel-reblog-box\">\n\t\t<form action=\"#\" name=\"carousel-reblog\">\n\t\t\t<textarea id=\"carousel-reblog-content\" name=\"carousel-reblog-content\" placeholder=\"Add your thoughts here... (optional)\"></textarea>\n\t\t\t<label for=\"carousel-reblog-to-blog-id\" id=\"carousel-reblog-lblogid\">Post to</label>\n\t\t\t<select name=\"carousel-reblog-to-blog-id\" id=\"carousel-reblog-to-blog-id\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t</select>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"su"], "copyright__copyright__copyright": ["", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90.", "on the property and it burned to the ground in July 1913. At the time of the attack it seems the Branfields were living in one of the lodges on the estate. Lever rebuilt the Bungalow (in stone rather the timber of the first building),and Lydia and Thomas were still there in 1915 when she is listed on the Roll of Midwives. They appear to have moved out by 1920 though.\n\nSouth Lodge, Rivington\n\n\u00a0\n\nPhoebe Ann Rogers died at the home of her daughter, Alice Clayton on 22nd April 1914 at the age of 90."]}