This week’s theme for #52 Ancestors is Overlooked. My subject this week is one that those of you who are researching your own family history may understand. Do you have a part of your family tree research that isn’t as well researched by yourself as other parts of the tree? I have! My Baldwin side of the family has been sorely under researched. There are various reasons why we might favour a certain part of our tree, it may be more contacts, it’s easier to find ancestors, or perhaps we prefer them. For me the Baldwins have proved more difficult, I can find very few people who are also researching this part of my family tree. My DNA results back this up, so far I have found no matches with my Baldwin part of the family. The Pilbeam side are extremely well represented. The Pilbeams were also based in Sussex, I know the area, the records offices are close by and there are loads of sources of Sussex records online. The Baldwins, came from Hackney and other parts of London and Middlesex, an area I don’t know at all and records have been more difficult to find. Also the fact that Corles Baldwin, my Great x 4 Grandfather came from Ireland which is much more difficult to research is a large brickwall to my research. However that is not to say that the Baldwin family are not interesting. They are! Much better travelled than the Pilbeams and coming from the City of London as they did, into which people moved from all parts of the country, the families that married into the Baldwins come from Devon, Norfolk, Ireland and Lincolnshire. Part of the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century when poor agricultural families moved to cities for the chance of a better life. Although sadly the parts my family were found in, I’m not sure they found a better or more prosperous life! I have only found one family so far, the Turners who were in London in the 18th century, living and working not far from the tower of London. My Baldwins were dockers working on the River Thames, working with tea and sugar and I need to learn more about where and how and what this involved. During 2023 I would like to spend more time on the Baldwins. Meeting Dad’s cousin for the first time has spurred me on to find out more information to share with her, the family she never knew she had. Particularly the 20th century Baldwins, another area of research I often overlook, preferring to look further back in time. Sometimes this is easier than 20th century research which is often hampered by lack of resources because of records being closed for up to 100 years like the census. Thrulines on my Ancestry DNA results is interesting, they come up with potential ancestors based on the research where available for your matches, the couple of Baldwin matches I have, suggest a mother for Corles Baldwin, I don’t know how correct it is but it is definitely worth checking out.
I will also continue to search the British Newspaper Archive for useful and interesting articles that mention my Baldwins like the one I related a few weeks ago about my Dad’s uncle, William who died in an accident at Green Brothers Factory in Hailsham in 1950. It is amazing what nuggets of information about our ancestors lives can be found from newspapers. Next week’s blog I am writing about the research I have carried out on Thomas, eldest son of Corles and Hester whose family didn’t stay in England but travelled the Atlantic and settled in Canada. I have found at least one of his grandsons who has his name on the Menin Gate memorial in Ypres. But more of that next week.
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This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Ghost Story and I decided to share my own ghost story with you. I’ve always been a bit sceptical about ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night but this curious incident might have changed my mind a little, then again it may have been just my imagination, and apologies if you have heard this story before. When I started my family history research 20 years ago I spent a couple of years visiting local churchyards searching for the graves of my ancestors and one gloomy October afternoon in 2007 I visited Chiddingly Church. I walked round the graveyard looking for Funnell graves and despite having walked around the graveyard a couple of times I could not find any at all. There were supposed to be loads of Funnells living in the Chiddingly in the early 1800s but I couldn’t see a single Funnell grave. You can tell that by the series of photographs I took on that afternoon, a squirrel, some fungi and some Jonathan Harmer terracottas. I had walked round 3 times and I was just deciding to head home when out of the corner of my eye I caught a movement and looked up and I saw the dark shape of a person heading across the graveyard towards the Yew tree. I hadn’t noticed anybody else in the graveyard despite having been there for some time now and for some reason felt compelled to follow the figure. I arrived at the Yew tree and the figure had disappeared, nowhere to be seen in the graveyard or the car park behind the fence which was odd. Anyway I realised that under the yew tree there were a number of graves that I had not seen on any of my 3 previous times around the graveyard and every single one of them was a Funnell.
Now you can scoff and say what you like but whatever it was I saw led me to the Funnell graves that I had been searching unsuccessfully for. I am convinced it was Funnell who got fed up of my aimless wandering and thought they would help me along! But whatever the truth is, it makes for a good memory! For this week’s #52 Ancestors the theme is Passed Down and I thought I would look at the twins I have on my family tree. I don’t know how unusual it is to have lots but on my tree the Twin gene has been passed down generation to generation quite successfully in our family. A quick search of duplicate baptism dates on my family tree brought me at the very least 32 sets of twins and that is only the ones I know about. My earliest set of twins were James and Mary Pilbeame who were baptised on 11 August 1615 at the Church in Ticehurst, Sussex to Robert and Elizabeth Pilbeame. Robert was my Great x 9 Grandfather and he married Elizabeth Daniell on 18 October 1614 at Ticehurst and they had 10 children, James and Mary being the eldest. The only one I have properly researched at the moment is John, the youngest, my Great x 8 Grandfather, born 1634 in Wadhurst and died 1713 in Wadhurst. In 1662 John Pilbeame paid Hearth Tax on a house in Wadhurst with three hearths and he wrote a will in 1709 which stated he was a Yeoman. I found one family, that of John Parks and Mary Beeching of Heathfield who had two sets of twins. John Parks was my Great x 7 Grandfather who was born in Heathfield in 1687 to Thomas Parks and Grace Mascall. John married Mary on 16 August 1710 in Burwash and they had 9 children including Esau and Jacob Parks both baptised in Heathfield on 4 December 1720 and Barbara and Richard Parks baptised in Heathfield on 24 November 1723. Some of John and Mary’s offspring went on to have twins of their own including Esau who married Elizabeth Hope on 4 September 1748 in Heathfield and was noted of Waldron. He and Elizabeth had 9 children including Elizabeth and Mary Parks both baptised on 16 May 1750 in Heathfield, their firstborn children. Those two examples are both on my maternal side of the family, there are twins on my paternal side too. There is Henry and George Cruse both baptised in Chailey on 15 November 1752 to Thomas and Ann Cruse. Sadly though, Henry died and was buried on 20 November and George buried on 26 November 1752. This sad family was mentioned in a previous blog ‘High and Low’. There are a number of sets of twins in my Harmer family including Reuben Lewis and Charles Harmer who were baptised on 16 August 1807 in Ashburnham, sons of Samuel Harmer and his wife Phoebe. They had 12 children in all, they married on 22 June 1790 at Ashburnham. Their eldest son, Samuel was born in 1791 in Ninfield and was transported for life, to Australia, in 1812 after conviction for illegally stealing a chestnut gelding at Icklesham, with his harness and a cart the property of Jacob and Lewis Carey. They may have been his uncles but I have not researched that yet. He and twelve other prisoners were capitally convicted and received a sentence of death. The Chief Baron, humanely reprieved all the capital convicts before he left the court. (How kind of him!) Thus Samuel received a sentence of transportation for life. I haven’t found many sets of twins on my Baldwin side of the family apart from Emma Jane and Harriet Louisa Turner born 27 December 1840 in St Botolphs, Aldgate London to Edward Turner and his wife, Harriet. Their Uncle James was my Great x4 Grandfather and they all lived in Cartwright Street in Aldgate which was very near to the Royal Mint and the Tower of London.
Lastly there was Joseph and Mary Willey baptised on 23 February 1792 in North Somercotes in Lincolnshire to William and Ann Willey. William was my Great x5 Grandfather and he married Ann Smith on 19 May 1791 in North Somercotes, Joseph and Mary were their first children. They went on to have 10 children altogether, all of whom lived to adulthood and marriage. William was a Joiner according to the 1841 census as were some of his sons. That is a small sample of some of the twins in my family tree, looking at the spread, they do seem to be more prevalent on the Pilbeam line which ends with the Pilbeam twins of Punnetts Town, my mum, Hilary and her twin sister Davina Pilbeam born in 1943 in Worthing Hospital in Sussex. To find out more about them read my previous blog called Sisters written in March 2022. This week’s theme for #52Ancestors is Road Trip and I am taking a road trip to a more distant part of my ancestry, the Rhoads family from Lincolnshire. Smith Rhoades was my great x3 grandfather and he was born 1833 in Orby, Lincolnshire. His parents were William and Elizabeth Rhoades and he had 4 brothers; John born 1821, William born 1823, Charles born 1824 and Joseph born 1831 and 4 sisters; Betsey born 1826, Emma born 1829, Susannah born 1835 and Mary Ann born 1840. His father William was a farmer on land in Orby that he owned. If we follow Smith through the census returns it shows the following: 1841 living with his parents on the farm in the village of Orby 1851 Groom at Boothby in the parish of Welton Le Marsh, a tiny hamlet between Orby and Welton Le Marsh 1861 by this time he had married and moved to Hurstpierpoint in Sussex where he was a Farm Bailiff 1871 Farm Bailiff in Eastbourne, Sussex 1881 Farm Labourer in Eastbourne 1891 Farm Labourer in Eastbourne 1901 Foreman on a Farm at Upper Dicker, Sussex 1911 retired Farm Bailiff living in Hove He died in 1919 on 6 June in Aldrington, Hove, described as a Market Gardener and died of Senile Decay. I don’t know why he left Lincolnshire for Sussex although I can speculate he was following work. But how would I find any clues as to why he left; find out where he was working at the time he left Lincolnshire and were there any links with Sussex, look at wages and conditions for farming in Lincolnshire and compare with Sussex in the 1850s. I’m guessing this all because it may not have been work at all. He married Maria Lee whose ancestry, as far as I have traced it was in Lincolnshire. In fact they don’t seem to have moved very far and back to the early part of the 1600s were all that Wolds part of Lincolnshire. The Civil War seems to have caused a problem in going back further on all 4 lines of her grandparents. I keep searching! One of the biggest problems I have found with searching for the Rhoads family is the amount of different spellings, Rhoads, Rhoades Rhodes, Roads, Roades and Rodes have all been found so far and I am sure there are more to be found. Smith and Maria had 10 children including Alice who was my Great x 2 Grandmother who married James Cruse and brought her family to Hailsham.
One of my few families that didn’t originate from East Sussex and take me to a part of the country I know very little about, at the moment. This week’s theme for #52Ancestors is Free Space and I thought I would continue the story of John Thorp, my ancestor whose story I first blogged in March 2020. This blog is about their residency of Hedgecourt, and a number of documents that I transcribed on a visit to The Keep where East Sussex hold their historical archive which involved John and his son, Thomas. Records from The Keep show that in 1562 there was no iron works in the manor of Hedgecourt at Felbridge where John was the farmer, and he repaired a building and the mill and bank at a cost of £64 which is a high cost so this must have been work on a large scale. The manor of Hedgecourt was leased by Sir Edward Gage to John Thorpe, yeoman of Horne, for 21 years at £40. I read a number of documents that described this land and included the demesne lands of the manor of Hedgecourt in Sussex and Surrey and lands called the park of Hedgecourt; Coddinglighe Park, Sharnowrs, Gages Meades, Cowpers Hill, Tanners, Smythforde Courte, The Tylt, Honneys, Warnars Crofts and the Myllwood, with all barns, stables, stalls and other buildings in the park, mills and mill dams in Godstone, Horne, Tandridge, Grinstead and Worth. The lease specifically excluded the furnace or iron works, houses and buildings lately built upon lands called Myllwood and Coddingligh Park by John Fawkener & John Frenche which were granted in a separate lease. John Thorpe was living at Hedgecourt Farm, just north of Hedgecourt Lake on the west side of Stubpond Lane. He was born in the 1530s or thereabouts and had been living in the parish of Newdigate. He married Alice Bowett about 1560 and had seven children, his third son Thomas baptised 1567 in East Grinstead, becoming his heir. In 1568, Sir Edward Gage died and his heir was his son John Gage. In 1578 John Thorpe extended his existing lease of Hedgecourt, which ended in 1589, by a further 40 years which was after John Thorpe’s death. Thomas took on the lease after his father’s death. The lease was the same as that of 1567 still excluding the Myllwood furnace, however it included a clause allowing John Thorpe to occupy the furnace should the iron works close during the term of the lease. In 1594 John Gage sold timber to John Thorpe from trees on land occupied by Thomas Humfrey, living in one tenement in the park of Hedgecourt adjoining Newe Chappell; a parcel of trees adjoining the last sale made in Thorne Park and divided by an old bank of old trees lying northwards from the bank to the pale, through which piece of ground the mill way goes to Burstow; 1000 decaying stubs in various places in the manor of Hedgecourt, already marked out by John Gage’s servant Henry Collins, to be cut down, coaled and carried away within ten years. John Gage died on 10th October 1598 and in Sussex was holding an Iron Mill (Furnace Mill) and windmill (on Crawley Down) and two parcels of wood and land called Millwood and Cuddingly in Worth. In Surrey he was holding the manors of Burstow and Hedgecourt. He had married twice but had no issue and so his estate passed to his nephew John Gage who was the son of Thomas Gage. Following the death of the first John Gage, John Thorpe and his son Thomas entered into the lands of Millwood and Cuddinglye and cut down and uprooted most of the woods. They were fined £3000 and a further £1000 for the decayed stubs remaining from 2000 great and sound trees. This was at a time of competing demands for wood, a growing population needed wood for houses, the Navy needed wood for shipbuilding and much of the Weald was being destroyed by the demands on timber. In 1573, a Royal commission reported of the Wealden area: ‘Besides these furnaces aforesaid, there are not so few as a hundred furnaces and Iron Mylles in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, which is greatly to the decaie, spoile and overthrowe of woods and principle tymber, with a great decaye also of tillage for that they are continuallie employed in carrying furniture for the said workes, and likewise a great decaie of the highways because they carrie all the wyntertyme’. As a result of this, regulations were passed prohibiting the making of charcoal from mature wood, allowing only coppice to be used, this superseded previous regulations that had been introduced earlier in the 1500’s that ensured a dozen standard trees were left to an acre of clear felling so that regeneration through seed might follow. In 1581 and 1585, Queen Elizabeth I passed two Acts of Parliament to control the activities of ironmasters in the Southeast area, the objective being to preserve the larger timber, whilst permitting the production of charcoal from coppice or underwood (small trees and shrubs). Fines were high, as John Thorpe and his son Thomas found out. Charcoal production became problematic in the Wealden area and eventually the industry was moved to other parts of the country where a new fuel had been discovered – coke. This fuel did not depend on timber with all its other needs. Timber became more expensive and the production of charcoal was expensive and time consuming compared to using coke. John Thorp died in 1607 and was followed swiftly by his heir, Thomas in 1608. Thomas left Hedgecourt to his eldest son Richard. The lease was renewed in 1629 by Richard Thorp, gent. The lease was eventually sold in 1651 by Richard’s son, Richard to pay off a debt and so ended the long association between the Thorp family and Hedgecourt. I would like to acknowledge the Felbridge & District History Group for the map above and for a really useful website when it came to my research into Hedgecourt. Check out their website This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Textile and gives me chance to write about my only bit of the family from up north. The story started down south of course. In 1818 or thereabouts Phillis Funnell, my great x4 grandmother met a young soldier who was stationed at the barracks in Ringmer, John Thelwell. On 6 November 1818, my great x3 grandfather, John Funnell was born. For a number of years the only clue to John’s father that I had was a warrant for the arrest of his putative father, John Thelwell, late of Ringmer now a gunner driver in the Corps of Royal Horse Artillery stationed at Ringmer for the child to be born of Phyllis Funnell of Chiddingly – ref. P292/15/12 – date: 6 November 1818. It wasn’t until I started searching the Royal Horse Artillery that I discovered who John Thelwell was. Probably born in 1793 in Gorton, Lancashire to John Thelwell and Martha Marsh, he had 11 siblings, 3 of whom died as small children. Despite a lot of searching this John seems the most likely but his second marriage certificate in 1855 names his father as Thomas strangely. John was married to two different Nancy’s, the first one died young in an asylum. He had 10 children, 5 of whom died under the age of 5. He died in 1870, a Chelsea Pensioner, having fought at Waterloo. Looking through the census returns held for him, marriage records, burial of first wife and his children’s baptisms and burials they all have his occupation as Weaver or Dresser. Both occupations involved in the Cotton Industry. Specifically his burial record in 1870 was Cotton Warp Dresser. He was living in Brimmington, Stockport and further research should be carried out possibly find out who were the main cotton factories in Stockport. According to a very useful website that has a list of old occupations Old Occupations - C2 (rmhh.co.uk) a Cotton Dresser was an Operator who assembled the yarns or threads prior to the weaving of cloth. In the early days of power weaving, looms had to be periodically stopped every few minutes to adjust the cloth and dress the warp with a flour paste to strengthen the threads as they unrolled from the beam. In 1803 William Radcliffe invented the dressing machine operated by a dresser who prepared the yarns for weaving. This was found in a book I purchased ‘My ancestors worked in Textile Mills’ by Adele Emm and published by The Society of Genealogists 2019. During the 1851 census two of John’s sons, aged 19 and 17 were also involved in the cotton industry as a Power Loom Weaver and a Silk Plush Weaver (part of the Top Hat industry). In 1861 the household has a Cotton Twister and a Cotton Winder. All the neighbours were involved in various parts of the industry in the three census returns I have for John, 1841 to 1861. In 1851, agricultural labourers formed the biggest occupation group in England and Wales, servants next and third was those working in textile industries. The industry was concentrated particularly around the north west and Manchester became known as Cottonopolis.
Currently that is as far as I have got with my research into John Thelwell’s cotton past. It’s all completely new to me, with most of my family hailing from Sussex I am much more used to Agricultural Labourers and the odd brickmaker. But I look forward to finding out more about Lancashire and its cotton industry as well as more about John’s heritage. sThis week’s theme for #52Ancestors is Food and Drink. Well that’s a topic I could talk endlessly about I thought. But bringing it back to genealogy, I thought I would write about The Three Cups Inn near Punnetts Town, now sadly closed but I have frequented it in the past for family celebrations and meals out. The Steak and stilton pie in the days of Woody was to die for! My connection however goes back further than the Jenga chips, one of the most disappointing meals I’ve ever had, 9 chips set out like jenga blocks. The chef was trying to go upmarket, didn’t last long, homecooked pub grub was what was wanted. My x3 Great Grandmother Elizabeth Harriot Message married John Funnell in 1840 and for the 1861 census are recorded as being at the Three Cups. John was a Farmer of 15 acres but presumably he ran the beerhouse too. John Funnell was killed in 1863 by being run over by a cart wheel and Elizabeth married again to James White in 1868. By the time of the 1871 census James White has taken over the Three Cups as Beerhouse Keeper and Orpah one of Elizabeth’s daughters was described as waiter. By 1881 James is a Farmer of 30 acres and Beerhouse Keeper. Rhoda another of Elizabeth’s daughter’s was a barmaid.
The building which is currently closed and derelict, someone is hoping for permission to build houses no doubt, has recently been listed Grade II. Apparently built around the 17th Century and extended over the years. According to the history that has been compiled on the building at the time my ancestors were running it, it was owned by the Trill family. Incidentally having just looked at the Tithe map of 1838, it was owned by Mrs Trill and rented by R Message, which needs a bit more research but that is likely to be Richard Message who was the half brother of Elizabeth Harriot. I clearly have some more research to do as there is also an intriguing entry on The Keep (East Sussex Record Office) catalogue dated 1717 of suspected parties for a murder being involved in smuggling activities at the Three Cups Inn. In the meantime I look back at happy memories of eating at the pub and wish wholeheartedly it could be saved and opened as a pub again! This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Social and for a minute there, I was going to go for 4 weddings and a funeral (a rather lovely film!) but decided to stick at the 4 weddings. I chose the weddings of 4 siblings, my grandfather Ronald Pilbeam and 3 of his siblings, Phyllis, Gwen and Sidney. The first to marry was Phyllis Naomi, the oldest child, born in 1907 to George and Nahomi Pilbeam of Rushford Farm, Three Cups, Punnetts Town. She married Percy Thomas Cottingham, second son of Mr C E Cottingham of Warren Farm, Halland on 22 July 1933 at The New Gospel Hall, Maynards Green. Mr W Payne from Lingfield officiated, who I need to research as I am thinking he could be related to my Grandmother, Edith Terry. Her mother was a Payne from Lingfield. The bride wore a dress of white satin and an embroidered net veil surmounted by a coronet of orange blossom. There were three bridesmaids, Joan Pilbeam, the bride’s sister and Ruth and Winnie Cottingham, sisters of the bridegroom. Edward Cottingham, brother of the groom was the best man. The report in the local newspaper has an extremely long list of people who gave presents. The second pair to marry was Sidney George, the first son of George and Nahomi Pilbeam born in 1909 and he married Eva Edith Delves, eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs William Delves of Lynton, Maynards Green on 21 August 1935, again at Maynards Green. The newspaper announced that Punnetts Town Teacher weds. Eva was a teacher and then headmistress at Punnetts Town for many years and is remembered by many past pupils. The bride wore a simple gown of white crepe de chine, embroidered net veil, wreath of orange blossom, white kid shoes and carried a shower bouquet of white carnations and ferns. She had two bridesmaids, her sister Vera Delves and Joan Pilbeam, groom’s sister. The best man was Ron Pilbeam, groom’s brother. The couple were to live at Beech Croft, Punnetts Town, newly built. Again there was a long list of presents including many family members. Only a few weeks later, on 14 September 1935 the second daughter, Gwendoline born 1908 married Edward Charles Cottingham, brother of Percy Cottingham at Maynards Green Gospel Hall. The bride wore a dress of white satin, with embroidered veil and coronet of orange blossom and white satin shoes. Her bouquet was of bronze chrysanthemums. Bridesmaids were Joan Pilbeam, the bride’s sister and Ruth and Winnie Cottingham, groom’s sisters. The best man was Leslie Cottingham, groom’s brother. The couple were reported to be going to live at Ash Grove, Shortgate, Laughton and they received many useful presents, not listed this time. The last wedding was that of my grandparents Ronald and Edith on 7 August 1937 at Lingfield Mission Room. The service was again conducted by William Payne. The bride wore a long white dress and veil trimmed with orange blossom. She carried a shower bouquet of pink and white carnations and her only jewellery was a string of pearls. She had two bridesmaids, her sister Winifred and Joan Pilbeam, groom’s sister. Sidney Pilbeam was the best man. They left the reception bound for their reception in Worthing.
The more I search the British newspapers that are currently available on Findmypast, the more I am learning about how my family lived their lives, the places they worshipped at, the people they knew and the families that intermingled through these connections. These articles are also a useful tool for giving you hints to family members not yet found and places they lived. But mostly I love the details from these reports of the wedding dresses and the flowers that were fashionable at the time. #52Ancestors theme for this week is Document and I have so many copies of documents that I was struggling to pick one to write about. Searching my A3 folder of early photocopies from TNA I found a large envelope which contained a photocopy of the Farm Survey for my great grandfather George Charles Pilbeam’s farm at Three Cups near Punnetts Town. Wow I had forgotten I had ordered it! The envelope is postmarked 2013. When the Second World War began in September 1939, Britain was faced with an urgent need to increase food production, as imports of food and fertilisers were drastically cut. The area of land under cultivation had to be increased significantly and quickly. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries set up War Agricultural Executive Committees in each county (‘County War Ags’) to carry out a farm survey between 1940 and 1941 and to use the information collected to bring uncultivated land under the plough and to improve poor farms. Once the short-term objective of increasing food production had been met, the government decided to carry out a more general National Farm Survey between 1941 and 1943, with a longer-term purpose of providing data that would form the basis of post-war planning. Such a survey was seen at the time as a ‘Second Domesday Book’, a ‘permanent and comprehensive record of the conditions on the farms of England and Wales’. The first survey showed that: No fruits or vegetables were being grown for human consumption. There was ¼ acre of main crop potatoes, ½ acre of turnips and swede for fodder. There was ¼ acre of kale for fodder. Also ¼ acre of All other crops. Seven acres of permanent grass for mowing and 11 ¾ acres of permanent grass for grazing. Total acreage was 20 acres. Employed labour on 4 June 1941 consisted of 1 male part time worker, 21 years old and above. There were 8 cows and heifers and 17 fowl over 6 months and 1 horse used for agricultural purposes. The general survey for Rushford Farm was carried out on 30 October 1942. The farm was recorded as 18 acres within the parish of Warbleton and the farmer was G C Pilbeam of Rushford Farm, Three Cups, Dallington, Heathfield, Sussex.
The general comments are as follows:- Small dairy holding quite well kept and having sufficient ploughed out to maintain the herd in winter green fodder. One field has also been reseeded. This could be carried further to some of the other fields where the grass is getting worn out. Stock and general management satisfactory. The water arrangements could be better. Stock: Cows 7 young stock 4 Horses 1. Information gained from the survey tells me that: George Pilbeam owned the farm and was a full time farmer. He didn’t occupy any other land or have other grazing rights. The condition of the farm was 100% medium soil. The farm was conveniently laid out and was 100% naturally fair. The situation with regard to road was fair and railway was bad. The nearest railway station is Heathfield some miles away. The condition of the farmhouse was good, farm buildings and road were fair, fences – good, ditches – fair and field drainage was good. There were no infestations and no derelict fields. Water supply to the farmhouse was from the well, farm buildings from the roof, fields from a stream and there was a pond that supplied water both to the farm buildings and the fields. There was no seasonal shortage of water and no electricity supply. The farm was classified as A. The condition of the Arable land was good, pasture good to fair. Adequate use of fertilisers on the arable land and to some extent on the grassland. For the 1941 harvest 2 fields were marked for fodder crops to be grown. The first glance at the documents didn’t look like it was going to reveal as much information as it did. The condition of the farm and buildings as well as the stock on the farm. A lot of information about the farm can be gleaned from it and I’m off to see if there are any other farms in my family I need to know more about. Richard Message married my great x4 Grandmother Hannah Oliver in Dallington, Sussex on 20 October 1803. They had one child from the marriage, Richard baptised on 9 February 1807 at Warbleton, Sussex where the family were living. Various contacts have mentioned a second child, Philadelphia who lived between 1804 and 1817 but have never shown me any proof and I have searched high and low with no sign. So I discount until someone shows me the evidence! Hannah had two children already by a previous relationship with a Benjamin Carley, Benjamin Oliver Carley baptised on 16 February 1800 at Warbleton, and Stephen Carley Oliver born in 1802 in Warbleton. Richard may have been born in Shoreditch around 1786, a baptism has been found on 31 January 1786 to a Richard and Mary Message of Holywell and there is nothing in Sussex at that time. But Richard’s story can be picked up in 1806 and fits this week’s theme of Negatives for #52Ancestors nicely. Richard appeared in the England and Wales Criminal Register 1791-1892 on Ancestry.co.uk charged with Felony (which was a serious crime) at the January session, he was acquitted. Then he turned up again in 1807 on the England and Wales Criminal Register 1791-1892 on Ancestry.co.uk at the Lent session at Horsham Court charged with Larceny (theft of personal property), the sentence was 14 years Transportation. At the age of 21 in 1807 he appeared on the register of Perseus a Prison Hulk register, convicted on 16 March at Horsham of Felony which is a bit confusing unless it was a separate charge from the Criminal Register above. He was awaiting transport on the Admiral Gambier. The Perseus was moored in Portsmouth Harbour and it would appear from the next record that they were moored for over a year. It must have been grim! A newspaper report from the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Sunday 25 December 1808 reported that the Admiral Gambier arrived from England under Captain Harrison with 197 male prisoners. They sailed from England on the 2nd July and arrived in late December so a 5 month voyage, but all were reported in good health and good spirits. A small handful died on the passage.
Richard appeared on a list in 1811 as being in Hobart town in Tasmania and then in 1816 he appeared in the New South Wales Convict Register of Conditional and Absolute Pardons with an Absolute Pardon. Amazingly the next record found for Richard is the record of his marriage on 26 June 1816 to Mary Ann Mullins in Hobart, Tasmania. She was a free person. Unfortunately Richard doesn’t appear to have been free to marry again, as he was still married to Hannah although she was all those miles away in England. I guess the likelihood of him ever returning to England was so very slim, he took his chances as many others must have too. He was 31 years old and Mary Ann was 19 years old. Richard died on 5 October 1821 in Hobart, Tasmania aged 35 years, having never returned to England. Notes: Willetts, J (n.d.) "Convict Ship Admiral Gambier 1808" Free Settler or Felon https://freesettlerorfelon.com/convict_ship_admiral_gambier_1808.htm 18 April 2022 – more information about the Admiral Gambier |
AuthorKerry Baldwin Archives
September 2024
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