#52ancestors – Landed and I have chosen to write about George Pilbeam my x4 great grandfather who during 2 census years farmed parts of the High Weald AONB around my favourite village of Burwash. I have only just started to scratch the surface of the records I have found which tell the story of his life as a farmer. There are more to be found I am sure, but for now this is what I have so far. He was born in 1784 at Burwash to Thomas and Hannah and he had 4 siblings. By the time of the 1841 census George was a farmer at Woodsell in Dallington. Both the C14 – 17 farmhouse and the C17 Barn next door are Grade II listed buildings. Looking at the record on the Genealogist website for the Tithe apportionment he farmed 35 acres of wood, pasture, arable, orchards and hops and rented the farm from Robert Watts Esq. I searched the National Archives website and found the following entry on a record for documents pertaining to the Wellis family of Rye, Sussex: fo. 1r. (i) 10 October 1399. Feoffment from Sir John Wellis, clerk, to Stephen Woodselle and Joan his wife of 30a. called Yongeland in Dallington, abutting on land called Mardore on the south, the land of Thomas Prynkyll on the east, the land called Tyy on the north and the highway from Dallington to Bucksteep on the west; which land was given to him by Sir William de Hoo, kt., and his wife Eleanor. (ii) 12 May 1401. Feoffment from Sir John Wellis, clerk, to Thomas Petyjon' of Warbleton, of 2 tenements in Dallington, one called Wodsellys (30a.), the other Creplond (30a.), given to the donor by Sir William de Hoo, kt., and his wife Eleanor. By the 1851 census George had moved to Battenhurst Farm between Ticehurst and Burwash. He had increased his land to 120 acres and employed 4 labourers. The most interesting record I have found so far was made after his death in 1857. At the East Sussex Record Office I found an auction book that had belonged to A Burtenshaw & Sons, Auctioneers and Valuers, which had two auctions in September 1857 detailing animals, equipment, crops and household goods that went to auction after his death by order of his executors. Some of the goods were obviously bought by members of his own family and the amount of money raised was £377 6 11 1/2. Below is a list of the animals sold and some other items, who bought it and the price it sold for: There were also items such as 7.5 bushels of Medlins and a Cheese press. I have a copy of his will that states: Also I give to the said Richard Hook and Samuel Peters all my Term and Interest in any Messuages Buildings Farm and Lands which may be in my occupation at the time of my decease and all the Residue and Remainder of my ready Monies and Securities for Money Goods Chattels Cattle Live and dead Stock Debts and Personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever and also the said sum of One Hundred and fifty pounds at the death of my said Wife upon trust that they my said Trustees shall if they consider it will be advantageous to my Trust property carry on the Business of my Farm and Lands I may occupy at my death for any time not exceeding two years from that period and to use my Farming Stock and effects and other my personal Estate for that purpose and to buy and sell stock and effects and to allow any part of my Family living on such Messuage and Premises a competent allowance and remuneration in return for work Labour and assistance performed and rendered by them in carrying on such Business as my said Trustees shall think proper and also to allow and pay all other wages Rents Tithes Taxes Duties Tradesmens Bills and other payments and expences incidental to carrying on such Business and fully to do all acts relating thereto as fully as I could have done if living I will keep searching to see what other nuggets I can reveal about George. His descendents continued to farm around the area, my great grandfather George Charles, one of the last in our line at Three Cups, where my great great grandfather William had been a Chicken Crammer! But that is a whole different story!
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This week’s #52ancestors subject is Maps and I have struggled to find something to write about. I could write about ancestors who traversed the world and went to Australia or I could talk about mapping the smaller travels of ancestors around the county of Sussex. But then I decided to look at three mapping issues that I was reminded of yesterday. I am currently reading ‘Our Village Ancestors, A Genealogist’s Guide to Understanding the English Rural Past’ by Helen Osborn (the co-founder of Pharos Tutors). I am really enjoying the book and was particularly struck again by what I read yesterday in Chapter 3, The Land and The Farmer and thought I would share my musings. We tend to look at a parish level when searching for ancestors but we need to think more regionally. If we look at Sussex in particular which is where most of my ancestors lived, we have a number of regions – the Kent and Sussex Weald, the South Downs, the marshes and the Coast. These regions are not nicely delineated by parish or county boundaries. Our ancestors would not have conducted there lives within the one parish, they would have criss crossed the region, according to their job, for instance a shepherd would have stayed on the South Downs but crossing parishes. I have a number of families on my tree who came from Wartling. Now for me, you say Wartling and I immediately think of that tiny village with the church and the pub. But if you look at the parish it is large and sprawling and almost has two parts to it. I learnt quickly if I couldn’t find an ancestor being baptised, married or buried in Wartling, check the parishes around all the way up to Warbleton and Ashburnham parishes. Thomas Simmons my great x4 grandfather farmed at Cowden Farm in the parish of Wartling and was buried there in 1871 along with members of his family, but in terms of daily life would have been much closer to Bodle Street Green. Something I am just getting to grips with at the moment, in my genealogical research is the issue of Manors. I have many Ag Labs in my ancestry who would have worked on a farm owned by or tenanted by a farmer and maybe part of a larger estate. Sometimes the owner of that estate might have had farms or other estates in other parts of the county of even different counties and labourers would have been sent to work at those other farms. I am wondering if that might explain why Smith Rhoades my great x3 grandfather was born in Orby, Lincolnshire in 1833 and ended up by 1860 in Hurstpierpoint, Sussex. He lived the rest of his life in Sussex and was buried at Aldrington, Sussex in 1919. I find the Victoria County Histories really useful for reading about manors. Lastly something I found particularly difficult to get my head around when I started my genealogical journey was my ancestors who straddled the county borders, particularly the three counties, Sussex, Kent, and Surrey where they move between East Grinstead and Lingfield and Edenbridge with ease between the generations, making for interesting searching between three county record offices and a number of family history societies. Ancestry very early on added the Surrey BMDs to its website which were really useful in searching around Lingfield and my own county of Sussex with the Sussex Family History Group databases had good coverage of East Grinstead but Kent has proved more difficult and I have a list of ancestors that could not be found in the above two counties and need to be searched for when I get chance, over the border in Kent. A website I have used time and time again for the Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussex and I found has transcribed BMDs for Edenbridge is The Weald Please feel free to add your comments on my musings, anything you agree with or disagree with, I would love to hear them.
I’ve been relooking at an old brickwall on my family tree this week. My x 4 great grandfather Jeremiah Hall was baptised in Edenbridge in Kent in 1789. He had a sister Jenny, baptised in 1781 and a brother, William baptised in 1787, both in Edenbridge. Their parents on the baptism records were Michael and ______ Hall. Very useful!
A marriage for a Michael Hall in the right time frame has not been found and neither has a baptism of a Michael Hall. The closest we have come to is a Miles Hall who married Jane Holiday in 1769 in Crowhurst in Surrey and went on to have 4 children, all baptised in Crowhurst; Sarah – 1769, Martha – 1770, William – 1773 buried in 1774 and Benjamin – 1775. I have spent 10 years picking away at this problem, and chatting with other people who are also trying to solve this riddle. We know that Jenny baptised in 1781 married a Richard Holmden in Edenbridge in 1802, a marriage which has led to a further clue. A will has been found for a Mary Ware who died in 1807 in Crowhurst. She mentioned several family members. She had previously been married to Benjamin Hall who had a brother, Michael. She mentions three of Michael’s children; Benjamin, Sarah who married _____ Fowle of Westerham and Jane who married ______ Holmden of Edenbridge. So far that is looking good, Jane and Jenny, same person? There is a marriage for a Sarah and a John Fowle in 1792 and Benjamin could be the one baptised in 1775. Mary Ware also mentioned a Nicholas, another brother of her late husband Benjamin who also had a son Benjamin. (What a popular name that was!) So plenty of clues to help pick away at this. But sometimes the obvious and most needed answer is just plain elusive. Could Miles and Michael in Crowhurst and Edenbridge be the same person or am I clutching at straws? There is a family being baptised to a Nicholas and Ann in Crowhurst in the 1720/30s including a Benjamin, a Miles and a Nicholas but Miles was baptised in 1722 meaning he would have been in his late 40s when Sarah was born, never mind Jeremiah in 1789! I will keep at this one and hopefully one day I will find an answer. I misquote Shakespeare. I started looking at the Billinness family from Wartling yesterday. Lydia Billinness born 1816 in Wartling married Henry Martin in Wartling in 1839. Their son, James married Harriet Pilbeam, sister of my great great grandfather William Pilbeam. Further details can be found on my TribalPages tree at https://baldwintree.tribalpages.com/tribe/browse?userid=baldwintree&view=0&pid=525&ver=383. They farmed Ebenezer Farm in Punnetts Town and had one child, John Henry who died sadly at the age of 2 and half years old. I started searching for Lydia’s family and discovered that her parent’s were Thomas and Deborah Harvey also of Wartling. This rang a bell and well it might. Lydia had a brother born three years before her, Benjamin who married Barbara Cornford. They had a daughter, Mary Ann who was born in 1837. Mary Ann was the second wife of my great x 3 grandfather Thomas Cruse. The funny thing is this links two sides of my tree, my maternal grandfather (Pilbeam) to my paternal grandfather’s mother (Cruse). Fascinating I thought and just confirms what I know from my dna, 83.9% South East England, and make that Sussex. Then as I carried the Billiness line further back I discovered that the aforesaid Thomas's mother was Lydia Badcock. Another family I know well. However, as yet I can't find a link between the Badcock family that Lydia came from and the family that my Badcocks came from who married into the Carey family who married into the Harmer family. Of course the Harmer family was the family of my paternal grandmother. So if I can link Thomas Badcoke at the top of my line, who married in Lewes and lived in Willingdon and Hooe, to the Badcocks from Wartling that is three grandparents all linked together. So what are the chances of finding a link with my fourth grandparent, although that line came from Surrey so perhaps not! Wartling Church, Sussex
One of my favourite poems by a little known Sussex poet.
Sussex Dales and Deans There’s an old world charm in Sussex, wherever we may go, Which lends a strength and quietness as we journey to and fro ; The winds which sweep its Downlands, which blow through dale and dean Send far and wide our restlessness and leave the mind serene. There are dales and deans in Sussex, and charming little towns, – There are Hursts, and Folds, and Havens – all sheltered by the Downs ; There are shingled spires, and hamlets, and many pleasant things, Which bind the heart to Sussex, to which our being clings. There are sheltered lanes and copses which cover many miles, There are timbered cots and homesteads, all warm with slabs and tiles, – There are walks on sand and seashore, beside the silver sea ; These are thy charms, O Sussex, which bind our hearts to thee. There are barns well filled with storage, and fields well tilled with care, Great timber stacks for Winter’s fuel, and plenty everywhere ; While lichened walls of tile and flint encircle deep content ; To live – to die on Sussex ground, each purpose strong is bent. Oh ! for the charms of Sussex, the land of Down and Weald ; Oh ! for the freedom of the hills, its wealth of wood and field ; Its laden breezes carry health, to all who seek its store – O Sussex, land of charm and health, we love thee more and more. Reproduced from ‘The Sussex Weald and Other Poems’ by Reverend Albert J Treloar, B.D. published by The City Press, 35 Sheep Street, Northampton in 1938 |
AuthorKerry Baldwin Archives
June 2023
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