Geneageek

Maunder Thursday

Some time ago, I wrote about my ancestor William Wreford’s second wife, Ann Maunder (see post: Good Tithings). I had long thought that Maunder was her maiden name but discovered she was likely born Ann Anstey, and married a man named George Maunder. Today I stumbled on more evidence to support this theory.

William and Ann had a daughter named Elizabeth Ann Wreford born in Tiverton, Devon. While ’rounding out’ her story, I found her in the 1851 census in London. Elizabeth was in the home of ‘Aeneas B. Reid’ and his wife ‘Anne Maunder Reid’, recorded as a sister-in-law. Obviously the name Maunder jumped out at me. Mrs Reid’s age also tied in with the details for Ann and George Maunder’s daughter Ann (her baptism record can be seen in the earlier post).

1851 census image showing Elizabeth Ann Wreford in the home of her half-sibling Ann Maunder

Luckily, I could access the image of the marriage Ann Maunder (jr) to Aeneas Barkley Reid a couple years earlier in 1849. It confirmed her father’s name was George Maunder and also held the signatures of two witnesses: William Wreford and Mary Wreford.

1849 marriage of Ann Maunder to Aeneas Barkley Reid with Wreford witnesses

(I believe these witnesses are likely to be Ann’s step sibling (son of William Wreford to his first wife) and his wife, who also lived in London at the time.)

After this discovery, everything has started tumbling into place. Another half sibling, Mary Anna, who I was previously unable to pin down, shows up in the census record with the Reids in 1861.

1861 census showing Mary Anna Wreford with her half-sibling Ann Maunder

She also appears to have been buried in the family plot of Elizabeth Ann, who had married Alexander Small in 1853.

1863 Tower Hamlets Cemetery burial record of Mary Anna Wreford, showing she was buried in the ‘Smalls’s Grave’

Mary Anna and Aeneas Barkley Reid also show up as witnesses to that marriage,

1853 marriage of Elizabeth Ann Wreford to Alexander Small (note witnesses)

and the Small’s son is recorded with Elizabeth Ann’s brother Willliam in the 1861 census.

1861 census showing Elizabeth Ann’s son Alexander with her half-brother William

What tops it off for me, is seeing that my direct ancestor William Wreford was also buried in the Small family plot (4029).

1866 Tower Hamlets Cemetery burial record of William Wreford, showing he was also buried in the ‘Smalls’ Grave’

All of this ‘coming together’ is very satisfying, and gives me an insight into how much the siblings lives were entwined with each other.

And of course, I’m now pretty confident William Wreford’s wife Ann Maunder was born Ann Anstey.

A tree to help make sense of all this (click to enlarge)

Rage Against the Thrashing Machine

As part of my Ebbans One Name Study, I spent some time researching a man involved in the Agrarian Riots of the 1820s and 1830s. Imagine my excitement when while watching an episode of Who Do You Think You Are, parts of the story began to sound familiar to me and I realised they were referring to the man I had researched!

Part of the episode focused on Ed Balls’ agricultural labourer ancestor, Christopher Green, who was also involved in the riots and charged with arson alongside William Ebbon in 1832. (It can be viewed on the BBC iPlayer – Green’s story begins at 29:45.)

William Ebbon was baptised at St Leonard’s, Horningsheath (later known as Horringer) in Suffolk, on the 4th of August 1799. He was the son of William Ebbon and Temperance Elliss.

An oil painting landscape. Two men on a hill look out over an extensive tract of land north-east of Norwich. — *Mousehold Heath, Norwich* by John Crome (c1816-1818)

By 1821, the family had settled in nearby Winfarthing, Norfolk. In the 1821 census, William was recorded with his parents at the Winfarthing Workhouse. However, they were not inmates, his father was noted as the governor, whereas 22-year-old William was recorded as a labourer.

The show discusses Christopher Green’s arrest for destroying a threshing machine at Winfarthing on 19 September 1822. William wasn’t named as one of the men involved that night, but he was arrested for the same offence 10 days later. He and Ed Balls’ ancestor were both part of the growing movement of disgruntled agricultural labourers who felt forced to act against their livelihoods being taken away from them. One of the main issues was the introduction of new machinery that took even more work away from the already struggling labourers. (For more information see my post about the Agrarian Riots.)

On 29 September 1822, William was involved in the breaking of a threshing machine at Winfarthing during a riot of agricultural labourers. He and a man named Robert Large, pleaded guilty and the court decided that as their conduct was “not having been of an aggravated description”, both were sentenced to be bound in their own recognizance of £20. They were able to do so and were discharged.

newspaper clipping — Norfolk Chronicle, 14 December 1822, p3, c2

Ten years later, William was again involved in destruction of property. In 1832, he, along with Christopher Green and Robert Hubbard, was charged with “having set fire to the premises of the Manor-house called Winfarthing Lodge, the property of the Earl of Albemarle, and in the occupation of Mr. Daniel Doggett, an opulent farmer…”. The men were committed to Norwich Castle (the county gaol). Hubbard ‘turned approver’ and gave evidence implicating William, Christopher Green and two others, Robert Dixon and Francis Mullett, in the crime of sheep stealing. [Stamford Mercury, 25 May 1832, p4, c6]

A colour drawing. Norwich Castle on a hill looms over a stonemason's yard in the foreground. — *Norwich Castle* by James Bridges (1833)

Ultimately, the grand jury of the Norfolk and Norwich Assizes held 30 August 1832, ignored the bills of arson against them, and acquitted them of having stolen a ewe sheep, the property of Mr. Edmund Bale, of Tibbenham on 21 December 1831. [Norwich Mercury, 04 August 1832, p3 c1]

The Norwich Mercury reported: “This case rested almost entirely on the uncorroborated evidence of an accomplice, who had never mentioned the matter till he was apprehended on suspicion of setting fire to some premises at Winfarthing.” [Norwich Mercury, 04 August 1832, p3 c1]

William Ebbon and his family stayed in Winfarthing for a few years after this, but sometime after 1836, the family emigrated to the United States.

In 1840, William was recorded at Sackets Harbor, Hounsfield, Jefferson, New York and again at Hounsfield in 1855 before the trail goes quiet.

All William Ebbons‘ other ‘accomplices’ remained in Winfarthing. Robert Hubbard, the ‘turncoat’, died there only a few years later in 1835. Christopher Green died in 1860 at the Kenninghall Union Workhouse. Robert Dixon died at Winfarthing in 1865, and Francis Mollett died in the Kenninghall Union Workhouse in 1873.

Has anyone you were researching ever been mentioned on television?

Agrarian Riots

In the 1820s and 1830s, desperate agricultural labourers in England began to revolt. There were a few factors involved in causing this unrest but Land Enclosure is considered to have played a large part.

Before Enclosure

Before enclosure, villages used an open field system of farming. Large open fields were divided into strips that would be farmed by its owners. They were often scattered, and there were no fences or hedges to divide them.

There was also an area of common land used for grazing. This was not open to the general public but was land (controlled by the lord of the manor) that people from that village had rights to use. The land would be used to pasture cattle or keep livestock such as geese, and collect turf, firewood, fruit or berries. There would be a communal consensus for when and how the land would be farmed.

After Enclosure

After enclosure, the separate strips were consolidated so that owners had unified pieces of land. These were marked out through fences or hedges with absolute property rights. No communal consensus was needed – owners could do with their land as they wished.

Enclosure of land was not new, but in the late 18th century it was now being formalised with parliamentary acts. A landowner wanting to enclose land in their parish would obtain a private Act of Parliament. Commissioners would then visit the parish to survey the area and hear claims of other land holders or those with rights to the common. The commissioners would then enclose the open fields, allocating a plot of land that was equal in size to the total strips of land a landowner previously held. The common would also be divided and given to landowners depending on their total landholdings in the parish and access they had to the common.

People who previously had common rights lost the ability to use that land to make ends meet and those who still had some rights, such as tenant farmers, were increasingly asked for rent in cash rather than stock or produce.

How were agricultural labourers affected?

Consolidating the land meant that less workers were needed. It became more common for labourers to be paid by the day or week, or employed for short periods such as harvesting, hedging, ditching and threshing. Farmhands became casual labourers with no guarantee of work, and rates of pay dropped because there were so many available workers. The problem grew worse in 1815 when the Napoleonic Wars ended, and many thousands of soldiers returned to the rural labour market.

A Horse Gin in Use (The Illustrated Exhibitor, 1851)

The introduction of threshing machines aggravated the situation. Farm labourers who had previously been employed to manually thresh grain over the winter months, were replaced by cheaper and more efficient horse-powered machines. Groups of agricultural labourers began to rise up, setting fire to farms and destroying machinery.

If captured, the rioters faced imprisonment, transportation, and even execution, so it was not an act to be taken lightly.

If you have ancestors who were agricultural labourers in the 1820s and 1830s, they may well have been involved in the protests.

Sources:

Norfolk County Council: Enclosure

In Our Time: The Enclosures of the 18th Century

Wheatley Village Archive: Agricultural riots of 1820s and 1830s

Alfred Wreford

Just outside the entrance to St Mary’s church in Morchard Bishop, Devon, is a solitary grave.

The grave stone is so worn, only the name ‘Alfred Wreford’ can be made out.

Fortunately, there was a list of burials inside the church which quickly gave me Alfred’s death date and the fact he was only 8 years old when he died.

Of course, I wanted to know more. I was unable to find any mention of Alfred’s death in the newspaper, which indicates he was likely to have died from some kind of illness rather than a tragic accident. To know for sure, I’d have to order his death certificate. But if I ordered every certificate that took my fancy, I wouldn’t have enough money to eat, so that will have to remain a mystery for now.

But I’ve still been able to find some details about Alfred’s life.

Alfred was baptised at Morchard Bishop on 25 May 1863, the son of agricultural labourer Matthew Wreford and his wife, Mary Drew. This was the second marriage for both his parents, and although Alfred would be the only child his parents would have together, he had 7 older half-siblings combined. At the time of his baptism, the family were residing on The Street in Morchard Bishop.

In the 1871 census, Alfred can be found with his parents and 14-year-old half sister, living at ‘Sidbury’ (or Sidborough) which is part of the village of Oldborough (just south of Morchard Bishop).

I was able to find photographs of the house but it looks a lot grander today than it would have done in the 1870s. (Historic England states it was formerly a small farmhouse and adjoining cottage.)

Alfred would die only a few months after the census was taken, and be buried next to the church building, where I would discover him 153 years later.

But since I have a theory that I am related to every Wreford buried in Morchard Bishop, I wanted to find out how this boy was related to me.

Turns out, Alfred was my fourth cousin, once removed, and two sets of his 3rd great grandparents were also my 7th great grandparents:

Set one – William Wreford (1717-1763) and Thomasin Manley (1719 – 1794)
Set two – Matthew Wreford (1712-1752) and Sarah James (1717 – 1763)

William and Matthew were brothers – the children of Matthew Wreford (1682 – 1763) and Elizabeth Manley (1684 – 1757) – and two of Matthew’s children grew up to marry two of William’s children.

Nice to have ‘met’ you, cousin Alfred.

The Bombing of Stowmarket Congregational Church

Black and white photo of the church showing the bomb damage — Stowmarket Congregational Chapel after the bombing 1941 (via SuffolkNews)

At around noon on Friday 31st January 1941, a lone German bomber was seen flying towards the town of Stowmarket in the heart of Suffolk. Enemy aircraft tended to fly low in the area to avoid the guns at nearby Wattisham Airfield, and this plane was flying so low under the clouds, that its swastikas could be seen from the ground.

The plane flew over Stowmarket from the direction of Combs Ford, firing its guns, before circling around to fly over again, and drop a stick of bombs in the general vicinity of the market place in town. Thankfully, the busy market place was missed, but a direct hit was made on Stowmarket Congregational Church, destroying the building. Houses behind the church grounds were also struck, killing one of the residents.

Sepia photograph of victorian gothic church with iron railings, trees and lamppost infront — Stowmarket Congregational Chapel (via Stowmarket Local History Group)

I learnt about this event through “The Bombing of Stowmarket Congregational Church” by Steve Williams (2004). The book is a compilation of many reports and eyewitness accounts of that day and I found it so fascinating that I devoured the contents in one sitting! The recollections are presented in such a way that you start to feel like you know the inhabitants and their various connections to each other.

Mrs Rhoda Farrow (nee Hearn), lived at ‘Marron’ (9 Kensington Road), behind the Congregational Church. In the 1939 register, Mrs Farrow was recorded at the address with her son Ronald, daughter Marjorie and new son-in-law, Roland Wilden. Marjorie had actually married at the Congregational Church, only a month prior to the register being taken. (Her father, Rhoda’s husband Charles Farrow, had died only a few months before.)

Clipping of part of register — 1939 register for Kensington Road showing the Farrow, Capp and Smith families

After the bombs fell on 31 January 1941, Bernard Moye, then 16 years old, accompanied the town’s surveyor, Mr. John Black, into town to assess the damage…

When they learnt that another bomb had fallen on Kensington Road they went to the scene and found other members of the rescue party who had already managed to get two ladies out, one of whom was Mrs. Capp, who had the flower shop in the Market Place next to Woolworth’s. They had saved themselves by sheltering under the stairs of Mrs. Capp’s house, which was named ‘Floral-Dene’.

Bernard remembers seeing the roof seeming to be suspended in mid-air with nothing much supporting it. They were then told that there was no-one in next door at ‘Marron’ and that Mrs. Farrow was at the railway station seeing her son off from Forces’ leave. This tragically was not the case as Bernard remembers being in the party which, after clearing some rubble from the passageway of Mrs. Farrow’s house, they then lifted the door that lay amongst the debris and found her body laying there. Bernard commented ‘she unfortunately appeared to have arrived home at the wrong moment.'”

(excerpt from The Bombing of Stowmarket Congregational Church (2004), pp15-16)

Mrs Beatrice Smith, who lived at number 7, had been at the first aid centre on 24-hour call with the Red Cross. She would serve in the Red Cross for 51 years. In 1975, on the occasion of her retirement, The Bury Free Press (7 Nov 1975, p2) remarked that her devotion to duty had probably saved her life. The book holds quite a few of recounts of near-misses and it appears extremely fortunate that Mrs Farrow was the only person killed in the attack.

The new Stowmarket Congregational Church was completed in 1955.

A new ultra-modern building was finally completed on the same site in 1955 and still exists (now known as the United Reformed Church). The new church’s contemporary look was very different from the previous church’s Victorian Gothic style and received mixed reactions. I can’t help but think that Stowmarket town centre would have a very different feel if the old building was still around today.

I also can’t help but think that it’s somewhat of an eerie coincidence that I was given this book and learnt of the bombing for the very first time, only a few days before the 83rd anniversary of the church’s destruction, and the death of Rhoda Farrow.