Blind Leading the Blind

At the top of my ancestry ‘To Do’ list for many years now has been ‘Find out who Blind Wreford is’.

Today I’ve finally found out…

I’m not even sure where I first heard of Blind Wreford but I’ve kept an eye out for any mention of him.  Finally I found mention of him in obituary for another old wrestler, John Bolt.

 

He was full of anecdotes of “Blind Wreford,” a wealthy farmer of Cheriton, who died in 1835 at a very advanced age, and who, notwithstanding his blindness, was a renowned wrestler, often followed the hounds without sustaining severe falls, and was an excellent judge of the weight and general qualities of cattle.”

 

According to this, he had been totally blind since he was 8. “He was a strongly limbed, well grown and powerful man, about 5 feet 10 in. in height, and was usually led into the ring by a boy, as a guide, and indulged with the privilege of taking hold of his antagonist by the collar…”

I’m really surprised that it’s been so hard to find mention of this guy as he really does seem quite extraordinary.

Related posts:

Pedigree Chums

georgewrefordpedigreeauthor_edited
George Wreford of Gray’s Inn

I am fortunate enough that part of my family history – the WREFORDs – was already recorded years ago.  Long before I came along, George WREFORD of Gray’s Inn, Barrister at Law was the family historian.  He compiled a  ‘Pedigree and Sketch of the Wreford Family of Clannaborough and Morchard Bishop, Devonshire’ back in 1888 and a revised edition, ‘Records and Pedigree of the Wreford Family of Devonshire’ in 1909.

Genealogy was a completely different’ kettle of fish’ back then and I (as well as many of my Wreford cousins, I’m sure) am grateful that George took the time to do it.  But I can’t have him taking all my fun, so over the years I’ve fact-checked, evidenced and fleshed out the details pertaining to my direct line.

You can access physical copies at the West Country Studies Library in Exeter but I have chosen to include the pages pertaining to my line here.  You can access these via the top menu or click here to start.
Title_page

Related posts:

Wreford Versus…

Looks like George may have been trying to raise some money for his emigration to New Zealand:

WrefordvManning

Wreford v. Manning.-The plaintiff, George Wreford, now of Tiverton, sued Mr. John Manning, high bailiff of this Court, for the recovery of £2 odd, which he alleged to be due for the keep of a horse, &c. – Mr. Shapland for plaintiff. – Mr. Manning said the claim was four years old; it dated Feb., 1861, and plaintiff passed the Insolvent Debtors’ Court on the 23rd April in that year, so that whatever was due to the estate belonged to his creditors. – After repeated and ineffectual attempts to elicit from the plaintiff the dates when Mr. Manning put his horses to pasturage and when they were withdrawn, &c., his Honour determined to adjourn the case, that a bill of particulars might be furnished.  If he had to make out the account it might take him a week. -Mr. Shapland: – Not quite so long as that. -His Honour: I will not make out the account for him; the rule requires that he shall furnish a bill of particulars with dates, &c., and not merely: To keep of horse, £2. -Case adjourned.

And a couple columns over…

WrefordvCummings

Wreford v Cummings. – An action for the recovery of £2 8s., alleged to be due from Mrs.Cummings, of Witheridge, for two months keep of a cow and 10s. on some other account. – The latter claim was disallowed, as plaintiff was a bankrupt at the time the debt was said to have been contracted, and the money (if due at all) belonged to his creditors.-Mr. Manning (the high bailiff) said he had put in two executions in virtue of which Wreford had been sold up. He (Mr.M.) took the fields in question of him, and allowed him for the rent in the settlement.-Plaintiff said he never made a bargain with any body.-His Honour:-Then you are not in a position to sue any body. Judgment for the defendant.

North Devon Journal – 17 Nov 1864, p6 [South Molton County Courts]

Related posts:

Killing Off William Wreford

On the hunt for William’s death certificate, I realised I hadn’t attached an 1861 census record to him yet.
The Wreford Pedigree recorded his death date as November 1866 and the last census I had him on was the 1851.  The only appropriate death record I could find was registered in East London but didn’t know whether it was the right guy.  So I searched for William WREFORD and found one in the house of his sister, Sarah BROOKS:

Knowle Downe Bishops Nympton 1861 BROOKS & WREFORD
1861 Census – William WREFORD staying with his sister, Sarah BROOKS

I checked that William did indeed have a sister called Sarah (baptised 18 Apr 1797 in Morchard Bishop, Devon to the same parents, John & Mary) and then checked for a marriage between a Sarah WREFORD and a man named BROOKS.

Sarah Wreford
Sarah WREFORD baptism
sarahwrefordcharlesbrooksmarriage Chulmleigh 1818
Marriage of Charles BROOKS & Sarah WREFORD (Chulmleigh, Devon)

It all checked out and I am confident that the William living with his sister in 1861 IS my William WREFORD (b. 1793).  I ordered the death certificate and hoped there was some clue as to how he ended up in London.  Unfortunately there was not.  Since then, I learned that both his eldest son William (1817) and his daughter, Elizabeth lived in London at the time and am still tracing his other children.  More information can be found in my ‘Wrestling with Death‘ post.

Next steps:
  • Trace all of William’s children
  • Find out who Thomas Cusiok/Cuscok

Related posts:

Wrestling with Death (places)

William WREFORD was my famous (in those times) wrestling ancestor hailing from Devon (previously mentioned here and here).  So, the fact that the only likely death entry for him was registered in London was a bit worrying for me.  Could I be confident this was really him?
Luckily, I had found a newspaper article mentioning he had died ‘in the metropolis’ to help put my mind at ease:

DEATH OF A RENOWNED DEVONSHIRE WRESTLER. – On Sunday last the veteran William Wreford died after a very short illness at the house of one of his children, in the metropolis. (Exeter and Plymouth Gazette (Friday, 07 December, 1866)

The Wreford Pedigree also notes that he died 26 November 1866 aged 74 which matches the death record, so I’m confident this is my William WREFORD.

776ec-will

The death record states William, a yeoman, died of ‘Natural decay’ on 26 November 1866 at 5 New Street, Bishopsgate [London].  However, the informant is listed as Thomas Cusiok/Cuscok (also living at 5 New Street), NOT one of his children.

Two of his children were living in London around this time.  William’s son, also named William, had been living in London from at least 1840 – he had married at St Dunstan in the East, and was in the censuses until 1861 as living in the court behind St Clement’s church, Eastcheap. (He was in the police force but by 1871, he was a ‘coffee house keeper’ a little further north in Paul Street.)

1a5a5-williamwreforddeathmap

Also, his daughter, Elizabeth had married a mariner (Alexander SMALL) in London, 1853 and was a widowed lodging house keeper by the 1871 census (where she lived further north in Tower Hamlets – I’m yet to find her on the 1861 census).  Could Thomas Cusiok have been one of her lodgers?

Next steps:
  • Who is Thomas Cusiok/Cuscok?
  • Find Elizabeth SMALL (nee WREFORD) in 1861 census

Related posts: