May 2024 Update
Well I think the subject of “Post” has been well and truly covered this month, we now know a lot more about the history of the post office in the parish & the letter boxes, learnt about the rather dapper Postman Jonathan Burton “Bryony” Randall and some examples of the sort of post he may have delivered in the form of postcards, in fact those sent in 1907 may well have been delivered by him.
The highlight this month has to be my star find in the book “Hampshire Privies” by Ian Fox. If it hadn’t been for a post on X (formerly Twitter) about the Somerset edition and someone mentioning many counties were covered I may not have come across it. So very glad I was able to find a second hand copy and that the publishers were very kind in allowing me to publish the extract about Joe Goodyear’s night cart. I was aware of the night cart as I heard all about it from a couple of lovely old gents in The George back in January.
Behind the scenes work is progressing in establishing who the parishioners were in 1831 the closest census date to the Swing Riots of 1830. The census records themselves have not survived but the statistics from them have and I know there were 1125 people in the parish at that point. I’m hoping after many more hours with the parish records I will be close to that number. It’s time consuming as to have a chance at finding them I need to keep adding people from the parish registers. As many in the parish lived very long lives that means going back until around about 1731 in the baptisms. Matching the burials up is also challenging especially for the woman who in the older records may be recorded as “Widow or Goody” rather than using their first names and when you come across that with a surname such as Allee, Kercher, Goodyear or Wedge it’s even more challenging as there are just so many of them. I really hope to be able to identify all of these women at some point as they deserve to be named.
A nice find in the burial records this week for December 1795-February 1796 where there are 15 Small Pox burials listed, this is excellent information to be added at a later date under health & disease. I’ve noticed a few times that there appear to be more burials than usual which will be something else to look at as this may also be an indicator of disease in the parish. At some point I will produce some statistics on burials that will be helpful in identifying times where something else may be going on that will need researching.
Marriage statistics will be on the agenda in June though as the One-Place Studies blog prompt is #oneplaceweddings so time to have a look at the marriage data already transcribed. Through the later records I can even look at literacy which could be interesting, how many brides and grooms could sign their name? Will there be a big difference in males & females?
I don’t have many marriage photo’s for St Mary Bourne but I do have my Great Grandparents wedding and Golden Wedding photos, so I shall share those in June. If anyone has any they would like to share please do let me know. I hope to also find out about marriage customs if I can too this month.
Currently my studies have me working on Title Deeds and the property I’ve started with is what in it’s last years became known as The Laurels or for many just The Doctors House. The deeds in the archives cover the property from 1718 when it was owned by Robert Nicholas through to 1853 when it was bought by Dr Joseph Stevens. After that hopefully the census and trade directories will fill in the later blanks, I know the last mention in the trade directories is for Dr Keyworth. If anyone knows the date the property was demolished I would love to hear from you. In fact any memories of the property would be helpful, as I know I also have to do a full house history soon too and this is a possible property for that.
Finally, last month I mentioned the Tithes, linking the 1840 Tithe to the 1841 Census has continued with most of the main village complete, along with part of Swampton. It’s a slow process but getting there and will be very helpful when it is done as this will help place people in different parts of the parish the biggest challenge with the study as so often only St Mary Bourne is stated which of course could be the village or parish. Interestingly, where I do have better location information the families are often in that location for a significant period which is helpful.
New Posts
- The parish Post Office(s) from 1855 to today
- The parish Letter Boxes and their history
- Postcards
- Who was Bryony Randall?
- Joe Goodyear’s Night Cart
The house Doctor Keyworth lived in was later occupied by the Collier family who moved there from Berkshire. There were quite a few children that I remember. Jenny, then twins Ruth and Heather. I found in the previous posts for the history group someone else posted the following comment…….The collier I can remember Jenny, Jane , Angela , Ruth ,Dave , Jim and a few more but I can’t remember the others .
Thanks Stephanie, that’s super helpful. I’m guessing they must have been one of the last if not the last to live in that house.