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Articles
THE STRANGWARDS
GOUGH DEATH AT AYMESTREY
A SNAPSHOT OF
AYMESTREY ON THE 3 APRIL 1881
BEFORE ROMAN WAY
- SOME NOTES ON ITS RESIDENTS
AYMESTREY- THE NEXT
GENERATION -1891/1901
I have some extracts of the Bishops transcripts which might be of interest:
1765 March 11 buried Robert Strangward - infant with a footnote to the burial notes being "this was the most parching summer known for many years"
1770 Buried June 4 Elizabeth Strangward
June 6 1781 - part of parish memo "Parish Offiers and others including .......and Robert Strangward walked the boundaries finishing at Mortimers Cross where they were treated with five shillings worth of ale"
1795
Baptised 27 September Sarah daughter of John and Mary Strangward
Baptised 11 October Thomas son of Robert and Anne Strangward
Buried 8 January Elinor Strangward
Caleb Strangward who resided with his sister and her husband in the inn has a very weathered tombstone in the church cemetary
Some of my family worked in Yatton Court and I paid a visit there some years back where the owner offered me the estate books to look through - sadly they were incomplete following a dispute with her cousin who had taken probably the relevant ones to my family, their jobs, wages, etc.!
Regards
Christine Birkett
Many thanks to Colleen Jones for this article.
A SNAPSHOT OF AYMESTREY ON THE 3 APRIL 1881
This is a journey from The Mortimers Cross Inn to The Crown Inn (now The Riverside Inn) on the evening of the 3rd April 1881. It is not an imaginary journey. It is real. All persons and places actually existed.
The reason we have produced this record is purely out of interest in the village generated by many visits over the years. I do not live in the village and I have no commercial interests in the area, or anywhere else for that matter!
It may be a surprise to learn that there were 26 families comprising a total of 133 people living between the two Inns in 1881. There were 63 male persons (47%) . There were 26 people aged 50 or older (19.5%) and there were 35 young persons aged 10 or less (26%).
Lets start our journey at the Mortimers Cross Inn. William and Emily Hilton were managing the Inn at the time and they had one member of staff - Richard Prosser who was a groom and inn servant. Bill and Emily were both quite young and they had a family of 3 small children. There was only one resident at the Inn on the night in question. James Prichard was a mole catcher. He was a local man having been born in the village in 1831.
Bill Hilton would always have had a roaring fire at the inn because living next door to him was a coal agent!
John Addis was 57 and hailed from Forden in Montgomeryshire. He lived at Nut Tree Cottage with his wife Harriet, 10 years his junior, and from Ross on Wye. They had 7 children at the time ranging from 4 to 20. They must have been quite a nomadic family as their children were born in Clun, Knighton, Wigmore and Kingsland!
Also living at Nut Tree Cottage was Edward and Elizabeth Pugh. They were a middle aged couple and both hailed from Stratford-on- Avon. Ted was a Timber Feller.
The next port of call on our journey is to the Vicarage. Here we encounter John Sidebotham, the Vicar of Aymestrey and his wife Alice. Both middle aged, they came from Middlesex. John boasted an MA from Oxford. The couple had 3 small children. They also had 3 servants consisting of a cook, a housemaid and a nurse. They also employed a private governess. None of these were local people.
John and Alice also had servants living in the Vicarage Cottage. Joseph Sherwood and his wife Jane were the vicar's groom and gardener and laundress respectively. Joe was from Brampton Brian and Jane came from Berrington. The Sherwoods had 4 children aged between 10 and 1.
From what we have seen so far there was plenty of customers for Aymestrey School!
Joe and Jane lived with another family in Vicarage cottage. John Stephens was 61 and born in the village. His wife Eleanor was 64 and from Llanduey in Radnor. They were looking after their grandson Samuel Williams on 3rd April 1881. He was a local boy from Aymestrey. Vicarage Cottage is still prominent in the village today with its distinctive thatched roof.
Next off is the Blacksmith's shop. This is another building still around today. In 1881 the village blacksmith was Annie Wynde. Yes, a lady blacksmith! And at 71 years of age too! She was a widow who was born in Dilwyn. Living and working with her was William Green, a widower aged 51 from Lingen. The household was completed with Caroline Taylor aged 66 from Kingsland and Edward Hopton, born in the village. Both are shown as boarders. Edward was an agricultural labourer and Caroline a dressmaker by trade.
At this point, the census enumerator seems to have crossed the road (a bit safer in those days I'll wager!) and has listed several families simply under the address of "Aymestrey". The families were headed by the following -
Emma Holland, widow, 28 from Tenbury.
Thomas Smith 33 from Aymestrey, an Agricultural Labourer (with 3 servants)
Rachel Mantle, widow, 36 from Diddlebury, a farmers wife.
John Freeman, widower, 76 from Eyton. A carpenter.
Francis Oliver aged 70, from the village who is recorded in the census as a small farmer. He had a wife Mary and 4 children.
Martha Brunt, widow, 58 from Burford. A charwoman.
Why were there so many widows and widowers in the village in 1881?!
We now arrive at Brick House (I wonder where that was?). In 1881 the Lowe family occupied it. Herbert was 36 and a local man. He had 2 jobs - a Tailor and an artificial manure agent. Curious combination! Bert's wife Emily was a dressmaker and milliner by trade so I'll bet he was her manager as well as her hubby! Emily was 34 and came from Llanguntle in Radnor. The couples 4 small children were all born in the village.
Next door was Turnpike House (Again, where is this?). William and Hannah Edwards lived there. They were middle aged and Bill was an Agricultural labourer. He was born Aymestrey but Hannah was from Garway.
Now we come to the really interesting bit because all of the following entries can be clearly identified today.
The first of these was the Shoemaker's Shop, which is now called "Clerks Cottage" (why?). In 1881 the shoemaker was Thomas Owen, who was 41 and from Milbrow, in Shropshire. His wife was Sophia and she is local to the village. The couple had 3 children, all born in Aymestrey. Sophia's father, William Wheeler, aged 76, was also living with them and Thomas employed a shoemaker called William Lloyd, who was 67 at the time. He came from Pillith in Radnor. The descendants of Thomas and Sophia were still living in Clerks Cottage in 2003.
Moving down the road to what is now the Riverside Inn, we come across a small farm, which has recently become the Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast. In 1881 Richard Price and his wife Ann were the tenants and were obviously running the farm. Richard was 43 and came from Pendrars and Ann was 59 and from Eye. They employed one man in the shape of Thomas Cook, unmarried, aged 58 and local to Aymestrey.
Next door to the small farm are the premises now known as Roman Way. In 1881 there appeared to be 4 families living in this small block of cottages, as it was then.
The families are all shown under the address of "General Shop". The first of these families shows Sarah Cole as the married head. She was 33 and local and her occupation is shown as shopkeeper. Living with her is her daughter, Margery who at the time of the census was just 2 weeks old. (Wonder where her dad was?!).
The second family contains only one person. The unmarried Sarah Norris, aged 30 from Stanton on Arrow. She is shown as the Sub Postmistress and Grocer.
The third family is an elderly couple by the name of Francis and Susannah Wall, aged 60 and 56 respectively. Frank was an agricultural labourer.
Before I mention the 4th family, I must put on record that there is no mention in the census of any occupiers of the school premises next door to the present day "Roman Way". It is not known at present if the school premises were simply a classroom or whether there was living accommodation attached. Having said that, the 4th family which is shown as residing at "General Shop" is a certified schoolmaster and his wife and family. Now, it my understanding that the premises now known as "Roman Way" was at one time three cottages and not four. It is my view that the schoolmaster and his wife could have been transcribed in error as residing at "General Shop". But I could stand to be corrected!
Judging by the size of this family, they would have been pretty pushed to have occupied one of the small cottages!
So here now are details of the schoolmaster and his family.
He was called William Sarson, aged 24 from London and his wife, Margaret, aged 21 also from London. They had 3 children on record, aged 3, 2 and 7 months, all of whom were born in London. From this it would seem that the Sarsons (I thought they made vinegar!) had only recently moved to Aymestrey especially for the job. On the 3rd April 1881, Sarsons had a visitor in the shape of Mary Powell, aged 10. The family also employed a 14-year-old general servant born in Aymestrey, called Margaret Bowen.
The present "Roman Way" is now a single property, which is owned by members of my family and I pay regular visits to see them. Any information about the history of these particular premises would be most gratefully received.
The last residence that we need to visit before we finish up at The Crown (Riverside Inn) is Aymestrey Court. I know little about this establishment but there were certainly a lot of people living there in 1881! Francis and Mary Harrison, both of whom came from Westmorland, headed the largest of the families. Francis was a farmer of 477 acres and employed 6 labourers and 2 boys. The couple had 8 children, ranging from 23 years to 7 years, all of who were born in the Westmorland area.
The census records just 2 farm labourers, Edward Mitchell who was 15 and Timothy Hopton, aged 51 and born in the village. Presumably the other employees would be living elsewhere in the village.
The second family was Francis Dunkerton, aged 47 from Pilton, Somerset. His occupation is shown as 'clerk in land agent's office'. (I wonder if he moved into the shoemaker's shop and renamed it 'clerks cottage'!). Frank's wife Hannah was 10 years older than he was. They had no family recorded in the census, but living with them as a domestic servant was Hannah Powell, aged 44 from Aymestrey.
The third family consisted of Jabez Ley, aged 36 from Holsworthy in Devon. His occupation was 'surveyor of Inland Revenue' (I wonder if he was Francis Dunkerton's boss?). Mary Ley, his wife, was 35 and came from Cornwall. They had a small child staying with them on that night in 1881. Edith Ford was 4 and was born in Liverpool.
Widower Thomas Woodhouse headed the final family of the four. He was aged 63 and came from Leominster. He is recorded as a retired shop merchant. Thomas had 4 servants (goodness, he was well looked after!). He had a lady housekeeper, a groom, a cook and a housemaid. (Presumably his butler was out of town on the night of the census!)
Finally, we arrive at what is now the "Riverside Inn". The Innkeeper at the Crown Inn in 1881 was Charles Preece. He was local to the village, aged 45 and is also recorded as a farmer! His wife, Mary, was 46 and also from Aymestrey. They had a family of 5 daughters and 1 son, aged between 20 and 6, all of whom were born in Dilwyn. Also living with them was Charles's brother-in-law, Caleb Strangward (so Mary was originally called Mary Strangward). Caleb was unmarried, aged 30 and from Aymestrey. He was a farm labourer probably looking after Charles's farm while Charles concentrated on more social matters!
Charles also had a couple of servants. James Payne, was 20, from Aymestrey and is shown as an agricultural waggoner. William Hopton, was 14, and from Leominster. He is shown as a cowman.
And so our journey ends. Local history adds a dimension to present day life and is part and parcel of the folklore of rural communities. But at the same time we must respect the privacy of the families concerned. Even though all of the people mentioned are but memories, there will be descendants of these people still around in the village. Some of them may not have happy memories of their forebears while others will be inspired by information about theirs. We must tread softly and not intrude.
I feel convinced that the way to teach history to children is to start them off with the history of their families in the area in which they were born.
Do you have something to add to this research? Email Mary & Michael now
BEFORE ROMAN WAY - SOME NOTES ON ITS RESIDENTS.
In the research article "A Snapshot of Aymestrey on 3 April 1881" (above) some details of the residents of the houses were given from the 1881 census. And in the sequels to this paper more information is given.
The purpose of this paper is to pull all the notes together and add some more recent findings.
On the website "Family history online" which is managed by the Federation of Family History Societies, there is at the time of writing the 1851 census index for Herefordshire. The index includes Aymestrey but it is only an index. The full census does not appear and at present is only available to view by travelling to Hereford. However, the website is in its infancy and is being added to all the time. The site is a "pay per view" site but is considerably cheaper than the 1901 website with a 6 month validity for the on line vouchers available from £5 upwards.
The site has revealed 3 people in Aymestrey with the name Francis Wall:-
Francis Wall aged 32 on folio 531b
Francis Wall aged 32 on folio 539b
Francis Wall aged 63 on folio 531b
From this we can map on the same person at the "General Shop" in 1881 aged 60 and married to Susannah Wall aged 56. In 1851 he was living (presumably) in the same premises with his father aged 63 at the time. There is probably a grave in Aymestrey churchyard for the Wall family.
The websit "Free BMD" which lists births marriages and deaths in UK has now revealed some information regarding Sarah Cole who was recorded in 1881 as the shopkeeper. Her husband is not shown but Sarah had a 2 week old child called Margery. The site shows the marriage in Leominster district of a James Cole to a Sarah Preece in June 1880. If this is the right marriage, and I am sure it is, then the IGI website has revealed a family living in Aymestrey around 1838 as follows:-
Parents James Price Preece b abt 1812 Aymestrey and his wife Ann b abt 1816 Aymestrey. Their children were (all christened in the village)
Charles 22/3/1838
Ellen 27/9/1840
James 8/10/1843
Sarah 7/9 1846
William 20/4/1849
Caroline 12/10/1851
John 15/6/1856
I am sure that this is our Sarah as the age is more or less right according to the 33 recorded in the 1881 census.
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AYMESTREY- THE NEXT GENERATION -1891/1901
(A SEQUEL TO “A SNAPSHOT OF AYMESTREY ON THE 3 APRIL 1881”
During a visit to Leominster library on 21 May 2003 the following information was obtained about:-
The Shoemakers Cottage, the General Store/Post Office/Cottage (now known as Roman Way) and the Schoolhouse.
Taken from the 1891 Census:-
Schoolhouse, Aymestrey
Miss Round (first name unreadable), aged 23, single, from Litchfield,
Staffordshire, occupation Schoolmistress.
Lillian Round, her sister, aged 16, single, from Litchfield, Staffordshire, occupation Asst. Schoolmistress
Grocer’s Shop and Post Office
James Cole, head, aged 45, married, born Breconshire, occupation Grocer
Sarah Cole, his wife, aged 43, married, from Aymestrey
Marjory Cole, daughter, aged 10, born Aymestrey
George Cole, son, aged 6, born Aymestrey
Arthur James Cole, son , aged 3, born Aymestrey
Dorothy Mary Cole, daughter, aged 1, born Aymestrey
Mary Ann Lloyd, servant, aged 16, born Wigmore
Also shown as living at the Grocer’s Shop and Post Office are the following family:-
Susan Wall, head, widow, aged 68, born Eye
Henry Warr, lodger, aged 30, born Oxfordshire, occupation Mason labourer
Spencer Warr, lodger, aged 29, born Oxfordshire, occupation Mason
Alfred Bishop, lodger, aged 20, birthplace unknown, occupation Mason labourer
George Quinden, lodger, aged 22, birthplace unknown, occupation Mason labourer
Living at the Crown Inn, as a lodger , was John Toplis , aged 24, born Litchfield, occupation schoolmaster.
TAKEN FROM THE 1901 CENSUS
POST OFFICE, AYMESTREY
Sarah Cole, head, widow, aged 55, born Aymestrey, occupation Grocer and Postmistress
Marjory Cole, daughter, aged 20, born Aymestrey. No occupation shown
George Cole, son, aged 16, born Aymestrey, occupation Carpenter’s apprentice
Arthur James Cole, son, aged 13, born Aymestrey
Dorothy Mary Cole, daughter, aged 11, born Aymestrey
THE SCHOOLHOUSE, AYMESTREY
Mary A Batten, head, single, aged 38, born St. Austel, Cornwall, occupation Elementary Teacher
Gertrude Jones, border, single, aged 21, born Elton, Herefordshire, occupation Asst. Elementary Teacher
SHOEMAKER’S SHOP, AYMESTREY
(The name shoemaker shop does not appear on the census)
Alfred Owen, head, married, aged 27, born Aymestrey, occupation Shoemaker Journeyman
Mary Owen, wife, aged 26, born Byton
Elsie Owen, daughter, aged 4, born Aymestrey
Thomas Owen, son, aged 3, born Aymestrey
Seymour Owen, son aged 2, born Aymestrey
Andrew Owen, son, aged 11 months, born Aymestrey
Do you have something to add to this research? Email Mary & Michael now