In 1753 a new English law prescribed a formal ceremony of marriage that required brides and grooms to sign their names in a marriage register. The Marriage Act 1753, commonly referred to as Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act,  was intended to regularise so-called ‘Scotch Marriages’. Happily for future researchers, it had the unintended consequence of bringing into being comprehensive and readily available data on adult literacy.

Someone’s signature on a register is a loose indication of their level of literacy. Though in itself a signature does not show that the signer had any general capacity to read and write, it does indicate that the person had achieved at least elementary reading and writing skills, and aggregated data on this can be used to expose patterns and trends in a population’s levels of adult literacy.

In 1861 the Registrar General for Births, Deaths, and Marriages in England asserted: “If a man can write his own name, it may be presumed that he can read it when written by another; still more that he will recognize that and other familiar words when he sees them in print; and it is even probable that he will spell his way through a paragraph in the newspaper.”

It has been suggested that person’s capacity to sign their name on a marriage register is an indicator of abiding literacy, for the signature was normally made more than ten years after the signer left school. Not all remembered what they had been taught: in the 1860s the Rector of Hornsea in Yorkshire complained that “they for the most part soon forget what they have learned at school and when they come to be married can’t write their own names”.

Marriage records of Whitmore parish from 1813 to 1900 are readily available.  Those of marriages before 1813 have been combined with other records, making them more difficult to review.

I have tabulated the records from 1813 to 1900 to discover the proportion of brides and grooms who signed their names and the proportion who, unable to sign, made their mark an ‘X’ on the register.

I reviewed two hundred marriage records. In the 1810s 85% of grooms signed their name and just under 50% of brides. In the 1830s two-thirds of both grooms and brides signed their names. By the 1860s 95% of grooms and 90% of brides signed their name. By the end of the nineteenth century all grooms and brides signed their name.

While it was more likely that when only one signed it was the groom, there were instances of the bride signing and the groom making his mark.

The figures for Whitmore can be compared with statistics for the whole of England. In 1840 two-thirds of all grooms and half of all brides were able to sign their names at marriage. In the 1830s in Whitmore two-thirds of both grooms and brides could sign their name and in the following decade nearly all grooms and three-quarters of brides signed their name. By the end of the century the figure was 97% signed their name in England and Wales whereas in Whitmore all those who married in the 1890s signed their name.

It appears from these numbers that the average literacy of those who married in Whitmore was higher than the average for England and Wales. The data also suggests that the higher rate in Whitmore was achieved in advance of the passing of the 1870 Education Act, legislation that established the principle of a statutory responsibility for schooling, and helped achieve the rapid rise in UK literacy rates seen in the latter decades of the 19th century.

Related posts and further reading

• S is for schools
• X, her mark
• X, her mark, revisited

• Stone, L. (1969). Literacy and Education in England 1640-1900. Past & Present, 42, 69–139. http://www.jstor.org/stable/650183
• Mitch, D. (1983). The Spread of Literacy in Nineteenth-Century England. The Journal of Economic History, 43(1), 287–288. doi:10.1017/S0022050700029326
• Stephens, W. B. (1990). Literacy in England, Scotland, and Wales, 1500-1900. History of Education Quarterly, 30(4), 545–571. https://doi.org/10.2307/368946

Wikitree:

• Ralph Picken (abt. 1846 – 1924)
• Sarah (Mullineux) Picken (abt. 1848 – 1910)

Prosecuting felons, then and now

If your house were to be burgled you’d expect the police to investigate, to apprehend the burglar, and to pass the case to the public prosecutor. You would expect the matter to come before a court and that the accused person, if found guilty, would be punished according to the law.

Until the national police force was established, however, and until the system of prosecution on behalf of victims of crime was set in place, what we expect as a matter of course was simply not available. Felons were not easily apprehended, and criminal-law charges, brought by individuals, not the State, were expensive and difficult to prove against offenders.

Mutual-help Associations

In the absence of our modern system, where the State is entirely responsible for keeping the peace and enforcing the law, and responsible too, for prosecuting and punishing criminals, people with a common interest in protecting their property from miscreants—neighbours, fellow farmers, those in the same trade—formed mutual-assistance associations to protect themselves. Like many other parishes, Whitmore had an association for the prosecution of felons which, by paying for prosecutions from a common fund, could meet the high legal expense of securing a conviction.

In England between 1750 and 1850 more than 1000 prosecution associations were formed.

Newspaper advertisements

The first newspaper mention of the Whitmore Association for the Prosecution of Felons I have found is an advertisement in The Staffordshire Advertiser of 15 July 1826

The subscribers, mostly farmers, were the leading citizens of the parish.

Meetings of the Association were held annually over the next forty years with Andrew Martin (1799 – 1872), landlord of The Mainwaring Arms, serving as treasurer. The membership list changed as people came to the parish and left.

Other communities nearby had similar associations. In 1838 associations from Bradley, Gnosall, and Kingsley, advertised their annual meetings of similar associations in the same issue of the Staffordshire Advertiser as the 1838 Whitmore advertisement.

Cases

Several advertisements were taken out by the Association. In 1829 two horses were stolen from members of the Association and a reward was offered in each case:

The Staffordshire Advertiser 19 September 1829

TEN GUINEAS REWARD.-Stolen out of a Field at ACTON, near Newcastle, Staffordshire, on Monday night, the 14th, or early on Tuesday morning, the 15th September, 1829, a BLACK MARE, half- bred, and of the cart kind, stands about 14 hands two inches high, switch tail, a little white on the off hind foot, and a little hair rubbed of with a chain on the off side; she has a small head, a fine neck, and a feather on the lower part of each buttock.
Whoever will give such information of the Offender or Offenders, so that he or they may be brought to justice and convicted, shall receive TEN GUINEAS Reward, namely-Five Guineas from the Owner, Mr. BEECH, of Acton aforesaid; and Five Guineas from the Treasurer of the Whitmore Association.

The Staffordshire Advertiser 26 September 1829

BAY MARE STOLEN.-FIFTEEN POUNDS REWARD.--Whereas, late on Saturday night last, or early on Sunday morning, a BAY MARE, of the hackney kind, aged, stands about sixteen hands high, both knees broken, (she suckled a foal at the time) switch tail, "IT" marked on each shoe, was stolen from a field at the New Buildings, near to Market Drayton.
Whoever will give information, so that the offender or offenders may be brought to justice and convicted, shall receive the above reward, namely, Five Pounds from Mr. John Birks, of Shutlanehead, near Newcastle, the owner; and Ten Pounds from the Treasurer of the Whitmore Association.
Whitmore, September 21, 1829.

An account of the second theft, with a pursuit by members of the Whitmore Association, and also another theft of a horse was reported in the newspaper at the time:

Market Drayton, Sept. 19.-Our fair this day has been well supplied with cows, horses, and sheep, but owing to the great scarcity of money there was very little traffic, and that little was not to the advantage of the seller. Two horses were stolen from pastures near this town, on the night of the fair. A bay mare, belonging to Mr. John Birks, of Shutlanehead, was taken from a field near the New Buildings, and although the members of the Whitmore Association went various routes in pursuit, nothing has been heard of her since. (See advt.) The other, a valuable horse, belonging to Mr. Hill, of Shepherd's Grange, was recovered the next morning in the following way:-The gate keeper at Seabridge, near Newcastle, had to let through his gate about midnight a man on horseback, whose appearance excited his suspicions; these he expressed to the man, and threatened to send after him immediately. In a few moments the horse came back to the gate without his rider, and the animal proved to be the one that had been stolen from Shepherd's Grange, and which the fear-struck horse- stealer had thus voluntarily abandoned.

Other thefts where a reward was offered by the Association were for 

• a greyhound stolen from kennels at Whitmore Hall in 1838
• fish from the lake at Whitmore which had been dragged by nets in 1853
• a yew sheep which might have been stolen or strayed in 1862

The meeting of 1866 reported that “during the past year the members have been particularly free from depredations upon their property”

WHITMORE ASSOCIATION.-The annual meeting of this association was held at the Mainwaring Arms Inn, on Tuesday last, when an excellent dinner was provided by Mr. A. Martin, the host. A company of nearly 30 members sat down, Mr. Chester ably presiding, and Mr. J. Highfield Occupying the vice-chair. A very social and agreeable evening was spent. The usual loyal and other toasts of a local character were cordially given. The funds of the association are in a flourishing condition, and during the past year the members have been particularly free from depredations upon their property.

Songs in the Pub

In 1867 members enjoyed a large dinner, followed by some popular songs, toasts, and more songs:

WHITMORE ASSOCIATION.-The annual meeting of the members of the "Whitmore Association for the Prosecution of Felons" was held at Mr. Martin's, the Mainwaring Arms, on Tuesday. After the business had been transacted, the members sat down to an excellent dinner which had been provided. Mr. W. Turner, Chapel Chorlton, presided, Mr. Highfield, Whitmore, officiating as vice-chairman. After the usual loyal toasts other toasts followed, agreeably alternated by some excellent and popular songs.

The most recent newspaper report of the activities of the Association appeared in July 1869.

WHITMORE ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROSECUTION OF FELONS.-The annual meeting of this association was held on Tuesday at the Mainwaring Arms Inn, Whitmore, when, after squaring accounts, the members sat down to an excellent dinner, provided by Host Martin, and served up in his usual good style. Mr. Grocott ably occupied the chair, and Mr. Highfield the vice-chair. Ample justice having been done to the good things provided, the usual loyal and local toasts were drunk. Amongst them the health of the worthy secretary and treasurer (Mr. Martin) was not forgotten. The company, after spending a very agreeable afternoon, separated at an early hour.

Winding up

It would seem that after over 40 years the Association had outlived its usefulness. Andrew Martin, innkeeper of the Mainwaring Arms and the Association’s long-standing treasurer, was now 70 years old. He died in July 1872. He was the only member of the Association on the list of subscribers in 1864 who had also been listed in 1826.

Related posts and further reading

• I is for inns
• J is for Justice of the Peace
• P is for police
• Koyama, M. (2012). Prosecution Associations in Industrial Revolution England: Private Providers of Public Goods? The Journal of Legal Studies, 41(1), 95–130. https://doi.org/10.1086/664011
• Sutton, J. (2004, May). Protecting privilege and property: Associations for the Prosecution of Felons The local historian volume 34, number 2 May 2004. pp.89-103. British Association For Local History. https://www.balh.org.uk/publication-tlh-the-local-historian-volume-34-number-2-may-2004
• Savage, W. (2017, April 30). Eighteenth-century prosecution associations. Pen and Pension. https://penandpension.com/2017/07/05/eighteenth-century-prosecution-associations-2/

Wikitree:

• Whitmore Association
• Andrew Martin (1799 – 1872)

Drone first-person video photography has given new meaning to the phrase ‘bird’s-eye view’. These fly overs were taken in 2016 and 2020.

The clips can be matched to maps, plans, and views from the ground, unfolding a three-dimensional experience of the local geography.

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834

The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 was an attempt by legislative means to overhaul the poverty relief system in England and Wales. It was intended to curb the growing cost of poor relief and to root out abuses of the system, widespread in southern agricultural counties.

In the new arrangements, relief would be given only in workhouses, where conditions would be such as to deter all but the truly destitute from applying for relief.

Among the conjectures, assumptions, and political debate on which the new legislation rested was Thomas Malthus‘s belief that population increased faster than resources unless checked; David Ricardo‘s doctrine that real wages tend to the minimum, making all attempts to improve the income of workers futile; and Jeremy Bentham‘s hedonistic ethical theory of Utilitarianism, which seemed to imply that in pursuit of pleasure the poor would rather claim relief than work.

Poor relief before 1834

Before the legislative changes of 1834, relief of the poor was a local parish matter regulated and administered under several different laws.

Enclosures

As public land shrank in the enclosures of the late eighteenth century, poor farmers and labourers found themselves forced off the land, denied the right to gather fuel and pasture stock. Poor relief, always inadequate, was quickly overwhelmed.

Outdoor relief

Under the old system some parishes paid “outdoor relief“, a supplement meant to keep the poor out of the workhouse, gainfully employed in rural occupations. Opponents argued that outdoor relief destroyed the incentive to work and that the subsidy paid under the scheme to local farmers was an undeserved windfall. Outdoor relief was abolished by the 1834 legislation.

Newcastle-under-Lyme poor-law Union

The parish of Whitmore poor-law relief was administered by the Newcastle-under-Lyme poor law union.

The functions of poor law unions were exercised by boards of guardians, partly elected by ratepayers. There were 19 guardians for the Newcastle poor law union, one was elected from the parish of Whitmore.

In 1851 the elections of the guardians were announced in the Staffordshire Advertiser of 22 March.

The results of the election held on 7 April were published on 12 April. Walter Davis (1818 – 1868), a farmer from Whitmore, was re-elected unopposed.

Union accounts were examined regularly by the auditor of the Staffordshire and Derbyshire and Audit District. The 1851 district auditor of poor law, Richard Stone, advertised that there would be the Lady Day Audit in May and the Michaelmas Audit in November.

The March 1851 census records the names of the men and women assigned to the Union Workhouse in Newcastle-under-Lyme. None had been born in Whitmore, and no Whitmore names appear in contemporary newspaper reports of the Union and its activities.

At the time of the 1851 census in the parish of Whitmore one man, James Taylor aged 74, was stated to be a pauper. He was a widower living alone on Whitmore Heath. A decade earlier he was also living alone on Whitmore Heath and his occupation was given as labourer. James Taylor (age 81), agricultural labourer, died of bronchitis on 30 January 1858 in the Union Workhouse at Newcastle-under-Lyme. He was buried on 2 February 1858 in Whitmore, St Mary & All Saints.

The Union Workhouse at Newcastle-under-Lyme was in part funded by the ratepayers of Whitmore, but very few people of Whitmore parish, it seems, were referred to it.

Related posts and further reading

• N is for Newcastle-under-Lyme
• Pool, Daniel (1998). What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens knew : fascinating facts of daily life in the nineteenth century. Robinson, London. Pages 220-222
• Higginbotham, P. (n.d.). Newcastle-under-Lyme workhouse and poor law union. The history of the workhouse by Peter Higginbotham. Retrieved April 22, 2024, from https://www.workhouses.org.uk/NewcastleUnderLyme/
• Dinnacombe, Gladys (2017). A Staffordshire Workhouse – Living In the Workhouse of Newcastle Under Lyme. [ebook read through everand.com https://www.everand.com/book/486021490/A-Staffordshire-Workhouse-Living-In-the-Workhouse-of-Newcastle-Under-Lyme]

Wikitree:

• Walter (Davis) Davies (1818 – 1868) , guardian of the Newcastle Union elected from the parish of Whitmore in 1851
• James Taylor (1778 – 1858), labourer and pauper of Whitmore 
• Richard Stone (abt. 1816 – 1864), auditor  
• George Fox (abt. 1805 – 1867) was the master of the Newcastle Union Workhouse for over 30 years until his death in 1867

Tenths

Tithes—‘tenths’, one-tenth of the produce of the land—were originally paid to the rector of a parish, as alms and as recompense for his services.

Tithing existed from earliest times in the great civilisations of Mesopotamia. Ancient Israel had tithes; Western Christians followed the practice.

Tithes were payable on:

• all things arising from the ground and subject to annual increase – grain, wood, vegetables etc.;
• all things nourished by the ground – the young of cattle, sheep etc., and animal produce such as milk, eggs and wool;
• the produce of man’s labour, particularly profits from mills and fishing.

 From early times money payments were substituted for payments in kind.

After the dissolution of the monasteries in the late 1530s, ownership of large tracts of church land, often with accompanying rectorial tithes, passed into lay hands, and the tithes became personal property of the new owners. (See Advowsons in the post R is for rectors.)

Tithes the Income of the Anglican Church

The tithe was the principal income of the Church in England. The journalist John Wade‘s Extraordinary Black Book, a heated exposé of the system, estimated the church tithe as some £6.8 million (the equivalent of over £300 million in 2024).

Tithe Act 1836

The Tithe Act 1836 replaced the ancient system of payment of tithes in kind with monetary payments.

The Act substituted a variable monetary payment (referred to as the “corn rent”) for any existing tithe in kind.

When the legislation was passed three Tithe Commissioners were appointed and the process of commutation began. The Commissioners made enquiries about every parish and township listed in the census returns.

The initial process in the commutation of tithes in a parish was an agreement between the tithe-owners and landowners or, in default of agreement, an award by the Tithe Commissioners. Generally the next stage was the apportionment of payments.

In most cases, the principal record of the commutation of tithes in a parish under the Tithe Act 1836 is the Tithe Apportionment which includes a map. The apportionment recorded the name(s) of the landowner(s) and occupier(s), the number, acreage, name or description, and state of cultivation of each tithe area; the amount of rentcharge payable, and the name(s) of the tithe-owner(s).

The Tithe Apportionment for Whitmore was prepared in 1839 by George Harding of the nearby parish of Maer; Harding was the land agent for Rowland Mainwaring of Whitmore Hall. The Rector, John Isaac Brasier, was one of the parties to the agreement.

Whitmore’s Tithe Apportionment

The gross rent charge payable for Whitmore was £280; 1986 acres (804 hectares) were surveyed.

There were 57 occupiers. Of these, 39 had Rowland Mainwaring Esq. as landowner. His land in the parish, including 204 acres which he occupied, came to 1454 acres, 73% of the parish. In addition, Rowland Mainwaring was listed as landowner of 1625 acres in four other parishes.

There were 12 other landowners in Whitmore parish, accounting for 532 acres. This land included 134 acres for the common, two other farms of 111 acres and 133 acres under two different landlords. A total of 532 acres, 37 acres of roads and lanes, and 10 acres were occupied by the railway then under construction.

Tithe records

The records created in valuing the land and establishing payments to replace tithes are still extant. With large-scale maps plotting every parcel of land subject to tithes, the records provide a detailed snapshot of land ownership in the parish of Whitmore in 1839.

Related posts and further reading

• F is for farmers
• R is for rectors
• A joke that bears retelling. (2002, September 10). Antiques Trade Gazette | Art, Antique & Auction News. https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/news/2002/a-joke-that-bears-retelling/
• A very brief history of the tithe. (2023, September 9). John Martin of Evershot: The Life and Times of a 19th Century Land Surveyor. https://johnmartinofevershot.org/a-very-brief-history-of-the-tithe/

Wikitree:

• Whitmore Staffordshire 1839 Tithe
• George Harding (1802 – abt. 1858),  land agent for Rowland Mainwaring of Whitmore Hall
• John Isaac Brasier (1782 – 1848), Rector of Whitmore
• Rowland Mainwaring (1782 – 1862), major landowner (my 4th great grandfather)

Before the reforms brought about by the Elementary Education Act 1870, which set the framework for schooling of all children between the ages of 5 and 12 in England and Wales, established local education authorities with defined powers, and authorised public money to improve existing school, educational instruction in villages was organised at the local level. Most schools were run by church authorities; most stressed religious education.

The Sunday School Society was founded in 1785.  By 1831 Sunday Schools were ministering weekly to 1,250,000 children in Great Britain, approximately 25% of the population.

In 1811, the Anglican National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church in England and Wales was established. The schools founded by the National Society were called National Schools. 

Whitmore

In 1833 Whitmore had two day schools and two Sunday schools, supported by Mrs and Miss Mainwaring, presumably Sarah Mainwaring (1774–1837) of Whitmore Hall and her sister, Julia Mainwaring (1789–1851).

White’s History Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire for 1834 gives the names of two of parish teachers: George Fairbanks, schoolmaster, and Sarah Hodgkinson, schoolmistress.

George Fairbanks

George Fairbanks (1807–1887) was recorded on the 1841, 1851, and 1861 censuses as Whitmore schoolmaster. By 1871, aged 63, he appears to have retired from teaching to take up farming at Bromley Green, near Whitmore village. Besides schoolmaster he had been registrar of births, deaths and marriages, parish clerk, and postmaster.

Sarah Smith nee Hodgkinson

Sarah (Hodgkinson) Smith (1804–1889), wife of Thomas Smith (1806-1893), shoemaker, was recorded as school mistress on the 1841, 1861, and 1871 censuses.

Both teachers taught in Whitmore for more than 30 years.

Schoolhouses

At the time of the 1839 tithe apportionment George Fairbanks occupied two parcels of land, one of them a school house and yard. Thomas Smith, husband of Sarah Smith, was also recorded as occupying a parcel of land, described as schoolhouse and yard.

A map prepared at the time shows the location of the schools and of George Fairbanks’s house.

The schools were described differently in various post office directories. 

The 1842 Pigot’s Directory refers to 

• Endowed School: George Fairbanks, master 
• School of Industry: Sarah Smith 

The Kelly’s Directory of 1850 for Birmingham, Staffordshire & Worcestershire lists two teachers: 

• Fairbanks George: academy
• Smith Mrs Sarah: ladies’ school

How many school-children?

In 1851 an Ecclesiastical Census was taken determine how much provision was given to accommodate religious worship, and how many people actually attended. This census also covered school numbers.  The return for Whitmore, compiled by George Fairbanks, stated there were 70 Sunday Scholars in the morning and 70 more in the afternoon (I am not sure if some students attended both sessions, I am also not sure of the ages of the students.).

There were about 45 children aged 5 to 14 living in the parish in 1851, several of the older children were already employed as servants.

George Till

On 9 June 1866 an advertisement appeared in the Staffordshire Advertiser calling for a Master for Whitmore Boys’ School:

WANTED immediately, a MASTER for WHITMORE BOYS’ SCHOOL.
This presents a good opening for a painstaking, intelligent person of superior abilities. No one whose moral character cannot bear the strictest examination need apply.-Apply, personally, at the School, Whitmore, any day next week.

George Till (1840–1906), aged 26, was evidently the successful candidate. Five years earlier, at the time of the 1861 census, George Till had been schoolmaster of the National School in Croxton, eight miles south of Whitmore.

National School

In addition to the parish school, Whitmore had a National School, run by the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church.

The National School was rebuilt in 1871 for 50 children, both boys and girls. It had an average attendance of just over 40 in the late nineteenth century.

In 1876 an advertisement in the Staffordshire Sentinel sought a Schoolmaster and schoolmistress for Whitmore’s National School:

EDUCATION. 
WANTED, on Lady Day next, March 25th, 1876, CERTIFICATED MASTER for a Mixed C.E. School; also, MISTRESS to teach the girls sewing, &c., the required number of hours. Country parish. A strict disciplinarian, and high testimonials required. Terms: School fees, Government grant, and parochial subscriptions; also, house, &c. Average attendance, 40 (may be raised).- Address, The Manageress, C.E. Mixed School, Whitmore, Staffordshire.

It seems Sophia Agnes Wheatley was appointed.

Kelly’s Directory of 1880 lists Miss Sophia Agnes Wheatley as school mistress of the National School. In the 1881 census records her as Whitmore school mistress.

Conclusion

It appears that before the Elementary Education Act of 1870 was passed, the children of the parish of Whitmore had access to two schools.

I have not been able to find many records concerning the schools. However, I have found that the majority of men and women of Whitmore could write their own name throughout the nineteenth century and by the end of the century it seems all adults in the parish were at least literate enough to sign their own name.

Related posts

• C is for census

Wikitree:

• Whitmore Staffordshire schools
• Sarah Mainwaring (1774 – 1837)
• Julia Mainwaring (1789 – 1851)
• George Fairbanks (1807 – 1887)
• Sarah Ann (Hodgkinson) Smith (1806 – 1889)
• George Till (1840 – 1906)
• Sophia Agnes Wheatley (1857 -1933)

Early History

Christian worship at Whitmore dates from before 1175. At that time, and probably earlier in the post-Conquest period, Whitmore had a chapel, perhaps its first, owned by Trentham Priory, an Augustinian monastery a few miles south of present-day Stoke-on-Trent.

By 1297 the Whitmore chapel had come under the control of the parish of Stoke, one of two ancient parishes in the northern part of Staffordshire. From then Whitmore had the status of parochial chapel until 1725, when it became a  chapel of ease to Stoke-upon-Trent. (A chapel of ease was a church building other than the parish church, built conveniently close to its intended parishioners.)

In 1807 an Act of Parliament promoted Whitmore and other Stoke chapelries to rectories. The rector—parish priest—had full control of his parish and its assets, including such matters as repairs to the chancel of his church, where the choir stood and the sacred offices were conducted. (A vicar, in contrast to a rector, acted on behalf of higher-ranking clergy.)

Advowsons

When Whitmore gained the higher status of parish Edward Mainwaring (1736-1825), then squire of Whitmore, purchased its advowson, the right to appoint the rector. For this right of patronage he paid £3,010, and he contributed another £1,000 for building a rectory. These were large sums of money, the present-day equivalent of millions of pounds.

An advowson was in part a means to exert moral influence on the parishioners, and it has been suggested that to control the appointment of a parish priest—the expression was ‘to have it in one’s gift’—was a way of controlling the management of the estate as a business enterprise. This may be so, but the arrangement demanded a compliant cleric sufficiently conscious of his obligations to his appointer. It is not surprising, perhaps, that advowsons were also used to provide a career and income for a younger son or for a valued servant in holy orders (such as a chaplain or secretary), or as a reward for past services rendered to the patron by the appointee. In 1830 over 7,000 of the over 11,000 benefices or livings in England and Wales were controlled by private parties, but reforms of parish administration in the late nineteenth century reduced advowsons to a negligible value. 

Rectors of Whitmore

James Eyton Mainwaring

The first rector of the new parish of Whitmore was James Eyton Mainwaring (1750 – 1808), brother of Edward Mainwaring, the squire. At the time of his appointment in 1808 James Mainwaring was vicar of Ellastone, 23 miles east of Whitmore. Appointed rector on 6 August 1808, he died three months later on 2 November 1808.

John Isaac Brasier

Mainwaring was succeeded by a recently ordained priest, John Isaac Brasier (1782 – 1848). The will of John Brasier’s mother Sarah , proved in 1829, notes that “… whereas  the living of Whitmore was purchased for my oldest Son John Isaac Brasier by his late father but paid for by me after his death and cost the sum of two thousand pounds or thereabouts …” It appears that the Brasier family purchased the living of Whitmore from Edward Mainwaring for their newly ordained son.

In 1817 A Topographical History of Staffordshire  reported 

The Church is situate in the village, and was, we apprehend, rebuilt in 1632, as that date appears on a stone over the west door. It is a small stone building of an oblong form, with a half-timber turret on the west end, containing three bells, and is capable of holding about 150 persons. The turret probably exhibits a specimen of the kind of walls erected in the ancient churches prior to the use of stone.
A few monuments are in the Church to the memory of some of the respectable family of Mainwaring, which has been seated at Whitmore for several generations. On the north side of the Church appears a neat walk flanked with rows of trees, forming a beautiful avenue, which is terminated by Whitmore-hall, the seat of Edward Mainwaring, Esq. and which, judging from a date over the front door, was built or rebuilt in 1676.
The Living till of late was a chapel of ease to Stoke-upon-Trent. It is now a rectory endowed with all the great and small tithes in the parish, surplice-fees, and between 30 and 40 acres of glebe ; part of which lies near Burslem, and part near Newcastle; but the bulk is situated in and near Whitmore. The reputed value is about £400 a year. The Rev. J. S. Brasier, is Rector, and Edward Mainwaring, Esq. Patron.

A family history states that Brasier was advanced £500 by Edward Mainwaring to build a rectory to replace the old Parsonage. The house was uncompleted in 1829. In 1846 at which time Charles Mainwaring (1819-1878) became curate, the then squire, Rowland Mainwaring, father of Charles, paid to have the house completed.

Curates and Rectors

In the Anglican ecclesiastical system, a curate is a clergyman without benefice or living who assists the rector with the work of the parish. From the Whitmore registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials, it appears that the curates performed most of the ordinary church work of the parish.

Whitmore had a succession of curates. In 1814 Lancelot Dixon was appointed a stipendiary curate. (These were licensed by the Bishop to assist an incumbent at a fixed stipend.) In 1828 Thomas Harding Hartshorne was appointed stipendiary curate. William Stone was appointed in 1836. (His son Samuel is remembered for his hymn The Church’s One Foundation.) From 1842 to 1846 Archibald Paris was curate. Brasier continued as rector until his death in 1848.

Charles Henry Mainwaring

The fourth son of Rowland Mainwaring, squire of Whitmore Hall was Charles Henry, born 1819. He was educated at Shrewsbury and gained his M.A. at Oriel College, Oxford. He was ordained as priest in 1845. In 1846 he took up his residence at the rectory as curate of Whitmore. Following the death of the Reverend John Brazier Charles Mainwaring was inducted as rector of Whitmore in November 1848. He died in 1878.

Vernon Yonge

The Reverend Vernon Yonge who had been vicar of Doddington in Cheshire, became Rector of Whitmore and held that role until 1878 when he became Rector of Brattleby in Lincolnshire.

Percy Edward Mainwaring

Percy Edward Mainwaring, born 1857, was the fifth child of the Reverend Charles Henry Mainwaring. He was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford, and received the degree of Master of Arts. 

After serving as curate at Sutton Coldfield for a little over two years, he became Rector of Whitmore in July 1885, on the resignation of the Reverend Vernon George Yonge. He held the post until his death in 1927. Whitmore Church contains an alabaster tablet with the following inscription: —

THIS ORGAN CHAMBER was built in 1929 to the glory of GOD and in loving memory of PERCY EDWARD MAINWARING
for more than 42 years Rector of this Parish and Servant of the Public in this County
Born at Whitmore Rectory Dec. 14th 1857 he died there June 22nd 1927
“A good life hath but a few days, but a good name endureth for ever ”

Related posts and further reading

• Y is for younger sons
• K is for visit of the King
• Q is for Queen Victoria jubilee – church clock tower
• A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 8, ed. J G Jenkins (London, 1963), British History Online
  • Newcastle-under-Lyme: Churches pp. 16-24.  http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol8/pp16-24
  • The city of Stoke-on-Trent: Introduction pp. 80. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol8/p80
  • Stoke-upon-Trent: Churches pp. 188-194. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol8/pp188-194

Wikitree:

• Whitmore Staffordshire church and clergy
• James Eyton Mainwaring (1750 – 1808)
• John Isaac Brasier (1782 – 1848)
• Lancelot Dixon (abt. 1787 – 1861)
• Thomas Hartshorne Harding (1800 – 1883)
• William Stone (abt. 1806 – 1877)
• Archibald Paris (1817 – 1861)
• Charles Henry Mainwaring (1819 – 1878)
• Vernon George Yonge (1823 – 1914)
• Percy Edward Mainwaring (1857 – 1927)

The oldest structures of the church of St Mary and All Saints at Whitmore date from the twelfth century.

Some four hundred years ago it underwent a program of restoration, and ‘1632’ was inscribed on the lintel above the west entrance. The timber-framed bell turret dates from this period.

In the 1880s there was second restoration, directed by the lessee of Whitmore Hall, Colonel Michael Daintry Hollins.

St Mary and All Saints has architectural features more common in Cheshire; employed here, possibly attributable to the Mainwaring family’s Cheshire origins.

In the 1880s the church underwent considerable restoration and rebuilding under the direction of Colonel Michael Daintry Hollins, at the time lessee of Whitmore Hall.

Hollins was a Sraffordshire manufacturer of encaustic tiles, made from differently coloured ceramic clay, with the pattern inlaid into the body of the tile. Hollins donated new tiles for the church from his factory, and not only to the Whitmore Church. He gave tiles generously to many churches and chapels in the district.

The Minton Hollins tile manufacturing factory was one of the earliest tile manufacturers of the Stoke-on-Trent region.  His factory had been founded by Thomas Minton in the 1790s; Herbert Minton, son of Thomas, began making tiles in the 1830s. In 1845 Michael Daintry Hollins went into partnership with Herbert Minton, and the tile department became a separate concern, managed by Hollins. In 1868 the partnership ended. The following year Hollins built a new tile factory, and continued to trade both as ‘Minton & Co’ for encaustic or inlaid tiles and ‘as ‘Minton Hollins & Co’ for wall tiles, but they were all made in the same factory.

The clock on the west face  of the tower of Whitmore Church commemorates the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897. It is set in a square wooden frame, with a black face, gold markings, Roman numerals and gold hands. In the top corners are the letters ‘V’ and ‘R’ and in the bottom corners ‘1837’ and ‘1897’. 

WHITMORE.-The principal item of interest in this parish was the placing in the church tower of a very handsome clock by Messrs. Joyce, of Whitchurch, at a cost of about £50, and which was started on Sunday, when two large congregations attended Divine service. Appropriate hymns and the National Anthem were sung. On Jubilee Day, the Rector (the Rev. P. E. Mainwaring) presented each of the school children with a Jubilee mug, and Col. and the Misses Hollins entertained the parishioners and children to tea in the grounds of Whitmore Hall. Afterwards, Mr. H. M. D. Hollins proposed the health of the Queen, and the National Anthem was heartily sung. Dancing, boating and other forms of recreation were engaged in, and in the course of the festivities an address was presented to Col. and the Misses Hollins on the occasion of their leaving the Hall, where Col. Hollins has resided for about 34 years. The Misses Hollins received in addition a present of a travelling timepiece each, while a silver cigar case and match-box were presented to Mr. H. M. D. Hollins. In the evening a large bonfire was lighted in one of Mr. Jackson’s fields.

Staffordshire Advertiser 26 June 1897

Percy Mainwaring, grandson of Admiral Rowland Mainwaring, was rector when the clock was installed in 1897.

In 1897 Colonel Hollins left Whitmore to live at Springfield Hall near Newcastle-under-Lyme; he had leased Whitmore Hall since 1863, nearly 35 years. Hollins died in 1898 and was buried at Whitmore.

Related posts and further reading

• K is for visit of the King
• Hawley, Julian D.S & Rushton, Ron & Church of St. Mary and All Saints (Whitmore, England) St. Mary and All Saints Church, Whitmore. John Porter : Whitmore Parochial Church Council, [Whitmore], 1984.
• Historic England listing for the Church of St Mary and All Saints at Whitmore
• Church of England’s online heritage database: Church Heritage Record 620427

Wikitree:

• Michael Daintry Hollins (1816 – 1898) Leased Whitmore Hall to 1897
• Percy Edward Mainwaring (1857 – 1927) Rector of Whitmore 1885 to 1927

The Rural Police Force

In January 1850 Captain Rowland Mainwaring, Squire of Whitmore Hall, wrote to the Staffordshire Advertiser to defend and praise the Rural Police Force, which had been established in the county seven years earlier. (The Metropolitan London Police Force was founded in 1829.) There had been a decrease in crime, said Mainwaring, and several gangs of burglars had been suppressed.

THE RURAL POLICE QUESTION.
To the Editor of the Staffordshire Advertiser.
SIR,
I very much regretted being unable to attend at the discussion of Major Chetwynd's motion for the abolition of the Rural Police Force on the 31st ult., being desirous to lay before the Court information respecting the working of the force in that part of Pirehill North wherein I act, and which I think is of much importance to the county, as tending to shew their usefulness and efficiency, (however much, unfortunately, they may press on the ratepayers,) and that they could not by any possibility be dispensed with. The returns of the Chief Constable shew a decrease of crime, compared with the corresponding quarter of last year, of 147 cases, notwithstanding the gradual increase of population of that class from which crime generally emanates. The reason is obvious.
It is now seven years since the police were formed in this county, strangers to localities and inhabitants. They had their lessons to co learn, and the people to know: hence the first prejudice against them, and I deeply regret that it is too plainly seen the same prejudice continues, in a more or less degree, among many influential individuals to the present day. However, a continued residence and supervision in those parts where bad characters are known to reside a perfect knowledge of their persons, their haunts, and their thieving occupations, added to increased vigilance in tracing and detecting burglars, as well as the receivers of their stolen property, has had the effect of checking those depredations in a very great degree, to which may be attributed the large amount of decrease in crime. I am able to acquaint you, sir, from authentic information, that within a short space of time, in this district, two desperate gangs of burglars have been entirely broken up, and dispersed: one called "Rhodes's gang" have been nearly all transported for various terms. Two months ago a new gang sprung up, and (with one exception) have been apprehended. Three are now in prison for trial at the Assizes, and a receiver is on bail. At r this moment the rural police have their eyes on nearly thirty well known characters, who are ripe and ready for mischief whenever the opportunity is afforded them. There has been for a long time, a connecting link between these people in the rural districts and those of the Potteries, thus:-When goods were stolen from the former localities, they are immediately hurried to the latter, and if from the Potteries they find a ready market at Audley or Knutton Heath (in Pirehill), or Leek, Cheadle, and other places (in Totmonslow), at all of which are people bearing the outward marks of respectability, notorious for the encouragement they give to these reckless burglars.
If, therefore, there be a connecting link in thievery, there must also be with those who detect and trace them; and inasmuch as the Rural and Pottery Police work together on these occasions, the latter cannot be dispensed with while that connecting link continues, and the same is applicable to the mining districts of the county. The substitution for a rural police which the gallant Major proposes seems to me enveloped in mystery, while that which the Rev. Mr. Sneyd suggests, is a return to the old parochial system. Heaven defend the county from such an infliction, worthy people as they are. In this district, we number (among other parochial constables) 46 farmers and day labourers, whose occupations are in the fields from early dawn, and an hour after sunset, wearied with their day's exertions, they may be found snoring in their beds. Then would commence the harvest for housebreakers, sheepstealers, and heaven knows whom besides. I will not trespass further on your columns, but merely add, that while I give the gallant Major full credit for his zeal and exertions, in endeavouring by every possible means to reduce the county expenditure (which I, for one, tender him my best thanks), I feel perfectly assured, that had he succeded in abolishing the rural police, he would have "found the remedy worse than the disease" in three months after their extinction.
I remain, Mr. Editor,
Your very obedient servant, ROWLD. MAINWARING, Captain R.N.
Whitmore Hall, Jan. 7th, 1850.

Rural Police Constable Donaldson

The 1841 census mentions no policeman in the parish of Whitmore. The next census, however, in 1851, records Whitmore’s rural police constable as Alexander Donaldson, age 33, born in Scotland.  He had been appointed to the Staffordshire Police Force in 1848.

This was no sinecure, and reports in the Staffordshire Advertiser show R.P.C. Donaldson was often in danger of physical violence.

9 February 1850
COUNTY PETTY SESSIONS.-The magistrates on the bench at the monthly petty sessions at Keele, on Tuesday, were Capt. Mainwaring, and D. Rasbotham and T. F. Twemlow, Esqrs.- Samuel Broomhall, of Madeley, was charged with stealing a quantity of coal, the property of Thomas Firmstone, Esq. The prisoner was detected in the act of committing the theft, by police constable Alexander Donaldson. The officer, who was on duty between seven and eight o'clock on Friday evening, was passing along Mr. Firmstone's line of railway, when his attention was drawn to a hut, and on looking in he observed some person inside. He accordingly concealed himself in a ditch close by, and in a short time the prisoner was seen coming out, and after reconnoitering, he returned and brought out a bag, which subsequently was proved to contain about a cwt. of coals. The officer having suddenly made his appearance, took the prisoner into custody, when he pretended to stumble against a low wall, as if he did not know where he was, and attempted to conceal a key, which however he failed to accomplish, as Donaldson was too sharp upon him. This key was proved to unlock the door of the place from whence the coal had been taken, and had no doubt been used by the prisoner to effect an entrance. The prisoner, who denied that the coal belonged to Mr. Firmstone, was committed for trial.

9 November 1850
BURGLARY AND OUTRAGE ON A POLICEMAN AT MADELEY. -About two last Sunday morning, police constable Alexander Donaldson was on duty at Madeley, and when passing the house of Mr. William Holding, the Crewe's Arms Inn, in that village, he thought he heard a person about the back premises. On examination he met a man coming from the back yard. Donaldson asked him what he was doing there, and in reply the man said that he was on tramp, and was looking for a place to sleep in. The officer giving the fellow to understand that he suspected his object was that of plunder, took hold of him, when a desperate struggle ensued, in the course of which the ruffian dropped an iron bar, and having got a knife, cut the policeman across one of his hands. The fellow then contrived to slip off his coat, eluded the officer's grasp, and ran away. He was, however, followed and retaken near the neighbouring premises of Mr. Jackson, when another struggle ensued, which terminated in his being secured. A knife stained with blood was subsequently found by Mr. Jackson, in a hedge near his house. On being searched, a complete stock-in-trade of a burglar was found in his possession. He gave his name as John Johnson, from Birmingham. The prisoner who had thus been so opportunely foiled in his contemplated depredation, was taken on Wednesday before Capt. Mainwaring, when the above facts were given in evidence, and it was further proved that he had taken a square of glass out of Mr. Holding's bar window, and removed eight pipes therefrom. The prisoner was committed for trial at the assizes. We understand that other burglarious attempts had been made in the village the same night, and that the prisoner had passed as a hawker of spectacles.

15 March 1851
BURGLARY AT MADELEY.
JOHN JOHNSON, a man 60 years of age, was indicted for breaking into the dwelling-house of William Houlding, on the 2nd of November, at the parish of Madeley, and stealing eight tobacco pipes. The prisoner, (who had been taken into custody by police-constable Donaldson before he had completed his object of plunder, but not without offering considerable resistance, and attacking the officer with a knife,) pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment.

28 June 1851
Isaac Breeze was summoned for an offence against the Turnpike Act. Police-constable Donaldson was on duty on the turnpike road between Whitmore and Newcastle, when he found the defendant lying fast asleep at the bottom of his cart, no one being there to attend to the horse. The defendant pleaded that he had reins to his horse, upon which the magistrate asked him what use reins could be when he was asleep in his cart? Donaldson said that that was not the first time he had discovered the defendant asleep Mr. Rasbotham pointed out to him the dangerous nature of such conduct, and ordered him to pay a fine amounting with costs to 15s.

30 August 1851
ASSAULTING A POLICEMAN.-William Jervis, a labourer from Aston, was charged before the magistrates at Keele, on Tuesday, with assaulting police constable Alexander Donaldson. The assault was committed at Aston when the officer was clearing a public house of a number of disorderly characters. The defendant, who admmitted the charge, coolly said, "I do not deny it; I own I struck him. He was doing his duty, but I did not know he was a policeman." Capt. Mainwaring told him that he had no right to assault any party. The defendant pleaded that he had never been before the magistrates for an assault on any previous occasion, adding, "but I have fought many a battle for all that." Capt. Mainwaring cautioned him against fighting with policemen in future, as the law regarded it a serious matter. The defendant was then fined 2s. 6d. with costs, making in the whole 15s. 6d.

Donaldson leaves

Alexander Donaldson was recorded as policeman in Whitmore when his son was baptised there in 1853. However, by 1857 when his daughter was baptised at Kidsgrove, 10 miles north of Whitmore, his occupation was given as ‘labourer’. On the 1861 census he was a baker at Wolstanton. I have not found his retirement from the police but perhaps he tired of being assaulted in the course of his duties.

Turnover: Clarke, Marshall, Brooks

In the census of 1861, Edward Clarke was the policeman at Whitmore. In the 1871 census George Marshall had taken over from Clarke, now a labourer. The 1881 census records that Marshall had been posted elsewhere.

There continued to be a turnover of police at Whitmore. Edward Clarke was the policeman in Whitmore in 1861 but in 1871 he was a labourer. George Marshall was the policeman in 1871. Marshall stayed in the police force but was posted elsewhere at the time of the 1881 census.

In 1881 James Brooks was the police constable stationed at Whitmore. While stationed at Whitmore , Brooks was attacked by poachers when he was on duty one night, and left for dead. He was highly commended for his bravery & a testimonial was presented to him by the “Gentlemen of the County”

The Staffordshire Advertiser 15 March 1851
POACHING AFFRAY AT WHITMORE-On Wednesday morning about half past five o'clock, Police constable Brooks, an officer of the county constabulary stationed at Whitmore, was on duty on the Newcastle road when, seeing three men under suspicious circumstances in a field adjoining the road, he drew near to them, and recognised them as notorious poachers from Newcastle. On observing the officer, the men attacked him in a desperate manner. They first assailed him with a volley of stones, several of which struck him. One of the missiles inflicted a painful wound on the bridge of the policeman's nose. Having thus beaten the constable off, the poachers followed up their advantage by attacking him with their sticks, and left him on the ground in an insensible condition. The men then effected their escape. The officer is at present disabled from duty through his injuries

As we are reminded in “Pirates of Penzance”, ‘When constabulary duty’s to be done, a policeman’s lot is not a happy one’. The violence against policemen perhaps accounts for the turnover, perhaps not.

There’s no doubt about it, being a policeman warps a man’s mind and ruins that sunny faith in his fellow human beings which is the foundation of a lovable character. There seems to be no way of avoiding this.

P.G. Wodehouse, Very Good, Jeeves!

Related posts

• G is for gamekeepers and poachers
• J is for Justice of the Peace

Wikitree:

• Whitmore Staffordshire police
• 1851 Alexander Donaldson (1818-)
• 1861 Edward Clarke (1828-) 
• 1871 George Marshall (1845-1927) 
• 1881 James Brooks (1849-1900) 
• 1891 Joseph Peckin (1861-1931) 
• 1901 Charles Hollings (1864-1926) 

Economies Past

If you’re interested in English economic history you will—or should—know about ‘Economies Past’ at https://www.economiespast.org/ , a Cambridge University project to erect ‘the most detailed quantitative picture of long-run economic development ever assembled anywhere in the world’. ‘Economies Past’ uses over 160 million census, parish and probate records to track changes to the British labour force from the Elizabethan era to the eve of the First World War’.

Much of the hard work of finding, gathering, transcribing, assembling, and interpreting the primary data has been done, and the results—at least some large-scale conclusions—are being drawn, one of them that the English Industrial Revolution happened a century before the dates usually assigned to it.

What’s in it for the family historian, whose main concerns, by definition, are local and particular rather than large scale and general?

Well, the family historian might begin to discover that the background against which events at his level of interest unfold has taken on a different colour. His great-great grandfather, an agricultural labourer, early caught up in some aspect of iron smelting, is better described as a metal-trades industrial labourer.

At this level, data-gathering and interpretation happens at the parish level. The large-scale Cambridge project provides local historians with the capacity to check their own data and, where there are discrepancies, to ask who got it wrong, and why.

Whitmore

‘Economies Past’ displays some of its massaged and interpreted data. Occupations have been classified to one of three sectors:

• Primary sector: agriculture, forestry and fishing;
• Secondary sector: mining, manufacturing and construction;
• Tertiary sector: anyone in services.

The website has a map where you can look at the labour force participation over time for a given area.

I was able to zoom in on the parish of Whitmore in Staffordshire where data came up that the labour force participation rate 1851 was 80-90% for men and for 20-30% for women. The figure for 13-14 year olds was 30-40% for both boys and girls. It was zero for boys and girls aged 10-12.

When I looked at the 1851 census data I found there were 128 men aged 15 and over enumerated in Whitmore parish in 1851. Of these 117 (91%) were employed or had occupations. (I did not include a retired businessman, a pauper, or a traveller in this number.)

There were 118 women over the age of 15. Of these 29 (25%) were employed or living in the household as a servant.

The study looked at boys and girls aged 13-14 and 10-12.

The study found 30-40% of children aged 13-14 were participating in the workforce with no difference in rate between boys and girls.

I found there were 18 children aged 13-14 recorded in the parish in 1851. Of these 8 (44%) were employed. For 2 children there was no occupation recorded but their relationship to the head of the house was servant so I have counted them as participating in the labour force but they may not have been picked up by the study.

The study found no children aged 10-12 in the parish of Whitmore were participating in the labour force.

I found there were 17 children aged 10-12 enumerated. Two were employed. One was a timber carrier and the other was a servant in the household of a farmer although no occupation was listed and again the study might not have picked him up as being employed.

The study found that 30-40% of adult men were employed in agriculture, 10-20% in the secondary sector, 30-40% in the tertiary sector including 15-20% in transport.

I found 64 (50%) of the 128 men were employed in agriculture but it was tricky to classify the 25 labourers. If I exclude them there were 39 men or 30% in the agricultural sector.

Although Whitmore is close to the coalfields no one is employed in mining. The Economies Past map has a useful overlay of exposed coalfields and one can see they are close to but not in the parish.

By my calculation there were 17 men (13%) employed in the secondary sector as defined by the study. There 38 people employed in the tertiary sector and of these 15 were in transport. The proportions seem to match the study but I am not sure how they classified the labourers who I did not include in the tertiary sector though some may have been on the railway.

The study does not just focus on the 1851 census but has data over time. The earliest data for Whitmore is 1660 and the study found 50-60% of men were employed in agriculture, 40-50% in the secondary sector, none in the tertiary sector. The same proportions were reported in 1755. In 1817 the study found 70-80% of adult men were employed in agriculture, 20-30% in the secondary sector, under 5% in the tertiary sector. In 1901 50-60% were in agriculture, 10-20% in the secondary sector, 20-30% in the tertiary sector.

In 2011 the study asserts that Whitmore has only 5-10% of adult males employed in agriculture, 20-30% in the secondary sector, 60-70% in the tertiary sector. I understand that Whitmore is now home to many people who commute to the major towns nearby such as Newcastle under Lyme and Stoke on Trent. There have obviously been enormous changes in employment of people living in the parish over the last 100 years and it is likely that they travel to their employment whereas before 1900 people were employed close to where they lived.

The story of the parish of Whitmore is doubtless partly referable to great historical movements, of the sort uncovered and investigated by large-scale projects such as the Cambridge ‘Economies Past’. A full account of what actually happened, however, still depends on adequate explanation of the actions of individual people in their immediate circumstances—local history, in other words. Small-scale and large-scale explanations complement each other

Related posts and further reading

• C is for census
• Collins, R. (2024, April 5). Landmark occupational history of Britain reveals that the Industrial Revolution ‘started a century earlier than thought’. Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine. https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/news/cambridge-university-economies-past-industrial-revolution