Caroline Young, great aunt of my husband Greg, was born in June 1895 to John Young, a miner, and his wife Sarah Jane née Way at Bowenvale, a gold mining settlement near Dunolly in central Victoria. Caroline, named after John’s mother Caroline Young née Clarke, was his first child. She was the fourth child of Sarah Jane.
On 10 July, aged 17 days, Caroline died of debility, that is, of weakness, which she had suffered from birth. Her death was not certified by a doctor.
Caroline Young was buried in the Timor cemetery on 11 July. The undertaker was Joseph DuBourg; her burial was witnessed by John Tuohy and Alexander Rees.
A few days ago Greg and I drove to Bowenvale, which adjoins another mining settlement, called Timor.* The cemetery, which serves both villages, is known as Timor Cemetery.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that since our last visit, in about 1999, a shelter at the gates of the cemetery had been erected by the cemetery trust, with an information board and several lists and maps. One gave the location of Caroline’s grave. Though there was no headstone, the trustees had marked the site with a small plaque and the name ‘Young’.
At the time of little Caroline’s death, John Young was very probably working for a mining company, though I do not know which. One of the largest was the Grand Duke. We set off across the paddocks to look at what remains. There’s not much left. Between 1869 and 1896 this mine produced 216,000 ounces of gold worth about $500,000,000 today.
One structure that remains more or less intact is a large granite arch, part of the pump house, which kept the underground workings free of water. There are also some mullock heaps, piled-up heaps of excavated and worked-over rock and dirt.
Grand Duke mine site, Timor
Mullock heaps at Grand Duke mine site, Timor
Caroline’s brother John Percy Young was born at Bowenvale in 1896 but by July 1898, when Cecil was born and Sarah Jane died, the family had moved to Rokewood, south of Ballarat, 100 kilometres away. When Sarah Jane died John Young moved back to the Bowenvale district. His sisters cared for the two young boys in Homebush and later in Clunes, nearby.
* Why ‘Timor’? A connection with the former Portuguese colony is not impossible, but a suggestion that the word is the local Aboriginal name for ‘creek’ seems more likely. See John Tully, former President of the Goldfields Historical & Arts Society Inc. (Dunolly Museum) ‘Timor historical tour’, at: https://www.maryboroughadvertiser.com.au/goldfields-getaway/timor-historical-tour
My husband Greg’s great grandmother Sarah Jane Way, daughter of John Way and Sarah Daw, was born in 1863 at Barborah Creek, near Murrumburrah, New South Wales. She was the fifth of John and Sarah’s ten children. I have not been able to find Sarah’s birth registration, but when her younger sister was born about two years later, John was working as a shepherd on Brittons Dam Station, Kitticara, near Murrumburrah. He may have been working there or in the district, earlier, when Sarah was born.
By the time Sarah was about five years old the family had moved to Grenfell. When her sister Emily was born in 1868, her father John was working there as a sawyer. In 1870 Harriet was born near Reece’s Foundry, Grenfell, and John gave his occupation as sawyer. A son, John, was born in Grenfell in 1872, John gave his occupation as miner. A daughter Martha was born at Parkes in 1874; John’s occupation was consistently given as miner from 1872 for the rest of his life.
In Parkes the Way family lived on the corner of Bogan and Church streets.
On 12 July 1882 at St George’s Church of England, Parkes, Sarah Jane Way married Robert Whiteman, a miner, 42 years old from Somersetshire. Sarah Jane was not yet twenty one years old; her father John Way gave his consent to the marriage.
Robert and Sarah’s son Robert Henry was born 10 March 1883.
Sarah’s husband Robert died on 16 February 1884 of pneumonia. Six months later on 19 August Sarah gave birth to their daughter Mary Ann.
On 13 August 1894 Sarah Whiteman gave birth to an illegitimate child who was given the name Jack Walsh Whiteman. Shortly after the birth of the baby she left him in the care of her mother and sister, travelled to Melbourne, Victoria, and there married John Young, a miner, whom she had met at Parkes. John had spent six years in New South Wales.
John and Sarah Jane married in Melbourne on 26 September 1894 at 430 Bourke Street according to the rites of the Church of Christ. The marriage certificate records his address as Bowenvale near Timor, a mining settlement near Dunolly; she was staying at the Mechanics Hotel, Bourke Street.
John and Sarah Jane had three children together:
Caroline was born in June 17895 and died of ‘debility’ on 10 July, when she was just 17 days old at Bowenvale near Timor.
John Percy born 24 August 1896 at Bowenvale.
Cecil born 5 July 1898 at Rokewood, south of Ballarat.
Sarah Jane died at the age of thirty-five following the birth of Cecil on 6 July 1898 at Rokewood. Her death certificate states the cause of death as childbirth and post-partum hemorrhage. She had been attended by a Dr J Raymond Fox. She was buried on 8 July at Rokewood Cemetery. Richard A White, Church of England Minister, witnessed the burial. John Young was the informant of the death certificate. He stated that his wife had been in Victoria for four years and that she had four children:
Robert 15 years
May 13 years
John Percy 2 years
Infant not named (Cecil)
The infant Caroline was not recorded and nor was Sarah’s other son, Jack Walsh Whiteman, who had remained in Parkes. Perhaps John Young did not know that his wife had given birth to an illegitimate boy; perhaps he chose not to list her son with the family in Rokewood.
Yesterday Greg and I drove to Rokewood and visited the cemetery. Several years ago I was told that the burial records had not survived, and there seems to be no gravestone. Still, the cemetery was orderly, well maintained, and peaceful among the cypresses and eucalypts. Not enough, perhaps, but all we can hope for.
John Young, his two sons Cecil and Jack, and his two step-children Bob and Mary Ann Whiteman, photographed about 1899. I am not aware of any photo of Sarah Jane Young nee Way. Photo colourised using the MyHeritage photo tool.
The A to Z Blogging Challenge is a friendly annual blogging event. Participants post every day of April except Sundays: 26 times, with a contribution for every letter of the alphabet.
My inspiration was a series of presentations given last September by the Society for One-Place Studies, a history group formed to consider ‘people and families in their physical and social context’ at a particular place and time.
For me in Ballarat, Australia, Whitmore is half a world away. A great many of its records have survived, however, and I can visit—at least virtually—the home of my 4th grandfather as it was two hundred years ago.
History too is “about chaps,” and local history brings us nearer to the common run of chaps than any other branch of historical study. It gives us, in the language of the films, a close-up of them on their farms and in their workshops and behind their counters. It studies them as social beings, as members of a rural or urban community; but by seeking them at their home address it enables us to see them as flesh and blood, and not just as pawns on the national chessboard. The national historian, dealing with some vast agglomeration which he labels villeins, Puritans, the lower middle-class, or what you will, tends to lose sight of the human person.
By looking at various aspects of the history of the parish of Whitmore I learned a great amount about my ‘chaps’, the people who lived there in the nineteenth century, among them my 4th great grandfather.
I was pleased to read a report of Rowland Mainwaring’s views on farming. He had been a sailor, but, he said, “he really did attempt to convert himself into a plodding, pains-taking farmer. He rigged himself out in the most approved agricultural costume — ( the shoes of which took more work out of him in six days than if he had been walking the quarter deck of a man-of-war for six weeks) — (laughter) — and commenced in right good earnest.” I was also interested in his views on the police a letter to one of the local newspapers. He certainly deserved the tribute in his obituary of being remembered as “a kind and considerate landlord, a good neighbour, and an active and upright magistrate”.
I also learned about how very differently things were done in nineteenth century England from the purchase of an advowson—the right to appoint the rector—to how the magistrates system worked, and about local societies for prosecuting felons.
I still have much more to learn about the people who lived in Whitmore and the history of the parish in the nineteenth century. I enjoyed my research and I plan to continue it.
Part of the A to Z challenge is visiting other people’s blogs through the month. I appreciated the visits and comments from other readers, many of whom I have been reading for many years. This last month I followed these blogs especially:
Jennifer Jones shared newspaper articles from Haverfordwest and I have been interested to read and compare to what was happening in Whitmore in the same era. AtoZChallenge – A: Attempted Murder at Haverfordwest
Kristin Cleage wrote about the Edelweiss Club which her grandmother belonged to in Montgomery, Alabama. There were thirty seven young women who met monthly at each other’s houses in 1918 and 1919. It was very interesting to read about the members and the activities of the club. The Edelweiss Club | Finding Eliza
Linda Curry shared a story first told to her at bedtime by her father and more recently that she had told to her grandchildren. I eagerly waited each day for the next instalment and was pleased they all lived happily ever after. Step and Tear
Sarah Zama wrote about the 1920s and the “Lost Generation”: that generation of people who, born between 1883 and 1900, came of age in the years of the Great War and were, therefore, young in the 1920s. The Lost Generation (#AtoZChallenge 2024) Theme Reveal
Vince Rockston is writing a novel about the oldest child of a Huguenot family in Normandy, France: Greet Suzon for me. His posts were about Life in seventeenth century France and the struggles faced by members of the Huguenot community. As I have many Huguenot forebears who fled France in the seventeenth century I found his posts of great interest. Vince Rockston, Author: AtoZ Challenge April 2024
There were a number of other blogs I visited throughout the month and I was also visited by various bloggers who left comments.
My blog was visited by 1740 people with 3761 views. There were 250 comments. Last April I had 1355 visitors, 3281 views, and 246 comments.
In 1794 my fifth great grand uncle Edward Mainwaring (1736–1825), the eighth Edward Mainwaring to inherit Whitmore, succeeded to the estate on the death of his father. A history of the family has it that Edward, continuing the policy of his predecessors, purchased any alienated part of the estate that was ever offered for sale, so building up and integrating Whitmore as a whole.
Edward Mainwaring (1736 – 1825)
Ten years after he inherited, Edward Mainwaring’s concern to keep the estate intact and uncompromised was put to the test. A new road was proposed which would have passed within a few feet of the Hall‘s main door.
In 1804 Edward Mainwaring
… was permitted by the Commissioners, responsible for making the new road from Market Drayton to Newcastle-under-Lyme, to divert the road from its originally intended course which would have taken it immediately in front of the Hall door, and was empowered by them to supervise the construction of the road on its passage through Whitmore. He accordingly arranged for a sunken way to be made, beginning at the present lodge.
The planned changes to the road would have removed a zig-zag but this straighter route passed close to Whitmore Hall.
The new route implemented by Edward Mainwaring instead went straight from Whitmore Heath and passed on the other side of the Mainwaring Arms and the church of St Mary and All Saints. It thus bypassed the Hall. The effect of having a straighter road was still achieved with the new route.
Ordnance survey map from about 1804 showing the old road between Market Drayton and Newcastle and with the area in front of Whitmore Hall highlighted in red.
From the Ordnance Survey map abt 1889. The red highlight indicates the area in front of the door of Whitmore Hall. The green highlight indicates the original coach road that went past the school, now called Rectory Lane.. The blue highlighted road, now the A53, follows the route developed by Edward Mainwaring.
The road passing the Mainwaring Arms at Whitmore in the early twentieth century
From Google streetview September 2023: the A53 from the Lodge at Whitmore near the church heading towards Newcastle-under-Lyme. The sunken way developed by Edward Mainwaring can still be seen.
Christine Cavenagh-Mainwaring wrote in 2013:
It is thanks to this Edward that the Hall has been saved from the worst of intrusions by the present A53 road, which runs from Newcastle to Market Drayton; it carries non-stop traffic-12,000 cars and lorries throughout the day and night. The original main coaching road, which is of great age, ran from Acton through Whitmore over the little Mill Meece stream, up past the Old Parsonage and along what is now a footpath towards Baldwin’s Gate The equivalent of a new motorway was proposed in 1804, to be built from Newcastle, which would have passed in front of the Hall’s front door. This did not meet with Edward’s approval, and thank goodness common sense prevailed. He was allowed to organise the building of the road through his estate by changing the original route and putting it into a cutting; thus, it was hidden from sight and sound from the would be Hall. He had no way knowing that in years to come the motorcar would be invented and the noise they created would penetrate the countryside`s tranquillity; not to mention the height of the buses and lorries, the tops of which appear from time to time above the line of the cutting. But however much one dislikes the noise and danger of the A53, thanks to Edward (8th), its impact on the Hall and parklands has been hugely mitigated.
Whitmore Hall: From 1066 to Waltzing Matilda page 77
The present occupants of Whitmore Hall and the village certainly have good reason to be grateful to Edward Mainwaring’s 1804 plans for straightening the zig-zagging road.
Cavenagh-Mainwaring, J. G. The Mainwarings of Whitmore and Biddulph in the County of Stafford. An account of the family, and its connections by marriage and descent; with special reference to the Manor of Whitmore. about 1935. pages 99 – 103, 108, retrieved through archive.org.
Cavenagh-Mainwaring, Christine & Britton, Heather, (editor.) Whitmore Hall : from 1066 to Waltzing Matilda. Peacock Publications, Adelaide, 2013. pages 77-80.
In 1841 a branch of this Oddfellows lodge called the ‘Hope and Anchor Lodge’ was established in Whitmore. Its meetings, hosted by the publican Andrew Martin and accompanied by lavish dinners, were held at the Mainwaring Arms.
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS, M.U. THE OPENING of the LOYAL HOPE AND ANCHOR LODGE, NO. Pottery and Newcastle District, will take place at 3 o'clock on Tuesday, the 19th instant, at the house of Host Andrew Martin, MAINWARING'S ARMS INN, WHITMORE, when the attendance of any Brother will be esteemed a favour.
ODD FELLOWSHIP.-On Tuesday last, the officers and members of the Hope and Anchor Lodge of Odd Fellows, Manchester Unity, held at the Mainwaring Arms Inn, Whitmore, celebrated their tenth anniversary, and the legalization of the order. At four o'clock the members sat down to an excellent dinner, provided by the worthy host, Mr. Andrew Martin. The usual loyal and other toasts were drank. Mr. Bates, in responding to "Prosperity to the Hope and Anchor Lodge," stated that the number of members was about sixty, most of them under twenty-five years of age, and that the lodge had an accumulated capital of £150 as a reserve fund, and was, moreover, rapidly increasing the number of members.
Meeting Night of the Club of Odd Fellows John Barlow c 1789
HOPE AND ANCHOR LODGE OF ODD FELLOWS, MANCHESTER UNITY.-The Rev. Mr. SILVER, of Norton-in-Hales, has kindly consented to deliver a LECTURE for the Benefit of the Widows' and Orphans' Fund connected with the Lodge held at WHITMORE, at the SCHOOL- ROOM, MAER, on Thursday evening, the 7th of March, 1861; subject, “NEW ZEALAND,” illustrated with Dioramic Views. The Rev. Mr. TAYLOR will preside. On Thursday evening, March 14th, the Rev. Mr. Silver will deliver a LECTURE at WHITMORE; subject-"THE IRON HORSE; ITS PEDIGREE AND PERFORMANCES." The Rev. C. H. MAINWARING will preside. The lectures will commence at seven o'clock each evening. A collection will be made at the door on each occasion in aid of the object above named.
ODDFELLOWSHIP AT WHITMORE-On Tuesday last the members of the Loyal Hope and Anchor Lodge (No. 2,963, M. U.) formed a procession, which, headed by the Newcastle Volunteer band, marched through several villages to the old Parish Church, Whitmore, where an excellent and appropriate sermon was preached by the Rev. C. H. Mainwaring. An excellent dinner was afterwards served up by Mr. and Miss Martin, at the Mainwaring Arms Inn. The Rev. C. H. Mainwaring presided. The lodge now numbers 120 members.
There are several lodges in Staffordshire named the Hope and Anchor Lodge. I am not certain that the following case concerns the lodge associated with Whitmore. However, it makes interesting reading for the rule concerning the age of entry and also of the benfits gained from belonging to the organisation.
COUNTY COURTS. LICHFIELD.-MONDAY. (Before W. Spooner. Esq., Judge.) A FRIENDLY SOCIETY CASE-JOHN KELLY v. JOHN FLETCHER, JAMES WHITE, AND THOS, BASSETT -This was an action brought by the plaintiff to recover from the defendants, as trustees of the Hope and Anchor Lodge of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows, the sum of £5 18s. 8d.. money which he had paid to the lodge as fortnightly subscriptions, entrance fee, &c.-Mr. Simpson appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Wilson for the defendants-Mr. Simpson stated that the plaintiff sought to recover back the money on the ground that the consideration had wholly failed. He found that owing to his having entered the lodge when he was more than 40 years of age he was not legally a member, and this objection would certainly be raised in the event of his claiming old age pay or any other benefit.-His Honour stated that in a similar case he had given judgment against a society on the ground that the consideration having wholly failed the plaintiff was entitled to recover back the money.-Mr. Wilson said he should require strict legal proof on every point, the case being one of considerable importance to the society. The plaintiff was then called, and deposed that he entered the lodge in 1862, when he was in his 42nd year. The rules stated that no person above 40 should be admitted as a member, but he was told at the lodge that persons above that age might be taken in case the ages of all the members did not average more than 40. He paid his entrance fee and the fortnightly subscriptions, which he now sought to recover. He was 48 years old.-Mr. Wilson contended that the plaintiff could not prove his own age.-Mr. Simpson, however, urged that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, his own evidence on this point must be taken for what it was worth, and asked him whether he could remember any events in his childhood which would help him to fix his age.-The plaintiff stated that his father was in the 19th Foot, and that he himself was born in 1819. In 1824, when he was five years old, the regiment was at Sligo, and his father told him to fill a kettle for tea. He went down to the seaside and got the water there, for which bis father gave him a good thrashing, which he had remembered ever since. (Laughter.) He also remembered a man being flogged there, and recollected being in Barbadoes in 1828-The Judge said this was sufficient evidence of age in the absence of proof to the contrary.-The plaintiff added that before he joined the lodge he told the host and others that he was more than 40.-On Mr. Wilson raising another technical objection, his Honour observed: Mr. Wilson throws all the difficulties he can in our way: we must see whether we cannot get over them one by one.--Mr. Wilson afterwards suggested that the plaintiff's only reason for bringing this action was that the society was in difficulties, and that he wished to obtain an advantage over the other members by receiving back all the money he had paid.-Mr. Simpson said he was not aware when he came into Court that the society was otherwise than in a prosperous state Mr. Wilson having objected that there was no evidence that the defendants were trustees, or had dealt with the society's funds, his Honour told the defendant White to get into the witness-box. White did so, and stated that he was appointed one of the trustees of the society in September, 1867, that Fletcher and Bassett had acted with him as trustees, and that they had drawn money out of the bank on account of the society. The amount they had drawn out was £82 7s. 6d., the greater part of which they had paid away.-His Honour reserved judgment until the next Court, and a similar course was taken with regard to another action of the same kind against the same defendants.
PIC-NIC in connection with the HOPE and ANCHOR LODGE of ODD FELLOWS will be held on the BOWLING GREEN, SHEET ANCHOR HOTEL, WHITMORE, on THURSDAY, August 10, 1882 Particulars in a future Advertisement.
FETE AT WHITMORE.-The second fête of the season was held on Thursday, on the pleasant green at the Sheet Anchor Hotel. It need scarcely be said that every attention was paid to visitors to promote their enjoyment. The Crewe Steam Shed Brass Band was engaged for the dancing.
WHITMORE. ANNIVERSARY.-The Loyal Hope and Anchor Lodge of Oddfellows held their anniversary on Thursday. After attending divine service at the Parish Church, where an excellent sermon was preached by the Rector (Rev. P. E. Mainwaring), the members walked to the Sheet Anchor Hotel, for dinner. The lodge has now a capital of £3,000, and during the past year it has saved upwards of £100, which was considered most satisfactory. The membership is now 160, nine new members having entered on Thursday. The evening was spent in an agreeable fashion.
WHITMORE. ODDFELLOWS' FETE. The anniversary of the Loyal Hope and Anchor Lodge of the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows was celebrated on the 10th inst., at the Sheet Anchor Hotel. There was a good gathering; and the celebration included the usual incidentals-a procession, attendance at Divine service, dinner, and general festivities, a distinctive and most enjoyable feature being dancing on the Green to the inspiring strains of the Stone Military Band.
The Whitmore Lodge was still active in the early twentieth century.
WRINEHILL DISTRICT ODDFELLOWS. PRESENTATION TO A SILVERDALE VETERAN. The half-yearly meeting of the Wrinehill district of the Manchester Unity Oddfellows was held at the Sheer Anchor Hotel, Whitmore, on Saturday, when there was a full muster of officers and delegates, under the presidency of Bro. Fredk. Burgess, Prov. G.M. Audley). After the Prov. Grand Master's address, the meeting passed a vote of condolence with the widow of Bro. James Beech (Alsagers Bank), who died recently during his term of office as Prov. D.G.M. The meeting voted £10 to the bereaved widow and family.-Bro. C. H. Durber (Silverdale) was elected Prov. D.G.M. Following the business meeting-which will be reported in "Friendly Society Jottings in the "Weekly Sentinel' on Saturday (particularly with reference to a somewhat disquieting report from the lodge book examiners in regard to the excessive sickness experience of the district), the officers of the Hope and Anchor Lodge entertained the delegates to a substantial meat tea, which was greatly enjoyed. After the spread, the district made two interesting presentations of certificates recognising services rendered-one to Past Grand William Webb, of Silverdale, and the other to Bro. Jos. Inskeep, secretary of the Diamond Jubilee lodge, Madeley. Bro. Webb was made an Oddfellow in June, 1851, at Newport, Salop; he was transferred to the Good Samaritan lodge, Silverdale, 38 years ago, and has been treasurer of that lodge for 32 years. He was made district treasurer in 1876, and resigned at Whitmore 14 years ago.
In 1915 David Keen Johnstone, a former member of the Oddfellows, was buried at Whitmore. The report of the funeral mentioned:
A little way before the Whitmore Church the procession was met by members of the Loyal Hope and Anchor Lodge of Oddfellows, in which the late Mr. Johnson filled many offices. The representatives included Bro. Bm. Randles, N.G., Bro. A. T. Goodall, is secretary, P.P.G.M. Bernard Robertson, Bros. F. W. Arkinstall and Wm. Talbot (trustees), and about 20 other members, including Bros. J. W. Cheadle, A. Hampton, H. Talbot, J. Shemilt, C. Bowers, J. Talbot, J. Harding, S. Smith, A. Harding, Henry Talbot, Harry Talbot, Thos. Picken, G. Podmore, W. Butters, and H. Cliffe.
In the 20th century, the welfare state and the National Health Service took over the role of friendly societies Since 1948 the Oddfellows has evolved in other directions, with a continuing focus on the social involvement, care and support, as well as financial benefits. In the second half of the 20th century, the Oddfellows moved into financial products; in 1991, the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity founded the Manchester Unity Credit Union Limited, a savings and loans co-operative established for members of the order.
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.
Number of marriages recorded in the parish registers for Whitmore
Proportions in the parish of Whitmore where brides and grooms signed their name or made their mark
Percentage of brides and grooms who signed their name in the marriage register in the parish of Whitmore
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.
1871 marriage of Ralph Picken (1846-1924) and Sarah Mullineux (1848-1910); the groom made his mark and the bride signed her name
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.
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
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.
WHEREAS divers burglaries, thefts, robberies, larcenies, and other offences, are frequently committed upon the persons and property of us whose names are hereunto subscribed, viz. stealing of horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, fish out of ponds or pools of water, fowls, household goods, implements in husbandry, corn out of barns or fields, potatoes, turnips out of fields or hods, orchards or gardens robbed, and carrying away gates, hinges, posts, rails, and stiles, cutting down and carrying away young trees, timber, and woods, destroying fences, and various other offences. And for the better and more effectual discovery of such person or persons, who shall commit any of the offences before mentioned, we do engage and agree to give the following rewards to any person or persons, (not being a member or members of this society,) who shall apprehend or discover any offender or offenders, against our or any of our persons or property, on conviction of such offender or offenders:- namely
For every person convicted of a capital offence, the sum of ten pounds.
For every person that shall be cast for transportation, the sum of five pounds.
For every person convicted of a less heinous offence, the sum of one guinea.
And for every toll-gate keeper, who shall give in- formation of any horse-stealer, highway robber, or house-breaker, or of any person or persons, who shall have stolen any cattle or sheep from any member of this society, so that he, she, or they, shall be apprehended, or convicted through such information, the sum of two guineas.
The Annual Meeting will be held at the Durham Heifer Inn, on the first Thursday of June, 1827.
ANDREW MARTIN, Treasurer.
Whitmore. Rev. J. J. Brasier, Rev. L. Dixon, William Malkin, Andrew Martin, James Furnival, William Clewlow, John Broomall. Snape Hall. Francis Beardmore. Lime Pits. William Tomlinson. Moat Farm. Benjamin Pickhorn.
Woodhouse. Samuel Rhodes. Bramley Green. Vernon Bloore. Shutlanehead. Sarah Ash, John Berks. Acton. William Beech, Joseph Pointon, Margaret Venables, Thomas Unett
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.
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:
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
From Ordnance Survey map Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952 Staffordshire Sheet XVII.SW Surveyed: 1876 to 1879, Published: 1889 Viewed through National Library of Scotland
Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Outline Series of Great Britain, 1945-1973 33/84 – A Surveyed / Revised: No dates on map, Published: 1947 Viewed through National Library of Scotland
DJI Phantom 3 drone, Whitmore Hall by Simon Chafe filmed 9 May 2016
Whitmore hall – Ariel footage / DJI MAVIC MINI filmed by Liam the Pilot VLOGS 20 June 2020
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.
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.
Newcastle Union Workhouse, Newcastle-under-LymeThe Newcastle Union Workhouse was built in 1840 on Keele Road, replacing a series of smaller houses from around 1731 that could contain about 40 people in all. The new, bigger workhouse contained 300 beds. Workhouses were abolished in 1930 and the Newcastle-under-Lyme workhouse was demolished in 1938. Union workhouses were built in an effort to combat poverty and encourage those who were seen as lazy to work their way out of poverty. They were designed to be as uncomfortable as possible. Men, women and children were separated, made to work hard and eat very basic and non-nutritious food such as gruel (watery porridge). The majority of those who ended up in the workhouse were those unable to take care of themselves, such as the very young, the elderly and the infirm.View Full Resource on Staffordshire Past Track
Poor Relief Rate Book, Newcastle-under-LymeThis book lists all those who were receiving ‘Poor Relief’ in Newcastle in 1848.View Full Resource on Staffordshire Past Track
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.
Death certificate of James Taylor GRO Reference: 1858 Jan-Feb-Mar in Newcastle Under Lyme Volume 06B Page 40
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.
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/
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.)
The Payment of the Tithes by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (or workshop)
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
1839 map of tithe apportionment for the parish of Whitmore “IR29 Tithe Commission and successors: Tithe Apportionments” The National Archives Piece 32-Staffordshire Sub-Piece 230-Whitmore Image 001 Image from TheGenealogist and reproduced courtesy of The National Archives, London, England
1839 tithe apportionment for the parish of Whitmore: the first of 17 pages listing landowners, occupiers, area, and rent charge payable to rector Piece 32-Staffordshire Sub-Piece 230-Whitmore Image 285
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.
Anne's Family History 