Carpenter Family and Carpenter Stoneyard
Jenny Blue, Family photographs courtesy Jenny Blue, October 2016
Jenny Blue, Family photographs courtesy Jenny Blue, October 2016
Carpenter's Stoneyard at the top of Box Hill was one of the last surviving yards in Box. We have featured extracts about the stoneyards and members of the family in previous articles about Quarr Close and Ivy Cottage but this is the first time that a fuller story has been written about the Carpenter Stoneyard and the Carpenter family courtesy of Jenny Blue.
Above left: my maternal grandmother Doris Benjamin (nee Barnett) about 1916 when she was 16.
She had just taken employment as maid possibly at Fogleigh House.
Above right: Elizabeth Barnett, my great aunt, in 1930s taken outside 2 Tynings Cottage, Box Hill
She had just taken employment as maid possibly at Fogleigh House.
Above right: Elizabeth Barnett, my great aunt, in 1930s taken outside 2 Tynings Cottage, Box Hill
I grew up in Box from 1949 to around 1966 and generations of both sides of my family lived and worked in Box, Box Hill and Neston. Many men in the early 1900s had worked in the quarries or were stone cutters or stonemasons. Names in my family were Barnett, Benjamin and my immediate family named Carpenter. I was aware that my grandfather Robert Edwin Carpenter (always called Edwin) had a stoneyard but my family was always very close about their history so I knew little else until recently.
Carpenter's Stoneyard
There were several stoneyards in Box: at Box Railway Station, on the Wharf at the foot of Box Hill, one at Longsplatt, and two at the top of Box Hill, one yard run by Maurice Sheppard and the other by my grandfather, Edwin Carpenter.
It was the yards that employed most of the stone workers, the masons, sawyers, sculptors, architects and the clerks who organised the transport of finished products throughout Britain and the rest of the world. The masons were experienced, skilled men, overground workers with an eye to precision and detail. I think that is why my grandfather was part of the stoneyard business. In Box it was the yards that brought affluence to the community in the late Victorian period and they gave my grandparents the opportunity to raise their status in life.
There were several stoneyards in Box: at Box Railway Station, on the Wharf at the foot of Box Hill, one at Longsplatt, and two at the top of Box Hill, one yard run by Maurice Sheppard and the other by my grandfather, Edwin Carpenter.
It was the yards that employed most of the stone workers, the masons, sawyers, sculptors, architects and the clerks who organised the transport of finished products throughout Britain and the rest of the world. The masons were experienced, skilled men, overground workers with an eye to precision and detail. I think that is why my grandfather was part of the stoneyard business. In Box it was the yards that brought affluence to the community in the late Victorian period and they gave my grandparents the opportunity to raise their status in life.
Above: Herbert Smith at work in one of the stoneyards at the top of Box Hill in the 1970s (Photographs courtesy Vaughan Hill).
Edwin and Henrietta Carpenter, Grandparents
Edwin was born in Biddestone on 25 December 1877. He worked in the stone industry for the majority of his life although in 1891, aged 13, he was employed as a domestic page for the Rector of Biddestone, St Peter. Edwin's parents were George Carpenter, a farm labourer, and Margaret (nee Pinneger). The family moved frequently, probably because George took casual summertime harvest work and their addresses include Wroughton, Middlehill Farm Chippenham, next to the Cross Keys Corsham, and at Biddestone.
In 1907 Edwin married Henrietta Clara (nee Greenman), who was born in 1879 and lived with her parents, Frederick and Mary Ann, in the next door parish, Biddestone St Nicholas. They were a very poor family, her father was a mason and her mother took in work as a washerwoman, which was unusual because most wives were fully occupied with their family domestic role. Previously in 1901, Henrietta was living with her sisters, Florence, Beatrice and Daisy as laundresses at Paul Street, Corsham. There is no reference to the parents but they were supporting their grandmother Sarah Little, aged 74.
Edwin and Henrietta had at least four children, including my father, Aubrey John Carpenter. Their first child George Frederick was born in 1908 but had learning difficulties and was described, in the terminology of 1939, as mentally deficient. I don't know the precise nature of his condition but this may account for some of my family's reticence about their family history. The family lived at Lypiatt Road, Corsham in the 1911 census records but by 1921 they had moved to Neston and in 1939 were living at 6 Westwells Terrace, Neston. Edwin worked in local stoneyards as a stonecutter and masonry contractor. At one time he was the manager of a yard which my family described as near Corsham.
The yards were still an important local industry in the 1900s and an elderly resident, Mr J King, gave his memories of the yards in 1963:[1]
Last, but not least of the old Box industries, was that of stone masonry. It was not surprising, with the Bath and Portland stone quarries so near, that the village should have something like seven stone yards in and around the parish, employing in the region of two hundred men. The advantage with the Box Hill yard was that blocks could be worked close to the Clift Quarry face, rather than being transported to the Wharf yard at the foot of Box Hill or hauled by cart on the public road to Box Station.
After his retirement Edwin continued to demonstrate his organisational ability and he ran the Neston Club until shortly before his death in 1946.
Edwin was born in Biddestone on 25 December 1877. He worked in the stone industry for the majority of his life although in 1891, aged 13, he was employed as a domestic page for the Rector of Biddestone, St Peter. Edwin's parents were George Carpenter, a farm labourer, and Margaret (nee Pinneger). The family moved frequently, probably because George took casual summertime harvest work and their addresses include Wroughton, Middlehill Farm Chippenham, next to the Cross Keys Corsham, and at Biddestone.
In 1907 Edwin married Henrietta Clara (nee Greenman), who was born in 1879 and lived with her parents, Frederick and Mary Ann, in the next door parish, Biddestone St Nicholas. They were a very poor family, her father was a mason and her mother took in work as a washerwoman, which was unusual because most wives were fully occupied with their family domestic role. Previously in 1901, Henrietta was living with her sisters, Florence, Beatrice and Daisy as laundresses at Paul Street, Corsham. There is no reference to the parents but they were supporting their grandmother Sarah Little, aged 74.
Edwin and Henrietta had at least four children, including my father, Aubrey John Carpenter. Their first child George Frederick was born in 1908 but had learning difficulties and was described, in the terminology of 1939, as mentally deficient. I don't know the precise nature of his condition but this may account for some of my family's reticence about their family history. The family lived at Lypiatt Road, Corsham in the 1911 census records but by 1921 they had moved to Neston and in 1939 were living at 6 Westwells Terrace, Neston. Edwin worked in local stoneyards as a stonecutter and masonry contractor. At one time he was the manager of a yard which my family described as near Corsham.
The yards were still an important local industry in the 1900s and an elderly resident, Mr J King, gave his memories of the yards in 1963:[1]
Last, but not least of the old Box industries, was that of stone masonry. It was not surprising, with the Bath and Portland stone quarries so near, that the village should have something like seven stone yards in and around the parish, employing in the region of two hundred men. The advantage with the Box Hill yard was that blocks could be worked close to the Clift Quarry face, rather than being transported to the Wharf yard at the foot of Box Hill or hauled by cart on the public road to Box Station.
After his retirement Edwin continued to demonstrate his organisational ability and he ran the Neston Club until shortly before his death in 1946.
Edwin and Henrietta's Children
My father, Aubrey John Carpenter, was born in Neston in 1921. He was the youngest of Edwin and Henrietta's children, just eighteen years old when the Second World War broke out and he served in the Royal Air Force. He married Marion Benjamin, born in 1923, daughter of George Charles Benjamin, a stone sawyer who was born 1899, and Doris Ethel Marjory, born 1898, who lived at 2 Tynings Cottages, Box Hill, for many years. Some time before 1939 George and Doris moved into 1 Bath Road, right next to Mill Lane and the post office. They lived there with their son Leonard G, bricklayer born 1921, and my grandparents resided there until Doris's death about 1973. My uncle James Carpenter, was also a stonemason. He lived at Panorama, a lovely bungalow at Box Hill, with his wife Mavis for many years. He was a very fine stonemason and worked repairs to some important buildings including Buckingham Palace at one time. Right: My father Aubrey John Carpenter in service in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. |
Victor Carpenter (1902 - 1924)
The story of my great uncle Victor is terribly sad and it illustrates just how on the edge life was back then. Victor was only 22 years old in 1924 when he believed he had contracted consumption (tuberculosis TB). He decided to choose how and when he would die, rather than slowly wasting away. So he killed himself by leaping into a disused quarry shaft in 1924. It is strange that reports did not appear in the local press, only in the Shepton Mallet Journal.[2] I thought about this and the quite sensitive writing style made me wonder whether a request was made to not post it in a local paper for the sake of family feelings, knowing how suicide was viewed in a very negative way at that time. He was buried in Box Cemetery however, which was unusual in the circumstances. Probably this was on the insistence of his mother, a much respected lady, who visited the sick, delivered babies and laid out the dead. |
My Memories
My parents and I lived at 1 Hazelbury Hill from about 1956 until 1966 when my family moved to Chippenham. As a tiny child
I remember being taken shopping by my mother to Bath, on the train. It was such an exciting adventure every single time and unbelievably there were two stations serving the village and a further three stops between Box and Bath. I am rather proud to have grown up in the place where Brunel's tunnel was built. It is all hugely interesting.
My parents and I lived at 1 Hazelbury Hill from about 1956 until 1966 when my family moved to Chippenham. As a tiny child
I remember being taken shopping by my mother to Bath, on the train. It was such an exciting adventure every single time and unbelievably there were two stations serving the village and a further three stops between Box and Bath. I am rather proud to have grown up in the place where Brunel's tunnel was built. It is all hugely interesting.
Can you add to the story of the Carpenter family and their stoneyard please? If so, we would love to hear from you and to share your memories with Jenny Blue.
Family Tree
George Carpenter (b 1843, Lydiard Tregoze, Cricklade), my great grandfather, married in 1873 to Margaret Pinneger (possibly
b 1851 Brinkworth).
In 1871 George was boarding with Robert Gilmore, aged 74, at River Bank, Lydiard Tregoze.
Children: Emily (b 1875 Wroughton); Robert Edwin (b 1887 Biddestone); Mary J (b 1882 Chippenham)
Robert Edwin (25 December 1877 - 1946), my grandfather, married in 1907 to Henrietta Clara Greenman (23 November 1879 - 1941).
Children: George Frederick (b 17 March 1908); James P (b 26 May 1914), mason fixer; Daphne J (b 22 January 1916), who worked as a machinist making gas masks in 1939 and later married into Gingell family; Aubrey John (b 1921) my father.
Aubrey John Carpenter (born 1923) married Marion Benjamin (born 1923)
Marion was daughter of George Charles (Tinny) Benjamin, stone cutter, and Doris Ethel Marjory Benjamin (nee Barnett) of
The Tynings, my maternal grandparents.
Children included Jennifer
William and Elizabeth Barnett lived at 2 Tyning Cottages
Children: Victor Barnett (1902 - 1924), my great uncle Wilf Barnett, a well-known local mason, the first person that Eddie Week's father employed after the War.
George Carpenter (b 1843, Lydiard Tregoze, Cricklade), my great grandfather, married in 1873 to Margaret Pinneger (possibly
b 1851 Brinkworth).
In 1871 George was boarding with Robert Gilmore, aged 74, at River Bank, Lydiard Tregoze.
Children: Emily (b 1875 Wroughton); Robert Edwin (b 1887 Biddestone); Mary J (b 1882 Chippenham)
Robert Edwin (25 December 1877 - 1946), my grandfather, married in 1907 to Henrietta Clara Greenman (23 November 1879 - 1941).
Children: George Frederick (b 17 March 1908); James P (b 26 May 1914), mason fixer; Daphne J (b 22 January 1916), who worked as a machinist making gas masks in 1939 and later married into Gingell family; Aubrey John (b 1921) my father.
Aubrey John Carpenter (born 1923) married Marion Benjamin (born 1923)
Marion was daughter of George Charles (Tinny) Benjamin, stone cutter, and Doris Ethel Marjory Benjamin (nee Barnett) of
The Tynings, my maternal grandparents.
Children included Jennifer
William and Elizabeth Barnett lived at 2 Tyning Cottages
Children: Victor Barnett (1902 - 1924), my great uncle Wilf Barnett, a well-known local mason, the first person that Eddie Week's father employed after the War.
References
[1] Parish Magazine August 1963
[2] Shepton Mallet Journal, 4 July 1924
[1] Parish Magazine August 1963
[2] Shepton Mallet Journal, 4 July 1924