Goodhind Family Suggested by Mark Jenkinson May 2017
The Struggle for Work and Status
The Struggle for Work and Status
Mark Jenkinson's photograph of a house illustrated in the Box quarries
Mark Jenkinson wrote to us with this photo of a sketch from the underground quarries in Box. He said, I’m always particularly interested when I see a quarryman’s sketch of a house, in case it can be related to a present-day building. This house looks pretty distinctive, with its gates, posts and possible signage on the front, but I cannot place it. Does it look familiar?
Mark's photo set us out on a journey of discovery and a remarkable find about Chapel Plaister. It also unearthed the story of how lack of education and employment opportunities blighted some villagers in late Victorian Box up to the First World War. The story traces these discoveries through the lives of the Goodhind family, originally from Bathford, who came to Box for work.
Mark's photo set us out on a journey of discovery and a remarkable find about Chapel Plaister. It also unearthed the story of how lack of education and employment opportunities blighted some villagers in late Victorian Box up to the First World War. The story traces these discoveries through the lives of the Goodhind family, originally from Bathford, who came to Box for work.
Charles Hill and Elizabeth Goodhind
At Church Street, Bathford, in 1861 lived Charles Hill Goodhind and his wife Elizabeth. They were working people, Charles an agricultural labourer and Elizabeth took in laundry. They worked most days and had married on one of their few free days, 25 December 1833, possibly at a time when one of them was in service. They had at least seven children of whom six were still living at home as late as 1861.
Peter Effer Added
Charles Hill Goodhind was the son of Betty Hill Goodhind born 1807 in Saltford, Somerset. She married James Goulstone. Therefore, Charles Hill Goodhind and Thomas Goulstone were half brothers. The middle name Hill for Charles and Elizabeth relates to Betty's mother, Sarah Hill. She was the daughter of Richmond HIll and Elizabeth Gibbs (a wall memorial to them is in the Saltford church). Richmond Hill was the son of John Hill of the Hill family of Marksbury and High Littleton, Somerset and Sarah Richmond descended from the Richmonds of Stanton Prior, Somerset.
At Church Street, Bathford, in 1861 lived Charles Hill Goodhind and his wife Elizabeth. They were working people, Charles an agricultural labourer and Elizabeth took in laundry. They worked most days and had married on one of their few free days, 25 December 1833, possibly at a time when one of them was in service. They had at least seven children of whom six were still living at home as late as 1861.
Peter Effer Added
Charles Hill Goodhind was the son of Betty Hill Goodhind born 1807 in Saltford, Somerset. She married James Goulstone. Therefore, Charles Hill Goodhind and Thomas Goulstone were half brothers. The middle name Hill for Charles and Elizabeth relates to Betty's mother, Sarah Hill. She was the daughter of Richmond HIll and Elizabeth Gibbs (a wall memorial to them is in the Saltford church). Richmond Hill was the son of John Hill of the Hill family of Marksbury and High Littleton, Somerset and Sarah Richmond descended from the Richmonds of Stanton Prior, Somerset.
In 1869 Charles died and, to earn money to maintain her family, Elizabeth took employment in Box. With her were her sons, Richard and Thomas. The 1871 census recorded her job as a Turnpike Keeper living at the Toll Gate, Chapel Plaister. When Parliament authorised a group of private people to renew sections of local roads, it permitted them to erect gates (barriers) on the road to collect toll fees from road users to pay for the work. It was Elizabeth's job to open and close the barriers and to collect the money from horse-riders, coaches, carriages, wagons and flocks of animals.
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It was a difficult job requiring Elizabeth to estimate the weight of carts, size of wagon wheels, number of horses and charge a different tariff for each category. She would have faced considerable opposition from travellers, schemes to deceive her and the need to account for all the money she received to the trustees of the road. She would have been remunerated for her labours and probably relieved to have employment.
This may account for another underground drawing which appears to record that Elizabeth Goodhind celebrated with a feast: Mrs Goodhind killed her pig October 8 1871 or August 18 1871. There is no documentary evidence of the precise location of the turnpike but it is likely to be on the site of the cottages opposite the chapel. The writing on the top of Thomas Goodhind's drawing says Bath Roads and the display board on the house appears to say Bath Gate; probably it showed the tariffs in operation. It was a good place to install the tolls set before the crossroads at Box Fiveways to maximise income. Left: Mrs Goodhind killed her pig (courtesy Mark Jenkinson) |
There is a curious similarity between the story of the Goodhinds and the Box family of the Goulstones.[1] Both had married into the Hill family and used this as a middle name and both had a tradition of being employed as tollgate keepers. There was another connection when one of the children, George Goodhind, was employed as a general farm servant by Thomas and Hannah Ann Goulstone at Hill House Farm when he was 13 years old in 1871. We haven't been able to find the cause of any connection, possibly by marriage.
Struggle For Work
The children of Charles Hill Goodhind and Elizabeth all struggled to find work in late Victorian Box. Employment in the village was limited by the recession in agriculture after 1873 and the decline in the quarry trade after 1887.[2] Both industries sought to limit their costs by employing labour on a short-term basis, sometimes annual contracts but other times as little as monthly work on piece-rates. Work was more easily available for those with local connections but, as newcomers, the Goodhinds went to the back of the queue. The family lacked family tradition whereby parents could guarantee the work of their children and get them employment.
Three of the children took lower paid jobs. Richard was a road labourer in 1871 and later gardener to the vicar of Bathford until the vicar died.[3] A later reference to him says that he was a member of the Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds of Bathford.[4]
This was a friendly society (similar in some respects to a trade union), offering Brother Richard Goodhind comradeship, sickness and death benefits in the years before the provisional of Old Age Pensions and the National Health Service.
Thomas was a mason's labourer in 1891, and John was a stone sawyer living at 4 The Firs, Kingsdown. Quarry work was physically demanding and often fuelled by alcohol. In 1880 Thomas was summoned with five others for being drunk and disorderly at the Crown Inn, Bathford, and refusing to leave the pub.[5] He was fined 10s. Before 1891 Thomas worked underground as a stone miner and he would have sketched his mother's house on the walls on the quarry when he was taking a break underground. Thomas married a Box girl, Mary Ann Arlett, in 1874 and they rented property at Wadswick in 1881 and at Washwells in 1891. By then Thomas was no longer working underground and was described as a masons' labourer, doing unskilled work in a stoneyard.
Goodhinds at Kingsdown
Struggle For Work
The children of Charles Hill Goodhind and Elizabeth all struggled to find work in late Victorian Box. Employment in the village was limited by the recession in agriculture after 1873 and the decline in the quarry trade after 1887.[2] Both industries sought to limit their costs by employing labour on a short-term basis, sometimes annual contracts but other times as little as monthly work on piece-rates. Work was more easily available for those with local connections but, as newcomers, the Goodhinds went to the back of the queue. The family lacked family tradition whereby parents could guarantee the work of their children and get them employment.
Three of the children took lower paid jobs. Richard was a road labourer in 1871 and later gardener to the vicar of Bathford until the vicar died.[3] A later reference to him says that he was a member of the Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds of Bathford.[4]
This was a friendly society (similar in some respects to a trade union), offering Brother Richard Goodhind comradeship, sickness and death benefits in the years before the provisional of Old Age Pensions and the National Health Service.
Thomas was a mason's labourer in 1891, and John was a stone sawyer living at 4 The Firs, Kingsdown. Quarry work was physically demanding and often fuelled by alcohol. In 1880 Thomas was summoned with five others for being drunk and disorderly at the Crown Inn, Bathford, and refusing to leave the pub.[5] He was fined 10s. Before 1891 Thomas worked underground as a stone miner and he would have sketched his mother's house on the walls on the quarry when he was taking a break underground. Thomas married a Box girl, Mary Ann Arlett, in 1874 and they rented property at Wadswick in 1881 and at Washwells in 1891. By then Thomas was no longer working underground and was described as a masons' labourer, doing unskilled work in a stoneyard.
Goodhinds at Kingsdown
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Several of Elizabeth's children lived in Kingsdown. Francis John Goodhind and his wife Catherine ran the Swan Inn from 1899 until July 1904. Many pubs in Box were combined with the quarrying trade. The Swan Inn was a drinking place for quarrymen from Kingsdown Quarry opposite it and the first recorded licensee was George Newman, part of a well-known quarrying family.
It is possible that the premises was a tommy shop, a retail outlet owned by the quarry owner or manager who gave the workers credit for drink and food against their future wages when they had finished their shift in the quarry. The owners needed an experienced person to run the pub who would know those earning enough on piece rates to cover their bill. |
Another son, John Goodhind married Mary Jane Burchill and they lived at 4 The Firs, Kingsdown in 1901, where John was a stone sawyer. The industry was in decline and by 1911 they had moved to Townsend, where John was a carter for the Candle & Soap Factory run by the Vezey family.
Some Kingsdown connections came through marriage. John Goodhind (b 1845) married local girl Eliza Hancock (b 1845) in 1865. They moved back to Bathford and stayed there most of their lives and all their children were born there. The youngest son, Albert, ran the Stamford Bridge Bakery at Batheaston for many years until his tragic death aged 41 caused by double pneumonia while delivering bread in March 1921.
Later Generations
We can trace details of several of John and Mary's children, including Charles Hill Goodhind, junior (b 1876), Walter John Goodhind and Kathleen Mary Goodhind. Charles Hill tried various jobs, in 1891 a farm labourer and in 1907 quarryman. By 1911 he and his wife Annie Eliza lived at 4 The Firs, Kingsdown, where Charles was a labourer working for the Great Western Railway. In 1931 he was awarded the emblem of the National Union of Railwaymen for services rendered to the NUR in 1930.[6] By 1939 they had moved to Walcot Street, Bath, where Charles Hill was still working for the railways as a repairing engineer.
In the First World War, Walter John Goodhind enlisted in the Royal Tank Corps aged 18 in 1916. It was a brave, if reckless, thing to do as tanks had only just been developed and were not used in warfare until the Battle of the Somme in September 1916. Moving at a walking pace, they were still a death-trap, many of them suffocated their occupants, others broke down and were destroyed by the enemy. It is believed that he survived the war and married Winifred Young in 1924 before leaving the area.
Kathleen Mary Goodhind left Box and settled in Paulton, Somerset. She married Walter J Redwood on Easter Monday 9 April 1928 when her older sister, Alice, was one of the bridesmaids.[7] The couple settled in Paulton where Walter had run a fruiterer and greengrocer business for many years. Not to be outdone, Alice married WJ Clarke at Swainswick a few days later.[8]
Children of Charles Hill Goodhind (b 1876)
By the middle of the twentieth century the Goodhind members give a clear picture of resolute, religious people of principle. It is interesting that the children of Charles Hill Goodhind all had their weddings announced in local newspapers with a substantial write-up and more details than their spouses.[9] This could be that the Goodhind publicity was well established but I like to think that the Goodhinds had risen by education and connections from their uncertain origins to become people of some repute.
They were strong-willed people of principle as demonstrated by Ivor Charles Goodhind (b 1918).[10] He was a 21 year-old at the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939, a Conscientious Objector on religious grounds. He was well-known in Bath as a Cubmaster in the Scouts, a Sunday School teacher in Manvers Street Baptist Church and a local shop assistant. He volunteered to serve in a non-combat role in the Royal Navy or to do ambulance work on the front line. His request was upheld because of his sincerity in the matter of taking up arms.
The story of George Goodhind (b 1908) shows similar bravery. In 1942 he was employed by the bridges department of GWR when he heard shouts from an eleven year-old girl, who had fallen through the ice on which she was skating in the canal at Widcombe Bridge.[11] Throwing off his coat, Mr Goodhind plunged into the water, reached the girl and brought her to the bank.
It had been quite a journey for the family since their gate-keeper roots.
Some Kingsdown connections came through marriage. John Goodhind (b 1845) married local girl Eliza Hancock (b 1845) in 1865. They moved back to Bathford and stayed there most of their lives and all their children were born there. The youngest son, Albert, ran the Stamford Bridge Bakery at Batheaston for many years until his tragic death aged 41 caused by double pneumonia while delivering bread in March 1921.
Later Generations
We can trace details of several of John and Mary's children, including Charles Hill Goodhind, junior (b 1876), Walter John Goodhind and Kathleen Mary Goodhind. Charles Hill tried various jobs, in 1891 a farm labourer and in 1907 quarryman. By 1911 he and his wife Annie Eliza lived at 4 The Firs, Kingsdown, where Charles was a labourer working for the Great Western Railway. In 1931 he was awarded the emblem of the National Union of Railwaymen for services rendered to the NUR in 1930.[6] By 1939 they had moved to Walcot Street, Bath, where Charles Hill was still working for the railways as a repairing engineer.
In the First World War, Walter John Goodhind enlisted in the Royal Tank Corps aged 18 in 1916. It was a brave, if reckless, thing to do as tanks had only just been developed and were not used in warfare until the Battle of the Somme in September 1916. Moving at a walking pace, they were still a death-trap, many of them suffocated their occupants, others broke down and were destroyed by the enemy. It is believed that he survived the war and married Winifred Young in 1924 before leaving the area.
Kathleen Mary Goodhind left Box and settled in Paulton, Somerset. She married Walter J Redwood on Easter Monday 9 April 1928 when her older sister, Alice, was one of the bridesmaids.[7] The couple settled in Paulton where Walter had run a fruiterer and greengrocer business for many years. Not to be outdone, Alice married WJ Clarke at Swainswick a few days later.[8]
Children of Charles Hill Goodhind (b 1876)
By the middle of the twentieth century the Goodhind members give a clear picture of resolute, religious people of principle. It is interesting that the children of Charles Hill Goodhind all had their weddings announced in local newspapers with a substantial write-up and more details than their spouses.[9] This could be that the Goodhind publicity was well established but I like to think that the Goodhinds had risen by education and connections from their uncertain origins to become people of some repute.
They were strong-willed people of principle as demonstrated by Ivor Charles Goodhind (b 1918).[10] He was a 21 year-old at the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939, a Conscientious Objector on religious grounds. He was well-known in Bath as a Cubmaster in the Scouts, a Sunday School teacher in Manvers Street Baptist Church and a local shop assistant. He volunteered to serve in a non-combat role in the Royal Navy or to do ambulance work on the front line. His request was upheld because of his sincerity in the matter of taking up arms.
The story of George Goodhind (b 1908) shows similar bravery. In 1942 he was employed by the bridges department of GWR when he heard shouts from an eleven year-old girl, who had fallen through the ice on which she was skating in the canal at Widcombe Bridge.[11] Throwing off his coat, Mr Goodhind plunged into the water, reached the girl and brought her to the bank.
It had been quite a journey for the family since their gate-keeper roots.
The story of the Goodhind family shows some of the issues for people born before the Education Reforms of 1870 and the issues with a stagnant economy based on old-fashioned industries of quarrying and agriculture.
As with many labouring families, the records of the people and their relations are poor in the early Victorian period. We have speculated on some parts of the family tree on the basis of probably connections. The uncertainty has been flagged up in the article and we welcome all corrections and additions to improve the story of the Goodhind family.
As with many labouring families, the records of the people and their relations are poor in the early Victorian period. We have speculated on some parts of the family tree on the basis of probably connections. The uncertainty has been flagged up in the article and we welcome all corrections and additions to improve the story of the Goodhind family.
Family Tree
Charles Hill Goodhind (1807 - 1869), agricultural labourer, married Elizabeth Withey (born 1815 at Bathford, died 1876) on
25 December 1833. In 1861 she was described as laundress and in 1871 she was listed as a Turnpike Keeper, a widow living at the Toll gate at Chapel Plaister.
All their children were born at Bathford:
John (b 1845); Richard (b 1847) was a road labourer; James (b 1850); Thomas (b 1850) was a quarryman; Louisa (b 1853); George (b 1858) was a general farm servant working for Thomas and Hannah Ann Goulstone at Hill House Farm when he was
13 years old in 1871; Jane (baptised 8 April 1866).
John (b 1845) married Eliza Hancock (b 1845 Kingsdown).
They lived in Bathford most of their lives where all the children were born:
Francis C (b 1870) stable boy; Richard (b 1873); John (b 1875); Thomas (b 1877); Hannah M (b 1878); Jane; Albert (1880 - 1921).
Thomas Goodhind (b 1850 at Bathford) married Mary Ann Arlett (b 1850 in Box) in 1874. In 1881 they lived at Wadswick and in 1891 at Washwells, next to the Devizes Road, where Thomas was a masons' labourer.
Children: possibly Francis John (b 1868 at Bathford); John (b 1876 at Bathford); Charles Hill (b 1877 at Box); Henry GJ (b 1884 in Box).
Francis John (b 1868) married Catherine (b 1867 at Hemington, Somerset).
He ran the Swan Inn, Kingsdown, from 1899 until July 1904.
Children: Tilly Gertrude (b 1893 at Bathford; Catherine Margaret (b 1894 at Marston Bigot, Somerset); Arthur Victor (b 1898 at Marston Bigot).
John Goodhind (b 1876 at Bathford) married Mary Jane Burchill (b 1875 at Combe Down). Some of Mary Jane's relatives were in India where her niece Katherine was born in 1903. In 1901 they lived at 4 The Firs, Kingsdown, Box, where John was a stone sawyer. In 1911 They lived at Townsend, next door to Benjamin Vezey, where John was a carter for the candle & soap factory.
Children : Elizabeth (baptised 12 September 1875) Alice M (b 1898 in Box); Walter John (b 1899 in Devizes Road, Box) enlisted in the army on 11 October 1916, serving in the Corps of Lancers, the Royal Wilts Yeomanry, then in the Royal Tank Corps aged 18 in 1916; Kathleen Mary (b 1902 in Box) who married Walter J Redwood; George (b 1907 in Box).
Charles Hill Goodhind (born 23 December 1876) was described as a farm labourer in 1891 and quarryman in 1907. He married Annie Eliza Cooper (born 13 September 1882 at Kington Langley) in 1904. In 1911 they lived at 4 The Firs, Kingsdown where Charles Hill was a labourer working for GWR.
Children: Lucy Winifred (b 31 March 1907 at Kingsdown, Box); Kitty G (b 3 June 1921) George (b 22 March 1908 in Box);
Olive Mary (b 10 December 1910 in Box) who married Alfred John Cooper; Ivor Charles (b 1918).
Charles Hill Goodhind (1807 - 1869), agricultural labourer, married Elizabeth Withey (born 1815 at Bathford, died 1876) on
25 December 1833. In 1861 she was described as laundress and in 1871 she was listed as a Turnpike Keeper, a widow living at the Toll gate at Chapel Plaister.
All their children were born at Bathford:
John (b 1845); Richard (b 1847) was a road labourer; James (b 1850); Thomas (b 1850) was a quarryman; Louisa (b 1853); George (b 1858) was a general farm servant working for Thomas and Hannah Ann Goulstone at Hill House Farm when he was
13 years old in 1871; Jane (baptised 8 April 1866).
John (b 1845) married Eliza Hancock (b 1845 Kingsdown).
They lived in Bathford most of their lives where all the children were born:
Francis C (b 1870) stable boy; Richard (b 1873); John (b 1875); Thomas (b 1877); Hannah M (b 1878); Jane; Albert (1880 - 1921).
Thomas Goodhind (b 1850 at Bathford) married Mary Ann Arlett (b 1850 in Box) in 1874. In 1881 they lived at Wadswick and in 1891 at Washwells, next to the Devizes Road, where Thomas was a masons' labourer.
Children: possibly Francis John (b 1868 at Bathford); John (b 1876 at Bathford); Charles Hill (b 1877 at Box); Henry GJ (b 1884 in Box).
Francis John (b 1868) married Catherine (b 1867 at Hemington, Somerset).
He ran the Swan Inn, Kingsdown, from 1899 until July 1904.
Children: Tilly Gertrude (b 1893 at Bathford; Catherine Margaret (b 1894 at Marston Bigot, Somerset); Arthur Victor (b 1898 at Marston Bigot).
John Goodhind (b 1876 at Bathford) married Mary Jane Burchill (b 1875 at Combe Down). Some of Mary Jane's relatives were in India where her niece Katherine was born in 1903. In 1901 they lived at 4 The Firs, Kingsdown, Box, where John was a stone sawyer. In 1911 They lived at Townsend, next door to Benjamin Vezey, where John was a carter for the candle & soap factory.
Children : Elizabeth (baptised 12 September 1875) Alice M (b 1898 in Box); Walter John (b 1899 in Devizes Road, Box) enlisted in the army on 11 October 1916, serving in the Corps of Lancers, the Royal Wilts Yeomanry, then in the Royal Tank Corps aged 18 in 1916; Kathleen Mary (b 1902 in Box) who married Walter J Redwood; George (b 1907 in Box).
Charles Hill Goodhind (born 23 December 1876) was described as a farm labourer in 1891 and quarryman in 1907. He married Annie Eliza Cooper (born 13 September 1882 at Kington Langley) in 1904. In 1911 they lived at 4 The Firs, Kingsdown where Charles Hill was a labourer working for GWR.
Children: Lucy Winifred (b 31 March 1907 at Kingsdown, Box); Kitty G (b 3 June 1921) George (b 22 March 1908 in Box);
Olive Mary (b 10 December 1910 in Box) who married Alfred John Cooper; Ivor Charles (b 1918).
References
[1] See two articles Goulstone Family and Woolf Hall
[2] See articles Victorian Farming and Lambert's Stoneyard
[3] The Bath Chronicle, 15 March 1894
[4] The Bath Chronicle, 22 July 1897 and 15 May 1902
[5] The Bath Chronicle, 6 May 1880
[6] Bath Chronicle and Herald, 16 May 1931
[7] Bath Chronicle and Herald, 14 April 1928
[8] Bath Chronicle and Herald, 21 April 1928
[9] Bath Weekly Chronicle and Herald, 22 September 1934 and 4 November 1939
[10] Bath Weekly Chronicle and Herald, 16 December 1939
[11] Bath Weekly Chronicle and Herald, 19 December 1942
[1] See two articles Goulstone Family and Woolf Hall
[2] See articles Victorian Farming and Lambert's Stoneyard
[3] The Bath Chronicle, 15 March 1894
[4] The Bath Chronicle, 22 July 1897 and 15 May 1902
[5] The Bath Chronicle, 6 May 1880
[6] Bath Chronicle and Herald, 16 May 1931
[7] Bath Chronicle and Herald, 14 April 1928
[8] Bath Chronicle and Herald, 21 April 1928
[9] Bath Weekly Chronicle and Herald, 22 September 1934 and 4 November 1939
[10] Bath Weekly Chronicle and Herald, 16 December 1939
[11] Bath Weekly Chronicle and Herald, 19 December 1942