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Smith Family at The Old Jockey Brenda Long October 2017 Brenda wrote to us from London because her father, Ivor Smith, was born at the Old Jockey in 1907. She asked if we had any further information saying "My mother died some years ago as did my father and there are no surviving relatives that I am aware of to help fill in my knowledge of my family at Old Jockey, Box". This is the story of her grandparents, Anna Sheppard and Charles Smith, who lived in the hamlets of Blue Vein and Old Jockey, Box. |
Old Jockey House in 1970s (courtesy Crisp Cowley, chartered surveyors, Bath)
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Young Lovers
When Anna Sheppard married Albert Charles Smith (known as Charles) on 14 May 1887 it was unusual for the time because she was only 18 years old. Many girls were still in service in their teens and early twenties, which gave them some experience of managing a home. But Anna chose to marry young. Later in this article we speculate on the reason for the teenage marriage but it doesn't appear to be a shot-gun marriage as their first child was not born until two years later.
When Anna Sheppard married Albert Charles Smith (known as Charles) on 14 May 1887 it was unusual for the time because she was only 18 years old. Many girls were still in service in their teens and early twenties, which gave them some experience of managing a home. But Anna chose to marry young. Later in this article we speculate on the reason for the teenage marriage but it doesn't appear to be a shot-gun marriage as their first child was not born until two years later.
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Charles was four years older than Anna, the oldest son of a labourer and brought up in Kingsdown, where his grandparents lived next door. When he married he was working as a quarryman but neither Anna nor Charles had any money, furniture or domestic possessions.
They set up home taking a short-term tenancy at Old Jockey in properties owned by the Fuller family of Neston Park. They appear to have lived in part of the coaching inn at the Old Jockey (now called Old Jockey House), sharing the premises with Lucy Matilda Franklin and her children. You can read more about this family in the article at Franklin Family. Left: Brenda's father Ivor Smith (courtesy Brenda Long) |
Early Smith Family
We can trace the story of the Smith family back in time to the eighteenth century when they lived at Kingsdown. The first member of the family we can identify for certain was Jacob Smith, born in 1814, who married a Box girl, Emily Pinker on 24 May 1836. The witnesses of the marriage were James Pinker & George Poulson, both prominent Box names.
Jacob's parents appear to be either Mary Smith and William Grumbury, a pauper; or Joseph Smith, husbandman, and his wife Ann. The 1841 census showed the widowed Ann living with three of her children quite close to Jacob and Emily, so Joseph and Ann seem to be the most probable ancestors. Then came Albert Charles (known as Charles), who was described at times as a labourer or quarryman. His oldest son was Anna Sheppard's husband, also named Albert Charles.
Farming Labourers after the 1750s
We can see that the family had been in the area for many generations, all working as rural labourers. We don't know which farm they worked at, possibly Kingsdown Farm but there were many others in the area at Blue Vein, Hatt and Longsplatt. Most people in Box in the century after 1750 were occupied on the land but it was a totally seasonal industry. Many were hired at annual fairs just for the summer months and released because of lack of work after harvest-time. And wages were very low. In 1696 Gregory King, an early statistician, estimated that a family of five needed £40 a year to survive, but agricultural labourers earned only £15 a year.[1] They frequently had to top up their earnings with poor relief, particularly in winter months.
This was a time of great change in farming methods. New ideas included continuous crop-rotation, rather than fallow years, with four-yearly sequences of: turnips to clean the land; clover to introduce nitrogen into the soil; followed by wheat and barley as crops. New types of fertiliser were introduced such as agricultural lime to reduce acidity and encourage soil productivity. And in mixed farming systems forage crops like turnips and beet allowed more winter feed for animals to be kept over winter instead of being slaughtered in the autumn. Land values almost doubled and the gentry grew considerably more wealthy. Henry Fielding, the Somerset author, described the farming gentry and yeomen of the Georgian age as having a taste for gluttony and drunkenness, contrasted with Squire Allworthy in his novel Tom Jones.[2]
We can trace the story of the Smith family back in time to the eighteenth century when they lived at Kingsdown. The first member of the family we can identify for certain was Jacob Smith, born in 1814, who married a Box girl, Emily Pinker on 24 May 1836. The witnesses of the marriage were James Pinker & George Poulson, both prominent Box names.
Jacob's parents appear to be either Mary Smith and William Grumbury, a pauper; or Joseph Smith, husbandman, and his wife Ann. The 1841 census showed the widowed Ann living with three of her children quite close to Jacob and Emily, so Joseph and Ann seem to be the most probable ancestors. Then came Albert Charles (known as Charles), who was described at times as a labourer or quarryman. His oldest son was Anna Sheppard's husband, also named Albert Charles.
Farming Labourers after the 1750s
We can see that the family had been in the area for many generations, all working as rural labourers. We don't know which farm they worked at, possibly Kingsdown Farm but there were many others in the area at Blue Vein, Hatt and Longsplatt. Most people in Box in the century after 1750 were occupied on the land but it was a totally seasonal industry. Many were hired at annual fairs just for the summer months and released because of lack of work after harvest-time. And wages were very low. In 1696 Gregory King, an early statistician, estimated that a family of five needed £40 a year to survive, but agricultural labourers earned only £15 a year.[1] They frequently had to top up their earnings with poor relief, particularly in winter months.
This was a time of great change in farming methods. New ideas included continuous crop-rotation, rather than fallow years, with four-yearly sequences of: turnips to clean the land; clover to introduce nitrogen into the soil; followed by wheat and barley as crops. New types of fertiliser were introduced such as agricultural lime to reduce acidity and encourage soil productivity. And in mixed farming systems forage crops like turnips and beet allowed more winter feed for animals to be kept over winter instead of being slaughtered in the autumn. Land values almost doubled and the gentry grew considerably more wealthy. Henry Fielding, the Somerset author, described the farming gentry and yeomen of the Georgian age as having a taste for gluttony and drunkenness, contrasted with Squire Allworthy in his novel Tom Jones.[2]
Mr and Mrs Andrews by Thomas Gainsborough (1748) reflect the affluence of the English country gentry in the 1700s (courtesy National Gallery via Wikipedia)
The lives of workers was very different to the Georgian gentlemen who employed them. Many areas saw technological innovation replacing manual labour, although this appears to have been limited until the middle of the 1800s in Wiltshire. Those who stayed in agriculture, such as the Smith family, became tied employees, working for very poor wages and a roof over their heads in return for giving up smallholding opportunities. In 1846-7 one sixth of the population in Wiltshire was receiving poor relief because wages were so low.[3] For these workers, a life of hard manual labour was all they could expect. In 1830 William Cobbett, the essayist, described the Wiltshire farm labourers he saw as the worst used ... on the face of the earth. There is a shocking decay, a great dilapidation and constant falling down of houses... The labourers’ houses disappear also.[4] He saw thirty labourers manually digging a 12-acre field because it was cheaper than machine-ploughing. He concluded, When farmers become gentlemen, their labourers become slaves.
Life at Turn of Century
Before the First World War, there was considerable continuity in the families in the area. When Anna lived at the Old Jockey in 1901, her father, Thomas Sheppard, lived a few hundred yards away at Blue Vein with his second wife and Anna's half-brother, Sidney. Sidney later rented Jeffrey's Cottage at the Old Jockey in 1911 when he married Lucy Ella Franklin, the eldest daughter of Anna's neighbours, remembered in the article Up the Hill and Down the Hill as having three boys and two girls, One girl who was often ill and rarely joined in our games. The eldest girl was married. The boys and their father cycled the six miles to Melksham every day to work in the Avon Rubber Factory. Mrs Sheppard was a sister of Harry Franklin and like him, had always lived at The Old Jockey. But eventually this family did move away to live closer to the factory at Melksham.
Other families also stayed locally. William David Gale lived at Hatt Farm Cottage (next door to Blue Vein) in 1901 before moving to Old Jockey Cottages in 1911. The lack of employment opportunities meant that almost all work was as quarrymen at Kingsdown or Longsplatt or as farm labourers. The properties at Old Jockey were cheap, but had became substantially run-down when most coach traffic went via the new roads through Box, rather than on the Old Bath Roads through Old Jockey and Kingsdown.
Life at Turn of Century
Before the First World War, there was considerable continuity in the families in the area. When Anna lived at the Old Jockey in 1901, her father, Thomas Sheppard, lived a few hundred yards away at Blue Vein with his second wife and Anna's half-brother, Sidney. Sidney later rented Jeffrey's Cottage at the Old Jockey in 1911 when he married Lucy Ella Franklin, the eldest daughter of Anna's neighbours, remembered in the article Up the Hill and Down the Hill as having three boys and two girls, One girl who was often ill and rarely joined in our games. The eldest girl was married. The boys and their father cycled the six miles to Melksham every day to work in the Avon Rubber Factory. Mrs Sheppard was a sister of Harry Franklin and like him, had always lived at The Old Jockey. But eventually this family did move away to live closer to the factory at Melksham.
Other families also stayed locally. William David Gale lived at Hatt Farm Cottage (next door to Blue Vein) in 1901 before moving to Old Jockey Cottages in 1911. The lack of employment opportunities meant that almost all work was as quarrymen at Kingsdown or Longsplatt or as farm labourers. The properties at Old Jockey were cheap, but had became substantially run-down when most coach traffic went via the new roads through Box, rather than on the Old Bath Roads through Old Jockey and Kingsdown.
Modern map of Box showing the hamlets referred to at Old Jockey, Blue Vein, Hatt and Longsplatt (courtesy Box Parish Council)
Anna Sheppard's Family
We can hazard some ideas on why Anna married so young in 1887. Her father Thomas appears to have married three times: in 1860 to Maria Plank, 1876 Fanny Wilmot and in 1898 Anna Greenman. Thomas' household had ten children in it all under sixteen years of age. As the oldest daughter, Anna would have had plenty of experience of child-minding and was probably mature beyond her years and keen to look after her own children, rather than her siblings.
The family do not appear to have settled in any particular area as Thomas continuously sought employment as a shepherd. Thomas was born in Marden, near Devizes, then worked in various places in the Pewsey Vale including Avebury, Preshute, Hilcott and Easton Royal. By 1891 the family had moved to Blue Vein, Box, the next-door hamlet to Old Jockey.
We can hazard some ideas on why Anna married so young in 1887. Her father Thomas appears to have married three times: in 1860 to Maria Plank, 1876 Fanny Wilmot and in 1898 Anna Greenman. Thomas' household had ten children in it all under sixteen years of age. As the oldest daughter, Anna would have had plenty of experience of child-minding and was probably mature beyond her years and keen to look after her own children, rather than her siblings.
The family do not appear to have settled in any particular area as Thomas continuously sought employment as a shepherd. Thomas was born in Marden, near Devizes, then worked in various places in the Pewsey Vale including Avebury, Preshute, Hilcott and Easton Royal. By 1891 the family had moved to Blue Vein, Box, the next-door hamlet to Old Jockey.
Ivor as a young man (courtesy Brenda Long)
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Leaving Box Brenda's father, Ivor Smith, was born in Old Jockey on the 4 February 1907, son of Charles and Anna and by 1911 the family had moved to the nearby village at Little Chalfield, Holt, where Charles got employment as a shepherd. It must have been a considerable wrench as more than three generations of the Smith family had lived in Box. Possibly it shows the desperation of finding employment as a shepherd at a time when it was a precarious and badly paid existence. Ivor did not stay in rural Wiltshire. Like many young people in the Great Depression of the 1920s, he sought employment in a city. Who can blame him when soon after 1919 the quarry trade went into severe decline and Longsplatt quarry closed in 1920?[5] Farming paid very poorly and Ivor would have seen his mother-in-law, Augusta Sheppard, forced to leave her tied home on the death of her husband. |
Augusta moved into the centre of Box by 1911, living alone in two rooms in part of 3 Mill Lane Cottages and supporting herself by taking work as a domestic daily help. Little wonder that in 1923 Vicar Sweetapple wrote about the unemployment situation: May God stir Box to cast off lethargy and carelessness and awake our higher interests.
Ivor came to London to study and later to live and work there. He was not fit for military service during the war, although Brenda's mother worked as a cook at the Admiralty in London. In December 1939 he married Ivy Borrow from Brixton, South London, where the couple later set up home, running an electrical shop. How he transited from rural labourer to suburban shopkeeper and electronic engineer is unknown, perhaps his membership of the Freemasons played a part.
Ivor came to London to study and later to live and work there. He was not fit for military service during the war, although Brenda's mother worked as a cook at the Admiralty in London. In December 1939 he married Ivy Borrow from Brixton, South London, where the couple later set up home, running an electrical shop. How he transited from rural labourer to suburban shopkeeper and electronic engineer is unknown, perhaps his membership of the Freemasons played a part.
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Brenda remembers her father as a keen photographer, though no photos remain. He used to take part in motorbike scrambling before she was born and his greatest hobby was watch repairing. He would spend hours doing this and had many friends and neighbours who needed his expertise. He was very good with his hands, mending anything electrical. Often on a Saturday morning you would find him working on a television which was in bits on the table, nothing seemed a challenge.
Brenda writes that unfortunately her father suffered from ill health throughout his life, at one time had TB (tuberculosis). He passed away in 1980, having not survived a fall in his home. Brenda's parents had two children, her brother Gordon born 14 October 1945 and Brenda, born 31 August 1951. Gordon died on 18 May 1978 leaving no children meaning that Brenda has no contemporary living relatives. |
Ivor outside his Brixton shop (courtesy Brenda Long)
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Brenda welcomes anyone who is related to her family to get in touch through the website and to recall more of the story of the Smith and Sheppard families in the village.
Smith Family Tree
Three-Times Great Grandparents
It is very difficult to trace the origins of the Smith family in Box. There are two likely people: Joseph, husbandman, who married Ann Coles of Box on 4 September 1808; and William Grumbury, pauper, and Mary Smith. The most likely are Joseph and Ann (born in Marshfield). Children: Isaac (baptised 26 November 1809); Daniel (baptised 6 June 1813); Mary (baptised 18 December 1814); possibly Jacob (born 1813 - 16 in Box); Sarah (baptised 29 August 1819); John (baptised 5 August 1819); and Harriot (baptised 24 November 1823).
Great Great Grandparents
Jacob Smith (born about 1813 - 16 in Box), agricultural labourer, was married in Box on 24 May 1836 to Emily Pinker (b 1816). The witnesses were James Pinker & George Poulson. In the 1841 census they lived at Kingsdown.
Children, all born in Box, included:
Albert Charles (known as Charles) (baptised 16 March 1837); William Henry (baptised 16 February 1840); Elizabeth (baptised 9 July 1843); Mary Ann (baptised 28 February 1847); Rosina (b 1856).
Great Grandparents
Albert Charles (known as Charles) Smith (b 1838), quarryman or labourer, married Jane Caudrey (b 1837 from All Cannings), daughter of Robert Caudrey, labourer in Box on 11 May 1858. The witnesses were John Pinker & Fanny Hardiman.
They lived at Kingsdown in 1881, next door to Charles Smith (b 1809) and Mary Smith (b 1819) who appear to be Albert Charles' uncle and aunt. The family appear to be friends or related to the Mizen family as visitors to Albert Chares and Jane were Elizabeth Mizen (b 1848) and Frank Mizen (b 1878).
Albert Charles and Jane had at least five children, all recorded as born at Kingsdown:
Melinda (baptised 12 June 1859); Elizabeth H or Anna (known as Bessie) (baptised 13 October 1861); Albert Charles (baptised 11 September 1864); Melissa (baptised 11 November 1866); and Francis Jacob (baptised 11 October 1869).
Grandparents
Albert Charles Smith (1865 - ) and Anna Sheppard (1869 - born in Kennett) married in Box in 14 May 1887. The witnesses were Charles Smith & Elizabeth Jane Mizen.
Anna was the daughter of Thomas Sheppard, a shepherd who lived at Blue Vein in 1881. Children: Bertha (b 27 September 1887); Francis Thomas (b 3 March 1889); Ethel (b 20 November 1891); George (b 6 March 1893, under-carter on farm in 1911); Herbert (13 August 1894); Lilly (b 1898); Albert Edward (b 27 March 1899); Victor (b 7 July 1900); Winifred Elsie (b 1 November 1903); Ivor (b 4 February 1907).
By 1911 the family had moved to Little Chalfield, Holt where Albert Charles (b 1865) worked as a shepherd.
Parents
Ivor (4 February 1907 - 30 October 1980) married Ivy Borrow in December 1939 in Brixton, South London (d 25 March 2003).
Sheppard Family
Great Great Grandparents
James Sheppard (b 1793) farm labourer from Pewsey married Hannah (b 1801). In 1861 Hannah was described as pauper. Children all born at Marden, Devizes included: John (b 1824), farm labourer; Thomas (1834 - 1909), shepherd; Emma (b 1839); Henry (b 1843).
Great Grandparents
Thomas (1834 - 1909), shepherd, probably married three times: 1860 Maria Plank, 1876 Fanny Wilmot and 1898 Anna Greenman. He and Maria Plank married in Marden on 18 February 1860. She was baptised on 21 July 1839 at Marden, the daughter of William, labourer, and Mary Naish of Marden. The witnesses of the wedding were John Sheppard & Ann Plank. Thomas and Maria lived in Avebury in 1871 until she died in 1876.
Children: Sydney (baptised 4 September 1864 at Marden); Charles (b 1867 Kennett); Anna (sometimes written as Hannah) (baptised 16 May 1869 in Marden); William (born 3 November 1870 at West Kennett); John (b 1872 at Marden); Frank (b 1 April 1873 Avebury), farm labourer; Bertha Jane (b 13 April 1875 Avebury), who was a housekeeper in 1891.
A short time after Maria's death in 1876 Thomas married Fanny Wilmot (b 1855) from Marden. She was twenty years his junior, probably needed at a time when he had six children under nine years to care for. They lived at Preshute, Marlborough in 1881. Children: George (b 1877 Kennett); Alice (b 1878 Hilcott, Pewsey Vale); and Sidney (b 1880 at Easton Royal). It isn't known what happened to Fanny after 1880 but by 1891 Thomas was called a widower.
In the 1891 census Thomas lived at Blue Vein, Box. In 1898 Thomas married again to Augusta Greenman of Box (1851 - 1922) and they were still living at Blue Vein with Thomas' youngest child Sidney. On Thomas' death in 1909, Augusta had to give up the cottage and was living alone in 2 rooms at 3 Mill Lane Cottages in 1911 working as a domestic daily help.
Grandparents
Ann (b 1869) see above after marriage to Albert Charles Smith.
References
[1] Roy Porter, English Society in the 18th century, 1982, Allen Lane / Pelican, p.14
[2] Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling, originally published 1742
[3] Victoria County History of Wiltshire, Vol IV, p.83
[4] William Cobbett, Rural Rides, originally published 1820s
[5] Liz Price, Bath Freestone Workings, 1984, p.48 or on-line at: http://www.mcra.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=archive:publications
Three-Times Great Grandparents
It is very difficult to trace the origins of the Smith family in Box. There are two likely people: Joseph, husbandman, who married Ann Coles of Box on 4 September 1808; and William Grumbury, pauper, and Mary Smith. The most likely are Joseph and Ann (born in Marshfield). Children: Isaac (baptised 26 November 1809); Daniel (baptised 6 June 1813); Mary (baptised 18 December 1814); possibly Jacob (born 1813 - 16 in Box); Sarah (baptised 29 August 1819); John (baptised 5 August 1819); and Harriot (baptised 24 November 1823).
Great Great Grandparents
Jacob Smith (born about 1813 - 16 in Box), agricultural labourer, was married in Box on 24 May 1836 to Emily Pinker (b 1816). The witnesses were James Pinker & George Poulson. In the 1841 census they lived at Kingsdown.
Children, all born in Box, included:
Albert Charles (known as Charles) (baptised 16 March 1837); William Henry (baptised 16 February 1840); Elizabeth (baptised 9 July 1843); Mary Ann (baptised 28 February 1847); Rosina (b 1856).
Great Grandparents
Albert Charles (known as Charles) Smith (b 1838), quarryman or labourer, married Jane Caudrey (b 1837 from All Cannings), daughter of Robert Caudrey, labourer in Box on 11 May 1858. The witnesses were John Pinker & Fanny Hardiman.
They lived at Kingsdown in 1881, next door to Charles Smith (b 1809) and Mary Smith (b 1819) who appear to be Albert Charles' uncle and aunt. The family appear to be friends or related to the Mizen family as visitors to Albert Chares and Jane were Elizabeth Mizen (b 1848) and Frank Mizen (b 1878).
Albert Charles and Jane had at least five children, all recorded as born at Kingsdown:
Melinda (baptised 12 June 1859); Elizabeth H or Anna (known as Bessie) (baptised 13 October 1861); Albert Charles (baptised 11 September 1864); Melissa (baptised 11 November 1866); and Francis Jacob (baptised 11 October 1869).
Grandparents
Albert Charles Smith (1865 - ) and Anna Sheppard (1869 - born in Kennett) married in Box in 14 May 1887. The witnesses were Charles Smith & Elizabeth Jane Mizen.
Anna was the daughter of Thomas Sheppard, a shepherd who lived at Blue Vein in 1881. Children: Bertha (b 27 September 1887); Francis Thomas (b 3 March 1889); Ethel (b 20 November 1891); George (b 6 March 1893, under-carter on farm in 1911); Herbert (13 August 1894); Lilly (b 1898); Albert Edward (b 27 March 1899); Victor (b 7 July 1900); Winifred Elsie (b 1 November 1903); Ivor (b 4 February 1907).
By 1911 the family had moved to Little Chalfield, Holt where Albert Charles (b 1865) worked as a shepherd.
Parents
Ivor (4 February 1907 - 30 October 1980) married Ivy Borrow in December 1939 in Brixton, South London (d 25 March 2003).
Sheppard Family
Great Great Grandparents
James Sheppard (b 1793) farm labourer from Pewsey married Hannah (b 1801). In 1861 Hannah was described as pauper. Children all born at Marden, Devizes included: John (b 1824), farm labourer; Thomas (1834 - 1909), shepherd; Emma (b 1839); Henry (b 1843).
Great Grandparents
Thomas (1834 - 1909), shepherd, probably married three times: 1860 Maria Plank, 1876 Fanny Wilmot and 1898 Anna Greenman. He and Maria Plank married in Marden on 18 February 1860. She was baptised on 21 July 1839 at Marden, the daughter of William, labourer, and Mary Naish of Marden. The witnesses of the wedding were John Sheppard & Ann Plank. Thomas and Maria lived in Avebury in 1871 until she died in 1876.
Children: Sydney (baptised 4 September 1864 at Marden); Charles (b 1867 Kennett); Anna (sometimes written as Hannah) (baptised 16 May 1869 in Marden); William (born 3 November 1870 at West Kennett); John (b 1872 at Marden); Frank (b 1 April 1873 Avebury), farm labourer; Bertha Jane (b 13 April 1875 Avebury), who was a housekeeper in 1891.
A short time after Maria's death in 1876 Thomas married Fanny Wilmot (b 1855) from Marden. She was twenty years his junior, probably needed at a time when he had six children under nine years to care for. They lived at Preshute, Marlborough in 1881. Children: George (b 1877 Kennett); Alice (b 1878 Hilcott, Pewsey Vale); and Sidney (b 1880 at Easton Royal). It isn't known what happened to Fanny after 1880 but by 1891 Thomas was called a widower.
In the 1891 census Thomas lived at Blue Vein, Box. In 1898 Thomas married again to Augusta Greenman of Box (1851 - 1922) and they were still living at Blue Vein with Thomas' youngest child Sidney. On Thomas' death in 1909, Augusta had to give up the cottage and was living alone in 2 rooms at 3 Mill Lane Cottages in 1911 working as a domestic daily help.
Grandparents
Ann (b 1869) see above after marriage to Albert Charles Smith.
References
[1] Roy Porter, English Society in the 18th century, 1982, Allen Lane / Pelican, p.14
[2] Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling, originally published 1742
[3] Victoria County History of Wiltshire, Vol IV, p.83
[4] William Cobbett, Rural Rides, originally published 1820s
[5] Liz Price, Bath Freestone Workings, 1984, p.48 or on-line at: http://www.mcra.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=archive:publications