Baptist Chapel Long Street Great Ellingham
Courtesy Attleborough Heritage Group
Marriage in Attleborough
The wedding of Samuel Tilson and Sarah Wright took place at St Mary’s Church, Attleborough on the 25th May, 1812. At the time of their marriage, both Samuel and Sarah were single and lived in Attleborough.
St Mary’s Church, Attleborough
Move to Great Ellingham
By 1814, the couple were in Great Ellingham. Records show that Sarah Tilson was admitted into the Baptist Church on the 6th November, 1814. I believe Samuel and Sarah’s son William was born around this time.
William was followed by Rebecca. She was born in Great Ellingham on the 4th June, 1816.
The couple welcomed another daughter, Mary, on the 19th May, 1820. Sadly, Mary died on the 1st June and, a few days later, buried in the Baptists’ Burying Ground in the village.
On the 18th May, 1830, Samuel and Sarah buried their son William in the same Burying Ground.
1841 census
The 1841 census captures Samuel and Sarah Tilson (both in their mid-fifties) living in Great Ellingham. With the couple is their surviving daughter 25 year old Rebecca.
Dauber
Samuel’s occupation is a dauber. One of three daubers in Great Ellingham in 1841, Samuel would have worked on the construction or repair of the ‘wattle and daub’ walls of some of the buildings in the village. However by 1851, Samuel was the only dauber in Great Ellingham. By 1861, there were none.
In comparison, in 1841 Great Ellingham had one bricklayer but by 1851, the village had three bricklayers and one brick maker. These numbers increased by 1861. Great Ellingham now had four bricklayers and two brick makers. Accordingly, it is fair to say that more village buildings were being constructed with bricks.
Rebecca Tilson dies at 32
On the 10th August, 1845, Rebecca joined the Baptist Church. Her baptism took place in the Baptist Chapel in Great Ellingham.
Tragically just three years later, on 5th November 1848, Rebecca Tilson died at the age of 32.
However, tragedy would once again affect this family.
Sarah Tilson’s Sudden Illness
Just days before Christmas 1850, Sarah Tilson was ‘seized with paralysis whilst cleaning’ in the Baptist Chapel. She died 8 days later on the 28th December. Sarah was 65. It may well have been that Sarah Tilson suffered a stroke.
Following a funeral service conducted by the Pastor James Cragg, Sarah Tilson was buried in the Baptists Burying Ground on the first day of January, 1851.
Possibly the last Dauber in the Village
Following his wife’s death, Samuel Tilson continued to live in the village. The 1851 census captures 67 year old widower Samuel Tilson living alone in Town Green. He is still working as a dauber.
Samuel died in 1860. He was probably the last dauber to live in Great Ellingham.
Sources:
Great Ellingham Baptist Church Minute Book 1849. & No.2 Register of Births &c. (Baptist Chapel) Great Ellingham. Thanks to the Baptist Church & High Collier
1841 census HO107/78/8
1851 census HO107/1823/110
GRO Index. https://www.gov.uk/research-family-history Also available at FreeBMD website. https://www.freebmd.org.uk
Attleborough Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office PD438. Viewed via www.ancestry.co.uk