The 1830s was a difficult time for many agricultural labourers in the country. With other factors, the mechanised practices in agriculture resulted in unemployment, reduced wages and poor conditions. The inhabitants of Great Ellingham were not immune to the struggles. The village was affected by the widespread uprising during this time. Farmer John Barnard had…
Author: Heather Etteridge
John Roberts’ Bill for Repairs to the Church
Parish Chests The Poor Law of 1552 brought in mandatory legislation that every parish must have a strong chest, with three keys, in which to keep the alms for the poor. Earlier 16th century legislation required every parish to have a locked parish chest for the safe keeping of the Parish Registers and other parish…
Elizabeth Terrington gains free travel to Van Diemen’s Land
As a result of the reformation of the Poor Law in 1834, the administration of parishes transferred from the parish to a local district Poor Law Union. Consequently, Great Ellingham came under the Wayland Poor Law Union with an elected Board of Guardians. Wayland Union Workhouse. Courtesy of Liz Barrett The Minutes of a meeting…
The ‘Witches’ of Penhill Road & ‘Dragon’s Blood’ at Downham Market
Witchcraft & Folklore Witchcraft is very much interwoven with Norfolk folklore. Traditionally ‘Witches’ were perceived to have supernatural powers to control people or events. Most villages and towns had ‘wise-men’ or ‘wise-women’ who were acquainted with the old mysterious ways. Although much-feared, it is claimed that these ‘cunning folk’ made sick people better, located lost…
Prominent Footballer & Cricketer Plays for Great Ellingham Cricket Team
Curate to Little & Great Ellingham The Old Parsonage, once the home of George Barkley Raikes In the summer of 1905, Little and Great Ellingham had a new curate, the Reverend George Barkley Raikes. Given that the previous curate, the Reverend Harry Parker, lived at The Parsonage in Great Ellingham, it follows that the Parsonage…
Lincoln Family’s Migration from Great Ellingham to Yorkshire
Movement of People Like many rural communities during the Victorian period, Great Ellingham saw movement in the population. In 1836, several families left the village for a new life ‘on the other side of the world’. A few were ‘forced’ to embark on a journey to Van Diemen’s Land (later Tasmania) following a criminal conviction….
Ellis Clarke’s Successful Emigration from Rocklands to Tasmania
Ellis Clarke’s Railway Coffee Palace in Ulverstone, Tasmania. Ellis’s son Stephen and his wife Louisa are in the ‘buggy’. Courtesy of Kim O’Brien Death some 10,500 miles from his native home of Rocklands Ellis Clarke died in August 1903 at his home at the Railway Coffee Palace in Ulverstone, Tasmania. He was born in Rockland…
Charles & Jane Clarke – Sponsored Passage from Rocklands to Tasmania
By the time that Charles and Jane Clarke secured sponsorship for their emigration to Tasmania in 1855, they likely knew what to expect ‘on the other side of the world’. Charles’s eldest brother Robert and his wife and family had emigrated to South Australia the previous year. Although this was a time before the telephone…
From Rocklands to South Australia – the Clarke & Barham Families
Passenger Ship Bound for Australia The emigrant passenger ship the Joseph Rowan left Liverpool on the 21st March, 1854, with around 376 ‘government passengers’ bound for South Australia. The passage for these emigrants may well have been covered by one of the assisted-government schemes. The Australian colonial governments particularly wanted skilled labourers and single women….
James & Ann Clarke of Great Ellingham & Rocklands
I am always thrilled to hear from descendants of people who once lived in Great Ellingham. I am also grateful for additional information – particularly photographs of past villagers who once walked along the very same streets as we do today. This is the story of James and Ann Clarke who began their life together…