The Chequers c.1912. The board over the doorway refers to the licensee, Jacob Beales. Assumed to be in the photograph is Jacob Beales (centre) and IsabellaCourtesy Linda Purdy At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Chequers Public House was owned by Mary Warren. Mary also occupied the Chequers her husband, William Warren. An Abstract…
Author: Heather Etteridge
Carpenter John Barnard dies in the Village in 1782
In his will dated 1st August, 1777, John Barnard of Great Ellingham describes himself as a carpenter. St James’s Church, Great Ellingham Four years before making his will, John married Mary Mead in the Church of St James, Great Ellingham on the 22nd October, 1773. Mary Mead was a spinster of the parish of Eye…
Property Owner Mary Warren dies in 1808
Extract from 1802 Map of Great Ellingham. Original held at Norfolk Record Office. Russell James Colman Plans. Cat. Ref. C/Ca 1/84. With kind permission of NRO Properties in Chequers Lane and Church Street At the turn of the nineteenth century, Mary Warren owned five houses and land in Great Ellingham. These properties were in what…
Mitson Family Emigrate to Canada
Emigration Like many other families and individuals from the eastern counties, several families from Great Ellingham also emigrated in 1836. This mass emigration was likely as a result of the hardship being suffered by many agricultural workers following the introduction of machinery. Many agricultural labourers were out of work or, those still in work, found…
The Marriage of Josiah Carter & Sarah Downes
Baptist Chapel, Long Street, Great Ellingham. Courtesy of Attleborough Heritage Group Wedding Report The Bury Free Press of Saturday 10th November 1894, reported on a wedding which had taken place at the Baptist Church in Great Ellingham on Wednesday, 31st October. The marriage of Josiah Carter and Sarah Ann Elizabeth Downes had ‘roused an unusual…
Assault by Knocking off a Hat!
Illustration by Christine Fuller Great Ellingham farmer, William Robert Wick Green, appeared before the Magistrates at East Harling in the July of 1869. James Tennant, a miller’s clerk of East Harling, charged William Green with assaulting him by knocking off his hat at Attleborough on the 21st June. Green told the court that he “did…
John & Frances Pelly of The British School
John K Pelly and his wife Frances likely arrived in Great Ellingham in January 1869, when they took up the respective positions of schoolmaster and schoolmistress at the British School. A report of a ‘Public Tea Meeting’ held in Great Ellingham for the benefit of the British School, which appeared in the Norwich Mercury of…
The Rosher Family of ‘Near the Hall Gates’
The Rosher Family’s Home in Great Ellingham The 1911 census captures Alfred Rosher with his wife and children living in a three-roomed property in Town Green, Great Ellingham, which was said to be ‘Near the Hall Gates‘. Assuming that the position of the gates leading to Great Ellingham Hall has remained unchanged since at least…
A Drunk & Disorderly Shepherd
Illustration by Christine Fuller Court Appearance Herbert Morter, a shepherd, of Great Ellingham appeared before the Magistrates at East Harling at the beginning of October, 1908. Herbert was charged with being drunk and disorderly on the 5th October. He was convicted and fined the sum of of fourteen shillings, which included the penalty and costs….
Susan Pea given 14 Days for Theft of Turnips
Appearance at Norwich Assizes 26 year old Susan Pea appeared at the Norwich Assizes at the beginning of April 1837. She was charged with stealing two bushels of turnips at Great Ellingham, the property of John Turner. Susan was found guilty and sentenced to 14 days imprisonment. Two bushels is approximately eight stone (or nearly…