In the past, many of the inhabitants of Great Ellingham kept hens. These chickens provided many a ‘cash- strapped’ villager with a plentiful supply of fresh eggs and, on occasions, ‘Sunday lunch’. Unsurprisingly, there were several instances of hen thefts. Consequently, many offenders appeared before the Magistrates. One such wrong-doer was Frederick Barker. Illustration Christine…
Category: Court Hearings
Magistrates order Nehemiah Carter to contribute towards his Wife’s Care
A Workhouse was intended to provide work and shelter for the most poverty stricken members of society. However, many of the Victorian Workhouses operated with prison-like conditions. Accordingly it was only the desperate who would seek the shelter of the workhouse. Nevertheless by the latter part of the Victorian era, workhouses became more of a…
The Tale of the Vanishing Linen!
Illustration by Christine Fuller The illustration is creative interpretation and intended for humour only. No offence is intended or implied 24 year old May Bush lived with her parents and siblings at Rookery Farm, Great Ellingham. May worked in the dairy for her father, farmer William Arthur Bush. She was proficient in dairy skills. Indeed,…
Fined for Taking Fish out of a Pond
Illustration by Christine Fuller The illustration is creative interpretation and intended for humour only. No offence is intended or implied The Norwich Mercury of Saturday 23rd July, 1881, reported on the recent cases at the East Harling Petty Sessions. Amongst the defendants were Great Ellingham labourers, Frederick Sharman, Robert Carter, Henry Lake and John Lee….
Assault on Police Constable Askew in the Crown Inn Yard
Crown Inn with adjoining shops. Postcard courtesy Carol Ewin The Downham Market Gazette of Saturday 5th June 1909 reported on the ‘Trouble at Ellingham’. It was reported that Great Ellingham labourer, John Hurrell, was brought before the Magistrates at East Harling charged with assaulting Police Constable Askew ‘while in the execution of his duty’. The…
Court Dismisses case against Innkeeper Walter Buckle
Crown Inn with adjoining shops. Postcard courtesy Carol Ewin The Norfolk Chronicle of the 28th June 1902, reported on a case against the landlord of The Crown, Great Ellingham, Walter Buckle. Buckle was charged with assaulting his customer, James Fisher. Circumstances of the Case The Magistrates heard the circumstances of the case. It appears that…
George Anderson Bound Over to keep the Peace for Six Months
In the past, many families kept fowls for eggs and meat. Indeed, Great Ellingham also had several poultry dealers. Southview, Long Street. Courtesy Alan GardinerOnce the home of fowl dealer, John Clover One such dealer was John Clover. From at least 1891, Clover lived in Long Street. Certainly by 1901, he lived alone in a…
Harry Partridge, Poultry Farmer & Home Guard
Kelly’s Directory of 1937 shows Harry Partridge as a poultry farmer at the ‘Firs’ in Great Ellingham. The Firs is a property to the southern end of Long Street which was also known as Fir Cottage. Harry Partridge was one of seven poultry dealers or poultry farmers in the village at that time. Great Ellingham…
The ‘Making’ of William Clarke at the Reformatory School at Buxton
I was delighted to be contacted by a descendant of one of the Clarke families who lived in Great Ellingham from at least 1800 to 1902. Angela McCleery has studied the Clarke family for a number of years. She he is able to provide more information about William Clarke following his misdemeanour in the village…
Morley St Botolph man Richard Jolly, an ‘Incorrigible Rogue & Vagabond’
Police Custody Between the 13th and 19th November, 1850, Richard Jolly (Jolley), found himself in Police custody in the Lock-Up at Wymondham’s Bridewell. From the Wymondham Police Charge Book 1850-1866 we know that Richard Jolly was a 66 year old labourer of Morley St Botolph. He stood 5 feet 3 inches tall and had ‘imperfect’…