Entries relating to Jonathan Lock caught my eye whilst looking through some Manor Court Books. Jonathan Lock was a copyhold tenant of each of the Manors of Buckenham Lathes Outsoken, Buckenham Castle Outsoken and Buckenham Close Outsoken. The copyhold land was in Great Ellingham. The entries tell us that following a conviction for felony, Lock’s…
Category: Court Hearings
William Yeomans sentenced to Confinement in Asylum for Arson
Crown Court At the beginning of August, 1879, 34-year-old labourer William Yeomans appeared at the Crown Court in Norwich. Yeomans pleaded guilty to the charge of ‘unlawfully and maliciously’ setting fire to a stack of wheat at Great Ellingham on the 7th June. The stack was the property of farmer, William Barnard. Defence of Insanity…
Guilty of Theft of Sack of Oats from John Dixon
Illustration Christine Fuller The illustration is creative interpretation and intended for humour only. No offence is intended or implied. Odd Hands In January 1916, farmer John Dixon employed two local labourers, Walter Lister and Charles Hall, to help with the threshing of a stack of oats. Lister and Hall worked at Dixon’s farm at Town…
William Bird Proves his Case
Chequers Lane. Date unknown. Postcard courtesy of Carol Ewin In 1891, William Bird had a grocer’s shop in Chequers Lane, Great Ellingham. He was also a coal dealer. William’s wife Anna minded the shop whilst her husband delivered coal to his customers by horse and cart. County Court Case One such customer was John Hawes….
Mixed Fortunes for the Warren Family
Everyday life in Great Ellingham was particularly difficult for many of its inhabitants during the 1830s. James Warren and his family were no exception. James Warren Marriage Postcard of Church Road, Hargham with the Church of All Saints in the centre. Author’s own collection On the 21st January, 1814, James Warren of Great Ellingham married…
The Case of Hart -v- Wade
Attleborough County Court – August 1861 The Norfolk News of the 10th August, 1861, published a report of a recent case at the Attleborough County Court. The case centred around an action brought by Mark Hart, a higgler, of Great Ellingham against John Wade, an innkeeper, of Little Ellingham. Hart was seeking to recover £8…
The Hall Brothers’ Misdemeanors
1845 Court Hearing In October, 1845, brothers William and Daniel Hall appeared at the County Quarter Sessions in Norwich. They were charged with breaking and entering, and taking items from the home of John Sayer, a miller, of Great Ellingham, on the 20th July. William and Daniel were alleged to have taken seven keys, one…
Denmark & Pitts bring Terror to the Neighbourhood
County Sessions, Norwich, 6th January 1836 On the 6th January, 1836, James Denmark and Goodson Pitts stood before the Chairman of the County Sessions held in Norwich, on a charge of larceny. Shoemaker John Hooke lived near to the Chequers Public House in what we today know as Chequers Lane. Postcard courtesy of Carol Ewin…
Theft of Lead from the Church Roof
Church of St James, Great Ellingham. Postcard courtesy of Attleborough Heritage Group Court Appearance 24 year old Samuel Spencer was amongst the prisoners appearing at the County Sessions in Norwich, on the 6th January, 1836. Spencer stole 26 lbs of lead from the roof of the parish church in Great Ellingham. He was found guilty,…
The Living Conditions in Robert Oldfield’s Church Street Cottage
Amongst other things, the provisions of the Housing of the Working Classes Act gave enforcement powers to local authorities, in relation to sanitary conditions and overcrowding in housing. 1901 census Wreningham born William Lane came to Great Ellingham with his wife and two children before the birth of their son William c.1896. Illustration Christine Fuller…