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….
Category: Long Street
Theft of Two Bushels of Wheat results in Prison Sentence
Norfolk Assizes 29-year-old Edward Long appeared at the Norfolk Assizes on the 31st July, 1841. Long stole two bushels of wheat in chaff from local farmer, Mary Mann. What’s more, Long had been working for Mary Mann at the time of the offence. He was found guilty and sentenced to two months’ imprisonment. Edward Long…
Frances Kerrison’s Claim to the Commissioners for the Inclosures
At No.23 of the Statement of Claims to the Commissioners for the Great Ellingham Inclosures c.1799, is a claim by Frances Kerrison. Frances, the wife of Richard Kerrison, claimed one Messuage and 8 Acres of Land, occupied by Richard Kerrison. Of the whole property, one acre and two roods were copyhold of Bury Hall. Along…
Sale of Reversion or Remainder in fee expectant on the decease of Widow
1818 Auction of Freehold Property On the 28th February, 1818, the Norfolk Chronicle published the notice of a forthcoming auction of premises in Great Ellingham. The auction would take place at four o’clock on the 12th March, 1818, at the Crown Public House in Great Ellingham. The premises appeared in two lots: Lot 1 –…
Tragic loss despite being ‘Kind and Careful’ with their Children’
This story touches on the tragic death of one year old Harriet Maud Hall. I thought carefully about whether to write about Harriet’s death in 1890. It is not a happy story, but it reflects the reality of life, particularly at that time. Tragedies happened – and, unfortunately, still do. Accordingly, I came to the…
Guilty of Theft of Sack of Oats from John Dixon
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 Green, Great Ellingham, as ‘odd hands’. Magistrates’ Court Lister and Hall subsequently found themselves before the Magistrates at East…
Young Widow, Lois Cook née Drake
By the time Lois Cook (née Drake) had reached the age of 35, she had married, given birth to five children, suffered the heartache of the deaths of three of those children, and experienced the despair of widowhood, when her husband, Alfred Cook, died of tuberculosis in 1894. However, Lois was not the only woman…
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….
Harriet Stubbings née Barnard
Harriet Stubbings née Barnard. Image extracted from a Wilkins family photograph. Courtesy of James Margetts Emigration at 52 Widow Harriet Stubbings was 52 years old when, in December 1913, she left Great Ellingham for a new life ‘on the other side of the world’. Harriet accompanied her daughter Florence, and Florence’s extended family, on the…
Private G/7208 George Wilkins
The name of George Wilkins is inscribed on the Great War memorial tablet on the west wall of the Church of St James, Great Ellingham. George was a Private in the 1st Battalion The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). Aged just 29, he was killed in action in France, on the 15th September, 1916. Early Life…