Illustration by Christine Fuller
Since ‘Lucifers‘ were created in the 1820s, matches have held some fascination for children. However this fascination can lead to disastrous events. Matches were once household necessities – at a time, of course, when there was no electricity!
The matter of children playing with matches, is mentioned in The Dublin Weekly Nation of Saturday 14th September, 1861. The newspaper refers to the Norfolk News reporting “on a number of cases caused by the possession of Lucifer matches by children“. It goes on to say that the incident concerning Charles Rider is a “fair specimen of the rest.”
Details of Charles Rider’s misdemeanour was reported nationwide. I found reference to his mischief in the Northern Whit, the Belfast Morning News, the Kentish Mercury and the Suffolk & Free Press.
The Northern Whig‘s report published on Wednesday 11th September, 1861, is as follows:
LUCIFER MATCHES AND FIRES. On Saturday afternoon Charles Rider a boy aged 7 years was playing with some Lucifer matches in the vicinity of a wheat stack containing ninety coombs, on the premises of Mr Henry Colman, farmer at Great Ellingham when he set fire to some loose straw, which communicated with the stack, and the whole was in consequence consumed. The boy has been apprehended.
The Colmans & the Riders
Rockland St Peter born Henry Colman lived with his wife Sarah at Haw Farm (Hawhill Farm). He farmed around 298 acres and employed 12 labourers and four boys.
The 1861 census captures 39 year old Henry Colman with his 33 year old wife Sarah at Haugh Farm. With them is 18 year old house servant Margaret Ann Thompson and 17 year old farm servant, James Knights.
The census shows the Rider household to be nearby.
Robert Rider and his wife Hannah (nee Reeder) are both 32. They have 5 children – John 11, Charles 6, Mary 4, Judith 3 and nine month old William. The couple had married in St James’s Church, Great Ellingham in 1849.
The Rider Family’s Home
I wonder whether the Rider family occupied one of the dwellings near to Stalland Common which are also near to Hawhill Farm.
Extract from a map attached to Auction Particulars for Hawhill Farm Great Ellingham dated September 1920
Original document held at Wymondham Town Archive
The green arrow on the above extract from a later 1920 map points to Hawhill Farm. The blue arrow shows the position of nearby dwellings.
Extract from 1906 Ordnance Survey Map. Second Edition. Surveyed in 1881. Revised 1904
Courtesy Martin Jeffery
The above extract from an Ordnance Survey Map clearly shows two semi-detached cottages at Stalland Common, not far from Hawhill Farm. The Rider family may well have lived in one of these cottages.
Given that the Rider family lived close to the farm, I wonder whether Robert Rider was one of the 12 labourers employed by Henry Colman. If so, did the incident jeopardise Robert Rider’s job as well as the family’s home. After all, many labourers lived in ‘tied’ accommodation.
Outcome
Nevertheless, I do not know whether young Charles Rider was brought before a court and, if so, what sentence he was given. However, we can but wonder whether Charles’s father was expected to pay compensation to Henry Colman for the loss of his wheat stack.
In addition, the village Police Constable may well have ‘had a word’ with Robert Rider regarding his young son’s transgression. In turn, Robert Rider may have reprimanded his son, and given him a ‘good clip round the ear‘ as a warning to him not to do it again!
Sources:
11 September 1861 Northern Whig
11 September 1861 Belfast Morning News
14 September 1861 Kentish Mercury
12 September 1861 Suffolk & Free Press
14 September 1861 Dublin Weekly Nation
All viewed via The British Newspaper Archive
1861 census RG9/1237/97
Great Ellingham Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office PD609. Also available via www.ancestry.co.uk and www.familysearch.org