Property Owner Mary Smith
Amongst the claimants referrred to in the Great Ellingham Inclosure Statement of Claims of 1799, was Mary Smith. At No.53 of the Schedule, she claimed:
‘One Messuage and 20A (20 acres) of land, occupied by Mary Steel. Of which 1A 2R (1 acre and two roods) are copyhold of Bury Hall’
Mary Smith also claimed rights benefiting all her land and property, which included rights to pasture cattle on the Commons and Wastes Lands of Great Ellingham, for taking sand and clay for repairs, and the rights of cutting and taking firing.
At No.54 of the same Schedule, Jeremiah Smith claimed three acres of copyhold land of the Manor of Ellingham Hall, which was also occupied by Mary Steel. In addition, he also claimed a right to pasture animals on the common land in the village.
Where was Mary Smith’s Messuage?
Extract from an 18th century Map. Stalland and Bush Green Commons, Great Ellingham. Original held at Norfolk Record Office. Catalgoue Ref NRO, MC 2213/116. With kind permission of NRO
An eighteenth century Map of Bush Green shows the position of Mary Smith’s messuage (dwellinghouse, outbuildings and associated land). The map also shows (by the initials ‘M.S.’) that Mary Smith owned a triangular shaped piece of land to the front of the messuage.
A plan of Great Ellingham of 1802, also shows the position of Mary Smith’s messuage and land (indicated by the black dot). I believe the messuage to be what is today known as ‘Bush Green Farm’.
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
Bush Green as shown on the above two plans is easily identifiable with the area as it is today.
The numbering used in a Valuation of Great Ellingham taken by the Commissioners in connection with the Great Ellingham Inclosures in 1800, corresponds with the 1802 map. Accordingly, we are able to see what property and land Mary Smith owned, where the land lies within the village, and the size of the individual parcels of land (in acres, roods and perches):
- 12. House, Barn, Stable, Yard and Garden 0a 3r 18p
- 13. Fulker Close 3a 0r 30p
- 14. Pasture 1a 3r 4p
- 15. Three Corner Piece 2a 2r 37p
- 16. Piece North of Three Corner Piece 3a 3r 28p
- Allotment upon Bush Green 0a 1r 2p
- Allotment upon Fulker Common 3a 2r 11p
- Allotment the Four Acres 3a 3r 16p
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
The black dot on the above map shows the position of the ‘Allotment upon Fulker Common’. The map also identifies the position of most of the other land owned by Mary Smith. I have seen ‘Fulker’ referred to as ‘Faulkers’ and ‘Fulcarr’ in other documentation.
In total, the parcels of land owned by Mary Smith at the turn of the nineteenth century, amounted to 20a 0r 26p, which had a yearly value of £20 17s 11d. This was a fairly modest.
At a similar time, Hannah Browne had a House, Outbuildings, Barns, Stables, Yards and Garden in Long Street, and was farming just over 44 acres of land, which had a yearly value of £40 17s 10. At Ellingham Hall, Robert Barnard farmed some 405 acres, with a yearly value of £356 16s 11d.
Given that both the Statement of Claims of 1799, and the Valuation for the Inclosures of 1800, show that Mary Smith’s property (including the land) was occupied by Mary Steel, I do not believe Mary Smith lived in the village. It is not uncommon to find owners of land and property in Great Ellingham living elsewhere.
Who was Mary Steel?
A Notice of a forthcoming Auction at Great Ellingham on October 4th, appeared in the Norfolk Chronicle & Norwich Gazette of the 28th September, 1833. The Auctioneeer, S. Newson, had been instructed to sell ‘All the farming stock and part of the household furniture of Mrs Mary Steel of Great Ellingham‘.
As the Notice does not give any indication that Mary Steel had died, I can only assume that Mary Steel, having reached the age of seventy, was giving up the farm.
A burial for Mary Steel aged 74 appears in the parish registers for St James’s Church for January 27th, 1837. Mary would have been born around 1763.
Looking through the parish registers (for St James), I found baptisms of three baseborn children of ‘Mary Steel widow, late Mary Harper spinster“: Sarah baptised March 8, 1801; Edward, April 10th, 1803 and John, October 12th, 1806.
St Mary’s Church, Attleborough. Postcard BCV
Spinster Mary Harper married bachelor William Steel at St Mary’s Church, Attleborough on the 11th October, 1785.
Baptisms for four children of William and Mary Steel (late Mary Harper), appear in the Great Ellingham Parish Registers: Issac on August 23rd, 1789; Anne, May 8th, 1791; Mary, September 8th, 1793; Judith, March 8th, 1798.
Around the age of 34, Mary Steel was widowed. William Steel, described as a married man, was buried in the churchyard at St James on November 19th, 1797.
Not only was Mary Steel was left with four young children, but she was pregnant with daughter Judith (born early in the following year).
Mary Steel went on to have Sarah, Edward and John, in addition to the children she had with William Steel. Sadly, her last child, John, was buried just six months after his baptism.
A Survey carried out in 1817-1819 shows that Mary Steel still occupied the same House, Barn, Stable, Yard and Garden and most, if not all of the land she occupied twenty years earlier. However, there had been a change of ownership during this period. The owner was now Jeremiah Smith.
I have mentioned that in 1800, Jeremiah Smith owned three acres of copyhold land in Great Ellingham which was also occupied by Mary Steel. Mary Steel still occupied this land twenty years later. Again, I do not believe Jeremiah Smith lived in Great Ellingham.
I have no doubt that William and Mary Steel arrived in Great Ellingham from Attleborough after their marriage, and before the birth of Isaac in 1789. They may well have made Bush Green Farm their home on arrival in the village. The couple’s four children, and widow Mary Steel’s three children, were all likely born at Bush Green Farm, where Mary Steel lived until at least 1833.
Later Owners and Occupiers of Bush Green Farm
A Schedule showing the owners and occupiers of lands in Great Ellingham c.1840, provides further clues to the later owners and occupiers of Bush Green Farm.
Jeremiah Smith owned the property after Mary Smith. Notes which appear to have been added to the various Schedules reveal that the Reverend John Franklin may have owned and/or occupied the property. Other possible names include Jolly, Robert Clarke and Starke. The name ‘Hastings’ also appears to have been noted on the Schedules, but then crossed out.
Looking at the 1841 census, a 50 year of farmer, George Hastings with his 40 year old wife Jane is living at Bush Green. Ten years later, the couple are still living in the same area of Great Ellingham – now described as ‘Faulkers’. Born in New Buckenham, George Hastings is said to be farming 18 acres.
In 1861, George and Jane Hastings (now 70 and 68 respectively), are said to be living in Low Common, but still farming 18 acres.
However, I cannot be certain that George and Jane Hastings lived at Bush Green Farm. The only reference I have to make the connection is the note on the Schedule of Estates c.1840.
Sources:
18th century Map. Stalland and Bush Green Commons, Great Ellingham. Norfolk Record Office. Catalgoue Ref NRO, MC 2213/116.
1802 Russell James Colman Plans. Great Ellingham. Catalogue Ref. C/Ca 1/84.
1799-1842 F W Horner, Records of the Surveyors to Commissioners for Inclosure in Parishes in Norfolk and Suffolk. Great Ellingham (Act 1799). Norfolk Record Office. Catalogue Ref: NRO, BR 90/2
1800 Inclosure Commissioner’s Particulars and Valuation, Great Ellingham. Norfolk Record Office. Catalogue Ref: NRO, MC 2213/119
1841 census HO107/781/8
1851 census HO107/1823/122
Norfolk Chronicle & Norwich Gazette 28th September, 1833
1861 census RG9/1237/97
Great Ellingham Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office PD/609. Also available at FamilySearch.org https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/index?owc=4J8C-CB7%3A29627201%3Fcc%3D1416598
Atteborough Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office. PD/438. Transcription. Norfolk Family History Society. https://www.norfolkfhs.org.uk/ Accessed 30.07.2020