Category: Cumberland

The Routledges of Brampton

By NMDEA

Robert and Mary Routledge ran a Grocer’s business in Brampton. Mary was referred to as Molly Calvert in the Brampton Parish Register when their children were baptised. They were baptised in nearby Lanercost, Mary 23 August 1766 and Robert 17 June 1760. They also married there 7 January 1796.[1]

Mary Routledge supplied goods to the poor of Brampton, but it is not known if this was a regular order that she had to supply them [2]

Mary (Calvert( Routledge Grocer's Bill for goods supplied in February 1820 to the poor of brampston
Mary (Calvert) Routledge March 9 1820. Bill for supplies to the poor PR60/21/13/7/8

A bill for goods supplied in February 1820 and settled promptly 9 March 1820 totals £2.1s.7 1/2d for the month. Items included being:-
1 lb candles, 10d
1 lb whitening 1d
1/2 lb starch 4d
1/2 stone soap 9d 5s. 3d
1 gill of sweet oil for weavers, 6d
1 stone salt, 4s 6d
2 oz black pepper, 6d
1lb treacle, 6d
2 oz coffee, 5d, 1/2 lb sugar, 5d 10d
Typically tea or coffee were itemised together along with the sugar.

Robert Routledge is listed in Jollie’s 1811 trade directory as a Grocer.{3].As occurred with other women Mary took over the business from her husband after his death 12 July 1815. At this time of their eight children 7 were still alive, Catherine (1808-1811) having died young. The oldest 18 years the youngest 3 years .[4]

Mary is listed in both the 1829 [5] and 1834 [6] trade directories. In 1834 at Front Street, Brampton where she is also a dealer in earthenware. Her business near fellow female Grocers, Elizabeth and Jane Tinniswood who also sold confectionery.

When Robert died he left a will (at this time unable to access), [7] which may reveal under what basis the business was left to Mary as well as other assets. After Mary’s death 21 May 1843 [8,9] the business continued with the two unmarried daughters, Margaret (1797-1880) and Ann (1807-1881) not the son’s.They continued to be listed in the trade directories [10] and on subsequent census up till 1871 as Grocers and China Dealers . When they [Margaret and Ann] died within 6 months of each other they both left reasonable healthy estates of just over £800 each. It is not known if any other family member took over from them.

Of their siblings eldest daughter Mary (1797-1881) married David Latimer in 1818. The son of David Latimer Cabinet Maker from whom a voucher also survives. [11] David was principally an agricultural labourer. He and Mary had a large family some of whom died at a young age.They remained in Brampton.

Eldest son John (1800-1859) was appointed High Constable in Brampton in 1834, where he may have gained additional income from the letting of a farm Kingwater near Lanercost.[12 ]. He was referred to in the Carlisle Journal as being known in Brampton as “Laird” Routledge . They also go on to say that when his house was demolished in Brampton a small bricked up window was found where as Relieving Officer in 1836 he would hand out relief to the poor.[13]

Two son’s Robert and William left Brampton.. Robert (1803-1861) was an Inland Revenue Supervisor in Manchester, while William (1804-1875) became a Clergyman and Schoolteacher in Devon.

Youngest son George (1812-1888) [14] served an apprenticeship with Charles Thurnam, Publisher in Carlisle from 1827 to 1833 before moving to London. Initially working for others and supplementing his income by working in the Tithe Office. He established his own Bookselling and Publishing business in London and New York . He returned to the place of his birth in later life; being a wealthy man he bought the land on which stood the cottage of his birth.as well as other estates once belonging to his forebears. Described by the local newspaper as a pioneer of cheap literature in this country, beginning life in a humble way and gaining distinction through energy and intelligence[15]. When he died 13 December 1888 his disposable estate was valued at £95.139.


Sources
[1] England Select Marriages, 1538-1973 [accessed at ancestry.co.uk., 4 March 2020]
[2] Cumbria Archives, PR60/21/13/7/8, Brampton Overseers Voucher, 9 March 2020 or PR60/21/13/6/8 line 2-30
[3] F. Jollie, Jollies Cumberland Guide and Directory (Carlisle: 1811).
[4] findmypast.co.uk. [accessed 4 April 2020]
[5] Parson & White’s, Principle Inhabitants of Cumberland & Westmorland (1829).
[6] Pigot’s, Directory of Cumberland and Westmorland (1834)
[7] Cumbria Archives, Wills, PROB/1815/W614
[8] Cumbria Archives Wills, PROB/1843/W912
[9] Carlisle Journal, 27 May 1843, p. 3 col. g.
[10] Slater’s, Cumberland Directory, 1855.
[11] Cumbria Archives, PR60/21/13/5/11, Brampton Overseers Voucher, March 2 1815.
[12] Carlisle Journal, 11 December 1841, p.1 col. d.
[13] Carlisle Journal, 7 January 1898, p.5. col. d.
[14] England Births and Baptisms Parish Records, 1538-1955 accessed at findmypast.co.uk
[15] Carlisle Journal, 18 December 1888, p.2 col. d.

This is a work in progress subject to change with further research.

On Parish Business in Penrith

By Peter Collinge

Overseers’ vouchers sometimes contain bills sent by landlords of public houses and coaching inns. Inns were often the locations of parish business, or places where those on parish business took refreshments.

Parson and White’s 1829 trade directory listed fifty-five hotels, inns and taverns in Penrith, including Thomas Mitchell’s Golden Lion, Dockray Hall.

In 1814, the overseers were billed by the parish representative for the following expenses at the Golden Lion:

Eating £0 7s 6d

2 Breakfasts £0 2s 0d

Negus Spirits £0 4s 0d

Porter and Ale £0 1s 6d

and Hay and Corn  for the horses £0 0s 6d

Negus is made from wine, often a fortified one such as port, to which is added hot water, citrus fruits like oranges or lemons, spices like nutmeg, and sugar.

An undated bill from Gasgarth’s Two Lions listed the following items:

 

Dinner 9s 0d 

Brandy and Rum Punch and Cheerers Ale and Porter 2s 9d

Pipes and Tobacco  0s 6d

Horses hay and Corn Horse Shoeing  17s 9d

Postage of Letter 1s 9d

Hack Horses 2s 4d

Turnpike Gate  1s 7d

The bill was printed by A. Soulby

A bill was also submitted by a parish official to the overseers of Threlkeld who had been to the Wilkinsons’ Griffin Inn (see M. Dean, ‘Wilkinson’s Griffin Inn, Penrith’, https://thepoorlaw.org/wilkinsons-griffin-inn-penrith/).

Sources

Parson and White, Directory of Cumberland and Westmorland, Furness and Cartmel (1829)

Cumbria Archive Service

SPC21_8_11_62, Threlkeld, Thomas Mitchell, 22 June 1814

SPC21_8_11_74, Threlkeld, M [Allen crossed out] Gaskarth TWO LIONS, undated, c.1814

Miss Elizabeth Proud of Hard Bank Mill

By Elaine Berry

Elizabeth was born in 1818, the second daughter of Elizabeth and John Proud (see https://thepoorlaw.org/elizabeth-proud-woollen-mill-owner-and-manufacturer-hard-bank-mill-hayton/) . She was baptised on 28 June at the parish church of St Mary Magdalen, Hayton. Her father died in 1823.  Hard Bank Mill continued to operate with Elizabeth’s mother in charge of operations. In the 1841 Census, Elizabeth and her siblings, Jane and Edward, were listed as wool carders.

After the death of Mrs Elizabeth Proud in 1851,  her daughter Elizabeth appears on Census returns as either manager at the mill or as housekeeper for her brother. It was common for female occupations to go unrecorded. She received no inheritance from her mother in her will, but she may have received in-life gifts. Her mother’s estate was divided between  Jane and Edward.

It is unclear from local newspaper reports on the stealing of fleeces in 1848, whether Elizabeth or her mother was running the Mill at the time. The report in the Carlisle Journal (11/8/1848,CASCAT) does not make this clear.

Elizabeth continued to reside at the Mill until her death in 1873. Her small estate was left to her sister Jane. Edward continued to be associated with the Mill until it was sold.

Elizabeth Proud, Woollen Mill Owner and Manufacturer, Hard Bank Mill Hayton

By Elaine Berry

Elizabeth Proud (née Ellwood) of Cumrew, outside Carlisle, came from a farming family. A Betty Ellwood, the daughter of John Ellwood and Elizabeth Dodd, was baptized at Cumrew on 12 November 1786.

Nothing is then heard about Elizabeth Ellwood until her marriage to John Proud, a wheelwright, from Haltwistle on 15 October 1806.[1] When signing the register, Elizabeth wrote her name as ‘Elizabeth Brand (late Ellwood)’. This might imply that she had been married previously, or that for some reason she had been adopted by a family named Brand, even though her father was still alive. As Elizabeth was a minor at the time of her marriage to Proud, her father John gave consent to his daughter’s marriage.[2]

John Proud may be the same John Proud listed as a corporal in the Coldstream Guards in 1815.[3]

There are no records of children being born to John and Elizabeth Proud until 1815. All the children were baptised in Hayton, near Hard Bank Mill.

Jane (1815–51), baptized14 May 1815.

Elizabeth (1818–73), baptized 28 June 1818.

John (1819–38), baptized 14 February 1819.

Mary (1821–21), baptized 20 May 1821.

Edward (1823–1901), baptized 10 August 1821.

John Proud died in 1823.[4]

An announcement regarding the sale of ‘Proud’s Hards Bank Mill’ in the Carlisle Express and Examiner in 1874 states that the mill had been established in 1823, the year John Proud died.[5] This raises the possibility that either John Proud had only recently acquired the mill before his death, or that Elizabeth had entered the premises after his decease. As there was no announcement in the local newspapers to say that Elizabeth intended to continue the business after her husband’s decease, the latter scenario is a distinct possibility. Attached to the mill was a farm of 51 acres.

In 1824, Elizabeth took parish apprentices to work in her mill as the following entries in Parish of Hayton Register Book for Parish Apprentices, 1806–1833 show.[6]

24 December 1824 William Nixon 15 (son of Thomas Nixon and brother of John Nixon 14) workhouse, apprenticed to Elizabeth Proud weaver Hardbank term of apprenticeship to 21 years, no fee, overseers parties to indenture Wm Graham, Jno Brown, John Westgarth, John Wilson, Wm Barker William Penrith. Magistrates attending Thos Lowry John Heysham.

24 December 1824 William Brown 13, Jane Brown mother, workhouse, apprenticed to Elizabeth Proud weaver Hardbank term of apprenticeship to 21 years, no fee, overseers parties to indenture, Philip Bushby, John Brown, John Westgarth, John Wilson, Wm Barker William Penrith. Magistrates attending Thos Lowry John Heysham.

In Pigot’s 1828–29 directory, Elizabeth Proud is listed as a woollen carder and spinner at ‘Hardbank Mill’.[7] As a manufacturer, she supplied a basic grey cloth and yarn to the parish poor and workhouse. [8]

She also occupied a house and shop in Front Street, Brampton, next to the Pack Horse Inn. Consisting of a shop with two rooms above, it was offered for sale in 1829.[9]

There are several entries for Elizabeth Proud, manager of Hard Bank Mill in Carlisle’s newspapers, although as both she and her daughter, also called Elizabeth, ran the mill it is difficult to determine, at times, which one is being referred to.[10]

One report in the Carlisle Patriot in 1832 concerns the appeal for relief of a certain Elizabeth Tinniswood, a pauper, single and with child.[11] Tinniswood been brought up in Hayton Workhouse until she was eleven. She was then sent into service with Mrs Proud and it was ‘fair to assume she had been hired’. Elizabeth Proud stated that the pauper had ‘lived with her and her husband for four years, and had worked for her meat; but she had never been hired, and was at liberty to go away whenever she liked: when witness parted with her, she merely told the overseers that she had no more occasion for her’. Tinniswood too stated that she had worked ‘in the woollen mill for her meat and clothes but never was hired’. Assuming that this is the same Elizabeth Proud, these events must have occurred before the death of John Proud in 1823. The case was adjourned.

In the Carlisle Journal in 1848, Elizabeth Proud was mentioned as the manager of ‘Hard Bank Carding Mill’ in the prosecution of William Graham. Graham was accused of stealing a number of fleeces, selling them subsequently to Proud.[12]

The 1841 Census rounded down adult ages to the nearest five. For Hardbank Mill it lists the following people.[13] Elizabeth Proud the elder is not listed, although she was still alive.

Jane Proud 25 Wool carder
Elizabeth Proud 20 Wool carder
Edward Proud 15 Wool carder
William Hamilton 20 Weaver
William Brown 25 Weaver
Richard Creighton 25 Wool carder
William Dalton 15 Wool carder
William Watson 13 Wool carder
Jane Watson 15 Wool carder
Barbara Creighton 12 Wool carder
Elizabeth Newton 60 Independent

 

It may be that weaver William Brown is the same as the one apprenticed in 1824.

Elizabeth Proud of the ‘Carding Mill Hayton’, was buried on 13 March 1851.[14] She was 64.

This blog has been researched by Ellie Berry, William Bundred, Margaret Dean and Angie Davidson.

[1] CAS, DHN/C/612/222, Howard Family of Naworth papers.

[2] Carlisle Marriage Bonds, 7 Oct. 1806, p. 133.

[3]https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/namesearch/?FirstName=john&Surname=proud [accessed 21 Sept. 2021].

[4] National Burial Index of England and Wales, 26 Nov. 1823.

[5] Carlisle Express and Examiner, 6 June 1874, p. 4.

[6] CAS, PR102/125, Parish of Hayton Register Book for Parish Apprentices, 1806–1833.

[7] Pigot and Co., National Commercial Directory [Part 1: Cheshire – Northumberland] for 1828–29 (London and Manchester: J. Pigot and Co., 1828), p. 66.

[8] CAS, PR102/110.

[9] Carlisle Patriot, 23 May 1829, p. 1.

[10] Carlisle Journal, 11 Nov. 1848

[11] Carlisle Patriot, 7 July 1832, p. 2.

[12] Carlisle Journal, 11 Aug. 1828, p. 4.

[13] TNA, HO107/168, 1841 Census.

[14] Hayton Parish Register.

John Tunstall and Family, Papcastle

By NMDEA

In 1828 William Nichol of Bothel brought an action against John Tunstall claiming the horses he had were not his. They were seized despite his attempts to stop it.   As a consequence, Tunstall must have felt he would struggle  to make a living  and  applied to William Askew, a bleacher by trade living in the village of Goat and overseer of Papcastle, for relief. Askew suspecting that Tunstall’s place of settlement lay elsewhere and faced with the prospect of a large family needing relief,  sought their removal to Greysouthern where he thought  their place  of settlement might be.  The services of Joseph Steele and Son, attorneys of Cockermouth, were employed to investigate. This is just one example of the cases taken on by Steeles for the parish of Papcastle and demonstrates the lengths they went to to determine the facts.[1]

In 1828 John Tunstall and wife, Ann Fletcher, were living in Papcastle just outside Cockermouth. A considerable number of their children were all baptized in the Parish of Papcastle. They were: John (1811), Thomas (1812), James (1814), Fletcher (1816), Jane (1817), twins Sarah (1821) and Mary (1821), Ann (1823), Martha (1824), William (1826) and Joseph (1828). With the exception of one, William who died in 1823 aged three, all went on to live into adulthood.[2]

John Steele. Journey to Examine the Registers, April 1829 SPC110/1/3/2/5

John Tunstall’s grandfather James Tunstall (1742-1820) had inherited his father’s Moses’ (1700-1757) farm and pottery named Fox House, at Broughton in 1757. Moses was born in Burslem, Staffordshire, and married Sarah Jackson in  Duffield, Derbyshire, the place of her birth in 1730. They moved north helping establish some of the potteries of West Cumberland. Moses’ aunt, Margaret Tunstall (1678-1748) and her husband Aaron Wedgewood (1671-1746) of the Wedgwood pottery family of Stoke had already  moved from Staffordshire, starting a pottery at Harker Marsh near Dearham at the beginning of the eighteenth century.[3] However, John Tunstall didn’t venture into the pottery trade of his forebears.

The Tunstall case at the Easter Assizes 1829 was described in two local newspapers. The removal order issued was challenged by the parish of Greysouthern.

Joseph Steele and Son expenses. 14 Nov. 1828
SPC110/1/3/2/5 8

The following is a summary of events from the evidence given. John Tunstall’s challenge was to prove Papcastle as his place of settlement.

Tunstall was baptized in the parish of Bridekirk on14 December 1788. Papcastle was a township of Bridekirk. His father Thomas Tunstall (1768-1840) was born in Great Broughton. He married his first wife Sarah Johnstone on 15 July 1788 at Dearham. She died on 20 November 1801 and in 1803 he moved to Greysouthern where he rented a property for over £40 a year, therefore gaining a settlement there. In 1804 he married Jane Walker, a widow. Tunstall worked in the local coal mines. Tunstall got into difficulties around 1808 and subsequently his son, John, managed his property while he was in Carlisle Goal.

John Tunstall then moved to Papcastle to work for Thomas Fletcher, and married his granddaughter Ann Fletcher in  June 1810. When Thomas Fletcher died the main beneficiary in his will was his daughter Jenny Fletcher, Ann’s mother. The Tunstall family and Jenny lived together. John Tunstall supported his family by taking on a variety of  work. Reliant on a horse and cart, he also used to lead wood ( convey wood) for Jenny, . Although her father is described  as a yeoman in his will Thomas Fletcher may have diversified into wood leading. Following a difference of opinion and Tunstall claimed he went to rent a property of his own.

Tunstall Family Removal
SPC110/1/3/2/5 8  April 1829

There are many contradictions in the depositions taken from various people and confusion about who leased what from whom. The voucher lists the detailed expenses incurred by Steele’s to determine the truth.

Among those examined were Richard Blackburn and William Atkinson, present when the property belonging to John Pooley was let. Pooley,  stated he would never let property to Tunstall as he was a servant to Jenny Fletcher. William Twentyman, who leased all of Pooley’s property for three years, subsequently sublet parcels  to others. In the interim, Twentyman died, so it fell to his son Robert to be questioned about the letting arrangements. Robert said he couldn’t remember events. William Dean of Keswick who had said he paid rent to Jenny Fletcher for Tunstall for one of the properties had also died in January 1829. His wife, Mary,  was asked to travel from Keswick to Carlisle to give evidence.

Various family members were called upon including Jenny Fletcher, Thomas Tunstall, his father, John Tunstall his uncle resident at Fox House Farm and Pottery and joint lease holder of the Glass House Pottery, Ginns, Whitehaven, Martha Fletcher (Barton), his sister in law and Jenny Fletcher’s youngest daughter born in 1796; and others.

The dictum was that John Tunstall had not legally held any property. The result was that Tunstall’s settlement was that of his father’s a few miles away at Greysouthern and the Removal Order was upheld. [4]

In subsequent years John Tunstall continued to live and work around the area. His wife Ann (baptized in the parish of Papcastle, 11 March 1785) died in 1856.  John then went to live  with his son Thomas in Appleby. Both stated their occupation as carter in 1861. John died around 1864.[ 5]

Jenny Fletcher remained in Papcastle. With members of John’s family around her in 1841 she was  living with  John’s son Thomas and his wife Martha (Spark) and their two children. Next door was Mary (Miller) wife of John’s son James and two children. Mary had been recently widowed, as James had been killed in a waggoning accident in May 1841. [6]

William Askew, married to Eleanor Blackstock, had three sons:  Robinson, William and Henry. All three  predeceased  him. In later life he moved into Cockermouth. His obituary in 1864 suggested he had become quite wealthy. His estate valued around  £5000. [7]

Joseph Steele was born in the port town of Whitehaven in 1758. He moved to Cockermouth where he became an apprentice attorney with John Wordsworth, the father of the poet William Wordsworth. By 1785 he had married Dorothy Ponsonby and they went on to have six sons and one daughter, Dorothy. His wife  died in 1799 and Steele remarried in 1804. With his second wife,  Mary Hodgson, he had a further four sons. His  fourth son, Miles, become an attorney in London but died in Nice, France, in 1827.[8]  His eldest son John  joined his father’s business and worked on the Tunstall case.  Joseph Steele died 27 February 1844, two days after his second wife.[9] The business in Cockermouth continued in the hands of John and Edward Bowe Steele a son from his second marriage[10] until John became MP for Cockermouth in 1854.

Steele and Sons  main  bill  came to  £30 14s 1d in September 1829. With hindsight  it perhaps doesn’t seem to have been the financially prudent thing to do to issue the removal order, but looking to the future the parish of Papcastle may have feared the burden of the Tunstall family should they not be able to support themselves in the future. However, the Tunstalls, according to subsequent census returns did support themselves except son John  who periodically received parochial relief.

[1] Cumbria Archives, Papcastle Overseers’ Voucher, SPC110/1/3/2/5 8, Nov. 1828 to April 1829
[2] England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [accessed at www.ancestry.co.uk, 2 April 2021]
[3] Sibson Florence,  The History of the West Cumberland Potteries, Volume II, (Distington: Cope Publishing, 2008).
[4] Carlisle Patriot, 2 May 1829, p.2; col. d,e.;  Cumberland Pacquet and Whitehaven Ware’s Advertiser 5 May 1829, p. 3 col. a;    Wake Henry Thomas, 1878 , All the Monumental Inscriptions in Bringham and Bridekirk 1666-1876 at www.books.google.co.uk     Cumbria Archives, PROB/1812/W543, Will of Thomas Fletcher.
[5]  General Record Office, Search Index www.gro.gov.uk
[6] 1841 Census HO107; Piece: 161; Book: 7; Civil Parish: Cammerton; County: Cumberland; Enumeration District: 14; Folio: 14; Page: 22; Line: 5; GSU roll: 241278
[7] Whitehaven News, 8 December 1864, p. 5, col, d;    Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England [accessed at www.ancestry.co.uk, 14 April 2021]
[8] Carlisle Patriot, 10 March 1827 p. 2, col. a
[9] Carlisle Journal, 2 March 1844 p. 2, col. g
[10] Slater’s Directory (1848), p. 26.

footnote

The principal people have  been named  from  the  bill only as it is length.

Thomas Fletcher’s  signed his Will made in 1809 with his mark. Having considerable property in the Papcastle area most of those who were to receive a legacy were his family. It being stipulated how each dwelling was to be allocated most of their names are prefixed by reputed. For example his reputed wife Jane, his reputed daughter Jenny Fletcher , grandson Thomas son of his reputed son Thomas Fletcher of Cockermouth, and his reputed great grandson Thomas Fletcher natural son  of Ann Fletcher who was the natural daughter of his  reputed daughter Jenny Fletcher.  Jenny Fletcher’s other two daughter’s  Martha (Barton) and her twin Mary were to receive twenty pounds.

 

 

Hall and Roper, The Rose and Crown Inn, Kirkby Lonsdale

By NMDEA

James Roper  WPR19/7/1/5/6/20 July 13 1814

 

Hannah Hall married James Roper on 26 June 1797 in Kirkby Lonsdale. She was the eldest daughter of John Hall and his wife Isabella Taylor. At the time they were running the Rose and Crown Inn in the market town of Kirkby Lonsdale. Presumably this was where Hannah lived before her marriage. James had been baptised in Colton, Lancashire, and was the son of John Roper and Mary Walton.[1]

Hannah’s mother died in December 1801 and her father in 1807.[2]  John Hall had been the proprietor of the Rose and Crown for 37 years. His son-in-law, James Roper, announced in the Lancaster Gazette that he would be taking over the running of the inn, while also intending to continue his tallow chandlery business.[3]

Together James and Hannah had three children, all born in Kirkby Lonsdale; Mary Ann (b.1798), John (b.1800) and Isabella (b.1801). Another son, James, was baptised 1 April 1803 but died the same year.

Two vouchers addressed to the overseers of Kirkby Lonsdale signed by J. Roper can be attributed to James. One was for the supply of ale in July 1811 costing 2s 7½d, the other for the supply of a chaise and horses to Lancaster on 13 July 1814, costing £1 5s 0d. [4]

The inn had many functions but was principally a posting and travelling inn. The coaching side of the business possibly expanded following developments in the mail coach service in the late-eighteenth century.[5] Its role as a posting inn led to James Roper and his fellow Innkeeper and postmaster Alexander Tiplady of the Green Dragon Inn being convicted and fined £5 for letting out horses to draw carriages without the appropriate stamp office ticket (to show that they had paid the relevant tax on horses) to those hiring them on the 14 October 1816.[6]

James Roper died on the 4 June 1817. Hannah, probably already having been involved in the running of the inn while James continued the tallow chandlery, continued to run the inn.[7]

The next three years saw various serious events at the inn. Shortly after her husband’s death, there was a serious fire at the inn. Fortunately, she was insured with the Imperial Fire Office . There was considerable damage to the stabling for the horses and 700 yards of hay . In reporting the event, the Westmorland Advertiser expressed surprise at the lack of a fire engine in Kirkby Lonsdale.[8]

On 4 August 1819 the post coach Lord Exmouth on its way from Newcastle to Lancaster. After stopping at the Rose and Crown, it set off again with eleven people on board only to over turn near the Lune Bridge. William Batty (a surgeon in Kirkby Lonsdale for whom vouchers exist) [ 9] attended the accident but he was unable to save the life of William Howson. The other survivors were cared for by Hannah at the inn. Despite evidence from the guard as to his sobriety, the coach driver William Elmire [Elmer] was deemed to have been driving while intoxicated in a dangerous manner. Convicted of manslaughter he was sent to jail for 12 months.[10]

There are frequent references to the Rose and Crown in the local newspapers concerning sales and meetings but it was on the 6 December 1820 that events at the inn were reported around the country and are still remembered after 200 years later by the local community.[11] Hannah Roper living with her two daughters and servants at the inn awoke to find the inn on fire once again. Hannah and her daughters managed to get out by jumping from a window. Of the men asleep in a different part of the inn, all managed to escape by removing grills from a window. Hannah had tried to wake the other five women asleep to make their escape, but they never made it out. The inn was destroyed and the five women died: Alice Clark aged 31, Bella Cornthwaite 28, Agnes Waling 25, Hannah Armstrong 18, and Agnes Nicholson 17. This time the insurance did not cover the full extent of the destruction, but perhaps partly as a result of a respected social and business relationship in the community and help from public subscription Hannah was able to run the inn again in the adjacent Jackson Hall.[12]

With her eldest daughter Mary Ann Roper now married to Richard Atkinson on the 12 April 1825, Hannah decided to retire. The inn was advertised for sale.[13] Hannah was still listed as the proprietor in the directory of 1828, however.[ 14 ] Two years later she died aged 56 on the 22 May 1830 . The inn was once again put up for sale. Details could be had from John Hall, solicitor.[15] Son John was a chemist and druggist in Ulverston from at least 1824.[16] The inn was taken on by Isabella, the youngest daughter, who was often commended for the sumptuous dinners she provided.

The 23 July 1840 saw the Dowager Queen Adelaide staying at the Rose and Crown as part of her tour of the Lakes. Satisfied with her excellent accommodation, the Westmorland Gazette reported that the Queen Dowager was pleased to allow the Rose and Crown to became known as The Royal Hotel.[17]

When the Roper’s son John died as a result of some unspecified accident on the 27 May 1844, the sale of his property was handled by his cousin Richard Roper (1814-1871). John’s sister Isabella, now 42, married the same Richard Roper on the 7 June 1845 and another branch of the Hall-Roper family were linked together. Richard was a solicitor in Kirkby Lonsdale and was the son of her father’s brother Richard Roper and her mother’s sister Isabella Hall, ( 1778-1840 ) who had married in 1803.

Richard and Isabella had only one son, also called Richard, who died when only 14 weeks old in January 1847. [18] Isabella died on 11 June 1866. [19] Richard Roper, now well established in his profession, married again. His second wife Mary Eleanor Brade (1838-1921) was 24 years his junior and they had three children: John, Roland and Hilda Mary.

Although no member of the Roper family seems to have been directly involved with the running of the Rose and Crown [Royal Hotel] after Isabella Roper; when her sister Mary Ann’s (Atkinson) youngest daughter married John Swainson of Liverpool 4 April 1866 a large reception took place at The Royal Hotel, Kirkby Lonsdale.[20] Mr Dawson was the proprietor.

Access to further documents is needed to identify the nature of the terms to which the inn was passed on to successive family members.

[1] www.ancestry.co.uk [accessed 13 march 2021].
[2] Lancaster Gazette, 12 December 1801, page 3 col. b
[3] Lancaster Gazette, 25 July 1807, page 3 col. b
[4] Cumbria Archives, Kirkby Lonsdale Overseers’ Vouchers WPR19/7/1/3/20 20 July 1811; WPR19/7/1/5/6/20 13 April 1814.
[5] www.postalmuseum.org  [accessed 13 March 2021].
[6] ‘Supplementary Records: Kirkby Lonsdale’, in John F Curwen (ed.) Records Relating To the Barony of Kendal: Vol 3, (Kendal, 1926), pp. 278-291. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/kendale-barony/vol3/pp278-291 [accessed 11 March 2021].
[7] Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland Church Notes, Westmorland Papers. The Westmorland Historical Facts Project http://dustydocs.com/link/39/39198/131714/monumental-inscriptions-westmorland-papers.html
[8] Westmorland Advertiser and Kendal Chronicle, 18 October 1817, page 3, col. c
[9] Cumbria Archives, Kirkby Lonsdale Overseers’ Vouchers, WPR19/7/1/5/6/22 , 11 April 1815
[10] Westmorland Gazette and Kendal Advertiser, 4 September 1819, page 7, col. c
[11] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-55207382
[12] Westmorland Gazette, 9 December 1820, page 4, col. c
[13] Carlisle Patriot, 2 July 1825, page 2, col. b
[14] Pigot and Co.’s, National Commercial Directory, Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland (J. Pigot and Co, London and Manchester,1828), page 851.
[15] Westmorland Gazette, 5 June 1830, page 3, col. e; Lancaster Gazette, 20 November 1830, page 1, col. c
[16]Baines’ History, Rectory and Gazetteer of the palatine of Lancashire 1824 (Edward Baines), page 576 Ulverston [accessed at www.ancestry.co.uk]
[17] Westmorland Gazette, 15 August 1840, page 2, col. d
[18] Westmorland Gazette, 26 September 1846, page 3, col. f; 16 January 1847, page 3, col. f
[19] Westmorland Gazette, 16 June 1866 page 5, col. f
[20] Kendal Mercury, 7 April 1866, page 5, col. e

Marquess of Londonderry, Sir Roger Gresley and Daniel O’Connell attempt to sell newspapers to John Bull, Sauney and Paddy, passengers on a coach. Coloured lithograph by H.B. (John Doyle), 1836.
Doyle, John, 1797-1868. https://wellcomecollection.org/images?query=union+coach. Courtesy of the Wellcome Collection.

Intersecting Lives at Hesket Newmarket Poorhouse, 1772-1784

By NMDEA

In 1772 one of the poorhouses of England was situated in the small market town of Hesket Newmarket, in the Parish of Caldbeck, some nine miles from the town of Wigton.

Market Cross, Hesket Newmarket

Vouchers for the parish of Wigton as well as the Account Book of Caldbeck poorhouse for 1772-73 name Jonathan Cape, apothecary; Joseph Bewley, mercer; and William Blair. Blair was responsible for the poorhouse. In addition, some of those boarded there are named, although detail is limited.

Suppliers

Dr Johnathan Cape provided medicine and treatments to the poor. [1] His bill of 1774 totalling £4 6s 0d begins ‘to the poor in the poorhouse Hesket Newmarket belonging to the Township of Wigton’. Among those named on his bill, are Isabel Hendrie, Mary McCullen, Sally Harrison, Peggy Little, Mrs Mary Kennedy, Mary Blackburn and Betty Thompson who was supplied with herbs on 4 March 1774 costing 4d. Bleeding from the arm, was a regular treatment costing 6d. [2]

Cape was baptised in the parish of Greystoke on 14 July 1737 and by 1759 was apprenticed to Richard Grave apothecary and grocer of Penrith.[3] In her book, Frances Wilkins describes Grave’s work at the estate of Dalemain; treating both the Hassell family and their servants.[4] Grave died in 1760 leaving his wife Mary with seven sons and one daughter. She carried on his business in the same vein. Some ten years later she married William Atkinson and continued in business. Only a year into his apprenticeship, it has been assumed that Johnathan Cape continued his apprenticeship with her or found someone else to take him on until he started out on his own. There is no evidence of him having a contract with the poorhouse at this time or what spectrum of society used his services [5].

Joseph Bewley, like Cape, sent a bill to William Blair concerning the supply of fabric and haberdashery items to the poor of Wigton in 1772-73.[ 6] In October two women are named on his bill Sarah Wiley, and Betty Thompson.  A further bill from him has similar items the following year [7] . However, by 1784 Bewley had been declared bankrupt. Several notices appear in the London Gazette between 1784 and 1793. Meetings of his creditors were held at the Crown and Mitre, Carlisle, and the George and Dragon, Hesket Newmarket.[8]

Overseers and Inmates

Of the inmates in the poorhouse, Betty Thompson was there between 1772 and 1776. Several bills show that her board was being paid for by the overseers of Wigton.  In 1776 payments for Thompson ceased after her death on 10 April. William Blair wrote to Isaac Robinson, ‘I have sent an account of Betty Thompson if we find anything else will let you know’.[12]  Itemised are her possessions, all clothing including unmade gowns and brats. Thompson may have been making her own clothes but like many of the others named identifying the circumstances that led to them entering the poorhouse can only be surmised.

Isabella Hendrie, her sons and Mary Kennedy also had their board paid for.[9]

John Henderson was the overseer in 1774-75. Two further overseers named in subsequent years are Isaac Robinson [10] and William Lightfoot. [11] The Hendrie and Blackburn families  were provided with their board and schooling. All the payments were made to William Blair.

By 1776 time William Blair and his wife Sarah Peascod were the parents of John, George, Stephen and Sarah. A fifth child, William, was buried  on 18 April 1776.

Elizabeth Thompson and  William Blair, Junior burial record. Caldbeck Parish.  PR 71/3

In 1784 William Blair appears in the overseer accounts of Thomas Clements in Threlkeld. [13] Named in relation to Hesket Newmarket poorhouse, he had by this time another son, William. There are various payments concerning Mary Pingey. On 9 March, 5s for her to be entered into the poor house at Hesket Newmarket, and a year’s board of £3 4s 0d. Shortly after further expenses appear for her; including ‘a journey to pay funeral expenses’ £1 9s 3 1/2d and ‘a Journey bringing her clothes’ 2s 6d . Mary Pingey was buried at Caldbeck on 20 November 1784.

Threlkeld Overseers’ Voucher SPC21/8-11, 1 1784

There are references to other inmates in Hesket Newmarket poorhouse in the accounts of Threlkeld around the same time. For instance, a charge of 9s 6d regarding Benjamin Nicholson when he was ‘brought out of the poorhouse’. Robert Lancaster and the Benson family are others named spending time in the poorhouse.

When William Blair’s tenure at Hesket Newmarket poorhouse ended is uncertain. One Thomas Dobson fulfilled this post but exactly when is not known either. [14]

The parish of Caldbeck had agreements with house the poor of other parishes, among them Sebergham and Blennerhasset being examples. [15]

 

Sources
[1] Cumbria Archives, PR 71/47, Overseers’ Account Book, 1753- 1773.
[2] Cumbria Archives, PR/36/V/3/ 7, [line 50]  Wigton Overseers’ Voucher,  The poor in the Poorhouse of Hesket Newmarket Belonging to the Township of Wigton, Johnathan Cape. 1773-1774
[3] www.findmypast.co.uk  [accessed 15 January 2021]
[4] Wilkins Frances, Two thousand five hundred Cumberland and Westmorland Folk (Wyre Forest Press, 2006)
[5] op.cit Johnathan Cape 1773-1774
[6] Cumbria Archives, PR/36/V3/6 [line 59], Wigton Overseers’ Voucher,  For the poor belonging Wigton, Joseph Bewley, 1772-73.
[7] Cumbria Archives, PR/36/V/3/5 [line 16] Wigton Overseers’ Voucher, 1772
[8] London Gazette, 25 May 1784,  p. 5
[9] Cumbria Archives, PR36/V/4/11, Wigton Overseers’ Voucher,  John Henderson, Overseer, 1774-75
[10] Cumbria Archives, PR36/V/6/78, Wigton Overseers’ Voucher, PR36/V/6. 78 Isaac Robinson, Overseer, 1776
[11] Cumbria Archives, PR36/V/6/62 [line 1],  Wigton Overseers’ Voucher, William Lightfoot, Blackburn girls schooling, c.1776
[12] Cumbria Archives, PR36/V/6/9, Wigton Overseers’ Voucher, Betty Thompson, 1776
[13] Cumbria Archives, SPC21/8/11/1, Threlkeld Overseers’ Voucher,  Thomas Clements Overseer Accounts, 1784
[14] Monumental Inscriptions of St Kentigern’s Church, Caldbeck, Cumberland
(Thomas Dobson, her son-in-law, late Governor of Hesket Workhouse, 4 May 1822, aged 99)
[15] Cumbria Archives, PR 75/13, Deeds and papers re: Caldbeck Parish Workhouse, 1779-1936

William Coulston 1766-1835 Plumber, Glazier, and Tinman, Kirkby Lonsdale

By NMDEA

William Coulston’s Bill, 1813-1814

Poorhouses were not only in need of supplies but also maintenance. William Coulston was one of the traders helping to keep Kirkby Lonsdale poorhouse running.

Coulston’s business was situated in the old Market Square of Kirkby Lonsdale, well-positioned to take advantage of trading opportunities. He supplied the poorhouse with various cutlery items, milk cans ‘chocolate’ paint and a brush. His receipted bills totalled 14s in  August 1811 and £1 17s 9d in April 1814. [1]

Presumably this paint was destined for use outside owing to its durable properties. The British manufactory Company of London supplied different colours of paint, expounding their cheapness, durability and readiness to be thinned with prepared oils. [2]

Around this time other bills were sent to Thomas Parkinson who was the governor of the poorhouse, which was built in 1811 for the use of the townships of Kirkby Lonsdale.[3]

William Coulston was baptised 16 July 1766 in Kirkby Londsdale, as were his siblings . His older brother Thomas (baptised 29 October 1758) was also a glazier while his sister Margaret (baptised 14 June 1761) married a soldier, John Dunn in 1782. [4] Coulston married Sarah Baines on 1 December 1798 in Kirkby Lonsdale where all their children were born. William, born in 1798, didn’t survive long. Another son also named William and daughter Margaret followed in 1801 and 1802. In 1804 when Elizabeth was born Christopher Ellershaw began his apprenticehip as a tinplate worker with Coulston.[5] The Coulstons had another two daughters Sarah (b.1805) and Jane (b.1807). Tragedy struck the family in 1817 when only son William, aged sixteen, drowned while swimming in the River Lune. [6]

Coulston appears to have continued in business for a number of years appearing in the 1829 trade directory. [7] He died 10 May 1835 around the time the poorhouse was closed. [8]

Thomas Parkinson had been the Governor of the poorhouse until its closure. Parkinson and his wife Mary Gill were then employed as master and mistress of the workhouse East Ward, Kirkby Stephen, in 1836  remaining there for the next nine years. [9]

By 1841 William’s widow and her unmarried daughter Margaret were living with daughter Sarah and her husband at Horse Market in the town. Both were of ‘independent means’.[10]. Sarah had married Isaac Dalkin, a currier, on 14 February 1831 in Kirkby Lonsdale. The Coulstons’  youngest daughter, Jane,  married John Carter, a tinman, in Liverpool. [11]. When Sarah Coulston the elder died on 21 January 1843 the local newspaper referred to her having been ill for some time. She was buried at  Kirkby Lonsdale alongside her husband and son William. [12]

Margaret Coulston perhaps finding herself in reduced circumstances set up in business in the busy area of Mill Brow in the town and can be fond in the trade directories in subsequent years. An Elizabeth Coulston is listed as a tea dealer in the same directory and location as Margaret in 1851 but their relationship is unknown. [13] As Margaret’s sister Elizabeth had married James Atkinson, a saddler, on 20 September 1823 it assumed it is not her. [14]. Margaret continued in business for at least the next 10 years. She died on 9 April 1868.[15]

sources

[1] Cumbria Archives, Kirkby Lonsdale Overseers’ vouchers, WPR19/7/1/5/3/13, 31 August 1811, WPR19/7/1/5/5/4, 4 March 1814
[2] Cumberland Pacquet and Whitehaven Ware’s Advertiser, 7 March 1815
[3] Cumbria Archives, Kirkby Lonsdale Overseers’ voucher, WPR19/7/1/5/3/61/6, 4 November 1811. .www.thepoorlaw.org, Peter Collinge, The Kirkby Lonsdale Digester, 1 June 2020
[4] Lancashire Archives, Marriage Bonds, APR 11, Thomas Coulston, glazier and Sarah Hudson, 18 November 1780, John Dunn, soldier, and Margaret Coulston, 15 April 1782
[5] The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; Collection: Board of Stamps: Apprenticeship Books: Series IR 1; Class: IR 1; Piece: 71, UK Register of Duties Paid for Apprenticeship Indentures,1710-1811 [accessed at www.ancestry.co.uk]
[6] Lancaster Gazette, 28 June 1817, p. 3, col. d.
[7 ] Principal Inhabitants of Cumberland and Westmorland 1829, Parson and White’s Directory compiled by R Gregg
[8] Kendal Mercury, 16 May 1835, p. 3, col. e
[9] Kendal Mercury 21 December 1850, p. 3, col. g
[10] TNA, 1841 Census HO107; Piece: 1161; Book: 9; Civil Parish: Kirkby Lonsdale; County: Westmorland; Enumeration District: 15; Folio: 39; Page: 15; Line: 18; GSU roll: 464191
[11] Lancaster Gazette 13 April 1833 p2 col e
[12] Kendal Mercury, 28 January 1843 p3 col f www.findagrave.org
[13] Mannex and Co.,  History & Directory and Topography of Westmorland (1851) [accessed at www.ancestry.co.uk]
[14] Lancashire Archives, Marriage Bonds, APR 11, Elizabeth Coulston, James Atkinson, saddler, 19 September 1823
[15] Kendal Mercury, 25 April 1868, p. 3, col. g
William Coulston’s will, plumber and glazier, is held at Lancashire Archives, WRW/L/R640, 29 August 1835

William (1789-1827) and Wilkin Irving, (1791-1859) Surgeons, Greystoke Parish

By NMDEA

When Wilkin Irving died on 9 April 1859 he was described as having a naturally timid and nervous character ‘A safe cautious judge of medical practice, who rarely made a mistake. His opinion often sought by rich and poor’. [1]

The vouchers of Greystoke contain bills for treatment given by Wilkin and his brother William John. The vouchers span the years 1818 to 1834.[2] In addition, there are also bills at a later date signed by their cousin William John Irving (1808-1870). He was the son of Christopher Irving, William and Wilkin’s father’s brother.  

Examples of recurring items appear on the brothers’ bills, including Anodyne drops 1s, diuretic drops 1s 6d, a blister and ointment 2s 6d [3] an alkaline mixture 2s 6d, enuretic solution 1s 3d, and camomile flowers 6d. [4] The procedures they undertook were varied but charges for attending women in labour occur frequently. [5 ][6] The extraction of a tooth from someone called Monkhouse [7] 18 November 1827 and the extraction of urine from someone named Berli[e]n are infrequent events. [8] The Irvings also supplied medicines to the Workhouse in Penrith.[9]

PR5/53 37A Greystoke Overseers' Voucher 1829-1830 William Irving treatment to Berlin , Fanny Cowper
PR5/53 37A Greystoke Overseers’ Voucher 1829-1830 Wilkin Irving

William was baptised on 11 January 1789 and Wilkin on 21 June 1791 in the parish of Caldbeck, as was their brother Joseph (1790-1844). They had a sister Jane (b.1793)  who may have died in infancy. Their father William and his wife Mary [Mally] Dobson had no further children. Mary died on 11 February 1795 in child birth aged 27.

Barbara Dowson (1755-1812) married the widowed William at Greystoke on 27 June 1801. [10]

Their father William had established himself as a surgeon in Hesket Newmarket. Wilkin Irving was educated at Appleby, Westmorland, and gained his surgical degree in Edinburgh before returning to Hesket Newmarket to practice in 1814, first with his father, then the following year with brother William John. [11]

Hesket Newmarket, Cumberland. Left of picture what was the Poorhouse
Hesket Newmarket, Cumberland. Left of picture what was the Poorhouse

William Irving the elder died at Hesket Newmarket on 2 September 1820. His extensive will shows he owned various parcels of land and property in the surrounding area. While he occupied some, he leased others, from which he earned an income. His will names some of those he leased the land to such as Betty Alcock, a farmer, and Hannah Peet, a shopkeeper. [12] Hannah Peet was also a witness to his will.

The three sons are named as beneficiaries in his will. Joseph and William John inherited property and land; Joseph the livestock and household furniture; Wilkin consolidated bank shares valued at £500. Medical and surgical books were left to William John and Wilkin. Wilkin inherited his father’s surgical instruments. Small bequests were made to nephews and nieces, as well as to Christine and Sarah, daughters of fellow surgeon William Blamire of Thackwood Nook, Dalston. Five pounds was left to the parish poor. [13]

While Joseph remained in Hesket Newmarket the brothers continued to practice in the surrounding area. Wilkin at some point moved to Hutton John. William John died suddenly on 23 July 1827 aged 38, [14] leaving a wife Ann Studholme (1789- 1884) who he had married at Sebergham in 1812, and three children: Mary Ann (1814-1898), Catherine (1821-1898), and William John 1823-1905). Ann and her children lived with her brother John, a farmer, at Bell Bridge, Sebergham, before they all moved to Buckabank House, Dalston.

Buckabank House, Dalston, Cumberland

According to newspaper accounts, Wilkin continued to work but his nervous disposition and pressure of work began to take its toll. He gradually withdrew from work refusing to undertake surgical procedures. He moved to Bennet Head near Watermillock overlooking the lake at Ullswater, where he died aged 68. The Carlisle Journal reporting that he had ‘a hereditary malady which he well knew would ultimately prove fatal to him’. [15]

Ullswater from Bennet Head near Watermillock

A memorial to the brothers step-mother Barbara Dowson and her brother Rev’d Thomas Head Dowson was placed in Greystoke Church. [16] The surrounding Churchyard has one to Wilkin irving, his brother Joseph, and their father.

Memorial to Wilkin Irving, his father and brother Joseph at St Andrews Church, Greystoke.

 

Sources
[1] Cumberland and Westmorland Advertiser and Penrith Literary Chronicle, 19 April 1859, p. 4, col.,d
[2] Cumbria Archives, PR5/67-K, Greystoke Overseers’ Voucher, Wilkin and William Irving, (cousin) 4 June 1834
[3] Cumbria Archives, PR5/54-26, Greystoke Overseers’ Voucher, william John Irving 4 April 1820
[4] Cumbria Archives, PR5/54/12, Greystoke Overseers’ Voucher, Wilkin Irving 5 August 1828
[5] Cumbria Archives, PR5/53/37A, Greystoke Overseers’ Voucher, Wilkin Irving 9 November 1830
[6] Cumbria Archives, PR5/53/10, Greystoke Overseers’ Voucher, Wilkin Irving 5 June 1833
[7] Cumbria Archives, PR5/54/12, [line 32] Greystoke Overseers’ Voucher, Wilkin Irving. 5 August 1828
[8] Cumbria Archives PR5/53/5, Greystoke Overseers’ Voucher, Wilkin Irving, 12 May 1829
[9] Cumbria Archives, PR5/53/37A, Greystoke Overseers’ Voucher, Wilkin irving 9 November 1830
[10] Carlisle Journal, 4 July 1801, p. 3, col. c
[11] Cumbria Archives, DCC/1/47, Deeds mostly of various properties in Skelton….1714-1832
[12] England and Wales Quaker BMD Register, 1578 -1837, Cumberland and Northumberland Burials 1814-1835 [accessed at www.ancestry.co.uk 2 October 2020] p. 67 of 272
[13] The National Archives, Prerogative Court of Canterbury, PROB11/1636/67, Will of William Irving Surgeon Caldbeck, Cumberland, 8 November 1820
[14] Cumberland Parquet and Whitehaven Ware’s Advertiser, 31 July 1827
[15] Carlisle Journal, 22 April 1859, p. 5, col. e
[16] Kuper, M. E. (1888), ‘Sebergham Parish Registers’, Transactions of Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and archaeological Society, 9 (series 1), pp. 32-96, p. 73 [accessed 2 October 2020]

William Robinson (1783-1857), Flour for the Poor

By NMDEA

The first Corn Law was enacted in 1815. One of its consequences was its detrimental effect on the poor who were already subject to the vagaries of the weather and variable harvests.[1]

Overseers’ Voucher 1835 SPC/26/12 item 5

Two Vouchers exists from the parish of Greystoke for William Robinson, a miller. One for the supply of oat meal in 1835 [2], the other a bill settled 3 April 1827. [ 3] The later is from William Hodgson, a farmer at Blencow and also overseer, for the supply of flour to the poor in November 1826. It is assumed from looking at the trade directories that this was from Robinson’s time at Hutton Mill. [4]

An undated list of people choosing to use Sparket and Greystoke Mill instead of Hutton Mill to grind their corn exists when Hutton Mill was described as in good repair.[5] Looking at the names on the list, it possibly dates from around the late-eighteenth century. Although the nature of its significance is not known it may be related to the ‘Lord of the Manor’ stipulating where the inhabitants took their corn. It is thought William leased the Corn Mill when Henry Howard of Greystoke Castle was the landowner.[6]

Sparket Mill
Greystoke castle

Those named on the bill of 1826 are Rebeckah [sic] Cowper, Barbery [sic] Parker, Ann Greenal, Frances Williamson, Esther Fox and John Johnston. The order is for a stone of flour [type unknown] supplied at a cost of 2s 8d each. It is not known if this was something done on a regular basis by Robinson.

Some of the recipients of the flour appear to have had other help from the community by means of the poor law. Rebeckah Cowper had received relief in the past. Her name being in the Overseers Account book between 1810-1814. [7] She died in 1847 aged 87. Esther Ward had married John Fox in 1815 and was widowed with a young son Ralph. She died in Penrith in 1861 aged 77 years, having worked as a charlady and general servant. Ann Greenal’s name appears on a bill for Dr W. J. Irving in 1827 for attendance in labour and subsequent medical care. By the time of the 1851 census she was a laundress/pauper living with her son, William. She died in 1864 aged 77. Barbara Parker had sought help from the parish when expecting a child in 1820. A warrant was issued for a Richard Gillespie on 27 October 1820 for him to being examined concerning her yet-to-be- born bastard child. [8]

By contrast William Robinson’s business prospered through the nineteenth century.  He could be described as being part of the Robinson dynasty of millers/corn factors.

William was baptised at Crosby Ravensworth 16 November 1783. His parents John Robinson (1749-1833) and Mary Clark (1751-1836) ran a mill at Maulds Meaburn. His other brothers took on mills in Cumberland and Westmorland. Thomas (1775-1851) at Craigs Mill, Shap; John (1778-1848) Bongate Mill Appleby; Joseph (1781-1864) Askham Mill, Westmorland; Robert (1785-1874) Maulds Meaburn mill; and Mathew (1787-1853) Sockbridge mill, near Penrith. Their only sister Mary (b.1776) married John Laycock, also a miller.[9]

William Robinson had served an apprenticeship at Millhouse near Hesket Newmarket with his cousin Robert Clark before going to Greystoke Mill where his future wife’s parents Thomas Routledge and Eleanor Smith were the millers. On 13 June 1810 he married their widowed daughter Mary, who already had two young children, Elizabeth and Isaac. They had a further five children: John, baptised 23 March 1813, and William baptised 23 April 1817, who along with Mary’s son Isaac Routledge (1807-1877) were all involved in the milling business. Thomas (1815-1897) broke the mould and became a cleric . Daughter Mary (1810-1891) married John Todhunter a blacksmith but was widowed a year later. Youngest daughter Eleanor or Ellen (1819-1881) married Isaac Kidd, a farmer, later in life. Both daughters lived in the Greystoke area. [10]

Memorial to Mary and Eleanor Robinson and Isaac Routledge daughters and Stepson William Robinson
Memorial to Mary and Eleanor Robinson and Isaac Routledge daughters and Stepson William Robinson

William Robinson returned to Greystoke Mill, where he died on 26 January 1857, aged 75. His wife predeceased him. Memorials to William and Mary Robinson, as well as some of their children, are located at St Andrew’s Church, Greystoke.

William Robinson of Greystoke Mill Memorial St Andrews Church,Greystoke
William Robinson Memorial St Andrews Church,Greystoke

Sources
[1] www.thepoorlaw.org Ann White, East Sussex, The price of bread, 31 July 2019
[2] Cumbria Archives, Hutton Soil, Overseers’ voucher, SPC/26/12 5, 10 March – 1 April 1835
[3] Cumbria Archives, Greystoke Overseers’ voucher, PR5/67-F item 5, William Robinson’s bill settled 3 April 1827
[4] Parson and White, Principal Inhabitants of Cumberland and Westmorland (1829), Compiled by Roland Gregg;  Pigot, Directory of Cumberland and Westmorland ( Pigot and Co., 1834); William Robinson, Greystoke and Hutton Mill,  www.ancestry.co.uk [accessed 20 September 2020]
[5] Cumbria Archives, DHUD/8/56/20, List of Tenants of Whitbarrow, Penruddock and Hutton Soil not grinding corn last winter at Hutton Mill, who went to Sparket Mill and Greystoke mill instead. undated.
[6] Carlisle Patriot, 14 August 1841, p.1, col. d, Freehold Property in the Parish of Greystoke
[7] Cumbria Archives, PR5/45, Greystoke Overseers’ Account book, 1810-1814
[8] Cumbria Archives PR5/67A iem 1, Greystoke Overseers’ Voucher, April 12 1827, W. J. Irving; PR5/67A item 3,  27 October 1820 and PR5/67A item 4, 27 February 1821 [Richard Gillespie] [accessed 20 September 2020]
[9] Penrith Observer, 24 May 1949, p. 7, col. b-c. Robinson’s were Millers for 200 years.
[10] Cumbria Libraries, (920 ROB), Margaret Clark, The Black Book of the Richardson Trust, A question of Inheritance. The letter book of William Robinson, Miller of Greystoke from 1854-55, 3rd edn. (2008).

Memorial to John Robinson of Motherby son of William Robinson
Memorial to John Robinson of Motherby son of William Robinson