Medicated vapour baths became popular in England in the 1820s. Such things were available in earlier decades, but Sake Deen Mohamed advertised them via both his published works and his bathing establishment at Brighton. The treatment he offered for muscular and similar ailments involved massage and steamy bathing with the addition of Indian oils. He introduced the word ‘shampooing’ to popular usage, although with a slightly different meaning to its current one (ie rubbing the body, whereas we lather our hair). Mohamed was named ‘shampooing surgeon’ to George IV and William IV.
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/xg5ewh67
What did such fashionable treatments have to do with the Staffordshire poor? We might have guessed ‘none’: but we would have been wrong. Spa towns like Buxton had long made bathing facilities available to poor patients, albeit in a heavily regulated way. In 1785 for example the poor were admitted to bathe at Buxton between the months of May and October, on Mondays only, and funded places were limited to sixteen beneficiaries at any one time. Successful applicants to the Buxton charity had to support their appeal with ‘a letter of recommendation from some lady or gentleman from his own locality certifying whether he was a proper object of charity, and if the patient was a pauper, also a certificate signed by the Churchwardens or Overseers of the poor that the pauper’s settlement was in, and a certificate from a physician or apothecary that the case was proper for the Buxton waters’. In the 1820s, though, copyists of Mohamed developed their own vapour bathing equipment which was not dependent on location. Charles Whitlaw patented his medicated baths which could be installed in any town, and published his Scriptural Code of Health in 1838 thanking Anglican and Dissenting clergy for funding treatments for miscellanous workhouse poor.
It was still a surprise, though, to discover that the parish of Alrewas actually sent its paupers to a medicated vapour bathing establishment in Wolverhampton. The vouchers show that in 1831 the parish sent William Riley to the baths run by surgeon Edward Hayling Coleman at Dudley Street in Wolverhampton, albeit the parish paid the resulting bill rather slowly. In early 1832 they also sent a woman called Eams, possible Ann Eams born at Fradley in 1805 or her mother Mary, who Coleman reported in March to be ‘somewhat better’ as a result.
Coleman had invested in Whitlaw’s patented bathing equipment, and set up two facilities for treatment. There was a public bath in Dudley Street costing 3s6d a time, and he also saw the more prosperous of his patients at his own house in Salop Street for 5s per bathing session. We do not know the diagnosis for either Riley or Eams, but Coleman promoted his baths for cases of scrofula, cutaneous diseases, liver complaints, gout, rheumatism, asthma and (very optimistically) ‘cancer in it’s incipient stage’. When the first cholera epidemic swept Britain in 1831-2, Coleman even reserved one or more of his baths ‘for the gratuitous use of the poor’.
Sources: Ernest Axon, ‘Historical Notes on Buxton, its Inhabitants and Visitors: Buxton Doctors since 1700’ (1939), among the ‘Axon Papers’ held at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery ; Charles Whitlaw, The Scriptural Code of Health (London, 1838); SRO D 783/2/3/12/8/2/2 Alrewas overseers’ voucher, bill of Edward Coleman to the parish 1831; D 783/2/3/13/7/1 Alrewas overseers’ correspondence, letter from Edward Coleman 1832; Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser 22 June 1831 and 16 November 1831.
Edward Heylin was a linen and woollen draper in Penrith. [1] Several vouchers appear with his name on them for the parish of Greystoke; some of which have a printed heading.[2] The bills were sent to Thomas Burn, overseer, and then assistant overseer of Greystoke. Most are bills of only a few lines long.[3] Around the time of these vouchers Heylin was also active in the community, being elected a churchwarden in Penrith.[4] As churchwarden it is likely he was influential in the distribution of Penrith’s charitable funds to the poor.
At least two of Heylin’s bills are for items for a Mary Johnson. Items supplied around 1822 include five yards of grey calico, at 3s. 9d; three yards black calico at 2s 3d; one yard of fustian at 1s; yarn and whalebone costing 2s 8d; two yds blue linen, thread and tape at 2s 6d; for the making of shifts, 8d, and two caps, 2d; two aprons, 2d, and a petticoat, 4d; the making of a pair of stays, 1s 4d. [5] The other bill cannot be positively dated but contains similar items. [6]
Mary Johnson was baptised in Greystoke in 1802 so she would have been around 21 when she received these items but her circumstances at the time are not known. She married Joseph Greenhow, a farm labourer, on 8 November 1830 in the same parish. By 1841 they were living at Hog House Brow, Martindale, with two children.
Edward Heylin’s father, also Edward (c.1772-1836), was a yeoman and owner of a farm at Celleron near Ullswater. His mother, Mary Wilkinson (c.1765-1841), owned property in Greystoke which had been in the family from the early eighteenth century. [7] Edward was baptised at Dacre, a village near Penrith, on 20 December 1801. He had three siblings: Jane (1794-1818) who married James Russell; John (1797-1854); and Margaret (1799-1877) who married Thomas Atkinson. Edward’s brother John also appears to have been a draper in Penrith around 1829 before becoming the Governor of Much Woolton Workhouse, Childwall, Lancashire. [8]
Edward married Maria Featherstonhaugh (1802-43) in Alston on 15 October 1823, her place of birth. Maria was descended from a branch of the Featherstonhaugh family of Featherstone Castle, near Haltwhistle, Northumberland. Edward was reputedly a direct descendant of Dr Peter Heylin (1599-1662), historian, author and chaplain to Charles I.[9]
Edward and Maria seem to have had a stable and well established life with a growing family but this was about to change. In 1839 Edward advertised for an apprentice in the Carlisle Patriot [10] but by late 1842 he was no longer trading in Penrith. The Carlisle Journal reported on 10 December 1842, that J. and J. Grindal had taken on his business. [11]
After his father’s [12] and mother’s deaths, he appears to have moved to London with wife Maria. It is unclear what precipitated this move.
1843 must have been a turbulent year for Edward Haylin. Despite favourable character references and their eldest son Richard Featherstonhaugh’s (1824-1852) position as a qualified solicitor, [13] second son Edward (1826-1855) was found guilty of a crime in April 1843. Edward, aged 17, having recently been appointed by Lord Lowther as a clerk at the General Post Office in London [14] was accused of stealing letters containing sovereigns from the Post Office General. [15] Considered a serious offence for which the death penalty had just been abolished in 1837, he was brought before the central criminal court on 8 May 1843. After some deliberation the punishment of the justice system was brought to bear. He was sentenced to transportation for life; departing for Norfolk Island, Australia, from Plymouth on 26 August 1843.
Edward Heylin’s youngest son Henry ( 1843-1899) was baptised at Clerkenwell, London, the month before Edward’s transportation. On 30 November 1843 his wife Maria died. Her death was recorded in Clerkenwell, aged 41.[16].
Son Edward never returned home. On 6 June 1855 he was found guilty of robbery and the illegal discharge of a firearm intending to cause harm and was executed on 26 June 1855. Considered by some as being a harsh punishment.[17] Whether his family knew of his fate is unknown.
From 1843 Edward Heylin the elder is difficult to trace. He occasionally appears on a list of those attending a meeting in London of the Cumberland Benevolent Institution [18] but it is difficult to say conclusively if this is him. He may have returned to Penrith occasionally being involved in the sale of family properties at Celleron and Penruddock but this cannot be confirmed without further research. [19]
Additional information about other children of Edward and Mary Heylin. Alexander (1829-1868) was a bookseller in London. A fire in 1861 at his business in Paternoster Row, was followed by bankruptcy in 1863. [20] Third son John died in infancy in Penrith (1833-1837). Emma (1835-1916) was described as a governess on one census and can be found living with her unmarried brother Henry (1843-1899) who she was caring for when he died aged 55 in 1899. [21] Maria (1837) married Francesco del Campo in 1872. Her whereabouts cannot be traced after this. Genevieve Jane (1839-1884) married William S. Wicks, a stationer by trade. They also had their troubles. William petitioned for divorce on the grounds of her adultery in 1872. Ultimately staying together, Genevieve died after a short stay in Hoxton Lunatic Asylum in 1884.
Footnote
On 15 July 1812 the Public Ledger andDaily Advertiser recorded the suicide of an E. Heylin. [22]This seems to refer to Edward Heylin who was overseer [parish officer] in Penrith in 1811. It cannot be established conclusively how he is related to Edwin Haylin. Also at this time there was an affiliation for Edward Heylin of Celleron to appeal against. [23 ] it is possible the two events are related.
sources [1] J. Pigot, National Commercial Directory 1828-9 (London: Pigot & Co., 1828) [2] Cumbria Archives, Greystoke Overseers’ Vouchers, PR5/53 11, 183[?] [3] Cumbria Archives, Greystoke Overseers’ Vouchers, PR5/54 19B 182[?] [4]Westmorland Gazette, 5 July 1823, p.3, col. e [5] Cumbria Archives, Greystoke Overseers’ Vouchers, PR5/67-D 11, 7 August 1821 or 2, bill for items for Mary Johnson [6] Cumbria Archives, Greystoke Overseers’ Vouchers, PR5/67/D 8 [1820s] [7] Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser, 6 August 1841 p. 8, col. e. [8] TNA, HO/107/511/13 1841 Census, Much Woolton Workhouse, Childwall, Lancashire. [9]Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser, 6 August 1841 p. 8, col. e. [10]Carlisle Patriot, 16 February 1839, p. 2, col. a [11]Carlisle Journal, 10 December 1842, p. 2, col. e [12]Carlisle Journal, 10 September 1836, p. 3 col. g [13] TNA, Court of King’s Bench: Plea Side: Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles of Clerkship, Series III; Class: KB 107; Piece: 16 [accessed at ancestry.co.uk 16 July 2020] [14] Kendal Mercury, 6 May 1843, p. 2, col. g [15] Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 18 July 2020), May 1843, trial of EDWARD HEYLIN (t18430508-1417). [16]Worcester Journal, 7 December 1843, p.3, col. f [17] Libaries Tazmania Online Collections https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-76$init=CON33-1-76p85 and Colonial Times 27 June 1855 p. 2, col. f [accessed at trove.nla.gov.au] https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8781473?searchTerm=heylin [18] Penrith Observer, 26 May 1868, p.6 col., c [19] Cumbria Archives, DX 315/1, Deeds relating to property in Motherby, Penruddock Cumberland, and Barton, Westmorland, 1669-1859 [20]The Stirling Advertiser and Midland Counties Advertiser, 12 September 1861, p. 3, col. b; London Gazette, 31 July 1863, p. 3817 [21]West London Observer, 21 April 1899, p.6, col. d
[22]Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, 15 July 1812, p.3, col, c
[23]Cumbria Archives, Kendal ,WQ/SR/651/23 Recognizance of Edward Heylin and John Bailey, 4 Jan. 1812 [accessed at www.ancestry.co.uk] England, Select Births and Christenings 1538-1975 , UK Lunacy Patient Admission Registers 1846-1912, England and Wales Civil Divorce Records 1858-1918
The Griffin Inn was one of the numerous inns in Penrith during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was listed as being situated in the urban subdivision of Dockray and in later years the Corn Market. It was part of the social and commercial centre of the community, helping to promote the economy of the town, providing a venue for local officials, manufacturers and traders and those selling property. It was a place for social and cultural events providing accommodation for passing travellers, those on fishing excursions to Ullswater, and travelling performers as well as members of the Cumberland Militia that assembled and trained there in the early 1800s.[1] Grain was sold outside the various inns positioned round the Cornmarket; barley was sold from outside the Griffin.[2]
The Griffin Inn had been trading from at least 1779 when innkeeper Christopher Idle offered for lease a:-
Large and convenient dwelling house with a large hall or kitchen, parlour, back kitchen and brew house on the first floor, a large dining room, a small ditto, three lodging rooms for servants, three cellars, both dining room and lodging rooms have closets. Good stables for eighteen horses, common stables for fifty more, a byer for cows, roomy chambers for hay, three extraordinary good granaries, a pump, coal holes and every necessary convenience the whole situate within a large close yard. The stock and furniture to go with the premises it also a good seat in the Parish Church.[3]
One voucher from Threlkeld with no clear date has the letterhead ‘Wikinson’s the Griffn Inn’. Scribbled on the back are additions to the bill. It is probably dated from the end of the eighteenth century. It does give an brief insight into the business of the Griffin. Wilkinson supplied the customers with a range of alcoholic drinks, mainly ale and porter; luncheon and dinner, tobacco, beds, horses hay and corn along with the services of an ostler. The printed bill also shows the Griffin offered fruit, punch, tea and coffee, wine and negus, washing facilities, postage and paper as well as food and ale for servants. [4]
Wilkinson’s Griffin Inn Penrith c 1800
SPC21/8-11 13 A and B
John Wilkinson and his wife Julia Harrison were married at Thorpe in the parish of Greystoke in 1789 but perhaps seeing a lucrative business opportunity moved and became the proprietors of the Griffin around the time of the birth of their second son, William in 1795. William did not survive beyond his first year, as was also the case with sibling John (b.1799).[5]
After John Wilkinson’s death in 1801, [6] it is not known if Julia had full control of the inn or a trustee was appointed. However, the lease of the Griffin was offered for nine years in February of that year. The Griffin being described as in the possession of Mrs Wilkinson.[7] Little can be found of the Griffin’s activities until 1811 when Jollie’s trade directory lists Julia Wilkinson as the Innkeeper.[8] She remained at the inn and was still there when her father Jonathan Harrison died in 1818[9] and when her daughter Mary married the Rev. John Ormandy the following year. [10] Mary died in a house fire on 27 December 1848 ,the suggestion in one local newspaper being that her being intoxicated was partly to blame.[11]
The General Wolfe inn near the Griffin, where Isaac Wilkinson was the innkeeper was continued by his only daughter Mary after his death in 1823.[12] She had married William Bolton a Sergeant Major in the Cumberland Militia in 1802. Widowed in 1824 she continued in business at the inn. [13] It may be that the two Wilkinson families were related.
In 1819 local newspapers carried family notices suggesting that Julia Wilkinson had remarried. The notice in the Carlisle Patriot of 31 July read ‘At Greystoke Thursday Mr Isaac Hodgson of London Slop Merchant to Mrs Wilkinson late of the Griffin Inn Penrith’.[14] A slop merchant provided clothes and bedding to sailors; often they were cheap and of poor quality. Indignant at this announcement, the same paper retracted this two weeks later, claiming it a falsehood. The instigator was unknown.[15] Julia Wilkinson died sometime around 1824. [16]
In 1811 the Wilkinsons’ eldest surviving son, Harrison, became a surgeon in Hounslow, Middlesex. Prior to that he had been in the Royal Navy.[17] The other Wilkinson children didn’t follow their parents into the innkeeping trade. The Griffin was once again offered for lease, with the addition to its facilities being a garden. Particulars of the lease were to be had from Thomas Wilkinson [John and Julia’s son] of Thorpe House, Greystoke.[18]
The will of Harrison Wilkinson (1790-1830) identifies family members. Apart from some small bequests he instructed his trustees to divide most of his estate between his brother Thomas (1797-1860) and two sisters Mary (1791-1848) and Ann or Nanny (1800-1865). The Griffin made up part of his estate. Dorothy the eldest daughter of his sister Mary was to benefit from the profits of the Griffin independent of her parents or husband, then subsequently the female lineage [her sisters or daughters]. The female heirs were always to be preferred before the male. Youngest sister Ann named Smith in the will, later married James Rowntree, a successful gun maker of Penrith and Barnard Castle. She was resident in Penrith when she died in 1865. She, like her siblings benefitted from her brothers estates at Townhead, Penrith; and Thorpe and Field House, in Greystoke parish.
Perhaps mindful of his own endeavours to gain an education and the lack of a public library in his early life, Harrison added a codicil to his will. He asked for his books comprising his library, to go to the president and committee of the public library free of all legacy duty for the use of all the inhabitants of Penrith.[19] They went to the Mechanics Institute, the forerunner of the Public Library. [20]
Julia Wilkinson appears to have been the only female owner among the Griffin’s various hosts before it ceased trading in March 1893. Adam Barker, a farmer who had taken possession of the Inn in October 1892, was adjudged bankrupt the following year.[21] The General Wolfe fared better and continues in business.
General Wolfe, Little Dockray, Penrith
sources. [1] Ewanian (William Furness), History of Penrith from the Earliest Record to the Recent Time, (1894) Reprint Carlisle Bookcase, pp. 179-185. Michael Mullett, A New History of Penrith, Book V, Penrith in the Nineteenth Century. 1800-1901 (Carlisle, Carlisle Bookcase, 2020), pp. 46-49; Westmorland Advertiser and Kendal Chronicle 26 June 1813, p.3, col., d [2] www.penrithtowntrials.co.uk http://www.penrithtowntrails.co.uk/downloads/cornmarket.pdf [3] Cumberland Pacquet and Ware’s WhitehavenAdvertiser, 8 June 1779, p.1, col. b. [4] Cumbria Archives, Threlkeld Overseers’ Vouchers, SPC21/8-11 13A and 13B, no date [5] www.ancestry.co.uk [6] Cumbria Archives PROB/1801/A(44) John Wilkinson Innkeeper Penrith [7]Carlisle Journal, 7 February 1801, p.1, col. d. [8] Jollie, F. Cumberland Guide and Directory (Carlisle, 1811), p. xxxi. [9]Cumberland Paquet and Whitehaven Ware’s Advertiser, 8 September 1818, p.3, col. a. [10] Carlisle Patriot, 20 February 1819, p. col. d. [11]Kendal Mercury ,6 January 1849 p.2, col., g [12] Cumbria Archives, PROB/1823/W723, Isaac Wilkinson Innkeeper, Penrith, 1823, Cumberland Paquetand Ware’s Whitehaven Advertiser 17 February 1823, p.3, col. c. [13 Pigot & Co., National Commercial Directory, Cumberland, Lancashire, and Westmorland 1828-9 (London and Manchester, J Pigot & Co., 1828). [14]Carlisle Patriot, 31 July 1819, p. 3, col. d. [15]Carlisle Patriot, 14 August 1819, p.3, col. d. [16] Cumbria Archives, PROB/1824/A(25), Julia Wilkinson, widow of Thorpe. 1824. [17] UK City and County Directories 1766-1946, 1811, London County Directory, p. 1566 [accessed at www.ancestry.co.uk, 25 August 2020]. [18]Carlisle Patriot, 17 December 1825, p.1, col. e. [19] National Archives, Prerogative Court of Canterbury, PROB11/1792/175, 3 November 1831, Will of Harrison Wilkinson of Hounslow, Middlesex. [20]Cumberland and Westmorland Herald, 20 January 1883, p.5 cols. a-b. [21]Cumberland and Westmorland Herald, 11 March 1893, p.4 col. g.
Research is ongoing and additional information may by gained accessing the following :-
DHOD/15/7, 1831-36, Estate of Harrison Wilkinson deceased and residue to Mrs Smith, Gosling Cottage, Carlisle. DHOD/15/10 1830-38, Papers, estate of Dr Harrison Wilkinson, deceased.
Kendal workhouse manufactured hardens ( a type of cloth) for approximately 50 years. This took place during part of the tenure of Daniel Dunglinson governor of the workhouse.
In 1797 Frederick Morton Eden described the workhouse as being a commodious building in an airy situation, kept with great neatness and propriety, with 55 separate rooms, 35 lodging rooms with an adjoining garden from which the poor were provided with vegetables. The bread allowance was plentiful and on beef days each person was allowed half a pound without discrimination for age or sex. In April 1795 there were 136 inmates in the workhouse, 57 males and 79 females. Seventy-six of them were under 30, 27 between 30 and 60, and 33 over 60.[1 ]
The harden manufactory was credited with reducing some of the costs of the workhouse and the poor rates paid by Kendal township. While having access to charitable funds from the Kendal Fell Fund, generally the workhouse profits were attributed to the harden manufactory. It was run while being mindful not to undercut the ordinary trader.[ 2 ]Parson and White’s 1829 trade directory listed it as a manufacturer of carpets.[3]
The manufactory did have a manager. In 1815 it was Thomas Harrison (c. 1791 – 1815).[4] who died aged 24 in 1815. Then, at some point this role was carried out by John Mann (1802-1875). The extent to which Daniel Dunglinson can be credited with the profitability of this enterprise can only be speculated upon. Equally, there is no evidence of his wife’s involvement in the workhouse.
By 1818 typhus fever was prevalent in Kendal . A proposal was made for a ‘House of Recovery’ to be erected to combat infectious diseases for the benefit of the poor and wider community; the cost to be offset by the profits from the harden manufactory.[ 5 ]
In 1823 the number of paupers in the workhouse was put at 118 , 44 employed in useful work the average net cost of each pauper a week being 1s 4d at the lowest , 2s 4 1/2d at the highest. [6]
The harden production continued until closed by order of the Poor Law Board, the stock related to the manufactory was put up for sale in 1849. [7] John Mann become Governor in 1829 after Daniel Dunglinson [8] finally tendered his resignation, along with his wife Margaret Dunglinson (1802-1877) in October 1848.[9]
https://www.portrait.gov.au/image/87693/87466/ Mary (or Diana) Croker, mat women, Colchester 1823 by John Dempsey
[1] Frederick Morton Eden, The State of the Poor, A History of the labouring classes in England 3 vols, (London, 1797), III, pp.750-771. [2] Kendal Mercury, 14 February 1846, p.2, col.e [3] Parson and White, History, Directory and Gazetteer of Cumberland and Westmorland, (White and Co., 1829), p.665 [4] Lancaster Gazette, 11 March 1815, p.3, col. c [5] Westmorland Gazette, 29 August 1818, p.3 [6] Westmorland Gazette, 19 April 1823, p.3, col. b [7] Westmorland Gazette, 9 June 1849, p.3, col. b. [8] Westmorland Gazette, 29 February 1832, p. 4, col. e. [9] Westmorland Gazette, 14 October 1848, p.2, col. e. [29] Kendal Mercury, 28 March 1840 [30] www.ancestry.co.uk
footnote
Kendal workhouse sometimes referred to as Kirkby in Kendal as there was another workhouse called Kirkland in Kendal at this time.
Daniel Dunglinson was the governor of Kendal Workhouse, Westmorland, for over 20 years. He was baptised at Crosthwaite, near Keswick, in the adjacent county of Cumberland. His parents were Daniel Dunglinson (1730-1814) and Dinah Fisher (1731-1810). His name can be found on letters and bills sent to Threlkeld parish, four miles from Keswick, between 1805 and 1811 concerning Sarah Sowerby. It is assumed that Sarah’s parish of settlement was Threlkeld and she had not gained any settlement rights in Kendal.
A letter with an attached bill to Joseph Dixon, overseer, in Threlkeld from Daniel Dunglinson reveals that Sarah had become a resident in Kendal Workhouse. [1 ] Expenses for Sarah include £1. 11s. 4 1/2d for casual relief June 23 to August 18 prior to her admission to the workhouse in 1805.[ 2] This was a lot of money. Prior to this, Sarah’s name appears on their St. Thomas’s Day account sheets receiving casual relief of £4. 5s. 0d. in 1801 [3] and in 1803 £0.7s 0d.[4] She found it necessary, however, to ask for further help. A letter written on her behalf (5 December 1801) by D. Morland asks that she be remembered at Christmas as she is more feeble and ‘she struggles to get her meat‘. She hopes something will be sent as kindness has been shown to her in the past. [5]
Letter written By D Morland on behalf of Sarah Sowerby from Kendal December 5 1801 SPC21/8-11 23B
While in the workhouse various requests and payments occur between Kendal and Threlkeld. Typical examples of expenditure for Sarah are:-
May 5 1807 26 weeks board at 3s. 6d. total cost £4. 11s. 0d.[6] Her board for 26 weeks had increased by 7 November 1809 to 4s. a week.[7] Items of clothing and fabrics, for example, a handkerchief, 1s. 11d.; flannel for petticoats, 3s. 1 1/2d.; 2/4 yards bratting, 1s. 10d., 10 December 1805;[8] new shoes, 7s. 6d. 16 April 1807.[ 9] Items requested, 2 brats 1s. 4d., and 2 shifts, 5s. 5d.; 4 August 1807. [10 ]
Expenses for Sarah Sowerby 1805 sent to the Threlkeld SPC21/8-11 98A
In November 1806 Sarah had been ill but was recovering. By August the following year Daniel Dunglinson wrote‘the old lady has been poorly for some time back and confined to her bed. She is something better at present and getting to stirring about in her room’. [11] Sarah had been requesting items of clothing for herself. Threlkeld was slow to agree the request as a letter from Thomas Winter overseer in Kendal to Threlkeld December 1807 reveals. He again asks for their agreement to having these items supplied to her [12]
May 12 1807 Letter written by Daniel Dunglinson to Threlkeld Overseers’ SPC21/8-11 48A
Sarah’s name appears on a bill for a pair of hose and other items on 31 January 1811[13] but is absent from the St.Thomas Day account of 1812. [14] Sarah having died that year, had been a resident in the workhouse for seven years.
Other inmates, if the Kendal Mercury accounts are accurate, were there longer. One example on the 14 May 1836 is given of a Betty Holmes who had been in the workhouse since 1801. A servant in Kendal she had jumped from a window when ‘love crazed her brain’, subsequently losing a leg and never regaining her reasoning. Kindly regarded by charitable ladies of the town, she was allowed to visit them once a fortnight. [15 ] Unlike Betty nothing could be found to give an idea of Sarah’s life before she entered the workhouse. Access to the workhouse day book may give more information. [16]
The vouchers, along with adverts in the newspapers every January from 1821 as a supplier of oats to the workhouse, [17] give an indication of the length of tenure of Daniel Dunglinson at Kendal Workhouse. His wife died in 1828, Daniel died the following year. His obituary (4 April 1829) reads ‘For may years he filled the office of governor of the workhouse with credit and respectability, he was a truly upright honest man greatly respected in society. [18 ] He was at the workhouse either at or just after the inception of the production of hardens [sacking type fabric] at the workhouse in 1801. [19]. See separate post.
Daniel and Mary (Bailey) Dunglinsons children Of their children, William the eldest was once a weaver, married to Mary Peill. Together they were responsible for Keswick charity houses and the workhouse,[20] Mary carrying on alone after Williams death in 1845. Henry (1793-1817) married Margaret Lindsey and died aged 23 shortly after their first son Daniel was born. Daniel (1795-1797 ) died in infancy. John (1797-1860) is difficult to positively locate. He may have moved to Shoreditch, Middlesex. marrying first Hannah Sharp (c1784-1832) then Dinah Banks (1804-1876). Only daughter Dinah (1799-1887 ) in later life can be found first in Liverpool running a boarding house, then in London. [21]
The puzzle of the several James Finlinsons and their Occupations
Every now and again in the poor law vouchers we come across an unusual surname and think that this would be a good person to research, based on the belief that the more unusual the surname, the easier they will be to locate in the records. All too often, we find the sources confusing with more than one person sharing the same name. What follows is about two people sharing the name James Finlinson who had a tendency to move around a great deal.
One James Finlinson (1783-1847),was a man pre-occupied with parochial office becoming Governor of the Workhouse, Assistant Overseer, Registrar, Surveyor and Manager of Roads for the parish of Dalston. Despite his accumulation of posts, James has been somewhat of a difficult person to trace especially before his appointment as Governor of the Workhouse in 1825. He and his wife, Elizabeth’s (1784-1869) association with the poorhouse lasted for many years.
In 1825 James and Elizabeth were appointed as Governor and Matron of Dalston Workhouse with the salary of £14 per annum and a room for a loom. In 1826 a new workhouse in Dalston was built. On 26 April 1827 James was appointed assistant overseer of the poor for Dalston with a salary of £13 and keeper of the workhouse with an additional of £12.
In the Militia List, Cumberland Ward, for 1818, is a James Finlinson, weaver, aged 32, of Buckabank. Given his occupation, this is likely to be the same Finlinson who became the workhouse governor.
Finlinson is one of those people whose association with parochial office spanned the old poor law and the changes brought about by the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act. In 1843 he was appointed as manager of the roads and in November 1844 resigned as Overseer.
He was reappointed Overseer in February 1845.
Dalston Vestry minutes of 1844 show that Finlinson’s offer regarding Dalston workhouse was resolved. Rent of £6 10s per annum was accepted for part of the workhouse, including the kitchen, vestry room, lodging room above vestry room, the garden and one out building.
James’ parents were James Finlinson, yeoman, of Houghton and Ann [Nancy] Corry who were married by licence on 30 October 1779 at St Michael’s, Stanwix, (licence granted 24 October 1779). At the time their first child John was baptised at Stanwix 28 October 1781, James and Ann were living at Pepper Moss. John went on to marry Mary Wood, and became a farmer at Warblebank Westward.
James was baptised at Bolton parish church, Cumberland, in 1783. Other children followed: Sarah, baptised 24 July 1785; Ann baptised 6 March 1791, both at Bolton. Joshua, son of James Finlinson of Little Dalston, husbandman, and his wife Ann late Corry, was baptised 11 June 1797 at Dalston.
Joshua became a blacksmith and parish clerk in Thursby. He is buried in Thursby churchyard. Also buried in Thursby churchyard are James (d.23 February 1834, aged 81), and Ann (d.20 February 1824, aged 70).
James Finlinson the younger, married Elizabeth Pape on 11 May 1809 at St Mary’s, Kingston-upon –Hull, by banns.
Why they married in Hull is a mystery.
One theory is that James was serving in the Military, but no mention of James has been found in Military records.
Elizabeth was baptised in Mordon, Sedgefield, County Durham, on 18 December 1784. Her parents were Robert Pape, a cordwainer, and Ann. The family moved to Whitby, Yorkshire, where a daughter, Ann, was born on 10 January 1789 (baptised 13 January 1789 at St Mary the Virgin, Whitby). Robert Pape was buried in the same church on 20 October 1812, aged 63.
In the 1841 no occupation for James or his wife Elizabeth is stated. In their household is a William Finlinson, aged 15, who most likely was the son of Joshua blacksmith of Thursby.
James died on the 25 November 1847. He is buried in Dalston churchyard. The inscription on his grave reads:
In Memory of James Finlinson many years assistant overseer for this parish,
who died Nov. 25th 1847, aged 65 years
Also Elizabeth, his wife,
Who died November 13th 1869, Aged 85 years.
This stone was erected
By the members of the Loyal Caldew Lodge,
Dalston, of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, M.U.,
As a token of respect for his valuable services
After his death, although this has not been determined for certain, it seems that Elizabeth continued to live in what was the Poorhouse for a while. In both the 1851 and 1861 Censuses she had her sister Ann were living at the Forge, Buckabank. Her occupation was given as laundress and that of her sister as a boot binder.
One of the other James Finlinsons in the area was a schoolmaster. He also had a wife Elizabeth. James married Elizabeth Shepherd on 5 September 1796 at St George’s, Bloomsbury, London. This James and Elizabeth Finlinson certainly had two children baptised Helen (25 January 1804) in Wigton, and Joshua in Penrith (6 June 1807) who went on to become a Church of England clergyman.
There were also three daughters of a schoolmaster James Finlinson and Elizabeth Finlinson who were baptised on 20 October 1814 at St Mary’s Carlisle, but, despite the title ‘schoolmaster’, it is not certain yet as to which James and Elizabeth were their parents.
Sources
Dalston Memorial Inscriptions, p.79 No. 224
Parson and White, Directory of Cumberland 1829, p. 372, James Finlinson Governor of the Workhouse
Mannix and Whellan Directory of Cumberland 1837, p.193, James Finlinson Registrar Dalston
James Finlinson entries in the Carlisle Journal and Carlisle Patriot:
Unless there is reference in the newspaper articles to Dalston, it is difficult to determine to which James Finlinson they refer
Carlisle Journal 5 Jan 1811
Advert for Pupils J Finlinson Grove House near Wigton
Carlisle Journal 17 Aug 1811 p.1 col.D
Letting of farm at Bog-Hall Bolton parish near Wigton.
James Finlinson was owner & occupier of the estate
Carlisle Journal 27 Nov 1819
Letters to the Carlisle newspapers regarding a dispute over recording a County meeting. James Finlinson was said to be an obscure schoolmaster of Carlisle
Carlisle Patriot 8 Jan 1820
Private Tuition offered to inhabitants of Carlisle by J Finlinson
Carlisle Journal, 19 May 1838 p.3, col. D.
Correspondence with a Mr J Routledge of Brampton regarding Jane Hall a pauper belonging to the parish of Cumwhitton
Carlisle Journal 26 Feb 1842 p.1 col. B
Nominations for Election of Guardians of the Poor James Finlinson for Dalston
Carlisle Journal, 5 March 1842, p.1, col. E
Nominations for Election of Guardians of the Poor James Finlinson for Dalston
Carlisle Journal, 7 May 1842, p.1, col. A
Notice of order of road diversion Barras Lane Dalston. James Finlinson Surveyor of the Parish of Dalston.
Carlisle Journal, 27 April 1844, p.3, col. C
Alterations to Highway at Hawksdale James Finlinson surveyor
Carlisle Journal, 20 July 1844, p.3, col. C
Poilce Intelligence case of John Cairns false entry of birth J Finlinson overseer & registrar
Carlisle Journal, 10 August 1844, p.3, col. H
Under reports from the Cumberland Assizes
James Finlinson assistant overseer for Dalston witness in case of George Cairns who was prosecuted for obtaining money under false pretences from the registrar of births deaths & marriages for Dalston district.
Carlisle Journal, 27 February 1846, p. 1, col. D
Election for the Guardians of the Poor James Finlinson for Dalston
Carlisle Journal, 6 March 1847, p.1, col. F
Notice of Appoint of Joseph Shields of Buccabank as Deputy Registrar to James Finlinson
Thanks to Margaret Dean, and Bob Nichols for their help.
Although baptised in Swinton, Berwickshire, Alexander Cockburn and his brother John (1781-1835) were to establish themselves in business in Carlisle. John may have arrived first, with Alexander joining him later. Marrying Mary Storey, the daughter of Johnathan Storey, a spirit merchant in Shaddongate Parish, the register describes Alexander as a pipe maker in 1817.[1] The Cockburn brothers also had a small premises in Fisher Street where they also sold tobacco. [2]
Clay for the pipes was available locally. The Pipery was situated near the Mill Race in Shaddongate.[3] Once a small suburb of Carlisle, it was on the road to Dalston just outside the city walls. At the end of the eighteenth century Shaddongate saw an influx of migrant workers looking for employment opportunities in the manufacturing industries. Many of these workers were of Irish and Scots origin.
Alexander and Mary’s daughter Margaret was baptised 28 February 1819 [4] by which time Alexander also had a Grocer’s shop at Annetwell Street within the area of the old city. Shortly after this in 1823 the canal was opened improvng trading links especially to Liverpool. It was here that another brother James (1801-1868) moved. Initially a flour miller, he married his first wife Ann Storey (1805-1852), [5] the sister of Mary Storey in 1824. While the brothers’ sister Mary Anne Hepburn (1797) married Steven Somerville and lived in Edinburgh, other siblings were Alison (1783-1811), Robert (b.1786), Margaret (b. 1789), Agnes (b.1791), and Isobel (b.1801). [6] Their parents being Alexander Cockburn (1752-1825 ), a fewer or blacksmith, and Margaret Service (1757-1829). [7]
Alexander and Mary don’t appear to have had any more children, before Mary died in childbirth on 22 November 1824 aged 29 at Annetwell Street. [8]
The brothers continued with their Pipery in Shaddongate despite the unrest that had developed in the area. Living conditions were poor, overcrowding common for many. The migrants being unfairly blamed for some of the trouble. John, Alexander’s brother gave evidence at the subsequent investigation into the resulting deaths in the Shaddongate riots of 1826. After the Riots’ of 1826, the Cumberland Pacquet and Whitehaven Ware’s Advertiser described the arrival of Benjamin Batty to direct efforts to restore order in the area. He was to instigate the formation of a police force to combat insubordination in the suburb. His first attempt to restore order in February 1827 led to him having to take refuge in Mr Storey’s house after being set upon. It is possible this could have been Mary Story’s father’s abode.[9]
24 January 1831 Alexander married again. His wife Jane Ross (1793-1873). [10] was the widow of Hugh Ross and the daughter of John Tallentire and Jane Henderson. A son, John Tallentire, was born 21 December 1834.[11]
For a brief time John Cockburn, after trading as a haberdasher and paper dealer, became a bookseller at 34 Scotch Street, once occupied by Mr Jollie the publisher. At the time, Alexander was listed at Irish Gate Brow [Annetwell Street].[12]
On Alexander Cockburn’s headed bill of September 1835 to Dalston’s Overseers he is described as a grocer supplying goods to Agness Ha[e]rdman for 23 weeks at a cost of £2.17s. 6d. [13] Agnes’s life is a mystery.
SPC21/2/48/159 Dalston Overseers’ Voucher September 1835
Well established in Carlisle, Alexander was elected a Counsellor. [14] All appeared to be going well. He owned three farms which he let. [15] Then on 16 September 1835 brother John died aged 54 [16] and on 3 January 1837 a fiat of bankruptcy was issued against Alexander. [17] The fact being made well known by various newspapers. The Cumberland and Westmorland andWhitehaven Ware’s Advertiser further reiterated his status ‘Peter Dixon was elected to Alderman of the Corporation of Carlisle on Tuesday in the rooms of A Cockburn a bankrupt’.[18] He relinquished the office of Alderman on 9 November 1836, [19] and his farm properties were advertised for sale. [20] Creditors were asked to make it known what they were owed. The Pipery in Shaddongate was advertised for lease, by the now owner Mrs Armstong in May 1838. [21] A Certificate was issued in April 1837 [22] which would effectively discharge him of what was asked of him under the bankruptcy proceedings, while final dividends were paid out in 1838. [23]
Denton Corn Mill was offered for lease by Mrs Dixon [24] and Alexander was successful in taking over the Mill. He placed a notice in the Carlisle Journal of 1838 as follows:-
A Cockburn having entered on this commodious mill respectfully informs the public that the arrangements which he has made enable him to execute all orders in this line with the greatest care and expedition’. [25]
Alexander Cockburn was not re-elected Councillor in November 1841 at the Municipal Elections for Caldewgate Ward.[26] The next year, on 21 May 1842 Alexander died aged 48. [27] His death appeared in the Liverpool Standard and Commercial Advertiser on 27 May, where brother James was living at Aigburth, Toll Gate near Liverpool.[28] The obituary emphasised his role for Carlisle Corporation. Alexander was buried at Holy Trinity Church where his brother John had also been buried, in close proximity to where they had been in business together.
His wife and son didn’t stay on at Denton Mill. [29] They lived in Stanwix Village for a while, as did daughter Margaret who later married William Roxburgh (an estate agent from Liverpool who at one time lodged with them).[30] James Cockburn died in the Workhouse Liverpool 1868 where he appears to have sought surgical treatment. Jane Cockburn died 18 April 1873 aged 80, [31] but before her will could be enacted, her son John Tallentire died 24 April 1873 aged 38 intestate. By then, John Tallentire was a fairly successful building contractor of Bolton Place, Carlisle. As he had no close relatives, the estate went to John Alexander Cockburn (son of Alexander Cockburn’s brother John) of Allenwood Paper Mill.[32]
Left buildings of the Industries which followed the River Caldew into Shaddongate April 2020
Sources [1]Carlisle Patriot, 26 April 1817, p,3. col. e. [2] Pigot & Co., National and Commercial Directory Cumberland Westmorland and Lancashire for 1828-29 (London and Manchester, J Pigot & Co., 1828). [3] Carlisle Journal, 2 March 1844, p.4, col. b. [4] Cumbria Archives, PR/47 25, St Mary’s Parish, Carlisle, Baptism Register 1813-1822 [5] Liverpool, England Church of England Marriages and Banns 1754-1935 [accessed at www.ancestry.co.uk, 6 June 2020] [6] Berwickshire Swinton and Simprim Church of Scotland Birth serach [accessed at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk 6 June 2020] [7]Alexander Cockburn and Margaret Service gravestone at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/125134655 [8]Carlisle Patriot, 27 November 1824 p,3. col,e [9] Ware’s Cumberland Pacquet and Whitehaven Advertiser, 13 February 1827 p,3. col,e Carlisle Patriot 10 June 1826 p 2-3 [10] Cumbria Archives, PR/47 14, St Mary’s Parish Carlisle Marriage Register 1825-1837 [11] Cumbria Archives, PR/47 27, St Mary’s Parish, Carlisle, Baptism Register 1830- 1853 [12] J. Pigot, National Commercial Directory of Cumberland and Westmorland (London and Manchester: J Pigot & Co., 1834 [accessed at www.ancestry.co.uk p. 23]; Carlisle Journal 9 August 1834 [13] Cumbria Archives, SPC44/2/48/159 Dalston Overseers’ Voucher, September 1835, Alexander Cockburn Grocer , dealer in Tea, Hams, Bacon Butter Flour &c [14]Carlisle Patriot, 26 December 1835 p,3. col,e [15]Carlisle Journal, 15 August 1835 p,2 col,e [16]Carlisle Journal ,19 September 1835 p,3 col,f [17]Carlisle Journal, 7 January 1837 p,2. col,c [18] Ware’s Cumberland and Westmorland and Whitehaven Advertiser ,24 January 1837, p,2. col,d [19]Carlisle Journal, 21 January 1837 p,3. col.b [20]Carlisle Journal, 29 July 1837 p1 col,e [21]Carlisle Journal, 12 May 1838 p,2 col,d [22]Perry’s Bankruptcy Gazette, 8 April 1837, p,6 [23]Carlisle Journal, 15 September 1838 p,1 col,a [24] Carlisle Journal, 30 December 1837 p,2 col,f [25] Carlisle Journal ,17 February 1838 p,1 col b [26]Carlisle Journal, 6 November 1841 p,3 col,6 [27]Carlisle Journal, 21 May 1842 p.3 col f [28]Liverpool Standard and Commercial Advertiser, 27 May 1842 p,8 col g [29]Carlisle Journal, 28 May 1842 p,1 col,c [30]Carlisle Patriot, 30 July 1847 p, 2 col,h [31] Cumbria Archives, PROB/1873/W346A269, Will of Jane Cockburn [32]Cumbria Archives , PROB/1873/96, Administration John Tallentire Cockburn 9 May 1873
This is a work in progress subject to change with new research
footnote Margaret Cockburn [Roxburgh] died 15 January 1848 at her Stepmothers home in Carlisle Carlisle Journal 21 Jan 1848 James Cockburn 2nd wife was Jane Pickering (Graham) married Liverpool 11 February 1855
Voucher number D4383/6/1/9/3 in the collection for Wednesbury is a fairly usual sort of bill but was rather feint. It is a bill from Henry Tibbats to Mr Gest dated 30 April 1782.
It reads that Mr Gest Bott [bought] of Henry Tibbats for the [use?] the poor 16 yds woollen jersey at 14d £0.18s. 8d. Recd. the contents of this Bill by me Hen. Tibbats
However, because it was feint I thought I would check to see if Henry was listed in Wednesbury in the 1791 Universal British Directory to make sure I had read the name correctly. Sure enough Henry Tibbats appears in Wednesbury but as a Saw and Trowel Maker.
Now I cannot see the connection between supplying Woollen Jersey material for the Poor in 1782 and being a Saw and Trowel maker in 1791 unless Henry has a wife running a shop under his name (but that is not listed in 1791). Either that or there were two Henry Tibbats
Figure 1: SRO, LD20/6/7/202, Lichfield, St Mary’s Overseers Vouchers, John Peake, 21 November 1831
Living in Lombard Street, by 1851 John Peake, then operating as a furniture broker (which usually meant a dealer in second hand goods) had a large family. Born in Lichfield in 1798, his wife Charity had been born in Exeter in 1806. Between them they had nine children: Edward (b. 1831), a writing clerk; Ann (b.1834); Peter (b. 1837), a tailor’s apprentice; Thomas (b. 1838); Elizabeth (b.1842); Charity (b.1842); Philip, (b. 1844); Steven (b. 1847); and Arthur (b. 1850).[1] With the exception of Elizabeth, Charity and Philip, who were born in Barton, Staffordshire, all the children were born in Lichfield.
This was his second marriage. The Birmingham Journal in 1826 reported the death of ‘Mrs Peake, wife of Mr John Peake, ironmonger, of Market Street, Lichfield’.[2] She was 32.
Listed in Pigot’s 1828 directory and in White’s 1834 directory as resident in Market Street, Peake supplied the overseers St Mary’s with ironmongery such as nails, coffee pots, and canisters, but, as his bills show, he was also a colourman or dealer in paints and oils.[3]
An advert in the Staffordshire Advertiser in 1829 reveals more about Peake’s business.[4] He was a bell hanger, lock and jobbing smith. His stock, offered at low prices with a five per cent discount for ready money, included cutlery, 52-piece table services, grates, lamps, fenders, fire irons, Britannia metal and ‘japanned’ goods, locks, bolts, hinges, nails, and screws. The same advert also announced that Peake was seeking ‘A respectable youth’ as an apprentice.
Things started to go wrong in July and August 1837 when a fiat of bankruptcy was issued against Peake and his business partner Thomas Hall.[5] They were required to present themselves before the bankruptcy commissioners on 7 September and again on 6 October at the Old Crown Inn, Lichfield. There they were to ‘make a full discovery and disclosure of their estate and effects’, and their creditors were ‘to come prepared to prove their debts’. Those indebted to the bankrupts, or who had any of their effects, were to contact solicitors Messrs. Bartrum and Son, of Old Broad Street London, or Messrs. E. and F. Bond, solicitors, Lichfield. The Bonds also undertook work for the parish of S. Mary’s.
At the end of September the Birmingham Journal announced the immediate disposal of the stock-in-trade, counters, shelves, and implements of Messrs John Peake and Co. ‘ironmongers, braziers, and tinmen in Market Street’.[6]
A dividend was paid to creditors in February 1838 at which point creditors, who had not already proved their debts, were requested to attend the meeting at the Old Crown to prove their claim, or be excluded the benefit of the dividend. Claims not proved at the meeting were to be disallowed.[7]
A certificate of discharge for Peake and Hall was issued in March 1838.[8] This allowed them to pursue business once again. This, however, was not the end of the issue. In December 1838, creditors were informed of a meeting to take place, once again at the Old Crown, with the assignees of the bankrupts’ estate on 21 January 1839.[9]
At the meeting the creditors were to assent or dissent from the assignees commencing a law suit against the trustees and managers of Lichfield’s Bank for Savings and against John Peake, Thomas Hall, and others for the purpose of ‘recovering certain sums of money, now in the hands of the said trustees and managers of the said Bank’. The assignees claimed that the money formed part of the separate estate of Thomas Hall. The creditors were also asked to assent or dissent from allowing the assignees to submit to arbitration in the matter. The matter rumbled on.
Six years later in December 1844, it was announced that John Balguy, a commissioner authorized to act in bankruptcy cases would sit in January 1845 at the Birmingham District Court of Bankruptcy, in order to ‘Audit the Accounts of the Assignees of the estate and effects’ of Peake and Hall.[10]
Alongside his wife, in 1861 were their sons Stephen (sic), an architect’s clerk, aged 14; and Arthur; and their grandson, Charles Peake, aged eight.[11] By 1871 Peake’s household in Bore Street was reduced in size again. Living with himself and his wife were their daughter Charity and her husband George Smart who had been born in Essex.[12]
[3] Pigot and Co., National Commercial Directory [Part 2:] for 1828–29 (London and Manchester: J. Pigot and Co., 1828), p. 716; William White, History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Staffordshire and of the City of Lichfield (Sheffield: 1834), p. 160.
[4]Staffordshire Advertiser, 28 March 1829, p. 1/1.
[5]London Gazette, 25 August 1837, p. 2261; 10 December 1844, p. 5139.
Currier Joseph Collins was born in Claydon, Oxfordshire, in 1795.[1] He was the son of Quakers William and Elizabeth Collins. His father was a farmer.
He married twice. First in 1817 to Elizabeth Vaughton, at St Michael’s, Lichfield; and second, to Elizabeth Langley of Rugeley in 1823.[2] The second marriage took place at St Martin’s, Birmingham, on 22 September 1823.[3]
In 1851 Joseph and Elizabeth Collins, were living in Tamworth Street, with their children, Charles, 23, also a currier; and Emma, 19, an organist; and servant, Mary Beech, 20.[4]
Joseph was not listed in the 1818 trade directory, although gardener and seedsman John Collins was listed with an address in St John Street, and an Edward Collins, of the Fountain Inn, Beacon Street.[5] Two curriers and leather dealers were listed: John Langley in Tamworth Street, and Thomas Langley in Bore Street.[6]
By 1828 Joseph Collins of Tamworth Street had replaced John Langley. Thomas Langley continued to operate from Sandford Street.[7] By 1834 Collins was still in business in Tamworth Street, Thomas Langley had disappeared, and the only other currier listed was William Hughes of Dam Street.[8]
A currier’s job was to process tanned hides which involved a number of processes: cleaning, scraping, stretching and finishing with oils, wax or polish.[9] Collins was also a tea dealer and wine merchant.
SRO, LD20/6/6, Lichfield, St Mary’s Overseers’ Voucher, Joseph Collins, 22 July 1829
Joseph Collins supplied the overseers of St Mary’s with leather. His bills are elaborately headed with three distinct images.[10] The first shows the armorial bearings of the Worshipful Company of Curriers with its motto ‘Spes Nostra Deus’ (God is our hope). At the top, arms hold up a currier’s shave, and on the shield are four more pairs of shaves.[11]
In the middle is a classic representation of the tea trade: ‘Chinamen’, tea chests, water and a distant ship.[12] Above this are the printed words ‘Agent to the London Genuine Tea Company, 23 Ludgate Hill’. In 1843, the London Genuine Tea Company placed a notice in the Staffordshire Advertiser.[13] Two circumstances had prompted the announcement: growing concern over the adulteration of tea, which they described as ‘disgraceful transactions’; and the ‘peace recently concluded with the Chinese’. The latter had enabled the Company to increase its stock of the finest teas. Eager to promote its ‘pure and unadulterated teas’, it listed its provincial agents, including Joseph Collins of Lichfield.
The third image shows a woman in a classically-inspired dress standing next to a barrel adorned with vines, and grapes. In her hand and she holds up a wine glass. On top of the barrel is a wine bottle and surrounding the barrel are casks, bottles and a bottle carrier. In the background is a three-masted ship. This image reflects the third strand of Collins’ business, that of ‘Agent to the Wine and Spirit Compy, 141 Fleet Street, London’.
In 1835 elections were held in Lichfield. The results created ‘dissatisfaction’ and the episode was reported widely in the press.[14]
The Staffordshire Advertiser reported that the ‘natural quietude’ of Lichfield ‘has not been proof against the excitement of electioneering ardour … Scarcely has the exercise of the parliamentary franchise ever produced so strong a sensation … Squibs, manifestoes, exhortations, and denunciations have succeeded each other with a rapidity unexampled in the annals of the borough-city’. It continued: ‘Two chief parties divided the town. The Elective Franchise Society … held their meetings at the George Inn. A second and mixed party then met at the Old Crown Inn … [who on polling day] made no public display, and indeed many of them declined voting altogether’.[15]
The Sun commented that the Elective Franchise Society, established soon after the last election, ‘has worked wonders … considering how the city had been confined by the Tories previously thereto. The Tories ‘using all the influence that they were possessed of, as well as using their threats of turning several people out of the official situations which they held, if they did not vote according as they were wished’, failed to get the result they hoped for. The Elective Franchise Society proposed 18 reformers; 17 were elected. One of those newly-elected was currier, Joseph Collins. Other suppliers to the overseers of St Mary’s were also elected: Stephen Brassington, John Meacham, and Nicholas Willday. The one remaining place went to a Tory ‘who had ‘the least number of votes’.
The Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser noted that ‘The result of the election has created dissatisfaction and the opponents of the liberals now blame themselves for not having made vigorous opposition’.[16]
[1] TNA, RG 6/34, England and Wales, Society of Friends, Birth 1578-1841, Berkshire and Oxfordshire: Monthly Meeting of Banbury.
[2] SRO, D27/1/18, Lichfield, St Michael, Marriages, 13 April 1817.
[3]Staffordshire Advertiser, 13 December 1823, p.4/3.
[12] Peter Collinge, ‘Chinese Tea, Turkish Coffee and Scottish Tobacco: Image and Meaning in Uttoxeter’s Poor Law Vouchers’, Transactions of the Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society, XLIX (June 2017), pp. 80–9.
[13]Staffordshire Advertiser, 25 March 1843, p. 1/3.
[14]Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser, 30 December 1835, p.2/6.
[15]Staffordshire Advertiser, 2 January 1836, p.3/4.
[16]Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser, 30 December 1835, p.2/6.
