The Drang

 In my childhood there was a narrow alley way besides the Cottage Hospital that my family called the drang. For fans of Hot Fuzz, it is where PC Nicholas Angel leaps over a wall and catches up with shoplifter Pete. 

Drang is not a word that I ever recall hearing outside of the family though, and I often wondered if it was something they had made up. Googling it many years ago I found a reference to it used in Newfoundland, with a variant drung which I have seen in a map of Croscombe. It is also used in Pembrokeshire.

My best find though came today when I found this map of Wells.  ca. 1835  Robert Creighton,  engr. J.& C. Walker for Lewis' Topographical Dictionary.

Notice Drang Lane exactly where the drang is! 

Worth noting on the map are alternative / misspelled names, such as Kenward, Stowborough and Birrel Lane. Back Lane, now North Road, I have seen on other maps and also in the Journal, so it probably correct.

Update: This Facebook post got a lot of positive responses and drangs all over the place.

Property auction in Croscombe, 1883

The Western Gazette reported on Friday 09 November 1883 about the sale of three properties near Rock in Croscombe. The auction was held at the Crown Inn. A cottage and garden was sold to Mr H.Baker for £139 and the adjacent cottage to James Webb for £76. A small tenement nearby went to George Webb for £49.

Fatal fight at Croscombe

My maternal grandfather was raised by his grandmother, and for a few years by her second husband, Charles Parfitt. While doing some Croscombe related searches on the British Newspaper Archive, I came across this article of June 19, 1896 in the Western Gazette which reveals the untimely end of Mr. Parfitt.

FATAL FIGHT AT CROSCOMBE
--------
A VERDICT OF MANSLAUGHTER
  The inquest as to the death of Charles James Parfitt, aged 41, stone quarry foreman, of Croscombe, was resumed on Thursday, before Mr. Coroner Louch, and did not terminate till after eight o'clock. The jury returned the following verdict:- "We are of the opinion that Charles Parfitt's death was due to a fall caused by a blow given by Drew, and we are further of opinion that Drew used more violence than was necessary for self-defence." - At a special sitting of the magistrates at Shepton Mallet on Friday Drew was charged by the police with killing and slaying. - After a lengthy hearing, in which the evidence given at the inquest was repeated, the magistrates committed Drew to the next Assize on the charge of manslaughter, but expresssed their readiness to allow bail.

A curious case

Some days you just get lucky.

When I was in Wells earlier this year I started browsing through copies of old newspapers on microfilm. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, and the first one I looked at was The Shepton Mallet Journal, Wells Reporter & County Advertiser, Friday January 3, 1890. Imagine my surprise when I come across an article about one Joseph Webb of Croscombe. This I am sure is my great great great grandfather. He is the only Joseph Webb living in Croscombe at the time of the 1891 census, and his son of the same name is no longer there. So here is the story. Not exactly something to be proud of, but possibly the only time any of my ancestors made it into the press.

A CURIOUS CASE

Joseph Webb of Croscombe was charged with stealing a pair of boots, value 7s 6d, on the 24th of Dec., the property of Joseph Badman.

Prosecution who lives at Pilton with Wm. Green, a thatcher, gave his evidence through the latter, as an interpreter, the prosecutor being deaf and having an impediment with his speech.

Joseph Badman is a wood-worker. On Tuesday last he bought a pair of boots of Mr. Stephenson, giving 7s 6d for them. He went to the Hare and Hounds tap, where he saw the defendant. Prosecutor had two pints of ale and went outside the door. He left the boots on the table, telling the defendant to keep them till he came back. He went out a second time, and when he came back the defendant and the boots were gone. He waited about for an hour, but the defendant did not come back.

Defendant said that the prosecutor gave him the boots, and went out; and as he did not come back for two hours, he took them home with him, to send them on to his family the next day.

Mrs. Webb, wife of an ostler at the Hare and Hounds, said that between one and two, she took her husband's dinner to the Hare and Hounds Tap. The old man and the defendant were there. The parcel was in the settle, between them. She heard the prosecutor Badman say he had lost his boots. No one but Webb had gone out.

P.C. Colmer, stationed at Croscombe, said that on the evening in question, he was on duty in Old Wells road, and near Natchet House the prisoner passed him. A parcel fell out of an old coat he was carrying. Witness questioned him as to what it was, and he said it was a pair of boots which he had got from Mr. Chard's at Shepton Mallet. He seemed a little worse for beer. He repeated the story twice.

P.C. Marshalsea proved going to the prisoner's house at Croscombe, and obtaining possession of the boots. His wife said "I knew there was something wrong about them." Prisoner said "I got them for old Joe Badman. He is going to call for them to-morrow morning." On charging prisoner he said, "I didn't steal them; he gave them to me."

Defendant said that the man was tipsy, and witness wasn't much better. He only took care of the boots, at the prosecutor's request. He said that he would call for them the next morning.

P.C. Colmer, recalled, said the defendant was drunk when he met him.

The Bench dismissed the case.

It's hard to tell who was telling the truth isn't it? If anyone knows the other players in this story, do let me know.

The Hare and Hounds was on the cross roads in the middle of Shepton Mallet, opposite the Nat West Bank. It was pulled down in the 1960's.

The Story of Croscombe

I have been trying to find a copy of 'The Story of Croscombe' by Keith Armstrong for some time now, but it has been out of print. But a second edition is now available. I stumbled across it on a recent trip back to the UK when I popped into the Shepton Mallet Tourist Information and Heritage Centre. The book is 256 pages in softback and covers the history of the village from pre-history to the 20th century. It is self-published by Keith Armstrong and available at The George Inn, Croscombe.

I was pleased to find a picture of my grandfather in there, boarding a bus for a day out at Weston with a group of quarry workers. There is a another photo of this group in a book of old photographs of Shepton Mallet, but in a different pose. I guess it must have been quite an event back then in 1919.

Croscombe occupations, 1851

The occupations that people give on censuses often makes interesting reading. Often they are amusing and educational, but when the occupations of a whole census is analysed it gives a good picture of how a community functioned and made a living.

Listed below are all the employed occupations from the Croscombe (Somerset, England) census of 1851. It accounts for 310 people, or 46% of the population. I have omitted all the scholars, paupers, housewives etc and will look at these in later postings.

Agriculture and textiles are the major occupations, though I think we should be careful before assuming that all these people were employed in the village, especially amongst the textile workers who may have worked in nearby Shepton Mallet. In compiling this list I found a few surprises. The first was the total absence of quarry workers, an industry which in later decades accounts for considerable employment in Croscombe. There is however a considerable leather industry, but a noticeable abscence of any tanners. There are four inn keepers, and it would be nice to know where these establishments were, but unfortunately no addresses have been recorded on this census.


Agriculture (89)

The census shows 61 agricultural labourers, 5 more who work on the family farm and 2 girls aged 12 and 15 working as dairy servants. There are 13 farmers, and of those who state their acreage, the average is 84 acres. One person has a 'Small income from land" and three others declare themselves as landed proprietors. There is also a miller and a millers servant. Six people find employment as gardeners.


Textiles (76)

The textile industry seems to be the largest source of employment, with no less that 76 people working in the industry. The wool trade is still alive and there is 1 fuller and 8 woolcombers, who no doubt supplied the raw material for the 7 worsted workers.

Silk manufacture provided employment for 41 people. Samuel Peters, silk throwster, and originally from Derbyshire, employed 8 boys and 22 girls. The average age of workers in this industry was 18, the youngest being just 5, and they give their occupation as either silk winders or silk workers. 75% of the silk workers were female, but of the 10 males, five are under 12 years old, a much higher proportion of youngsters than the females. Their silk was probably used by the 12 Velvet Weavers living in the village.

John Jerrard described himself as a hosier employing 12 men. Three people describe themselves as stocking knitters, one as a knitter of hose and one just as a knitter. William Obren also gives his occupation as hosier, but mentions no workers, so it is hard to say if he is employed by John Jerrard or not.


Clothing (28)

No less than eleven women work as dress makers, and there are also four seamstresses and a 'plain sewer'. There are two tailors and two hatters. Keeping things clean employs seven washer women and a laundress.


Domestic help (26)

There were ten house servants, five servants, five nurse maids, two governesses, two nurses, a cook and a gents servant.


Trades (25)

The census shows seven masons, five carpenters, four thatchers, a cabinet maker and a sawyer. There are two people working at blacksmithing, a coachmaker, three wheelwrights and a wheeler. I'm not clear on the distinction between those last two. There is also a watchmaker, and one apprentice of unspecified trade.


Merchants (20)

Croscombe in 1851 boasts one shop keeper, a grocers porter, a butcher, a tea dealer, a mealman and no less than five bakers.

Ten men are employed in the coal trade: one merchant, two sellers, three hauliers and four carriers. I wonder if there is any significant distinction between some of these titles? It seems like rather a lot of people, but if they had to haul coal from Shepton Mallet (the nearest railway connection) in small carts, maybe this would account for it.


Leather (17)

Eight people are employed in the leather trades, comprising a fellmonger (a dealer in skins or hides - O.E.D.), skinners, dressers and workers. There are four cordwainers, two shoe makers, two boot and shoe makers, one apprentice to the trade, and one shoe binder. (Although the term cordwainer originally applied to someone working with cordovan leather, the name was later used by trade guilds, companies of shoemakers etc., to include all branches of the trade. - O.E.D.). It seems a little odd to me that there are no tanners.


Labourers (15)

Fifteen people give their occupation as labourer, but are not specific about the type of work they do.


Professions (8)

There is one accountant, one solicitors managing clerk and a Rector. There is one school master, two school mistresses, an English teacher and an assistant infants teacher.


Inns (6)

There were four inn keepers in Croscombe at the time, along with a lodging-house keeper and an ostler.

Croscombe names, 1851

I have been working on the census for Croscombe in 1851 and doing some analysis with a view to gaining a better insight into life in the village. If this analysis proves useful, I might repeat the exercise for successive decades to see how the village has changed over the years.

There were 159 occupied households, 16 unoccupied and one under construction. The total population was 673, made up of 320 males and 353 females. The average number of people per dwelling was 4.23, but I plan to look in more detail at household structure in a later post. Today I want to take a quick look at some of the names on the census.

Starting with the surnames, there are 137 different surnames, but just 5 family names account for 25% of the population:

48 7% BAKER
39 6% FOXWELL
36 5% WEBB
25 4% WOOLLEY
21 3% BLINMAN

This might suggest that these families have been in Croscombe for a long time.

While tabulating the data, I noticed that Mary Ann was cropping up an awful lot as a forename, and although there are 25 people with this name, it is not the most popular by far. Here are the twelve most common names, accounting for 54% of the population:

51 William
40 John
29 George
29 Thomas
28 James
22 Henry
21 Joseph

40 Elizabeth
37 Ann
36 Sarah
35 Mary
25 Mary Ann

In most cases the age range of these popular names seems to be reasonably evenly spread. Henry, William and Mary Ann have perhaps seen a rise in popularity in the previous two decades, while Joseph has declined, but otherwise there are no really discernable spikes such as we might expect if babies were named after a new member of the Royal Family or some such celebrity.

There does seem to be more males than females with these common names, perhaps suggesting that parents are more conservative in naming boys, and more willing to try something different with a girl.

From these numbers it would seem quite likely that there will be more than one person with the same name. And in indeed there are quite a number. If we just look at the BAKER's, we find 4 Charles', 4 Georges and 4 Williams, and many other names repeated two or three times. There are no less than five Ann WEBBs in the village, that's nearly 1% of the population! If we also consider their ages, we see that there is a 4 year old and a 5 year old Charles BAKER; two William BAKERs both 2 years old; two George FOXWELLs both aged 20; and two Ann FOXWELLs aged 58 and 60.

This should serve as a warning that having someone's age, name and place of residence is not always sufficient to identify an ancestor, and that we should be very careful before jumping to any conclusions. We might therefore want to do a more thorough search and eliminate these other possibilities. And just because a name doesn't seem to be very common within our own personal experience (for example, I can't say I have come across any FOXWELLs in my life), it could be that 150 years ago in a small village somewhere in England, that it accounted for 6% of the population.

That's it for today, but do let me know if you find this useful or interesting, and leave any comments you have on this analysis. In the next post in this series I am going to look at occupations in Croscombe in 1851.

PARKER memorials, Croscombe

On a trip to Croscombe a few years ago I checked out the graveyard at the church. I found none of my family there, but I did record some PARKER stones which may be of use to some one.

1.

Maria, daughter of Thomas and Anna Elizabeth PARKER of Shepton Mallet, died June 5 1861 aged 17 years.
Also of Arthur PARKER who dies March 18, 1862 aged 7 years.
Also of Fanny the beloved wife of T.W.WHITNEY and daughter of the above T+A PARKER who died June 25 1883 at 33 years
Also of Fanny Louise WHITNEY daughter of the above who died September 28 1909 at 18 years.

2.

Erected by William Hodges PARKER in memory of his father Francis Porch PARKER of the Market Place, Shepton Mallet died Jan 12, 1893 at 66 years.
Also Henry Porch PARKER Jan 25 1837 at 50 years and Elizabeth his wife who dies April 8 1865 at 76.
Also Thomas NORRIS died June 8 1865 at 50 years and Honor Perry NORRIS his wife died April 7 1841 at 21 years
Also Henry NORRIS their son, butcher of Shepton Mallet.

3.

Erected by William Hodges PARKER in loving memory of his mother Jane PARKER, wife of Francis Porch PARKER of Shepton Mallet, died June 5 1866 aged 39 years.

Google Books as a research tool

Google Books is a project that scans books, indexes them and makes them available on-line. The amount of material you can read online depends on the status of the book, but most that are out of copyright are fully readable. You can choose to search either 'All Books' or 'Full View Books'.

I tried a search for 'Croscombe'. There are a lot of reports from religious periodicals such as The Baptist Magazine; reports of births, deaths and marriages in The Gentlemans Magazine; and a whole lot more. Reports on Epidemic Cholera cites Croscombe as one of the the 35 locations to have suffered much higher mortality than the average during the epedemic of 1848-1849, while
The Book of English Rivers describes briefly the river that flows through the village.

Leave a comment if you find anything interesting in Google Books.