I’d like to take you back 154 years in time to the year 1871. You will need a little dose of imagination, but I think we will be able to time travel together, so let’s make a start.
This is a fictional piece, but it is based on the 1871 Census return for the parish of Blunsdon St Andrew; the Birth, Death & Marriage records from the 1800s held by the church, and research done on the Ancestry website. Pulling together all of this information, I have tried to create a normal Sunday Service to give you a glimpse into some of the lives of the people who would have sat one Sunday Morning in April 1871, just where you are sitting today, and on the very same pews!
Not everyone who lived in the parish came to this church. We are aware of other branches of the Christian faith who held religious gatherings during this time period, so I have only included those families who we know have a connection to the church, gleaned from our church records.
The church will look very similar to how it looks today, as it was completely refurbished three years earlier in 1868. Paul will tell you all about that later on.
The Parish in 1871 was made up of 18 households. A very quick geography lesson now, to set the scene. We have Blunsdon Hall, later known as Blunsdon House and today it is known as The Blunsdon House Hotel. This is the most substantial property which is currently occupied in the area. In 1871 it had 16 live-in servants, and the occupiers were John and Nancy Lyall.
Blunsdon Abbey, currently held by the de Windt family, sits next door to the Church and was built upon the old Manor House grounds. It is currently unoccupied and therefore doesn’t feature in the 1871 Census return.
There are four farms with large farmhouses built upon them, Manor Farm, Grove Farm, Tadpole Farm and Groundwell Farm that also fall within the Parish boundaries. All four farms have live in servants.
Seating positions within the church reflected your social standing. The more affluent, or more established a family you were, the closer you sat to the pulpit. Based on this principle, I have assigned pews to these families, but they might have sat elsewhere within the church.
So let’s start with the Lyall Pew.
The Lyalls haven’t lived at Blunsdon Hall for very long. The death record for Joseph Clayton de Windt, who dies at the age 47 in August 1863, states that his address was Blundson Hall at the time of his death, which was why the property changed hands at some point in the mid 1860s.
Nancy and John Lyall haven’t been married too long either. They were married 28th February 1865 at St George’s Church, Hanover Square, London, so maybe this was their first marital home, or their first country residence.
Unfortunately The Lyalls are not with us today, as they are away visiting friends. However we do have Harriet Denham who lives at Blunsdon Hall and who is an aunt of the family.
Harriet Denham is sitting in The Lyall family pew. She is 80 years of age, and quite sprightly I would think, based on the fact that she has another 15 years to go before she dies in 1886! Accompanying her to church is her great niece, Grace Fraser aged 9. Grace is Nancy’s daughter from her first marriage. Keeping an eye on Grace, and helping Mrs Denham, it the 35 year old Ladiesmaid, whose name unfortunately is illegible from the 1871 census!
Sitting at the back of the church are various servants from the household, including William Hale aged 25 and the Footman, and Mary Bowman aged 62 and described as a Nurse. Maybe she’s a lady attending to the needs of Mrs Denham, or perhaps a Nursery Nurse to the young Lillian Lyall aged 4, who has remained at home under the watchful eye of Fanny Bowman aged 17, also described as a nurse, but I would imagine she is what we would call today, a Nursery Nurse.
The servants of Blunsdon Hall would consider themselves above the Farm Labourers and their families, or the other servants of the local farmers. So please picture them sitting in front of these other people, at the back of the church.
Taking today’s service is the Reverend Henry Banfather. He is the Curate at this church, and he does most of its day to day business. The Rector, Rev William Thomas Wyld lives outside of this Parish and makes his appearance on Holy Days, like Christmas and Easter, and takes the Baptisms, Funerals and Weddings of the more important people of this Parish.
Reverend Henry Banfather is a young 37 year old, recently married to his wife, Frances who is 4 years older than him. They have one young child, Marion Gertrude Banfather, aged 18 months, and who was christened in this church. Frances would be mortified if Marion interrupted her father’s sermon, with an untimely cry so she has been left at home in the care of their servant, Elizabeth Kentham aged 18. Sitting next to Frances is their other servant, Hannah Jones aged 19, keeping her company and attending to her needs. Henry and Frances Banfather live at Groundwell House, as there is not a vicarage associated with this church. Revd Henry Banfather will eventually be the Rector here, in 1887, and he was buried in our churchyard in 1900. His Ancestry Story is in the Banfather Pew.
After the Lyalls, the next most important members of the congregation, would be the Edmonds Family from Groundwell Farm. They have been farming this land since 1827 which makes Richard Edmond aged 86, the most established farmer in the area. Groundwell Farm consists of 287 acres, so not as big as Manor Farm, and it is run by his son William aged 43 and daughter Martha aged 38, although I suspect Richard keeps a beady eye on them. Sitting with them is their guest, Elizabeth Gardener, a widow aged 48 who is visiting them at this time. I’m wondering if she is a friend of Martha’s, or is possibly an interested party in William! All I do know, is that neither of the Edmond children ever marry.
Their 3 household servants are sitting at the back of the church. Like Mrs Denham, Richard is a sprightly old man, as he doesn’t die until 1880, so another 9 years to go for him. He is buried in our churchyard, as are his wife and children, and the researched Edmond’s Ancestry story can be found in the Edmond Pew.
Sitting to the side of the Edmonds, so his nose isn’t put out of joint, is the young Richard Plummer aged 29. He farms Manor Farm, the Tenant farm of Blunsdon Abbey. Manor Farm is 423 acres so its the biggest farm in the area. He employs 11 men. 4 women and 9 boys to run it. He is single, and no doubt the object of great speculation of several Mama’s in the local area!
Keeping the suitors at bay is his housekeeper, Emma Bodman aged 40, who is sitting next to him. Apart from Emma, there is one other live in servant, a 20 year old domestic servant called Sarah Pinchin. She is sitting at the back of the church, and I believe there maybe some family connection to the Greenwoods, but I still need to research this.
Richard was born in Blunsdon and was christened in this church in 1841. There has been a Plummer running Manor Farm for at least 30 years. He has taken over the running of this farm, from his father, who died in 1863. Both of his parents, Agnes and Richard Plummer, are buried in our churchyard.
Next we have the Whatleys of Grove Farm. Samuel Whatley has been running Grove Farm for at least 20 years. Samuel’s sister Lucy and his brother Edward initially helped him to run the farm, before setting themselves up at Lower Widhill Farm which is just off the A419. Their move was no doubt sparked by Samuel’s marriage to Elizabeth in 1860.
Samuel is now 54 years old, and his wife Elizabeth is 45 years old. Sitting with them is their 10 year old son John. Behind them are their other 2 children, Elizabeth aged 7 and Edward aged 6, with their Governess, Mary aged 24 keeping them in check. Mary was born in Cricklade, so she hasn’t moved too far away from home. Their other two live in servants are sitting at the back of the church. Grove Farm consists of 315 acres and employs a total of 10 labourers. The Whatley’s full Ancestry story can be found in the Whatley Pew, and their family grave is outside.
Our last Farmer, is John Sutton, the farmer of Tadpole Farm. Sadly most of this now lies beneath Tadpole Garden Village, but the farmhouse still remains along with a much smaller attaching acreage.
In 1871, this farm was 237 acres in size. John Sutton is 48, and sitting with him is his wife Elizabeth aged 41and seven of their 10 children, the youngest three have remained at home. So we have Mary aged 20, Lavinia aged 18, Eliza Ann aged 17 and behind them are Henry aged 15, Emma aged 12, Julia aged 10 and Rosa aged 8. Henry has strategically sat himself between his two youngest siblings to ensure that they behave themselves!
The Suttons are relatively new to the area as they were not running Tadpole Farm in the 1861 Census, and only their three youngest children were born in Blunsdon St Andrew. Christening records for only one of these have been found so far.
Let us now focus on some of the families of the farm labourers.
The Greenwood Family has more than a little element of scandal attaching to it, so I will start with them. For other scandalous revelations you will have to read their Ancestry Family History in their pew.
Last year, their daughter Martha Greenwood, gave birth to an illegitimate child called Eliza Jane. Eliza was baptised in this church under the name of Greenwood on 16th October 1870.
This isn’t her first child either as I have now found baptism records for an Anne Wilkins Greenwood dated the 17th November 1867. This baptism took place at St Leonards, Broad Blunsdon. There is no father named on the entry, but perhaps he was a man who went by the surname of Wilkins. At the time of the birth, Martha is recorded as a servant, and she would have been 17 years old when Anne was born, so 16 when conceived.
In the 1871 census return, this child is being passed off as the daughter of Robert and Charlotte Greenwood, so perhaps that is how the family dealt with that situation at the time. However it would appear that ten years later, on the 1881 Census matters have been rectified, as she is listed as being their granddaughter. Anne continues to live with her grandparents as a 13 year old even though her mother Martha lives locally.
So did Anne know she was their grandchild or does she still believe they are her parents? Or does she know she is their grandchild, but wanted to carry on living there? Or does John Little not want her living with his own family as he isn’t her father? Questions, I will never know the answer to, unless her ancestors reveal it at some point in the future.
I’m also not sure who the father of Eliza Jane is, but a few days after her birth, a John Henry Little marries Martha, the day before Eliza is baptised in this church. The Reverend Henry Banfather performed both the wedding and baptism services, but recorded Eliza’s birth as being illegitimate, presumably because at the time of her birth, she was.
By the following year, in April 1871 when the Census was taken, Eliza is going by the surname of Little, so she was either informally adopted by John Little, or he was indeed her father. Whatever happened, John, Martha and Eliza Little are living with the Greenwoods at the time of the census.
So today we have, Robert Greenwood aged 48, his wife Charlotte Martha Greenwood aged 49, son William aged 14 and son in law John Henry Little aged 20 sitting in church together. Martha has remained at home to look after her own child, Eliza and her younger sister Ann who is only aged 3, but of course you and I now know she is also her daughter! Robert and Charlotte both are recorded as farm labourers alongside their son in law John Little.
The family is quite excited as their daughter Phoebe Jane Greenwood, now known as Jane, who is in service in Broad Blunsdon, is all set to marry John Adams, a Farmer’s son, in four months time. The marriage will take place in this church in August. So something for them all to look forward to.
Charlotte Greenwood nee Packer, was born in Blunsdon St Andrew, and baptised in this church on 25th November 1821. It therefore only seems right that when she dies in 1896 she is buried in this churchyard.
The 1861 Census shows this family as living at Grove Cottage. The 1871 census simply refers to it as a cottage, but it is listed after the entry for Grove Farm, so it is safe to assume that Robert Greenwood works at Grove Farm and is employed by Samuel Whatley.
It is from the 1861 census that we learn that Phoebe Jane and William are listed as scholars so it would appear that the Greenwoods wanted their children to have a basic education, rather than sending them out to work in the fields. Perhaps this is because neither parent could write their own names on their marriage certificate. Robert & Charlotte were married in Broad Blunsdon’s church, St Leonards on 29th November 1848. When their daughter Jane got married in 1871, she was able to write her own name in the register, as did Martha when she got married the year before. However John Little was only able to leave his mark.
The Hobbs Family appear next in the Census return so I am assuming they also work at Grove Farm. They have very strong links to this church with four of their 5 children being baptised at St Andrews. So sitting in church today we have William aged 47 and his wife Sarah aged 40 and they are sitting with their sons John aged 17,
Sitting behind them are James aged 13, Elizabeth aged 10 and Charles aged 8. James is also sitting in between his younger siblings! William and his sons John and James the 13 year old are all listed as Farm Labourers, so we have a 13 year old working the land.
This family wasn’t living in Blunsdon St Andrew in 1851 but our baptism records show that another son Michael was baptised in St Andrew's in May 1855 and son James, now 13 and sitting with his parents in church today, was baptised in November 1857, so it would appear that this family has moved into Blunsdon St Andrews on or around 1855. Baptism records for their oldest son, John Hobbs, show him baptised at St Leonards, Broad Blunsdon by Revd Auchmuty on 17th July 1853 so the family haven’t really moved very far. Revd. Auchmuty also served as our Curate, before becoming the Rector at St Leonards, and he, his wife, his daughter, his mother in law and some of his children are buried under the Yew Tree.
I will give you two more families. The first is the Lewis family. They live in one of the Tadpole Farm Cottages, so presumably employed by John Sutton. Edwin Lewis lists his occupation as a Farm Carter. He is aged 27. He is sitting alone, as his wife, Elizabeth is at home looking after their two small children, aged 3 and 1. We hold baptism records for their youngest daughter Mary Anne Lewis aged 1.
The second is the Sexstone Family. Henry Sexstone is employed as a gardener up at Blunsdon Hall. He was born in Blunsdon St Andrews and baptised in our church in February 1846. His father was the Bailiff to Blundson Hall, at the time of his baptism. Henry is now 25 and married to Harriet aged 23. Like Edwin Lewis, he is also on his own as his wife is at home tending to their first born son, Frank Henry Sexstone aged 9 months. Their son was baptised in our church in 1870.
Henry isn’t sitting with the rest of Blunsdon Hall’s indoor servants, as the outdoor and indoor servants lived quite separate lives, instead he is sitting with Henry and Eliza Strange. Henry is 27 and Eliza is 26. Henry is employed at the Hall, as a Coachman, and lives at the Lodge.
So the congregation in 1871 is a very broad mix of people and ages. Quite a few young children are in attendance who know better than to make a sound during the service. A few young adults, no doubt searching for a potential mate, and the four farming families, who collectively farm over 1,250 acres of land and employ over 60 men, women and children between them. There are also 26 domestic servants scattered between the Hall and the four farms.
Of course not all of them are in attendance today, after all someone has to look after the babies and toddlers, and make sure there is a hearty Sunday Lunch ready to eat when their masters get home from church!
Coral Van der Kamp