Changing Names; Would you beReive this?

According to findmypast.co.uk there are 7 different types of surnames (last or family names.) Our last names might be linked to an ancestor's parent's first name (such as Robertson, or McRobbie, Madison or Marriott), or an ancestor's occupation (like Carpenter, or Taylor). Other last names might relate to the place where an ancestor used to live (as in Essex, or London,) and some (especially those who are descended from the gentry or royalty) might be named for the estate which their ancestor owned (like Windsor for the royal family.) Some in our family have theorised that the family name 'Grosset' is an old French Characteristic Surname, and comes from an ancestor with a large head; 'grosse tête'. This is presumably what a few French people might have thought when we gave our name to book a table in a restaurant, or checked in at a campsite, whilst on holiday in France. It would at least explain their giggles and smirks! Recently a fellow Grosset and distant cousin of my husband suggested that it could be a Geographic Name, related to the old Scots word for gooseberry. Perhaps an ancestor lived near a gooseberry patch, or farmed gooseberries. Scotland's national poet Robert Burns, in his poem Tae a Louse, compares the louse he sees on a fancy lady's bonnet at church one Sunday to a gooseberry, which he refers to in his light Scots dialect as a 'grozet';

"My sooth! right bauld ye set your nose ou
As plump an' grey as onie grozet:"

"My sooth! right bold you set your nose out,
As plump and gray as any gooseberry:"

The same distant cousin also mused that perhaps the name was actually a characteristic name, and the ancestor was small, hairy, and had a greenish skin tone! 

Over the generations the spelling of the name Grosset has changed somewhat, and this gives us an idea of how the name was pronounced in previous times. Below gives an idea of where the family was, what work they were doing at what time in history, and how the name was spelled and potentially pronounced in that era.

Grosset - Gosart - Grozard

The Grossets of the 1800s were based in Midlothian, Scotland. They were found in Portobello and Duddingston, Midlothian during the Industrial era, presumably attracted to the heart of industry for better wages, and consistent work. Some were blacksmiths, others glassblowers in bottle factories, and there were coal miners and railway workers too.

This Robert Morden map, dated 1703, shows the south east of Scotland.
The location of Portobello is circled in red.

Grozer - Grosart - Grozar
Previously, however, they were found in more rural areas south of Edinburgh, including Temple, Middleton, and Borthwick, Midlothian, where they worked at farms as ploughmen and farmhands. They remained in this area throughout the 1700-1800s.

This same map shows the location of Borthwick circled in blue. 
Temple and Middleton are in roughly the same area.

Grosart - Groser
Prior to the 1700s the family were located in Eddlestone, and Peebles, in Peeblesshire, considered a part of the border country of Scotland, known in earlier times as the Middle Marches. 

The  towns of Peebles and Eddlestone are circled in green.

It seems like the name certainly had a harsher /z/ sound than the soft /s/ that we use today. And the final syllable in the name was possibly said without the clear /t/ that we use to complete our name today. 

The earliest Grosset ancestor I can reliably trace is Thomas Groser, born 1655, in Peebles. He married Margaret Irvine, born 1657 in Eddleston, Peeblesshire. Her father was Archbald Irvin, born 1630 in Peebles. The Irvines/Irvins were a Scottish Border Reiver clan, and it's possible that the early Grossets were actually part of another Border Reiver clan named Crozier.

The Crozier motto "Crux Enim Clavis" means "The Cross is the Key".

The Border Reivers were a group of families whose home lands straddled the border of England and Scotland. The border was split into Scottish East, West, and Middle Marches, and English East, West, and Middles Marches. This land was wild, and fiercely fought over by both the English and Scots. People who lived in this part of the country were not easily able to grow crops partly due to the land not being ideal for crop growing and partly due to the frequency of the land becoming a battle ground. Who wanted to invest in growing a crop when that said crop could be trampled on or burned down in battle? Instead the families of the border country dealt in livestock, but rarely their own. To reive is an historic Scottish word, meaning to carry out raids in order to plunder cattle or other goods. The reiving families, when the larder was bare, would put on their armour, raid a nearby farm and take what they needed. The typical reiver life did not stop at raiding and plundering for livestock. Allegiances were only good for as long as the reiver family felt they benefitted from it, and they were known to fight, for either the English or the Scots, depending on how well it suited them at the time, and no matter which side of the border they lived. There were even instances when, if the side they were fighting for was losing a battle, they would switch sides right there in the middle of the battle. These were a fierce people who were not to be trifled with; their existence and way of life brought to our language the words 'bereaved' and 'blackmail' (greenmail was the amount you paid for your rent, whilst blackmail was what you paid for protection.) 

Reivers at Golnockie Tower, a 19th century print features a pele/peel tower in the centre.

The Croziers were a reiver family, of the Scottish Middle Marches. They were a sept of the Armstrong clan. In Scottish clan terminology a sept is a (chiefless) family that follow the chief of another family. This might come about because the smaller family is related to the chief's family by marriage, or because the smaller family lives on the land owned by the chief's family. Considering this, we can assume that the Croziers were a family of lesser importance who were related to the Armstrongs either by marriage, location, or necessity. The Armstrongs were a powerful clan, and one to be feared. George MacDonald Fraser, in his book The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers says this about the Armstrongs:

"The Armstrongs were the most feared and dangerous riding clan on the whole frontier.... In Johnnie Armstrong's day they could put 3,000 men in the saddle and probably did more damage by foray than any other two families combined, both in England and Scotland"

The Croziers were aligned with a powerful family, and with that power the Croziers would have found security, and danger in equal measure. 

The era of turmoil in the bad lands of the border countries was to come to an end when England and Scotland were united after the death of Elizabeth I, the queen of England. After her passing, James VI of Scotland took the thrones of both countries, unifying them and creating the union of Great Britain. The border was in effect, no more, and King James took no time in resolving the problems with the border people. He ordered that the border lands should be pacified, and thus it was so.

James VI of Scotland & James I of England

Reiver families were rounded up, and lands were confiscated. The Armstrongs, amongst other clans that had proved to work against both the Scottish and English crowns in the past, were deported to Ireland. A large Armstrong population settled in Country Fermanagh, Ireland. Armstrong is in the top 50 most common last names in Ulster today. Other reiving families were encouraged to serve as mercenaries in wars further afield. And others turned to the plough and worked the land, much like our early Grosset ancestor, Thomas Groser (born 1655). 

Many of the most feared reiver clans were executed without trial, as was the chief of the Armstrong clan, Archibald Armstrong of Mangerton, who was hanged around 1610. It did not escape my notice that the name of the chief of one of the most feared reiver clans, with whom the Croziers were connected, was an Archibald, as was the name of the father of Margaret Irivine (born 1657); Archbald Irvin (born 1630).

Mangerton Tower, the home of the Armstrongs, was destroyed,
and Archibald Amrstrong, the clan chief, was executed.

The name Crozier may be related to a French word for 'cross', and some believe that the name Crozier was related to either an occupational name for a person who carried a cross, either to denote their faith or in their role as a cross carrier for a bishop perhaps. We know that a William Croyset, in 1427-8 was mentioned as Archdeacon of Teviotdale, an area where we know the Croysers were living. And a William Croyser, in 1433, was Archdeacon of Teviotdale and Lothian, and joined 4 other people as a nuncio to the pope. The connection to the French word for cross ('croix' could have been a geographical name, relating to the original ancestor living close to a cross; either a cross sculplture of some kind, or a cross roads. Some sources suggest that the word 'croyser' could stem from an old Norse term for a person who made huts. I've not been able to ascertain a reliable source for this idea, however the word 'croy' is a little used word meaning 'a barrier built out into a stream as a fish shelter or by means of allaying bank erosion'. Considering the likely connection of the family with members of the church of the time, it seems that the the first definition is the likeliest.

In "The History of Liddesdale, Eskdale, Ewesdale, Wauchopedale, and the Debateable Land" by Robert Bruce Armstrong (published by David Douglas in 1883),  the author described all the clans who lived in the Scottish Middle March. In the Liddesdale area, in 1376, we can see an area where people named Croyser were paying rent to the lord of the time.

Other mentions are made of the Croyser/Crozier clan in the aforementioned book, including a reference to a family home at Riccarton; 

"During the sixteenth century the Crosars occupied lands in Upper Liddesdale..... the family of most consequence lived at Riccarton, where (near a burn of the same name) some remains of a tower may still be seen."

All that remains of Riccarton tower.

In his notes Robert Bruce Armstrong also mentioned that Huddishouse was also a home to the Croziers. He went on to note that an ancient account had reported that "The only peel house that remains entire is Hudshouse. The vault is immensely strong and has double doors bolted on the inside." Sadly, like most of the pele towers that were a common design of home for the border country, it has long since disappeared. 

Both Hudshouse and Riccarton are a little south from Peebles and Eddlestone; certainly a days ride and no more. It is quite possible that a reiver family, escaping the destruction of their family home and way of life should ride a day north to start a new life. Reivers were well known for their horsemanship and were used to riding long distances for their raids. Why not make the same sort of journey to start again?

Riccarton and Hudshouse are circled in red.
There were two Riccartons, Over (upstream) and Nether (downstream).
It seems likely that the Croziers were located at Nether Riccarton.

It is easy to see how the name Crozier might mutate to Grosset. The letters C and G could easily be poorly written and mistaken one for the other. There is also the pronunciation of the two letters that make a close similarity. The sound /k/ is the same sound as the sound /g/ with the exception of the former being unvoiced and the latter voiced. Try placing your hand gently on your throat. Say the the word 'cold', and then 'gold'. You should notice a difference in what you feel your vocal folds are doing when saying 'gold' as opposed to 'cold'. 

The Robert Morden map again, shows the location of Hudshouse and Riccarton, circled in pink.
Here we can see the possible migration north, of the Grosers--> Grossets.

Robert Bruce Armstrong gives a list of all the last names that could be considered as permutations of the surname Crozier. They are as follows; "Crosair, Crosar, Crosare, Croser, Crosir, Crosore, Crossar, Crosser, Crossr, Croysar, Coryser, Croyset, Cossyers, Crosares, Cosaris, Croseers, Grosers, Croseys, Cosiers, Crosrs, Crosyers, Crosseres, Croysaris, Crosiers, Croysayers, Croziers, Cwsers, Grosars, Grossars." Take note of the 4th version of the name, and the last two. Combine them and you have the spelling of our earliest Grosset; Groser.

Since I can't trace our family any further back than 1655, and I can't make a definite connection with the Croziers of the Scottish Middle Marches prior to 1655, we will have to accept that we will perhaps never know where our name comes from. My son, however, already fascinated by the border reiver connection from my side of the family (an English Middle March clan, by the name of Charlton), is super stoked and happy to fully lean in to the idea that he is a double reiver.

#Grosset

_________________________________________________________________

https://www.armstrongclan.info/clan-history.html

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/The-Border-Reivers/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_reivers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Borders

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Armstrong

https://clancrozier.com/crozier-distribuition/#:~:text=name%20is%20based%20on%20cross,Croyser%20that%20of%20hut%20builder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_tower

https://reivers.info/riccarton-tower/

https://maps.nls.uk/view/00000398

https://electricscotland.com/webclans/atoc/clancrozier.pdf

https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_History_of_Liddesdale_Eskdale_Ewesda.html?id=nFr7oQEACAAJ&redir_esc=y

https://www.stravaiging.com/history/castle/hudshouse-tower/

https://maps.nls.uk/view/216441416

Heirlooms; A Gold Pocket Watch from a Life on the Rails

George Ferguson Grosset was born in 1863, at 4 Bridge Street, Portobello, Edinburgh, to Helen Ferguson and Ebenezer Grosset. His father Ebenezer was a journeyman blacksmith, meaning that he was a trained smithy, and worker for an employer (not self employed).

Just 7 years later the renowned Scottish singer and entertainer Harry Lauder was born in the small cottage across the street from 4 Bridge Street.

George lived to the age of 71, and spent all but his last days in Portobello, Edinburgh. Portobello is now considered a sweet seaside neighbourhood of Edinburgh, but back in the late 1860s it was very much a hive of industry.

Portobello High Street in the 1800s

In 1881 George was 18 years old and still living at home, which was by then 59 High Street, Portobello. He was working as a pottery labourer. Portobello had a thriving pottery industry, with several potteries situated around the mouth of the Figgate Burn. I think it likely that he was working at the A W Buchan & Co Pottery, which specialised in utilitarian stoneware; the type of pottery used for bottling beer, canning marmalade, and for making bed pigs (an early sort of hot water bottle.) A W Buchan opened in 1878, and was the closest pottery to George's home on the High Street. It was probably hard work at the pottery, but  George was not to stay working there for long.

Four years later George married Margaret Bald, when he was working as a railway signalman, and living, still at 59 High Street Portobello. Portobello Station was not far from this address, and I think it's likely that he worked somewhere along the lines that served that station.

Portobello Station was opened in 1846 by the North British Railway Co, and rebuilt in 1887-90. By 1891 George was the head signalman. His family had grown and by the time of the census he had 3 sons;  Ebenezer (4yo), Robert (3yo), and George Ferguson (8mo). They had moved to 'Slight's Court', Ramsay Lane by this time, and we can find George in the Portobello Directory of 1894, of page 49. 

Click here to open the directory.

Whilst there is a Ramsay Place in Portobello today, this map suggests that it is not the same street as the Ramsay Lane at which George's family once lived. This postcard, however, gives us a glimpse of what it might have looked like during George's lifetime. (See top left corner for an image of Ramsay Lane.) Portobello does still have many historic buildings, but there has been significant redevelopment of the area in the last 60 odd years.

By 1895 George and Margaret had moved their growing family to 2 Livingstone Place (now renamed Adelphi Grove). They now had a 4th son, Robert Bald Grosset (born in 1893) and Helen Calder Grosset  (born in 1895). When the 1901 census was taken the family were still living at the same address, and there were 2 more daughters (Beatrice Goodall Grosset; 1897, and Margaret Bald Grosset; 1900). In between the birth of these girls the family had lost a son, James Grosset, who died on the day of his birth, from 'convulsions'. After consulting with a midwife friend of mine I believe that he probably suffered a birth injury which caused a lack of oxygen to the brain. This could have resulted in convulsions and death. Whilst infant death was fairly common at the time, grief was not lessened by the normalcy. I often wonder at how parents in those times, when mental health was not supported so well, managed to bear the loss of a child.

Livingstone Place, now known as Adelphi Grove

Six years later the 1901 census recorded the family living at 12 Livingstone Place, just down the road from #2, and next door to the volunteer drill ground (now a lawn bowling club). This building was a 3 floor tenement which housed at least 4 families. George and Margaret probably had no more than 3 rooms, in which they squeezed their entire family of 6 children ranging in age from 12 years to 9 months. George continued into his second decade of working as a railway signalman for the North British Railway Co.

We know that George worked for the North British Railway Co because the 1921 census gives the name of the employer; N. B. Railway Co. The North British Railway was established in 1844, was based in Edinburgh, and opened the line linking Scotland with England, in Berwick in 1846. Later in 1921, the British Railways Act caused the NBR to merge with various other railway companies to create the LNER (the London & North Eastern Railway).

The North British Railway Co coat of arms featuring the English rose and the Scottish thistle.

Signalmen, in the early years of the 19th century, had to check that each train had passed his signal box in its entirety, looking for the red tail light hanging from the back of the last vehicle. Once the red lamp was spotted, suggesting that the train was complete, the section of line could be declared clear. Signalmen then would have to log the trains movement past the box in the Train Register Book. Communications with other signalmen in adjacent boxes would also be logged in this gigantic tome. By the time George started working as a signalman technological advances had made things a little easier. The invention of the electrical telegraph allowed signalmen to send and receive messages to confirm that a train had moved through a section of line. Signalmen would pull a lever in the signal box, to mark a section of track as 'danger' when a train entered the block, and then 'all clear' would be called by pulling another lever, when the train had left the block of track. This system formed the basis of today's modern signalling system.

Due to the need for decent clerking abilities in the job, signalmen were well known for their literacy skills. Despite this, however, wages were generally low. As a head signalman I imagine George received extra compensation, which perhaps explains the ability to afford 3 rooms, rather than 2. It also perhaps explains how this wonderful photograph of George Ferguson Grosset came to be.

George Ferguson Grosset, 1863-1935

This beautiful photograph is rather large; almost double letter size, and we think taken around 1920. When we found it, it was not in good shape, and needed a lot of care and attention. An expert photograph restorer looked after it for us, and carefully removed a large water mark on it. A fabulous framer has put it behind museum quality glass to protect it from further damage, and it sits, pride of place, over the 100 year old piano in our home. Whilst he looks rather stern, I like to think he has a sort of twinkle in his eye, and the beginning of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

Whilst wages would have been low, railway companies were often pretty good at offering benefits such as pensions, sick pay, convalescent homes and such like. Days were often slow paced for staff, and this allowed for a better work/life balance than perhaps we would be used to today. So whilst living day to day might have been a little tight, George was perhaps better cared for than people working in other industries and services of the time. Certainly he was in a better position than a pottery labourer.

George must have worked for the the North British Railway Co for about 40 years or so, probably retiring at the age of 60 or 65. We have this beautiful gold pocket watch, which we've been told belonged to George. It is our understanding that this watch was given to him, on the occasion of his retirement from the railway service, however there are no markings at all on the watch, so we cannot be sure if this is fact or wistful conjecture. 

In 1928 Margaret, his wife, died, and his two of his daughters, Helen and Jessie, moved back into the family home, perhaps to take care of him. They later, all three, moved to 28 Henderson Row (now renamed Adelphi Place). These houses are low, little cottages which look like they could have originally been built as fisherman's cottages, or almshouses. It was the ideal place for an older gentleman of pensionable age, and according to electoral records for 1933-34, Robert, his second son, and wife Mary were living next door at #30.

George died in 1935, not in Portobello, the town that he had called home for the 71 years of his life, but in Uphall, West Lothian. 

Bangour Village Hospital was opened in 1906 under the official name of Edinburgh District Asylum. It was the psychiatric hospital for the Edinburgh area, which included Portobello. During the First and Second World Wars it was requisitioned by the war office, but in the years between each war it reverted to serving the population with in-patient mental health care. 

Soldiers being cared for by nurses, in the gardens at Bangour Village Hospital, 1915.

Considering this, George's age, and that we know that he was carefully looked after by his daughters and son in the years following his wife's death, it seems likely that George was suffering from dementia. His actual cause of death was related to a heart condition, and no mention of dementia is made on the death certificate. At his passing his 8 living children, with the exception of his eldest son Ebenezer, who had emigrated to San Diego, California in 1910, were living in, or near Portobello. 

Sadly I have not been able to ascertain where he was buried or interred, but I have learned that his wife Margaret was buried at Piershill Cemetery. I think that it is likely that George was buried with his wife of 50 years. It made me smile to discover that the railway line runs down the side of Pierhsill Cemetery.

#Grosset

______________________________________________________________________

https://www.portobelloheritagetrust.co.uk/pottery%20manufacture.htm

https://lifeandtherailway.yolasite.com/signalling-changes.php#:~:text=It%20was%20a%20signalman's%20duty,thus%20the%20section%20was%20clear.

https://www.railway-technology.com/features/rail-signal-boxes-uk/?cf-view&cf-closed

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/England_Occupations_Railway_Employees_-_International_Institute

https://ellenandjim.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/dickenss-signalman-the-trauma-of-technology/

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/iha-signal-boxes/heag137-signal-boxes-iha/

https://maps.nls.uk/transcriptions/edinburgh/viewer/#zoom=18&lat=55.95573&lon=-3.11658

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangour_Village_Hospital

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15915745.bangour-village-hospital-next-abandoned-psychiatric-site/#gallery15

Immigration; Across the pond, and back again!

It was the 12th of April, 1632 when (my 9x great grandparents) Andrew Newell and Mary Pitt tied the knot at St Thomas the Martyr, Bristol. Mary was the daughter of William Pitt, the Sheriff of Bristol, a wealthy merchant, and ship's captain. Mary was clearly from a well to do family.  

St Thomas the Martyr; the tower, built in the 14th century would be the only part familiar to Andrew and Mary.

Andrew Newell seems to have hailed from Lyme Regis, and was possibly descended from Captain John Newall, a privateer who helped to capture Spanish bullion, off the coast of Dorset, in 1589. Captain John's family were also wealthy, following the capture of this bounty.

Just 7 years prior to Andrew and Mary's marriage Charles Stuart succeeded to the throne of England, Scotland, and of Ireland. During the reign of his father, James I had allowed some concessions that Puritans had demanded, in the writing of the 1604 Book of Common Prayer. But generally people of this particular non conformist strain of Christianity felt a sense of persecution and many Puritans were dissatisfied. When Charles I took the throne in 1625, the dissatisfaction was replaced by a sense of increasing persecution. 

Charles I of Great Britain and Ireland

Charles wanted to move the Church of England in a more traditional direction, which for Puritans was too close to catholicism for their liking. The Protestants of the country were also concerned with Charles' lack of support for Protestant countries who were battling with catholic forces in the Thirty Years War, whilst simultaneously forging a positive relationship with Spain. 

The Battle of White Mountain, 1620 depicts an important battle from the early stages of the Thirty Years' War.

In 1633 Charles started to impose religious restrictions on his people, restricting non-conformist preaching, and insisting on the use of the Book of Common Prayer. Straying from the prescribed liturgy was not allowed, and those who opposed these reforms were prosecuted, and then punished by pillory, by whip, by cropping (which was the removal of a person's ears), and indefinite imprisonment. 

Those desiring absolute religious freedom, rather than absolute monarchy, made efforts to leave England and start anew in the so called 'New World'. To make such a move would require an adventurous spirit, a strength of character, and money. Luckily Andrew and Mary Newell had all of the above. Within the first 10 years of the Newell marriage the religious and political state of England, Scotland, and Ireland had become so unstable that civil war had started. In 1642 both the Parliamentary forces and the Cavaliers, or Royalists (representing the King and absolute monarchy) started to arm themselves. Two years later, in 1644 Lyme Regis, the town that was most likely home to the Newell family, was laid siege by the Royalists.

The Cavaliers (Royalists) and the Roundheads (Parliamentarians)

Lyme Regis is now a sweet little seaside town, well known for its Jurassic Coast beaches, where fossils line the beaches, but back in the 1600s it was a busy bustling port with a deep harbour that could accommodate large ships. It was its importance as a port that earned it the title Regis, so named by Edward I, when he granted it a royal charter in 1284. By the mid 1600s Lyme Regis was a heavily Puritan town. This was unusual for the south west of England, which was more commonly a Royalist part of the country. In 1644 when the Royalists beseiged Lyme Regis the townsfolk held fast, and kept the town from being taken, until Parliamentary forces were able to support them via the sea. Lyme Regis remained staunchly Parliamentarian, and the cavaliers turned tail. 

It was three years later, in 1647 that Andrew, Mary, and their son John arrived in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Charlestown had started to be settled by Europeans in around 1630, where prior to 1624 the area was called Mishawum by the indigenous Massachusett people. By 1641 Charlestwon had its first shipyard, and by 1648, the year after the Newells' arrival, the town had their first school house. In 1650 Charlestown had 150 houses; it was quite a bustling and busy town.

1648 was also the year when the first person of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was found guilty of witchcraft. Margaret Jones was a Puritan midwife. The case against her was built by using methods outlined in a manual written by Matthew Hopkins, Witch Finder General.

It seems that Andrew Newell died in the month of March 1684, when he was roughly 74 years of age. Mary's death is recorded in the Massachusetts Vital Records as 26th September 1684, where Andrew's previous passing is also mentioned.

Transcript: Mrs Mary, daughter of William Pitt, Sheriff of the City of Bristol, she being relict widow of Andrew Newell, March 1st, who died in the seventy eight year of her age, September twenty sixth, Anno sixteen hundred eighty four (1684)

John, their son, went on to be a cooper, and the clerk, or record keeper, for the town. He married Hannah Larkin, a first generation settler, with both parents from England. 

John Newell's signature on early Charlestown records.

Several generations and another brutal war later, and our branch of the Newell family had moved to Framingham, MA, a little further inland. The family, still in shipping, was headed by Captain George Newell; my 3x great grandfather. George, had at least 10 children. His first two children, with first wife Sophia Reed, were George and Frederick. 

Captain George Newell's house in Framingham, MA still stands, and forms part of an historic house tour of the area.

Brothers George and Frederick were again, sailors, and the latter was eventually to sail to the United Kingdom, now no longer at war with itself, but relatively peaceful. Frederick settled in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he met and married Christina Hall Main, a native Dunediner. 

A view of Leith, Scotland, 1841; the port where Frederick sailed to & from.

The Newells were back on British soil!

#Newell

_________________________________________________________________________

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Newell-748

https://johnpnewell.com/uk-newells/lyme-regis-and-uplyme/

https://ofpa.org/genealogy/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War#Trial_of_Charles_I_for_treason

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_Regis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Lyme_Regis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War

https://charlestownhistoricalsociety.org/history/historic-timeline/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlestown,_Boston

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Jones_%28Puritan_midwife%29

Earning a Living; From Collier to Chip Shop Owner

Richard Holding was born in Accrington, Lancashire, in 1840/1841. In the 1841 census he was recorded as 1 year old and living with his family at Taylors Row, Water Street, Accrington. His father was a labourer. A child born into a working class family in the north west of England was always going to spend the majority of their life underground, and Richard's fate was to be no different.

In 1842 the Mines Act was passed which prohibited children under the age of 10 to work in the mines. This didn’t really help Richard. By the time the 1851 census was taken Richard Holding was working as a collier in Accrington, at the age of 11. Still living at the Water Street address, Richard’s father was now deceased, and it was up to him and his two brothers, John (16) and Thomas (13), and his cousin William Henry Hargreaves (also 11) to bring in the money and support the family, by working the mines.

At the age of 11 Richard and his cousin William may have worked as 'trappers'; a job often performed by the youngest in the family. It was the trapper's job to open and shut the trap doors which allowed fresh air to circulate through the mine system. This job involved sitting alone in total darkness for up to 12 hours at a time, opening and closing the door to allow the coal tub through when it came. This work was boring, and whilst it wasn't hard labour, it was dangerous. If the trapper fell asleep on duty, all the workers in the mine could be put at risk.

As Richard and William grew older and bigger they would probably have been hired as a pair of ‘hurrier’ and 'thruster'. A hurrier’s job was to pull heavy carts of coal away from the extraction point, while the 'thruster' pushed.

The hurrier would be harnessed to the cart they were pulling, whilst the thruster would just push from behind. The pair of them could haul up to 600kg of coal (including the weight of the tub) and they could be working in a space as small as 60-120cms in height. As Richard and his cousin got older they would have worked as a hurrier on their own, with no thruster. It was back breaking, dirty, and dangerous work.

Child miners suffered from physical deformities due to the cramped conditions and heavy work they were required to do, at a time when their bones were forming. Richard might have suffered from knees bent inwards, feet bent outwards and/or abnormal spinal growth.

By 1861 Richard was 21 years old and still living at Taylors Row, Water Street, Accrington; working as a miner, with his brother John. As a young man Richard would have been working on his own in the mine. He may have continued to work as a hurrier, but could have progressed to the role of getter by the age of 21. Getters were the strongest of the crew and would work getting the coal from the seam, using a pickaxe. The getter was the only job underground that would be done by continuous light, as they needed to see the coal in the rock face.

In 1861, sometime after the census was taken Richard married the girl next door; Ann Bell. Ann was from Lancaster, where they would eventually live, but before that they had a family to raise, and Richard had many more years working underground ahead of him. First they continued to live in Accrington where they had two children, both baptised at St James, Accrington.

The family then moved to Habergham Eaves, near Burnley, where they had two further children. There was a coal mine in Habergham, which could have been the mine where Richard worked. The mine closed in 1941, due to a lack of manpower, presumably due to the war. 

By the 1871 census the family was living at 56 Lord Street, Burnley (an address that apparently no longer exists). Richard was still working as a collier.

Ten years later and the family had moved again, this time to 18 Lee Street, Burnley. They had had three more children whilst living at this address, before they returned to Accrington. in 1873 Richard marked his 30th year of working underground, in the town of his birth. It might seem odd for a family in this era to have moved so much but it was, in fact, quite normal and common. Families had to go where there was work. Mines, not subject to the rigours of health and safety rules, might collapse, or be mined out, and then workers would have to move to a new place for fresh work. Living conditions were harsh, and families were always on the look out for a way to improve their lot. If there was a better home to live in, or cheaper rooms to rent, they would move. Anything to improve their general health and chances of survival. Also, when we, surrounded by our mass of 21st century belongings, consider moving, we consider the cost of such an endeavour. It was far less costly for the working class of the mid-late 1800s. Often a small push cart was enough to move the meagre possessions of a coaling family, even with all those children!

Whilst life must have been overwhelmingly harsh underground, for Richard, life above ground was no picnic either. Today we might look at the stunning Lancashire countryside, and delight in the verdant hills and big skies, but back in the late 1800s, in the heart of the industrial era, there was little fresh air to experience. Mills and mines, factories and furnaces pumped out pollution, turning the sky black with soot. It would have been nigh on impossible to get washing clean at dry, as it would collect soot as it hung out on lines. This image of Blackburn's sooty sky gives a idea of what people had to put up with.

Richard and Ann’s last child was born in Burnley in 1885, and two years later their eldest daugher, Isabella Holding married Alfred Hodgson, at the Priory, Lancaster. On the marriage certificate her father Richard was recorded as working as a collier.

Sometime later the rest of the family moved away from the coal fields to join Isabella in Lancaster. In the 1891 census the family were living at 24 Salisbury Road, Lancaster, where Richard, after almost 40 years of working underground, finally had an overground job as a general labourer. Lancaster was a

busy, bustling town with factories, mills, and quays where lots of work could be found, and Ann's family (the Bells) were Lancastrian, and so they may have benefitted from wider family support.

In the 1901 census Richard and Ann were living at 24 Salisbury Road, Lancaster, together. Richard was working out of the home, dealing fish and potatoes. Richard was running one of the original fish and chip shops of England; a small family business run from the front room of the house.

It is thought that the first fish and chip shop was in either London, within the sounds of Bow Bells, or in Lancashire, near Oldham. Around 1863 Mr Lees of Mossely, Lancs served fish and chips from a hut in the market place. He later transferred his business to a shop across the road, and fairly quickly fish and chip shops were springing up in many family homes across the country. The national dish had finally arrived!

Mr Lees Chip Potato Restaurant in Mossely

Front room fish and chip shops were commonplace by the late 19th century, and its not surprising that Richard, at the age of 60, was looking for an easier job, that didn't require him to do hard labour, or toe the line for an overbearing boss. Fish and chips was a cheap take away meal that industrial era workers could easily afford, and some say that the Industrial Revolution was fuelled, at least in part, by fish and chips. Watch this wonderful clip to learn more about the early fish and chip industry in Britain!

What a working life my paternal 2x great grandfather, Richard Holding had! Around half a century working underground, and possibly the last decade of his life working as an entrepreneur in a burgeoning industry that was to shape the food culture of the country!

#Holding