Huntingdonshire Archives Reference 1322

The Inclosure or Enclosure Acts were a series of Acts of Parliament which enclosed open fields and common land in the country.  Enclosure did away with the medieval strip system by joining the strips together to make larger units of land, which could be fenced or hedged off from the next person’s land. In this way a farmer had his land in one place which was more practical and gave him greater independence.  This was good for the farmers but not for the local people whose previous rights such as cultivation, cutting hay, grazing animals or use of other resources such as small timber, fish, and turf were taken away.

Inclosure Acts for small areas had been passed sporadically since the 12th century but the majority were passed between 1750 and 1860. Prior to about 1740 villages were generally enclosed by agreement. This was when the main owners of the land made a private agreement to join their strips together and this may have involved buying some strips from the small farmers to get rid of any possible opposition. If the land in a village was owned by one or two people, enclosure by agreement was relatively straightforward, but if a number of smaller landowners opposed enclosure by agreement an Act of Parliament had to be obtained. This became the accepted procedure after 1750 as it meant that the whole of the village (including common land, wasteland, meadows and open fields) could be dealt with at the same time, allowing for any opposition to be heard and each enclosure had proper legal documentation and certification.

Attached to the Wistow Inclosure Map of 1832 is a sheaf of papers stating that the survey was carried out by:

Martin Nockolds of Stanstead in the County of Essex Gentleman of the Commissioner appointed by an Act of Parliament made and passed in the Eleventh year in the reign of His late  Majesty King George the Fourth intituled “An Act for Inclosing Lands in the Parish of Wistow  in the County of Huntingdon and for extinguishing the Tithes in the said Parish.”

These papers give a key to the references in the map with descriptions of the lands and tenements; tenures (e.g. freehold), quantity of land in acres, yearly corn rents or sums of money and quantity of wheat in bushels.

The following photographs of the 1832 Inclosure map and papers are published with the permission of David Walker.

1832 Map - Village Centre

1832 Map - Village and Surrounds

1832 Map – Martin Nickolds Statement

1832 Map - Details of ownership

1832 Map - Details of public places

 

by Althea Walker

December 2011

Wistowpedia, like its namesake, can tell you everything you wanted to know and maybe some you didn’t!

This part of the village website was set up in 2010 by the Wistow History Society, a group of people with a common interest in finding out about the history of the village. Originally the aim of the Society was to produce a printed history, until an insightful person floated the idea of a website and from that eureka moment Wistowpedia was born.

The theory behind Wistowpedia is to produce a history of Wistow written by local people, as historically accurate as possible, containing both social and political history of the village through the years. It is hoped by all in the History Society that you will find something that is of interest. All the Society sincerely hopes this has been achieved and would welcome your comments.

Depositions of Joseph Phillips and all others against James Dickerson charged with felony.

10^th April 1854

Huntingdonshire TO WIT :

The Information of Joseph Phillips of Wistow in the said County taken on oath this 10 Day of April 1854, before me, the undersigned, one of Her Majesty’s Justices of the Peace, acting at Huntingdon, in and for the said County, in the presence and hearing of James Dickerson.

Charged with Felony.

I, on my Oath, say

I am Shepherd to George Pryme Esquire who (occupies) a farm at Wistow in this County, he (had) some sheep in a field in that parish called Raveley (Hole).  Last Saturday the Eighth Instant they were ewes and lambs. I saw them on Saturday night between six and seven. They were alright. About my flock on Sunday morning I saw Joseph Yates and from what he told me I went down to Raveley Hole. I found one the ewes had been slaughtered and a piece of the carcass taken away, it was taken from the left (front) leg and one the ears was also cut off. Joseph Yates showed me that morning a piece of meat and a sheep’s ear which I have no doubt had been taken from the ewe belonging to my master.

Sworn before me

G (??????)                                           Joseph Phillips

The Prisoner declined asking the ??????? any questions.

Huntingdonshire TO WIT :

The Examination of Joseph Yates of Huntingdon in the said County taken on oath this 10 Day of April 1854, before me, the undersigned, one of Her Majesty’s Justices of the Peace, acting at Huntingdon, in and for the said County, in the presence and hearing of James Dickerson.

Charged with Felony.

I, on my Oath, say

I am one of the Police Constables of the Borough of Huntingdon. I was on duty on Sunday morning between one and two o’clock. The prisoner, James Dickerson came to me about that time at the station house. He sat down on the steps of the station house door and said he was tired and should not go any further for he had been to Wistow and killed a sheep. I then took him into the station house and I asked him if it was true what he had said, he said, yes it is quite true, his hands were covered with the blood – he then produced a piece of meat and a sheep’s ear. I search him and found a knife on him which was also bloody – I then asked why he had done it he said he could get no work and wanted to be sent out of the country – he said he had been to Mr Woodruff, the evening before who gave him a four penny piece and told him to go to Mr Saunders to try to get a job. Mr Saunders refused that. He then went to try to catch one of Mr Saunders’ sheep and failed and then went to Mr Fairlee and killed a sheep. Mr Fairlee is Mr Prymes Bailiff. I then went over to Wistow and went to the field where he told me he had killed he sheep and I found a sheep dead. I examined the sheep the skin was on but a piece of meat had been cut off the thigh and one ear was off. I afterwards went to Joseph Phillips who is shepherd to Mr Pryme. I told him what had happened and showed him the meat and the sheep’s ear which I had taken from the prisoner. Phillips afterwards brought the sheep up to Mr Fairlee’s house.  I (patterned) the ear myself and it exactly fitted. The prisoner was quite sober when he came to me at the station house. I said nothing to the prisoner to induce him to make communication.

Sworn before me

G (??????)                                           Joseph Yates

The Prisoner declined asking any questions.

Huntingdonshire TO WIT :

James Dickerson stands charged before the undersigned, one of Her Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the County of Huntingdon, this Tenth Day of April in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hunderd and Fifty Four for that the said James Dickerson on the Eighth Day of April Instant at the Parish of Wistow in the said County wilfully killed a certain ewe sheep the property of George Pryme Esquire with intent to steal the carcass or meat thereof.

And the said Charge being read to the said James Dickerson and the Witnesses for the Prosecution Joseph Phillips and Joseph Yates.

Being severally Examined in his presence, the said James Dickerson is now addressed by me as follows : ‘Having heard the Evidence, do you wish to say anything in answer to the Charge ? You are not obliged to say anything unless you desire to do so, but whatever you say will be taken down in Writing, and may be given in Evidence against you upon your Trial. And you are clearly to understand that you have nothing to hope from any Promise of Favour, and nothing to fear from any Threat, which may have been holden out to you to induce you to make any admission or confession of your guilt, but whatever you shall now say may be given in Evidence against you upon your Trial, not withstanding such Promise or Threat’.

Whereupon the said James Dickerson sayeth as follows ;

I was not quite sober when I did it. I have nothing more to say.

The Mark of James Dickerson

X

1911 ARTICLE BY JOHN MEADOWS (TRANSCRIPT) –
from the Peterborough Advertiser 15th July 1911
a few bits unreadable, so these have been shown as —— in the text

WISTOW and its PEOPLE – a typical Huntingdonshire Parish.
The old times of a native.

The following notes of Wistow and its people are extracted from a MS written by the late John Meadows, a native of Wistow coming from a long line of an old Wistow family. He wrote the bulk of the notes, here reproduced, on or about his 86th birthday. He died at Fallowfield, Manchester in the early part of the present war at the age of 87. We are indebted to his son, Mr William Meadows, of the Lion Hotel, Ramsey for readily responding to our request and placing his fathers MS at our disposal.
I was born, writes Mr John Meadows at Rooksgrove House, Wistow on the 8th October, 1823. The village was not then as it is now. My ——- had resided there, on the self same spot for many generations. It is said that ‘Uriah Harris’ had built the house and also the great dovecot adjoining.
At the top end of the village street grew some ancient lime trees, and when walking under them, it was difficult to see through their luxuriant leafy branches. It was there the village boys and girls met to play in the evenings, but most of those whom I remember have now gone to their account.
When about five years of age I went to Mrs Wilkins school. She was a kind old lady and kept a magpie in a cage which could talk a little. The magpie so much amused us that it was no doubt a grave distraction to our infant studies. From Rooksgrove House I used to get to Mrs Wilkins by crossing several home closes.
KITES AND HAWKS.
Kites and hawks were abundant in the district in those days, their home being in Monks Wood, and I have often heard my mother lament the loss of her chickens and poultry which were continually being pounced upon by these birds of prey and carried off.
The high road from the White Stone had deep dikes on either side half full of water after rain, and this water rushed down the village at full tide. The village children made boats of wood, which they throw on the rushing stream, and great excitement was manifested in seeing which boat could go the fastest. The old brook being crooked and clearly banked up in places, the water going down it would often suddenly rise, and then the village would be flooded for several days. On these occasions, the road would be quite impossible until the water had subsided. The water ran freely down by the blacksmiths shop, then crossed the surface of the road and emptied itself again into the normal course of the brook. A footbridge had been erected here which had hand rails on either side, and this was very convenient in times of flood, especially on dark nights, enabling the villagers to pass over safely and dry.
WHEN THE FIELDS WERE OPEN.
The land throughout the parish was then all one great open field, and the yield as each succeeding harvest time —– —– was not always very ———. The parish was not then enclosed. The farmers called a parish meeting with a view to effecting this improvement, and they all agreed that the parish should be enclosed, leaving each owner to object if they thought well. It was decided to employ a Commissioner, Mr John Jackson to task a survey and fair valuation, and make the necessary apportionments, according to the number of common rights. There were sent —- —- to which the common rights belong. Each of the old farmhands had a given number of common rights, —– the owner or his tenant to —- —- on the common to graze during the summer months, according to the number of common rights they possessed. At the —– — — – — land was allotted to each owner in lieu of common rights, (next several sentences very unreadable including a new subtitle)
—– Green was choked with mud and woods where the carts went through the stream. It was therefore thought desirable to cut a new course for the brook straighter, with a bridge crossing it near to Gossum-gate. A man named Carter with his three sons from Kings Lynn came to carry out this work. Since then the flood water had got away with much greater rapidity, and it was generally considered that the money had been well spent.
The old system of cropping was the —- of the field to be fallow each year, and then either wheat or grain, and no other system was allowed.
PROPERTY OWNERS OF WISTOW I REMEMBER
At the time of the enclosure the names of the owners, occupiers, farmers, tradesmen and labourers in Wistow, are given below. All of them I well remember, many of them are now deceased, in fact there are only three living, other then myself. This was written on Mr John Meadows 80th birthday, October 8th 1903, many have left and gone to live elsewhere.
First with regard to the owners, the land in 1842. The church — was held by the Rev Geo. Mingay, who owned the tithes throughout the parish. (The next few sentences are completely unreadable.)
Mr Edward Fellowes of Ramsey Abbey owned two farms, one near the Bridge, Brook Street occupied by Mr —– Macer, and the other farm was at Kingsland, occupied by Mr John Julian of Bury. Mr Fellowes also owned Raits Wood and other small plots about the parish. Mr John Margetts owned the Hill Farm, also a farmhouse in the village where he occasionally resided and kept the farm on in his own occupation up to the time of his death. The house has since been pulled down and the premises sold to Mr Pryme. Mr Alexander Malcomb Wales owned about 20 acres of land in the parish occupied by Mr William Mitchell near to the Windmill in Wistow Field. Mr John Longland owned the Brook House Farm occupied by Mr John Fullard. Magdalen College, Cambridge owned the farm in Mill Street, occupied by Mr William Mitchell. Miss Jackson of Huntingdon, owned the Rooksgrove Farm, occupied by Mr Thos Meadowe. The Rev S Cooperowned several odd plots of land, and also occupied a farm south-west of the village, owned by the Rev W Cooper of West Rasen, Lincolnshire and he also occupied odd bits of land owned by Miss Betsy Nettleton, who resided at the top end of the village, with her uncle, the Rev Samuel Cooper. Mr Thomas Cooper Nettleton owned and occupied a house and some grass fields next the village street. Mr Jas Peppercorn owned a house and premises, and also several plots of land, where he resided. The land was on Wistow Hill, the house was on Manor Street. Mr John Cope owned and occupied a grass close called Huntingdon Close, situated beside the road leading to Huntingdon, and he resided in a house next the lane. Huntingdon Close as was owned and occupied by Arthur Cope, a descendant of the Cope family, who is a nephew of mine. His mother is also a niece of mine, named Betsy Meadows. Her father, Thomas Meadows, was my brother, who died a few years ago. Huntingdon Close has been in the family over 300 years. Mrs Macer owned and occupied a house with orchard and grass close, called Michael’s Close, next Back’s Lane. Her maiden name was Sarah Cope. Mr Hugh Jacks of Wisbech, was owner of a wood close, near Warboys Wood and next to Broad Place, Fen Lane Wood. The close and land are now in the occupation of Thos Meadows. Mr Thos Meadows Senr, owned and occupied a wood close, near Warboys Wood called Grey’s Close. There were also two plots of land belonging to Holme Poor. Also a plot of land up Wistow Hill, owned by Mrs Turner. A plot of land called —– Grounds, below the wood, was owned by Mr Edward Macer. A plot of land in Crabb Tree —- and a wood near Warboys Wood owned by Mr Macer. There was also —- —– about 50 acres, owned by the Rector, near the Wistow Poor Allotments. Land in Conduit Field was owned by the Duke of Manchester, or Lady O B Sparrow, and occupied by Mr John Rowell of Bury.
THE OLD AND NEW INNS
The Wistow Allotments contained nearly 20 acres. The Overseers and Churchwardens were the Trustees for the time being. They were situated on the Mill Road. Mr Faithful Chapman owned two plots of land which he occupied himself. There was also about 20 acres of land by Broughton owned by Mr Jonathan Martin of Broughton, which he occupied himself. Mr Joseph Saunders occupied a house (then several sentences totally unreadable.)
Then there was the ‘Fleur de Lys’ owned by Mr John Harding, with a piece of land on the Mill Road, the tenant being Mr John Piggott. The Plough Inn was owned by Mr Turner of Brampton, and with it was a plot of land, the tenant being Mr Faithful Chapman. There were afterwards three new licensed houses, via ‘The Oddfellows Arms’ built by Mr Thos Meadows, the owner, and occupied by Mr —– Allpress, ‘The Chequers’ occupied by Mr Jonas Bamworth, and ‘Uncle Toms Cabin’ built and occupied by Mr George Ross.
WISTOW TRADESMEN
The tradesmen of Wistow about that time, though not all living there at one time, were as follows- Wm Cope, brewer, Thos Mitchell, shopkeeper, John Dickenson, miller, baker and shopkeeper, John Page, beer retailer and shopkeeper, John Cope, brewer and shopkeeper, Ed Foreman, carpenter and builder, Wm Shepperson, carpenter, —– and builder, George Ross, brewer and catcher, Charles Samworth, butcher and also a dealer, Henry Furnell, blacksmith, Wm Shepperson, senr, blacksmith, Henry Allpress, saddler and harness maker, John Hall, shoemaker, Jos Butler, shoemaker and shopkeeper, Wm Boast, pig dealer, Thos Howles, tailor, Jos Swinton, tailor, Wm Gifford, shopkeeper, Goods, shoemaker, and Thos Goods junr, carrier.
GENERATIONS!! OF LABOURERS
The ——— living at Wistow whom I —— —– many of whom are now deceased. —– —– was Wm Adams and his sons. (The next few lines are unreadable.) and his son John and grandson Robert and great grandson Robert, John Elmore and his sons, William, George, Flowers, Fred and John, Wm Payne (shepherd) and his sons Thomas, William, Edward, Joe and Fred, Jos Burton (shepherd) and his son William and grandson, John Tom, John Peach and his sons John, Jerry, Robert, James, Thomas, Henry, William, Robert Peach and his sons George and another, Thos Peach’s son William, and Henry Peach’s son William, Edward Ross (shepherd) and his sons William, George and his grandsons George and Edward, Wm White (farm foreman on Mr Pryme’s farm) and his son William, and grandsons William, Thomas and John, Richard Buddle and his sons John, Thomas, Samuel, Richard, and his grandsons Tom, Edward, John, Elijah and his great grandson Jackson Buddle, Henry Pettit and his brother John, John Dring and his sons, John, William, and Robert, Isaac Moulds (higgler) and his sons, Abraham, William, Isaac, his brother Jacob and his sons, Abraham, Richard, his grandson Abraham and great-grandson Elijah, Wm Phillips (parish clerk) and his sons William, John, Edward, Joe, Frank. Frances Phillips (brother of Wm Phillips senr) and his sons, George, Benjamin, William, Nathaniel Phillips (also brother of William senr, and his sons, William, Richard, George, Robert, Wm Phillips junr’s son, George, Peter Behagg and his sons, Peter, John, Charles, Daniel, and his grandson John, Wm Blowers and Charles Elmore, butchers, John Piggott and his son John and grandson William, John Godby, his son John and grandson Lewis, John Creek, and his son Charles, John Smith and his sons William, John, Matthew, Edward, Charles Elmore and his son Charles, Joseph Wilkinson, Jos Fletcher (bricklayer) and his sons, Abraham, William, Isaac, Cornelius Burton and his sons James (shepherd) and Cornelius, Frank Payne (soldier) and his sons, William, John and Thomas, Robert Squires and his sons Fred, and his brothers William, James and Samuel, Wm Garton (roadman) his son Thomas and his grandsons, William, John, Tom, and another, John Cowling and his sons John, William, Joseph, Matthew, George, Henry, David and his grandson James, John Harding and his sons William, Peter, George and John, Charles Berridge and his brother William, Joel Peacock and his son William, William Dickenson and his sons William and John, Thomas Hancock and his son William, William Williams (soldier), Thos Hart (clerk), Henry Furnell (blacksmith) and his sons Ben, John, William, Osborne, David and grandson Henry, Fred Clarke and his son, James Chaplin (labourer and watchman) and his son, William Churchman and John Adam Taylor (pinder!!) and John Chaplin (—– to the watchman.)
I do not know whether the family named Cowling, some of whom lived and died in Fenstanton, were related or not to the Wistow family, but after the death of the last of the Goslin family, the furniture of the Goslins went to the Cowlings, —- —- —–. The Goslin family I understand had lived at Wistow for nearly 300 years being —- and occupiers of land there to a considerable extent. The Goslins of Wistow were related to the Cromwell family by marriage, being so recorded in Carlyle’s History of Cromwell.

(The final paragraph is completely unreadable.)
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David Titmarsh

September 2010

(The Goodes family first came to the notice of the History Society via an email from David Foxley, the great great grandson of David Goodes. It is mainly with the information that he provided that we have been able to write this article and we are very grateful for his help. We also thank Mr Foxley for allowing us to use the images included in this article).

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David Goodes was the founding father of the Goodes family of Wistow. He moved here sometime between 1851 and 1861 and remained in Wistow, probably in the same house, until his death in 1907. He was a boot and shoemaker, living in Mill Road with his wife, Sarah, and their large family.

Using census information we can track David Goodes movements until he arrived in Wistow in time for the 1861 census. David was born in Ellington near Grafham Water in 1826. His father John Goodes died in early 1841 when David was just fifteen years old and the 1841 census shows David living in Rectory Lane, Ellington with Mary, his widowed mother, two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, and a brother named Thomas.

Following the death of David’s father, Mary Goodes married William Smith, a farm bailiff also born in Ellington. In the 1851 census David’s sister Elizabeth was a milliner and dressmaker in Sawtry and his brother Thomas was a cordwainer (another word for leather shoe maker) living at the Dolphin Inn, High Street, St Mary’s, Huntingdon. Later that year he married Selina Webb, the daughter of the publican of the Dolphin, and six months later their first child Thomas, was born. They emigrated to Canada, somewhere near Niagara Falls, before the 1861 census and were married for sixty five years raising six children. We lose sight of David’s other sister Mary after the 1841 census.

In 1851, ten years after his father’s death, David was married and living in Sawtry with his wife, Sarah (nee Taylor, born in 1829), and her parents, both of whom were described as school teachers. Another ten years pass and the 1861 census shows us that he is living in Mill Road, Wistow and there he stayed because in the 1881 census his widowed mother in law, Ann Taylor, was living in Wistow with David and Sarah. David’s last appearance was in the 1901 census, just a few years before he died. Sadly his wife, Sarah, had died much earlier in 1886. Her grave can be seen in the churchyard but it is quite worn and much of the inscription has fallen off so it is not possible to know for certain if David is buried with her.

Sarah Goodes’ gravestone with her great great grandson, David Foxley, holding up the fallen inscription

As mentioned earlier, David and Sarah had a large family, which was not uncommon in Victorian times. They had nine children and gave them some fairly unusual names. There was Virtue, Zeno Thomas, Enos Original, Ambrose, David Horatio, Rosina, Selina, Mary Elizabeth and Elizabeth A.

All of the daughters eventually moved away from Wistow, although Rosina lived here well into the twentieth century. Virtue moved to London, as did Mary Elizabeth. Selina became the second wife of William Brown, a widower twenty five years her senior, who worked in the shoe trade in Raunds near Wellingborough. It is likely she met him through connections with her father David, who was also a shoemaker. Elizabeth Ann went to work in London and married a gardener from Oxfordshire called John White. They had three daughters, Hilda, Mabel and Lilian, who lived their entire lives in a block of cottages on the Great North Road in Finchley. Hilda White married a Jack Gray, and one of the others married a fellow also called Brown.

We don’t know why but at the time of the 1861 census one of David and Sarah’s daughters, Mary Elizabeth, was being raised in Wistow by her grandmother, Mary Smith and in 1878, when Mary Elizabeth was about 23 years old, she gave birth to a daughter Ethel ‘out of wedlock’. It seems that Ethel was living with her grandparents David and Sarah Goodes at the 1881 census. Then in 1885 Mary married George Middleton, a scaffolder from Stepney and they went to live in Finchley with Ethel being listed as George’s stepdaughter. Ethel married a Charles Seares in London and they had three daughters named Muriel, Constance and Lillian.

Ethel’s daughters

Of David’s sons, Ambrose was listed as an unemployed carpenter in Wistow in 1881 but he eventually moved to live with his sister Mary Elizabeth and her husband George in Finchley, where he was employed as a gardener. David Horatio went to Doddington and became a postman until his death in 1907, which incidentally is the same year as his father died. Enos Original was still living in Wistow in 1901, but is missing from the census in 1911. He may have lived a long life somewhere else because there is no death record for him before 1938, which is as far as available records go at present. Zeno Thomas was the last male member of the family known to be living in Wistow.

David Horatio had a son Dennis who, like his great uncle Thomas, emigrated to Canada in April 1912 on the Laurentic, a sister ship to the Titanic, which was involved in the search for wreckage and bodies. Dennis served in the Canadian army in WW1 and emigrated to the USA in 1923. At the time he was described as a gardener. In 1933 when he applied for US citizenship, he was recorded as being in the seed business. He must have been fairly successful as he made three return trips to Europe in 1936, 1949 and 1957.

We return to the remaining Wistow residents. Rosina didn’t live in Wistow continuously. She had a break when she left to work as a domestic servant in Enfield in the household of Mrs Kircaldie, the wife of a Colonial Broker. She returned when she became the second wife of William Gifford, a draper and grocer who lived and ran his business from the house now known as The Old Post Office in Bridge Street. William’s first wife was called either Ann Burrows or Ann Goodman (it has not been possible to separate the names in the records). Ann died in 1884 and William married Rosina in Barnet, near Enfield, in 1886. They had two daughters, Rose and Lilian. William Gifford was the grandson of Thomas Meadows, a long standing resident of Wistow, farmer and in 1832 the owner of the William IV public house in Bridge Street. William makes his first appearance in relation to Wistow in the 1851 census aged nine when he and his brother, Thomas aged seven, were recorded during a visit to their grandfather. He moves to Bridge Street prior to the 1871 census and stays there until his death in 1911.

It seems that William Gifford’s property did not automatically go to his widow, Rosina. A conveyance document dated 14/11/1914 found in the deeds of Bridge House, formerly The Oddfellows Arms, states the following:

Conveyance of property from John James Bryant (Draper of St Ives) and Arthur Cope (Farmer from Wistow) executors of William Gifford’s (shopkeeper) will to Rose Gifford (widow) for £290. The property was Dwelling house and shop with outbuildings and appurtenances in Bridge Street then in the occupation of R Gifford.

Also the Messuage of Tenement adjoining formerly used as a Public House and known as the Oddfellows Arms with the outbuildings and appurtenances then in occupation of Zeno Goodes.

Bridge House on the left and part of The Old Post Office

Rosina continued to run the drapers shop in Bridge Street and is remembered by both Harold Lindsell and Peggy Glover (see their Memories articles also in Wistowpedia). Rosina Gifford nee Goodes died on 24^th January 1944, Probate was granted to Lilian and Rose Gifford on 16^th March 1944 and on the 27^th Assent in favour of Lilian and Rose was given. Then on Christmas Day that same year Lilian died leaving just Rose. David Foxley has told us that he never met Lilian Gifford, but “Aunt” Rose, who would have been his third cousin, lived close to his family in Peterborough when he was a youngster and visited regularly. She was a very accomplished pianist and organist, who played in several churches and chapels around Peterborough. At the time of the 1901 census Rose was a boarder in at a school in St Ives that seemed to specialise in the teaching of English and Music. Although talented enough to do so, Rose did not teach music but worked instead as a lady’s companion and she died just before Christmas 1962, at the start of that terrible winter.

Rose Gifford, daughter of William Gifford and Rosina Goodes

(Taken by a St Ives photographer, possibly while she was in school there)

We return to Zeno Thomas, Rosina’s brother, and the last person with the name Goodes known to have been living in Wistow. Zeno (often wrongly transcribed as Leno) Thomas Goodes was listed in several censuses (1891, 1901 and 1911) as a publican and pig dealer, living either in Mill Street or Church Street. He was born in 1857 and married Frances Rebecca Crawley, who was born in 1858 and died of kidney cancer in 1906. They had two daughters, Sarah Ann and another Rosina.

Rosina, David Foxley’s grandmother, moved first to Ramsey on her marriage to George William Rowell in Wistow Church on 21^st July 1909, and then to Peterborough. So far as he can recall, his mother said that Zeno only once came to visit them in Ramsey, and she never mentioned seeing him again. Sarah Ann, always known as Annie, went to live in London with her aunt Virtue sometime before the 1901 census and returned to Wistow when her mother died in 1906. It is not known how long she stayed in Wistow, but she moved to Lancashire (alone) to work in the hosiery trade before Zeno’s death in 1937. It appears that Zeno did not get on very well with his immediate family and David Foxley suspects that Annie did not stay looking after her apparently disagreeable father for very long.

Rosina Goodes, Zeno’s daughter, taken in the family home before her marriage in 1909

Rosina Goodes and her grandson David Foxley

Sarah Ann (Annie) Goodes

Annie Goodes and Edie Hayes (Virtue’s daughter)

Zeno was described as a publican in Rosina and William Rowell’s marriage certificate. The Kelly’s directory of 1903 records a Thomas Goodes at the Plough Inn. This is certainly Zeno Thomas Goodes and he was obviously a publican at the Plough Inn for quite a few years, at the very least between 1903 and 1909.

The Plough Inn

Here’s what the census’ say of Zeno Thomas:

1861 Zeno is three years old

1891 Goodes family in Church Street

Leno T (agricultural labourer) 33; Frances (wife) 33; Sarah A (daughter, scholar) 9;

Rosina (daughter, scholar) 7

1901 Goodes Family in Church Street

Zeno (Pig Dealer/cattle w) 44; Francis (wife) 44; William Crawley (lodger, agricultural labourer/herdsman) 28

1911 Goodes Family

Zeno Thomas, widower 54, dealer pigs, from Wistow, Hunts; Sarah Ann, daughter 27, single from Barham Hants; Arthur Crawley 37, single, boarder, farm labourer from Leighton Hunts

(William and Arthur Crawley are probably related to Frances in some way. Arthur seems to be her nephew as her brother Charles Crawley had a son called Arthur).

We know from the earlier conveyance document that by 1914 Zeno Goodes was living next door to his sister, Rosina Gifford, in the property she owned next to her shop in Bridge Street. At that time it was referred to as the cottage formerly known as The Oddfellows Arms and today is called Bridge House. The Oddfellows Arms had erstwhile been used as a beer house or pub, certainly in the 1861 census it was a beer house run by a widow called Eliza Wilkinson. In 1871 Thomas Peach was described as a publican at the Oddfellows Arms and by 1881 George Harding was the publican. By 1891 the house had ceased to be used as a beer house because the Hardings still lived in the cottage but were no longer described as publicans.

David Foxley, Zeno’s great grandson, tells us that Zeno Goodes died on Aug 19th 1937 in Eaton Socon at a place called White House, even though he was listed as living at Bridge Street, Wistow and described as a cattle dealer. He was puzzled by this because, although Eaton Socon is not too far from Wistow, he could not think of a connection that Zeno might have there. On further investigation he discovered that White House is listed as the current name of what was previously the St Neots Union workhouse. Many workhouse buildings were “rebranded” as old people’s homes, so we can only assume that Zeno was unable to look after himself and was taken into care before his death.

This glimpse into one family’s history gives us an insight into some aspects of Victorian life.

People were willing to move in order to find work with London being the same magnet that it is today. Some were adventurous enough to take the plunge and emigrate to Canada like David’s brother Thomas and his grandson, Dennis. David Goodes travelled the short distance from Sawtry to Wistow; some of his children moved a bit further to places such as Doddington, Barnet and London and his granddaughter Sarah Ann was brave enough to move on her own to Lancashire to seek employment.

On the whole people lived where they worked and David Goodes was able to make a living as a shoemaker in a small rural village such as Wistow. Also people would turn their hands to anything in order to make a crust and remain in the village. For example Zeno Goodes was at times both a publican and a pig dealer.

Family bonds were important and kept families together wherever they lived. The stigma of illegitimacy did not stop Mary Goodes’ grandmother and parents from supporting her and her child. We know too that Ambrose lived in Finchley with his sister Mary Elizabeth; Sarah Ann lived in London with her Aunt Virtue and the Crawleys boarded with their aunt Frances, Zeno’s wife. Also the bonds were strong enough to pull people back to Wistow. The older Rosina Goodes returned to marry William Gifford and Sarah Ann came back to live with her father, Zeno, after her mother died. Although the younger Rosina Goodes didn’t see her father often after she married, despite only living in Ramsey then Peterborough, she still maintained contact with her cousin Rose Gifford and the ties lasted two generations down to her grandson, David, who knew his “Aunt Rose” until she died in 1962.

We hope you have enjoyed this look into the lives of some previous Wistow residents.

The following email was sent to the Wistow History Society and has cleared up the details of Sarah Goodes gravestone. Thank you to Sharon Waters for this information.

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Althea Walker

June 2010

Remembers her and her sister going to see the Soldiers in the 2nd World War where the searchlight was near where the Allotments are now.
Was born in the village 85 years ago (Flo Bish), lived as a child in Bridge Street (near where old shop was) in a cottage (now demolished)
Belonged to the Girl Guides in Wistow
Went to the village School till she was 12, then had to walk to Warboys School till she left at 14 years old.
Remembers teachers of Olive Howes (Polly) and Alice Harding
Her dad worked for the Council, and was a road sweeper/ maintenance man.  He was also a Sergeant Major in the 1st World War, and did the drill every year for Remembrance Day outside the Wistow Church.
Her husband Arthur Moulds also lived in Bridge Street, in a cottage opposite her family.
He worked for Johnny Bance as a farm labourer
She remembers the Village Dances on the Promenade Field (Miss De La Pryme’s land) at the end of Oaklands Close, and the dances in the Dance Hall behind Porch House
Nip Peacocks dad was the village special constable
Shenny Garton was Arthur Moulds Auntie
The Bridgeford family lived at the end of Oaklands Close
The Buddles Family kept the Plough Pub
Before her time, was a pub by the Wistow Toll, where the Gartons lived
Ted Clark did the Undertakers business and the Blacksmiths was next to the Fleur De Lys pub
The Foster family ran a farm down Church Street, Ralph Greenwood was another farmer locally
She remembers the Harding family running the 3 Horseshoes Pub
Mrs Saunders in the photo got from Mr Howes lived in Bridge Street
She also remembers the Mill House bakehouse
Fluffy Burton lived with his mother in a cottage in Bridge Street, and Flo and her sisters used to play with him sometimes

by David Titmarsh

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Joe Howes (son of Olive Howes nee Hales)

Aunt Lizzie (Polly) was the Wistow School Teacher for many years.
Polly lived on land opposite Juggins Farm in a bungalow no longer there.
Harry Woolley ran the school from 1913 onwards, which was church run.
The Howes family ran the Three Horseshoes pub from 1912.

The Three Horseshoes landlords were as follows;-
Howes family
Closed as a pub but occupied by a man called Adams
Reopened by Frank Harding (nicknamed ‘Pop’)
Bomber Wells
Mrs Rose
Mr Lilley (ex policeman)
Reg Stanton
Rolph Turner
John and Eileen Cooper
now Julia and Gerry

Joe Howes was born at 10 Oaklands Avenue in 1928, then lived at Upwood for a short while.
The Wistow Feast was on the weekend of 20th June for about 3 days.
They had a Wistow Cricket Match all week as well then, playing a different team every day.
There was an Open Air Prom dance on Miss De La Pryme’s lawn.
Ramsey Town Band played on these occasions as well.
The Church was full every Sunday back then.
There used to be a walk from Moss Lawn to Blackhurst Farm.
Joe went to the school in the village.  Children could then either go to the Grammar School or Warboys.
The Assistant Teacher was Alice Whitehead.
There was a cobblers business run outside the Three Horseshoes pub.
A name from the village that Joe remembers was Mr James Swiffen who died on 20/7/1917.
There were May Pole dances on Miss De La Pryme’s lawn as well.
The Aggar family sold milk from a three wheeled trolley in the village.
Olive Howes helped to deliver the bread from the bakers in Mill Road.  She even went to Kings Ripton on foot.
She found the Reverend Noble in the ditch one night, drunk, on the way back from Kings Ripton.
There were twelve Hales children, all survived, four children went to live in New Zealand.
Bert and Fred Hales lived in Manor Street.
The family had an unexploded bomb they used as a doorstop for many years -  they weren’t aware it was unexploded!!
Names from the village were the Fosters (farmers), Dorringtons (farmers- lived in Ted Benson’s house, Mill Road), Miss Saunders and her dog, Mr Cook (lived in the Juggins house – he was the old miller, and had a big dovehouse in the front garden.)
The Brook used to be a lot deeper than it is now and could take small boats.

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David Titmarsh

Interview 2009

Harold (Jack) Lindsell – Harris Lane (in his 80′s)

At 12 yrs old he used to walk to Warboys for school.

Came to live in village at 4 yrs old from Warboys.

In Church Road, by the Bance’s land, was a place that mended horse’s harnesses.

Rev Pratt lived in Rectory.

Where Phone Box is now, used to have a Coconut Shy during Wistow Feast time and the Ramsey Band played there as well.

They used to regularly do a Xmas party for the children in the school.

Mrs Murrell and her son ran the Old Shop (the Shielings)- they did newspapers and was also the Post Office.

The Giffords ran the other shop which did womens clothes, but not food.

There used to be a row of cottages facing the old school.

There was also wooden air raid shelters in many of the gardens.

The Fosters, Dorringtons and Moss’s were the local farmers.

Used to have a May Pole during the Wistow feast as well.

There used to be a Bowling Green and an orchard down Church Road.

For the Coronation, they had a kids party by the old bowling green.

There was a beuatiful hand-drawn hearse in the Fleur de Lys, which was the funeral directors.

The Fleur de Lys landlord did the bell ringing as well.

The Gartons lived up the hill past the Bridge, which was an old Brickyard.

Harold’s dad was the old Blacksmith in the village, who worked from the Fleur de Lys.

In 1956 he remembers the Windmill being there, but not working then.

Oaklands Avenue near Harris Lane end was mostly blackberry bushes and grass, no houses at all.

In the Mill House lived Mr Bell, who ran a taxi business and was the local postman.

Rooks Grove Farm used to be called Lime Tree Cottage.

Ann Juggins is believed to have an old map of the village in her hall

Harold’s dad used to wind the clock in the church.

Toll Bar House used to be on the right by the Toll, which was the only house on that side of the road.

The Bus only came into the village on Saturdays.

For many years, most of Bridge Street was flooded.

Harold used to be the gravedigger in the village.

In the alley way half way down Mill Road, used to be barn, where a man hanged himself. (He might have been a Sansum).

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David Titmarsh

Interview 2009

Peggy Glover (nee Coles)- Kingston Way (about 75-80 years old)

Remembers a water pump near Fleur De Lys and by the Old School.

There was a Blacksmith in the Fleur De Lys, who came daily from Wennington village.

Also in Fleur De Lys, was the undertakers business, lovely hearse used to be parked there.

Charlie Buddles parents ran the Plough Pub.

The Sheilings was the local Shop and Petrol Pump and Post Office, which sold everything.

The other shop that closed only few years back, used to be run by Mrs Gifford, sold only certain items.

No electric in village till 1951/52.

Mr Harrison the vicar lived in the Rectory on his own.

Nick Peacocks dad was the local Special Constable.

John Green’s house by back of old Plough pub was the site of the local bowling green, which proved very popular.

There was a Wistow Football team for men in the village.

Had a Street Party for the Queens Coronation in 1952.

The Village Hall used to be the Chapel, which had Lantern Shows on there when Peggy a girl.

Peggy used to live in some cottages on land which is now the 3 Horseshoes Pub Car Park.

The Gartons used to live in a house on the left past the Bridge half way up the hill to the Toll.

Bridge Street often got flooded completely.

Opposite the Allotment Field, there used to be searchlight in the 2^nd world war manned by soldiers.

Lots of evacuees in the village in the war, many stayed in the Fleur De Lys.

Girl Guides and Boy Scouts groups used to meet in the Village hall.

The young men of the village used to congregate outside the Plough Pub on the corner.

Mrs Buddle used to arrange several coach trips from the village, men went to Ascot annually, and there was a ladies club outing as well.

Peggy’s husband, Mr Glover used to volunteer to cut the grass in the churchyard.

Kit Garton lived in Vine Cottages on the left going towards the Bance’s farmhouse.

There is a small photo which the History Society has in its possession, which was of the May Day celebrations held every year in Miss De La Pryme’s place (called the Lodge)

On the 19th June or so annually, was held the Wistow feast, on Mrs Foster’s lawn (property called the Tellings). A fair was also held there.

There was also a Promenade dance held every year, which stopped in the 1950′s.

There was a Dance Hall on the land at the back of Porch House, the RAF men went as well during the war, Panto’s were also held there.

During the war, bombs landed at the end of Harris Lane.

Used to be a proper track leading to Upwood via Kingsland Farm

Win Robson did the costumes for the Panto’s, lived in a cottage in Manor Street.

Old family names, Gartons, Buddles, Litchfields, Coles (the Coles lived in the village for three generations), Abrahams, Sansums, Elmores, Lindsells, Peacocks, Bishs, Moulds and Burtons.

The Fosters family were large landowners in the village.

Dorringtons lived in large farmhouse on Bance’s old farmhouse land, which got burnt down.

Sansums lived in Old Schoolhouse, had one room as a school with a curtain across it, to separate younger and older children.

School closed in 1945 roughly.

Miss Geeson and Mrs Howes were two teachers.

Used to be dairy at Porch House, they used to deliver milk etc. daily on a bike.

Opposite Porch House was a bakery, Bertie Hales brought bread round to the village people.

Windmill was outside the village on the left on way to Kings Ripton before dip (called Huntingdon Road)

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David Titmarsh

Interview 2009