Category: Singer

Charley Appleton

Charles John Appleton, 1866-1949

The following account appeared in the ‘About the Neighbourhood’ column by ‘Felix’ in the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 5th November 1932: 

“We are all Jolly Fellows that Follow the Plough.”

Upon my word, it is really wonderful what an accumulation of correspondence one receives on various matters in the course of a week or two. For example, I was recently a guest at a harvest home supper, and after sampling “a cut and come again” kind of menu, listened to a very few short speeches and many ancient and modern songs.

Of course the good old “Farmer’s Boy,” with its rollicking chorus came up as fresh as, ever, and so did “We are all jolly fellows that follow the plough.”

Our Mutual Friend, Mr. Appleton, of Pay Street.

The above named farmer who is affectionately known in the countryside as Charley Appleton was present at the harvest supper I refer to and he, knowing my partiality for the song, has taken the trouble to write It out and send it to me. I am not by any means hard-up for subjects, but I must make room for Charley’s effort as follows:

When four o’clock comes
Then up we do rise,
And into the stable
We merrily flies;
Then rubbing and scrubbing
Our horses, I’ll vow
We are all jolly fellows
That follow the plough.

When five o’clock comes
To breakfast we meet;
With beef, pork and bread, boys,
We heartily eat.
With a piece in our pockets
I’ll swear and I’ll vow,
We are all jolly fellows
That follow the plough.

When six o’clock comes
To work we do go –
A trip o’er the plain, boys,
So nimble, you know.
And when we get there, boys,
So noble and bold,
To see which of us
A straight furrow can hold.

Our master came to us
And this he did say:
“What have you been doing, boys,
All this long day;
You have not ploughed an acre,
I’ll swear and I’ll vow:
You’re damned idle fellows,
That follow the plough.

I turned myself round,
And made this reply:
“We have all ploughed our acre,
You tell a damn lie!
We have all ploughed an acre,
I’ll swear and I’ll vow:
And we are all jolly fellows
That follow the plough.”

Our master turned round,
And laughed at the joke:
“It’s past two o’clock, boys,
It’s time to unyoke;
You take home your horses
And rub them down well,
And I’ll give you a jug,
Of the very best ale!”

This ditty, with it [sic] glimpse of farm life, many years ago was a great favourite, but with the increasing number of steam ploughs and tractors, bids fair to become but a memory. It is not only the humorous side, but the rough and ready manner of the singing of them that renders the listening to such songs so enjoyable.

There doesn’t seem much in it,”

Yes, in these days one can imagine a townsman declaring as above but anyone who has witnessed those straight furrows across the ploughed land may well marvel at the skill often displayed by the men employed. In this old picture note the time 4 a.m. in the first verse. It meant going into the stable with a lantern to feed the horses and then to breakfast, “with beef, pork and bread boys.”  I once witnessed a ploughing match and never since that day have I forgotten what a straight furrow means. We all remember how on one occasion the late Lord Rosebery left the then cabinet and declared he would “plough his lonely furrow alone.” And he did thereafter. I thank our good friend Charley of Pay Street fame for thinking of us benighted  townsmen. And that reminds me that on one occasion I met Charley in Tontine Street. He said: “Why don’t you give us a look up at our cottage some day.” I replied, “Ah! that’s a pretty old cottage isn’t it.” Charley replied “It was built before Noah entered the Ark.” Months after I paid a visit to Pay Street and explored the cottage. Well, with its huge beams placed this way, that way, upright or on the slant I found it a most extraordinary place and I should wonder if the gentleman who designed the ark had not had something to do with Charley’s Cottage. Ah! it was a snug little place though, with a duck pond outside and old English flowers smothering the frontage. Tucked away amongst the trees I well liked the old house. Charley and his family lived there many years. But now they reside in a 20th century bungalow and I hope and we all hope that there is much happiness and a life before them.

Charley was born on 11th Mar 1866, and baptised on 6th May at St Anthony the Martyr, Alkham. The 1871 census has the Appleton family living at “Woolverton” (actually Wolverton), Alkham. The household consisted of Charley’s father, also Charles, an agricultural labourer; his mother Jane and her father, William Rolfe; two older siblings and two younger. By 1881 the still growing family had moved to Noah’s Ark Cottage, Alkham, and his father was working as a farm bailiff. Charley however, now 15, was employed by George Seath (“Farmer 217 acres 9 men 1 boy”) as “Farm servant (indoor)” at Lower Standen Farm, Hawkinge.

He was married on 23rd February 1889 at St Michael’s, Hawkinge, to Susannah Kember. The 1891 census shows them living at 30 Queen Street, Folkestone. They had a one year old daughter, and there were three lodgers in the house. Charley was working as a carter for the Corporation, but at some point in the next ten years he took up farming: in 1901 he was to be found at Hawkinge Hall, Hawkinge, his occupation “Farmer & dairyman”. He and Susannah now had three children; her widowed mother, also Susannah, was living with them.

Charley continued working as a dairy farmer, and from 1911 onwards the census records show him at Pay Street near Densole. This would have been where ‘Felix’ visited him in his cottage. By 1932, when Charley appeared in the ‘About the Neighbourhood’ newspaper column, he was living in a modern bungalow. Presumably this was The Cabin, Pay Street, which was given as his address in the 1939 Register. His occupation was given as “Farmer Retired”. He died on 1st January 1949, at the age of 82.

The noted singer George Spicer, although he hailed from the Ashford area, came to work at Coolinge Farm, a large dairy farm to the west of Folkestone, in the mid-1920s. In 1927 he married Dorothy Appleton, who was the daughter of Charley Appleton’s younger brother Sid, and George and Charley must therefore have known each other.

Songs

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James Rye

James Rye, 1800-1901

James Rye featured on more than one occasion in the ‘About the neighbourhood’ column penned by ‘Felix’ for the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald. For example on 13th May 1899:

Congratulations.

Folkestone’s Grand Old Man entered into his 100th year on Thursday last. I need hardly state that I am referring to Mr. James Rye, who first saw the light of day at Adisham, in the year 1800. Mr. Rye is little short of a marvel. He enjoys life immensely. His only ailment is a little deafness, or as he puts it, I am “little ‘ard o’ hearing.” Our old friend reads his daily paper regularly without the aid of glasses, he can sing “The Farmer’s Boy” with any man his own age, and dance a country jig in rare good form. Moreover, his face is almost free from wrinkles, whilst his complexion may be said to be in the pink of condition. It is worth repeating. Mr. Rye was originally employed as an agricultural labourer. He has ploughed over most of the land whereon stands “Fashionable Folkestone,” and can recall the time when this flourishing town was nothing but a mere hamlet. Mr. Rye, too, remembers the time when he helped to succour the wounded soldiers which had arrived at Dover from the field of Waterloo.

And then a longer piece on 12th May 1900, when he reached the age of 100:

FOLKESTONE’S GRAND OLD MAN.

A HUNDRED YEARS OLD YESTERDAY (FRIDAY).

HE IS IN GOOD HEALTH AND SPIRITS.

HE READS HIS NEWSPAPER WITHOUT THE AID OF GLASSES.

A FEW PARTICULARS OF HIS CAREER.

(BY FELIX)

In the small Kentish town of Adisham, James Rye first gazed on the light of day 100 years ago yesterday (Friday). I have frequently alluded in these columns to this truly wonderful gentleman, and the occasion of his attaining his century is sufficient excuse for referring to the interesting subject again. Mr. Rye came to Folkestone as a youth, and has remained in this neighbourhood up to the present. He was a farmer’s boy at Walton Farm, and during his long career has ploughed over most of the land upon which Fashionable Folkestone now stands. The centenarian’s

MEMORY IS WONDERFUL,

and it is one of his fondest recollections that he assisted in conveying the wounded in farmer’s transport waggons from the battle of Waterloo to Canterbury hospital, the soldiers having arrived in sloops at Dover from Ostend. Mr. Rye has led an uneventful life. but of course has noted the great changes that have taken place—the wonderful inventions in machines and science as well as the changes in social existence. But perhaps the greatest wonder in the long length of years that has been granted him is himself. Where is his equal in the land? Daily, bag in hand, he takes his walks abroad, leaning lightly on a staff. He stoops but little, and his general gait would be that of a man between three and four score years. A smile in general illumines his face, which, moreover, is but little lined with wrinkles. Truly Time has been kind to our old friend. Although hearing is defective, his sight is marvellous, for he reads the smallest print without the aid of glasses. The old fellow is serenely happy, and care or trouble appear to be strangers to him. Although

HE ABHORS TOBACCO,

yet he still enjoys a glass of good ale, and declares that for a “night-cap,” nothing can excel a small quantity of the best whisky. Mr. Rye is a staunch Churchman, and many’s the time years ago I have seen himself and deceased wife sitting in the front pew of Holy Trinity Church. But his hearing became worse, and so the old fellow gave up Church going, and fell back, as he remarked to me once, on “the good Old Book,” a portion of which he reads every day. Only a few weeks ago I was in his company, when he sang a rattling country song, danced a hornpipe, and read aloud without the aid of glasses, a portion of an article from a daily paper. Mr. Rye is altogether a wonder, and Folkestone is proud of him. May the remaining years of his life be free from a cloud of care, or a twinge of pain.

He was baptised at Adisham on 15th June 1800. His father was Thomas Rye, and his mother Benedrita née Byrch. James Rye married Susanna Birch at St Martin, Cheriton, on 27th December 1830, and the 1841 census found them living at Cheriton Street. Ten years later they were at Trucks Hall, Newington; in both years James was listed as an agricultural labourer.

In 1871 James was living alone at Cheriton Street, Susanna having died in 1867. His occupation was given as “Grazier & landowner”. That same year he married Mary Ann Holden. The 1881 census has them as “Lodging house keeper” and “Lodging house keeper wife”, at 36 Bouverie Square, Folkestone. Mary Ann died in 1886; at the next census in 1891 James was shown as  “Retired farmer”, boarding with a lady called Elizabeth Cock at Sea Beach Cottage, South View, Cheriton. By 1901 Miss Cock had moved to 37 Broadmead Road, Folkestone, her lodger James Rye accompanying her there; his occupation was given as “Retired farm bailiff”.

James Rye died at the age of 101, being buried on 14th August 1901 at St Nicholas, Newington Next Hythe.

Songs

The Farmer’s Boy (Roud 408)

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George Mount

George Mount, 1851-1923

George Mount is mentioned in a column by ‘Felix’ in the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald of 8th September 1923:

A Real Old Timer

There has recently passed away at 154,High Street, Cheriton, in the person of Mr. George Mount, a somewhat remarkable man. He first saw the light of day in a little cottage on the slopes of the hillside near the chalk pit at Newington. During the seventy-two years that he lived Mr. Mount was for the most part an agricultural labourer, his last employer being Mr. Church, builder, of Cheriton. But “good old George,” as he was popularly known, had more than local fame. He was indeed known over a wide area of East Kent. He had one great hobby—and a good one too. Although in a humble walk of life, he formed a taste for following the hounds. To listen to the huntsman’s horn on a cold and frosty morning was often too much for George. Hunting on foot was in his blood.

“The dusky night rides down the sky and ushers in the morn,
The hounds all join in glorious cry,
The huntsman winds his horn
When a hunting we do go”1

 Old George Mount, when he heard the sound of the horn, has been known to “down tools” and run off to follow the quarry on foot, such was his passion in this respect. Over hill or dale, through dense thicket, or on the breezy upland, there our friend would make his way in all weathers, and, what was more, with his knowledge of devious paths and short cuts he would generally manage somehow or other to get in “at the death,” even if it had been a fast run across country for the hounds. Not for thirty years did old George miss a meet of the Foxhounds at Elham. Successive masters of the Hunt and also its prominent members have in turn greeted George as a humble supporter. He had no peer for cross country travel in these parts perhaps, with the exception of Captain D’Aeth, who was also a great supporter of the Hunt and a mighty walker, with a big stride into the bargain. What George did not know about foxes and their habits was not worth knowing.

 Rollicking Songs.

Well I recall the old fellow too singing at those old-time harvest home suppers given to their men by Alderman Quested, J.P., and Mr. F. Graves. It did not matter if after the cloth had been removed professional singers came on the scene; it was George Mount’s songs that were the gems of the evening. After I had listened perhaps a day or two previously to singers of world-wide reputation, it was a change indeed to listen to some of our hero’s efforts. One of these was known as “The Shop-walker.” It had just forty verses, each with a refrain. At times old George’s memory would play tricks with him, and when he had arrived at, say the twentieth verse, he often broke down. No, the words would not come. Then a voice would probably be heard: “Go back twenty verses,” and old George would go back as desired and start afresh. There was another ditty too entitled: “I’ll sing you one, O.” That also was a long effort. But perhaps his greatest success was “The Cuckoo,” and the manner he gave effect with his strident voice to the following lines was something to remember:

“The cuckoo is a pretty bird,
She sings as she flies;
She brings us good tidings,
And tells us no lies.
She sucks little birds’ eggs
To make her voice clear;
She never sings ‘Cuckoo,’
Till summer is near.”

George Mount was baptised at St Martin’s, Cheriton, on 28th September 1851. He was the first child of Mary, née Fisher, and George, who been listed in the census that year as “Bricklayer employing 2 men”. The couple lived at Limekiln Cottage, Danton, near Cheriton. The 1861 census shows George Senior was working as a gamekeeper, living on Cheriton Hill. Two more sons are shown on the census return, but in fact there was another son, Richard, just a baby, who was being looked after by William and Harriet Bailey at Otteringe. George was now a widower, Mary having died earlier in the year – possibly in childbirth. The household in Cheriton included his sister-in-law Ann Clayson, who was shown as house keeper, her young son George, and a niece, Sarah Fisher.

George remarried in 1867. His new bride was Harriet Harman, herself a widow, whose maiden name was Taylor. At the time of the 1971 census the family was living at Denton Pinch, Cheriton. There were four sons from George’s first marriage, one from his marriage to Harriet, and another from Harriet’s previous marriage. George Senior’s occupation was now builder; George Junior, now 19, and his 17 year old brother Charles were both working as bricklayer’s labourers, presumably for their father.

In the summer of 1872 George Junior married Eliza Taylor, and they had two daughters, Rosa and Eliza. George’s wife Eliza died in 1876, again, quite possibly in childbirth. George was married again on 15th October 1877, at St Mary the Virgin, Elham, to Mary Jane Raines. By 1881 they had set up house at Bank House, Newington Next Hythe, with two year old Georgina joining the two daughters from George’s first marriage. George was now working as an agricultural labourer.

In 1891 George’s occupation was “General labourer”. The family has grown again – one daughter and four sons are living in their home at Uphill Cottage, Uphill, near Hawkinge. By the start of the twentieth century the family had moved back to Cheriton, and George had returned to the building trade. In 1901, with another two daughters and a son, he was working as a carpenter’s labourer, living at 9 Park Road, Cheriton. His 16 year old son Sidney was also a carpenter’s labourer.

In 1911 and 1921 George and Mary were living at 154 High Street, Cheriton. In 1911 George was shown as “Labourer brickyard”, in 1921 his occupation was given as “General labour”, employed – as stated in the newspaper article quoted above – by Mr Church, Builder, High Street Cheriton.

He died at the age of 71, and was buried on 10th August 1923, in the church where he had been baptised, St Martin’s, Cheriton. The article by ‘Felix’ in the Folkestone Herald for 8th September 1923 concluded

George loved the hunt above all things, and he loved his fellow men. No millionaire ever got more innocent enjoyment out of his existence than good old George Mount, and because he has now passed away, there is one less cheery soul in the world. He was laid to rest where he would wish to be, in the shadow of those hills he loved in life so well. With his widow and seven children considerable sympathy is expressed. Two of his sons, I may say, laid down their lives in the Great War.

Songs

  1. Verse written by Henry Fielding (1707-54), from Don Quixote in England (1733) Act 2, Scene 5 ↩︎
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“Tom” Catt

The weekly column by ‘Felix’ Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald for 19th February 1927 included the following:

The foregoing reminds me that at one time the officers comprising members of the Shorncliffe Drag Hunt were wont to give a dinner to farmers whose lands were hunted over by the “Drag.” Those farmers, with their friends, were right royally entertained on such occasions. One such gathering occurs to me as I mention community singing. It was at that period when that splendid sportsman, the late Hon. A.S. Hardinge, was Brigade-Major. That gallant gentleman was a real favourite with the sturdy yeomen. His jet black hair, his dark flashing eyes, and his lithe, dapper figure come before me as I wield my pen. Probably there were 400 or 500 guests present at the particular dinner I refer to. After the good things had been properly attended to by the sons of the soil, the full band rendered some delightful selections. Suddenly there were cries of “Catt, Catt,” from all parts of the great building. ” Catt,” be it explained, died several years ago. He was a short sturdy man with a jolly countenance. He was not a great singer. He did not pretend to be. His repertoire was limited to about three songs, and one of these was “John Peel.” I well remember how the hero of the moment was greeted when he appeared on the platform. Catt had just the good old rollicking style for the song, but it was the community singing, as represented by the chorus of “John Peel,” that brought down the house, or rather, lifted the roof. The memory of the rendition of the song and chorus remains with me. Rough and ready it may have been, but Catt, who was a jolly farmer and poultry raiser at Ham Street, exactly fitted the song.

‘Felix’ returned to this theme a few years later, in his column for 3rd March 1934:

It was in the early days of the “Folkestone Herald,” when I was present at the a annual dinner of the Shorncliffe Drag Hunt. The great building was beautifully decorated,

and the farmers over whose land the “Drag” hunted were present in large numbers from this part of East Kent, including the Marsh. The officers comprising the Hunt, attired  in their picturesque mess jackets, were there to welcome their guests. A full regimental band provided music of the right sort.

The hero of the evening was no doubt the then Secretary of the Hunt (Major the Hon.

A. S. Hardinge, Brigade Major). This gallant soldier and splendid sportsman was a rare favourite both with the farmers of the countryside and his brother officers of the Hunt.

What a night that was! I recall, amongst other things, during the “after dinner” proceedings, how Tom Catt, a sturdy farmer from Ham Street, sang “D’ye ken John Peel?” and how between three and four hundred guests nearly lifted the roof off in the rollicking chorus. Catt, known far and wide, was equally successful in “The Farmer’s Boy.” Singing! Rough and ready it might have been, but what a treat to hear those yeomen “go it.”

The Herald commenced publication in 1891, so “the early days” of the newspaper might be assumed to be the 1890s. There does not seem to have been a farmer in the Ham Street district around this time named Thomas Catt, but “Tom Catt” could very well be a nickname, probably for Robert Catt, who was indeed a poultry farmer at Ham Street for several decades.

Robert Martin Catt, 1846-1903

He was baptised at St Mary the Virgin, Orlestone on  30th March 1846. His parents were Sarah née Martin, and Robert, who worked as a carrier. In 1861 Robert Senior’s occupation was given as “Dealer shop keeper”, but in 1871 both father and son were listed as “Poulterer”.

It was probably the elder Robert Catt who appeared as the plaintiff in a couple of court cases reported on in the local press:

Joseph Cobb, lately a master wheel-wright, of Warehorne, appeared to answer a charge of stealing a mutton chop and a piece of suet, valued at 1s., from the van of Robert Catt, carrier, Ham-street. The prisoner, who in the first instance said he took the meat in a joke, now alleged that the meat produced in court was pork and not, mutton. This, however, was disproved, and he was committed for 21 days’ with hard labour.1

At the Dymchurch quarter sessions on Wednesday, Thomas Cobb, 16, was charged with stealing about a hundred of bloated herrings, the property of Mr. Robert Catt, of Hamstreet, Warehorne, on Nov. 27th. The prisoner it may be remembered, was convicted and sentenced to a month’s imprisonment for stealing an overcoat at Hamstreet in October last. As he had been grossly neglected by his parents a great deal of pity was felt for him, and Mr. Catt kindly employed him to sell herrings when he came out of prison. The lad rewarded this by embezzling 7s. he had received for herrings entrusted to him by Mr. Catt to sell, and afterwards getting into the herring hang and taking the herrings he was charged with stealing. He pleaded guilty, and the Recorder sentenced him to four months’ hard labour.2

The younger Robert married Emily Ann Wanstall at Orlestone on 21st May 1873, and by the time of the 1881 census they were living at Ham Street with two daughters and a son – plus two of Robert’s brothers, and Elizabeth and Henry Law who worked as domestic servants. Robert’s occupation was “Poultry merchant”. In 1891 and 1901 he was shown as “Farmer & poulterer”. In the latter year his sons Robert and Alfred were listed as “Poultry dealer” and “Farmer’s son” respectively.

On at least two occasions Robert Catt was mentioned in local newspapers as a singer, both times in relation to concerts held at the Warehorne Board Schools: on 23rd November 1888 the Kent County Examiner and Ashford Chronicle listed “the Misses Catt”, Mr S. Catt and Mr R. Catt as vocalists at a recent concert; while the Kentish Express, 26th January 1889, carried a report where, among numerous other performers – including a Mr Bridger and a Mr Lonkhurst – Mr R. Catt sang “Four jolly smiths”.

Robert Catt died at the age of 56 and was buried at Orlestone on 8th July 1903.

Songs

  1. Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser, 07 May 1866 ↩︎
  2. Kentish Express, 09 January 1869 ↩︎
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William, Agnes and Ethel Ford

Among the singers from whom Anne Gilchrist noted songs during her visits to Blackham, in the period 1905-1907, were a Mr and Mrs Ford, and an Ethel Ford, whose version of ‘The Farmer’s Boy’ Gilchrist noted had been learned from her father. Her notes to the song ‘Sylvia’, meanwhile, say “Sung by Mr Ford, blacksmith”. This allows us to identify them as: William Ford, born 1852 at Penshurst in Kent; his wife Agnes (née Durrant), born 1858 at Cowden in Kent; and their daughter Ethel, who had been born at Tunbridge Wells in 1893.

In the 1901 census the family (which also included their 12 year-old son William) were living in Blackham at 1 Forge Cottage – just off what is now the A264 – and it’s likely that this is where Anne Gilchrist met them.

William Ford, 1853-1939

In the available twentieth century censuses, William Ford is shown as working as a blacksmith in Blackham (“Shoeing & General Smith” in the 1921 census). His residence is given as Forge Cottage in 1901, and presumably he remained at the same address in 1911 and 1921, although the precise address is not specified in those years. His place of birth is stated either as Penshurst or Chiddingstone (which are less than three miles apart as the crow flies). At his death in 1939, his age was given as 87, and his birth year as 1852.

He was in fact born on 31st May 1853, the son of John Ford, a labourer, and Harriet née Jenner. Harriet died in 1859, and in the 1861 census 42 year old John Ford was listed as a widower, living with one daughter and three sons, all under 10 years old, at Spring Hill Cottage, Ford Place, Penshurst. William and his siblings were all shown as “Scholar”.

In 1871 it must have been the same William Ford – 18 years old, and place of birth given as Penshurst – who was recorded as working as a farm labourer at Perry Hill Farm, Hartfield, East Sussex, for John Swift, “Farmer of 240 acres of land”. And then surely, ten years later, he must be the William Ford who was a Blacksmith’s journeyman living at Burnt House Holtye, Hartfield, and employed by the blacksmith John Hemsley (birth details for this William Ford are given as Chiddingstone, 1855, but inaccuracies in nineteenth century census records are far from uncommon).

He was married to Agnes Jane Durrant in the final quarter of 1887, and by the next census in 1891 he had set up as a blacksmith in his own right, living at 2 Pennington Road, Tunbridge Wells. The couple had one 2 year old son, also named William. They had another child, Ethel, in 1893. At some point between then and 1901 the family moved to the Withyham area of Sussex: the 1901 census shows that they were living at 1 Forge Cottage (actually Blackham rather than Withyham), with William’s occupation still given as blacksmith. The following year it appears that they wanted (or needed) to leave the business – the Kent and Sussex Courier for 6th June 1902 advertised “Old established Blacksmith’s Business, at Blackham, to Let; ½ mile from Ashurst. Possession can be had at once. – Apply W. Ford, Blackham, Withyham, Sussex”. Circumstances must have changed, however, as local newspaper cuttings reveal that the family were still living at the Forge in 1904 and 1906.1 And in 1911, although William’s address is given only as “Blackham, Langton Green, Tunbridge Wells”, since he was still the village blacksmith we can assume he was still at Forge Cottage. In 1921 too, he was still living with his wife Agnes, with his occupation given as “Shoeing & General Smith”. William was 71 at the time of that census, and it seems likely that he retired not long afterwards, moving the five miles or so to Markbeech. When Agnes died in 1924 her funeral took place at Holy Trinity, Markbeech. William survived another 15 years, being buried on 15th March 1939, with the funeral again being held at Holy Trinity, Markbeech. His residence was given as “East Grinstead Formerly Of Markbeech”.

Anne Gilchrist noted the following with regard to William Ford’s singing:

“Sylvie” or “Silvery” (i.e. Sylvia) was learnt as a boy from the singer’s ‘mother-in-law’ (i.e. step-mother).

Mr Ford’s singing of this and other songs was characterized by an excellent boldness and vigour, and his feeling for rhythmic accent was so good that I asked whether this harmonious blacksmith sang at his work in the forge. But it seemed that this was not the case. He has no knowledge of music, but is famed for his singing of a special song, the tune for which he told me he had made himself, after having “got the words off a ballad-sheet”, such as used to be hawked round the neighbourhood. This song, “The Old Grey Mare,” is in great request at village concerts, where he accompanies it with dramatic action.

It is unclear who is meant by William’s “step-mother”. His father John appears to have been married twice: to Philadelphia (Philly) Thompsett in May 1841 and then, after her death in 1847, to Harriet Jenner in September 1851. Harriet – William’s mother – died in 1859, when William was just 5 or 6; but there is no record of John having remarried, and in all subsequent censuses he is recorded as a widower.

Agnes Jane Ford, née Durrant, 1858 -1924

Agnes Durrant was baptised on 9th May 1858 at St Mary Magdalene, Cowden. Her parents were Liberty Durrant, a farmer, originally from Brighton, and Jane née Bowra. In 1861 the census showed the family living at Ely Land, Cowden, a 16th century timber-framed house, now Grade II listed. 37 year old Liberty was listed as “Grocer and farmer 20 men 1 boy”, Jane as “Grocers wife”. 3 year old “Agness” had one younger brother, named Liberty after his father.

Census records show that Liberty Durrant continued to farm at Ely Land, being described as “Landowner” (1871) and “Farmer of 20 acres” (1881). He and Jane had one further child, Walter (named after his paternal grandfather), born in 1868. In 1881 Agnes’ occupation was given as “Farmers daur”.

Agnes married William Ford, Blacksmith and resident of Cowden, on 15th December 1887 at Holy Trinity, Markbeech, and they settled first at Tunbridge Wells before moving to Blackham. Predictably, the occupation field is blank for Agnes in subsequent censuses, until 1921 when she is listed as performing “Home Duties”. It appears that when William retired, they moved to Markbeech. Agnes’ funeral took place there on 18th March 1924, although her residence was still shown as “Blackham, Sussex”.

Ethel Agnes Ford, 1893-1962

William and Agnes’ daughter Emily was baptised at St Barnabas, Tunbridge Wells, on 5th February 1893. She was the couple’s second child – her brother William was four years older than her.

Ethel would have been around 12 years old when she first sang for Anne Gilchrist. By the time of the 1911 census she was 18, and out at work, as “General servant domestic” for a Mr and Mrs Farrer, who lived at 6 Arundel Road, Tunbridge Wells. She married Frederick G Carey, from Cuckfield, in 1918. In 1921 they were to be found living at 4 Myrtle Cottages, Groombridge, Sussex. Her husband worked as a Railway Porter for the London Brighton & South Coast Railway, and she was listed as carrying out “Home Duties”; they had a one year old son, Gordon Frederick. Another son, Donald, was born the following year.

Fred continued to work on the railways – in 1939 he was a Railway Signalman, and the family were living at 1 Town Station Cottage, Station Road, Edenbridge. Ethel’s occupation was “Unpaid Domestic Duties”.

She died in 1962, her death being registered in the Tonbridge district.

Jane Durrant, née Bowra, 1825-1886

Agnes learned the song ‘Mother mother make my bed’ from her mother. Jane Bowra was baptised at St Mary the Virgin, Westerham on 14th August 1825. Her mother was Mary Ann, née Hollamby, originally from Speldhurst. Her father, William, farmed at “Oberries Farm”, Brasted – this was probably Obriss Farm, at Toys Hill, which is now owned by the Landmark Trust.

She married Liberty Durrant in Shoreditch, London, in the final quarter of 1844. At the next census, in 1851, she and Liberty were living at Ely, Cowden, where they would remain until at least 1881. He was shown as “Farmer 20 acres”, while her occupation was given as “Grocer”.

She died in 1886, at the age of 61, and was buried at Holy Trinity, Markbeech on 9th September. Her residence at the time of death was given as Stick Hill (about half a mile north of Cowden Pound). The same information was given for her husband, Liberty Durrant, who had been buried at Holy Trinity just a few months earlier, on 28th March 1886.

Songs

Agnes Ford

Ethel Ford

William Ford

My thanks to Kathy Wallwork, whose genealogical expertise helped me unravel the details of William Ford’s early life.

  1. Richard Coomber, Blackham Village website, http://www.blackham-village.co.uk/WWI%20William%20Ford.html ↩︎

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Thomas Coomber

Thomas Marshall Coomber, 1865-1945

Between 1905 and 1907, during her stays with her brother at Blackham in Sussex, Anne Gilchrist noted down more than a dozen songs from the Coomber family, who lived in the village. One of these, ‘The Gentleman Soldier’, became well known on the folk music scene thanks to its inclusion in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, first published in 1959. The song came from Thomas Coomber, who had moved to Blackham following his marriage in 1884, but had been born and raised in Penshurst.

Thomas and Elizabeth Coomber
Thomas Marshall Coomber and Elizabeth Coomber

His parents were Richard Coomber, a labourer, and Frances (Fanny), née Card. Both were natives of Penshurst. Thomas was born in the third quarter of 1865, and his birth record lists him as Thomas Marshal Coomber.  Oddly, when baptised at St John the Baptist, Penshurst, on 5th November that year, his name was recorded as William Thomas Comber, but subsequent census records have him as Thomas M. The family’s residence at the time was shown as Pounds Bridge, Penshurst (actually, geographically it’s closer to Speldhurst). In 1871 they were to be found at Barracks Cottages, Penshurst. Richard Coomber was now working as a “Stone drawer”. Four sons, and three out of four daughters, were still living in the family home: his eldest son Richard was a bricklayer’s labourer, while daughters Harriet and Elizabeth worked in a paper factory. This would have been Chafford Paper Mills, actually at Fordcombe, which existed from at least 1786, until 1913, and which at one stage produced paper used for Bank of England notes, and for postage stamps. Ten years later, in 1881, they were living at Poundsbridge and Richard was now a bricklayer’s labourer. Both his wife Fanny, and youngest daughter Charlotte, were employed at the paper factory. 15 year old Thomas was, like his older brother Arthur, working as an agricultural labourer. He had been listed as “Scholar” in 1871, but by his own account he left school at the age of 8, and we know that he was illiterate – both because Anne Gilchrist recorded this fact, and because he signed his marriage certificate with an X.1

On Christmas Day 1884, at Fordcombe, he married Elizabeth Gasson, who hailed from Hartfield in Sussex. As Thomas’ descendent Richard Coomber points out, Christmas Day would have been one of relatively few days in the year when both bride and groom could be sure of being off work. It would appear that Elizabeth had had a son earlier in the year, and that Thomas Coomber was the father: the baptism of Thomas George Marshall Gasson was recorded at Hartfield, Sussex in 1884.

At some point before the end of the decade the family moved to Blackham, just over the border in Sussex, and Thomas began work as a labourer on the extension of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway:

In all probability Thomas’s quest for work to feed his growing family saw him tramp the few miles to the village of Blackham where the construction of the railway offered the chance of hard, but quite well paid work.

Most of the men employed on the extension of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway line from Edenbridge to Ashurst junction were professional ‘navvies’, men from all over Britain, Ireland and even parts of Europe, who followed the growing rail network wherever labour was needed. The life was hard and the men often crude and rough, prone to heavy drinking and fighting. Indeed, this line should have been opened 20 years before, but a lack of funds and a riot at nearby Mark Beech over the use of Belgian labourers halted all work until the 1880s.

Thomas worked on shifting the thousands of tons of earth and stone excavated as the cut was dug through Black-ham, and the bridge was built to carry the road which ran from the recently constructed ‘Iron’ church just below the post office, down Bean’s Hill to the watermill on Kent Water, the tributary that marks the border with Kent and ran into the Medway near the papermill about a mile further along its course.

Much of the earth was shifted further down the line towards Willetts Farm to build the embankment for the line before it reaches Ashurst. Thomas was using a horse and cart belonging to the farmer Thomas Floyd and by the time the railway was completed, he had obviously impressed him with his willingness to work hard because he was offered a job on the farm.2

The 1891 census shows the family living in Blackham, with Thomas’ occupation now farm labourer. Their son Thomas was now listed as Thomas G.M. Coomber, and they had a daughter, Elizabeth, born in 1886. Abraham Read, a 74 year old farm labourer, was living with them.

In 1901 they were living at 1 Blackham Cottages, and Thomas was working as “Stockman on farm”. Indeed he remained “Cowman on farm” in the next two censuses, with his employer in 1921 shown as Thomas Ashby, Willetts Farm, Blackham (Ashby had taken on the tenancy of Willetts Farm in 1912). Neither the 1911 or 1921 census gives any real indication of where they lived, other than Blackham, but Richard Coomber believes that they lived throughout this period at a cottage on the Willets Farm estate. You can read a description of their dwelling on the Blackham Village website.3

When he finished his day’s work on the farm, Thomas would return and work in his garden. Apart from a few flowers near the house, it was given over to producing food for the family. Rows of vegetables gave way to plum and pear trees, and a Maid of Kent apple tree, which yielded huge apples. Room was also found for a chicken run and a pig pound, in which he would raise two pigs – one to be killed for the family to eat, the other as payment to the butcher for killing and preparing the meat.4

By 1911 Elizabeth had given birth to a total of 13 children, six of whom had died. When Anne Gilchrist came collecting in the early 1900s, she took down one song, ‘The Squire and the Milkmaid’ (AGG/3/6/8), from Thomas and Elizabeth’s daughter Florrie, who would have been around 14 at the time (she was born in 1891). Gilchrist noted that “the little girl who sang the song had learnt it from her mother, but could not remember all of it”. She also marked one song, ‘The Dark-Eyed Sailor’ (AGG/3/6/9a), as having been sung by “Mrs and the Misses Coomber”. The other Miss Coomber was probably Beatrice (born 1894), although it might have been Dorothea (born 1896). There’s a pretty good chance that they all knew some of their parents’ songs, but unfortunately we’ve no idea if any of them continued singing them in adulthood.

Elizabeth Coomber with daughters and grandchildren
Elizabeth Coomber with daughters and grandchildren. Possibly Florrie on the left.

In 1921 there were two grandsons residing with Thomas and Elizabeth, both shown in the census return as “Mother alive Father NK” i.e. Not Known. They were in fact  the children of Thomas’ daughter Florence, and their father had died in the First World War. The two boys, Jack and Frederick, were brought up by their grandparents, and from a fairly young age were expected to help with jobs in the garden or on the farm – for example, milking, thatching haystacks, and hop-picking.

There was no doubt this was a tough existence for a young boy and Jack remembers that his grandparents could be very strict. “Grandad would make you behave. You couldn’t mess him about. If you were naughty he would take his cap off the knob of the cupboard next to his chair and throw it at you. You had to take it back to him and he’d hit you with it. He never used a strap. Mostly, the punishment was to be sent to bed. Granny would sometimes give you a smack.

“They were very strict. When you sat at the table you never spoke or touched anything. You were asked if you wanted any food and you had to sit there until everyone had finished. Meals weren’t a social occasion with people chattering about what they’d done during the day. In many ways the old couple lived two separate lives both working hard right up until they died.5

Thomas taught Jack how to fish, and how to snare hares, rabbits and even sparrows, which would be cooked in a pie. He rarely drank, and then only Elizabeth’s home-made wine – dandelion, parsnip, elderflower, and so on.6

Needless to say, Elizabeth’s occupation, if listed at all in census records, is shown only as “Home Duties” or “Unpaid Domestic Duties”. However Richard Coomber records that “Although unqualified, she became the person women called on when they were giving birth or a body needed laying out”.7

The 1939 Register shows the couple living at Willetts Cottages, Blackham, with Thomas listed as “Incapacitated”. Thomas died on 13th January 1945 at the age of 79. Elizabeth survived him by just a few months: she died on 10th March, aged 80, a few days after she had had a stroke and fallen into the fire, burning herself badly. They are both buried in the churchyard of All Saints, Blackham. Richard Coomber notes that “In later years, Thomas also worked in the garden of Mr and Mrs Vinall at Home Place for sixpence (2.5p) an hour which he asked the Vinalls to keep for him to pay for his tombstone. The stone, which is still in Blackham church yard, cost over £72 in 1945, representing nearly 3,000 hours work”.8

My thanks to Richard Coomber for generously allowing me to quote biographical information from his Blackham Village website, and for providing the photographs reproduced above.

Songs

Thomas Coomber

Thomas and Elizabeth Coomber

Elizabeth Coomber

  • The Banks of Sweet Dundee (Roud 148)
  • Barbara Allen (Roud 54)
  • The False Hearted Lover (Roud 154)
  • The Folkestone Murder (Roud 897)
  • Mary across the Wild Moor (Roud 155)
  • Undaunted Female (Roud 289)

Elizabeth, Florrie and Beatrice (?) Coomber

  • The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Roud 265)

Florrie Coomber

  • The Squire and the Milkmaid (Roud 559)

Note: Since Elizabeth Coomber and her children were born and raised in Sussex, their songs are not included on this website. They can however be found by searching the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Archive Catalogue.

  1. Richard Coomber, The Coomber Family, http://www.blackham-village.co.uk/Coomber%20chap%201.html ↩︎
  2. Richard Coomber, The Coomber Family, http://www.blackham-village.co.uk/Coomber%20chap%201.html ↩︎
  3. Richard Coomber, The Coomber Family, http://www.blackham-village.co.uk/Coomber%20chap%202.html ↩︎
  4. Richard Coomber, The Coomber Family, http://www.blackham-village.co.uk/Coomber%20chap%203.html ↩︎
  5. Richard Coomber, The Coomber Family, http://www.blackham-village.co.uk/Coomber%20chap%205.html ↩︎
  6. Richard Coomber, The Coomber Family, http://www.blackham-village.co.uk/Coomber%20chap%207.html ↩︎
  7. Richard Coomber, The Coomber Family, http://www.blackham-village.co.uk/Coomber.html ↩︎
  8. Richard Coomber, The Coomber Family, http://www.blackham-village.co.uk/Coomber%20chap%203.html ↩︎

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Mr and Mrs Truell

Ralph Vaughan Williams noted down eight songs from a Mr and Mrs Truell in Gravesend, on 31st December 1904. Their surname was spelled in numerous ways over the years, although most commonly as ‘Trull’. The couple were John, and Sarah, née Townsden.

John Trull, 1829-1908

John was baptised at St John the Baptist, Sutton-At-Hone on 26th April 1829. His father John was a labourer. Possibly it was the same John Trull, “servant to Mr. John Staples”, who won second prize at the 1830 Kentish Agricultural Association ploughing match, ploughing “with a turnrise plough and three horses”; possibly it was the same man who was an inmate of Dartford Union (i.e. the Workhouse) in the Summer and Autumn of 1836; almost certainly it was this John Trull who was living in the Dartford Workhouse in 1871, three years before his death.

John’s mother’s name was listed as Sarah. Towards the end of 1840 his father married Rebecca Croucher at Ss Peter & Paul, Farningham. Rebecca was a widow, but John senior was recorded as a bachelor, so presumably he had never been married to John’s mother (and consequently we have no way of knowing her surname).

The 1841 census found the family living at Swanley, in the parish of Sutton At Hone. John had an older sister, and two younger brothers. By 1851 John was working as an agricultural labourer at Sampson Row, Langley, living with another labourer, Rob Hayes, and his wife Anne. John’s surname was recorded as ‘Trowell’. He married a widow, Sarah Chapman, at St Mary the Virgin, Chalk, on 10th March 1860. The following year’s census shows the couple living in Chalk, with two children listed as “Daughter in law” and “Son in law”. Also in the house are John’s sister-in-law Elizabeth Bennet, and two lodgers. The lodgers’ occupation, and that of John, is recorded as Carter.

In 1871, under the surname ‘Troull’, they were at Chalk Street, Chalk, John’s occupation once again simply “Agricultural labourer”. It has not been possible to trace the Trulls under any variation of their name in the 1881 census, but in 1891 they were living at 2 West Court, Cliffe, their surname now spelled ‘Trowl’; a couple of other farm labourers were boarding with them.

By 1901 they had moved to 3 Whitehill Road, Clifton Terrace, Milton, Gravesend, and this is one occasion when their surname is spelled ‘Truell’. John is now a “Farm yardman”. A farm salesman was lodging with them, as well as sister-in-law, Rebecca Nichols. He and Sarah may well have been living at that address when visited by Vaughan Williams.

John died at the age of 74, and was buried on 3rd March 1908. His residence at the time of death was given as the Union Workhouse Infirmary in Gravesend.

Sarah Elizabeth Trull, née Townsden, 1829-1913

Sarah was baptised on 11th October 1829 at St Helen’s, Cliffe At Hoo. Her parents were David, a labourer, and Jemima née Fry. The 1841 census shows her parents and four children living at Church Street, Cliffe, but Sarah’s name is not included in the household. In 1851 the family were at No. 3 New Houses, Cliffe; her father was now a widow.

She married Edward Chapman, a labourer, at St Helen’s church, Cliffe At Hoo, on 12th October 1854, but within a year he had died. She remarried, to John Trull, at Chalk, on 10th March 1860, although it appears that the couple had already had two children together: both Ellen (1855) and William (1857) bore the Chapman surname, but in both cases baptism records from Ss Peter & Paul’s in Shorne list their parents as John and Sarah. The children were recorded in the 1861 census as son / daughter in law; at that time this usage was often employed for step-children, but in this case, unless their father was someone else called John, they were both the children of John Trull, but born out of wedlock. In the 1871 census they are simply listed as son and daughter.

Sarah survived her husband by five years. In 1911 she was residing at 90 All Saints Road, Perry Street, Northfleet. She was 79 years old, and her occupation was shown in the census as “None (OAP)” – a very recent designation, as old age pensions had only been introduced by Lloyd George in January 1909. She died in the second quarter of 1913, and the official record for this is one of the few places where the ‘Truell’ spelling of her married surname is used.

Songs

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Mr Wanstall

Francis Collinson noted three songs from a Mr Wanstall at Aldington in 1942. Based on the 1939 Register, there were several men with the surname Wanstall living in Aldington at that time, and it is not possible to identify Collinson’s singer with any degree of certainty. Biographies of the most likely candidates are given below.

Songs

Fred Wanstall, 1864-1954

Fred Wanstall (and he does seem consistently to be Fred rather than Frederick) was born on 12th October 1864, and baptised on 11th December at St Martin’s, Aldington. His father John worked as a sawyer; his mother’s name was given as Marianne, although census records have her as Mary Ann, née Earl.

In 1871 and 1881 the family were living at Aldington Frith. Fred was one of eleven children. In 1871 John Wanstall’s occupation was given as “Lab and sawyer”, while his wife Mary Ann and 13 year old son John were both listed as “Carrier”. In 1881 John was shown as “Agr lab & carrier”, and no occupation was given for his wife. Fred was “Agr lab son”.

John died in 1886, so in the 1891 census Mary Ann was head of the household, her occupation now “Carrier & grazier”. The family was living at Stone Street Green, Aldington. Fred, 26, was one of four children still at home. He was also working as a carrier; two of his sisters were working as dressmakers.

Towards the end of 1893 Fred married Lydia Caryer in Aldington Church. At the time of the 1901 census they were living at Handen Farm, Aldington. Fred was now described as a Farmer & grazier. He and Lydia had two children, and Thomas Howland, “Yardman on farm”, was living with them. Ten years later they were still at Handen Farm, they had another son, and Fred’s occupation is given as Carrier. In truth he was both farmer and carrier, as his obituary made clear:

Born at Aldington, he helped his mother run a carrier’s business at an early age and made regular trips to Ashford market with a horse and van. He later took over the business and continued it until 1923, when it was transferred to his son, Mr. Frank Wanstall, and became modernised.

Mr. Wanstall was also a farmer for over 40 years. From 1890 to 1919, he farmed Handen Farm, an outlying portion of the Brabourne estate and then went to Bank Farm until 1929 which is now run by his eldest son, Mr. J. Wanstall.1

Further detail is provided in the Kentish Express, 18th June 1987, in a report on a meeting of the Aldington local history society, where a Mr Crook had given a talk about Fred Wanstall:

He lived to be 89 and was a farmer in the village for 40 years. From 1903 — 1923 he was the carrier with a horse and cart. He plied from Hamden [sic] Farm and then from Bank Farm to Ashford on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday leaving about 10am and returning at about 8pm. He would take in goods and return with, among other items, groceries, casks of beers from Shepherd Neame in Bank Street, Ashford, and sweets and cigarettes from Mrs Nye’s sweet shop on Forge Hill. In 1932 he realised the days of the horse and cart were over and bought a small bus which was driven by Frank, one of his sons.2

As stated in his obituary, by the time of the 1921 census Fred and Lydia had moved to Bank Farm, Aldington. Also living with them were their sons John (22) and Frank (15), both of whom were listed as “Assisting Father In General Farm Work”. If he farmed for 40 years from 1890, that implies he retired around 1930; certainly by September 1939 he and Lydia were living at The Gables, Aldington, and Fred is listed as “Retired Overseer”. In fact, local newspaper reports on the marriage of his sons allow us to date the move to The Gables as at some point between April and October 1929. In April 1929, on the occasion of Frank Wanstall’s marriage to Lilian Nutley, the bridegroom is described as “one of Aldington’s popular young men, being conductor of the Al Freyle Dance Orchestra and a good cricketer. For some years he has managed his father’s business as a general carrier (known as Wanstall’s Service) between Ashford and Aldington”3. Then in October of the same year his brother John married Dorothy Uden; the newspaper refers to “Mr. and Mrs. Fred Wanstall, of The Gables, Aldington, and late of Bank Farm”4.

Fred’s wife Lydia died in May 1943, and he passed away on 23rd January 1954 “after a long illness patiently borne”5. His obituary stated that “He was in his 90th year, and was the last of four well-known brothers”, continuing

He knew every yard of the district and could trace his ancestors back to smuggling days. He was also a Parish Councillor for many years a school manager, a bell-ringer until five years ago, and member of the Bellringers’ Guild. He had a fine bass voice and sang in the church choir and in many concerts and oratorios in other villages.

FAVOURITE HYMN
At the funeral on Wednesday at Aldington Church where he was once a sidesman the congregation joined in singing one verse of the hymn “Forty days and forty nights.” On the day before he died, Mr. Wanstall had sung the last verse of this favourite hymn. The organist was a Bonnington farmer Mr. Eyton Boulden.6

Eyton Boulden was also the organist on Good Friday 1931 when Mr. F. Wanstall (bass) was mentioned as having taken part in a performance of “In the Desert and in the Garden” by the Choral Society in Aldington parish church.7 Fred Wanstall would also have been very familiar with Harry Barling, as George Frampton has identified him as a member of Aldington Brass Band, playing the flute.8 Being known to two other men from whom Francis Collinson noted songs does not necessarily mean that Collinson also collected songs from Fred Wanstall but, combined with the fact that we know he was musical, and clearly well known in the village, does make this very plausible.

Ernest John Wanstall, 1886-1965

1930s editions of the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald frequently mention darts matches at the Walnut Tree in Aldington, which were followed by a smoking concert. For instance a report on the match between Aldington and Dymchurch in October 1933, states that

There was a big gathering afterwards, when the room was packed for a smoking concert. Mr. Arthur Francis (capt.) presided and the artistes were Messrs. George Finn, A. Harris, A. Higgins, F. Fifield, D. S. Wild, J. Paton. J. Hyder, E. Wanstall, A. H. Heap, A.T.C.L. (pianist), and J. R. Anderson.9

Some of these men, including E. Wanstall, had also provided the entertainment at the annual share-out of the AIdington Slate Club in December the previous year.10 Meanwhile, a brief report on a Whist Drive at Aldington names Mr E.J. Wanstall as the MC.11

The gentleman at the Whist Drive would have been Ernest John Wanstall, the son of John Wanstall, Fred’s older brother. He was born on 12th September 1886 and baptised on the 1st November. His mother Lucy, whose maiden name was Boulden, was the younger sister of Eyton Boulden’s father David. In 1891 the family lived at Hurst Cottages, Forge Hill, Aldington. John worked as a General labourer; Ernest was the second youngest of five children (two more would arrive in subsequent years).

The 1901 census found them at Church Street, Aldington. Ernest, now fourteen years old, was working as an Assistant shepherd. 10 years later, residing in the family home at Church Hill, he was “Shepherd and cattleman on farm”. By 1921, still at Church Hill, Ernest was now “Farmer – Own Account”.

He married Margaret Howland in April 1930, and the 1939 Register shows them living at Goldwell Farm, Aldington. Ernest’s occupation is given as “Farmer General”. He died in the first quarter of 1965.

Edward Wanstall, 1886-1964

Of course, there is no reason to assume that the E. Wanstall who regularly sang at darts match smoking concerts was the same person as the E.J. Wanstall who chaired the Whist Drive meeting. The singer could well be Edward Wanstall, whose life span corresponded almost exactly with that of Ernest, but who appears to have belonged to an entirely different branch of the family. His father George William Wanstall came originally from Nonington, his mother Jane née Daniels was from Stelling. They married in 1880, and by the time of the 1881 census were living in Aldington. George was at that time a Journeyman blacksmith, living in a cottage – probably next door to the Forge itself, and just down the hill from the Walnut Tree.

Edward was born on 20th September 1886, the fourth of, eventually, seven children. Although the family lived in Aldington, he was baptised at nearby Bonnington, in the church of St Rumbold, on 1st November. By 1891 his father was shown in the census as Blacksmith. Their address is only given as Forge Hill, so it’s not made clear if they are now in the Forge House itself, but that was given as their address in 1901 and 1911. The two eldest sons, George and Charles, were working with their father in the forge. In 1911 Edward and his younger brother Herbert both have the occupation “Tar paver”.

Edward married Bessie Maud Cheeseman at St Stephen, Lympne with West Hythe, on 28th September 1914. By the time of the first post-war census they were living with a son and a daughter at Court-At-Street, between Aldington and Lympne. Edward was working as a Builder’s Labourer, employed by Hayward & Paramor of Folkestone.

In September 1939 he and Bessie were back in Aldington, living at 8 Goldwell Houses, on Roman Road, opposite the primary school – and just a few minutes’ walk from the Walnut Tree, where darts matches took place. His occupation was “Roadstone Quarrier”.

Having been born just over a week after Ernest Wanstall, Edward preceded him to the grave by a few months, dying in the second quarter of 1964.

  1. Kentish Express 29 January 1954 ↩︎
  2. Kentish Express 18 June 1987 ↩︎
  3. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald 13 April 1929 ↩︎
  4. Kentish Express 12 October 1929 ↩︎
  5. Kentish Express 29 January 1954 ↩︎
  6. Kentish Express 29 January 1954 ↩︎
  7. Kentish Express 10 April 1931 ↩︎
  8. George Frampton, Country Magazine in Kent, Bygone Kent, Vol. 16, No. 7 ↩︎
  9. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald 28 October 1933 ↩︎
  10. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald 31 December 1932 ↩︎
  11. Kentish Express 09 December 1932 ↩︎
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Fred Ring

Frederick Thomas Ring, 1855-1951

Fred Ring was born on 1st September 1855 at Wissenden – between Bethersden and Smarden – and baptised at Bethersden on 2nd December. He was the eldest son of Thomas, an agricultural labourer, and Martha Maria, née Millen. In 1861 they lived at Farm House Cottage, Wissenden Grove. The 1871 census lists Fred as ‘Thomas’; he is working as a farm servant for Thomas Millen (presumably a relative of his mother), at Tearnden Farm, Bethersden.

In 1881 he was back in the parental home, Mudlark, Bethersden, and he’s listed as “Ag lab”. The following year he married Matilda Mary Williamson at Waltham Cross, on 2nd November 1882. The marriage record gives him the occupation “Farmer”, but in subsequent censuses he always appeared as “agricultural labourer”, “Farm Labourer (General)” or similar.

The 1891 census shows them living at Ashford Road, Bethersden; they have two sons and a daughter. In 1901 their address was specified as Coles Cottages, Ashford Road, and they have another daughter. Ten years later the family had moved to Maple Cottage, Bethersden, and would remain there for the next four decades. In 1921 Fred’s employer is given as J D Cameron, Gentleman Farmer.

In the 1939 Register he is listed as Thomas F Ring, and his birth year is erroneously given as 1885. Sophy Theobald, a widow, is living with Fred and his wife, and carrying out “Unpaid Domestic Duties”.

Fred died at the grand old age of 95, in 1951. His obituary in the Kentish Express, Friday 2nd March 1951, ran as follows:

AGED 95, Mr. Frederick Thomas Ring, of Maple-cotts, the home of Mr. and Mrs. F. Ring, died on Feb. 22 after a few days’ illness. Born at Wissenden, he had lived in the parish all his life. His wife died in 1946. Formerly he was a hop-drier for Mr. Jenner of Yalding, and later he worked for 25 years on the farm of the late Capt. Cameron, of Lowood. In his younger days he was a glee-singer and bellringer, and he sang in the church choir as a tenor.

Francis Collinson collected two songs from a Mr Ring, one of these being noted in November 1942. Now there were several men with the surname Ring living in Bethersden in September 1939, including Fred’s sons Walter and Frederick. However it seems most likely that Collinson’s singer was Fred, given that we know he had been involved in music-making in Bethersden.

A report on the annual Bethersden Hop Dryers’ Dinner in the Kentish Express, 23rd October 1909, gave the names of those who had “helped with the evening’s entertainment, giving songs, etc. :– Messrs. H. Elliott, W.F. Parker, F. Ring, Lovel Woodcock, G. Burden, Leslie Woodcock, L. Cole and L. Mannering; with Mr. Elliott (of Ashford) as accompanist”. In a sign of the times, “Selections were given by Mr. Beale on his powerful gramophone”.

In December 1913 Fred Ring was contributing to the entertainment at a meeting of the Mid Kent Hunt:

Some very good songs were rendered during the evening, those contributing to the enjoyment including Messrs. Ryan, Cornwallis, Heath, Parker, Ring and A. Farrance while a glee was given by Messrs. Ring and Buckman.1

The following week, Fred was again singing, at the “sixth annual dinner of the Royal Standard Slate Club”:

A most enjoyable evening was spent and some capital songs were sung by Messrs. Parker, Ring, Greenway, Kingsland, Kingsnorth, Brown, Dyke, and others; a trio was given by Messrs. Buckman, Batt and Ring; and a duet by Messrs. Buckman and Brown, accompanied by Miss Jeffrey (pianist), and Mr. Jeffrey (violin), of Biddenden.2

33 members of the Slate Club received a payout of £1 6s. 8d.

The event at the Royal Standard took place on Saturday 14th December, but Fred Ring, Horace Buckman and Jim Batt were also present at a similar event the following Wednesday, for the Bethersden Share-Out Club, at the Bull Hotel. On this occasion

Those who contributed to the harmony of the evening were Messrs. Parker, T. Venner, A. Woodcock, T. Ring, Batt, F. Wriaght, J. Woodcock, P. Murrell, A. Dunk, A.W. Buss, etc. Mr. W. Elliott ably accompanied.3

Members of this club each received £1 11s. 1d “the largest sum paid out since the Club has been running”.

Songs

  1. Kentish Express 13 December 1913 ↩︎
  2. Kentish Express 20 December 1913 ↩︎
  3. Kentish Express 20 December 1913 ↩︎

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Mr Sawkins

Francis Collinson had the words of two songs from a Mr Sawkins of Pembury, on 26th March 1952. It has not so far been possible to identify this singer from the census records for Pembury. George Frampton found two photographs of a Will Sawkins in Pembury in the Past by Mary Standen (Meresborough Books 1984). One, undated, shows three farm workers, and is captioned “The three [hop] driers have a rest on the pocket they have just finished. They are Pat Brown, Arthur Clarke and Will Sawkins who worked at Beagles Farm”. The other shows an early 1950s Darby and Joan Club Christmas dinner at the Church Institute, with Mr and Mrs Sawkins identified as amongst those present. It’s hard to tell from the photograph, but it seems likely that Mr Sawkins was born in the 1880s, or perhaps a little earlier. However, there is no William Sawkins in the census records for Pembury, so this may be a case of someone universally known as Will, but that not actually being his official forename.

At the time of the 1939 Register there was a George Sawkings, born 1877 – so the right kind of age – living with his wife, son and daughter, at Batchelors Cottages, Pembury. He was born at Elmsted, and had worked as an agricultural labourer in East Kent; but his surname is consistently spelled as Sawkings, with a “g”.

Songs

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