General History

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The Law and Social Legislation

  • http://www.oldbaileyonline.org This has the transcripts of Old Bailey trials from 1674-1834. You can search by name or place, (the name search includes defendants, witnesses and jurors). Also has old maps and other info about London history.
  • http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/forewords/A138.pdf although written as an introduction to the Apprenticeship Register for Dawlish, Devon, this provides a good description of the Parish Apprenticeship system in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.



The British Monarchy


Emigration and Immigration

Highland Clearances

For those interested in the Highland Clearances there is loads of info here - I only looked at 6 of them and have already found a missing person.

If you google "Metagama" you will get some ship passenger lists from 1920's. This is a small example - 404 names on this list mostly from Scotland. Departed Glasgow, Scotland on Friday, June 22, 1923 Departed Belfast, Ireland on Saturday, June 23, 1923

Trans-Atlantic Sailing to Quebec and Montreal, Canada, July 5, 1923 THIS was a C.P.R. liner, come to Lewis to take on those whom Manny Shinwell later described in Parliament as "the best of Scottish manhood". The Metagama sailed on Saturday the 21st of April, 1923. From all over Lewis, they crowded into Stornoway on the Friday. Cromwell Street echoed with the banter and excited anticipation of those about to leave, mingling with the sadness of those who had come to say goodbye. (This is From West Side historical Society on Google - out of the 300 who sailed that day only 20 were NOT young men, the average age was 22.) It decimated the Island Communities and to this day they have not recovered.

Links


Inns and Public Houses



Religion and the Clergy

  • http://www.crockford.org.uk/ Crockford’s Clerical Directory: a directory of the clergy of the Church of England, the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church,
  • http://www.special-coll.bham.ac.uk/ The archives for the Church Missionary Society are kept at Birmingham University Library in their Special Collections. The catalogue can be searched online here


Maps and Photography


The Landed Gentry


Bargemen/Boatmen/Watermen/Lightermen



Jewish history



Farming and Agriculture

Counting sheep - East Yorks

Maternal grandfather and his father were shepherds. Grandad passed this on to Mum and she to me. There are many deviations on the count to 20, and each area of Yorkshire has it's own version, especially each of the Yorkshire dales. The land there is often hilly and impossible to cultivate, so sheepfarming is one way of utilising the land. The word pattern is usually based on groupings of five, to correspond with the digits on one hand.

yar tar tethera methera pip

teeza leeza catra nova dick

yardick tardick tetheradick metheradick bumper

yardibumper tardibumper tetherabumper metherabumper jigger


Working the land, in the East Riding

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, those working on the land could be categorised as:

  1. farmers and their male relatives working on the land
    1. owner occupiers
    2. tenant farmers
  2. farm servants
  3. agricultural labourers
  4. casual workers


Agricultural labourers were, generally, those who were married or had dependants. They were paid daily or on a weekly basis, or at busy times (such as harvest) by piece work rates. They lived in their own homes and made up 43% of the farming workforce.

Casual workers, (including women and children) were hired as additional, supplementary help at busy times in the farming calendar, such as shearing, haymaking and the corn and potato harvest. In the East Riding, lots of the casual labour force were itinerants from the Dales or Ireland.

Farm servants were unmarried, or occasionally widowers with no dependant family members, who were hired and paid on an annual basis and who received their board and lodging as a part of their annual wage. In the 1850’s, this group provided 33% of the East Riding farming population.

They were subject to legally enforceable contracts of employment, and in East Yorkshire, these contracts ran from Martinmas (23rd November) to Martinmas.

Annual statute Hirings were held at Beverley, Bridlington, Driffield, Hedon, Hornsea, Howden, Hull, Hunmanby, Malton, Market Weighton, Patrington, Pocklington, Scarborough, Selby and York.

Farm servants - The Hirings

Male and female servants would gather at the hiring venue to bargain with prospective employers and so secure a position for the coming year.

“Driffield Times” 15th November 1873

“Early in the morning, the great stream of humanity rolled into the town, conveyed thither in every conceivable appliance that could be obtained for the occasion; but conspicuous amongst the rest were the heavy waggons with their living freight, which were deposited amid the greetings of those who had chanced to outstrip them in the drive to town. Other vehicles, from heavy waggons to the humble donkey and cart were to be seen threading their way through the streets, to their several destinations. The Railway Company, too, brought hundreds into the town by special and regular trains, which were literally packed. At about nine o’clock, the bustle was commenced in earnest, for by that time most of the servants had congregated”


If a bargain was struck, the farmer gave the Lad a “fest”, or fastening money – a small sum in recognition of the hiring. The amount of the fest varied; usually 5s for a waggoner and 2/6d for other workers.

The whole range of working conditions was subject to an implicit informal agreement, which both the farmer and the worker assumed to automatically be part of the agreement – hours of work, holidays, sick pay.

Once the fest money had changed hands, a legally binding agreement had been entered into. If either party withdrew before the year was up, magistrates and judges had special powers to enforce the contract.

Contracts were usually oral. What few written contracts there were rarely specified more than the agreed wage and the termination date, e.g

“I Samuel Ellwood engage to Mr Francis Johnson as waggoner from Martinmas 1897 to Martinmas 1898 for £19 – nineteen pounds. Signed ……”


Farm Servants - Wages

"Malton Messenger" 1874

  • Girls 12 – 18 yrs £6 - £8
  • Upper servants & housekeepers £13 - £15
  • Boys 13 –15 yrs £10 - £12
  • Boys 16 – 18 yrs £18 - £20
  • Good shepherds, experienced foremen £20 - £30 (Some asked for and were engaged for more)


"Driffield Times" 14 Nov 1874

  • Young foreman £25
  • Experienced foreman £30
  • Young waggoner £18
  • Experienced waggoner £20
  • Strong ploughboy £13 - £15
  • Young maid-of-all-work £9 - £12
  • Housemaid £12 - £14
  • Experienced cook £20


Farm servants were paid annually, on the completion of their year, minus any subsidies they had been given.

The wage of an agricultural servant was divided equally between a cash payment and his keep e.g. 1900, an average waggoner’s wage was £25 cash & 5s fest £25 board and lodging Total – £50-5s


Links


Shipping and Passenger Lists


Some Old Legal Terms

Some of those funny words that we find on old wills etc.

MOIETY......... A half .....part..... portion or share of property etc. Note: Such is usually based on family or unilateral descent.

GAVELKIND...... Equal shares among qualifying heirs.

ECHEATS......... Reversion of land to the manor etc. under feudal tenure when lacking legal heirs.

MESSUAGE...... House or dwelling.

SIEZED............ To be in legal possession of, from the feudal concept of "seisin"

INTER ALIA..... Among other things

DEMESNE..........Land of a feudal lord retained for his own use i.e the grounds of a Mansion etc.

TERRIER........... A form of Register of Land belonging to an estate etc..

FEALTY............The fidelity owed to a Feudal Lord

FRANKPLEDGE....Anglo Saxon system in which 10 households or tithings were grouped together and became responsible for each others behaviour or conduct.

CAPITE.............means the Tenant held the property in 'Capite' for the landlord to whom he paid rents

ATTAINDER........Common law - The state of an offender who had been sentenced for a capital offence.

ATTAINTED..... disgraced......... or to pass sentence of attainder against....

ENFEOFFED.... to invest with a Feudal estate or fee.

DEVISED.......... Give land or property in a Will. Or to plan and contrive.

DEFEASANCE ...... Forfeiture or annulment of something or some legal right (usually because some original condition has not been complied with; e.g. not paying the mortgage)


Workhouses


Ireland

Before the last ice-age, there was no Irish Sea, English Channel or North Sea, Europe was all one land mass and the fairly sparse population was of European origin . The encroaching ice pushed out most humans although one or two tribes may have held out on the West Coast of Ireland where the gulf stream raised the temperature, probably to something like Alaska's today. After the ice-age, about 10,000 years ago, the melting ice caps raised the sea level and created the present islands which were populated by European Celts who were gradually pushed westward by fresh influxes from Europe (mainly Germanics) and Scandinavia. Ireland in particular received quite a lot of Spanish. Trade by sea flourished so there were other additions to the gene pool, e.g. Viking, and later Spanish.

The island of Ierne (Ireland) was settled by a Milesian race, who came from Scythia (Middle East) by way of Spain, and established the Kingdom of Tara about 500 BC. The supremacy of the Ardri (High King) of Tara was acknowledged by eight lesser kingdoms (Munster, Connaught. Allech, Auriel, Ulidea, Meath, Leinster and Ossory) ruled by descendants of the eight sons of Miled.

Although little is known concerning the earliest inhabitants of Ireland, there are many traces of Neolithic man throughout the island. In the later Bronze Age a Celtic race of Goidels (Gaels) appears to have invaded the island and in the early Iron Age Brythons from South Britain effected settlements in the South East, whilst Picts from North Britain established similar settlements in the North. Towards the close of the Roman occupation of Britain (they never got to Ireland), the dominant tribe in the island was that of the Scoti, who afterwards established themselves in Scotland. Gypsies, a nomadic race, originally from India, are also well represented. The overall population remained sparse, under 3 million until the 20th century

With the separation of Britain, in the reign of Henry Vlll, from the Roman Catholic Church, Spain aggressively attempted to isolate England and sought to strengthen ties with the rest of Europe, including Ireland which remained predominately RC, culminating in a disastrous attempted invasion of England in 1588. The Armada came to grief after being forced through the English Channel, into the North Sea and rounding Scotland. It is believed that hundreds of Spanish sailors got ashore on the Irish coast and disappeared inland.



Mining and Heavy Industry

  • www.welshcoalmines.co.uk/DisastersList.htm Welsh Mining Disasters



The Celts


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