Speculum Gregis: Pages 10 to 19, Croydon, Cambridgeshire


	Speculum Gregis 1843 'An Account of all the Inhabitants of the Parish of Croydon in the County of Cambridgeshire commencing from 1 January 1843' by Reverend Francis Fulford 1803-1868 (Rector at Croydon 1841-1845). Additional notes by Reverend R S B Sandilands (Rector 1845-1864).

Pages 10 to 19 (Basic Text)

This is the basic text of the "Speculum Gregis" pages 10 to 19 inclusive as an uninterrupted transcription.

Also available is the annotated text of the same 10 pages including additional background material, family research contributions from readers, excerpts from the 1841 census, and some related photographs.

The wording used in both versions was originally a distillation of three separate transcriptions of the original hand-written text. Where the texts differed, I followed the majority unless historical evidence suggests I should do otherwise. I have subsequently transcribed the text direct from the original document so the corrected transcription used on this website (currently pages 1 to 29 inclusive) is therefore my own.

Detailed explanatory notes are given at the foot of each page.

Back to Pages 01 to 09

(Basic Text) Pages: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19


10	Page 10 "Next door. John and Bathsheba Hagger He can't read. She can a little. He works for Mr Ellis. He met with an accident and injured his right hand about 1 year and a half ago. William Payne's wife is their daughter. 1. Emma Hagger, aged 18. Can read. 2. James Hagger, aged 15. Can read, a wild lad. 3. Jane Hagger, aged 12. In the Sunday School, a very sharp, clean girl and well behaved. They were married here and their children Christened in Croydon Church. Mrs Hagger is a very respectable woman and is our washerwoman. Emma had a child by a Wendy man about a year since, but expected to marry him, but he deceived her. Saving this, she is a very well conducted young woman and a clean good servant, and has been much afflicted at her misfortune, and I believe on proper grounds. She is a good servant, and are intended to have taken her RSBS: (and did take her) to London." [Above transcription corrected against original document on 28 August 2008]		Annotated Page


11	Page 11 "The bottom house in the row below the "Queen Adelaide" William ~~John~~ and Ellen Law Can both read. He is a dissenter - and brother to James Law at Croydon Wilds. She attends Church. He has a son by a former wife - Charles, aged 9 - and one daughter by his present wife, Ellen, aged 1 year - baptised in Croydon Church." [Above transcription corrected against original document on 28 August 2008]		Annotated Page


12	Page 12 "Richard Mole and his Wife Blacksmith. Several sons and 2 daughters, one in service. They are a very wild set and hardly ever enter a place of worship. The wife I believe to be a well-intentioned woman, but surrounded by a bad lot." [Above transcription corrected against original document on 28 August 2008]		Annotated Page


13	Page 13 "Next door. William and Sarah Mole He is eldest son of the last people, can read very well, as can she. He works for his father as a blacksmith. 1. Marianne Mole, aged 11. Attends the Sunday School. 2. John Mole, aged 10. Attends the Sunday School. 3. Luke Mole, aged 7. Attends the Sunday School. 4. William Mole, aged 4. 5. David Mole, aged 2. Sarah Mole was confined again February 10 (I believe) 1843 with a daughter. He works hard - and she is a bad-tempered woman - has used her eldest son very cruelly and seldom attends church." RSBS: (The two eldest boys the most troublesome and disorderly that I found in the School. They are both out of it now. The third bids fair to give as much trouble. It is difficult to say which parent is the least in fault.) [Above transcription corrected against original document on 28 August 2008]		Annotated Page


14	Page 14 "The 'Queen Adelaide' Thomas Larkins and wife They keep the 'Queen Adelaide'. He is a carpenter. I can't say much for them 1 grown up daughter, for some time in Lady Hardwicke's nursery. 1 son, in the Sunday school. 1 daughter, about 6 years old. The wife has never been to church since her last child was borne, except for her churching them." RSBS: (He is one of the choir - died in 1847. Since his death, his widow has attended Church; the eldest daughter also, who was confirmed in 1847.) [Above transcription corrected against original document on 28 August 2008]		Annotated Page


15	Page 15 Next door. Anne Chapman A widow, can read. 1. William Chapman, aged 12, attend[s] the Sunday school. 2. James Chapman, aged 9, attend[s] the Sunday school. 3. Edward Chapman, aged 7, attend[s] the Sunday school. [The whole of the entry above is crossed through] Now live in the Walnut Field. [later] Caleb and Maria Payne And one little boy. He can read. They are very nice respectable people. She irons for us. They are regular at Church. He is shepherd for Mr Ellis. [Above transcription corrected against original document on 28 August 2008]		Annotated Page


16	Page 16 Next door. William and Emma Thacker He is son of James Thacker (page 2) and can read - she cannot. He works for Mr Elliston. 1. William Thacker, aged 12. In the Sunday school. 2. Jane Thacker, aged 9. In the Sunday school. 3. Emma Thacker, aged 4. They buried one child aged 14 months, 7 October 1842, called Mary. They attend Church very constantly, and are very respectable people, particularly the man. Her name was Easy before she married. They were married and all their children Christened in Croydon Church. Lodge in the same house with them. David and Sarah Mole He is a shoemaker, belongs to Arrington, and goes there to his work every day. They have one child born before their marriage. 1. David Mole, aged 5, in the Sunday school. She seems to be going into a decline. [The above entry is crossed through] Left the parish. [Above transcription corrected against original document on 28 August 2008]		Annotated Page


17	Page 17 Next door. William and Mary Lee He is son to Elizabeth Lee (page 68), and can read. She can read a little. He works for Mr C King. They are very respectable people. He sometimes attends ~~Wendy Church~~ Morden Dissenting Chapel, at other times both attend Croydon. They were married and their child Christened at Croydon Church. 1. Charles Lee, aged 3/4 years. [Above entry crossed through] Joel How and his wife. He works for Summerkin, the Arrington blacksmith. Has one son by a former wife, daughter of Elizabeth Lee (page 68). He is not a parishioner of Croydon, and I hear he is about to leave the parish. Lives with the above Anne Thomas A widow, mother of Mary Lee, also of Edith Hopkins and Edward Thomas. She can't read, attends Croydon Church. [Above entry crossed through] [Above transcription corrected against original document on 28 August 2008]		Annotated Page


18	Page 18 Next door. Samuel and Hannah Graves They can both read. He works for Mr Merry, and generally attends Bassingbourn Meeting. She is sister to Mary Newman and Kezia Law. Very steady people. 1. Samuel Graves, aged 6 months. Christened in Croydon Church. [Above entry crossed through] Richard Carter, mentioned before (page 1), lives here now. Anne Graves A widow, mother of Samuel Graves. Also she has a daughter, Jane, aged 26, rather deformed, who lives with her. They can both read, attend Croydon church, very nice, good, respectable people. Her maiden name was Lee. Both these are communicants. Jane Graves works very well at her needle, and Mrs Fulford used to let her have some work occasionally. [Above entry crossed through] [Above transcription corrected against original document on 28 August 2008]		Annotated Page


19	Page 19 The next house in the road to Hagger's. James and Elizabeth Woods He can't read. She keeps a day school, and is schoolmistress in the Sunday School and is a communicant. She comes from Wimpole, where they were married. They both attend Church very regularly. He is a most honest hardworking man and can turn his hand to all sorts of out of door work. Elizabeth Woods Mother to James, aged and deaf. Never attends Church because she says she can't hear. RSBS: (She is as deaf as a post.) RSBS: (Later: Dead now.) [Above transcription corrected against original document on 28 August 2008]		Annotated Page

The Speculum Gregis continues here

Explanatory Notes:

Fulford generally devoted one page to each property; and I have retained his page numbers as serials for the entries. Crossings out shown are as in the original document. Information, footnotes and commentary additional to the original "Speculum Gregis" texts are shown as [grey text in square brackets].

In the pages of the original "Speculum Gregis", two handwritings are apparent, that of Francis Fulford (entries from 1843 to 1845) and that of his successor, the Rev Sandilands (entries from 1845 to 1848). The notes by the Rev Sandilands have been shown in this online edition as RSBS: (dark blue text within round brackets) and sometimes identified as a later entry.

However, having taken the opportunity to check the first 30 pages of the original manuscript, I found that quite a number of comments attributed to Sandilands in "The Rector and his Flock" were actually in Fulford's handwriting. I assume from the chronology of entries in the later 61 pages that there will be further attributions falling into this category.

A national Census was taken on the 6 June 1841, three weeks before Fulford's arrival in Cambridgeshire and eighteen months before the "Speculum Gregis" was started. Details from the Croydon-cum-Clopton census have been added to page entries where appropriate. Note that the ages of adults were generally rounded to the nearest five years by the census enumerator and therefore they should not be taken as a reliable indication of age.

The enumerator also reported that 26 Croydon labourers were "having left the district for the hay harvest in the neighbourhood of London", which would explain the absence of a number of the known heads of households.

I want this site to be as accurate and as informative as possible - please let me know if something is wrong, however trivial the correction. I would also welcome additional information to add to the annotated text - especially from those with 'family' in Croydon between 1840 and 1850.

In the first instance please contact the website with details.

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This page was last updated on: 10 March 2021.
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