Speculum Gregis: Pages 30 to 39, 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 30 to 39 (Basic Text)

This is the basic text of the "Speculum Gregis" pages 30 to 39 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 20 to 29

(Basic Text) Pages: 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39


30	Page 30 Next door William and Sarah Pateman They can neither read. He was a widower and has three sons by his first wife living in the parish, and one daughter, Mary, wife of James King. She has one son by her first husband who lives with them. Allen Kidman aged 23. He is now in prison for theft and is a wild drinking fellow. He was christened in Croydon Church, where they were married; they are not often in Church. [this paragraph is crossed through] RSBS: (She is now dead, as is her son. Old Pateman comes now regularly to Church.) [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked by me against the original document.]		Annotated Page


31	Page 31 Next door Thomas and Martha Lyon Can read, son of Christopher Lyon. She cannot. They were married in Croydon church where their son was Christened - they attend church occasionally, she more frequently. She a great talker and gossip. 1. William Lyon, aged 18. Reads a very little - not a steady lad. Lodging here. Thomas Carter Son of ____ Carter, a very drunken man, brother to Thomas Carter, Mr Ellis's shepherd. Aged 27, he can read, works for Mr Elliston. Attends Church regularly, and is a very respectable young man. RSBS: (I believe he has changed his lodging.) [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked by me against the original document.]		Annotated Page


32	Page 32 Next house up the village Jonathan and Jane Chapman They can both read. She is daughter of Jane Thacker (page 2). He is son of William and Mary Chapman next door. They appear quiet steady people - but poor owing to his not having had constant work lately. They are not constantly at Church. 1. Emma Chapman, aged 10. In the Sunday School. 2. William Chapman, aged 8. 3. Job Chapman, aged 4. 4. Charlotte Chapman, aged 2. They were married and their children Christened in Croydon Church. They are always in distress and difficulty - but I don't know that he drinks - but some bad management. They are going to move down to the farm lately occupied by Mr Jackson. [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked by me against the original document.]		Annotated Page


33	Page 33 Next door William and Mary Chapman Both read a little. He works for Mr King of Tadlow at Hatley. The old people are not very comfortable together. 1. Sarah Chapman, aged 23 - has a base-born child, Eliza, aged 7 months, Christened in Croydon Church. RSBS: (since dead.) In the same house. Joseph and Mary Pell He can't read. He is a very drunken man. She can a little. She's a quiet woman. He works at Wimpole for Lord Hardwicke. 1. Isaiah Pell, aged 4. 2. David Pell, aged 2. 3. Robert Pell, aged 4 months. RSBS: (Dead. Robert died of inflammation in the chest 29 January 1843.) They were married in Croydon Church and children Christened here. Pell belongs to Wimpole Parish. Mary Pell is daughter of the above William and Mary Chapman. [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked by me against the original document.]		Annotated Page


34	Page 34 Next door James and Emma Chapman They can both read - he is brother to the last-named William. He regularly attends a dissenting Meeting House in Morden. She attends Church constantly - she is a canting talker. 1. John Chapman, aged 28. Can read. 2. Thomas Chapman, aged 24. Can read. Lodges at Susan Titmus's. 3. Naomi Chapman, aged 20. Lately gone into service. 4. Edward Chapman, aged 12. In the Sunday school. 5. Jane Chapman, aged 8. In the Sunday school. They were married and their children Christened at Croydon Church. She is half sister to Susan Titmus. RSBS: (John and Thomas are gone to Canada.) [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked by me against the original document.]		Annotated Page


35	Page 35 Next door James and Catherine Lee He can read very well. She a little. He is the son of Elizabeth Lee (page 68). They attend Church very regularly, and are respectable people. She is very dirty. He sings in the choir when he is well enough, but he has been ill for some months with a liver complaint - has now been in hospital and is now an outpatient. 1. Sarah Lee, aged 10. In the Sunday school. Disorderly girl. 2. Anne Lee, aged 8. In the Sunday school. Disorderly girl. 3. John Lee, aged 4. 4. Richard Lee, aged 2. They were married at Wendy and their children were Christened in Croydon Church. Samuel Graves, who lodges at Susan Titmus', is her cousin and has his meals here. He is now Sunday schoolmaster. RSBS: (No longer such.) RSBS: (Later: All filthy people.) [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked by me against the original document.]		Annotated Page


36	Page 36 Next door Christopher and Ruth Lyon He was a widower. Francis Lyons is his son (page 31). He can't read, his wife can. She was a daughter of Mary Storey by her first husband (Chapman page 85). They have two children. 1. Mary Lyon, aged 26. Can read. RSBS: (Married, see below) 2. Samuel Lyon, aged 23. Can read. RSBS: (Dead, see below) They were married and their children Christened in Croydon Church. He works and sleeps at Mrs Casbourn's. She is an abusive woman. The daughter Mary bears a most shocking bad character. She has been living with James Gates and has been 'asked' in Church, but the Banns have run out. Samuel was a Carpenter, and a free-liver; has been ill with cough and inflammation which has turned to dropsy. I have visited him during a most painful illness, which he bore with great patience, and assumed to show an humble and penitent spirit. RSBS: (Died 11th July 1843.) RSBS: (Later: Mary Lyon was married to James Gates 30 January 1843, and they live with the ~~old Gates~~ Simpson, the late clerk.) [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked by me against the original document.]		Annotated Page


37	Page 37 Next door William and Ruth Endersby He can read and is the son of John and Mary Endersby. She can't read, and is daughter of Mary Clarke (page 81). She had a base-born child by some other man before her marriage, which lives with her mother, but it is cause of disquietude now at times between her and her husband. She appears a very clean person. He is often out of work, and is of a surly dogged temper. 1. John, aged 6 months. They were married and their child Christened in Croydon Church. [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked by me against the original document.]		Annotated Page


38	Page 38 Next door John and Edith Hopkins He can read. He works for Mr Jackson. She cannot. She is daughter of Anne Thomas, widow. 1. Mary Hopkins, aged 11. In the Sunday school. 2. Samuel Hopkins, aged 4. 3. Rebecca Hopkins, aged 1. They were married and their children Christened in Croydon Church. She has bad health and her husband is not kind to her. RSBS: (She is a most fretful tiresome woman. The husband drinks - seldom at Church.) [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked by me against the original document.]		Annotated Page


39	Page 39 Over the way - at the shop William and Eliza Lyon - and sundry children. They keep a village shop, are of late very regular at Church. The family are rather boisterous and rough. Eliza Lyon is the daughter of John Simpson, the late clerk. RSBS: (Very seldom at church now, and, as I consider, a very ill-conditioned family.) [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked by me against the original document.]		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: 12 March 2021.
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