Speculum Gregis: Pages 50 to 59, 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 50 to 59 (Basic Text)

This is the basic text of the "Speculum Gregis" pages 50 to 59 inclusive as an uninterrupted transcription.

Also available is the annotated text of the same 9 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 40 to 49

Basic Pages 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59


50	Page 50/1 John Simpson A widower, formerly the Parish Clerk. Has one son ~~unmarried~~. 1. Hosea Simpson, aged 21. Can read. RSBS: (is lately married to Mary Spencer - he went to Canada before his marriage.) Lives in the same house Isaiah and Sarah Simpson Can both read. He is the eldest son of the above, and they have one child. 1. Ziniri Henry Simpson, aged 3. RSBS: (They were married and their child Christened in Poplar Church, London, from wence she came. She takes in needlework. They went to Canada, but returned and are now in London.) [Above entry completely crossed through] Page 50/2 William and Edith Pateman He can read. She can a little. Married at Hatley. They are not happy together and he is given to drinking - they seldom attend Church and she is said to be not immaculate. He has been in prison two or three times for beating his wife from jealousy. 1. Marianne Pateman, aged 5. Christened at Caxton. 2. Josiah Pateman, aged 2 months. Christened at Croydon. RSBS: (Has left her chargeable on the parish.) Lives in the house. Sarah Page Her husband was transported about 3 years since. 1. John Page, aged 11. In the Sunday school. 2. Samuel Page, aged 10. In the Sunday school. 3. James Page, aged 7. In the Sunday school. She attends church often - goes out washing etc. [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked against the original document.]		Annotated Page


51	Page 51 John and Elizabeth Spencer He can read and works at Pearman's. She can read. He is brother to Henry Spencer (page 66), and she is daughter of Mary Storey (page 85) by her former husband, and sister to Ruth Lyon (page 36). They hardly ever attend Church. 1. Caroline Spencer, aged 8. RSBS: (Elizabeth now dead.) Old widow Storey lives with her - she is a most chattering, canting old woman, used to be a communicant, uses a great deal of Laudanum. RSBS: (Is now in the Caxton workhouse.) Lives in the same house Martha Spencer Wife of Spencer, son of the above; he has enlisted lately, having run himself much in debt. She is daughter of James and Jane Thacker (page 2). RSBS: (She was confined on 28 January 1843.) RSBS: (Later: She lives now in the Walnut Field with Old Chapman, and has lately had a bastard child*, which is since dead.) ~~RSBS: (Later again: She has now returned to her husband's father, having heard of her husband being alive at St Helena, January 1847.)~~ [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked against the original document.]		Annotated Page


52	Page 52 Limekilns Isaac and Sarah Thompson Can both read. He works for Mr Jackson, on the roads: she has bad health. He was a widower and has one daughter by his first wife. 1. Anne Thompson, aged 15. Can read, grand-daughter to widow Edwards (page 64). He sings in the choir, was married to his present wife at Wimpole. She is a Wimpole woman. Steady respectable people. She comes from Cheshunt. [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked against the original document.]		Annotated Page


53	Page 53 William Lee (Mentioned page 17) now lives here. His first wife died of typhus fever about two years since. His sister Lydia keeps house for him, but it is said he is about to marry Henry Spencer's youngest daughter, Ann. [In pencil:] was married 9th November. RSBS: (Lydia Lee is a leading person in Church Choir and is a communicant.) RSBS: (Later: gone to live with her mother.) [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked against the original document.]		Annotated Page


54	Page 54 Dinah Storey A widow, can read; goes out working. Her husband was a son of John and Mary Storey (page 85) and was killed about two years since in the falling in of a quarry. She is sister to John Lowrings (page 56). 1. William Storey, aged 14. Works for Mr C King. In the Sunday school but William attends very irregularly and can read very little. 2. Mary Storey, aged 12. In the Sunday school. 3. John Storey, aged 4. In the Sunday school. She used to attend Church very constantly, but has not been for some Sundays. She has a man called John Easy living with her now, by whom she had two children, twins, some years ago, whilst her husband was in prison. He is brother of Emma Thacker - is lately become a widower, having two children now in Yorkshire, where he has been living some years and where his wife died. All her children have been Christened in Croydon Church. RSBS: (Later: She married Easy, and they are gone to live in Canada. [RSBS?] Charles and Mary Titmus, entered on page 43, now live here.) [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked against the original document.]		Annotated Page


55	Page 55 Joseph and Mary Darnell He can read, she a very little. They were married at Wimpole. He ~~used to~~ plays the clarinet at Church, but has been very ill lately. Is now in the hospital - has been much given to drinking. RSBS: (Later: He is well again.) 1. William, aged 14. Reads a little, in the Sunday School, Christened. 2. Joseph, aged 8. Not christened; in the Sunday School. 3. Jane, aged 5. Christened. 4. Elizabeth, aged 3. Christened. 5. Samuel, aged 3 months. Not Christened. She hardly ever attends Church. He is a very civil man, but I fear drinks still. They are always in want, though they earn very high wages amongst them. She is a women not to be trusted. [Editorial note: Joseph Dellar was born in Wrestlingworth in Bedfordshire. In the Wimpole marriage register he is shown as Joseph Darnell and he married Mary Worland on October 13 1834. In the 1841 census for Croydon-cum-Clopton he was recorded as Joseph Darlow. In the "Speculum Gregis" he seems to be either Joseph Darter or Joseph Darler depending on the transcription. In the Croydon Parish Registers he is Darnell. In the 1851 census he was recorded as Joseph Darlow again. I have chosen to use Darnell from the two Parish Registers in this edition but to index all variations.] [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked against the original document.]		Annotated Page


56	Page 56 John and Dinah Lowrings Very constant at church. They have three daughters, two very respectable servants, the second at home. The youngest lives at Mr Merry's, a very pleasing steady girl. He is ignorant and rather given to drink. They are well off; she goes out nursing, is a clean tidy woman, but a great talker. RSBS: (Going to live in a cottage behind Mr Gape's farm which Merry has just taken. The eldest daughter is just married to a Tadlow man.) [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked against the original document.]		Annotated Page


57	Page 57 John and Mary Endersby He can't read, works on the road. She can read a little. She is a sister to John Green ~~next door~~, the clerk. They have one son married (page 37). 1. Stephen Endersby, aged 27. Reads a little. 2. Richard Endersby, aged 25. An idiot. 3. David Endersby, aged 18. Reads a little. They were Christened at Tadlow. They attend Church. A very disorderly set the sons - and all very ignorant. She has had a attack of paralysis. RSBS: (But is much better.) RSBS: (Later: She died suddenly in February 1848.) [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked against the original document.]		Annotated Page


58	Page 58 John and Susan Green He can read. She can't. He was formally transported for being very active in the agricultural riots, is now a very steady man, sings in the choir at Croydon Church, and is a Communicant. He was a widower and she a widow. (She had a family before; one son has recently enlisted.) 1. John Green, aged 20. Lives with Mr Thorpe of Hatley 2. Lydia, aged 15. Can read. Lately left the Sunday School and is gone to service. 3. John, aged 12. Now in the Sunday school. 4. Anne, aged 4. They attend Church and are steady respectable people. RSBS: (They now live down in Mr Jackson's old farm (see page 91).) James and Biddy Hagger Now live here. He is a sad and drunken fellow, and has a 'worthy' son by his first wife. Biddy is an Irish Woman and, as far she knows, a Roman Catholic. She has a son and a silly daughter of the name of Nelson, by a former husband. The old people not often at Church. [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked against the original document.]		Annotated Page


59	Page 59 Lives at Clopton Farm William Fitzjohn Aged and rather infirm - he formerly rented this estate - but was cheated by his own relations, and is now employed as bailiff by Mr Elliston. He can read and write. Sarah Fitzjohn His sister, lives with him. She is also very aged and infirm and has not left the house for ten or eleven years. Mary and Hannah Cockerell, two nieces of the old people live with them. [All the above entries are crossed through] RSBS: (All dead or removed.) [This is a distillation of several transcriptions and the handwriting has not been checked 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: 15 March 2021.
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