search tips advanced search
Detail from the Last Supper stained glass window in All Saints Parish Church Croydon, in memory of Sophia Mirabella Sandilands, wife of the rector 1859 Wimpole Past Logo
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 60 to 69 (Basic Text)

This is the basic text of the "Speculum Gregis" pages 60 to 69 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.
-
Return to Page 59 (Basic)
Return to Page 59
(Basic Text)
  
Forward to Page 70
(Basic Text)
 Continue to Page 70 (Basic)
-
Page 60
Clopton Farm
- under the same roof as the last
James and Mary King
He works for Mr Elliston at Wimpole. She is daughter of William Pateman (page 30).
1. Alfred King, aged 6.
2. Emily King, aged 5.
3. Ellen King, aged 3.
4. Sarah King, aged 1.
They were married and the children Christened at Croydon Church. They attend Church.
RSBS: (King is now a sort of overseer for Mr Elliston - he is a steady man - but said not to be very good tempered to the workmen; she is a very quick, good sort of woman.)
-
Page 61
Old Larkins
Father of the Publican, rents some land and is a cattle jobber and drover. He has been at church two or three times. He is a civil old man.
William Larkins and Wife
and son Joseph Larkins
A butcher, drunken, idle, abusive. She has very bad health. Her friends are in good circumstances at Morden. Larkins is never at Church, she but seldom on account of her health - a good sort of woman.
RSBS: (Later note: Died 10th October 1847.)
[Above paragraph is crossed through]
RSBS: (This farmhouse has been converted into four tenements, one of which is occupied as above.
a third second by Isaac and Sarah Thompson (see page 52).
a third by Joseph and Mary Darnell (see page 55).
a fourth by John and Mary Endersby (see page 57).
RSBS: (Later: The Larkins' have quitted this house, which is now occupied by John Simons and wife.)
-
Page 62
Chandler Merry
Farmer - churchwarden - a man of good private property - and a very steady respectable man. He has an estate of his own at Orwell, holds one of Downing College in which he resides, and has just taken a large farm of Mr Gape's [up on the hill, above the Rectory.
His wife is a London lady - they have 2 children. They are very civil and friendly.
-
Page 63
Thomas Jackson
Farmer, has had a former wife; and his wife a former husband, and each had children, but none by this marriage. A civil friendly man - she a very violent temper.
RSBS: (Removed to the farm formerly occupied by Charles and Emily King, deceased (see page 70). The farmhouse is divided into tenements (see page 91).)
-
Page 64
In the close near Mr Jackson's
Mary Edwards
Aged and a widow, she has had two husbands.
To her first, who was called Richardson, she was married at Great Warley church, Essex, and by him she has a son aged 41 and blind who lives with her, William Richardson.
She was married to her second husband Edwards at Croydon. She can't read - is very constant at Church - unless prevented by illness - her son generally attends Eversden Meeting Independents, and is a decided dissenter.
She is grandmother to Samuel Richardson (page 5), and also to Anne Thompson (page 52).
-
Page 65
Next door
John and Mary Pateman
Can read very little, works for Mr Ellis. She can't read. He is son of William Pateman (page 30) - she is daughter of John Lee (page 68). They were married and their child Christened at Croydon. He generally attends a Meeting House at Great Morden. She is very constant at Church - and is a Communicant.
1. John Pateman, aged 5. In the Sunday school
RSBS: (His brother lives with him. His name is [left blank]. He works for Mr Pearman.) [RSBS entry is crossed through]
RSBS: (Later: He has left here now.)
-
Page 66
Henry Spencer
A widower, can read, brother of John Spencer (page 51).
1. Anne Spencer, aged 21.
Has but this one child at home - one son has lately enlisted.
He is shepherd for Mr George, and is but seldom at church. She occasionally is at church and sometimes attends Bassingbourn Independent Meeting.
He is lately married to Betsy and has a child.
RSBS: (She has lately attended church more regularly - she is supposed to be likely to marry William Lee. Mary Spencer, the eldest daughter, is lately married to Hosea Simpson, and they live here at present, I believe.)
RSBS: (Later: Anne is married to William Lee.)
-
Page 67
William and Mary Gentle
Can't read, works for Mr George. She can read. She was a widow of the name of Allen -
has a son ____ Allen - just discharged from the Marines with a pension and settled at Eversden.
1. Philip Gentle, aged 22. Now in goal for a riot at Caxton Work House.
2. Joseph Gentle, aged 21. Now living at Eversden as a Carpenter.
3. Marianne Gentle, aged 18. Silly.
They attend church very constantly. She used always to go to Eversden Meeting, and now does once a month. He has been a very drinking man; has much improved. She is a very respectable woman.
RSBS: (Philip is gone to Canada. Joseph is married and settled at Eversden.)
-
Page 68
John and Elizabeth Lee
He can't read, works for Mr Merry. She can read a little.
1. Joseph Jerah Lee, aged 18. Works for Mr Merry.
2. David Lee, aged 14. In the Sunday school. Works for Mr Rust.
3. Eliza Lee, aged 12. In the Sunday school.
Joseph is very steady, David is not.
They have many other children in this parish (pages 17, 35, 53, 65 and a son at Hatley etc); a married daughter who lived in the same house died in her confinement in April 1842, named Elizabeth How, leaving an infant child which sometimes stays with its grandmother. They are very regular at church, and are very steady, respectable people.
RSBS: (Lydia, an older daughter, is come home to live, when her brother married - whose house she used to keep.)
-
Page 69
David and Kezia Law
He is brother to William Law (page 11). She is sister to Mrs Newman and Mrs Graves.
They have four children - are steady respectable people and generally at church.
-
Return to Page 59 (Basic)
Return to Page 59
(Basic Text)
  
Forward to Page 70
(Basic Text)
 Continue to Page 70 (Basic)
-
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.
-
Sign the Speculum Gregis Guestbook
Speculum Gregis Guestbook - View it under the 'Feedback' tab above.
Please sign our Guestbook - Just to say 'hello'... ask a question... provide site feedback... provide or request information...
-
© Copyright Steve Odell and the WimpolePast website 2002-2021. Website security
- Contact the Website here.
- All information on this web site is supplied in good faith.
- No responsibility can be taken for errors or omissions.
- This site does not use cookies.
All information on this web site is supplied in good faith.
No responsibility can be taken for errors or omissions.
This site does not use cookies.