The Felsham Shop 1900 to 1940

At the beginning of the 20^th century the Felsham shop was situated at the northern end of Upper Green in a house that can still be seen today. The postcard photograph shows that it had a glass-fronted extension going the whole length of the house and slightly to the side.  The photo is undated but was probably taken around 1930.

The name over the door is W H Ince.  Walter Herbert Ince became a shopkeeper in Felsham some time between 1904 and 1908 probably soon after he married in 1905.  He bought the shop from George Godbold. Mr Ince was still trading in 1929 and the shop stayed in the hands of his family at least until the outbreak of the World War II. 

The Census for 1911 throws some light on Walter Ince’s household.  He himself is described as a “Grocer and Draper and Sub Postmaster” of 41 years of age.  He was married and his wife was called Rose and she was 29 years of age.  He had two daughters and one son at this time aged 4, 2 and 1 month. 

His household included a General Domestic Servant (Lily Dyer, aged 17 from Shimpling), a Drapers Assistant (Susie Stiff, aged 25 from Rattlesden), and a Grocer’s Assistant (Allan Sturgeon, aged 15 from Hartest).  In addition to these shop assistants, Walter Ince employed a Grocer’s Porter called Rowland Squirrel, a 27 year old single man who lived with his parents at Castle Cottage, and a Post Office Clerk called Violet Hubbard, aged 21, who was daughter to James Hubbard, the Felsham blacksmith who had his forge immediately opposite Walter Ince’s shop.

Thus, the Felsham shop provided employment for at least six people and must have been a fairly busy and successful establishment.  In 1908, Kelly’ Directory describes the shopkeeper as “sub postmaster, grocer, draper, boot & shoe dealer, clothier, & agent for Huntley and Palmer’s biscuits.”  It would appear that the Felsham shop offered the villagers everything under the sun.  It could be aptly described as a “department store in miniature.”

The interior of the shop was probably divided in two with a grocery counter on one side and a drapery counter piled high with different fabrics on the other.  It is interesting to note that Mr Ince stocked factory made footwear which must have irked the elderly Mr William Last who was Felsham’s last boot and shoe maker and who also lived and worked on Upper Green.  The shop window probably displayed shoes and boots alongside fabrics, hats and clothes.

 The Post Office counter was an important adjunct to the shop’s business.  Kelly’s directory for 1916 tells us that “letters arrive from Bury St

Edmunds at 7.50 a.m. and 2.25 p.m.; dispatched weekdays at 10 a.m. & 5.40 p.m.; Sundays at 11 a.m.  

Sorting and delivery would need to be organised perhaps along the lines described in “Lark Rise to Candleford”.

 

One cold winter morning, when snow was on the ground and the ponds were iced over, Laura, in mittens and a scarf, was sorting the early morning mail and wishing that Zillah would hurry with the cup of tea she usually brought her at that time. The hanging oil lamp above her head had scarcely had time to thaw the atmosphere, and the one uniformed postman at a side bench, sorting his letters for delivery, stopped to thump his chest with his arms and exclaim that he’d be jiggered, but it was a fact that on such mornings as this there was bound to be a letter for every house, even for those which did not have one once in a blue moon. ‘Does it on purpose, I s’pose,’ he grumbled.

 As the 20^th century progressed, Violet Hubbard, the Felsham Post Office Clerk would need to get used to new tasks such as the payment of old age pensions and similar official business.  Income from the Post Office contract was rising but just as valuable was the fact that people coming in for a few stamps, to send a telegram, or to collect a pension were likely to be tempted to make other purchases while they happened to be in the shop.

 What sort of jobs were carried out by Rowland Squirrel, the grocer’s poerter?  Many local villages Cockfield and Thorpe Morieux had coal dealers or merchants.  Perhaps, Mr Ince’s shop dealt in coal too and perhaps one of the porter’s jobs was to deliver it.  He certainly would have been expected to move all the heavy items in the shop and he may have had additional responsibilities to do with carting items from the wholesalers back to Felsham. 

 At the beginning of the 20^th century the village shops began to sell packaged goods which eliminated much of the work that had traditionally been part of the grocer’s life, such as cutting up, weighing and bagging.  Some things such as rice and dried fruit were still sold loose.  Sugar was still weighed out into the blue bags, coffee had to be ground, and bacon sliced.  Even here though, there were changes.  Bacon-slicing machines, installed by many village shops in the 1920s and 1930s, made a considerable difference to the counter assistant’s work. 

Mr Ince’s shop sold most things but local people would still need to go to market in Bury or Stowmarket for much of their fresh fruit and vegetables.  Even so, the shop probably sold items that stored easily such as potatoes and onions.

Where did villagers get their milk from before 1940?  Was it supplied by a local farmer or did the shop keep some for sale?  It is unlikely that the shop was able to refrigerate milk. 

The shop may have sold bread even though there was a baker in the village.  Kelly’s Directory for 1916 mentions a baker called Frederick Gowers.  It is possible that the shop sold some liquor but Felsham had its beer shop a few doors  down towards the Cockfield Road at the Live and Let Live, and there was, of course, the Six Bells Public House. 

Felsham in 1674 during the reign of Charles II

The Suffolk Hearth tax returns provides us with a list of some of the people who lived in Felsham in 1674.

"National taxation records are of particular value to historians, providing rare snapshots of both the extent and distribution of wealth and population across an entire country. The Hearth Tax of the 1660s and 1670s provides one such detailed picture of the socio-economic and demographic structure of England and Wales. In addition, the information on hearths sheds invaluable light on vernacular architecture and on developments in building during the later seventeenth century."
http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/Research-Centres/Centre-for-Hearth-Tax-Research/

The Hearth Tax was introduced in England and Wales by the government of Charles II in 1662 at a time of serious fiscal emergency. The original Act of Parliament was revised in 1663 and 1664 and collection continued until the tax was finally repealed by William and Mary in 1689.

Under the terms of the grant, each liable householder was to pay one shilling for each hearth within their property for each collection of the tax. The tax was payable by people whose house was worth more than 20s a year and who contributed to local church and poor rates. Large numbers of people were exempt from paying the tax. Those individuals who were not liable to pay for reasons of poverty were required to obtain a certificate of exemption from the parish clergyman, churchwardens and overseers of the poor, countersigned by two Justices of the Peace. As a result, the hearth tax assessments cannot be considered to provide anything approaching a comprehensive census of the population.

Payments were due twice annually, at Michaelmas (29 September) and Lady Day (25 March), starting at Michaelmas 1662. However, the administration of the tax was extremely complex and assessment and collection methods changed radically over time. As a result, the majority of the surviving documents relate to the periods when the tax was administered directly by royal officials, who returned their records to the Exchequer, namely the periods 1662-1666 and 1669-1674.

Outside these periods, the collection of the tax was ‘farmed out’ to private tax collectors, who paid a fixed sum to the government in return for the privilege of collecting the tax. These farmers were not required to send their assessments into the Exchequer, although a few returns from these periods do survive. (Source: M, Durrant, History of Badley).

FELSHAM HEARTH TAX RETURNS 1674

John Fryar	4
John Motham	4
William Deekes	5
John Groom/Widow Spurgeon	3
John Spurgeon	6
William Scare	4
Mr [Thomas ] Brundish [the Rector 1646-1680]	4
Anthony Hayward	3
James Hayward	4
Thomas Warren	4
Mr Nunn [Also owned a house in Gedding with 4 hearths]	5
Robert South	7
Mr Robert Goodrich	5
Dan. Mount/Richard Kemball	3
John Banham	5
John Hayward	6
John Sterne	5
Charles Sterne	5
George Cockseage	4
Widow Worth/ George Partridge	3
William Grimwood/ Thomas Todd	3
Hezekiah Draper	3
Jos Ranson	3
John Ely	4
Total hearths	99
CERTIFIED for.
Robert Groome/Anthony Groome/John Groome	3
Widow Alexander/Edward Hawkins	3
Augustus Heylder/James Mayhew	2
John Hamont sen. & jun.	2
John Grimwood/William Lockwood	2
Towne houses	3
Exemptions	15

With the number of hearths averaging about 4, the people of Felsham were mostly living in farmhouses and cottages.  There is no large house listed.  The Lord of the Manor in 1674 was John Risby Esq. who lived in Thorpe Morieux in a house with 11 hearths.

To help put these village statistics in some sort of perspective it is worth noting that the house with the largest number of hearths in Suffolk was Hengrave Hall with 55, while more locally we have Rushbrook Hall with 33.

Mr Robert Goodrich is, perhaps, the most interesting person among the list of Felsham  tax payers.  Certainly, we know more about him than some of the others.  To begin with he is buried in the centre of the chancel of St Peter's Church and the flagstone that marks his grave bears his impressive coat of arms:

He died in 1731 at the age of 80 years.  Furthermore, a “Robert Goodrich” was a High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1727 and the Felsham gentleman may have been the same person.
(The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. He was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the county and presided at the Assizes and other important county meetings.)

Sir John Tilley in his “Notes for a history of Felsham” (1951) mentions that in 1718 Mr. Robert Goodrich, Senior, bestowed upon the Church a silver flagon bearing his arms; its "first appearance”, says the register was on Easter Day. It is still in use and, so the Rector tells me, is German work and very valuable."

The earliest mention of the Goodrich family in Felsham was in 1470 in the Wills of the Archdeaconry of Sudbury.  The record includes the will of "Rose Goddrych of Felsham, widow", dated 2nd August 1470.

For more general information about "hearth taxes" see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearth_tax

The Census Returns for Felsham 1841 to 1911

Microsoft Excel allows you to crunch numbers very quickly and easily.  Using this software or other similar spread-sheet programs, the sorting and counting of large amounts of data from the Census Returns is fairly straightforward and provides us with some interesting facts. 


Filling up the census paper. Punch, 1861 Photograph: British Library Board/The British Library

Take Felsham villagers’ names for example.  Popular Christian names among boys show a remarkable consistency throughout the Victorian and Edwardian periods.  William, George and John are regular favourites followed closely by James, Robert and Thomas.  Frederick and Arthur become more common towards the end of the 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th.

Choice of Christian names for girls reveals greater variety than the boys particularly during Edwardian times. The girls’ names show less consistency over the whole period but definite favourites do emerge.  Mary Ann and Mary are the clear winners in the popularity stakes throughout the Victorian period but ‘Mary’ alone remains a clear favourite into the 20^th century.   Sarah was very common in 1841 but fades away as the 19^th century progresses.  Elizabeth is also very popular along with Eliza, but by the beginning of the 1900s, names such as Annie, Alice, Edith and Ellen are becoming more prevalent.

The top three surnames in Felsham during this period were BREWER, SMITH and TURNER.

There is much important work to be done in analysing local census material to highlight historical trends: changes in age structures, occupations, family size, and school attendance are but a few that come to mind.

If you would like a FREE Excel copy of the Felsham censuses contact the EDITOR
See also: http://felshamhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/local-history-studies-bibliography.html

Felsham Village Sign ~ with historical connotations

This is FHF's suggestion for a village sign with historical illustrations

This frame represents the predominance of farmhouses with moats in Felsham going back to the early 14th century.  It also indicates the importance of thatch as a roofing medium in our area.	This frame represents the importance of Felsham as a market centre going back to the 13th century and the more recent revival of the Felsham Street Fair with its multiplicity of stalls down The Street.
This frame represents the presence of an annual Fair in Felsham going back to the early 13th century and the introduction of a Lamb Fair during the Tudor period.  It also represents the continued importance of animals on the local small-holdings.	This frame represents the importance of farming in our village with centuries of horse-powered farm implements and waggons.  The waggon illustrated is representative of a Suffolk waggon drawn by four heavy horses.

CB

The G&F magazine (the Gedding and Felsham community magazine)

The latest edition of the G&F contains six articles on local history:

• Felsham Upper Green and Bury Road - past and present
• The Felsham Shop 1900 to 1940
• Summer Excursion to Gedding Church 1889
• The Felsham Lamb Fair
• The Reading Room
• The Chamberlains of Gedding Hall

 

 

 

On Sale in Felsham PO Stores.  Price £3

 

A new account of the life of an important Suffolk Clergyman and Magistrate during the 19th century

Read this exciting new biography of Thomas Anderson who was Rector of Felsham and a Suffolk magistrate for over fifty years.

 

Thomas Anderson

~

Rector of Felsham

1822 to 1872

 

ON SALE

 

Felsham PO Stores

 

Price £6

 

Also available from the author

 

 

The proceeds from the sale of this new booklet will go towards the digitalisation of photographs of Felsham in the Spanton-Jarman Collection. These photographs are held at the Suffolk Record Office on behalf of the Bury Past & Present Society.

Extract from the Foreword to

'Thomas Anderson ~ Rector of Felsham 1822-1872'

 

Any attempt to write the biography of someone who lived over a hundred and forty years ago in Felsham and who left behind no portrait, diary, letters or personal reminiscences is beset with difficulties.  With the Rev. Thomas Anderson there is none of that interesting record left by other 19th century parsons who were his approximate East Anglian contemporaries: Richard Cobbold of Wortham, John Longe of Coddenham, John Henslow of Hitcham, and Benjamin Armstrong of East Derham.

 

We do not know what Thomas Anderson looked like because no drawing, painting or photograph of him has survived.  We do know that he had his photograph taken in Bury St Edmunds sometime during 1864, along with other local clergymen, with prints selling in the photographer’s shop for one shilling each, but it has not been traced.  So a biography without a written or pictorial portrait and without access to documents giving details of character, opinion and social attitudes, could be not only dry and uninteresting but seriously unbalanced. 

 

Nevertheless, it is amazing how much can be re-created from even the most seemingly banal pieces of evidence such as snippets from local newspapers. It must be stressed, though, that this strategy is a minefield for the amateur local historian as deduction based on incomplete evidence can easily turn into fiction and conjecture.   Genealogical sources, mostly on-line, can provide generally accurate access to the basic details of Thomas Anderson’s life – where he was born, when he married, when he died, and so on.  It has been a major task to put some flesh on these rather dry bones of bare fact.  However, we are particularly fortunate in that one of Thomas Anderson’s great nephews lived in Felsham during the 1930s and 40s and related some family anecdotes that give a wonderful glimpse of happenings inside the Rectory during his great uncle’s incumbency.

 

 We are also fortunate in that Thomas Anderson was not only a rector but a magistrate and sometime Chairman of the Suffolk Quarter Sessions, and as such was frequently mentioned in reports of court proceedings in local newspapers such as the Bury & Norwich Post and the Ipswich Journal.  So, although we will probably never know much about his personal life, Thomas Anderson had a public persona as a well-regarded and conscientious magistrate which can give us some clue as to his social attitudes and his position in society.  Nevertheless, the reader may feel that the biography which follows is seriously over-dependent on reports, articles and advertisements in newspapers.  It can only be hoped that, in time, more background information on Thomas Anderson will become available and that a more rounded “life” will eventually emerge.

 

As a well-educated man and ordained priest, Thomas Anderson would certainly have known George Herbert’s book The Country Parson, written one hundred and seventy years before he arrived in Felsham.  In this seminal book he would have read Herbert’s description of the ideal parson’s life which included the stricture:

 

The Countrey Parson is exceeding exact in his Life, being holy, just, prudent, temperate, bold, grave in all his wayes

 

Despite the research constraints outlined above, this brief biography provides plenty of evidence that Thomas Anderson’s life reflected many of these virtues that George Herbert held in such high esteem.