High Country History Group

We will be holding our Annual General meeting via Zoom on Thursday 25th March. You will receive the relevant papers for this meeting wither by e-mail or through the post to those members who we do not have an mail address.

The Committee have decided that the membership fees should remain the same for the forthcoming year. There will be a form so that you can renew your membership.

Hopefully we will be able to resume our regular meetings at Toot Hill Village Hall before too long, but in the meantime we will continue with our monthly Zoom meetings.

Stay safe.

Journal 78 for December 2020 contained a photograph of Stapleford Tawney rectory, with the rector and his family by an open French window. The rector’s unusual surname was familiar, as I had found his signature on the title page of a copy of Winstone’s Minutes of the Epping & Ongar Highway Trust 1769-1870, with his carefully inked typographical corrections running throughout the volume.

Born in Hampstead in 1839, he was the son of a barrister. Graduating from Trinity College Cambridge, in 1863, he immediately joined newly established Haileybury College in Hertfordshire as an assistant master and the first housemaster of one of the boarding houses there. Similar contemporary private schools were largely staffed by ordained bachelors, but it is not clear of this was Haileybury’s policy at that time. While at the school he was ordained deacon in 1864, and priest the following year. By 1869 he had left the school for a living in Ayott St Peter, before moving to the rectory of Stapleford Tawney (combined with Theydon Mount) in 1872 where he remained for the rest of his life.

As Winstone’s book showed, he had an interest in archaeology and local history. He served on the Council of the Essex Archaeological Society for many years, and ‘rarely missed an archaeological excursion’. Though he never published anything in the Society’s Transactions, he did transcribe and edit the Stapleford Tawney parish registers, and also provided material for a family history of Lt. Col. T H Lewin (1839-1916), a pioneering administrator in India who worked with the rebellious tribes of the Chittagong Hills who were resisting British rule. In due course they came to revere him. Presumably the relationship between Prance and Lewin was established after the latter’s return to Britain. Prance was elected FSA in 1892, but it is not known for what work this honour came to be conferred.
He was said to have been a man ‘of great physical activity’. He must have been a pioneering cyclist, perhaps a little unusual for clergy man during that period, and was able to cycle long distances ‘without apparent fatigue’. He died in harness in April 1913.

The first meeting of the joint Epping Highway Trust took place at Epping Place inn on 2nd May 1769. The Trustees consisted of 49 gentlemen including John Conyers Esq. (Treasurer), Jacob Houblon Esq. (Junior) from Coopersale house and seven Reverends. The first order was for a board to be painted with tolls & hung at the gates when the Epping & Ongar Turnpike Act came into force. Tolls were to be taken at the gate near Epping Place for the 1st month, then at the Thornwood Common gate (lower gate) 2nd month etc., the other to be left open.
Another proposal was removing the turnpike at the west end of town to 'that side of the windmill belonging to John Conyers, Esq. near Epping Place, which is nearest to the town of Epping'. It was also proposed that a new gate & rails should be fixed across the road & common from 'John Bishop's house to Peter White's house, as being the shortest & least expensive route & nearest the town'. A counter proposal was for 'a new gate & rails to be fixed across from the hedge near the corner of Hornfield, in the possession of John Tanner, to a large elm tree near William Robert's house , nearest the windmill'. The latter won by 24 to 22 votes.
The fence ran along the road down to Hawcock lane (now Ivy Chimneys). It was later discovered that people were managing to avoid the turnpike by passing behind the windmill, and a fence was built across the lane with a gate, left unlocked for foot passengers to and from Theydon Bois. Today it is still remembered by the Forest Gate Inn. The Turnpike house itself was erected on the right-hand side of the road going to London in brick work, with a lean-to but no cellar. A high railing was also to be made 20 yards from the gate and a double ditch with posts & two rails on the bank at a cost of £234 14s 3d. The house is still there today, now known as Bellvue, by the Bell traffic lights.

The people in Thornwood had a major grievance with the turnpike, with good reason; they were being charged to go to church. In 1793 a new act decreed that inhabitants of Thornwood were not to be asked for tolls for going to church and back, and any tolls previously taken for this reason were to be repaid to them. They weren't the only ones with a grievance. Clergymen visiting parishioners and the sick or dying were also being charged. A series of exemptions were laid out to rectify this. People did not have to pay when going to or returning from their place of worship on any day when 'divine service is ordered by the authority to be celebrated, nor when attending the funeral of a person dying and to be buried by either of the parishes through which the road passes'.
Also included were clergymen visiting the sick or performing their parochial or ministerial duties on the day mentioned and carts carrying manure or gravel for mending roads. On January 5th 1829 in consequence of the representation of Mr. Henry Gilby, the proprietor of the Stortford coach, stage coaches were in future to be relieved from payment of the original tolls, taken 3 days before and 3 days after the fairs in the neighbourhood, at which time both gates were shut and tolls taken'. Many people passed through the turnpike quite frequently, not just on Sundays or Market days. They could, if they wished, buy a season ticket. Inhabitants of parishes were allowed to compound all their trips under a single sum per annum. In 1769 John Conyers paid one guinea, a year in advance, for his horses, carriages & family, and servants. The Rev. Mr Salt, resident minister of Epping chapel, paid 2s per annum, Joseph Doubleday the grocer 10/6d.
Toll Charges in 1816
If drawn by more than two horses 1s 0d
For every waggon or wain drawn by six horses or less 1s 6d
For every waggon or wain drawn by more than six horses 2s 0d
For every limber carriage drawn by three or more horses or mules 2s 0d
And if with less … 1s 6d
For every mare, gelding, mule, horse or ass not drawing 0s 1d
For neat cattle by the score 0s 10d
For calves, swine, sheep or lambs by the score 0s-5d.
Commercial and Mail Coach's calling at Epping in Essex ...
To London
The Stortford Coach at 5 o'clock p.m.
The Fakenham at 8 o'clock a.m.
The Norwich Coach at 9 o'clock a.m.
The Cambridge "Times" at 10 o'clock a.m.
The Cambridge Coach at 2 o'clock p.m.
The Bury Coach at 11 o'clock p.m.
The Swaffham Coach at 8 o'clock p.m.
The "Magnet" from Norwich at 4 o'clock a.m.
The Norwich Mail at 5 o'clock a.m.
The Walden Coach at 2 o'clock p.m.
The Harlow Coach at 9 o'clock a.m.
The Thetford Coach at 9 o'clock a.m.
The Dunmow Coach at 9 o'clock a.m.
From London
The Thetford Coach at 9 o'clock a.m.
The Fakenham at 8 o'clock a.m.
The Cambridge Coach at 12 o'clock a.m.
The Bury Coach at 4 o'clock p.m.
The Cambridge "Times" at 5 o'clock p.m.
The Norwich Coach at 6 o'clock p.m.
The "Magnet" to Norwich at 8 o'clock p.m.
The Swaffham Coach at 8 o'clock p.m.
The Norwich Mail at 10 o'clock p.m.
The Walden Coach at 12 o'clock p.m.
The Harlow Coach at 6 o'clock p.m.
The Stortford Coach at 5 o'clock p.m.
The Dunmow Coach at 9 o'clock a.m.
(From an Almanac published by Mr Griffith, printer & stationer of Epping. Essex)
In 1750 a coach ran through Chipping Ongar 3 times weekly and in 1764 the Ongar 'Crown' landlord sponsored a 'New Machine' to run from Fyfield through Ongar to London. One of these 2 coaches soon ceased, the other continued for nearly the rest of the century.
In addition there were 2 Epping coaches, each performing 2 journeys a day, making the total number of coaches to and from Epping 25 a day. Each coach was driven by four horses, and each called at a particular inn, where the horses would be stabled.

The coach guard played a series of particular calling notes when arriving at the inn. There were also post horses, many of them used by travellers to ride to the Newmarket races.
Other horses were required for the yellow post chaises then in use, as well as for the coaches kept by a number of local county families. These were usually equipped to carry the family and their luggage long distances, so would be drawn by a four-in-hand. Epping by the 1790's was served by coaches making 46 journeys a week.
Purely local services did not develop until end of 18th Century and then only on a small scale. Without a horse, local people relied on their feet or a carrier’s cart.

Alexander Cleeve born in 1666 was a wealthy merchant and pewterer of London. In 1695 he purchased Greensted Hall, from Robert Hulson. In addition to the Hall, Cleeve obtained the advowson of Greensted and also High Laver. He married twice, firstly to Mary Duffield, with whom he had four sons [ Alexander, John, Benjamin and Simon]. Upon the death of Mary he married Anne Bouchier, with whom he had seven children, [Bowcher, Richard, Philippa, Jane, Ann, Mary and Elizabeth].
Alexander Cleeve died in 1738 and in his will he left considerable sums of money and property to his children. His will gives details of his bequests.
Alexander Cleeve, Citizen and Pewterer of London. Will dated 21 Dec. 1737, proved 13 April 1738, by Anne Cleeve the relict, & Bourchier alias Bowcher Cleeve the son. To my eldest son Alexander Cleeve (whom I have already sufficiently advanced) my leasehold messuage in the Strand. To my son John Cleeve my farm etc., at Greenstead, now in the tenure of John Bull, & also the Advowson & presentation to the Church at High Laver, of which Church my gd. Son is the present incumbent. I have already advanced to my son Simon Cleeve £1400 & now give him enough to make it up to £2000. My freehold messuage in my own occupation in Cornhill, London, & my freehold messuage in Bread Str., London, to my wife Anne & my son Bowcher Cleeve. To my son Benjamin £2000. Half of my stock as a pewterer, to my son Bowcher Cleeve. To my two daughters Jane and Anne, messusge and farm, etc., at Greenstead & Bobbingworth, late in the occupation of Thos. Piggott & now of Thos. Dennis, & also my other Farm called Repentance in Greenstead. I also give them £1000 each at the ages of 21 or marriage. To my daughter Mary Cleeve, messuages, farm, etc., in Greenstead, High Ongar & Standford Rivers, & also £1000 at age 21 or marriage. To my two youngest children Richard and Elizabeth Cleeve, my manor & farm called Vaux otherwise Foes, in the parishes of Otting & Walter Belchamp in Essex, & also I give them £1000 each at age of 21. On my marriage I settled upon Trustees my manor of Greenstead Hall & divers tenements, etc., and I now devise them to John Elderton, Esq., Common Cryer of London, & Wm. Edden, Pewterer, in trust for my wife, & at her decease to be sold for the benefit of my children. To my wife £100 for mourning. To Agent [sic] Alexander Cleeve, my sisters Walton and Bowcher, my sons John, Benjamin, Simon, Bowcher & Richard, my daughters Jane, Anne, Mary & Elizabeth, £10 each for mourning. To the aforesaid John Elderton & Wm. Edden £20 each. To my two journeymen John Reeves & Giles Cleeve, senr., & to Giles Cleeve junr., £5 each. My friend Peter Kelk £5. Residue to my wife Ann & my son Bowcher Cleeve, joint Ex’ors. ALEX. CLEEVE.
Witnesses, Robt. Markham & Joseph Curtis, waiters at the Rainbow Coffee house, Cornhill. John Ellis, scrivener.
(To be continued)

From the Chelmsford Chronicle 4th September 1846

STANFORD RIVERS, NEAR ONGAR

CAPITAL FARMING STOCK
AT THE DOES FARM

TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION
By Messrs Colchester and Son

On Saturday, the 19th day of September, 1846 at Eleven o’Clock

The entire FARMING STOCK of Mr. James Stallibrass, who quits the Farm, and will comprise

4 capital Cart mares, stinted to Wilson’s horse,
8 beautiful Durham Cows, very superior stock and well in Calf to a Durham Bull;
10 Durham Heifer Calves,
5 ditto Steers,
24 Swine.
Ploughs, harrows rolls, carts harness, and every requisite for the occupation, as expressed in Catalogues.

Rabies (Also known as hydrophobia which refers to another symptom of rabies, fear of water), has been eradicated in this country, but in Victorian times some 675 cases were recorded in England. Until Louis Pasteur and Emile Roux developed a vaccine in the mid-1880s, bite marks from rabid or suspected rabid animals were often treated by cutting away the flesh in and around the infected area and then cauterizing the wound. For canine and human victims alike, the symptoms were dreadful and death was a certainty.

A woodcut from the Middle Ages showing a rabid dog. (Public Domain)

There was much debate in the papers as how the Government should be addressing the problem and making the owners of dogs responsible for their animals. In 1866 The Lancet had this to say:

From the Chelmsford Chronicle 29th June 1866

Hydrophobia. — People die of hydrophobia, and juries sit and make respectful representations of the Home Secretary of the increasing frequency of the disease. But nothing is done. There is a concurrence of opinion to what needs to be done, which makes this inaction of Government more culpable. The desirable thing is to have every dog associated with an owner, and to require a tax from every owner, which shall be proof of the owner's care for the animal. We earnestly urge upon Sir George Grey some legislation on the dog nuisance. It may seem too much to expect statesmen to come down from the great questions and anxieties of the day to legislate upon stray dogs; but the Home Office would really relieve the public mind by a good short Act upon this subject. One case of hydrophobia in a Member of Parliament would rouse the Home Office to the needed effort. We should be sorry to believe that the present wide-spread fear is not sufficient without this catastrophe. — Lancet.

Two incidents of rabies were reported to have happened in Stanford Rivers, leading to the deaths of both persons, who appear to have been bitten by the same dog, some three years before their eventual deaths.

Let the local papers take up the story.

From the Chelmsford Chronicle 24th August 1877

ONGAR. Sudden Death from Hydrophobia. Nearly three years since Mr. Alfred Brown, son Mr. Joseph Brown, of Lucks Farm, Stanford Rivers, was bitten in the hand by a mad dog. veterinary surgeon with Mr. Brook, of Chipping Ongar, he was daily seen, apparently in good health, until Friday last, when he complained of a twinging pain in the arm. He had lately been re-vaccinated. On Saturday he was removed to his father's house and attended by Dr. Grattan, but soon after ten at night on Sunday died in convulsions. Those of his friends whom he intimately knew he would allow to speak to him, but not to see his face, as he walked up and down the room, occasionally beating his forehead against the wall. He was sensible, and able to tell them of his approaching end, as ever since he was bitten he had made hydrophobia his principal study, and therefore was perfectly aware of the danger even after so long a period of three years. So sudden a removal of a young man at 22 has caused a universal expression of sorrow from his friends and neighbours. More than one animal was bitten at that time, and it is hoped that more than usual care will be taken by those who have dogs in this neighbourhood.

From the Chelmsford Chronicle 7th September 1877

The Recent Case of Hydrophobia. — A correspondent writes giving a few further particulars concerning the sad case of hydrophobia at Ongar. It appears that rather more than three years ago a rabid dog broke loose from somewhere in the neighbourhood, at present unknown, and proceeding through Stanford Rivers and Ongar, passed by the deceased's (Mr. Alfred Brown) house, and he being outside at the time, it attacked him, biting him in the hand. He does not seem to have done anything to the wound that night, but the next had it cauterised by a doctor in Ongar, and the wound healed, to appearances satisfactorily - A few months afterwards he was articled to Mr. Brook, veterinary surgeon, of Ongar, with whom he was still studying at the time of the symptoms of hydrophobia showing themselves, which they did on the evening of Friday, the 17th ult., by great pain in the hand that was bitten, continuing np the arm. Feeling worse on the Saturday, he was by his own wish, removed to his home, and attended by a doctor, a second being called in on Sunday.

But their efforts to battle with the terrible disease were unsuccessful; it gradually developed itself, and he died 10.30 p.m., after great suffering. I may mention that among his studies for the profession of veterinary surgeon he paid special attention to hydrophobia and seemed to know exactly what was the matter as soon as the symptoms began to show themselves. Excepting the time he was in convulsions he was perfectly sensible, and able to talk to his friends, but could not bear them to look at him; neither could he be induced to wash himself, or in way touch liquid. I would also mention that he was re-vaccinated a fortnight before his death. Some are of opinion that this may have brought put the disease, but that must be a matter for the study of doctors.

From the Essex Standard 10th August 1878

Hydrophobia. — On Monday, July 29, a hay carter, named John Nunn, who was better known in the district by the name of Blondin, was taken ill while at a beer- house at Stanford Rivers, and was removed to the Ongar Union-house, where he was attended by Dr. Grattan, who found him to be in a delirious state. He gradually became worse, and manifested symptoms of hydrophobia, and he died on Thursday, August 1, Dr. Grattan being of the opinion from the symptoms that death was due to hydrophobia. The deceased was bitten on the 21st of May, 1874, by the same dog which attacked Mr. Brown, son of Mr. Brown, farmer and dealer, of Stanford Rivers, who, it will be remembered, died about 12 months since from hydrophobia, after suffering intensely from this terrible visitation.

Sharp-eyed visitors to Stapleford Tawney churchyard may notice an unusual gravestone on the south side of the church, opposite the chapel (Fig 1). Dedicated to Richard Wright, it has a decorative carved head, with figures and a horse. A man is lying on the ground, propped up on one elbow and holding out the other arm. Another man has dismounted from his horse and is pouring something onto the stricken man’s arm. The horse stands under a tree, turning its head to look at the scene. This is an illustration of the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Figurative designs on gravestones usually refer to death or resurrection (angels, cherubs, skulls or bones) or sometimes symbols of the deceased’s occupation. (At Tawney, there are a few occupational examples from recent decades: an anchor for a naval commander, a sheaf of corn and a flower for a farmer and his wife, and a horse ploughing for a former farm worker.)

Richard Wright’s grave, however, is much older, dating to 1781, and the parable decoration is rare. A 19th century antiquarian from Woolwich, W T Vincent, made a study of gravestone sculpture in Kent and Essex, and only knew of three other examples. His description of coming across the Tawney example is worth quoting for its flowery style:

“…and in taking a near [short] cut at a guess across country for Stapleford Tawney I mind me that I lost my way, or thought I had, but the mariner's needle was true, and emerging in a green avenue I saw before me a finger-post marked "To Tawney Church." I took off my hat and respectfully saluted that finger-post, and was soon in the churchyard, where I haply lighted upon one of the gems of my collection, the headstone sculpture of "The Good Samaritan".”

He includes a fairly accurate drawing (below).

A recent photograph shows that, despite atmospheric pollution, there has been surprisingly little deterioration of the sculpture over the years, probably because it was cut in such deep relief (Fig 2). In fact the horse’s head and the Samaritan’s robe are clearer now than on the 1896 drawing. The writing, where it is deeply carved, is still quite legible, but the lighter italic script is less so.

Fig 2

Another curious feature about this and nine other headstones in the churchyard is that the inscriptions are on the west face, not the usual east face. The coffins were still placed on the east side, but there seems to have been a custom in the Regency period for a west-facing inscription. All the examples at Tawney are of similar-looking stone and date from between 1765 and 1838.

So who was Richard Wright, and why was this particular illustration chosen? The headstone tells us that he was a Farmer of this Parish, and that he died on 3rd March 1765 at the age of 56. Other sources describe him as a farmer, a grazier, and even a gentleman. He was born in 1725 in Latton, near Harlow, and had two brothers, Edward and John Waylett Wright. Richard married his first wife Ann and moved to Stapleford Tawney. They had their first son Edward in October 1747. Edward died as a baby just two months later, a sadly all too common occurrence. In 1751 they had a second son, Richard junior, who survived into adulthood, but they appear to have had no other children.

Richard’s wife Ann died in 1765 (she was 39) and Richard’s gravestone stands next to hers (Fig 3). Its decoration is more conventional – a cherub with wings in front of two crossed trumpets (a reference to the last trump). The italic inscription tells us that “She was a good Christian, an affectionate wife and a Tender Parent, and bore with becoming Patience a Lingering Disorder”.

Fig 3

Richard then married his second wife Elizabeth, but the couple seem to have had no children. Perhaps it was Elizabeth, or maybe his son Richard junior, who chose the Good Samaritan illustration for the headstone. Below the date of his death and his age, there are three or four lines of italic inscription which are sadly illegible, but one of the words appears to be “friend”.

Close friendships were highly valued at this time. Inside the church, an elegant and expensive wall monument commemorates Grace Addison, servant and companion to a married daughter of the Luther family of Suttons. They both requested to be buried in the same grave. In Theydon Mount churchyard, a Dr John Dod arranged to be buried up against the south chancel wall in 1762, “as nigh as might be to his worthy friend Sir Edward Smijth, Bart”, who was buried inside the church.

If Richard Wright was indeed a generous benefactor, he would normally be expected to appear in the church vestry records as a churchwarden, overseer of the poor, or at least a member of the vestry, as all the reasonably well-off farmers did, or to make some sort of donation or charitable contribution,. But there is no mention of him apart from his sons’ baptisms and the burials and there is no record of him supporting the church or local community.

There may be a clue to the reason for Richard’s lack of involvement in the parish church in his surname, Wright. There was a well-known county family called Wright in Kelvedon Hatch and Navestock. Richard owned land in his own right in Kelvedon Hatch and in 1770 he was appointed Commissioner for Enclosure for Navestock Common and Heath, suggesting he and John Wright of Kelvedon Hall were related. The Kelvedon Wrights were Roman Catholic. There were no Catholic churches or cemeteries at this time, so baptisms, weddings and funerals all took place in the local Anglican church, but there was usually little other involvement.

Both Richard’s and his second wife Elizabeth’s wills survive in The National Archives and reveal more detail. They were clearly a wealthy couple, not just an ordinary farmer and his wife. Richard left the large sum of £1600 in trust (equivalent to £240,000 today), to be invested for the benefit of his nieces and nephews, and there were other gifts to his immediate family. Nothing was given to charity, and very little to anyone outside the family. His wife Elizabeth was given cash and a generous annuity, “But not to the use of any after-taken husband”! She was to choose any favourite items of plate, china and furniture for herself from two of the rooms in the house. Richard junior is barely mentioned, perhaps because he was already provided for.

The will reveals that Richard’s unnamed farm was “at Pissingford [sic] Bridge”. By a process of elimination, this could only be the house now known as Talbot House, formerly the Talbot Inn. The present early 19th century grey brick frontage conceals two older timber-framed ranges behind it – one dating from the mid-16th century and another from the 17th century, which together would have formed the house the Wrights would have known. Richard leased the house and farm, and although the landlord is not named, it was almost certainly the Luther family of Suttons Manor. The description of Richard as a grazier fits with the grassland and water-meadows around Talbot House by the River Roding.

When Elizabeth died more than 20 years later in 1789, she hadn’t remarried and was still at Tawney. She made many bequests of silver, jewellery, cash and annuities to her own relatives, but some items and money were left to his side of the family. She gave Richard’s niece Mary Wright “the ring I had for her late uncle as it bears the name she ought to value”, presumably Richard’s name. This may be a reference to Richard’s generous annuities to the five nieces, including Mary, who all grew up without a father when his brother Edward died young. The chances of making a good marriage without money in those circumstances were limited, as any reader of Jane Austen will know.

There is no further mention of the Wrights in the parish records. After Charles Smith bought the Suttons estate in 1787, he had a large front block and brewing-house added to the Wrights’ former home, and it became the Talbot Inn. (The Smith’s family crest was a talbot or hunting hound). By then the Wright family had no more involvement with Stapleford Tawney, and the secret of whatever acts of kindness to strangers Richard had displayed in his lifetime went with him, literally, to his grave.

rom the Essex Standard 10th November 1837

STAPLEFORD TAWNEY
Freehold Estates,
TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION, BY
J. Lewis.
At the Crown Inn, Chipping Ongar, on Saturday 11th November, 1837, at Two o’Clock in the after-noon, in Two Lots, by direction of the Guardians of the Poor of the Ongar Union, and with the consent of the Poor Law Commissioners.

Lot 1. A SUBSTANTIAL Freehold Timber and Tiled COTTAGE, in two Tenements, with large Gardens planted with fruit trees, adjoining the High Road, and abutting Stapleford Tawney Churchyard, in the occupation of Thomas Glasscock and John Clark, yearly tenants, at £8 per annum.

Lot 2. Comprises a Freehold COTTAGE, in three Tenements, with three large Gardens, situate at Tawney Common, adjoining the High Road, from Toot Hill to Epping, in the occupation of David Doe, George Baker, Wm. Whitbread, and James Nightingale.

Particulars and Conditions of Sale may be had at the Bull Inn, Aldgate; of Mr. Gibson, Solicitor, Ongar; the Inns in the neighbourhood; and of J. Lewis, Water-end Farm, near Ongar.

In October 1861 this account of the persecution of John Blake and his family in Great Bardfield, Essex was written by one of his descendants:

“John Blake was a Baker residing at the village of Great Bardfield in Essex, and having, at the time my story begins (1793), a wife and five small children whom he was maintaining by dint of industry and great frugality in respectability and comfort. He is represented by those who knew him well as “Diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord”.

The Village had obtained an unenviable notoriety in the surrounding neighbourhood for the profligacy of its inhabitants and was known, at a time not at all conspicuous for a high standard of public morality, as Wicked Bardfield.

The pious Baker viewed with pain the uncontrolled iniquity that surrounded him, and desiring as far as his humble abilities would allow to raise the standard of the gospel in the village he invited some itinerant Methodist preachers to hold services in his Bake Office which was licensed for the purpose in conformity with the law.

There on Sabbath days was a little band collected to hear the words of life and seated around the Bake Office upon the bins and flour sacks or perchance on some more convenient resting place provided for the occasion. Some of the inhabitants of Wicked Bardfield listened for the first time to the invitation of Mercy addressed to them by the self-denying labourers who “went about doing good”, and hesitated not through evil report and cowardly maltreatment to “Proclaim to sinners round, What a dear Saviour they had found”.

These irregular proceedings at the Bake Office, aroused the ire of the Parish Minister who conceived the Methodists as poachers on his preserve and forthwith took measures to oblige the Baker to discontinue the services. He formed a Committee consisting of two shopkeepers, a publican, a farrier who was also a Churchwarden and two farmers of the neighbourhood who entered on their work with businesslike precision and energy. The Committee in order to effect the ruin of the Baker advertising in the public newspapers for one of the same business to come and set up in opposition; and having obtained one, they supported him at a considerable expense, but the former baker making confessedly good bread etc they did not succeed according to their sanguine expectations. The Committee then attempted to engage the whole town and parish in a combination not to trade with the Baker. This scheme they devoutly hoped would completely starve the poor man and his family or compel him to renounce his judgement and conscience in matters of Religion. Accordingly a mutiny was actually drawn up by some persons and presented by the p-r-n for approbation proposing at the same time that it should be copied and stamped paper the next day and signed by themselves and as many as they could prevail upon to join them. In this nefarious deed they covenanted for themselves and their families, not to buy anything of the poor man under the penalty of ten shillings for every offence committed by a master tradesman or farmer and five shillings for every journeyman or labourer.

It does not appear that the foregoing was ever completely carried into effect but it was drawn up and they carved out its design as far as possible.

These means not succeeding a course of greater violence was pursued, a number of “lewd fellows of the baser sort” were instigated to attack the unoffending religionists and on Sunday 14th July 1793 the preachers on arriving at the Bake House at half past ten a.m. found a mob assembled round the door in a high state of excitement – crying “We have a good Church.” “You have no business here.” “The Gentlemen don’t like it etc etc”. One of the preachers replied “We don’t come here to oppose the Church. We only come to Worship God according to our conscience.” This only provoked greater wrath and fiercer cries on the part of the Mob who were armed with branches bludgeons and stones and seemed determined to murder the preachers, who on attempting to leave the house were seized by the rioters who threatened “to do for them”. It was with great difficulty they escaped back into the house and bolted the door. The Rioters remained all the afternoon and evening and declared frequently with the most horrid imprecations that they would not leave the place ‘til they got them out.

The preachers finding they were in a dangerous position and no Magistrate being in the neighbourhood they forwarded a letter by two friends who managed to get clear off with it requesting assistance from Bocking. In the meantime the mob surrounded the House pouring in through the windows in almost every direction showers of stones and some of them with such violence as to make deep indentations in the partitions opposite. The family who belonged to the House were in the greatest distress, the cries of five small children, frightened by the noise and the stones were so excessive that it was expected every moment that some of them would fall into fits. The distress of the Mother weeping floods of tears over her children is beyond all description. The compassionate father was driven to his wits ends to contrive some method of relieving them. He could not take them into any of the chambers for fear of them being killed by the stones. At length he removed the children into the farm putting the youngest into a crate of straw and covered them up. But even here the unmerciful savages disturbed them by knocking against the wall etc.

The mob sent frequent messages threatening to pull down or burn the House and at last a fire brand was brought for that purpose but at this crisis a Magistrate’s warrant arrived from Bocking directed to one of the Constables which after being delivered to him sorely against his will he dispersed the mob and the Ministers escaped under the protection of another Constable and reached the village of Weathersfield about midnight “Thanking God for their great Deliverance.”

The nature and extent of this riot having made a great sensation in the neighbourhood it was determined to bring the offenders to justice and accordingly a ringleader named Cole and seventeen others were tried before the Honourable Mr. Justice Lawrence at Chelmsford Assizes in the month of May 1794 and found guilty of rioting. Prosecutions were also established against three men and one woman for assaulting the preachers and other acts of violence and they were all found guilty and brought before the Court of King’s Bench for sentence. The Judge (The Right Honourable the Lord Kenyon) saying that the indictment should hang over their heads and that if they were ever guilty again of the like crime they would be indicted capitally and hanged. Lord Kenyon also informed the Bail “that they were very much mistaken if they supposed they were authorised in encouraging these riots and that by the Toleration Act they were as much open to punishment who disturbed a congregation of Methodists or Dissenters as those who might disturb the Church of England. The Recognisances were then taken in £200 each Defendant and their two Bail in £100 each.

Thus in the issue of three trials a great principle of Religious Liberty was successfully asserted. John Blake lived many years a humble and consistent Nonconformist not fearing to be prosecuted for righteousness sake. Two of the five small children still survive surrounded by numerous descendants who delight to hear from their life the history of the Persecution and Deliverance of John Blake “the Baker of Great Bardfield”.

L. Blake.
Great Yarmouth October 1861.”

Footnote:
In 1795 a pamphlet was published the front page of which reads:

The
Triumph of Religious Liberty
Over the
SPIRIT of Persecution:
An account of the TRIALS of several Persons,
For an outrageous and unprovoked
PERSECUTION
At Great Bardfield, in the County of Essex,
Before
The Honourable Mr. Justice Lawrence;
At Chelmsford Assizes, in the Month of May 1794.
Printed in the year, MDCCXCV.
Price Three – pence.

This pamphlet contained a full transcript of the trial in Chelmsford which concluded on May 17th 1794. At the end of the trial Mr. Justice Lawrence observed:

“I have only to say, that now after these prosecutions are over, I hope they will behave better. As there seems to be a desperate spirit of persecution in Bardfield, their behaving better for the future, will be the only thing to recommend them to the mercy of the Court”.

For the sentencing hearing in the Court of the King’s Bench (which took place on May 24th 1794) the defendants were brought from Newgate Jail where they had been held since the case concluded in Chelmsford. Affidavits were filed on behalf of the defendants in which they stated that they all had large families who would suffer if they were jailed.

Lord Kenyon, in passing sentence, stated that he was extremely sorry that it was not in his power to have “taken hold of those persons who were the instigators of the riots”. (In other words the Church of England Minister and others in Great Bardfield who had encouraged the attack on the Bake House.) He then fined the defendants as recorded in the report.

A note at the end of the pamphlet states that the profits from its sale would be applied “to defray the great expense unavoidably occasioned by the Law Suit: the decision of which undoubtedly is of the utmost importance to the Methodists and Dissenters”.

The Hoffmann Manufacturing Company was established in Chelmsford in 1898. Established by cousins Geoffrey and Charles Barrett and bankrolled by American ball bearing machine manufacturer Ernst Gustav Hoffmann from whom the Company took its name, the company rapidly expanded and soon achieved worldwide fame for their precision-made bearings boasting accuracy better than 1/10,000 of an inch (2.5 micrometres) for all their products.

Hoffmann bearings were later used in the first transatlantic flights and extensively on machinery during World War I. For many years it was Chelmsford's main employer with more employees than the nearby Marconi Company.

Hoffmann bearings were later used in the first transatlantic flights and extensively on machinery during World War I. For many years it was Chelmsford's main employer with more employees than the nearby Marconi Company. They also supplied all the major motor manufacturers including Rolls Royce, Bentley, Daimler, Austin, Riley and many more.

Hoffmann also supplied the Aircraft Industry throughout both World War 1 and World War 2. Standard types of bearings were usually suitable for most aircraft needs.
During World War II the factory was a key target for attack and was attacked from the air on several occasions.

At 1.28 a.m. on 19th December 1944 a German V-2 rocket fell close to Hoffmann's works in Chelmsford, causing the town’s greatest loss of life from a single wartime incident.

Official figures put the total fatalities of the V-2 incident at 39 dead and 138 injured, including 47 seriously. Thirty of the dead were workers on the night shift at Hoffmann’s, including ten men, nineteen women and one unidentified body, the majority killed in the fire that the rocket started. Nine others died in Henry Road.

A memorial service was held at Chelmsford Cathedral four days later for the victims of the V-2 rocket. It attracted a large congregation including representatives and survivors from Hoffmann’s, the Home Guard, Police, Civil Defence Services and local dignitaries.

On 29th December 1944 nineteen of those killed at the factory, including the unidentified person, were buried in a communal grave at Chelmsford Borough Cemetery with the service conducted by the Provost of Chelmsford Cathedral, the Very Rev. W. E. R. Morrow.

On Friday 5th January 1945 the Essex Chronicle reported:

"In one grave, V-Bomb victims lie side by side. Profoundly moving were the scenes in the cemetery of a town in Southern England, when victims of a recent V-bomb incident were buried side by side in one grave.
Crowds of people gathered outside the cemetery gates. The long procession to the grave was headed by the local Salvation Army, which plated appropriate music at slow march. The standard-bearer carried the 'Army' flag, which was surmounted by white ribbon streamers. Most of the mourners carried flowers. Bereaved mothers had to be supported by friends.
The band played 'Promoted to Glory'. Facing the procession as it approached the grave was a flagstaff with the Union Jack at half-mast. There were Union Jacks, too, on the walls of the grave.

The mourners gathered around the grave, facing and close to the surpliced clergy. The band, on a grass 'island' near by, had ceased playing. Away in the distance an aircraft wove a vapour trail in the sky. The winter sun cast a slanting ray across the green-covered bank. Then from the Rector came the words of the Burial Service: 'I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.....". Prayers followed. Then a few homely words to the sorrowing ones: - We are proud of them. We shall not forget their sacrifice. They thought not of themselves. We commend them to God's loving care....and He too will comfort you who sorrow.

Then the voice of a Roman Catholic priest, and the responses of his curates. More prayers; and finally the Benediction.

The mourners began to move slowly around the grave. They dropped flowers on the coffins. Softly the band started to play again. Men as well as women wept openly. A lad in khaki and another in R.A.F. blue supported a woman by the arms. And the pilgrimage went on, while the clergy went to console little groups of mourners."

On the second anniversary of the incident a memorial garden was dedicated by the Chelmsford Cathedral Provost at the communal grave in the Borough Cemetery, designed by a member of Hoffmann’s’ staff. Memorial services were also held at Chelmsford Cathedral and London Road Congregational Church and a memorial plaque to the victims was unveiled in the factory’s canteen. The memorial garden includes the following inscription:

"This garden is dedicated to the memory of 29 employees of the Hoffmann Manufacturing Company Limited, 19 of whom lie in this grave, who were killed by enemy action on 19th December 1944; and to the memory of 7 employees who were killed by enemy action on 19th July 1942 and 19th October 1942. They shall remind faith the Lord of hosts in that day when I make up my jewels."

Joyce Dorothy Philibrown was one of the workers who was killed on that night and whose body was interred in Chelmsford Cemetery. Joyce was born in 1920, the daughter of Albert Harry Phillibrown and Alice Catherine Phillibrown. Her father died in 1940, and by 1944 Joyce was living with her mother at 7 Little End, Stanford Rivers. Her name appears on the war memorial in St Margaret’s church, Stanford Rivers.

The first meeting of the parish council for Stanford Rivers was held on the 4th December 1894.

The following councillors elected to serve:

James Crouch Freemans Farm 54 votes
John Freeman Tracey’s Farm 44 “
Henry Newmarch 57 “
N. Muggleston Littlebury 29 “
Nathaniel Wilson 53 “
Comyns- Owers Rose Cottage 54 “
George Sawkins 38 “

Not elected:
D. Christy 26 “
P. McConnell 20 “