High Country History Group

Craven Ord (bap. 1755, d. 1832), antiquary and brass-rubber, was born in London and baptized at the Temple Church on 6 August 1755, the younger son of Harry Ord, of the king's remembrancer's office of the exchequer, and his wife, Anne, daughter of Francis Hutchinson of Barnard Castle, co. Durham. His uncle Robert Ord (1700–1778) was chief baron of the Scottish exchequer.

Ord's schooling seems to be undocumented and he did not matriculate from either of the English universities. He was, however, a competent classicist, and he developed a strong interest in the middle ages. He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries on 26 January 1775, when his tastes were probably already formed, and there he found congenial companions. In June 1784 he married Mary Smith, daughter of John Redman of Greenstead Hall, in Greenstead by Ongar, Essex. They had five sons and a daughter, most of whom were born at Greenstead Hall, where Ord lived until the last few years of his life.

Ord's marriage probably accounted for a substantial part of his fortune but it evidently did not make him idle. He was a purposeful and energetic student of history whose works are mainly to be found in other men's books. He made several contributions to Archaeologia, the first of which (1790) was an edition of the inventory of the crown jewels made in 1329–30. His interests were not narrowly focused. He ranged over southern England in search of antiquities, in and out of churches, and he read in manuscripts and printed books even more widely. He gave substantial assistance to John Nichols (1745–1826), the geologist Gideon Algernon Mantell (1790–1852), and George Ormerod (1785–1873) in their respective histories of Leicestershire, Surrey, and Cheshire.

Mantell and Ormerod were younger men but Nichols, the master printer and antiquary, was of Ord's own generation. Ord was also a friend of Richard Gough, and worked with him closely and harmoniously. Gough's Anecdotes of British Topography appeared in 1768 and in an enlarged edition, of two volumes, in 1780. It led on to his celebrated edition of Camden's Britannia (3 vols., 1789; 4 vols., 1806) but its wide array of material also suggested a more detailed study, which was warmly encouraged by Sir John Cullum, of Hardwick, Suffolk, another learned enthusiast, and Ord. Gough had always made sketches of subjects that interested him, and he came to recognize the exceptional value of tombs and memorials as records of costume and other features of medieval life. The outcome was his Sepulchral monuments of Great Britain applied to illustrate the history of families, manners, habits, and arts from the Norman conquest (1786–99), a carefully documented survey extending to the end of the fifteenth century. Ord in the meantime had been taken by the lure of medieval brasses. The three friends made a particularly successful tour of the great parish churches of the Lincolnshire and Norfolk marshland in 1780, which began in Wisbech and ended in King's Lynn, proving rich in architectural wonders, and yielding a splendid crop of brasses in Lynn.

Ord's concern, besides assisting Gough, was to further the detailed and comparative study of brasses, which lent themselves to accurate reproduction at a time when other artefacts could only be, with whatsoever pains, drawn and engraved. Instead of taking a simple rubbing from the surface of the brass he took a reverse impression with equipment of his own devising. Its only disadvantage, trifling to the enthusiast, was that inscriptions appeared in mirror-writing. His operations required large sheets of French paper kept damp in a specially commissioned case, a supply of printer's ink, some lengths of cloth, and an abundance of rags. The paraphernalia were clearly such as a gentleman might use for his own dedicated purposes, but probably not such as he might himself carry. He inked the surface of the brass, then wiped it clean with the rags, leaving ink only in the incisions, as though it were an engraver's plate. He then arranged the paper over the brass, covered it with an adequate thickness of cloth, and trampled on it to take an even impression. For intricate images he wetted the paper more thoroughly, on one occasion at least in the neighbouring Thames. At home he cut out the figures and any accompanying features, mounted them, and finally bound them in enormous volumes in deal boards more than 6 feet high. They were acquired after his death by the British Museum and have since been transferred to the British Library (BL, Add. MSS 32478–32479).

Ord collected manuscripts, printed books, drawings, and engravings. He assembled and indexed some twenty volumes of material relating to Suffolk but he also acquired fine manuscripts for their own sake, and large numbers of medieval deeds. He took a close interest in the business of the Society of Antiquaries, and served for several years as its vice-president. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1787. He began to sell his collections in 1829, when he travelled abroad for his health, and Francis Douce and Sir Thomas Phillipps bought extensively at his sales.

Ord died at Woolwich Common in January 1832. Of his children, his eldest son, Craven Ord (1786–1836), a prebendary of Lincoln, succeeded him at Greenstead and married a niece of Sir John Cullum. Three other sons, Sir Robert Hutchinson Ord, William Redman Ord, and Harry Gough Ord, served in the army, the artillery, and the engineers. Harry Gough's son Sir Harry St George Ord (1819–1885) became a major-general of the engineers and a colonial governor. Ord's fourth son, John, practised as a physician in Hertford, and his daughter, Harriot Mary, married the Revd George Hughes of Stamford Rivers, Essex.

G. H. Martin
Sources
DNB · Nichols, Lit. anecdotes · Nichols, Illustrations · GM, 1st ser., 102/1 (1832), 469–70 · J. Page-Phillips, Macklin's monumental brasses, 2nd edn (1972) · IGI
Archives
BL, Suffolk collections, journal of tours of East Anglia, brass rubbings, antiquarian notes, and papers, Add. MSS 6391, 7101–7102, 7965–7967, 8986–8987, 14823, 25340, 32478–32479, 39852 · BL, notes and annotations made to the wardrobe accompt of Sir Andrew Wyndsore, Egerton MS 3025 · BL, annotated copy of Edmund Carter's History of the University of Cambridge, shelf mark 731.i.12 · Bodl. Oxf., collections and papers · Bodl. Oxf., copy of John Kirby's Suffolk traveller interleaved and annotated by Ord (and other antiquaries) · Lincs. Arch., calendar of Lincolnshire charters · LUL, papers relating to English coinage and the mint · Man. CL, Manchester Archives and Local Studies, copy made by Ord of the household book of Lord Thomas, earl of Lancaster · Suffolk RO, Ipswich, collections, notes, and papers relating to Suffolk, incl. notes by Peter Le Neve and Thomas Martin · Suffolk RO, Ipswich, commonplace book · Suffolk RO, Ipswich, pedigrees and arms of Suffolk families with earlier notes by Peter Le Neve, Thomas Martin, and others | Bodl. Oxf., letters to Richard Gough · Norfolk RO, corresp.

Petyt [Petit], Thomas (b. in or before 1494, d. 1565/6), printer and bookseller, was born in England but may have been related to the Parisian printer John Petit, who is said to have had printed books ‘in thaundes of Thomas Petytt’ in exchequer receipts (Duff, Century, 120). Nothing further is known of Petyt's origins, although he had property in Greenstead and Stanford Rivers, and a kinswoman named Agnes Vincent, in Sheppey, Kent.

By the time of his death Petyt was a powerful member of the Drapers' Company. He was Warden between 1545 and 1561 his name frequently appears in the company's records of assessments for gifts, loans, and subsidies, usually as one of the wealthiest men assessed.

Petyt died at some point between 18 May 1565 when he drew up his will and 13 February 1566 when it was proved by his wife and sole executor, Joanne (whose previous married name was Wood). Gefferey Finche of Greenstead is named supervisor.

Letters to and from the archdeacon of Essex shed some light on a dispute between the Rev. W M Oliver (rector of Bobbingworth from 1838 to 1899) and his churchwarden, Mr Cure of Blake Hall. The archdeacon employed the rector of Stondon Massey to act as an intermediary, and seems to have dealt with what was obviously a troublesome affair entirely by letter.

The difficulties seem to have been triggered by the chronic structural
problems of the parish church. The vestry minutes reveal numerous repairs, and the underpinning of the nave in 1842. The two tiered timber framed bell tower at the west end was also in very poor condition; in 1818 a decision was made to pull it down, but it was still standing 20 years later when there were plans to encase it in brick and to cover the spire in copper. Mr Oliver intervened at this point and presented the vestry with the design for a new brick tower designed by ‘Mr Burton’ (probably Decimus Burton who was designing a new rectory in the neighbouring parish of Greensted) and he advanced £150 towards its construction. As a result, a new battlemented tower in yellow brick was completed in 1840 and the mediaeval timber structure was removed. It is possible that his early dealings with his dilatory vestry coloured his later views about the parish’s reluctance to update the church. In August 1863, he wrote to the archdeacon about the plans for restoring the chancel, which were in Mr Chancellor’s office in Chelmsford.

This was completed later in the year. Further correspondence indicated that the parish had made some sort of undertaking to rebuild the red brick nave with its timber tracery windows to the standard that he had established in the chancel. Red brick was very unfashionable for churches at this date.

The storm broke just before Christmas 1863 with a complaint from Mr Oliver to the archdeacon that Mr Cure was making considerable alterations without consulting him or the vestry. On Boxing Day the archdeacon wrote nervously to Mr Reeve, his local intermediary, mentioning the need for a faculty but asking him not to do anything ‘which may aggravate any heat’. Mr Reeve’s report was not encouraging. Mr Cure had taken down the vestry within the nave and built a new one in red brick, on the site of the former timber bell tower, as well as dismantling and reordering the pews without consulting the
rector. It was clear that Mr Oliver wanted the nave to be brought up to the standard of his re-built chancel, and had a strong objection to the red brick vestry, about which he had not been consulted. A fellow clergyman had rubbed salt into the wound by commenting ‘Well, Oliver, Mr Cure has built you a pig stye’. The archdeacon conceded to Mr Oliver that he had the law on his side, and that he should have been consulted by his churchwarden, but added ‘I venture to say to a brother clergyman (that) when peace is so desirable, much may be conceded’. His letter to Mr Reeve was more direct; ‘our great object must be to smooth over the difficulties and prevent a permanent breach between the two’.

For a while, all went well. Mr Cure apologised to his rector and plans were submitted for the proposed changes in the nave. However, it was not long before his churchwarden brought up another grievance. Mr Oliver’s ‘ornamental works’ to the chancel had taken place over Christmas – ceilings were pulled down, and pews were uprooted, including his own, part of which was taken by the new chancel arch. His new pew was too small for his family.

There had been serious disruption of public worship at an important time of year, with a significant shortage of seats. The archdeacon tried to mollify the rector by indicating that, though he felt that the pews were too high, he had no objection to the plans for the re-ordered nave, but it was too late.
At the beginning of February, Mr Cure wrote to the archdeacon to complain that the rector had preached a condemnatory sermon, aimed pointedly at himself. He had read the ‘awful denunciations from the 1st and 2nd chapter of the prophet Haggai’ while nodding meaningfully in his direction. [This book, at the end of the Old Testament, opens with Haggai reproving the people for not rebuilding the temple]. Members of the congregation had ‘felt their flesh creep’.

The parish was in a ferment and, more ominously, the wives of the two aggrieved men had had a meeting and made promises which their husbands could not possibly keep. Towards the end of February, in spite of the apprehensions of the wives, they had a stormy meeting in Mr Cure’s house about the height of the pews, but it seems that neither dared to mention the grievance over the sermon.

Some subsequent letters must be missing, but in early March Mr Oliver sent a copy of his sermon to the archdeacon. It has to be said that his attitude was not very conciliatory. He had been anxious for Mr Cure to hear his sermon which was ‘preached for his good and benefit, for his instruction and edification’. He intended ‘to teach him Bible notions on church building, a subject in which I fear he is lamentably ignorant’. He had agreed with Mr Cure five or six years earlier that they would rebuild the whole church, and share the expense; though he had set his own part of the church in order, little had been done to improve the nave. Frederick Chancellor’s letter of the previous year was quoted to underline the ignorance of his churchwarden.

The archdeacon’s reply was emollient – the rector was within his rights to preach as he had, and Mr Cure had not followed proper ecclesiastical procedures.

At this point the correspondence ends and presumably the storm had blown itself out. All that remains is the testimony of the building itself. The nave is still encased in late C18 or early C19 red brick, and the heavily battlemented vestry (‘the pig stye’) still stands at the west end. Part of the north nave wall collapsed at the end of the C19, but was repaired in red brick to match the rest. The only improvement of which Mr Oliver would have approved was the replacement of the timber traceried windows with stone ones to match those in the chancel – but this was paid for by Mr Oliver himself.

The truth was, perhaps, that though Mr Cure lived in a grand house, the parish was poor, rural and sparsely populated, and was simply unable to afford what the rector would have wished.

A drawing of 1862 shows Mr Oliver at the reading desk of the three decker pulpit in the body of the nave. The huge Cure family pew (later to be curtailed by the new chancel arch) is visible. Many of the congregation are standing, and within a couple of years the nave became even more crowded with the navvies who were extending the railway from Epping.

Overcrowding, as well as structural problems, must have been a challenge, and it was unfortunate that the solution was in the hands of two men who were temperamentally unable to work together.

Whilst at St Margaret’s, Stanford Rivers recently I came across a gravestone in the corner of the churchyard.

The inscription read:

In
loving memory
of
Margaret Elizabeth Owers
Who died April 17th 1928
In her 63rd year

Also of
Comyns Owers
Missing in Egypt Nov 25th 1917
Aged 21years

Also Comyns
Husband of the above
Who died Sep 28th 1939
Aged 78 years.

It was the part of the inscription about Comyns Owers, missing in Egypt in 1917, that caught my eye. Had he died on active service? His name does not appear on the war memorial in St Margaret’s, but a search on the Commonwealth War Graves site revealed that Comyns Owers was a Private (no. 49346) in the 161st Company of the Machine Gun Corps and died on the 25 November 1917. He has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Basra War Memorial in Iraq.

His name appears however on the war memorial at St Mary’s church, High Ongar.

Part of the war memorial at High Ongar.

In the 1881 Census a John Owers (born 1832) was described as a Baker and Licensee living at the Green Man Public House Toot Hill. He was also listed as a Farmer with 10 acres and employing 3 men. He had a son, Comyns Owers (born 1862) who was described in the census as a ‘Bakers Son.’

In the 1891 Census, Comyns Owers is married to Margaret and is living in High Street, Chipping Ongar where he is the Licensee of the Bell Inn. He has 1 child and employs 3 servants.

In the 1901 Census Comyns and his wife are living at Stanford Rivers, and he is described as a Baker. They have three more children, including a son, Comyns, born in 1887 in Stanford Rivers and who was to die on active service in 1917. According to Scott in his history of Stanford Rivers, Comyns remained as the licensee of the Green Man until 1910 or thereabouts. By 1912 a Mrs Emma Comyns is shown as the Licensee.

Why Comyns Owers name is missing from the war memorial at St Margaret’s is not known.

Died on the 29th ult., in Ongar union workhouse, James Battle, a chimney sweep, aged 100 years, who had resided at Stanford Rivers nearly his whole life. About twelve years since, Mr Potter, sen., formerly an eminent surgeon at Ongar, but now deceased was called upon to attend Battle, and accompanied by his friend Dr. Rowe (now of Cavendish-square, London), they found their patient in most intense agony, and tried all the most approved remedies to obtain relief; but all their efforts were unavailing, and death appeared inevitable, when Mr Potter, with his usual promptness and decision, suggested the operation of puncturing the bladder, which was immediately adopted, and as speedily the patient’s sufferings were relieved. From Battle’s advanced age, neither Mr Potter and Dr Rowe anticipated that he could long survive the operation, which was only adopted with a view to his temporary relief.

However, upon his medical friend calling the next day he learnt with surprise that Battle had taken his daily walk, to enjoy his customary glass of ale at a public house half a mile distant. The deceased frequently underwent the same operation by the late Mr Potter, with similar success, and outlived the latter many years.

A schoolhouse seems to have been built in 1725 or 1726 by direction of the parish vestry so that elementary subjects, the catechism, and Church of England doctrine should be taught to poor children. In 1725 Sir Edward Smyth, lord of the capital manor lent £20 towards the cost of building, to be repaid from the rent of the Church lands. In the same year, however, Mrs. Jane Luther, lady of Suttons repaid this debt. It would seem, moreover, that Mrs. Luther undertook the entire cost of building for she stated in her will, dated 1745, that she had built the schoolhouse at her expense and had afterwards received a rent of 30s. a year for it. She then stipulated that after her death this rent was to be used primarily to keep the schoolhouse and its premises in repair, the residue being used to purchase bibles and prayer-books for distribution amongst the poor.

Meanwhile in 1726 the vestry had decided to employ a schoolteacher at a salary of £5 a year. It is not clear, however, for how long the parish employed a salaried schoolteacher or who occupied the schoolhouse before Mrs. Luther's death in 1745. Soon after her death the schoolhouse was being rented by Thomas King, who also rented the Church house. In April 1748 it was reported that King owed £3 for two years' rent of the schoolhouse.

From 1750–1, if not before, the schoolhouse or at least the schoolroom was occupied by a master to whom the parish sent children on a per capita basis. In 1750–1 £5 18s. was paid to the schoolmaster out of rents from the Church house and lands. In 1751–2, £5 13s. 10d. was paid from the same source for alterations 'in the schoolroom', it being stated that 'the shelves and partition was put up by the parish to be left when the tenant goes out'. In the same year Mr. Lewthwaite was paid £2 17s. for 'schooling' and from then until 1783, if not later, 'children's schooling' was usually the main item of expenditure in the churchwarden's annual account of parish property. This item varied in amount from year to year. In 1752–3 three children were sent to school at a total cost of 12s. 6d. Usually, however, the annual cost was between £2 and £5. It is not clear what arrangements were made for educating the poor children of Stapleford Tawney after 1783.

In 1818 it was stated that there was no school of any kind in the parish. In 1831 a meeting of the vestry recommended that the rector should 'allow £4 per annum to Samuel Parish schoolmaster being the rent for the house which he now lives in on condition that he continues to educate the poor children on the Sundays'. In 1835 it was stated that the schoolhouse built at Mrs. Luther's expense was occupied rent-free by a schoolmaster who had been placed there by the rector and who had 30 feepaying pupils. At this date the master probably still taught the poor children of the parish on Sundays in return for his rent-free house. The schoolhouse was still occupied rent-free by a master in 1848 and possibly in 1861 but probably not as late as 1863 and almost certainly not as late as 1871.

By 1839 the poor children of the parish were attending a day school in Theydon Mount. In 1871 an inspector proposed that 30 Stapleford Tawney children should be accommodated at Theydon Mount and that the remaining 16 in need of elementary schooling should be found places at Stapleford Abbots. Churchmen in Stapleford Tawney, however, decided to found their own school on land given by the lord of the manor of Stapleford Tawney.

A deed of 1873 appointed the rector and churchwardens as trustees of the school and declared that the religious teaching should be according to Anglican principles. The new school, with accommodation for 60, was built in 1873–4, next to the church. A teacher's house was attached. The school was opened in 1874 under a certificated mistress but, despite the receipt of annual grants from 1875 and an average attendance of 32 in that year, the falling population of the parish caused average attendance to fall to 15 in 1893.

In 1904 there were 30 pupils on the roll under two mistresses, one of them certificated, and the average attendance was 25. By the Education Act of 1902 the school passed under the administration of the Essex Education Committee as a non-provided Church school. Average attendance continued to be low; in 1910 it was 19 and in 1911 the possibility of closure was discussed. Average attendance rose, however, to 23 in 1920 and to 32 in 1936. After the reorganization of the school for mixed juniors and infants in 1936 the average attendance again fell, reaching 15 in 1938. In 1939, in view of the low number of pupils, the school was closed. The building is now used for village activities. It is a gabled building of red brick with bands of blue. The gables have pierced bargeboards.

As it appeared that all records from the Piggott Brothers long history had been lost or destroyed, it was a surprise to come across a sales catalogue of the company among other items. The catalogue is hardbound in a red cover. It is undated, although the dates of the complimentary letters and news of exhibition medals, which are included, would seem to indicate a date of about 1888. The volume runs to 263 pages. It is divided into the various business interests of the company; marquees and tents; camping equipment; harness and saddlery; flags and banners; gymnastics and sports.

Before Piggotts’ moved to Stanford Rivers, they occupied the address 57, 58, & 59, Bishopsgate Street, Without, London. The company also owned store facilities in Plough Yard, Shoreditch, and a factory in Spitalfields. The proximity of the showroom to Liverpool Street Station allowed the company to sell a wide range of goods matched to a prosperous clientele drawn from London and the commuters and railway travellers of the period. The list of prestigious customers conveys a snapshot of European royalty in the late nineteenth century with Her Majesty the Queen of England and Empress of India, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Germany, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan of Turkey, and His Serene Highness the Khedive of Egypt mentioned among others.

In printed testimonials, customers expressed their satisfaction, but the tributes also give some idea of the range of the business at that time. From testimonials, we read from the Blackburn Corporation; “I have much pleasure in stating that the large Marquee and Grand Stand, to seat 5,000 persons, erected by you . . . . on the occasion of the visit of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales . . . . was carried out to the entire satisfaction of the Committee. I may also add that the Princess commented favourably upon its splendid appearance.” A William Boyce comments; “Did people but know the saving in household labour that is gained by using your Tents, there is no one, I feel certain, but would use them for dancing &c., in preference to their drawing rooms.” Robert Overman, referring to the “civil and respectable conduct of your [Piggotts’] servants” adds “I regret that I cannot call them by their names, and all that they did for us on your behalf might be equalled, but not surpassed.”

From the above it may be deduced that the main business of the company was the sale and hire of tents. Indeed, the catalogue illustrates and provides prices for tents in a large number of designs in a range of sizes. The ‘Mildmay Tent’, supplied to and used by the Emperor William II of Germany, was for both “Camping and Sporting purposes” and at a price of £21 was of superior quality. No doubt more aptly named, was the ‘Boating or Canoeing Tent’ the ‘Gipsy or Emigrant’s Tent’, the ‘Prospecting or Engineer’s Tent’, and the decorative ‘Bathing Tent’, of course. ‘The Czarina Tent’ must have appeared a little racy in red and white stripes, but there might have been little call for the seemingly elaborate ‘Crusader Tent’, “supported on lances of the early period”!

Most interesting is ‘The Expanding Balloon Tent” (figure 1). Although we are now familiar with such tents, it is perhaps a surprise to find such tents on sale so long ago. A statement that English and Foreign patents had been granted to a Captain in the Royal Navy would suggest that this tent was a recent innovation. For a price of less than £10, a tent of diameter 10ft. could be bought. Among the advantages listed, the tent is stated to be light-tight and “perfect for Photographic Development”.

As already noted, Piggotts’ sold other goods apart from tents and camping equipment. Sports goods appeared fully in their catalogue. Six years after the Australian victory at the Oval, after which the tradition of the Ashes was atarted, England cricketers despite the presence of W. G. Grace were still having a hard time against the Australians. For their part, Piggotts’ satisfied all cricket requirements with bats and batting gloves, cricket nets and cricket “telegraphs” (better known now as scoreboards) down to boxwood mallets. John Wisden’s ‘Cricketers Almanack’ could be bought for one shilling (5p.) – copies in good condition from that era now sell for more than £1,000! Cricket sets for women could also be purchased.

Football, a game still in its relative infancy, had just staged the first FA Cup - won by Preston North End who in so doing completed the Cup and League double. Piggotts’ offered football shirts, ‘knickers’, ankle guards and boots, apparently “very light, and [which] do not in the slightest degree interfere with the free action of the foot” (figure 2). A fashionable line in ‘striped German Jerseys’ also sold in a ‘slender fitting’ at 2s. 9d.. The ‘Challenge Football’ is “the most perfect ball ever introduced” and the ball “will outlast three ordinary balls, and will not lose shape or increase in weight in wet weather”. It cost just 13s. 6d.. The ball had apparently been used in three recent, important football matches played at the Oval.

The first of the modern Olympic Games were still eight years away, but twenty-four pages of the catalogue are devoted to gymnastics equipment. There was no computerised running or rowing machines, of course, but there were plenty of clubs to swing and a variety of wooden contraptions for vaulting, lifting and climbing. The range of equipment suggests an obsession by the late Victorians for physical fitness. There is the ‘Reliable’ horizontal bar, which is adjustable at little less than £7 (an unreliable horizontal bar would presumably have been much cheaper!) You could even buy a complete gymnasium with frames, horizontal bars, parallel bars, giant strides, ladders, trapezes, see-saws and numerous ropes and swings. Most of the gymnasts, illustrated using the equipment, are equipped with a distinctive moustache typical of the period, of course.

Any company that had traded for more than two centuries, as Piggotts’ has done, must have been nimble in reacting to changing fashions and market opportunities. Piggotts’ were to attempt to diversify their business in the period around 1910 by entering into the challenging and rapidly expanding aero industry. Having made tented hangars for housing the experimental aircraft that were being developed within the United Kingdom at the time, they entered aircraft manufacturing themselves. Although this seems like a dramatic step to take, their competitors were similarly short on experience. Nevertheless the move would have presented various contrasting technical challenges. The impression created from the catalogue of Piggott Brothers from this period is of a lively, adventurous company, willing to compete across a wide front over fashionable and substantial business areas.

Greensted-juxta-Ongar. Co Essex. [1880] Sequestration on death of Rector. Thomas Legh by Divine Permission Lord Bishop of St Albans. To our beloved in Christ Philip John Budworth Churchwarden of the parish of Greensted-juxta-Ongar in the County of Essex and within the Diocese and jurisdiction Greeting. Whereas the Parish Church of Greensted-juxta-Ongar aforesaid is become vacant by the Death of the Reverend Philip William Ray the late Incumbent thereof and at present is destitute of an Incumbent. We therefore lest the fruits tithes rents profits and other rights and emoluments ecclesiastical now due to the said Church or arising or becoming due during the vacancy thereof should be embezzled wasted or applied to improper uses have devised the same to be sequestered and Do sequester the same according and we do by these presents ordain and appoint you Sequestrator and Special Collector of the said Church during the vacancy thereof as aforesaid and do enjoin you forthwith to publish or cause to be published this our Sequestration at the Church – aforesaid and such there public and proper places as you shall most expedient and also during the said vacancy to demand recover and receive into your hands and keep under safe sequestration All and singular the fruits tithes rents profits and other rights and emoluments ecclesiastical belonging to the said church in whose hands soever being or remaining or which hereafter be or remain. And with the same collected received or sequestered to cause the cure of souls in the said Parish to be served and all other charges belonging to the said church to be sustained and discharged. And to render unto us our Vicar General and Official Principal or other competent Judge in this behalf when you shall be – thereunto lawfully required a true and faithful account of the residue for the use of the next Incumbent or such other person or persons as shall do or cause to be done in the premises you shall duly certify to us our Vicar General and Official Principal aforesaid or other competent Judge in this behalf the seventh day of February in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty. Geo H Knight. Registrar.

Greenstead by Ongar. [1902] Faculty to reserve part of the churchyard and erect a Mural Tablet. John Wogan by Divine permission Lord Bishop of St Albans. To all whom it may concern and more especially Howel John James Price of Greenstead Hall Greenstead by Ongar in the County of Essex Esquire Greetings. Whereas it hath been represented unto the Worshipful Alfred Bray Kempe Master of Arts Vicar General and Official Principal of our Consistorial and Episcopal Court of St Albans … a petition under the name of the said Howel John James Prince … is the Widower of Mary Catherine Prince late of Greenstead Hall aforesaid … resided in and owned the above property for upwards of 50 years past … is desirous of reserving to himself and his family an additional space next to the above grave and of enclosing the whole of the said space with a marble or stone kerb … 10 feet in length and 10 feet in breadth … is also desirous of placing on the East Wall of the Nave … a plain copper and iron mural Tablet … with the following inscription namely “In memory of Mary Catherine Price died March 20th 1902 aged 43. This Tablet is erected in memory of one who lived a happy life in this parish beloved by all who knew her and died trusting in Christ her Saviour”. That a meeting of the Vestry of the said parish was duly summoned on the 27th day of June 1902 … the Rector alone was present no parishioners being present … That the Reverend Arthur George Breeks Atkinson the present Rector ... consents to such application. [Granted. 31 August 1902].

The Vestry (def.) – a room attached to the chancel of a church.

It was originally the room where parish meetings were held. Membership of the vestry comprised the Rector, churchwardens and leading parishioners, who were either co-opted (under a ‘close’ or ‘select’ vestry system) or elected (‘open’ vestry). In the C16th and C17th the vestry assumed many of the functions of the manor court by appointing the constable(s) as well as taking on new responsibilities for the poor by appointing overseers. In addition the vestry was responsible for the maintenance of the highways in the parish.

The vestry lost these responsibilities during the C19th and in 1894 the civil functions of parishes were transferred to parish councils and parish meetings.

The administration of poor relief during most of the 17th century was entrusted to the churchwardens and constables. Records of the overseers handling money appear first in 1670. During the 18th century the duties of the overseers became increasingly heavy as the cost of poor relief rose. Between 1724 and 1754 the average cost was about £130 a year. In 1754-64 it was over £180, in 1764-74 it was £260, in 1774-84 it was £360, in 1784-94 it was £440, and in 1794-1804 it rose to £840. The parish spent ten times as much in 1800-1 as in 1726-7. The poor rate levied between 1801 and 1817 was rarely below £1,000 in any year.

The two overseers acted independently and rendered separate accounts. When the balance of both accounts had been struck at the Easter vestry the surplus in the hands of the outgoing officers was shared between their successors. Each overseer apparently acted for a different 'end' of the parish, either Toot Hill or Hare Street (Little End).

The poor in the 18th century formed two classes. About two dozen received regular weekly doles, and the rest, varying in number with the season and the price of food, received casual aid. The recipients of the regular doles were enjoined by the orders of 1724 and 1732 to wear badges.

The decision to be build a workhouse was taken at a meeting of the Vestry on 27th April 1769 –

Be it remembered, - At a public meeting of the inhabitants of the said Parish for the purpose hereafter mentioned, assembled upon due notice thereof given, it is now, to wit, on this 27th day of this instant, April in the year 1769 agreed and determined that a Workhouse shall be forthwith built for the employment and maintenance of the poor of the said Parish, and that it shall be erected upon that land near to the church which belongs to the Parish and is in the occupation of Mr. Matthew Playle of the said Parish, which said land is commonly called Press Garden.

Then it is agreed and determined that a Committee shall be chosen to take upon then the management of the said building and to agree with some builders or builder touching the same. And that the persons to be constituted to be of that committee shall be
Mr John Archer
Mr John Plumb
Mr Matthew Webb
Mr Samuel Playle, and
Mr Stephen Jones.
To the above agreement of the inhabitants of the said Parish do hereby set their hands, the day and year above written.

Nathaniel Lancaster - Rector
Samuel Playle and Matthew Webb, churchwardens
Thomas Watkinson - Overseer of the Poor
And 21 others.

The cost of the workhouse was £300 and it was agreed to borrow the money in order for the work to be undertaken. The money was borrowed from James Grove, Miller of Shonks Mill, Navestock.

Until the building of the workhouse the expedients of the previous century seem to have been adopted for the relief of the poor. Medical attention was perhaps new. In 1741 an account for medicine of £4 8s. was passed, and in 1746 there was payment of £4 4s., for medical services. Paupers' rents, and from 1764 the cost of their firing, were often paid and in many cases the money went to prominent vestrymen.

Ann agreement made on the 17th April in the year 1775 between the Parishioners of Stanford Rivers and Mr. Jn. Boodle of Chipping Ongar: that is to say that the said Mr. Jn. Boodle is to look after the Poor of the said Parish at Eight guineas a year as a Serjain and a Pottacary.

From 1770 payments for wool and spindles indicate that the inmates were engaged in spinning. From 1771 this work brought income; the weekly sums recorded were usually greatest in the winter.
1776 – 28 Aug – ‘received of Mr. Clapton for Workhouse Yarn £15.18.6d’, and 6 Nov. ‘received of Mr. Clapton for Workhouse Yarn £17.4.6d.’

This income later declined. Another source of income was the hiring of paupers' labour.

At this Vestry held on the 8th April 1774, Mr John Plum hath agreed with the Parishioners here assembled to take into his service James Dawkins, a Parish boy from and of the Workhouse to serve him to Michs next ensuring in consideration whereof the Parish have agreed to find and provide unto the said James Dawkins sufficient cloathing and all wearing apparel for and during his service and also to pay and allow weekly and every week unto the said John Plum the sum of one shilling for and towards his maintenance, untill the said service is expired.

At this Vestry held on the 8th April 1774, Mr Matthew Webb hath agreed with the Parishioners here assembled to take into his service Samuel Crawley, a Parish boy from and of the Workhouse to serve him to Michs next ensuring in consideration whereof the Parish have agreed to find and provide unto the said Samuel Crawley sufficient cloathing and all wearing apparel for and during his service and also to pay and allow weekly and every week unto the said Matthew Webb the sum of one shilling for and towards his maintenance, untill the said service is expired.

At a meeting of the Vestry on April 17th 1775 -
Ann agreement made between the Parishioners of Stanford Rivers and William Blackwell and his wife that is to say that the said William Blackwell and his wife has promised to take care of our Workhouse at £13.13s a year. If either party do disagree for to give six months notice.

In 1788 the following list shows the poor of the parish who were receiving money each week from the Vestry.

Dame Turner 2s
Martin 1s
Patient 1s
Boultwood 2s
Finch 4s
Conn 1s
Smith 1s
Godsafe 1s
Fowler 1s
Bakers Children 2s
Garrets child 1s 6d
Evans 4s
Stiles 1s
Brewer 1s
Wood 1s
Green 2s
Crosier 1s
Wood junior 4s
Dodson 1s
Kings child 1s 6d
Woolmores daughter 1s 6d
Henry Day 1s 6d
John King 1s
Taffy 1s 6d
Dame White 1s

In 1790 Mr Stanes is shown as the Governor of the Workhouse.

In 1808 the Vestry sent one ‘Rippingale Collar aged 14 years or thereabouts, a poor child of the Parish, Apprentice to Richard Graves of the Parish of Harlow, Cordwainer until he reaches the age of 21.’ A sum of £10 was paid to Graves by the Overseers with a further sum of £10 paid in May 1808. This then removed any further responsibility for the boy falling on the parish. Graves had to ensure for his money:

“and shall and will during all the term aforesaid, find, provide, and allow unto the said Apprentice meet, competent, and sufficient Meat, Drink, Apparel, Lodging, Washing, and other things necessary and fit for an Apprentice.”

From 1810 until 1815 regular statements of account between the governor of the workhouse and the parishioners were recorded. The overseers made monthly or fortnightly cash payments and supplied flour to the governor. He kept the paupers at an agreed rate for each person, and received extra for fuel, potatoes, and 'hair cutting, shaving, mops, brooms, thread, worsted, tape, oil &c.' In 1809 there were 12 beds in the workhouse and in 1830 there were 13.
In 1814 John Kay is shown as the Governor of the Workhouse. The minutes of the Vestry show that the accounts from Easter 1814 to Easter 1815 show that

‘to maintenance of 16 Paupers up to March 26th at 3s.9d each = £150.’

At a Vestry held on 20th December 1814, pursuant to notice for the purpose of considering of a Grant of Land in the front of the Workhouse from the Lord of the Manor to the Parish.

Resolved that the said Grant shall be accepted with our best thanks to George Petre Esq., the Lord of the Manor for his attention to the wishes and accommodation of the Parish.

That the said Land shall be enclosed by drawing a line in a curve from the corner of the Workhouse Garden to the south west corner of Mr. Wilson’s Mead according to the stakes put down this day.

That the best application of the said Land will be
to add to the Garden of the Workhouse.
to provide Gardens for the two Parish Houses.
it is proposed to erect a stable and shed thereon for the accommodation of the Parishioners on Sundays. This building not to be erected at the expense of the Parish but of Individuals subscribing; on condition that they and their successors in their farms have a preference in the use of the said Stable and Shed.

Present at the Vestry
E. Dowdswell Rector.

Henry Mott
Thomas Mansfield
Jonathan Stokes
William Noakes
Robert Shorborn
John Pavitt
George Hummerstone
Edward Rayner
John Kirby
William Drew
Edward Luck
William Phillips
Timothy Phillips.

By order of Vestry
John Osborne, Vestry Clerk.

By 1817 the workhouse was no longer being used for that purpose and the Vestry decided on October 2nd 1817 to dispose of the old workhouse:

At this Vestry the parishioners agreed with Samuel Martin to let to him Press Garden at the rent of Five Guineas per annum from Lady Day last past.

By virtue of an Act of Parliament of 1782, which allowed a number of parishes to combine into a group and have one large parish workhouse, Stanford Rivers agreed to combine with 9 other parishes in 1831, and a new workhouse was built at Stanford Rivers.

With the building of the new workhouse the Vestry decided –

At a Public Vestry held in the parish Church of Stanford Rivers April 23rd 1831 pursuant to notice. It was resolved -
That the old workhouse belonging to this parish near the church yard and adjoining Stanford Rivers Hall be disposed of.

That the property in question consisting of the Workhouse, Two Cottages and the Hoppett adjoining containing about three Acres, having been valued by Mr. Jon. Lewis of Bobbing worth and Mr. Jon. Stokes of Stanford Rivers at the sum of Four Hundred Guineas.

That the same be offered to Mr. Thomas Wilson Esq., of Highbury Place, at the said sum of Four Hundred Guineas;- and on his refusal to become the purchaser that it be sold by Auction.

That Mr. Jonathan Lewis and Mr. Jonathan Stokes be requested to manage the sale of the property.

In 1834 the Ongar Union was formed, the new workhouse being taken over by the Union.

Meeting Dates 2026

26th March - AGM

23rd April

28th May - American Air Basess In Essex - Neil Wiffen

25th June