Genealogy Chat

Hi everyone, Im a bit baffled by a record I've recently come across. My 4 X grt grandfather George Sheppard was married in Hawkchurch (then in Dorset) to Tryphena White in 1807. I've copies of their childrens bapstisms, all in Hawkchurch, and on them it states that George is a school master. I dont know when or where George died except that it was sometime before 1841 as I have Tryphena on the 1841/1851 census as a widow before her death in Bridport, Dorset in 1860. Ive recently found a removal order for Tryphena dated 1851 and this is where the problem is. In the order, from overseers of the poor in the parish of Uplyme, Dorset, it basically says that Tryphena will be removed from Uplyme and go to the parish of Whitchurch Canicorum. Whitchurch is only 3 miles away from Hawkchurch. It says that she was married to George Edward Sheppard in Hawkchurch (matches my info as does her age) and then went with George to live on a Tenement called Elsdon Farm in the above parish. They rented Elsdon Farm, which consisted of upward of thrity acres from Lord Bridport for fifty pounds a year for a period of seven years. Im confused as to why a School Master would be renting a farm, especially a farm with that many acres?....surely it would have been a working farm back then and ran by a farmer? Ive googled Elsdon Farm and can only find info that it was rented out by Lord Bridport in 1845...not my family then, they had moved on by then. Is anybody familiar with the Whitchurch area and know of any Elsdon Farm?....maybe its been renamed since then? I can find no other record of Elsdon Farm in this area, any idea on how to find and records of it? Any thougthts on the above would be much apprieciated and a massive help. Thanks for reading Demelza

No help personally as not much knowledge of the area, however I have always found that the best way to get info. on names of people and places is to talk to the nearest local sub post office. Postmasters/mistresses often stay on long after retirement and usually have very good local knowledge. If they don't know, then they will often point you to other older locals, or the village shop, or pub. Some old people have very long memories. Another way might be to try and find out about Lord Bridport's estates. Does the land still exist in its previous form. It may be that the Elsdon Farm was re-absorbed into the main estate land. Or perhaps the farm had been occupied by someone called Elsdon, and got its name that way, just as a means of identification from other peoples' tenures. See if the local records office has old maps too. Lovely area round Bridport. We recently traced my husband's grandfather's grave by putting a message on here about a village churchyard in Shropshire. Someone kindly posted back to me the reason why there were no graves there. We followed their directions to another graveyard, and there was grandad. Marvellous site, Genes R. Good luck Eileen

Hi Eileen, Thanks for the speedy reply. I've had a quick look into Lord Bridports estates but cant really find anything naming the Farm, I'll have to somehow find the postion of the land and do it that way.....easier said than done when I cant find any record of it under the name of Elsdon Farm!! Thanks Again Demelza

Bear in mind that being a schoolmaster in a rural area brought in very little money in those days - the odd copper or two for teaching a farmer's son the basics wasn't enough to support a family. Many gave up schoolmastering after marriage and the advent of children and turned their hands to other ventures - if they got the opportunity they would still take on the odd pupil as well. Jay

Try the Dorset Family History Society

Dorset will have a tithe consolidation schedule and map for exactly the period you want. It will list the property, the owner, the tennent, the occupier, the plot number. Be warned - the map is likely to be something like nine feet square and something weird like East up. The tricky bit is trying to relate the map to the list. The order you quote is probably all to do with who was to pay for the workhouse. By that date workhouses were union run and a union was a group of parishes. In 1848 Dorset was one of the three worst counties for the poverty of its agricultural labourers. A Welsh colliery surface worker was paid twice as much money and was given free coal. C