A Glemsford Family:


The Allens: before the Diaspora

Glemsford's History in the last two hundred years has been built as much around Industry as Agriculture. That is so much of a truism as to be barely worth saying, except that it bears repeating as well as questioning. After all, the woollen cloth industry had been central to Suffolk life since the Middle Ages, but the nature of Industry, in Glemsford as elsewhere, changed dramatically over the 19th Century. There was a shift toward "factory units" throughout the village. From the foot of Skates Hill to Flax Lane to Bells Lane, Brook street and Chequers Lane, wherever you look on the map and Census Returns for the village, you can find such enterprises. But you can also find the more traditional home-based workers as well.
Change was rapid enough, but it was not instantaneous, and the Allen family, as much in their staying put as in their movement have a lot to tell us about the way in which, the speed with which, the village changed.

My findings about the Allen family - Henry and Susan and their descendants - are based largely on material available online: an analysis of the Census returns from 1841 to 1901, with some support from the Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths, and the observations and material from Bernie Allen in New Zealand.
There are probably some inaccuracies; there are certainly some gaps; I apologise for those. In particular, the 1841 Census is notorious for its lack of accuracy about birth years and places. That is a product of its time and intentions.
There is less excuse for inaccuracy with the 1891 Census, but I find it has often been very poorly transcribed, probably by people with little or no knowledge or understanding of English personal names, place names or common abbreviations.
So, you need to read these pages bearing in mind this "health warning": I have cross-checked and used my own logic to get as near as possible to the truth, but if you spot errors, please let me know, and if you don't, and my mistakes mess up your own research, I'm sorry, but blame the transcribers, not me! 

A Longer View

Henry and Susan Allen

Henry Allen, who was rescued from the great fire of the 1890s, lived for virtually the whole of the 19th Century, and by the time of his death owned several properties in the area around The Cock and The Angel.
His story, and those of his immediate family, provide some perspective in our investigation of change and movement.

Apart from this wonderful photograph that Bernie has sent me, my first view of Henry Allen is in the Glemsford Census for 1841, when, along with his wife Susan (née Gridley) he was living on Egremont Street, a 35 year old Silk Weaver.

Also living at home were their children:

of these, only Isaac and William had occupations recorded - both were Agricultural Labourers.

Alfred's family's progress though the later part of the 19th Century is charted elsewhere. In 1851, he was also a "Hand Loom Weaver (Silk)".

Bernie has also provided me with evidence of one other child in the family: Maria, who is difficult to trace on the 1841 Census, but who, in 1845, married William Copsey.

Henry, Susan, and all their children were born in Glemsford (although the 1861 Census suggest Susan came from Hawkedon).

The 1851 Census tells much the same story
except, by then, Henry and Susan had added to their family:

and Maria and William Copsey were adding to the generations with their own children:
They too were living on Egremont Street, with William's father "Josh.", a Cord Wainer, and both William and Maria are recorded as "Hand Loom Weaver (Silk)".

In both 1841 and 1851, two properties away from Henry lived Elizabeth Allen, born c.1769, who I believe, based on other hints, was Henry's widowed mother. She had been a baker.

Moving on
By 1851, both Isaac and William had moved out of their parents' house, although both still lived on Egremont Street.
In 1843, Isaac had married Louisa Potter Webb (born c.1827, in Glemsford), and by 1851 they had their own family:

And, in 1847, William married Caroline Perkins (born c.1834, in Cockfield). William too was a "Handloom Weaver (Silk)". Their family, in 1851 included:
By 1851, Eton too had left home. He appears in the Census as a Groom in a household in Epsom, Surrey. He was the first of Henry's children to leave the village, and, although the Census only happens at 10 year intervals, he never appears as a Glemsford resident again.

After 1851

In 1861, Henry and Susan, now in their 50s, were still living on Egremont Street, and still at home with them were:

Henry and George were both Silk Weavers, but the other three sons had ventured into the Matting industry. Samuel is described as a "Cocoa Nut Mat Warper"; Frederick was a "Mat Shearer"; and John was a "Matter(?) Weaver". None of the four sons at home was married.

The rest of Henry and Susan's children were, predictably, spread far and near, but not yet so far as in 1901.

Maria and William Copsey were close by on Egremont Street. Both were Silk Weavers. By 1861 their family included:

Cornelius was a "Cocoa Nut Mat Maker"; Esther, a "Silk Throwster"; John was "employed at the Mat Factory" and Arthur and Ellen were scholars.

Elizabeth had married Henry Meek in the middle of 1853. They lived on the edge of the village at Seldom Waiver, and there are no children recorded in 1861; both Elizabeth and Henry were Silk Weavers.

Isaac and Louisa appear on the 1861 Census immediately next to the Cock Inn: whether this means they lived next door is not clear. By then their household consisted of:

(There is some mis-spelling and mistranscription of these details on the Internet: Leo becomes "Geo", for instance, but "Carilan" is spelt thus. Julia Leeks is mistranscribed as "Lucks").
 The Census return sheet also seems a little confused as to occupations, but my interpretation is that Isaac was a "weaver of silk", Louisa a "Dressmaker", while George worked "at the Carpet Factory".
Julia was a servant in the household.
Compared with 1851, Isaac's oldest son Henry was now a Footman in the household of Henry Waller Coldham at Anmer Hall, in Norfolk. I have yet to research the link between this Mr Coldham and George Coldham, the Rector of Glemsford, 1833 - 1887, but I bet there was one!

William and Caroline had moved to Lawshall, where William was a "Carrier". Their family had grown too:

We can make a rough estimate of the date of the move: Angelina was born in Glemsford, Walter in Lawshall, so the move was probably some time between 1852 and 1855.

Eton married Emma Bigg, probably the daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Bigg, of Egremont Street, in 1853, probably in Glemsford, but by 1861, they were living at Ingoldesthorpe, in Norfolk, where Eton was a Gardener and Groom at the Rectory. Their children are listed as:

Albert and Benjamin were born in Glemsford, but Harbert (Herbert?) was born at Ingoldesthorpe, suggesting a move there between 1855 and 1860.

Susannah married Walter Game in the last 1/4 of 1858, in the Sudbury district. By 1861, they were living in Roach Pond Field, Braintree. Both are recorded as Silk Weavers, and they had one son, Harry, born in Braintree in the last 1/4 of 1859.

Alfred was, in 1861, furthest away from home of all Henry and Susan's children. He was lodging at the house of John and Mary Dillon, in Middleton, Lancashire. John Dillon was an Irish-born bricklayer's labourer; Alfred had taken his skill as a Silk Weaver north with him.
Middleton would seem to be in the region of Bury, Oldham and Rochdale: the Imperial Gazeteer for 1870-2 tells us: "[ it ]carries on industry in extensive silk factories, in numerous large cotton factories, in calico-printing, bleaching, and dyeing establishments, in iron foundries, and in machinemaking establishments;..."
Other reseach for this site - the Brown family, for instance - suggests fairly frequent movement between the Glemsford area and different parts of Lancashire and, indeed, the North in general.
In "The Matmaker and the Magistrate" Richard Deeks notes the same link.
We know that, by 1864, Alfred was back in Glemsford to marry Catherine Garwood.

So, by 1861, at least, Susannah, William and Eton, and, temporarily, Alfred, had moved out of the village to work; many of Henry and Susan's children were still connected to their father's occupation. Change was happening, but slowly.


Page created and copyright - © Steve Clarke - February 2010