june 2011 the newsletter issue two€¦ · brother george (b.1856), sometime farmer of the grange,...

Grant from Heritage Lottery Fund will enable the Club to deliver on its plansDean Roots, Chairman of the

Gring ley His tory Club, recent ly announced that the Club’s application for HLF funding had been successful. Since the launch in September 2010, all activity has been carried out by a handful of

individuals and h a s b e e n p r i v a t e l y f u n d e d . T h e extra finance will allow the c l u b t o

undertake some significant projects and really put the bedrock down for a long term club. The village history goes back to the Stone Age - so lots to discover and record. Some of the initial suggestions have been: a dig, a club calender, an open air play with a historical theme. Some of

the money will be spent on exhibition boards and a professional scanner.

T h e H L F s t r o n g l y advised the group to engage an experienced Mentor to advise the club on its use of the funds. Dieter Hopkin has been engaged to carry out this role.

Most effort so far has gone into building a website as the repository for the historical information being gathered and collected. This site can be found at www.gohistory.org.uk and it already contains hundreds of photographs, and dozens of documents. There are still many gaps, and all are encouraged to root through their papers to see what they can lend the club. Everything will be returned, and acknowledged wherever that is appropriate. We do recognize that the club also requires the means to store securely any retained archival documents and this need is being investigated.

There is also an opportunity for villagers to try their hand at

writing historical papers, to be published in this Newsletter or the Beacon or on the website. On the following pages are some interesting articles by two club members on aspects of Victorian Gringley.

We’d love to see you at a future meeting or to hear from you about Gringley’s past. All contributions and ideas gratefully received.

History Club wins Heritage Lottery Funding

Gringley on the Hill History Club

JUNE 2011 THE NEWSLETTER ISSUE TWO

Some of the images of Gringley recently up-loaded to our www.gohistory.org.uk history club website

Read about Gervase the Carter and links with the Antcliffs. Seth Crook, who lives in Scotland, but knows our village well, now writes for us.

Read about Gringley in 1948!Edith Newsham (formerly Teasdale) has both her essays on the website - highlights overleaf.

The History Club currently meets on the third Thursday

every other month in the Blue Bell at 8pm, with future 2011

meetings on 21 July, 15 September and 17 November

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http://www.gohistory.org.uk




On the Cart with Gervase 1

This Victorian 1844 directory is one of very few covering Gringley that does not mention Gervase Antcliff. In the autumn of 1844, Gervase of Gringley marries Sarah of Harworth. He is 21 and not yet the village carrier. He does not yet have a business to advertise. A Mr John Cobb is the carrier, going to all the markets, Gainsborough, Retford and Bawtry. In the 1850s, Gervase joins him and then goes on to take the cart to the markets for fifty years. Eventually, everyone who lives in Gringley will know Gervase (b.1823) as the carrier. His brothers John (b.1833) and James (b.1827) will sometimes work beside him and his first son William (b.1845) will be in the business in the 1890s. His youngest son Frederick (b.1880) will be the carrier even into the 1920s. I never lived in Gringley, but once, as we were passing, my grandmother mentioned that there had been relations there. All I knew of Gringley was that it was the place with a windmill on the way to my grandmother’s house. I found that her grandmother Lucy Antcliff (b.1875) had been the link, living in Horsewells as a child, by a well for horses, close to Gervase her grandfather of the cart. To my delight, I recently found an Antcliff. Taking a long shot on the name, I end up speaking on the phone to a Norman Antcliff. He recalled his father in the 1930s, trying to set up a transport arrangement with Freder ick the las t son. Nor man descended from another brother of my carrier, Robert the tailor, once also of Horsewells. So I had found in 2011 a last thin thread of memory linked to the business of Gervase my early Victorian ancestor. But he isn’t on the cart in 1844 a n d h e i s n ’ t y e t i n t h e directory. Instead, everyone in the village knows John Cobb (1808-1891) as the carrier, a resident at Cross Hill. He is cited in the 1844 directory and before. In 1841, Cobb of Gringley dropped off travellers for the Gainsborough market on Silver Street at the Ship Inn.

Presumably the carrier cart went into the yard, passing through the entrance. So here is where Gringley folk pulled up in around 1844. It is not an inn anymore, but it is still standing.

P r e s u m a b l y Gervase also passed through the gates when he started to work in the business. As a child, I didn’t know that I had a great-great-great-great grandfather who called at the town from Gringley and who passed through the coach shaped entrance that I didn’t notice. Now I notice such entrances. Now I always think of Gervase of Gringley when I see coach shaped entrances. Sometimes I think of Cobb. In 1855, they were clear: same day return. Do their houses still exist?

I have no photograph or words of Gervase. The earliest photographed Gringley Antcliff certainly on my tree is his nephew William (b.1860), son of his younger brother John (who also worked in the carrier business in the 1870s). Nephew William was photographed in 1913 at wedding of a daughter in Mattersey. So this man will have grown up around the cart of his uncle.

The photo was kindly sent to me by a descendant. I could return the favour because later I found images at the Bassetlaw Museum in the Welchman photographic archive. They were marked only as “Antcliff ”, but I realised that they are of this William and his descendants. I sent photos of this William to the person who sent some to me. I enjoyed that. Other photos show him as an older pillar of the community, but to me he is a boy

in the cart with his uncle. William’s older brother George (b.1856), sometime farmer of the Grange, will also have grown up with the cart. Though William may be in photographs, George has the e a r l i e s t w o r d s , t a k e n f r o m a parliamentary report on rural education in 1868. Suitably, they are about horses.

G e o r g e A n t c l i f f e ( 1 2 ) , labourer's son. - First went with a horse at 8 years old. Come to school in winter. Sometimes come in summer, for a week or sometimes a day or two, and then I get work again.

When the 1844 directory was produced, Gervase the carter-to-be is newly married or courting. He is the eldest son of a Gringley family. Most of his siblings are still with father Ellis (b.1800) and mother Martha Johnson (b.1798) in Finkell Street. His grandparents live on the High Street, Robert the gardener (b.1770) and Martha. Gervase had a sister, mother and grandmother Martha, all around the village in 1844. Robert the gardener grandfather has Johnson ancestors mentioned in the earliest parish registry entries for the village. Grandfather and father are not in the directory, having no business to advertise. Gervase had himself been living on the High Street for a while, working for the farmer Elija Schofield three years before as one of three servants. Schofield is in the directory as well in 1844, described as “gentleman”. An uncle of Gervase also lives on High Street and is in. Perhaps the “gentleman” bought the best boots from this Uncle William Johnson (b.1799). Cordwainers used the better leather. I would like to think Uncle William made the best boots. There are others. Robert Antcliff (b.1829), future tailor of the village, brother of Gervase, is yet to marry; but his future father-in-law is also in the directory, Thomas Briggs, also shoemaker. Perhaps he made the best boots.

Something surprised me in the 1844 directory. There is Uncle William on the High Street and Thomas Briggs of Horsewells, but there are also four other shoemakers. How could there be work for six shoemakers? Not in Gringley alone, surely? Even with the odd “gentleman” or two, there would hardly be the demand. Was there a booming trade from elsewhere? Did John Cobb load up on footwear when he went to market?

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Bawtry, Retford and Gainsborough would have had their own shoe and bootmakers. I looked at an earlier directory and found that in 1832 there were again six shoemakers. Was I confused? Perhaps six was not a high figure. I think of Gervase as the carrier, but how do I think of him as a child? As child in a village with a mill and six shoemakers.

BOOT & SHOE MAKERS. Brewitt James Medcalf George Eversden Wm. Tindall Joseph Johnson Wm. Walker Win.

The first son of Gervase arrives in 1845, so I know what the carrier-to-be was doing at some time in 1844. He would have known how there could be six shoemakers, but his mind would not have been lingering over footwear, unless perhaps the footwear of Sarah, the farmer’s daughter. I don’t know where Gervase lived in 1844, but it was possibly by the side of his parents on Finkell Street. I don’t know what kind of footwear would have been worn around Gringley.

I was right to be puzzled by the shoemakers. It was odd in 1844 and not less odd because it was also so in 1832. In William Cobbett’s Geographical Dictionary of 1832, Gringley is exceptional.

GRINGLEY-ON-THE-HILL, 5§ miles E.S.E. from Bawtry. Cattle and merchandise, and a great quantity of boots and shoes.

In 1855 only three of the shoe and boot makers remain. It is then “John Cobb and Jarvis Antcliff ” going to Bawtry, Retford and Gainsborough. Perhaps there were fewer boots on the cart. But in 1844 there were six shoemakers. There was also Sarah, new bride of Gervase, whose gravestone overlooks the High Street, a few feet over the wall into the churchyard. I stopped by with my beloved and her two small children and she takes a photo of the grave with me on all fours in front, with the two boys on my back. I am pretending to be a cart.

Seth Crook 2011

THIS EDITED VERSION OF THE ARTICLE BY SETH WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR THE HISTORY CLUB AND PUBLISHED ON OUR WEB-SITE.

BUSINESS IN GRINGLEY

1879 & 1881

In 1871 the population of Gringley was 861 and only 869 in 1881 which represents a slight reduction since 1861. There are still no hairdressers listed in the directory so I have even greater concern about the Gorgon locks of the villagers. There are the usual smattering of cowkeepers and lock keepers (both Antcliffs), bricklayers and coal dealers, corn factors and cattle dealers that we have become used to over the years, and for the first time we have Charles William Rhoades listed as a whitesmith and gasfitter. This will tie in with the listing in the directory of the small gas works (where ‘The Rookery’ now stands). Gas had been used for lighting since William Murdock invented a system in the late 18th century, but mostly in large towns and conurbations such as London and the Birmingham area. Once again Gringley seems to have been important enough to warrant the establishment of this advanced technology.

Henry Raines is still a surgeon and registrar of births and deaths and has been according to our registers since at the latest 1844. We have no record of how old Henry Raines was at this time, but his listing as a surgeon for the last 37 years has to put him well into his 50s or 60s by this time. It is also interesting to note that the surgical profession had advanced more in these 37 years than in the previous 370. Prior to 1847, surgeons (or barber surgeons – perhaps the hairdressers couldn’t stand the competition) were pretty much butchers and the chances of survival from an operation were very slim. The first operation using anaesthetic was performed by Sir Robert Liston in 1847 and the use of carbolic acid to reduce infection was pioneered in the 1860s by Joseph Lister. By 1881 Robert Koch, a German, was using s t e a m t o s t e r i l i s e s u r g i c a l instruments. Whether our ageing Gringley surgeon was aware of these advances or was simply a sawbones, we do not know, but it would be nice to think that in the healthiest village

in England we had a surgeon who knew his stuff!

It may be appropriate to check out the various landlords of the 4 village pubs over the 37 years that we have covered to date. The one pub we cannot locate in the village is the Butchers Arms. In 1844 the publican was one John Barrowcliff who appears to have given up the pub by 1853 to concentrate on being a butcher. In this year, William Revill was publican, but 11 years later it had changed hands again and was run by the magnificently named Williamson Wooffitt who continued as i t s pub l i can unt i l i t s demise sometime after 1881. The Cross Keys was originally located at the top of Horsewells Street but moved to its final location on Gainsborough Road prior to the by-pass being built and is now Rosekeys Care Home. Not only did the Cross Keys change its location, but it also saw a change of publican for every directory we have covered. The White Hart, now unsurprisingly ‘White Hart House’ fared slightly better, changing publicans each directory except between 1879 and 1881 when John Poole remained in charge. Our last remaining pub, the Blue Bell, managed to retain its publican Thomas Weightman for the 1844 and 1853 directories, but then went through Sam Marples and George Clapham before George Fox is listed as publican in 1881. We are very curious as to the location of the Butchers Arms and would be grateful for any information anyone can give us.

Our next, and last, trade directory is for 1895 and shows a number of changes to the village over the intervening 14 years including the disappearance of the Butchers Arms and Henry Raines and a change in Lockkeeper after all these years. To see the base results of this research, go to www.gohistory.org.uk.

Mike Keeble 2011

THIS EDITED VERSION OF THE ARTICLE BY MIKE WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR THE BEACON, BASED ON RESEARCH BY SHARON KEEBLE & DEBBIE BLACKLEDGE. A COPY OF HIS WHOLE SERIES OF ARTICLES CAN BE FOUND ON OUR WEB-SITE.

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List of the past Vicars

The history of the Church is of course in practice very close to the history of the village as a whole, so this document is central to our researches.

The Gringley History Club is very grateful to Mrs Eunice Neild for the loan of her copy of the Reverend Minta’s extraordinary work. These articles were originally prepared for publication in the Retford Times, and for this reason it is in the form of instalments. Mrs Neild’s copy bears no precise date of preparation, nor does the author identify himself until the final instalment. From the footnotes and corrections, the date of writing, or at least publication, can be easily discerned as 1936 to 1939. Rev Minta’s incumbency lasted from 1930 to 1962.

Mrs Neild’s copy is usually the fourth or fifth carbon copy. For those of us old enough to recall preparing and reading documents using this method, the lower copies were not always that easy to decipher in the first place, especially when crossings out and corrections have been applied. The Revd Minta also did what we all did – squeezed the use out of his carbon paper sheets as far as he could. He was not to know that 75 years later the light and dark shades of type would confuse scanning machines which try to find a good average setting. The whole document is typed, and up to the 36th instalment it is single spaced, thereafter it becomes double spaced.

The document is believed to be complete, other than introductory pages 5 and 6 which appear to be missing. If anybody can lend their copy of missing or indistinct pages, it would be appreciated.

Part 1 1 to 20 The Church & Its Possessions

Part 2 21 to 36 History 1200 to 1700 approx

Part 3 37 to 48 History 1700 to 1930s

Addenda - List of the Vicars

FULL TEXT IS ON THE WEBSITE IN THE WORDS SECTION.

The Addenda to Henry Minta’s work is a list of the past vicars of the Church, which concludes with Henry Minta himself, though Ivon B a k e r h a s b e e n a d d e d i n somebody’s hand at a later date.

To round out this information it would be very helpful if any photographs of the more recent incumbents could be provided. The History Club is particularly seeking a photograph of the Reverend Gustavus Hopton Scott, who is the subject of active research by one of our members.

Sample Page of Henry Minta’s History of Gringley Church

LABORE DONEC MAURIS DIAM

1234 First Street, Anytown, State ZIP £525,000 07/06/2009

4321 Main, Anytown, State ZIP £515,000 30/06/2009







LOREM IPSUM DOLOR DIAM









History of the Church of St Peter & St Paul by HENRY MINTA

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In 1948 17 year old Edith Teasdale’s entered a nationwide Young Farmer’s Club essay competition in 1948. She won 2nd prize. As Edith Newsham she put pen to paper again in 2000, and recorded from 1937 onwards her memories. She has given her permission to use her reminiscences which are published in full on the history website.We only have space to reproduce part of one page from the 1948 essay but it will give you the flavour of the high quality of the document.

The second and later article is i n s o m e w a y s e v e n m o r e interesting, with Edith’s reflections on the growth of the village over the years she observed it. Of particular interest is her “1937 walk through the village” of which a s h o rt p a rt o f p a ge 1 4 i s reproduced below:

ARTEFACTS Hole’s Ales (a question last time)

We now understand Hole’s was a major brewer in Newark and like many others it subsequently disappeared into the Scottish & Newcastle empire. We have on the website a letter from them 1937.

Electoral Registers

Mrs Hunter has kindly provided a large selection of electoral registers from the second half of the twentieth century. These will be scanned and added to the website once a larger scanner is in use.

Coronation 1911

Two postcards have recently surfaced dealing with the Coronation celebrations for George V in Gringley in 1911. What vantage point was this one taken from?

Chesterfield Canal & Gringley Wharf

It would be nice to have a brief article on the Canal and its historical impact upon G r i n g l e y f r o m somebody....?

1965 Rally

This old 1965 event programme recently came up on e-bay and was acquired by one of our members for scanning and adding to the website. Were you there?

From an Australian newspaper 1937

Can anybodytell us moreabout the background tothis article?

Edith Teasdale’s Memories

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HELP!We would just love to have one or two younger correspondents, who could help the Club by writing a short column of interest to students or school kids, or developing puzzles and quizzes, or perhaps running a Facebook or Twitter feed for the Club.

If you think you might like t o do this, please contact Dean Roots on 01777 817448 or email us at [email protected].

"Sport with Viscount Galway's hounds, 1876-1907"

February 9th, 1883 — Met at Gringley. Ran a ring from Gringley Gorse down by the canal and village to ground. Found in Wheatley Wood, ran for Wheatley, but turned to his left across Bole Field, over the brook to Beckingham Mill, over the railway and on to Walkeringham Thorns. Forty-seven minutes. Away to Misterton, on by the brickyards, then over the canal to Cornley, over the river Idle, and turning to his right over the railway. Here the fox mysteriously disappeared, and I could never get any trace of him again. There was a large party staying at Serlby, and the following poem was written on the day's sport:-

We started in the morning a merry party gay,

The meet it was at Gringley, on a warm and sunny day;

The party numbered half-a-score, behind the rest afar

Came Francis in the brougham, a-smoking his cigar.

Sam Morgan, with the beauties, was waiting on the green,

And pacing up and down there these sportsmen keen are seen.

There's Galway upon Bridegroom, close by old Franky Raynes,

Who, spite of eighty-three long years, knows neither aches or pains.

The covert drawn was Gringley Gorse, where foxes four or five

Were soon afoot and running round, till the place seemed quite alive;

But getting on a ringing brute, he ran the village round

And in and out of every croft, till at last he went to ground.

Next Clayworth Wood and Saundby Park, alas! in vain we drew;

At each blank place our faces each moment longer grew.

The Master glared about him, with anything but glee,

And the way he munched his sandwiches was terrible to see.

(Written by Viscountess Galway and F. Monckton that evening

The poem continues in this vein for some time! Full text on our website.

THE GRINGLEY PLATE

Miscellaneous Projects in ProgressSome Residents are keen to trace more of the history of the house in

which they live. There is now a page called HOUSES on the website for some of these residents to illustrate and record the houses for which they would appreciate finding old photographs or pictures or indeed any historical information. Shown here are a selection from that page, the Manor House, North Beeches and Rood House, both on the High Street. Can you help? Email us at [email protected] if you can.

Or would you like to add your house to the webpage? If so just e-mail whatever information you have, preferably including a current picture, and we will add it to the site.

Methodists in Gringley. Joan and Ian Soulsby are well on with their research into the Methodists in Gringley on the Hill.

The Portland Estate and its Role in Gringley. Alan Hickman is planning to start research into the impact on Gringley of the Portland and Wiseton Estates. This should provide a link between the old ownerships of the village and those that prevail today. Any clues or suggestions most welcome.

The Back Page

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The picture above is of the Gringley Plate 1850, a silver salver which was still in the possession of the Parish Council in 1974.

What were its origins, and where is it now? Tell us if you know!

THE SCHOOL CORNER

WORDSEARCHCAN YOU FIND TEN HISTORICAL THINGS IN AND AROUND GRINGLEY? WORDS CAN BE HIDDEN IN ANY DIRECTION, INCLUDING DIAGONAL.BEWARE - SOME OF THE BUILDINGS MAY HAVE CHANGED THEIR USE!HINT - THE TEN WORDS ARE ALSO BURIED ELSEWHERE ON THIS PAGE.

Wordsearch. wharf cross dovecote canal mill hospital chapel samsyard cemetery church

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.archive.org/details/sportwithviscoun00galw






june 2011 the newsletter issue two€¦ · brother george (b.1856), sometime farmer of the grange,...

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