Newby Age in 1881 Census: 28 Source: - RG Number: RG11 Piece: 1879 Folio: 67 Page: 6 Reg
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VICTORIAN RURAL POLICEMAN Mini Project 2017 Rural Constabularies were established following the Royal Commission which met between 1836 and 1839, the County Police Act of 1839 and the amending Act of 1840. In 1856 the County and Borough Police Act made the establishing of a police force mandatory for all counties and boroughs. All the police men in the mini project are listed as Police Constables in the 1881 census. The purpose of the project is to find out more about these rural policemen – who they were, how they lived and do they fit the quotations. FACHRS Ref: GRCA01 Researcher Name: Carole Athroll Name: William Newby Age in 1881 Census: 28 Source: - RG Number: RG11 Piece: 1879 Folio: 67 Page: 6 Reg. District Woodbridge Parish: Grundisburgh County: Suffolk Migration, Employment and Social Status Police Constable Birth place: William was baptised on 10 April 1853 in Sotterley, Suffolk, a village some 5 miles south east of Beccles. His parents were James Newby and Martha Ann nee Baxter who had married the previous year (freeBMD September quarter 1852 Wangford 4a 997) Occupation of his father: James was an Ag Lab and a brickmaker Information from each census about William and the household he lived in: YEAR 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 CENSUS RG09 RG10 RG11 RG12 RG13 RG14 PIECE 1185 1777 1879 1485 1796 FOLIO 202 81 67 27 24 PAGE 3 5 6 3 12 REG DIS Woodbridge SUB DIS Grundisburgh PARISH ADDRESS The Common Not specified High Street Back Street Back Street TOWN Sotterley Sotterley Grundisburgh Wenhaston Wenhaston Wenhaston COUNTY Suffolk Suffolk Suffolk Suffolk Suffolk Suffolk RELATIONSHIP Grandson Grandson Head Head Head Head TO HEAD AGE 8 18 28 38 48 59 OCCUPATION Scholar Ag Lab and Police Watch and clock Hair cutter Hair cutter brickmaker Constable repairer and watch and organ repairer builder - pipe WIFE’s NAME N/A N/A Mary Ann Mary Ann Anna M Anna M NO OF N/A N/A Harry Oliver 4 1 - Alice Step son CHILDREN Snowling Walter/Emmeline/ plus 2 George (step-son - 11) Florence/Alice stepsons Catchpole Walter George & (26) a Charles (3) William carpenter & Emmeline Catchpole builder Eliza (2) Florence Gertrude (1) Is this a Police No No Not specified - No No No House? there was at least one Police house in Grundisburgh OTHER Head of Head of His sister Frances Eliza Previous wife The census information household household Susanna Brunning aged 19 had died in says married was was Newby was was a visitor 1897 and he 13 years and grandfather grandfather also living shown as niece had no children also William also William with them (she would be remarried the born alive to Newby Newby wife’s niece) same year marriage We would like to look at the hypothesis that the provision of a police house encouraged a man to marry earlier than might have otherwise been possible can you see any evidence of this with your Police Constable? No, not really as the 1881 census does not have a specific address within the village of Grundisburgh. There is a cottage in Grundisburgh now called Constable Cottage which used to be the old police house and there may well be a second house also referred to as a police house. This looks more substantial than Constable Cottage which may indicate a newer build, possibly in the early twentieth century. Age at marriage? William married his first wife, Mary Ann Snowling on 25 September 1876. He was already a policeman and was 23 years old. However, Mary Ann was a widow aged 30. She had been married to Jonas Snowling, also a police constable. They married at St John’s Lowestoft on 19 January 1869 and although Jonas had been born in Somerleyton, Suffolk, at the time of the marriage he was living in Beckenham, Kent. Their child, Harry Oliver Snowling was born in 1870. In 1871 Jonas was living in Elmer’s End, Beckenham but Mary Ann and Harry were to be found in Lowestoft with Mary Ann’s mother (the widowed Eliza Brunning). Jonas died in August 1872 and was buried, aged only 25 in Somerleyton. Whether or not Jonas and William were known to one another is something I have not been able to find out. Jonas Snowling does not appear in the Suffolk Constabulary General Register (SRO 1465/1) or the East Suffolk Constabulary Form of Oath (1466/1) and I am assuming that he was a member of the Kent Constabulary. “The 1830s and 1840s saw a significant growth in the opportunities for men who sought to follow the trade of police officer. The life was not easy, but then many working-class jobs involved long hours of often tedious and occasionally dangerous work, if not necessarily the fierce discipline of the new police. Unskilled, semi-skilled or even skilled men whose immediate job prospects were poor, by joining a police force and sticking with the trade, had the opportunity to pull themselves a few rungs upward on the ladder of the Victorian social hierarchy. A few … did this by remaining loyally with one force for thirty years or more. Others watched for openings and applied for jobs often far away from where they were born or had begun or improved their police careers.” (Emsley 2010 p84) How does your Police Constable compare? According to the General Register (Suffolk Constabulary General Register SRO 1465/1) William was appointed on 13 March 1874 at the age of 21 years. He was 5ft 10 ins tall and his previous occupation was a brickmaker. He was single and had been recommended by the Revd Mannell and Supt Gobbett. He took the Oath on the 17th March at the Petty Sessions in Ipswich (before Henry Phillips and John Berners the Magistrates). The Register states that he resigned on 25 March 1885, some eleven years after joining up. No reason is given for his resignation. Did he have any other employment before becoming a Policeman? Yes - he was shown as an Ag Lab and brickmaker (his father’s trade) in 1871. Did he have any other employment after leaving the Police? Yes - he is variously a watch and clock repairer, a hair cutter and an organ builder in subsequent census returns Does he move to different locations as a policeman? I am assuming yes - in the 1881 census his three children (Walter aged 3, Emmeline aged 2 and Florence aged 1) were all born in Hacheston, a village a few miles away from Grundisburgh but still within the Suffolk East Constabulary area. Thus it seems that he moved to Grundisburgh around 1880 and was still there in 1885 when his youngest child Alice was born. Do you think his social status changed over the period of his life? It was certainly a step up for him to become a policeman from being an agricultural labourer and a brickmaker. After he resigned from the force in 1885 he appears in subsequent census returns as noted above. In addition, he is listed in the 1892 Kelly’s directory for Wenhaston as being a watchmaker (also in Whites directory for 1891-2 and Kelly’s directory for 1896) suggesting that he has some business premises, or that he carries on his business from his home. This would mean that he was his own boss, rather than working for someone else. Did he get promoted while in the Police? No, the General Register has him in the list of constables rather than any other rank. The Policemen’s chorus in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance goes: “Our feelings we with difficulty smother, When constabulary duty’s to be done. Ah, taking one consideration with another, A policeman’s lot is not a happy one.” (Emsley 2010 p157) Emsley suggests that this showed the policeman to the audience as “while a policeman’s lot was not a happy one, he was uniquely English, therefore honest and upright, and earnestly devoted to his duty.” (Emsley 2010 p.157) How does your Policeman fit this stereotype? No evidence has been found to comment on this either way. I have searched the Newspaper database but not found him mentioned. The Community What is the size and type of the community he would have been serving in 1881? Grundisburgh is a small village some 3 miles NW of Woodbridge and approximately 6 miles from the county town of Ipswich. It has a church, St Mary’s which looks across the village green to The Dog, its village pub. The cottage that used to be the Police House is next but one to the pub. In 1881 the population was around 800 and is now around 1500. In 1881, in addition to those involved in agriculture, there were a number of linked occupations such as blacksmith, wheelwright, etc. There were five teachers (2 men and 3 women) and several inhabitants connected with both the church and the dissenting chapel (Grundisburgh has one of the earliest Baptist Chapels in the area). In addition to Grundisburgh Hall, there was a large house called Bast’s - which still exists - these were the original manors. The village boasted 5 pubs in 1881 - so plenty to keep PC Newby busy! Can you answer the same questions for the other places he served in. Hacheston is a village 3 miles SE of Framlingham. In 1881 its population was just over 400 (therefore around half the size of Grundisburgh). Its current population (2011 census) is 345. I am assuming that William was the constable for Hacheston, but it is not clear from the records.