Postmistresses of Sigglesthorne Parish

The ancient parish of Sigglesthorne, in the East Riding, lay on the heavy boulder clay soils of Holderness, about 5 miles from Hornsea (total acreage 1852: 5,807aci). In addition to the eponymous village, there were several small settlements and hamlets, including Seaton and Wassand, and Great Hatfield1.

Population 1901ii:

Catfoss 45 Great Hatfield 137 Little Hatfield 41 Seaton and Wassand 351 Sigglesthorne 222 Sigglesthorne ancient parish 796

Although the FACHRS project asked for information about Anne Rayner, sub-postmistress of Sigglesthorne, there was little information about her or her family. However, it became clear from the late C19th directories that there were other sub-postmistresses in the small settlements within the ancient parish, in particular in Seaton.

SIGGLESTHORNE

In the 19th Century and still today, the small agricultural village of Sigglesthorne is dominated by three large houses (one being the old Rectory). They stand in the most picturesque part of the village, opposite the church. The main settlement is just to the north of the church and was a collection of small cottages, now supplemented by some council houses and old people’s bungalows. As the post office appears to have been within the sub-postmistress’s home, and the enumeration schedules do not give street numbers, it proved impossible to locate the site of any. The PO shown on the 6” OS sheet covering Sigglesthorne (1926 with revisions 1946)iii shows a post office on the east side of the main street. Almost opposite it is the current post box (marked EIIR) and telephone box. The last post office in the village was at a slightly different location.

Ann Rayner was born in Gilling, North Yorkshire and appears to have been in service in Sigglesthorne before her marriage in March 1841. (There are discrepancies between the entry in the Sigglesthorne marriage register and 1841 Census, taken in June 1841. It is curious that she appears to be an unmarried person in the 1841 Census.)

1 Great Hatfield had a sub-postmistress, Mrs Charlotte A Smith, from at least 1921. By 1929 she was also a shopkeeper. Marriage Register, St Lawrence, Sigglesthorneiv

Occupation Residence at Father Father’s time of Occupation marriage 4 John Rainer Full Bachelor Labourer Sigglesthorne George Labourer March age Rainer 1841 Ann Fox Full Spinster Servant Sigglesthorne Cornelius Farmer age Fox

(Both signed their names clearly)

Census June 1841

Occupation Place of birth Cornelius Fox 70 Poulterer Gilling Village Yorks Mary Fox 70 Gilling Village Yorks Ann Fox 25 Gilling Village Yorks Miram Fox 15 Gilling Village Yorks

[1851 Census shows Mary Fox, 79, widow and carrier, living in Byland, North Yorks, with her granddaughter Mira (Miram?), 27, unmarried, at home.]

It has not been possible to find any further information about Ann nee Fox before her marriage.

In 1858 the postmaster in Sigglesthorne is given in White’s Directoryv as George Taylor. He had been working for the post office as a Letter Carrier, in 1851, when he was 48, and his wife, Maria, (aged 33) was a Letter Receiver. The family was much travelled: he was born in Glasgow, Maria in Lincoln their two daughters aged 9 and 7 in Plymouth and Sheffield. By 1881 George and Maria were living in Cheadle, Cheshire. His occupation was given as retired comedian. In September 1852 (presumably while George and Maria Taylor were responsible for the post in Sigglesthorne), John Rayner and his father George were appointed Messengers by the Post Office.vi

The 1851 lists Ann Rayner as a farm labourer’s wife and mother of 4 children. Her parents-in-law lived next door. It is not clear when Ann Rayner was appointed Sub-postmistress, but it is her occupation in the 1861, ‘71 and ‘81 Censuses. Her husband is listed in the censuses as Rural Messenger PO and their address was given as Post Office or Post Office House. Only her husband is named in the 1870s directories as the Receiver of Letters.vii

As this was a very small village and the directories only refer to the Receiver of Letters, the post- office will have provided few services and would have been run from the Rayner’s cottage. (Even in 1892 the nearest Telegraph and Money Order Offices are at Leven and Hornsea.)viii. Ann died in 1887 and was succeeded by Mr Prescott-Barr (a joiner and postmaster)ix. Her husband moved to live with his daughter and family, he did not give an occupation in the 1891 Census.

By 1901 the village had a new sub-postmaster, Charles Foster, who was also a joiner aged 25. He had a wife and a very young child. After he died in 1906 xthere was again a sub-postmistress: Agnes Annie Foster, 31, now a widow with two children. In 1911 she had a local girl resident, a 16 year old assistant to sub-post mistress. Mrs Annie Foster continued as postmistress and shopkeeper until at least 1933, by which time it is a post-office and telephone call office.xi

SEATON

The township of Seaton lies on the Beverley- Hornsea road about a mile to the north of Sigglesthorne. Apart from the Manor House, the other properties are farms and small cottages, many close to the road. The housing was improved by two local landlords in the latter part of the 19th Century. In addition, they provided a children’s play area, allotments and a reading room. There were one or two inns and a chapel in the hamletxii. The post box (marked GVIR) is in a cottage wall on the south side of the road. The only indication as to Hannah Wyse, postmistress’s house is the 1891 Census: Front Street, North Side. She was succeeded by her daughter, Rhoda. The 1911 Census states that her house, the post-office, had 6 rooms, this is slightly larger than the majority of surrounding four-roomed cottages.

Hannah Dunn, aged 20, married William Wise, a labourer in Sigglesthorne parish church in November 1843. Both were resident in Seaton and continued to live there for the rest of their lives. Her signature is very clear in the marriage register, but William makes his mark with an X.xiii By the time William died (1869) they must have had at least 12 children, four of whom were living at home in 1871 when Mrs Hannah Wyse, a widow, was a seamstress. There is no mention in the directories of a postal service in Seaton until 1879xiv, when she is listed in Kelly’s Directory as the Receiver of Letters. In the 1881 Census she is head of the household (three children and three grandchildren) and her occupation is Postmistress. She must have continued to hold that position until her death in the Autumn 1891.xv

The Post Office Appointments’ book records that her son, William, born 1867, was appointed Rural Postman Seaton to Skipsea, in December 1885xvi, when he was 18 years old. He later married and had a young daughter, but died in the third quarter of 1894xvii. Interestingly in 1911 his elder daughter, Minnie, aged 20, was an elementary school teacher, employed by the East Riding County Council. (No occupation is given for her widowed mother nor younger sister, aged 18.)

William’s death must have been about the time his sister Rhoda’s husband, James William Thompson, was accepted as Rural Postman Seaton to Skipsea.xviii However, the marriage register for Sigglesthorne Church shows that Rhoda Wyse, aged 29, had married James William Thompson, age 22, in Sigglesthorne Church on 29th April 18942xix. The groom’s occupation was given then as Postman, hers is not stated. Both were living in Seaton, but he came from Swanland (20 miles south west of Seaton). Rhoda and James Thompson had two children, one of whom is recorded in the censuses: Lawrence Thompsonxx, born 1895.

The Censuses, from 1901, record Rhoda as Postmistress and James Thompson as Postman. By 1911 Lawerence[sic] Thompson’s occupation was given as Telegraph Messenger. Lawrence joined the East Yorkshire Yeomanry in January 1913, in the Labour Corps. His occupation on the Attestation Form was telegraphist and his employer Mr Thompson (Father). He served in World War I as a Shoeing Smith, was said to have been of very good character and had an affinity to horses. Although he served with the Mediterranean Force in 1915, much of his time towards the latter part of the war was in England, with horses.xxi

In 1911 the other post office employees in Seaton were a single woman: a 43 year old rural post- woman and a 41 year old rural postman. It is not possible to tell from the Censuses whether Rhoda or her husband was in charge of the staff.

Rhoda Thompson continued to run the post office during the 1920s. In 1921 Kelly’sxxiigives the office hours as 6.40.am to 5pm on weekdays and 7am to 10am on Sundays. Letters are still received through Hull, there is no Sunday delivery. By 1925 it is also a MO&T officexxiii. Four years later she appears to have expanded her business further and was also selling groceriesxxiv. She died aged 68 in 1932 and the new postmaster was Arthur T Coulsonxxv, husband of her niece Minnie Wyse (the elementary school teacher)xxviand formerly groom at Wassand Hall.

In conclusion

The mid 19th Century was a time when the Post Office was expanding its range of services and coverage across the country. This together with improved transport, and the increased ability of people to purchase goods from beyond their local area clearly led to opportunities for some rural women, including widows. These stories of the sub-postmistresses of Sigglesthorne parish appear to show how in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was possible for rural women to support themselves and their families and probably to raise their social position within the community. However it is not yet clear as to whether a wife or her husband would have been in charge of any postmen/employees.

Ros Perry

March 2016

i Victoria County History.http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/east/vol7/pp359-373#p2 ii http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/east/vol7/pp359-373#p2 iiiNational Library Scotland, Yorkshire CXCVII.SW. maps.nls.uk/view/100946366(22 March 16) iv Parish Register St Lawrence Sigglesthorne, 1841. East Riding of Yorkshire Council Archive, Treasure House, Beverley (microfiche) v White’s Directory 1858 page 568 viBritish Postal Service Appointment Books 1737-1969, 1852 pages 449,450 (Ancestry Website) vii Kelly’s Post Office Directories 1872 + 1879 viii Bulmer’s Directory, 1892 http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/ERY/Sigglesthorne/Sigglesthorne92Dry.html ixSlater’s Directory 1887 x https://search.livesofthefirstworldwar.org/record?id=bmd%2fd%2f1906%2f3%2faz%2f000120%2f184 xiKelly’s Post Office Directory, North and East Ridings of Yorkshire vol 1, 1933 xii Victorian County History http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/east/vol7/pp359-373 xiii Parish Register St Lawrence Sigglesthorne, 1843. East Riding of Yorkshire Council Archive, Treasure House, Beverley (microfiche) xiv Kelly’s Post Office Directory, 1879, page 646 xv Registration of Deaths: England and Wales deaths 1837 – 2007, 1891 District Skirlaugh, vol 9D, p199 (https://search.livesofthefirstworldwar.org/search/world- records?firstname=hannah&firstname_variants=true&lastname=wyse&keywordsplace=sigglesthorne&yearofd eath=1891&yearofdeath_offset=2 22 March 16.)

xviBritish Postal Service Appointments Books, 1737-1969, Dec 1885 number: 252663 (Ancestry Website) xviiRegistration of Deaths: England and Wales deaths 1837 – 2007, 1894 District Skirlaugh, vol 9D, p171(https://search.livesofthefirstworldwar.org/record?id=bmd%2fd%2f1894%2f3%2faz%2f000333%2f368. 22March 16) xviii British Postal Service Appointments Books, 1737-1969, 20 Aug 1894 number: 299153 (Ancestry Website xix Parish Register St Lawrence Sigglesthorne. East Riding of Yorkshire Council Archive, Treasure House, Beverley (microfiche) xx England and Wales births 1837 – 2006, 1895 District Skirlaugh, vol 9D, p316 (https://search.livesofthefirstworldwar.org/record?id=bmd%2fb%2f1895%2f4%2faz%2f000549%2f234 22 March 16.) xxi British Army Service Records 1914-2000 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D5544560(28March 16) xxii Kelly’s Post Office Directory, North and East Ridings of Yorkshire vol 1, 1921 xxiiiKelly’s Post Office Directory, North and East Ridings of Yorkshire vol 1, 1925 xxivKelly’s Post Office Directory, North and East Ridings of Yorkshire vol 1, 1929 xxvKelly’s Post Office Directory, North and East Ridings of Yorkshire vol 1, 1933 xxviRegistration of Marriages: England and Wales marriages 1837 – 2008, 1918 District Skirlaugh, vol 9D, p681