Programme 2005-2006

8th September 2005

Those present at the opening meeting of the Society’s new year were entertained by an informative talk on the Enclosure of land in the 18th Century, and its effect on the village labourers.

Mick Rawle, a professional Genealogist and Project Co-ordinator for the Leicester Family History Society told how his interest in this subject had been raised by the purchase of an old book at a fair. He commenced his talk with an index of the facts to be covered and a clear explanation of the meaning of ‘Feudal System’ and ‘Land Enclosures’.

The Feudal System had begun during the 11th century, under this system labourers ‘rented’ strips of land from the landholder, the number of strips depending on what they could afford; the ‘ridge and furrow’ effect can still be clearly seen today. They were told what to sow in the way of crops and, after harvesting, could graze their animals on this land. The rental was paid for by days of work for the landholder. The ‘waste’ land, not suitable for arable use could be used to graze stock, and persons with no housing of their own could build shelters here and become ‘squatters’.

The 18th century saw the landowners wanting to enlarge their farms to be more economical, and increase their income. To do this they ‘enclosed’ their land. This entailed bringing in an Act of Parliament. A Petition would be brought to Parliament, this was passed to a Committee, who then appointed Commissioners and finally passed it on to the Quarter Sessions.

As all the people concerned in the procedure were usually landholders or wealthy men themselves, the labourers had very little redress, and their complaints were usually ignored. In 1760 there was very little enclosure, by 1844 six million acres of land had been enclosed, almost one third of this being ‘waste’ land. All fencing had to be paid for, and maintained, by those whose land adjoined the enclosed land, not the landholder.

The labourers, be they farmers or squatters, were driven out of their livelihood and had to hire themselves out as labourers to the landholder. Wages were minimal, the ‘Speenham Land System’, a forerunner of today’s social services, meant the wages were even lower than previously, many families became paupers; the old, infirm and young died of starvation! Riots ensued as labourers asked for a minimum wage of 2/6d per day (twelve shillings a week).

The audience were shown photocopies of records of payments made to a displaced framework knitter, who was paid for by the Parish. A proper wage would have been much less!

6th October 2005

Christine Vialls opened the October meeting by thanking the members of the society for the bouquet of flowers she received on her recent birthday.

She then introduced Eric Orbell who spoke to the members about ‘Life on the Lower Deck in Nelson’s Navy’; this related life on the lower decks of any man-of-war ship not, as one imagined, only Nelson’s flagship ‘Victory’. Eric’s interest had been aroused when pursuing his family history and finding the diary of his Great-great-great uncle Ambrose Orbell.

Between 1793 and 1815 there were 200,000 people in the Navy, 50% of these were ‘volunteers’ and 50% were ‘pressed men’. The accuracy of these figures is subject to doubt – pressed men were asked if they wanted to volunteer, an affirmative would reward them with a bounty. Most of those pressed were already sailors, and there were exemptions for certain men, such as shepherds. The press gang from a ship found most of their victims in public houses and it was very possible that these men would not set foot on land again for many years, if ever. When a ship arrived in port the crew, from petty officers down, were incarcerated in a hulk until being transferred to their next ship.

‘Victory’ herself was a very old ship even in 1793, being a one-hundred gunner; after 1793 ships were usually seventy-four gunners. The ships were approximately 175 feet long and 50 feet wide; into this space were packed seven hundred men. Each man was issued with two hammocks and allowed a space of fourteen inches in which to hang them – one to sleep in, one for the wash! Due to the ‘watch’ system the sailors had about four hours sleep; ‘idlers’ had eight hours. These were the people such as gunners, carpenters etc. Those not on watch were occupied with gun practice and use of pistols, swords and cutlasses for hand-to-hand combat in the event of being boarded.

‘Cleanliness being next to Godliness’ was certainly the order of the day in the Navy, far more so than on land. Any ailments could swiftly pass through a ship’s crew. On Sundays there was a ‘Service’ taken by the Captain unless there was a Parson, never a popular crew member, on board, and at least once a month the Articles of War were read out – a long list of ‘don’ts’. Any infringement of these rules would be brought before the Captain at Default’s Parade, one had little hope of being heard if one had a plea or excuse. ‘Flogging would be the most usual punishment’.

The food consisted of salt meat, biscuit and cheese whilst at sea, usually well infested with weevils or maggots (one could tell the difference by the taste). Fresh food could be bought in port; this would be brought out by local traders, along with women – each woman would be asked if she was the wife of a crew member, the answer was always ‘yes’. It was known for there to be more women than sailors on board whilst in port. There was always water (not always fresh) available, and an allowance of eight pints of beer per man per day for the Home Fleet, one pint of wine for the Mediterranean Fleet or half-a-pint of rum with an equal amount of water. Drunkenness was a major offence!

3rd November 2005

Despite very inclement weather the members of the History Society and a number of visitors, greatly enjoyed an illustrated talk by Pamela Inder Boylan entitled ‘Victorian Dressmakers in Leicester’ at the November meeting.

Pam has had a long career in the Museum service as a curator of costume and textile departments. Her interest in dressmakers kindled when researching the subject for her Doctorate of Philosophy. Her research took her far beyond the dressmakers in Leicester and its surrounding district. There were extremely few records remaining dealing with the ‘trade’ of dressmakers and her researches took her into the field of books and paintings, the Census and the Children’s Employment Commissions of 1843 and 1864. (These were yearly reports but these two years dealt with ‘child dressmaker’s and their conditions of employment’). From the Census, Pam found dressmakers in both Kibworth Beauchamp and Harcourt, these being about 10% of the population in each village.

Dressmakers were patronised by all walks of society, from servant girl to royalty. Fashion was not reserved for the highest in the land – every woman wore variations of the same ‘fashion’. Dressmakers for the poorer classes were perhaps not as skilled as those who made for the higher classes. Working class women had no time to sew for themselves nor to teach their daughters, therefore they also had their dresses made. From the Census it would appear that some dressmakers worked to keep family and unemployed husband, some worked as and when they needed to.

A ‘dressmaker’ was a highly skilled individual, having to adapt her skills to ever-changing fashions in women’s clothing. The period covered by one dressmaker was fifty years 1820-1870; although they started at a young age a dressmaker could have been in her seventies when she had to stop. Girls would be apprenticed to dressmakers at a relatively young age (by today’s standards), they would not be paid and, it was possible, a premium might have to be paid to the employer. The apprentice would then become an ‘improver’ earning a pittance, going on to be a second or first class hand, paid accordingly.

Dresses had to be individually cut to each customer’s requirements; there were no ready-to-make patterns. Often these dresses would be copied from a ‘fashion plate’ (a picture in a magazine perhaps!) and could be required that same day or within a very few days. Patterns did not begin to appear until the 1870’s. The material for making clothes was not woven in the widths with which we are familiar today – these varied from perhaps twelve inches wide to twenty-two inches. This made cutting large pieces difficult, thus parts such as the bodices would be cut in sections and seamed together, seams being used rather than darts for shaping.

In the 1870’s Department stores began to make an appearance, these had workrooms where dresses were customised, using trimmings from the store, and altered to fit customers. The dressmaking trade began to change to what we know today.

1st December 2005

The History Society was in festive mood for the Christmas Social with a number of members and friends present in the Methodist Chapel. After the consumption of an excellent buffet supper, provided by Heather Pickering, those present took part in a Quiz.

The Quiz, devised by George Weston, proved to many present just how little they knew about the Kibworth villages. Small knots of people were to be heard muttering that they knew ‘just where that doorway was’, whilst examining photographs of places in the villages. The incorrect results were an indication that we all saw places regularly but the locations did not register. The questions proved even more problems. However David and Ros Holmes gained the most points and proved they knew the Kibworths well.

As their prize, David & Ros chose “A Land Girl Remembers” by Rose Holyoak.

George was thanked for all his hard work in putting the Quiz together and taking the photographs used in it. These were fascinating in themselves. The meeting then drew to a close with expressions of goodwill for Christmas and the New Year.

2nd February 2006

On a particularly cold night, members and visitors to the History Society were pleased to welcome Linda Butt, who was to speak on ‘The Genesis of a Miniature Residence’.

The residence in question is ‘Brentingby House’, named for the village near Melton Mowbray where her husband’s family – the Woodfords’ – bought the ‘Hall’ in 1317. This building no longer exists, but there is mention of it in a document, partly in English partly in Latin, that was written at the time. This document still exists and Linda was able to read the relevant passage to the meeting.

Linda had decided that she needed a focus for her craft skills, particularly fine needlework and bobbin lacemaking. She purchased a doll’s house; it arrived in three flatpacks and took her, with her husband’s help, three years to build. The finished residence stands four feet, six inches high with a basement and three floors, not to mention the ‘Grotto’ at the front of the basement. The building is of the Queen Anne period with rooms in both that period and the Tudor period. Linda felt that she could let her imagination take over, the Tudor rooms are the ‘original’ house and the Queen Anne part was ‘built’ round it.

The exterior of the house is finished in a delicate blue stucco – a mix of emulsion paint and ‘budgie’ sand. The windows, pediments etc. are painted white. The flagstones in front are real and were all laid by hand. The ‘grotto’ is a beautiful cavern-like area with running water that one could imagine is real; it is finished with a stone effect and greenery.

The meeting was then shown a powerpoint display of the rooms in the house, with details of the furniture so far completed. All the lighting is run on electricity although the fittings are candles and candle lamps. These candles flicker as do the flames in the fires. The fireplaces were all modelled and painted by Linda herself, as was the furniture.

The furniture arrives in minute pieces in kit form. All these pieces have to be sanded, the corners rounded and then assembled. Many of the pieces are so tiny as to be almost invisible. Considerable time is then spent colouring them with alcohol based stain, sanding them, re-staining, shellacing and then polishing with beeswax. The best kits are American made. Footstools, rugs, wall-hangings and cushions are embroidered by Linda, some of the ‘canvas’ having 28 holes to the inch. The bed hangings and the sheets are yet to be made. The lace edgings will all be handmade. In the housekeeper’s room there is a tiny lace pillow with bobbins little more than 5mm long.

Afterwards questions were invited and those present were able to examine at close quarters the beautiful, skilfully made furniture and carpets. No touching please!

2nd March 2006

At the meeting on March 2nd 2006 George Weston, treasurer of the Society, entertained the members by helping them to trace family members in the 1881 Census.

The Census is taken every ten years and the details released after one hundred years have passed. A form has to be filled in listing every person in each dwelling place, be it house or hotel, hospital or prison. Members of a single family may be split amongst a number of different establishments. Even the visiting sailors in ships in port have to be listed, with their country of origin.

The Census lists the relationship of every person in each establishment along with their age, marital status and occupation, also the place (or country) of their birth. For some people this information may lead to interesting discoveries as to their family origins.

The handwriting is often difficult to read therefore the information gathered may be incorrectly transcribed into the record books. One such incidence of this was well illustrated by a member of the History Society who was researching a ‘Peter Marsh’, by the time this name reached the records and was discovered in the 1881 Census it had become ‘Ben North’. In such cases, researchers are helped by knowing where their ancestors lived.

It was interesting to hear members ask George to find their ancestors and to see how he did this. His computer programme was able not only to find the correct relation but also to see who their neighbours were. During the course of the evening questions were asked as to what some of the occupations were as these were not always commonly recognised.

Some members came prepared and asked about the Census entry for Winston Churchill in 1881, another one asked about a gentleman who was revealed to be Disraeli’s Chancellor of the Exchequer (unusual).

6th April 2006

The members of, and visitors to the April meeting of the Kibworth History Society were delighted by a talk from Roger Garratt entitled the ‘A-Z of Kibworth Grammar School’. Many people in the village will remember Roger as the music master at, what is now, Kibworth High School. His first job as a music teacher, after his post-graduate year, was at the Grammar School, then known to be the best music school in the county of Leicester.

Roger explained that this was not to be a history of the Grammar School but his memories of the people and the incidents that were important to him – these were indexed ‘A-Z’ for his own reference.

‘B’ stood for blazers, berets and badges, the latter being the two rampant lions, now well known as the badge of the Kibworth Cricket Club. This is the only place in the Kibworths where this emblem is still to be seen. The new High School sports the Phoenix as its emblem.

‘D’ represented Discipline, this was fairly and effectively applied. The discipline was appreciated by the pupils, who knew what the limits were and what the outcome would be should they not obey the guidelines.

‘E’ – John Elliott, the Headmaster from about who discovered the chest of original school documents. He was so overcome by his discovery that he interrupted the class of the history master – Bernard Elliott, known as Mr. Bernard, who had to leave his class unattended to examine the documents. Roger was not present in this class but his elder brother was, and it was unheard of to leave a class unattended in this fashion.

‘H’ – Harold Cramp was the history master in Roger’s day and he had little time for either PE or music. His comments when returning essays would be either ‘lacks style’ or ‘lacks facts’, as a musical scholar Roger always received the comment ‘lacks style AND facts’!

‘K’ – Kindness. The kindness shown by the individual teachers to the pupils in a variety of ways, being aware of particular difficulties of each child as an individual. This is a trait that many people will recall when remembering Roger himself during his years teaching at the High School. Roger illustrated this by reading the letters that the then Headmaster, and Deputy Headmistress wrote to him on the death of his Mother.

‘L’ represented lunches. Roger recalled Megan the cook with her eleven or twelve helpers preparing 400 substantial dinners of three courses every day in time for the first sitting at 12 o’clock. Those taking second sitting had the advantage of ‘extras’ and ‘seconds’. Roger usually managed this sitting and has the privilege of being the last person to eat dinner on the Grammar School site.

‘M’ must be for music. Kibworth Grammar School produced a number of well-known performers. Roger’s musical career at the school was overseen by Terry Dwyer, who took Roger and gave him another chance after he had ‘opted out’ of music for two years.

‘P’ referred to Roger’s masterpiece for the art examination. His interpretation of ‘Storm at Sea’ took so much black powder paint that the school ran out, there was not time for the proposed boat to be painted in!

‘X’ is for ‘extraordinaire’ the way life comes round in circles, as Roger has recently found.

There was much chatting and reminiscing whilst refreshments were served following the meeting.

4th May 2006

David Holmes, one of our longstanding members, gave us a fascinating illustrated talk about how changing styles in fashion and decor in society were reflected in the decoration of the headstones marking the graves in St. Wilfrid’s churchyard.

The majority of the headstones are of slate and have weathered extremely well. The two earliest examples date back to 1681 and 1688. They were made of slate from Swithland quarry and were hand cut. Those dating from 1820 onwards are Welsh slate and were cut by machine. The engraving on the headstones was done by a variety of craftsmen from Oadby, Market Harborough and even Melton Mowbray. The older examples are a standard rectangular shape with simple decoration but engraved with a selection of scripts from plain capital letters to scrolled curving italics.

From 1760 the classical style appeared with urns used as adornments. The influence of Wedgewood and Adam is evident as swags, scrolls and columns make many headstones more decorative. From 1860, crosses are prevalent as are a small group of unusual monuments representing a “back to nature” trend.

1st June 2006

At the June meeting of the Kibworth History Society Christine Vialls, the Chairman, was presented with a print of Kibworth scenes, painted by Shirley Baxendale, to mark her retirement after seventeen years. Her enthusiasm and inspiration has been a delight to us all.

Christine started Kibworth Family History Society in February 1989, when a growing interest was shown in the subject. The first meetings were in Christine’s home and were for a few people interested in learning more about genealogy. As the group grew in numbers it was moved to the Methodist Chapel and became the ‘Kibworth History Society’. The talks became more general and now cover a variety of subjects, not only about history and Kibworth, but of more general interest.

During her years in Kibworth Christine has been involved in the documenting and archiving of boxes of papers found in the offices of a Daventry solicitor and presented to Northampton Record Office. To do this she travelled weekly to Northampton until quite recently when deteriorating health made it difficult.

The meeting was then entertained by members telling of their interests and experiences: amongst these were Betty Ward, who talked about her life at Priory Farm in the 1920’s, 1930’s, and 1940’s; Joan Exley who ‘walked us around the shops on Kibworth bank’; Denis Clarke, who talked about his life in Kibworth as a small boy in the 1920’s and 1930’s; Elizabeth Willcocks who recounted two tales told to her by her father about Lord Byron and Emma Byron who killed her lover on the steps of the Stock Exchange; and finally, George Weston made a short presentation of the Society’s website.

Following the meeting the members and visitors enjoyed some excellent cakes provided by Sally Garratt.