A little too large!

As the librarian for the Sussex Family History Group I am currently sorting through a lots of boxes which haven't been opened for some time.  The latest box included a transcript of a press cutting of the burial of William Agate in Horsham in 1827.

According to this report, when William Agate died he was 'very corpulent' and weighed 126 stone.  Some internet research suggests that 126 stone was probably an exaggeration as even in our obese world people weighing 100+ stone are rare although obesity is not a problem limited to our century, it existed in 18th centuries onwards amongst the wealthy and middle classes who had access to foods in excess.

William was actually described as being 126 stone 'horsemans weight'.  This does not mean William was the right weight to ride a horse (if he did weigh 126 stone he would have been the same weight as a fairly large horse!) instead it is to do with how the value of a stone was calculated.

Back in the Middle Ages there was no standardised 'stone' weight and each community would use a rock or stone of about the right weight to measure out each sale but with the growth of international trade a stone was fixed at a specific weight - but at a different weight depending on the item.  A stone of wool was 14lbs, whilst a stone of wax was 12lbs and a stone of sugar weighed 8lbs. 

A horsemans weight meant that a stone weighed 14lbs (as it does now) so according to the London Express of the 19th July 1827 William Agate weighed 126 stone or 1,764lbs (800kgs).

If his weight was exaggerated then hopefully the size of his coffin was too as the article says it was 17ft by 13ft and 12ft deep.  The General Baptist church graveyard in Horsham is not the biggest and a coffin this size would have required the most of the graveyard to be dug up to make a hole big enough for it!!

The Keep

As I was predisposed to like the Keep, the new archive in East Sussex, this  might not be the most unbiased review.

I have two roles within the Keep; one as a researcher whilst the other is as the librarian for the Sussex Family History Society (SFHG) who are a tenant partner of the Keep.  The SFHG have a room at the Keep which houses our library and because of this I have spent a lot of time at the Keep, particularly before they opened.  

I also do a lot of research at the Kent History and Library Centre, the new Kent archive which opened two years ago so it is interesting to make a comparison between these two very different archives.

To begin with, as you might have guessed, I do like the Keep, a lot.  There is without doubt lots that can be done to improve it but many of the problems are inevitable with a new archive which is made up of three different repositories all now working as one (East Sussex record office, Brighton History Centre and the Special Collections of the Sussex University).

The Keep bears no relation to the previous home of the East Sussex record office (ESRO) at the Maltings.  Previously researchers worked in cramped conditions in the attic at the Maltings whilst documents were stored in various locations around Sussex - none of them ideal for old and vulnerable documents.  Now all the records, and those of the Brighton History Centre (BHC) and Mass Observation collection are housed in National Archive standard conditions in the repository block.  There is a reference room (into which you could fit the old ESRO research room in three or four times over) plus a similarly sized reading room.  The reference room contains the library, the computers and the microfilm readers, whilst original documents can be viewed in the reading room.  Staff have better facilities too, there is a digitization suite and a conservation suite (which slightly resembles a torture chamber with its presses and giant guillotine).  There are three multifunction rooms which can be used as one single space, giving room for exhibitions, school visits, lectures and meeting rooms.

Many of the problems with the Keep are in the process of being resolved.  An initial problem was that the new document order system asked you to reserve your original documents for either a morning or afternoon session.  If you ordered it for the morning but got side tracked with other research you would find the document had been returned to the depository by the time you went to view it.  A temporary fix allowed you to order documents for both sessions but now the system has been amended so researchers just select the day they want to view a document.  

Staff are another issue.  Staff from both ESRO and BHC are working together, both have different specialities and training. There is also a lot of new equipment and it does appear that there has been little training on how to use it.  There is also a lack of staff, I'm not sure if it is because staff have left or because more staff are needed but there is a high percentage of temporary staff who seem to have little or no expertise in family history or local studies research but they have been put in charge of helping in the reference room.  Again, this appears to be addressed as the temporary staff do appear to have been relocated to the reception desk and other areas where less expertise is needed and a longer term solution is underway as jobs are now being advertised to increase the number of staff.

As much as I like the Keep, I dislike the Kent History and Library Centre (KLHC).   The Keep is a quiet environment with plenty of space, the KHLC is a library, unless you need to view original documents you share the space with children attending rhyme time, youths checking on their Facebook page and pensioners collecting their large print books - nothing wrong with any of that, but not an ideal environment for historical research.

I spend a lot of time looking at parish registers most of which are stored on microfilm, at both archives.  At KHLC they have a few of the old style microfilm readers and some new modern ones which are connected to a computer so that the image is displayed on the screen giving a far better image than the older microfilm readers.  The problem with these new machines is they are clunky, clumsy and virtually unusable.  Staff don't know how to use the machines so you are to a large extent on your own with them.  Another issue is that although you can enlarge the microfilm on the screen you can only print out the original page as an A4 document - no enlargement.  Having had experience and not been impressed by the machines at KHLC I approached the new ones at the Keep with trepidation, they are also connected to the computer and its fair to say the staff aren't expert with them but unlike the ones in Kent these are a joy to use!  They do require some computer savvy to use as you'd expect but once you get the hang of it and the touchscreen controls you have a good quality image which can be printed or saved to a usb drive.  If you don't like using the microfilm readers then the Keep has another benefit - digital images of all the microfilmed parish registers.  One day these will be available on all the computers but at present they are limited to two standalone pc's.

The role of the Sussex Family History Group is varied.  We are there to provide a service for our members with our library (accessed from the reference room) and computer resources - it is important to remember that the SFHG covers all of Sussex, both West and East Sussex, so although we are based in the Keep we have a lot by way of West Sussex resources.  We also provide a service for non members although non members who visit more than once are gently encouraged to join us.  (Given that membership is just £11 a year which gives access to a fantastic baptism & burial index and much more it is a bargain!)  At the Keep we are also there to help the researchers in the Keep with their research, after all not everyone knows what they are doing, how to find what they need - at present we have volunteers there most Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays as well as some Saturdays - if Brighton aren't playing at home (the Keep is just down the road from the new Brighton stadium).  The SFHG have been made to feel very welcome by the staff and we hope we add some value to those visiting the Keep.

Sadly the Keep does not have any late night opening but it does now open every Saturday and there is no longer any need to book in advance - there are seats in abundance.  Several people have commented that the Keep looks like a prison building, but whilst I am not a fan of modern architecture I find the building quite striking.  Internally there is a lot of space, a lot of white walls mixed in with some images.  I'll finish with a final contrast with the Kent archive - without doubt my most disliked feature of the KHLC are the communal toilets (really Kent, what were you thinking - in a library!!), but the Keep has nice, modern toilets with a separate ladies and gents & snazzy hand dryers, what more could you want!!

The Keep is open!

The Keep opened today, the partnership between East Sussex Record Office, the Brighton History Centre and the Mass Observation Project is finally up and running.
I was there today with the Sussex Family History Group and everything seemed to run smoothly and without too much chaos (at least on the surface!).

The image above is from the reference room - a huge difference from the old record office - and that is just one of the rooms, there is a second one through the glass doors at the far end.
Tomorrow I am back there but this time as a researcher.  Look for my review tomorrow.

Getting ready for the Queen's visit

Over the past month the Sussex Family History Group library have been busy moving from their home at St Michaels church hall in Lewes where they have been based for the last 21 years to their new home at the Keep.  Last Saturday, a lot of work saw the room finally look a big more presentable (thank goodness for cupboards!) and a bit closer to being ready for the visit from the Queen as she comes to open the Keep later this week. The building itself is looking very smart with the addition of its name on the front.  

The Keep opens to the public on the 19th November.

Nonconformity in Sussex: The Society of Dependants

The Society of Dependants

also known as the Cokelers

This was a Protestant dissenting sect set up by John Sirgood in Loxwood, West Sussex in the mid 19th century.  John Sirgood, born in Averring, Gloucestershire in about 1821, moved to London where he became a fundamentalist preacher initially with another sect - the Peculiar People - in Southwark.  He was against the Anglican church and disliked the inequalities within society, views which made him very unpopular with landowners and the clergy. 

Sirgood began preaching at Loxwood, Sussex which had the benefit of being an area outside the control of the large estates. Local landowners could not have him removed, although attempts were made to limit his impact but the end of the Conventicle Act gave Sirgood the freedom he needed.  Meetings were held initially in barns and outbuildings in and around Loxwood but Sirgood soon built up a substantial following amongst the farm workers of the area.

Eventually the Society of Dependants was formed, the name was chosen because the members considered themselves dependent on God for everything.

They believed in free will to achieve salvation and they preferred celibacy, although marriage was not forbidden, but it was believed that a relationship with a husband or wife was a barrier to their own relationship with God

Members were pacifists and became conscientious objectors during both world wars. Some sources say they also disapproved of any form of pleasure, they were teetotal, didn't take part in dancing, didn't listen to any music that was not religious and even banned flowers or ornaments in their homes although other sources suggest they were not so extreme.

Probably as a result of the poverty among their members, persecution (many members lost their jobs, whilst others became unpopular amongst neighbours & friends) and their preference for regular joint worship, the Society of Dependants set up shops which were run by members who also lived on site.  They flourished in places such as Loxwood, Warnham, Northchapel, Lords Hill (in Surrey) and South Norwood (near Croydon), soon they also set up and ran farms on a communal basis, the produce of which was sold through the shops.

The Society had about 2,000 members when John Sirgood died in 1885 and there were seven chapels but the numbers soon fell off and by the early 20th century had halved and by the 1980s only about 30 members remained.  The last surviving chapel in Northchapel is now a private house and so far as I can tell the Society of Dependants is no longer operating.

Where's my father?

In the Victorian era it became popular for groups to take annual outings to the seaside.  On the 12th July 1906 it was the turn of the tradesman of Orpington and St Marys Cray to take an outing to Brighton. For the first time they decided not to travel by train but to hire a double decker bus with an open top.  It was to prove to be a fatal decision.

   

The journey began well but it was soon clear there were mechanical problems, the driver had to stop on several occasions to wield his spanner. Locals in Horley, Surrey reported seeing the omnibus make its way through the town noticeably  top heavy (with many of the passengers taking advantage of the open top, many of them standing). 

As the bus approached Handcross Hill they were travelling about 12 miles an hour (the national speed limit was 14 miles an hour) but they picked up speed as they began down the hill getting up to an estimated 30 or 40 miles.  The bus wasn't designed to cope with the speed and by the time the driver tried to use the brakes it was too late, they failed with a loud bang leaving a variety of mechanical parts lying in the road behind them.  The badly shaken driver tried the handbrake without effect so he threw the gears into reverse, the only option left to him.  There was a further bang as many of the remaining mechanical parts fell out and the driver lost all all control of the bus.  The driver, Henry Blake, tried to keep the bus on the road but it hit a large oak tree, a branch of which tore off the top half of the bus, the rest of the bus continued until it came to rest hanging off the side of the hill.

Red Lion, Handcross

The Red Lion in Handcross multi-functioned over the next few days; it became a temporary hospital for the injured, it became a morgue for the dead and it provided a room for the inquest which began just two days later.  The tenth and final victim dying in a room next door just as the inquest began.

The inquest eventually decided on a verdict of accidental death "caused by the breakage of the machinery brought on by the efforts of the driver the check the speed of the  omnibus when he found that it was going to fast".  There was some concern that the driver had had two beers during the journey and that the bus company were in the habit of encouraging speed down the hills to give momentum on the other side but it was decided no one was criminally responsible however they recommended that this type of omnibus was not suitable for country roads.

The ten men who died were Thomas Francis, a 49 year old master baker, who died of a fractured skull.  He was an Orpington man born and bred who left a wife Sarah Jemima (nee Brice) and seven children aged between 29 years and 8 years.  Sarah continued the bakery shop with the help of her older children.

Arthur Savage was another baker, from the neighbouring village of St Mary Cray.  He was 42 years old when he was killed by shock and a broken back leaving behind his pregnant wife Bessie (nee Ashley) who was expecting their ninth child.

9 of the 10 victims
(the 10th is on the previous page)

Edward Packham, a basket maker, died from shock and a fractured skull aged 39 years leaving his wife Lavinia (nee Trist) to bring up their two young daughters Lilian and Ivy.  His wife supported her family by working as a library caretaker, a job which came with accommodation   Lavinia remarried in 1915 and died in 1967 at the age of 96 years.

The Epsom family of St Mary Cray had not had an easy time even before the accident; Solomon Epsom, a grocer, and his wife Catherine (nee Regan)  had married in 1878 and had four children but their youngest daughter died in 1894 aged 9, their son in 1900 aged 16, Catherine died in 1902 and then their two surviving children lost their remaining parent when Solomon died as a result of a broken back.

Herbert Baker was a clothier in St Mary Cray where he lived with his wife Alice Maud (nee Tier) and their young family, their youngest child was born just weeks before Herbert was killed.  The impact tore his leg off and it landed in the oak tree where it alarmed rescuers.  He survived the initial impact but he died shortly afterwards at the Red Lion. 

32 year old John French who ran the Anglesea Arms in Orpington, left a wife Ellen (nee Driscoll) and a young son Jack.  Ellen remarried in 1911 - to John's younger brother William, landlord of the Castle Hotel in Tonbridge.

Alice, wife of William Vann, was pregnant at the time of the accident and it was feared that the shock and anxiety would cause her to lose the baby but Laurence was born a few months after his father died.  William had been a draper and ran a busy business in St Mary Cray which his wife continued after his death.

The youngest to die was Henry Burch who was just 26 years old.  He died instantly when he was thrown from the top level into the tree where his body was caught in the branches and was left hanging.  His body had to be identified by his father.

Ironically one of the dead was the undertaker, Henry Hutchings who was 42 years old and travelling with his 13 year old son William.  The first to the scene of the accident found William wandering around calling for his father.  Both of them had been travelling on the top of the bus but William had jumped out prior to the crash and was almost unhurt but later recounted how his father had remained sitting upright in his seat as the bus hurtled towards the oak tree.  Following his death his wife Bertha (nee Meade) worked as an elementary school teacher in St Mary Cray.  She never remarried.

William Bailey was the last to die.  The 54 year old school master survived the crash and was taken to the Red Lion with a compound fracture of his right leg and fractured ribs which had punctured his lungs.  He was kept alive with oxygen but died two days later just after the inquest into the accident began.

It was also reported in a few newspapers that the conductor Frank Ewans had also died in the accident.  He had been badly injured leading to his transfer to Brighton hospital for trepanning to relieve the swelling of his brain.  He did however survive and continued to work as a bus conductor until he died in 1931 aged 66 years.

For contemporary photos see the Gravelroots website.

Soldier's wills online

With the anniversary of the start of the First World War next year there is a lot of work going on to make records from that period more accessible.

"Find a soldier's will" is a new service from the government which aims to make it possible to search for and download a soldier's will on-line.  Coverage is for serving soldiers who died between 1850 and 1986 and who left a will at the time of their death. 

It seems possible (hopefully) that the service will expand in the future to include all wills.

To search you need the soldiers surname and the year he died - if you don't know when he died you can search each year (and there is a handy link to search the previous or following year so you don't have to keep entering the year).  If you have more information you can search using the service number and forename to narrow down your search.

Each will costs £6 to download and it takes time - up to 10 days before it will be available.  I suspect, as it is early days, the wills are being uploaded as they are requested and not in advance.  Hopefully in the future they will be available immediately.

As the website says this is the beta version so it will no doubt change but hopefully not much as it is a nice clear, uncluttered site, easy to use and to understand.

Although I know of several members of the family who died in both World Wars there are no entries for them. It is not clear if this is this because they didn't leave wills or because they have yet to be added to the index?

All told this is a great addition to First World War information online.