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RECOLLECTIONS
LEN WARREN
My family came to Hullbridge in 1929. Dad bought a 40ft plot in the Drive for about £10. It was an empty field when he took it over, just as the farmer had left it, with a row of posts to divide the
plots. The side roads were cart tracks still showing the ridges and the furrows of the original ploughed fields. We lived in a bell tent at first, bought penny buckets of water from Jones` General Store
and cooked and read by paraffin stove and lamps.
The origial farm had paid tithes to the Church Commissioners who set about collecting the tithes from the new plot owners. First they wrote to everybody. I can remember the look of horror on my dad`s
face when he opened the letter. "The church wants money from me!"
That system was not successful, so they appointed one person in each of the original fields to collect the money. My dad was the agent for our field until my mother objected. My old dad was a bit sociable
and he enjoyed going around visiting. He would disappear for hours and come back very merry. The Sunday dinner would be cold and mother would be angry. In the end the Church Commissioners realised to collect
tithes from individuals was hopeless, so they said the tithes could be redeemed by a lump sum. I think it was £2.10s.
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