Site contents © Copyright Michael Crouch, 2000. |
Site contents © Copyright Michael Crouch, 2000. |
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The Woodcock family from Norfolk to Hampshire The story of the Woodcock family resides firmly in the English county of Norfolk, specifically in the little village of Barford just outside of Norwich. Barford is described in a 1930's edition of the famous Kelly's Directory as "a village and parish, bounded ... by the River Yare, 5 miles north-by-west from Wymondham station. It rests in the southern division of the county, Forehoe Hundred", and falls under the "Norwich county court district". The chief crops around Barford were noted as "wheat, barley, peas and turnips". The centre of Barford was dominated by the church of St. Botolph, "a small edifice of flint and rubble". Both Henry Woodcock and his wife, Florence Emily Woodcock are buried there. The parish "register dates from 1700" and copies reside today at amongst other repositories, Kirby House in St. Giles, Norwich, home of the Norfolk Family History Society. Following decades of tradition, the village still collected charities "amounting to £10 yearly ... given to the poor in coals and bread". At the turn of the twentieth century, rural life, even this close to a city was still much the same as it had been for several centuries. The arrival of technology, increased transport links, work in the cities, and most of all, the effects of the First World War were to change all of that. The members of the Woodcock family number many and one of the earliest members we know of was Robert Woodcock, a "carter" by trade. He had a son, Thomas Woodcock, born around 1824. On August 13, 1854, Thomas, at that time employed as a "railway plate layer", married Phoebe Carr. They married at the Independent Chapel at Wymondham, a large town in the same vicinity. Here, it becomes obvious why Thomas was employed in the profession that he was. Railways were building up across the country at a colossal rate. They were feared by many in the rural areas because they represented the biggest change in peoples lives since the start of the Industrial Revolution. By 1851, the steam locomotive had been transformed from a relatively unknown quantity to an accepted machine with considerable influence upon everyday life. Although sometimes noisy and uncomfortable, they provided access to destinations previously unreachable in such short time. People began to travel more extensively and the impact upon those people, used to centuries of agricultural labour as their main source of contact with the world, was considerable. With the growth of the railways came the growth of towns and cities as direct links between large communities were forged. The lives of families like the Woodcocks would have been influenced by this large-scale environmental change. On March 15, 1870, Thomas and Phoebe had a son, Henry, born at Chapel Lane in Wymondham. Curiously the birth records housed at St. Catherine's House in London show that Thomas and Phoebe had another son named Henry born in January of 1869. It is probable that this son died in infancy and the name given to the next born son. The new son, Henry Woodcock, became a carpenter by trade or as more commonly put on records, a "journeyman". He was often called upon to make coffins and his wife, Florence Emily was sometimes brought in to lay the bodies out for burial. She was also employed in a kind of home help capacity in the region, acting as a nursemaid, midwife and so on. She was employed in service for a time, probably to the Mackintosh family in Barford. This would explain why she and Henry made the move from Wymondham and East Tuddenham where she was born, to Barford. Florence Emily Palmer was born in March of 1876 to Samuel Palmer and Elizabeth Palmer of East Tuddenham, Norfolk. She often played the organ at the church next door and she also owned a harpsichord on which she would play hymns. Henry meanwhile was a Quaker, a nonconformist who did not attend the local church. It delighted him one day to hear the local vicar say that there were just as many good Christians outside of church as there were those in it, a comment he could not wait to tell his wife. In common with many families at that time, the Woodcock's had a large family of boys and girls. One of the youngest was Ernest Woodcock, born on January 3, 1904 in Barford. He started his education at the local Barford village school on October 8, 1907 and remained there until December 1, 1916 when he became a labourer at Bennell's Farm, Barford, just across the road from where he lived. Although children were often employed back then, this case may have been as a result of the loss of manpower because of conscription introduced during the First World War. One memory of Ernest Woodcock that has been passed on is of he and some friends, aged about nine, smoking homemade cigarettes, made by wrapping coconut matting in rolled up pieces of newspaper. Caught by the local constable, the PC noted that Ernest was one of the Woodcock boys. "But you don't know which one, do you?" he cheekily replied before running off. At some point thereafter, Ernest found himself employed in service as a footman, a job for which he did not like the way in which he was treated. Hearing of a job in the south, Ernest Woodcock took up residence at The Salutation in Sandwich, Kent, under the employ of the Farrar brothers. The post went well and in January of 1933, he added to his duties by becoming a secretary of the Royal St. George's Permit Holders Golf Club nearby. He held the post for three years and was given a Westminster chiming clock upon retiring. The reason for his departure was his marriage in 1936 to Kathleen Ellen Jefferson, the youngest daughter of James Jefferson. The Farrar brothers were not overkeen on having a married butler in the house and the complications that it might bring. As a result, Ernest found himself in the role of butler at Stamford Grange in Hampshire. He was responsible for allocating the staff their tasks and making sure that things there ran smoothly. Polishing the silver became a past time that he took great pride in. |
