Manorial Documents Register Project

by

Blog 3: Final Findings-Phipps Collection

I have now completed cataloguing the Phipps collection, which if you have been following my earlier blogs has produced some rather interesting finds. I recently presented a talk on the findings of the cataloguing project, which gave me a real opportunity to reflect on what I’d been able to find out about Samuel Phipps from the documents in his collection, and this blog will detail those findings.

One of the most important aspects of cataloguing an estate collection is a good understanding of the family involved. Ideally the estate owners’ birth and death dates, when they owned their property, how they acquired it, who were their ancestors, and did they have any heirs? Interestingly, with this collection, some parts of that information remained hidden, indeed, it wasn’t until my talk, when I met a gentleman who had also researched Phipps that I was able to establish a date of birth for Samuel Phipps – in my research, he remained elusive. Samuel Phipps was born in 1733 and died in 1781 making his age at death 48. A search through some local history books gave us the descent of one of Phipps’ properties, Barmoor Estate. In the 1912-1915 Berwick Naturalist’s Society Book, it states rather mysteriously that Barmoor was ‘acquired directly or indirectly’ from the representatives of the Bladens, by Samuel Phipps. This implies they were unsure of how Phipps came to own the property. The answer to this question came about in an unexpected place – I was reading a set of sales particulars for Barmoor estate, when I spotted a handwritten note on the second page (see below).

This inconspicuous looking bit of text tells us that Barmoor Estate was purchased by William Sitwell (Phipps’ great uncle), from Fenwick Stowe, for £30,500. Today that would be about £2,626,187.25. The note mentions that the transaction was witnessed by Samuel Phipps. In Phipps’ will, he notes that he inherited Barmoor from William Sitwell, though it should be noted that Sitwell’s will only states that he bequeathed the sum of £10,000 to Phipps, he does not mention the estate. We can at least infer from this that Phipps inherited the estate from Sitwell, though the wills perhaps explain the woolly explanation given in our history book.

Phipps died without issue and Barmoor was inherited by his second cousin, Francis Hurt, who later took on his maternal family name of Sitwell. We also know from some family history research, that in addition to the Sitwells, Phipps was also related to the Reresby family of Ecclesfield, through his maternal line.

Phipps held extensive property, this much is clear from his records and from his will. Much of the land was in Northumberland, including Barmoor, Yeavering and Coupland, but there was also Ferney Hall in Shropshire, and estates in Yorkshire and Derbyshire amongst others. His main base appears to have been at Lincoln’s Inn, Middlesex, where he practiced his business as a barrister, though we have plenty of receipts for travel, showing that he visited his other properties. Examples include these rather lovely hotel receipts (below), for example, which tell us that ale would have cost Phipps 6 pence in North Allerton, but surprisingly only be 3 pence in Harrogate!

When I first opened the boxes in this collection, nothing was in any kind of order, so all of this information was very useful to help me to identify how the material should be arranged. I could separate out the material into the various estates, and I could understand why letters from the Sitwells and Reresbys were found in the collection. I could also start to separate out records which related solely to Phipps work as a barrister, and not to his own land holdings.

One of my favourite aspects of this collection was the sheer number of purchase receipts, and the detail they provided about Samuel Phipps as a person. We do tend to focus on the running of estates when looking in these sorts of collections, and it can be easy to forget that we’re looking into the history of a real person. These receipts bring Phipps to life and can also tell us about the life of a wealthy gentleman in the late 1700s.

There are documents like this perfumier receipt for 1790-1791 (below left). Phipps died in 1791, so these we his final months, but even at that time he’s buying a ‘swan down puff’, ‘powder’ and multiple pots of ‘pomatum’ (used to slick down hair) – fashionable to the end! We also have a wine list, which includes Madeira, a popular wine at the time, but also a 1726 stock vintage wine for £3 and 15 shillings, or £241.80 in today’s money, he seems to be a man of expensive tastes.

One account which divulged a surprising amount about Phipps, was his funerary expenses. The list is very detailed and not only tells us a lot about what might be included in a gentleman’s funeral at the time but also gives us some idea about Phipps’ physical appearance. Unfortunately, our collection does not include a painting or likeness for Phipps, so this is the closest that I came to having an idea of what he looked like, albeit in quite a morbid fashion! If you look at the image below, which is a snippet of funerary expenses from the appropriately named ‘John Heaven’, the first entry is for a ‘very long Elm Body Coffin lined with superfine Crape and dup ruffled’. The latter terms are archaic spellings of ‘crepe’ and ‘dup’ fabrics, both popular with funerals at the time. Note that they are ‘superfine’ implying a higher-grade fabric. We can also see from the term ‘very long’ that Samuel Phipps was a tall gentleman, at least for the time. Later in the same document, there is an expense of a ‘very large fine quilted mattress for the body to lay on’ – again ‘very large’ implies quite an imposing gentleman.

NRO 2372-G-1-2-1-1-004 – Phipps’ funerary expenses

All of the fabrics noted in the expenses, seem to be of the highest quality, and this even extends to those working at the funeral. One entry is for ‘6 rich Black Silk Scarfs for Ministers, Clerk, Steward, Apothecary, and Undertaker’, these set the executors back £15, which in modern currency would be £861.46 – more than the cost for his coffin!’ Not to mention what would be an additional £60 in modern money just on ostrich feathers to decorate the procession.

We can also use these expenses to gain a bit of an understanding of funerary arrangements in general. In this same document, towards the bottom of the list, we find ‘The usual allowances for Beers for all the Inn porters and under officers’, this implies it was an expectation at the time to provide that. We also find a payment for two ladies to sit ‘up with the corps: 5 nights & 5 days’ – that’s quite a wake! Perhaps this was as much to protect the fine garments and funerary items as the body. The final fee for the funeral was £127 10s 7d (£10,980.84 in modern currency) with an additional £10 (£861) for the gravestone.

From these expenses, Phipps appears to have been affluent and fashionable, and this may inspire an almost Dickensian image of a rich gentleman, though Samuel Phipps appears to have been a very charitable man. The collection includes letters and accounts which can tell us a bit about Phipps’ personality. In one such account, Thomas Johnson owed Samuel Phipps a debt for £473 3s (£40,826.45 in modern currency). Despite this sizeable debt, a note added to the account shows that Phipps ‘advanced for the support of Thomas Johnson, his wife and children £9 19s 6d’ that would be nearly £860 today, so it’s a significant additional sum given by Phipps to ensure Johnson is still able to provide for his family. There are sales particulars included with this account which show that Johnson, a coach-master, did eventually have to auction off his household furniture to pay for the debt. From a historical perspective, this is interesting in itself, though for a property in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London. Included in the inventory are ‘crimson check furniture’, ‘A set of 3 beautiful, rare old Gold Japan image bowls’ and ‘a large hair trunk’ – I’ll admit the latter concerned me on a first read but I’ve since learned that this is a leather trunk where the hair hide remains!

We do have a copy of Phipps’ will, though is very fragile and hard to read. Fortunately, there is a scan of the original available online. This tells us that in addition to his charitable nature in life, he bequeathed annuities (annual payments) to many of his servants in sums of up to £30, ensuring their care after his death.

In the Phipps collection there are many estate records and surveys, so anyone from the Barmoor, Yeavering or Coupland areas at least should be able to find out some information about their local area in the collection. As this is a cataloguing project, I was not able to spend too long researching the records I found, but I will mention here that we had some finds like the sketch below.

Sketch and plan of an un-named property in Yeavering (undated).

While I don’t know much about this property, indeed the sketch is even undated and I can’t say for sure if the property still stands, but this remains a fascinating find. It’s not the only sketch or plan found in the collection which may hold answers to one of your questions.

I hope this blog has given you an idea of some of the information you could find if you researched this collection. You may have an interest in the local area, in everyday life in the 1700s, or specifically an interest in Phipps and his family, all of these topics can be researched in this collection. The Phipps collection has been catalogued and this catalogue will be going online in the next two months, so do look out for that.

The project was completed with funding from the NACT and the Community Foundation Windfarm, with support from Northumberland Archives, so I will end with a final note of thanks – without that funding this collection would remain uncatalogued and these findings would still be a mystery.

Beth Elliott, Project Archivist

BERWICK JOURNAL, 4TH JUNE 1925

by

MEMORIES OF AN OLD BERWICK BELL RINGER

“Ring a ding dong”! It is about 45 years ago since Mr. Joseph Redfearn, Wallace Green, Berwick, first began to toll the bells in Berwick Townhall, and he is the last of those old Bell Ringers. Mr. Thos. Statham was the Master bell ringer in those days. Tom Statham died several years ago after a long and worthy career as a Corporation Official. The other Town bell ringers when Mr. Redfearn began were Elias Weatherburn, the late Ald. Turnbull, Jas. Unthank, Geo. Weatherburn, John Moor, who had an ironmongery business in Hide Hill, and has been in London now for many years, William Strangeways, Mr. Redfearn and Mr. Statham, a ring of 8 bells. There was no teacher, and they were not members of a Society of Bellringers. They rang the same old round, with a variation that was known as the Queen’s change. They worked by figures in the old days, and from the common ring of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ,6 7, 8, they would turn to the Queen’s change, which was 1, 3, 5, 7, 2, 4, 6, 8, and then back to the common ring again.  They rang half hour peals at 8am, 10am, 12 noon, 3pm, and 6pm. They rang for the Battle of Waterloo, Queen Victoria’s Birthday and Ascension Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day and Berwick Fair. Mr. Redfearn rang his last peal on New Year’s Day.

Berwick Town Hall early 1900’s. Ref No. BRO 426-294

Mr Redfearn came to Berwick from Newcastle his birthplace, the year after the Royal Border Bridge was opened – over 75 years ago- and his memories of the old town are quaint indeed. Berwick was wretched place in those days. The soldiers would not let one into Wallace Green; they had sentries on guard at both top and bottom. The soldiers of that day were often rough and tumble lot, and the people in the Town had some stirring times. Police Force in those days comprised a Supt., a Constable and a special constable. At harvest time Irish harvesters used to come to town in trucks with scarce a “duddy” on them. Reaping machines wee not in use then. When the Irishmen got tipsy and began a hullaballoo, old Proudfoot, the solitary constable, was the only one that could quieten them.

The granaries were in full swing then; and Castle Terrace was unknown. There were only 2 houses there. One, which is now occupied by Miss Pearson, was owned at that time by Capt. Smith of the old Volunteers. At one time there was no less than 3 public houses in Wallace Green, where Wallace Green Church now stands. Public houses were numerous then, but many of them have been done away with.

Royal Border Bridge early 1990s. Ref No. BRO 515 377

Mr. Redfearn served his time as a cabinetmaker with Mr. Patterson, Berwick, and afterwards worked for Mr. Robt. Wood. His last master was Mr. Brown, Castlegate. After Mr. Brown died, he was in several places his last being with Mr. Goodall, in West Street. Mr Redfearn married Margaret Yeoman in 1868 in Berwick Parish Church, the then Vicar Rowe, officiating. They have had a family of 11, 7 of whom are still living. Mr. Redfearn’s son is Managing Director of Redfearns’ Garage in Golden Square. Mr. Redfearn has always had great love for music and was in 3 bands in Berwick. In 1860 he joined the Volunteer Band. He was in Mechanic’s Band when it was organised over 40 years ago. (He played the trombone), it amalgamated with the Volunteers after being in existence for about 14 years. He played in Artillery band, 1st in Fife and Drum Band and then in Brass Band. He played in a string band when he was 10 years of age. He was a member of a noted string band that played at all the dances in the surrounding district, at Ayton, Duns, Coldstream, Milne Graden, Paxton House and in the Scottish Border villages especially. He was an adept on the piccolo and very skillful with it. The other members of the band were Coun. Campbell’s father who played the bass fiddle, John Hogg, who died a few years ago in South Africa, was the 1st fiddle, Mr. Anderson was 2nd fiddle, and Mr. Ford and Mr. Bock played the cornet. Mr. Redfearn is the only survivor of that orchestra, but today he remembers the happy times they had. Until a few years ago, he continued to play the piccolo, at which he was a master hand. Mr Redfearm and his guid wife are still hale and hearty. He is rather deaf now, but if there is anything he regrets he has to relinquish it is the bell-ringing. He is only sorry the Berwick Bellringers were not trained to lay the bells in a proper way, when they could have rendered the chimes as they are done in other towns.

We hope our very old friend “Joe” Redfearn may enjoy many years of retirement in the good old town, which he loves so well, and where he has been such a useful citizen throughout a long and valued life.

SCOTTISH SCOUT WEEK

BERWICK SCOUTS’ DISPLAY

This being Scout Week, a special effort was made to augment the funds of the Berwick Association, by a 2d annual display by the Boy Scouts of Berwick, Tweedmouth and Spittal, on Tuesday night in the Flagstaff Park, Berwick. There was a record attendance, every vantage point being crowded. There was a very long programme, which lasted over 1 ½ hours, but during this time not a dull moment was experienced. The Scouts who were formed up at their headquarters, were headed by Berwick Pipe band, and marched in procession form there along Silver Street, up Hide Hill, High Street, Walkergate Lane, Parade, and thence to the Park. S. M. Parkes was in the enclosure ready to welcome them; after which they formed a circle and rallied round the Commissioner. Thereafter the flag was hoisted, and cheers resounded again and again. National Anthem was next sung, in a hearty manner by all. The programme now began in real earnest and went with a swing the whole time.

4 boxing bouts were next witnessed, the first being between Troop Leaders Johnston and Gleig. This was the most exciting of all, they really seemed to mean business and gave the crowd a good exhibition of boxing. The next bout was between patrol Leaders Blythe and Shearlaw, and though they did not get so near to grips as the others, yet they gave quite a good exhibition. The next bout was between 2 young boys, Scouts Clements and Weatherburn, and a good show they put up considering their ages. The most laughable of all was the contest between Scouts Renton and Trotter, who were bare-backed, one being whitened and the other blackened, almost out of recognition. They too showed quite a good knowledge of the art.

A few members of the 1st Berwick gave an excellent exhibition of Indian club drill, to the accompaniment of ex-Pipe-Major McMillan.

Berwick Boy Scouts Annual Camp at Wooler, 1910- Group Photograph. Ref No: BRO 2599-BOX 3-File 1 -015

While the Sea Scouts were giving their display of life-saving, various stunts were going on by the other Scouts, including signalling, jumping, skipping, lassoing, single sticks, etc.

The Eightsome Reel by mixed units caused much hilarity amongst the spectators, as the boys were in good form. They wee accompanied by the pipes and drum.

A rather novel item was that consisting of a new type of sword dance by the 2nd Berwicks. It was good to watch, and we are sure to most it was new, making it all the more appreciable. The same Troop gave a display of games which were much enjoyed.

The campfire sing-song was another laugh-provoking item, with the Scouts all arrayed in wraps of multi-coloured materials. They arranged themselves round the fire, before which they sang “E’en gen Yama.” The Commissioner then declared the campfire open, and a selection of songs were given, S. M. Gleig being the moving spirit. Choruses, etc., were given in lusty fashion. The Commissioner and S. M. Gleig gave contributions in which the Scouts joined in. The organ accompaniments wee played by A.S.M. J. Elder.

The proceedings were brought to a close by the singing of a verse of “Abide with me.”

Votes of thanks were called for by the Commissioner for Major Kennedy, Depot K.O.S.B., for the assistance he had given, and for help received from the barracks; and also to Berwick Pipe Band for so kindly playing for them that night.

Capt. Lake, Depot K.O.S.B., kindly acted as umpire for boxing. Those in charge of collecting boxes were Mr. Parker, Counc, Thorburn, Mr. Simmen, jun., Mr. W. Howe, Mr. Hoggarth, and Miss Hogarth.

Amount received, up to going to press, is 12 5s.

Manorial Documents Register Project

by

Blog two: Who was Samuel Phipps? Delving into our uncatalogued “Phipps of Barmoor” collection, to try and find out.

Recently, I worked on a project to catalogue an estate collection for the Phipp’s family (NRO 2372). The collection mostly relates to Samuel Phipps, largely compiling of accounts detailing his expenditure in life, and further accounts and inventories of his properties following his death in 1791. The majority of these records relate to his lands in Northumberland, with Phipps owning the Barmoor estate during his lifetime, but there are records for his lands in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and London. In my previous blog, I included the following image of correspondence, noting that these sorts of records can tell us a lot about the families concerned.

The Contents of NRO 2372, Phipps Box 4

A closer look will tell you that there are detailed accounts of Phipps’ expenditures, both within his estate and annuity payments to relatives. Many of these relatives are members of the Sitwell family, alluding to the family connection – Phipp’s second cousin, Francis Sitwell, was his heir. The outputs are extensive, implying Samuel Phipps was quite a wealthy man. We do have some evidence of attempts to reduce expenditure though. Many of the documents in this collection which were written during Samuel Phipp’s lifetime, relate to his attempts to sell or lease his land in Northumberland. He even employs two well-known agricultural surveyors of the day, George Culley and John Bailey to survey his land. Culley and Bailey were known for their 1794 publication ‘A General View of The Agriculture of The County of Northumberland with Observations on the Means of Its Improvement.’ This level of investigation is useful for us as it means that we have maps and plans of the Barmoor estate within this collection. This allows us to see exactly what was included in Phipps’ estates, and better understand the boundaries.

In one set of correspondence, Bailey writes to Phipps with regards to his attempt to lease ‘Barmoor Hall Farm’. He states that in attempting to locate someone to rent the farm as one property, he is receiving offers which are far below the value of the lands. The asking price was £600 per annum for 21 years, and their last offer, for example was for £500 for the first 10 years, and £600 for the final 11 years of the lease. Bailey has then attempted to advertise the land in three farms, instead of one, but this somewhat backfired, in that the original interested party rescinded his offer for the whole, and requested only one of the parts, again for less than asked. If you look at the plan below, which was enclosed with Bailey’s letter, the sections that he refers to seem to be the West Moor, East Moor and Kenning(?) Moss. Bailey even pencilled in the interested parties.

Plan of Barmoor Hall Farm, enclosed with Bailey’s letter.

When asking other potential farmers why they would not bid for the property, Bailey states that they all replied similarly: “There was so much bad land, and the harvest so late, that they could not think about it”. Bailey argues that there is 300 acres of good land, and 1300 acres of bad, but that the price is set accordingly. Bailey then goes on to detail the lease agreements for the other sections of the farm. Unfortunately, the issue of whether the advertised lands were leased is not resolved in this letter, though this short 4 pages of correspondence, is certainly packed full of useful information. From this, we can see exactly what lands were included in the farm, who the neighbouring landowners were, the value of the leases, and we’ve learnt that there was a consensus at the time (though contested!)  that much of the Barmoor land was struggling to yield crops.

In one letter sent from John Bratins at Darnall Colliery (Yorkshire), we find Bratins strongly suggesting that the ‘machines’ should be ‘shut off’ to save on costings. The ‘machines’ referred to here were used to remove accumulated water from the coal fields, allowing access to the lower levels of coal. Bratins states that without access to this level, they will still be able to collect enough coal to cover both their own ‘in-house’ needs and their supply demands, so use of the machines is a costly and unnecessary expense. He renders competition from the Duke’s neighbouring colliery as the reason for their lack of demand, and mentions that the Duke is aware of the suggestion to turn off the machines, and has not objected, despite this meaning that the water will likely travel to his fields. The move to turn off these machines does suggest an attempt to reduce expenditure.

Letter to Samuel Phipps from John Bratins, Darnall Colliery.

We also have some fascinating indications of Samuel Phipps daily life in this collection, in the inventories from his properties. Many of the inventories were taken following Phipps’ death and would have been used to identify the inheritance owed to his heirs. Inventories were written for each of his properties, and in this collection include contents of rooms, which can give us a good idea of the type of property Phipps was living in, and the furniture which adorned his living quarters. From a general interest viewpoint, this can tell us a lot about life in the late eighteenth century – what furniture was fashionable, for example. My personal favourite inventories though are the lists of books held by Phipps at his various properties. Each of the books are named, and a value assigned to them. They include novels, non-fiction books and publications, and provide a real insight into the sorts of books which could be found in a personal collection at the time. Of course, these books may have merely been purchased as an investment, though the number of publications does, at least to me, suggest a man who had an interest in reading. In the image below, you can see a list of books which were offered to a J. Briggs, during Phipps’ lifetime. There is a nice letter at the end of the book, which confirms that this promise was made, and that his executors ensured Briggs received the books.

A catalogue of Samuel Phipp’s books given to J. Biggs, during his lifetime.

These are just some observations from the Phipps collection and hopefully provide a hint of the sorts of information to be found in the collection. Keep an eye on this blog for future findings, I’m sure that there will be some interesting finds ahead!

Beth Elliott, Project Archivist.

+ More