There
was never any doubt about my subject for this week’s prompt – my 6 x great
grandfather who is described in one record as “William the Pauper”
William Titford was born in Wylye, Wiltshire in 1725, to
William Titford and his wife Elizabeth (nee Taylor). His father, grandfather, great grandfather
and two of his sons were also called William, which perhaps explains why one record
saw the designation “the Pauper” an important way to distinguish him from the
others.
An illiterate peasant from a long line of such, William left
very little paper trail for the genealogist, but we do know a few facts of his
life.
In 1748 he was employed as an Under Shepherd at Wylye Manor.
On 22 April, 1751 he married Christian Duke in the parish of
Tefont Evias (near Wylye). The following
year, Christian gave birth to a son, William, who died soon after birth. In 1755, they had a son (another William)
then in 1758 my 5 x great grandmother, Jane, was born.
By 1761, William was Shepherd of the East End flock of Wylye
Manor. The records tell us that a Head
Shepherd in 1860 would earn 7 shillings per week. The staple diet was bread and beer – if William
and his family ate a loaf of bread every day then the cost for a week was about
15% of his wages. We can imagine that
life was a constant struggle.
Perhaps this might explain why, in 1763, William was charged
with An Infringement of Customs of the Manor. I don’t know what crime or
misdemeanour William committed and it’s difficult to find out, but a common “crime”
was trespass and this could have included grazing his sheep in the wrong place.
Here is an explanation of the system from a history of the small
town of Bovey Tracey, in Devon.
What we do know is that certain customs were
confirmed in the records from as early as 1614. In his study of one hundred and
thirteen English manors, Waddell (2012, p. 278) analysed their customs and
found variations, which was understandable given that coastal, rural and town
areas had different needs. Certain customs, however, seem to have been fairly
general, because everywhere needed to ensure law and order and that rents were
collected. Courtenay’s Steward summed it up in 1747 by saying that:
THE CUSTOMS The
customs covered the process of administration and regulation, and the
appointment of officers to carry out various duties. The court leet and court
baron were held twice yearly within one month of both Lady Day and Michaelmas,
and at other occasions as needed. The Lord of the Manor, who was also Lord of
the Borough, appointed a steward to hold the courts leet and courts baron for
both the manor and borough on his behalf. Annually the Michaelmas Court
appointed a jury of local freemen to deal with its duties. A foreman was sworn
in, followed by eleven or twelve homagers. The minutes of the borough court
1665 described it as a law court and it appointed a jury of eleven men plus the
portreeve as foreman. The freeman requirement for office, rather than just
being a tenant, meant that eligibility as a juror was kept within a more elite
group of residents. These were the local merchants, businessmen and farmers. As
with courts throughout the country the jury appointed various officers, who
were freemen, to carry out certain tasks for the smooth running of the manor
and borough (Pollock and Maitland, 1968, p. 43). They were sworn in annually at
each borough and manor Michaelmas Court from at least 1665. As only freemen
could serve, the courts were not representative of all in the area and poorer
tenants and sub tenants could not be office holders. It was possible to hold
two offices at the same time as shown by the pound keeper also being the crier
in 1750. Officers were appointed by the jury and sworn in annually at each
borough and manor Michaelmas Court from at least 1665.
The Infringement of 1763 seems to
have been William’s only brush with the law.
In 1788, as the first white settlers were
arriving to colonise NSW, Christian died.
By 1800, William was living on Parish
Relief, perhaps in the poorhouse. His son
William and daughter Jane were both married and he had four grandchildren,
Charles, James and Elizabeth Titford and George Dowdell.
William died in 1806 and was buried
in a pauper’s grave in Wylye on 25 March of that year.
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