TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
PART 1 William & Elizabeth Sherwood
William Sherwood
Elizabeth Sherwood nee Smith
The Search for Elizabeth’s Birthplace
The Marriage of William and Elizabeth
The Family of William and Elizabeth
William and Elizabeth’s work
PART 2 Fowlmere
The Village of Fowlmere
The Fowlmere Independent Chapel
The Return of the Independent Chapel Records
PART 3 Finding William’s Birthplace
The 1841 Census
Elizabeth Dixon
William’s Baptism
The Hitchin Workhouse
Connecting the two Elizabeths
John Dixon Smith
John Sherwood
Who was John Sherwood?
Connecting the two William Sherwoods
William’s death
Elizabeth’s life in South Australia
Neglect of Elizabeth Sherwood
Elizabeth’s death
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
This is the story of William and Elizabeth Sherwood nee Smith. In this chapter, the mystery of William’s birthplace is solved from clues found on the 1841 census.
We follow William’s move from Clothall, Hertfordshire to Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire and the latest efforts to find his marriage to Elizabeth Smith.
We look at the family’s involvement with the Fowlmere Independent Chapel and play a part in the return of the Chapel’s records. A second John Sherwood is found in Weston, a cousin of William Sherwood.
We discover Elizabeth’s maiden name Smith and her likely connection to the Smith family of Fowlmere. The story ends with Elizabeth’s death in South Australia in 1873.
PART 1. William & Elizabeth Sherwood
Fig. 1 The author’s relationship to William & Elizabeth Sherwood nee Smith, Great, great, great-grandson.
William Sherwood
Stephen and Elizabeth Sherwood nee Ward were married in Clothall, Hertfordshire in 1780. They had six children, five daughters and a son William. Ann was the eldest, she was baptised in 1780, William in 1782 and Sarah in 1785. The couple had two daughters named Mary. The first was baptised in 1787 and died soon after. The second Mary was baptised in 1789 and Lydia the youngest in 1794. All were baptised in the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Clothall.
FIG. 2 Font used for the baptisms of the Sherwood children in St Mary church, Clothall, Hertfordshire. Photographed 2013. R. J. Sherwood
Nothing more was heard of William in Clothall apart from his baptism. He may have moved to Fowlmere 30 kilometres away not long after the death of his father Stephen in 1796.
William was fourteen when his father died and old enough to leave home in search of work. In Fowlmere he most likely found work on one of several large farms in the parish. It was in Fowlmere that he met Elizabeth Smith (c.1791-1873) and later married.
The earliest mention of William and Elizabeth is in the Fowlmere parish church registers. On 21 June 1811, their infant son William was baptised and buried the following day.
FIG. 3 Baptised: William son of Wm & Elizabeth Shoewood. June 21
FIG. 4 Buried: Wm son of Wm and Elizabeth Shoewood. Infant June 22
Perhaps because the family were not well known to the minister, he misspelt Sherwood as Shoewood in the register. The couple went on to have three more children; Charles 1812-1880, Jane 1815-1889 and William 1819-1882. They were all baptised in the Fowlmere Independent Chapel.
Elizabeth Sherwood nee Smith
For many years Elizabeth’s surname remained a mystery. Her surname was needed to find her baptism which would provide the names of her parents and the possibility of learning more about her family.
A clue was provided by my grandfather Arthur Gordon Sherwood. Arthur quite often referred to an ancestor of his as ‘Granny Smith.’ Was Elizabeth Sherwood the ‘Granny Smith.’ Arthur was referring to? Further confirmation was needed.
On Elizabeth’s son Charles’ death certificate, his mother’s name is recorded as ‘Elizabeth Smith.’ The person supplying the information was her grandson Charles Sherwood Junior. (1835-1910) Arthur was right, his great-grandmother was indeed Granny Smith.
Elizabeth appears on the 1841 Fowlmere census at age 50, along with her husband William 57. She was born in Cambridgeshire. The next step was to look for the birth or baptism of Elizabeth Smith in about 1791. A search of the Fowlmere parish church and Independent chapel failed to find her baptism. With the latter church, its records before 1812 were lost. If Elizabeth was baptised in the Independent Chapel, we will never know.
Without a record of Elizabeth’s birth or baptism, the names of her parents will probably remain a mystery. This makes the prospect of tracing the Smith line beyond Elizabeth extremely difficult. Even so, I believe we can establish a family link between Elizabeth Sherwood and at least one branch of the Smith family of Fowlmere. A more detailed account of Elizabeth’s Smith family can be found in the story of ‘The Smith Family of Fowlmere.’ at the end of this chapter.
The Search for Elizabeth’s Birthplace
Elizabeth’s birthplace also remained a mystery. To find where she was born the most promising means was to find her on the 1851 census. This census recorded peoples’ birthplaces. Elizabeth does not appear on the Fowlmere return. Her children and grandchildren do. The other exceptions were her son William (1819-1882) and grandson Alfred Sherwood. They too were missing on census night 1851. Her husband William doesn’t appear as he died in 1843.
It wasn’t until the complete 1851 census became available that a wider search could be made for Elizabeth’s whereabouts. In September 2012, I searched the census for Elizabeth Sherwood, born about 1791. In no time I found what I was hoping for but never quite expected. Elizabeth spent the night of Sunday 30 March 1851, in Broad Green, Chrishall, Essex. Chrishall is about 9 kilometres southeast of Fowlmere.
Elizabeth Sherwood, (spelt Sharwood) was staying with Tom and Lydia Creek and their daughter Laura. Tom Creek 19, was born in Chrishall and Lydia 20, in Fowlmere. According to the census, Elizabeth Sherwood was a widow, she was 59 years old, worked as a nurse and was born in Fowlmere. As a nurse Elizabeth may have been attending to one of the Creek family members.
FIG. 5 Elizabeth Sherwood appearing on the 1851 Chrishall, Essex census
I suspect it may have been baby Laura, who was just one month old. Laura does not appear on the 1861 census with the rest of her family. It is likely that she didn’t survive.
Also present in the house that night was a lodger by the name of Mary Burgess. Mary was 77. She was a widow and a pauper from Royston, Hertfordshire. To have finally discovered where Elizabeth spent census night 1851, was very satisfying.
The Marriage of William and Elizabeth
William Sherwood and Elizabeth Smith most likely married sometime before the baptism of their first child William in June 1811. When and where the couple married has not been established. There is no record of their marriage in Fowlmere where Elizabeth was born or in Clothall where William was born. It is unlikely the marriage took place in an Independent church. The Marriage Act of 1754, required that all marriages by law be performed in parochial churches. Not all non-conformists complied, with many continuing to marry in their church.
I could only find two marriages between William Sherwood and Elizabeth Smith about 1811. The first took place on 27 Aug 1811, at Saint Mary-St Marylebone, London. It is unlikely that this is their marriage as the couple were living in Fowlmere as man and wife by this date. The second marriage took place at St. James Church, Paddington, London in 1807.
William Sherwood of this parish bachelor and Elizabeth Smith of this parish, spinster married in this church by Banns 8 June 1807, by me Jos Pickering (curate) William signs with an X. Elizabeth Smith can sign her name. In the presence of Richard Smith, and Richard Wotton
FIG. 6 The marriage entry for William Sherwood and Elizabeth Smith 1807
If this is our couple’s marriage, then they chose to marry in Paddington, 80 kilometres south of Fowlmere. Given that Elizabeth was born about 1791, she was just 16 or 17 years old when she married. By law parental consent was required for a minor to marry. There is no mention of parental consent or that she was a minor on the marriage entry. More information is needed before we can say with certainty that the Paddington marriage is the marriage of our William and Elizabeth.
The Family of William and Elizabeth
FIG. 7 The family of William & Elizabeth Sherwood nee Smith
For nearly half a century William, Elizabeth and their three children Charles, Jane and William made Fowlmere their home. Ours was a large, extended family with lots of aunts and uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces. A day would not have passed without family and friends crossing paths in the village as they went about their lives. Related Fowlmere families were the Smiths, Perrys and Morleys.
William and Elizabeth’s first child William was baptised in the parish church while his two younger brothers and sister were baptised in the Independent Chapel. There was some urgency in having William baptised as he died soon after and was buried the following day. The chapel Minister may not have been available on such short notice, hence the baptism taking place in the church of St. Mary. As to the spelling of our name as Shoewood. Perhaps because the family was not well known to the minister of the parish church, he misspelt Sherwood as Shoewood in the register.
William and Elizabeth’s three children lived, worked and married in the village.
Their youngest child William married Sophia Stimpson in 1839. He immigrated to South Australia in 1847. Jane married Thomas Morley in 1835. They left Fowlmere in 1852, for Victoria. Charles married Mary Perry in 1833, and raised a family of ten, seven sons and three daughters. Elizabeth accompanied Charles and his family when they left for South Australia arriving there in April 1856. They were the last of our family to leave the village.
William and Elizabeth’s work
Some interesting information about William’s occupation appeared in a letter written by the late Florence Craker. Florence was a great-granddaughter of Jane Morley nee Sherwood and a great, great granddaughter of William and Elizabeth. Incredibly, the information has been passed down through the Morley family for well over 180 years. According to Florence ‘William managed a stud farm for a banker in Cambridge.’
The story is confirmed by information on William’s death certificate where his occupation reads “Farming bailiff.’’ Farming bailiffs were responsible in those times for the management of large farms.
In a letter to Dennis Hitch in 1994 I mentioned Florence Craker’s letter. Dennis is the author of ‘A Mere Village. A History of Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire 1993’ Dennis wrote back saying:
The information you have given from the letter from Florence Craker that William Sherwood managed a stud farm for a banker in Cambridge, is very fascinating. I had suspected that William Sherwood was the farm bailiff for the Nash family and that he lived at Brook Farm Fowlmere.Thomas Nash (1776-1841) was a banker in Cambridge. (Hollick Nash’s Bank)
There is a difficulty here however because these Nash’s farmed at Bury Farm, Fowlmere, and not Brook Farm where William Sherwood lived. Swan Nash and his son, another Thomas Nash, who were cousins of the other Nashes, owned Brook Farm. There may have been an arrangement whereby William Sherwood bred horses at Brook Farm for all the Nash family.
It is likely that William Sherwood would not have been a Fowlmere man because gentlemen farmers at that time often did not appoint local men as their farm Bailiffs so that there would be no favouritism shown to members of the bailiff’s family although his sons would often be employed on the farm.
In a subsequent letter Dennis wrote…
Swan Nash and his son Thomas Nash farmed Brook Farm, although they did not live there. I quite believe that William’s occupation was connected with looking after horses or managing Brook Farm for the Nash family.
Keen to learn more about Brook farm and the farmhouse in which the family no doubt lived at one stage, I received the following information from Dennis
I know of no history of Brook Farm apart from the very brief historical account of it on page 82 of my book. “It was a substantial house with coach houses, farm buildings and rick-yards to the rear. It was rather grander than a simple farmhouse although it was never the manor house of any of the two or three Fowlmere manors. I knew it in the 1930s when the Nash family still lived in some style there.
Brook Farm, on the south-side of Chapel Lane, almost opposite White Hall, was a timber frame and plastered house of the late sixteenth century, with a tile roof. It consisted of a straight range at right angles to the lane with a staircase projection to the back. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the house was widened to the extent of the staircase projection and the front was remodelled. Later the house was extended to the North and, in comparatively modern times, a porch and bay windows were added, together with a new wing to the East. Inside, the central part of the house had interestingly moulded ceiling beams.
In another story told by my grandfather Arthur Gordon Sherwood, and most likely as old as Florence’s story, the Sherwoods worked as grooms in England. Grooms were responsible for the care of horses. Duties included, brushing and rubbing down the coat of a horse, combing the main and tail, shoeing and maintaining the saddles and bridles.
In 1818, William received financial help from the parish while unable to work.
1818 Oct.14 Relieved W’m Sherwood when ill. 15 shillings
PART 2 Fowlmere
The Village of Fowlmere
William may have been the first Sherwood to live in Fowlmere, arriving there sometime before 1811, in search of work. The village is 30 kilometres northeast of his birthplace Clothall. It lies 100 kilometres north of London and 13 kilometres south-west of the famous university town of Cambridge.
By 1841 the population had reached 600, with 120 houses of which most could be found in the High Street. In 1851, Charles, his wife Mary and their seven children were living there. The High Street is that part of the London to Cambridge Road that runs through the centre of the village. There is a network of smaller roads and lanes which crisscross the parish. The village was home to two churches, several large farms, and three inns, the Chequers, the Swan, and the Black Horse.
The original spelling of the village name was Foulmire and dates from Anglo-Saxon times when it was used to describe a mere or lake on which wildfowl lived. It was spelt Foulmire up until the end of the nineteenth century. From thereon it is spelt consistently as Fowlmere. The lake lies to the north-west of the parish. It is several hundred acres of marshland fed by underground springs. It provided the inhabitants with food and firewood and an edible frog that lived in the marshes.
The parish was largely agricultural with crops of wheat, barley, rye and oats. Sheep were kept to supply the wool trade. From the 1790s until about 1800 women and children worked at home spinning wool for a small wool factory.
In 1825 there were two Sunday schools teaching about 50 children to read and write. William and Elizabeth’s grandson Allen age 8, and granddaughter Elizabeth age 5, appear as scholars in 1851.
Those not employed on farms worked as shepherds, storekeepers, plumbers, tailors, and shoemakers. Many of the women were employed as seamstresses and domestic servants. William and Elizabeth’s daughter Jane worked as a seamstress.
The majority of the village men and boys worked as farm or agricultural labourers. My great-grandfather Arthur (1841-1903) was working as a farm labourer at the tender age of 10, in 1851. Adult farm labourers were paid between 10 and 12 shillings a week. Many of them had large families and great difficulty in making ends meet, particularly when work was scarce.
In 1830 labourers from the village went on strike for higher wages. When rioting broke out constables on horseback were sent from nearby Royston to maintain order. The ringleaders were arrested and sent to jail.
The Fowlmere Independent Chapel
FIG. 9 Fowlmere Independent Chapel
There are two churches in Fowlmere. The oldest the parish church of St. Mary can be found in the High Street and dates from the 12th century. The other, the Congregational or Independent Chapel on Chapel Lane was built in 1780. The Wedd family were wealthy landowners in the parish and played a large part in its establishment.
Baptism, marriage and burial entries for our family are found in both churches. It was the latter church that the family attended from at least 1812 up until they left the village in 1855/6. Attendance at the chapel in 1851, was close to 600 on a Sunday. This was more than three times the number attending the parish church. William Sherwood was a member of the Independent Chapel. The following entry appears in the Member’s Book Number 2.
"William Sherwood deceased Feby 20. 1843."
The Return of the Independent Chapel Records
Not long after I started researching the family history, I contacted Graham Morley a descendant of Thomas and Jane Morley nee Sherwood. Jane was William and Elizabeth’s only daughter. On one of my visits to Graham at his home in Camberwell, he mentioned his visit to Fowlmere. While there he was able to view two registers belonging to the Fowlmere Chapel. Very few people knew of their existence, including yours truly. According to Graham they were kept by Edith Law who ran the village Post Office. When Edith died they were given to Frank and Molly Rayner, at ‘Home Farm’ Royston.
It just so happened that I was writing to Janet Hurst when the news of the two registers surfaced. Janet was one of the UK authors of The Fowlmere Independent Chapel - The First 100 Years.
In a letter to Janet, I mentioned the existence of the two books. She knew nothing about them and was very surprised that they were being held privately. As they belonged to the chapel I felt that they should be returned for safekeeping, and made available to all who wished to examine them. Below is Janet’s reply to my letter.
11 Hawkesbury Drive, Calcot, Reading RG31 7ZP
Mrs Janet Hurst
09/12/95
Dear Rob,
You must think me very rude in not replying to your two letters. I can only apologise and blame a very chaotic period in my life in mid-late 1995.
However I was very interested to learn about your findings concerning the history of the Sherwood family and also the possible fate of some of the "missing" records of Fowlmere Independent Chapel. I will deal with the latter first.
When Jane Gilmour and I were carrying out our research into the history of the chapel over 15 years ago, we discovered that the crucial register and church book dating from c.1840 was missing, although it had been deposited at one time in the Congregational Library in London. At that time we were greatly helped by Mr John Ison of Fowlmere who lives across the road from the chapel. His late father had been Church Secretary for many years. However, when we brought up the subject of the missing books which had apparently been requested back by someone in the church, at some time undetermined, he was very cagey indeed. He said he thought they were kept at the house of someone connected with the chapel (but he never said who this was) and that it would be very tricky to ask questions about the books to this person. I always had the impression he probably knew exactly where the books were, but for some reason didn't want us to see them. AnywayTo to cut a long story short he finally said that he had been unable to get hold of the books for us to look at.
There was nothing we could do about it, so the matter has been left in abeyance ever since. Your findings, therefore, do not exactly surprise me. Like you, I think that it is quite wrong for the records to be kept as some kind of peculiar secret. Surely they should at least be in the care of the minister of the church. Rev. Rooke. What on earth do these documents contain that has led to all this deception and mystery?
I am not sure what can be done to release these books into the public domain, or at least be copied and the copies deposited in Cambridge Record Office so that researchers can use them. Would you be prepared to tell me (in strict confidence) who it was informed you of the existence of the books in the first place and gave you the address of Mr & Mrs Rayner? According to the 1994 United Reform Church Year Book, the above-named Mr John Ison is the current Church Secretary and you would expect him to keep the books if not the Minister…
I wrote to Janet with the information she asked for. She investigated the matter and wrote back saying…
22 May 1996
The really good news is that the information you provided about the whereabouts of the late nineteenth century registers and books has-enabled us to prize them from their place of concealment! Dennis Hitch was really annoyed when I told him the tale about Frank Rayner having the documents and he wrote to him, in very guarded terms, not revealing his source of information, asking if he had them and suggesting that the books be placed in a secure place where others could access them.
Dennis knows Frank from his boyhood and saw him not that long ago at a funeral! There was silence for a very long time and then Dennis rang me and said that Frank had finally made contact, admitted he had the books and that a safe had been purchased for the church where they were now being kept. Dennis then suggested that the books be copied for posterity and preferably lodged in the record office at Cambridge. So far silence on that score, but at least the books have re-surfaced. This is basically down to you, so thank you for alerting me. I am delighted too that the matter has been resolved without upsetting anybody.
Again, many thanks for your assistance with locating the Fowlmere chapel books and papers.
Best wishes, Janet Hurst
I was very pleased to hear of the safe return of the two Chapel books. Especially since they mention the births and baptisms of our family in them. The missing registers were…
Book 1. "Baptisms Independent Chapel Foulmire"
This Book (with gaps) covers the period 10 January 1842 to the 8 April 1917.
Book 2. "Burials and Attendance Register"
I'm not sure what period is covered in this book. One of the last dates mentioned on handwritten notes copied from the Book is 1909.
PART 3 Finding William’s Birthplace
The 1841 Census
William’s birthplace, parents and the names of his siblings remained a mystery for many years. There is no mention of his birth or baptism in the Fowlmere parish or Independent churches. In fact, there is no mention of the Sherwood name in the parish prior to 1811. I had hit a brick wall or so I thought with my research. This all changed when I took a closer look at the 1841 census.
We are fortunate to have available information from two population censuses, the first in 1841 and the second in 1851. Both provided information about the family not available elsewhere. They offer a unique snapshot in time, a permanent record of where each family member was staying and whom they were staying with on census night.
The censuses were the first real attempt to count the population of England and Wales. The census collectors referred to as enumerators were often locals. It was their job to record the names, ages and occupations of each and every person living in the parishes, towns and cities throughout the country.
People were listed by household with the head of the house shown first. Those in the same household were recorded showing their relationship to the head of the house, for example, wife, son or daughter. Visitors, boarders and servants who stayed overnight were recorded as such. Not everyone was accounted for on census night. It has been estimated that at least ten per cent of the population was missed or went unrecorded.
The 1841 census for Fowlmere proved to be very helpful. Census night was Sunday 4 June. The following Monday, the family were visited by John Mumford. He was one of two men whose job it was to collect the census information from the good citizens of Fowlmere. Whoever was home when Mumford called would have provided him with the following details; The names of those who spent the previous night (Sunday) in the house, their age, occupation and whether they were born in the county where they now lived.
Elizabeth Dixon
According to the census William was 57, employed as an agricultural (farm) labourer, and wasn’t born in Cambridgeshire. Elizabeth was 50 and was born in Cambridgeshire. Staying with William and Elizabeth that Sunday night was an elderly lady by the name of Elizabeth Dixon. She was 82, of independent means and like William was not born in Cambridgeshire. I assumed that Elizabeth Dixon may have been either William or Elizabeth’s mother. Unfortunately, the census was of little help here as it did not state William or Elizabeth’s relationship to Elizabeth Dixon.
FIG. 10 1841 Fowlmere census, William & Elizabeth Sherwood & Elizabeth Dixon
William and the two Elizabeth’s place on the census followed the residents of a private boarding school. The schoolmaster John Smith 70 and his wife Mary 50, ran the school attended by 11 boys between the ages of 9 and 14. The school was located at White Hall a mid-17th-century house on the North side of Chapel Lane.
According to Dennis Hitch, the location of William, Elizabeth and Elizabeth Dixon on the census indicates that they were staying at Brook Farm, Fowlmere on census night. The farmhouse was on the south side of Chapel Lane, almost directly opposite the White Hall school building. Brook Farm, with its 16th-century farmhouse, was owned by the Nash family well into the twentieth century. See the map below.
FIG. 12 Map shows the location of Brook Farm, where William, Elizabeth & Elizabeth Dixon were staying in 1841
William’s Baptism
William’s age on the census was 57. This meant that he was born about 1783/4. This gave me a starting point. I looked for the birth/baptism of a William Sherwood about this time. To make the task more manageable it was decided to limit the search to births and baptisms in churches within a 50 kilometre radius of Fowlmere. I found a baptism that seemed promising. William the son of Stephen and Elizabeth Sherwood was baptised on 12 May 1782, in Clothall, Hertfordshire, 30 kilometres south of Fowlmere.
FIG.11. 1782. Baptisms. 12 May William S of Stephen & Elizabeth Sherwood
Both men were close to the same age. The Fowlmere William was born about 1783/4 according to the census and the Clothall William was baptised in 1782. Apart from his baptism entry, there are no other references to William in Clothall. Most importantly he doesn’t appear on the Clothall census in 1841. Was this because he had already left Clothall and was living in Fowlmere in 1841?
The pieces to the puzzle were starting to come together. Even so, it was obvious that further confirmation was needed before I could conclude that the two Williams were the same man. Further confirmation was found in the marriage registers of the Clothall church.
Records of marriages that took place in Clothall have survived from the sixteenth century. One marriage in particular, caught my attention. Elizabeth Sherwood a widow, married John Dixon a bachelor in 1799.
It was obvious that Elizabeth was the widowed wife of Stephen Sherwood who died about 1796. They were the parents of William Sherwood baptised in 1782. The Clothall William’s mother had remarried and was now Elizabeth Dixon.
Was it a coincidence that the Clothall William’s mother was Elizabeth Dixon, and the Fowlmere William had an Elizabeth Dixon staying with him in 1841? The two Elizabeths were the same age. The Clothall Elizabeth Dixon’s date of birth was estimated to be 1760 according to her death certificate. The Fowlmere Elizabeth Dixon was born in 1760, according to the 1841 census.
The Hitchin Workhouse
To learn more about the Fowlmere Elizabeth Dixon I looked for the name Dixon/Dickson in the Fowlmere Parish and Fowlmere Independent Church registers. The name does not appear in either church’s records.
Starting in 1837, records of all births, deaths and marriages in the UK were recorded by law. The index to these records, the Civil Registration Index, was checked for any mention of Elizabeth Dixon’s death in or near Fowlmere. There was a reference to the death of Elizabeth Dixon at nearby Hitchin in Hertfordshire. Hitchin is 40 kilometres from Fowlmere. The death occurred in 1850.
A death certificate was obtained and showed that Elizabeth Dixon, the widowed wife of John Dixon, a labourer had died on 19 November 1850 in the Union Workhouse, Hitchin. She was 93 and died of old age.
According to the Clothall church burial registers Elizabeth Dixon was buried there four days later, 23 November 1850.
What I had accidentally discovered when trying to learn more about the Fowlmere Elizabeth Dixon, was when and where the Clothall Elizabeth Dixon died. Elizabeth died at the Hitchin workhouse and was brought back to Clothall to be buried by her relatives, possibly her son John Dixon.
Connecting the two Elizabeths
The 1841 Hitchin census, which includes the Union Workhouse staff and inmates, does not mention Elizabeth Dixon. Clearly she was not living in the Workhouse in 1841. Nor does she appear on the 1841 census for Clothall.
If Elizabeth was not in Clothall or the workhouse in 1841, then where was she? The most likely answer is that she was staying in Fowlmere with her son William.
Elizabeth’s only surviving child from her marriage to John Dixon, John Dixon junior was 41 and living in Clothall with his wife Ann and young family in 1841. These were hard times and as such he may not have been able to care for his elderly mother. The Fowlmere William Sherwood had only himself and his wife Elizabeth to support. He was employed as the farming bailiff at Brook farm in Fowlmere and was well able to care for his elderly mother.
So when did Elizabeth Dixon arrive in Fowlmere? I suspect she moved there sometime after the death of her second husband John Dixon in 1828. Elizabeth was a widow for the second time at age sixty-eight.
When her son William died in Fowlmere in 1843, Elizabeth was eighty-five, with no one able to support or care for her. Someone in the family took her to the Union workhouse in Hitchin where she spent the last five or six years of her life.
John Dixon Smith
William and Elizabeth’s fourth child was William John Sherwood (1819-1889) He married Sophia Stimpson in Fowlmere in 1839. By 1847, he had left Sophia and made his way to South Australia with a young woman by the name of Sarah Hayles.
FIG. 13 Timeline: William Sherwood and Elizabeth Dixon
In 1856, William left Sarah for her younger sister Rachel. The couple bordered a ship in Adelaide and sailed to Melbourne. To cover his tracts William changed his name to William Smith. He had adopted his mother Elizabeth’s maiden name. William and Rachel traveled to Melbourne as Mr and Mrs Smith.
When William and Rachel’s son John was born, he was named John Dixon Smith. John Dixon just happened to be the name of William’s grandmother Elizabeth Dixon’s second husband. It was also the name of their son John Dixon who was born in Clothall in 1800.
William had used his grandmother’s husband and son’s name ‘John Dixon’ and combined it with the maiden name of his mother Elizabeth Smith, to name his son John Dixon Smith. Was this further evidence of a family connection between the Clothall and Fowlmere Sherwoods?
John Sherwood
A very interesting and unexpected entry appeared in the minutes of the Fowlmere independent chapel in 1815. A John Sherwood is mentioned in the chapel records. The entry reads…
1815, Sep.14
A Church Meeting held after solemn prayer to the Lord, the members proceeded to consider the case of Elizth Harvey and after a careful investigation she was voted in as a member of the Church... After this John Sherwood was then proposed as a proper person to be joined to the church- and the Brethren Morley and Buy, were requested to converse with him and report the next church meeting.
The Brethren Morley referred to above is John Morley, the father of Thomas Morley. Thomas married Jane Sherwood in Fowlmere in 1835.
1815, Oct 14
A church meeting held after solemn prayer and praise to the Lord, inquiry was made of the two brethren who were appointed to visit J. Sherwood. Their opinions respecting his state was most satisfactory-the Word seems to have been blessed to his soul; but fearing lest he should bring a disgrace on the Lord's cause, he requested to have some time allowed, previous to his joining as a member.
Prospective members had to be nominated by a church member. They were then visited by the brethren (usually two current church members) and asked about their hope in Christ. The brethren reported the outcome of their visit at the next church meeting. If the report was favourable, and he or she was found to be a suitable person to join the church, a vote was held by the members to accept or reject the nomination.
1816, (Feb'y 9)
A church meeting held after solemn prayer to the Lord, the brethren were enquired of, respecting W’m Jeeves, and their report being satisfactory he was admitted a member.
Also J. Sherwood of whose expression and satisfaction had been given at a previous meeting.
John Sherwood was now a member of the Fowlmere Independent Chapel. The next reference to John is in 1816.
A list of persons who are considered as belonging to the Church of Christ at Foulmire.
1816 Feb'y John Sherwood and William Geeves
There are further references to John in the church records. It appears that he and another church member William Geeves were not turning up to church as often as they should.
FIG. 14 William Jeeves 1791-1863Courtesy of the Jeeves Family Tree
1823. March 21. A church meeting held after solemn prayer and exaltation the Deacons addressed the Church respecting the conversation held with five of the brethren respecting their neglecting meetings for prayer.
Their reasons were considered as frivolous and their conduct improper and as they had shown symptoms of a better spirit the subject was referred to the next church meeting when it is hoped that they will manifest a more scriptural temper.
April 1 ...the Church considered the conduct of W'm Geeves and John Sherwood and they having expressed contrition for their past conduct, permission was given for their joining the Brethren at the next church meeting.
Who was John Sherwood?
The appearance of John Sherwood in the Chapel’s records from 1815 until 1823, could be proof of a family connection between the Fowlmere and Weston Sherwoods. Sherwood is not a common English surname. According to the 1841 census, there were just 2054 people throughout England and Wales who identified with the name. The population of both countries at that time was 16 million.
The chances of an unrelated John Sherwood appearing in Fowlmere at the same time that our William Sherwood was living there, seems an unlikely coincidence. That both men were members of the same church (Independent Chapel) makes the possibility of a coincidence even less likely.
Add to the mix the following. William Sherwood had an uncle and a cousin named John Sherwood who lived 30 kilometres away in Weston, Hertfordshire. Either man could be the John Sherwood who joined the Chapel in Fowlmere. (See the family tree below.)
The first John Sherrug/Sherwood (1752 - ) was William’s uncle. He was the brother of William’s father Stephen Sherwood. He was baptised ‘John Sherrug', in Weston in 1752. He appears in Weston’s militia lists in 1769 as 'John Shearwood, servant.' Nothing more is heard of John in Weston after 1769.
FIG. 15 Family Tree with William’s uncle John Sherwood (1752 - ) and William’s cousin John Sherwood (1769 - )
second John was also born in Weston and baptised there in 1769. He was Sarah Sherrug/Sherwood’s illegitimate son. Sarah was William’s father Stephen Sherwood’s older sister. John was William’s cousin.
Of the two men, I suspect that it was the younger John (1769 - ) who joined the Chapel in 1816. The younger John was born about 1769, and would have been 47 years old when he joined the chapel. His nephew William was 34. When he was last mentioned in the church minutes in 1823, John would have been close to 54. No further trace can be found of John Sherwood in Fowlmere after 1823.
Connecting the two William Sherwoods
Although much of the evidence that links William Sherwood of Fowlmere to William Sherwood of Clothall, is circumstantial, I believe we can confidently conclude that both were the same person.
When William’s father Stephen Sherwood died, his mother Elizabeth married John Dixon in Clothall in 1799. Sometime after John Dixon’s death in 1828, Elizabeth moved to Fowlmere to stay with her son William and his wife Elizabeth. In 1841, William, his wife Elizabeth and his mother Elizabeth Dixon appear together on the 1841 census.
When William died in 1843, Elizabeth with no one to support her was placed in the Union workhouse in Hitchin, where she died in 1850. She was brought back to Clothall to be buried. If it wasn’t for Elizabeth Dixon’s appearance on the census, then it’s doubtful we would have been able to trace the Sherwood family beyond Fowlmere.
The path followed to find William Sherwood’s origins covered two English counties Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, and their parishes Fowlmere and Clothall. The brick wall that was once a barrier to discovering William’s origins had crumbled. Finding William’s birthplace took us back another generation, to his parents Stephen and Elizabeth Sherwood, nee Ward. From Clothall we were able to trace William’s father Stephen to the neighbouring village of Weston, where he was born c.1756. It is there that Stephen’s parents Stephen and Sarah Sherrug / Sherwood lived from about 1744 up until their death in 1774.
William’s death
According to his death certificate, William died on 20 February 1843 in Fowlmere. The cause of death was Inflammation of the lungs. He was buried six days later, on the 26 February. He was 57 and his occupation was farming bailiff. The informant was 67-year-old Elizabeth Bunn. She knew him sufficiently well to provide the details on the certificate. William’s death was registered in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire on the day he died by Mrs Bunn.
Fig. 16 Death Certificate of William Sherwood 1843
According to Dennis Hitch, in a letter dated 5 December 1995:
With regard to Elizabeth Bunn who registered William Sherwood’s death, I would incline to the view that Elizabeth was a sort of nurse who attended people in illness and perhaps “laid them out” when they died. There were women, who did this in villages like Fowlmere until comparatively recent times.
In the 1841 census, John and Elizabeth Bunn were living with William Sell, a 27-year-old shoe-maker, and his wife Charlotte in the High Street somewhere near The Manse. It would not be far through the churchyard footpath to Brook Farm.
I do not think there was any relationship between Elizabeth Bunn and the Sherwood family. It is quite conceivable that when William Sherwood died of bronchitis or pneumonia on 20 February 1843, the household would be in some turmoil in view of William Sherwood’s responsibilities as bailiff for the Nash family.
It is therefore likely that Elizabeth Bunn who was attending to William Sherwood when he died would, as one of the persons legally capable of registering a death, travel to Melbourn in one of the Nash’s carts or carriages to do this registration. Remember that civil registration was a comparatively new thing, and the Sherwood family would have taken it very seriously and would wish to meet the legal requirements in this respect as soon as possible.
Elizabeth Bunn lived to the age of ninety-five, an incredible feat for those times.
Elizabeth’s life in South Australia
Twelve years after her husband William’s death, Elizabeth along with her son Charles, his wife Mary and their ten children left Fowlmere and sailed to Australia. The family landed in Port Adelaide on 8 of April 1856. Elizabeth was sixty-five years old when she set sail and a new chapter in her life. She was the oldest person on the immigrant ship Amazon.
For a description of the voyage of the Amazon to Port Adelaide in 1856, see the story of Charles and Mary Sherwood.
Where Elizabeth and the rest of her family went immediately after disembarking is not known. A family story has it that they were to be reunited with Charles’ brother. Charles’ only brother was William (c.1819 - 1889) William was Elizabeth’s youngest child. No doubt she was keen to be reunited with her son whom she had not seen for almost 10 years. William arrived in Adelaide in 1847. It was now April 1856, and he had just six weeks before, abandoned his wife Sarah and young son and left for Victoria. Elizabeth would not have been aware of William’s disappearance having just spent several months sailing to Adelaide. A story told by my grandfather Arthur Gordon Sherwood, says that the family met up with William’s wife, but not William. William had run off with Sarah’s younger sister Rachel Hayles.
Employment was no doubt a priority for Elizabeth once she had arrived. Her best chance of finding work was in Adelaide. She was living there as early as December 1856, just seven months after leaving the ship.
Elizabeth placed an advertisement in the South Australian Register in late December 1856, looking for work as a nurse. Elizabeth had previously worked as a nurse in Fowlmere after the death of her husband William in 1843.
According to the paper, Elizabeth was living in Kermode Street, North Adelaide.
Fig. 17 Elizabeth’s advertisement for employment as a nurse
WANTED, by a respectable person, a SITUATION as PLAIN COOK or GENERAL SERVANT. Good references. Apply to Mrs Sherwood, Cornwall Street, North Adelaide.
By 1860, Elizabeth had moved from Kermode Street, North Adelaide and was now living in Cornwall Street. She was once again advertising for work. In September 1860, the following advertisement appeared in the South Australian Register Newspaper.
EMPLOYMENT WANTED
WANTED, by a respectable person, a SITUATION as PLAIN COOK or GENERAL SERVANT. Good references. Apply to Mrs Sherwood, Cornwall Street, North Adelaide.
Fig. 18. 5 September 1860 South Australian Register
When Elizabeth was living in Adelaide her son Charles and his wife Mary were farming at Wistow, a small rural community 40 kilometres to the south-east, not far from the town of Mt. Barker. Elizabeth now in her seventies was still working and supporting herself. Her grandson Alfred Sherwood was married and also living in Adelaide at this time. Sometime before July 1873, Elizabeth left Adelaide and moved to Wistow, most likely to be closer to her son.
Neglect
A disturbing item appeared in the Southern Argus on 6 June 1873. Charles and three of his sons Charles, Allan and Stephen were charged with neglecting to support Elizabeth.
Fig. 19 Neglect of Elizabeth Sherwood 6 June 1873.
TRANSCRIPT
LAW COURTS
LOCAL COURT MPONT BARKER
Monday, June 2, 1878
['Before Capt. Dashwood, S.M the Hon. J. Dunn, J.P, and Mr F. May, J.P.] MAGISTRATES' COURT
Charles Sherwood, Sen. and Charles Sherwood, jun., Allan Sherwood, and Stephen Sherwood, grandsons of Elizabeth Sherwood, were charged on the information of F. J. Smith, Clerk of the District Council of Mount Barker, with neglecting to contribute towards the support of the said Elizabeth Sherwood, an aged invalid. The defendants did not appear, and an ex parte
Hearing was had, upon which the defendants, Charles, Sen. and jun., were ordered to pay 2s. per week each, and the defendant, Allan Sherwood, Is. per week, with costs £1 each, no order being made against Stephen, he being only an apprentice 17 years of age.
The charges were brought on the information of FJ Smith, the Clerk of the District Council of Mount Barker. They were heard in the Mount Barker Magistrates Court, on Monday 2 June. None of the defendants appeared. Charles and his sons Charles and Allan were ordered to make weekly payments towards the support of Elizabeth.
It is unlikely we will ever know all the circumstances surrounding the matter. At face value, it would appear to be a sad case of neglect. Because we don’t know the whole story it would be unfair to pass judgement.
Elizabeth’s death
Sadly, Elizabeth passed away a little over a month after the court hearing. She died at Wistow on 11 July 1873. Elizabeth was 84 years old according to information provided by her grandson Alfred. She was buried in the Bugle Ranges cemetery, Archers Hill Road, Bugle Ranges. The cemetery is now overgrown and hardly recognisable. No headstone or marker identifies her grave. Elizabeth had lived in South Australia for seventeen years.
Elizabeth was laid to rest in a remote grave a world away from where her life began in Fowlmere. It would appear to be a lonely end to what was a long and productive life. A life spent raising her family and caring for others as a nurse. Most importantly her memory lives on. She was still remembered all those years later by my grandfather as ‘Granny Smith’ even though she died more than ten years before he was born.
Soon after Elizabeth death in 1873, her son Charles and daughter in law Mary moved to Penola, 350 kilometres south-east of Wistow. Around 1876 the couple moved to Victoria. Charles died in 1880 and Mary in 1881.
NOTES
Prior to establishing a family connection between the Sherwoods of Fowlmere and the Sherwoods of Clothall, I made an exciting discovery. I found an American on FamilySearch.org who were a descendant of the Clothall Sherwoods. Maren Biggs Jensen and her brother John Biggs were descendants of Joseph and Mary Biggs. Mary was the daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth Sherwood. She was William’s sister.
In 1993, I contacted Maren who lived in Bountiful, Utah and later John who was from Dewitt, New York. Both were very interested in family history and were keen to help.
In a letter to John in August 1994, I included the details regarding the Fowlmere Sherwoods and the appearance of Elizabeth Dixon and William Sherwood on the Fowlmere census. It was almost 12 months later that John got back to me.
After giving much the same reasons I did in linking the two families, John concluded. ‘Now this evidence is probably not very strong in a court of law, but by genealogical standards I think it is at least worth a cousinship.’
