Newspaper reports on Amwell Bury. 1800-1850

Following the recent work on Gamels Hall, Little Amwell, Anthony suggested that there was further useful information if you searched the Archives for "Amwell Bury". I decided to do a detailed search and have not posted a detailed press summary on the manor house.

Was your ancestor a victim of "Burking"?

Dr Robert Knox

While looking for something completely different I came across a "headline" (in as far as the papers of 1832 have headlines) "More Burking" in a Hampshire paper describing an incident at Amwell, near Ware, concerning a missing cow boy called Henry Willis.

I was intrigued. A couple of months ago I asked you "Has your Ancestor been Resurrected?" 

And if. instead, your ancestor had been "Burked" they fetched a better price if they were quickly taken to the surgeons in London.

So what did happen to Henry Willis?

Gamel's Hall, Rush Green, Little Amwell

Mike asked if I could locate Gemmells Hall Farm and provide a picture. It turns out that Gamel's Hall - also known as Amwellbury - was rather more a gentleman's residence than a simple farm. It was at Little Amwell, also known as Hertford Heath. William Willson was there in 1841 but he had moved out and was the master of a workhouse in 1851, which would have been a definite fall in social status. I decided to look in the British Newspaper Archive to see if I could fill in any details but nothing definite turned up.  [More information]

The query highlights the need to look at census information for social status information, the problems of places that change their name, and the potential value of the British Newspaper Archive.