How Family History gets lost - The example of the Horn Family of Handside, Hatfield

Why am I starting with a post card of Ramsgate Harbour - when Ramsgate is clearly not in Hertfordshire?

In trying to identify Karaktus (the St Albans comic card artist) I have been researching the history of The London View Company which started publishing view cards of seaside resort along the South coast of England. I purchased this card because of the early date and the format of the back - which suggests that the London View Company was using a different printer. At the time I made the purchase I totally ignored the handwriting

That is until the card (and a similar one being sold at the same time) arrived in the post and I realized that both cards were addressed to Mrs S. Horn, of Handside, Hatfield, Herts.  But Mrs Sarah Horn, of Handside Farm is already featured on this web site:

William James & Sarah Horn of Handeside Farm
See HORN, Handside Welwyn/Hatfield, 19th century

Sarah was born Sarah Cox and is a cousin of mine, the common ancestor being Thomas Cox (1794-1874). I have no reference to her being connected to 22 Ridgemont Road, St Albans, but note that Ridgemont road is already  briefly mentioned on this web site in a different context. The message on the card starts "Dear C S" - presumably for "Dear Cousin Sarah" and is signed "J H", the other card addressed to Handside being signed "Jack". But who was cousin Jack?

BooK: The Toll Roads of Buckinghamshire (and into Hertfordshire)

Part 1 of this newly published volume contains a detailed history of turnpikes while Part 2 gives detailed histories of the 24 turnpikes that existed in Buckinghamshire, including sections that ran into other counties. Of particular interest are two which penetrated deep into Hertfordshire - The Sparrows Herne turnpike (from Bushy, via Berkhamsted and Tring, to Aylesbury) and the Reading to Hatfield turnpike which ran through Rickmansworth and St Albans.

REVIEW

I have also updated the subject page on Turnpikes

One of my Hertfordshire Books for Christmas

Steabbens - Butcher of St Albans and Hatfield

Alfred Wren, with the butcher's van owned by Steabbens of St Albans and Hatfield

Hillary has kindly provided the above picture of Alfred Wren, who was born i 1899 and moved to London in 1923 - almost certainly taken after the war - where he had joined the army despite being under age. I have added it to the existing Steabben page

G & W. Steabben's adverts from 1878

If you have any similar early photos which could be added to an existing page on my web site I would love to hear from you.

A "New" old picture of Harpsfield Hall, near Hatfield.

Lindsay has kindly provided a picture, believed to date from the 1870s, if this lovely old farm house, which was demolished in the 1930s to make way for the aerodrome at Hatfield (now itself consigned to history).

The man on a seat to the right of the picture is James Sinclair.

More about Harpsfield Hall.

Early 19th century tenants of Harpsfield Hall, near Hatfield

Further research show that Harpsfield Hall was occupied by William Dearman circa 1800.

He was followed by William Pittman, who died in 1813.- but his will was badly worded and there was a 12 year long case in Chancery.

John Sergius Fothergill's sister married into the Gape family of St Albans (who owned the Hall) and he died in 1836.

I have aldo added more information about how Harpsfield Hall Farm was run later in the 19th century.

More Information

Harpsfield Hall, Hatfield

Harpsfield Hall, Hatfield, was demolished more than 80 years ago to make room for an airfield which has now been redeveloped. In December Wetherspoons are opening a pub on the site - and keeping the name alive by calling it Harpsfield Hall.

My Harpsfield Hall page has been needing an update for some time - and I havenow added some references to the pre-nineteenth century history - with links to two Members of Parliament who lived there - and also included some new material from the British Newspaper Archive. In theory there are some more amendment that need to be added but that will have to wait until I have more time.

Book: De Haviland and Hatfield

De Haviland & Hatfield

Books

If you are interested in the development of the aviation industry in Hertfordshire you will be interested in a new book which is to be published shortly. It is De Haviland and Hatfield and the author John Clifford found my web site useful when researching the book. It includes the kind acknowledgement "Chris Reynolds of Hertfordshire-Genealogy.co.uk provided invaluable material, especially relating to Victorian Hatfield."

• 
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Fonthill Media (31 Jan. 2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1781553602
• ISBN-13: 978-1781553602
• Product Dimensions: 15 x 2.2 x 21 cm

Hertfordshire’s aircraft heritage: de Havilland in Hatfield

Picture from "Hatfield Aerodrome" booklet

Over a year ago John Clifford and I exchanged information on Harpsfield Hall, near Hatfield, which was demolished when Hatfield Aerodrome was constructed in the 1930s. John's research is progressing and on June 24th he is giving a talk entitled de Havilland in Hatfield - The Golden Years on June 24th at County Hall, Hertford. [Details].

Herts WW1 Post Cards at Sky High Prices

Military

A number of excellent post cards have appeared on ebay at pretty fantastic prices, but if you are interested you better take a quick look before they sell.

The 11th with bridge over the River Lea

Three show the 11th London Regiment (The Finsbury Rifles) and the posting date of June 1915 suggests they presumably relate to the reserve Battalion as the 1st Battalion went to France in March 1915. One show a bridge they built over the River Lea. 

The 11th marching from St Albans to Hemel Hempstead

One shows a route march to Essendon, and another leaving St Albans on a route march to Hemel Hempstead.

Four more cards (all unposted) relate to the 23rd London Regiment (East Surrey). Three relate to the troops arrival in Hatfield in 1915. The other is undated and shows the the troops marching to South Mimms with the title "The Return to Hatfield". This would suggest it was the reserve battalion returning to the place where the 1st Battalion trained - undoubtedly including some men (for instance older officers) who had not gone to France with the 1st Battalion, but had stayed behind to train the reserves.

The 23rd on "The Return to Hatfield"

All photographs were taken by E. Kentish of Hatfield (possibly Edward William Kentish, son of John Kentish, baker, of Hatfield).

Farming Family Marriages - The Horn Family example

Help Desk

About 30 years ago I spent a lot of time researching the complex network of marriages between well to do farming families, because so many of the marriages turned out to be between cousins. When I started this site I summarized a small part of it  as Who is related to Who? which demonstrates how complex such networks can be - and also what a wide area they can cover.

In 2001 Pat contacted me about one of the families on the edge of my research - the Horn Family of Handside Farm, Hatfield and some years later James provided more information. Now Barry has written with a summary of the Horn family background.

I decided that the original list of William James Horn's children needed updating an in doing so found the following marriage relationships between his children I had not spotted before:

Thomas Cox Horn farmed Chambers Farm, Shottesbrook, Berkshire. His first wife was Elizabeth Gertrude Low, daughter of William Low and Sarah Wells (Beadlow, Clophill, Bedfordshire), and granddaughter of Robert and Elizabeth Low (Beadlow, Clophill, Bedfordshire). His sister, Susan Horn, married Frank William Low (of Brides Hall Farm, Sandridge / Wheathampstead) who was the son of James Low andEllen Chapman (Farm House, Willian, Herts & The Hall, Great Chishall, Essex), and grandson of the same Robert and Elizabeth Low.

Thomas Cox Horn's second wife was Constance Harvey, sister of Mary Harvey, who married Thomas's brother, William Cooper Horn of Brickwall Farm House, Lemsford, Hatfield. Their parents were John and Frances Jane Harvey of Great Appleford Farm, Godshill, Isle of Wight.

These examples, plus the information supplied by Barry, suggest that the Horn family was part of a similar network to the one I was studying (which was based of Sandridge) but centred on Bedfordshire and North Hertfordshire. There may well be other connections.

Roe Hyde Farm, Hatfield

John has just asked me where he might find any reasonable resolution pictures of Roe Hyde Farm, near Hatfield, in the early years of the 20th century. At one time it was farmed as part of Harpsfield Hall Farm. Please leave a comment if you can help him. 

In search of Harpsfield Hall, Hatfield

Help Desk

Harpsfield Hall, Hatfield

When Hatfield Aerodrome was built in the 1930s the farm called Harpsfield Hall was demolished and John was interested to know how old the house was, and supplied a picture from 1925. As a result I have carried out a search of online records relating to the 19th century, and some printed sources, and identified the following facts/observations:

• While the name Harpsfield goes back to the 13th century it was not a manor, and hence has been ignored by the main published County Histories.
• The Harpsfield estate was owned by the Gape family, of St Michael's Manor, St Albans, and let, in whole or in parts during the whole of the 19th century.
• Harpsfield Hall was sometimes called Hatfield Hall, at least at the beginning of the period studied.
• William Pittman was a tenant at the beginning of the 19th century, occupying Hatfield Hall and 300 acres. Clearly Harpsfield Hall was a major establishment as when William died the sale of furniture, paintings, china, wines, and the farms live and dead stock took six days. 
• In the 1830s and early 40s it is clear that the Hall, and a much enlarged farm, were let to separate tenants.
• From about 1850 onwards Harpsfield Hall appears to have been the name of the hamlet, the word being used to describe several agricultural labourers cottages  
• The 1925 picture shows a house which must be considerably smaller that the one where the auction was held in 1813.
• The design of the house suggests it could have been a new build in the mid 19th century.

My suggestion is that that by 1840 the original Harpsfield Hall was passed its "sell by" date, and there were difficulties in letting the house and farm together. The farm was merges with a neighbouring farm and a new farm house (the one in the picture) was erected. Shortly afterwards the old hall was demolished - perhaps with parts being kept as farm cottages.

I would like to confirm this and if you are aware of any pre-1850 references to the Hall (and ideally a picture) I would be very grateful.for details.

More information.

Major Reorganisation of the Hatfield pages

Hatfield

I have restructured the pages on Bishops Hatfield so thatit is easier for visitors to the site to find relevant information, and also it makes it easier for me to add new pages. The update includes adding two early 19th century engravings and a description of the town in 1850.

In addition to a new Hatfield home page there are now separate pages for the Parish Church, Hatfield House (and early prints), Hatfield in 1720, Hatfield in 1850, Newgate Street, Manor of Ponbourne, Dagmar House School and Queenswood School.

Report on July activities -and some quickie reports

The original plan was that I took the month quietly but there were 29 posts and over 5900 visitor views on this newsletter, and over 22,000 to the main web site. The real problem was that I spent too much time on the site, and with holiday breaks, etc., other matters got neglected. In the next few days I will posting provisional plans for the future of the site.

Quickie Reports of  Recent Correspondence and Updates.

Thomas MARRYAT, Barnet, 1760 & "A Happy Child"

Last year I was asked about the origins of an 18th century song which turned up in America and which had a specific reference to Barnet. Paul has written to say that when Thomas Marryat was in America between 1760 and 1766 he could not have met the Geyer family in Boston. I have contacted the original enquirer, Caroline, and reviewed what we know and where further evidence might turn up.

Hatfield Local History Society Publications

I have updated the contact information for people wanting to buy any of these publications.

Apsley Football Club

Anthony Taylor has provided some additioina information

AUSTIN, Berkhamsted, mid 19th century

Audrey asked about the shop occupied by Joseph Austin (a butcher) in the 1851 census - and also about records of the location of contemporary graves in Berkhamsted. I am only able to give limited advice - can anyone else help her?

Old Hertfordshire Recipies: Dunstable Larks

Anthony Carter pointed out that my original illustration was the wrong species - and I have replaced it with a more relevant picture.

An Unusual Uniform - So what did this man do for a living?

Jon suggests that the badge could represent the letters SGC and wondered if this could be the uniform of people who worked for the St Albans Gas Company. Can anyone verify this - or come up with an alternative suggestion?

A Wig-making Factory in St Albans in the 1930s

Brenda emailed me with some more information and I have added her note as a comment.

Name Variants in Find My Past

The latest edition of the Lost Cousins newsletter contains an article about the problems of searching for people with multiple given names which you might find interesting. Every online site has its searching idiosyncrasies and it is important to find out what they are.  .

Hit a Brick Wall? Looking for a way round

Help Desk

Shenley

Coreen has been researching her ancestor Walter Hewitt - who was born in about 1774 and had a number of children baptised at Shenley between 1804 and 1809. She can't find any record of his birth and has checked the obvious sources at HALS and he may have been the Walter mentioned in a removal in 1782. 

Unfortunately there are no surviving birth/baptism records for many people born before civil registration, especially when there are no census returns to suggest a place of birth. My analysis in HEWITT, Shenley Area, 1780-1851 does not come up with an immediate answer - but illustrates the kinds of questions one should be asking when you are trying to work your way round this kind of problem. 

Was the Lucy Hewitt who married in Hatfield in 1802 his sister and did she survive until the 1851 census?

Could the Mary Marston who witnessed his wedding at Abbots Langley in 1798 be his mother - now married?

And was the other witness, James Smith, a relative?

Was the 6 year old Sarah Yeoman at South Mimms in the 1841 census his granddaughter?

And if so did he have a daughter, Elizabeth, born in London Colney in about 1803?

They didn't have Page 3 girls 200 years ago but ...

Old News

In looking through old newspapers it is very easy to become distracted by a completely different story to the one you were researching.  "Glory1505" asked a question on Rootsweb about the possible existence of a press report relating to the trial of Joseph Saunders at Hertford in 1818.

I found a very brief mention in the Bury and Norwich Post squeezed between a long report (by the standard of early 19th century papers) on a breach of promise case in which the jilted lady was awarded £4000 and a seduction, where the mother of the seduced young girl was awarded £1000. The latter was followed by two brief reports of men being sentenced to death - at a time when public hangings were considered a great entertainment - with people flocking to watch the action.

So while modern newspapers are very much bigger that those of 200 years ago things haven't changed. The early editors undoubtedly selected stories about sex, money and violence because they were popular then - and helped to sell newspapers. 

POSTCRIPT: The case of Joseph Saunders, and two of the other criminals mentioned in the press report, are mentioned in Transported beyond the Sea (I have added detailed to the page on the press report) so there are almost certainly court record at HALS. If you live in or near Hertfordshire you may be interested to know that Ken Griffin, who wrote the book, will be talking on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: A Story of Transportation at the Herts Family History Society meeting on April 27.