A JOLLIFICATION, EXETER ST. THOMAS, 1843.

 The Western Times of 19th August ,1834, reported:

"The children of St. Thomas' Sunday and Parochial Schools had a jollification on Wednesday, the funds for which were provided by the orthodox in the parish, and dispensed under the superintendance of the Rev, Vicar Medley, who was at one time considered to be a great Puseyite, and may be so still if he have not gone further and set up a popery of his own.

"The children walked to church in procession, preceded by sundry flags, some of which had been worked by lunatics, or at least were had from the Lunatic Asylum.  Some of the flags bore devices; others were plain Union Jacks.  The first flag had a red cross, on a white ground, for its device, the cross being to typify the persecutions in which Mother Church is now placed.  Another flag bore the motto, "Feed my lambs."  Another bore the facsimile of Bishop Phillpott's mitre when his head is not in it.  The  prayers were read to the children at the church; then a portion of the scriptures; and they sang a hymn and separated.

"Having dined as they best might, the children re-assembled, each being provided with a goodly half-cup.  Being furnished with their pitchers, like Gideon's army, they formed into procession and now were lead round the main streets of the parish.  On arriving at the Anchor, they saluted the worthy host with three cheers as a censure on Father Matthew, & straitway went to Franklins, the residence of Thos. Snow, Esq., banker, where they were regaled with tea and cake, there being no stint; and the church bells ringing merrily while they were thus occupied.

"They the had a game of prisoner's base, the rev. gentleman taking one side, and the 'Squire of Franklins the other.  The 'Squire proved a better runner than the Parson, owing perhaps to the military training which he gets once a year, as Captain in the East Devon Invincibles; and as for the rev. gentleman, it did so happen that he was taken prisoner in the course of the game by one of the devils engaged in the Western Times office. We mention this fact strictly in confidence, because the youngster only confessed it in fear and apprehension that he should be turned out of his parson's school if it were known that he had published it.

"The sports concluded with the singing of the following ballad, which was written expressly to instill into th minds of children the disinterested love and affection which the church has always displayed towards them:-

"A BALLAD FOR THE PEOPLE.

"The good old Church of England,/Of our dear Father-land,/With her twenty thousand Churches,/How nobly does she stand! She is not like a flower,/That lives but for a day,/Twelve hundred years, through smiles and tears,/She hath lasted on alway.

"The brave old Church of England,/She hath conquered many a foe,/She had Martyrs to her children,/A thousand years ago./She hath Princes more than I can tell,/Who by her side have stood/Like King Charles the blessed Martyr, and old King George the good.

"God bless the Church of England,/ The poor man's Church is she/We were nourished at her bosom,/We were fondled at he knee./ God bless the Church of England,/The good, the true, the brave,/She baptized us in our cradle,/She shall bear us to our grave.

"We ought to have said that cheers were duly given for the parson and squire. Many of the half pints we regret to say were broken."

Franklyn House is now an NHS hospital.  Thomas Snow, banker and wine merchant, lived on there until his death in 1875 but seems to have left little trace in St. Thomas.  He would have been a young man (27) in 1843.  

The verses have some great lines.  My favourite is: She hath lasted on alway.

I have many times played Prisoner's Base, some 75 years ago, in the gardens of Brucklay House, Liverpool.  I wonder if it is still played.

 It must be the East Devon Militia that is meant by the East Devon Invincibles?

I don't think the Church of England can even now claim to have had martyrs 1000 years ago but then, we are told, the Rev. Matthew Medley (I''m sure he penned the verses) may have set up a popery of his own.

Query: Which King George?

N.B: lead for led?  Good to see the apostrophe in 'Squire!

A HOME-LOVING JUDGE, BODMIN, 1843.

The Western Times,  (12th August, 1843), 14 years before John Taylor Coleridge met Tom Pooley, gives a glimpse of the character of that judge which I find enlightening.

The newspaper was of the opinion that this was a judge who had a disposition to bolt, when on this Western Circuit.  It claimed that the judge was in the habit of sneaking off home as fast as four post horses could take him, neglecting his duties by delegating to juniors and, as a consequence, endangering justice.  In August 1843, he had been sitting at the Cornish Assize Court:    

"The learned Judge, it is said, passionately loves his country seat.  It is certainly an amiable feeling the desire to snatch a few hours out of the Assize in order to enjoy the beautiful scenery and peaceful retreat of the charming neighbourhood of Ottery St. Mary.

"We can readily understand the temptations by which the learned judge is assailed; but the difnity of his office requires that when he chooses to snatch a few hours from Court, for the indulgence of his rustic taste and his home memmories,  he should in deference to public opinion, and the character of British justice, avail himself of the best helps, inseaed of the most inexperienced and not the most efficient."

Discrepancies of judgement were accordingly taking place:  "A man was tried and convicted.... of stealing two pints of cider, the property of a person described as a gentleman and was sentenced....to seven years' transportation"  Another prisoner convicted of stealing a cow was sentenced....to one year's imprisonment."

(I publish this at a time when Keir Starmer's judges are handing down what seem to be unreasonably  punitive sentences for trivial offences while serious offenders are being released from gaols.)     

Subsequently:  (The Western Times, 19th August 1843)

"But the Judges have won this lofty character by the integrity and laborious zeal with which they have hitherto discharged their office.  The high character of the Judges is national property.  Mr. Justice Coleridge by neglecting his duties and delegating them to 'inferior hands' for his own personal convenience, perils the reputation of the Bench and in so doing lays himself open to public censure and animadversion.

"It is not denied that the learned Judge showed symptons of impatience towards the close of his labours, and that he actually left the town whilst the Jury was locked up in the last case, and that he left thus precipitately on the Tuesday."

ON TENTER HOOKS, EXETER, 1843.

 Mr. George Maunder was a woollen manufacturer on Exe Island .  On the 17th July, 1843 'a piece of blanket, containing twelve pairs' of his manufacture was hung out on racks in Serge Grounds, St. Thomas.  They were stretched on tenterhooks.  The next morning two of the blankets were found to have been cut. The tightly stretched fabric must have been tempting to slash!  Henry Colman a 'decent looking lad', sixteen years old and an assistant clerk to Mr.Thomas Moss, an Exeter linen draper, was charged with maliciously cutting and destroying the blanketing.  The case came before the Devon and Exeter Assizes of August, 1843.

This was a serious charge, because a particular statute, passed long before, I imagine to protect the nation's vital woollen trade, meant that, if convicted, Henry would be liable to be transported for life, or at least for not less than seven years or to serve a lengthy term of imprisonment.

The only witness against him was another boy,  Francis Braily, aged fifteen.  Who gave evidence thus:

"I am porter to Mr. Rudall, a carrier.  I was in company with the prisoner on the evening of the 17th of July, at a public house, in St, Thomas;  two other boys were in company. We left at twelve o' clock We went into the Rack Field, and sung for about half an hour.   Before we went away Henry Colman went up to the rack, took out his pen-knife, and cut one of the blankets right across. I called him a fool then, and he went to the next blanket, cut it across and cut a piece right out.  I went out of the field, wished him good night, and went home.

Cross-examined -  I told of it because it was not the right thing for the gentleman to have his property cut up.  I'll swear that that's the reason.  No one came to me....  I was took up to the Guildhall  - not by force.... I have been in prison - in the county - on suspicion of a waistcoat - of stealing it.  That was six months ago.  I was tried at the Sessions, and staid in prison a month after the trial.  I was in the service of Mr. Manley, the butcher, after that, I was not turned off for suspicion of stealing.  I was in Mr. Lendon, the cheesemonger's employ.  I was not turned off on a charge of robbing a little girl of three pence-ha'penny  - (laughter).... There was a charge of that kind.  I was turned off from Mr. Lendon on that charge....I am in no person's employ now.  I was in John Rudall's employ; I left about a month ago.  

At this point little Francis Braily was in tears but Judge and Jury found him hilarious and had clearly come to the conclusion that his evidence was worthless.   Henry, moreover, had people ready to give him a good character and so the judge, Tom Pooley's judge, John Taylor Coleridge, discharged  him with immediate effect.

Henry had been in prison for three weeks but no heed was given to that, nor to the fact that he had been three weeks on tenterhooks.

That these little lads were out drinking in a pub until midnight and then singing in a field for a half-hour before they went home gives a glimpse of teenage life in 1843.  Well, it was perhaps not all that unlike some Exeter College teenagers in 2024!

Source:  The Western Times,   6th August, 1843.

A TUCK UNDER THE EAR, EXETER, 1843.

Before the Police Court at Exeter Guildhall in July 1843 an employee, unnamed by the newspaper, complains that he has been assaulted by his employer:

"Mr. Samuel Roach, landlord of the Bull Inn was charged with knocking down a man in his employ, on Monday last.  The complainant stated that they had a quarrel, in the course of which Mr. Roach knocked him down with great violence.  

"Mr. Roach, on being asked what he had to say to this, replied, 'Well, I think he has told you pretty well the truth.  I went up into the brew house and found him quite drunk; then, when I spoke to him, he began to be saucy, as well as he could speak and I just gave him a little tap with my flat hand, like this, and, Lord bless you, he went right down..'

"MAYOR - It is no matter, you have no business to take the law into your own hands.

"Mr. ROACH - No, I know I have not, but it is a terrible trial to have a drunken fellow like that; you can't depend on such a man.  I have served him like that many times before, just to give him a tuck under the ear;  I should not wish to hurt the fellow.

"Mr. KINGDON - I expect your pats are very hard pats.  You are a very strong, powerful fellow.

"Mr. ROACH - Why, I tell ye,  when he came to me we agreed if I caught him drunk I should flog him - (laughter).   Fined 2s 6d.

"Mr. Roach has been a prize fighter in his day, is about six feet high, and at least proportionately stout and strong."

The 'complainant' seems to have been a 'fellow' of so little significance that he is not even named but the wonderfully independent and confident Mr. Sam. Roach of the Bull Inn, (Goldsmiths Street) six foot high and a sometime prize-fighter and also, incidentally, a sportsman and owner of racehorses is a man to be respected.  Predictably the Court is not too hard on him.  Perhaps not even the Mayor wants to make an enemy of him, after all no one wants to risk a tuck under the ear that knocks you down. 

Source: The Western Times, 29th July 1843.

A MONEY CLUB, EXETER, 1843.

"Elizabeth Bunclark was summoned for using abusive language to Harriet Fulford. Defendant kept what is called a money club;  a number of women (in this case 42) subscribe 1s a-week each, and every Saturday they draw lots for a prize of two guineas. The ticket being transferable, it is not uncommon, towards the end of a drawing to give as much as 10s or 12s for a chance in this lottery.

"Mrs. Fulford had not paid her week's subscription; defendant called on her to dun her for it, and assailed her with a volley of abuse.  

"As it appeared that although defendant, as well as the witnesses, was in the street (Spiller's-lane)  Mrs, Fulford was within the door of her house, the Bench were of opinion that the squabble was not an offence against the Improvement Act, and dismissed the case.

"We understand that measures will be taken for prosecuting Bunclark for keeping an illegal gambling house."

They sound like a jolly bunch, the merry wives of Spiller's Lane (St. Sidwells).  I can imagine them gathering together for the draw, with the odds shortening and the deals being done, and it seems a pity that Mrs. Bunclark's run-in with Mrs. Fulford should have come to court. 

Source: The Western Times,  22nd July 1843.

   

REMEMBRANCE, EXETER, 2024.

 On Remembrance Sunday, 2024, in Exeter there was no ceremony to remember the dead of Devon at the County war-memorial in the Cathedral Yard.   This was just as well for the Sons of Mammon had built their houses (The Christmas Market!) so close to the Devon war-memorial that they had not left room for the Lord-lieutenant to lay his wreath.

Respect for those Devonians who gave their lives for the causes of this nation was therefore registered, subsumed, in the moving ceremony that took place in the Northernhay Gardens, Exeter's sacred corner, its Valhalla and the jewel in the city's crown, where stands the very fine Exeter war-memorial executed by the Devon sculptor, John Angel, and where also is a rather sad war-memorial raised to those who have lost their lives in more recent conflicts.  A larger crowd than usual, therefore, turned up to see the Mayor of Exeter and other dignitaries, civil and military, lay wreaths to the memory of the fallen.

The following day, yesterday as I write, was Armisitice Day and the gates of Northernhay Gardens are locked against city folk and county folk and all.  None will have access to the Gardens until 22nd November.  The wreaths lie at the war-memorials in what has officially become a 'construction site' with only the 'constructors' to see them.  They will inspire no remembrance. Exeter's will be the war-memorial least visited in the kingdom. The Lord Mayor, who so sincerely bade us remember the sacrifice of so many, and his Council have rented out the Gardens to be once again a 'Winter Wonderland' which is to say a rather tatty and harmful, to the Gardens, funfair.

The Gardens, for Health and Safety reasons are now denied to the public.  When they are opened again the city's war-memorial wil be surrounded by all the fun of the fair and by plastic 'rudolfs', 'santas' and such.  Not much thought will be given to the glorious dead. 

There will be a further week of Health and Safety closure while the 'Wonderland' is packed away.  Shortly before Christmas the people of Devon and Exeter will have their war-memorials back, the wreathes, so 'respectfully' laid will have wasted, degraded by the rains and winds of winter and much of Northernhay Gardens, no doubt, will exhibit swathes of the mud that one associates with Flanders Field.

BADGER BAITING, EXETER, 1843.

 

The Scots Greys had marched away and in the Higher Barracks were the 4th Light Dragoons who, I think, were what was called a slang regiment, that is to say a rakish one. There was a law against badger baiting but clearly it was not being observed.  

Badger baiting was a most cruel 'sport'.  The Western Times thought so too,  hence this excercise in heavy sarcasm (1st July, 1843).

"The badger baiting at the barracks is carried on with much spirit.  The sport is excellent, and the elite of Westgate generally honour the officers with their attendance on these occasions.

"At a late exhibition Mr. Westlake's dog proved very game, and the respectable owner was offered four sovereigns for it by a gallant officer, who was so charmed with his pluck that he wished the animal might be left with the badger for an hour, to see which would be alive at the end, the dog or the badger.

"We notice these matters with great pleasure, because we think that sports which tend to advance the human character, and do so much honour to the game breeding of our Cathedral city, should be more generally cultivated.

"In ancient times monarchs used to attend bear baiting - our virgin Queen Elizabeth did so - we hope to see both Mayor and Mace going to this truly noble sport." 

Mr. Westlake was a flour merchant from New Bridge Street, right in the middle of the Westgate district, the least fashionable corner of Victorian Exeter.

'Mayor and Mace' is a sweet phrase to mean the civil authority as a whole.  I have not seen it before.