1891.  Jack the ripper claims his last victim.  Prime Minister Salisbury rules a country at war with the Boers.  Agatha Christie is born.  But more important events are at work.  On 5th April the sixth full British Census takes place.  In the small Staffordshire village of Kinver farm bailiffs and game keepers mind the land – and romance is in the making. Living in Compton Road Kinver is the Meredith family.  Follow the road up, past the historic rock houses and take the second left to enter the road leading to Greyfields, a large local farm.  This is the home of the Hill family.

In Compton Road lives 14 years old Edward Meredith.  At Greyfields lives the similarly aged Ada Hill.  These two youngsters are destined to marry (1902) and give birth to Freda Meredith.

The head of the Meredith family, Joseph, is gamekeeper.  He looks after an area of countryside land and makes sure…  

“…there is  there is enough game for shooting, or fish for angling, and who actively manages areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland for the benefit of game birds, deer, fish and wildlife in general.Typically, a gamekeeper is employed by a landowner, and often in the UK by a country estate, to prevent poaching, to rear and release game birds such as pheasants and grouse, to control predators such as foxes, to manage habitats to suit game, and to monitor the health of the game.” ( <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamekeeper> )

Ada’s dad, Alfred is the farm bailiff at Greyfields.  The farm bailiff  is…

” …a man who policed the land belonging to another. Watching out for poachers etc. Usually employed by Gentlemen Landowners i.e owners who employed others to farm the land whilst they partook of other occupations or pastimes.”  <http://genforum.genealogy.com/englandcountry/messages/126078.html> 

“He is responsible to the farmer for the smooth running of the farm and the management of the farm workers.

The employment is only met with of course on farms with large acreages where its workers live in accommodation provided by the farmer as part of their remuneration.

The Bailiff would also have the responsibility of the employee’s wages and have his own office usually within his own accommodation. This type of farm would have been a community by itself and more or less, completely self-contained.”  <http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/Bristol_and_Somerset/2003-06/1056121263>

 The Census Entries

1891 – Compton Road, Kinver

Joseph Meredith, Head, M, 51, Game Keeper, Kinver Staffs

Ann Meredith, Wife, M, 50, Kinver Staffs

Joseph Meredith, Son, 21, Agricultural Labourer, Kinver Staffs

Annie Meredith, Daughter, s, 20, Kingswinford

Caroline Meredith, Daughter, s, 17, Domestic Servant General, Kingswinford

Edward Meredith, Son,s,14, Kingswinford

1891 Census – Kinver, Greyfields

Alfred Hill, Head, M, 40, Farm Bailiff, Kinver Staffordshire

Alice Hill, Wife, M 35, Farm Bailiff, Stratford on Avon

Ada K Hill Daughter, s, 14, Farm Bailiff, Pedmore, Worcestershire

Alice M Hill, Daughter, 12, Farm Bailiff, Pedmore, Worcestershire

Alfred Hill, Son ,7, Kinver Stafford

Agnes Hill, Daughter, 7 Saltley Warwickshire

Frank F Hill, Son, 5, Kinver Staffordshire

Lucy Hill, Daughter, 2, Kinver Staffordshire

Henry E Hill, Son 1, Kinver Staffordshire

The mystery of where Charles Sunter was in 1891 has been solved.

An earlier posting on the blog this week showed Charles Sunter, 19, was living in Thornaby with his widowed mom Jane in 1901. And 10 years earlier Jane and her husband Joseph were living in Grove Street, Stockton on Tees. Where was the 9 year old Charles?

A few days later came the revelation that Joseph Sunter was not Charles’ dad after all. Charles had been born illegitimately to his mother(Jane Snowball) in 1882. Rick McGarry commented in his revelation:

“Jane married Joseph SUNTER in the third quarter of 1883, when your Charles would have been little more than one year old. So I would guess, he grew up thinking that Joseph SUNTER was his true father, and thinking that his own surname was SUNTER. I doubt if Charles learnt any of this from seeing his birth certificate — there was almost no reason to have one in those days, before National Insurance and Passports made them essential. Of course, his parents may have told him the truth, and if so, he appears to have decided to adhere to the SUNTER name.”

A review of the 1891 census clears this point up and solves the mystery of the missing Charles.

In 1891 Charles Snowball, 9 was living with his grandparents Thomas and Isabella Snowball in Victoria Terrace Witton Le Wear Bishop Auckland.

But one mystery solved throws up more questions:

• This is five and a half years after Jane and Joseph Sunter had married. Why wasn’t Charles living with them?
  
• Although there can be no certainty this suggests that Charles was aware of the Snowball connection? Surely he must have been asked about his background?
• When did Charles move to be with the Sunters?
• When did Charles adopt the Sunter name…and why?
• How did the family deal with this tangled web of emotion.

Some of these questions can’t be solved. The family appears to be relying on son Thomas for their income at this time. Thomas Snowball snr died soon after this census was taken.  Was that the time Charles went to live with his mother and was Joseph forced to take him in?
 

Census return

Victoria Terrace, Witton Le Wear

• Thomas Snowball, Head, M, 66, Northumberland, Headly Grange
• Isabella Snowball, Wife M, 57, Scottish
• Thomas Snowball, Son, S, 35, Coal Miner, In Work, Durham, Whickam
• Ellen Snowball, Daugher, 14, Howden Le Wear
• Charles Snowball, Grandson, 9, Scholar, Howden Le Wear

I remember from my year working in the archives that the reading of names can be very difficult.  Here is a good example.  The transpcription of the 1901 census showed Jane A Sunter as coming from Leadgale.  The 1891 Census transcription has it that she is from Seadgate.  In fact I believe the answer is a mix of the two.  There is a Leadgate in Consett, not far from Stockton on Tees and relatively near to Charles Sunter’s birthplace at Howden Le Wear.

Interestingly, Charles is missing from the household in the 1891 Census, even though he must have been 9 at the time.  The reason for this may well be that the Census is based on who is staying at the house on Census night.  It is quite possible that Charles is simply not present on that night.  A search through the Ancestry.co.uk website doesn’t throw up any further suggestions of where he might be.

New now in the family tree search is my great grandfather, Joseph Sunter.    The listing on the census is:

• Joseph Sunter, 42, Furniture Salesman, Yorkshire, Gunnerside

• Jane A Sunter, 28, Durham Seadgate

• William Sunter, 19, Catcher on Shipyard, Yorkshire Gunnerside

• Grace E Sunter, 6, Scholar, Yorkshire Redcar

• Dorothy H Sunter, 3, Yorkshire Redcar

• Gertrude Sunter, 1, Yorkshire Redcar

• Cleva I Sunter, 1/12, Durham Stockton

• Elizabeth Snowball, Sister-in-Law, 27, Dressmaker, Durham Seadgate

The family is living at 21 Grove Street, Stockton on Tees.