A view of the Carshalton Ponds in the 1860s
For some time now I have had the intention of looking into the Ancell family. Within Dulcie McClure's family history notes there is a section of just two pages with some information on Sarah Ancell, married to William Lingham. This is the William Lingham who established the Wine & Spirits business in Beer Lane. Dulcie's notes told us that Sarah's father was Francis Ancell, that she was one of 7 children and that the Ancells came from Surrey. Also it was noted that sometimes Ancell was spelled Ansell.
As I was thinking about the Ancells an email from Kris Hardy arrived in my inbox telling me about Sophia Lingham, a daughter of William and Sarah who married George Ancell. Then Kris sent me some information about a Mill in a place called Carshalton. A story was evolving here that just had to be the subject of this blog.
Before I get into this I need to warn that there are a number of William Linghams and a few Georges that can make it difficult to follow all the family connections. There are also some quite complicated relationships involved.
To make it simple I will spell Ancell always with a C. I currently do not know if the different spellings are simply errors or if there were in fact two different families with similar names. It is somewhat similar to my own surname Austen which is the correct spelling for my family and Austin is another family altogether.
William Lingham born 1750 ("William the elder") and his son William Lingham ("William the younger") born 17 February 1774.
The first piece of this story involves the above Lingham family father and son. William the elder who started the Wine & Spirits business left a Will in 1825 that included some comments in respect of the daughter of his then sadly deceased son William who had died in 1818. In his Will he commented that "My late son William Lingham's daughter Fanny Tyroll has been sufficiently provided for by her late father and I give and bequeath to her the sum of 5 shillings." This might seem a bit mean but as we shall see Fanny was indeed well provided for.
He also said in his Will that he was bequeathing the sum of 50 pounds per annum payable for the rest of his natural life to his late wife's brother William Ancell. This seems quite generous! I assume from it that William Lingham had a good relationship with his wife's family.
The relationships between the Linghams and the Ancells
There were a number of connections between the Lingham and Ancell families. It is currently not entirely clear how these came about. However they played a role in the development of the Mills at Carshalton.
William Lingham the elder was married to Sarah Ancell. They married on 9 August 1772 at St Marys, Portsea, Hampshire.
2. Thomas Lingham, son of William and Sarah was married to Sarah Bailey daughter of Fanny Ancell who had married a Mr Bailey.They married on 1 September 1817 at St
Marys, Newington.
3. Sophia Lingham, sister of Thomas Lingham married George Ancell. George was Fanny's brother. They married on 26 March 1803 at All Hallows, London.
Some further research is required in order to clarify how the above relationships arose. This will be the subject of a later blog.
Carshalton
The following is extracted from a description on Wikipedia:
Carshalton is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated 9.5 miles (15.3 km) south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton Ponds in the middle of the village. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Carshalton was in the administrative county of Surrey.
Carshalton was known for its springs; these may have given the place its name Cars -
Aul - ton. Aul means well or spring. A ton is a farm which was in some way enclosed. The meaning of the Cars element is uncertain but early spellings (Kersaulton and Cresaulton) may indicate connection with a cross or perhaps cress, watercress having been grown.
The map below provides an overview of the number of mills located at Carshalton. The Lower Mill, Snuff Mill and Calico Works are relevant to this blog.
The water flowing through the River Wandle provided a source of energy for driving the water wheels linked to a series of Mills situated in Carshalton. Kris sent me a copy of a description of a mill called the Lower Mill, Carshalton. This document describes this mill as having first existed in 1235. The author describes the various owners of the mill over several hundred years. The name Ancell first appears in 1770 when George Ancell and Robert Barker are recorded as having a lease of the Mill for the purpose of calico printing. It is recorded that prior to this the Mill had been used for copper production. By 1776 George was the sole leasee and he went from calico printing to paper milling. He subsequently proceeded to purchase the Mill instead of leasing it.
Around 1782 George also built a mill called the Cloth Mill adjacent to the Lower Mill and opposite the Lower Mill he built a Snuff Mill. He also had a printing shop, colouring house and drawing shop.
In a document describing the Snuff Mill it was said to consist of ".... a shed, drying houses, snuff and madder mill, cottage, warehouse and stable together with a piece of land used as a garden." There is an interesting comment in the story of the snuff mill that states the mill at Carshalton was "... engaged in grinding into a course powder contraband tobacco seized by Customs and Excise Officers.." For those not familiar with snuff I should explain that snuff powder is inhaled up one's nose. I have never tried it and have no desire to do so. However it was a common practice amongst men in the period we are looking at.
The equipment shown below was housed in the Snuff Mill at Butter Hill, Carshalton which was owned by the Ansell Family for over a hundred years from 1782. The pestles and mortars were driven by the buildings waterwheel. They ground down the tobacco or other ingredients that were used in snuff.
The Snuff Mill also processed a plant root called Madder. This was ground into a medicinal powder used to treat kidney and urinary tract issues.
George senior died in 1797 at age 69 and bequeathed his mills and other properties to his wife Sarah and five sons. On Sarah's death the Madder and Snuff Mill and dwelling house were inherited by brothers George and Charles Augustus. The Lower Mill was specifically bequeathed to Charles Augustus when George senior died.
Charles subsequently went into a partnership with his brothers James and Robert as papermakers and snuff makers. James was said to be associated with the paper making and Robert with snuff making.
Sarah stayed active in the business until her death in 1807. Her sons George and Charles then took over the running of the business. Sarah required under the terms of her Will that George and Charles pay a sum of money in equal shares to their three sisters of either an annual amount of 5% of the assessed value of the goods and implements used in the Mills or a single lump sum representing 100% of that value.
The properties bequeathed to George included the cloth mill along with the colour house, drug house, cutting shops and drawing shops. These buildings were leased to "Messers Bailey and Sutherland." Mr Bailey was married to George's sister Fanny.
Unfortunately business did not go well for George and on 20 October 1815 he was declared bankrupt. However soon afterwards his calico printing works, the Lower Mill and nearby Snuff Mill were purchased by William Lingham. This is William Lingham the son of William the elder and his wife Sarah Ancell.
William the younger was trained as a cooper (wine barrell maker ) and worked for a John Bararoux located in Beer Lane, Tower Street. He married Eliza Dixon on 16 August 1800 at age 26. Their daughter Frances was born in 1801. William and Eliza divorced in 1804. Their divorce case was reported as below;
At present it is not clear to me exactly when William arrived on the scene in Carshalton. It seems reasonable to assume he was living there by 1815 when the opportunity arose to buy the Lower Mill and Snuff Mill from the bankrupted brother-in-law George Ancell. His sister Sophia was married to George.
Sadly William died in 1818. He then left his interests in the Mills to his daughter Frances and his sister Harriot. Harriot was also left a sum of 60 pounds per annum for the length of her lifetime by her father William the elder. Harriot married Edward White in 1837. She lived most of her life at 95 Cannon St, London. She died 18 March 1855 at age 71.
On 2nd October 1823 Frances married Edward Tyrell in Kew. He thus acquired an interest in the Mills. Frances had married well as Edward Tyrell held the position of City Remembrancer for London from 1832 until 1863. His father Timothy had held the position from 1793 until 1832.
The City Remembrancer is responsible for looking after the interests of the City of London. The position dates from 1571. The responsibilities of the role are in three main areas. These are:
1. Parliamentary which is oversight of legislative changes which might effect London;
2. Ceremonial which ensures high-profile visitors to London are made welcome;
3. Private Events which includes banquets, receptions and conferences relating to the City.
The article below from The Sun newspaper of 24 December 1863 provides information on the rate of pay for this role. In today's money the annual salary plus expenses and emoluments is probably worth about 400,000 pounds!
Below is an example of the newspaper announcements that were regularly posted by the City Remembrancer advising of legislation that would have an impact on business in the City of London. This one is from the Sussex Advertiser of 1 December 1857.
In order to keep informed on matters in Parliament the Remembrancer has a special seat in the House of Commons.
In 1848 Frances and Edward and their son Avery moved into Berkyn Manor, Horton, Buckinghamshire. This manor house which was built in the 1500s had an interesting history. Apparently it was once occupied by the poet Milton. It became abandoned by its owner in the 1940s and after becoming quite derelict was in due course totally demolished.
The account below provides an interesting insight into its history.
The link below should take you to a rather spooky video of the interior of the long abandoned manor.
Here are a few images that provide a glimpse of how grand this house once was.
The photographer who took the above images wrote as below;
In 1945, a family purchased this beautiful Manor House together with 60 acres of land the site, rearing bulls in the land and working on the farm. The story is that in time of financial hardship the house suffered from dry rot and as it slowly took over the house, the family couldn’t rescue it, it slowly ate away and with no money to sort it out, the house slowly rotted away. It is heart wrenchingly sad to view each room with such personal item, photos, a babies pram, a beautiful piano and organ and even the old ladies clothes and blankets still in the cupboards, I could go on forever with a list of the things left. Its like something happened one day and everything just froze in their place. Its a true museum from the era and no one to see how magnificent it is.
Frances and Edward's son Captain Avery Tyrrell lived at Berkyn Manor throughout his lifetime. It was his address right through to his death at the age of 67 in 1909.
Frances died 10 April 1870 at age 68. Edward retained ownership of the mills until his death on 5th June 1881. His son Avery Tyrrell and other members of the family then took over ownership of the calico printing factory together with the Lower Mill and the Snuff Mill.
At the time members of the Ancell family were still working at the Snuff Mill and were there until around 1891. Robert Ancell who had succeeded his father, also Robert and who died in 1865, retired from working at the Lower Mill in 1891 but continued to live in in nearby Butter Hill until his death on 26 February 1905 at age 78.
The Lower Mill survived until 1995. In latter years it was being used as a shed. It was demolished to make way for a housing estate. The Snuff Mill building still stands and is primarily just used for storage. However it is probably the oldest industrial building in Carshalton. The Calico printing works had been demolished in the 1890s following Robert Ancell's retirement.
The Snuff Mill
As mentioned earlier it does seem that there is more to this story. The relationship between the Linghams and the Ancells seems to have dated from some time prior to the marriage of William Lingham senior and Sarah Ancell in 1772. Sarah came from Portsea which may mean she is from a different Ancell family than the Ancells who were Mill owners in Carshalton. However there was clearly an additional connection that resulted in William Lingham the younger buying George Ancell senior's Mills.
More will be revealed in due course.
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